that we should keep holy the Sabbath-day hath been at large handled before now it resteth that I speak somewhat of the second part also which I will do briefly in this Chapter In this second part is set out in many words the great care and provision had of the Lord that men should observe this law and keep holy the Sabbath-day as God commandeth And this provision of the Lord standeth not in one two or three only but in many and weighty inducements and reasons the least of which should have been sufficient to inforce our obedience had not our hearts been hardened and we most rebellious wilfully refusing to yield obedience unto the same The several inducements and reasons the Lord used to win us unto obedience to this law are these First is the Caveat prefixed only to this and to none other of the Commandments Remember Remember the Sabbath-day to sanctifie it This charge of heedfulnesse would mightily work upon an obedient heart he would every day of his six be thinking how to do and dispatch all his businesses in those dayes that when the seventh day come he may freely without any incumbrance betake himself to the worship and service of his God and when it cometh will be mindeful of the day and careful of observing and keeping the same holy as his God commandeth Secondly the Lord hath here plainly pointed out unto man what day is the Sabbath-day which he should sanctifie The Lord hath affixed as it were an Index to this law that as the true houre of the day is known and pointed out by the Index or Finger in a Dial whereby he that can but tell the number of the hour-lines may easily know what houre of the day it is so here he that can but tell the dayes of the week may easily tell what day is the Sabbath-day Six dayes shalt thou labour and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath The seventh day is the Sabbath not the seventh day from thy birth nor the seventh day from the first beginning of the Creation nor from any set Epoche for then it would have put the most skilful Mathematicians to a stand for the finding out when this seventh day should begin but it is the day following the six dayes of labour In what countrey soever a man is though he is not well skilled in the language of that place and doth not understand what the names of the week-dayes signifie yet if he can tell which be their six work-dayes he may then tell also which is their seventh day It maketh not much by what names the dayes of the week be called nor what the signification of either or any of the week-dayes should be The seventh day of the week with Christians hath been called by divers several names and that even by Christians themselves such as these Sunday The Lords day The first day of the week and in later times it hath been called also the Sabbath-day but in the first times Christians would not call it the Sabbath-day because all the Gentiles detested the name of Sabbath as the Jewes did the name of Sunday as before is shewed neither could they relish this name for a good while after their Conversion It is not much matter by which of these names we call our seventh day nor whether we understand the signification of the name as what Sunday or The Lords day or The first day of the week do signifie or why we do so call our seventh day Though he do not know it to be called Sunday from our Heathen Ancestors who called this day so in honour of the Sun whom they worshipped nor know it to be called the Lords day because it is his Sabbath who sanctified it nor know it to be called the first day of the week for that the Jewes called this day the first of the Sabbath and so was called by them in sacred Scripture and for that the latter Translators of the Bible would have this name by which the Jews called it to be in our tongue called the first day of the week So as that now we count it not the day of the Sun as our Heathen Ancestors did nor count it to be the first of our work-dayes or first in order and tale of our week-dayes as the Jewes did The name of the day doth neither adde nor alter any thing of the nature thereof Thirdly here is set down the equity of this law It is so reasonable that none need complain The Lord alloweth man six dayes and reserveth but one for himself Six dayes shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do but the seventh is the Sabbath How unreasonable are such who are not contented with the Lords liberal allowance but incroach on the Lords day also which he reserved for his own honour and worship Fourthly in that the Lord did in many words set down so punctually 1. The works from which men are restrained 2. The persons who are restrained The works forbidden are all kinde of Trades Professions and Occupations which on other dayes men do or may use for getting their living and maintenance There is no word in English which doth so fully expresse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which here the Lord forbiddeth to be done as doth Function Art or Occupation as I shewed before so that none can excuse himself saying that his Profession requireth little or no labour of the body as do husbandry and divers other Handicrafts for God forbids 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all Vocations Functions or Occupations Men ought to abstain from all their works of what Profession or Vocation soever they be Yea these works are not only forbidden in respect of the labour of the hand but of the tongue and minde also we should not be talking of them neither should our hearts and mindes run on them on the Lords day As God for the furtherance of mans true obedience to this law hath fully shewed the works we are forbidden to do so doth he also as fully and in many words shew who are forbidden to do any of these works Thou nor thy sonne nor thy daughter nor c. Whosoever hath any authority and command over himself must not only be careful that he himself abstain from his labours but also if he hath authority and command over others as sonne daughter man or maid Oxe or Asse he is to see that they also cease from all work-day-labours on the seventh day he is not to imploy any of them he nor any of his may imploy either Oxe or Asse nor lend or let them to hire for their labour on the seventh day or on any part of that day The Lords expressions are large herein that so all pretences and excuses may be taken away Fifthly the Lord sheweth here and would have us to know that we have no right unto the seventh day nor to any part thereof for doing of our own works thereon for the seventh day is the Lords day
believing that the Apostles of Christ by the appointment of our Saviour changed the old Sabbath so they call the Seventh-day Sabbath to the Sabbath of the first day of the week so that now the Church of God is to rest before they labour and unto not from their labour 3. Some again knowing that the Jewes Saterday-Sabbath was Ceremonial and abrogated do thence hold and maintain the Seventh-day Sabbath to be abrogated also and for that they know not any other Sabbath-day appointed by divine Authority in stead thereof do inferre that Christians now in time of the Gospel are to have and keep no Sabbath-day at all Thus kinde Reader I have shewed thee the ground and cause of these various and different opinions about the Sabbath-day Whence have issued most if not all the Controversies that are now on foot between them The only mean to stop all future Controversies and bring all sides to accord in one truth about the Sabbath-day is to take away and wipe off from their mindes the aforesaid errour which occasioned all their differences For as long as they or any side of them hold that the seventh day which God blessed and sanctified and commanded to be observed by all his people doth relate to the six dayes of Gods work and not of mans that is as long as they hold the seventh day here commanded to be the very day of Gods rest the seventh day from the first beginning of the Creation they will never come to agree in the truth but more and more differences will still rise Whereas if they all consent in the true understanding of the aforesaid words of the Commandment that the seventh day relateth to the six dayes of work with men and so must be the day after the six week-dayes of labour with people whereever they dwell Agreement then of all sides will be had That great stumbling block given the Jewes of our not keeping the seventh day according to Gods Precept and Example which doth so stave them off from affecting our Religion will be wholly taken away they cannot then but acknowledge that we keep the seventh day of the week the day following our six dayes of labour the very Sabbath-day pointed out unto us here in this law They also who now stand for a new Sabbath-day who say the Sabbath-day is changed and the first day of the week to have been instituted in stead of the seventh will have no ground for such their assertion And lastly they who say the Church of Christ never observed the Sabbath since Christs Ascension and would from the practice of the Apostles and the Church of Christ argue the abrogation of the Seventh-day-Sabbath will quickly be of another minde and acknowledge that as the Jewes observed that day for their Sabbath which in this law was commanded by the Lord God so Christians also have ever done they have observed the same day the last day of the week the day following their six dayes of labour according to Gods example But Courteous Reader haply thou doubtest here and wouldest be satisfied that whereas God commandeth by this law all his obedient children to keep the seventh day of the week which is the Sabbath-day holy unto his honour If the Jewes then keep the sabbath-Sabbath-day on the seventh day of the week according to Gods command How can Christians who keep their Sabbath a whole day after be said to keep their Sabbath on the seventh day of the week too according to Gods Commandment For thy satisfaction herein let me now ask thee one Question like unto thine thine answer to mine will satisfie thine owne Suppose the Pope made a decree that all his obedient children should keep the 25. day of December which is Christmas day holy to the honour of Christ If the French then keep Christmas-day on the 25. of December according to the Popes decree How can the English Papists who keep their Christmas-day full ten dayes after be said to keep their Christmas-day on the 25. day of December too according to the Popes decree Thou wilt answer me that the French and English Papists did all of them keep their Christians-day on the same day of the moneth on the 25 day of December according to the Popes decree and that the reason why the 25. day of December with the French came to be ten dayes sooner then with the English was for that they began their moneths sooner by ten dayes then the English did ever since Pope Gregory altered their year The like answer I give thee the Iewes and Christians all of them keep their Sabbath on the same day of the week on the seventh day of the week and that the reason why the seventh day of the week with the Iewes came to be a day sooner then it did with Christians was because they began their week a day sooner then they did before and sooner then the Gentiles did and Christians now do and that did they ever since the Lord caused them after their coming out of Egypt to alter their year and their moneths as I have shewed in the 3. and 10. Chapters more fully So that if we could agree in the true understanding of the aforesaid words of the Commandment that by the seventh day is not meant the day following Gods six dayes of work but the day following mens six dayes of labour all our controversies about the Sabbath-day will soon end Wherefore to clear and make apparent unto all men that this is the true meaning and that the said words of the Commandment are so to be understood I have in this ensuing Tract First discover'd that old and rotten root from whence this error of holding the day of Gods rest to be the same with the Jews Sabbath whereever they lived had its first spring and that was from a meer supposal of the earths superficies to be plain as a champion field as is shewed fully in the 11. Chap. Indeed if the earth be plain every day must be the same day with all people Every of the six dayes at the creation must be every where the same day of the week and so the seventh day from the first beginning of the creation the day of Gods rest must be the seventh day of the week with the the Jews in Judea in Ophir in Spain and in all other places the which cannot be if the earth be round as thou mayest see more at large in Chap. 11. Object But the dayes of the week begin sooner in some places then in other Then so may the day of Gods rest also Answ One and the same week-day doth not begin sooner in some places then in other The day which men call Sunday at Jerusalem begins sooner then the day we call Sunday here But they be not both one and the same day One and the same day is for one and the same place only If one and the same day should begin sooner in some places then in other then it must needs be
Assyrian Monarchy Pag. 203. every one on his day had some peculiar worship done unto it and the day on which any of the Planets had his worship according to their order that day was called by the name of that Planet so worshipped As Saint-worshippers do call the dayes of the moneth on which they give special worship to St. Peter St. Iohn St. Iames St. Peters day St. Iohns day and St. James day So did those Sun-worshippers on what days of the week they gave special worship to the Sun or Moon or Saturn those dayes were called by the names of the day of the Sun the day of the Moon the day of Saturn The time of the day for their worship was ever the forenoon not the whole forenoon for them all but at the rising of the Sun when the first houre of their day for such worship began And that Planet which came to be worshipped by course the first houre of the day was counted trump or Lord of that day They gave not equal honour unto the Planets neither were the dayes of their week alike sacred but they had the Sun in the greatest honour and for their most high God next to him was the Moon and next Saturn so accordingly were their dayes sacred their chiefest day of the week being then the day of the Sun of which I shall speak more when I come to speak of their seventh day sacred Boëmus telleth us writing of Assyria and their customes that foure of the Planets they had in lesse esteem then the rest His words are these Martem Venerem Mercurium Jovem prae caeteris observari quoniam velut proprium cursum sortiti futura ostenderent tanquam Deorum interpretes quod ipsum adeò persuasum habuerunt ut quatuor ista astrauno nomine Mercurios appellarent b Boëmus ubi de Assyria That they diligently observed Mars Venus Mercury and Jupiter for these by their proper course would foreshew things to come as being Interpreters of the gods out of considence whereof they called all these foure starres Mercuries And my opinion is that as Boëmus doth here orderly recite their names in the same order did the idolaters place them aloft in their Temples Mars on the right hand and Venus on the lest hand of the other three chief then Mercury on the right hand next to Mars and Iupiter last on the left hand according to this forme presented to the eye Whereto for distinguishing them I have set their usual characters being not skill'd to make a lively draught of them as Verstegan hath done in his Restitution of decayed Intelligence in Antiquities And I have set down under them their names also not in the Assyrian language but as the ancient Saxons of old when they were Heathen called them according to Verstegan aforesaid and worshipped them calling the dayes of their week also by the names of these their gods or planets which then they worshipped Sunday Monday Tuescoes day Woodensday Thorsday Frigaesday Saterday And we from them to this houre so call our week-dayes Munday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday c. I suppose the Saxons to be a very ancient Nation for that among many other they come nearest to the Assyrians in their ancient idolatry But behold the forme ☿ Woden ♂ Tuisco ☾ Mone ☉ Sone ♄ Sater ♀ Friga ♃ Thor Note here that the Assyrians reade from the right hand to the left and so we are to read the names of these Planets The reasons moving me to think these Idols to be thus placed aloft in their Temples are especially two First for that the Romish Church when they had got some power into their hands and did in Pope Boniface the fourth his dayes suppresse the Idolatries of the Heathen who worshipped their Idols in the Temple at Rome which was dedicated to all the gods and then called Pantheon and having instead thereof set up another kinde of worship like unto that even of the Virgin Mary and All Saints whereupon that day was by that Pope Boniface made an holy day called by the Name of All-Saints day and the Temple also dedicated to the Virgin Mary and All Saints called thenceforth Ecclesia Beatae Mariae rotunda a Tho. Val. Nic. Triveth Com. in Aug. de Civit. Dei l. 2. c. 4. I will deliver the words of an old Chronologer hereof Iste Bonifacius scilicet Quartus consecravit Pantheon id est Templum omnium Deorum ubi Christiani periclitabantur à Daemonibus Et est pulchra similitudo quomdo Spiritus Sanctus ex malis institut is Paganorum scit eligere Sanctum exercitium devotionis quasi medicina fiat ex veneno Vbienim impii colebant Daemones ibi Christiani colunt omnes Sanctos sic ars deluditur arte b Fascicu tempotum And a little after Festum omnium Sanctorum institur à Bonifacio quarto Then at that time I suppose were the images of the Saints placed up on high in their roode which common people here with us call their rood-loft in imitation of the Heathen For commonly when the Romish Church put down any idolatrous custom of the Heathen then they set up another resembling that which they put down and this did they either for avoiding the greater scandal of the Heathen which were then potent or to winne them the better by degrees to Christian Religion or for some other by-respect As the Heathen had some one or other particular Planet or Idol to be the Patron and Protector of some one people or other and so many Protectors as there were nations Belus for Assyria Diana for Ephesus Jupiter for Rome Juno for Samos Bacchus for Thebes c. So when that idolatry was supprest in stead of these idols the Romane Church had holy Saints to be invocated and had for Protectors in like manner Thus was St James for Spaine St. Dionysius for France St. Andrew for Scotland c. As the heathen idolaters had for several occasions several gods and goddesses on whom they called for help Bellona in time of warre Cunina for infants Segetia for standing corne Forculus to keep the doors c Aug. de Civ Dei l. 4. c. 1. c. So the Romane Church to winne the heathens by degrees suffered them to continue in idolatry still but instead of their Demi-gods they should invocate Saints St. Rumbal for the tooth-ache St. Petronel for the ague St. Loye for horses St. Anthony for pigs St. Gregory for Schollers St. George for souldiers c. What were the Monks and Friars the chaste shavelings and holy Nunnes but the natural successors of Berecynthia's and Vesta's Priests and Virgins Rome heathen had two goddesses in special reverence Berecynthia and Vesta Berecynthia they held to be the mother of the gods a Aug. de Civ Dei l. 2. c. 4. Her Priests were chaste unmarried men and if it hapned that any one of them could not live chastely yet he lived warily until that Atys b Tho. Vallois
Nic. Triveth in Aug. de Civ Dei l. 2. c. 4 7. l. 7. c. 25. one of her dearest Priests lived neither chastely nor warily wherefore he was caused to be gelded c Ovid. de fast l. 4. after which time the Priests of Berecynthia otherwise called Cybel were gelded also and as some Commentators on Augustine say were cal'd Galli id est Castrati d Tho. Val. Nic. Trivethiccis praedic When these were put down by Christians Popish Priests and Friars succeeded in their room until this time It hath been wished by not a few that these had been gelded also as were the former for though these have lived cautè chastely no more then Atys did witnesse the many bones and sculls of infants that have been credibly reported to have been found in their motes and ponds e Nic Fox his Martyr p. 1155 Andr. Willet Synops Pap. Controv. 5. Quaest. 5. As for the other goddesse Vesta Ovid and Augustine witnesse and none denieth that her Priests were Virgins that idolatrous custome being put down also this of Nuns and Votaries of chastity unto the honour of the Virgin Mary much like unto that was set up Now I say these and other the like practices of the Roman Church in putting down the idolatrous customes of the Heathen idolaters and setting up such of their own near alike and resembling them make me to conceive that the idols which the Heathen worshipped in their Temple Pantheon and in other their Temples were placed aloft in a rowe or rank in like manner as I shewed before for that the images of the Saints which the Romane Church erected to be worshipped in stead of the other were so set Secondly for that as Lyranus telleth us the learned Doctors expound these words of Ezechiel And lo they put the branch to their nose f Lyra. in Ezec. c. 8.17 thus their idols were lifted up aloft therefore the idolaters reached up rods or branches to touch them and after that they put their rods or branches to their mouths or noses in reverence to their idols Had not their idols been placed aloft in manner as the images of the Saints afterwards were I suppose those Doctors would not have given such an interpretation of that text The placing of the idols of the heathen in such manner as is before said I confesse is my opinion and for the reasons before given which if they seem weak to any I leave the same to his better judgement not willing to contest against any herein being not a matter of great concernment But that the planets were the proper gods of the Chaldeans and Assyrians of old time and that the dayes of the week were first so called by the Chaldeans according to the names of the Planets which they worshipped and had for their gods as I before said is not mine opinion only but learned men have testified as much And People as they multiplied and planted themselves the nearer to Chaldea and Assyria the more did they either for feare or favour imitate them in their idolatries insomuch that among the Persians none were to be honoured as Kings unlesse they were Astronomes a Clav. in Sphaer Je. de Sacr. Bos c. 1. neither were any to be Priests with the Egyptians but such They all were worshippers of the Host of heaven generally and called the dayes of the week by the names of the Planets as the Chaldees did And as the Chaldees had the Sunne and Moon in more special honour then the other planets so had other Nations also Concerning the Egyptians thus saith Eusebius of them Priscos Aegyptios cum oculos in hujus mundi contemplationem defixissent cúmque rerum omnium c. That when the Egyptians in old time had fixed their eyes in the contemplation of this world and with the greater admiration wondred at the nature of all things concluded that the Sun and the Moon were everlasting gods and governours of all things b Euseb de Praepa Evan. l. 1. c. 9. So did many other Nations also count the Sun and Moon to be chief him to be King and her to be Queen worshipping them in the forme of men and women and called the Sun Phoebus and the Moon Phoebe him Delius her Delia him Cynthius her Cynthia him Titan her Titania him Janus her Iana or Diana by prefixing the letter D. according to Nigidius quaelitera saepè ante I decoris cansâ apponitur of which see Macrobius a Macro Saturn l. 1. c. 23. him they called Iupiter her Iuno him Dux Princeps luminum the King of Heaven her Astroarche the Queen of Heaven Yet gave they not equal honour and worship to the Moon or to any other of the Planets as they did to the Sun him they held to produce and order all things and all the others to be as Rulers and Governours under the Sun acting no further then they had power and commission from the Sun from whom they received their light influence and power of working Wherefore as Papists say that in worshipping Peter Iames Magdalene and the rest of the Saints on their dayes they worship Christ in them Christ in his Saints So the Sun-worshippers thought that in honouring the Commissioners and chiefest Officers of the Sun they honoured the Sun who was the Lord of them all And therefore when they worshipped any one of these planets on his day they regarded not whether the planet was before them or behinde their backs or over them or under them or in what Meridian soever it was but alwayes worshipped Eastward towards the Sun-rising e Ezech. 8.16 and that at the rising of the Sun only And such as were more devout then other would have their places for worship on the tops of hills or at least on the roofs of their houses f 2 King 17.10 11. 16.4 Ezech. 6.13 Esa 65.757 7. Zeph. 1.5 Jer. 19.13.32 29. where they may adore the Sun at his first approach into their Horizon And the images of the other planets were all called the images of the house of the Sun g Ier. 43.13 The Gentiles had a multitude of gods by which they honoured the Sun and which they honoured as gods from some vertue or excellency of the Sun Diversae virtutes solis nomina Diis dederunt as Macrob. sheweth fully d Macrob. Saturn l. 1. c. 9.17 18 19 20 21 22 23. and that Iupiter Mars and all the Rabble of the Heathens chiefest gods had their godship from the Sun As the Chaldees had the Sun for their supreme God everlastingly governing not only all the rest of the planets but all other things in the world wherby the world was by them held to be eternal without either beginning or ending and the memory then of the Creation and of the Creator himself vanished from among them Even so had other nations also the Sun for their chiefest Governour of the world and thus they reasoned the
Case Si Solut veteribus placuit Dux est moderator luminum reliquorum solus stellis errantibus praestat ipsarum vero stellarum cursus ordinem rerum humanarum pro potestate disponunt velut Plotino constat placuisse significant necesse est ut Solem qui moderatur nostra moderantes omnium quae circa nos geruntur fateamur auctorem a Macrob. Saturn l. 1. c. 17. c. If the Sun according to the opinion of men in ancient times be the Chief and Governour of the other luminaries and he alone surmounting in excellency the other planets according to the vertue of whose motions the order of all humane affaires is disposed or as Plotine would is signified it necessarily followeth that we should acknowledge the Sun who governeth those that govern our affaires to be the Author of all things that are brought to passe among us Men by the glimmering light of nature knew that there was a God but what God is natural reason could not dictate unto them Plato when he was to speak of God as Macrobius relateth c Macrob. in somn Scip. l. 1â— c. 2. Dicere quid sit non ausus est hoc solum de eo sciens quòd sciri quale sit ab homine non possit solùm verò ei simillimum de visibilibus Sotem reperit Sol ipse de quo vitam omnia mutuantur c. and in Timaeo speaking of the eight Spheres he calleth the Sun Dux moderator Princeps luminum reliquorum Cor Coeli Mens Mundi c. No creature could men see which might set out the glory power and excellency of our God better then the Sun Apud Priscas Gentilitatis Nationes nil prorsus inter creata cuncta quod mortalium mentes in sui Venerationem alliceret pertraherétque magìs quà m ipse Sol ob nimium splendorem eminentiámque sui comperiebatur d Glos Mag. in Gâ—n c. 1. Diodor. Sicul. Ant. l. 1. c. 2. Not any Nation of note under heaven but adored the Sun and had it in honour as their great God For besides the Chaldeans the first setters up of this idolatry the Persians worshipped the Sun their God and this idolatry continued in Persia after our Saviours incarnation Sozoman sheweth us at large the Martyrdom of Simeon the Arch-bishop of Seleucia a Sâ—zâ—m Eccl. hist l. 2. c. 8. for that he refused to turn from the true God to worship the Sun And also of the Martyrdom of Vsthazar who was the Guardian and Bringer up of Saboris then King of Persia yet for that he being converted by Simeon aforesaid refused any longer to worship the Sun he was condemned even by Saboris himself to die and so was martyred Secondly the Sun was the Egyptians God as I shewed before out of Eusebius yea and that many yeares before Ioseph or any of Iacobs Posterity came to set their feet in Egypt Ir-shemesh in the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the City of the Sun in which was the Temple of the Sun b Lyra. In Jer. 43.13 wherein the Sun was worshipped and wherein were the images of the planets all called the images of the house of the Sun This City was called On and he that was Priest of the Sun in that City in the dayes of Iacob was Potipherah a man in great honour with the Egyptians else doubtlesse Pharaoh when he so highly advanced Ioseph would not have given him Asenath that Priests daughter to wife as he did c Gen. 41.45 In the Bishops translation he is called the Prince of On. And I suppose the cause thereof to be for that the translators might think him being the Priest of the Sun to be the chief Priest above other Priests as an Archbishop was above other Bishops and such were stiled by them for honours sake Princes but this Potipherah in the Septuagint is cal'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sacrificer in the City of the Sun 3. The Phenicians had the Sun for their God and the idol in which they worshipped the Sun was called Heliogabalus In later times those two Emperours Aurelius Antonius and Severus Alexander were both of them Priests of the Sun before they were Emperours in Rome the former was called Bassianus the other Alexianus as Herodian a Herod de vita Imper. Rom. l. 5. who wrote this history testifieth The former while he was Bassianus and Priest to Helingabalus was highly beloved and praised for his vertues but being Emperour he became altogether as vicious and hated of the People but most notorious did he become after such time as he married a Vestal-Virgin and also had in Rome made a marriage between his God Heliogabalus and the Moon called Vrania the idol of Carthage but the Phenicians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Herodian they called her Astroarche the Queen of Heaven This Emperour gloried in this his marriage made affirming 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it was a meet marriage the Sun to be joyned to the Moon This his dallying with his God brought infamy on his name and he is ever since known by the name of Heliogabalus 4. The Sun was the Trojanes God they had divers gods but their chiefest were the Sun and Pallas As Belus was the Protector of Babylon so was Pallas of Troy her Image in which she was adored was kept in the strong Temple or Tower of the Sun as the Images of the Planets with the Egyptians were kept in their house of the Sun b Ier. 43.13 So the Image of Pallas called the Palladium feigned to be sent them from the Sun was kept in the Tower or Temple of Phoebus as in a place most safe and there was it adored and he that was the Priest of the Sun and for that Tower or Temple when Troy was taken was a very honourable man of the house of Otreus and brother to Hecuba called by Saint Augnstine Pantheus c Aug. de Civ Dei l. 1. c. 2. So Virgil also called him Ecce autem telis Pantbeus elapsus Achivûm Pantheus Otriades arcis PhoebÃque sacerdos d Virg. Aencid l. 2. 5. The Sun was the Grecians god and in Athens once the chief City in Greece the Court or place of Judgement was to be open without any covering in full view of the Sun holding that the Judge would not dare to give wrong judgement in the sight of the Sun who was said by Homer to have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a revenging eye and who seeth all things and heareth all things according to the said blinde Hemer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Hom. Iliad l. 3. which to do saith Plato is the power of none but of God b Plat. de legih l. 2. The Court of Judgement aforesaid had its name from the Sun and so had the Judge also The one was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and their Philosophers for the generality of them held
it hath already been proved 1. That the seven planets were of old the Gentiles gods 2. That the seven dayes of the week were deputed to those their gods and as John Gregory doth assure us a Jo. Greg. in his Assyrian Monarchy in his Assyrian Monarchy that the dayes of the week were called of the Assyrians by the names of the same planets unto whom the week-dayes were severally dedicated and that all Nations did from them call the dayes of the week in like manner 3. That the Sun was of all their gods held the chiefest and supreme Now common sense and reason will tell us that the day which was by them dedicated to their chiefest God and bare his name the day of the Sun which we call Sunday must be with them the chiefest day of all the seven in their estimation and therefore was it with them not only a seventh day of the week but the seventh day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither was Sunday the 7th day of the week with the idolatrous Gentiles only but was also as it is most probable that seventh day which the Patriarchs before the flood held to the honour of the Creator in remembrance of the Creation and of Gods resting on the seventh day For when Nimrod otherwise called Saturnus Babylonicus Belus his sonne and other Potentates of Assyria and Chaldea had idolatrously set up the whole Host of heaven that is the Sunne Moon and the other planets with constellations subservient to them which of the seven dayes of the week will any reasonable man imagine did they dedicate to the honour of their greatest god the Sun rather then that which before was held to the honour of God the Creatour surely not any other And when these Assyrian and Chaldean Powers had as much as in them lay robbed God if I may so say of his Titles Attributes Providence Works of Creation Government and Worship and gave the chief of all their spoiles to their chiefest god the Sun Nimrod giving him the name Baal b Jo Greg. Assyr Monar which he afterwards assumed to himself b Jo Greg. Assyr Monar Belus giving him the name Jove b Jo Greg. Assyr Monar Jehovah in the Hebrew the which he assumed afterward unto himself b Jo Greg. Assyr Monar and was called Jove Bel c Biblian They called the Sun God and held him the God of Gods and Lord of Lords and Governour of all things and that the world was not created but was from everlasting governed by the planets the Sunbeing chief and soveraign Ruler Would they not do the like may any one think with that day which was held to the honour of the Creatour All that was known to be for the worship and honour of God the Creatour they gave to the honour of the Sun and therefore doubtlesse they deputed to the Sun that day also Again when they assigned to every of those gods the seseveral dayes of the week no indifferent understanding man but will conceive that they would dedicate to their greatest god the Sun the day held before to the honour of the great God of heaven and earth rather then to the Moon Mercury or other inferiour gods So that most likely the seventh day with the Patriarchs was none other but that which afterward was the Suns day with the Assyrians and from them was called the day of the Sun with other Nations also as the other week-dayes were called by the names of the other planets and so by custome have they continued to be called with all Nations of any note for Civility and Knowledge except with the Jewes only who after their coming our of Egypt had another day assigned unto them for their seventh sacred day and had a special command given them not to make any mention of those gods of the Nations nor to have their names at all in their mouth as I have shewed before 2. Sunday was the seventh day of the week with the Gentiles as may be collected from the pens of many learned Authors as well Christian as Heathen Aug. Steuchius in Gen. 2. speaking of the seventh day affirmed that it was in omniaetate inter omnes gentes venerabilis sacer The like do Chrysostome Beda and other more whose words I have before in the 13. chapter expressed Also amongst the most ancient Poets divers of them do testifie the same as Linus Callimacus Hesiod and Homer who was above two hundred years before Eudoxus knew what Astrology was All of them were Heathen yet all of them spake very laudably of the seventh sacred day Their words for brevities sake I will not here rehearse sith they are to be seen and are urged by many Writers as namely Clem. Alexand. Strom. l. 5. Euseb de Praep. Evang. l. 13. c. 17. Rivetus in Gen. c. 2. and in his Dissert de Origine Sabba Also Dr. Heylin in his History of the Sabbath par 1. c. 4. Now the seventh day so laudably by them spoken of was the day of the Sun For 1. It was not Saterday the Jewes seventh day The Gentiles liked the Jewes Saterday as said a Papist the devil doth holy water It was counted by them a disdainful novelty their Poets commonly would have one lash or other at the Jewes for it and never spake in honour thereof 2. The Adversaries themselves do grant that the day of the Sun was the seventh day and sacred also with the Heathen but here 's their evasion The seventh day sacred to the Sun with the Heathen say they was the seventh day of the moneth and not the seventh day of the week Now that the day of the Sun was the seventh day of the week with the Heathen and not the seventh day of the moneth thus I prove 1. Clemens and Eusebius both alledge the said Poets to shew that the Gentiles had the seventh day of the week sacred with them 2. Other Authors generally take Sunday with the Gentiles for a week-day and not for the day of a moneth 3. Had the seventh day sacred to the Sun been the seventh day of every moneth as they affirme the Greeks doubtlesse would have noted the same down in their Calenders Though they could not set down constantly the seventh day of the week by reason of their intercaling so many dayes at a time no more then others then could do and no more then we can set down the moveable Feasts that were with us unlesse it be in a yearly Almanack before that Julius Caesar had corrected the year Yet never shall we see a Calender in which the principal immovable sacred dayes were omitted Now there is an ancient Attick Calender to be seen in Scaliger de emend temp wherein things of lesse consequence are noted but this seventh day sacred to the Sun in each moneth cannot be found 4. Dr. Frances White and Dr Heylin also tell us b White of the Sabbath p. 197. Heyl. part 2. p. 53. that Christians of the
first ages because they kept the Sunday for their sacred services and bowed Eastward in their worship were upbraided for Sun-worshippers though they neither worshipped the Sun nor called their day of worshipping God Sunday but the Lords day being their Sabbathr sacred day of rest to the Lord. Surely if Sunday had not been with the Heathen who were Sun-worshippers indeed a weekly service day but the seventh day of the moneth only there had been no cause or ground why either Jew or Gentile should have cast such an aspersion on them of being worshippers of the Sun 5. This may further appear by the decree of Pope Milchiades whom some call Miltiades the last of all the Popes that were Martyrs He to make a clear difference between the observation of Sunday by Christians and the observation of Sunday by the Heathen ordained that all Gentiles who were converted and were Christians should not fast on the Sundayes nor on the Thursdayes as the other Gentiles did Note that as Wednesday Friday and Sunday were now in late times called sacred or Prayer-dayes so were Thursday and Sunday in old times on which dayes they filled not themselves as on other dayes till their sacred services were ended The decree Sever. Binius on the life of the said Pope sets down thus Jejunium verò Dominici diei quintae feriae nemo celebrare debet ut inter jejunium Christianorum Gentilium veraciter c. He would not that Christians should fast on the Thursday and on the Lords day called by the Gentiles Sunday that so there might be an open and apparent distinction between Christians and the Heathen in the observation of those dayes From which time till of late our tables have testified obedience to that decree being usually furnished with more variety of dishes on the Sundayes and Thursdayes then on any day of the week besides If any one here say that these dayes were not sacred but Fasting dayes because Binius calls them jejunia I would have him informed that sacred dayes were with the Heathen called Fasts because they abstained from feeding themselves till their services were ended the like did the Jewes yea and Christians too in old time Trogus writing the customes of the Jewes when he would tell us that Moses ordained the Saterday being the seventh day with the Jewes to be a sacred day perpetually he thus expresseth the same Septimum diem more Gentis Sabbatum appellatum in omne aevum jejunio sacravit Moses a Trog li. 36. Doctor Heylin sheweth plentifully that the Heathen Poets and others called sacred dayes Fasting dayes b Heyl. part 1. pa. 102. But to put us out of doubt that the Thursday and Sunday were not only fasting dayes but sacred also with the Heathen Platina resolveth the case who on the life of the said Pope sets down his decree thus Miltiadis institutum fuit nè Dominico neve feriâ quintâ jejunaretur quia hos dies Pagani quasi sacros celebrant Whereby it appears that Sunday was a sacred day not of the moneth but of the week with the Heathen 6. Lastly the testimonies of diverse learned writers shew that the day of the Sunne with the Gentiles was a week-day even the same which we call the Lords day Sozomen telleth us that Constantine commanded Dominicum diem quem Ebraei primum Sabbati appellant Graeci Soli deputant c. à cunctis celebrari c Sozom. Eccl. hist. li. 1. cap. 8. Constantine then held that the day which the heathen Greeks deputed to the Sunne was the very same which we call the Lords day Justin Martyr in several passages called the Lords day no otherwise then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as then the Gentiles or Greeks called it saith Doctor Heylin d Heyl. par 2. pag. 62. and we call it now Bonaventure acquaints us how Christians spoiled the day of the Sunne of its Idolatrous worship and so kept it in honour of Christ Secundum Gentiles dies Dominicus primus est cùm principio illius diei incipit dominari principalis planeta Sol propter quod vocabant eundem diem Solis exhibebant ei venerationem Vt ergo error ille excluderetur reverentia cultús Solis Deo exhiberetur praefixa fuit Dominica dies quâ populus Christianus vacaret cultui Divino f Bonav in 3 Distin. 37. Cael. Rhodigin lect Antiq. li. 13. cap. 22. thus sheweth Nos jure optimo diem quem Mathematici Solis vocant Domino ascripsimus dicavimúsque illius cultui totum mancipavimus It seemeth by these that Christians at first devested the Sunne of the worship given him on the day of the Sunne and gave the whole right of worship on that day unto the Lord God They served the day of the Sunne as the men of Israel were to serve their captive maidens the things that grew excrementitiously on them as hair and nailes were to be shaven and cut a Deut 21.12 and so cast away c. and then the men lawfully might keep and use them So Christians of the first age after Christs ascension pared off and cast away what did excrementitiously if I may so say grow on the day of the Sunne as the adoration and superstitious services given to it on that day and then they lawfully might and did make use of the same and it became their standing service-day unto Gods honour Divers other testimonies of sundry authors may be given to prove the day of the Sunne with the Gentiles to be not their seventh day of the moneth but their seventh day of the week all which I here omit only I referre the reader for his further satisfaction to Doctor Heylins history of the Sabbath b Heyl. par 2. pag. 53 61 62 63. wherein he sheweth that not only the dayes of the Moon of Mars of Mercury c. with the Gentiles were the same which we call Munday Tuesday Wednesday c. But also that the day of the Sunne is the same which we call Sunday proving the same out of Tertullian Justin Martyr Saint Augustin and others Quest But here it may be demanded that sith the Sunday was the day sacred with the Heathen dedicated to the Sunne and to the dishonour of God so much abused by their Heathenish superstition and Idolatry Whether Christians in the Apostles time or afterward should not have done well to have chosen Friday or Saterday or some other day for their standing day of the week for Gods service rather then the Sunday Answer To alter or change the Sabbath from the seventh day and to make it the eighth ninth sixth or any other then the seventh which is the last day of the week is against the expresse law of God as before hath been shewed though it be nowhere forbidden to alter the whole week by beginning the same sooner or later Secondly they lawfully might and did alter and change both the name and also the worship or service done
by the names of the Planets and so have they continued to call them even to this day The Jewes are now a weak People yet there is not a Prince or Power on earth able to withdraw them from their superstitious custome of keeping the Saterday sacred yea the believing Jewes as was shewed in the Apostles time and in many years after could not be wonne by any means that the Christians might use to give over their Saterday-Sabbath and for unities sake to keep the Lords day on the Sunday except a very few of them who better knew and acknowledged their liberty by Christ How impossible may we then think it to be for any to bring to passe that all Christians in all quarters of the world should leave off their observing the Sunday sacred and have another day in stead thereof In vain therefore would it have been for poor Christians at first to have assayed the same These reasons if there were no more may suffice to shew that although all dayes be in themselves indifferent yet Christians should not have well done had they endeavoured to have changed their seventh sacred day from Sunday to any other week-day no not to Thursday though it was the day of Christ his glorious Ascension nor to Friday though it was the day in which Christ paid our ransome but betrer to retain the same day as they did and which the Church of Christ hath since that kept even to this present time and by Gods grace will so do unto the end CHAP. XVI The Sabbath-day is to be sanctified Works of Piety Government and of Nature only are to be done on the Sabbath-day c. the necessary helpes thereunto THere hath been before shewed that the Sabbath-day in this law commanded to be kept holy is not a part of a day as is the Artificial day but an whole day And that it is not such a kinde of day as are the dayes of the Creation mentioned in the first of Genesis but such a kinde of day as is or hath been in use with men And also that it is not in tale the fifth sixth eighth or nineth day but the seventh not the seventh day of the moneth but the seventh day of the week the day following the six known dayes of labour where men dwell and inhabit Which day with Christians is vulgarly called Sunday otherwise more fitly and as indeed it is The Lords day even our Sabbath-day to the Lord. Now in the next place is to be shewed how the Lords day is to be sanctified To the sanctification of the Sabbath-day of the Lord which we call the Lords day two things are required 1. That we keep it a day of rest 2. That we sanctifie that time of rest That we are to keep it a day of rest the Scripture fully sheweth On the seventh day thou shalt rest in earing time and in harvest d Exod. 34.21 The like have we in divers other places of Scripture calling it a day of rest All men are to cease from the works of their calling which on other dayes they lawfully may yea and ought to do for the maintenance of themselves and theirs Six dayes shall work be done but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest ye shall do no work therein f Lev. 23.3 So are the words here in this law Thou shalt not do any work But whereas we are here forbidden to do any work we must not so understand the words as if on the Sabbath-day we should rest from all kinde and manner of works and so do no work at all upon that day the words of the text do not bear such a sense These are the words of the Commandment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou shalt not do all thy trade Art or occupation and such are the words of the text in divers other places of Scripture a Deut. 5.14 Exod. 35.2 and 31.15 Lev. 23.3 7. Val. Schindler in his Pentaglot on the root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 telleth us thus The Rabbines take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Art or vocation and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the plural for Arts and vocations So Arias Montanus also correcteth Pagnines translation of the Bible that whereas Pagnine hath it Non facies omne opus he turneth it Non facies omnem functionem b Deut. 5.14 where Pagnine translateth thus Omnis quifecerit in eo opus c. Montanus hath it Omnis faciens in eo functionem c Exod. 35.2 Where Pagnine saith Omnis faciens opus in die Sabbati it is thus to be read according to Montanus Omnis faciens opificium in die cessationis d Exod. 31.15 c. The like may be seen in divers other places of Scripture so translated by the one and so corrected by the other Whence we may gather that the true meaning of these words commonly read in our translations Thou shalt not do any work is not that we should do no manner of work at all but that we should do on the Sabbath-day no manner of the works of our trade function and occupation The Smith is not to work at his Anvil nor the Shoomaker with his Awle nor any other about any works that belong to mens trade and profession which on the six dayes of labour they may and should do for getting their maintenance and livelihood There be some other works which on every day may lawfully be done even on the Sabbath-day it self without the least breach of this law and they are of three sorts 1. Works of Piety 2. Works of Government towards the creature subjected to us 3. Works needful to the preservation of mans life These works may be done on every day without any violation to the Law of the Sabbath Neither doth the law of the Sabbath abridge us from doing them on any day What God ordained before ever the seventh day was in being was not and is not nulled or abridged by the law of the Sabbath but these works were before ordained by the Lord. First Man was made and had his being to serve God to honour and worship him to perform duties of Piety in such manner as he should appoint him The doing of these duties on the sabbath-Sabbath-day doth no violation to the law of the Sabbath Men doing them may be said to break or profane the Sabbath yet not break the law of the Sabbath When we have been diligent on the Sabbath-day in doing service unto God and the duties he requireth of us for his honour we may therein be said not to make the day a day of rest but to break the rest or Sabbath yet not to break the Commandment by doing these works Thus Christ told the Pharisees that the Priests in the Temple did profane the Sabbath and are blamelesse a Mat. 12.5 Sure they could not be said to be blamelesse had they by their sacrificing bullocks or sheep broken the Commandment they brake the Sabbath they made it not
make it the fifth or the nineth or tenth or any other then the seventh day Our weeks are not to consist of more or lesse then seven dayes the last day whereof is the Lords day Some call this day the standing day of the week for Gods worship some the Lords day some the Sabbath of the Lord some the seventh day of the week and in this law it is set out to be the day after our six dayes of labour Though these appellations do much differ in letter sound and phrase yet they all signifie the same thing it cannot be the seventh day of the week but it will also be the day after our six known dayes of labour and the standing day of the week for Gods worship this is the Lords day or the Sabbath of the Lord or to the Lord and this is not only a seventh day of the week as all and every other of the week-dayes are but it is the seventh day of the week 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is not appointed from the Lord by this law any set time whence men should begin their week or sevening for to finde the Lords day so that no People Jew or Gentile are tied by this Commandment directly to keep their Sabbath precisely on such or such a day or to begin their Sabbath at any set particular time as from midnight or from Sun-rising noon or Sun-setting God separated the tenth of grapes of lambes of corn c to the use of the Priests and Levites As the seventh day is in this Commandment said to be the Lords and sanctified by the Lord so were those tenths said to be the Lords and sanctified or holy to the Lord. But it cannot there be meant of the very tenth Lambe that fell in order from the Damme or of the tenth eare of corn or of the tenth cluster of grapes first appearing or grown ripe this was too too difficult for to finde out but of the tenth in proportion successively according to the customary manner of their tithing in the places where they lived No more can it be meant here of the seventh day from the first beginning of the Creation which cannot be found out nor from any particular time set by the Lord but the seventh day in proportion successively according as any Nation or people do customarily begin their week in what longitude of the earth soever they do inhabit that seventh day by the expresse words of this law is the Lords day or Sabbath-day to or for the Lord not of the Lord in that sense which some take it as if it were the very day of Gods rest but the 7th day unto the Lord that is sacred or holy to or for the Lord so do the very words of the text import 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 On the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord so also in the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hereto doth the Chaldee Paraphrase accord Die autem septimo Sabbatum est coram Domino And on the seventh day is the Sabbath before the Lord. Also Jun. and Tremel Dies verò septimus Sabbatum est Iehovae But the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord. The sense then and meaning of these words of this Commandment The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord is this The seventh day of the week or the day following the six dayes here allowed man for labour is the Lords day or is sacred to the Lord thy God As we say in tithing of corne wheresoever men by agreement do begin to tithe that nine cocks or stacks of corn are the Farmers but the tenth is the Parsons or is due to the Parson So in sevening out our dayes at what time soever according to mens custome they begin their week or sevening six days are ours but the seventh day is the Lords it is his due and not our own God hath not bound men by this law to any set time when to begin their week either at the Sun-setting as the Jews began their week or at midnight as Christians begin theirs or at any other set time but in every Nation however they begin their week the seventh day thereof is the Lords It is true that the Jewes had a set time when they should begin their week or sevening and so had a set and peculiar time or day on which they were to keep their Sabbath but this they were not bound unto by this law That Saterday was their seventh or sacred day and that it began at Sun-setting rather then at another time was not by any expresse out of this Commandment but accidentally that thereby they might be the better taken off from the Assyrians idolatry wherewith they and generally most Nations were deeply infected of which I will speak more particularly in the next Chapter CHAP. IX The Assyrians idolatrie All Nations worshipped the Sun THe Assyrians idolatrie wherewith Egypt the Israelites and generally other Nations were infected was both the worshipping of Baal the adoring of the Host of heaven The one was a man deified and worshipped the other were the Starres viz. the Sun Moone and the rest of the Planets a The other stars were honoured but as subservient unto these whom they magnified and adored as gods and governours of the world Concerning Baal and how he came to be worshipped we shall thus finde in Histories and ancient Chronologies Nimrod that mighty Hunter before the Lord being a great and strong Giant began to suppresse and tyrannize over others bringing others in Shinar under him and he ruled as King over them The beginning of his Kingdome was Babel wherefore he was called Saturnus Babylonicus For the most ancient Kings and first founders of a Realme or People they called by the name of Saturne and his eldest son or heire by the name of Jupiter and his daughters were called Junoes c Guevar Epist Thus they cal'd his father Cush Gush Saturnus Aethiops for that Aethiopia was peopled by him And his Grandfather Cham they cal'd Saturnus Aegyptius for that he and his son Jupiter Mizraim peopled Egypt Beside Babel this Nimrod had Erech and Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar d Gen. 10.9 10 11 12. In Processe of time Nimrod left the Kingdom of Babel unto his son Belus whom they called Iupiter Belus not driven out of his Kingdom by his son but Nimrod left the same unto him and went into Ashur there he tyrannized over the children of Ashur and there he built Cities also Niniveh and Rehoboth and Calah and Rezen Ninus succeeded his Father Belus and his Grandfather Nimrod in their Kingdomes and inlarged Niniveh calling it by his own name Niniveh and much inlarged his dominions and became a Monarch This Ninus so condoled and took such grief for the death of his father Belus that for his own comfort and his fathers honour he had a goodly image and representation of his father made which he had in much honour Others
seeing it pleased Ninus reverenced this image by degrees more and more and had faults often pardoned for the image-sake insomuch that at length Bel or Belus his image was held to be the Protector of Assyria and so adored as their Protector Yet was he not worshipped in a Temple till after Ninus was dead Semiramis the Emperesse and the Relict of Ninus amplifying yet more the dominions of her late husband built for Belus a sumptuous Temple and in it a costly pillar for this idol in which pillar was ingraven these words or Epitaph Mihi pater Jupiter Belus Avus Saturnus Babylonicus Proavus Chush Saturnus Aethiops Abavus Saturnus Aegyptius Atavus Caelius Phoenix Ogyges Ab Ogyge ad meum Avum Sol orbem suum circumlustravit semel tricies centies Ab Avo ad Patrem sexies quinquagies A Patre ad me his sexagies Columnam Templum Statuam Jovi Belo Socero Matri Rheae in Olympo Semiramis dicavi a Guevara ep to Don. Fra. Villo Guevara that great Antiquary maketh no mention who first translated this Epitaph or in what language it was engraven but thus is it from his words Englished My Father was Jupiter Belus my Grandfather was Saturnus Babylonicus my great Grandfather was Chush Saturnus Aethiops my great Grandfathers father was Saturnus Aegyptiacus my great Grandfathers Grandfather was Caelius Phoenix Ogyges so she called Noah From Noah unto my Grandfather Nimrod were one thirty and an hundred years note that the Chaldees and Assyrians reade and count their numbers from their right hand as we do from the left From my Grandfather Nimrod unto my father Belus were six and fifty so long Nimrod reigned My father Belus reigned two and sixty yeares I Semiramis have dedicated this Pillar Temple and Image unto Belus my father in law and Rhea his mother in law in Olympia in the name of my late husband Ninus This was the first idol that ever we could reade of to be worshipped in a Temple Assyria becoming a great Monarchy other Nations either for feare or favour had this Belus also for their Protector too calling it according to their several languages a Fascicul tempor Bel Baal Baalim Beelphegor Beelzebub c. with this idolatry as were the Egyptians so were the Israelites much infected The other maine idolatry set up by the power of the Assyrians trough the help of their Chaldees was the worshipping of the Host of heaven that is the Sun and Moon and the rest of the Planets The skilful in Astronomy and Astrology do unanimously testifie of the Fathers and Patriarchs before the flood that they were the first Founders and excellently skilful in Astrology or Astronomy and this may witnesse the two Columnes which they built the one of brick the other of stone in which were engraven the principles thereof that Posterities after the flood may be skill'd also in the knowledge of the heavens and motion of the stars as well as they one where of remained in Syria in the time of Iosephus as he himself relateth b Josehus Antiq Jud. l. 1. c. 4 8. Clav. de Sphae in Jo. de Sacro c. 1. Snd. in Ram. Yea it is not altogether unlikely that the idolatry of worshipping the Host of heaven was long before the flood and that men called then the week-dayes by the names of the Planets as now men do Dr. Hammond in his tract of idolatry commends Maimonides for the soberest of the Jewish Writers he telleth us that from the days of Enosh the stars were worshipped as gods to whom were built Temples and Sacrifices were offered After which in time the great God was generally forgotten no man knew the true God save Henoch Methusalah Noah Sem and Heber and so continued till Abraham was borne Thus much Maimon d Maimor de idol primo How he should come to the knowledge hereof I cannot conjecture But be it granted that before the flood when Astrology principally flourished men were not so wicked then to be carried away to the adoration of any of the Planets yet sure enough Sem who lived a long time before the flood did also live unto the time or near to the time when the Planets were held to be the universal Governours of the world Though he lived not unto Moses dayes yet did he live till Abraham was an old man if so he lived not after Abraham was buried and this idolatry of worshipping the Host of Heaven was before that set up by the Assyrians and their Chaldees After the flood Astrology continued to flourish in and about the countreys of Shinar but especially in Chaldea and such as excelled others there in Astrology were advanced by the Assyrian and Chaldean Monarchs However Nebuchadnezzar would in his wrath had them to be killed for not telling him his dreams a Dan. 2.12 They were called the wise men b Dan. 2.12 13 14. and 4.6 And by those who had their plantations westward they and such Astrologers as they were were stiled the wise men of the East These Chaldees or Magi were held in that honour and esteem with the Assyrians as were the Sophi with the Persians or Priests with the Egyptians c Boömus ubi d. Assyria Boëmus certifieth us further of them that the planets were their proper and peculiar gods and that as Schollers now study Divinity so did they Astrology and as we catechize and teach our children in the knowledge of God so did they theirs in the knowledge of the stars Children were taught Astrology of their Parents they sucked it according to him even from their mothers brests d Boëmus ib. They who went from thence into remote places to finde new Plantations could not apply their time unto such studies building and fencing and planting gave not them the leasure Egypt had small knowledge hereof when Abraham came out of Chaldea and after that came into Egypt and there as losephus e Josephus de Antiq. Jud. l. 1. cap. 15 16. others write instructed their Priests more fully in the knowledge of the stars for which he was of the King rewarded with rich gifts f Rudolph Snel in P. Rami Geom. in prooemio The Grecians were farre more ignorant thereof till near about six hundred yeares before Christ-his incarnation when Anaximander Melisius Thales Milisius Pythagoras and in Platoes time Eudoxus nidius brought the knowledge of Astrology into Greece having learned the same of the Egyptian Priests and Chaldees g Clavius in Sphaer Jo. Sacr. The Romanes grew more ignoraut then the Grecians the farther off Shinar they went the more ignorant rude and base they grew even to worship beasts and base creatures for their gods which we finde not that ever the Assyrians or Chaldeans did before they were subdued and mixed with other nations but the Host of heaven that is the Planets were their gods These their gods they worshipped by course a Jo. Gregory in his