eminently given Gifts and miraeulous Powers to the Apostles St. Thomas moved thereto by divine Intimation is said to have dispatched Thaddaeus one of the Seventy Disciples to Abgaras King of Edessa whom he first Cured of an inveterate Distemper and afterward Converted him and his Subjects to the Faith The Apostolical Assigned to St. Thomas was Parthia after which some inform us he preached the Gospel to the Medes Persians Carmans Horcany Bactrians and the Neighbour Nations One of the Ancients saith That in Persia he met with the Wise Men who came that long Ioâ—eney from the East to bring Presents to our New-Born Saviour whom he Baptized and took along with him as his Companions and Assistants in propagation of the Gospel Hence he Preached in and passed through Aethiopia and afterward came to India where we are told he was affraid to have ventured himself until he was encouraged by a Vision that assured him of the divine Presence to assist him He Travelled a great way in these Eastern Nations as far as the Country of the Brachmans Preaching every where where by mild and Gentle methods he brought over the people from their grossest Superstition and Errors The Portugals tell us that St. Thomas came first to Socotara an Island in the Arabian Sea thence to Canyanor where having converted many he travelled farther into the East and having successfully preached the Gospel returned back to Carmandal where he began to Erect a Place for Divine Worship till prohibited by the Priest and the Prince of the Country But upon conviction of several Miracles the work went on and the Sagamo or King himself imbraced the Christian Faith The Brachmans who plainly perceived that this would certainly spoil their Trade and in time extirpate the Religion of their Country thought it high time to put a stop to its growing and resolved in Council that some way or other the Apostle must be put to death There was a Tomb not far from the City whether the Apostle was wont to retire to his Solitudes and private Devotions Hither the Brachmans and their followers persued him and while he was intent at prayer they first loaded him with Darts and Stones till one of them coming nearer ran him through with a Launce His Body was taken up by his Disciples and buried in the Church which he had lately built While one of the Vice-Royes of Portugal resided in those parts there were brought to him certain Brass Tables whose Inscriptions none could read till at last by the help of a Iew they were found to contain nothing but a donation made to St. Thomas of a piece of Ground for the building of a Church They tell us also of a famous Cross found in St. Thomas his Chappel wherein was an untelligible Character which learned Dramin rendred to this effect That Thomas a Divine person was sent into those Countries by the Son of God in the days of King Sagamo to instruct them in the knowledg of the true God that he built a Church and performed admirable Miracles but at last while upon his Knees at prayer was thrust through with a Spear and that the Cross stained with his blood was left as a memoral of these matters The Life of St. JAMES the Less St. JACOB MINOR HE was the Son as we may probably conjecture of Joseph afterward the Husband of the Blessed Virgin by his first Wife Hence reputed our Lords Brother in the same sense that he was reputed the Son of Joseph One thing there is that seem to lye against this that he is called the Son of Alpheus but this may probably mean no more than either that Joseph was so called by another name or it may relate to his being a Disciple of some particular Sect among the Iews called Alpheans Of the place of his birth the Sacred Story makes no mention The Iews frequently style him a man of the Town of Sechania though where that place was we are not able to conjecture what was his particular way and course of Life before his being called to the Discipleship and Apostolate we find no intimations of in the History of the Gospel nor any distinct account concerning him during our Saviours Life After the resurrection he was honoured with a particular appearance of our Lord to him which though silently passed over by the Evangelists is recorded by Paul One of the Antients gives us a fuller account of it which is that St. James had solemnly sworn That from the time that he had drank of the Cup at the Institution of the Supper he would eat Bread no more till he saw the Lord risen from the dead Our Lord therefore being returned from the Grave came and appeared to him commanded Bread to be set before him which he took blessed and beake and gave to St James saying Eat thy Bread my Brother for the Son of Man is truly risen from among them that Sleep His residence was for the most part at Jerusalem being the Bishop and Pastor of it To him we find St. Paul make his address after his conversion To him St. Peter sent the newes of his miraculous deliverance out of Prison But he was principally active in the Synod at Jerusalem in the great controversie about the Mosaick Rites He discharged his Office with all possible care and industry omitting no part of a diligent and faithful Guide of Souls strengthening the Weak informing the Ignorant reducing the Erroneaus reproving the Obstinate and by the constancy of his Preaching conquering the stubbornness of that refractory and perverse Generation that he had to deal with many of the Nobler and Better Sort being brought over to a complyance with the Christian Faith which awakened the spite and malice of his enemies to conspire his ruin Vexed they were that St. Paul by appealing to Caesar had escaped their hands and therefore now they turn their revenge upon St. James which they not being able to affect under Festus's Government they more effectually attempted under the Procuratorship of Albinus his Successor resolving to dispatch him before the new Government could arrive To this end a Council is hastily summoned and the Apostle with others Arraigned and Condemned as Violators of the Law but that the thing might be carried in a more platisible and popular way they set the Scrives and Pharisees at work to insnare him who coming to him began with flattering Insinuations to set upon him They tell him that they all had a mighty Confidence in him and that the whole Nation gave him the Testimony of a Iust Man that therefore they desired he would Correct the Error and false Opinion which the People had of JESUS whom they looked upon as the Messiah and would take their Opportunity of their Vniversal Confluence to the paschal Solemnity to set them right in their notions about these things and would to that end go up with them to the top of the Temple where he must be seen and heard by all Being
that mighty courage and constancy which St. James shewed at the time of his Tryal repented of that he had done came and fell down at the Apostles feet and heartily begged pardon for what he had done against him The Holy man after a little Surprize at the thing raised him up and kissed him Whereupon before them all he publickly professed himself to be a Christian and so both were beheaded at one and the same time Thus fell St. James Chearfully taking that most bitter Cup which formerly he told his Lord he was most ready to drink of His death was not long unrevenged upon Herod the account of it is thus Shortly after St. James his Martyrdom Herod removed to Cesarea while he was there he proclaimed Solemn Sights and Festival enterments to be held in Honour of Caesar Early in the morning the second day he came with great State into the Theater to make in Oration to the people having on a most Sumptuous Robe Curiously wrought with Silver and Gold the Luster of which so dazled the eyes of the people that they cryed out it was some Deity and that he who spake must be somthing above the ordinary Standard of Humanity This impious applause he received without any token of dislike But a sudden Accident Changed the scene and turned the Comick part to a black and fatal Tragedy Looking up he espyed an Owle sitting over his head which he presently beheld as the fatal Messenger of his eminent and inevitable ruine by the just Iudgment of God an incurable Melancholy immediately seized upon his mind as Exquisite Torments did upon his Bowels Behold said he turning to those about him The Deity whom you admired and your selves evidently convinced of flattery and falsehood see me here by the Laws of fate condemned to die whom just now you styled Immortal Being removed into the Palace his pains still increased upon him and though the people mourned and wept fasted and prayed for his life and health yet his accute Torments got the upper hand and after five days put a period to his miserable life The Life of St JOHN S. JOHN ST John was a Galilean the Son of Zebedee and Salome younger brother to St. James together with whom he was brought to the Trade of Fishing Before his coming to Christ he seems for sometime to have been Disciple to John the Baptist being probably that other Disciple that was with Andrew when they left the Baptist to follow our Saviour so particularly does he relate all Circumstances of the Transactions though modestly as in other parts of his Gospel concealing his own name There is not much spoken concerning him in the Sacred story more than what is recorded of him in Conjunction with his brother James He was peculiarly dear to his Lord and Master being the Disciple whom Jesus loved witness his lying in our Saviours bosom at the Paschal Supper as also when Peter was desirous to know which of them our Saviour meant when he told them one of them should betray him and durst not himself propound the question he made use of St. John to ask our Lord. Indeed when our Lord was first apprehended he fled with the other Apostles it not being without probability of reason that the Ancients conceive him to have been that Young man that followed after Christ having a Linen Cloath cast about his naked body whom when the Officers laid hold upon he left the Linnen Cloath and fled naked from them But though he sled at present to avoid that sudden violence that was offered to him yet hâ— soon recovered himself and returned bacâ— to seek his Master and waited upon him through the several passages of his Tryal â—till his Crucifixion Here it was that our Saviour appointed him Guardian of his Mother and made her apart of his charge and care At the first news of our Lords resurrection he accompanyed Peter to the Sepulcher these two Apostles having a more mutual intimary then any of the rest having run many hazards together and adhering Close to one another for the most part The Antients say that after the death of our Lords Mother John went to Asia where he applyed himself wholly to the propagating of Christianity Having planted several famous Churches there Having spent some years there he was at length accused to Domitian as a Subverter of the Religion of the Empire by whose command the Proconsul of Asia sent him bound to Rome where he was put into a Cauldron of boyling Oyl but the Divine providence brought this holy man out of this one would thought unavoidable destruction The Cruel Emperour not being satisfied with this presently orders him to be banished into Patmos a disconsolate Island in the Archipelago where he remained several years instructing the inhabitants in the faith of Christ Here it was about the latter end of Domitian's Reign that he writ the book of the Revelations Cruel Domitian being taken out of the way Coccecus Nerva succeeded in the Empire who being of a milder tempee rescinded the odious acts of his predecessor recalling the banished whereupon St. John left Patmos and returned to Asia fixing his residence at Ephesus where it is said he wrote his Gospel He lived till the time of Trajan about the beginning of whose Reign he departed this life about the Ninety eighth or Ninty nineth year of his life as is generally thought But others think that he dyed a Martyr upon no other ground then of that our Saviour told him and his brother That they should drink of the cup and be Baptized with the Baptism wherewith he was Baptized which was indeed Literally verified of his brother James Yet for him though as one observes he was not put to death yet may he be truly stylled a Martyr his being put in a Vessel of Boiling Oil his many years banishment and other sufferings in the cause of Christ Iustly Challenging the Title it being not want of good will either in him or his enemies but the divine providence Immediately over-ruling the powers of nature that kept the Malice of his enemies from its full execution Others deny that he dyed at all but is still alive the foundation of which error was founded upon what passed between our Lord and Peter concerning this Apostle for Christ having told Peter what was to be his own fate Peter enquires what would become of St. John To whom the Lord answered If I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee which was mis-understood by the Apostles though St. John himself who records that passage inserts a causion That Jesus did say he should not die From the same Original also sprang this report That he only lay sleeping in his grave at Ephesus which report was for a long time current He seems to have always led a single life and so the Antients tells us that all the Apostles were marryed except St. John and St. Paul He was polished by no arts of learning but
his want of it was made up abundantly in his Excellent Temper of mind and the furniture of divine graces which he was adorned withall His Humility was admirable studiously concealing his own Worth and Honour He shewed a mighty care to the souls of men unwearied by spending himself in the service of the Gospel Travelling from East to West to leaven the world with the principles of that Holy Religion which he was sent to propagate He was infinitely Vigilant against Hereticks Countermining there Artifices Antidoting against the poyson of their errors and shuning all communion and conversation with their persons The Life of St. PHILIP S. PHILIP OF all parts of Palestine Galilee seems to to have passed under the greatest character of Ignominy Reproach therefore called Galilee of the Gentiles both Jew and Gentile conspiring in this that they thought they could not fix a greater title of reproach upon our Saviour and His followers than that of Galilean But to confute this our Lord chose hence those excellent Persons whom he made the great instruments to Convert the World some of which we have already given account of and more are yet behind Of this number was Philip born at Bethsaida a Town near the Sea of Tiberias Of his Parents and way of Life the History of the Gospel takes no notice though probably he was a Fisherman the common Trade of that place He had the honour to be the first called to be Christs Disciple which came thus to pass Our Lord after His return from the Wilderness having met with Andrew and his brother Peter after some short discourse parted from them and the next day passing through Galilee he found Philip whom he commanded presently to follow him which he accordingly did No sooner had Religion taken possession of his mind then away he goes and Finds Nathaniel acquaints him with the tydings of the new-found Messiah and conducts him to Him After his call to the Apostleship there is not much recorded of him in the Holy Story It was to him that the Lord propounded the question what they should get in the Wilderness as would feed so vast a multitude To which he answered That so much was not easily to be had It was to him that the Gentile Prosylites that came up to the Passover addressed themselves when they desired to see our Saviour It was with him that our Lord discoursed concerning himself a little before the last paschal Supper The Lord Iesus had been fortifying their minds with fit considerations against his departure from them He told them That no man could come to the Father but by Him Philip not duely understanding the force of our Saviours reasonings begged of him that he would shew them the Father Our Lord gently reproved his ignorance that after so long attendance upon his instructions he should not know that he was the Image of his Father the express character of his infinite Wisdom Power and Goodness appearing in him that he said and did nothing but by his Fathers appointment which if they did not believe his Miracles were a sufficient evidence that therefore such demands were unnecessary and impertinent and that it argued great weakness after more than three years education under his discipline and instruction to be so unskilful in those matters In the distribution of the several Regions of the World made by the Apostles some think that the upper Asia was the Province which was assigned to Philip where he applyed himself with an indefatigable diligence and industry to recover men out of the snare of the Devil to the imbraceing and acknowledgment of the Truth by constancy of his Preaching and Efficacy of his Miracles he gained numerous Converts whom he Baptized to the Christian Faith at once Curing both Souls and Bodies their Souls of Error and Idolatry their Bodies of Infirmities and Distempers healing Diseases dispossessing Daemons settling Churches and appointing them Pastors and Teachers Having for many years succesfully managed his Apostolical Office in those parts he came towards the latter part of his life to Hierapolis in Phrygia a Rich and Populous but most Idolatrous Place Amongst the many Vain and Trifleing Deities to whom they payed Religious Worship was a Serpent or Dragon which they Worshipped with great and solemn Veneration the Apostle was grieved to see them so grosely inslaved to Error and therefore continually solicited Heaven till by Prayer he had protured the death at least vanishing of this Famed Creature Which done he told them how unbecoming it was to give Divine honours to such odious creatures and thence took occasion to discourse at large of Christianity The success was That the People were ashamed of their gross Idolatry and many broke loose from their Chains of Idolatry and ran over to Christianity whereupon the great enemy of Mankind betook himself to his old Methods Cruelty and Persecution the Magistrates of the City seized the Apostle and having put him into Prison caused him to be severely Scourged This preparatory Cruelty passed he was led to Execution and being bound was hanged up by the Neck against a Pillar though others tell us that he was Crucified the Apostle being dead his body was taken down by St. Bartholomew his fellow Sufferer and his own Sister who is said to have been the constant companion of his travels and decently buried after which having Confirmed the people in the Faith of Christ they departed from thence It is generally affirmed that St. Philip was Married and that he had Daughters whom he disposed in Marriage but though this be granted as it is not improbable yet the not carefully distinguishing between Philip the Deacon Philip the Apostle has bred some confusion among the Antients in this matter insomuch that some have concluded them to be one and the same person but with how little reason will appear to any that shall consider that Philip who was chosen to be one of the Seaven Deacons could not be one of the Apostolical Colledg the Apostles declaring upon that occasion that they had affairs of a higher nature to attend upon So then upon the Persecution that arose upon St. Stephens death the Church was dispersed they were all scattered abroad throughout the Regions of Judea and Samaria and Philip the Deacon among the rest who went down to the City of Samaria except the Apostles who tarried behind at Jerusalem when Philip had Converted and Baptised a considerable number in that place he was forced to send for two of the Apostles from Jerusalem that so by their hands they might receive the Holy Ghost which had been wholly needless had he himself been of the twelve Apostles St. Philip was one of the Apostles who left no sacred writings behind him the greater part of the Apostles having little leasure to write Books being imployed in the Ministry more immediately useful and subservient to the happiness of Mankind The Life of St. BARTHOLOMEW S BARTHOLOME IT is not questioned at