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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45496	Archaioskopia, or, A view of antiquity presented in a short but sufficient account of some of the fathers, men famous in their generations who lived within, or near the first three hundred years after Christ : serving as a light to the studious, that they may peruse with better judgment and improve to greater advantage the venerable monuments of those eminent worthies / by J.H.	Hanmer, Jonathan, 1606-1687.; Howe, John, 1630-1705.; Howell, James, 1594?-1666.	1677 (1677)	Wing H652; ESTC R25408	262,013	452

Latine Versions this Epistle inscribed thus Ad Mariam Cassobolitam sive Castabalitam And so doth the Reverend Primate chuse to name her in the same Chapter The Scholiast upon this Epistle thinks this to be that Mary whom among others the Apostle Paul salutes Rom. 16. 6. a woman of singular piety and stiled by our Author 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most accomplished for wisdom and learning and his most learned Daughter 2. To Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna 3. To the Church of Tarsis 4. To the Church of Antioch 5. To Hero Deacon of Antioch 6. To the Church at Philippi Baronius is very confident that these as well as the former are Ignatii germanas easdemque sincerissimas The true and unfeigned Epistles of Ignatius supposing that none can rationally doubt thereof who will compare them together seeing that in the judgment of all the Learned their agreement in stile character and many other notes of words sentences and things doth plainly speak out and evidence so much Than which saith he a better proof cannot be brought or desired so that there is no ground for the least suspicion of imposture But these big words of his upon examination will appear to be of little or no force as the Reverend Vsher shews for as touching the likeness of stile c. between these Epistles it is not such or so great but he that would counterfeit Ignatius might easily imitate him so far The Forger observed some forms of speech and composition frequently occurring and familiar to him which he conceived was for his purpose carefully to retain He considered that Ignatius delighted in compounding words with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the end and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the beginning for as he himself was surnamed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so are the Ephesians praised by him as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which words and the like he useth also in other of his Epistles Hence the same words are taken up by the framer of these Epistles So likewise in the true Ignatius we meet with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. wherein he is imitated by his counterfeit as also in divers other expressions and sentences which the Impostor might do without any great difficulty so that it ought not to seem strange if there be in some sort an uniformity of stiles found in them Besides the deceit may be discerned by some passages contained in these which cannot be imagined ever to have fallen from the pen of Ignatius e. g. This is reckoned among the Heresies sown by the Ministers of Satan that Christ is he who is God over all Again if any one shall fast on the Lord's day or Sabbath one only excepted he is a murderer of Christ Also if any one celebrate the Pascha with the Jews or receive the symbol of the Festivity he is partaker with those who slew the Lord and his Apostles wherein he condemns the Romans who used to fast on the Sabbath and Polycarp whom he calls most blessed together with the Asian or Eastern Churches who kept the Pascha or Easter after the manner of the Jews viz. as to the day whereon they observed it which plainly shew the Author of these Epistles to have been some latter obscure and absurd fellow altogether unlike Ignatius Moreover in these Epistles there is some mention of some stiled Laborantes who are ranked among the orders of the Clergy And Diaconissae cujusdam Divini cursoris or Letter-carrier of which Functions or Offices Ecclesiastical there is a deep silence among the Ancients which how could it have been had Ignatius written so plainly of them Lastly writing to Polycarp he thus speaks Attend unto your Bishop that God may to you what had he forgot that he wrote to a Bishop Almost throughout this whole Epistle I find saith Scultetus the genuine Ignatius wanting And well might he say so had he only taken notice of those two words which argues the Author to have been but a mean Grecian and very unskillful in that language viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if the copious Greek were destitute of words by which to express the Latine deposita and accepta Upon such considerations as these the famous Whitaker thus concludes concerning five of these latter Epistles for he accounts the Genuine to be seven because that to Palycarp is reckoned as distinct from that unto the Church of Smyrna both by Eusebius and Ierom It 's apparent saith he that five of these are without doubt adulterate and spurious Again it 's certain these are suppositious and foisted in by others And therefore though Baronius do affirm that four of these should be added by the Philippians unto the former collected by Polycarp and sent unto them and that they were afterward commonly known both to the Greeks and Latines which yet neither Eusebius among the Greeks nor Ierom among the Latines both of them curious enough in their enquiries came to the sight and knowledge of who can imagine and would give credit thereunto upon the bare report of the Cardinal Credat Iudaeus Apella Non ego Besides these there are three more of a later date added to the former by Antiocbus the Monk who lived under the Emperour Heraclius and so seems to be coetaneous with the Constantinopolitan Chronicler one of those formerly mentioned who collected the second rank of Epistles between which two collections there could therefore be no great distance of time Thus now at last they are grown up to the number of fifteen the three last added are 1. One unto the Virgin Mary together with her answer 2. Two unto the Apostle Iohn Which saith Bellarmine are not to be found among the Greek Copies of his Epistles nor do they at all savour of the Gravity of Ignatius his stile And Baronius leaves it to the prudence of the pious Reader whether he will allow them any credit or no Only saith he we know that they are cited by Bernard and some later● Authors make mention of them But saith Possevine they are of no such certain credit as the other yea seeing they are not found written in Greek nor mentioned by any of the ancient Fathers ad Bernardum usque unto the obscure age of Bernard It 's the safer course in my judgment saith Mastraeus to rank them among the number of Apocryphal Writings or at least to account them not altogether certain and genuine So faintly and dubiously do even the Romanists themselves speak of the authority of these three last Epistles Hence may we observe with what caution the Epistles of Ignatius even the most received and undoubted since so corrupted are to be made use of and upon how weak and sandy a foundation viz. the pretended authority of Ignatius the Papists build their unsound Doctrines of superstitious honouring the Virgin Mary of the name of Pope

meetest man for such a work with their letters that he might comfort those afflicted Churches confirm them in the truth and confute those heretical adversaries He took Rome in his way haply to confer with and crave the advice and help of Eleutherius Bishop there about this affair unto whom he had letters recommendatory from the Churches making Honourable mention of him During his absence upon this weighty occasion in the great persecution under Antoninus Verus which much raged in the Churches of France the good Bishop Photinus aged ninety years is imprisoned and being brought before the tribunal and by the President asked this question who is the God of the Christians he perceiving this demand to be made rather in way of scorn then out of a serious desire to be informed because h● would not cast pearls before swine vouchsafed him no other answer but this si dignus fueris cognosces when thou shalt become worthy thou shalt know With which answer as contumelious the President being highly provoked commanded the Officers to beat him which accordingly they did handling him in a most barbarous and cruel manner and afterward almost breathless cas● him into a filthy prison wherein about two days after by a glorious death he obtained the crown of Martyrdom The Church of Lyons by this means being destitute of a Bishop none was thought mo●● worthy to suceed the aged Martyr then his Presbyter Irenaeus who not long after returning was accordingly chosen an● took upon him the Government of tha● Church He entred upon the administration thereo● in a very unquiet and turbulent time the sta●● of affairs being much distracted not only b● reason of that grievous storm of persecutio● they had lately been under yea which 〈◊〉 yet scarcely calmed and blown over 〈◊〉 also through the busie attempts of dive●● impostours cunningly seeking to undermin● the Doctrine of Christ. For now had th● Valentinian Hereticks prevail'd and spread 〈◊〉 far as France and among others bewitch●● sundry eminent women with their sott●● and absurd opinions by means of one M●●cus a wretched sorcerer and a wicked deceiver and abuser of the weaker Sex But 〈◊〉 such a manner did this vigilant watchma● and painful Pastour bestir himself that he notably prevented the farther spreading of this Pest and recovered many of those who had been therewith infected And having happily secured his own charge he rested not here but proceeded farther affording his help by his excellent letters unto other Churches also particularly unto that of Rome out of which he endeavoured to weed those tares which the envious man had there sown their careless Bishop how unfit to be an universal overseer it seems securely sleeping the while and leaving the work that properly belonged to himself unto another The chief instruments that Satan here imployed in sowing those tares were Florinus and Blastus Presbyters of this Church but by the Bishop degraded for their impiety in commiseration of whose sad condition infected with so soul Heresies he wrote as is reported those five learned books now extant In such kind of laborious imployments did he spend much of his time under the Emperours Antoninus the whole of Commodus and a good part of Severus Reigns being very serviceable unto the Church of God in his generation not only by his preaching and disputations but also by his writings which he left behind him as singular monuments unto posterity of his zeal for the glory of God and love to his truth as a bright shining lamp lighted and set up by the Lord he diffused his Rayes for the good of many till the oyl was wholly spent and consumed In his time fell out that sharp and lasting contention between the Eastern and Western Churches about the observation of the Feast of Easter as also about the kind and manne● of fasting The Churches of Asia as from an ancient Tradition and herein following the examples of Philip and Iohn Apostles as also of Polycarp with others their Successors observed this Feast on the fourteenth Moon upon what day of the week soever it fell out on which day the Jews were to offer thei● Paschal Lamb. But the Church of Rome together with others in the West did celebrate it always upon the Lord's day and hence grew a great rent between them for those of the East refusing to leave their former usage and custom for which they had so good ● warrant and to conform themselves herei● unto the other Victor who was the Bishop of Rome possessing that Chair that would afterward usurp authority over all Churches and acting accordingly in the heighth of his pride and the heat of his passion begins to threaten and thunder out his excommunication against them Hereupon Irenaeus brooking his name as a lover of peace with the Brethren of the Gallican Churches being grieved at such insolent and harsh proceedings and foreseeing the sad effects they might produce thought it their duty not to stand still as idle Spectators but to interpose at least by their Letters and to endeavour a prevention if it might be of those evils that were like to ensue and follow upon so rigorous and sharp a censure which they did accordingly dealing plainly and roundly with the proud Prelate tartly reprehending him for handling his Brethren in so unchristian a manner and that for things indifferent which he made necessary he would fall upon so extreme a course the cutting off of so considerable a part from the Body shewing withal that his excommunication was void and of no force Now so great was the authority of the man with the Bishop of Rome who had not as yet exalted himself so high that it should not be lawful for any of his Fellow Bishops to take the boldness to admonish him or to say what dost thou though he should lead thousands to Hell and such the strength of the arguments alledged that the issue was as Feuardentius relates the asswaging of his fury and the deterring of him from that rash attempt of cutting off so many famous Churches from the Body of Christ whence followed a more serene face of things and a great tranquillity to the Churches of Christ. § 2. He was a man exceeding eminent and of chief note among those of his time very ancient and not far from the days of the Apostles Honourable mention is made of him by those of the following ages for Eusebius Inter omnes coaetaneos ei palmam tribuit gives him the preheminence above all his contemporaries Others stile him an Apostolical man admirable and the light of the Western Churches an ancient man of God highly commended he is as one in whom the resplendent Beams and brightness of Apostolical Doctrine did gloriously shine forth for what he had learned and received from Polycarp and Polycarp from the Apostle Iohn he retaining it in its purity communicated i● unto the Church so that in all things he

from an ancient Edition of the Septuagint which Philo Iudaeus and Eusebius followed they finding Genesis 6. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filii Dei the Sons of God rendred those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and hence it came to pass that many of the Ancients both Greek and Latin did so expound that place whence sprung the errour above mentioned 3. He attributes too much to the writings of Plato and other Philosophers saying that the Doctrines of Plato differ not from Christ but that they are not altogether like also whosoever live according to reason although they have been accounted without God worshippers of no deity yet are they Christians Such among the Greeks were Socrates Heraclitus and the like to them This it seems he delivered that he might the more easily draw the Gentiles unto the Faith of Christ saith Osiander 4. He too highly advanceth the power and freedom of Man's Will whereof he thus speaks Caeterùm nequis nostra dicta sic accipiat quasi fati necessitatem asseramus que fiunt ideo fieri quia praedicta sunt explicabimus hoc quoque Poenas ac praemia pro dignitate operum cuique reddi verum est compertum ex Prophetarum oraculis Alioquin si fato regerentur omnia nihil omninò relictum esset in nostrâ potestate nam si fatali lege alius bonus esset alius malus nec laudeni ille nee hic mereretur vituperium Et nisi homines arbitratu suo possunt turpia fugere honesta sectari extra culpam erunt quicquid agant Caeterùm quòd liberâ voluntate vel pèccent vel officium faciant sic demonstrabimus c. These things I mention not to discover the nakedness of this venerable Father but that it may from hence appear that the writings of the holy Prophets and Apostles only are exempt from errour and defects and that those of the most eminent men are to be read with caution to be examined by that Touch stone and so far only to be approved of as they shall be found agreeing with that unerring and perfect word and no further for by it must we try the Spirits whether they be of God and proving all things hold fast that only which it shews to be good 7. As for his Death or Martyrdom he was brought unto it by the procurement of one Crescens a Cynick Philosopher with whom he had much contended Which he himself did before apprehend and expect as appears from his own words I look saith he by some one of them who are called Philosophers to be betrayed or brought to the Stake or Tree it may be by Crescens himself the Philosopher a lover of popular applause and of insolent Arrogance a Man unworthy to be called a Philosopher because he publickly witnesseth the things which he knoweth not as if the Christians were Atheistical and Impious which he doth to curry favour with and to pleasure the multitudes whom he hath deceived This Crescens he had provoked and stirred up his implacable malice against him for that he had in a disputation publickly before the Senate reprehended him not only of being ignorant of those things which it became a Philosopher to know but also for his foul and debaucht manners wherefore he accused him to be a Christian and never left till by his restless solicitations he had brought him to his end So at Rome he joyfully suffered Martyrdom for the Name of Christ under the Emperours Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Anno Christi 165. Irenaeus Lugdunensis Episcopus § 1. COncerning his birth where and of what Parents he was born we have nothing certain Only probable it is that for Country he was an Asian and that he came of honest and pious parents not far from if not in the City of Smyrna for there in his youth was he trained up in the School of blessed Polycarp a Disciple of the Apostle Iohn and Bishop of Smyrna Of whom it is reported that being brought before the Proconsul and by him urged to blaspheme and revile Christ he thus answered him Fourscore and six years saith he have I served him neither hath he in any thing ever wronged me and how can I then revile my King that hath hitherto preserved me Also in the same Epistle of the Church of Smyrna it follows concerning him that being in the fire which in the form of a vault or sail of a ship encompassed him about as a wall his body seemed as gold or silver tried in the furnace and that from it there proceeded a sweet and fragrant smell as of frankincense or some such like precious perfume and that at length the persecutors perceiving that the fire consum'd not his body commanded the tormentour to lance him in the side with a spear which done there forthwith issued such a stream of blood out of his body as quenched the fire to the great admiration of the multitude Upon this Reverend Father did Irenae●● with so great diligence attend that the Doctrine which he learned from him was deeply ingraven in his breast so that even to his ol● age he firmly retained the remembrance of i● yea his very gestures so much he himself testifieth in his Epistle unto Florinus sometime his fellow Scholar but tainted with that opinion that God was the Author of evil an● afterward with the errour of Valentinus remember saith he the things of old bett●● then those of later times for the things 〈◊〉 learn in our childhood sink farther into 〈◊〉 minds and grow up together with us 〈◊〉 that I do well remember the place whe●● Polycarp sate when he taught his going o● and coming in his manner and course 〈◊〉 life the figure and proportion of his body the Sermons which he made unto the mult●tude the relation he gave of his converse wit● the Apostle Iohn and others which saw t●● Lord how he remembred their sayings 〈◊〉 what he heard from their mouths touchin● the Lord his power Doctrine c. Hen●● is he not unjustly stiled a man of the Apost●lical times very near unto them and the su●cessor of them By Polycarp he was s●nt unto the City 〈◊〉 Lyons in France whereby his admirable v●●tue he soon became famous in so much that in a small space of time by his preaching he had made almost the whole City Christian. Of this Church he was at first a Presbyter of Pothinus as Ierom Eusebius and Nicephorus call him or Photinus as the Centurists Baronius and Gregory of Turon who was the first Bishop of that place At this time the Churches of Asia being much infested with the New prophesies and delusions of Montanus Alcibiades and Theodotus the Gallicane Churches either of their own accord out of their brotherly love to and care of them or else at their request craving assistance from them against these corrupters of the Gospel sent Irenaeus unto them as the

written by him in Latin yet would not peremptorily conclude it For saith he it is not clear to me whether of the two he wrote in though I rather soppose that he wrote in Latin but was more expert in the Greek and therefore speaking Latin he is bold to make use of Greek figures and forms of speech But most are of another mind judging the Greek to have been the Original Language werein his Books were written And that they were afterward translated by himself saith Feuardentius to cover over the faults of the Translator which are not a few or lest the Testimonies alleadged from the translation should lose of their Authority and Weight or which is most likely by some other All consent in this saith Baronius that he wrote In Greek he wrote many excellent Volumes in the Greek Tongue saith Sixtus Senensis and saith Rhenanus proculdubio without doubt he wrote in Greek for else would not Ierom have ranked him among the Greek Fathers nor have made Tertullian as he doth the third but the fourth as he should among the Latins Pamelius also thinks that both he and those first Roman Bishops unto his time wrote rather in Greek than Latine which things considered it 's a wonder that Erasmus should herein be of the mind he was The Latin Copy of Irenaeus saith Cornatius is an exceeding faulty Translation and may better be restored out of Epiphanius than afford any help in the translating of Epiphanius so that marvailous it is that Erasmus a man otherwise endued with a piercing judgement in things of this Nature should think that Irenaeus did wr●tein Latin To the same purpose speaks the great Scaliger I do admire saith he that from such a feverish Latin Interpreter as he is whom now we have Erasmus should imagine both that 't is the true Irenaeus and that he imitates the Greeks That Latin Interpreter was most foolish and either omitted or depraved many things which he understood not The fragments which are extant in Epiphanius also the History of the things done by Irenaeus in Eusebius do sufficiently prove both that the man was a Grecian and wrote in Greek neither is it to be doubted of c. The Greek Copy therefore written by himself is long since perished only there are some remains of it to be found scattered in several Authors who saw and made use thereof Thus we have seven and twenty Chapters of of his first Book by Epiphanius inserted into his Panarium who took a good part of his second and third Books word for word out of Iuneus and some few fragments in Eusebiu● and Theodoret by comparing of which wit● the Translation we now have it will easily appear how great a loss the Church sustains in the want of it For instead of elegan● Greek we have nothing else in the Ire●e●● now extant but rude and ill-favoured Latin● Nor indeed can a Translation especially 〈◊〉 of Greek into Latin equal the Original seeing that as Ierom speaks the Latin Tongue r●ceives not the propriety of the Greek The Contents of the five Books of this excellent Volume to give you a brief accou●● of them from Grynaeus are these 1. In th● first he at large sets down the dismal and diabolical Errours of the Valentinians together with a narration of the discords and impieties of those wretched Hereticks Wh●●● opinions saith Erasmus are so horrid th●● the very bringing of them to light is confutation sufficient yea the very terms as w●● as the opinions are so monstrous saith the sa●● Author that it would even turn the stomach and tire the patience of any one but to peru●● them over 2. In the second he treats of the one Eternal True Omnipotent and Omniscient God besides whom there is none other And that not any feigned Demiurgus or Angels but this eternal God alone Father Son and holy Ghost did out of nothing produce this whole Fabrick both of Heaven and Earth and gave being to Angels Men and all inferiour Creatures and refuses the Errours of the Gnosticks concerning the same shewing what they stole from the Philosophers to deceive the simple withal and wounding yea overcoming them with Weapons or Arguments fetched out of their own Magazines and Armory 3. In the third which is partly polemical and partly exegetical he discovers and proves the Hereticks to be foully guilty of that heynous crime of corrupting and curtailing the sacred Scriptures and evidently demonstrates the perpetual consent of the Prophets and Apostles concerning our Lord Jesus Christ God and Man 4. In the fourth he clearly and by solid Arguments proves that one and the same God was the Author of both the Testaments the Old and the New and that therein he hath revealed himself and his Will concerning the Restitution and Salvation by Jesus Christ of all men that do repent largely discoursing of the power of the Will and of our imperfection and being gotten out of the craggy and intricate places he enters into a large field explaining many Scriptures depraved by the Hereticks 5. In the fifth and last Book having made a repetition of divers things formerly handled he comes to confute the vain conceits of the Gnosticks concerning the utter perishing of the bodies of men and proves that our bodies shall not only be raised by Christ at the last day but also that the very bodies of the Saints shall injoy eternal life and be saved together with their Souls In the handling whereof he gives a notable experiment as the diligent Reader may observe of a clear head and as of a choice a spirit whence his weighty arguments sharpned with holy Zeal do pierce deeply into the very hearts of the Enemies of the Truth to their shameful prostration and utter overthrow for great is the Truth and will prevail He is one of the Ancients and the only one among those contained in this Decade that had the good hap not to have his name abused by being prefixed to the Books he never wrote nor the bastard-brats of others to be father'd upon him § 4. As for his Stile 't is somewhat obscure and intricate yea he is oftentimes neglectin● of his words and speaks improperly ye such is the subject he discourseth of that ● will hardly admit of clear and plain expressions He himself disclaims Eloquence a● dwelling among the Celtae a people of a barbarous speech Look not saith he for the art of Oratory which we have not learned but what simply truly and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in ● vulgar manner we have written in Love i● Love receive Yet understand him of affected Rhetorick and not that he was altogether ignorant of that art which could not be seeing that in a subject so thorny and perplex his stile is perspicuous digested and coherent So that considering the matter he handleth 't is no wonder he is so obscure and that so little art

comprised in the first Volume a Chronicle containing the times unto the death of Commodus so that it is evident saith he that he finished his Books under Severus 16. He thus descants upon those words of Christ Matth. 10. 23. When they persecute you in this city flee ye into another he doth not here perswade to fly as if to suffer persecution were evil nor doth he command us fearing death to decline it by flight but he wills us that we be to none the authors or abettors of evil he requires us to use caution but he that obeys not is audacious and rash unadvisedly casting himself into manifest perils Now if he that kills a man of God doth sin against God he also is guilty of that Murther who offers himself to Judgement And such a one shall he be accounted that avoids not persecution presumptuously offering himself to be taken He it is that as much as in him lyeth helps forward the impiety of him that persecutes Much like to this is that of Athanasius Numb 11. vid. 17. Behold O man saith he for how small a matter the Lord doth give thee Land to till Water to drink another Water whereby to send forth or export and to return or import thy Commodities Air wherein to breath a House to cover thee from the injury of the weather Fire wherewith to warm thee and whereat to imploy thee a World wherein to dwell all these things so great so many thy Lord hath as it were rented out unto thee at a very easie rate a little Faith a little Thanks so it be true so they be hearty And most unkind thou if thou denyest him that rent the earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof if then thou dost not acknowledge thy Lord being compassed round with his blessings he will then say unto thee Get thee out of my Land and from out of my House touch not my Water partake not of my Fruits If I have rented these out unto thee for so small a matter a little thanks and thou dost deny me that little thou hast in so doing forfeited the whole and I will require the forfeiture at thy hands § 6. These and many such like excellent passages do his Writings abound with but yet there are intermixed and scattered up and down such things as are neither sound nor sav●●ry which are therefore carefully to be heeded and avoided In so much as for this cause Pope Gelas●us did providently require saith Baro●ius that the works of this Clement should be branded with the note of Apocryphal wherein notwithstanding he may justly be accounted more wary than wise for were this ground sufficient to reject the labours of the ancients because among much good grain there is some chaff to be found none of them would be remaining or of any credit at this day Let us rather sever the Gold from the Dross than dam up the Mine and let what 's bad be suffer'd to continue for the sake of what is good and useful in them rather than what 's good be rejected for the bads sake Nevertheless it may not be amiss to give notice of what will not endure the test and trial lest through inadvertency and because of the antiquity and authority of the Author that should be esteemed and taken up for sound and current which upon examination will prove adulterate and unpassable Of which sort are these that follow 10. It is a ridiculous thing saith be to imagine that the Body of our Saviour as a body did stand in need of necessary aids and Ministries that it might continue for he did eat not for his bodies sake which was upheld by an holy Power but lest it might occasion those with whom he conversed to think otherwise of him as indeed afterward some were of opinion that he appeared only in a Vision and Phantasm For to say it once for all he was void of passion being one whom no motion of affection could take hold of neither pleasure nor grief A strange and gross conceit and directly contrary to clear Texts of Scripture 2. That Christ ought to preach but one year only he fondly gathered from Luke 4. 19. he hath sent me To preach the acceptable year of the Lord and supposeth that he suffer'd in the thirtieth year of his age Both which as his errours Casaubo● maketh mention of and how manifestly repugnant they both are to the History of the Evangelists is obvious to every observing eye 3. He is of the mind that Jesus Christ descended into Hell for this cause that he might preach the Gospel unto the dead and that these are the bodies spoken of Matth. 27. 53. 53. that arose at the time of Christ's passion that they might be translated unto ● better place Yea that the Apostles as well as the Lord himself did preach the Gospel unto those that were dead Chemnitius thus reports it Clemens Alexandrinus inquit multa citat ex apocryphis quibus peregri●s dogmata stabilire conatur Vt ex libro Pastoris Hermae probat Apostolos post mortem praedicasse illis qui anteà in infidelitate mortui fuer●nt illos conversos vivificasse He thought that no man was saved before the coming of Christ but that those who lived piously and righteously by the Law or by philosophy were accounted righteous yet wanted Faith wherefore in Hell they expected the coming of Christ and the Apostles and that by their preaching they were converted to the Faith and so saved 4. He frequently asserteth the freedom of man's will in spirituals e.g. Yours is the Kingdom of Heaven if directing or turning your free-will unto God you will believe only and follow that short way that is preached unto Again neither praises nor dispraises neither honours or rewards nor punishments are just if the soul have not free power to desire and to abstain Also because it is in our power to obey or not to obey that none may pretend ignorance the divine word gives a just call unto all and requires what every one is enabled to perform Lastly defection going back and disobedience are in our power as is also obedience And in this particular he erred not alone the two immediately preceding and divers other of the Ancients being of the same judgement the ground whereof may be conceived to be this because many of them had been in their first years brought up in the study of Philosophy and of Philosophers being converted became Christians this made them attribute so much even too much unto Philosophy which proved the occasion of many errours in them Hence it is that Tertullian calls Philosophers Patriarchas haereticorum and Rhen●nus having shewn of how great advantage the Philosophy of Platonicks was unto Valentinus who had been of that Sect in the hatching of his wild and sottish Heresies breaks out into these words See saith he how