Ordination and that it belongs to the Bishop only to confer it and she allows the Distinction of Orders And tho' there is none under a Deacon because the Scripture makes mention of none yet she acknowledges that they are very antient Sixthly As for the Real Presence tho' Dr. Wake treats of it at length we will omit speaking of it until we come to the XII Article where there are many Books seen that concern this Subject Seventhly We receive says the English Expositor with equal Veneration all that comes from the Apostles let it be by Scripture or Tradition provided we be assured that they are the true Authors of the Doctrine or Practice attributed to them so that when we are shewn that a Tradition was received in all Ages and by all Churches then we are ready to receive it as having the Character of an Apostolical Institution So our Church does not reject Tradition but only the Tenets and Superperstitions which Rome pretends to justify after this way Eighthly And as for the Authority of the Vniversal Church of all Ages the English acknowledges 1. That they have received Scripture from their Hands and it is chiefly for this Authority that they look upon Solomon's Song to be Canonical and reject other Books Apocryphal which perhaps they would have received with as much ease These Books have our respect even before we know by reading whether they be worthy of the Spirit of God but this Reading confirms us in the respect which the Authority of the Church gives unto them as to the Holy Writings II. If there had been an Vniversal Tradition not contested that had come from the Apostles to us concerning the meaning of the Holy Books as concerning their number the Church of England would receive it also but she does not believe that a particular Church such as that of Rome should usurp this Priviledge nor that it ought to force others to follow the Interpretations which she gives of the Passages of Scripture III. When any Disputes arise concerning Faith the best way to appease them is to assemble a Council but it does not follow that such an Assembly can say as the Assembly of the Apostles at Ierusalem It seem'd good to the Holy Ghost and to us nor that it is Infallible or that it's Canons are not subject to Correction IV. Dr. Wake goes on and says When we say I believe in the Holy Catholick Church we do not only understand that Iesus Christ has planted a Christian Church which is to last to the end of the World but also that the Son of God will conserve either among the Christians or in the Vniversal Church Truth enough to denominate it such a Church that is he will never suffer that Truths requisite for Salvation should be unknown in any place So that tho' the Vniversal Church can err it does not follow that it can sink altogether nor become wholly erroneous because then it would cease to be but such a particular Church as that of Rome can err and fall into utter Apostacy And tho' the Fundamental Points be clearly contained in Scripture and that it is very hard that one Man alone should gain-say the Opinion of all the Church nevertheless if this Man was certainly convinced that his Opinion was grounded upon the undoubted Authority of the Word of God we would be so far being afraid to bear with him that we all agree that the most glorious Action that St. Athanasius ever did was that he alone maintained Christ's Divinity against the Pope the Councils and all the Church V. And so tho we acknowledge that God has subjected Christians to the Government of the Church for Peaces sake and to preserve Vnity and Order and that she has power to prescribe to her Children what Doctrines are and are not to be publickly taught in her Communion yet we believe that the Holy Scripture is the only Support of our Faith and the last and infallible Rule by which the Church and we are to govern our selves Ninthly That there are some that think that the Church of England makes the Fathers of the three First Ages Idols and equals them in Authority to the Holy Scripture But Mr. Wake will undeceive them for says he Tho' we have appealed to the Churches of the first Ages for new Proofs of the truth of our Doctrine it is not that we think that the Doctors of those times had more right to judge of our Faith than those had that followed them but it is because that after a serious examination we have found that as for what concerns the common Belief that is among us they have believed and practised the same things without adding other Opinions or Superstitions that destroy them wherein they have acted conformably to their and our Rule the Word of God notwithstanding it cannot be denyed but that they effectually fell into some wrong Opinions as that of the Millenaries and Infant Communion which are rejected by both Parties Tenthly Whether one may be saved in the Roman Church the English think that as she yet conserves the Fundamental Doctrines those that live in her Bosom with a disposition to learn and leave off their pernicious Errors and profess all the truth that they will discover may be saved thro' the grace of God and Faith in Jesus Christ and by a general Repentance that puts their Errors in the number of the Sins they do not know of But that ill use may not be made of this charitable Grant the Expositor limits it as followeth I. That it is harder to be saved in the Communion of this Church since the Reformation than it was before because its Errors were not so well known nor so solidly refuted which rendred the ignorance excusable II. That they that live among Protestants and in a Country wherein they may learn and make publick and open profession of the Truth are more condemnable than the other III. That Priests are yet more than Laicks In a word the Protestants hope that the good Men of the Roman Church will be saved but they have no assurance that they are to be saved Whereas they are assured That they will be saved that live Christian-like in their own Communion They do not know whether God will condemn Roman Catholicks for the Errors they professed taking them for truth but they are assured that the Crime of those that being convinced of Popish Superstitions leave the Protestants thro' motives of Interest and Ambition and maintain Tyrannical and Superstitious Tenets against their Consciences deserve no pardon Eleventhly As for Idolatry the Homilies of the Church of England accuse that of Rome as well as the English Doctors who lived under Edward the VI. and Queen Elizabeth The Catholicks object that the Learned of this Kingdom changed Opinion in the Reign of King Iames the First and begun to maintain that the Church of Rome was not Idolatrous but these Gentlemen are so unlucky in Proofs that of six Authors
they writ their Epistles but that they only taught privately being not as yet separated from the Church He enquires into the time that all these Epistles had been written and shews according to his account that this agrees very well with the Epoche which he hath observed of the first Schism that happened in the Church Celsus a great Enemy to Christianity confesseth in Origen that the first Disciples of our Lord were all of the same Opinion and that they were not separated from one another until their number increased He reproaches them with these Divisions and had not omitted it if there had been any in the time of the first Disciples to have made a Demonstration of them in like manner The same Truth also appears by a place of Clemens of Alexandria This Author pretends to prove that the Heretical Churches were of a later date than the True To this purpose he divides the time which passed since the Birth of Iesus Christ into three Periods the first comprehends the time of our Saviour's Life from Augustus to the fifteenth Year of Tiberius according to the Calculation of Clement the second from the Death of Iesus Christ to the Martyrdom of St. Paul under Nero's Empire and the third from Nero to Adrian Clement shews that all Heresie began after these three Periods thus agreeing with Mr. Dodwell that they appeared not until Adrian so that some were in being until the Emperor Antoninus's time which is true of the Heretick Marcion and very likely of Valentinus Mr. Dodwell having proved in his first Dissertation that the Hereticks did not begin to disturb the Church until under the Emperor Trajan pursues this Subject in the Dissertation whereof we give the Extract and proves in particular that Marcion Basilides Valentinus and some other Hereticks made Polycarp say so often O God to what times am I reserv'd That all these Hereticks I say did not discover themselves until under the Empire of Adrian the reason hereof may be seen in the Author we will be satisfied to remark that he reprehends Tertullian by the bye of some very gross Faults as that he made but one Emperor of Tiberius and Claudius under the name of Tiberius Claudius but this of Tertullian will not seem so strange as in Eusebius one Emperor divided into three Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and that the Historian says they were Brothers After having spoke of the time of St. Irenaeus's Birth Mr. Dodwell search'd after that of his Death he rejects the pretended History of his Martyrdom by the Persecution of the Emperor Severus because it does not appear in any Author of the four first Ages that this Father was Martyred there being none that gives him this name To comprehend the strength of the Argument which is a Demonstration on this Subject you must know that the Honour of Martyrdom was so Glorious that this Praise was never forgot so that St. Irenaeus not having it from any Ancient Author though they gave him many Glorious Titles we ought to conclude that it was not due to him It 's true some of the following Ages honoured him with the Title of Martyr the first that gave it him was the Author of the Questions to the Orthodox which Mr. Dodwell supposes to be one Iustina Sicilian that is supposed to be writ about the end of the fifth Age at least he is sure he did not live until after the Emperors embraced Christianity and consequently his Testimony alone ought not to be taken for things that passed a long time before The second who calls S. Irenaeus Martyr is St. Ierom but because this Doctor has not given him this name in the places wherein he ought to have given it him if he had thought it his due Mr. Dodwell judges it is some Remark that might have passed out of the Margin into the Text so that nothing can be concluded in favour of St. Irenaeus's pretended Martyrdom neither from the Author of the Questions to the Orthodox nor from the Testimony of St. Ierom and Gregory of Tours may be looked upon as the first that spoke of it affirmatively but it is with so little Exactness and upon so false Supposition that one ought not to take notice of what he says He will have him dye in the same Persecution that crowned Photion Bishop of Lions whom nevertheless St. Irenaeus succeeded Besides it is certain that he lived when Victor was Pope as appears by the famous Dispute that happened about Easter which was undoubtedly in that Pope's time And it seems under the Empire of Commodus Eusebius and the Chronicle of Alexandria make mention of this Father in the third Year of this Emperor Mr. Dodwell believes that it was upon the occasion of his Works against the Schism of Blastus and Florinus that he put out under Commodus rather than Severus by reason of the Troubles of the Reign of this last during which it seems this Dispute was quieted The last Actions of St. Irenaeus which we have any knowledge of end in the Year CLXXXIX of our Saviour and the Tenth of the Emperor Commodus so that it may be concluded this Father died about Ninety but not full a Hundred Years of Age. This Author attributes this long Life to Providence that Tradition might be more compleat The same also was said of the Patriarchs before Moses because the Revelations were not writ but the Writings of the New Testament being received and known the like Necessity does not appear Nevertheless Mr. Dodwell carries this thought further and says That it was more difficult that the Churches planted by the Apostles should consent to an Error than to convey Books under the borrowed names of Apostles there would be nothing wanting to fall into this Unhappiness but the Perfidiousness of an Ill or the too great Credulity of a Good Man It 's to befriend Tradition extreamly to bring it from the Inconveniencies to which it seems a thousand times more subject than Scripture For after all how would it be possible to distinguish from the true Apostolick Tradition what might be added under pretext of Explication for some other end After having spoke of the Person of St. Irenaeus Mr. Dodwell passes to his Writings in the following Dissertations The design of his Work against Heresies and the time wherein it was written wholly takes up the fourth Dissertation If this Father excuses the Rudeness of his Style it is not that he was an Enemy to Eloquence or that he despised it but because his long abode in Gaul made him lose the Habit of speaking the Greek Tongue and because he was not accustomed to write whence it is concluded that his Work against Heresies was the first of his Writings nor did he write it until he was far in Years because he talks of having seen Polycarp in his Youth as a particular Advantage which seems to intimate that there were but few then in the World that could say the same thing He says
the Gauls The conduct of Victor pleased not all the other Bishops who exhorted him in their turn to have sentiments conformable to a Peace Unity and Love to our Neighbours There are still of their Letters adds Eusebius wherein they reprehend Victor with eagerness enough Amongst these Bishops was Irenaeus who in the Letter which he Writ upon this Subject in the Name of the Brothers over whom he presided among the Gauls maintains also that one Sunday must be Celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord yet he advertiseth Victor with much gravity that he ought not to cut off from the Communion whole Churches of God who observe a Tradition and Ancient Custom It will be some difficulty to believe that Bom found in this Affair a Proof of the Authority of the Pope Notwithstanding it is the conclusion he draws from it and grounds 1. Upon that the Bishops who were displeased at this Excommunication would undoubtedly have acted with more haughtiness against Victor if he had not been their Superior whereas they speak unto him with a mildness which marks well that they contested not the Right of Excommunicating the Churches as not being of his Jurisdiction but that they only found fault with the use he made thereof the cause of the Excommunication not being of consequence enough according to them 2. That notwithstanding they were deceived in that and that Victor did well to use this rigour because Blastus one of the principal Patrons of the Opinion of the Asiaticks would have introduced Iudaism under this pretence 3. That the Church approved of the Conduct of Victor in condemning the Bishops of Asia to whom was given the name of Quartodecimal Hereticks 4. That Irenaeus himself hath not doubted of the Superiority of the Bishop of Rome seeing he saith elsewhere That all the Churches must to wit all the Faithful of what place soever they are come to this Church in which the Apostolical Tradition hath been preserved by those who came to it from every Part because of its more powerful Principality Ad hanc enim Ecclesiam propter potentiorem Principalitatem necesse est omnem convenire Ecclesiam hoc est eos qui sunt undique fideles in qua semper ab his qui sunt undique conservata est ea quae est ab Apostolis Traditio To this Episcopius Replies That the Answer of the Bishops of Asia and the Letter of Irenaeus would not be very respectful if Victor had been the Chief of the Church that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies properly to give a contrary order and those of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acerbius perstringere are not invented to express the submission of a Subject to his Prince and that if these Bishops could take it ill that their Judge a pretended Soveraign and Infallible should banish from the Church and exclude from Heaven so great a number of Churches for so slight a cause they have therefore thought that he might be mistaken in his Decisions upon matters of Faith and that they had a right to examine them 2. That the Heresie of Blastus justifies not the proceedings of Victor seeing the Asiaticks looked not upon the Celebration of the Passover as a necessary Observance and which should precisely be applyed to such a day that they were contented that Victor and other Bishops should Celebrate it on Sunday if they had their Reasons for it but that they having not the same proofs thereof believed themselves not obliged to abandon the Apostolical Tradition It hath not been remarked that our Professor answereth the passage of Irenaeus because we need only to read it throughly to shew that there is no mention there of the Right of the Bishop of Rome in the Decision of Controversies but only of the Characters which they in the time of Irenaeus did acknowledge Apostolical Thereupon he saith That it must be sought for in the places where the Apostles have established Bishops but because it would be too long to make an enumeration of all the Apostolick Churches he stops at one of the most ancient and greatest which is the Church of Rome As this City was the Capital of the Empire Principalitas Potentior and that for that Reason the Inhabitants of divers Provinces negotiated there and were obliged to come thither Irenaeus concludes that the Apostolical Tradition could not fail of having been faithfully kept there since that if the Christians of a Province or of a City had been minded to corrupt it the Christians of other places who were at Rome would have opposed it it being improbable to suppose that so many different Nations would agree to abandon in so little a time the Doctrine of the Apostles II. Bom often alledged passages out of St. Augustin for the Authority of Popes that gave occasion to Episcopius of citing him the 22d Canon of the Council of Millan where St. Augustin was Secretary and another Canon of the 6th Council of Carthage where this Bishop also assisted both which prohibited the drawing Ecclesiastical Causes of the Diocess of Africk on the other side the Sea whether they regard the Inferior Members of the Clergy or the very Bishops That the Deputies of the Pope having represented to the Assembly That this Canon destroyed the Priviledges which the Council had granted to the Patriarch of Rome in permitting Ecclesiasticks to appeal unto him in Judgments had against them by the Ordinaries the Bishops of Africk were extreamly surprized and said all Unanimously That they never heard of such Priviledges Thereupon these Deputies related three Canons which they said to be of the Council of Nice the Fathers of Carthage to Constantinople Alexandria and Antioch and the Authentick Copies of this Council where not finding these three Canons they Writ to the Pope That the Right of Appealing which he pretended to in quality of Supream Judge and belonged not to him by virtue of the Council of Nice seeing the Three Canons upon which he grounded his pretentions were not to be found in the Originals The Exceptions are reduced to this 1. That the Council of Millan prohibits but the Inferior Clerks to Appeal beyond the Sea and that this is evident because Pope Innocent to whom the Synod of Millan submitted all their Decrees as to the Head of the Church approved the Canon in question 2. That there is no reason to believe that the Copy of the Council of Nice which was kept at Rome was supposed but that there is much more likelyhood that those of Constantinople Antioch and Alexandria were defective seeing the Manuscript upon which Ruffinus Writ his History was so and that there are several Canons of this Council cited in that of Calcedonia and in St. Ambros St. Augustin and Ierome which are not found in this Historian 3. That the Decrees which are accused of Supposition have been cited by other Popes before Zozime as Iulius speaks who living but Twenty years after the Council of Nice could easily have been convinced
in his Historical Dissertations p. 45 c. fol. IV. Bom after that takes another turn to Answer the Question of Episcopius touching the Institution of a Soveraign Judge over Controversies who succeeded the Apostles He asks of him a formal passage Wherein Iesus Christ hath ordered the Apostles that if there arose Disputes in the Church they should Convocate a Synod and make Decisions thereupon to which the Faithful should be obliged in Conscience to submit There is no appearance adds he that the Apostles should do it if they had not believed this Action conformable to the Will of their Master nor that the Primitive Church should so soon imitate them if the Apostles had ordered nothing thereupon It must then be that either the Institution of Synods is an Apostolical Tradition or that it is an inseparable Sequel of the Ministery and Promises that Iesus Christ hath made to those who exercise it I am always with you until the end of the World and other Passages which tho they are at every moment in the mouth of Catholicks seem not the stronger for that to Protestants Episcopius confesseth that Iesus Christ hath commanded no where his Disciples to convocate Synods and that notwithstanding they have done it He adds That according to their Example Ecclesiastical Assemblies may be held but that it followeth not that these Assemblies where none less than the Holy Ghost presides have as much Authority as the Apostolick ones The reason hereof is that the Authority of the Apostolick Synods depended not so much on the consent and conformity of their Opinions as on the quality of their persons and of the Authority which God had clothed them with by the Revelations he had made unto them and the Orders he had given them This will appear evident if we take notice of the conduct of the Apostles When they have an express command from God they expect not the Resolutions of a Synod for to act and St. Peter understood no sooner the meaning of the Vision which he had had but he went to Cornelius But when they speak of their own head they say I advise you 1 Cor. vii 25. On these occasions they took advice of one another Sometime they agreed not as it happened to Paul and Barnabas Act. xv 39. But commonly the spirit of Mildness and Peace which fill'd them and which shewed them all the Principles and all the Consequences of the Gospel brought them mutually to consult each other So that their actions being thus conducted by the Spirit of God they could say It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us But tho it was granted that the Convocation of Synods is of a divine Institution doth it follow that all the Synods and Councils which have been held after the Apostles have made good Decisions A Catholick denyes it and if he is asked the reason He must of necessity answer that what distinguisheth true Synods from false ones is that there have been some which have had all the Conditions necessary for a true Synod and have made good Decisions and the others wanting these Conditions have been but Conciliabula But how can it be known that these Conditions are assured marks of the Truth of Synods seeing that there is not one which is not equivocate according to some Doctors of the Roman Church And how can one tell what Synod hath them Will it be known by its Decisions But they should be examined and so to deny the Principle to wit that it might have pronounced a definitive Sentence Is it enough to assure it lawful that it be general Yes for the Gallican Church which receives the Council of Basil but not for Italy It must besides be confirmed by the Pope but who hath given him this Right Is it a Priviledge of the Successors of St. Peter How have they obtained it and whence comes it that the Bishops of Antioch who have succeeded this Apostle as well as those of Rome have had no share in it After all what needs there any trouble to prove the Authority of Synods when People are of the sentiment of Bom and the Iesuites And seeing that St. Peter and his Successours are the Soveraign Judges of Controversies what need is there of these Ecumenick Assemblies convocated with so much difficulty and Expences It 's not enough to interrogate this infallible Judge and to receive his Decisions as Oracles from Heaven The Passages which the Catholick alledgeth here in his behalf and the Answers which he hath made to those of the Protestants have been so often repeated that tho Episcopius refutes them sufficiently after a new manner we notwithstanding do not think it worth while to stop at them We shall only relate the manner wherewith our Professour translates the famous passage of the First Epistle to Timothy III. 15 16. because it is not common and that it destroyeth at once all the proofs which the Roman Church could draw thence Episcopius having proved against his Adversary as an illiterate Person that the Division of the Canonical Books into Chapters and Verses is not of the Sacred Writers and that it is not they who have put the Points and Comma's thereto he sheweth him that it is much more natural and more conformable to the aim of the Apostle to point this place otherwise than the common Copies are And to Translate it thus I have written this unto you That if I delay to come you may know how Men ought to behave themselves in the House of God which is the Church of the living God The stay and prop of Truth and the Mystery of Piety is certainly great God manifested in the Flesh c. When there is want of clear Reasons and convincing Arguments people are constrained to have recourse to Prejudices to Comparisons and to the Reasons of Convenience Therefore the Roman Catholicks say incessantly to us That God who well knew that there would arise Disputes in the Church upon Matters of Faith as there are Processes formed amongst Citizens of one State touching the Goods which they possess ought to establish a Judge who should be consulted at all times and who might instruct us in the true sense of Scripture in contested places and thus end the Differences It seemeth that Iesus Christ otherwise would not have taken care enough of his Church and the faithful who compose it seeing he would not have given them means of assuring themselves perfectly that the Doctrine which appears most conformable to Scripture is true if they might be in doubt as to several Articles of Faith and that what they should most determinately believe thereupon could not pass but for a a greater likelihood of Truth It must be granted that there would be nothing better understood nor more commodious than a Judge of this nature There would be no more need for one to break his Head in examining all things and to seek for truth it should be all found and People would go to Heaven
Divines who pretend that Episcopacy is of Divine Institution maintain at the same time That Saint Iames Bishop of Ierusalem was not an Apostle But St. Paul gives him the Title of an Apostle They say That this first Bishop of Jerusalem had a right of entring into the most Holy Place and to carry a Golden Reed as the High Priest of the Jews But it is certain at least that St. Epiphanes mistook when he relyes upon the Authority of Eusebius to prove it For Eusebius never said any such thing speaking of St. Iames and there is a great likelyhood that this is one of these false Traditions which cannot be applyed to any of the Apostles Besides the Apostles there were Prophets in the Christian Church whose Charge consisted chiefly to edifie the Church by the Exposition of the most difficult passages of Scripture They penetrated sometimes into the time to come and foretold its events Justin Martyr assures us that this Gift of Prophecy continued also to his time But it was soon extinguished For when Montan begun to publish his Revelations the Churches of Phrygia were moved thereat and these motions of wonder and admiration are formed commonly on unheard of events or which are extreamly rare The Author affirms this Maxim That Prophecies are not well understood until after their accomplishment Opinions have been always much divided about the duration of the Ministery of Iesus Christ who is the Head of the Church St. Irenaeus refuting the Valentinians is fallen into a great Excess For he believed that Iesus Christ lived almost 50 years The most common opinion is that he Preached the space of 3 or three years and a half Mr. Burman takes another Party and maintains that Iesus Christ Celebrated but two Feasts of the Passover whence he concludes That he could live but a year and a half after his Baptism The last Passover wherein Iesus Christ Instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist makes another subject of Contestation The Greeks who think they have a great Interest to maintain That Iesus Christ Communicated with Leavened Bread pretend That he Celebrated his last Passover after the Wednesday at night This opinion which is established by them but since the Dispute they had with the Roman Church upon the Azymes deserves not much examination Scaliger hath not been ashamed to retract and to refute himself upon this matter For after having inclined to the Greeks he maintains at last That there is reason to believe that Jesus Christ eat the Lamb of the Passover a day before the greatest part of the other Jews who begun to Celebrate the Feast but on Friday at Night Our Author believes on the contrary That all the Jews were forced to Celebrate the Feast the same day because it was necessary to kill all the Lambs in the Porch of the Temple The almost infinite number of these beasts which were to be killed and which if Iosephus may be believed amounted to Five Millions five thousand six hundred troubleth him not He believeth that the great number of Priests who assisted at this Service was sufficient for this great Execution Not mentioning that each private Man had a right to kill his Lamb provided it was in the Porch of the Temple which was so big that in the time of Solomon there entred into it 22000 Oxen 12000 Sheep besides the other Sacrifices which the People offered Yet there remains a great difficulty For the Lambs were not begun to be presented but at the Ninth Hour to wit at three in the Afternoon and Iosephus assureth us that this Ceremony ended about Nine of the Clock So though the Temple should be spatious enough to contain the number of Lambs the time would not be long enough to kill them The last Disputes concern the Eucharist But as this matter hath been treated on very often we will make an end here A Famous SPEECH of Monsieur Cocquelin Chancellor of the Church of Paris in 1686. IT is the Custom amongst the Divines of Paris before the Cap is given to those who have accomplished their License to present them by a Doctor to the Chancellour of the Cathedral Church The Doctor who presents these Licentiates makes a small Discourse in their Praise to which the Chancellor answers by another Discourse As this which Mr. Cocquelin hath made this year on the like occasion hath had something singular in it as well for its Eloquence which how natural soever it is to the Author had not notwithstanding appeared with so much lustre but for the fine and delicate turn wherewith he manag'd his Subject when he treated on the Affairs of the times and by the fine Poem which he added to it We have thought we could not do better than to begin with this Piece which hath fallen by chance into our hands and to gather together the scatter'd Pieces which we have promised to impart to the Publick when they should deserve to have this Justice done them Here is then what he saith VIris eruditis è Theologica Palaestra Biennio quolibet secendentibus Viri Ecclesiae Parisiensis Proceres sapientissimi Patres Auditores humanissimi non defuit huc usque neque decrit unquam laborum laudisque sibi conciliandae seges si modo quod in scholis didicerint ad summum perducere pro rerum pro locorum pro temporum opportunitate impendere ad bravium de quo hodie Apostolus at que immarcescibilem corenam totis viribus contendere voluerint Et sane quamvis pro uberrima Sacrae facultatis Theologicae Paris feracitate ex ipsius sinu viri in omni sacrarum litterarum genere quantum patitur aetas exercitatissimi longè plures uno quoque biennio prorumpant quam ex toto quantus quantus est reliquo Christiano orbe quod nihilominus apud Apostolos Christus olim Dominus pronuntiavit effatum illud ipsum labentibus exinde perpetuo saeculis merito proferri potuit poteritque inposterum Messis quidem multa operarii vero pauci At nunquam ejusdem Christi aliud oraculum vos Apostolos ad fidem religionemque praedicandam adhortantis aequiori jure quam in praesentiarum possit usurpari quo verae sapientiae candidatis ejusdem fidei religionisque aut disseminand◠aut propagandae pro nostro munere concedamus Licentiam Videte aiebat Deus ille generis humani servator videte Regiones quoniam jam albae sunt ad messem Enimvero quicumque hactenus sacrae Facultatis Theol. Paris stadium emensi praeivere vobis ad coronam Galliam quae monstris ad Calvinum usque caruerat aut totam Catholicae fidei deditam aut nascentem haeresim quae proinde tunc contemptui potius quam timori habebatur aut jam adultam atque roboratam atque adeo cui evertendae inutilis ut plurimum opera navabatur divino sacrae sapientiae lumine illustrandam aggressi sunt vobis vero Licentiandi meritissimi id unum ex divinae providentiae
Christ which according to Calvin descends not from Heaven The vertue of the Mind being sufficient to penetrate through all impediments and to surmount the distance of Places He cites several other places of Beza of Martyr and many English Doctors by which it appears that they did not believe the Body of Iesus Christ properly descended from Heaven into the Eucharist or is in divers places at the same time though they say we are nourished hereby through Faith but after an incomprehensible manner Yet it must be granted that if these Great Men understood nothing by nourishing our selves by the flesh of Iesus Christ but to believe that we are saved by his Sacrifice and to feed our selves with this hope or to receive his Spirit it was not necessary to tell us of a miraculous Union of our Spirits with the Body of Iesus Christ notwithstanding the distance of places the Spirit of God being every where and Faith having no relation to local distance there 's nothing in the Spiritual eating of the Body of Iesus Christ taken in the sense we have above-mentioned of Miraculous nor of Incomprehensible more than in other acts of Piety and other Graces which God gives unto us Whether we suppose this or any other method to expound the eating of the Body of Iesus Christ there would be no danger to the Reformation to say that these Learned Men have not had an Idea altogether distinct thereupon or that their Expressions are not exact Although it were granted that they mistook in some things it would not follow that the Romish Church could have justly rejected all their Doctrines or that Protestants are in the wrong by inviolably retaining their Sentiments as far as they are conformable to Holy Scripture and to abandon that wherein they might be deceived We do not make a profession of believing that those who err in one thing are deceived in all or of rejecting every thing they have said because they have not perceived the truth clearly enough in some things Thus all the Objections of this nature might be ruined without undertaking to defend indifferently all that the Reformers may have said seeing it 's agreed on that the Protestant Religion is not founded upon their Authority and that they might be mistaken in inconsiderable things without its being in danger But Dr. Wake thought not convenient to act in this manner He believes that the Reformed never changed their Opinions hereon and for the Divines of Edward and Elizabeth he maintains that they were perfectly of the same opinion which he proves by a passage of the History of the Reformation by Dr. Burnet In the Second Part which is wholly included in the 3d Chapter he answers first to what Mr. Walker affirms to have been allowed by Protestants and maintained against him that he hath not well understood the words of some of the Authors whom he cited that say very well that in Communicating Iesus Christ ought to be Adored but not as Corporally present under the Species of Bread and Wine As for Forbes and Marc-Antony de Dominis it is agreed on that the desire they had of reconciling Religions made them say too much Thorndyke speaks not less vigorously but upon a Hypothesis quite different from that of the Roman Church seeing he believed that the Bread is called the Body of Iesus Christ and the Wine his Blood because by the Consecration they are Hypostatically united to the Divinity of Iesus Christ as well as to his Natural Body It was spoken of in the First Part. To oppose to the Catholick Author Doctors of his own Party they say that Thomas Paludanus and Catharin maintains that it was an enormous Idolatry to Adore the Sacrament without believing Transubstantiation Thus although it is agreed on that if a Consecrated Host is truly Adorable one would not be guilty of Idolatry if one Adored one which should not be Consecrated thinking it once would be so It 's incredible that the Reformed Religion can receive so much prejudice hereby as the Authority of the Catholick Doctors who have been cited because the Reformed deny that a Host can be Adored whether it be Consecrated or not As to the Grounds of this Subject he sends us in his Preface to a Book Entituled A Discourse concerning the Adoration of the Host Printed at London 1685. In the Second place The Catholick Doctrine is briefly examined but as there is none who hath not read divers Treatises upon this Subject we shall insist no longer upon it ORIGINES BRITANNICAE Or the Antiquities of the British Churches with a Preface concerning some pretended Antiquities relating to Britain in vindication of the Bishop of St. Asaph by Dr. Stillingfleet London 1685 in Fol. p. 364. WE should speak of the Preface of this Work wherein the Author refutes the Opinion of the Scots concerning the Antiquity of their Kings if there had not been an Extract made of a Book wherein it is already done and the Principal reasons related with much fidelity It shall suffice to say in general that our Prelate in it defends the Bishop of St. Asaph who in his Relation of the Antient Ecclesiastical Government in Great Britain and in Ireland hath shewn 1. That the Scots could not be in Great Britain so soon as they say 2. That the Historians from whom this is maintain'd are not of sufficient validity for one to rely upon As the Scots may be pardoned the zeal they have for their Country their Neighbours likewise may be suffered to endeavor the refuting them if it be necessary It 's a contestation which as Dr. Stillingfleet observes will not be decided neither by a Combat nor a Process and which hath no influence in matters of Religion or State That which concerns the Antiquities of the British Churches is more considerable by the connection which this matter hath with the important Controversies as it will appear hereafter This nevertheless is but the Proof of a greater Work where the Author endeavors to clear the most important difficulties of Ecclesiastical History Judging that to Write a compleat Ecclesiastical History is a design too great for one Man to accomplish he hath only undertaken to clear some parts thereof and thought he was obliged to begin with that which concerns the Antiquities of the Church whereof he is a Member This Book is divided into Five great Chapters the Abridgment of which you have here 1. It hath been believed for a long time in England that the Gospel was Preached here in Tyberius's Reign But if the short time be considered betwixt the Resurrection of our Lord and the death of this Emperor and that 't is thought during a long while the Apostles Preached the Gospel only to the Iews it will be hard to suppose that in this little distance persons came from Iudea into Britain to Preach the Gospel Some of the Learned of the Church of Rome have by the same Reason refuted the Fabulous Tradition which
Christ the Sins which were committed before his coming and which he bore by his patience and that God hath declared in the Gospel how much he loves Justice since he has pardoned Sinners after that his Son their Surety had expiated their Crimes and has even pardoned those which sinn'd before his coming It was objected to Mr. Alting that the sense he gave to the term Paresis was unknown to all Greece He answers to this it is the Custom with the Writers of the New Testament to give Hebrew Significations to Greek Words and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answers to the Hegnebbir of the Hebrews nor is it strange that St. Paul has taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Transport To confirm his Opinion the Author brings many Examples of a very extraordinary Signification of the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for which answering to that of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chi In Hebrew is employed for although in the following passages Iohn 4.44 Two days after Iesus returned into Galilee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 altho' Iesus had testified himself that no Prophet would be well received in his own Country Rom. 5.7 One would scarce die for a just Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 altho' for a good Man some wou'd even dare to die There are infinite Examples of these Hebraisms Thus the passage of St. Iohn 8.25 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which has given so much trouble to the Interpreters is a phrase of the Rabbins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lebitchilla tascher ani omer Lachem I am really what I tell you The same Apostle doth not commonly take the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a Greek sense but in a signification which the Rabbins give to their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beparhesia which signifies Publickly 50 27 42 44 52. In the 45.50 Mr. Alting proves the necessity of studying the Hebrew Tongue against a Professor who durst maintain in his Publick Lessons that that Tongue was not necessary for Ministers nor for Students in Divinity because St. Augustine and all the Doctors of his time were ignorant of it except St. Ierome who drew upon himself the hatred of all his Contemporaries The same Author writing against the Jew Athias p. 4. according to the citation of Mr. Alting Libros veteris Testamenti partem Bibliorum inutilem dixit potiorem vero sanctiorem novi Testamenti libros that is the Books of the Old Testament are the unprofitable Part of the Bible but that those of the New Testament are the most holy and most considerable Mr. Perizonius designing to refute Spinosa consulted Mr. Alting upon some difficulties which our Professor resolves in his 59. and 50. The first relates to the Authors of the Canon of the Old Testament and 't is asked whether it was Esdras Mr. Alting saith That 't is commonly believed upon the Testimony of Buxtorf who assures us in his Tyberiade That the Members of the great Synagogue assembled to bring into one Body the Canonical Books and that Esdras presided in that Assembly and that the three last Prophets were there accompanied with Mordocheus But Gans David remarks that Simeon the Just who is said to have been the last of the Assembly of this great Synagogue lived eight Generations after Ioshuah Son to Iosadack Add to this that there is no likelyhood that Malachy was Contemporary with Esdras since he doth not speak of the rebuilding of the Temple nor return of the Iews and that he chiefly sticks to reprehend the Priests who corrupted the Law by their Interpretations So that this Prophet seems to have lived about the time of Hillel when the Sect of the Pharisees began to flourish and their Traditions to be in Vogue Parker has remarked that the Fathers of the Church pass'd for Apostolical Traditions customs established by long use whereof the first Author was not known and to which they had a mind to give some Authority The same Remark may be made concerning the Iews There were amongst them Institutions whereof the Authors were uncertain which they attributed to the Members of the great Synagogue and made them come from inspired Men which were but Traditions of the Pharisees The Members of the Synagogue never lived in the same time nor in the same place and that consequently there never hath been such an one It is an invention of the Sticklers for Tradition to give some likelihood to their System The second difficulty regards the numbering of Iews who returned from Babylon to Ierusalem Esdras and Nehemiah agree in a Total Sum which was 42360. but when we our selves will muster up the number of each Family there will be only found 29818 in Esdras and 31089 in Nehemiah There is yet this thing remarkable that Nehemiah mentions 1765 Persons which are not in Esdras and that Esdras has 494 whereof Nehemiah doth not all speak The Difference that seems to make it impossible to reconcile these two Authors is what makes them agree for if you add the Over-plus of Esdras to the number of Nehemiah and the Surplus of Nehemiah to that of Esdras the same Number will come of them both Which being substracted from 42360 there remains 10777. which were not mentioned perhaps because they lost their Genealogical Books being of the Posterity of the Priests Chabaja Cotzi Barzillai or of the Israelites of the Ten Tribes In the sixtieth Letter our Author makes the History of the Canon of the Old Testament Moses saith he committed the keeping of his Books to the Levites Deut. 31.25 and the following and created them as 't were Doctors of the People Deut. xxxiii 10 And it seems that Malacby alludes to this charge Ch. 2. vers 4 5 6 7. Yet these Doctors did not much increase this Bibliotheque until the time of David The Prince assisted with some Prophets divided the Priests and Levites into divers Classes who were to serve by turns But this Order was the cause of a great confusion amongst the holy Levites whereof none took care but when his turn was come Thence proceeds the disorder which is remarked in the Collection of the Psalms David gave them to the Levites who were in their Week according as he composed them each Classis kept those which had been remitted to it In fine there was a Collection made joyning together what each Classis had received without having regard to the Order or time in which they were Written The same thing sometimes hapened in regard to the Sermons of the Prophets Habac. 2.2 which having been intrusted to divers Priests were gathered according to this Method and put into the number of the Sacred Books As in the time of Malachy they began to have too much esteem for Traditions and to attribute unto them an Authority which weakned that of the Sacred Writings this Prophet discover'd the Imposition of the Levites who gave way to these Traditions because it augmented their credit He prohibited for the future that any Writing whatever should be put
Bread that the same Body of Iesus Christ which had been stretched upon the Cross was upon the Altar and his not appearing to be there Do you think that I stood to tell them all that in all Bodies there are small Entities vulgarly called Accidents and that amongst these Entities there is principally one called Quantity which extends the Body without being always extended it self of the Body or the Essence of the Body or the Moods of the Body and that God in the Eucharist depriving the Body of Iesus Christ of this Entity made it to stay without Extention Do you think I say that I went to tell them all this fine Discourse Truly I was far from it I should have embraced them again and even as they have a very subtil Wit more fit for Sciences than we when they are minded to apply themselves thereunto it may be I should have given them a distast I was satisfied to tell them simply and in three Words That God who had made that World of nothing could as well make that a Body should appear where there was none and that there should appear no Body where there was one He adds that these good People went away with this more contented and more submissive than if the Thing had been expounded to them after the ordinary manner He is not only contented to defend himself he besides attacks the Cartesians upon the infinity of the World the Soul of Beasts the cause of Motion and Free-Will c. The fourth Piece is the Work of a Cartesian against the same Mr. de la Ville and in favour of the excellent Philosopher who hath made the Disquisition of Truth Mr. de la Ville had witnessed some particular Spleen against him and had by the by attackt his Exposition of Original Sin He is answered and accused of relating the passage fasly After that he is told that the Counsels have not decided all the particular Tenets that the Philosophers of Schools have advanced to expound the Mysteries of the Eucharist and that one may be a very good Catholick without adopting all these Tenets That also it is not apparent that the Bishop of Condom spoke thereof in exposing the Doctrin of the Church It is maintained against him that these Tenets were unknown to the Ancient Fathers and consequently that Tradition and Reason are for those who are called Cartesians There is added a Memorial to expound the possibility of Transubstantiation It deserves to be read for it is a different manner of explication to all those which have been seen hitherto After these four Pieces in French comes a Dissertation in Latin Composed by a Protestant against the same Mr. de la Ville The Protestant is so wife as to intrude into the dispute which the Catholicks have amongst themselves upon the Tenet of the Real presence He lets them go on he supposeth that his mediation would displease both of 'em and that it would be thought he rather endeavoured to put the evil forward than allay it He is content to examin that place of the Book of Mr. de la Ville where this Author endeavours to prove by natural Reasons that the Extent is not of the Essence of the Body and because Mr. de la Ville to bring this about only weakeneth as much as he can the Reasons by which Cherselier Rohault and the Author of the Disquisition of the Truth have maintained that the Extent is the Essence of the Matter The Protestant is contented to Restablish the Reasons of these Gentlemen in all their strength in ruining all the Exceptions and all the subtility of Mr. de la Ville He applieth himself chiefly to shew that the penetration of Matter is impossible The Printer hath added to this Dissertation some Theses of Philosophy which come from the same Hand and where it is maintained amongst other things that Place Motion and Time have not as yet been defined but after an unexplicable manner It is also remarked that the Reflection of Bodies must needs proceed from their Elastick Vertue being Motion is Divisible to Infinity and that by Reason of this Divisibility any fixt Body cannot hinder that which is in Motion to continue in its Motion in a right Line Mr. Descartes had not taken care of this Lastly at the end of this Collection are the Meditations upon Metaphysicks which appeared in 1678. Under the name of William Wanduis In this is the quintessence of the Cartesian Metaphysicks and all the best things which are in the Meditations of Mr. Descartes It even appears to be much better digested in it more short and pertinent than in that of Mr. Descartes and that he is surpassed in it The French Author of the Learned Mercury of the Month of February speaks of these Meditations of William Wanduis and refutes some places thereof but his Remarks tho good in his System have no very great strength when they are used against the Principles of the Author of the Meditations Of the Agreement of Specifick Remedies with the Corpuscular Philosophy To which is added A Dissertation about the various usefulness of Simple Medicaments By Robert Boyle Esq Fellow of the Royal Society WHEN the Ancient Philosophers were asked the Reason of any Natural Effect their Custom was always to have recourse to certain occult Qualities whereof they had no Idea at all It was but in this latter Age that People began to Discourse according to the Rules of Geometry and to explain by Properties by which we clearly conceive the different Effects of Bodies the most universal Properties of Body and Extension Figure and Motion And whereas Bodies do not always act by their whole Bulk but sometimes by their insensible Particles it is necessary to speak of the Figure and Motion of these Particles There have been an infinite number of Conjectures made upon these little Bodies and some have made it their endeavour to draw hence Consequences not only for Natural and Experimental Philosophy but also for Medicine As for Example when some were satisfied that the mass of Blood was in a disposition that disagreed with its Nature they thought that particle of a certain Shape and Figure should be made use of to bring this Blood back to its due and natural Temper And there were some that believ'd that universal Remedies might be found out which would produce this Effect let the Distemper be what it would and so have insensibly fallen into an Opinion That what is said commonly of Specificks is but meer Fancy and an effect of our own Brain 1. Mr. Boyle intends to shew in the first of these two short Dissertations That the common Opinion concerning Specificks is not at all incompatible or inconsistent with the Modern Philosopher's Thoughts of the Operation of the insensible Particles of Bodies To avoid Obscurity and Equivocation Mr. Boyle takes notice from the very beginning That three kind of Remedies may be termed Specificks 1. Such as may serve for the Cure
little the better for the very places of Scripture we most frequently alledge because they most commonly respect the Masoretick Bible which we have not room to explain to those who know nothing of these things If therefore such Subjects are fit for Divines to understand then must the Knowledge of the Rabbinical Writings be so likewise 'T is peculiarly incumbent on the Ministry by their Office to defend the Doctrines they teach by the Scriptures But if they are unable to defend the Scriptures the only Evidence and Proof of their Doctrines the Christian Religion with the Doctrines thereof must fall to the ground And yet this Position That the present Hebrew Bible and Greek Testament in the Words Letters Points Vowels and Accents we now enjoy is the same uncorrupted Word of God which was delivered of old by the holy Pen-men of it to the Church This we say cannot well be defended against all Opposers without the Rabbinical Knowledge we speak of And so much for the need of this Knowledge We shall only give some Directions about this Study First He must well understand the Hebrew Bible in the first place who would know the Rabbins before he look after them And for this if he hath no Latin he must get William Robertson's First and Second Gate to the Holy Tongue His Key to the Bible Iessey's English Greek Lexicon c. But we suppose most have the Latine Tongue and such have Grammars and Lexicons enough as Buxtorf's Epitome his Thesaurus His Lexicon And many other Authors especially Bythner's Lyra Prophetica in Psalmos Leusden's Compendium Biblicum Arius Montanus his Interlineary Bible c. Let him read the Hebrew Bible much And then for the Rabbins take this brief Account and Direction The ancient Chaldee Paraphrasts are most of them translated and thereby easie to learn The ancient Cabalistical Writings as the Zohar Bahir c. are both most difficult and least useful Their Oral Law or Traditions were collected after the Destruction of the Temple A.D. 150. by Rabbi Iudah the Holy as they call him This they preferr before the Scripture and suppose it was Orally delivered by Moses to Israel and unlawful to be written but when Ierusalem was destroyed they were constrained to write it lest it should be lost but yet 't was so written as that none but themselves might understand it This Book is called Mishnaioth comprizing all their Religion with the Bible 'T is divided into Two Parts each Part into Three Seders or Books each Seder into many Masecats or Tracts each Masecat into Chapters and Verses A brief Account of the Contents of the Mishna and all the Parts of it is given by Martinus Raimundus in his Prooemium to his Pugio Fidei a very Learned and Useful Book which also gives an Account of the Tosaphot the Gemara and the Commenâ—â—ries thereon which compleat the Talmuds both that of Ierusalem A.D. 230. and that of Babylon Five hundred Years after Christ which Gemara is but a Comment and Dispute on the Mishna which is the Text of the Talmud There are several Masecats or Tracts of the Mishna translated as the Nine first Masecats viz. Beracoth c. So also Masecat Middoth by Le Empereur Sanhedrin and Maccoth by Cock Megillath by Otho Codex Ioma and others But as the very Learned Ludivicus de Campeigne du Veil observes He that would know the Mishna must learn Maimonides This Moses Maimonides Physician to the King of Egypt about Five hundred Years ago wrote his Iad Chaseka or Mishna Torah wherein he hath comprized the Substance of the Mishna and Talmud in a pure pleasant plain and easie style if compared with the Mishna and Talmud and yet he that has read him may with ease and pleasure understand all the Mishna And then for the Talmud There is Clavis Talmudica Cock's Excerpta c. This Maimonides of whom the Jews say from Moses the Law-giver to Moses Maimonides there was never another Moses like this Moses Several of his Tracts are translated also as Iesudee Hatorah the First Masecat of all and Deoth Aboda Zara the 1 st entituled De Fundamentis Legis 2. Canones Ethicae 3. Idololatria 4. De Iure Pauperis 5. De Poenitentia c. But most are translated by the excellent Ludivicus de Campeigne du Veil as De Sacrificiis one of the fourteen Books which he hath divided this Work into and De Cultu Divino another of the fourteen Books comprizing several Tracts Also his Tracts about Vnleavened Bread about the Passover about a Fast c. As to other Rabbins several are translated as Cosri c. and that on various Subjects as Logick by R. Simeon Physick by Aben Tibbon with Maimonides's Epistle against Iudiciary Astrology So of Arithmetick and Intercalating the Month by Munster and that of Maimonides by Duveil with many other Books as Ietsirah Bachinath Olam c. And of History as Seder Olam Zutha and Seder Olam Rabba Tsemach David c. And as to Rabbinical Commentaries the best and chief are R. Sal. Iarchi or Isaac R. Aben Ezra R. David Kimchi all these upon the Proverbs are translated by Antony Giggeius upon several minor Prophets by Mercer viz. on Hosea Ioel Amos c. on Ioel and Iona by Leusden as also a Masecat on the Misbna called Pirke Abbot Kimchi on the Psalms is likewise translated These Rabbins lived about Five hundred Years ago and do excellently explain the Text where Grammar and Jewish History are necessary But several of the above-mentioned Books being scarce we shall be ready to Translate and Print in two Colums the one Hebrew the other English either any Masecat of the Mishna or any Hilcoth or Tract of Maimonides or the Commentaries of the Rabbins on any part of the Bible if our Bookseller receive Encouragement which with Buxtorf's Great Lexicon Talmudicum and his Book de Abbreviaturis would no doubt enable one that hath read the Hebrew Bible to understand the Rabbins Which is all the Direction we have room to give here and therefore conclude with our hearty Wishes That our Young Students may be mighty in the Scriptures Acts 18.24 2 Tim. 3.15 16. and thereby they will by the Grace of God become Able Divines according to the Old Proverb Bonus Textuarius Bonus Theologus The PROEM Containing the Cause Occasion and Method of the ensuing Debate IN this Introduction we shall take notice of Three things wherein are contained the Cause and Occasion of the following Discourse with the Method of proceeding therein 1. The Weight and Moment of the Subject in Controversie 2. The many Circumstances that render its Consideration at this time necessary and seasonable 3. The Method and Order of manageing the same First As to the Weight and Moment of the Matter in Controversie it is small in quantity about no more than a Point or Tittle but great in quality about no less a Cause than the Keeping or Rejecting of the Bible For 1 st The Old
that they were not placed since A. D. 500. and there are none that pretend they were between the time of Ezra and A. D. 500. Therefore the Points were placed by the time of Ezra which is all we contend for Secondly The Old Foundation must be removed before a New Structure can be erected Many have been so prepossessed with so high a conceit of the Novelty of the Points that 't would be bootless to prove their Antiquity until the improbability of their late Invention be discovered for they admire that any Learned or Judicious Person should believe their Antiquity altho' all the Protestant States and Churches in the World except what hath been lately suffered in England do religiously maintain it Scaltger saith That nothing can be more foolishly spoken that to say the Points were coaevous with the Letters Ep. 243. Grotius on Mat. 5.18 affirmeth That 't is nothing but pertinacious Obstinacy in any to deny that the Scriptures were used to be written without Points after Ezra's time And Schikard in his Iure Reg. Heb. lib. 2. pag. 41. asserteth That he greatly wonders that any can seriously believe the Antiquity of the Points Vid. Considerator Considered pag. 234 235. So that till the Absurdity of their beloved Opinion be manifested 't is in vain to prove the other whilst they disdain to consider it 3. Our Antagonists spend their greatest strength in opposing our Opinion to render it but Improbable and 't is but quit with them to shew the Improbability of theirs and more fair seeing 't is easier for them to prove a Fact done but a Thousand Years ago than for us to prove what was done at Two Thousand Years distance from the present time 4. This Discourse being principally designed to Answer Capellus Dr. Walton c. who take this method first defending their own Opinion and then Replying unto the Arguments for ours it is convenient to follow them herein and keep their Order so far And for these Reasons we observe the Method here propounded and begin with the First General Head which is The discovery of the Improbability of the Opinion That the Shapes of the Points Vowels and Accents of the Hebrew Bible were first invented and placed to the Text A. D. 500. or since that time either by the Masorites of Tiberias or Others and for the Reasons aforesaid we shall largely insist hereon according to the best of our poor Ability and that small Reading which frequent Avocations from Study on necessary Occasions would permit A Discourse concerning the Original and Antiquity of the Hebrew Points Vowels and Accents The FIRST PART Containing the Discovery of the Improbability of their Novel and Humane Invention and Original CHAP. I. The Question stated The Four different Opinions about the First Period of Time whereunto the Invention of the Points is assigned are enumerated The Three several Opinions of those who suppose the Points were a Novel Invention related The Two last examined THE Question under Consideration is Concerning the Time when the Shapes of the Points Vowels and Accents were first invented and placed to the Hebrew Bible There are Two periods of Time particularly fixed unto the one or the other of which all Parties do in some respect ascribe their Original The one is the Time of Ezra the other is A. D. 500. The one makes them of Divine the other of Humane Original and Authority So that the Question is Whether the Shapes or Figures of the Points Vowels and Accents which are joyned to the Text of the Hebrew Bible were invented and placed to the Text as early as the time of Ezra er else not until the Talmuds were finished A. D. 500 1. Those that place them to the First Period viz. that say they were as ancient as the time of Ezra are all the Jews one only Elias excepted though they differ as to the positive precise time of their first Invention as R. Samuel Arkuvolti reckons them up For 1 st Some say they are coaevous with the Letters 2. Others That they were given to Moses on Sinai with the Oral Law and kept by Tradition till Ezra's time 3. Others say That they were placed to the Law and the rest of the Scriptures as they were first written 4. But all the rest except Elias only say that Ezra and the great Sanhedrim of his time first invented and placed them to the Text. So that in this they all agree That by the time of Ezra at latest they were invented and placed to the Scripture and thereby they own their Divine Original and Authority as do the generality of Christians likewise 2. Those that place their Original to the Second Period affirm that they were not invented before A. D. 500. though they also differ as to the precise time of their first Invention About which they hold Three different Opinions 1 st That they were began and ended simul semel A. D. 500. as Elias saith was his Opinion in Tob taam lettar page tsade cap. 2. I think saith he that those who found out the Points found out also the Accents and placed both of them to the Letters at one time Which in his Masoret Hammasoret Pref. 2. he declares was about the Year 500. The Evidences which he brings for his Opinion and the Testimony he produceth out of Aben Ezra Cosri Kimchi and Tsak Sephataim shall be at large examined in the following Chapters and the Improbability and Absurdity of his Opinion fully discovered afterwards in its proper place A brief Relation of the Two other Opinions and Examination of them by the way is the Work of this Chapter And they are these 2. The Second different Opinion about their Novel Invention is that of Ludovicus Capellus who supposeth they were began A. D. 500. and ended A. D. 1030. by Ben Asher and Ben Naphthali Arcanum Punctationis Revelatum cap. 17. But for this Opinion he brings no Testimony nor Reason as Buxtorf observes de Punct Orig. pag. 267. Hanc vero cum in libris authoribus nullis â—eperiret suopte marte ingenio eam hoc pacto nobis procudit And all that Capellus pretends to alledge is only what Elias Levita mentions out of Maimonides on another account about Ben Asher's Copy the Jews leaning upon it because he spent many Years in Correcting of it The words of Maimonides are these And the Book that we lean upon in these things is a Book that is known in Egypt comprizing the Twenty four Books of Scripture which was in Ierusalem many Years ago to Correct Books by it and all lean upon it because Ben Asher Corrected it who was exact therein many years and Corrected it many times as he Transcribed it and and on him I lean in the Book of the Law which I have written after his manner This Elias repeats and addeth And so we lean upon his Reading in all these Countreys and the Men of the East lean on the Reading of Ben Naphthali and the differences
we shall translate a full Testimony out of his Book entituled Mozenee haleshon hakkodesh towards the beginning of it as it is delivered by Buxtorf De Punct Origine pag. 13. The words are these or to this effect viz. The words of the Lord are pure Words or Sayings preserved by the hands of holy Men one Generation after another For they were sanctified from the Womb they heard the holy words at the Mouth of him who is most excellent in Holiness and they were Interpeters between him viz. the Lord and between Iacob The holy People and these were before the building of that holy House viz. the Temple and when it stood upon its Basis or Foundation and after it until the Vision and Prophecy was sealed up But after a few years about the time of the building of the holy House the second time at that time the Spirit of the Lord the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding rested upon the Men of that House that were called Anashee keneset haggedolah The Men of the great Synagogue or Sanhedrim to explain all that was sealed up in the Command And the words that are translated by the Mouth of the Just Men from the Mouth of the former and latter Prophets that is delivered by Oral Tradition from hand to hand Also they were rendring a Reason or restoring the Accent Meshebe taam Prov. 26.16 and taught their Posterity Chephets Colinian the sence of every word or thing al jad taamee hamikra by the hand or means of the Accents of the Scripture And the Kings and the Ministers they taught their Posterity and the closed Sections and the open Sections And what continues carries on the sence in opposition to the Pause and the Verses or Pauses that stop the sence and they were Eyes to the Blind therefore we go in their steps and follow after them and lean upon them in all the Expositions of Scripture And after the Captivity of our Fathers from the Holy City the Lord stirred up the Spirit of his Saints and the Chief of them was our holy Rabbi viz. Iudah to compose what was noted in loose Writings of the Commands of our God and that is the Mishna whereunto nothing may be added nor may any thing be taken away from it Also after them came other holy Princes and pious Hero's and they are the Men of the Talmud viz. the Gemarists and they went on in their paths viz. of the Masters of the Mishna and they took up the Stones out of the High-ways of the Testimony and they removed every Stumbling-stone out of the paths of the Lord. And after this stood up in Israel according to the good Hand of our God upon us two great Rows or Orders Neh. 12.31 the one keeping the Walls of the Sanctuary of Strength Dan. 11.31 founded by the Hand of our God that no Stranger may be able to destroy it Now this Sanctuary is the Holy Books of Scripture and the Men of this Row or Order are the Men of the Masora or the Masorites who separated all the mixed Multitude from the holy People alluding to Nehem. 13.3 and meaning what is Humane from what is Divine in Correcting the Copy And they numbred the Men of the Sanctuary from Two or Eleven to the end that no Stranger might draw near to the Gates of Righteousness Blessed be the Lord our God who hath put such a thing as this in the heart of the rest of the Kingdom of his Priests to beautifie his House which is a House of Wisdom as Solomon saith Wisdom hath built her House And the second Row that goeth over against it And I go after it Neh. 12.38 are those that are expert in War alluding unto Cant. 3.8 in the Law or about the Law and they are the Grammarians Thus far Aben Ezra In this place saith Buxtorf Aben Ezra doth elegantly and discreetly Expound in what manner and by whom the holy Word of God was preserved from the Beginning quite down to the Time of the Grammarians and what was done in every Age about the Preservation thereof and by whom it was done For First he saith The true and genuine Sence of the Word of God was preserved without Points by holy Men such as Moses and the Prophets unto the time of the Second Temple and the time wherein Vision and Prophecy were sealed up Secondly After the building of the Second House about the ending of Prophecy or the Prophetick Gift and Ministry God raised up other holy Men to wit the Men of the Great Synagogue that is to say Ezra with his Councel who preserved the Word of God which was brought to them by Oral Tradition This Holy Scripture they did by other means than Tradition with great care and study deliver down to Posterity But how they did this and what in particular it was that the Men of the Great Synagogue did about the Preservation of the Scripture this he doth teach particularly and by Parts For First he saith That this was done Al jad taamee hamikra By the means of the Accents of the Scripture Secondly By the Kings and Ministers that is the Vowels The Kings he calls afterwards seven viz. Holem Shurek Chirek Pathak Segol Kamets Tsere And the Ministers Sheva Mute Mobile and Compound And he doth not mean the Accents which the Grammarians divided into Kings and Ministers Vid. Balmes cap. 3. of the Points more of this Thirdly By the Doctrine concerning the Sections that are close open or continued Hasetumim Vpetuchim Vdebikim Fourthly By Hapesukim the Verses or the Distinction of the Scripture into Verses by these helps he saith they are like Eyes to the Blind and in their Steps we go in Reading and Expounding the Scripture at this time He saith we every where lean on their Exposition of the Scripture and therefore not of the Tiberian Masorites Thirdly In the Third place after the Men of the Great Synagogue he proceeds to the Masters of the Mishna and to them he chiefly ascribes the true Explication of the Precepts of God Fourthly He makes the Talmudists or Gemarists succeed the Masters of the Mishna and to these he ascribeth the Illustration and Explication of the Doctrine of the Mishna and their Disputations Fifthly He saith By the good Hand of God to Israel he raised up Two other Orders of Men labouring profitably for the Preservation of the Scripture The First Order he ascribeth to the Masorites but unto these he ascribeth no Invention either of the Points or of the Accents or of the Distinctions But he principally commends these for Two things First That they did separate every thing that was strange that is Foreign or Humane from the Books of Scripture if any thing had by hap crept into it Secondly That they numbred the Words and Letters of the Books of Scripture that so there might be no way left whereby the Text could be corrupted in time to come And agreeing to this is what he writes of the Masorites in his Book
Masorites by Elias himself First As to the Name of the Masora that is not only mentioned by both the Talmuds but spoken of as being as ancient as Ezra's time in the Ierusalem Talmud in Megilla cap. 4. And in the Babylon Talmud in Masecat Nedarim cap. 4. fol. 37. In explaining Neh. 8.8 And caused them to understand the reading that is the Masora say both the Talmuds That is saith Elias By Oral Tradition the Masora was then used Not so saith R. Azarias they speak of what was written and not of Tradition Again The common Saying of the Talmuds shew the Name of the Masora was then known viz. There is a Mother to the Scripture and there is a Mother to the Masora And as to the Work of the Masorites Elias supposeth cap. 2. that they made the Verses And yet the Mishna it self not long after the Destruction of Ierusalem mentions the Verses as in Masecat Megilla cap. 3. it saith He that reads in the Law must not read less than three Verses and in the Paraphrase not more than one And as the Talmud on Megilla cap. 3. fol. 32. saith What Verse Moses did not make a Verse we must not make a Verse Secondly Again As to the Parts of the Masora their readings Ittur Sopherim Keri u lo Ketib thus saith the Talmud in Masecat Nedarim fol. 37. Rabbi Isaac saith the reading of the Scribes and Ittur Sopherim and the Keri u lo Ketib and the Ketib u lo Keri is a Constitution of Moses from Sinai Thirdly But the main Work that Elias ascribes to the Masorites was the numbring the Verses Words and Letters of Scripture and telling which is the middle Verse Word and Letter of the Law and the like Now of these the Talmud maketh mention most plainly in Masecat Kedushin cap. 1. fol. 30. it is thus written Therefore Roshonim the Ancients were called Sopherim Numberers because they numbred all the Letters which were in the Law and these said that Vau in the word Gihon is the middlemost Letter of the Law Lev. 11.42 That Darash Lev. 10.16 is the middlemost word of the Law And Hitgalach Lev. 13.35 is the middlemost Verse in the Law c. The Ancients they say knew well the Letters full and defective and that the Verses of the Law were 5888. The Talmud indeed oft refuteth the Masora as Elias confesseth in Table 1. Speech 5. but then the Masora must needs be in being The Talmud takes notice of the Great and Small Letters which is also a Part of the Masora as on Sopherim cap. 9. it saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Great Deut. 29.28 What Argument saith Buxtorf can be plainer than this the Name and Work and Parts of the Masora were long before A. D. 500. Therefore they were not first made A. D. 500. as Elias thinketh Indeed he allows them to be by Tradition before a thing most absurd and impossible but not written until after the Talmuds A. D. 500. Now we say if the Masorites Pointed the Text they were these Masorites who wrote the Notes about the number of the Letters Words and Verses of the Bible of the Ittur Sopherim the Keri u lo Ketib the Reading of the Scribes the Letters Greater or Lesser than ordinary the Letters and Words Full and Defective and the like all which the Talmuds plainly say were made by the Ancients their Ancestors long before their time or else the Punctation was made by other Masorites than these the Talmud speaks of if the Punctation was made by these Men then it was made long before A. D. 500. even as ancient as Ezra for so ancient is this Masora esteemed by the Jews to be Elias his Fancy That this Masora was Orally preserved from Ezra 's time till A. D. 500. is refuted by R. Azarias and R. S. Arcuvolti But if the Masorites who Pointed the Text were not these ancient Masorites the Talmuds speak of then they were either those that made the Notes on the Anomalous Punctation and upon the rest of the things that are the Subject of the Masoretick Observations which compose the present Masora or else they were some others But they were not these Masorites neither for we have at large proved that those who made the Notes on the Punctation were long after the Punctation was made And that those who made the other Notes on the other Parts of the Masora did only observe what they found the Text to be but placed nothing to the Text their only design being to prevent any from so doing in time to come If therefore the Masorites Pointed the Text they were other Masorites than either of these before mentioned But other than the one or the other sort of Masorits already mentioned we neither read nor hear of and till some other can be found out we conclude the Masorites A. D. 500. or since that time did not Point the Text. And so much for the discovery of the Improbability of those Persons Pointing the Text to whom the Invention of the Punctation is ascribed CPAP. XV. The Absurdity of the Opinion That the Text was first Pointed A D. 500 further discovered from the Evidences of the Points Vowels Accents and Verses being long before that time and the Instance of a Pointed Copy of R. Hillel A. D. 340. and from the Account we have of these things in the Zoar Bahir Mishna and Talmuds WE shall conclude this FIRST PART with the Evidences of the mention that is made of all the Parts of the Punctation in the ancient Writings of the Jews that were before A. D. 500. and the Instance of a Pointed Copy of R. Hillel of great Antiquity We shall begin with the Book entitled Habahir made by R. Nechoniah fifty years before Christ. Vid. Buxtorf Thesaurus A. D. 1609. pag. 66 67. Iuchasin pag. 20. Tsemach David part 1. pag. 35. R. Azarias Meor Enaim cap. 59. The words of Bahir are these The Points in the Letters of the Law of Moses are like unto the Breath of Life in the Body of a Man And in the Book called Zohar made by R. Simeon ben Iochai a hundred years after Christ. Vid. Buxtorf ibid. and Bibliothaeca Rabbinica on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iuchasin pag. 42. R. Azarias Meor Enaim in imre bina cap. 59. The words of Zohar are these Not one Letter is able to signifie one thing or another without the Points All the Letters without the Points are like the Body without the Soul when the Points come then the Body stands in its Station And so in the Tikkunim or Explications of the Zohar saith R. Azarias ibid. And in the Preface of Tikkunïm 't is said The Accents are as the Breath and the Points as the Spirit and the Letters as the Soul the one come after the other And this as R. Azarias ibid. observes is not meant of the Sounds only but of the Shapes of the Points Vowels and Accents as he there gives Instances See more of the ancient
Caballistical Writers expressly mentioning the very Names also of the Points Vowels and Accents in Buxtorf's Tiberias and De Punctorum Origine pag. 53 54 55 56 57 58 59. together with the Answer to the impertinent Cavils of Capellus as to the Antiquity and Integrity of the Books Zohar Bahir and the Pointed Copy of Hillel who objecteth It may be that they have forged Titles of Antiquity to advance the Price in the Sale of them Resp. And it may not be so But if it may be so that doth not prove it was so Nor doth Capellus produce any thing that renders the Antiquity of these Books so much as suspected for the Antiquity of these Books is universally owned by the Jews Those of them who write about these things plainly declare their Antiquity to be what we say it is 3. The Mishna about A. D. 150. takes notice of the Verses in Masecat Megilla cap. 3. and saith He that reads in the Law must not read less than three Verses nor more than one Verse in the Chaldee Paraphrase 4. The Ierusalem Talmud about A. D. 230. in Megilla cap. 4. on Neh. 8.8 And they read in the Book in the Law of God That is say they the Scripture distinctly that is with the Targum or Chaldee Paraphrase and gave the sence These say they are the Accents which they placed Samu taam they put the Accents to it and Some say these are the Pauses Others say these are the Beginnings of the Verses 5. The Babylon Talmud in Masecat Nedarim cap. 4. fol. 37. and in Masecat Megilla cap. 1. fol. 3. on Neh. 8.8 they say likewise And they read in the Book of the Law of God that is the Scripture distinctly that is with the Targum and gave the sence These are the Verses and cause them to understand the reading This is the Stops of the Accents And others say these were the Masora for they were forgotten and they then restored them And in Masecat Nedarim fol. 37. ibid. Rabbi Isaac saith The reading of the Scribes and Ittur Sopherim and Keri u lo Ketib and Ketib u lo Keri is a Constitution of Moses on Sinai First saith R. Isaac The reading of the Scribes as Erets Shamajim Mitsraim that is The Scribes taught the People how they had received from Moses to read these words and the like one way in one place and another way in another as sometimes Arets sometimes Erets c. For as R. Nissin saith Erets is changed by reason of Athnak into Arets and so of Shammajim Mitsraim c. And as R. Sal. Iarchi saith The Scribes taught them how they ought to read the Words without the Vowel-Letters being added in all places as Erets without writing Aleph between Resh and â—sade And so Shamajim without writing Aleph between Shin and Mem And all this say the Talmud is a Constitution of Moses from Sinai And as it is impossible that the Sounds of all the Punctation could be preserved without the Shapes of them were written to the Text So R. Azarias in Meor Enaim cap. 59. sheweth that what the Talmuds speak on Neh. 8.8 is all of it about what was written and no part of it was spoken about what was kept by Oral Tradition As First The Book of the Law which they read that was Mikra the Scripture distinctly with Targum or the Chaldee Paraphrase which saith he was then written and so saith he were the Points and Accents and Masora which they there speak of was then written as well as the Scripture And the Chaldee Paraphrase was Written and not kept by Oral Tradition only as Elias fancieth a thing most absurd and impossible Capellus objects That R. Sal. Iarchi R. Azarias c. are Modern Rabbins But what saith Rabboth and the Ancient Writers Resp. They cannot expound the Talmud which was made long after they were dead but the Ancient Writers speak plain enough of the Points as Bahir Zohar c. And why may not the Talmuds speak of the Shapes of the Points There is not one place of Scripture saith Buxtorf in all the Talmud any otherwise read than our present Punctation reads it Which could not have been had not the Bible been then Pointed for the Sounds could not be kept without the Shapes as we have already shewed in the PROEMIVM and as themselves say the LXX and Chaldee differ from our Copy because they had no Points and we may as well say the Talmud universally agreeth with our Punctation because they had Points which they could not have done without And as to the LXX c. they differ from the Letters and Words as well as about the Points and therefore Capellus reckons their Copy differed from ours in Letters as well as Points But these things we may examine hereafter the Punctation is all we are now concerned about And hereby all those Objections of the silence of the ancient Caballistical Writings and of the Talmuds about the Points are obviated Vid. Pugio Fidei pag. 92. the former Edition And pag. 111. of the last Edition See also Buxtorf de Punct Orig. part 1. cap. 5 cap. 6. We shall only add the Instance of a Pointed Copy of R. Hillel which was before A. D. 500. as ancient as A. D. 340. 'T is said in Iuchasin fol. 132. col 1. ' In the year 956 or 984 there was a great Persecution in Lions and then they brought out from thence the twenty four Books called the Bible which R. Hillel wrote and by them they corrected all their Books and I have seen a Part of them that were sold in Africa and in my time they had been written nine hundred years And Kimchi saith in his Grammar That the Pentateuch of it was at Toletola in Spain in his time Object 'T is not said here 't was Pointed Resp. But 't is said Kimchi speaks of it in his Grammar And Kimchi speaking of it says it is Pointed as in Michlol fol. 93. col 1. he saith That R. Iacob the Son of Eleazer writeth That in the Book of Hillel which is in Toledolid the word Tideru 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Deut. 12.11 is found without a Dagesh lene in Daleth that is Daleth raphated So on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vedareshu in Psal. 109.10 he saith That the word Vedareshu is read with broad Kamets like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Veshameru and so we have received the reading of it And in the Book of Hillel which is kept at Toledolid the Masorites make this Note upon it viz. This is no where else found with Kaâ—uph Kamets and so Nagid writeth That he found it likewise in the Masora so written with Katuph Kamets So in his Book of Roots Sepher Sherashim on the Radix 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 about the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tesomet There Mem is with Segol contrary to Rule and is as if it were with Pathack And in the Book of Hillel which is in Toledolid it is with
Latin we might justly apply to him the words of Cato Utican on the Subject of Posthumius Albinus who being a Roman would nevertheless write in Greek and yet excused the badness of his Stile saying He did not well understand the Greek Tongue He had rather says this grave Senator beg Pardon for his Fault than not to commit it He has also Expressions so proper to the Greek Tongue that they could not have slipt from an Author that had writ in Latin had he been never so little versed in the Tongue for Example this Author translates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qui sunt ciro◠Ptolomaeum instead of saying barely Ptolomaeus or Ptolomaei Discipuli he also makes an Adjective of the proper Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he translates Clarus Mr. Dodwell goes much further and maintains that this Latin Version is so far from being the Original or made by St. Irenaeus as some have believed that it appeared not until a long time after the Death of this Father since Tertullian quotes this Work always in other terms though he writ thirty Years after The first that produced formal Testimonies was St. Augustin in his Books against Iulian. What is most strange is that it seems this Father did not know that St. Irenaeus writ in Greek this Version then must be made in the time that passed between St. Augustin and Tertullian and whereas St. Ierom makes no mention of it in his Catalogue composed the Year of our Saviour CCCLXXX and the Fourteenth of Theodosius it must needs be made between the Year CCCLXXXV and the time which St. Augustin speaks of Our Author thinks it is the Work of some French or Spaniard that was very ignorant in the Latin who undertook this Version upon the account of the Priscillianists who renew'd the Errors of the Gnosticks which St. Irenaeus had disputed against This Version was the occasion of a very singular Action which was that after the Heresies were smothered this Version was so rough and full of strange Matter that it was quite despised so that Gregory the Great could not find one simple Copy of it after an exact Search which he caused to be made and that none of the ancient Schoolmen speak of it But on the contrary the Greek Authors had several Copies of the Greek Original and there are Fragments of it in all Places And nevertheless now this excellent Greek is lost and the World is full of the bad Latin Translation the Fate of Books very often is like that of Fountains there are little Rivers that carry their Name into the very Sea and very considerable ones that lose themselves without any Name St. Irenaeus writ his Books both without Distinction or Arguments and his Translator or some other Authors have added what we see at this day IV. Our Author in his last Dissertation of the other Works of St. Irenaeus begins his Letter writ to Blastus and by the first to Florinus the first treated of Schism and the second of Monarchy Baronius thought that Florin's Errors oblig'd St. Irenaeus to write the Books against Heresies but Mr. Dodwell is not of his mind It is manifest that it is against the Valentinians that this Father intended these Works and Florinus taught a quite contrary Doctrin to that of these Hereticks for whereas these Hereticks establish'd two Principles the one good the other bad them Florinus made conformable to the Doctrin of the Church but he made that the Author of Good and Evil. As for Blastus he is acquitted of the Crime of Heresie whereof many Ancient and Modern accused him and it s believed he was but a Schismatick having done the Office of a Priest after he was deposed by his Bishop These two Letters were writ at the same time after his Work against the Hereticks according to our Author in the Year CLXXXII and the Third of Comodus and the Eighty fifth of Irenaeus Florinus did not stop at these Errors he soon fell into the Dreams of the Valentinians which obliged St. Irenaeus to write him a second Letter which he entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Eighth because it was writ against the Eighth des Eons de Valentinians Our Author believes that Irenaeus was above Eighty five years old when he writ it which was about the CLXXXII Year of Jesus Christ. Irenaeus writ also an Harangue against the Gentiles the Subject whereof was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Science It is known that Isocrates not having the necessary Talents for speaking publickly contented himself in writing several Orations with important Advise to them that ruled the People he was imitated by a great many others and the Christians themselves were assisted by this Custom to teach the Pagans the Truths of the Christian Religion and did not neglect to embellish their Orations with the vain Ornaments of the Sophists to move the Curiosity of the Readers whose Gust lay that way Such was then St. Irenaeus's Discourse of Science that it was addressed to the Greeks that is to say to all them that were not Christians for as the Christian Church succeeded that of the Iews and the Iews called all them Greeks that were not of their Religion so the Christians gave the same Name to all those that did not embrace their Opinions Mr. Dodwell believes that this Work was employ'd to refute the Opinion of some Philosophers who thought that by Study and Meditation one might raise himself beyond all that is sensible or material and to the perfect knowledge of God and of all Spiritual Beings and this by themselves that St. Irenaeus proved that Knowledge was reserved for the other Life and that we do not know in this but only by Faith St. Irenaeus writ another Work which he named the Demonstration of Preaching or of the Apostles Doctrin and dedicated it to one Mavejon to contradict several Writings that were father'd on the first Disciples of our Saviour and particularly the Sermons falsly attributed to St. Peter Mr. Dodwell says that the design of this Work was the same of that of the Prescriptions of Tertullian The Ancients speak yet of another Work of St. Irenaeus intituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is according to St. Ierom's and Mr. Dodwell's Interpretations a Book containing divers Treatises our Author imploys a long Discourse to shew that St. Irenaeus had erected a School in his latter days and that he taught his Scholars what he himself had learned of the Apostles Disciples that is to say Apostolical Traditions and that this Work we speak of was a Collection of the Lessons that he made in that School It is pleasant to see the trouble Mr. Dodwell gives himself to establish this his Opinion and it is like he took it with pleasure because it tends to the general end he proposed to himself of reconciling the Traditions of the two first Ages of the Church with the Scripture What is very advantageous is that all these Enquiries include many
and not to assist at any Prayer Therefore this second kind of Catechumens were called Hearers 3. But those to whom leave was given to assist at publick Prayers until the Consecration of the Eucharist and to Kneel to receive the Benediction of the Bishop bear the name of Prostrates 4. When they were found sufficiently instructed to receive Baptism they were permitted to demand it and to give their names to be admitted thereto and they were then called Competents or if their demand was accepted of Chosen and Enlightned These are all the Degrees that can be distinguished amongst the Catechumens But commonly the Fathers without stopping at these Distinctions call'd them the Hearers and the Prostrated when as they give the name of Competents and Enlightned to those that were in a Condito receive Baptism Which relate well enough to the Mystes and Epoptes of the Mysteries of Ceres As Tradition was not so clear against the Arians as against the Hereticks of the first Ages the Fathers who lived after the Council of Nice studied Scripture more than before because the strength of the the Dispute run upon the Sense of divers Passages for the Exposition of which they had recourse to the Greek of the New Testament as to the Original The holy Books were then the only Rule of Faith and the Writings of Doctors that were dead before the Contestations of Arianism were considered only as Human Testimonies where the Doctrin of their time might be learned The least thing ought not to be taught saith Cyril of Ierusalem according to the Relation of Mr. du Pin touching Divine Mysteries that cannot be established by Testimonies of Scripture Even believe not what I say to you if I do not prove it by Holy Scripture The Letters of St. Basil which may be of very great help to those that would know throughly the Ecclesiastical History of that time are placed without any order as well as the Epistles of Cicero and the most part of the ancient Works of this Nature The Author promises us a Translation thereof in French and Latin with Notes in the mean time he gives here divers Extracts of these Letters disposed according to the order of times There are several of them that bear evident Characters of being Supposititious as the 203 with this Title to Iulian the Apostate Would St. Basil saith Mr. du Pin have directed him a Letter with this Epithet This Letter besides is not like the Style of this Father it is only a Profession of Faith to which is added the Invocation of Saints and the Worship of Images whoever heard that this was put in the Professions of the first Ages The Author of this Letter saith that he Honours and Adores the Images of Saints because it 's an Apostolical Tradition Did St. Basil speak thus and is it not visible that this Letter is the Work of some Greek who lived since the seventh Council For the same reason he rejects a Work which is attributed to St. Athanasius and Entituled The Narration of the Passion of the Image of Iesus Christ in the City of Berytus In the CCCXCI Letter answering to divers Questions that Amphilocus Bishop of Iconium had put to him he Expounds this Passage That no Body knows the Day of Iudgment but the Father after this manner that the Father knows it by himself because he is the Source and Principle of this Knowledge whereas the Son receives it from the Father as it is said in the same Sense That there is only God who is Good p. 517. In the CCCCX Letter he saith that we ought to be contented with the Faith we have made Profession of in our Baptism to keep to the Terms of the Holy Scripture and shun all new Expressions because our Faith depends not upon these Terms but the Orthodox Doctrin Of all the Fathers of the Fourth Age there was none more moderate nor perhaps a Man of more Worth than Gregory of Nazianze In the Apology he made for his Retreat into Pontus when he was going to be made Bishop he pathetically describes the Disorders of his time Where the Priests were like the People After that he deplores the Unhappiness of the Catholicks who were divided upon unprofitable Questions or such as were of small Consequence He says that in the same time when Faith is in dispute we are oblig'd to separate our selves from those that teach Impiety and to suffer any thing rather than approve on 't but that it 's a Folly to break Union and excite troubles for Questions that are not of Faith In his Oration against the Emperor Iulian this same Father makes a Digression upon the Mildness that the Christians have kept when they were Potent and opposes it to the Cruelties the Pagans have exercised There was a time say he to the Heathens that we have had the Authority as well as you but what have we done to those of your Religion that comes near what you have made the Christians suffer Have we taken away your Liberty Have we perswaded Governors to condemn you to Torments Have we attempted the Life of any Have we even put any from the Magistracy and Employments In a word have we done against you any thing that has given you Cause to make us suffer I do not conceive saith Mr. du Pin hereupon how St. Gregory of Nazianze can reconcile all these Maxims with what he hath just now said that Constantius had done very ill to leave the Empire to Iulian because he was an Enemy to the Christian Religion and that he would persecute it maintaining that in that Constantius had made a very ill use of his Mildness and Bounty As to the purpose of Constantius whilst Hilary of Poictiers calls him Antichrist and speaks a thousand other injuries against him Gregory of Nazianzen excuseth this Emperor upon the Subject of Arianism He casts the whole Fault upon the Great Men of the Court and even pretends that after his death Angelical Voices were heard that celebrated his Praises In the Funeral Speech of his Brother Cesarius he saith That he was informed by the Discourses of Learned Men that Souls that are Holy and acceptable to God being delivered from the Bonds of the Body feel an ineffable Joy and Pleasure in considering the Beatitude they are one day to receive that they go strait to God and that they already know as 't were in a Representation and Image the Beatitude they will receive after the Resurrection of the Body In his fifty third Poem he numbers holy Books exactly as the Protestants do only he doth not put the Apocalypse in the Canon of the New Testament otherwise this Bishop had a very ill Opinion of the Councils for in his LV Letter he declares that he fears all the Ecclesiastical Assemblies because he never saw the End of any Council which had been happy and which had not rather encreased their Misfortunes than diminished them
Gregory of Nyssa in his Discourses against those that defer Baptism distinguisheth three sorts of Persons with Relation to the other Life The first Order is that of the Saints and Righteous which will be happy the second those that shall be neither happy nor unhappy and the third those that shall be punished for their Sins He puts in the second Rank those that cause themselves to be Baptized at the point of Death There is a Letter of this Father concerning Voyages made to Ierusalem where he diverts the Faithful from undergoing slightly these sort of Pilgrimages by reason of the Abuses that proceed from thence Some Catholicks have been willing to make it pass as Supposititious but Mr. du Pin believes it to be true Here Priscillian and his Disciples are placed in the Rank of Ecclesiastical Authors after St. Ierom who speaks thus of them Priscillian Bishop of Avila was put to death in the City of Treves by the Command of the Tyrant Maximus having been oppressed by the Faction of Itharius He hath written several Works whereof some are come to us Some accuse him this day of the Heresie of the Gnosticks of Basilide and Marcion But others defend him and maintain that he was not Guilty of the Errors that are imputed to him It 's true pursues Mr. du Pin that the same St. Ierom in his Letter to Ctesiphon speaks of Priscillian as of a notable Heretick which hath made Mr. du Quesnel believe that this place of the Ecclesiastical Writers was corrupted This Conjecture which is grounded upon the Authority of a Manuscript would be of Consequence if we knew not that St. Ierom hath often spoke differently of the same Man besides it 's apparently the manner that St. Ierom speaks in his Catalogue which placed Priscillian and Matronian his Disciple in some Martyrologies amongst the Holy Martyrs The second Letter of Pope Syricius furnisheth us with a fine Example Saith Mr. du Pin of the Ancient manner of the Holy Patriarchs Iudging He writes in it to the Church of Milan that having Assembled all his Clergy he had condemned Jovinian and all his Sectators by the advice of the Priests Deacons and the whole Clergy Baronius Bellarmin and some others pretend that part of the second Letter of St. Epiphanius is Supposititious because he there relates a History which is not favourable to the Worship of their Church Being entred saith this Bishop into a Church of a Village in Palestine call'd Anablatha and having found a Vail that hung at the Door which was Painted where there was an Image of Iesus Christ or some Saint for I do not remember whose it was but since against the Authority of Holy Scripture there was in the Church of Iesus Christ the Image of a Man I rent it and gave order to those that had the Care of this Church to bury a dead Body with this Vail Mr. du Pin after having proved that all this Letter is St. Epiphanius's adds That though it be true that there were placed in some Churches Pictures that represented the Histories of the Scriptures and the Actions of the Saints and Martyrs it cannot be said that this use was general and that it must be granted that St. Epiphanius hath disapproved it although without reason according to him for I believe continueth he that it would be contrary to the Candor and Sincerity that Religion demands of us to give another Sense to these words After the Extracts of the Writings of the Fathers are found those of the Councils held in the Fourth Age. The Canons of that which is called the Council of Elvira are an old Code or an ancient Collection of the Councils of Spain and it cannot be doubted but these Canons are of great Antiquity and very Authentick The XXXIV Canon and the XXXVI have given much Exercise to the Roman Catholick Divines The one forbiding to light Wax-Candles in the Church-yard because the Spirits of Saints must not be troubled and the other Paintings in Churches lest the Object of our Adorations should be painted on the Walls They have endeavoured to give several Expositions on these Passages but it seems to me saith Mr. du Pin that it is better to understand them simply and to allow that the Fathers of this Council have not approved the use of Images no more than of Wax-Candles lighted in open day But continueth he these things are of Discipline and may or may not be in use and do no Prejudice to the Faith of the Church The XXXV Canon prohibits Women to pass in the Night in Church-yards because often under pretence of Praying they in secret committed great Crimes The LX deprives such of the quality of Martyrs as are killed in pulling down Idols publickly because the Gospel commands it not nor is it read that it was practised by the Christians in the time of the Apostles The same Spirit of Parties which wrested the Canons of the Council of Elvira hath caused Men to doubt of the History of Paphnusius related by Socrates lib. 1. c. 9. This Egyptian Bishop opposed the new Law that was going to be made in the Council of Nice to oblige Bishops Priests and Deacons to keep unmarried and abstain from Women that they had espoused before their Ordination Although he himself had never been married he maintained that this Yoke was not to be imposed upon the Clergy and that it was to bring the Chastity of Women in danger I believe saith Mr. du Pin upon this speaking of the Roman Catholick Doctors that this doubt proceeds rather from the fear they are in that this act should do some hurt to the present Disciplin than of any solid proof But these Persons should consider that this Regulation is purely a Disciplin which the Disciplin of the Church may change according to the times and that to maintain it it is not necessary to prove it hath always been uniform in all places The Author shews that it was Osius Bishop of Cordova who presided in the Council of Nice and not the Legats of the Pope He only acknowledges for Authentick Monuments of this Council the Form of Faith the Letter to the Egyptians the Decree touching Easter and the two first Canons He consequently rejects as Supposititious pieces the Latin Letter of this Council to St. Sylvester the Answer of this Bishop and the Canons of a pretended Synod held at Rome for the Confirmation of that of Nice The Christians of that time who were not perfectly instructed by the holy Scripture in what they ought to believe touching the Mystery of the blessed Trinity were in great uncertainty for neither the Tradition nor Authority of the Church were then infallible marks of the Truth of a Tenet since the Ecclesiastical Assemblies that the most reasonable Catholicks make the Depositaries of these Traditions and Authority some time declare for the Arians some time for the Orthodox and another for a third
Orthodox Treatises of Tertullian he gives the chiefest place to his Apologetick his two Books to the Gentils and that which he Dedicated to Scapula to perswade the Governour of Africk from Persecuting the Christians He proves in this last that all Men ought to have the liberty to embrace what Religion seems the truest to them That 't is no part of Religion to constrain men to embrace a Religion which ought to be a voluntary choice Non est Religionis cogere Religionem quae sponte suscipi debet non vi In the Sixth Book of Baptism Tertullian disapproves of Baptizing Children without Necessity How is it necessary says he to expose God-fathers to the danger of answering for such who may prevent and hinder the performance by Death or Apostatizing from the Christian Religion when they come of Age Our Author assures us that this Opinion of Tertullian is his own particular one and there 's no other Father to be found who hath said as much But Tertullian affirms other things as incredible as for Instance when he says Christians are absolutely forbidden to bear Arms and he calls the Crowns that Soldiers put upon their heads the Pomps of the Devil To râ—ad his Book of Spectacles one wou'd hardly believe that he was the Author of that of Prescriptions but only by his affected Style and Particular Transports he endeavour'd to prove in his Book of Spectacles that Virgins ought to have their Faces covered in the Church contrary to the Custom of the Country which only oblig'd Women to be Vail'd He mightily exclaims against Custom and Tradition and maintains that nothing can be prescribed contrary to Truth 'T is true adds Mr. Du Pin when not Dogmatically enjoyned but 't is when it is done as a Disciplin of little Consequence In mentioning the History of Origen and how he was persecuted by Demetrius the Patriarch of Alexandria he relates an Article of the Discipline of that time viz. when a Priest was once Excommunicated and depos'd by a Bishop with the consent of the Bishops of the Province he cou'd no more be receiv'd into any Church and it was never Examined after the Judgment was past whether it was just or unjust He places among the Errors of Origen the Exposition which he gave upon the words of Jesus Christ Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth c. because he seems to retain the power of binding and loosing only to Bishops and Priests which follow the vertue of St. Peter and he says that all Spiritual Men are this Stone upon which Jesus Christ hath founded his Church St. Cyprian is one of the Fathers whom Mr. Du Pin has been large upon because the Life and Letters of this Martyr make a considerable part of the Ecclesiastick History of his Age. We may see there in the troubles that were excited amongst the Christians by the parties of Novatian and Felicissimus on the account of those that were fallen by Persecution The Moderation that St. Cyprian observed to avoid the Rigour of the first and the extream Remissness of the second and the Weakness of Cornelius Bishop of Rome who suffering himself to be seduced by Felicissimus writ to St. Cyprian after a disobliging manner These Two Schisms were not extinguisht before a third arose upon the Question whether Hereticks ought to be Re-Baptized proposed by Ianuarius and the Bishops of Numidia who upon that Account came to consult a Council where St. Cyprian was They that composed it answered that this Question was already decided by the Bishops that were their Predecessours who had declared in the Affirmative The Year following another Synod was Assembled in Africk which having confirmed this Decision sent to Stephen who was then Bishop of Rome to perswade him to embrace this Discipline But the Bishops was so far from complying with the Reasons of the Africans that he was Transported with anger against St. Cyprian and his Collegues and treated their Deputies very ill calling them false Christians false Apostles and Seducers even forbidding all those of his Church to entertain them and so depriving them not only of Ecclesiastick Communion but also refusing them the Laws of Hospitality but St. Cyprian testified great Moderation being unwilling that any Person shou'd Separate himself from the Communion upon this Dispute Mr. Du Pin afterwards endeavours to prove in his Notes that St. Cyprian did not change his Opinion and that the Churches of Greece were also a great while after his time divided about this Question He directs the Reader to a Letter of St. Basil to Amphilocus in which this Father relates the different Customs of the Church upon this Point Almost all the Letters of St. Cyprian run upon those Subjects that we have already spoken of the extracts of 'em are given to our Author according to the order of time He relates many fine passages from thence upon the necessity of examining the Disposition of such as are admitted to the Communion the Excellency of a Martyr which principally consists in keeping in every respect an Inviolable Holiness in his words and not to destroy the precepts of Jesus Christ at the same time that he 's a Martyr for him This holy Bishop made it a Law to do nothing in the Affairs of his Church without the Council of his Clergy and consent of the People Whefore in the Council of 37 Bishops held at Carthage in 256. upon the Reiteration of Baptism this holy Man gave this reason against Excommunicating those that were of a contrary opinion to him For no one amongst us says he ought to establish himself Bishop over the Bishops or pretend to constrain his Collegues by a Tyrannical fear because each Bishop has the same liberty and power and he can no more be judg'd be another than he can judge him but we ought all to expect the Judgment of Jesus Christ who only has power to propound to his Church and Judg of our actions In this question the Two Parties pretended to have Tradition on their side And St. Cyprian opposed to the Tradition that Pope Stephen brought the Truth of the Gospel and the first Tradition of the Apostles Our Author says also that St. Cyprian was the first that spoke clearly of Original Sin and the necessity of the Grace of Jesus Christ. The best Edition of this Fathers Works is that which has been lately published by Two of our Bishops But Persons have not much esteem for the observations of Dametius because he endeavours more to confirm the Doctrin and Discipline of our time than to explain the difficulties of his Author Mr. Du Pin rejects all the Letters that are attributed to Cornelius Bishop of Rome except those that are in the Works of Saint Cyprian because the rest and particularly the Epistle to Lupicinius Bishop of Vienna and two other that are in the Decretals under the name of this Pope are not like the Stile of those that are