THE JEWS CATECHISM Which was lately Translated out of Hebrew into Latine By the Eminently Learned LVDOVICVS DE COMPEIGNE DE VEIL 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato LONDON Printed for Benjamin Harris at the Stationers Arms in the Piazza under the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1680. TO THE READER HAving the Happiness of being Intimately Acquainted with the Learned Author of the Latine Translation of this Excellent Catechism I was the more easily Inclin'd to undertake to Translate it into English omitting some few Passages As all Scholars are Oblig'd to that Worthy Gentleman for his Latin Translation so I doubt not but those Virtuous Persons who shall peruse my English will kindly Aceept the pains I have taken herein though it comes so short of the Eloquence of the Latine The Book contains an Accurate Description of a great part of a Christians Duty though the Author of the Original was not a Christian But certainly He was not such an Enemy to Christianity as All the Socinians are And His Catechism is much more to be Valued than CRELLIUS's Ethicks The Socinians so Impudently usurping the Name of Christians And yet Denying the LORD that bought them are certainly to be ABHORR'D by all those that Love the LORD JESUS in sincerity as JUDAS's Disciples who Betray'd Him with a KISS If this shall be seen by any of the English Students of the Cracovian Catechism I desire they may be prompted to Consider that the Foulness of their grand Errot if it be an Error as I conceive they often Doubt it is cannot be Surpast by any thing but by the Brightness of his Glory Whom they so horridly Blaspheme by Denying Him to be the Only True and Eternal GOD Grieving His Holy Spirit even by Asserting that DIVINE Worship is Due unto Him whilst they Assert also that He is no other than a Meer MAN involving themselves in the greatest Guilt of the grossest Idolatry which carries the greatest Opposition to the Spirit of Our Blessed LORD There 's more Hope of Converting a JEW than such an Apostate one that has in effect Renounc'd His Baptism viz. By Denying Two of the Three PERSONS in Whose Name He was Baptiz'd Socinianism and all other Haerâ—sies we shall Avoid if we truly and constantly Follow the Rules laid down in this Catechism which we may do Through CHRIST Enabling Us. When once the Generality of those that have Named the Name of CHRIST shall by the Assistance of His Holy Spirit perform those Duties which the JEWS themselves Acknowledge to be incumbent upon All Mankind Then shall come to pass that Saying of the Evangelical Prophet The Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the LORD as the Waters cover the Sea Reader Farewel And say with me from the Bottom of thy Heart COME LORD JESUS THE PROAEME IT has been of old the Practice of the Jews as it were to Hedge in the Law and to reduce it all to certain Heads So that the Fundamental Points thereof might be always in every mans Mouth This course was strictly observ'd by the Prophets of whom some contracted the whole Law within the compass of Eleven Articles others of Three and at length one of them compriz'd the Sum and Substance of all the Law in this one Doctrine to wit that which we read Hab. 2.4 The Just shall live by Faith Now thâ—refore when by reason of our manifold sins we are opprest with such a multitude of Calamities it is more requisite then ever that we should comprize in some few and those very brief and weighty Sentences or forms of words the Power of the Law the Reasonableness of Religion the right way of Exercising True Charity and the Institution of good Manners which was in force two thousand Years bâ—fore the Law That any young man though not very wife yet not being altogether a Fool might Rejoyce and be exceeding glad to have his mind thus Instructed to yield a due and constant Regard to the Law of GOD. And would to God those our Masters who are the Rulers in the Synagogues of the Jews dispers'd far and wide on the face of the Earth would effectually resolve so to explain what is Truth and Right by their Precepts and Admonitions that at length all both young and old might attain to a competent understanding of the Divine Nature and also of the true Rule of living a Sober and Godly Life Thus it would come to pass that all their Scholars would make a large progress in the way of the most sublime Knowledge and true Wisdome Children also persons weak and slow in their apprehensions who are not in any capacity either by conversing with Doctors persons of profound Learning or with the Books they have publisht to penetrate into the Depths of the Holy Law and of the Doctrine concerning good Manners yet even they may attain to some perception of the Truth if any man expound it unto them after such a manner as we are now speaking of Having these things upon my Thoughts and chiefly considering the Glory of God I the least and unworthiest of men Abraham Jagel c. come forth from the midst of a Multitude enflam'd with Zeal for the LORD our GOD and apply my mind unto writing Nor do I make it my business to express my self in a lofty strain or in any subtle and curious form of words but that my Language may be plain and easie to be understood like to common talk in familiar conversation And I have diligently collected the words and deep sayings of wise men which they have left in writing scatter'd here and there concerning the Fundamental Points of the Law not thinking it worth my labour to give an account of the several Authors of those wise Sayings For I studied to deliver a Discourse both clear and concise concerning that way which will bring those that persevere in it to obtain the Lawrel of the Age to come and they shall also attain great Renown in this present Age even whilst they remain in the number of the Living This I have done that my Discourse by reason of its Brevity may be the oftner in the mouths of Children and may be the more easily learnt of them so that as they grow in years they may grow in the Fear of God and be deter'd from all Wickedness and that those of riper Age may never swerve from the Right Way This small Work I have entituled The Good Doctrine For a Good Doctrine I deliver unto you which I have not drawn from the Rivulet of mine own Mind but from the Fountain of Wise Men to whom the Great God communicated his Secrets Sith thâ—se things are so let no man desert my Precepts but let every one that is Learned add his own Instructions to mine and expound them to Children and exhort them constantly to adhere thereunto nor lâ—t him cease from this Labour till they shall be fully and perfectly exercised therein yea till they shall be able to repeat them all without
thee now to explain unto me what that Hope is which is joyned with it by whose help men may arrive to the enjoyment of the Sovereign Good in the World to come Sch. Hope is a Divine Gift or Endowment whereby our Mind becomes so Pure and grows up to such an Height that those Delights of the Spirit which are the Ultimate End or Satisfaction of all our Desires we are Confident that we shall attain unto not by our own Righteousness or Good works but by the Infinite Mercy and Goodness of God towards us And that whatsoever we shall Really have Need of as to this present Life we shall receive in Abundance from the Providence of God For he gives with a liberal hand to all living creatures whatsoever their Nature requires Let all Men therefore look up and trust in him that giveth Food to every living Creature in his due time even to the vilest and most contemptible Worms and Flies Mast How must we behave our selves towards God that we may receive such blessings from him Sch. As a Servant towards a Master as a Child towards a Father either of them if he expect any good thing from his Governour labours with all his might that he may yield due observance unto him both in word and deed both of them beg the good things they expect most earnestly and humbly And it is most fit and just that we whether as Children or Servants should daily perform those Actions which are most acceptable to God that our Conceptions should be right and orthodox that our Works should be pious that we should make our Supplications and pour forth our Prayers unto God for he will hear our Prayers and grant our Requests Hope therefore is the common Basis or Ground-work which with the Divine Assistance is useful to us in the building up of all other Vertues Hope fills the Mind with Peace and Tranquillity and cherishes the Body with the purest and most lasting pleasure Hope conduceth to the Study of the Law and to Civil Conversation for whosoever puts his whole trust and confidence in God the grace and favour of God encompasseth him about continually his Feet shall not slip as those Men that are falling being always in slippery places who put their trust in any other thing but in God This is that which the Anointed of the God of Jacob speaks Psal 37.3 4 5. Trust in the Lord and do good so shalt thou dwell in the Land and verily thou shalt be fed Delight thy self in the LORD and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart Commit thy way unto the LORD trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass Mast What shall his hope fail him that trusts in any other thing but in God Sch. Yes surely on whatsoever other thing a man relies he relies on a broken Reed for if he trust in his great Riches they suddenly get wings and fly away And they are always subject to innumerable casualties and are often lost by some sudden chance Now if he trust in his rare Knowledge and excellent Learning lo a short Sickness weakens his Brain and all his artificial subtil Knowledge comes to nothing If in the multitude of Children Friends and Kindred if in a faithful Wife their Soul and Spirit is in the hand of God it may come to pass that in a moment they may die and so he 's deprived of his support and the same persons it may be whilest they live for a small offence take up a great prejudice and become Enemies Besides if he be reduced to a poor Condition if he labour under any Disease so that he cannot perform any business nor provide Food and Raiment for his Family at home he finds nothing but brawling and contention and all his Friends and Acquaintants at once fail him Prov. 19.7 All the Brethren of the Poor hate him how much more do his Friends go far from him Moreover he becomes an Alien in the sight of the Man-servants and Maid-servants born in his House for this was the Complaint of Job overwhelmed with Calamities Job 19.17 My Breath is strange to my Wife though I entreated for the Childrens sake of my own Body It will be as great folly for any man to trust in his Bodily Strength which some Disease may destroy in a moment The Gout does but seize on some one Joynt and presently it keeps a Man at home in sadness and solitude and will not permit him to put his Foot without the door But it is not so with him who has his whole dependence upon God for he will stand in awe of the Divine Majesty but will not be awed by any thing else he will yield Worship and the most humble Subjection to God alone All his Hopes or Possessions are placed in God and he will have a care that he give not that Affection which is due to God onely to a Creature like to himself He will associate himself and consult with Men how they may have Communion in Worshiping the Creator as they ought to do but he will not be moved at their discord or dissention upon any occasion whatsoever and his thoughts are advanced to such an height by his confidence in God that he draws off his Mind from the frail and perishing things of this present World and fixes his whole intention upon the study of the Law and pure Religion and this he does for the love of Piety not fear of Punishment and that he may pass over his Life in true peace and tranquillity of Mind and may obtain in the other World the most perfect and everlasting Joy and Satisfaction Mast How ought a man to be thus qualified that he may attain to the highest degree of this Vertue Sch. Whoever aspires to this height 't is necessary that he observe and always keep in his mind these five things First that the infinitely good and great God does night and day take care and provide for the Sons of Men. And this is that which we find written Psal 121.4 Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep He must have as great a confidence in God as can be and his Heart must never fail him He must also remember that the Mercy of God does infinitely exceed the Mercy of all those Men who have any tender concern for us and that he takes care of our Affairs both in private and in publick And moreover that all the kindness and good offices of other men towards us do proceed from the love of our merciful God for he it is that mov'd the hearts of men with compassion towards us and stirs them up to use all diligence in providing for our safety and welfare He disposes all things in a wonderful contexture and dependence of Cause one upon another neither is it our Merit that we are so well provided for but the mere Benignity and Free Mercy of God From whence we may understand that whatsoever happens to any of
six most aboninable wickednesses or impieties which are so odious unto God Sch. The first is if a man shall most impudently take up such a conceit that he shall attain Eternal Life although he omit the performance of those Commandments which God has absolutely and indispensably joyned him unto Another is this If he distrust the Goodness and Mercy of God and so conceits that now after he has committed so many crimes there is no hope left for him that the Divine Majesty has no hands to be stretched out to those that return into the Paths of Righteousness that he has no compassion for those that have been heinously wicked But if a man be guilty of all manner of wickedness and with a broken Heart and contrite Spirit beg pardon of God he will find him to be a God merciful and gracious and easie to be intreated For God desires not the death of a Sinner but rather that he turn from the ways of Sin and Corruption unto soundness and integrity of Life Is there any of us that has been guilty of so many so great and so heinous Offences against God as Manasses was who made it his business to enflame the wrath of God but even of him we find it written 2 Chron. 33.13 And prayed unto him and he was intreated of him c. The third is when a man resists the truth known and perceived fully that he may pour out his mind upon sin and vanity and be wholly addicted to a licentious course of life The fourth is To envy another for the Gifts which God has bestowed on him as Cain envied Abel because God had respect to his Offering Mast But how does this kind of Envy differ from that which thou hast put in the number of the seven Vices which are so abominated of God Sch. The difference is that this Grief or Sickness of Mind does arise from the Observances of those Spiritual Advantages which a man sees by the Divine Bounty to be conferr'd on others for their well-doing Of this nature was the ill will of Cain against Abel for when a man envies another in such manner he has a foolish conceit that he comes not behind any one in good works and yet he has not received the same reward with others that so the Supreme Judge has respect of persons he grieves that he has lived so well and bends himself to the destruction of another who is more beloved of God than himself In this manner Saul envied David But that Envy we have formerly spoken of is the Grief which a man conceives when he sees another man grow Rich or Honourable c. And for the most part this kind of Envy falls upon the Spirits of Women and persons of weak understanding neither does it like this urge a man to commit the most horrid wickedness Mast I have heard thy distinction and most heartily approve it it remains that thou explain the other two most abominable impieties above mentioned Sch. The Fifth is if any man remain stubbornly and pertinaciously in his own Opinion even then when men in the highest Authority dissent from him he is every where called an Old Rebel He deliver his own Sentiments to be followed by others of this man we find it written Deut. 17.12 And the man that will do presumptuously The Sixth is For a man to be deliberate and to be fixed in his resolution that he will never repent but that he will die in his sins Mast But what are those four primary Mischiefs which cry aloud unto God for vengeance Sch. The first is if one man kill another willingly and knowingly for the Altar it self affords no safety to a Murderer for it is written in the Law Exod. 21.14 But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour to slay him with guile thou stalt take him from mine Altar that he may die To the same effect is that spoken in the Law Gen. 4.10 The voice of thy Brothers bloud crieth unto me The next is to defile another mans bed of which sin it is written Prov. 6.28 29. Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burnt So he that goes in to his neighbours wife Whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent The third is the oppressing of the Poor the forcing the hungry and needy to weeping and wailing concerning which thus speaks the Divine Oracle Psal 12.5 Now will I arise saith the Lord. The fourth to defraud the Hireling of his wages for that is the same as to deject his Spirits and make his heart to fail him To this pertains that of the Law Deut. 24.15 For he is poor and setteth his heart upon it He that is addicted to these horrible Crimes and to these seven Vices which are so hated of God he presently entangles himself in Rebellion the third stock or complication of Iniquity that is to say he knows his Lords will and of set purpose acts that which is most contrary unto it There remains no safety no hope for such a man for what how shall he escape who when he understands what his Lord would have him to do does the contrary with all his might Surely his Lords wrath shall burn against him he will break a Rod of Iron over him he will bring him into judgment nor will he suffer him o go unpunished Mast What doth not Repentance profit a man that has been guilty of Rebellion which proves a Soveraign Medicine for Impudence and Obstinacy Sch. Doubtless there 's great vertue and efficacy in Penitence Affliction of Mind Prayer and Good Works there 's no Sin but what will be forgiven him that rightly performs these Duties and the Hand of God is always stretched forth to receive those who return into the Paths of Righteousness But there is somewhat more required of him that is stain'd with the guilt of Rebellion he must retain those excellent Advocates to plead for him the continual Meditation of the Divine Law and the most earnest study of Goodness and Righteousness by whose help his Prayer and Penitence becomes acceptable to God His Wickedness and Concupiscence keep him at a great distance from God and hinder the access of his Prayers Now he that will be cur'd of the Sickness of his Soul should take the same course with him who labours under any Distemper of Body for he goes to the Physician of whom he may learn what he must do to recover his Health In like manner he that is sick in his Soul should apply himself to some wise man that has the skill to shew him how he may be cur'd But sith the Medicine of the Body is so prepar'd that it is contrary to the nature of the Disease it follows that the Physician of the Soul must also seek out such Remedies which resist the nature of Concupiscence which is predominant in a diseased Soul Mast Tell now I pray thee what are those Studies and Inclinations which are opposed to those seven Bodies of Iniquity