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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62841	Amyntor, or, A defence of Milton's life containing I. a general apology for all writings of that kind, II. a catalogue of books attributed in the primitive times to Jesus Christ, his apostles and other eminent persons ..., III. a complete history of the book entitul'd Icon basilike, proving Dr. Gauden and not King Charles the First to be the author of it, with an answer to all the facts alledg'd by Mr. Wagstaf to the contrary, and to the exceptions made against my Lord Anglesey's Memorandum, Dr. Walker's book or Mrs. Gauden's narrative, which last piece is now the first time publish'd at large.	Toland, John, 1670-1722.; Charles I, King of England, 1600-1649.; Wagstaffe, Thomas, 1645-1712. Vindication of King Charles the martyr.; Gauden, John, 1605-1662. Eikon basilike, the pourtraicture of His Sacred Maiestie in his solitude and sufferings.; Walker, Anthony, d. 1692. True account of the author of a book entituled Eikon basilike.	1699 (1699)	Wing T1760; ESTC R22638	52,206	178

in the Catholic Church whose Authority must ever after serve to determin Matters of Faith neither were the spurious Pieces of Heretics yet rejected nor were the faithful admonisht to beware of them for the future Likewise the true Writings of the Apostles us'd to be so bound up in one Volum with the Apocryphal that it was not manifest by any Mark or public Censure of the Church which of 'em should be prefer'd to the other We have at this Day certain most authentic Ecclesiastic Writers of those times as CLEMENS ROMANUS BARNABAS HERMAS IGNATIUS and POLYCARPUS who wrote in this same Order wherein I have nam'd 'em and after all the other Writers of the New Testament except Iu●● and the two JOHNS But in H●RM●S you shall not meet with one Passage or any mention of the New Testament Nor in all the rest is any one of the Evangelists call'd by his own Name And if somtimes they cite any Passages like those we read in our Gospels yet you 'll find 'em so much chang'd and for the most part so interpolated that it cannot be known whether they produc'd them out of ours or som Apocryphal Gospels nay they somtimes cite Passages which it is most certain are not in the present Gospels From hence therefore it is evident that no difference was yet put by the Church between the Apochryphal and Canonical Books of the New Testament especially if it be consider'd that they pass no Censure on the Apochryphal nor leave any Mark whereby the Reader might discern that they attributed less Authority to the spurious than to the genuin Gospels from whence it may reasonably be suspected that if they cite somtimes any Passages conformable to ours it was not don thro' any certain design as if dubious things were to be confirm'd only by the Canonical Books so as it is very possible that both those and the like Passages may have bin borrow'd from other Gospels besides these we now have But what need I mention Books that were not Canonical when indeed it does not appear from those of our Canonical Books which were last written that the Church knew any thing of the Gospels or that Clergy-men themselves made a common use of ' em The Writers of those times do not chequer their Works with Texts of the New Testament which yet is the Custom of the Moderns and was also theirs in such Books as they acknowledg'd for Scripture for they most frequently cite the Books of the Old Testament and would doubtle●● have don so by those of the New if they had then bin receiv'd as Canonical St. PAUL cites a Saying of our Lord in the Acts of the Apostles which if he had it out of any Writing was not certainly out of these we now have The Gospels continu'd so conceal'd in those Corners of the World where they were written that the latter Evangelists knew nothing of what the Precedent wrote Otherwise there had not bin so many apparent Contradictions which almost since the first Constitution of the Canon have exercis'd the Wits of learned Men. Surely if St. LUKE had seen that Genealogy of our Lord which is in St. MATTHEW he would not himself have produc'd one wholly different from the other without giving the least Reason for this Diversity And when in the Preface to his Gospel he tells the occasion of his Writing which is that he undertook it being furnisht with the Relations of such as were Eye-witnesses of what he writes he plainly intimats that the Authors of the Gospels which he had seen were destitute of this Help So that neither having seen themselves what they relate nor with any Care or Diligence consulted such as had seen them their Credit was therefore dubious and suspected whence it must necessarily follow that the Writers of those Gospels which LUKE had seen were not at all the same with our present Evangelists So far Mr. DODWELL and excepting the Genuinness of the Epistles of CLEMENS BARNABAS and the rest for they are incontestably ancient I agree with him that the Matters of Fact are all true tho' I am far from drawing the same Inference from 'em as he has don that there is an equal Proof for Episcopacy as for the Canon of Scripture which is the Testimony of the Fathers of the Second and Third Centuries and that the Disciplin was better known and preserv'd than the Doctrin of the Apostles Whoever has an Inclination to write on this Subject is furnisht from this Passage with a great many curious Disquisitions wherein to shew his Penetration and Judgment as how the immediat Successors and Disciples of the Apostles could so grossly confound the genuin Writings of their Masters with such as were falsly attributed to them or since they were in the dark about these Matters so early how came such as follow'd 'em by a better Light why all those Books which are cited by CLEMENS and the rest should not be counted equally Authentic and what stress should be laid on the Testimony of those Fathers who not only contradict one another but are often inconsistent with themselves in their Relations of the very same Facts with a great many other Difficulties which deserve a clear resolution from any capable Person tho' none may safely propose 'em but Mr. DODWELL who I heartily wish were always as free and unprejudic'd as he is really learned THUS have I defended and explain'd my self against Mr. BLACHALL's Accusation nor do I question but I have given entire Satisfaction to all impartial Men and lovers of Truth But there 's another sort of People whom I despair of ever contenting These never fail of finding in the Writings of their Adversary not what is there but what they have a mind should be so to represent him odious or dangerous All the Protestations in the World can signifie nothing with them nor is it more safe than otherwise to prove the contrary of what is laid to one's Charge for they are sagacious enough to discover the hidden Poyson of every Word and will be sure to give loud warning of the Danger to shew where the Snake lies in the Grass and to tell what 's in the Belly of the Trojan Horse But I shall not be in great pain how such People apprehend me if I have the Happiness to please the moderat and discerning part of Mankind The Complete HISTORY OF Icon Basilike MR. BLACKHALL who by a public Provocation would needs engage me in a Controversie about spurious Books has not confin'd me to expose the Impostures of Antiquity alone tho' it be pretty plain that this is Employment enough for one body but he likewise accuses me of not being more favorable to a Modern Saint as he is pleas'd to stile King CHARLES the First That excellent Book which he says was compos'd by himself in the time of his Distresses will he supposes be an everlasting Evidence of his profiting under his Sufferings to after Ages notwithstanding the Endeavours

great Persons or the suppos'd Writings of certain Apostolic Men as they call 'em which are at this present as well as in ancient times read with extraordinary Veneration And they are the Epistle of BARNABAS the Pastor of HERMAS the Epistle of POLYCARPUS to the Philippians the first Epistle of CLEMENS ROMANUS to the Corinthians and the seven Epistles of IGNATIUS These are generally receiv'd in the Church of Rome and also by most Protestants but those of the Church of England have particularly signaliz'd themselves in their Defence and by publishing the correctest Impressions of them The Ancients paid them the highest Respect and reckon'd the first four of 'em especially as good as any part of the New Testament The Epistle of BARNABAS is by CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS and ORIGEN not only reckon'd genuin but cited as Scripture tho' he says in express Terms That the Apostles before their Conversion were the greatest Sinners in Nature which if believ'd would rob us of an Argument we draw from their Integrity and Simplicity against Infidels to say nothing now of the many other ridiculous Passages in BARNABAS The Pastor or Visions Precepts and Similitudes of HERMAS who is suppos'd to be the Person mention'd by PAUL in his Epistle to the Romans is cited as Canonical Scripture by IRENAEUS CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS ORIGEN and others and was for such receiv'd by several Churches tho' I think it the sillyest Book in the World The Epistle of POLYCARPUS the suppos'd Disciple of St. JOHN was read in the Churches of Asia and is quoted by IRENAEUS EUSEBIUS and others The Epistle of CLEMENS ROMANUS whom they would have to be the same that 's mention'd by PAUL in his Epistle to the Philippians is cited by IRENAEUS CLEMENS ALEXANRINUS ORIGEN EUSEBIUS and others The Epistles of IGNATIUS are quoted by IRENAEUS EUSEBIUS with several more but particularly by ORIGEN who says that in one of 'em he found it very elegantly written That the Virginity of MARY was a Secret to the Devil which Virginity with her Delivery and the Death of our Lord IGNATIUS says were Three famous Mysteries wrought in the Silence of God These Words may be now read in the Epistle of IGNATIUS to the Ephesians Now these are the Books of whose Genuinness and Authority I took the Liberty to doubt notwithstanding the better Opinion which is entertain'd of 'em by others My present Business is not to insist on this Subject but to clear my self of an Imputation which I thought no body could infer from my Words Yet since many were less knowing than I imagin'd tho' Mr. BLACKHALL alone has the Candor of publishing his Weakness to the World I assure 'em all that I alluded to these Books and I hope they will be just enough in allowing me best to explain my own meaning and prove so tender of their own Reputation as to consider well of it before they censure me another time BUT tho' I will not as I said enter now into a particular Discussion of these Writings yet I shall offer one thing to the Consideration of their Defenders Either they really believe the Epistles of BARNABAS and CLEMENS for Example to be theirs or to be supposititious If not theirs there 's a speedy end of the Dispute and I have attain'd my End without more Argumentation But if they think 'em genuin why do they not receive 'em into the Canon of Scriptures since they were the Companions and Fellow laborers of the Apostles as well as St. MARK or St. LUKE If this Quality was sufficient to entitle the two last to Inspiration why should it not do as much for the two first And if this be not all the Reason pray let us know the true one having never heard of any other To say that tho' the Books are authentic yet they ought not to be receiv'd now into the Canon because the Ancients did not think fit to approve 'em is but a mere Evasion For 't is well known that till after EUSEBIUS'S time neither the second Epistle of PETER nor that of JAMES or JUDE with som others were approv'd as Canonical and yet they were afterwards receiv'd by the whole Church Wherefore then may not we as well at this time establish the Epistles of CLEMENS and BARNABAS if they be undoubtedly theirs which I shall be persuaded their Patrons believe when they quote 'em as Scripture and then I know where to have them and how to deal with ' em But of this enough I SAID above that by the spurious Pieces I meant only a great part of the Books which are recited in the Catalogue for others of 'em do not seem to deserve so mean a Rank and I am so far from rejecting all those Books of the New Testament which we now receive that I am rather solicitous lest as in the dark Ages of Popery those we commonly call Apochryphal Books were added to the Bible so at the same time and in as ignorant Ages before several others might be taken away for not suiting all the Opinions of the strongest Party Nor is it unworthy observation that most of these Books are condemn'd by the Decree of Pope GELASIUS How many true and spurious Gospels or Histories of C●RIST were extant in St. LUKE's time God knows but that there were s●veral may be evidently infer'd from his own Words who tells TH●OPH●LUS that many had undertaken the same Work before him and as if he alluded to som spurious Relations assures him that he 'll write nothing but what he receiv'd from such as had a perfect knowledg of th●se Matters from the beginning That there should be first and last but just the number of Four I never heard of any that w●nt about to demonstrat except 〈◊〉 the sam'd Successor of the Apostles and he positively affirms that there cannot be more nor fewer than Four Gospels Fo says he there be Four Regions o● this World wherein we live with Four principal Winds and the Church is spread over all the Earth But the Support and Foundation of the Church is the Gospel and the Spirit of Life Therefore it must follow that it has Four Pillars blowing Incorruptibility on all sides and giving Life to Men. Then he corroborats his Argument from the Four Cherubims and the Four Faces in EZE●I●L's Vision to wit of a Lyon an Ox a Man and an Eagle which is the Reason by the way why the Four Evangelists are painted with these Emblems in the Mass-Book and in our Common Pray●r-Book So he concludes at last That they are all vain unlearn'd and impudent who after this would assert that there were more or sewer than 4 Gospels Where we may observe that Mr. BLACKHALL has the Warrant of an ancient Father for giving hard Names to such as contemn precarious Reasoning And indeed it is but too manifest to be d●ny'd that no Order of Men have more violated the Rules of D●cency and Civility in their Writings