〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is written against those silly and dull-witted Monks who assâ—… That these Words of Genesis Let us make man in our image and in our likeness ought to be undersâ—â—â—â— of Man's Body because they did not conceive that there was any Spiritual Essence but imagined that God himself was Corporeal S. Cyril wrote to Coelosyrius in the Letter which is set before the Body of this Work to stop the Course of this impertinent Docriâ—e and to â—â—â—bid the Monks to argue about a Matter so far above the reach of their Understandings He 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Monks also who thought that the Eucharist had no vertue to sanctify when it wâ—â— kept from One Day to Another He condemns also the Monks who did not follow their Labours â—pretending that they gave themselves wholly to Prayers and so used a Pretence of Piety to defend their Sloth and Idleness He asks them Whether they are more perfect than the 〈◊〉 and whether they would enjoy a more Happy Condition than they He tells them That the Church doth not receive them who live as they do that it is good for Solitariâ—â— to pray continually but that ought not to hinder their Labours that they be not chargeable to others Lastly He admonishes Coelosyrius not to suffer the Meletians to receive the Sacrament among the Orthodox if they have not abandoned their own Sect to unite themselves with the Church and have not given evident Signs of their Conversion S. Cyril commands Coelosyrius to publish these Rules in the Monasteries of Mount Calamon where some Monks were infected with these Errors At the same time he sent him a Treatise in which he answers the Objections which these Monks propounded and solves the Difficulties which they had cunningly framed Nevertheless he observes That it is hard to resolve these kinds of abstruse and subtle Questions and that all that can be done is only to bring such Conjectures as may in some Measure satisfy The First is concerning the Breath of Life which God breathed into Adam after he had formed him Is it his Soul or a Breath different from the Soul Is it a Part of the Divine Essence or some created Being S. Cyril maintains That 't is not the Soul of Man nor any Creature but it is the Holy Spirit it self which is given Man for his Sanctification This Opinion is not very probable It is demanded in the Second Question How Man was created in the Image of God S. Cyril answers By the Holy Spirit for by Sin he hath lost that Similitude and hath recovered it again by Jesus Christ. The Third is Whether the Angels were made in the Image of God S. Cyril affirms it In the Fourth It is enquired Whether there be any difference between the Image and Likeness of God and he saith that there is none The Fifth is upon an abstracted Conceit viz. Whether Man is the Image of God or the Image of the Image of God the Father that is to say of the Word He answers That he is the Image of the three Persons of the God-head In the Sixth it is demanded Whether the Souls of the Blessed receive any Perfection S. Cyril Answers That it will not have a more perfect Nature but it will act more perfectly because it will be delivered from Concupiscence Ignorance and Vice and be filled with the Holy Spirit The Seventh Question is Why all Men are subject to Death and Sin upon the account of Adam's Transgression and why all those who are purified and sanctified by Jesus Christ do not communicate the Fruits of their Sanctification to their Posterity S. Cyril answers That we are not punished as having sinned with the first Man but because he being become Mortal by his Sin hath transferred that Curse to all his Posterity That Jesus Christ hath redeemed and delivered us all from Death but that no Man though he be sanctified can communicate that Sanctification to his Posterity because it comes from Jesus Christ who only sanctifies us 'T is by Jesus Christ that every Man receives Remission of his Sins and 't is by him that all Men in general are delivered from Death In the Eighth Question it is enquired Whether when Ezekiel saw the Bones of the dead to be joyned together and resume the Form of a Man Whether it was I say a real Resurrection or only a Figure of the general Resurrection S. Cyril is for the latter The Ninth is Whether Jesus Christ added any thing to the Flesh of Man when he was united to it S. Cyril answers That Jesus Christ by his Incarnation hath granted several Graces to the Humane Nature That he hath restored to Man the Image and Likeness of God which was defaced by Sin That he hath revived the Divine Characters of Justice and Holiness and perfected them That Adam had Ability and Freedom to do good but he was defective in his Actions and the Effect whereas those who live in Jesus Christ are Just and Holy in the Effect and in their Actions In the Tenth he teacheth That by the assistance of God we may repulse and weaken the Motions of Concupiscence but cannot root them out in this Life In the Eleventh he maintains That the Holy Sacrament must not be celebrated but in the Churches of the Orthodox and they that do otherwise break the Law The Twelfth Question is very Metaphysical It is demanded Whether God can make that which hath happened not to be Whether he can make a common Harlot to have been always a Virgin S. Cyril says That we must not set Bounds to the Power of God but neither may we attribute to him a Power of doing things Absurd and Contradictory and that it is good not to move such sort of Questions That in Sum God cannot make that which hath happened not to have happened or a common Prostitute to have always been a Virgin because he cannot make a Lye the Truth yet it is not a sign of his Impotency but an effect of his Perfection The Thirteenth is against those who dare affirm That Jesus Christ as God was ignorant of the Day of Judgment S. Cyril proves That that cannot be because under this Title he hath created all things he is the Counsel and Will of the Father and knows all his Purposes From hence he concludes That when it is said That he knoweth not the Day of Judgment it ought to be understood of Jesus Christ considered as Man because under that Title he is subject to all the Imperfections of humane Nature Sin only excepted The Fourteenth How this Sentence ought to be understood The Word was made Flesh By the Word Flesh S. Cyril says the Scripture understands the whole Man as when it is said in the Prophets That God pours out his Spirit upon all Flesh and all Flesh shall see the Salvation of God The Fifteenth is against those who assert That every Man receives his Reward immediately after his Death before the Resurrection and to prove it they
even to the Heaven And it is for that reason that he makes use of the Term it moved which shews the Nature of the Air. Theodoret propounds also a multitude of other Questions that are curious such as these that follow Whether there be one only Heaven or many He seems to admit of no more than two He is not contented to give Solutions of his own but sometimes he relates other Mens as upon that famous Text of Genesis where it is said That Man was made in the Image and Likeness of God He cites some Passages out of Diodorus Theodorus of Mopsuesta and Origen to prove that it ought to be understood of the Soul of Man and he quotes them also tho' but seldom upon some other Questions if yet these Citations have not been added to the Text of Theodoret which is so much the more probable because they are not to be found in the Manuscript of the King's Library That he may give the true sence of Scripture he hath recourse often to the Versions of the ancient Greek Translators and likewise to the Hebrew Text which he read in the Hexapla of Origen and in the Interpretation of Hebrew words by that Father He doth not at all search into the Allegories but applies himself to the explication of the Letter and the History and ordinarily he pitches upon the most plain and natural sence As for Example when he explains what is meant by the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil he thinks it enough to say that these Names were given them upon the account of the Effects which they produced That the one preserved Life and the other made Man to know what Sin was To make it evident why our first Parents were not ashamed of their Nakedness he saith That they were like Infants being not yet defiled with Sin In sum That Custom did take away or diminish Shame as we see in Seamen who being accustomed to be Naked are not in the least ashamed when they strip themselves and as it is the fashion in Baths without which it would make some Impression He believes not That Man was created Immortal but he says That God did not pass the Sentence of Death upon him till after he had sinned That he might beget in him a greater hatred of Sin He saith That Adam being driven out of Paradise was sent into a place not much distant from it that the sight of the place might put him in mind of his Sin He quotes Theodorus who thought that by the Cherubims which were placed at the Gate of Paradise they ought not to understand Angels nor any Spiritual Essences but Apparitions and Phantoms which had the shape of Ghastly Creatures He doubts not but that Enoch was translated alive into some place to preach the Resurrection but that no Man ought to trouble himself to know where it is The Sons of God of whom it is said That they had familiarity with the Daughters of Men are not according to the Judgment of Theodoret Angels but the Posterity of Seth who marryed themselves to the Daughters of the Generation of Cain of whom were born those great Men to whom they gave the Names of Giants The reason why the first Patriarchs lived so long a time was That Mankind might be multiplied and for that reason it was That they married so many Women In the Questions upon Exodus he maintains That it was God and not an Angel which appeared to Moses in the Flaming Bush. He enlarges himself much upon these words The Lord hardned the Heart of Pharaoh that he might prove that it was Pharaoh himself that hardened his own Heart against all the Admonitions and Chastisements of God who treated him with Goodness and Mercy in sparing him And in explaining in what sence God may be said to harden his Heart he brings this familiar Example The Sun is said to melt Wax and harden Clay altho' there is but one Vertue only in it which is to make hot by the same Goodness and Patience of God two contrary Effects are wrought the one is profitable to some and the other renders others guilty which is as much as to say That it converts some and hardens others As Jesus Christ hath declared in his Gospel when he says that he came That those that see not might see and that they which see might be made blind The design of Jesus Christ was not to make those blind who could see for he wills That all Men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth but he notes by this what happened For Man being a free Agent they who have believed secure their Salvation but on the contrary they who believe not are themselves the Authors of their own Damnation It is in this sence that Judas who could see as he was an Apostle became blind 't is in this sence also that S. Paul who was blind received his sight 't is in this sence likewise that the Jews are blinded and the Gentiles see yet the World may not be deprived of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ because some Men make an ill use of it Altho' Theodoret seldom expounds any Allegories he cannot avoid doing it sometimes In speaking of the Jewish Passover he there discovers the Relation it has to the new Law which he unfolds in a very natural way The Sacrifices and Ceremonies of the old Law afford him Subjects of Allegory in his Questions upon Leviticus He also referrs many to Morality and draws Instructions for Mens manners out of the greatest part of the Ordinances of Leviticus and the Book of Numbers He hath made many such like Reflections in his Questions upon Deuteronomy He confines himself more to the Historical and Literal sence in his Questions upon Joshua Judges and Ruth which make up the Octateuch and in those which he hath composed upon the 4 Books of Kings and 2 Books of Chronicles These last are a second part of his Work and have a special Preface in which he observes after what manner the Books of Kings and Chronicles were composed These are his own Words There were saith he many Prophets who have left us no Books and whose Names we learn out of the History of the Chronicles Every one of these Prophets wrote ordinarily what happened in their time For this reason it is that the first Book of the Kings is called by the Hebrews and Syrians The Prophecy of Samuel We need only to read it and we shall be convinced of the Truth of this They then that composed the Books of Kings wrote them a long time after from these ancient Memoirs For how could they that lived in the time of Saul or David write that which happened afterward under Hezekiah and Josiah How could they relate the War of Nebuchadnezzar the Siege of Jerusalem the Captivity of the People and the Death of Nebuchadnezzar It is then visible That every Prophet wrote what passed in
Men do is evil The light of Nature is not sufficient to believe Faith is the Gift of Grace it is Grace which increaseth it 't is Grace which preserves it Having laid down these Principles he gives Four Rules for the Explaining of such general Expressions of Holy Scripture as concern the Salvation of Men. 1. That the Holy Scripture speaking of the Good and Evil the Elect and Reprobate uses such general terms in speaking of these Two sorts of Persons as if it would comprehend all Men in particular under this Universal Expression 2. That the Scripture speaking of the Men of one and the same Nation useth such general terms altho' it intends to speak some time of the Elect and sometime of the Reprobate 3d. Rule That the Scripture speaks of Men of divers times as if they were the same Men and of the same time The 4th That the word All is often taken for all sorts of Persons of all Ages Sects and Countries and that it is in this sence that these words of the Apostle may be understood God will have all Men to be saved As to the general Prayers of the Church he observes that that 's the reason of Praying for all Men but that these Prayers are not heard with respect to every particular altho' they be with regard to others that the reason of this difference depends on the secret Judgments of God and that it cannot be said that it is the Merit of the Will which is the cause of this distinction That Grace is given to the Good and denied to Sinners That the Examples of Infants and of such Wicked Men as are Converted at the Hour of Death prove the contrary In fine That Grace is an Act of the Divine Liberality That we ought not to enquire into the Reason why God gives it to some and denies it to others Why he chooseth some and doth not choose others That this Question is unsearchable and that we ought not to have recourse to Free-will for the Explication of it After he hath rejected in the first Book that which was the subject of the Contest he finds out Three Truths which he Establishes in the Second 1. That God Wills that all Men should be Saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth 2. That we cannot come to that knowledge but by Grace and that Merits contribute nothing to it 3. That the Mind of Man cannot comprehend the Judgments of God Let us now see the Consequences which he draws from these Principles That we cannot give the Reason why he puts off the Calling of some and gives not his Special Grace to all those whom he Calls That all Men have had a part in the general Calling the Gentiles by Nature the Jews by the Law but they who have pleased God have been separated from others by Faith and Grace which altho' more rare and secret was not denied in the first times That at present 't is not equally disposed to all the World That those to whom it is given have not Merited it That he that hath received it must expect all his growth and proficiency from the same Grace That nevertheless Man doth Merit by persevering because he hath power to fall away That one convincing Proof That Men are beholding to God's Special Grace for their Conversion and not to their Natural Goodness is this That since the Flood God hath continually Called Men by Miracles Signs and Prophecies and that nevertheless no Man hath turned himself That on the contrary The Apostles have Converted all the World by their Preaching Were Men better in the times of the Apostles than before Nay Do we not know that Iniquity then was greater This is it that shews the Efficacy of Grace That when it is said That Jesus Christ Died for all Men i. e. for all Nations it was for that end that God had permitted that the Roman Empire was so very much enlarged that the Christian Religion might spread it self the more easily that it so happened and that Rome was become more Glorious by Religion than Temporal Power Amplior arce Religionis quam solio potestatis That all other Nations have been or will be Called every one in their time That in the Old Testament the Grace of Jesus Christ was hidden from the Gentiles and yet it is not a whit less true to say That God will have all Men to be Saved in all times But if God will have all Men Saved Why are so many Damned Our Author Answers 1. That that is a Question which depends upon the secret Judgments of God which are unsearchable to Men. 2. That all Men deserve Damnation upon the account of Original Sin 3. That no Man may complain that he Dies too soon because it is the property of Humane Nature ever since Adam sinned to be subject to Death 4. That God exempts from this general Misery those whom he pleaseth and that he by that means moderates the Punishment which all the Posterity of Adam have deserved That others cannot complain that God hath not delivered them out of a State of Damnation because he owes that Grace to no Man 5. That he hath imparted to all Men certain general Graces which consist as we have said in outward helps That Infants themselves are not deprived of it because God hath given them to their Parents who ought to be serviceable to them to procure them Salvation That it is true that beside this general Grace there is a special Grace both for the Adult and for Infants who are of the Number of the Elect but God owes it to no Man 6. That this special Grace doth not exclude the Will or consent of Man but produces it in him makes him to Will Believe and Love That it doth not nevertheless take away the changableness of the Will for if it did then no Man could fall That those that will and do come are called by this Grace and they that do not come resist it by their own Will That those that Perish are inexcusable and those that are Saved have no cause of boasting of their own Abilities 7. That in all times there have been general Graces for all the World and special for the Just That among these last some have more some less yet no Man may complain of the Mercy of God since he owes nothing to any Man Nor can we more reasonably complain of his Justice since all that Perish deserve Damnation 8. That the particular Election of some doth not render our Labour Prayers or Good-works needless because God hath ordained them from all Eternity because this Grace is given for Prayer and because Election is perfected by Prayer and Good-works 9. That it ought not to be said of any Man before he is Dead that he shall certainly be of the Number of the Elect and that we ought not to despair of any Man's Salvation because the more Holy may yield to Temptation and the greatest Sinners be Converted That
treats of the Errors of Hereticks concerning Paradise and the Objections that may be brought to the contrary In this last Book he maintains that Adam was created Mortal and that God would have render'd him immortal by his Grace if he had not sinn'd however he refuâ—es Theodore and Nestorius who had maintain'd that the Sin of Adam was not the Cause of the Death of Mankind CHAP II. An Account of the Church of Rome and other Italian Churches during the Tenth Century THough Historians have differ'd in their Judgment concerning the Tenth Century in The State of the Church of Rome in the Tenth Century general yet they all agree in their accounts of the wretched State and Condition of the Church of Rome and those who have been most favourable in their Censures could not but own that it was in a strange disorder At that time crys Cardinal Baronius How deform'd how frightful was the face of the Church of Rome The Holy See was faln under the Tyranny of two loose and disorderly Women who plac'd and displac'd Bishops as their humour led them and what I tremble to think and speak of they plac'd their Gallants upon St. Peter's Chair who did not so much as deserve the very name of Popes For who dare say that these infamous persons who intruded without any form of Justice were lawful Popes We do not find that they were chosen by the Clergy or that they consented in the least to their Election All the Canons of Councils were infring'd the Decrees of Popes trampled under foot the antient Traditions despis'd the Customs and Ceremonies usually observ'd in the Election of Popes neglected and the Holy See became a prey to Avarice and Ambition In such terms as these does this Cardinal who cannot be suppos'd to be an Enemy to the Church of Rome lament the sad estate wherein it was in this Tenth Century and a long time before him Arnold Bishop of Orleans who probably might have been an Ey-witness of some of these Disorders breaks out into this Complaint O miserable Rome Thou that formerly didst hold out so many great and glorious Luminaries to our Ancestors into what prodigious darkness art thou now faln which will render thee infamous to all succeeding Ages We may trace the beginning of this disorder from the Promotion of Formosus to the Pope-dom The Ordination of Pope Formosus which sow'd the Seed of the Divisions which afterwards ensued This Formosus being Bishop of Ostia had been depos'd by John VIII in a Synod held at Rome and constrain'd to swear he would continue a Lay-man all the rest of his Life He was depos'd for these three Reasons 1. Because having been sent by Pope Nicholas I. into Bulgaria he made the King of the Bulgarians swear that he would not admit of any other Bishop besides himself that should be sent thither by the Holy See 2. Because he had already endeavoured to be translated from the Church of Ostia to that of Rome and made Parties for the attaining of his end contrary to the Laws prescrib'd in the Canons 3. Because he had abandon'd his Church without the Pope's leave and that having left Rome he was suspected to have conspir'd against the Empire and the Church This Sentence of John VIII was repeal'd by his Successor Marinus who re-call'd Formosus re-establish'd him in his Bishoprick and declar'd the Oath he had been forc'd to take to be null and void However he still kept up the design he had laid of advancing himself to the Popedom and he so well form'd his intrigue that after the Death of Steven V. he had so powerful a Party as to carry it against Sergius a Deacon of the Church of Rome who had been elected by a great part of the Clergy Formosus hinder'd his Ordination drove him out of the Church and forc'd him to fly to Tuscany to the Marquis Adalbert who declar'd himself his Proteâ—… Formosus was ordain'd on the 27th of May in the year 891. The year after he crown'd Guy Duke of Spoleto Emperor and a while after conferr'd the same Title on Lambert the Son of that Prince But no sooner was Arnulphus King of Germany faln down into Italy but Formosus invited him to Rome designing to make him an instrument of wreaking his revenge on those Romans who had affronted him Arnulphus enter'd the City by force caus'd the chief of the Enemies of Formosus to be beheaded and was for this piece of Service crown'd Emperor by this Pope in the year 896. No sooner was Arnulphus gone off but the Romans renew'd their Conspiracies against Formosus who dy'd about the latter end of this year Boniface whom the People put up in his stead was a very unworthy man who had been The Condemnation of Formosus by Stephen VI. degraded from his Subdeaconship and the order of Priesthood A few days after he was Outed by Adalbert and Stephen VI. advanc'd to the Chair This man immediately declares himself an Enemy to the memory of Formosus calls a Council where he nulls all the Ordinations made by Formosus dug up his Corps and having dress'd him up in his Pontifical Robes he condemn'd him as if he had been alive and after he had censured him for his Ambition in quitting the Bishoprick of Ostia and usurping S. Peter's Chair contrary to the Canons of the Church he caused him to be stripp'd of his Robes cut off his three Fingers wherewith he gave the Blessing and threw him into the Tiber. A base and barbarous Proceeding this and such as has struck Horror into all those who have wrote about it For tho the Promotion of Formosus was not agreeable to the Canons and might prove a very Ill precedent yet such a disingenuous Cruelty exercised to no purpose upon a dead Carcass was a certain demonstration of the Spite and Malice or rather of the Madness wherewith his Enemies were possess'd And in truth all this Tragedy was begun by Sergius and supported by the Authority of Adalbert who bore at that time the greatest sway in Rome But his Interest afterwards grown weaker Stephen was severely used by the Romans and cast into Prison where he was Strangled about the latter end of the Year 900 if his Epitaph is to be credited in the case The Romans advanc'd one Romanus in his place who sat but a few months on the Chair however he had so much time as to condemn and disannul all that his Predecessor had done Romanus and Theodore against Formosus The man who succeeded him nam'd Theodorus was of his mind but he died within twenty days After his Death the Romans chose a Monk Deacon of the Town of Tivoli Son of Rampealdus who went under the name of John IX This man seeing Italy divided by the Factions of those John IX The Wars between Berenger and Lambert who made their Pretensions to the Empire behaved himself very cautiously in the beginning of his Popedom The
says he to the Lord your God with fasting weeping and mourning and sighing and break your hearts fear not this Incision for David was very willing to endure it He relates also many other Examples of Penance and reproves the Softness the Pride and Loosness of the greatest part of Christians and Penitents He blames them for not observing so much as the daily Exercises of Penance which are made in the presence of the Bishop As to weep in the sight of all the Church to discover by the uncleanness of their Garments the regret they ought to have for losing their Innocence to Sigh to Pray to throw themselves at the feet of the Faithful to deprive themselves of Pleasures to prostrate themselves before the Priests to hold the hands of the Poor to supplicate the Widows to beseech the whole Church and implore its Prayers and in short to try all ways possible to save their Souls After this he quickens the Penitents by the Fear of Eternal Punishments which he represents to them in a most Pathetical manner and he invites them to Penance by the consideration of the Mercy and Goodness of God who desires nothing but the Conversion of Sinners The Subject of the Treatise of Baptism address'd to the Faithful and the Catechumens is set down by St. Pacian in the Beginning of his Discourse I will show you says he in what condition we are Born and how we are renew'd by Baptism To make you understand this I shall discover to you what the Gentiles are what is the Fruit of Faith and what are the Effects of Baptism In order to the Explication of these Three Things he observes That by the Sin of Adam all Men were enslav'd to Death and Sin That the Law of Moses discover'd this Misery very plainly but afforded no Remedy at all That so Sin reign'd from Adam till Christ who deliver'd Mankind from the Tyranny of Sin because as the Sin of the First Man was imputed to all his Posterity so the Righteousness of Jesus Christ was communicated to all Men by Baptism and by the Aid of the Holy Spirit provided that Faith preceed He adds That this Regeneration cannot be perfected but by the Sacrament of Baptism and Unction and by the Ministry of the Priest For says he Baptism Purifies from Sins and Unction brings down the Holy Spirit and both the one and the other are applied by the Hand and the Mouth of the Bishop the whole Man is born again and renewed in Jesus Christ that we may lead a new Life which shall never end because though this Body shall die yet we shall always live in Jesus Christ in a heavenly and eternal Life He observes That being deliver'd in Baptism from the bands of Sin we renounce the Devil and the World and if afterwards by forgetting the Grace which we have received we relapse into a Crime our Relapse is almost irrecoverable because that Jesus Christ suffer'd but once and we cannot be wash'd and purified above once He concludes with an Exhortation to those that are newly Baptiz'd to preserve the Grace which they had received to Sin no more to keep the Purity and Innocence of Baptism till the Day of Judgment and to endeavour to obtain Eternal Treasures by their Prayers and Spiritual Labours These Extracts which we have drawn from the Writings of St. Pacianus sufficiently discover his Judgment his Stile and Learning There is hardly any of the Ancients that speaks more clearly of the Efficacy of the Sacraments of Baptism Confirmation and Penance He attributes to Chrysm the effect of Confirmation which is an Opinion very rare among the Latins who attribute it to Imposition of Hands Though he speaks advantageously of the Efficacy of the Sacraments yet he requires very great Dispositions in order to their producing such Effects as they ought to have He particularly recommends Publick Penance for the Sins of Idolatry Murder and Fornication under which Three Sins must be comprehended all the Consequents of them which extend very far He thinks that those Sins cannot be pardon'd but by Publick Penance As to all other Sins he does not believe it necessary to submit to that Penance which the Canons of the Church enjoyned for them He explains the Fall of all Mankind that 't was caus'd by the Sin of the First Man very clearly and the unprofitableness of the Law the Necessity and Effects of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. He equally condemns the Rigour of the Novatians and the Impenitence of some Sinners as well as the heedlessness and softness where with others perform their Penance His Exhortations are lively and persuasive his Thoughts well-weigh'd his Proofs solid his way of Writing pleasant his Stile elegant and the Periods short In a word These little Tracts may pass for Master-pieces in their kind and these two Treatises may be look'd upon as a perfect Model of Preaching or Exhortation to the People The Works of this Father were Publish'd by Tilius and Printed at Paris with some other Books in 4to in the Year 1538 by Guillardus in 1655 in 8vo by Melchior Gopnerus and together with Hermas at Rome in 1564 in Folio and in the Bibliethecae Patrum GREGORY of Baetica GREGORY Bishop of Elvira a City of the Province of Baetica in Spain wrote divers Treatises in a low Stile and an elegant Book concerning the Faith which were extant in the latter Gregory of Baetica End of St Jerom's time We have in the Fragments of St. Hilary a Letter of Eusebius of Vercellae to this Bishop where he commends him for the Constancy wherewith he defended the Faith of the Church and resisted Hosius Marcellus and Faustinus the Luciferians tell us in their Letter to Valentinian the Emperour That Hosius being ready to condemn him was miraculously thrown upon the Ground and lost the use of his Speech But there is no probability that this Relation should be true as we have already shown when we Discours'd of Hosius St. Jerom in his Chronicle joyns this Bishop with Lucifer Calaritanus and observes that they would never have any Correspondence with those that were suspected of Arianism This joyn'd with the Honourable mention that Marcellinus and Faustinus make of this Bishop may induce us to believe that he was of the Judgment and Party of Lucifer He flourish'd from the Year 357 till the latter End of that Century The Ancients speak of him as a simple plain sincere Man but a zealous Defender of the Faith His Stile was no ways Sublime if we believe St. Jerom. There have been printed under his Name at Rome in the Year 1575 and in the Two first Editions of the Bibliothecae Patrum seven little Treatises against the Arians which are thought to be the same with the Book concerning the Faith cited by St. Jerom But it has since been discover'd that they were written by Faustinus a Luciferian Deacon to whom the Abbot Trithemius attributes them They are address'd to the Empress
Fire All that I can do is to exhort you 't is your part to Labour and God's to Perfect Raise up your Minds direct your Intentions prepare your Hearts it is for your Souls that you fight and they are Eternal Treasures which you hope for The First Lecture is also an Exhortation to those that are to be baptiz'd to prepare themselves by a Holy Life and by Good Works that so they may receive the Grace of Baptism It is compos'd upon a Lesson taken out of the First Chapter of Isaiah Verse 16. which begins with these words Wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings c. He exhorts them wholly to put off the Old-man sincerely to renounce all Sin and to spend in the Exercises of Piety the 40 Days that are appointed to Prepare them for Baptism The Second is concerning Sin and Penance He teaches them That Sin is committed voluntarily by the bad use we make of our Free-Will That the Devil was the first Sinner that afterwards he made the first Man sin That by the Sin of the first Man all Men fell under Blindness and Death That he who rais'd Lazarus rais'd our Souls and deliver'd them from Sin by his Blood That therefore we ought not to despair whatsoever Sins we have committed but to trust to the Mercy of God and to have recourse to the Remedy of Repentance He relates many Examples of God's Mercy towards the greatest Sinners He alledges also the Example of the Angels to whom he thinks God pardon'd many Faults He adds towards the end the Example of St. Peter and concludes with these words These are my Brethren the many Examples of Sinners whom God hath pardon'd as soon as they repented Do you also Confess your Sins unto the Lord and you shall obtain the Kingdom of Heaven and enjoy the Heavenly Reward together with all the Saints in Jesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever The Third Lecture is concerning the Necessity of Baptism and of Penance which ought to precede it You must prepare your selves says he by Purity of Conscience for you ought not to consider the External Baptism but the Spiritual Grace which is given with the Water that is Sanctified by the Invocation of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost The Water washes the Body but the Spirit sanctifies the Soul that we being purified may become worthy to approach unto God You cannot be perfect unless you be sanctified by the Water and the Spirit So if any one be baptiz'd without having the Holy Spirit he receives not the Grace of Baptism and likewise if any one receive not Baptism though his Conversation were never so well order'd he shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven This Discourse is bold but it is not mine but Jesus Christ's who has pronounc'd this Sentence when he said Except a man be born again of Water and the Holy Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven He proves this Truth by the Example of Cornelius then he shows the Necessity of Baptism by Water and says That none but Martyrs only can enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven without being baptiz'd The Ancients generally believed that Martyrdom was that Baptism by Fire which John Baptist fore-told Mat. 3. 11. and that was the Cup which our Saviour foretold Zebedee's Children that they should drink and the Baptism wherewith they were to be baptized He teaches That since Jesus Christ was baptiz'd to sanctifie the Waters of Baptism we must descend into the Water to be sanctified and as the Holy Spirit did then visibly appear so now he descends likewise though after an invisible manner upon those that are baptiz'd if they be well prepared for it In short he still exhorts those to whom he speaks to prepare themselves in the remaining part of Lent that so they may obtain by Baptism the Pardon of their Sins and the Grace of the Holy Spirit St. Cyril begins in the Fourth Catechetical Discourse with the Explication of the Articles of our Faith He says in his Exordium That the Worship of God consists in two things in the belief of those Doctrines that Religion teaches us and in the practice of Good Works That Faith is unprofitable without Good Works and that Good Works will prevail nothing without Faith He observes That the Articles of Faith are opposed by Pagans Jews and Hereticks and therefore it is necessary to propose it and explain it to those that enter into the Church He says That before he explains them more largely he will first give a summary of them and prays those that are already instructed to hear with Patience his Catechetical Discourses Afterwards he summarily explains the chief Doctrines of our Religion He instructs them concerning the Divinity That there is but one God only the Creator of all things who is every where present who knows all things who can do all things who never changes who will reward the Good and punish the Wicked c. He adds That we must believe also in Jesus Christ our Lord the only Son of God God begotten of God like in all things to him who begat him who was from all Eternity who sitteth now at his right hand and reigneth with him That we must not believe that the Son is of another Nature than the Father nor confound the Persons of the Father and the Son That he is the Word and the Word of God but a Word subsisting which is nothing like to the Word of Men That this Word was truly and really united to the Humane Nature That he assum'd real Flesh from the Virgin That he was truly Man subject to Humane Infirmities and to Death it self That he was crucified for our Sins That he was buried in the Grave and that he descended into Hell to deliver the Just who had been shut up there a long time with Adam That he was truly risen from the Dead That being ascended into Heaven he was worship'd by all the World and that he shall come again to Judge the Quick and the Dead and to establish an Eternal Kingdom Concerning the Holy Spirit he teaches That we ought to have the same Notions of him as of the Father and the Son That he is One Indivisible and Almighty That he knows all things That he descended in the form of a Dove upon Jesus Christ That he spoke by the Prophets That he Sanctifies the Soul in Baptism and that he ought to be honoured as the Father and the Son being one and the same Divinity He Exhorts his Auditors to hold fast this Creed and gives them Notice That he will prove it in the following Discourse by Testimonies of Scripture For says he we ought not to teach any thing concerning Divine Mysteries but what we can confirm by the Testimonies of Scripture Do not believe what I say if I do not prove it by the Holy Scriptures St. Cyril after having inform'd those whom he instructs what they ought
and those of his Party not because he thought them unworthy of his Communion but because they condemned Meletius in whom there was nothing to be reprehended He praises St. Epiphanius because he acknowledged Three Hypostases He exhorts him to cause his Brethren of Antioch to confess the same thing if they had not already acknowledged it He prays him to procure the Peace of that Church by re-uniting the Two Parties Last of all He speaks to him about the Errors of a Sect of Hereticks call'd Magusaeans concerning which St. Epiphanius had desired of him some Account The Letter 55 to St. Ambrose was at the same time and probably was sent by the Deputies who carried Letter 74 into the West He writes to him That he had known of a long time his Judgment Learning and Vertue That he bless'd God for drawing from the Court a Man Illustrious for his Wisdom his Dignity and Eloquence to charge him with the Government of Christ's Flâ—ck He exhorts him wholly to extinguish the remainders of Arianism if there was any in his Diocess and prays him to continue the Friendship which they had begun These Letters are written at the Beginning of the Year 376. 'T was in this Year also that he wrote the Letter 293 to Eulogius and to the other Bishops of Egypt that were banished into Palaestine 'T is against Apollinarius and Marcellus of Aâ—cyra whom he charges with the same Errors which he had spoken of in Letter 74. The Letter 295 to the Monks might also be at the same time as well as the Letters 337 338 339 to Ascolius of Thessalonica The Letter 182 written also in the Name of the Churches of the East to the Western Bishops was in the Year 377 or 378. For the Eastern Bishops who describe there in a most Elegant manner the Persecution which they suffered observe that it had lasted 13 Years But it could not begin before the end of the Year 364 or till 365. They implore in this Letter the Assistance of the Bishops of the West which they declare they had in vain expected and desired for a long time We referr to those two last Years of the Life of St. Basil some Letters of Doctrine and Discipline the time whereof is not certainly known but which seem to be written towards the End of his Life We may place in this Number the 65 to those of Josopolis which is written against those who affirmed That Jesus Christ brought a Body from Heaven reviving hereby the Error of Valentinus and who attributed to the Divinity of Jesus Christ the Properties of the humane Nature He refutes their Errors and proves that Jesus Christ had real Flesh. He speaks also of Redemption by Jesus Christ and of the Fall of Man by the Sin of Adam The 195 to Diodorus then Bishop of Tarsus was written before the Second Letter to Amphilochius wherein it is cited at Canon 63. There a Question of Importance is handled viz. Whether it be lawful for a Man to marry his Wife's Sister after her Death A Man of St. Basil's Diocess had done it and alledg'd for his Justification a Letter of Diodorus who defended his Action St. Basil answers it in this Letter and opposes to Diodorus the Custom of the Church which did not at all permit it He answers a Passage of Leviticus Ch. 18. which seems to allow those Marriages He answers I say First That tho' that were so yet there are many things forbidden in the Gospel which the Law permitted and Secondly That the Levitical Law does not indeed forbid but neither does it positively allow these kind of Marriages He adds That if it is not lawful to a Son to marry his Mother-in-Law nor for a Father to espouse his Daughter-in-Law neither ought it to be allowed to a Man to marry his Sister-in-Law no more than to a Woman to marry the Brother or the next-a-kin to her Husband because Man and Wife are so closely united by Marriage that the Kindred of one become the Kindred of the other He would not have them object that Passage of Genesis Encrease and Multiply because it does not respect the New Testament He observes That second Marriages are a Remedy against Foâ—â—ication and not an in let to immoderate Lust. The following Letter to Parergorius is upon a like Subject He admonishes this Priest who was 70 Years old to put away a Maid that lived with him as was Ordain'd by the Canon of the Council of Nice He protests That tho' he should write to him an Hundred Letters he should always continue Suspended from his Ministry till he had put her away and that if notwithstanding this he would still intrude upon the Exercise of his Office without amending this Fault he should be Excommunicated and so should those also that receiv'd him We may joyn to these Two Letters the 76 Epistle of St. Basil to the Bishops under his Jurisdiction wherein he reproves a thing which was practised by some of them who under pretence of Piety received the Money which was offered them by those whom they Ordain'd He condemns this Practice as Simoniacal and threatens to depose those that should do it for the future He observes That those Bishops excused themselves from Simony because they received not this Money before Ordination but only after it But says he to receive Money before or after is always to receive it and under what Pretence soever they do it they always make a gain of Spiritual Gifts Now to do this in the Church of God wherein we believe that we have the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ to do this there I say is a shameful Traffick These are the very Words of St. Basil I add nothing to them The 203 and 204 are address'd to those of Tarsus In them he Ordains That the Macedonians in order to their Reception into the Church should make profession of the Nicene Faith and he anathematizes all those that believ'd the Holy Spirit to be a mere Creature The 244 is against a certain Bishop who neglected to Punish a Rape He enjoyns him to cause search to be made after the Maid to restore her to her Parents to declare him Excommunicated who had Ravish'd her to throw him out of the Church him and his Family for the spâ—ce of three Years not to suffer him to be present at the Publick Prayers and in case he should sculk in some little Village with the Woman he had Ravish'd and the Inhabitants would not deliver them or would Defend them that then they also should be interdicted Divine Offices In the 345 he speaks of a Crafty Man who being Summoned before the Ecclesiastical Tribunal defended himself with so much Eloquence that he made himself pass for an Innocent Man In the 245 he speaks of the manner of Excommunication in his time he says That the Sinner ought First to be rebuked privately Secondly in the presence of two Witnesses and Lastly ought to be accus'd to the
't is impossible to read his Writings but one must feel himself Instructed and Convinced of the Truth and he cannot but conceive a Love for Vertue and a Hatred of Vice His Discourses are not void of Thoughts and full of Words as for the most Part those of Orators are but Eloquence is there joyn'd with Doctrine they Instruct they Divert and they Move at once His Stile is Pure and Significant his Expressions are Lofty his way of Writing Elegant Clean and Persuasive his Discourses appear always Natural flowing Gently and without Affectation He persuades Pleasantly he explains things with great Clearness he knows how to give them so probable a turn that he may be taken for a Pattern and he comes near Demosthenes and the ablest Orators of Antiquity in the Judgment of the Learned Photius and even in the Judgment of Erasmus he excells the Ancient Greek Orators and is free from their Faults He was fit for all kinds of Writings His Commentaries upon Scripture are most Instructive and most Natural He excells in his Panegyricks The Force and Subtilty of his Reasoning appear in his Treatises of Controversy his Discourses of Morality are Instructive and Moving In short tho' his Asceticks have not the same Loftiness as his other Works yet there one may find the same Purity of Phrase and the same Clearness but his Method renders them sometimes a little obscure In a word Whatever Subject he treats of he does it always very Learnedly He had all the Properties of a Divine Understanding perfectly the Holy Scripture the Tradition of the Fathers and the Canons of the Church He was a very able Rhetorician a very profound Philosopher and a very subtil Logician He understood also the Mathematicks and his own continual Sickness made him a Physician He understood Philological Learning to Perfection and made use of it to very good purpose He knew all that was most Curious in the Poets the Historians and profane Orators as may appear from many places of his Writings and chiefly from his little Tract of reading profane Authors In a word that which is indeed admirable is that he joyn'd with this Learning a profound Piety and a singular Prudence He was Sweet and Affable to all the World Charitable towards the Poor and Compassionate to others in Misery He was accus'd of being Proud but St. Gregory Nazianzen who suspected him of this Vice vindicates him from it in his Panegyrick He was of a very infirm Health and subject to many Diseases he speaks of them in the most part of his Letters and also in some of his Homilies St. Gregory Nazianzen informs us that he was pale that he wore always a great Beard that he was reserv'd in his Speech often thoughtful and pensive had a particular way in his Apparel in his Bed and his Meat which some would imitate after his Death The Doctrine of St. Basil is very Pure and Orthodox He has explain'd the Mystery of the Trinity against the Hereticks clearly and beyond Contest tho' at the beginning he was reserv'd in his Expressions about the Divinity of the Holy Spirit yet he always own'd it and never spoke contrary to what he thought He never us'd any other Precaution but to be silent upon that Point when he thought it not necessary to speak of it or that it would be to no purpose He was one of those who troubled himself most to distinguish the Three Hypostases in God that 's to say to prove that Hypostasis and Person signify the same thing As to the Mystery of the Incarnation he acknowledg'd in Jesus Christ two Natures without Confusion and yet united in one and the same Person He rejected the Error of the Apollinarians and Thâ—â—pâ—ssiâ—â—s and maintain'd with the Church that the Properties of the humane Nature do by no means agree to the Divinity He affirm'd several times That the Cause and Reason why the Son of God was made Man was the Salvation and Redemption of Mankind polluted by the Sin of Adam He knew the Greatness of that Fall and the miserable Effects which it produc'd as Concupiscence Sickness Death c. He establish'd the Necessity of the Grace of Jesus Christ without which it is impossible to do Good He is the only Person of the Greek Fathers who spoke most clearly of it and attributed least to Free-will tho hâ— own'd it He admitted the Efficacy and Necessity of Baptism Yet he believ'd that this Sacrament might be supplied by Faith and Charity and by the Baptism of Blood and that it signified nothing at least to those that had not Faith and were not well dispos'd to receive it He mentions the Unction that accompanied it and approves the Ceremonies that were joyn'd with it He call'd the Eucharist the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ Tho' he was of Opinion that we should Communicate often yet he requires Holy Dispositions in those who receive this Mystery He speaks of the Ceremonies and Prayers that were made use of for the Offering and of the Manner in which it was distributed to the Faithful He observes That they carried it and kept it in their Houses and that they believ'd it was always Consecrated He commends Fasting and speaks of Lent as a Fast to which we are oblig'd He has also observ'd That it was attended with Abstinence from Meat He speaks of the Usage of Invocating Saints and Martyrs He is perswaded that they pray for us and that their Intercession is very profitable He preferrs Celibacy to Marriage He approves of Vows and a Monastick State He acknowledges the Authority of Traditions as well as that of Scripture However he has some particular Opinions as when he maintains in the First Homily of the Creation That the Angels were created long before the World and when he affirms in another place That all Men shall be Purified at the Day of Judgment by Fire But there are very few of this sort of slight Errors in this Author There were also some Expressions objected to him which appear'd Hyperbolical or less Exact but 't is easy to give them a good Sence I shall not stay to make a larger Enumeration of his Opinions which I have explain'd at length in the Extracts out of his Works I conclude therefore with giving a Catalogue of the Translations and Editions of the Works of this Father The First Edition of the Works of St. Basil in Greek is that of Frobenius printed at Basil in the Year 1532. It contains the Homilies upon the Creation and the Psalms 29 different Homilies the Book of the Holy Spirit and some Letters After it followed the Edition at Venice made by Sabius in the Year 1537. in which are added the Three first Books against Eunomius At last in the Year 1551 almost all the Works of St. Basil were printed in Greek at Paris by the Care of Janus Cornarius who also printed them in Latin by Frobenius in the Year 1549. Wolfgangus Musculus made a New
his Bishoprick being only barr'd from the Metropolitan Dignity to which his Seniority might have promoted him in his turn That of Victor Bishop of the same Province who was likewise excluded the right of Primacy and with whom no other Bishop did communicate in his Diocess And that of Bishop Laurentius with whom they proceeded as they had done with Antonius of Fussala St. Augustin might have alledged besides those Canons which allow to Bishops the Rank and Honour of their Dignity and yet deprive them both of the Function and Jurisdiction In the 210th Letter St. Augustin instructeth Felicitas and Rusticus how the Evils of this Life are to be endured and gives them Rules for brotherly Correction It is probable that the occasion of Writing upon this Subject was the Dissention which happened among the Virgins consecrated to God spoken of in the following Letter about their Superior whom the Nuns designed to change St. Augustin having reproved them for it and exhorted them to Peace and Obedience prescribeth them a most wise and prudent Rule of Life This Letter was written after the Death of St. Augustin's Sister who governed that Monastery at the time when most of the Donatists were re-united in 424. The 212th is a Letter of Recommendation to Quintianus in the behalf of an holy Widow named Galla and of her Daughter Simpliciola who carried about with them the Reliques of the Martyr St. Stephen After this Letter comes the Act made at Hippo upon the 14th of September 426. in the Church of Peace whereby St. Augustin chuseth Heraclius the Priest to be his Successor and Co-adjutor yet without admitting him into Bishop's Orders and the People approve his Choice with their Acclamations The Occasion of the 214th Letter is this St. Augustin having been informed by two Brethren of the Monastery at Adrumetum that there had been some Disputes among the Monks of that Convent about Grace and Free-Will because some willing to establish the Doctrine of Grace went so far as to deny Free-Will whereas the others acknowledging Free-Will did confess notwithstanding that it was assisted by the help of the Grace of Jesus Christ approves of the latter Opinion affirming That he taught no other Doctrine in his Letter to Saint Sixtus He again handleth the same Matter in the next Letter directed to Valentinus Abbot of the Monastery at Adrumetum and to the Brethren of the same Monastery He joined to this Letter his Book of Grace and Free-Will which he sent at the same time to instruct them Valentinus answered St. Augustin in the 216th Letter wherein after he had thank'd him for his Letters he gives him an Account how that Disturbance happened in his Monastery by the Imprudence of five or six that were offended at those Discourses of St. Augustin which Florus had brought from Uzala to their Convent That Evodius Bishop of Uzala not being able to satisfie them they came to him That this Visit had produced a good Effect seeing it brought to their Monastery such holy Instructions as his were and had confirmed them in their Belief touching Grace and Free-Will These Letters are of the Year 426. The 217th Letter of St. Augustin is written to Vitalis to undeceive him of those Notions which he had then taken up namely That the Beginning of Faith was not a Gift of God but the mere Product of Man's Will St. Augustin refutes this Opinion by the Prayers of the Church by St. Cyprian's Testimony in his Book of The Lord's Prayer and by several other Passages of Scripture Afterwards he explains the difference betwixt the Law and Grace proving That the True Grace of Jesus Christ doth not consist in Natural Helps or in External Graces At last he proposes Twelve Articles wherein he comprehends whatsoever he thinks necessary to be believed concerning Grace The Twelve Articles are these I. We know That before Men were born into this World they had no other wherein they did either Good or Evil .... But descending from Adam according to the Flesh they partake by their Birth of the Poyson of that ancient Death which he became subject to by his Sin and that they are not delivered from Eternal Death except they are regenerated in Jesus Christ through his Grace II. We know That the Grace of God is not given upon the account of any Merit either to Infants or to Men that are come to the Age of Reason III. We know That Grace is an Assistance afforded for evert Action to those that have attained to the Age of Reason IV. We know That it is not given to all Men and that those to whom it is given receive it without having deserved it by their Works or by their Will which appears particularly in Infants V. We know That it is out of God's mere Mercy that it is given to those to whom it is given VI. We know That it is by a just Judgment of God that it is not given to those to whom it is not given VII We know That we shall all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Jesus Christ that every one may receive either Reward or Punishment according to what he shall have done in the Body and not according to what he should have done had he lived longer VIII We know That Infants shall not receive Recompence or Punishment but according to what they shall have done in the Body that is whil'st they were in the Body that is according as some have been regenerate and others not IX We know That Eternal Happiness is ensured to all those that die in Jesus Christ and that nothing is imputed to them of what they might have done had they been alive X. We know That as many as Believe in God Believe willingly and by an Action of their free Will XI We know That we ought to pray unto God for those that Believe not that they would Believe XII We know That whensoever any of these embraces the Faith we are to give God Thanks sincerely and from the bottom of our Hearts as being an Effect of his Mercy and that when we do it as we are wont to do we perform a Duty incumbent upon us These are the Twelve fundamental Points of St. Augustin's Doctrine of Grace to the which he restrains the Faith of the Catholick Church about that Matter He applieth them likewise to his particular Dispute with Vitalis to know whether Grace goes before or only followeth the Will that is Whether Grace be given us because we will have it as Vitalis affirms Or Whether the Will it self is not a thing which God worketh in us by his Grace as St. Augustin pretends that it followeth upon the Twelve Principles which he lays down To shew this the rest of this Letter is taken up wherein he concludes That the Beginning of Faith Conversion and a good Mind comes from God and not from Free-Will This Letter in all probability is one of the last of St. Augustin's Works concerning Grace In the 218th Letter
Testimonies of Holy Scriptures and by the Authority of the Holy Fathers that we ought to believe Nothing Incorporeal but God only There is one of his Letters written in form of a Book dedicated to a certain Deacon called Gratus who having departed from the Orthodox Faith went over to the Nestorian Heresie He advertiseth him in that Letter that we must not say that the Virgin hath brought forth a Man into the World who afterward became a God but that she hath brought forth a true God in a true Man There are other Works of his which I do not speak of because I have not read them It is known and his Discourses make it plain that he was an able Preacher He hath written since a Letter to Faelix the Praefectus-Praetorio a Person descended of the Patricii and Son of a Consul in which he exhorts him to Piety This Writing is very suitable for those who will fit themselves for sincere Penance We have still some of those Works of which Gennadius makes mention but he doth not speak of his Letter to Lucidus the Priest who was the occasion of writing his two Books of Free-will and Grace This Priest was a stiff defender of St. Austin's Doctrine about Grace and Predestination and did evidently carry his Principles too far or at least delivered them in too harsh terms The greatest part of French Bishops were then of a very contrary Judgment and Faustus was one of the greatest Opposers of that Doctrine Having had several Conferences with Lucidus but not being able to make any Change in him he sent this Letter of which we are speaking to him to oblige him to change his Opinion In the beginning he says That Charity made him undertake to endeavour by the Assistance of God to recover his Brother from the Error into which he was unwarily faln rather than Excommunicate him as some Bishops designed to do He then puts him in mind that in speaking of Grace and Man's Obedience we must be very Cautious that we fall into neither oâ— the Extreams That we must not separate Grace and Humane Industry That we must aâ—â—ot Pelagius and detest those that believe that Man may be among the Number of the Elect without labouring for Salvation He sets down some Anathema's which he would have him Pronounce The first is against the Doctrine of Pelagius who believes that Man is born without Sin that he hath no need of the Assistance of Grace but he may be saved by his own Works The Second Anathema is for all those who dare assert that Man who having been Baptized hath made Profession of Faith in Jesus Christ falling into Sin is Damned upon the account of Original Sin The third Anathema is to him who affirms that the Prescience 〈◊〉 God is the Cause of Damnation The fourth is to all those that say that he which Perisheth hath not received a sufficient strength and ability to save himself which ought to be understood of Persons Baptized or of an Heathen who Lived at a time when he might have believed and would not The fifth is to all those who hold that a Vessel of Dishonour cannot be made a Vessel of Honour The sixth and last is to him that shall assert that Jesus Christ is not Dead for all Men and wills not that all Men should be saved He adds that he will bring Testimonies to prove these Orthodox Truths and overthrow the Errors whenever he pleases to come to him or he shall be summoned before the Bishops In sum he assures him with confidence and truth that he that Perishes by his fault might be saved by Grace if he had obeyed it by his Labour which ought to follow Grace and that he that is saved by Grace may fall by his Negligence and Fault So that to fix an exact Medium he joyns the Labour of a Voluntary Service to Grace without which we are nothing but he excludes Pride and Presumption which may creep in upon the account of our Labours knowing that it is our Duty to do what we can He calls upon him to declare his Opinions thereupon advertising him that if he will not follow the true Doctrine he will deserve to be banished from the Church in whose bosom he hopes that he abides Lastly he adds that he keeps a Copy of this Letter to make it appear if it be necessary in the Assembly of Bishops which * were to must meet and exhorts Lucidus to Subscribe it or to abandon fairly and clearly in Writing the Errors which it condemns Although we find at the end of this Letter the Subscriptions of several Bishops It is nevertheless true as F. Sirmondus thinks that it is no bodies but Faustus's and that it is he only that wrote it in his own Name Also from the time of Hincmarus it hath been Subscribed by none but him as in the best MSS. and particularly in that which Canisius used It is then certain that it is not the Letter of a Council but he speaks of a Council to be held soon after to which Lucidus was to be cited if he persisted in his own Error but this Good Priest being come to the Council soon yielded to the Opinions of Faustus and his Colleagues and did not satisfie himself to pronounce the Anathema's set down in his Letter but he likewise added it against other Propositions and directed his Letter or rather Retraction to Leontius Bishop of Arles and Twenty four other Bishops who had made up a Council where they compelled Lucius to Recant for he saith that he made that Retractation juxta praedicandi recentia Statuta Concilii and he Condemns with these Bishops I. Him that asserts That we must not joyn the Labour of Humane Obedience to the Grace of God II. Him that saith That since the Sin of the First Man the Free-will of Man is entirely lost III. Him that affirms That Our Saviour Jesus Christ dyed not for all Men. IV. Him that says That the fore-knowledge of God forced Man and Damns by Violence and that those that are Damned are so by the Will of God V. Those that say That they that Sin after Baptism dye in Adam VI. Those that Teach That some are Destined to Death and others Predestined to Life The Bishops of the Council of Valentia seem to have determined since the contrary to this Proposition in the third Canon where they deliver that they boldly own and assert a Predestination of the Elect to Life and of Sinners to Death VII He condemns the Doctrine of those who teach That from Adam to Jesus Christ none among the Heathens hoping in the Coming of Jesus Christ were saved by the First Grace i. e. by the Law of Nature because they have lost their Free-will in Adam VIII Those who affirm That the Patriarchs and Prophets and the great Saints before the Redemption have their habitation in Paradise He adds afterwards some Propositions contrary to the Foregoing He saith then 1.
Persons of great Piety and consecrated by Reparatus Bishop of the Proâ—…ar Province that as long as the Church of Carthage had Bishops they had always recourse to it without impairing their Liberty That they still pray'd the Bishop of that City to take care of them and to deliver them from the Bondage which some would impose upon them That this was warranted by the Examples of many Monasteries which were subject to other Bishops then those in whose Territory they were situate and lastly That they had Testimonies of the Holy Fathers ready who defend the Liberty of Monks For proof of this they cite two places of St. Austin but they prove nothing which they alledge To this they subjoyn a Letter of Boniface who permits the Nuns to choose what Priest they would They alledge the Canon made in France concerning the Monastery of Lerius This is all there is of this Council for the â—est is not in the Vatican Manuscript from which Holstenius extracted this But in another Manuscript there is found the Decree which says That all the Monasteriâ—s shall be as they always have been free and exempt from the Jurisdiction of Bishops It appears by the Acts of this Council that the Monks did not desire to be wholly exempt from the Jurisdiction of Bishops but that they might have power to choose such a Bishop as they would nor did they desire that themselves should have as it were Episcopal Jurisdiction to take care of their Monastery and to send to them Priests and Clergy-men This appears by the Examples of the three Monasteries which they produce and by the Exemption granted by Boniface to a Nunnery So that these Examples regarded only their own Persons and their Monastery and did not give them any Right or Jurisdiction over any part of the People of the Diocese In the first Session of this Council there are the Subscriptions of sixty Bishops The second Council of Orange The second Council of Orange CAesarius of Arles and twelve other Bishops being present in the year 529 at the Dedication of the Church which Liberius a Noble-man and Prefect of Gauls had caused to be built in the City of Orange entred into a Conference about the Questions of Grace and understanding that there were some People who had Sentiments which seem'd not to them altogether Catholick they thought themselves oblig'd to approve and publish some Articles which had been sent to them by the Holy See extracted out of the Holy Fathers and Councils The first is against those who maintain that the Sin of the first Man made no change but in one part of a Man viz. his Body and that it did no hurt to his Soul but left him as free as he was before and only made his Body liable to death The second is against those who say that the Sin of Adam hurted himself only or that nothing but the death of thâ— Body pass'd upon his Posterity The third is against those who affirm that Grace is granted upon the Prayers of Men and deny that Grace is necessary to make us desire it The fourth is against those who say that God waits upon our Will to purifie us from our sins and that he does not by his Spirit make us willing to be purified The fifth is against those who say that the beginning of Faith and the desire to believe is not a Gift of Grace but is naturally in us The sixth is against those who say that God shows Mercy to those who will who desire who do their endeavours who pray and search and that they do not know what that Mercy of God is which makes us to will desire c. The seventh is against those who believe that Man may have some saving thought for his own Salvation or make some good choice without the aid of the Spirit The eighth is against those who say that some come to the Grace of Baptism by their own Free-will and others by Grace Every one of these Propositions is confirm'd by some passage of the Holy Scripture after which do follow many Sentences of the Fathers and chiefly of St. Austin about Grace which tend all to establish the necessity of Grace to all our good Thoughts and Actions In the Conclusion they add three Propositions The first is That all those who are baptiz'd may and ought if they will to labour for their own Salvation The second That they do not believe that God has predestin'd Men to Damnation nay they pronounce an Anathema against those who shall be of this Opinion The third That God inspires us by his Grace with the beginning of Faith and Love and is the Author of our Conversion These Decrees of this Council are sign'd not only by the Bishops but by Liberius a Noble man and other Persons of Honour The second Council of Vasio CAesarius held also the same year on the fifth of November another Assembly at Vasio at which were present ten Bishops who did almost all take the Title of Sinners Five Canons about Discipline The second Council of Vasio were made in this Council The first is That Priests of Parishes shall make the young Readers who have no Wives to dwell in the House with them and that they maintaining them like good Fathers shall teach them to sing Psalms and cause them to read and study the Holy Scripture that so they may prepare them to be fit Persons to succeed them that nevertheless those who will marry shall have liberty to do it The second is That a Priest may preach in his Parish and if he be sick the Deacons shall only read some Homilies of the Fathers The third That Kyrie eleison shall be frequently said at Mattins at Mass and at Vespers and that Holy Holy Holy shall be recited at every Mass even at those of Lent and of the Dead The fourth That there shall be a Commemoration of the Name of the Pope who is in the Holy See The fifth That As it was shall be sung after Glory be to the Father at the end of all the Prayers The Council of Rome under Boniface the Second The Council of Rome under Boniface the second THe Acts of this Council were publish'd by Hâ—â—steniâ—â— from a Manuscript of the Vatican Library This was an Assembly of four Bishop's and forty Priests of that City held at Rome in the Month of December in the year 531. to receive and judge of the Complaints of Stephen Bishop of Larissa Metropolitan of Thessaly who pretending that he was unjustly depriv'd and turn'd out of his Bishoprick by Epiphanius Patriarch of Constantinople implor'd the aid of the Holy See In the first Session which was held the seventh day of December he presented two Libels address'd to Pope Boniface wherein 〈◊〉 â—â—clares That he was chosen Bishop of Larissa after the death of Proclus his Predecessor by the Election of the People and Clergy and ordain'd by the Metropolitan and by those whose Presence
his Imprudence had been the Occasion of all this Then he relates the Emperor's Threatnings to him in these Terms I will send to Rome says he to break down St. Peter's Image and will carry Gregory away as Constans did formerly Martin He answers him thus ' You ought to know and be sure that the Roman Bishops do always imploy themselves to Maintain the Peace between the East and the West our Predecessors endeavoured to do it and we do follow their Example But if you go on to insult over us and threaten us we will not fight against you but will withdraw within 24 Furlongs from Rome into Campania after that do what you please Then he puts him in Mind that Constans who persecuted Pope Martin died unfortunately in his Sin being slain in the Temple by one of his Officers being informed by the Bishops of Sicily that he was an Heretick That Martin contrariwise was honoured as a Saint in the Place of his Banishment in Thrace and the Northern Countries That he desires nothing more than to tread in the Steps of his Predecessors but that he thought himself bound to preserve his own Life for the Peoples Good because in all the West every bodies Eyes were upon him and all Christians had Confidence in him and St. Peter whose Image Leo threatned to destroy that they looked upon St. Peter as a God upon Earth and if Leo attempted any thing in the West he feared that they would also avenge those of the East mis-used by him That he knew his Empire did not reach far in Italy that Rome only had cause to fear by reason that the Sea was so near but if the Pope removed but 24 Furlongs he was safe He wonders lastly That when all the most barbarous People of the West grew mild the Emperor of the East should grow fierce and barbarous He declares to him That if he sends Men to break down St. Peter's Image the Blood that will be spilt shall fall upon his Head As for himself he protests he is clear and pure from it This Letter shews the Falshood of what some Greek Historiographers out of Hatred to the Pope have reported That Gregory II. had forbidden the Romans and Italians to pay the Tributes due to Leo the Emperor and had freed them from their Oath of Allegiance to this Prince This Letter did not alter Leo the Isaurian's Mind nay he wrote to the Pope that he was Emperor and Chief Bishop Imperator sum Sacerdos Gregory writing again to him in his Second Letter tells him It 's true the Emperors his Predecessors shewed themselves both Emperors and Chief Bishops by their Deeds defending Religion joyntly with the Bishops but he could not pretend to this Dignity seeing he divested the Church of its Ornaments and spoiled Temples of Images which did equally instruct and edifie the People That Emperors ought not to meddle with Doctrine that Bishops only had the Understanding necessary to decide them that Ecclesiastical and Civil Matters being judged by quite different Principles he might be very skilful in Civil Matters and have very little Skill in Matters Ecclesiastical that as Bishops had no Right to meddle with State Affairs so the Emperor had no Right to Govern Church Affairs to make Elections in the Clergy to Consecrate to Administer the Sacraments no nor to receive them but from the Bishops Hands That the Prince does punish the Guilty with Death Banishment and other Penalties but the Bishops don't do so but when any body hath sinned and confessed his Sin instead of Beheading or Hanging of him they lay on his Head the Gospel or the Cross they put him in the Vestry or among the Catechumens they make him Fast Watch and Pray so that after a long Correction and Affliction they at last give him the Body and Blood of Christ and having purify'd him and made him a Vessel of Election they lead him to Heaven Then he does sharply rebuke him for his Cruelty Barbarity and Tyranny and exhorts him to submit himself And as to that which was objected qq Obj. That in the six first General Councils nothing had been said of Images A very weighty Objection and not to be stid over with such an Answer as the Pope gives it viz. That they were so common that there was no need to speak of them There was hardly any Doctrine or Practise of the Christian Church but had been either Explained Confirmed or Regulated by some of these Councils and had Image-Worship been then used it would have been mentioned in some of them But the Truth of it was that it was a perfect Innovation a Practise never used but among Heathens and therefore this Pope could do no other than pass it over with such an insufficient and sorry Answer that in the six first Councils nothing had been said of Images he answers That they were so common that there was no need to speak of them He advises him to refer himself to his Judgment and German's Patriarch of Constantinople seeing they have received from Christ the Power of Binding and loosing in Heaven and on Earth All this did not hinder Leo the Emperor from going on in his Enterprize and from setting out Jam. 7. An. 730. an Edict whereby he ordered Images to be removed out of Churches and Sacred Places and to be thrown into the Fire inflicting Penalties upon those that would not obey this Order German was then turn'd out and Anastasius put in his Room in the See of Constantinople Constantine Copronymus Leo's Son followed his Father's Steps and for the better establishing the Discipline he had a mind to introduce he called a Council An. 754. at Constantinople composed of 338 Bishops It began in February and ended in August This Council made a Decree against the Use and Worship of Images which we will set down afterwards It was not received by the Romans But by the Authority of the Emperor a great part of the Eastern Churches received and executed it till rr Irene A second Athalia or Jezebel not less Zealous for Images nor less Scandalous and Notorious for Wickedness and Cruelty for she put out the Eyes of her Son Constantine gave her self up to follow Wizzards and Sorcerers put many good and Innocent Persons to Death a fit Instrument to set up this Doctrine of Devils Irene who had married Leo the Fourth's Brother to Constantin Copronimus being a Widow and Mistress of the Empire her Son Constantine being but young yet was so devout as to set them up again To succeed in her Enterprize she resolved to call a new Council and wrote to Adrian in her own and her Son's Name shewing him that the Princes her Predecessors had destroyed Images in the East and had drawn the People and all the Eastern Churches to their Persuasion that to reform this Abuse they judged it fit to assemble a Council and desired him to be there without fail to hold the Place of the first
explains himself more clearly in his shorter Confession of Faith declaring That God hath not Predestinated the Devils and Wicked men to Damnation but for their Sins which he foresees that they will commit These two Confessions are Published by Bishop Usher in his History of Gotteschalcus Dublin 1631. Hanov. 1662. Hincmarus also wrote a Treatise in defence of his Opinion to the Monks and Recluses of his own Diocess against the Opinion of Gotteschalcus ‡ Or Bertram Ratramnus a Monk of Corby finding some things in it that deserved a Confutation wrote a Letter against that Treatise Prudentius Bishop of Troyes wrote also a Book in which he explains his sense of the Questions of his time and sent it with a The Writings of Hincmarus Bertram and Rabanus about Predâ—stination Letter which served instead of a Preface to Hincmarus Archbishop of Reims and Pardulus Bishop of Laon. He attributes much to the Authority of S. Austin in these Matters and in the body of his Book he sets down a Collection of several passages to that purpose out of him and other Fathers He doth not disagree from Gotteschalcus's Opinion concerning Predestination declaring notwithstanding that God is not the Author of Sin and that he Damns no body but for their Crimes which deserve so great a punishment He follows also the Principles of S. Austin about Grace Free-will and Gods Will to save all Men. This Writing was sent to Hincmarus and Pardulus after the Council held at Paris about the end of the year 849 in which this Matter was mentioned but not debated or determined in a full Council nevertheless the part which the Bishops began then to abett made it so famous that Charles the Bald being at Bourges on his return from the Siege of Toulouse would have it cleared and gave Order to Lupus Abbot of Ferrara and Ratramnus Monk of Corby to write upon that Subject Hincmarus for his part wrote about it toward Easter in 850 to Rabanus Archbishop of Mentz who had engaged in this Contest He sent him the Treatise which he had written to the Monks of his Diocess against Gotteschalcus with the Writings of some other Authors which seemed to favour him and among them the Book of Prudentius Bishop of Troyes Rabanus having seen them would not undertake to answer the Testimonies alledged by that Bishop but collected some Texts of Scripture and Sayings of the Fathers about Predestination to prove that the Word Predestination was never taken in an ill sense That God inclines no Man to Evil That he is not the Author of our Damnation That he doth not in a proper sense harden the Heart of a Man but only permits it to be hardened either by their own sinful actions or by the malice of the Devil That he made not Death That he repents not for the destruction of the Angels That he would have all men to be saved In the conclusion he advises Hincmarus to hinder men from debating such sort of Questions which may cause much scandal among the Faithful and not to suffer Gotteschalcus either to Write or Teach He wonders that that Monk should be allowed to Write who is culpable both in Practice and Doctrine He advises him to suffer him no longer to Write or Dispute for the future till he hath retracted and much disapproves of their letting him enjoy Communion He accuses him of Obstinacy and Pride and looks upon him as incorrigible He reproves him for wishing that he might pass through Vessels of scalding Water Pitch or flaming Oyl and says he never heard of the like That it was to tempt God That he could not endure that punishment if it were Ordained for him and therefore 't is a great piece of presumption to wish for it and desire it Nevertheless Lupus Servatus which I do not believe to be a different Person from the Abbot of Lupuâ—'s Treatise upon the thâ—â—e Questions Ferrara who was consulted about the Questions of the Times 1. By Gotteschalcus 2. By Hincmarus and lastly by Charles the Bald made a Book to clear the three Questions which Gotteschalcus had propounded to the Council of Mentz about Free-will Predestination to Evil and about the Death of Jesus Christ for all men in which Treatise he lays down and proves these Principles and Doctrines That God who only is immutable hath made Spiritual Creatures subject to change who may do either Good or Evil. This appears in the fall of the Angels who being Created good fell into Sin by the depravation of their Nature whereas others of them adhering voluntarily to God have received this as the Reward of their Fidelity That they can't fall from their Happiness That Man who is compounded of a Material Body and Spiritual Soul was created in a State of Happiness exempted from Death and perfectly free That he could do good by making use of the assistance of God's Grace and Sin by abandoning of it but having sinned freely he is under an unavoidable necessity of Dying and subject to the irregular Motions of Concupiscence That the whole Nature of Man hath been corrupted by the Sin of the first Man and all descended of him are fallen with him That Men have some sort of freedom but can't choose that which is good but by the assistance of the Grace of Jesus Christ. That our Liberty only inclines us to Evil and so we may ruin our selves but no Man can save himself or free himself from the power of Sin but by the help of Jesus Christ. That they that are Damned are so by Gods Justice and they that are Saved are so by his gracious Mercy because by the Sin of the first Man we all deserve Damnation and that no Man could escape it if God did not save him through pure Mercy tho we must not inquire Why God shews Mercy on some and not on others That he could do so to all but it is his good Pleasure to save some and leave others in the Mass of Perdition That when he says in Scripture that he will have all Men to be saved it ought to be understood only of those that are actually saved That the Word All is capable of exceptions and may mean all sort of Men That Predestination is gratuitous and not upon the account of our Merits That it is in pursuance of this Election that God gives his Grace to some by which they are able and sedulous to do good and leaves others to their corrupt wills by not assisting them That he is not the Author of the Evil Men do but Man ought to impute it to himself or rather to the Devil who leads him into it That God foresees both good and evil but he predestines nothing but the good that he only suffers the evil and punisheth it That what God hath predestined shall infallibly fall out but that his Predestination imposeth no necessity That no Christian ought to think himself of the number of the Reprobate Men ought to labour
which cannot be understood of the Son of Jehoiada yy Malachi whose Name in the Hebrew signifies My Angel And this has made Origen and Tertullian believe that he was an Angel Incarnate He is called an Angel by the greatest part of the Fathers and in the Version of the Septuagint but he was Angel by Office and not by Nature as he himself calls the Priests Angels Some Persons as Jonathan the Chaldee Paraphrast St. Jerome and several Jews believed that it was an Appellative Name which Ezrah assumed and that he was Author of this Book but this Opinion is established upon very weak Conjectures and besides Ezrah is no where in Scripture called a Prophet St. Jerome proves his Opinion in the first place because Malachi and Ezrah lived at the same time Secondly Because what is in Malachi is very like what we find in Ezrah And lastly Because in chap. 2. vers 7. he seems to point at Ezrah by these Words Verba Sacâ—rdotis custodiunt Scientiâ—m c. â—ut these Conjectures are light and frivolous For the first only proves that Malachi and Ezrah lived at the same time not that they were one and the same The second is not true and if it were it would prove just nothing The Words quoted in the third ought to be understood of Levi and all the Priests of the Law He adds that in Ecclesiasticus chap. 49. where mention is made of all the Prophets the Name of Malachi is not to be found To this it is answered That we ought not to be surprized because he is not Named there since in the same place there is no mention made of Daniel and several others zz The difference of the Style of the Chronology and of the History make it appear The first Book of Maccabees was written by an Hebrew the second by a Greek the second begins the History a great deal higher than the first One follows the Jewish Account the other that of Alexandria which begins Six Months after Some Persons attribute the first to Josephus others to Philo others to the Synagogue and others to the Maccabees The Phrase of the first is Jewish and St. Jerome tells us he had the Hebrew Copy of it It was Intituled The Scepter of the Rebels against the Lord or rather The Scepter of the Prince of the Children of God The second was Written by Jason as it is observed in the Preface Huetius believes that the third and fourth Chapter as well as the two last don't belong to Jason because it is said in chap. 2. vers 20. that he wrote down all that passed under Antiochus and Eupator but then the remainder which is the end and the beginning of that History ought to be understood aaa From a Sentence in Exodus This Sentence is in Hebrew Mi Camacha Be Elim Jehovah Who is like to the Lord amongst the Powers Now taking the first Letters of each Word we make Maccabee Others give a different Etymology of this Name but this is the most probable SECT II. The Canon of the Books of the Old Testament of Books Doubtful Apocryphal and Lost that belonged to the Old Testament WE call the Books of the Bible Canonical Books because they are received into the Canon or the Catalogue of Books that we look upon as Sacred a Opposite to these are those Books we usually call Apocryphal b which are not acknowledged as Divine but rejected as spurious The first Canon or Catalogue of the Holy Books was made by the Jews 't is certain they had one but 't is not so certainly known who it was that made it Some Persons reckon upon three of them made at different times by the Sanedrim or the great Synagogue of the Jews c But 't is a great deal more probable that they never had more than one Canon d or one Collection of the Holy Books of the Old Testament that was made by Ezrah after the rebuilding of Jerusalem and was afterwards approved and received by the whole Nation of the Jews as containing all the Holy Books Josephus speaking of this business in his first Book against Appion says There is nothing in the World that can boast of a higher degree of certainty than the Writings Authorized amongst us for they are not subject to the least Contrariety because we only receive and approve of those Prophets who wrote them many years ago according to the pure Truth by the Inspiration of the Spirit of God We are not therefore allowed to see great numbers of Books that contradict one another We have only Twenty two that comprehend every thing of moment that has happen'd to our Nation from the beginning of the World till now and those we are obliged firmly to believe Five of them are Written by Moses that give a faithful Relation of all Events even to his own Death for about the space of Three Thousand years and contain the Genealogy of the Descendants of Adam The Prophets that succeeded this admirable Legislator in Thirteen other Books have Written all the memorable Passages that fell out from his Death until the Reign of Artaxerxes the Son of Xerxes King of the Persians The other Four Books contain Hymns and Songs composed in the Praise of God with abundance of Precepts and Moral Instructions for the regulating of our Manners We have also every thing Recorded that has happen'd since Artaxerxes down to our own Times but because we have not had as heretofore a Succession of Prophets therefore we don't receive them with the same Belief as we do the Sacred Books concerning which I have discoursed already and for which we preserve so great a Veneration that no One ever had the boldness to take away or add or change the most inconsiderable thing in them We consider them as Sacred Books and so we call them we make solemn Profession inviolably to observe what they Command us and to Die with Joy if there be occasion thereby to preserve them Origen St. Jerome the Author of the Abridgment attributed to St. Athanasius St. Epiphanius and several other Christian Writers do testifie That the Jews received but Twenty two Books into the Canon of their Holy Volumes The Division that St. Jerome has made of them who distributes them into three Classes is as follows The first comprehends the Five Books of Moses which is called The Law The second contains those Books that he calls the Books of the Prophets which are nine in number namely the Book of Joshuah the Book of Judges to which says St. Jerome they use to joyn the Book of Ruth the Book of Samuel which we call the first and second Book of Kings the Book of Kings which contain the two last These Books are followed by three great Prophets viz. Isaiah Jeremiah and Ezekiel which are three different Books and by the twelve minor Prophets which make up but one Book The third Class comprehends those Books that are usually called the Hagiographa or Holy Scriptures the first
them away from Vice and his Remonstrances concerning the corrupt Manners of the Christians and the Irregularities of his own time carry a very near resemblance to those of our Age. JULIUS FIRMICUS MATERNUS THIS Author of whom none of the Ancients have made mention has written a Treatise Intituled Julius Firmicus Maternus Of the Errours of Prophane Religions which he has addressed to the Emperours Constantius and Constans the Sonâ— of Constantine The Stile and Matter of this Book abundantly convince us that it is no Spurious Piece and the Title it carries gives us an occasion to Conjecture that it was writ after the Death of Constantine the Eldest Son of Constantine the Great which happened in the Year 340 and before that of Constans who was Slain by Magnentius in the Year 350 for it being addressed to Constantius and Constans there is reason to believe that Constantine their Eldest Brother was already dead and 't is very evident that Constans was then alive We don't know what the Author was of what Country or of what Profession a Baronius believes that he was Bishop of Milan Baronius imagines that he was Bishop of Milan in the time of Julius and that he assisted at a Council held at Rome under that Pope There is indeed mention made of one Maternus a Bishop of Milan who suffered in Dioclesian's time in the Martyrologies of the 18th of July But he that was the Author of this Treatise never took upon him the Quality of a Bishop and we don't find it related in any Authors of Credit and Reputation in the World that there ever was a Bishop of Milan of that Name On the contrary it appears by St. Athanasius That in the time of Julius there was no Bishop of that Name at Milan And the Roman Council of which Baronius is to be understood is a Chimerical Council invented by Isidorus Baronius believes that he was Bishop of Milan but without any solid Foundation There are Eight Books of Astronomy that bear the same Name Now some Persons are of Opinion that they were composed by another Author b Labbè maintains that they belong to the same Man Possevinus and Simlerus distinguish them and call the last the Younger of the two Labbè pretends that he lived in the Years 334 and 337 and according to this Computation he might perhaps be the Author of the Treatise De errore Profanâ— Religionis Labbé maintains that they belong to the same Man but we cannot positively assert either one or the other This Treatise De Errore Prophanae Religionis was Printed at Venice in the Year 1499. At Basil by Hervagius in 1533. At Strasbourgh in 1562. And afterwards with Wouverus's Notes by Frobenius in 1603. Afterwards it was joined with Minutius Felix and Printed at Amsterdam in 1645. And in 1652. At Leyden in 1562 in Quarto 'T is likewise to be found in the Bibliotheca Patrum And lastly it was put at the end of the last Edition of St. Cyprian which was Printed at Paris 1666. The Author of it discovers the Original of all the several Religions amongst the Pagans and shows the absurdity of them In the first place he shows how prodigiously Men have debased themselves in making Gods of the Four Elements Secondly he lays open the Extract and Rise of the fabulous Deities giving an Historical Account of those things which the Poets have so disguised in Fiction In the Third place he demonstrates the Absurdity and Impiety of the Pagan Theology where several Persons have had the good luck to drop into an Almightyship only for being more exquisiâ—ely villainous than the rest of their Fellow-Creatures In the fourth place he takes occasion to refresh their Memories with several particulars relating to their Gods as how they have been slain wounded and ill-used by Men. Fifthly he pretends that the Religion of the Aegyptians derived its Original from Joseph and that their God Serapis is the same with the above-mentioned Patriarch who is so called because he was the Son of Sarah This Reason in my Opinion appears to be weak and ill-grounded Sixthly he observes that Men have Deified abundance of things which they either love or have frequent occasion for and thus they call Eating and Drinking their Dii Penâ—tes or their Houshold Gods Thus Vesta is the Domestick Fire we daily use and the same Judgment may be passed of several others and for this Reason it has happened that the Names of their Gods denote the Proprieties of Natural Things In a word he Describes and Enumerates the Prophane Signs or Mysterious Words that are used by the Pagans in their Way of Worship and he applies them to Jesus Christ with a great deal of Wit To say the truth This Treatise is exceeding Elegant and is abundantly stored with a great deal of Profound Learning the Author of it shows a considerable Stock of Knowledge Wit and Eloquence he frequently Exhorts the Emperours to destroy the Pagan Temples to suppress their Religion and to make use of strong and violent Remedies to cure Men of their Maladies and retrieve them from their Extravagancies and Errours At the same time he Exhorts all Men to feed and nourish themselves with the Bread of Jesus Christ which is his Word and his Doctrine for he does not speak of the Eucharist in this place as some Persons have vainly imagined to embrace the Light and come to the Marriage of the Celestial Bridegroom He tells us there that God made himself Man to save us and restore us to that Immortality which we lost and forfeited by the Fall of Adam that if he had not assumed a Body in the Womb of the Virgin and suffered an Ignominious Death for the sake of Mankind all the Jews even those of the Old Testament had never been in a Capacity of obtaining Salvation He teaches us that the Soul is Immortal and Spiritual and that the Daemons were frequently disturbed and ejected out of the Bodies of those Persons whom they had possessed by the powerful Prayers and Intercessions of the Christians He acquaints us with several Figures or Types of the Cross drawn out of the Old Testament Lastly to speak a Word or Two concerning his Morals he severely declaims and inveighs against those that disguise themselves in Female Habits These are the Principal and most considerable Heads that are discoursed of in this Treatise As for his Astronomical and Mathematical Books they are divided into Eight Parts That Work was first Printed by Aldus Manutius at Venice in the Year 1499. Reveiwed by one who calls himself Pascennius and afterwards Printed in the same place in 1501. Lastly It was Published at Basil by Hervagius and Corrected by Bucherius in the Year 1551. Of the COUNCILS that were Held in the First Ages of the Church THE Canons and Acts of the Councils ought to be reckoned amongst the Works of the Councils Ecclesiastical Authors since they are the Works of several Persons
the right way and are in danger of falling head-long He had not the sublime and affected Eloquence of the Bar but a Philosophical kind of Eloquence which consisted in turning his Thoughts and Reasons after an easy clear and pleasant manner Philostorgius quoted by Suidas compar'd him to St. Basil and St. Gregory Nazianzen and says That these three were the ablest Men of their time That they excell'd those who had written before them and that St. Athanasius in comparison of them appear'd but a Child That they were well vers'd in profane Learning and had made a great Progress in them That with all this they had all that was necessary for Reading and Understanding the Scriptures and chiefly Apollinarius who understood Hebrew That each of them excell'd in his kind That the Stile of Apollinarius was fittest for writing Books That St. Basil's Stile was best for publick Orations but Gregory Nazianzen surmounted them both in the sublimity of his Stile which was more lofty than that of Apollinarius and more grave than that of St. Basil. He adds That these three Persons had all the Qualities which were most proper for winning the Admiration of all Mankind The Life of Apollinarius was probably no less Holy than that of the other two great Men. In short he might have been equal to the greatest Pillars of the Church as Vincentius Lirinensis says excellently if his profane Curiosity had not carried him to the Invention of Novelties which made him lose the Fruit of all his Labours and made his Doctrine an occasion of Scandal rather than Edification Apollinarius's Paraphrase or Translation of the Psalms was printed in Greek at Paris in the Year 1580 and together with the Version of Sylburgius by Commelinus in the Year 1596. Since that time it has been put into the Bibliothecae Patrum The other Works of this Author are lost except some Fragments and his Error was probably the cause of this Loss The Catholicks had so great a Horror of Books of Hereticks that they would not so much as preserve those that did not concern their Heresy and which might have been useful to the Church Upon which Account it is that we have scarce any Book of the ancient Hereticks and that the Eutychians were oblig'd to publish Apollinarius's Books under the Names of Catholick Authors as we have observ'd when we spoke of the Writings of Pope Julius TITUS of Bostra TITUS Bishop of Bostra a City of Arabia Petrâ—a wrote a Treatise against the Manichees and some other Works in the time of the Emperours Julian and Jovian Julian who persecuted Titus of Bâ—stra all the Bishops who had any Reputation did all that lay in his Power to drive this Bishop out of his Country and to render him odious to his People He wrote to him that if any trouble happened in the City of Bostra he should impute it to himself and to his Clergy This Bishop answered him That he kept his People in Peace by his Exhortations and that tho' he had as many Christians as Pagans in his City yet he so ordered the Matter that there was no Contention amongst them Julian laid hold on this Occasion to write to the Inhabitants of Bostra against their Bishop endeavouring maliciously to persuade them that his Answer reproached them because it supposed that without his Exhortations they would not have continued in their Duty However this ill-natur'd Accusation of the Emperour Julian did not hinder them from putting Confidence in their Bishop so that he continued in his See till the time of the Emperour Valens under whose Reign he died about the Year 370. He assisted at the Council of Meletius held at Antioch under the Reign of Jovian in the Year 364. The Book of Titus of Bostra against the Manichees was written in Greek and divided into Four Parts There is nothing now extant but the Version of three of those Books made by Turrianus and Printed in Canisius's Collection of Ancient Pieces and in the Bibliotheca Patrum To the Text of the Author there are perfixed the Arguments of the Four Books translated out of Greek which inform us what is the Subject of them The first Book says the Author of those Arguments contains a Refutation of the principal Points of Doctrine taught by the Manichees which contradict common Sense and the Principles of natural Reason The second is intended to show That Man is not addicted to Sin by a Principle that is Eternal and without Beginning or by a Being that is contrary to the True God That there is no Substance of Evil in the World That there is not in us two sorts of Natures one Good and the other Evil That 't is Folly and Impiety to Condemn and Reprehend the manner of Governing the Universe In short This Book contains all that can be said of Providence and invincibly proves That 't is no wise necessary to admit a Second Principle contrary to God The Third Book is intended to defend the Law and the Prophets and to show that God is the Author of the Old Testament That there is nothing of Evil to be found in it That it does in every thing agree with the New and therefore there is no need for the Explication of it to have recourse to a Second Principle contrary to God The Fourth Book defends the New Testament against the Blasphemies of the Hereticks There he shews that there is nothing in the Gospel which favours their Error That they abuse some Passages of Scripture to prove their Impiety to no purpose and that the Diabolical Explications which they give of them cannot help to establish what they say against God In the First Book he propounds the Doctrine of the Manichees and detects the Absurdities of it by Metaphysical Arguments In the Second he shows That there is but one God only and that he is the only Principle That he is not the Author of Sin That he made Man free and capable of doing Good and Evil and so 't is not God but Man who is the Author of Sin which proceeds not from the Nature of Man but from his Will He explains the great difficulty that 's urg'd by the Manichees why the Just are so often Unhappy and the Wicked Happy in this World and shews that the Just are always Happy and the Wicked Unhappy because Innocence is the chief Happiness He adds That Afflictions are useful to prove and to exercise Vertue He maintains That Death is not an Evil because 't is the End of sinning to the Wicked and the Beginning of Recompence to the Good In short having survey'd all things in this World and all the occurrences of this Life he proves that they are easily reconcil'd to the Providence of God In the Third Book he shows That the Old and New Testament agree very well together and that one and the same God is the Author of them both There are in these Books much Metaphysicks and Logick the Arguments are solid
in God that they worship God and their Desire is that all Men would worship him that they require of us neither Adoration nor Sacrifices and that God doth not expect from us Sacrifices like those of the Heathen but a Sarcifice of Union such as the Church celebrates in the Eucharist and which the Faithful know That the Miracles which were wrought by the interposition of Angels not of Daemons whose Prodigies are nothing but illusions These Miracles I say were wrought by God's Power to make himself known unto Men That the invisible God becomes visible by the ministry of his Angels whom he made use of to deliver his Law to the World That it is so true that no Sacrifice is to be offered to any but God that Jesus Christ as Man would be made a Sacrifice himself and not receive one from any Body else That God alone can purifie Men of their Sins as the Platonists themselves acknowledge that so it was necessary that God should be made Man to be a true Mediator That the just Men under the old Law were not Saved but by Faith in this Mediator That Pride alone keeps the Platonists from owning the Incarnation That the Soul is not Co-eternal with God as they imagine And Lastly That the Means of delivering the Soul which they sought after to so little purpose is nothing but the Christian Religion In the 11th Book St. Augustin finds the Original of both Cities in the diversity of Angels which gives him occasion to treat of the Creation of the visible World which was immediately preceded by that of the invisible that is of the Angels whom he created all in a State of Righteousness from which some are fallen through their own fault He makes some digressions to speak of the Trinity and of several Circumstances of the Creation of the VVorld Having proved in the 12th That the difference of good and evil Angels doth not proceed from their Nature but from their VVill because God created nothing but what was both Good and Perfect He comes to discourse of Mankind and proves That Men are not from Eternity but that God created Man in time And he mentions something concerning the Fall of the First Man whereof he speaks more at large in the 13th Book where he shews That the death both of Body and Soul was the Consequence and the Punishment of Adam's Fall There one may meet with several curious Notions concerning Death and several Reflections upon the Resurrection and the Quality of glorified Bodies He goes on in the 14th Book to speak of the Fall of the First Man and of the lamentable Consequences that attended it and particularly of irregular Desires and shameful Passions He enquires VVhether the First Man was subject to Passions and how he could Sin being free from them Lastly He asketh several Questions rather nice than necessary how Men should have had Children in the Earthly Paradise had they continued in the State of Innocence The Fifteenth Book is the first of those wherein he examineth the Progress of both the Cities He finds the History of it in the Old Testament where he shews who were the Citizens of both those Cities This Book prosecutes this History from the Creation to the Flood On the one side we see Abel and Isaac and on the other Cain and Esau And both these Cities may be taken notice of in the Marriages of the Sons of God with the Daughters of Men. The Church is represented by Noah's Ark. There are in this Book curious Allegories and several Reflections upon the History of Genesis Amongst other Things he examines the length of the Lives of the First Patriarchs and the Difference betwixt the Translation of the Septuagint and the Hebrew Text about the Number of the Generations In the 16th Book he carries on the History of both Cities from Noah to Abraham and from Abraham to the Kings of Israel He doth not find that the Scripture takes notice of any that served God from Noah to Abraham He speaks of the Posterity of the Children of Noah of the Confounding of Languages of the Antiquity of the Hebrew Tongue and of the Multiplication of Mankind He questions whether there be Antipodes In the rest of the Book he clears the History of Abraham and of his Posterity which is explained with relation to the City of God In the 17th taking a View of the History both of the Kings and of the Prophets he relates and expounds the Prophecies which are in the Books of Kings in the Psalms and in the Books of Solomon which relate to Christ or his Church Now as he had quitted the History of the City of the World when he was come to Abraham so he resumeth it in the beginning of the 18th Book which contains an Abridgment of the History of the Principal Monarchies in the VVorld the times whereof he makes to agree with the History of the Bible and he omits not to speak of the Fabulous Histories and of the Metamorphoses Afterwards he quotes the Sibylline Oracles but he insists most upon the Predictions of the Prophets which he produces in all their Particulars He speaks also of the Books of the Maccabees and having made some Reflections upon the Authority of the History of the Canonical Books and of the Translation of the LXX he describeth in few words the Fall of the Jewish Empire and so he comes to the Nativity of Jesus Christ the Dispersion of the Jews the Settlement of the Church the Persecutions and Heresies which immediately followed St. Augustin makes very ingenious Reflections upon all these Articles and concludes this Book by showing That the End of the VVorld is Unknown and he refutes a false Prediction which the Heathens published That the Christian Religion should last but Three hundred sixty five Years The 19th Book treateth of the End of both Cities Each one aims at the chiefest Good but the Inhabitants of the Terrestrial know so little of it that their Philosophers the Wisest among them could never agree wherein it consisted Varro reckoneth Two hundred eighty eight different Opinions of Philosophers about it The Christian Religion discovers the Falsity of all those Opinions by letting Man know That he cannot be Happy in this Life but only in Hope because he cannot enjoy here Peace and perfect Tranquility The 20th Book contains a Description of the Last Judgment of the Renewing of the World of the Resurrection and of the Heavenly Jerusalem The 21st treateth of the End of the Earthly City and represents the Horror of the Torments of Daemons and Damned Men and of the Eternal Fire of Hell St. Augustin refutes the vain Reasons of those that doubt of it and the Fancy of some who affirmed That those Torments should have an End and that Men should be kept from them by the Intercession of the Saints by the Use of Sacraments and by Almsdeeds The Last Book is concerning the Happiness which the Saints shall enjoy to Eternity The
the Africans had good Success for the Emperor Honorius made an Edict against Pelagius and Coelestius the last day of April 418. And shortly after Pope Zosimus published as we have said his Sentence against them The Council of Carthage in the Year 418. THe African Bishops willing to confirm what they had done against Pelagius and Coelestius Council of Carthage in ccccxviij Assembled upon the First day of May of the Year 418. and made Eight Canons against the Pelagian Errors and some other Orders about the Business of the Donatists The First pronounceth an Anathema against any who dares affirm That Adam was created Mortal so that he must have died whether he had sinned or not because his Death was not an Effect of Sin but a Law of Nature The Second likewise declares an Anathema against such as deny That Children ought to be baptized as soon as they are Born or such as own that they may be baptized and yet affirm That they are born without Original Sin In some places there is a Third Canon which is an Addition to this wherein those that affirm That there is a particular place where Children dead without Baptism do live happily are condemned and to this Notion is opposed what our Saviour saith That none can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven except he be regenerate of Water and the Holy Spirit Photius citeth this Canon in his Collection It is found in another Manuscript and in the Code of the Romish Church published by Father Quesnel And lastly St. Augustin seems to own it when he says That the difference which the Pelagians made betwixt Eternal Life and the Kingdom of Heaven had been condemned in an African Council yet this Canon is not found in the ancient Code of the African Church The Collectors of this Canon have not own'd it and in the Chapters about Grace attributed to Pope Coelestine the 3d 4th and 5th Canons are cited which should be the 4th 5th and 6th if this were the Third Perhaps this Canon was added or look'd upon as an Explication of the foregoing The Third Canon in the common Editions pronounces Anathema against all that should say That the Grace which justifies Man through Jesus Christ our Lord doth only remit Sins committed but that it is not given to succour Man that he may Sin no more The Fourth expounds the Nature of this Grace by condemning those who should say That it doth no further help us than as it gives us the knowledge of what we ought to do but not by enabling us to fulfil the Commandments which it gives us the knowledge of The Fifth is against those that hold That Grace is given only that we may do that which is good with less difficulty because one may absolutely accomplish the Commandments by the Power of his Free-Will without the help of Grace The Sixth declares That St. John did not say merely out of Humility If we say that we have no Sin we deceive our selves The contrary Truth is confirmed in the Seventh Canon by these words of the Lord's Prayer Forgive us our Trespasses c. And they are condemned who affirm That the Righteous do not say this Prayer for themselves but for others In the Eighth there is a Condemnation of another way of eluding the force of these words by saying That the Righteous pray out of Humility but not truly It is said That God would never endure that Man who in his Prayers should lye not only to Men but to God himself by asking with his Mouth That God would forgive his Sins and saying in his Heart that he had none After these Eight Canons concerning Grace some Orders are set down The First Is to reform the Fifth Canon of the Council of Carthage in the Year 407. whereby it was Enacted That those Bishops who converted any Donatists should have the Jurisdiction over them This Order having bred some Disputes it was thought fit here to reform it and it is enjoyn'd That in what place soever any Donatists are reconciled they shall be of the same Diocess with the Catholicks of that place When there were two Bishops in the same place namely The ancient Catholick and the reconciled Donatist it might occasion several Difficulties which the Council prevents in the next Canon which enjoins That the junior Bishop shall make a division of those places where there were many Catholicks and Donatists and that the senior shall have his choice That if there is but one place where the Catholicks and Donatists were intermixt that Place shall belong to that Bishop of the two the place of whose residence is the nearest That if they prove equally distant the Choice shall be left to the People And if the ancient Catholicks desire to have their own Bishop and the reconciled him they had before then the Majority of voices shall carry it but if they be equal then the senior shall have the Precedency Lastly If the Places cannot be equally divided As for example if the number of Divisions should be odd then two equal Divisions shall be made and the Place over and above shall bedisposed of as is said just before In the Third Rule it is provided That whosoever hath enjoy'd a place Three Years shall remain in quiet Possession if there be a Bishop in the Church of that Diocess where naturally he ought to have been The Fourth is against those Bishops who violently took Possession of the Jurisdiction of such places as they pretended to be of their Diocesses without having the matter in Dispute adjudged by Bishops The First ordains That those that shall neglect to procure the Re-union of places dependent from their Diocesses shall be put in mind of it by the Neighbouring Bishops That if they are not converted within Six Months after such Admonition they shall belong to the Diocess of that Bishop that can convert them if it appears that the Bishop of the place hath neglected it It is added That if a Contest happens betwixt two Bishops of different Provinces the Metropolitan of the Province where the place in dispute is situated shall appoint Judges or the Parties shall choose one or three This gives occasion for renewing the Canon which forbids any Appeal to be made from the judgment of Judges thus chosen It is enacted by the Seventh Order That a Bishop neglecting to reconcile the Donatists that are in his Diocess shall be admonished and if they be not reconciled in Six Months they shall not communicate with him until he hath reconciled them Provided always That he who had the execution of the Emperor's Orders was in his Province It is added in the Eighth That if it be proved that any Bishop affirmed that these Donatists were come into the Communion of the Church and it was not so he shall lose his Bishoprick The Ninth enjoins That if the Priests Deacons and other Clerks complain of their Bishop's Judgments they shall be judged by the Neighbouring Bishops with
it self and all the Beings which are in the World The Angels also are Creatures But we must not think that they are of a carnal Nature like ours nor subject to the same Passions They are Immortal and Spiritual God hath created Millions of them Their Business is to sing the Praises of God yet he believes that there are some who are charged with the care of Nations and particular Men. The Devils are not Sinners by Nature God created them in a state wherein they might do good or evil They fell voluntarily into Sin through Pride and God punished them for their Sin by casting them from their first Estate Man is also the Work of God who hath formed him by his Almighty Hand he is made up of a Body and a Spiritual and Reasonable Soul which is Immortal God created it when the Body was formed All things are governed by Divine Providence we are not ruled by Destiny There are three sorts of things in the World which are worthy of Consideration real good things which consist in Vertue real Evils which consist in Vices and things indifferent which may be good or evil-according as we make use of them as Riches and Poverty Prosperity and Adversity Health and Sickness If we may believe Theodoret the Goods and Evils of the first sort are in our Power he holds That it is in our Power to be Vertuous or Sinners but as to all other things God disposeth of them as he pleaseth for Reasons to us unknown The Word of God his only Son was made Man to restore our decayed Nature and as the whole Man had sinned he assumed our Nature entire He did not take a Body to cover his Divinity but a Soul and Body like to ours nor did he put off that Nature at his Resurrection He came to teach Men a more perfect Law than that of Moses but yet not contrary to it in the least Baptism came in place of the Jewish Washings This Ordinance which is of marvellous Virtue was not established for the remission of Sins past only but also to make us hope for the good things promised by making us Partakers of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and rendring us the Children of God Heirs of his Kingdom and coheirs with Jesus Christ For Baptism is not only a Rasor as I may say to cut off Sins past For if that were so why should we baptize Children in their Infancy says Theodoret here who have nothing of Sin This is Pelagianism if he doth not understand it of actual Sins This Sacrament of Baptism gives us the hopes of the Resurrection which we expect The Soul is not raised that shall only be reunited to its Body which shall be formed anew The Unbelievers shall be raised from the Dead as well as Believers the Sinner as well as the Just. All Men shall receive at the day of Judgment either a Reward of their Veâ—… or a Punishment for their Sins The Reward of the Saints shall have nothing temporal or peâ—â—shing in it It consists in the enjoyment of Eternal Goods Christ's millenary Reign is a Fable This Eternal Life is free from Temptation and Sin and full of ineffable Joy Before all tâ—is shall the coming of Jesus Christ in Glory be which shall follow the coming of Antichrist Theodoret after he hath spoken of that which concerns the Faith of the Creed passeth to the Articles which relate to Mens manners The first is of Virginity God hath not commanded it but yet he gives it such Commendation as it deserves that he may encourage Men to embrace it Marriage is not forbidden but the end of it ought to be for the Procreation of Children Second Marriages are not prohibited neither but Fornication and all other Uncleannesses are condemned by the Evangelical Law Theodoret goes on next to Repentance and after he hath observed That the Scripture doth not only forbid Sin but also affords a Remedy for the Cure of those who have committed it by exhorting to Repentance he faith That there is also a Medicine for Sins committed after Baptism but that they cannot be cured as before by Faith alone we must make use of Tears Weeping Groans Fastings Prayers and a Satisfaction proportionable to the greatness of the Sin that we have committed And as to those who are not so disposed the Church doth not despair of them but admits them to Communion These saith he are the Laws of the Church about Repentance Lastly as concerning Abstinence the Church doth not forbid the use of Wine and Flesh as some Hereticks do but leaves us at Liberty that they that will may Abstain She obliges no Man to embrace a Monastick Life but that is entirely free These are the Articles of Doctrine of the Church which Theodoret opposes to the Errors of the Hereticks and which he proves by express Testimonies of Holy Scripture excellently well chosen In speaking of Providence he referrs us to what he hath said in the ten Books which he hath written upon that Subject He cites them also in his Commentary upon the 67th Psalm and speaks of them in his 133d and 182d Letters This makes it evident That altho the Discourses of Providence are put after the Treatise of Heretical Fables yet they were composed a long time before about the year 433. These are the Discourses or Sermons which he recited probably at Antioch In the five first he proves a Providence by the admirable Position of the Heavenly Bodies by the wonderful Order of the Elements by the Contexture of the Parts of Man's Body by the invention of Arts and by the dominion of Man over the Beasts In the 6th 7th and 8th he answers some Objections which may be made against Providence by shewing That Poverty Bondage and other Misfortunes to which Men and even the Just are subject have Profit in them In the 9th he shews That the practice of Vertue is not unprofitable altho' very often it is not recompensed in this World because it shall be rewarded in another Life In the last after he hath observed That God hath always loved and taken care of all Men he shews That this Love appears plainly in the Incarnation of the Son of God and all that Jesus Christ hath done for them These Discourses are written with a great deal of Generosity and Eloquence They have been published by Majoranus at Rome in 1545. and translated by Gualter at Tigur in 1546. Afterward at Paris 1630. in Octavo Dr. Cave There is not less Eloquence and much more Learning in the 12 Discourses concerning the * De curandis affectionibus Graecoâ—um Dr. Cave Cure of the false Opinions of the Heathens where he proves the truth of our Religion and vinces the Heathens of Falshood by comparing them together Theodoret undertook this Work to satisfie some Objections which had been made to him He speaks of it in his Letter to Renatus and in that which he wrote to S. Leo and he
of St. Ephrem's Works which fell into the hands of Photius The second contains four Treatises In the first he explains the sense of St. Cyril in his Letter to Successus wherein he opposes the Heresie of the Severians In the second he answers Anatolius Scholasticus about those things wherein he desir'd to be instructed The third was an Apology for the Council of Chalcedon address'd to two Monks of Cilicia call'd Domnus and John and the fourth An Admonition to the Monks of the East who were entangled in the Errors of the Severians Photius makes long Extracts out of these four Treatises The Extract out of the first is about the Union and Distinction of the two Natures in Jesus Christ which he confirms by the Testimonies of St. Cyril and other Fathers The Extracts out of the second inform us that Anatolius had propos'd five Heads of Questions to St. Ephrem The first Whether Jesus Christ is yet in Flesh. 2. How he being descended from the Children of Adam could be Immortal 3. What proof there is that the Apostle St. John is yet alive 4. How Adam being created Immortal could be ignorant of what was useful for him 5. What is meant by these words of God Behold Adam is become like one of us As to the first Question he proves by many Passages of Scripture that Jesus Christ has still his Flesh. As to the second he says That whether it be affirm'd that Adam was created Mortal or Immortal 't is certain that the death of the Body and Soul was the effect of the Sin which he committed by his Free-will and that tho Adam by his Nature was not Immortal yet he had not died unless he had finned To the third he answers That he knew by Tradition that St. John was not dead no more then Elias and Enoch and that this Consequence might be inferr'd from the words of Jesus Christ concerning him in his Gospel If I will that he tarry till I come what is that to you That it cannot be concluded from thence that he was Immortal but that he was reserv'd for the Day of Judgment That if Eusebius has noted the number of the years that he liv'd this is to be understood of the years that he was upon Earth That the Acts of the Life of this holy Apostle make it credible that he disappear'd all on a suddain Nevertheless he says that this Question does not concern the Faith but that it is always profitable in this kind of Questions to take the better side Upon the fourth Question he says that we must not wonder that Adam tho immortal did not know what was useful for him since the same thing happen'd to the bad Angels As to the last Question he says that these words Behold Adam is become as one of us are an Irony which God uses to upbraid the Man for his Sottishness or that God speaks according to the false imagination of Adam to cover him with shame The Extracts out of the third Book are Citations out of many Works of the Fathers to shew that the Decision of the Council of Chalcedon which recognizes two Natures in Jesus Christ is not new but the ancient Doctrine of the Church He cites besides the Authors that are known as St. Peter of Alexandria St. Athanasius and St. Basil St. Cyril of Jerusalem the St. Gregories of Neocaesarea Nazianzum and Nyssa Amphilochius St. Ambrose and St. Chrysostom St. Epiphanius Proclus and Paul of Emesa Atticus of Constantinople St. Cyril of Alexandria he cites I say besides these Authors the Books of St. Dionysius the Areopagite a Book of Hilary about Faith and Unity one Cyriacus Bishop of Paphos who as he says was one of the Fathers of the Council of Nice the supposititious Procopius of Gaza Letters of Pope Julius and one nam'd Erecthius Of these Authors there are but five who made use of this Expression There is but one Nature of the Word Incarnate who are Gregory of Neo-caesarea St. Athanasius Julius St. Cyril and Erecthius He shews that the sense wherein this manner of speaking ought to be taken does not exclude the two Natures since they themselves acknowledg'd them He goes on in the Extracts of the fourth Book to quote passages of the Fathers to prove that the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus Christ are two different Natures Among these last he cites St. Ephrem of Syria a Letter of Simeon and of Baradanus to Basil of Antioch and another Letter of the same to the Emperor Leo and a Letter of James to Basil the Bishop Photius neither says any thing nor makes any Extracts out of the third Volume of St. Ephrem so that we have no knowledge of it What Photius says and relates out of the two former gives us a great Idea of this Author and informs us that he had read many of the Works of the Fathers and that he reason'd very well about the Mysteries of our Religion He died in the Year 544. PROCOPIUS of Gaza PRocopius the Sophist of Gaza liv'd in the sixth Age He applied himself earnestly to the study of the Commentators upon the Holy Scripture and made a Collection of all that they had written upon the Octateuque copying out their very words But this work being of a prodigious thickness he abridg'd it and put it in order suppressing what he found said by many and so made a continued Commentary made up of the Expositions of the ancient Commentators yet without naming them His Commentary upon Genesis and the Pentateuque is very large and chiefly upon Genesis What he wrote upon the Books of Kings and Chronicles is very short and indeed they are properly speaking nothing but Scholia wherein he reports the different Translations of the Text and explains the sense of the Words Perhaps these Scholia are only an Extract out of his Work For Photius assures us that the Commentaries of this Author were very copious and written after one and the same manner However this be the Commentary upon Isaiah is very long wherein he relates the Text entire notes the difference of Versions and explains every word in particular This Commentator confines himself sufficiently to the literal sense he remarks carefully the differences of the Greek Versions and even those of the Hebrew Text. He enlarges also upon the History and sometimes upon the Morality He touches but little upon Allegory but sometimes he insists upon little things and upon the Exposition of those words which are clear of themselves and do not need any Interpretation Photius thinks his style very polite but too rhetorical for a Commentator The Version of his Commentary upon the Octateuque was made by Clauserus from a Manuscript of the Library of Ausburg and printed at Basle in 1555. in Fol. with his Notes upon the Books of Kings and Chronicles In 1620 Meursius caus'd to be printed at Amsterdam in Quarto his Scholia upon the Books of Kings and Chronicles in Greek and Latine In fine in
rejecting the Council of Chalcedon tho' Andrew pretended to write in that Letter against the Errors of Severus and Julian The 3d. Error he charged that Monk with was of having said That Adam's Body before his Fall was not created mortal and corruptible whenas he should have said That Man in his Nature was mortal and subject to Pain but should by Grace have been preserved from Death and Sickness had he not fallen The 4th Proposition he found Fault with in Andrew's Letter was That he had written That the World was incorruptible He did also confute some more of Andrew's Propositions in that Writing and exhorted him to a retractation But this Monk instead of following that Advice made presently another Book to defend his Errors against which Eusebius wrote ten Books wherein he shew'd That Andrew out of an intolerable Boldness had gone about to make a new Exposition of Faith whereas he should have kept to those made by the Councils and that he had adulterated and mis-quoted many Passages of the Fathers Then he confuted the four principal Errors he had condemned in his first Writing He shewed the different Sences the Word Corruption is capable of and how many ways it hath been taken He cited several Places of the Fathers for the confuting of those Errors and laid open the Falsifications of the Places quoted by Andrew He shewed That Christ was subject to natural tho' not to vicious Passions during his abode on the Earth and that after his Resurrection he is become immortal and impassible He did not matter the Name of Phthartolatre that is worshipper of Corruption which Andrew gave to the Catholicks and omitted nothing that was necessary to maintain the Doctrine of the Church and to render that of his Adversary ridiculous His Style was plain and clear pure enough and did not want Judgment There is nothing of him now extant This is gathered out of the 162d Volume of Photius's Bibliotheca BONIFACE IV. BONIFACE IV. held the Roman See from 607. to 614. Bede says That in that Pope's Time Mellitus Bishop of London came to Rome in the Eighth Year of the Emperor Boniface IV. Phocas and that he was present at a Council which this Pope held at Rome in the Year 610. in February in which they made some Constitutions for the Church of England Holstenius hath published a pretended Decree of this Council wherein it declares That Monks may be Bishops and perform the Sacerdotal Functions and a Letter of this Pope to * Oâ— Ethelbert Athelbert a King of England in which he declares all those excommunicated that shall hinder the Execution of the Decree now mention'd even the King 's Athelbert's Successors These two Monuments seem very suspicious to me The Style of them is altogether barbarous and they are fill'd with impertinent and frivolous Reasons For instance he says It is evident that the State and profession of Monks maketh them fit to be Ministers of the Word of God seeing they are call'd Angels and Angels are Ministers Which Reasoning is frivolous but the reason he gives why they are call'd Angels is yet more ridiculous Monks saith he are cover'd like Cherubims with six Wings the Cowle that covers their Head maketh two the Tunick's Arms make other two and we may confidently say the two extreams of the Habit which covers the Body are two Wings more Thus you have the Cherubim's six Wings This is some Monk's Fancy rather than the Work of a Council of Bishops or of a Patriarch The Letter of Pope Deusdedit Boniface the IV's Successor directed to Gordian Bishop of Sevil is a Monument evidently false Isidore was Bishop of Sevil from the Year 600. to the Year 636. and Deusdedit held the Holy See in that interval Thus the very Title does evince the Falsity of that Letter it being evident that under Deusdedit's Pontificate there was no Gordian Bishop of Sevil. The Author of that Letter declares That according to the Decrees of the Holy See married Persons which accidentally stood together Sureties for their Children at the Font ought to be put asunder and may be married again which is a gross Error authorized by no ancient Constitution In fine the Style of this Letter is the same with the Pope's other Letters forg'd by Isidore JOHN PHILOPONUS JOHN sirnam'd Philoponus that is Laborious a Grammarian of Alexandria of the Sect of the Tritheites flourish'd in the beginning of the Seventh Century and composed several John Philoponus Books The first is a writing against Jamblichus the Philosopher's Treatise of Idols That Philosopher had undertaken in that Treatise to shew That Idols had something heavenly in them and that the Deity dwelt there which he prov'd both from the wonderful Fabrick of Images and the incredible things ascribed to them Philoponus had refuted the two Parts of that Work with a great deal of Elegancy and Strength Photius speaks of that work in the 216th Volume of his Bibliotheca He wrote moreover a Treatise of the six Days Work against Theodorus Mopsuestenus dedicated to Sergius Patriarch of Constantinople wherein he endeavours to demonstrate That Moses hath related the History of the Creation of the World more plainly and conformably to the Phaenomena's of Nature than any thing Plato said of it Photius mentions that Treatise in the 43d Volume of his Bibliotheca and there is an Extract of it found in the 240th Volume It is divided into four Books publish'd by Corderius and printed at Viema in the Year 1630. in Quarto together with a Tract of the same Author about Easter whereof there is no mention made in Photius who speaks of three Works more of the same Author The first is a Treatise of the Resurrection wherein he rejected the Resurrection of the Body The second is a Writing against the * The Council of Chalcedon †His Analâ—tica De generatiâ—ne Corruptione De anima De generatione animallum De metâ—oris Physicorum Acroamatica Printed at Venice in Gr. in 1535 1551. Fourth Council divided into four Parts in which he maintains That the Bishops of that Assembly approv'd Nestorius's Doctrine And another Treatise against the Catechetical Discourse of Joannes Scholasticus Bishop of Constantinople concerning the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity preach'd under the Empire of Justin junior He hath also written several other Philosophical Treatises †upon Aristotle's Books printed in several Places and a Treatise against Proclus's Opinion of the Eternity of the World This Author was as pure pleasing and elegant in his Style as impious in his Doctrine and weak in his Reasonings One may see by his Treatise of Easter that in his Time the Greeks used Leaven'd Bread in the Eucharist THEODOSIUS CONON EUGENIUS THEMISTIUS and THEODORUS PHiloponus's Treatise of the Resurrection was confuted by Theodosius the Monk by Conon Eugenius and Themistius These three last made a Book entituled An Invective in which Theodosius Conon Eugenius Themistius Theodorus they treated him as a Man
Bordeaux A Council at Lyons A Council held at Rome in the beginning of Lent against the Emperor Henry An Assembly Theophylact Arch-bishop of Acris Folcard a Monk of St. Berthin Gerard Abbot of St. Vincent at Laon. Willeram Abbot of St. Peter at Mersburg Ursio Abbot of Aumont 1080  but the latter dies in the end of the Year by Alexis Comnenus who is proclaim'd Emperor of Milan Guibert of Ravenna Peter of Narbonne and the other Bishops are re-iterated in that Council Henry is excommunicated by the Pope in the Council which declares him fallen from the whole Imperial Dignity and transfers the Empire of Germany to Rodolphus The chief Leaders of Henry's Party meet at Mentz and call the Council of Brescia against the Pope Hildebrand is depos'd in that Council and Guibert Archbishop of Ravenna is substituted in his room who assumes the Name of Clement III. Henry's Letter to Hildebrand deposed from the Papal Dignity to oblige him to relinquish the See of Rome A Letter by the same Emperor to the Clergy and People of Rome requiring them to expel Hildebrand the deposed Pope Henry likewise sends Ambassadors to the Christian Kings and Princes to induce them to acknowledge Clement as lawful Pope and to withdraw them from their Obedience to Gregory Gregory comes to an Agreement with Robert Guiscard Duke of Apulia and invests him with the Territories which were in his Possession granting him also a Toleration to enjoy those that he had usurp'd This Pope nominates another Archbishop of Ravenna instead of Guibert whom he endeavours to get outed from that Archbishoprick A bloody Battel fought Octob. 15. between Henry and Rodolphus insomuch that the latter having receiv'd a Wound in his Arm quits the Field and causes himself to be convey'd to Mersburg where he died a little after Henry marching into Saxony lays waste those Parts and at his return regains the whole Country of Suevia Gregory demands Succours of Robert Guiscard writes to the German Princes to oblige them to choose an Emperor intirely devoted to the Interests of the Holy See in the place of Rodolphus deceased and sends thither a Form of an Oath which he requires them to put to the Prince whom they should elect Achard is turn'd out of the Church of Arles which he usurp'd and Gibelin is substituted in his room by Hugh of Die in the Council of Avignon Another Hugh is chosen Bishop of Grenoble in that Council Ursio Bishop of Soissons is depos'd in the Council of Meaux and Arnulphus a Monk of held at Mentz at Whitsuntide A Council held at Brescia in the Month of June against the Pope A Council at Avignon A Council at Lillebonne A Council at Meaux A Letter written by the Clergy of Noyon to those of Cambray about the admission of the Sons of Priests into Orders Amatus a Bishop in Italy Adam a Canon of Bremen Conrad Bishop of Utrecht Weneric Bishop Verceil Waleran Bishop of Naumburg The death of Guitmond Archbishop of Aversa Hepidannus a Monk of St. Gall died likewise this Year 1080    St. Medard is put in his place Gaultier is elected Bp. of Challon The Pope endeavours to no purpose to extort a Tribute from the Kingdom of France as he had done from England and the other Estates of Christendom He congratulates Alphanus Bishop of Salerno upon occasion of his having found the Relicks of Saint Matthew He threatens Orzococcius Sovereign Prince of Sardinia to dispossess him of that Island which he avouches to belong to the Holy See unless he submit to the Injunctions of the Church of Rome He is well satisfy'd with the Conduct of his Legat in that Island who had oblig'd a Greek Archbishop to keep his Beard shav'd In a Letter written by him to Synnadius Patriarch of the Armenians he censures certain Errors which are attributed to him   1081 IX XXV Henry marches into Italy at the head of an Army and besieges Rome Gregory defends himself and Henry is oblig'd to retire to Lombardy I. Bertrand Count of Provence takes an Oath of Allegiance to the Pope  Joan. Thrasesius Scylitzes Curopalata Engelbert Arch-bishop of Trier Ulric a Monk of Cluny Bernard a Monk of Corbie in Saxony 1082 X. XXVI Henry returns to the Siege of Rome but the rigorous Resistance he met with oblig'd him to turn it into a Blockade The German Rebels choose Herman in the place of Rodolphus II. Robert Abbot of Rebais is ordain'd Bishop of Meaux in the Council of that City by Hugh of Die but this Ordination being made without the Consent of the Archbishop of Sens and his Suffragans that Arch-bishop consecrated another after having excommunicated Robert A Council at Meaux  1083 XI Henry makes himself Master of part of the City of Rome and XXVII III. Gregory holds a Synod at Rome with Henry's Consent who grants Pasports to all the Prelats who were oblig'd to be present therein but he causes the Deputies of the German Rebels and Otho Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia who accompany'd them to be arrested on the Road. A Council held at Rome in the Month of Novemb. Marianus Scotus compleats his Chronicle 1083 causes Guibert to be ordain'd Pope who takes the Name of Clement III.   This Synod concludes nothing Hugh Bishop of Die is translated from that See to the Archbishoprick of Lyons   1084 XII Henry takes the rest of the City of Rome and causes himself to be crown'd Emperor by Clement III. But Gregory VII induces Robert Duke of the Normans to come to his Relief who obliges Henry to retire XXVIII IV. Nicolas the Grammarian is chosen Patriarch of Constantinople   1085 XIII Gregory VII dies May 24. and the See of Rome continues vacant almost a whole year Guibert becomes Master of part of the Churches of Rome and endeavours to get himself acknowledg'd as lawful Pope XXIX V. This Question viz. Whether the Pope had a Right to excommuniand dethrone the Emperor Henry is debated in the Assembly of Berchach between Gebehard Archbishop of Saltzburg on Herman's side and Wicelin Archbishop of Mentz on that of Henry without determining any thing as to the Matter in Hand Wicelin's Opinions condemn'd and his Ordinations declar'd null in the Assembly of Quintilineburg The Ordinations and Consecrations of Sigefrey Bishop of Augsburg of Norbert Bishop of Chur and all those made by excommunicated Clerks are likewise declar'd null in that Assembly which pronounc'd a Sentence of Anathema with lighted Candles against Guibert Cardinal Hugo John Bishop of Porto Peter the Chancellor Liemar Archbishop of Bremen Utho Bishop of Hildesheim Otho of Constance Burchard of Basil and Herman of Spire as also against Wicelin of Mentz Sigefrey of Augsburg Norbert of Chur and their Adherents Hildebrand with those of his Party and the Bishops of the Assembly of Quintileneburg are condemn'd and depos'd in that of Mentz and other Bishops are substituted in their room An Assembly at Gostar or Berchach
regarding this Prohibition nor conforming themselves to the Statutes of the University it was no sooner re-establish'd but by a Decree it Expell'd those Monks  John of Parma made General of the Dominicans Conrad Coadjutor of Mentz begins his Chronicon David of Augsburgh Albericus Verus Walter Bishop of Poitiers Râ—ger Historiographer of Hungary Constantine of Orvieâ—a 〈◊〉 Abbot of 〈◊〉 Rrtaqo Rich. Robert Bacon John de Dieu John Christophilus William Perauld Alberâ—anus Flourish'd Adam of Chamilly Bishop of Senlis dies 1251 IX XXIII I. Conrad goes into Apâ—dia and takeâ— Possession of the Kingdom of Sicily   St. Gertruda made Abbess of Rodaledorf 1252 X. XXIV II. The Death of Ferdinand K. of Lâ—â—n and Castile Jun. 1. His Son Alpâ—…o Succeeds him The Foundation of the College of Sorbonne by Robert of Sorbonne  S. Gertruda is translated with her Nuns to Helfreâ—den 1253 XI XXV III. The Circular Letter of the University of Paris to all the Prelates of the Kingdome to engage them to stand by it against the Dominicans The Council of Saumur held in December Robert Grostest Bp. of Lincoln dies 1254 XII XXVI IV. Conrad dies May 22. being Poyson'd by his Natural Son Mainfroy He left his Son Conradin heir to his Dominions The Pope would have seiz'd upon Sicily Mainfroy opposes it Pope Innocent restrains the Pretensions of the Regulars by his Decreetal of Nov. 21. which prohibits them from performing any Hiâ—…chical Functions without the leave of the Ordinaries But this Decretal is repeal'd by his Successor Alexander Decemb. 22. following William of S. Amour Doctor of Paris clears himself before the Bishop of Paris and in a Sermon which he Preach'd in the Church of S. Innocents of the Accusations brought against him by the Dominicans The Council of Alby Humbert de Romans is made General of his Order Rainier Sacho Flourishes Bennet Bishop of Marseilles dies 1255 I. XXVII John Ducas dies after he had reign'd 33 Years Theodorus Lascaris succeeds him Mainâ—â—â—y defeats the Forces of the Pope and â—…comes Mastâ—… of Apuliâ— and Sicily Alâ—… IV. inâ—… Edâ—…d the Son of the King of England with that Kingdom Ecelinus Exercises his Authority over several Towns of Lombardy The Bulls of the Pope One which orders the Reestablishment of the Dominicans in the University of Paris the other directed to the Bishops of Orleans and Auxerre for the executing of the former The 〈◊〉 of the University of Paris to the â—…ite him to revoke his Bull 〈◊〉 re-establishing the Dominicans 〈…〉 other Bulls of the Pope to the Bps. of Orleans and Auxerre for the Executing of that Bull which Orders the Reestabishment of the Dominicans iâ— the University The Execution of those Bulls stop'd by the King 's Order The Council of Bourdeaux The Council of Beziers May 8. S. Bonadventure and S. Thomas take their Drs. Degree at Paris Hugh of S. Cher is made Cardinal Thomas of Chantpre Giles of Assisy Robert of Sorbonne John Colonna is made A-Bishop of Messina An Anonymous Author of the Life of S. Claire 1256 II. XXVIII William Count of Holland Elected King of Germany Dies in December The Accommodation of March 1. for puting an end to â—…e Contests between the University of Paris and the Dominicans Several Bulls of the Pope against this Accommodation and against several Members of the University suppos'd to be the Authors of it One of those Bulls dated October 21. confirms the Privilege granted to the Monks of Confessing without the Curates leave William of S. Amour is again delaâ—ed by the Dominicans to the Bishops met at Paris who could not adjust their Difference The Book call'd The Everlasting Gospel is condemn'd by the Pope to be burnt and those who maintain its Doctrine prâ—scrib'd The Assembly of Paris about the Differences between the University of Paris and the Dominicans S. Bonadventure Elected General of his Order Vincent of Beauvais dies Albertus a Franciscan finishes his Chronicon Nicephorus Blemmida writes abt the Procession of the H. Ghost 1257 III. XXIX Arsenius Autoâ—… is elected 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 by the Greeks The Electors of the Empire being divided one Part chose Richard the K. of England's Brother for Emperor at Francfâ—rt in January and the others iâ— Leâ—t chose Alphonso King of Castile 〈◊〉 II. King of Portugal dying his Brother Alphonso III. Succeeds him William of S. Amour Odo of Doway and Christian of Beauvais Doctors of Paris having maintain'd that the Monks could not Preach Confess or give Absolution without the Consent of the Curates and Ordinaries tho' they had receiv'd the Pope's Mission This Doctrine is condemn'd by a Bull of Alexander dated October 2.   1258 IV. XXX   The Council of Ruffec held in April The Council of Montpellier Sept. 6. Henry of Susa is made Arch-Bp of Ambrâ—… William of Bresse advanc'd to the Arch-Bishoprick of Sens. Bartholomew of Bresse dies 1259 V. XXXI Thâ—…orus Lâ—â—câ—ris dies leaâ—ing his Son Joâ—â— about Six years old under the Tuition of Aâ—…ius Patriarch of Constantinople and George Muzalon But Mâ—… Palaeologus who by Mother's side descended from Alexis Comâ—â—na Usurps the Goverâ—… and causes himself to be declared Regent  The Pope does so much by his Bulls against the Secular Members of the University that he at last oblig'd most of them to re-unite themselves to the Medicant Friars  Matthew Paris â—…nishes his History 〈…〉 dies this Year 1260 VI. XXXII Mâ—… Palâ—… is made Collegue of the Empire He causes Arsenius 〈…〉 Depos'd and 〈◊〉 Niâ—… of Eâ—… in his â—… Eceline dies The Joachites or Joachimites and the 〈◊〉 of the Eternal 〈◊〉 are condemned by the Council of 〈◊〉 The Sect of the Flagellantes or Whippers begins at Perusa about this time The Council of Cologne The Council of Arles The Council of Cognac John Semeca John Christophilâ—… John de Gailes â—…rish'd Albertus Magâ—… made Bishop of â—â—tisbon Matthew of Vendome made Abbot of St. Denis An Anonymous Author of the Life of S. Godeberta Cardinal Hugh of S. Cher dies Rainier Sacho dies about this 〈◊〉 1261 VII Alexander IV. 〈…〉 24. The Holy See 〈…〉 and 3 Days The Cardinals who proceeded to the Election not being able to pâ—â—ch on one among themselves chose Francis Patriarch of Jerusalem who takes upon him the 〈◊〉 of Urban IV. and is Consecrated Sept. 4. I. XXXIII Michael Palaeâ—…logus retakes Constantinople from the 〈…〉 by the intelligence of the Greeks who were in the 〈◊〉 Thâ—â—â—…ed the Empire of the Latins 〈◊〉 Constantinople after it had lasted 58 Years I. Arsenius is re-established and put into Possession of the Patriarchal See of Constantinople by Michael   The Council of Lambeth held the beginning of May.  1262 II. II. Michael Palaeâ—logus causes the Eyes of John Son of Theodorâ—… Lascaris to be put out and â—surps the Empire Pope Urban Invests Charles Count of Anjou Brother to St. Lewis with the Kingdom of Sicily  The Council of Cognac The Council of Bourdeaux
Assembly of Francfort held in August against the Proceedings of Joh. 22. Joannes de Janduno wrote his Treatise entitled an Information of the Nullity of the Process made by John 22. against the Emperor Lewis of Bavaria Bartholomew de St. Concordia wrote about this Year 1339 V. XXVI XII  The Council of Toledo May 19.  1340 VI. XXVII XIII Barlaam accuses the Palamites He is condemned in the Council of Constantinople The Council of Constantinople Alvarus Pelagius finishes his Treatise de Planctu Ecclesiae Henry Urinaria Robert Cowton Durand de Champeigne Clement of Florence Lupoldus de Bamberg Simon Fidatus de Cassia and Joannes Andreae flourished The Death of Nicholas Lyra Oct. 23 1341 VII XXVIII The Death of Andronicus jun. in May who left two Sons John and Manuel Palaeologus and made Cantacuzenus their Tutor Anne the Empress the Widow of Andronicus drives away Cantacuzenus who fled to Adrianople Cardinal Peter Bertrandus founded the College of Autun at Paris The Palamite compose a Synodical Writing about their Doctrine The Council of Constantinople against Acindynus The Council of London The Death of Petrus de Palude Jan. 31. Paul de Lyazares Lapu de Chastillon Albert de Bresse Herman de Schiloe William de Kayoth Paul de Perusia and Bernard de Parenzo flourished 1342 VIII Benedict XII dyed Apr. 25. and Clement VI. was chosen May 7. and crowned May 19. I. XXIX Cantacuzenus is proclaimed Emperour at Adrianople I. Pope Clement labors for the Peace of Italy and France Anne the Empress Widow of Andronicus propounds to the Pope the Union of the two Churches The Palamites are driven from Constantinople The Council of London held in October John de Malverne composes his Treatise of Visions Osbert a Carmelite John Olney Simon de Spires Joannes Saxo. John de Rupe-scissâ Gerhard de Savona flourished The Death of Guy de Parpignan Aug. 21 1343 II. XXX The Death of Robert King of Naples after which the Kingdom fell to his little Daughter who was married to Andrew King of Hungary II.  The Council of London held in January Philip Cabasselas is made Chancellor of Joan Queen of Sicily Fortanerius Vassalli is chosen the XIX General of the Grey-Friers Bartholomew an Augustin is made Bishop of Urbin Petrus Raimondus is made XV General of the Carmelites Francis Petrarch a Poet is crowned with Lawrels at Rome The Death of Michael Caesenas 1344 II. XXXI III. The Pope removes the Jubilee to the 50 Year at the Request of the Romans He accepts a Present of the Magistrates but refuses to go to Rome A Croisado against the Turks The Church of Prague made an Archbishoprick Palamas and Isidore are condemned in a Council of Constantinople by John the Patriarch The Council of Constantinople The Council of Noyon in July 26.  1345 III. XXXII Andreus King of Hungary is slain and Joan his Wifemarries Lewis Prince of Tarentum IV.   Holkot Robert Richard Hampole â—lourish'd Jacobus Tolquier dedicates his Viridarum Gregorianum to the Pope Thomas of Strasburg is chosen General of the Augustins 1346 V. XXXIII The Electors of Colen and Treves at the end of August chose Charles of Luxenburg Emperor and set him up against Lewis of Bavaria The Pope confirms this Election V. The Pope renews the Process against Lewis of Bavaria and deposes him Palamas is absolved and John Patriarch of Constantinople deposed The Council of Paris Mar 14. The Council of Constantinople  1347 VI. Lewis of Bavaria dyed Octob. 11. and Char. IV. gets possession of the Empire The Electors chose Gontherius Earl of Turingia who dyes the same year Charles is crowned Emperor at Aix La Chapelle holds the Empire Peaceably I. Cantacuzenus obtains Constantinople and makes Peace with Palaeologus whom he makes Emperor with him Isidore is chosen Patriarch of Constantinople and Palamas Archbishop of Thessalonica The Enemies of Isidore and Palamas condemn them in a Council of Constantinople The Propositions of John Mercourt condemned by the Bishop and Faculty of Divinity at Paris The Council of Toledo held at Complutum Apr. 24. The Council of Constantinople against Isidore and Palamas Richard Fitz-Ralph is made Bishop of Armagh and Fâ—…anerius Vassâ—â—li Arch-bishop of Ravâ—…a The Birth of S. Catharine of Sienna Bernard Abbot of Mont. Cassin dyed The Death of William Ockam 1348 VII Nicholas Laurentius having assumed the title of Roman Tribune endeavoured to make himself Master of Rome but was driven out of it II. VII A Recantation of the Doctrines delivered by Nicholas Utricourt made by the Order of the Faculty of Divinity at Paris  Simon Fidatus de Cassia dyed Feb. 11. Joannes Andreae July 7. Joannes Hensimius finished his Continuation of the History of the Bishops of Leige Thomas Bradwardin is chosen Archbishop of Canterbury and dyes 40 days after 1349 VIII III. VIII   The Death of Cardinal Peter Bertrandus June 24. The Death of Rich. Hampole Sept. 29 The Death of Gerhard Odonis The Death of Robert Holkot 1350 IX IV. The Death of Philip de Valois King of France Aug. 25. to whom his Son John succeeded who was crowned at Rheims Sept. 26. The Death of Alphonsus K. of Castile who left his Kingdoms to his Son Peter I. IX The Constitution of the Pope concerning the Conclave which allowed the Cardinals to have there two Clerks a piece and their several Lodgings The Emperor Cantacuzenus sends Ambassadors to the Pope about this year to treat of the Union of the two Churches  Albericus de Rosate Pet. de Paternis Adam Goddam or Woddam Nicholas Cabasilas Nicephorus Gregoras Theophanes Robert the Carmelite Mich. de Massâ Joan. Wilsgram Joannes Saxo. Joan. Brammart flourished The Death of Bartholemew d'Urbin 1351 X. V. X. A Recantation of some Doctrins delivered by Dr. Simon made by the Order of the Faculty of Divinity at Paris The Council of Lambeth The Council of Beziers Novemb 7. Peter a Monk of Claravallis wrote his Letter in the Name of Lucifer to the Worldlings Fortinerius Vassalli is made Patriarch of Grado 1352 XI Clement VI. dyed Dec. 6. and Innocent V. chosen Dec. 18. and crowned the 23. VI. XI   Henry and Joh Erford John Tacesphalus Nicholas Dorhm Tilman Peter Thomas Bartholomew a Grey-Frier flourished 1353 I. VII XII Two Grey-Friers burnt at Avignon for their Opinion about the Poverty of J. Christ.  Petrus de Claravalle wrote his Epistle in the Name of Jesus Christ to Innocent VI. 1354 II. VIII XIII A Recantation of certain Doctrines delivered by one Guy an Augustine Frier made by the Order of the Faculty of Divinity at Paris  Callistus a Monk of Mount Athos is made Patriarch of Constantinople 1355 III. IX The Emperor Charles is crowned at Rome on Easter-day Apr. 5. XIV A Dispute among the Greeks about the Light on Mount Tabor the Essence and the Operation of God decided by the Council of Constantinople A Council at Constantinople against the Enemies of Palamas The
Council of Toledo Oct. 1. Joannes Tharlerus Petrus Bercherius Alphonsus Vargas flourished Philotheus is chosen Patriarch of Constantinople in the room of Callistus who was put out about the end of this Year 1356 IV. X. XV.   Nicholas Oresmius is made Head of the College of Navar. Nicholas Eymericus is appointed Inquisitor General by the Pope about this year 1357 V. XI The Death of Alphonsus IV. K. of Portugal He left Peter the Cruel his Son Heir of his Kingdom Cantacuzenus leaves the Empire to John Palaeologus and retires into a Monastry I. Richard Archbish. of Armagh in Ireland opposes the Begging Friers about the Offices of the Clergy and their Begging and went to Avignon about it where he delivered a discourse upon that Subject Nov. 8. before the Pope and Cardinals  Gregorius Ariminensis is chosen General of the Augustine Monks May 24. in the room of Thomas of Strasburg who dyed this year Richard of Armagh Robert Conway flourished Ralph Higden finished his Chronicon which was continued by John Malverne 1358 VI. XII II.   The Death of Callistus Patriarch of Constantinople The Death of Gregorius Ariminensis The Death of Adam Goddam 1359 VII XIII III. Amurath succeeds his Father Orcham Bertholus de Rorbach is condemned to be burnt at Spires for his Erroâ—s Jenovez of Majorca foretells that Anti-christ shall come at Pentecost in 1360.  The Death of Alphonsus Vargas Oct. 1â— as some say but as others Dec. 26. 1366. 1360 VIII XIV IV. Martin Gonsalvus calls himself the Angel St. Michael and is condemned by the Archbishop of Toledo and burnt His Scholar Nicholas of Calabria declares himself the Son of God and is burnt at Barcelona Gerhardus Groot institutes the Order of the Friers of a Common Life The Jesuits are instituted at the same time The Order of S. Saviour is erected by St. Bridget  Bernard Dapifer wrote his History of St. Gothalmus Fortanerius Vassalli is made Cardinal and dyes the next Year in October Joannes Calderinus Bartholomew Glanvile Jordanus Saxo. Joannes Cyparissota Manuel Calecas flourished The Death of Robert Conway The Death of Richard Archbishop of Armagh Decemb. 16. 1361 IX XV. V.   John Scadland begins his Treatise of the State of the Cardinals Nicholas Oresmius is made Treasurer of the Chappel at Paris The Death of Joan. Thaulerus May 17 1362 X. Innocent VI. dyed Sept. 12. and Urban V. was chosen Octob. 28. and crowned November 5. I. XVI VI.  The Council of Maxfeild The Council of Lambeth Peter Boherus Jacobus de Altâ villâ John Imenheusen flourished The Death of Peter Bercherius 1363 II. XVII VII A Recantation of certain Doctrines of Mr. John Chaleur made by the Order of the Faculty of Divinity at Paris  Nicholas Oresmius delivers his Discourse against the Irregularities of the Court of Rome before the Pope and his Cardinals The Death of Ralph Higden 1364 III. XVIII John King of France died in England April 8 and Charles V. his Son Sirnamed the Wise was Crowned May 19. VIII The Condemnation of the Doctrins of Dionysius Soulechat a Grey Fryer concerning Poverty by the Faculty of Divinity at Paris with a Prohibition to him to teach Soulechat Appeals to the Pope   1365 IV. XIX IX The Recantation of Suolechat at Avignon judged Insufficient The Council of Anger 's March 12.  1366 V. XX. X.   Philip Cabassolas made Titular Patriarch of Jerusalem He is appointed a Legate and Created Cardinal Sept. 22. the next Year John de Tambachis made Master of the Sacred Palace by the Pope 1367 VI. Urban leaves Avignon to go to Rome Apr. 20. and Arrived there October 6. XXI XI  The Council of York held in September  1368 VII The Emperor Charles went into Italy and brought the Cities of Italy into Subjection to the Pope The Death of Peter the Cruel King of Portugal to whom his Son Ferdinand Succeeds XII The Business of Saclechat referred to John Bishop of Beauvais Cardinal Chancellor of the Church of Paris and of the Faculty of Divinity The Condemnation of divers Errors by Simon Langham Arch-bishop of Canterbury The Council of Lavaur June 1 Hugolnus Malebranchius chosen General of the Augustâ—nes Philip Ribot made Provincial of the Carmelites 1369 VIII Peter I. King of Castilles Slain Henry XI Succeeds him The Emperor John Palaeologus came to Rome Signan Union with the Roman Church He was Arrested some time after by the Venetians and released by Maoug his 3d Son who paid his Debts The Recantation of Soulichat made at Paris in the Church of the Jacobins on the Sunday Quasimo do or Low-Sunday  Robert Gervais is made Bishop of Senez 1370 IX Urban V. returns to Avignon Sept. 24 and died December 19. Gregory XI is chosen December 18 and Consecrated and Crowned Jan. 4 of the next Year XXIV XIV The Sect of the Turlupins settle themselves in Provence Matthew of Cracovia Gallus Abbot of Konigsaal S. Bridget S. Katherine of Sienna Flourished Hugolina Malebranchius is made Bishop of Ariminum  1371. I. XXV XV.   Joannes Rusbrokius John Balistari John of Hildisheim Joannes Golenius Flourished The Death of Philotheus Patriarch of Constantinople 1372 II. XXVI XVI  The Opinion of John de Latona concerning the Eucharist Condemned by two Cardinals appointed by the Pope Arnoldus de Pucierda a Grey Fryer is Condemned for his Errors Henry de Rebdorf â—inishes his Annals Henry of Dolendorp John Fustgin Flourish 1373 III. XXVII XVII   Arnoldus de Terrenâ wrote about this Year Thomas Stubs finished his Chronicon Isaac Argyra Composed his Kalendar S. Bridget died July 23. 1374 IV. XXVIII XVII   Francis Petrarch died July 14. The Death of John Balistari 1375 V. The Florentines revolt engage Bononia and other Cities of Italy to their Party XXIX XIX Wickliff began to divulge his Doctrins The Order of Hieronymites is approved by the Pope The Order of S. Ambrose is confirmed by the Pope  Radulphus de Praelles Philip de Meserius Flourished 1376 VI. Gregory XI went to Rome September 13 arrived there Jan. 7 in the next Year XXX Wâ—nceslaus K. of Bohemia the Emperor Charles his Son was chosen K. of the Romans  The Doctrins of Wickliffe Condemned by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury   1377 VII Pope Gregory retires to Anagnia and returns to Rome in November XXXI The Death of Edward IIâ— King of England XXI Peter King of Arragon Wrote to the Pope to Revoke his Censure passed on the Works of Raimundus Lullus  Matthaeus Florilegus Nicholas Oresmius is made Bishop of Lisseux The Death of John Schadland 1378 Gregory XI died March the 27th The Cardinal entred the Conclave at Rome Apr. 7. The Romans require a Roman or an Italian Pope The Archbishop of Paris chosen in a Tumultuous manner Apr. 9 and Crowned 17 under the Name of Urban the VI. The Cardinals fly into Anagni in