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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36046	A clear and learned explication of the history of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ taken out of above thrity Greek, Syriack, and other Oriental authors, by way of Catena: by Dionysius Syrus, who flourish'd most illustriously in the tenth and eleventh centuries. And faithfully translated by Dudley Loftus, doctor of the laws, Master in chancery, and judge of Their Majesties Court of Prerogative in Ireland.	Dionysius Exiguus, d. ca. 540.; Loftus, Dudley, 1619-1695.	1695 (1695)	Wing D1524; ESTC R221210	116,956	162

of Levi but their Genealogy was deduced from Judah by reason of the commixture of the Tribe of Levi especially of the High-Priests with the Royal Tribe of Judah Afterwards when Aristobulus and Aurkay being brethren contended with one another for the Chief Government after much conflict who should take up the Government at last the Kingdom remained in Herod the Askalonoite and he confounded the Book of Jewish Genealogies for he was no Jew and he put the Stole of the Priesthood under his Signature that is under his Seal In the time of this Herod Christ arose when the Kings and Rulers of the people were ceased according to that The Scepter shall not depart c. In the time of these brethren Aristobulas and Aurcanus the Kingdom ceased from the House of David and Herod Ruled and Christ came whose the Kingdom was in the thirty fifth year of this Herod our Lord was born on the fourth day others on the sixth day others on the first day of the Week at Night before Cock Crow about the time that he Arose from the Sepulcher and is to effect the Resurrection on the twenty fifth of December and the three hundred and ninth year of the Greeks In other Copies it is Written the Seventh which is the forty third of Augustus Caesar he was born of the Virgin being then thirteen years of Age and she died in Ephesus being Aged fifty one years and John the Evangelist and his Disciples buried her and at the time of the Birth of our Lord Cyrenus the Governour was sent and the Wise-Men came in the Month of Nisan Mathew omits her putting him into swadling Cloaths and her laying him in a Manger the Angelical Hymas the Circumcision and other things and writes only of the coming of the Wise-Men from whence is made known the fraud of Herod the Murthering of the Children c. The Wise-Men came from the East to Hierusalem and said It is to be enquired therefore of what Nation were these Wise-Men Eusebius and Gregory Nyssen say that they were of the Sons of Balaam Jacobus Auriensis than they were of the Progeny of Elam the Son of Shem others that they were descended from the Kings of Sheba and Seba as David said They shall bring Gifts unto him and they were Men of Note and came from Persia but how many were they Some say they were three in respect of the three Offerings which they made and that there were with them a thousand Men and therefore Hierusalem was troubled Jacobus Aurihensis saith that they were not three as Painters draw them but twelve Princes and that they had more with them than a thousand Men. Others say they were eight as said Micha We shall raise against him seven Shepherds and eight Shepherds that is Governours and that they had with them a great Army Others that they were three Sons of Kings and nine Noble Men of their Countries and that the King who sent them was called Pirshabor and their Names Hidondad the Son of Artabon Shethoph the Son of Godephor Areshock the Son of Mahedes Zodonad the Son of Varud Arihu the Son of Cosare Artehoth the Son of Havilith Ashtonbozan the Son of Shishoron Mahodok the Son of Hevaham Ahirosh the Son of Tsonikeban Tsardonnah the Son of Beldon Merudok the Son of Bil. And there were with them about three thousand who bare Arms and five Ships of Burthen and when they passed Euphrates they heard of a Famine in Jerusalem and they lest their Forces to abide about Euphrates from Kalinikos that is to say Raka unto Ktesiphon and those twelve Princes went on with an Army consisting of a thousand Men and carried Gifts with them Saint Cyril and Johannes say That Christ was an Infant and wrapped in Swadling Cloaths when the Wise-Men found him for they say that before the time of his Birth a Star appeared to the Wise-Men about eight days before his Nativity as Saint Cyril saith to Guide them unto him Moreover They say that it was fitting that he should be Worshipped in Swadling Cloaths and laid in a Manger that the Miracle might appear to be the greater Others say That in the very same Night and Day he was born the Wise-Men came and it is manifest from that which is written That when Jesus was born the Wise-Men came Epiphanius of Cyprus doth not Assent hereunto for he saith That our Saviour was born in Bethlehem and that he was Circumcised in a Cave that he went up to the Temple and that he was carried by Simeon and that he went to Nazareth and that the next year they brought him to appear before the Lord and then he went to Bethlehem and thence returned to Nazareth and at the end of two years they carried him up again to Jerusalem and went to Bethlehem for they loved often to frequent this place wherein he was born and whilst they were in Bethlehem the Wise-Men came And this is clear from that which Mathew said And they came into the House and saw the Lad with Mary his Mother and they fell down and Worshiped him for here he saith an House and not a Cave and Moreover the Lad with his Mother and not such an one as was wrapt in Swadling Cloaths and in the night he appeared to Joseph to take away the Lad and his Mother and to depart into Egypt And hereby also he sheweth that he was two years Old for Gnoba the Scripture calls one that is wrapped in Swadling Cloaths and Taloio Lad one that Rowls himself and creeps and goeth and herewith agreeth Eusebius and the Lord Ephraim in his Exposition saith it was the Second year And Jacobus Auriensis or Sarugensis in his Sermon on the Star and the Wise-Men saith that they saw him when he was two years old and from hence are verify'd the Words of Mathew and of Luke Luke saith that he went from Bethlehem to Nazareth and Mathew saith from Bethlehem to Egypt and both are in the Truth for they went to Hierusalem after forty days as saith Luke and afterwards to Nazareth and at the end of two years from Nazareth to Bethlehem and from Bethlehem to Egypt as Mathew saith and he was in Egypt two years until the Death of Herod and that Archelaus his Son Reigned Behold it is known that Christ was then two years old from this that those whom Herod slew were two years old and under according to the time he enquired of the Wise-Men and if it were said that he should fly that Night into Egypt or that he was of eight days old how went he to the Temple or was born of Simeon Herod being filled with Rage Magick is an Heresie composed of Gentilisme and of Caldaisme for it Worshiped the Elements according to the Gentiles and Worshiped the Stars and went by the help and knowledg of Luminaries and the Signs of the Zodiack and by the directions of the Stars as the Chaldeans and every of them lived by themselves and were

Children of Bethlem and all the borders thereof from two Years old and under according to the time he had inquired For he slew the Children that with them he might murder Christ and because he did not know him he slew all their Children and slew also the Children in the Borders thereof because it was suspected they might have made him fly into one of the bordering Villages and that he might not escape death And in saying All he shew'd that there was not one omitted He said From two years old and under because he enquiring of the Wise-men they answered him It was two years since the Star appeared unto us therefore said the Lord Ephraim and Eusebius that the Wise men came in the second year of our Lords Nativity And the Lord John and St. Cyrill say that the Star appeared two years before and that the Wise men tarried long before they came in the way and when they came our Redeemer was born and worshiped in a Manger and in Swadling-Cloaths But whether these or they be in the right the Discourse of the Evangelist is certainly true which saith According to the time he had enquir'd Some they killed waking some sleeping some having hold of the Brest some swimming others they snatch'd from their Mothers Embraces and wash'd with their blood their Mothers and the Earth and there was great Lamentation and weeping because there was not an house wherein a Boy had not been murdered and from the contest and inquisition of some saying the Lad is two years old and of 〈◊〉 saying he is not and of some saying there is a Child here and of others saying to the contrary and the like there was a great clamor and Lamentation Some men demand How many Children were slain And this is not known but some busie-bodies babble saying That Herod sent forty Head-Officers and with every of them forty Butchers or Man-slayers and every of these Butchers killed forty Children Wherefore there being forty Officers and the Butchers with them being 1600 the Children who were slain must be 64000. This we have not writ as believing it to be true but for delight of the simple Wherefore did our Lord withdraw the Killing of the Children and was our Lord or Herod the cause of the Killing of them We answer That Christ was not the cause of their being slain no more than David was the cause of killing the fourscore Priests whom Saul slew but as Saul himself was the cause of killing the Priests so Herod was the cause of slaying the Infants And as Elia was not the cause of burning the two Captains of Fifties and those who were with them but those who sent them But we say As Peter was the cause of killing the Soldiers so Christ was the cause of killing the Children Moreover The execrable wickedness of the King was the cause of their destruction for had Herod seen the Walls broken and the Doors pulled open he might have put the Soldiers to death but all things being sure he ought to have worshiped the Doer of Miracles and not to have slain the Keepers for God was willing to have converted the King and not that the Guards should have committed destruction So here the coming of the Wise-men the assembling of the Scribes the Testimony of Prophecy were that Herod might believe and be saved and not that he should kill the Children And wherefore did God permitt them to be slain Some say That the Fame of his Nativity might be made known in every place others that the Prophecy might be fulfilled according to that a voice was heard in Rama But these are not approv'd expositions We say therefore that this permission was given that they might not be as their parents nor partake of Innocent blood 2ly That they might receive an Earnest of the Kingdom long since prepared for them as an Inheritance and might at his second coming enter into possession thereof Again All our Sufferings are of two kinds either for our Sins or that a Reward might be given to us for the same and 't is evident from what Paul said of him who committed Fornication Deliver him to Satan in the Body that he may live by the Spirit in the day of our Lord. And David when he overcame Shimei commanded he should not be put to Death and he said Behold my Subjection and Labour and forgive me all my Iniquity they therefore are not miserable who suffer Evil if they patiently suffer whether they be corrected of God or Persecuted by Satan for their Sin and for Sufferings of the second kind to wit for Wages or Reward that of Job may suffice for Illustration wherefore the Children suffer'd in the second kind in relation to Wages or Reward And what Sin was it that was Attributed to the Children For behold they sinned not We Answer it was sufficient for them that they were to be Rewarded with Bliss after Death he did not impugn the Free-Will of Herod for Free-Will is a great Gift given unto Men for the doing what they will and God does not Reverse his Gift and if they perish'd they obtain'd great Trophies of Victory and we say that if God had known that they would have proved Virtuous he had not permitted that they should dye for if he forbears the Wicked how much less would he have permitted them to have been overcome but they went away being Innocent and escaped Evil and became Martyrs because they bore Testimony for Christ and the Baptism of Blood supplyed the Place of Water-Baptism But how were they Martyrs being slain without knowledg We Answer that in this kind or manner Children receive the Gift of Baptism without Knowledg and it is a true Gift unto them and so Slaughter was true Testimony Rachel Weeping for her Children Jeremy said this personating the Jews led Captive to Babylon and by Rachel adumbrated the Tribes of Benjamin and Judah Mathew makes use of this Text in reference to the Murther of the Children Others with whom we also agree say That Jeremy hereby Typified the Children and 't is evident from the subsequent Words which run thus Restrain thy Voice from Weeping for there is a Reward for thy Tears for they who were led Captive to Babylon had no Reward for their Tears for they were led into Captivity for their Sins but the Children being put to Death in their Infancy there was a Reward reserv'd for them it is therefore evident that Jeremy spoke in Relation to them and Rama belonged to the Children of Benjamin and Bethlehem of Judah also belonged unto them and because Rama was the Capital City of the Tribe of Benjamin therefore it was reputed also the City of his Mother But Since Rachel dyed so long before wherefore are the Children imputed to her We Answer because it is agreeable to the Law of Nature and to the Scripture accordingly all the Children of Men are called the Children of Adam and the Israelites are called the Children of

steeped in Water crumble away and fall in pieces as dry Dirt so we unless we be dipped in Baptism return into Dust and dryness void of Godly Waters 10. There are two Cleansing Elements Water and Fire and they who are not here Cleansed with Water shall there be Tormented with Fire 11. Water washeth all things and wanteth no Cleansing and he who is washed with Baptism needs no other Cleansing 12. Water is a thing exposed to the Use of all Men and that no Man might be deprived of Baptism therefore was Baptism thereof Constituted 13. Because by Waters were washed away the Filth of Noahs Family and because the Egyptians were drowned and the Worshippers of Balaam were thereby tryed therefore baptism was Established 14. To abolish the Evil Opinion of those Fools who said That Water was Evil because therein was the Common Deluge and Pharoah was Drowned therein He sheweth that Water by baptism gives Immortal Life 15. Because by Water were made the Espousals of Rebecca of Rachel and Tsiphora tipifying the VVater of Baptism whereby the Church is Espoused 16. Because the Passage of the Children of Israel was made by VVater and also of Eliah and Elishah in Jordan and the Cleansing of Naaman and that Torrent of Esechiel and the washing Shiloah did all of them Typifie our Baptism And in the place through which Joshua passed Jordan and Elias and Elishah also was as they say Christ Baptized Thus much for the Third Chapter MATH XXVI ANd it came to pass when Jesus had finished these speeches he said to his disciples Ye know that after two days the passover will be Our Redeemer spoke this on the mount of Olives but Luke saith that he came on the day of unleavened Bread and John said fix days before the passover he who heard those how can he these Jesus came to Bethanie on the Sabbath day when he raised Lazarus and he made him a supper and he raised Lazarus and Martha ministred and Mary washed his seet the next day after which was the first day of the week he entred into Jerusalem with Hosanna's as say'd John and on that first dayof the week he went forth into Bethanie and lodged there as said Mathew and in the morning of the second day of the week he returned to Jerusalem and dried up the fig Tree as Mathew say'd and again on the third day of the week he went forth to the mouth of olives as Mathew said and sat upon the Mount and his Disciples came unto him and spoke unto him and he taught many things and on this third day he said unto them there on the Mount After two days will be the passover that is after the fourth and fifth day of the week the passover was to be Early in the morning of the preparation and on that third day Christ was anointed in the house of Simon the Leper in the town of Bethanie as say Mathew and Mark and from Bethanie where he was anointed he sent two Disciples Peter and John to Jerusalem on the fifth day to prepare for him the passover as Luke sayeth The Day of Vleavened Bread being come c. and when it was the evening of the dawning of the Friday he came to Jerusalem and lay down in the Parlour with his Disciples as sayeth Mathew and the first day of the passover and of unleavened bread was the Friday as John sayeth which was the preparation of the passover and they entred not into the Pretorium that they might not be defiled and if thou shalt reckon from the Sabbath whereon Lazarus arose until the preparation there will be six days as sayeth John from whence it is apparent that the Evangelists agree with one another for Mathew said Ye know that after two days shall be the passover that is on the third day of the Week he said this unto them and the fourth and fifth days of the Week were two intermediate days and on the Friday happened the first of Unleavened Bread whereon the Passover of that year was slain and whereon Christ was crucified as said John And the Son of Man shall be betrayed to be crucified First of all he introduced the matter of the Passover that he might conceal that which would have affected them with sadness that is that he was to be Crucifyed Then were gathered together the chief Priests and Scribes For the Law had commanded there should be but one High Priest and that when he died another should succeed for with the life of this one he measured the flight of those who had involuntarily slain a man but at this time their Laws were corrupted for instead of one Chief Priest many succeeded Moreover he set up unto them two Chief Priests to the end that if there should happen to one of them Nocturnal Pollution or any Liquefaction and he should be polluted the other might administer without any disappointment to the Feast But Herod when he reigned as King he made one High Priest every year that they might not rebel against him He made them also to exercise that Priesthood for certain years as Zachary And they took Counsel against Jesus to take him by deceipt For they were assembled unto the Court of Caiaphas the high Priest and after four days from the raising of Lazarus being the fourth day of the Week they took Counsel for his Death and therefore the Apostles appointed that on the fourth day of the Week on the Friday and on the first day of the Week there should be a Fast and the holy Mysteries On the fourth because they consulted his Death on that day on the Friday because thereon he was Crucifyed and on the first day of the Week because on that day he arose Some say That even the Beasts on this Friday Honour the Fast Not in the Feast lest there be a Commotion among the People Observe That they were not afraid of God but of the People And observe The Devil did not consent that Christ should suffer in the Feast that his Passion might not be Publick but because They were overcome with overflowing Rage unlawfully and found Judas ready to betray him they could not Govern their Rage They Consulted in the Court of Caiphas because He was the Chief Priest for that year And some say That he was Josephus and afterward Repented was Converted and Believed in Christ but we say That the Josephus who fought smartly with the Romans and afterwards was taken by them made a Disciple and wrote many Books concerning what happened in the time of the Machabees and also concerning the War of Jerusalem was another than this Caiaphas the High Priest and Eusebius Caesariensis in his Ecclesiasticks Testifieth unto us the same but Josephus was called the Second Joseph by the Romans by reason of his Wisdom and he said of Vespasian It will come to pass that he shall Reign Jesus being in Bethany in the House of Simon the Leper This Bethany was the Village of Mary

to a King so they made Simon bear his Cross And this is certain from hence that it is not Written that the Thieves did bear their Crosses but that there came with him two Malefactors And as Simon bare his Cross and was not Crucified so our Lord was Crucified not for himself but for others Furthermore when Satan perceived what good things there came from the Cross he made the Jews give his Cross to another that the Good which was to be wrought by his Death might come to pass by other means and not by the hands of Jesus and that all the World might look upon him who carried the Cross and not upon Jesus Yet the Will of Satan was not performed for tho' another bore the Cross yet the Cross bore Jesus and all the Good was wrought by him Again he did as did the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets for they indeed prophecied and did not suffer but Simon carried the Cross and another was Crucified Moreover it was to teach us that whosoever will be his Disciple must take up his Cross and that the Prophecy might be fulfilled that his Dominion is upon his shoulder that is to say his Cross by which he exerciseth Dominion over things in Heaven and Earth and as Isaac bore on his Shoulder the Wood of his Sacrifice so our Lord bore upon his Shoulder the Cross Wherefore did not God permit Abraham to slay Isaac That the Seed of Abraham might not follow the Custom of the Prophane Gentiles who Sacrificed their Sons to Devils and to learn by Abraham that God delights not in Slaughter but in true Love But since there are many kinds of Death Why did he suffer the Death of the Cross To the end that when he should be lifted upon the Cross he might draw all Men to him from the Earth and that he might Sanctifie the Earth by the Sprinkling of his Blood Moreover That he might publish the putting off his Flesh to the Principalities for the Powers of Satan for the most part reside in the Air Again because by the Tree also Death entered so by the Tree came Salvation when he was mounted thereupon and that he might free us from this Curse Cursed be the Earth for thy sake he suffered a Cursed Death according to what he said Cursed be every one who hangeth upon a Tree and that he might bless us with all the Blessings of the Spirit And there came behind him a multitude of People and Women who Lamented This was the custom that when any sad thing happened the people gathered themselves together and Women grieved and wept And this is it which is said in John Ye shall seek me and shall not find me My Lord John saith Here they sought him Lamenting and Weeping for him Cyril saith That they Wept and Lamented because Woman kind are prone to Tears because of their soft Constitutions or Tenderness of Conscience Moreover the Weeping and Wayling of the Women was a Sign of the Destruction of their City But Weep for your selves and your Children That is to say a bitter Destruction is coming upon you Blessed are the Barren That is to say you shall count them happy who have no Children when ye shall see this sharp Destruction from the Romans If with the Green Tree Green he calls himself who was Delightful and Fruitful That is to say he wrought Miracles affording Teaching and Preaching and if after these things the Romans and Grecians Reproached and Despised me What will become of you What will they do with you who are dry Wood and fruitless because they find nothing useful in you they will have no Pity for you Christ is the Green Tree the Jews the Dry and the Romans the Fire And they came to a place which is called Gagultha which is Interpreted a Skull that is to say the Syrians call the Pan and bone of the Head a Skull but Interpreters say that when Noah enter'd into the Ark he took with him the Bones of Adam and that going out of the same he divided them among his three Sons to Shem as to his first born he gave his Head to Ham and Japheth the rest of his Bones accordingly he divided the Earth between them three to Japheth fell the Northern part to Ham the Southern and to Shem the Middlemost to which belonged Jerusalem and they say that by way of Mystery the Skull of Adam was buried in the self same place and Earth whereon Christ was Crucified and that when Christ was Crucified they fix'd his Cross in the Mouth of Adam to the intent That in the very place where Death and the Fall first happened Life and Resurrection might there begin Moreover he was Crucified in this place because therein were Administred the Mysteries which prefigured the Crucifixion for from Generations and many years it was kept for this Use Therein Melchizedeck exercised the Sacerdotal Function and effered Sacrifice and Oblation thereon Also David built an Altar and interdicted Death and finally this was the Threshing Floor of Arnon the Jebusite And they gave unto him to Drink Vineger mixed with Gall. Mark saith They gave him Wine mixed with Myrrh but he did not take it for it was a Law with them to give Wine to him who is Crucified to the end he may become forgetful and unsensible of his Passion and they gave him Wine mix'd with Gall but he drank it not First because his time was not yet come Secondly The Prophets did not Prophecy of him that he should drink Wine mix'd with Gall. They oftentimes offered him Vinegar to drink thereby deriding him before and at his Crucifixion which is manifest from hence that they did not offer it to the Thieves that were Crucified with him and he drank not the Vinegar because as Mathew saith The time was not yet come They divided his Garments by Lots That the Prophecy of David may be fulfilled but this did they by way of Derision And they divided them into four Parts because there were four Chieftains of the Soldiers and he had a Tunick an head-covering a Shash and Sandals and because the Shash was small they were willing to divide the Tunick and to add to the Girdle for the which because they divided it not they cast Lotts and it fell to one of them They divided his Garments into four Parts The Mystery hereof is that they were guilty of four-fold Sin What every one should take that is to say what part of every one of the Souldiers should take of his Garments and who should have the Tunick or Girdle His Tunick was Seamless from the top being all Woven It was the custom in the Land of Palestine to weave two pieces of Cloth and to stich them together above the shoulders and so make a Tunick and they called it without seam from the top that is to say woven without that stitch above the shoulders Moreover that it was seamless shews the meanless of his attire Furthermore he calls

his Body a Tunick and that it was without seam from above sheweth that he brought not his Body from Heaven but that it was united to him from Mary and in as much as it was intirely woven is signified that the Word united to it self a compleat living Body endowed with a Rational Soul and that they did not divide it sheweth that after this union Our Lord was not to be divided or seperated into two subsistances Again his Tunick signifieth faith which is one and undivided and that there is one Lord undivided into two and incomprehensible his Coat fell to the Soldiers who were of the Gentiles and not of the Hebrews because the Gentiles were heirs to the faith in Christ And they sat and watched him that he should not be snatched away by his Kinsfolks and this they did peculiarly as to our Lord at the command of Pilate or they watched him to observe whether or no he was dead and they put over his head the cause of his Death Luke and John say That it was written in three languages Hebrew Latine and Greek Pilate did this that he might be revenged of the Jews and that he might excuse himself for that they accused him as a Malefactor moreover this was the guidance of divine providence for the Crosses were hidden under ground and a long time after this was known to be that of Christ by the Table which the Judge had placed thereon Others say that he feared least that when enquiry should be made after his death and he found innocent he himself might be accused and therefore wrote on the Cross the pretence of his Death in three Tables that three languages might testifie that the Jews crucified their King Moreover three witnesses gave testimony alluding to this that they Crucified one of the Trinity But the Writing pleased them not because they thought they should be thereby reputed Rebels if he who was their King were crucified they sayed therefore Write that he say'd he was King and not that we owned him as such but he did not alter the Inscription because Judges are not accustomed to vary from what they write as also that he might reproach the Jews And two Thieves were crucified with him he on the right hand was called Titus and he on the left hand Domeus Moreover they did this with an impudent intention that forasmuch as they crucified him with Thieves and Murderers he might be deemed one of like guilt with them and that by a pretended community in so flagitious a Crime his Majesty might be obscured But against their will he fulfilled the Prophecy in that he was crucified with evil doers Destroy the Temple and baild it in three days Mark fayeth Ah thou that destroyest the Temple and buildest it in three days and these words denotes their reproach and blasphemy as if they had said He that gave out that he would build the Temple in three days is not able to preserve himself If thou beest the Son of God come down from the Cross But he did not descend from the Cross because he was the Son of God for he who knows that if he dyes he shall not rise again flyeth from Death But it became not him who is assured to rise after 3 days and by his Deaths to destroy Hell and triumph over Death to have come down until Justice had been fully satisfied by his Death And likewise the High Priests reviled him That is to say the Seribes the Doctors of the Law the Priests and the Elders who were there assembled to take care that the Execution should not be delay'd nor prevented He brought others to Life inasmuch therefore as they testified that he reviv'd others they condemned themselves for if he revived others he might not have dyed or Dying he might rise again Let him now come down from the Cross and we will believe in him for if he were King of Israel they sought to abolish his Kingdom and if he had descended from the Cross they had not believ'd in him which is manifest from hence that he wrought great miracles before his suffering on the Cross whilest he suffer'd thereon and after he had suffer'd and yet they believed not so neither had they believed had he descended from the Cross and he did not descend from the Cross for at that time his Agony and contest was not with them but against Death to destroy it He trusted in God Are therefore the Prophets no Prophets or the Righteous not righteous because God did not deliver them from Dangers and Sufferings But it is certain they were Prophets and Righteous so in the Son of God The Thieves also who were crucified with him reviled him Some say that one of the Thieves only reviled him and that he took up the reproach of one and extended it to them both according to the custom of the Scripture As for Example On my Rayment did they cast Lots whereas it is evident that they did not cast Lots upon is whole Rayment but on his Tunick only Like unto this Some of them doubted whereas Thomas only doubted Mathew and Mark say that both of them reviled him and all three say true for when our Lord was nailed to the Cross both reviled him but after that he on the Right Hand saw the Wonders and Signs which were wrought on the Cross and knew that they were not effected for his or his Fellows sake and heard the Jews repeating high things of him and calling him the Son of God and King of Israel and saw the Inscription of Pilate in three Tables proclaiming him King he confessed his Majesty and ceased to blaspheme and began with Praise even reprehending and accusing his Fellow Moreover the Thief on the Left Hand had one reprehensible property for he blasphemed as did the Jews judging him to be God But there were five praise-worthy Actions to be observed in the Thief on the Right Hand 1. He rebuked his Fellow 2. He confessed the wickedness of his Deeds 3. He Justified Christ 4. He acknowledg'd him to be King 5 He begged saying Remember me my Lord. How knew the Thief that Christ was King We answer That either he knew it by Divine Revelation the Testimony of Pilate who said Shall I crucify your King or of the Jews If he be King let him come down For the Faith of the Thief is to be praised for that he believed on him when he was in disgrace and on the Cross and not in his Kingdom and Majesty So also the Christians great was their Faith and Rewards shall be given unto them because they believed in a Crucified Saviour who notwithstanding is God over all Again The Thief being a Malefactor who with one Word gained a Kingdom sheweth that Christ is a Propitiation for Sins and Lord of a Kingdom but he was not Crucified as he was God but as he was made Man according to this That the Word was made Flesh and dwelt in as and according to