the Front that he may poison his Reader 's Mind first of all and so prepare it for Reception of the following Heterodoxies Wherefore we have considered this at large in the first Section of Genesis and Divine Miracles Pag. 224. Diodorus Seculus was famed for his great Learning Reading Enquiring speaking of the Chaldeans he relates ' That they thought very long ago that the World according to its own Nature was eternal having no Beginning nor that it should have Corruption in order to an End And p. 225. Before the Expedition of Alexander they reckoned Four hundred and seventy thousand Years Likewise Cicero who was cotemporary with Diodorus mentions the very same Account of Time and Number of Years ANSWER The Opinion of the Chaldeans as to the Original of the World is laid down by Diodorus Siculus Book the second in these Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Chaldeans says Diodorus affirm the World to be eternal that it had no Beginning of its Production neither hereafter shall it have any Corruption But the Order and Beauty of the Universe must be acknowledged to proceed from Divine Providence and all the glorious things which we see in Heaven owe not their Glory to Chance and Accident but to the firm and unalterable Determinations of the Gods Of what Necessity Revealed Religion is and of what Benefit to Mankind and under what great Errors men labour who are destitute of it this Instance of the Chaldeans fully evinces The Reader cannot but observe the Art of our Deist in relating the Opinion of the Chaldeans for he hath wholly concealed what they say of Divine Providence that being not for his design As also their great difference from his beloved Ocellus Lucanus The Chaldeans make the World only eternal as to the Matter of it the Form they own to be from Providence whereas Ocellus makes it eternal not only with respect to its Matter but also with respect to its Form What he writes as to their Computation of Four hundred and seventy thousand Years before Alexander amounts to nothing unless he had proved by what kind of Years they computed as we have done in the Mosaic Computation which we have proved to be Solar Diodorus observes that the Chaldeans in things pertaining to their Arts made use of Lunar Years of Thirty Days which will make this monstrous Account shrink considerably The Chaldeans make some of their first Kings to Reign above Forty thousand Years which is so incredible that Anianus and Panodorus interpret those Chaldean Years to be but Days That which will for ever cramp these vain Pretences of the Chaldeans is that we have from Simplicius on Aristotle's second Book de Coelo where he tells us that Aristotle desired of Callisthenes that he would certifie him of the Chaldean Observations which Callisthenes did and gives an Account not exceeding Two thousand Years Callisthenes was a grave Person not to be imposed on by the vain Brags of the Chaldeans he would believe nothing that they could not make to appear out of good Monuments of Antiquity This Argument will admit of no Solution the Authority of one single Manuscript to the contrary mentioned by Sir Henry Savil in his second Lecture on Eucleid is not to be opposed to all the vulgar Codes What our Author says concerning Cicero's mentioning the same Account of Time and Number of Years proves nothing but this That Mr. Blount is a Man of unparallell'd Boldness and abuses good Authors 'T is true that Cicero mentions this monstrous Account of the Chaldeans in two places in his first and second Books of Divination but then he explodes the same as false and ridiculous 'T is to be noted that Mr. Blount cites Cicero in general and refers to no Book he well knowing that all his Readers were not conversant in Cicero and that if he had mentioned the place where this was remarked the Reader would have cried shame on his Disingenuity Both these places being to the same purpose I will relate only that in the first Book where Cicero writing of the Babylonians who are the same with the Chaldeans hath these Words Condemnemus hos aut stultitiae aut vanitatis aut imprudentiae qui quadringenta septuaginta millia annorum ut ipsi dicunt monnmentis comprehensa continent mentiri jndicemns We cannot but cnndemn the Chaldeans of Folly Vanity and Imprudence who boast that they have Antiquities of 470000 Years and in our Judgment they are guilty of Falshood AN Appendix To the ANSWER I Have some reason to fear that the Reader of this Discourse may think that I have been too brief in my Preface wherefore I have thought fit to annex this Appendix I have already acquainted the Reader that I have pretermitted the Examination of some things in these ORACLES OF REASON viz. Things purely Philosophical and which may be problematically disputed on either side What those other things are which I have pretermitted I think it reasonable to acquaint my Reader with least he may conjecture that I have passed over some Material Difficulties I shall therefore give in this Appendix a particular Account I have not examined nor any ways concerned my self with those things that are purely Political as when our Deist in the Letter directed to Sir W. L. G. to be left in the Speaker's Chamber p. 137. calls the Regulators of Corporations and the Surrenderers of Charters Impudent if without Blushing they call themselvrs Protestants As also when p. 174. he says If the Church of England can be supported by such ill Men the Lord have Mercy on her And p. 174 Of how great Importance an Honest Impartial and duly Elected House of Commons is to this Nation every body knows and the ill Effects of the contrary I think is unknown to no body my old Lord Burleigh used to say we can never be throughly ruined but by a Parliament And in the same Page he writes I confess I cannot but couple these Regulators and Surrenderers together with those Judges and other Geâ—tlemen of the long Robe who were for the Annihilating or Dispencing Power I have not concerned my self with these Political Matters because I have not been conversant in that sort of Learning and because they are without my Sphear and proposed Design Neither have I concerned my self in discovering those Errors which are obvious to every Man viz. His illogical Inferences or his great Confidence in abusing good Authors We have an Example of the first p. 196. where when he is to prove the Minor of his first Syllogism viz. That no Rule of Revealed Religion ever was or could be made known to all Men he only proves that the large Continent of America was not discovered till within these Two hundred Years a Matter of Fact incontrovertible Whereas unless he had proved that Revealed Religion never was nor never could be discovered to America he hath not proved his Minor In like manner when p. 224. he is to prove rhat
fame of which hath fill'd the whole World But peradventure their Records were incombustible or reserved in the great Wall for the Pre-adamites alone to consult But the mischief of all is That this King Chingi was an ambitious Prince and for this end burnt all those Histories that he might obliterate and blot out of Men's Remembrance all the noble Acts of his Predecessors The same Vossius in his Castigations ad Scriptum Hornii ch 12. cites Martinius who gives us an Account of their Traditional Antiquity Sciendum itaque extremam hanc Asiam primum septem habuisse Imperatores quorum ab Electione per suffragia ab anno nimirum ante Christum natum 2846 usque ad annum 2207 ante quae tempora nihil veri se habuisse in suis Historiis fatentur Sinae deinde hareditaria fuit successio We must therefore know that this extreme Eastern part of Asia had first of all seven Emperors who were created by the Election of the People before our Christian computation 2846 even to the Year 1205. before which time the Chinenses have no true Historical Account as they confess themselves and then their Government began to be hereditary How vastly wide and different is this Account from the Traditional account our Author gives us of the Posterity of Panzon and Panzona and from that of the Bramins of Guzarat Joseph Scaliger in his fifth Book de Emendat Tempor reckons the Chineses among those Qui veris historiae monumentis destituti hinc multa annorum millia quaedam immania temporum intervalla expressit ab illis tam temporum inscilia quam vetustatis affectatio They were destitute of the true Monuments of Antiquity and from hence it is that they boast of so many thousand Years and those wonderful Intervals of time which their Ignorance of History and their affectation of Antiquity occasioned From this Ignorance and Affectation sprang those infinite Dynasteis of the Egyptians and those monstrous Traditions of the Chinenses as have heard Besides 't is to be noted we have no certain knowledge what kind of Year they used which is necessary to be known as before we observ'd concerning the Mosaic History The Computation of the Egyptians is obnoxious to the same Objection And whereas our Author says They were not Lunar 't is not material for each of the 330 Kings might reign a competent number of Solar Years upon this his Supposition And this any Man may perceive that knows the difference between a Solar and a Lunar Year as they are vulgarly understood He that will defend the Egyytian Chronology must of necessity understand some form of Years different from the Mosaic as when they report of their ancient Kings that some of them lived 300 some 1000 Years and more as we find in Varro cited by Lactantius Book 2. Orig. Error c. 12. where altho' Lactantius differs somewhat from Varro yet as to the thing it self they may be well enough reconciled We shall therefore speak of the Egyptian Year forasmuch as Macrobius lib. 1. cap. 12. Satur. says Anni certus modus apâ—ld solos Aegyptios aliarum gentium dispari modo pari errore mutantur The Egyptians are the best skill'd in Chronology of any Nations For others altho' in a different manner yet they all err much in this particular Wherefore if we demonstrate the great variety and uncertainty that is among the Egyptians in this point we do according to Macrobius subvert the whole Pagan Chronology and the Dreams of the Preadamites Plutarch in the Life of Numa Pompilius affirms That before Numa who added January and February the Roman Year contained but ten Months Among some Barbarous People the Year contained but three Months In Greece among the Arcadians but four Months Among the Acarnanes six Among the Egyptians a Month was a Year and aftewards their Year contained four Months The Egyptians are thought to be most ancient and to compute an infinite number of Years in their Annals the reason of which proceeds from their using Months for Years Alexander ab Alexandro Book 3. c. 24. Dier Gen. writing of the variety of Years used by the Ancients says of the Egyptians Non una facie sed multiplici sorte variarunt ut quandoque trium saepius quatuor mensium annum efficerent plerumque mensis spatio ad cursum Lunae metiebantur The Egyptians did not use one kind of Year for sometimes their Year consisted but of three Months more often of four and for the most part it was but a Lunar Month. From whence it follows that nothing was more uncertain than their Account of time which yet is the basis of all true History and that in things so remote we can have no sure footing but in the Mosaic History of whose Chronology and the certainty thereof we have discoursed at large Pag. 192. As to the Origine of good and evil methinks 't is less contradictory and unreasonable to believe as the ancient Persians did That there were two Beginnings of things the one good the other evil For how can Evil proceed from a Being infinitely good and without whom nothing is If evil be not And if Genesis be a Parable the Persians may be in the right as much as the Jews ANSWER The Origin of Evil hath much exercised the Philosophers of old nor can we have any certainty thereof without Revealed Religion For how otherwise could we come to the right notion of sin or a deviation from Good in all Men a lapse from our first estate wherein God who is all good created us How perplexed our Author is about this Question for in this Page he affirms That if the Book of Genesis be a Parable and he supposes it to be so the Persians may be in the right as much as the Jews And yet Page 205. He affirms That this lapse of Nature may be discovered by Natural Reason if the opinion of the Jews be according to Natural Reason as Mr. Blount bears us in hand how can the Opinion of the Persians which is diametrically opposite to it be in the right these are great in consistencies If the Persians laying aside the Book of Genesis may be in the right our Author's Discourse of Natural Religion is ridiculous For he supposes Page 195. the first Article of Natural Religion to be That there is one GOD Infinite Eternal and Creatour of all things Whereas the Persians make two Anti-gods equally Infinite and Eternal and that one of them is the Author of Good and the other of Evil. So that the Sentiments of the Persians is repugnant to the Notion of a Deity For while they make two Gods they make none at all And consequently he is guilty of Idolatry and Atheism and the great Contradictions in the Opinion of the Persians are very palpable If this Persian Principle of Evil be absolutely contrary to the other Principle of Good it must in all its Perfections be contrary to it Now since all Perfections belong to that
these Countries a very quick and easie Passage Gerard Vossius de Scientiis Mathematicis p. 242. says Ex Asia per fretum Anianum non difficilem fuisse Navigationem in Mexicanam atque inde facillimum transitum in peruanum I must confess nothing pleases me more than the common Saying Omnia modice intra moâ—um Yet I must subjoyn what Josephus a Costa says relating hereunto both upon the account of Mr. Boyle who in his History of Cold commends the said a Costa as a very inquisitive and philosophical Person as also upon the said Acosta's own account who was for a long time a Traveller in America In his Natural and Moral History of the West-Indies p. 303. he says The Old World joyns with the New in some Part by which Men and Beasts may pass And p. 503. If there be any Sea betwixt the Old World and America it is so narrow that wild Beasts may easily swim over and Men may go over in small Boats So that without a Miracle here is a plain Solution of this Difficulty how the remote Parts of the Earth might be Planted with Men Tygers Panthers Bears c. Pag. 5. 'T is a Paradox to me that Methusalem was the longest liv'd of all the Children of Adam and no Man will be able to prove it while from the Process of the Text I can manifest it may be otherwise ANSWER 'T is no Paradox to believe that which hath been opinioned by most Men and in most Ages and is Established on good Grounds although it may not unexceptionally be Established by the Process of a Text and such is the Case of Methusalem's long Life The Instances in Lucian de Longaevis and in Phlegon Trallian of the same Subject come very short of the Age of Methusalem Josephus indeed in the first Book of his Antiquities c. 4. cites Hesiod Hecataeus Hellanicus Acusilaus Ephorus and Nicolaus who affirm that some lived to a Thousand Years And Pliny in the seventh Book of his Natural Histry c. 48. confirms the same But each of those Authors leave us uncertain as to the Point in Hand Josephus lessens the Authority he produceth by insinuating the little Credit to be had to his Authorities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither doth he express how they made their Computation Pliny destroys the Authority he brings by telling us that some accouâ—t six Months to a Year some three Months some a Lunar Month as namely the Aegyptians and that this is the reason why some were said to live a Thousand Years Which Latitude should we assume Methusalem may be said to have lived some Thousands of Years But the Computation of Time in the Mosaical Writings is most certain the Years are there according to the Course of the Sun the Months according to the Course of the Moon as will plainly appear The time of the Children of Israel's eating Manna is accounted fourty Years in the end of the sixteenth Chapter of Exodus and reckoned from their departure out of Aegypt Numbers the 33d Chapter Verse 38. Which Number from the same Season of the Year to the same by the Years of the Sun is most exact for they came forth of Aegypt the fifteenth Day of the first Month in the beginning of Barley Harvest and the very same Day of the same Month in Barley Harvest their Manna ceased Josh 4. ver 12. In the 25th Chapter of Leviticus the Israelites are commanded to sow their Fields and cut their Vineyard and gather the Fruits thereof six Years and to let the seventh rest as a Sabbath Year to the Lord. And seven of those Sabbaths are accounted Fourty nine Years at the end whereof in the tenth Day of the seventh Month began the Jubilee These Years were manifestly Years of the Sun otherwise all the Fruits of those Years could not have been gathered in Harvest and Vintage as God appointed for Fourty nine Years of the Moon would very near have cut off One and a Half the last expiring in Winter before any Corn or other Fruit were ready to be gathered therein St. Austin in his fifteenth Book de Civitate Dei cap. 14. writing against the Opinion of some who were perswaded that the Years of the Ancient Fathers which lived in the first Age were not of the Sun useth these Words Tantus tunc dies fuit quontus nunc est Tantus tunc mensis quontus nunc est quem Luna caepta finita conclusit Tantus annus quontus nunc est quem duodecim menses Lunares addites propter cursum solis quinque diebus quadrante consummant The Day was as long then saith he as it is now the Month as long then as now contained within the compass of the Moon 's Course from the beginning to the end The Year was then as long as now perfected by twelve Months of the Moon with five Days and a Quarter added So that the Year in the Writings of Moses was a solar Year the same we use at this Day The Months mentioned by Moses were lunar Months compleat This is manifest by the History of Noah's Flood in the seventh and eighth Chapters of Genesis where we are taught that the Flood begun the seventeenth Day of the second Month and the Ark rested on a Mountain of Ararat in the seventeenth Day of the seventh Month which Space by God's holy Spirit is there counted a hundred and fifty Days which reckoning giveth to every Month thirty Days apiece neither more nor less Of this Opinion was St. Austin in hls fourth Book de Trinitate chap. 4. Si duodecim menses integri considerentur quos triceni dies complent talem quippe mensem veteres observaverunt quem circutius lunaris ostendit That is If the whole twelve Months be considered which contain thirty Days apiece such was the Month observed by Men of Old Time even that which the Course of the Moon sheweth According to this Measure of Time the Days of Methusalem were Nine hundred sixty and nine Years and it doth not appear that any other of Adam's Posterity lived so long I have been the longer on this pretended Paradox because this Instance is commonly made use of to invalidate the holy Scriptures and because the right stating of the scriptural Years and Months is of good Use in these Controversies Pag. 7. I know that Manna is now plentifully gathered in Calabria and Josephus tells me in his Days it was as plentiful in Arabia the Devil therefore made me quere where was then the Miracle in the Days of Moses since the Israelites saw but that in his time which the Natives of those Countries behold in ours ANSWER The Authority of Josephus is of little Moment in this case Mr. Gregory of Christ Church in his Discourse of the seventy Interpreters p. 33. hath these Words When Josephus cometh to the Miraculous Passages of holy Writ he useth a fair way of Dissimulation still moderating the wonder of a Work that he bring it
Ministerii id est tricesimum annum implever it principium Geneseos legere non permittitur Unless a Man had attained to the Year of the Sacerdotal Ministry which is the Thirtieth Year compleat they were not permitted to Read the beginning of Genesis Which Practice appears also out of the Prologue Galeat and from Origen on the Canticles we are told by both that the Jewish Doctors forbid these Four things because of their Difficulty and Profoundness to be read by any but such as attained to Thirty Years of Age and those were the Three First Chapters of Genesis the beginning and end of the Prophet Ezechiel and the Book of Canticles This Decree of the Jewish Doctors is also mentioned by Prosper Aquitanicus lib. 3. de Vita Contemplativa c. 6. Where he gives us a good Account thereof and contends for the literal Sense Now altho they account this Book obscure yet I do not find that any of the Ancient Jews excluded a literal Sense Philo Judaeus excepted whose Arguments are very weak and unbecoming so great an Author It was a known rule among the Rabbies that Scripture falls not in with the Midrash i. e. The Scriptures are to be Interpreted in a literal Sense And Buxtorf de punct Antique tells us That when the Allegorical or Cabalistick Sense is contrary to the Literal the Cabalistick is to be rejected neither must we think otherwise of the Modern Jews if they will be consentaneous to themselves and the Eighth Article of their Creed Out of which it necessarily follows that altho the Jews allowed an Allegorical Sense yet they never allowed any which interfered with the Literal If we consult the Ancient Christians we shall find that they were careful to preserve the Literal Sense of Genesis Epiphanius in Ancorato c. 57. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If there be no Literal and Sensible Paradise then there is no Fountain no River no Pison no Gihon no Tigris no Euphrates no Fruit no Leaves no Adam no eating the Forbiden Fruit but the whole truth is a Fable and nothing but Allegory And c. 54. of the same Ancorate he calls Origen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a furious Mad Man for his obtruding on the World Allegory instead of a Literal Truth St. Jerom in his Comentaries on Daniel c. 10. Writing something with relation to the Mosaical Creation seems to be much concerned in these Words Eorum deliramenta conticescant qui umbras imagines in veritate quaerentes ipsam conantur subvertere veritatem ut flumina Arbores Paradisum putent allegoriae legibus se debere subruere Let their follies be gone who searching after shadows and Images in the Truth endeavour the subversion of the Truth it self and think to bring Trees Rivers and Paradise it self under their Rules of Allegory St. Austin lib. 8. de Genesi ad literam cap. 1. Having delivered His opinion that some things in Genesis may admit as he calls it a Spiritual Sense doth then in general declare Narratio in his Libris non genus locutionis figuratarum rerum est sicut in cantico canticorum sed omnino gestarum est sicut in Regnorum libris hujuscemodi Ceteris The account which we have in the Book of Genesis is not Allegorical or Figurative as in the Book of Canticles but it is Historical and Literal as in the Books of the Kings and such like Historical Books As to the Second Consideration which relates to the great Changes which have happened to the Surface of the Earth I need not say much since I think it is taken for granted by all that have any acquaintance with History or Geography We Read in Plato's Timaeus of a Discourse between the Egyptian Priests and Solon about Six Hundred Years before our Saviour Solon is told there that of old Time without the Streights of Gibraltar there was a very great Island called Atlantis bigger then Asia and Africa put together and the said Island was afterward by a great Inundation and Earthquake in one Day and Night wholly overwhelmed and drowned in the Sea Some of the Ancients as Strato quoted by Strabo in the first Book of his Geography say that the fretum gaditanum or Streight of Gibraltar was forcibly broken open by the Sea The same they affirm of the Thracian Bosphorus and Hellespont that the Rivers filling up the Euxine Sea forced a Passage that way where there was none before of the like nature is that account of the Samothracians mentioned by Diadorus Siculus The River Arnus in Tuscany now falleth into the Sea Six Miles below Piza Whereby it it appeareth saith Dr. Hakewel that the Land hath gain'd much upon the Sea in that Coast for that Strabo in his time reporteth it was but Twenty Furlongs that is but Two Miles and a half distant from the Sea Varenius Conjectures That all China which is as bigg as all Europe or a great part of it was raised Originally from the Sea for that great and impetuous River called the Yellow or Saffron River coming out of Tartary and very often overflowing the Country of China is said to contain in it so much Earth and Sand as make up a Third part of its Waters the evenness and level Superficies of the whole Country of China renders this conjectture the more probable as that great Phylosopher Mr. Ray is of opinion in the 5th Chapter of the Consequences of the Deluge I shall here add what we find to this purpose in that excellent Geographer Maginus in his Preface and in Ocellus Lucanus Certum est says Maginus Insignes variationes in terrae partibus continuo evenire propter aquarum Inundationes marium praeruptiones ac recessus etenim non solum Regiones urbis oppida flumina alia hujusmodi sua nomina pro tempore mutant amissis prorsus prioribus Verum etiam fines ipsarum Regionum variantur urbes oppidaque senectute delentur Mare in uno loco Continentem Terrae dilatat in alio coarctat flumina quandoque augescunt quandoque minuuntur quandoque cursus variant quandoque etiam prorsus deficiunt sic quoque fontes stagna paludes alibi exiccaentur alibi vero procreantur 'T is certain there are great variations on the Surface of the Earth which continually happen by Inundations the breaking in and recess of the Sea Nay not only Countrys Citys Towns Rivers and the like change their Names but also Limits and Bounds the Sea in one place gains on the Land in another place it loseth Rivers sometimes grow sometimes lessen sometimes change their Channel sometimes wholy fail Fountains great standing Waters and Marshes in some places are dried up and appear in other places where they never were before Ocellus Lucanus who is an Author much valued by Mr. Blount p. 21â— of the Oracles hath these Words Nâ—w corruptions and violent alterations are made according to the parts of the Earth sometimes by the overflowing of the Sea Sometimes with
the Angelical as well as Mundane Substances in the beginnig of Time is not accounted general by many learned Persons both of the Pontifician and Protestant Communion From whence it follows that this is a Matter of Opinion and not an Article of Religion 'T is only required of us to believe that the Angels were created by God and that they are not Coeternal with him which is the true Reason of this Difference among the Fathers St. Austin lib. 11. De Civitate Dei c. 32. says proinde ut volet unusquisque accipiat dum a regula fidei non aberrat ut angelos sanctos in sublimibus coeli sedibus non quidem Deo Coaeternos nemo ambigat As to this Matter which relates to the Creation of Angels whether before or after the Creation of the visible World let every Man enjoy his own Opinion only take care you do not err from the Rule of Faith and think that the holy Angels now in the heavenly Places are Coeternal with God Sixtus Senensis to whom Mr. Blount seems to be beholding although he names him not Lib. 5. Annot. 5. tells as that the learned Father Theodoret was of St. Austin's Opinion having disputed this Point against St. Bazil and that Theodoret concludes that if you grant that the Angels were created it matters not whether before or after the Mosaic Creation verbum pietatis non offendet he will violate no Rule of Faith St. Jerome in his Epist ad Cyp. thinks that in the Mosaic History of the Creation there is no express Mention of the Creation of Angels because the common illiterate People were not so capable as to apprehend their Natures Perenius on Genesis propounds this Question Why Moses did not mention the Creation of Mettals and Minerals as well as that of Plants and Herbs To which he gives this Answer Because Mettals and Minerals are hid in the Bowels of the Earth and not so commonly known as Plants and Herbs and that Moses did not design to report all things in Particular but first in General to relate that all things in the Beginning were Created by God whether in Heaven or Earth and in Particular such things as were most common and evident to all Men. Thomas Aquinas hath also remarked That in Moses 's Writings we have no mention of the Creation of the Air for that the same not being visible it was difficult to have a right Notion of that Body Yet methinks if Men have no mind to be contentious there is reason to believe that the Angels were not created before the Heavens the place of their Residence and Abode The Jews will tell us that Moses understood these Words of his especially of Angels when he said of God In the Beginning he created the Heavens And the Catechism of the Council of Trent in its Exposition of the Articles of the Creed lays down the same Opinion where it says Coeli terrae nomine quicquid Coelum terra complectitur intelligendum est Moses under the general Terms of Heaven and Earth comprehended all things in both Angels as well as other Beings Pag. 54. We can evince the same by the sacred Oracles and Authorities of the Fathers as well as by Reason and Arguments the Fall of the Angels was before the Creation of the World ANSWER Mr. Blount may evince from his own Oracles that the Angels fell before the Creation of the World but to prove it from the sacred Oracles he will find it difficult As to the Fathers I have not observed above Two who speak clearly as to this Matter and they are St. Cyprian and Arnoldus Bonae Vallis St. Cyprian in his Book De Zelo Livore hath these Expressions Diabolus inter initia statim mundi perit primus perdidit Ille Deo carus acceptus postquam hominem ad imaginem Dei factum conspexit in Zelum malevolo livore prorupit Et dum stimulante livore homini gratiam datae immortalitatis eripit ipse quoque id quod prius fuerat amisit St. Cyprian is very plain that the Devil did not fall before the Creation He says the Devil in the beginning of the World perished himself and destroyed Man He who was dear to God and accepted by him after he saw Man was made in the Image of God he was moved with great Envy and Malevolence and being stirr'd up by these Affections robs Man of the Grace and Immmortality and himself lost that which he enjoyed before Some think that St. Cyprian contradicts himself for as much as he writes in the Book De Cardinalibus Christi operibus which goes under his Name ante hoc temporale initium ipse in principio imo ipse principium existens apud Deum ante hominis conditionem superbientis Diaboli ruinam videt affectatae dominationis ambitionem Where writing concerning our Lord he says Before the Beginning of this World he was in the Beginning nay he was the Beginning himself being with God before Man was created he saw the ruine of the Devil and of the Domination he affected It must be confest that this place comes home and is to the purpose But then it must be confest that not St. Cyprian but Arnaldus Abbot of Bonae Vallis was Author of those Books Bellarmine de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis proves St. Cyprian could not be the Author of that Book because he affirms Diabolum cecidisse de coelo ante hominis creationem cujus sententiae contrarium habet Cyprianus in Tractatu de Zelo Livore That the Devil fell from Heaven before Man was created whereas St. Cyprian teacheth the contrary in his Book De Zelo Livore Which Observation of Bellarmine is allowed of by Dalle in his Book De Libris suppositis Dionysio Ignatio p. 468. Dr. Thomas James in his Treatise of the Corruption of Fathers informs us That in an ancient Manuscript in All Souls Library the Author of this Book is of much later Date written by one that lived in St. Bernard's time to whom he wrote one or two Epistles and that he was called Arnoldus Bonae villacensis We learn also from the foresaid Manuscript that the Book was Dedicated not unto Cornelius the Pope who lived Anno. 254. but unto Adrian the Pope the Fourth of that Name who was created Pope Anno. 1154. and succeeded Eugenius the Third to whom Bernard wrote his Books of Consideration And agreeable hereunto is Mr. Dalle who in his Book before cited acquaints us that the same is to be found in a Manuscript in the French King's Library So that Mr. Blount's Authority from the Fathers is reduced only to One that delivers his Mind plainly and he a very late one too who lived some hundreds of Years after St. Cyprian And now we will see his Reason and Arguments He says p. 58 and 59 Really 't is not at all probable that the most excellent Creatures were made of so frail a Nature as that the
very day of their Birth they should fall into Misery and Evil. Where we see that after all those Brags of Sacred Oracles and Authority of Fathers our Author with all his Reason and Arguments is forced to conclude with probability Pag. 59. The Second Nicene Council would have this Doctrine proposed out of the Book of John Bishop of Thessalonica to be confirmed these are the Words concerning the Angels Arch-Angels and their Powers to which I also joyn our own Souls this is the Opinion of the Catholick-Church that they are 't is true intelligible yet not wholly incorporeal and invisible ANSWER Supposing that it were true as it is not what Mr. Blount hath delivered concerning the Second Nicene Council 's Confirming the Opinion of John Bishop of Thessalonica yet it cannot be concluded that this was the Opinion of the Catholick-Church as to the Corporiety of Angels and Souls Who knows not that the Conditions commonly required to make a General Council which only can Represent the Catholick-Church were wanting to the Second Nicene Petrus de Marca lib. 2. de Concordia c. 17. gives us this Account Secunda Synodus Nicaena ab Ecclesia Gallicana in Concilio Francofordiensi repudiata est The Gallicane Church Assembled in the Council of Francford hath rejected the Second Nicene Council And he subjoyns this excellent Reason Secundam Synodum Nicenam Oecumedicam dici posse negarunt quod occidentis provinciae per Epistolas more Ecclesiastico sententiam rogatae non fuissent The Second Nicene Synod was deny'd by them to be Oecumenical because no regard was had to the Provinces of the Western Churches in order to their consent according to the Custom received in the Church And the same De Marca lib. 6. c. 25. adds In Synodo Francofordiensi agitatum an Secunda Synodus Nicene recipienda foret tanquam septima Synodus oecumenica decretum autem in Canone Secundo Synodum illam repudiandam esse damnandam In the Synod held at Fracford it was Debated whether the Second Nicene Synod should be received as the Seventh General Council but it was Decreed in the Second Canon that it should be rejected and Condemned Agreeable hereunto is that of Launey some time a most Learned Doctor of the Sorbon in his Epistles Par. 8. Epist 11. Antiquiores Gallia Scriptores Nicaenam Secundam Vniversalibus non accensent conciliis The more Ancient French Writers do not enumerate the Second Nicene Council among those which they account Universal And Launey then descends to Particulars proving the same by the Ancient French Annals and many Historians If we consult the Church here in Britain in those times we shall find that they Rejected it also Simeon Dunelmensis an Ancient and good English Historian in his Book de Gestis regum Anglorum ad annum 792 says That Charles King of France seut a Synodal Book into Britain which he received from Constantinople in which Book were contained the Decrees of the Second Nicene Council Now how our Church in those days was pleased or rather displeased therewith the fame Dunelmensis tells us In quo Libro hu proh Dolor Multa inconvenientia verae fidei contraria reperiunt maxime quod ibidem confirmatum imagines adorare debere quod omnino Ecclesia Dei execratur In which Book alas Many inconvenient things were found and repugnant to the true Faith especially that which relates to the Worship of Images which the Church of God doth utterly abominate This Testimony is the more to be regarded for that it appears from hence that in those days our Church abhorred Image Worship This Testimony is Recorded also by Roger Hoveden Matthew Westminster and other our Ancient and best Historians And so much confounded the Romanists in the begining of the Reformation that their great Advocate Harpsfield could make no other Reply but that it was commentitia insulsa fabula a foolish and an invented Fable and that it was not Written by Simeon Dunelmensis or Matthew Westminster He makes no mention of Roger Hoveden nor of the Manuscript History of Rochester in the Cottonian Bibliothec whereas the same is now to be found in the Manuscript of Dunelmensis in Bennet Colledg Library in Cambridge And those who have been conversant in those things assure us that the same is to be seen in divers Manuscripts of Mathew Westminster and Hoveden and that all old and uncorrupted Copies testifie the same thing Of what Quallity Dunelmensis was I need not say much since the Preface to the Decem Scriptures is very full to this purpose I shall only here say that he is accounted one of our best Historians by the Pontifician and Reformed Parties He was Chantour of the Church of Saint Cuthberts in Durham and continued his History to the Days of King Henry the First But Supposing that this Synod was Universal or that which is all one that the Opinion of the Catholick-Church might be gathered from it as touching the Corporiety of Angels and Souls Doth it appear that such was the definition of that Synod in any of its Decrees Or doth it appear that they Confirmed the Opinion of John Bishop of Thessalonica in this Point No certainly nothing less And for this we appeal to Edmund Richâ—r a Doctor of the Sorbon in his Learned History of General Councils in his First Book p. 655. where we Read Angelos animas esse Corporeas nequaquam approbavit Synodus sed fuit peculiaris opinio Episcopi Thessalonicensis The Second Nicene Synod did not approve of the Doctrine of the Corporiety of Angels or Souls but it was the peculiar and private opinion of the Bishop of Thessalonica And the same Richer farther adds Accedit in Synodis non attendi oportere ad ea quae privatus aliquis narrat sed ad solam Synodi definitionem ut alias observatum est Besides in Reading Councils little regard is to be had to what a private Doctor or Bishop may declare or say we ought only to look to the Decree or Definition of the Synod And this says Richer I have Observed in another Place And now I may without doing any wrong Conclude that Mr. Blount hath Read the Councils very negligently and makes use of them at Second Hand The same may be said of the Fathers he quotes He hath injuriously imputed Heresy to the Catholick Church and hath fastened an untruth on the Second Council of Nice Pag. 73. St. Austin Would have all things that are said to be the Work of Six Days to have been Created in one moment altho Moses divided them into Classes and different times that he might the better help the Imagination of the People to Comprehend the Fiâ—st Originals of things God Almighty did in my Opinion Create out of nothing in one Moment and by one individual Act all Substances whether Intellectual or Câ—â—â—â—â—al nor did St. Austin in that come wide of 〈…〉 ANSWER I Remember that I have Read somwhere in Maldenate that Gregory Nazianzen Compares
Geography of Carolus a Sancto Paulo would give little Credit to this Charge for he would not find half that number of Bishopricks in the Christian World We confess there is some difference among ancient Authors as to the precise Number of Bishops in the Nicene Synod but then the difference is very inconsiderable not so portentous and extravagant as it is here represented nor a Word of this pretended Project of Constantine's Athanasius Hilary Hierom Ruffin Socrates and others affirm the Number of the Council to be 318. 'T is true there were many Presbyters and Deacons that accompanied these Bishops of whom these Authors make no particular mention there being no such regard had of them as there was of the Bishops I am verily perswaded that what Mr. Selden says in his Commentary on Eutychius p. 81. will obtain Belief among all unprejudiced Persons I will therefore report in his own Words Nemo mihi Sancto Athanasio aequiparandus is scilicet Archidiaconus tunc Ecclesiae Alexandrinae cum Alexandro patriarcha suo cui proxime successit testis interfuit oculatus Atque diserte is in Epistola ad Episcopos Africanos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No one in my Opinion as to this Matter is to be compared to Athanasius he was Archdeacon of the Church of Alexandria an Eye Witness and immediate Successor to Alexander the Patriarch and he expresly writes in an Epistle of his to the African Bishops That in the Synod held at Nice there were assembled Three hundred and eighteen Bishops There is an ancient Author who wrote a Book about the time of the fourth general Council held at Chalcedon One hundred and twenty Years after that at Nice The Title of the Book is An Exposition and Collection of all the said Synods This Book was brought into England in Manuscript together with many other Manuscripts of great Value by Christian Ravius a German a Man very well versed in the Oriental Learning This Book gives us an account much differing from Mr. Blount's He says There were 232 Bishops in the Council Presbyters and Monks 86 in all 318. Here is no mention of 2000 Bishops nor of any Artifice of Constantine's And this is the more to be regarded if it be true what Sandius the Arian Historiographer imagines p 166. that the Author of this Collection was Sabinus the Macedonian who wrote a Book of the same Title Socrates assures us that this History was written with great Partiality being an Enemy to that Council and one that accused the Fathers thereof as simple and ignorant Persons for which he is reproved by the same Socrates lib. 1. c. 6. and lib. 2. c. 13. How glad would Sabinus have been to have laid hold on this occasion to blacken Constantine and this Synod had there been the least Colour of Truth for so horrid a Calumny Perhaps some may think that Mr. Blount had somd good Grounds for laying this Imputation on Constantine and the Council although he did not produce them and would therefore be willingly satisfied what Conjectures may be made in order thereunto For the satisfaction of such I make this Answer That I believe Mr. Blount had no Grounds but such only as we find cited in Sandius and Selden In the first we find out of Hottinger in his Oriental History viz. That Petricides and Elma Cinus Arabian Writers have delivered to Posterity that there were at Nice 2300 which in truth can make nothing for Mr. Blount the Question was of Bishops only not of Others For Socrates lib. 1. c. 5. Eccles Hist says that there were at this Council Presbyters Deacons and of other inferior Orders innumerable And I find this of Socrates to be very agreeable with that which is delivered by other Historians of that Age and which peradventure might give the first occasion of this exorbitant number of Bishops And if we may be allowed to consult Reason in historical Matters I cannot do better then to cite Nicetas Coniates lib. 5. c. 9. where he gives this Reason why no more Bishops met in so venerable an Assembly because Age and Sickness detained many and that Bishopricks were then thin sowed every little City being not then advanced into an Episcopal See In Selden we find Eutychius affirming that in the City of Nice were assembled 2400 Bishops According to Dr. Pocock's Translation Josephus Aegyptius affirms the number to be 2048. And the same is affirmed by Ismael Ibn Ali the Mahometan Historian These are the only Authors that I have any where observed to have been made use of by learned Men to this purpose To all which the Novelty of the Author is a sufficient Answer Certainly those Historians who liv'd in the Age when things are transacted and are Eye-witnesses and are a great part of the Affairs themselves are to be believed before others that lived some hundred of Years after the things were done But since Ismael Ibn Ali the Mahometan seems more full to Mr. Blount's purpose than the others I will here translate him About the End of the twentieth Year of Constantine the Emperor there were gathered together in Council 2048 Bishops then the Emperor chose out of that number 318. And they did Excommunicate Arius of Alexandria because he did assert that Christ was a Creature The foresaid Bishops were consenting to the Emperor's Pleasure and so they innovated and published a New System of Christian Religion Eusebius who lived in those Days and was a Member of the Council says in his Chronicle that the Vicennalia of Constantine were Celebrated at Rome Anno 330. and that the Council was assembled Anno 325. So that this Trip of the Mahometans is an Argument that he made use of bad Records in compiling his History And whereas he says the Council innovated as to Religion he writes like a Mahometan indeed and not like a Man acquainted with the Misteries of our Sacred Religion We have therefore reason to believe that as the Arabic Canons falsly fathered on this Council are exploded by all that have any Gust of Criticism so likewise will these Modern Arabic Pamphlets be rejected by all such as will take the Pains to examine them Pag. 99. The Arians had not the Freedom to dispute their Cause in the Council of Nice ANSWER If this could be made appear then farewell to the Authority of the Nicene Council but if this be false as undoubtedly it is what a horrid injury is done to this most Venerable Assembly This is one of the greatest Objections the Protestants have against the Council of Trent and that the Catholicks of old had against the Arian Synods but who can believe this that knows with what fervency and zeal Saint Athanasius declaims against this perverse Method And this Method He says is repugnant to the Law of God and the Blessed Apostle Athanasius Apol. ad Const Imper. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The divine Law and the Blessed Apostle require and Command all parties to be heard And to this purpose
less than two hundred Dissenters and not three only as Mr. Blount bears us in hand that held the contrary As to what is added concerning the Persecutions used by the Arians we own it to be true and the Orthodox frequently inveighed against the Arians for these their Barbarities I shall therefore acquaint my Reader what Grotius says lib 2. De Jur. Pacis Belli cap. 21. sect 5. Athanasius is very vehement against the Arian Heresy for in his Epist ad Solit. they were the first who made use of the Temporal Power to punish dissenters with Stripes Imprisonments Confiscations and Banishments says Mr. Blount Those Bishops were condemned in France by the judgment of the Church which persecuted the Priscillianists to death and in the East that Synod was condemned which consented to the Burning of Bogomilus Page 100. As for the Trinitarians of those times I must confess that I cannot but esteem them as enemies to all Humane Learning for they had Canons forbidding them to read any Ethnick Books ANSWER I have seldom found such Confidence any where as these Oracles do in all places afford us How ridiculous this insulting of Mr. Blount's is will fully appear in handling this Point In prosecution of which I shall First Lay down the Discourse of Father Paul relating hereunto Secondly I shall show what Reasons I have to dissent from that learned and worthy Person Thirdly I shall consult the Opinions of some of the most Learned of the Eastern Church with my Reason for so doing Lastly I shall make plain Inferences which will be sufficient to cramp the Presumption of our Deist and to defend the Trinitarians as he calls them against the Imputation of Ignorance Of what Candor and Learning Father Paul was every Man knows that hath read his History of the Council of Trent where p. 472. he hath this Discourse In the Church of Martyrs there was no Ecclesiastical Prohibition though some godly Men made Conscience of reading bad Books for fear of offending against one of the three Points of the Law of God to avoid the Contagion of Evil not to expose ones self to Temptations without Necessity or Profit and not to spend time vainly These Laws being Natural do remain always and should oblige us to beware of reading bad Books though there were no Ecclesiastical Law for it But these Respects ceasing the Example of Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria a famous Doctor did happen who about the Year of our Lord 240. being reprehended by some of his Priests for these Causes and troubled with these Respects had a Vision that he should read all Books because he was able to judge of them yet they thought that there was greater Danger in the Books of the Gentiles than of the Hereticks the reading whereof was more abhorred and reprehended because it was more used by Christian Doctors for a vanity of Human Eloquence For this cause St. Jerom either in a Version or in a Sleep was beaten by the Devil So that about the Year 400 a Council in Carthage did forbid to read the Books of the Gentiles but allowed them to read the Books of Hereticks the Decrees whereof is among the Canons collected by Gratian and this was the first Ecclesiastical Prohibition by way of Canon Thus far Paul And now I come to the second thing The Council of Carthage which Father Paul relates to is that which is commonly called the 4th Carthaginian Council whose 16th Canon is ut Episcopus Gentilium libâ—os non legat Haereticorum autem pro necessitate tempore That a Bishop do not read the Books of the Gentiles but in reading the Books of Hereticks He is to have regard to Necessity and Opportunity Now in this particular I dissent from Paul and joyn with that great Antiquary Justellus who in his Preface to the Code of the African Church says Concilium quod vocant quartum Carthaginense plane repudiandum est nec fides adhibenda Canonibus 104 quos sine auctoritate huic Concilio adscribunt The Council which is commonly called the fourth Carthaginian is to be wholly rejected neither is there any Faith to be given to the 104 Canons which without any good Authority they ascribe to it There is no mention of these Canons in the Collection of Ferrandus nor in that of Dionysius Exiguus nor in the Code of the African Church nor in the Collection commonly called the Afr. Council In a Manuscript that belonged to Cardinal Barberini they are entituled Ancient Statutes of the Eastern Church But these Canons themselves prove the contrary The Ceremonies of the Ordination of the lesser Orders as they are sate forth in this Council are agreeable enough to the Practice of the Western Church where these Orders were conferred by delivering holy Vessels but not to the Eastern Church where these Orders were always conferred by Imposition of Hands In other Manuscripts they are entituled The ancient Statutes of the Church In a word there can be no sufficient reason given why they should not be found in the ancient Collections if they were genuine The ancientest Author Father Paul cites is Gratian whose testimony is of no weight if not strengthen'd by some collateral Evidence For all know He is a perfect Rhapsodist and this is so fully made out by August Tarraconensis in his Book de Emendat Gratiani that there is not any place left for the least doubt Which prejudice together with that of Moderness may be objected against Isidore Burchardus Hincmare Ivo Carnotensis c. and the defence which Schelstrate makes is so weak and dull as that it savours little of a Vaticane Library keeper whereas otherwise in his Ecclesia Africana He discovers much Learning and Reading I am now to consult the Opinions of some in the Eastern Church and to bring my reason for doing so Saint Basil in the first Tome of his Works hath a Homily whose Title is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Homily was compos'd for young Men not to prohibite them to read the Books of the Gentiles but to direct them and to shew what benefit they might reap thereby Amongst other things He takes notice that Moses was educated in the Learning of the Egyptians and so proceeded to the knowledge of the true God In like manner in following ages Dauiel at Babylon learned the Learning of the Chaldeans and from thence proceeded to Divine Doctrines Gregory Nazianzen ad Seleucum Iambie 3. treats of this matter where he prohibits nothing as touching reading the Books of the Gentiles but only lays down this Rule That from the same Plant Roses may be gathered and Thorns and that we ought to take one and leave the other The reason of these two citations is to stop the mouths of those who pretend that the Apostles prohibited the reading the Books of the Gentiles and for that purpose quote chap. 5. of the Apostolical Constitutions whose Title is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concerning reading the Books of such as are
The forecited Honor. Du Plessis in the 29. c. positively and truly affirms Quod ipsi Sanhedrin seu Juces 70. quos R. Moses Hadarsan ante adventum Messiae non destituros dicebat sub Assyriorum jugo sub Macchabaeorum Principatu persever abant The Sanhedrin or 70 Judges whom Rabbi Moses Hadarsan asserted should not cease till the the Coming of the Messiah continued under the Bondage of the Assyrians and the Government of the Macchabees He also adds In ipsa captivitate habuerunt perpetuo Judaei suum Reschgaluta id est Principem exulum ex tribu Juda exque ipsa Davidis stirpe quod Judaeorum Historiae testantur The Jewish Historians testify That when they were in Captivity they had their Prince of the Tribe of Judah of the Family of David And yet Mr. Blount contrary to all these Authorities peremptorily says That the Scepter in the Captivity under Nebuchadnezzar so departed from the Tribe of Judah as that it was never resetled in it more A plain Argument He had not well considered Revealed Religion which so ignorantly he impugns Pag. 159. Other Prophecies are either general and indefinitly exprest as to the time of their accomplishment or inexplicable from their obscurity or uncertain as to their Authority such as are the Weeks of Daniel which Book the Jews reckon among their Hagiographa or Sacred but not Canonical Books ANSWER The Prophesies of the Prophet Daniel which expresly point at the time of the Messiah's Coming and concur with our JESUS are very considerable The Prophesy in the 9th of Daniel ver 24 25 and 26. Seventy Weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in the everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and prophesy and to anoint the most holy Ver. 25. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks the street shall be built again and the war even in troublous times Ver. 26. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for Himself and the people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a flood and unto the ends of the war desolations are determined Ver. 27. And he shall confirm the Covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease and for the overspreading of Abominations he shall make it desolate even until the consummation and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate This Prophesy is clearly meant of the Messiah because here we have not only his Name but his Sufferings and the account of his Sufferings not for himself but the People The ancient Jews understood this place of the Messiah Hoornbeck to this purpose tells us that R. Saadias a gaon Rabbi Naahman Gerundensis and divers others expound this place of the Messias At last he gives us Manasse Ben Israel which being very material I shall quote it at large out of him Verum ut addam illud interpretationis hujus prophetiae varie etiam illa ab hujus aevi Hebraeis explicata est neque illud mirum cuique videre debet si in prophetia tam obscura variant sententiae But that I might add this of the Interpretation of this Prophesy for this is variously expounded by the Hebrews of this Age neither let this be a wonder to any if there be a difference of opinions in so obscure a Prophesy There are therefore those who take these 70 weeks so that they say After the end of them the Messiah is to come who would constitute the Jews Lords of the whole Earth And this truly all those did imagine that took arms against the Roman Emperour and altho' they were obnoxious to many miseries and labours yet notwithstanding they always placed their hope in the Messias that was to come because they thought he would afford the sight of himself when they were in the midst of their miseries wherefore these words To finish transgressions they expounded That after the expiration of 70 weeks sins are pardoned Thus far Hoornbeck out of Menasse Ben Israel We have here an evident testimony that the Jews that lived about the time of the Destruction of Jerusalem looked for the Messias then to come because they thought Daniel's Period was then ended and tho' by mistake they expected a temporal Prince yet 't is evident they thought this Prophesy did concern the time when the Messias should come That which is most difficult here is the direct time of the Messias's cutting off is told us under the name of so many Weeks which are not to be understood in our common acceptation of the word but are to be taken for Years The word Weeks in holy Scripture signifieth sometime the space of seven Days as here in this Prophesy 10. ch ver 2. where Daniel says That he mourned three Weeks or sevenets of Days And in the 16. of Deuteron 9. ver where commandment is given Seven Weeks shalt thou number unto thee begin to number the seven Weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn The word Weeks is sometime taken for Years in Scripture and containeth seven Years As in the 29. chap. Genes ver 27. Fulfil her Week and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other Years As also Leviticus ch 25. ver 8. And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of Years unto thee seven times seven Years and the space of the seven Sabbaths of Years shall be unto thee forty and nine Years The Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in approved Authors is in like manner used not only for seven Days but also for seven Years space as in the end of the 7th Book of Aristotle's Politicks where mention is made of such as divided Ages by Sevenets of Years 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Varro in his first Book of Images writeth Se jam duodecimam annorum hebdomadam ingressum esse That he had now entred into the twelfth Sennet of Years which Expression is plain and full In this Signification the Word is to be taken in this place understanding by 70 Sevennets 490 Years having Proof thereof from Holy Scripture and Prophane Authors And to those before mentioned we may add Censorinus de die Natali c. 14. and Macrobius Book first in Somnium Scipionis c. 6. As for those who stretch the Word further to a Sevenet of Tenths or Jubilies or Hundreds of Years as some have done their Opinion hath neither warrant of God's Word nor any likelyhood of Truth The greatest Difficulty is about the Beginning of those Weeks concerning which we need not say any thing considering that those must
Deist know this when so many Monuments of Antiquity relating to the first Centuries are lost This Method I remember to be used by Bishop Pearson in the Defence of Ignatius's Epistles It is certain that in the first and second Ages there were some that denied the Book of the Revelations to be Canonical Scripture and that the Author thereof was Cerinthus the Heretick and not St. John and there was no reason that induced them to think so besides this Doctrine of Milleranism Nepos an Egyptian Bishop was a great defender of this Opinion he writ a Book about the Year of our Lord 244. in defence of it he Titles his Book a Reproof of the Allegorists By that Name he called the Antimillenaries so that the Opponents of the Millenaries must have been then considerable their Nickname is sufficient Demonstration thereof 'T is very surprizing to hear our Deist affirm that they who oppose this Opinion never quote any for themselves before Dionysius Alexandrinus Forasmuch as the same Dionysius in Eusebius lib. 7. c. 25. affirms that some who Preceeded him rejected the Book of the Revelations upon that account Besides the Defenders of this Doctrine kept it as secret as they possibly could Non defendere hanc Doctrinam says Lactant. lib. de vit Beat. publice atque asserere solemus We are not wont to defend and assert this Doctrine publickly 'T is no wonder then if the Opponents of this Opinion were not so numerous 'T is also very plain that our Deist is mistaken in the Design and first Contrivance of this Millenary Invention as he calls it Nay Lactantius lib. 7. c. 26. pretends there is a Command from God to keep this Doctrine in silence Now if Lactantius who was himself a Millenary and well acquainted with their Methods hath rightly informed us our Deist's Suggestions must be very weak We read in Eusebius lib. 7. c. 23. how successful Dionysius was in overthrowing Milleranism and that Coracion a principal Man of that Party was so convinced by him as that He promised never to dispute for that Doctrine more never more to teach it nor to make any mention of it If the Books of Dionysius and Nepos two of the greatest and ablest Writers of the respective Parties were now extant we could not fail of having a true Prospect of this Controversie but their Books by the Injury of Times are perished Upon which consideration if we had said nothing else this last Remark had been sufficient to defeat Mr. Blount's Argument drawn from the Silence of the two first Ages The various reading of the much celebrated place in Justin Martyr relating to the Millenaries leaves us in Uncertainties But we are confident after a diligent Examination that Irenaeus no where pretends as our Deist bears us in hand that he did to relate the very Words which Christ used when he delivered this Doctrine Besides that which is a prejudice never to be overcome is the Silence of the Gospel in so important a Matter Our Author is frequent in quoting Councils as well as Fathers for Heterodoxies what reason there should be for his not citing any Councils in this Case no not so much as Gelasius Cyzicenus in reference to the Nicene Council I cannot account for I can only account for my self declare that what general or ancient Prov. Coun. have done in this case whether they have approved it or condemned it I do not know neither am I ashamed so to confess For Scaliger in his Exercit. 345. calls verbum Nescio ingenni candidique animi pignus In the beginning of the Reformation there were some who endeavoured to give Countenance to this Opinion wherefore our Church then passed a severe Censure on such Persons For in a Convocation at London in the Year of our Lord 1552. in the last Article save one the Millenaries are called Hereticks The Article is as followeth They that go about to renew the Fable of the Hereticks called Millenarii be repugnant to Holy Scripture and cast themselves headlong into a Jewish Dotage This Article is to be seen in the Collection of Articles Injunctions c. p. 52. Prefaced by the Learned Bishop Sparrow I say Prefaced because the Author of the Antopology p. 56 informs us that the said Bishop told him That he was not the Collector and that if he had been concerned in the Collection he would have published more Materials The latter part of this Information seems very probable forasmuch as the said excellent Prelat was most accurate in Matters of this nature From what hath been said concerning this Subject we may sufficiently discover Mr. Blount's Vanity when p. 169. he affirms that there was as Universal a Tradition for Milleranism in the Primitive Times as for any Article of our Faith Whereas there is no Article of our Faith but may be tried and proved by that Golden Rule of Vincentius Lyrinensis Quod omnibus quod semper quod ubique the Articles of our Faith have been received by all Orthodox Persons at all Times and in all Places which cannot be said of Milleranism We acknowledge no Articles of Faith but such only as can be proved by Holy Scriptures and to such Articles the Rule of Vincentius is only competent This I conceive to be the Sense of our Convocation in the Year of our Lord 1562. Collect. Artic. p. 92. when they define that all Articles of Faith are grounded on those Canonical Books of Holy Scripture of whose Authority there was never any doubt in the Church I think I may not be importune and unreasonable if I relate the whole Article Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation So that whatsoever is not Read therein nor may be Proved thereby is not to be required of any Man that it should be believed as an Article of Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation in the Name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament of whose Authority there never was any doubt in the Church SECT IX Of Augury Of a God Origin of Good and Evil plurality of Worlds Natural Religion Ocellus Lucanus PAg. 167. Augury is a sort of the ancient heathenish Superstition And Pag. 169. We may see that Superstition like Fire endeavours to resolve all things into it self ANSWER Mr. Blount hath given us some Account of the Pagan Superstition of Augury out of which it appears how insufficient Natural Religion is of it self and how necessary Revealed Religion is to shew the vanity of these Abominations To this purpose very remarkable is that of Alexander ab Alexandro in the end of his last Book Dierum genialium Quantum debemus Christo Domino Regi Doctori nostro quem verum Deum veneramur scimus quo praemonstrante explosa monstrosa ferarum gentium doctrina rituque immani ac barbaro veram religionem edocti humanitatem verum Deum colimus evictisque erroribus infandis ineptiis
of a Deity we have no evidence at all I must beg Pardon with all deference to so great a Prelat to transcribe a Passage out of Varenius in his Treatise de diversis gentium Religionibus p. 238. De Atheis quidam dubitant alii omnino existere eos negant atque cum Cicerone putant nullos dari tam feros homines qui non aliquem agnoscant venerentur Deum Nos illos opponimus manifestam cui cum iudicio contradicere nequeunt experientiam Multos ex Graecis Philosophis homines certe haud quaquam feros negasse omnes spiritus Dei existemiam vel saltem de iis dubitasse testantur antiquitatis Scriptores Protagoram quidem ab Atheniensibus cam ob causam civitate pulsum esse Diogenes Laertius alii clare affirmant Non jam dicam de illis qui quanquam inter Christianos versantur tamen Athei sunt sed de remotis populis agemus In Descriptione Religionis Japonensis narravimus tam ex Jesuitarum quam Belgarum annotationibus quod multi hic reperiantur qui nullam divinitatem credant nempe illos qui ex Jenxuana haeresi sunt Praeter bosce dari feros et Sylvestres populos quorum plerique sunt Anthropophagi et sine ulla Republica qui nullam Dei cognitionem habeant satis superque per navigationes comprobatum est nimirum in populis totius Brasiliae populis circa Fretum Magellanicum ad Promontorium Bonae Spei parte Insulae Sumatra Australi item in Madagascare insula et Hornanis insulis ad Novam Guineam Etenim qui navigationem Navarchi Le Maire circa totam tellurem per fretum ab eodem Le Maire dictum descripsit atque in hisce insulis multos dies commoratus est ita loquitur Non potuimus inquit ex ullis judiciis colligere quod hic populus aliquem Deum colat vivunt sine omni cura ut aves in sylvis neque tendendi vel emendi illis mos est neque serunt neque metunt nec aliis laboribus fatigantur De Brasilianis Anthropophagis narrant historiae cum Europaei aliquando sumpta occasione a vehementi tonitru existentiam Dei huic genti persuadere conarentur illos non erubuisse impudenter respondere talem Deum nequam esse oportere utpote cui volupe esset hominibus terrorem incutere Considering that this Treatise of Varenius speaks pertinently to our present purpose and that this Book is not in every Man's hand I have transcribed this Passage at large and I here translate it Some doubt others absolutely deny that there are any Atheists and are of Cicero's mind that no Men are so barbarous but that they acknowledge and venerate a GOD. But we oppose to such manifest Experience which no judicious Person can contradict Many of the Greek Philosophers and certainly not barbarous have deny'd all Spirits and the Existence of a God or at least have doubted thereof as Historians bear witness And Protagoras was banished by the Athenians for that cause as Diogenes Laertius and others testify I will say nothing of such as live among Christians and yet are Atheists but of remote People in the Description of the Religion of Japan we have delivered out of the Annotatations of the Jesuites and the Hollanders that there are many among them to be found who deny the being of any God viz. those who are of the Jenxuan Heresy Besides those there are many barbarous People many of whom are Man-eaters and without any form of Government who have no knowledge of God at all as is over and above proved by Navigators to wit the People of all Brasile the People who live about the Magellanick Sea part of the People that live about the Cape of Good hope South Sumatra in the Isle of Madagascar and the Hornane Isles about New Guinee Truly he who described the Navigation of Le Maire about the whole Earth thro' the Sea call'd from him Le Maire and tarried in those Isles many days thus writes We could not by any signs gather that this People worshipp'd any God They live without any care as Birds in the Woods they neither buy nor sell they neither sow nor mow neither are they wearied with any labour Histories tell us concerning those of Brasil That when the Europeans took an occasion from a terrible Thunder to perswade this Nation to the Belief of a God They were not ashamed impudently to answer Such a God must needs be a wicked one who took pleasure to terrify poor Mortals What Mr. Lock hath written of this Subject I have not read I am sure if what Varenius writes be true That Mr. Blount's whole Hypothesis of Natural Religion is destroy'd whose principal Foundation page 195. as he pretends is That there is one Infinite Eternal God Creator of all things and knowable by Innate Idea's or else he says Nothing to the purpose Pag. 182. But since our correspondence with China we have found they have Records and Histories of four or six thousand Years date before our Creation of the World and who knows but that some other Nations may be found out hereafter that may go farther and so on Nay the Chinese themselves in a Traditional account tell us That the Posterity of Panzon and Panzona inhabited the Earth 90000. Years The Bramins of Guzarat said the Year 1639. that there had past 326669. Ages each Age consisting of a number of Years and if I mistake not Centuries Nay the Egyptians in the time of their King Amasis Contemporary with Cyrus had the Records and Story of 13000. Years and a succession of 330. Kings which shews they were not Lunar Years ANSWER It may seem strange that Mr. Blount makes no mention of Dyrerius the Author of the Praeadamites to whom he is so much beholden as he also was to Salmasius de Annis Climactericis The reason whereof I cannot think to be other than this That he retracted his Opinion as Isaac Vossius tells us in his Book de Aetate Mundi cap. 12. 'T is a wonderful thing indeed the Chinese should have Records of six thousand Years date before the World began For Vossius assures us in his Book in his Treatise de Artibus Sinam pag. 83. Omnes Sinensium libri continentes Historiam Mathesin Astronomiam Musicam complures alias Scientias exceptis tamen iis qui ad Agriculturam rem Medicam pertinerent combusti fuere jam ante mille et nongentos annos jussu Regis Chingi multis quidem aliis celebrati operibus et praesertim constructione vasti istius muri cujus fama implevit totum terrarum orbem All the Books of the Chineses which contain Mathematicks Astronomy Musick and many other Arts and Sciences excepting such only as belong to Agriculture and Medicine were burnt a thousand and nine hundred Year since by the command of their King Chingi who was celebrated for his many great Works and especially for the great Wall the