Vindication of CHRISTIANITY against PAGANISM WHEN I think of my dear Octavius and reflect on those delightful minutes we have spent together I feel such a pleasure as if I were still enjoying those happy days so deep an impression has his Idea left in my Mind since my Eyes have lost the sight of him And indeed 't is not without cause that I am so sensibly affected with the loss of so Excellent and Holy a Person as he was seeing he always express'd so great a love for me that in our pastimes as well as most weighty Affairs we ever will'd and dislik'd the same things as if one heart had been divided between us And as he had formerly been the intimate Friend of my youthful Loves and Companion with me in my Errors so when those clouds were dispell'd and I came out of the darkness of Ignorance into the light of Truth he did not disdain to accept of my company though indeed which was the more glorious for him he far outwent me I say as I was lately reflecting on all these things I fixed my thoughts on that serious and important Discourse which he entertain'd in my presence with Caecilius whom by means thereof he brought from his vain Superstitions to the knowledge of the true Religion of JESVS CHRIST OCTAVIVS was come to Rome partly upon account of business chiefly perhaps to see me for whose sake he made no difficulty of leaving his Family and Children in that tender age when they are the most lovely I mean by reason of their Innocence when they begin to speak half words and when their broken and faltring speech makes whatever they say extremely delightful It is not to be express'd with what a joy I was transported at this unexpected felicity of meeting so good a Friend whom of a long time I had not seen WHEN the first motions of this joyful surprisal were a little over after our being some days together and telling one another our adventures we determin'd to go to Ostia the Baths there near the Sea being very good for me to dry up my humors and the Vacation of the Vintage affording me leisure for that retirement It was at the time when the greatest heats of the Summer begin to abate and the ripening Fruits give notice that the Harvest is at hand Being arriv'd in this fair City we went early in the morning to take a walk upon the Sea-shore to enjoy the fresh air which quickens the spirits and imparts liveliness to the whole body and where the Sands in which the footsteps make so slight an impression do not tire the Walker but suffer him without weariness to receive the benefit of a pleasant and healthful Recreation As we were thus walking on Caecilius who was in company with us seeing an Image of Serapis as we pass'd by did according to the Superstition of the Vulgar kiss his hand to it in token of worship and reverence Whereupon Octavius turning to me said Brother Marcus you do not like a good man to suffer one whom you daily converse with to remain in such gross blindness as to stumble at stones in broad day-light which though they be shap'd into some figure and are perfum'd and crown'd yet still are nothing but stones Indeed it concerns you as well as him not to let him go on in this Error WITH this kind of discourse we pass'd through the middle of the City and drew towards the Sea-side near a wide and open place where we saw the waves gently beating the shore and smoothly spreading the sand as if they had been fitting it on purpose for a walk And as the Sea is never quite calm even when the winds are still so though the waves were neither high nor foaming yet in great curles they came rowling towards the shore Thus we delightfully wander'd by the Sea-side and beheld the waves coming and breaking themselves at our feet and then returning to be swallow'd up again in that vast Element and keeping along the edge of the gently bending shore with pleasant stories we deceived the tediousness of our journey For Octavius entertained us with a Discourse of Navigation in so pleasant a manner that we could not grow weary either of walking or hearing him And that we might not go too far we return'd back the same way we came and being arriv'd at a place where Vessels are dry-dock'd we saw some little Boys vying with one another at an exercise of making shells to graze as it were upon the water The Sport is this They gather small shells on the shore picking up such as are the most smooth and round then stooping to the ground with all their strength deliver them so as they may but just raze the surface of the water and he that makes them glide furthest and gives the most bounds does win the Game Whilst Octavius and my self were looking on these Children Caecilius taking no diversion in their sport nor any notice of the activity of these Youths kept aloof thoughtful and melancholick shewing by his clouded countenance that he had something in his mind that troubled him insomuch that it prompted me to accost him with this discourse How now What is become of that gay and charming temper which you are wont to have even amidst your most serious Affairs Whereupon he reply'd I will not conceal from you that Octavius has affronted and vex'd me to the heart for it seems that he does blame you only to offend me and accuse you of negligence only to expose me as an ignorant and blockish Fellow I am resolv'd to seek my amends for this injury and to have this matter discuss'd between us in good earnest It 's like he 'l see then that it is a more easy thing to talk of these matters with those of his own Party than fairly and orderly to debate them with Learned Men. Let us go and sit down upon yonder stones that jet out into the Sea and secure the Baths from the raging waves where we may rest our selves and argue the Case more at leisure We went therefore and sate down they placing me between them both not out of complement or respect to my Quality for Friendship either finds or makes all equal but as a Judge and Moderator of their dispute that I might the better hear the reasons of both Parties and keep the two Disputants asunder Then Caecilius began thus Brother Marcus though you be already resolved about the Things which are now controverted between us since upon careful examination and tryal of both you have left the Service of our Gods and embraced Christianity yet at present your mind should be so disposed that you may hold the scales even like an equal Judge inclining to neither Party that so your Sentence may rather appear to be the effect of the force of our Arguments than of your own preconceiv'd Opinion Therefore if you 'l sit down as a Stranger who has no acquaintance or interest on either side
parts of their Priests as if they meant to adore the Genitals of their Ghostly Fathers Now whether these Reports be true or false I will not take upon me absolutely to determine But their Nocturnal Ceremonies and conceal'd Devotions seem to be sufficient Arguments to perswade the truth of them and they who tell us that they worship a Man who was crucified for his Villanies and that the Wood of a Cross constitutes a great part of their Devotion do worthily attribute to them Altars suitable to their Crimes by making them to adore what they deserve Moreover the Ceremony they observe upon admitting any to their Religion is no less horrible than notorious A Child cover'd all over with Paste to conceal the Murther he is designed for is set before the new Proselyte who by their command strikes his knife many times into it until the blood run down apace from all parts which by them is as greedily suckt up and this common Crime is made the Pledge and Surety for their Silence and Secrecy These are their Sacrifices which are worse than all Sacriledges As to their Feasts they are but too well known concerning which our Cirthensian Orator tells us in his Speech that on a certain day solemnly appointed for that purpose they assemble themselves all together both Men Women Children Brothers Sisters and in a word people of all Ages Conditions and Sexes and after they have eaten and drunk to excess and that the heat of the Wine and Meats begins to kindle their blood and provoke their lust they cast a morsel to a Dog who is ty'd to a Candlestick so far out of his reach that in striving to leap at it he overthrows the Candlestick and puts out the Light So that having thus rid themselves of the only Witness of their infamous actions and taking boldness from shameless Darkness they confusedly mix themselves together as it happens and therefore though it may chance so that they are not all Incestuous in deed yet they are all of 'em so in will and design since the Sin acted by any one of them is not only consented to but wish'd by the whole Company Several other things of this nature there are which I purposely omit I having already produc'd but too many instances of their Errors And indeed were there nothing else against them but that of their endeavouring to conceal so much their Mysteries in obscurity it would be an evident proof of the truth of all we say or at least of the greatest part thereof For why do they so industriously strive to hide that which they worship Men are not afraid to publish their honest actions but such as are unjust they seek to cover with silence and privacy Why have they neither Altars nor Temples nor any Images at least which are known Why don't they speak but in private holes and corners whither they repair by stealth if this their conceal'd Religion be not infamous and criminal But pray from whence who and where is this one only solitary and forsaken God of theirs whom not one free Nation no Kingdoms do worship no not the Romans themselves who have worshipp'd all the Gods of the whole Universe Among all the people in the World there is but that one miserable Nation of the Jews who have served one God alone and yet they did it too in a publick manner with Temples Altars Rites and Sacrifices and notwithstanding the power of this God is so inconsiderable that both himself and his People are now Captives to the Romans But what strange and wonderful things don't they invent They assert That to this God whom they neither see nor can demonstrate men's Lives and Actions are particularly known That he hears their words searcheth their most secret thoughts and is present every where thereby making him troublesome restless and curious even to impudence for he hath a hand in or at least a knowledge of every thing He is present every where and leaves nothing unpried into But how can this be How can he possibly have an eye to every thing in particular who has business in all places at once Or how can he be sufficient for all whilst he applies himself to every particular Nor do they content themselves with all this but they threaten all the World and the Stars themselves with an universal Conflagration as if any thing could alter that Eternal Order which Nature her self has establish'd the Elements break their Alliance or the Divine Harmony of the Spheres be dissolv'd for to destroy this wonderful Fabrick which contains and surrounds us To these they add several other Old Wives Fables They tell us That after Death their ashes and dust shall rise again and by I don't know what strange kind of perswasion they stedfastly believe those Errors they have invented and fancy themselves already risen and born again Which is a double madness and folly to believe that the Heavens and Stars which we leave as we found them shall perish and that Men whom we see hourly dye and have an End as they have had a Beginning shall for ever abide And as if Dead Bodies being kept from the flames should not by length and process of time be turn'd into dust and ashes they will not burn their Dead and blame us because we burn ours Do you think that it matters any thing whether they be consum'd in the Earth or in the Sea or devour'd by Fire or wild Beasts For if Dead Bodies have any sense any manner of Burial must needs be a torment to them but if they have none that way whereby they are soonest consum'd is the best Nevertheless being prepossest with this ridiculous opinion they promise themselves as the Godly Party an everlasting happiness after this Life and threaten others as being the Rebel Rout with torments that shall have no end I have many things to say here to prove them worse than others but I will not take pains to make it out since I think it sufficiently done already But were it granted that they are as righteous as others is it not as a certain truth believ'd by most That Destiny is the cause both of the good and evil that we see in the World Which is your judgment also For as some impute all humane Actions to Fate and Fortune so do you to God Which is in effect to say that you have not voluntarily embraced this Sect but God has Elected you thereunto So that thereby you make your God an unjust Judge who does not punish the sinful but the unfortunate Pray tell me shall you rise again without or with a Body and shall that Body be the same you have now or another If you say without a Body For my part I don't believe there is either Life Soul or Sense without a Body And how with a Body It cannot be your own for that is already wasted Shall it be another Then it will be a new body and not the old one repair'd
Knowledge of Him doth avail for their Pardon and Indemnity yet if we Christians be compar'd with you notwithstanding that upon some of us our Discipline hath less effect we shall be found much the Better Men. For you forbid Adulteries and commit them whereas we are known as Men to our Wives alone You content your selves only to punish the outward Act whereas with us the very Thought of Evil is a Crime You are afraid that other men should be conscious of your faults but we stand in awe even of our own Consciences because we cannot fly nor hide our selves from them The Prisons are crouded with numbers of your own but you find not one Christian there except he be either a Confessor or an Apostate Neither let any think to comfort himself with this That all Humane Actions are subject to unavoidable Fate and Destiny For though we attribute some Events to Chance yet it is undeniably certain that the Mind of Man is free in the choice of his Actions which are therefore only punishable and not his Condition What is Fate but what GOD has spoken and decreed concerning every one of us who being able to foresee the Matter of His own Decrees suits them to every ones deserts and circumstances so he punishes in us not the Destiny of our Nativity but the ill disposition of our Minds But no more of this Matter for the present which if it be not sufficient we may have occasion to treat of it more amply another time Only let me observe to you now that if we are poor which you are continually upbraiding to us this is not a reproach but an Honor to us for as the Mind is apt to grow dissolute by Luxury and Excess so is it many times confirm'd in Virtue by Frugality and a mean Estate And yet how can he be poor who lacks nothing who covets nothing that others have and who is rich towards GOD He indeed is rather poor who having much still covets more And to speak my mind freely no man is so poor by Fortune as we are all by Nature The Birds have no Patrimony to live upon and the Cattel upon a thousand hills are provided for only from day to day and we live upon these who have nothing certain to live upon for they are all made for us and we possess them all if we covet them not Therefore as he that travels on the road is most easie when he carries least about him so in this journey of life he is happiest who being eas'd by Poverty doth not go sighing under the weight and burthen of Riches which if we thought needful for us we might lawfully beg them of GOD who no doubt would not deny us something of that ALL which is His But we chuse rather to despise riches than possess them Our most earnest Wishes are for Innocence our most fervent Prayers for Patience we had much rather live well and vertuously with a little than prodigally and luxuriously with a great Estate When we undergo the troubles of this Life and suffer the infirmities of our Nature we don't so much account them pains and punishments as a warfare in which we are engaged For we find that our courage gains strength from our infirmities and that calamities and afflictions are the usual Discipline of Vertue it being certain that the vigour of our Bodies as well as our Minds is apt to decay for want of exercise Thus all those great Men whom you magnifie as such Examples of Vertue became Famous no other way but by the miseries and calamities they were exercis'd withall Neither is it therefore a good consequence from our seeming forlorn condition to say that GOD neglects us or is unable to relieve us He who is the great Governour of all and the most compassionate Lover of his Own But He proves us by adversities He makes tryal of our temper and disposition by dangers and sufferings He sifts our most hidden thoughts and inclinations and to discover the bent of our wills to the utmost He calls us to suffer death for Him being well assured that nothing can perish in his hands and miscarry under his care In short as men try Gold by fire so does he refine us by afflictions And indeed how delightful a Spectacle must it be to GOD to see a Christian couragiously encountring his pains and undauntedly preparing himself for all manner of threats punishments and torments to see him boldly look Death and the Executioner of it in the face and without the least alteration to throw himself into the devouring flames to see him assert his liberty against Kings and Princes and to yield to none but GOD whose He is in a word like a Conqueror to triumph over his Judg for he is really victorious who has obtained what he strives for Where is the Souldier that would not boldly provoke and challenge dangers in the presence of his General knowing that none but such as give good proof of themselves shall be rewarded And yet a General cannot give what he has not I mean he cannot lengthen our days though he may bestow Honors upon us for our Courage and brave Exploits But the Souldier of JESVS CHRIST is so far from being abandon'd even in Death it self that he triumphs over it and leads it Captive So that though he may seem to be miserable yet he cannot be so You your selves exalt even to the Skies such as have couragiously suffer'd for their Country Witness Mutius Scaevola who being mistaken in his attempt upon the King had certainly been put to death by his Enemies had he not by a most undaunted courage burnt off his own right hand before their eyes upon the Altar And how many are there amongst us who without the least shreaking or crying out have endur'd not only to have their right hands but their whole bodies consum'd to ashes when they might with one word have deliver'd themselves from those extreme tortures But why do I compare our Men with Mutius and Aquilius and Regulus Our very Women and Children make slight of crosses and tortures are unconcern'd at the sight of wild and ravenous Beasts and in a word by a Patience divinely inspir'd make a mock of torment in all its frightful shapes And yet so miserably blind are you as not to consider that there are none who will either endure torments without cause or can be so courageous under them without a supernatural and Divine Assistance But this is that which perhaps deceives you That you see those who know not GOD to abound in Riches flourish in Honor and excel in Power and Dignity Poor Wretches They are lifted up on high that they may have the greater fall They are Beasts fatten'd for Sacrifice and so many Victims crown'd before their Slaughter so that one would think seeing their lewd Lives that they are set upon Thrones only to abuse their Power and to sin with more licentiousness Besides without the knowledge of GOD
there can be no solid Felicity since all the things of this World are like a Dream which vanishes before we can lay hold of it Kings feel as many feats in themselves as they cause in others and though they are guarded with a great retinue yet they are alone in dangers You are rich it's true but it is not well to trust inconstant Fortune Besides if things be rightly consider'd so much Luggage for so short a Journey is more cumbersome than useful You glory in your Purple and Dignities but without cause since Scarlet and rich Vestments are but a pitiful Ornament to you if your Souls be tainted with Sin and polluted with Vice You pretend to be of a great Family and of Noble Parentage But don 't you know that we are all Equal by our Birth and that Virtue only ought to make the difference among Men. It is therefore with good reason that Christians who aim at being esteem'd only upon the account of their Virtuous Manners and Modest Behaviours despise your Shews and Pomps and fly from them as delightful Inticers and Corrupters of men and with the same reason also they abstain from your Religious Worship and Ceremonies as well knowing what was their Beginning and Original For who can but abhor to hear and see those confused Contests and Shouts of the Multitude at your Chariot-races What sober Mind is not astonish'd to see the Art of killing Men publickly profess'd in your Gladiators Games And for your Theaters as the madness there is no less so they exceed in all manner of infamous lewdness and filthiness where a bold and shameless Actor represents or relates Adulteries and the lascivious Jester by making Love incites to Lust and Lasciviousness where they dishonor your Gods by ascribing sighs and hatred and Whoredoms the Passions and the Vices of men to them With feigned griefs they draw real tears from your eyes so that you can lament personated Murthers and take delight in true ones If we abhor the remainders of your Sacrifices and of the Wine that has been presented upon your Altars this is not to be interpreted as an acknowledgment of our fear but an asserting of our just liberty For though nothing can corrupt the Gifts of GOD which Nature has produc'd for our use yet we willingly abstain from those prophane Oblations lest we might be thought either to acknowledge the Daemons to whom they are consecrated or to be asham'd of our own Religion But how come you to fancy that we have an Antipathy to Flowers Don't we gather the Lilly and the Rose and whatever the Spring affords and is esteem'd either for its beauty or fragrancy We both strew them and tye them up into Nose-gays and make them into Garlands which we hang about our necks But I hope you will excuse us if we don't wear Garlands on our Heads and are of opinion that Flowers ought to be smelt by the Nose and not by the hair or hinder part of the Head Neither do we think it necessary to crown the Dead with Garlands but wonder at you for doing of it For what good can Flowers do them if they have no sense Or if they have any why do you expose them to the funeral flames Besides if they be happy they do not need them and if they be miserable Flowers will be but a small comfort to them As for us we celebrate the Funerals of our Dead Friends with the same Modesty and Composedness that appears in our whole Life We don't crown them with Garlands that fade away they being crown'd with such as are made of immortal and never-dying Flowers by the hand of GOD himself We are moderate in our desires being assur'd of the Bounty of our good GOD and freed from all fear by the certain hopes of a future Felicity and animated to do and suffer for Him by the Faith of his Glorious presence with us Insomuch as we have not only a Happiness in reversion at the resurrection of the Just but are happy already in the contemplation and prospect of our future Blessedness Therefore let that Athenian Droll Socrates enjoy the comfort of his own confession that he knows nothing and glory in the deceitful Testimony given him by the Oracle upon that account Let Arcesilas and Carneades Pyrrho and the rest of the Academicks be continually deliberating and doubting Let Simonides for ever ask a longer day for the giving his Answer for our part we do not value those Philosophers whom we know to have been Tyrants Corrupters and Adulterers and who were never more Eloquent than when they declaim'd against their own Vices We don't endeavour to make a shew of Wisdom in our Garb but to have it shine forth in the disposition of our Minds and Manners We don't talk of great things but live and do them In short we make it our glory to have attain'd that which they so earnestly sought for but could never find Why are we so unthankful to God Why do we envy our selves our own happiness that it should be our lot to see the Divine Truth come to its full ripeness in our days Let us enjoy this great Blessing and advantage of being in the right and having the Truth on our side with that temper and modesty which becomes us Let Superstition be control'd let all impiety be purg'd away and let the true Religion be preserv'd and continue for ever WHEN Octavius had thus ended his Discourse we remain'd a good while in a kind of amazement looking earnestly upon one another without speaking one word For my part I was almost transported with admiration that he had both by Arguments and Examples and the Authority of Testimonies which his reading furnish'd him withall adorn'd so good a Cause and so clearly made out those things which are more easily felt than exprest being most of all pleas'd to see that he had both fought and soil'd them at their own Weapons and clearly demonstrated that Truth is not only easie but hath many favourable advantages on its side Whilst I was thus silently musing with my self Caecilius breaks out into these words I congratulate Octavius most heartily and my own happiness also upon this occasion Neither do I expect your Sentence We are both Conquerors nor am I unjust in challenging the Victory for if Octavius has had the better of me I at the same time do triumph over my own Errors Therefore as to what concerns the main Question I both own a Providence and believe in GOD and for the rest I agree with you touching the sincerity and truth of your or to speak more properly Our RELIGION Nevertheless there remain some few things not in opposition to Truth but needful for my fuller information of which I desire we may entertain some further Discourse But we will put off this till to morrow the Sun being now near setting that at our leisure and with more convenience we may throughly discuss this whole Matter WHEN Caecilius had thus freely utter'd his Mind As for me said I I am overjoy'd upon the account of us all and in particular that Octavius has done me so great a pleasure by his Victory as to deliver me from the envy of judging between my Friends Nevertheless I shall not launch forth into the Praises of Octavius because I am sensible that I can never give him the Commendations he deserves Besides the Testimony of a man and of one only is too little The Great GOD is his Reward who has inspir'd him with so perswasive a Speech and enabled him to overcome THUS we all departed joyfully Caecilius because he had believ'd Octavius because he had overcome and my self both for the Faith of the One and Victory of the Other THE END THE Translator of this Book teaches the French Tongue according to an exact and easie Method He is to be heard of at Mrs Gates's House in Bow-Lane over against Basing-Lane-end London