and therefore St. Paul calls it the Annunciation the Declaration or the shewing forth of the Lords death 1 Cor. 11. 26. alluding manifestly to the Haggadah at the Jewish Passeover By this that has been spoken it doth plainly appear that this Holy Solemnity is Analogous and answerable to those Religious Feasts which were used of old and especially to the Paschal Feast which observation will help us not only to understand fully the purport of this Mystery but also to baffle the pretences of those Monsters of Hereticks the Socinians who give a very mean and contemptuous account of the Lords Supper For they take no notice of any strict engagements it lays upon us to an Holy Life they believe not the Sacrament to be a Seal of Gods favour and Grace so far are they from owning this that Socinus had the confidence Multo praestantior sine dubio respectu veteris faederis fuit sanguis ille pecudum quam respectu novi sit panis ille vinum Socin ad Epist Niemojevii to say that the blood of Beasts under the Law was of Greater efficacy and value than the Bread and Wine in this Ordinance They utterly deny that we hereby Receive any thing at the hands of God nor will they indure us to say that Gods Spirit is here given or that our Faith is here increased or that pardon of sin is here tendered or that we receive here any Pledge of a blessed Resurrection and a glorious Immortality No they explode all doctrines of this nature and teach Is finis est vitûs istius usurpandi ut beneficium a Christo nobis praestitum commemoremus seu Annunciemus nec ullus alius Cat. Eccles. Pol. that the proper end for which the Lords Supper was instituted is this that we may Commemorate the Lords Passion Nay Socinus was of opinion In caena Domini ne ipsam quidem mentionem Christi corporis pro nobis traditi sanguinis fusi disertis verbis faciendam necessariam plane esse Socin de usu fine Caenae Dom. that 't is not necessary so much as to make express mention of Christs Body being delivered or of his blood being poured out for us which yet is inconsistent with his own Principle for how can we Commemorate the Death of our Blessed Saviour without making mention of it Briefly these Blasphemous Hereticks look upon this Holy Ordinance only as the memorial Vide Excerpta ex ore Socini in fine disputationis de usu fine caenae Domini of a Friends kindness This is all they will allow and so they conclude that we may Celebrate it either sitting or standing or with our Heads covered or with Water if we will instead of Wine but to kneel or so much as to sigh with eyes lifted up at the Celebration is in their account a kind of Idolatry I confess these ill conclusions do for the most part follow from that unsound Principle that the Supper of the Lord was intended only in Commemoration of him But what reason and ground have they for this Principle Why Non ullus alius praeter hunc a Christo est indicatus finis Cat. Eccl. Pol. because say they at the institution Christ mentioned only this end Do this in remembrance of me But this is not a reason and ground sufficient For the mentioning of one end is not the excluding of others though Christ in express terms had said no more yet it doth not follow that no more was intended The very Analogy which this Feast beareth to other the like Sacrifical Feasts of old and especially to the Paschal Feast is enough to shew us the several Ends of it had our Saviour mentioned no end at all And this is the Reason that I have now taken notice of that Analogy For if such Feasts were commonly reputed to be Covenant-Rites between God and Man then we may reasonably believe that this is to be reputed so too If to eat the body of a roasted Lamb was a Pledge of Gods favour to the Jews then we may infer that to eat Bread instead of Christs body is a pledge of Gods favour to us Christians If the use of other Sacrifical Feasts did entitle the partakers to all those Benefits for which the Sacrifices were offered then we may conclude that the use of this Sacrifical Feast doth entitle the Communicants to all those benefits for which Christ our Sacrifice offered up himself and which he purchased for us Therefore the Socinians do but trifle and are very vain in pretending to teach us the full meaning of this Rite when they take no notice of that correspondence and Analogy which is between this and other ancient Rites of the like nature For this is a principal thing to be taken notice of and we cannot easily conceive what else it was which satisfied the Apostles touching the purport of this Ordinance when it was instituted first For that they presently discerned the meaning of it is clear because we do not find that they desired of our Lord any explanation at all of this mystery In other cases they were very inquisitive and sometimes about matters which we think had little need of explication being obvious to Men of common and ordinary capacities And yet at the institution of this Holy Sacrament tho it containeth some things so difficult and dark to us that they have occasioned Quarrels in all parts of the Christian world yet the Disciples were who ly silent being very sensible what such Sacred Feasts did mean in those days and what the general sense of Mankind was about them They could not but know that by eating of things which bad been offered at the Altar men undertook to observe that Religion to which that sacred Rite did belong and whereof it was a part They could not but know that by such an action they had a right to those benefits which the Sacrifice had been offered up for and so they became very nearly related to God as his Favourites and Family And when they found by our Saviouts discourse that he would offer up himself a Sacrifice for them and heard him now say of the bread in his hands this is my Body they might easily apprehend him to mean that they were to eat of Bread in the Place and Room of his flesh and instead of feeding upon his Natural Body Considering that the Lamb which was drest for the Paschal-Supper was usually called the Body of the Passeover no sooner did Christ call the Loaf His Body but they did instantly conceive it was appointed to be eaten for his Body and in liew of it especially since he had told them before that they were not to feed on him as they were wont to feed upon the Lamb after a carnal and cross manner because the Flesh profiteth nothing Joh. 6. 63. Hence they saw presently that this institution did very much resemble the Sacrifical Banquets which had been observed of old only it was
of a more Noble importance and signification and so they troubled not the Lord with enquiries being sufficiently satisfied of the Nature and meaning of such solemnities And this we may suppose to have been the Reason too why we find so few directions in the Scriptures of the New Testament about preparing our selves for a worthy eating of this Blessed Sacrament For there is little or nothing said upon this Subject setting aside what Saint Paul once occasionally said of self examination in 1 Cor. 11. 28. For the thing was not so very needful because such directions might easily be drawn even from the consideration of the Nature and ends of this Holy Banquet and men already had great impressions and apprehensions of their duty in order to a due celebration of those Solemnities to which this Mystery was Parallel and Analogous With what Religion did the very Heathens prepare themselves by washing their Bodies and by abstaining from worldly and Carnal Pleasures before they addressed themselves to the Tables of their Gods And with what care and curiosity did the Jews pick every Crum of Leaven out of their houses and use other observances before they presumed to eat of the Passeover The very resemblance and Analogy between this Mystery and that is enough to minister directions about preparing and purifying our Spirits in order to it and whatsoever is necessary in that point may be easily gathered and concluded from the consideration of the Purport and reason of this Holy Rite All which is lost by mens taking no notice of that Analogy which it bears to other Sacrifical Feasts and therefore it is no wonder that the Socinians speak so coldly of this matter and that they are as superficial and slight about the business of preparation as they are slovenly Rude and irreverent at the Celebration of this Mystery These things being laid down as the Foundation and Ground-work of what I have to say upon this subject the task I have undertaken will be attended with the fewer difficulties the true notion of this Sacrament will be the more readily conceived the great errors about it will be the more easily removed the truths concerning it will be settled with the greater firmness and solidity and every thing will be apprehended I hope with the greater perspicuity and clearness which is the thing that I much aim at in this whole matter The sum briefly is this that this Christian Rite is a Sacrifical Banquet which beareth some proportionable likeness to those Sacrifical Banquets which were Religiously Celebrated of Old by the generality of mankind So that as Jews and Heathens were wont to feed upon a Sacrificed Beast so we Christians do feed upon a Sacrificed Redeemer after a Corporeal manner we feed upon the Figure of him that is we partake of Bread instead of that his Flesh which is his Natural Body but after a Spiritual manner we feed upon him Himself that is we partake of his Virtues and Divine nature which is his Spiritual Body CHAP. II. Of the Ends of this Sacrament First it is a Memorial of Christs Love proved from Christs own words From its Analogy to other Sacrifical Banquets and from the Practice of the Ancient Church Two inferences the one against Romanists the other against our Dissenters THe Nature of this Mystery being unfolded proceed we in the next place to consider the Ends and Purposes for which it was appointed 1. Now one great End is readily granted on all hands only some differ a little about rendring the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the expression in the Original 1. Some render it Recordatio as if this solemnity was intended to put men in mind of Christs passion and to bring his Love to their remembrance Nor have the Socinians sufficient reason Nisi quis antequam illuc accedat non modo rectè mortis Christi meminerit sed ejus efficaciam fructumjam interiore animo gustet ac sentiat indignus planè est qui eò accedat Socin ubi Supra to quarrel with this interpretation because as they argue men ought to remember the Lords Passion before they come to the Lords Supper 'T is true we ought to do so and 't is as true that this solemnity is a proper means to excite us to do so to engage us to sequester some time for antecedent Meditations to consider of the Divine goodness and of our own unworthiness before hand to view the several parts of our Saviours Life and sufferings and to observe the greatness of his love throughout the whole that we may come to the Holy Table with souls possest with a deep sense of God mercies and with hearts full of zeal of thankfulness of repentance and of Devotion which we are apt at other times not to be so solicitously careful of At the institution of the Passeover the Jews were commanded to take the Lamb into their houses on the tenth day of Nisan and to Keep it up until the fourteenth of the same Month Exod. 12. And one reason which the Jews give of this is that in those four days by having the Lamb under their eye they Paul Fagius in Exod 12. might be stirred up to continual considerations and conferences of their Redemption out of Egypt for which reason they have a Tradition on among them that during those four days the Lamb was tyed by a bed-side And thus do the thoughts of this Christian Feast when it is near at hand very much serve to excite men to the most serious considerations of the Redemption of all Mankind by that Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World And besides the breaking of the Bread and the pouring forth of the Wine together with the mention that then is made of our Lords death do abundantly serve to imprint in our minds a memory of the Passion after a most lively end efficacious manner so that it is not in any wise an Unfit or Improper way of speaking to say that this Sacrament is unto us a Remembrancer of our Duty 2. But secondly the generality of Divines render the Word as the Socinians do Commemoratio meaning that this Mystery was appointed as a Test of mens constancy that to the Worlds end they might publickly Profess their Faith in a crucified Redeemer by shewing forth their dear Lords death and by constantly celebrating the memorial of his bitter but meritorious Passion I shew'd before how the Jews were wont at their Paschal Supper to commemorate and express the joyful sense they had of the deliverance of their Nation from the Brick-Kilms and the Cruelties of the Egyptians In like manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysoft in Pascha 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non solum inter Sacrificia sed etiam in conviviis in omnibus solennitatibus antiquorum erant sermones de rebus ab illis diis gestis Nat. Com. mythol l. 1. c. 1. Inter vescendum laudes diis canere assuer
to mean purposes but his office is by kindly and gracious operations to renew mens minds and to bring their hearts still more and more to such a temper and frame as is suitable to the Laws of the Gospel So that our drinking of the Spirit at the Holy Communion must necessary have this effect that those good things are establisht which were wrought in us before by the Spirits Energy Noâ— is this any more than what Devout Communicants find to be true by their own experience their minds are then fixt upon things of Heaven their sense of Christs Love is then strong their affections to him are then warm their hope in him is then lively and comfortable their Charity to others is then great and their whole Soul is full of the most ravishing Pleasures so that were men careful not to stifle or resist the Spirit but to keep themselves so well disposed all their time as they are when they go from the Lords Table it would be impossible either for their salvation to be insecure or for their minds to be uneasie And yet Faustus Socinus will by no means allow our Faith to be at all Confirm'd by the use of the Lords Supper He looks upon that Holy Rite as a work of our own as he is pleas'd to call it as an ordinary thing that we do among one another in Commemoration of the Lords Death but not as a Mystery whereby we receive any benefit any advantage from God But though the Heretick be so admired as a great man of sense and reason yet he trifles altogether and talks Impertinently and Idly upon this as he doth Sophistically upon the Rest of his own notions For why doth not the celebration of this Mystery confirm our Faith Why saith Socinus the distribution of the bread and wine cannot do it because they are mean things which testifie Nec enim panis ille fractus a nobis comestus vinumque in poculum infusum a nobis epotum oftendunt nobis aut suadent vere Christi Corpus pro nobis fractum fuisse c. Socin de usu S. Caen. nothing which shew no reasons for our Faith nor contain any thing that perswadeth us to believe that Christs Body was Broken or that his Bloud was shed for us Now the Heretick and his followers in this argument do first mistake the Question for we do not say that the bare distribution of the Elements is the thing which serveth to help and strengthen our faith but that this is done by the whole action Now the whole Action containeth Prayers and praises a rehearsal of the Institution and a declaration of Christs Passion as well as a division of the Creatures of Bread and Wine All these things come under the Notion of the Eucharist and each of them ministreth to the confirmation of our faith especially since they all concur in the same Action because they were appointed by Christ himself to be done in Commemoration of his death and consequently do suppose and argue that he died indeed 2. So that Secondly these men are false and deceitful in this their way of reasoning that the Sacrament is no Proof of our Lords Passion For 1. St. Paul saith plainly that as often as we eat this Bread and drink this Cup we do shew forth the Lords Death 1 Cor. Nec oftendunt nobis aut suadent c ubi supr 11. 26. which in express terms contradicteth the Doctrine of Socinus This is an outward Testimony for my faith to rely up on 2. The Holy Spirit is given as hath Nonne ad credendum Evangelio Spiritus sancti interiore dono opus est Non Catech Sect. 6. cap. 6. been proved with the Bread and Wine and by his secret operation I am perswaded to believe the Article of Christs Passion to be true That 's an inward Confirmation of my Faith though I suppose the Socinians may not value that because they allow not Faith to be the effect of the Spirits operation 3. Considering that this Ordinance was instituted by Christ himself as a memorial of his death and that he hath appointed us the use of it for that reason and upon that account this is evidence and proof enough to convince me that he suffered and died of a truth The Divine institution and command together with the meaning End and Design of it this is that which we ought Quid insulsius quam si quis ita argumentaretur nos panem istum frangimus comedimus idque ut praedicemus Christum corpus Sanguinem suum pro nobis tradidisse Igi ur verum est ita Christum fecisse Socin in Append ad scriptum de Caena Dom. particularly and carefully to regard and then if I argue thus we eat Bread and drink Wine by the Divine appointment and institution that we may declare that Christ gave his Body and blood for us and therefore it is very true that Christ did so this is no absurd argumentation as that wicked Impostor had the confidence to say it is rather a very rational and clear way of reasoning for why should I believe that Christ would command me to commemorate that which is an untruth It is a plain argument that Christ did dye because he hath required us to Celebrate this Mystery in memory of his Passion and consequently it is true that the Celebration of this mystery is for the confirmation of our faith The meaning and signification of this Mystery is the thing which we are principally to consider and to illustrate this matter briefly by two familiar instances let us consider that common Phaenomenon in the air which we call the Rainbow If you ask a Philosopher about it he will tell you that t is nothing but a Meteor the Natural effect of such and such Natural causes but the Christian will tell you that it is a Token of that promise which God made of old unto Noah and therefore when we see the Rainbow we may assuredly believe that tho the World was once drowned with a Flood it shall never be destroyed by Waters again Thus the signification and meaning of that thing is for the Confirmation of our Faith tho' there be not groundse nough for this perswasion from the Nature of the thing it self 2. Again let us consider that ancient Mystery the Passeover Supper the eating of a Lamb with bitter Herbs to the ignorant Pagan might seem but an Ordinary meal or perhaps a silly because unpleasant Ceremony but to the Jews it was a Rite of great signification because it was a memorial of Gods Mercy to their Fathers in delivering them out of Egypt and therefore God commanded even their Posterity to keep it with all diligence and solemnity Now let me ask the Socinian was not this memorial thus instituted thus appointed sufficient grounds for all the Jews in after-ages to believe that the History of that deliverance was true Nay are not all the Jews in the
which the wine was a Figure was now to be shed for the Forgiveness of All. So that were this argument driven home upon the Romanists they must be brought to confess if they will speak out either that the Cup is to be given to Lay-people or else that Christs blood was not shed for Lay-peoples Sins I will not enter into that enquiry how many and what the persons were to whom our Saviour spake at that time Though some are ready to tell us that they were only the twelve Apostles who were then in the quality of Priests yet this is a confident assertion which we need not grant For though it be said that he sate down with the twelve yet it doth not follow that no more than twelve were there It is probable that the good man of the House who is supposed to have been a Believer might be there among the rest at least it is improbable that the Holy Virgin of whom he took such care at his Death should not be with him at his last Supper especially since he admitted the Traitor Judas But suppose none but the twelve were Communicants yet they were the representatives of the whole Church and what he said unto them he must be understood to have spoken in reference unto All that every Member of his Family should drink of the Cup as well as eat of the Bread Accordingly was the practice of all Christians in the days of old Wheresoever St. Paul speaks of the administration of this Sacrament he speaks of both Elements that they were communicated of and this he saith was that which he had received of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. 21. And that the same was the usage of the times following is undeniably clear out of the writings of many antient Fathers both of Greek and Latine Churches who Celebrated this Mystery as we do which I note the rather that I may lay open those Lyars who to palliate their corruptions confidently tell poor ignorant people this Monstrous falsity that Antiquity is on their side This their custome of half-Communion is a most Notorious Innovation and the general practice of it was never authoriz'd till that blessed Assembly of Divines forsooth at Constance about the year 1415. and yet those very men though they were so bold as Licet Christus post Caenam Instituerit suis Discipulis ad ministraverit sub utraque specie panis vini hoc venerabile Sacramentum tamen hoc non obstante c. Et similiter licet in Primitiva Ecclesia hujusmodi Sacramentum reciperetur a fidelibus sub utraque specie tamen c. Praecipimus sub paena excommunicationis quod nullus Presbyter communicer populum sub utraque specie panis vini Concil Constans Sess 13. acknowledged by their own Caranza Sum. Concil p. 626. to appoint Communion under one kinde onely yet they were so ingenuous as to confess that the thing was contrary to Christs Institution and that the custome of the Primitive Church had been to the contrary also Hoc tamen non obstante as they then declared not withstanding all this they prohibited the administration of the Cup to the Lay-people But whether their Prohibition or our Saviours Institution and the custome of the old Catholick Church ought to take place let the indifferent world consider Indeed 't is no news to hear of the Dishonesty of the Roman Clergy there are so many palpable instances of their soul dealing with the world But 't is an unaccountable injury they do to mens Souls to defraud them of that by a due reception whereof we receive the remission of our Sins And though Bellarmine and the rest have taught them to come off with this Pretence that the whole Christ is in each part of the Sacrament and so that the very Bloud of Christ is even in the wafer yet this is a groundless suggestion and untruth at least it is too vain an imagination for men to trust to in a case of such vast Importance and Concernment For they themselves do confess that the a In una specie non habetur perfectè integrè Sacrificii ratio sed utraque necessaria est c. Bellarm. de Sacram-Euchar lib. 4. c. 22. Sacrifice of the Mass as they call it is not perfect without both Kinds b So Alexander Alensis Gaspar Cassalius and Ruardus as Bellarmine doth confess ubi Supr c. 23. And some of their Doctors have declared their Opinion that there is less spiritual benefit by Half Communion and the Learned c Objicit Georgius CassAnder quòd Sancti patres tribuunt peculiarem effectum sanguini domini qui ex Calice sumitur sic enim Ambrosius Ioquitur si lib. 5. de Sacram. c. 3. Quotiescunque bibis Remissionem accipis peccatorum inebriaris Spiritu Et Cyprianus lib. 1. Ep. 2. Quomodo docemus aut provocamus eos in comfessiore nominis sanguinem suum fundere si eis inibitaturis Christi Sanguinem denegamus Id. ibid. Cassander objected justly that the Ancient Doctors of the Christian Church laid a great deal of stress upon the administration of the Chalice ascribing a peculiar efficacy to the Sacrament of our Lords Bloud not but that his Body is the means of our Justification too but because our Saviour Dignified the Cup after a peculiar manner saying this is my Bloud of the New Co. venant which is shed for the Remission of fins I wish therefore that the deceived members of that Church would consider this seriously 'T would be enough to make their Hearts ake to think how their Hopes of the forgiveness of their Sins are wonderfully weakened by this Unchristian practice It would be a wonder how any of the Laity among the Romanists could enjoy one quiet hour in their lives or ever go to bed in Peace and with any tolerable Satisfaction especially such of them as are Conseious to themselves of those flagitious Crimes they have acted did they but sadly consider what a miserable case they are in Were there nothing else to frighten them but this that they confidently Trust to a few fruitless Absolutions which onely keep up a Market but are Deprived of that which to penitent Souls is a Certain instrument of Pardon Blessed be God that we lye in the bosome of a Church which administreth to all her devout children the Seals of Gods mercy according to her Lords own mind and appointment and agreeably to the way of the Catholick Church And as this should set all our desires upon the wing and make us fly on every occasion to the Holy Table that our wearyed Souls may find a Resting place and Sure footing so should it replenish us with Comfort and Joy of Heart when we go away being fully assured of Gods purposes of Grace towards us and being satisfied in a good measure that we are now in a Happy condition 'T is true before men go to the Sacrament they ought to be well satisfied of Gods merciful
the Catholick Church Several advantages gained by this Notion 5. BUt yet the celebration of the Communion is the Ordinary standing and effectual means to make us partakers of Christs Virtues and Spirit And this is the last thing I shall shew for the conclusion of this whole point that the spiritual Body of Christ which in some measure is given in general to all faithful Christians is effectually certainly and abundantly given particularly to all Devout and Faithful Communicants And here to touch a little upon the Effects of the Ancient Sacrifical Banquets which have been spoken of before It is observable that those Mysteries were not things of an empty nature to those that communicated thereof but were attended with the operation and efficacy either of Divine or Diabolical Powers 1. That great care and Reverence which was required of the Jew under pain of death for the due celebration of the Paschal Supper was a clear argument that God himself intended to be with them at the time after a more Peculiar manner and to scatter his Heavenly Blessings among them The intent of that and other Religious Mysteries was that the Souls of Gods People might be united to the Divine Nature and might be Inspired by the Divine Mind as Abarbanal tells us To this purpose the Learned Masius observes Abarbanal Exord in Levit. in fine that some Hebrew Doctors believed so great a Mystery to have been in the Paschal Sacrifice as that thereby God did after some sort first of all Communicate his Divinity unto Men. And he cites a passage in a Book of Rabbi Judas where he saith that by means of the Passeover God did Masius Comment in Josh c. 5. p. 89. take men into such close Communion with himself that by his Divine Power they did abide in him as the week of a candle abideth in the Light and that this was mystically signified by those words Levit. 11. 45. I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the Land of Egypt to be your God meaning as that Rabbi interprets it that I might impart unto you mine own Divinity Where the same Author also takes notice of a saying in Philo that by the Passeover was signified the passing of our mortal and corruptible nature into God that is the changing and raising of it into the Divine Nature And for the understanding of these Mysterious That 's the true reading not withstanding what we find in the margent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo de Sacr. Abel Cain notions Masius refers us particularly to the sixth chapter of S. John as if God under the Law did bless men with such Spiritual Influences and Divine virtues at the Passoever as Christ doth now bless Communicants with at the Eucharist to be meat and drink indeed to the Souls of his Disciples 2. As the Jews did partake of God at the Paschal Supper so did the Heathens partake of Divels at their Sacrifical Banquets That there were Demoniacks of old people that were inspired by Divels and possest with Divels is out Etiam de corpuribus nostro imperio excedunt inviti doâ—entes Tertull. Apolog. c. 23. de Daemonibus of all controversie for the Ancient Christians were commonly wont to force them out of men and to put them to a great deal of Torment The Divel had many opportunities and ways of getting this power over people God permitting it so to be in vengeance for their wickednesses So Tertullian tells a story of a Christian woman that going to see an Heathen Tertull. de Spect. c. 10. Play return'd possest with the Divel and when the Exorcist demanded of the Demon how he durst meddle with one of the faithful his answer was that he found her in his Dominions But never did these Infernal Spirits take greater advantage over men nor seize them more effectually than when they did Sacrifice unto them and did eat of their Sacrifices in their Temples Then these Demons did sometimes appear unto them as they did to Julian sometimes Theodor. Ecol Hist l. 3. c. 3. they possest them so that they were besides their senses and become mad and furious as those who were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and such as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sorsan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Galen quoted by Casaubon of Enthusiasme chapt 1. celebrated the Orgia or the Mysteries of Bacchus otherwise called Omophagia from their eating of Raw-flesh whereby they grew quite Frantick yet past for men that where Divinely inspired full of the Arnob. adv Genr. lib. 5. Numen and Majesty of God Sometimes the Divels drove them into such a violent furor that they whipt and scourged one Herodot l. 2. another as the old Egyptians were wont to do when they had done Sacrificing Vide Lucian de Dea Syria nay that they would cut their Arms and other parts of their Bodies as those Lucian speaks of like the worshippers of 1. Kings 18. Baal those Demoniacks that did usually cut themselves with knives and Lances till Vid. Lucian ubi Supr the Bloud gushed out upon them Sometimes the Divels did Influence them so that they were full of Poetical strains could * So the Enthei Sacerdotes mentioned by several Authors Pleni mixti Deo vates Minut. Fael And such was that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Pythia vates like that Phythoniffa 1. Sam. 2 8. called by the Seventy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vide Gyrald-Hist Deor. Syntagm 7. pag. 222. deliver Oracles and by the help of the Demons within them could foretel things to come could Divine and presage events after they had Hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to banquet upon the Sacrifices which had been sent to the Oracle for the asking his advice Eurip. in Electra p. 835. eaten of the Sacrificess Out of many Writers it Dr. Cudworths True Notion appears that the old Heathen by means of their Sacrifical Idol feasts contracted such fellowship and intimacy with the Powers of hell that they hardly ever wanted their Assistance And a learned Doctor of our Church tells us out of one of the Rabbies that the Amient Chaldeans were wont to eat Flesh and Drink Bloud with their Idols because they had thereby such Communication with Demons that they familiarly conversed with them and told them what would happen in process of time Which he also confirms out of another Rabbi who saith that by this kind of Communion with Divels at their Tables the Chaldeans were able to Prophesie and foretell things to come To all which I shall onely add that those lewd Hereticks who used Inchantments and Magical Arts as many of them did in the Primitive times of Christianity did learn to deal with Divels and taught others to deal and to be possest with Divels also by means of those Mysteries which they used in Imitation of the holy Eucharist that was used by the Catholicks and to this purpose