From these two Instances it doth appear that there is reason enough for us to suspect at least that they have acted craftily and against the light of their own Consciences and so it is very probable that they do still and that they may know themselves the falshood of those things which they would fain have us to believe and perhaps for Varro's and Scaevola's reason because it is fit sometimes the People should be deceived in their Religion for peace and quietness sake But yet What if the Rulers of these People be of the same Faith with their Vassals it is no argument of the truth of their Creed because great and learned Men have believed it for great and learned Men may be and have been deceived That great Philosopher Zeno did question whether there was any such thing as Motion in the world but what authority is this for me to disbeleive my own eyes And Scipio Tettus was such a Fool that he denied the being of God and set up a School of Atheism and died a Martyr for Atheism and clapt his hands too in the very flames Now all that we can collect from these and the like instances is that Man is a most senseless Creature when God gives him up to his own conduct and management especially if he be blinded too by him that ruleth in darkness Magnus Deus est error as Luther said Error is a God which the most admired Sophies are ready to adore when the God of Truth Righteousness and Peace shall leave them to themselves and commit them to their own hands And that this is usual the Instances are too many to be insisted on and the thing is too common to be wondered at And so the first thing I propounded is made good that many people are led away by strong delusions to believe that which is a manifest and notorious lie and how this cometh to pass Partly by the power of Mens Education partly by the efficacy of their Lusts but chiefly by the Justice of God thereby punishing them for their darling wickednesses for this cause God doth send them strong Delusions that they should believe a Lie ANCIENT and MODERN DELUSIONS Discoursed of in three SERMONS Upon 2 THES 2. 11. SERM. II. 2. THES 2. 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong Delusions that they should believe a Lye THE second consideration now followes that notwithstanding those great Evidences which have been given on the behalf of Truth yet multitudes of silly people are very fond of delusions and lyes still nay even such as are of the same or of the like Nature with those Delusions which St. Paul speaketh of here which he sayeth were to be sent upon that Generation as a curse and Judgement upon them because they loved not the Truth that they might be saved In the handling of this matter I must of necessity observe this Method to shew you what those Pretences were which prevailed in the very first ages of Christianity Then that many pretences which are in vogue now do resemble and come very near to those which were broached in the beginning by damned Seducers and lastly that these are meer Delusions and Lyes how specious soever they may appear unto the vulgar 1. Then it is observable and very certain that in the most Primitive Times of the Church many Impostors did pretend to an Infallible Spirit This is clear to any man that hath but enquired into the History and condition of that Age wherein the Apostles of Christ lived For Simon the Sorcerer of whom we read Act. 8. and whom the Ancients called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Eldest Son of the Devil pretended that he was that Divine Being which framed both the Angelical and Visible world He perswaded many to believe that he was the great power of God or as it may be rendred that he was that Power Numen or Divine Majestie which is called Great He pretended to be more than Gods Vicar upon Earth for he gave out that he was the very God that appeared Epiph. Haeres 21. Iren. l. 1 c. 20. Cyril Catech 5. Iustin Dial. in Tryph. Euseb Hist Eccl. lib. 2. c. 13. upon Mount Sinai as the Father that he was the Christ that afterwards conversed with the Jews as the Son and that he was the Holy Ghost that at last descended as the Paraclete or promised Comforter Eusebius tells us that he had a Demon alwayes attending on him which was called the Virtus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby he Quod de Marco Annot Iren. lib. 1. c. 9. wrought such seeming Miracles that he was worshipped as the Supream and Sovereign Deity and it appears by the joynt testimonies of Tertullian Justin Martyr and other the most Tertul. Apol. c. 13 Iustin Apol. 2. Iren. l. 1. c. 20. Cyril Catech. 5. ancient Writers of the Church that Claudius the Emperor erected a great Statue in honour of him with this Inscription upon it Simoni Deo sancto to the Holy God Simon Some learned Divines do conceive that this was that Man of Sin of whom Saint Paul saith in this 2 Thes 2. 4. That he opposed and exalted himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped c. This is certain that his Followers pretended to the most perfect and certain knowledge of Gods Will insomuch that they despised the Apostles themselves as much inferiour to them in understanding the Divine Mysteries And Epiphanius relates that when the Church appealed to Epiph. lib 1. Haeres 14. 34. Iren. lib. 3. c 2. the Writings of the Apostles they urged the authority of a more infallible Tradition and affirmed themselves to be wiser than the Apostles and to be Preachers of greater Truths than ever the Apostles were acquainted with These were those false Prophets which our Saviour foretold would come Matth. 7. 15. He called them false Prophets not because they pretended to foretel future events but because they falsly pretended to Divine Inspiration and to an Infallible Spirit These are they which Saint Paul saith were puffed up with a profession of Science falsly so called 1 Tim. 6. These were they whom he called false Apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ 2 Cor. 11. 13. And these are they against whom he cautioneth the Thessalonians in this Chapter that they should not be shaken in mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vers 2. by any pretences of the Spirit by a shew of Inspiration Immediate Revelation and Infallible Knowledge Now by what hath been spoken you may easily observe that the Fundamental and Grand Pretence upon which those monstrous Hereticks went in the Apostles Times was This that their Master was the Divine Oracle the great Teacher of all Truth and that they themselves by being his Disciples had this Priviledge above other men to be divinely and immediately inspired so that they neither did nor could be mistaken in their Religion Like unto this is the
Godrus Huntsmen their Eustacius Seamen their Saint Christopher Saint Clement and our Lady Lawyers have their Juno Smiths have their Eulogius and Harlots themselves have their Saint Magdalen and Saint Afra Once more they have as the old Heathens had particular propitions Spirits and Orators for particular Diseases and Griefs as Cornelius for the Falling Sickness Barbara against sudden Death Liberius for the Stone Apollonia for the Tooth-ach Otilia for Sore eyes Roche against the Plague Petronilla for the Fever Saint John and Saint Bennet against Poyson Saint Antony for the Erysipelas Romanus for Demoniacks and Saint Margaret for Women in Travel and Faelicitas for such as are Barren Lastly they have particular Saints for the safety of themselves and their several sorts of Goods They have Antony for their Swine Wendeline for their Sheep Pelagius for their Oxen Saint Gall for their Geese Saint Loy for their Horses Vrban for their Vineyards Agatha against Fires Saint Michael and Saint George against all their Enemies These Instances I have collected not so much out of a design to render their Religion ridiculous as to open the eyes of those ignorant People who are deluded by crafty and evil Men and whom I pity with my Soul Alas miserable were those Creatures in the Apostles time who were taught by Hereticks to pray unto Angels to invocate and conside in Angels as their Mediators and Patrons in the Court of Heaven but God help them how miserable are those poor Souls I now speak of who are taught to do this and much more Not only to adore and depend on those that are indeed Ministring Spirits but moreover to worship and repose their trust both for their present and eternal safety in little and many times very naughty Creatures whose names they are pleased for their Interest sake and for some self-ends to enter into the Register and Catalogue of Saints But they have taken their Copy from the Religion of those whom Saint Paul speaketh of in my Text that had strong delusions sent them that they should believe a Lie because they loved not the Truth that they might be saved And yet I have more to say of them still ANCIENT and MODERN DELUSIONS Discoursed of in three SERMONS Upon 2 THES 2. 11. SERM. III. 2. THES 2. 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong Delusion that they should believe a Lye FOR Fourthly there is yet another thing observable of those Deceivers in the dayes of the Apostles that they pretended to great Austerities of Life in mortifying their Flesh and disciplining their Bodies and abridging themselves of that Liberty which God had allowed in the use of his Creatures S. Paul takes notice in two several places that they forbad to marry and commanded to obstain from meats 1 Tim. 4. 3. and that they neglected the body by observing these humane Ordinances touch not taste not handle not Col. 2. 21. They pretended to be more perfect and Holy than other men in using those severities towards the Body which others neither did nor thought themselves obliged to use These things have indeed a shew of Wisdome saith the Apostle Col. 2. 23. and 1 Tim. 4. 2. He gave these Deceivers this Character that they spake Lyes in Hypocrisie abused the World by pretences of extraordinary Sanctity and Mortification because they were so strict in these outward observances And are not the Modern Severities which the Romanists lay so much stress upon so many Apish Resemblances of these Ancient Delusions Their forbidding all Monastick persons and Clergy-men to Marry as if it were unbecoming the Sacredness of their Profession their commanding certain Religious Orders such as the Benedictines and Carthusians to eat no manner of Flesh all their days their General Laws touching the choice of meats at certain times which are imposed upon All as Religious ordinances and necessary to be observed under pain of Anathema what is all this but a reviving of the Doctrines of the Old Gnosticks and a new Edition of those Cheats and Impostures which were condemned by the Church in its most Primitive Ages As near as I can I will do them no wrong in this particular The Case I confess in some respects is not altogether the same and yet in other respects it is not altogether different It is not the same on this account because some Ancient Deceivers condemned Marriage as one of the Devils works and forbad the use of Wine and Flesh as a thing evil and unlawful in it self So Theodoret tells us of the followers of Simon the Sorcerer and Irenaeus tells us of Saturninus Marcion and the Eucratitae And Epiphanius relates of the Iren. l. 1. c. 22. 30. Epiph. Haeres 30. 42. 66. Ebionites and Manichees also how they held Marriage and the use of Flesh and Wine to have been instituted by the Devil and therefore was evil naturally and intrinsically This the Papists do deny as we do and they are very proud of this Evasion and make use of it against us when we dispute against their superstitions even as Tertullian did disputing against the Church in his book de Jejunio when he was a Montanist This is agreed upon on all hands against the first Hereticks that Hierom. adv Jovinian l. 2. every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving as S. Paul speaks 1 Tim. 4. 4. But then it is to be noted that in the Apostles days some were guilty though not of Heresie yet of great Superstition in this particular For they granted the use of Gods Creatures to be lawful in it self but yet they conceived the forbearance of their Liberty to be a very meritorious Act of Self-denial a great piece of of perfection and such a direct Act of worship as was very acceptable and pleasing unto God S. Paul in 1 Tim. 4. 8. speaking of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bodily exercise as a thing of little profit doth plainly glance at the fooleries of those men who placed Religion in bodily castigatigations in abstaining from certain meats and drinks and from Marriage although they did not look upon these things as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abominable in their own nature but refrained from them as divers did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Discipline sake supposing this abstinence to be an Exercise of Piety and kind of Mortification and Humility that would purchase and merit the Divine favour And in Col. 2. 23. although he calls this neglecting of the body will-worship and humility as those superstitious wretches did yet he tells us that these are onely the Commandments and Doctrines of men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which tended to corrupt practices by the abuse of them These things had indeed in them a shew of Wisdome as being borrowed of some Philosophers for which reason he saith beware least any spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit vers 8. but yet they were onely specious not real or substantial
the World fraughted with variety of Legends and thousands of Stories touching Miracles done at the Shrines and by the Reliques of Saints it would be the greatest Prodigy to me that in these dayes Men should have the confidence to talk of Miracles since the Truth of Religion hath been so abundantly confirmed Yet such is the Folly and Impudence of the Church of Rome that they are not asham'd to fill our ears with such Comical Stories many of them fabulous many ridiculous and all of them impertinent that were it fit to make this House a Theatre I would desire no better Subject whereby to expose their Religion But my business is briefly to shew that these are strong Delusions however some credulous and silly people do believe them as firmly as the very Creed In order to our proceeding two things must be premised 1. That there are two sorts of Miracles Some are properly so called real and true Miracles such as cannot be wrought by any second Causes but by the immediate hand of God alone Others again are improperly so called rather Prodigies than true Miracles such as are not effected by any natural and ordinary causes here among us but by some invisible created Spirits who by Gods permission produce such supernatural effects as do strike the vulgar sort into astonishment and serve to bring the Instruments thereof into admiration Of this sort was those wrought of old by the Egyptian Sorcerers in Exod. 7. 2. Miracles are not to be heeded without Consideration had of those Doctrines which they are intended to confirm For if they serve to promote Idolatry or to rob God of any of his Honor things plainly condemned by the Holy Ghost in Scripture they are to be rejected without further examination it being not to be supposed that God will contradict himself or set his Seal to a Lie but rather to be Believed that he doth only permit Angels or Devils to shew such wonders for the probation and tryal of Mens Faith or in vengeance for their Sins This is clear from Deut. 13. 1 2 3. If there arise among you a Prophet and giveth thee a sign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee saying let us go after other Gods and serve them thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that Prophet c. These things being taken for granted we affirm 1. That the signs and wonders which the Church of Rome boasteth of are not in any wise true Miracles done by the power of God wherewith Christ and his Apostles were indued but that they are either so many Lies and Forgeries or so many Diabolical operations at the best For what do they pretend to do but in a corner and among themselves Whereas true Miracles were acted before the Sun and before the eyes of those who were Enemies to truth because a true Miracle is alwayes for conviction and so must be publick And if these men are armed with omnipotence why do they not shew Vs the finger of God who are ready to resist their Doctrines and Practices even unto Blood and besides it is to be considered that how great soever their pretended Miracles are we will shew them as great which have been done by unbelievers not only by the Aegyptians but also by Apollonius Tyaneus by Vespasian and other Roman Emperors and by Accius Navius a Pagan of whom Apuleius tells us that Miraculum cotis Apul. he divided a Stone with a Razor 2. If these Miracles were more for number and greater for the nature of them than they are yet are they to be exploded and hissed at by all Lovers of the Truth because they tend not to the confirmation of the Christian Faith but to different ends clearly It is observable that when the Roman Doctors would prove the verity of the Articles of our Common Creed they talk not of Miracles but have recourse unto the Scriptures But seeing they can find nothing there which countenanceth the worshipping of Relicks and Images and the like they appeal always to strange and mighty works pretended to have been done by such and such a Saint to give warrant to their Superstitions and Idolatry Now these things are repugnant to the Word of God and to the Doctrine of God our Saviour and therefore it is presumable that they are Impostures and Cheats put upon men by the Father of Lies thereby to advance the Interest of his Kingdome For all these Miracles so highly cryed up serve to no good purposes but to some pitiful or sinful ends either to bring their Monasteries and Orders into veneration or to encourage the Invocations of Saints or to bring honour to the Mass or to promote the adoration of the Host or the Cross or the like monstrous Innovations So they tell us that St. Antony was heard at two miles distance while he was preaching That St. Denis took up his own head after 't was cut off and carried it in his arms That St. Dominick was wont to plague the Devil pulling off his Feathers when he appeared to him in the shape of a Sparrow and burning his toes when he troubled him in the form of a Monkey That St. Francis was transformed into the form of our Saviour with his five Wounds imprinted upon him That St. Ignatius's picture quenched a fire in a Barn that was all on a flame and cured a Spaniard of Mendoza of the black Ague That St. Xavier having dropt his Crucifix into the Sea to allay a Tempest recovered it again by the ministery of a Crab-Fish that carried it many leagues and brought it a shore with a great deal of reverence That Saint Patrick while he was yet in his Mothers belly heard the Irish Infants crying to him to come and set them free That Saint Nicholas fasted every wednesday and friday whilst he was a sucking Child That Bartolomy of Durham confounded an Evil Angel by throwing at him a pot of Holy Water That Saint Moedoc rode over a Lake in a Chariot and left upon the waters the print of the wheels That a Mule was made to leave his Provender to adore the Sacrament That a Sheep was so devout as to attend the Mass and to bleat before the Altar of the blessed Virgin and did humble obeisance at the elevation of the Host That by the sign of the Cross a Birds head was set on that had been pulled off by the Boys and great flakes of Ice were turned into billets and a sucking Child was made to speak and thousands have been healed of all manner of Diseases That Devils have been brought to confession by the virtue of the Ladies Psalter and the Rosary and that Evil Spirits have sneaked out of persons possessed by the Repetition of a few Ave Maryes and that at Saint Gervais his Monastry in Paris a hive of Bees were so Religious as to build a Chappel of Wax in honor of the holy Wafer that was put in among them