Reasons why the Apocryphal Writings are not received into the Canon of the Bible with an Answer to the Objections made by the Romanists SEcondly I proceed to the External Testimonies of the Truth of the Scriptures which being added to those Arguments which proved them to be True in Themselves will exceedingly corroborate our Belief of the Divine Authority of those Books And here I might mention the Testimony given to them by God in the wonderful Preservation of them through all Ages since they were first written In all the Changes of Affairs and the Overthrow of so many Cities and Kingdoms that Incomparable Treasure hath not been lost The Books of the Old Testament were kept untouched and inviolable at the sacking and burning of Ierusalem and all the time of the Captivity in Babylon and of the Dispersion of the Jews And ever since that time the Scriptures have been Unaltered in Words and Sense notwithstanding the frequent Endeavours of Satan's busy Agents to corrupt them yea utterly to destroy them And next to God's Providence in preserving these Books thrô all Times and Ages we might add the marvellous Success which hath attended the Holy Faith and Doctrine contained in these Writings They have prevail'd against the Power of Men and Devils and to this very day they are maintained and upheld maugre the Attempts of both of them to root them out of the World But I wave this intending not to insist upon Divine but Humane Testimony in this place By External Testimony then I mean here no other than this that Scripture is attested by Vniversal Tradition and this Tradition is both of Jews and Christians And what would a Man desire more in a humane way for attesting the Truth of these Writings From the joint Attestation of these Witnesses I shall make it appear that these Books which we now have are the true Copies of the first Originals that the same Books and Authors are faithfully delivered down to us which were first of all delivered to the Jews and to the Primitive Christians and that there is nothing in these Writings as we now have them that is falsified or corrupted First to begin with the Books of the Old Testament the Names of which are as follow Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Ioshuâ Iudges Ruth the 1st and 2d Books of Samuel thâ 1st and 2d Books of Kings tho 1st and 2d Books ãâã Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Iob the Psalmâ Proverbs Ecclesiastes the Song of Solomon the foââ Greater Prophets and the twelve Lesser These and none but these were admitted into the Canâ of the Holy Scriptures by the antient Church oâ the Iews whose Testimony is very Authenticâ here yea indeed we cannot have a better They acquaint us that these were the Only Writingâ that were universally agreed by them to be extraordinarily Inspired and they further tell us that these Books which were writ by different Persons and at diverse Times were first compiled and collected into One Body or Volume by Ezra and the Assembly of Doctors for that purpose and consequently that the Canon of Sacred Scripture of the Old Testament as it is at this time was not constituted till Ezra's days by the Great Synagogue as they call it Upon his Return from the Captivity he undertook this good Work he gathered together all those dispersed Books before named and after he had reviewed them he publickly owned and solemnly vouched the Authority of every one of them that the Church for the future might not doubt of their being Authentick and True But some add here by way of Objection that this holy Man caused these Books to be written over in a New Character because the Jews had lost their knowledg of the former one as well as of the Tongue and consequently the Bible is not the same that it was at first Eusebius and Ierom are alledged for this especially the latter who seems to say that the Samaritan Character was the Old Hebrew Character in which the Bible was first writ and that it was first changed by Ezrd after the Return from Babylon he writing âhe Sacred Volume over in Assyrian or Chaldee Letters and neglecting the Old Hebrew ones which were the same that the Samaritan are And the reason of this was they say because the Jews were best acquainted with this Character at that time And some Modern Writers are gain'd over to this Opinion who talk much of the Change of the Character and endeavour to perswade us that the first and old Letters of the Hebrew Text were Samaritan but that those which we now have are Assyrian and of quite another sort But upon an impartial Enquiry I find little or no Foundation for this Opinion It rather seems to me to be an Invention and Dream of those who design to disparage the Hebrew Bible They would perswade us that the Authority of the Original is impaired because we have it not now as it was at the beginning for the Old Bible was in Samaritan Letters these being the first and antientest Hebrew Characters This is like the Story of the Hebrew Points being invented five hundred Years after Christ of which afterwards which tends to the same End namely to discredit the Hebrew Text which we now have and wholly to take away its Authority for if the Letters were changed it is probable some Words and consequently the Sense of some Places are altered But that this is groundless and that the Hebrew Bible is written in the same Characters now that it was at first you will find very largely and convincingly proved by the famous Buxtorf from the Authârity of the Talmud especially the Gemara ãâã the Cabala from the Suffrage of the most Notâ Rabbins of old and of the Learned Modern Jeââ as Aben Ezra R. Solomon R. Ben Maimon â who without doubt are very competent Judges ãâã this Case To these may be added several of ãâã Christian Perswasion as Picus Mirandula F. Iuniâ Skikkard Postellus with those three Eminent Persons of our own Countrey Nic. Fuller Broughtââ Lightfoot If you consult these they will satisfyâ you that the Hebrew Letters which we have now in the Bible were the Primitive ones the very same that were of old But to give you my Thoughts impartially in this Point I do believâ from what I find asserted by Writers on both sides that there were two sorts of Characters used by the Jews as there were two sorts of Cubits and Shekels the Sacred and Common and I gather that the Samaritan Letter was of the latter sort that which was commonly used and even sometimes in transcribing the Bible but the Sacred Character in use among the Jews was this which we now have and in which the Bible is at this day This is the true Original Hebrew Letter and was used from the beginning by them This I think may reconcile the Disputes among Writers for so far as I can perceive the Quarrels arise from this that there is
Divine Architect Deut. 22. 8. Thou shalt make a Battlement foâ thy Roof And the reason of this ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Muruâ per circuitum as the Vulgar Latin renders it is adâded That thou bring not Blood upon thy House if any Man fall from thence The flat Roofs of their Houses were rail'd in that none might slip off of them and hazard their Lives And here by the by I may add that this was the very Structure of the Temple it was flat at top and accordingly was encompassed round with a Peribolus a âett of Rails or Battlements and this we are to unâerstand by the Pinnacle of the Temple Mat. 4. 5. i. e. some Part Side or Wing as the Word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã imports of the Battlements wherewith the Temple was surrounded at top lest any âhould fall down thence And to confirm this Interpretation I willl produce that Passage of Hegeâippus quoted by Eusebius who relates that some of the Pharisees and others of the unbelieving Jews came and requested Iames the Iust the Brother of our Lord and Bishop of Ierusalem to preach at the Passover when the People came from all Parts to Ierusalem and that he might be both seen and heard of all they deâired him to stand ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã on the Battlement of the Temple and he further tells that he did so It was a Place then that they might safely stand upon otherwise St. Iames would not have consented to their request Dr. Hammând thinks this was the Top of the Battlement and adds that it was broad enough to stand upon but supposing it was yet it was unsafe to trust their Feet there lest they should slip Therefore I rather think that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in St. Matthew must not be taken as it is in the foremention'd Story in the one it signifies the Top of the Rails or Battlement a dangerous Place to stand upon and for that reason the Devil set our Saviour there but in the other we are to understand by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Place within the Battlements for the whole Space encompass'd with these had that Denomination However we are hence inform'd that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is not a Pinnacle or Spire for the Jewish Temple had no such thing though some of our Churches have but the exterior Circuit which compassed the Top of the Temple and was made to be an Ornament to it as well as to prevent the Danger of falling down This is the proper Notion of it among Grammarians as Dr. Hammond hath rightly noted and not only the Temple but every House had this ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã this Battlement about it This is the short Account which I thought fit to insert here of the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or as the Latins call them Solaria because they lay open to the Sun and Air the Flat Roofs with which the Houses heretofore especially in the Asiatick Regions were built And this is certain that there is not so Early an Account in any Writers whatsoever of the Structure of the Antient Houses as this of the Sacred Penmen is CHAP. IV. The first original of Letters and Writing is recorded here The several kinds of Materials they wrote upon of Old The Instruments with which they formed their Letters or Characters The Antientest as well as the most Excellent History is in the Bible So is the Antientest and most Admired Poetry The first Invention and Practice of Musick and on what Occasions it was wont to be made use of The Rise of Natural Philosophy and who were the first Founders of it The Knowledg of the Holy Scriptures necessary in order to the due Study of Natural Philosophy The first Instances of Anatomy Medicks Chirurgery Embalming and the Apothecaries Employment are in the Old Testament Here are the first Examples of Shipping and Navigation An Enquiry into the Place whither Solomon's Navy went every three Years A Conjecture concerning Ophir Astronomy and Judiciary Astrology mention'd in Scripture Of War and Skill in Arms. The Nature of those Military Weapons which are spoken of in Scripture particularly and distinctly enquir'd into The Antiquity of Martial Ensigns and Standards The vast Numbers which the Armies of old consisted of The Scripture is not silent concerning Sportive Diversions and Exercises some of which but especially Dancing are considered FROM Mechanical I proceed to Ingenious Arts and Sciences or such as are approaching to them and I am to shew that the Sacred History relates the first Rise and Original of these And what Liberal Art should I begin with but Grammar what should this part of my Discourse commence with but Letters and Writing Many have been very inquisitive about the First Author of these and truly it is worth the Enquiry it being the Foundation of all Learning in the World The Rabbins held that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Writing and consequently Letters were created among other things at the close of the sixth Day 's Work of the Creation but few that are sober will give Credit to this They were found out before the Flood by Seth âaith the Jewish Antiquary for according to him there were two Pillars one of Stone another of Brick erected by that Godly Patriarch on which he caused his Astrological Notions to be written Afterwards for we may suppose this Invention lost by the Flood though the Pillars and Characters on them remain'd Abraham retrieved the Art of Writing yea in manner invented it anew saith Philo. But there is no Proof at all of what he or Iosephus saith concerning this Matter and therefore we may justly question the Truth of both But supposing that Seth began this Art and that Abraham improved it we are certain of this that Moses came and perfected it having that moât Compleat Copy before him to instruct and direct him the Tables written with the Finger of God Exod. 31. 18. We read of no Writing in Scripture till this writing or engraving the Law on the Two Tables which is call'd in another Place the Writing of God Deut. 32. 16. There is no mention I say of any such thing before wherefore it is likely God was the First Inventer of Letters or Writing and that Moses learnt it of him and communicated it to the Jews from whom other Eastern People received it and so Letters were imparted to the rest of the World Eupolemus and Artapanus two very Antient Historians quoted by Clement of Alexandria were of this Opinion and asserted that Letters had their original from Moses This is favour'd by Clement himself by Eusebius by Cyril of Alexandria and St. Augustin inclines to it And this is confirmed from that general report of the Pagans that from the Phoenicians all Letters were derived Particularly concerning the Greeks Herodotus and Plutarch testify that they recorded the Letters of their Alphabet from the Phoenicians and that therefore they were call'd the Phoenician Letters Yea the Word
or their conforming to the Dialect of their Countrey for these are consistent with That Isaiah being a Courtier and a Person of Quality hath a neat and elegant Stile and yet so as he knows how to vary it according to the Matter he treats of But generally he is Lofty and Eloquent his Stile being raised by his Education which was sutable to his Noble Extraction for he was of the Blood Royal. Ieremiah and Amos being used to the Countrey are mean and homely in their Language the latter especially discovers his Condition and way of Life in his low and rural Strain So in the New Testament St. Luke who had improved himself by Art and Study is very observant of the Greek Elegancy and avoids all improper and exotick Terms in his Gospel and in the Acts. Indeed the Stile of the Sacred Penmen is very different and that Difference is an Excellency in this Book of God But that which I say is this the Writers leave not off their peculiar Stile though they were moved by the Spirit As this furnished them with new Expressions so it let them make use of their own usual ones but immediately directed and assisted them in the applying of them So that at the same time when they used their Natural Stile they were Divinely help'd to make it âerviceable to that purpose which the Holy Ghost intended Hence I conclude that the Stile and Words and Composure of the Sacred Writings are such as ought to be reckoned Divine For this is one difference between this Book and others that every thing of it is Divine And therefore those Persons who dream of Solecisââ in Holy Scripture are the greatest Solecisers themselves but especially those who assert there are Mistakes and literal Falsities in the Holy Book are utterly to be condemned Such is Episcopius who dares affirm That the Spirit left the Writers of the Holy Scripture to their own humane Frailty in delivering such things as belonged to Circumstances of a Fact Their Knowledg and Memory were deficient and fallible The Spirit did not tell St. Iohn how many Furlongs Christ's Disciples went chap. 6. 19. The same is to be asserted he saith as to some Names and other Circumstances of Time and Place which are not of the substance of the thing And before this you are told by ââo others that the Pen-men of Scripture ãâã in some light things not that they would falââty but that they might forget some Passages Melchior Canus is of the opinion that there are some considerable Slips in Scripture from the weakness of the Evangelists and Apostles Memories Yea among the antient Fathers there was one who more grosly held that the Writers of the New Testament sometimes abused the Testimonies of the Prophets of the Old Testament and that they applied them to their present purpose although they were nothing to it Thus St. Paul he saith quoteth the Old Testament in his Epistles to the Romans Galatians and Ephesians only to serve his turn and to confute the Jews his Adversaries Read saith he these Epistles wherein the Apostle is wholly on the Polemick part and you will see how prudently and dissemblingly he acts in those Texts which he citeth out of the Old Testament And at other times this bold Man is not afraid to say that some of the Matters and Things in Scripture are set down wrong This is no less than Profane and Blasphemous Doctrine wherefore that Father is to be read with great Caution in such places as these We on the contrary assert that God was not only the Author of the Matter and Contents of Holy Writ but also of the Words and Expressions yea even when those Writers express their Sense in their own Terms i. e. according to the Way and Dialect which they were Masters of and which was most familiar to them even then they were immediately assisted ãâã the Spirit Which was absolutely necessary that this Book might have no Errors and Failings in it of any kind but that it might transcend all other Writings whatsoever If you do not hold this you make no considerable difference between the Holy Scriptures and other Writings Therefore I am thorowly convinced that this is a Truth and ought to be maintained viz. that the Holy Spirit endited the very Stile of Scripture that even this was by the immediate Inspiration of Heaven To the Manner of its writing I may well annex its Harmony and thence also prove it to be Divine Though there are several seeming Repugnancies of which I shall treat afterwards in a Discourse of the Stile of Scripture and endeavour to clear them up to the Satisfaction of every sober and considerate Person yet it cannot but be acknowledged that all the Parts of this Book do entirely agree and are consistent with one another This in other Books which are composed and written by one Author is not so admirable tho in those Pieces we oftentimes meet with very palpable Disagreements and Contradictions but here we are able to remember that notwithstanding these Books were written by different Persons and those many in number and disagreeing in Quality and extremely distant as to Time and Place yet their Writings contradict not one another but there is an excellent Harmony in all their Parts there is a perfect Concord and Consent among them all such as is not to be found in any other Authors in the World though of the same Sect and Party Excellently to this purpose a very Wise and Judicious Man thus speaks When several Men in several Ages not brought up under the same Education write it is not possible to find Unity in their Tenents or Positions because their Spirits Judgments and Fancies are different but where so many several Authors speaking and writing at several times agree not only in Matters Dogmatical of sublime and difficult Natures but also in Predictions of future and contingent Events whereof it is impossible for humane Understanding to make a Discovery without a superiour Discovery made to it I must needs conclude one and the same Divine Spirit declared the same Truths to these several Men. And as to the seeming Contrarieties of some Places of Scripture this should not at all trouble us for this is rather an Argument of the Truth and Authority of it it is a sign the Writers did not combine together to cheat and delude us If they had designed any such thing we should not have met with any Difficult and seemingly Repugnant Places in these Writings But seeing we do so this among other things may confirm us in this Belief that the Scriptures were not contrived by Men who had a design to impose upon us for if they had had such a Design they would have so ordered it that not the least appearance of Contradiction and Difference should have been found But truly there is no necessity of proceeding thus in this Discourse for to an unprejudiced and industrious Enquirer there is
observe how grosly the Latin Writers were mistaken it was a common thing with them to confound Iews and Christians and to make no distinction between them as I have shew'd on another occasion Tacitus's description of the Nation and Religion of the Iews together with the Original of them shews that that Excellent Historian was extremely ignorant of the Affairs of that People They were at first call'd Idaei faith he from the Mount Ida and afterward by an addition of a Letter they had the Name of Iudaei Their Sabbath was Consecrated to Saturn he saith and many such false and fabulous passages are to be found in the Account which he gives of them So Iustin shamefully errs in several things belonging to the Iewish History he makes Abraham the third King of the Iews Israel the Fourth Ioseph the Fifth and Moses whom he reckons to be Ioseph's Son the Sixth In his whole Thirty Sixth Book where he describes the Original and Increase of the Iewish Nation he hath almost as many mistakes as words The rest of the Pagan Historians exceedingly mistake when they Treat of that People because they did not rightly inform themselves and indeavour to have a perfect Account of the Iewish Matters Thus Iosephus himself excuses in part the Heathen Writers when they speak of things done in Iudea imputing their Errors to want of Knowledge and Information Yea he wonders not that the Iewish Nation was not known to some of them and that they write not a word of it for the most diligent Historians saith he were ignorant of France and Spain and he instances in Ephorus who he observes had so little knowledge of Spain that he took it for one single City and no more We might observe likewise that little or nothing is mention'd of this our Isle of Britain either by Greek or Roman Historians before Casar's Commentaries And in the same place he takes notice that neither Herodotus nor Thucydides nor any that were of that Age make mention of Rome although it had been in great power a long time and had waged so many Wars He adds that all Things of the Greeks are new and of yesterday giving this as one Reason why the Greek Historians make no mention of the Iewish Affairs They were themselves but upstarts in respect of the Iews But though they knew but little of them yet they feigned many things and represented them as they pleas'd Especially their Poets who were very ignorant of the Iewish Institution and of the true meaning of the most things which they had from those of that Nation or from their Books yet took the liberty to invent and add and to mingle their own Conceits and Fancies with that little which they had heard or knew of them 10. Some if not most of the Heathens out of Averseness and Hatred to the Iews perverted those things which had any Relation to that People This was a Nation that was separated from all others and was different from not to say contrary to the rest of the World in many things wherefore they grew odious and detestable and the Pagans wilfully Misrepresented and Traduced them and delighted to load them with all sorts of Calumnies All Writers bandied against the Iews and Christians they were all in League against these however they disagreed among themselves Hence it is that when-ever they present their Readers with any thing concerning them they generally shew that Ill-Will which they bore to them Thus Manethon the Egyptian Historian though he hath many things that agree with what the Scripture saith of the Iews yet he mis-represents several particulars and adds others in disgrace of Moses and the Israelites And indeed from Egypt was the rise of those Malicious Calumnies against them for the People of that Nation were sensible of and retain'd in their Minds the many Plagues that were inflicted on them for their sakes and the last Mortal Farewel in the Red-Sea and they expressed their implacable prejudice against them by reproaching them and they taught others to do so too Thus Iustin or rather Trogus Pompeius whom he Epitomizes tells us that the Iews were expell'd Egypt because God had Reveal'd to the Egyptians that the Plague which then raged among them could by no other way be allay'd than by that Nation 's being turn'd out Diodorus the Sicilian and Tacitus write that the Iews were thrust out of Egypt by the Inhabitants because they were Scabby and Leprous Apion with a detestable Impudence rails against this People and out of meer malice invents and forges Lies to disgrace them He not only repeats the foresaid Calumny viz. That they were expell'd out of that Country because their Bodies were over-run with Leprosie but he adds several others and miserably perverts the History of Moses Pliny avoucheth that Moses was a Magician and Strabo reckons him among Astrologers and Diviners So Ioseph is said to have been skill'd in Magick Arts. Though perhaps it might proceed from Ignorance only that some of the Pagan Historians reckon these in the number of Magicians for they had heard of what wonderful things these Great Men had done in Egypt the one when he grapled with the Egyptian Sorcerers the other in Interpreting of Dreams and they concluded they were effected by Magick accordingly they represented them as Persons of that Character But even the mistakes of these Gentile Writers concerning them and others shew that they had heard of such Men and the things they did and they are a Testimony of the reality of the History in general Then as for the Pagan Poets the same prejudice and Hatred reigned in them and discover'd themselves in Lies and Fictions about the Iews and what is related concerning them in the Old Testament When they refer to any passage in the Sacred Story they malitiously desile it with their own Inventions they distort and falsly deliver the circumtances and they blend it so with their own ridiculous Fancies that they turn it into a Fable Again if we may give credit to Deme ãâã Phalereus Library-Keeper to King Ptolo ãâã and who was the Man that first excited him to promote that notable work of Tran ãâã the Old Testament into Greek there was this Notion among the Pagan Writers that this Holy Book was not to be prophanely handled nor the Matters of it made common by every one that undertook to write yea that ãâã inserting of them into their Writings was I gross Prophaning of them and had met with â suitable punishment Thus one Theopompus who had inserted some passages of the Bible into his Writings was struck with Madness and another named Theodectes who made use of some place of Scripture in a Tragedy of his was almost deprived of his sight for it but the former when he was made sensible of his fault was restor'd to a right mind again and the latter upon acknowledging the like Offence recover'd his Eye-sight This was related saith Iosephus
Renowned Acts of several of the Patriarchs and first Worthies c. It is a great establishing of our Faith that those Pagans derived so many things from Scripture The Gentile Writers vouch a great part of our Religion Wherefore we must needs imbrace it when it is attested by such Disinteressed Persons 3. We ought to take notice of the Wonderful Providence of God in this matter Behold the Scripture is attested by those who never owned its Authority yea the very Enemies of these Holy Writings ratiâie the Truth and Certainty of them The Heathen Poets whilst they Corrupt Divine Truth assert it Their very Lies and Fictions bear witness to the Sacred Verities their Fables confirm the Infallibility of the Bible This is the Lord 's doing here the Great and Over-ruling Wisdom of God is seen Here his Almighty Power in baââing Satan's Contrivances and Designs may be discern'd He as was said before intended the Corruption of the Scriptures the silencing of the Truth the Exalting of himself and the Advancing of his Kingdom But the All-Wise and Powerful Moderator of the World disappointed his Designs and made this thing we are speaking of serviceable and beneficial to Religion he made it become an Argument of its Antiquity Reasonableness and Certainty against the Cavils of Atheists and Infidels 4. Henceforth we are reconciled to the Writings of Prophane Authors We have this considerable advantage by reading the Works of the Ancient Heathens and by perusing their Stories and Fables that we shall find some Greater Thing couched in them than the bare Narrative For these Writers borrow'd many things from the Holy Book their broken Stories are often-times an imperfect account of Scripture Relations Sundry things in their Writings are gather'd out of the Divine Volume but are strangely wrested pervertrd and obscured by having new Names and âeigned Circumstances affix'd to them Almost all the Gentile Fables and Theology flowed from a depraved sense of the Sacred Writings The Poets disguise true Stories with many Fictions and some Reliques of Divine Truth are buried under their ingenuous Fancies and Fabulous Narrations Ovid Transcribed the Greek Theology from Orpheus Homer Hesiod and other Ancient Poets and these had it from the Bible The very Poetick Fictions refer unto real Story and are drawn from the Divine Source of Truth So that we are reading the Holy Scripture in a manner whilst we are turning over Pagan Writers In these we meet with Truths Transplanted from the Sacred Book we find many passages stollen from the Hebrew Fountains It is not to be denied then that Scholars and Students yea the very Candidates of Sacred Theology may with great profit prie into these Writings of the Pagans for here are the footsteps of Divine Verities Prophane and Sacred Learning are to be joyn'd The Gentile Monuments illustrate the inspired ones We may notwithstanding the disguise which Poets have put upon the Stories see the foundation of them and perceive that those vain Figmentsâ are grounded on some Solid Truth and that a Sacred Treasure lies hid under those confused Fables For this is not to be denied that Palestine afforded Greece matter of fancy and invention the Pagan Poets were befriended by the Iews Athens was indebted to Ierusalem Parnassus was beholding to Sinai and Helicon to Iordan You see then the advantage we may reap by being acquainted with Prophane Writers whilst we look further than the outward shape which they have given to many things and search into that Truth which lies hid under it even the Sacred and undoubted History of the Old Testament Thus we may make them serviceable to far higher and better ends than they are intended This is the best improvement that can be made of them to see the true Source of what is written by them to understand whence they borrowed their matter and to confirm our selves in the belief of the Truth of the Sacred Writings by perusing these which are Prophane 5thly and lastly then See the Authority Truth and Certainty of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament which is the main thing I have been aiming at I had proved this before by several Arguments and those perhaps on some accounts more Forcing and Convictive than this but I thought good to add this to them as no contemptible way of proving the Antiquity and Authority of the Sacred Book The Truth of the Historical part of the Old Testament is evidenced from Heathen Writers not only Historians but Philosophers and Poets A Man may by comparing these with the Sacred Volume find out the Original of the Pagan Traditions and Fictions and observe the Lineaments of true and unquestionable History among them Hence we shall have no reason to doubt that there were such Persons and Things in being as are spoken of in the Old Testament and that the Passages and Transactions there mention'd were real and true This admirably serves to evince the Authority of those Writings this proves the Truth of the Records of Holy Writ and that they ought to be received as the Oracles of God i. e. as Infallible CHAP. X. The Authority of the Books of the New-Testament confirmed by Pagan and Iewish Writers who speak of a King or Lord that should come out of the East and particularly out of Judaea An Enumeration of the Opinions of the Learned concerning the Sibylls with the particular Sentiment of the Author viz. That the Contents of their Verses were horrow'd from the Old-Testament and that those Women were not Prophetesses but only related what they found in the Inspired Writings or heard of thence A full Answer to the Objections of those who hold the Sibylline Writings to be Spurious NExt I am to shew how the Scriptures of the New-Testament are vouched and confirmed by an External Testimony i. e. how professed Pagans ând Iews Enemies to Christianity have related ând asserted the very same things that are set down ân those Evangelical Writings First I will begin with that which is of a middle nature between what I have been discoursing of before and what â am now to ingage in which therefore may aptây serve as a Transition from one to the other I âean the belief and report recorded in Pagan Writers that a King or Lord should come from the âast and do great and mighty things This was deâived from the Scriptures of the Old Testament and ãâã belongs to the former Discourse but becaâse it is mentioned by Historians that were after Christ's time and the Application is with all reason to be made to Him I rightly bring it in here It was I say a constant Report that prevail'd about the time of our Saviour's Birth and afterwards that some eminent Person or Persons should rise out of those Eastern Nations and be Lords of the World We find Tacitus asserting this and that great Politician and Statesman would needs have it fulfilled in Vespasian and Titus because they were called out of Iudea unto the Empire of Rome Suetonius
to die Accordingly the Poets feign the Palace of Sleep to be bordering on the Infernal Regions of Hell and Death Thus I have let you see in several Particulars and many more might have been produced that there are the very same Expressions in Scripture that we âeet with in other Writers and certainly it is some Satisfaction to intelligent Minds to observe the handsome Agreement between both CHAP. III. There are in the Sacred Writ the same Grammatical Figures which are found in other Writers as an Enallage of Person of Number of Time One Bodily Sense is mentioned instead of another There is an exchange of the Positive Comparative and Superlative A Negative is put for a Comparative this shew'd in a great number of Instances in the Writings both of the Old and New Testament An Hendyadis is usual in Scripture So is a Prolepsis And an Hysterosis The reason which Monsieur Simon gives of this latter is refuted 1. By proving the Antiquity of Parchment-scrolls used in writing 2. By shewing that they were well fastned together so that they could not easily be misplaced and transposed much less be lost as this Writer imagines Josephus's remarkable Testimony produced to confirm both these The true reason and occasion of some Transpositions in the Old Testament assigned IN the next place I will shew you that there are in the Sacred Writ the same Grammatical and Rhetorical Figures which are found in Other Writers It will be very useful to insist a while upon these because we cannot attain to a right understanding of the Scriptures unless we have some insight into them yea we shall sometimes miserably mistake the sense and meaning of this Holy Book if we are not acquainted with the nature of the Scripture-Stile as to this very thing I know these Figures some of them especially are observed and taken notice of by several Writers but my chief Design is to give some Instances of them which are not taken notice of by Others and yet are very necessary to be known in order to the right understanding the Holy Scriptures There are several of these I shall produce You must know then that those Grammatical Figures or Defective Modes of speaking which are found in the Bible are such as these First there is an Enallage of the Person i. e. it is usual to put one Person in Grammatical Construction for another Thus we is instead of they Psal. 66. 6. your Heart for their Heart Psal. 22. 26. They for he Eccles. 7. 29. they have sought out which refers to Man in the preceding Clause They instead of ye Isa. 61. 7. They for she as in 1 Tim. 2. 15. if they continue i. e. if she viz. the Woman spoken of before continue in Faith c. and she is expresly mentioned in the Clause immediately foregoing So in Gal. 6. 1. thy self should be themselves for it refers to ye in the preceding words But the Instances are almost numberless wherein I might shew you this Change of Persons It is enough to have hinted this at present that you may continually take notice of this in the Stile of the Sacred Writers and that you may direct your selves in the understanding of some places which cannot rightly be interpreted unless we observe this Grammatical Alteration and thereby guide our Thoughts to the sense of the words And this also might be suggested that this way of Speech is used then generally when there is a sudden Transition from one thing to another or when there is a Distribution of the Matter treated of and sometimes when there is a Familiar and Easy expressing of things yea at other times when a near Concernedness of the Persons spoken of is to be taken notice of Next you may observe the Change of Number you will find it common in Scripture to express one Number by another especially the Singular by the Plural As 't is said the Ark rested on the Mountains of Ararat i. e. on one of those Mountains Gen. 8. 4. for it could not rest on them all The Graves are ready for me Job 17. 1. instead of the Grave and so in ch 21. v. 32. according to the Hebrew tho not in our Translation A single River is meant when Rivers are named as you read of the Gates of the Rivers when Tigris only is meant Nah. 2. 6. That Sacrifices is put for a Sacrifice in Heb. 9. 23. is plain for the Apostle there speaks of the Sacrifice and Death of Christ. In these and many other places the Plural Number supplies the room of the Singular And in some other Texts the Singular is mentioned instead of the Plural as in Iob 37. 6. Cloud for Clouds Psal. 9. 20. That the Nations may know themselves to be but Man for so 't is in the Hebrew instead of Men. Isa. 3. 12. Child for so you have it in the Original for Children Ezek. 31. 3. Branch as the Hebrew hath it for Branches A Sheaf for Sheaves Amos 2. 13. And the like is observable in the New Testament that they may shave their Head so 't is in the Greek Acts 21. 24. for Heads Loin for Loins Heb. 7. 5. Body for Bodies Phil. 3. 21. Heart for Hearts Rom. 1. 21. and the same Enallage is in 1 Cor. 4. 2. Thus it is the usual way of the Sacred Writers who in this as in many other things are followed by the best Greek and Latin Authors to exchange one Number for another and it will be requisite for the Inquisitive Reader to observe this manner of speaking because otherwise sometimes he will miss of the true Sense of the Place where this kind of Stile is made use of I pass to the Enallage of Time which is very frequent in the Holy Writ In the Prophetick Writers especially this is observable there the Present or rather the Praeterperfect Tense for the Hebrews have no Present Tense is used very commonly for the Future as in 1 Kings 13. 2. A Child is born according to the Hebrew for shall be born Isa. 9. 2. The People that walked in Darkness have seen a great Light prophetically for shall see Ch. 9. 6. Unto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given instead of shall be born shall be given So in the New Testament in that Prophecy of Enoch quoted by St. Iude ver 14. The Lord cometh or hath come with ten thousand of his Saints ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã supplies the place of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I come unto you John 14. 18. for so 't is in the Greek should in Propriety of Speaking be I will come unto you and therefore it is so translated in our Eâglish Bibles In such like Places things are spoken in the Present or Praeterperfect Tense to signify the Reality and Certainty of them to let us know they shall as surely be fulfill'd as if they were so already And as the Present or Praeterit is put for the Future so this is sometimes
Historical Part of the Bible Those Books then for so the Hebrews call any Writings which those Authors above-named wrote are not lost as some imagine âât are still extant in the Bible for they are Parâ of the Books of Samuel and the Kings This Answer is grounded on 1 Chron. 29. 29. The Acts of David the King first and last behold they are written in the Book or History of Samuel and in the Book of Nathan the Prophet c. which shews that the foresaid Books were a Collection made by several Prophets viz. Samuel Nathan Gad c. This I think is very plain and the foresaid Objection is wholly removed by it Then as to the rest of those Books which are said to be lost as the Sayings of the Seers 2 Chron. 33. 19. and the Book of the Acts of Solomon 1 Kings 11. 41. and the Book of Jehu the Son of Hanani 2 Chron. 20. 34. or any other which the Objectors mention it is granted by some very Sober Writers not only Foreigners but of our own Country that these Books are really lost but they deny that this is any Argument of the Imperfection of Scripture because these Books were not absolutely necessary neither are we certain that they were Divinely endited And this was the Opinion of the Antients as well as the Moderns Yea St. Chrysostom and some others of the Fathers who speak of these Books say positively that they were not written by Inspiration from Heaven To this Purpose St. Augustine hath this useful Distinction the Penmen of the Sacred Scripture saith he write some things as they are Men with Historical Care and Diligence other things they write as Prophets by Inspiration from God This then may satisfy us that all that was written by the Prophets and even by those Holy Men who were Authors of some Part of the Bible was not Canonical and Divine because they writ some things not as Inspired Persons but as meer Historians Some of this sort of Writings are referr'd to in the forecited Places and though they be not extant now yet the Scripture is not hereby rendered Imperfect because these were not such Parts of it as were Essential to it or were of Divine Inspiration The like may be said when in the Book of Kings there is frequent reference to the Book of Chronicles those of the Bible are not always meant being not then penned Besides that many things that are referr'd unto there are not found in these Books Wherefore it is probable that these were Additional Writings not belonging to the Body of the Canonical Scripture nor written by Persons that were Inspired and consequently though they are lost yet the Canon of the Bible is not impaired And indeed we find that those of the Protestant Perswasion as Whitaker Willet c. and among Foreigners Calvin Beza c. who acknowledg the loss of these Books do at the same time strongly assert the Perfection of the Holy Scriptures which they very consistently may do because they hold these Books to be no part of the Canon of the Bible Again if what we have said be not fully satisfactory this may be further added that the Complaint of the Loss of some Books of Holy Writ proceeds from the mistaking of the Word Sepher which is translated a Book but among the Hebrews is oftentimes no more than a Rehearsal or Commemoration of something a brief Narrative or Memoir a setting down any thing in Writing as you 'l find in these following Places Num. 5. 23. Iosh. â8 9. 1 Sam. 10. 25. Esth. 9. 20. Isa. 30. 8. Ier. 32. 12 14. And sometimes it is nothing but a meer Genealogy as Gen. 5. 1. The book of the Generations of Adam So St. Matthew begins his Gospel The Book of the Generation of Iesus Christ Mat. 1. 1. i. e. his Genealogy or Pedigree a brief Enumeration of the Persons he descended from which is the proper Denotation of the Word Sepher from Saphar numerare recensere whence Siphra or Ciphra a Word that is used in most Languages Some not attending to this have fancied that a great many Books of the Sacred Writ are embezzled because they do not find such Formal Books as those of Iehu or of the Acts of Solomon c. now belonging to the Bible This arises from a misunderstanding of the Hebrew Word which signifies generally any Short kind of Writing or Memorandum This with the Answer before given will solve all Doubts concerning the Places afore alledged As to the common Objection concerning the Loss of Solomon's Books which are said to be mentioned in 1 Kings 4. 32 33. I answer 1. That when some call them Books it is more than they can prove it is not said that Solomon wrote but that he Spake of Trees and spake of Beasts c. i. e. he learnedly discoursed of these several Subjects upon occasion and Spake such a Number of Proverbs Here can be no Loss of Books then But 2. Suppose he committed these Disquisitions and Discourses to Writing and they are now lost it may be consumed when Nebuchadnezzar burnt Ierusalem or by some other Means imbezzled afterwards yet still this is nothing to the purpose because they were no Part of Canonical Scripture His Universal History of Vegetables from the Cedar even to the Hysop that grows out of the Wall and his Books of the Nature of all Animals in the Sea on the Land and in the Air appertained to Philosophy and might indeed have serv'd to have set up a Royal Society and have been advantageous to the Men who are employ'd in the Study of Nature for these questionless were full of Admirable Philosophy according to that great and matchless Measure of Wisdom which God had endued him with Thus far the Loss of those Writings is great but none but Philosophers ought to bewail it Tho I must suggest this by the way that perhaps there is no ground of complaining for them neither for it may be these Books of Plants and Animals were extant till Alexander the Great 's Days and being perused and understood by Aristotle and Theophrastus by the Help of an Interpreter they were transcribed by them and so set down as we find them in their Writings which have gain'd them so great Fame and Renown This may be the more credible especially as to Aristotle because we read that he was a Great Plagiary and burnt or otherwise made away those Writings from whence he borrowed his Notions If this be true it is likely we have these Books of Solomon extant still in those forenamed Authors we read his Natural History concerning Vegetables and Animals But as touching the three thousand Proverbs which he spake it is most reasonable to believe that most of them were only spoken not written down and as for those that were penn'd we have them at this Day in the Book of Proverbs which is Part of the Canon of Scripture There we have those Proverbs which the Holy
Import signifies a disposing of something is most commoââly applied to such a Disposal as is either by Covenââ or Testament Hence it is sometimes rendred ãâã Covenant and sometimes a Testament especially among the Lawyers the latter Sense prevails and accordingly you will find that a Last Will and Testament is express'd by this word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Imperial Institutions and other Law-Books translated into Greek We may here join both Senses together for what God hath agreed to by Covenant with Man that Christ bequeaths and gives by Testament Now we must prove both these i. e. we must make it evident that the Covenant and Testament are True before we can receive any Advantage and Benefit from them There is a Necessity of evidencing the Truth of the Scriptures which are this Covenant and this Testament otherwise we can build nothing upon them Here then I. I will evince the Truth and Authority of the Scriptures which is the great Basis of all Theology II. After I have largely insisted on this I will proceed to give you an account of the Nature of the Stile and Phrase of these Holy Books III. I will advance yet farther and demonstrate the Excellency and Perfection of them The Subject of our present Undertaking is the first of these in handling of which I shall but briefly and concisely make use of those Arguments which are commonly insisted upon by Learned Writers till I come to fix upon a Topick which is not commonly yea which is very rarely and by the by used in this Cause and this I will pursue very largely and fully I hope with some Satisfaction to the Reader There are many Arguments to demonstrate the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scriptures and shew that they are worthy to be believed and imbraced by us as the very Word of God Some of these Arguments which are to prove the Truth of these Writings are in common with those that prove the Truth of the Christian Religion on which I shall have occasion to insist at another time but my Design at present is to propound those which are more peculiarly and properly fitted to evince the Truth of the Scriptures And these are either Internal or External The Internal ones I call those which are either in the Scriptures themselves or in Vs. The Characters of Divinity which the Scriptures have in Themselves are either their Matter or the Manner of the writing them I begin with the first the Matter of them and here I will mention only these three Particulars 1. The Sublime Doctrines and Verities which are in Holy Writ In reading this Book we meet with such things as cannot reasonably be thought to come from any but God himself In other Writings which are most applauded the choicest things which entertain our Minds are the excellent Moral Notions and Precepts which they offer to us which are all the Result of Improved Reason and Natural Religion But here are besides these Notices of a peculiar Nature and such as are above our natural Capacity and Invention as the Creation of the World in that Manner as is represented to us in these Writings the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity the Eternal Decrees the Incarnation of Christ the Son of God the Redemption of the World by his Blood the whole Method of Man's Salvation the stupendous Providence of God over his Church in all Ages the Coming of Christ to Judgment and in order to that the raising of all Men out of their Ashes These and several other Doctrines deliver'd in the Sacred Writings cannot be imagined to come from any but God they carry with them the Character of Divinity as being no common and obvious Matters but such as are towring and lofty hidden and abstruse and not likely to be the Product of Humane Wisdom A God is plainly discovered in them for the most Improved Creatures could never have reach'd to this pitch Any serious and thinking Man cannot but discern the peculiar Turn and singular Contrivance of these Mysterious Doctrines which argue them to be Divine We may therefore believe the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles to be the Word of God because of the wonderful Height and Sublimity of those Truths which are contained in them 2. The Exact Purity and Holiness both of Body and Soul of Heart and Life which are enjoin'd in these Writings are another Testimony of their being Divinely Inspired For though some other Books dictate Religion and Piety yet this is certain that all the true and just Measures of them were taken originally from this one Exact Standard which was prior to them all as I shall shew afterwards Besides the Love and Charity the Humility Meekness and all other Vertues which the Scriptures describe to us far exceed the most advantageous Representations the most exalted Ideas which the Heathen Moralists give of them These therefore are emphatically and eminently called by St. Paul the Holy Scriptures 2 Tim. 3. 15. because they breath the most consummate Goodness and Piety and that antecedently to all Writings whatsoever because every thing in them advanceth Holiness and that in Thought Word and Actions The End and Scope of them are to promote Sanctity of Life to make us every way better and even to render us * like God himself The Holy Scripture was intended to set forth the Divine Perfections to display the Heavenly Purity and thereby to commend the Excellency of a holy Life And it is certain that if with sincere and humble Minds we peruse this Book of God we shall find this blessed Result of it it will marvellously instruct us in the Knowledg of the Divine Attributes especially of God's Unspotted Holiness it will tincture our Minds with Religion it will pervade all our Faculties with a Spirit of Godliness and it will thorowly cleanse and sanctify both our Hearts and Lives which proves it to be from God But because I shall have occasion to say more of this when I treat of the Perfection of the Scriptures I will now dismiss it 3. To the Matter of Scripture we must refer the Prophecios and Predictions which are contained in it These I reckon another Internal Argument because they are drawn from what is comprehended in the very Scripture it self What a vast number is there of Prophecies of the Old and New Testament which we find fulfilled and accordingly are Testimonies of the Truth of these Scriptures Here I will a little enlarge and first I will begân with that ancient Prophecy of Noah God shall enlarge Japheth and he shall dwell in the Tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his Servant Where are foretold things that happened above two thousand Years afterward for the Posterity of Iapheth viz. the Europeans especially the Greeks and Romans among other Conquests gain'd the possession of Iudea and other Eastern Countries which were the Portion of Shem. Again it was fulfilled thus by Christ's coming and preaching the Gospel and by his
Proposition it is impossible it should gain the Assent of any intelligent and sober Person When we consider the Nature of these Prophecies and what they aim at we must needs own them to be from Him to whom all Future Things are Present and who is the Cause as well as the Foreseer of them And therefore when we observe that the things which the Writers of Holy Scripture have delivered are actually come to pass we may with reason conclude that their Writings are not Forgeries but on the contrary that the Penmen of them were Inspired Persons that they had the Gift of Prophecy which is an infallible Testimony of their Authority These things being thus foretold so long before and being exactly verified since it undeniably follows that the Books which contain these Predictions and are founded on them are True and Certain These Predictions coming from God are an aâ red Proof that these Writings were endited him they being so great a part of them Thiâ that which an antient Father long since deliverâ The foretelling of future things saith he ãâã Characteristick Note of the Divine Authority ãâã the Scriptures for this is a thing that is aboââ humane Nature and the Powers of it and ãâã only âe effected by the Virtue of the Divine ââârit We may rely upon it as an impregnaâ Maxim that the Spirit of Prophecy and the Fâ filling of Prophecies are a Divine Proof of ãâã Truth of the Scriptures and are a sufficient Grouâ to us of believing them to be the Word of Goâ Thus from the Matter of the Holy Scriptures ãâã have undeniable Evidence of the Authority aâ Truth of them Again the Manner of these Writings is anotheâ Proof of the Divine Authority of them Theâ are not writ as others are wont to be the Penmeâ of these Sacred Books do not speak after the raâââ of other Writers How admirable is the Simplâ city and Ingenuity of these Men all along Theâ do not hide their own or others Failings yea eveâ when they are very gross and scandalous thuâ Moses recorded not only Noah's Drunkenness and Lot's Incest but his own rash Anger and Unbelieâ and David registers in the 51st Psalm his own Murder and Adultery Ieremiah relates his own unbecoming Fears Discontents and Murmurings chap. 20. 7 8 14. The Writers of the New Testament conceal not the Infirmities and Defects ãâã the gross Miscarriages of themselves and of âheir Brethren as their cowardly leaving of Christ ãâã his Passion Iohn's falling at the Feet of an Anâel to worship him Thomas his Infidelity Iohn ând Iames the Sons of Zebedee their unseasonaâle Ambition Peter's denying of Christ even with âerjury This free and plain dealing of the Wriâers of the Old and New Testament shews that âhey are not the Writings of Men. A Man may âee that there is no worldly and sinister Design âârried on in them but that the Glory of God is âholly intended by their impartial discovery of âhe Truth Which was long since taken notice of ây Arnobius in answer to that Cavil of the Pagans hat the History of the Gospel was writ by poor ãâã People and in a simple Manner Therefore âaith he it is the more to be credited because they write so indifferently and impartially and out of Simplicity This Impartiality and Sincerity of theirs are an irrefragable Argument of the Truth of their Writings And here also you will find an excellent and admirable Composition of Simplicity and Majesty together Though the Strain be High and Lofty yet you may observe that at the same time it is Humble and Condescending To which purpose a Learned Father saith well The Language of Divine Wisdom in the Scripture is Low but the Sense is Sublime and Heavenly whereas on the contrary the Phrase of Heathen Writers is Splendid but the things couched in them are Poor and Mean The Scripture-Writers make it not their work to set off and commend thâ Writings by being Elaborate and Exact Hâ are no set Discourses no pointed Arguments ãâã affected Strains of Logick The Writers ãâã the Bible saith another antient Father did ãâã make their Writings in a way of Demonstration these unquestionable Witnesses of the Truth being above all Demonstration Nor shall yââ find here that the Writers strain for Eleganciâ and florid Expressions as other Authors are wonâ here is no quaint and curious Method no formâ Transitions no courting of the Readers no unnecessary Pageantry of Rhetorick to gain Admiration and Attention Especially the Stile of the Evangelists and Apostles is not tumid and affected but plain and simple and scorns the Ornamenâ and Embellishments of Fancy for as an oâ Christian said rightly Truth needs no Fucus anâ Artifice and therefore the Sense not Words are minded in Scripture All good Men ought to be pleased with this Simplicity and Plainness of the Holy Stile of which there is a memorable Instance in an Ecclesiastical Historian who tells us that Spiridion a notable Confessor for the Christian Faith reproved one Tryphilius an Eloquent Man and converted by him to Christianity some time before because speaking one time in the famous Council of Nice he did instead of those Wordâ of Christ Tolle grabatum tuum say Tolle lectum tuum humilem he reproved him I say and that very sharply for disdaining to use the word which the Scripture it self useth It is true the Words of Scripture seem sometimes to be common and rude and altogether ungraceful sometimes I say for I shall shew afterwards that Scripture is not destitute of its Graces of Speech but that seeming Commonness and Rudeness are great Tokens of the peculiar Excellency of the Stile of Scripture Gregory the Great excusing the Plainness and Rudeness of his Stile in his Comments on Iob professeth that he thought it unworthy of and unbecoming the Heavenly Oracles to restrain them to the nice Rules of Grammar Surely the Writers of the Bible might say so with more reason it became them not to stand upon those Niceties and Formalities of Speech which are so frequent in other Authors for it is fitting there should be a difference between Humane Writings and Divine I agree with a late Ingenious Author who declares that it fits not the Majesty of God whose Book this is to observe the humane Laws of Method and Niceness of Art Inspired Writings must not be like those of Men. The singular Grace of these is that they are not Artificial and Studied but Simple Plain and Careless and that their whole Frame and Contexture are not such as ours An artificial Method is below the Majesty of that Spirit which dictated them This would debase the Scriptures and equal them with the Writings of Men. Wherefore the oftner I look into that Sacred Volume and the more I observe it the more I am convinced that the Pens of the Writers were wholly directed by a Divine Hand For take any of the Books either Doctrinal
nothing in Scripture that looks like Inconsistent and Contradictory Upon a diligent Search we shall discern a mutual Correspondence in the Stile Matter and Design of these Writings we shall find a happy Concurrence of Circumstances and an admirable Consistency in the Doctrines and Discourses in so much that we shall be forced to acknowledg that upon this single Consideration it is reasonable to believe that these Writings were endited by the Holy Spirit This Harmony then of the Scriptures I may justly reckon among the Inward Notes of the Truth of Scripture because it is adjoined to the Matter of it which is of the very Intrinsick Nature of it What Iustinian professes and promises concerning his Digests in his Preface to them that there is nothing Clashing and Contradictory in them but that they are all of a piece is true only of the Sacred Laws of the Evangelical Pandects which contain in them nothing Dissonant and Repugnant The Old and New Testament the Prophets and Apostles are consonant to themselves and to one another which is a great Argument of the Truth of them There is nothing in one Place of Scripture opposite to the true Meaning which the Holy Ghost hath revealed and asserted in another The Contents of the whole Book whether you look into the Doctrinal or Historical Part of it have nothing contradictory in them All the Authors of it agree in their Testimonies and assert the same thing and consent among themselves It is the Nature of Lies and Forgeries that they hang not together as Lactantius on the like Occasion hath observed Especially if you search very inquisitively and narrowly into them you will perceive that they are thin and slight and may easily be seen through But the Contents of these Writings have been diligently inquired into and with great Care and Industry examined by all sorts of Persons and yet they are found to be every ways Consistent with themselves and the Testimony of the Writers is known to be Concurrent and Agreeing All wise and curious Observers must needs grant that there is no Book under Heaven that parallels the Scriptures as to this Which shews that they are more than Humane Writings yea that they were Divinely inspired and dictated And this I take to be the Sense of St. Peter who assures us that no Prophecy of the Scripture is of private Interpretation He speaks of the first Rise of those Prophecies which are in Scripture they are from God they are not of private Interpretation they are not from Man's Invention they are not of his own Brain and Fancy but they are to be esteem'd to be as they are Divine and Heavenly Oracles Thus the Word of God is Witness to it self and stands in need of no others The Scripture is sufficiently proved by what is in it and is to be believed for its own sake Which made an antient Writer say We have compleat Demonstrations out of the Scriptures themselves and accordingly we are demonstratively assured by Faith concerning the Truth of the things therein delivered Which cannot be said of any humane Writings in the World for they carry no such Native Marks with them But the very Inward Notes of the Truth and Authority of the Scriptures create in us a certain and unshaken Belief They may be known from all other Writings whatsoever by the Excellent Transcendent and Divine Matter contained in them and by the peculiar Manner of delivering and publishing it These I call Internal Proofs because they are taken from the Books themselves because they are something that we find there These assure us that they were written not by Man but by God There is yet another Internal Testimony I call it so because it is within Vs though not in the Scriptures As I have shewed you that the Holy Spirit speaks in the Scriptures and bears Testimony to the Truth of them so now I add that this Spirit speaks in Vs and works in our Hearts a Perswasion that the Scriptures are the Word of God By this Spirit we are enabled to discern the Voice of the same Spirit and of Christ in those Writings This witnessing Power of the Spirit in the Souls of Believers is asserted in Acts 5. 32. 15. 7 8. and in 1 Iohn 5. 6. From these Places it is clear that there is an Illumination of the Spirit joining with our Consciences and Perswasions and this Spirit powerfully convinces all Believers of the Truth of the Scriptures This Testimony follows immediately on our setting before us the Inward Excellencies of the Scripture as I have represented them for God makes use of those Evidences and Arguments to beget a Belief in us of the Divine Authority of Scripture The Spirit enlightens and convinces Mens Minds by those Means but more especially he urges these Evidences on the Hearts of the Religious and Faithful and thereby brings them to a firm Perswasion of the Scriptures being the Word of God This is no Enthusiasm because it is discovered to us by proper Means and Instruments whereas that is without any and is generally accompanied with the despising of them But the Evidences and Notes in the Scripture are the Reasons and Motives of our Belief only the Holy Spirit comes and prepares and sanctifies our Minds and illuminates our Consciences and causes those Arguments and Motives to make Impression upon us and effectually to prevail with us and to silence all Objections to the contrary Thus the Truth of Scripture is attested by the Holy Spirit witnessing in us But when I say the Testimony of the Spirit is a Proof of the Truth of the Scripture I must adjoin this that this Proof serves only for those that have this Spirit it may establish them but it cannot convince others No other Man can be brought to be perswaded of the Truth of those Sacred Writings by the Spirit 's convincing me of the Truth of them Besides this Proof is not in all that really believe the Truth of these Books some may be convinced of the Truth of them without this but where this is it is most Powerful and Convictive and surpasses all other degreâ of Perswasion whatsoever There is no such câtain knowledg of the Truth of these Holy Wâ tings as by the Testimony of the Sacred Spirit ãâã the Hearts of Men produced there in a ration â way and in such a manner as is most sutable ãâã our Faculties CHAP. II. External Proofs of the Truth of the Holy Scriptureâ Viz. the wonderful Preservation of them and Vniversal Tradition Which latter is defended against the Objections of those that talk of a New Character wherein the Old Testament is written Thâ Iewish Masoreth attests the Authority of these Writings The Hebrew Text is not corrupted The Points or Vowels were coexistent with the Letters F. Simon 's Notion of Abbreviating the Historicââ Books of the Old Testament rejected The New Tement vouched by the unanimous Suffrage of the Primitive Church The
Industry to preserve Scripture from Corruption We may gather from this Diversity of Readings that Men have been very inquisitive and careful in their comparing of Copies but we cannot thence argue that the Text is adulterated yea rather we may infer that it is not for from this comparing and vying of Copies we come to know and be ascertain'd which is the True and Authentick one And we may farther add with the same excellent Author That it is morally impossible since our Saviour's time and indeed for many hundred Years before that that the Scriptures particularly of the Old Testament should have been corrupted for the Multitude of Copies was then such hath been since much more such and so far dispersed that neither one Man nor one Body of Men could ever get them into their hands to corrupt them and if some few or mâââny Copies had been corrupted but not all thââ sincere Number would have detected the corrupt Again let it be consider'd that the antient Orthodox Writers of the Church do all ciââ these Scriptures as we now have them in everything material Yea that most Hereticks have pleaded these same Scriptures and denied them not to be genuine To establish us yet further we must remember that these Writings have been openly read to the People in all their solemn Assemblies in the several Ages since Christianity began and they being thus constantly used could not possibly be altered and corrupted Besides that all private Christians were exhorted to read and use them in their Families whereby they became so known and familiar that whenever any Alteration was made they could presently observe it Lastly notwithstanding the Author of a late Tractate hath brought divers Objections against the usual Tradition that such and such Books of the Bible were wrote by the Authors whose Names they bear and though Mr. Hobbs before him had done the same yet neither of them have effected it with any Success This is all they have done they have only shewed that they are not so civil to the holy Writings as they are to the profane ones for it is every whit as clear that the Books of the Holy Scripture were written by the Persons under whose Names they go as that any other Writings were put out by those whose Names they bear Nor can these Men vouchsafe to shew that Civility to these Sacred Books which even Iews and Gentiles have done for when both âhese opposed these Books you will not find that they ever questioned the Authors but the Doctrine only We are therefore to look upon these Men and such as take part with them as acting with higher Prejudice than either Jews or Heathens did and accordingly we are to slight what they say unless it be thus far that from their impotent and malicious Cavils we may be further confirmed in this Perswasion that these Books of the Old and New Testament were indeed written by those Authors under whose Names they are now received that these Scriptures which we now have are the same which the Primitive Church received from the Apostles that the Copies we have of the Bible are not corrupted that God hath preserved the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament from all considerable Change and Depravation his Providence not suffering any such thing that the Canon of Scripture which is now received is the very same that it was at first and which is the Sum of all that the Truth and Authority of it are impregnable It may be expected I should speak of the Apoâryphal Books which I have not reckoned among the Inspired Writings For doing this I have good reason for I find them excluded from the Canon of Scripture by those that are the best Judges of it I mean the Iews who were the great Keepers of the Scripture They never took these into the number of the Books of Holy Writ and that for these two Reasons First because they were not writ by the Prophets The Jews believed that the Spirit of Prophecy ceased among them as soon as Malachi had done prophesying They owned no Divine Inspiration after his time and accordingly received not the Apocryphal Books into the Canon of Scripture i. e. Books Divinely inspired ãâã was written after Malachi's time who was ãâã last Prophet was not Canonical was not of ãâã Authority and therefore is not emphatical called Scripture For as St. Paul informs us ãâã Scripture is given by Inspiration of God 2 Tim. 3. ãâã That is the Mark and Criterion of Scripture ãâã is back'd by St. Peter 2 Pet. 1. 21. Holy Men ãâã God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ãâã those Writings which were not by Inspiration ãâã God nor from the immediate Motion of the ãâã Ghost are not to be reckoned as Holy Scriptuââ and such are the Apocryphal Writings they werââ written after the cessation of Prophecy and Diviââ Inspiration and so they are not of Divine Authâârity and cannot be esteemed Canonical Scriptureââ Secondly the Jews received not the Apocrypha ãâã to their Canon because it was written in Greek not in Hebrew as all the Canonical Books are For God would not they say give them Scripturâ in an Unknown Tongue The Oracles of Goâ were to be committed to his People in the Authentick Language which is that of the Jews The Apocryphal Writings being not such are rejected by them and not taken into the Canon of Sacreâ Writ And as they were not received by the Jewiâ Church so not by the Christian one You cannot but observe that Christ and the Apostles who frequently quote the Canonical Books never quoââ any of the Apocryphal ones which gives us to understand that they were not reputed as Inspired Writings otherwise it is most reasonable to think that our Saviour or his Apostles and Evangelists would at one time or other have cited some one Passage at least out of these Books it being their great Work as you may see to prove the Truth of what they delivered from the holy Scriptures which were inspired by God in former Times They embraced all Occasions of establishing Christianity upon the Writings of the Inspired Prophets who went before therefore if the Apocryphal Writers had been of that number they would certainly have been quoted by them and because they are not it is an Argument that they are not Inspired Writers Again the Christian Church which immediately succeeded that which was in the Days of Christ and the Apostles received not these Writings as Divinely inspired and therefore excluded them from the Canon of Scripture Look into the Writings of the antient Fathers of the Church who without doubt made it their business to search into the Canon of Scripture and to be satisfied which were the Divinely inspired Books and there you will see that those of the Eastern Church received only the Jews Canon of Scripture as to the Old Testament Thus Origen recites the Canonical Books of it as they are now reckoned viz. two
numbred among the Books of Canonical Scripture And thus we have argued from the Tradition and the Testimony of the Church And if this be done as it ought to be done it is valid for the Truth of the Copies the Canonicalness of the Books and the like are not decidable by Scripture it self but in the Way that all other Controversies of that nature are As you would prove any other Book to be Authentick so you must prove the Bible to be viz. by sufficient and able Testimony There is the same reason to believe the Sacred History that there is to believe any other Historical Writings that are extant Nay the Testimonies on behalf of the Holy Scriptureâ are more pregnant than any that are brought for other Writings Besides all that can be said for the Sacred Volume of the Bible which is wont to be said for other Writings I have shewed you that there are some things peculiar to this above aââ others The main thing we have insisted upon is this that the Books of the Old and New Testament have been faithfully conveyed to us and that they are vouched by the constant and universal Tradition both of the Jewish and Christian Church and that these Books and no others are of the Canon of Scripture for to be of the Canon of Scripture is no other than to be owned by the Universal Church for Divinely Inspired Writings The Church witnesseth and confirmeth the Authority of the Canonical Scriptures for she received them as Divine and she delivers them to us as such Yet I do not say that the Church's Testifying these Books to be the Holy Scriptures gives an Absolute and Entire Authority to them A Clerk in the Parliament or any other Court writes down and testiâies that such an Act or Decree or Order was pass'd by the King Magistrate or People and he witnesses that he hath faithfully kept these by him and that they are the very same that at such a time were made by the foresaid Authority but the Authority of this Act Decree or Order rests not in the Clerk but wholly in the King Magistrate or People So the Church recordeth and keepeth the Sacred Writings of the Bible and bears witness that they have been faithfully preserved and that they are the Genuine Writings of those Persons whose Names are presixed to them bât the Divine Authority of the Scriptures depends not on the Church but on the Books and Authors themselves namely their being Inspired And indeed this Authority of the Scriptures cannot depend on the Church because the Church itself depends on the Scriptures These must be proved before the Church can pretend to be any such thing as a Church We cannot know the Church but by the Scriptures therefore the Scriptures must be known before the Church It follows then that the Papists are very unreasonable and absurd in making the Ultimate Resolution of Faith to be into the Testimony and Authority of the Church This we disown as a great Falsity but yet it is rational to hold that the Church's Testimony is one good Argument and Proof of the Truth of the Sacred Scripture according to that known Saying of St. Augustine I should not believe the Gospel if the Authority of the Church did not move me Not that he founds the Gospel i. e. the Doctrine of Christianity and the Truth of it on the Testimony of the Church as the Papists are wont to infer from these Words and frequently quote them to this purpose No the Father's meaning is this that by the Testimony and Consent of the Church he believed the Book of the Gospel to be verily that Book which was written by the Evangelists This is the Sense of the Place as is plain from the Scope of it for he speaks there of the Copies or Writings not the Doctrine contained in them The good Father relies on this that so great a number of knowing and honest Persons as the Church was made up of did assert the Evangelical Writings to be the Writings of such as were really inspired by the Holy Ghost and that they were true and genuine and not corrupted And the whole Body of Sacred Scripture is attested by the same universal Suffrage of the Church i. e. the unanimous Consent of the Apostles and of the First Christians and of those that immediately succeeded them several of which laid down their Lives to vindicate the Truth of these Writings This is the External Testimony given to the Holy Scriptures It is the general Perswasion and Attestation of the Antient Church that these are the Scriptures of Truth that they were penn'd by holy Prophets and Apostles immediately directed by the Spirit who therefore could not err It was usual heretofore among the Pagan Lawgivers to attribute their Laws to some Deity tho they were of their own Invention intending thereby to conciliate Reverence to them and to commend them to the People But here is no such Cheat put upon us God himself is really the Author of the Holy Scriptures these Sacred Laws come immediately from Him they are of Divine Inspiration There is no doubt to be made of the Divinity of the Scriptures and consequently there is assurance of the Infallibility of them CHAP. III. The Authority of the Bible manifested from the Testimonies of Enemies and Strangers especially of Pagans These confirm what the Old Testament saith concerning the Creation the Production of Adam and Eve their Fall with the several Circumstances of it Enoch's Translation the Longevity of the Patriarchs the Giants in those Times the Universal Flood the building of the Tower of Babel I Have propounded some of the chief Arguments which may induce us to believe the Truth and Certainty of the holy Writings of the Old and New Testament I will now choose out another for the sake chiefly of the Learned and Curious which I purpose to inlarge upon yea to make the Subject of my whole ensuing Discourse I consider then that we have in this Matter not only the Testimony of Friends but of Enemies and Strangers and it is a Maxim in the Civil Law and vouched by all Men of Reason that the Testimony of an Enemy is most considerable The Iewish and Christian Church as I have shewed already give their Testimony to the Scriptures but besides these Witnesses there are Others there is the Attestation of Foreigners and Adversaries These fully testify the Truth of what is delivered in the Holy Bible we have the Approbation of Heathen Writers to conâirm many of the things related in the Old Testament and both Professed Heathens and Iews for we must now look upon these latter as profess'd Enemies when we are to speak of the Christian Concern attest sundry things of the New Testament and vouch the Truth and Authority of them Here then I will distinctly proceed and first begin with the Old Testament and let you see in several Particulars that even the Pagan World gives Testimony to this Sacred Volume
that the Gentiles relate the very same things that this doth that the Great Truths and Notable Histories Notions and Practices in the Books of the Old Testament are to be met with in Profane Writings but taken from these Sacred ones The Heathens borrowed many of their Rites and Vsages from Traditions which were founded in the Holy Scriptures They derived many things in their Religion and Manners from these Sacred Fountains though it is as true that they have laboured to pollute them But I will make it clear and manifest that they fetch'd them thence and I will abundantly prove that most of the chief things in the Old Testament have been attested both by the Fables and the Serious History of the Pagans There have been some High-fliers I know who have carried on this Notion to a ridiculous Extravagancy Thus Zimmeranus speaks of an odd Capuchin who hath vented very wild things in prosecuting this Argument viz. that the Gentile Mysteries were taken from the True God and from the Scriptures inspired by him And one Iacobâ Hugo in his Historia Romana is quoted by the same Person as very extravagant in this kind for he holds that the Roman Story was a Narrative of the History of the Gospel Pious Aeneas was St. Peter and his sailing from Troy to Latium was the Story of St. Peter's leaving the Chair at Antioch and going to Rome Homer and Virgil's Heroick Poems are an account of St. Peter and the Church and of the Shipwrack and Misfortunes which this latter meets with in the World Ilium or Aelia is Ierusalem that was the Name which Aelius Adrianus gave it The Acts of the Apostles the Jewish War and the Destruction of Ierusalem are contain'd in Homer's Iliads and so are the Life and Death of Christ and the whole Gospel He tells us that Romulus and Remus signify the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul the Founders of the Roman Church And more extravagantly yet he goes on telling us that Diana signiâies the Holy Trinity Curtius on Horse-back swallowed up in the Lake is the Virgin Mary whose Temple is seen there in the Market-place at Rome with this Inscription D. Virginis Templum à poenis inferni liberantis And a great deal more of such Stuff this Hugo hath which no Man of Consideration and Sense is able to bear Indeed such wild and far-fetch'd Conceits may be justly entertain'd with Laughter and Contempt Nor do I look upon some things which some others of more composed Thoughts mention as any real Testimonies given to the Scriptures They strangely fancy an Affinity between Scripture and Paganism between what they read in the one and what they meet with in the other though there be no Cognation at all Thus the Greek Fable of Minerva's being the Offspring of Iove's Brain took its Rise from the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Eternal and Ineffable Generation of the Son of God saith a Learned Man and Isis the Egyptian Goddess is saith he Ishah Mulier or Virgo i. e. the Virgin Mary from a Tradition among them that a Virgin shoulâ bring forth a Son who was to be the Redeemer ãâã the World And I could mention others whoââ Names are better known who have been too eâtravagant in this kind carrying the Notion on toâ far and strongly fancying every thing almoââ which they meet with in Pagan Story to havâ some reference to and be taken from the holâ Scriptures But I shall very industriously avoââ this Vanity and Folly and only represent to the curious and critical Reader those Passages in Pagââ Writers which with great Probability and Reasoâ we may conclude to have been taken from the Books of the Old Testament I shall endeavoââ to let you see the Sacred History of the Bible eveâ through the Fables and feigned Stories of the Heathens and thereby confirm you in the belief of the Truth and Reality of that Sacred History whence they were taken 1. To begin first where all things began the Creation this as it is particularly described iâ the first Chapter of Genesis is plainly to be found in Pagan Authors who without doubt had it froâ this first Entrance of the Scripture For thougâ a Man by the Light of Nature may know that the World had a Beginning yet this particular way of its beginning as 't is there set down could not be attained to but by Divine Revelation wherefore it is rationally to be asserted that the Pagaââ took this Notion from God's Revealed Will in Scripture and at the same time they do hereby attest the Truth of that holy Book The genârââ Opinion of the antient Gentiles was that the World was made out of a preceding Chaos which they represent to be a rude disordered and indigested Mass of Matter reduced to no Shape and Form Sanconiathon the Phoenician Historian so much prais'd by Porphyrius the Philosopher in Eusebius makes mention of this Chaos as the Source of all things in his Fragments of Phoenician Theology The antient Poet Orpheus held that this Chaos was the first Principle of all things And Hesiod agrees with him affirming that the Chaos was that out of which all Bodies were made ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. It is described by Ovid after this manner Ante mare terras quod tegit omnia Coelum Vnus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe Quem dixere Chaos c. Where in forty or âifty pair of good smooth Verses he most excellently describes the Origine of all things and makes the very Chaos beautiful This is the same with Hyle the first original Matter of all things the Poets Demogorgon which was borrowed from the shapeless Lump of the Chaos And in the Phoenician Language we may find it in the very sound of the words Thoth and Bau which are but a small Variation from Tohu and Bohu in the Hebrew Text the same with Chaos among the Greeks and Latins This is founded on those Words of Moses Gen. 1. 2. The Earth was without form and void and Darkness was on the face of the Deep This dark and formless Heap of Water and Earth mingled together contain'd in it the fiâ Elements of all things that were made afterwardâ hence sprang the World as it is now shaped ãâã modelled From this Account which Moses givâ here of the Creation the old Pagan Theologer i. e. the Pocts made the Ocean to be the Origiâ of all Generation which is no other than thâ if you give the plain meaning of it that thâ moist and fluid Matter gave beginning to all Bodâ that are Orpheus own'd this Hypothesis calliââ the Ocean the Parent of all things in one of ãâã Hymns and out of some other Pieces of ãâã Works the same might be proved Homer ãâã the like asserting the Ocean to be the Antiente of the Gods ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And again ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Iliad On which Words the Scholiast gives this Reason
hajim the Breath of the Spirit of Life the antient Sages among the Gentiles who were no strangers to this and other Texts as I shall shew afterwards derived two Notions the first whereof was this that the Soul is Breath and accordingly in Greek and Latin it hath its Names from breathing This ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã this Spiratulum vitae as the Vulgar Latin renders it by which Man's Body was inspired was the occasion I guess of these Denominations of the Soul from Breath Wind or Air and that of the Poet Divinaâ particula aurae which is spoken of the Soul seems to refer to this Another Notion which they derived from this metaphorical Expression of Breathing or Asslation was that the Soul the Rational Soul of Man is a part of God for as Breath is something that comes from within a Man so Souls that are set forth by Breath are the Emanations of God they come from him and are Parts of him The Soul say the Platonists â not only the Work of God but a Portion of him Which it is likely was Plato's meaning when he said the Soul is a sharer of the Nature of God But this was more especially the Stoicks apprehension of Humane Souls they are saith the Royal Philosopher a Part a Piece an Effluvium of the Godhead With whom Arianus agrees telling that our Souls are so linked to God that they are Particles of him and as 't were pluck'd from him But he is very extravagant when he adds in pursuance of this that as to our Souls we are not inferiour to or less than God himself Epictetus himself and Seneca prononnce the Soul to be a Piece a Part of the Divine Essence Cicery speaks like one of this Sect as he frequently doth when he saith our Souls are taken out and pluck'd off from the Nature of God and are certain Segments of the Divine Mind And because it was hold by some Philosophers that some of the Inferiour Animals as Bees had Souls resembling those of Men therefore they asserted that they likewise were parts of the Divinity All this comes if I mistake not from that forenamed Passage in Moses's History concerning the Production of Man God breathed into him the Breath âf Life which was interpreted as if humane Souls were partial Effluxes or Aporrhae's of the Divine Essence it self The making of Eve out of Adam was also obscurely intimated in what Plato saith in his Symposium namely that the first Man was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Mixture of both Sexes Which Fable of his was from the Jewish Tradition that the first Man was made an Hermaphrodite that he had two Bodies join'd together one of a Male another of a Female and that God afterwards split him into two distinct Bodies whence arose Man and Woman If the Jewish Rabbies who were better acquainted with Scripture talk'd after this doting rate Plato may well be excused who perhaps had it only on Tradition and had not the Means to correct his Mistakes which they had But this is plain that this Fable is a Corruption of the Sacred Story which speaking of our First Parents saith God called their Name Adam as if their having but One Name signified they were but One Person and again in the same Verse Male and Female created he them as if the first Man who is spoken of in the Verse immediately foregoing consisted of a double Sex But it is evident that the Words relate to both and the reason why the Name Adam is given to both is because they were both of them from the Earth one immediately the other remotely but afterwards we read that they had distinct Names Adam being appropriated to the Man and Eve to the Woman And this ridiculous Fable which Plato had pick'd up might be occasioned likewise from a misunderstanding of that Text God took one of the Man's Ribs and out of it made he a Woman Because the Woman was formed out of the Man's Side they inferr'd that Adam was at first both Man and Woman and that the Woman at her first Make stuck to his Side Which is a gross mistaking of the Text but confirms the Truth and Antiquity of that Book of Moses which assures us of Eve's Formation out of Adam which was the thing that gave rise to this erroneous Tradition May we not think that Adam's Dominion over the Beasts which was accompanied with his Calling them and giving them Names was the Foundation of what the Poets talk of Orpheus's drawing the Beasts after him and making them Tame and causing them to stand still and as it were answer to their Names Or else it was a Representation of the Beasts and all sorts of Animals coming into the Ark at Noah's Call which is a Confirmation of another known Passage in the Mosaick Writings But I am not positive here and in some such-like Passages which occur in the Poets tho in others I shall heap up several plain and evident Circumstances sufficient to convince the Reader that they have reference to something spoken of in Scripture As to Adam's giving of Names to all things mentioned Gen. 2. 19. it appears that Plato was not a stranger to it for in his Cratylus where it is disputed whether Words signify by Institution or from Nature he first denies the Language of his Grecians to have been the Original one as in another place he calls his Countreymen the Greeks Youths and Striplings of yesterday and consequently their Language was not the antientest and then he hints that Hebrew was the Original Tongue which is meant by what is said Gen. 11. 1. that the whole Earth was of one Language and of one Speech And though he conceals the Name of the Iews or Hebrews yet when he expresly affirms in this Dialogue that the right Doctrine of Names and their Interpretation are to be fetch'd from the Barbarians as the more antient we are not to doubt that he means the Iews or Hebrews for all agree that they were call'd Barbaââââ by the Greeks as these were so by them And hence I gather that Plato and other Heathens knew and perhaps had read that Adam gave Names proper and significant Names to all Creatures which Moses particularly makes mention of and must be the very thing that is here meant by Plato when he acknowledgeth that the true Etymologies of Things and the Interpretation of Names are to be derived from the Barbarians The First and Innocent State of Man and that with some of the Circumstances of it which could be known only from the Book of Moses is spoken of by the antient Writers among the Heathens Thus you will âind that Hesiod gives us an admirable Description of it In Plato's Atlanticus or Critias are plainly to be seen the Footsteps of the Old and Primeve State of Man when the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as he saith prevail'd when the Diving ãâã
Heavenly Nature was not corrupted by the ãâã And in his Politicks where he likewise speaks â the Primitive and Pure State of Man he tells â that in those first Times Man got his Living with â out Trouble and Labour that he fed only on â Fruits of the Earth and that Nakedness was â Attendant of that first and Golden Age of â World alluding to Gen. 2. 25. They were both â ked the Man and his Wife So an Antient Wâ ter acquaints us that the Egyptians find in tâ old Writings that the first Men and Women â naked which is according to what 's read in tâ place In the Sibylline Verses which are borrow from the Scripture tho same Allegories and Dâ scriptions are used in setting forth the happy Aâ of Man that you find used in that holy Book â the Happiness of Paradise is obliquely described bâ Homer and the Felicity of the First Age by Vagil And without question the Blessed State â Paradise is referr'd to by Ovid in his descriptâ on of the Golden Age or Saturn's Reign Theâ we may see represented the Simplicity and Innocency of our First Parents the Peace and Tras quillity the Contentment and Satisfaction which were peculiar to the State of Integrity ãâã it self the Seat of this Happiness seems to have been known by the antient Pagans for it is probable their Writers understand this when they teâ us of the Elysian Fields for Gardens such as wâ Paradise and pleasant Fields are the same with them These you may see described by Plato â his Phaedo where he tells us that they are blessed with a mild and gentle Air pleasant Streams a constant Spring fragrant Flowers and Fruits ever growing Of these Virgil speaks in his sixth Aenead And they are the same with the Fortunate Islands which the Greeks write of a Place of extraordinary Delight and where none but Good and Vertuous Men inhabit Or if we must parallel it with a Garden so expresly call'd we have Alciuous his Garden or Orchard in Homer which was taken from the description of Paradise saith Iustin Martyr in his Oration against the Gentiles Or the Garden of Adonis which is so celebrated may refer to that of Eden and is easily derived from it Or the Garden of Iupiter in Plato's Symposiacks may aenigmatically refer as thaâ Learned Father Origen deemeth to that of Paradise So likewise may the pleasant Orchards of the Hesperides in which were Trees that bore Golden Apples and it may be some confirmation of this Notion that near the Fountain of the River Tiâgris on which Paradise was seated we read of a Place that bears the Name of Hispercitis and Hisperatis It is not unlikely that these diverse Gardins were transplanted from that in Eden It is not unlikely that some or all of these Greek Fables were founded in Truth and arose from what the Inspired Book tells us that God placed Man in a Garden the Garden of Eden which signifies Pleasure or Delight for it is added that here grew every Tree that is pleasant to the Sight and good for Food Gen. 2. 9. And as this Garden was the Platform of those before mentioned so the Tree of Life in this Garden gave rise to the Poets Nectar and Ambrosia brosia which are no other than the Food and Repast of these Earthly Gods these Divine Creatures that inhabit here The former of these according to one Derivation of it made the Drinkers of it ever youthful and another Etymology speaks this Drink to be such as suffers theâ not to Die These were the very Blessings of the Tree of Life it had a property to keep off Old Age and to preserve Man's Life a long time The latter namely Ambrosia had the same Virtue it was said to keep those that ate it free from Mortality This therefore no less than the other seems to refer to and be borrowed from the Tree of Life which should have made the Eaters of it Immortal and secured them in a State of Blessedness for ever Thus the Production of Man and sundry things referring to his Blessed State in Innocency which are found in the Writings of the Heathens were taken from the Sacred Fountains and consequently the Writings of these Heathens do in some measure attest and confirm to us the Truth and Certainty of the Holy Scriptures III. The Fall of Adam and the several particular things relating to it are to be found in these Pagan Records First the Forerunner of it viz. the Degeneracy of the Angels is plainly spoken of by that Antient Philosopher Empedocles as Plutarch relates for whom else could he mean by his Daemons to whom he gives the Name of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Heaven-fallen Creatures than these Apostate Spirits who were thrust down from the Regions of Happiness above and became Devils by their own voluntary opposing of God and declining his Government Next we have good Records among the Pagans of the Fall it self of Adam and Eve especially of the latter because she was first and most eminent in the Transgression as the Apostle speaks and was the cause of the Man's defection from his Duty She is represented by Homer's Ate whom incensed Iupiter thrust down from Heaven threatning that she should never be restored to that Place again Though some have thought that this might refer to the Apostate Angels of whom before because it is common with the Poets to imply Many when they mention but One Person and so here though One be said to be cast down from Heaven yet it may intimate to us the Fall of all the cursed Crew of Wicked Angels But it is more natural I think to apply this Story it being of the Female Sex to our Grandmother Eve for what the Poets tell us of Ate viz. that she was the first-born Daughter of Iupiter and that she was that pernicious Woman that brought Mischief on the whole Race of Man exactly agrees to her so that there is no need of explaining it It is not to be doubted that our first Parent Eve was also meant by Pandora whom Hesiod and others of the Antients mention acquainting us that out of her deadly Box which she gave to Epimetheus flew all Evil into the World and thereby she became the Original of all the miserable Occurrences that happen to Humane Kind Eve was this Pandora who gave that fatal Gift of the Fruit of the Tree unto her Husband as it is express'd in Gen. 3. 6. and he himself afterwards with unspeakable Regret and too late an Insiâââ into his Condition whence he justly merits ãâã Title of Epimetheus repeats the same She ãâã me of it ver 13. and with it imparted all Evil ãâã Mankind Wherefore from that Unhappy ãâã and from her General Bestowing of all Evils on ãâã World she had the Name of Pandora among ãâã first Greek Poets who had arrived to some not ãâ¦ã of this Unfortunate Woman's Miscarriage
it were easy to prove All which it is likely had its first Rise from the Old Testament and the Practice of the Antients recorded there Is it not reasonable to think that the Cities of Refuge among some Pagan Nations whither Offenders fled for Protection had their Origine from those so expresly mentioned in Numb 35. 13 14 15. Hence we read that Cadmus when he built Thebes founded a Place for all sorts of Criminals to repair to and Romulus at the building of Rome erected a Sanctuary for Offenders to fly to Further I could observe that the New-Moons were celebrated by the Athenians and other Grecians Concerning the first Plutarch is very positive and as to the rest that Proverbial Saying ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in use among them shews that they solemnly observ'd the first Day of the Month. The Romans likewise had the same Custom as is manifest from that of Ovid Vendicat Ausonias Iunonis cura Calendas And these New-Moon Festivals are referr'd to by Horace more than once as you may see in Turââbus All which is of Hebrew Extraction I could take notice that the Latin Iubilare and Iubilatio which are found in Varro and other old Romans which signify great Rejoicing and Shouting for Joy are from the old Jewish Law of Iubilee a Time of exceeding Gladness being the Year when Servants and Debtors were restored to their Liberty and Possessions which occasioned great Rejoicing And I could propound more Instances yet to prove that several Customs among the Heathens were extracted from the Holy Scriptures and that Heathen Worshippers shaped New Strange and Profane Rites and Ways of Worship out of the Passages they âead or heard of there and that most of the Heathen Usages are corrupt Imitations of the Jews I will add to the several Particulars this one more which though I will not confidently pronounce was borrowed from the Jews yet I propose it as a thing very probable It is this that the Hieroglyphicks of the Egyptians were in imitation of that People for they were brought up under Shadows Types and Symbols dark Representations and mystical Rites which might give occasion to the Egyptians to teach Religion and Morality by Hieroglyphick Figures I am not positive here nor would I be any where else unless I had good Grounds to go on because I am not altogether certain that the Hieroglyphick Learning began after Moses But there is great probability that it did and consequently that it was derived from what they observ'd among the Jews This is the Perswasion of the Inquisitive Kircher who without âây hesitation averreth that the Symbolical and Hieroglyphick Learning was imbibed from the Hebrews Nay to go yet farther now we are come thus far there are those who conjecture that a great part of the Antient Gentile Philosophy was collected from the Holy Book of Scripture Among the antient Persians the Mosaick Religion might be âiscovered in many Instances which might be given of their Principles and an Ingenious French Author hath lately proved that their Zoroastres was the same with Moses And as for the Pythagârick and Platonick Philosophy which consists much in Figures and Numbers in Dark and Symbolical Precepts it is evident that it was made up out of the Sacred Hebrew Writings The Platonists Books concerning God the Genii the Spirits and Souls of Men though stuff'd with many Errors and Superstitions discover a great Resemblance and Affinity with those things which the Bible delivers about the Nature of God Angels and Humane Souls Eusebius particularly insists on this and derives the Platonick Doctrines from the Scriptures Hence both he and Clement of Alexandria take notice of what Numenius the Pythagorean Philosopher said of Plato namely that he was the Greek Moses And indeed most of the antient Sages and Philosophers were obscure and mystick in their Stile and way of delivering their Notions as the Sacred Writers are observ'd to be very often Hence it is said by the antient Father whom I last quoted That the way of Philosophizing among those Pagans was after the manner of the Hebrews that is Aenigmatical But as to the Matter as well as Stile the chiefest of the old Greek Poets and Philosophers as Orpheus Homer Hesiod Thales Anaxagoras Parmenides Empedocles Democritus Socrates besides Pythagoras and Plato before named agree with Moses We may say of them all as an Historian saith of the first of them after he had set down several Particulars of sound Philosophy in his Poems They have pronounced many things concerning God and Man which are consonant to that Truth which we who are taught by the Holy Writings profess This may give light to what an Egyptian Priest told Solon Yoâ Grecians saith he are but of yesterday and know nothing of the Rise and Antiquity of Arts there is not one of you that is Old and there is no Learning among you that is Antient. His meaning was that all their Knowledg was borrowed and that the Sacred Mosaick Philosophy and Theology were the oldest of all From this the Heathens took theirs though sometimes they express it in different Terms Thus we have gone through the Moâaick Records and in many Instances shew'd the Derivation of Gentile Philosophy Principles Praâtices and Usages from those Sacred Writings and consequently we have evinced the Truth and Antiquity of these Records Before I leave this Head of my Discourse I will here add the Testimony of Pagan and Profane Authors concerning this great Law-giver Moses the first Penman of Holy Scripture which is still in prosecution of what I undertook to shew that the Writings of the Old Testament and with them their Authors and Penmen are attested by Profane Writers It appears first from what these have said that there was such a Person and that he was what his Writings represent him to be This is he that is called by Orpheus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã alluding to his Name Mosheh Exod. 2. 10. which was given him because he was drawn out of the Water He is celebrated by Alexander Polyhistor Philochorus Thallus Appion cited by Iustin Martyr by Manethon and Numenius alledged by Origen and Eusebius by Lysimachus and Molon quoted by Iosephus by Chalcidius Sanchoniathon Iustin Pliny in Porphyrius Moses is placed by Dioâorus the Sicilian in the Front of his famous Law-givers only a little disguised under the Name of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who is there said to have received his Laws from Mercury And why from Mercury Perhaps because some Chronologers acquaint us that the Great Mercurius stiled Trismegistus the antientest Philosopher among the Egyptians was either contemporary with Moses or is thought to have lived about his time But St. Augustine tells us in his Noted Book de Civitate Dei that this ãâã was Nephew to another Mârâurius whose ãâã was Atlas the famous Astrologer and he it was belike that flourished in Moses's time Whââââ if I
Abreviature of Iehovah was perhaps used by Moses himself which I gather from what Iosephus saith of the Name Written on the High-Priest's Mitre viz. That it had four Vowels and consisted of four Vowels alone This seems to have been Iova which consists of just so many Vowels though two of them are used as Consonants unless you will say they pronounced I and V. as Vowels thus Ioua We may then reasonably believe that the Name of the Heathens God Iovis came from the corrupt pronouncing or contracting the word Iehovah or which comes nearer to it Iehovih for so you will find it Written in Deut. 3. 24. 9. 26. And that Iovis is of Hebrew Original and derived from the Tetragrammaton is confess'd by Varro who thought that Iovis was first of all the God of the Iews as St. Augustin quotes him And though the Pagans alter'd the Name and made it sometimes exceed and at other times come short of four Letters yet this did not extinguish the sense and notion among some of them that the Original Name was a Tetragrammaton For it is likely that the Pythagoreans ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Number Four by which they used to Swear especially they confirmed the most serious Truths with this Oath was taken from the Iews Tetragrammaton The Excellent Commentator on Pythagoras's Golden Verses and particularly on this passage in them talks at large why God is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Quaternarius so that it seems the Pythagoreans applied it to God Whence a Learned Antiquary of our own concludes that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã was Iehovah and he conceives that Pythagoras who speaks of it in his Verses had this Mystery of Quaternity from the Hebrews who had in great veneration the Tetragrammaton the Name of God of Four Letters It was easie for this Philosopher who convers'd in his Travels as is acknowledg'd with Hebrews and Chaldees to arrive to the knowledge of this Name Let me suggest this in the next place that since the Name Iehovah was commonly pronounced Adonai by the superstitious Iews it might hence come to pass that this Adonai with a very small change gave the Name to one of the Poetick Gods among the Heathens viz. Adonis To confirm which add what Hesychius saith that Adonis is as much Lord among the Phaenicians He mistakes the Phaenicians for the Hebrews here as is very usual Whence then can we with greater probability think that Name was given to a Pagan God than from its being of so near affinity with Adonai the Name of the True God among the Iews Again Baal-Berith i. e. the Lord of the Covenant was the Name of a God or Idol of the Phaenicians Iudg. 8. 33. Which seems to be an imitation of the Title of the True God who as soon as the Deluge was past made a Covenant with Mankind and after that we find him Covenanting with Abraham and afterward with the whole People of the Iews and frequently in Scripture we see he is making a Covenant with his Servants so that he is the true Baal-Berith the Lord of the Covenant The Phaenicians borrowed this out of the Jewish and Sacred Writings and applied it to one of their Gods whence it was propagated to other Nations and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Foederator the Covenanter was the Title of Iupiter Among the Names which the Gentiles give to their Gods I may reckon ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Sabazius for it is sometimes Latinised to be one That this was the Name of iupiter especially you read in Strabo Valerius Maximus Apuleius That it was a Title also given to Bacchus is witnessed by others In allusion to this the word Sabos is often heard in the Orgia i. e. the Sacred Rites of Liber as Plutarch acquaints us And from Aristophanes we learn that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã were words of Acclamation and Rejoycing among the Pagans at their Great Solemnities and Festivals Now this Name seems to be of Hebrew Original and refers to the Iudaick Sabbath that Sacred Festival in which God was most solemnly Worshipp'd by that Nation And this Plutarch was sensible of viz. That there was an assinity between ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã before mention'd the word used in the Gentile Festivities especially by those that kept the Bacchanalia and the Iewish Sabbath only in this he err'd not knowing the derivation of the Hebrew word that he thought this was taken from that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as he expresly saith Or perhaps this Name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which was given to their false Gods was taken from that of the true one and Iupiter Sabazius is as much as Iehovah Zabaoth which both Isaiah and Ieremiah frequently repeat as the proper Name of God Iehovah Zabaoth the Lord of Hosts is his Name Some have thought the word Tzebaoth is placed here by way of Apposition as if it should be rendred Dominus Sabaoth and thence Ierom reckons Sabaoth among the Names of God But questionless this word is in the Plural Number in regimine and so the true rendering is Lord of Sabaoth i. e. of Hosts Yea you will find the Hebrew word retain'd even in the Greek as if there were something more than ordinarily remarkable in the Hebrew The Pagans who got the sound of this word as very famous among the Hebrews took it by it self for God's Name and thence it is likely framed the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This shall suffice in brief for a proof of what I undertook that the Names of the God of Israel are applied by the Heathens to their Idol-Gods The Pagans call their Deities by Titles which are given to the True God Iehovah This makes good what I aim'd at that the Heathens had these as well as other things from the Sacred Scriptures and it is certain they could have them from these only which is a proof of the verity and antiquity of those Holy Writings Speaking here of the Heathen-Gods and their Names as borrowed from Scripture it may not be impertinent to observe that even the Title of Gods given by the Pagans to their Kings and Princes was derived from the same inspired Writings I grant that it partly proceeded from their sottish Opinion that they were Gods indeed But it is as true that it might be derived to Prophane Writers from the stile of the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament where Magistrates are called Gods Thus in Exod. 22. 8. the Gods and the Rulers of the People are Synonimous Moses was to Aarââ instead of a God Ex. 4. 16. i. e. according to the Chaldee and Arabick a Iudge or Prince God himself honours the Rulers of the Sanhedrim with the Title of Gods Ps. 82. 6. I have said ye are Gods So in Psalm 138. Gods in the 1st verse are Kings of the Earth in the 4th It might be
observ'd that Elohim and Adonai the usual Names of God himself are attributed to Great Men in the Sacred Writings In short as God is often called King in Scripture so Kings are called Gods and thence the expression is convey'd to the Pagans and frequently used by them Among the Eastern People Melech Moloch and Malcham for these words are indifferently used signifie both God and King And perhaps it was in conformity or relation to this Notion that they commonly inserted the Names of their Gods into those of their Princes though it might be also as a good Omen or for Honour's sake From their Gods I say Princes compound their Names as Belshazar from Bel Nebuchadnezzar Nebuzaradan and Nebonasser from nebo an Assyrian God Evilmerodach from Merodach a Babylonian Godâ and many others Among the Persians we read the Name of God was bestow'd on their Emperours Thus Xerxes was stiled the Persian Iupiter One of the Antiochus's had the Sirname of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã We shall find likewise that other Nations complied with this Notion What if I should say that the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã mention'd by Pythagoras in his Golden Verses are these Terrestrial Gods I am speaking of viz. Great Princes Celebrated Heroes Wise Rulers Divine Men or Earthly Deities Plato tells us in his Politicks that a Good King is like some God chosen out from amongst Men. Princes and Commanders are stiled by Homer ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã born and bred of the Gods But especially among the Romans this sort of Language was common Rome was no less than Heaven and the Emperour was God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is apply'd to the first Caesar by Strabo The next viz. Augustus is called Deus Caesar by Propertius Edictum Domini Deique nostri is Martial's Language At Rome the Royal Palace was reputed a Temple the Mount Palatine was Sacred and Venerable because the Emperour's Seat was there The Soveraignty of Magistrates approaches next to the Majesty of Heaven saith the Grave and Renowned Oratour And with him agrees the Pithy Moralist who tells us that the People are to look upon their Governours under no other Character than as if the Gods were come down to visit them We may say here as the Philosopher in another Case hic Dii sunt there is a kind of Divinity in Rulers they are Earthly Numen's they are Created and visible Deities And being so stil'd first of all in Scripture the Title hath come down to the Pagan World but hath been infinitely abused Having taken notice of several References in Prophane Authors to express Passages and Usages Recorded in the Old Testament I will here super-add one which I meet with in Martial's Epigrams And I will the rather insist upon it because the place is obscure and hath yielded matter of great Controversie among the Learned The Epigrammatist writes to a Iew and tells him he will not credit what he saith though he Swears by the Temple of Iupiter or of any other Deity Wherefore he puts him upon Swearing by Anchialus Ecce negas jurà sque mihi per templa Tonantis Non credo jura Verpe per Anchialum There have been great disputes about this Anchialus some thinking it to be Sardanapalus's Statue crected in Anchiala a City of Cilicia and there Worshipp'd Of this Opinion is Dom. Calderinus Some taking it for a Man or a Boy some for a City or Town and others for a Beast as Vossius the Elder conceits it refers to the Iews Worshipping an Ass because ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is Asinus But he might as well have understood by this word a Horse or a Man that carries Burthens for that is the import of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or rather ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Besides Angarius and Anchialus are too different in sound to be thought to be the same Wherefore I dismiss this The rest of the Modern Criticks agree in this that the Poet directing this Epigram to a Iew refers to something in use among that People and particularly something mention'd in their Bible for that would make the Jest the more biting as he imagined viz. The Form of Swearing by the True God which is used there But these Authors differ about the Form Ioseph Scaliger derives it from the Hebrew Fountain ãâã i. e. si vivit Deus which was a form of Swearing with the Hebrews hence saith he Martial was mistaken and thought they swore by Ancbialus whereas the Oath was Am chi alah i. e. If God liveth Our Learned Farnaby likes this Criticism very well and hath inserted it into his Notes on this place But by the leave of so Great a Critick there is I conceive something faulty in it For though I am most willing to grant that there is in this place a reference to the Form of Swearing which was used by the Iews in the Old Testament yet I am not forward to assent to this interpretation of the word Anchialum which this Noble Philologist presents us with and that for these Reasons first it is not Am but An that must answer to the beginning of the word Anchialum However this may be born with being an easie change of a Letter Secondly there is no such Hebrew Word as am There is im si but then it should be Imchialum not Anchialum Thirdly Ala is not an usual word for God among the Iews because it is an Arabick not an Hebrew word and 't was never made use of in that Nation and 't is not once mention'd in the Holy Bible wherefore I can't believe they solemnly Swore by it For the same Reason I am apt to reject thââ other solution of this place in Martial which a very Excellent and Choice Writer hath offered Anchidlum or Anchialon saith he is composed of these three words An non Cha vivit and without the Vowel under it Chi and perhaps they might vulgarly pronounce it so and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or alon deus For this saith he is an Oath of a Iew who denies the Crime which he is accus'd of he Swears thus An chi alon i. e. Non vivit deus But I cannot on due Consideration think that this is a true account of this Passage for first Alon was not a Name in use nay perhaps not known among the Iews This Author indeed saith it may be gathered out of Plautus that God's Name was pronounced Alon but we are not to consider what pronunciation the Name had among other People i. e. Foreigners but what was in constant use among the Iewish People for the Poet refers here to that Wherefore there being no such Name among them it could not be used by them in an Oath and consequently it is not here meant when Martial is jesting with the Circumcised Poet. And as for the word Eljon which 't is true is often used in Scripture and of which this Alon seems to be a corruption it
Alah nor Chi Alon nor Chi gnolam but Chi Elohim or Chi El take which you please that is referr'd to here by the Poet for these are the very words used in Scripture and we read that one of them especially is the express form of Swearing among the Hebrews Which is the thing I alledged this passage for viz. To let you see how Pagan Writers have frequent references to the Book of God and particularly the Name of the True God and to the Customs and Usages there spoken of and thereby do in some measure give testimony to the Truth and Reality of those Writings I would offer to the Learned another Notion in prosecution of the Subject I have been so long upon I am of the Opinion that from The frequent mention of Horns in the Old Testament the Heathens borrow'd the like expression and apply'd it in that very sense in which 't is used in those Holy Writings The Hebrew Keren whence the Greek ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Latin Cornu and the German and English Horn signifies Might Strength Fortitude as also Ioy Safety Prosperity whence you read of the Horn of Salvation 2 Sam. 22. 3. Psal. 18. 2. and the exalting lifting up and setting ãâã the Horn 1 Sam. 2. 1. Ps. 75. 4 10. Ps. 89. 17. Ps. 112. 9. Lam. 2. 17. Zach. 1. 21. On the contrary cutting off the Horn signifies debasing degrading a mournful unsafe afflicted Condition ãâã is clear from Ps. 75 10. Ier. 48. 25. Lam. 2. 3. And defiling the Horn is of the same import ãâã 16. 5. From the signification of the Verb Kuran we may be partly confirmed in this sense of the Noun Keren for 't is said of Moses's Face that it shone Ex. 34. 29. it was very Bright and Glorious The vulgar Latin renders it it was Horn'd and thence was said before Moses is âsually Pictured with Horns But we must unâârstand it spoken Metaphorically viz. of those âays or Beams of Light which darted from his face and which were as 't were Horns of Light So in Hab. 3. 4. by Horns is meant Brightness or Light and it is so expresly interpreted in that rerse The Radiency the Splendour of Moses's Face was very great and is rightly called by the Apostle the Glory of his Countenance 2 Cor. 3. 7. So that hence we may gather that the word imports Outward Glory And as this word Keren signifies more generally Power Grandeur Ourward Glory and Prosperity so it more particularly denotes Kingly Power Soveraign Dominiou and Empire the Greatness and Splendor of Crowned Heads Whence by the way I propound it as probable that from the Eastern words Karan and Keren are derived the Greek ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Dominus Imperator and the Latin Corona Thus Horn is applied in 1 Sam. 2. 10. He shall give strength unto his King and exalt the Horn of his Annointed And in the Psalms you will find that this word hath particular reference to David as King Ps. 89. 24. 91. 10. So in Ps. 132. 17. 't is spoken of him as the Lord 's Annointed and 't is joyn'd with a Crown in the next verse In the Book of Daniel this Language is very common in the 7th and 8th Chapters a Horn and Horns signifie Princely Dominion and the Persons that exercis'd it and in the latter of these Chapters those two Horn'd Beasts a Ram and a Goat are Representatives of Kings and Kingdoms It is in express words said in two places Horns are Kings Dan. 7. 24. 8. 7. Now from this particular stile and idiom of the Ancient Holy Book of the Scriptures the Heathen Writers learnt to speak after the same manner Not only in a general way was the word Horn used by some of their Authors to express Vigour Spirit Strength and Power but more especially and signally they makâ use of it to signifie Supream Power and Dignity such as that of their Gods and of their Kings Thus Corniger was the Epithet of Iupiter Hammon and we may inform our selves from several Writers that he was commonly pictured with Horns which had its rise I conceive from the like representation of Great Ones in the Old Testament as you have heard I know other Reasons are alledg'd as that of Servius who thinks this Iupiter had that Title and was represented Horned because of his Winding Oracles because his Answers had as many crooked Turnings as a Ram's Horn. Macrobius and some others tell us that this Hammon was no other than the Sun whose Beams are Cornute whose Rays are in the fashion of Horns If the Moon had been meant then I confess the Epithet of Horned had been very Natural But I don't think that the Metaphorical Horns of the Sun which are its Rays were thought of here by the Antients Wherefore I look upon these as mean and trifling Reasons But the true occasion if I mistake not of their describing Iupiter Hammon with Horns and of representing other Gods as Pan and Bacchus after the same manner was this that they complied with the Stile of the Sacred Writings as was an usual thing with them which set forth Great Power Magnificence and Glory especially Kingly Power and Greatness by the expression of Horns This suited well with their Gods who were Great Folks and generally Deified Kings We read that a Ram and a Goat are Symbols of Regal Strength in the Prophetick Writings in imitation of which it is probable Iupiter Hammon was worshipp'd in Afsrick in the shape of an Image which had partly the proportions of a Ram and partly of a Goat And from the same Original viz. the Holy Scriptures it was that Antiently the Pagan Kings and Monarchs were represented and stiled Horned as we may satisfie our selves from several Authors It is well known that Alexander the Great was called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã bicornis of which some give this Reason because say they of the amplitude of his Empire which was extended to both the extream Horns of the World East and West Others say he would have been thought to be the Son of Iupiter Hammon who was Cornute and accordingly they drew Alexander so And there are other Reasons assign'd by Authors why this Great Conquerour had the denomination of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but they seem to be far fetch'd and not to give us the true and genuine account of it which I take to be this viz. That this Title was derived to the Gentiles from the frequent Language and Phraseology of the Old Testament which expresses Kingly Power by Horns and more especially from the Prophecy of Daniel where the Grecian Monarchy is deseribed by a He Goat an Horn'd Animal and the first King of that third Monarchy viz. Alexander the Great is signified by Keren Chazuth a Notable Horn Dan. 8. 5. a Great and Visible Horn as the Hebrew word properly signifies And again he is call'd in the same Chapter the Great Horn v. 21. All Interpreters agree in
this that Alexander the Great is meant here although they differ in expounding other parts of the Chapter Hence this Mighty Monarch would in his Pictures and Coins be ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã represented as Horn'd yea his choice Horse which he most prized is known by this Character And from this Great Man his Successors learnt to stamp their Coine with Horned Images and Impressions Hence âlexander is called Dulcarnain in the Alcoran by Mabomet which is equivalent to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for that I suppose to be the meaning of that Eastern word And 'till some others give a better Interpretation of Chaucer's at Dulkernoon I presume to say it signifies as much as to be in a âaze to be at ones wits end to be dilemma'd to be push'd at on one side and the other as 't were with a double Horn. So much for that Name given to that Great Monarch of which many Writers have disputed and I have made bold to put in among the rest and to offer my apprehensions concerning that Epithet I refer it to the Old Testament which was not unknown to some of the wisest of the Gentiles who thence borrow'd many Words and Phrases and more Customs and Practices Hence Horns came to be significatâve of Kingly Greatness and Power Hence it was a Custom among the Persians to wear a Rams Head of Gold for a Diadem Hence Attila King of Hunns was pourtray'd with Horns as is to be seen in Ancient Medals And that Horns were a Badge of Regality and Dominion is clear from what we read in Valerius Maximus viz. That when on a sudden Horns were seen to appear on the head of Genitius Cippus as he was going out at the door the Response was that he should be King if he return'd into the City I have now almost finish'd my Task I mean so far as it respects the Old Testament Let me only add this after all That many things in Homer Euripides Sophocles Theognis c. may not only be reduced to but seem to be borrow'd from David's Psalms Solomon's Proverbs the Book of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus which are but an imitation of these and other parts both of the Canonical and Apocriphal Writings This hath been partly shew'd by some of late but might be carried on much further I do not think every Saying that is like another in Scripture was taken thence That of the Apostle 1 Cor. 2. 9. which he takes from Isai. 64. 4. Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it enter'd into the Heart of Man is very like that passage in Empedocles ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but no Man can think there was any reference to it I do not say that Lucretus's Cedit item retro de terrâ quod fuit ante In terras Et quod missum est Aetheris oris c. was copied out of Solomon Eccles. 12. 7. Toen shall the dust return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it I know many Sentences may happen to be alike yea the same in Sacred and Prophane Writers The Moral Subject they Treat upon might afford the like matter and words sometimes but in comparing the Hagiographa and those Writings you will find that that there is more than this the Genius of the Stile is the same the manner of Expression the forms of Speech the particular Phrases and proverbial Sayings which had their first rise among the Hebrews are the very same This is excellently shewed by the Learned Hugh Grotius in his Annotations and it plainly discovers whence the Pagan Writers had those things Some of the Prophane Poets borrow'd their strain of Love-Songs and Epithalamiums from Solomon's Canticle Especially Theocritus as Sanctius hath observed from whom the rest learnt that way of Verse hath not a few passages in his Idyllia expresly taken out of that Sacred Song And in that Dialogue of Plato which he entitles Symposium or his Eroticks there are several things which you would guess are allusions to Solomon's Love-Dialogue or Epithalamium And to heap up several particulars together it was said by Solon in his Discourse with Craâsus as both Herodotus and Diogenes Laertius report that the Term of Mans Life is threescore years and ten as if he had had it from the Pen of the Holy Psalmist Psal. 90. 10. The Acclamation or Shout which was used among the Heathens in War when there was an occasion of Joy and Thanksgiving was ãâã which you may eaâily conceive was a corruption of Allelujah Some Chapters and Psalms of the Old Testament are disposed in an Alphabetical Order which gave rise to that sort of Verses call'd Acrosticks Such are the Arguments of Plautus's Comedies and the Elogium of Christ in one of the Sibylls which you will find also in Tully This piece of Wit and Fancy was borrowed from the Holy Writings which were Endicted by the Sacred Spirit And here when I am speaking of the Pagans borrowing from the Hebrews I might even observe to you that the very Greek Alpbabet is taken from them which the Grecians themselves in part confess for they say they had their Letters from the phaniâians who were near Neighbours to the Hebrews and who indeed are usually mistaken for these I will add in the last place that the Old Testament hath left some remains of it in most remoto Countries of the World as China India America as our Modern Travellers will inform us In all these parts there are evident and apparent footsteps of the History of the Bible Mastinius in his History of China acquaints us that the Chineses have Records concerning the Vniversal Flood and that there are among that People several Memorials of the Old Patriarchs and accordingly one hath given us a brief account out of him of Cain Enoch and Noah That in India the footsteps of Mosaick Doctrine remain among the Brachmans is proved by Huetius The highest Mountain of Zeilan an Isle in the East-Indies is call'd by the Inhabitants Adam's Top and there is Adam's Cave where he lamented himself after his Fall The Ceremony of putting their Hands under one another's Thighs when they solemnly Swear to one another of which we read in Gen. 24. 2. 47. 29. is observ'd among some of the Indians at this day The Americans saith ââosta have Traditions of the Deluge and make mention of it in their Discourses And Huetius ââeweth that several Rites and Laws of Moses are observed by them The Antient Patriarchs left behind them remembrances of their Actions even in these places their Memory is still preserv'd and retained in many Names Customs and Practices that are among them The Name Ioseph is often found there and Hallelujah is used in their Songs as Hornius observes The People of Peru report that all their Earth was overwhelm'd with waters and lay cover'd with them a long time that
are only Poetick Flourishes and therefore must not be thought to refer to any real thing The fixing this on my mind kept me from running into those Extravagancies which some have been guilty of whilst they imagined that the Poets in all or most of the particulars with which their Fables are stuffed allude to so many express passages in True History I attended to the main thing in their Writings which I saw came so near to Scripture the rest I pass'd by as meer Poetick Flash and Foolery and not to be taken notice of In short I have always trod where there is some tolerable ground and footing and I have omitted several particulars which others insist upon meerly because they have so sandy a bottom So little Reason have any to blame me for indulging of Fancy in this present undertaking where I have endeavour'd in abundant instances to make it probable that the Pagans borrowed from the Sacred Writings CHAP. VIII The Antiquity of the Writings of the Old Testament asserted The way oâ communicating Scriptural Truths and Historieâ to the Pagans viz. by the Commerce which the Iews had with other Nations by their being dispers'd over all the World by the Translation of the Bible into Greek by the Travels of Philosophers and other Studious Men among the Heathens How the Sacred Truths but especially the Historical part of the Old Testament came to be misunderstood and corrupted viz. by the confusion of Tongues by being Transmitted to Barbarous People by length of time by passing through many hands by the Superstition and Idolatry of the Receivers by the affectation of Mysteries and Abstrusities by the Grecian Humour of Inventing and Romancing by Mens being Timerous by Ignorance of the Jewish Religion and Affairs by aâ Averseness and Hatred to the Jews It was thought by some dangerous to insert the Holy Text into their Writings What designs the Devil had in corrupting the Scripture and mixing it with Falsities iâ the Books of the Pagans BUT not withstanding all I have said there are some who will by no means entertain this Discourse but with great earnestness and violence oppose it I am obliged therefore in the next place to fortifie it by Reason I will discover to you the Foundations on which my Opinion is built and give you a Rational Account how it comes to pass that the Heathens bear witness to the Old Testament This I will do first by shewing you how they came by these Traditions and Truths Secondly whence and how they disguis'd and corrupted them For the First It is not likely the Gentiles could light on these things by Natural Reason for those discoveries concerning the Creation and the Paradisiacal State of Man and the particular mannâr of his Fall and several other things which I mention'd are beyond Nature's Ken they are not such things as fall within the cognizance of Men as they are Rational Creatures therefore they must be particularly Revealed to Mankind And the Authentick Body of Divine Revealed Truth being the Bible we cannot but infer that those things were borrowed from that Sacred Volume And as for Matters of Fact relating to the Old Patriarchs and other Eminent Men in former days on which I have asserted that many of the Pagan Stories and Fables depend these were Recorded in those Sacred Books first of all and therefore these Books are the Fountains from which the Heathens took these Relations This Argument I take to be unanswerable namely that the Old Testament is the First and Antientest Book that ever was extant and therefore when the Pagan Writers mention things in this Book they took them thence or from those Persons who had them out of these Writings Here then it is necessary to insist a little on the Antiquity of this Holy Volume That Moses's Writings were long before all others is proved by several of the Fathers of the Christian Church You may reckon the Date of his Books to be about A. M. 2460 which was above 400 Years before the Trojan War before which we do not hear of any Writers whatsoever Yea it was above a Thousand Years after it that the Antientest Historian unless you will reckon those Fabulous ones Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretensis appeared Without controversie Moses was the Oldest Historian either Natural or Ecclesiastical The Antiquity of his Works is beyond all other Books they all begin long after him And as for some other Books of the Old Testament they were before the Writings of any Heathens To begin first with the Antientest Egyptian Writers some tell us that in Moses's time flourish'd those Excellent Philosophers Zoroastres and Mercurius Trismegistus but whân yoâ come to Examine this you find no less than four Zoroastres's and to which of these the Writings are to be attributed and what date they bear iâ uncertain so that we can conclude nothing there There are also great Disputes about Herâos or Trismegistus namely who he was and when he Lived and at what time the Writings that go under his Name were written and whether they be genuine Kircher holds them to be such but Casaâbon attempââ the contrary His ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is quoted by ãâã âartyr Lactantius and Augustin and therefore ãâã Ancient but his Antiquity cannot be proved ãâã be equal with that of the Holy Writers Manetho or Manethos who writ the Egyptian History lived but in Ptolomaeus Philadelphus's time Then for the Phaenician Antiquities which Sanâathon writ in the Phaenician Tongue and which Philo Biblius who lived in Adrian's time âârn'd into Greek of which Version Eusebius hath ââeserv'd us a Famous Fragment though Scaliââ hath labour'd to prove them Supposititious ãâã some others reckon them not as such and âârticularly the Learned Bochart hath Commentââ upon them as true and Genuine Writings ãâã as for the Anâiquity of this Phaenician Histoââân and Theologer though it may be acknowââdg'd to be great yet without question he was âoses's junior by many hundred years And so was the Author of the Babylonian or Chaldean ãâã for Berosus who is said to compile âââm lived at the same time that Manetho did And though perhaps Frier Annius hath imposed ãâã the World by the Name of this Author as some think and accordingly bring several Arguments to prove this new Berosus a Cheat ãâã it doth not follow that the old one of âhom both Iosephus and Eusebius have preserv'd the fragments was such Some Greek Writers plead great Antiquity next Orpheus and Muâââs the Ancientest of them all are âaid to have Lived in Gideon's days which was about 200 years after Moses And 200 years after this Lived Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretensis who wrote the Trojan War And 100 years after this Homer wrote his Poem who Flourish'd not 'till at least 150 years after David the Divine Poet. This is observable that the Greeks as soon as they had gain'd any knowledge of Letters and Arts fell to inventing of incredible Stories and writing
of meer Fictions Whence Eusebius complains that there were nothing but meer Fables in the Greek Histories if they may be call'd Histories before the beginning of the Olympiads that Famous Greek Epoche or Computation which began from the Instauration of the Olympick Games by Iphitus but when this was is not very clear for some say it was in the time of Azariab King of Iudah above two hundred years after the Death of Solomon others say in the Reign of Vzziah King of Iudah A. M. 3173. Others fix it A. M. 3189 eight years before the Birth of Romulus and Remus four hundred and seven years after the Destruction of Troy Others place the Olympiads lower about A. M. 3228 others A. M. 3256 about seven hundred and fifty years before Christ. Varro's Division of Times into Vnknown Fabulous and Historical the last of which he begins not 'till the Greek Olympiads proves this very thing The most Ancient Greek Historians were Archiloâus Aristeas Proconnesius Hecataeus Milesius Charon Lampsacenus c. but nothing of their Writings is preserved Herodotus is the Ancientest Greek Historian we have extant and therefore is called the Father of History but he begins his Historical Relations but a little before the Prophetick Histories of Ezra Nehemiah and Daniel make an end You will find this Argument prosecuted by Clemens Alexandrinus who shews that the Learning and Knowledge of the Hebrews was before that of the Greeks as much as the Iewish Nation was before the Seven Wise Men and the Sacred History before the Argolick He shews that Thales and Solon two of their Wise Men lived about the forty sixth and the fiftieth Olympiad and Pythagoras about the sixty second than which the Iews were much older by the confession of Philo Pythagoreus Aristobulus Peripateticus and Megasthenes He compares the Age of Moses with Bacchus the Seven Wise Men and some of the Grecian Gods and proves that he was above six hundred years before any of these He demonstrates from Chronological Computations that Hâggai aâd Zachary were Elder than Pythagoras and that Solomon was much Seniour to the Wise Men. And all this is in order to this that the Greeks as well as the Chaldeans and Egyptians had their Knowledge from the Hebrews and not these from them Seeing then that the Ancientest Pagan Writers are short of the Holy Scriptures seeing all Authors and Writers are after Moses for he indeed was before all the Great things that are in Pagan History 400 years before the Trojan War which is the first starting of History with the Greek and Roman Authors His Laws had the precedency of all others whatsoever yea the very name of Law was scarce extant at that time in all Homer you can't find the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they had no written Rules to direct their Manners by the will of their Princes was the only Law since these things are thus the Transcendant Antiquity of the Writings of the Old Testament is hence undeniably proved These are the ancientest Memorials in the World these are the oldest Monuments of Truth and consequently the Iews were the first People that had these things set before them and as a consequent of that all others took from them From this comparing the Antiquity of Writers it is clear that Moses's Laws and the Customs of the Patriarchs were not borrowed from the Pagans as some have imagin'd but that the Chaldeans Phaenicians and Egyptians yea that the Arabians and Persians as might have been shewn and as the Learned Dr. Stillingfleet now a worthy Prelate of our Church hath proved in his Admirable Discourse on this Subject and that the Greeks and Latins have derived their Mysteries from the Hebrews and that all the Gentile Theologers borrowed their Great Truths from the Books of the Old Testament for these being the ancientest and first Records it is most reasonable to believe that those that came after them took from them and that these Sacred Writings yielded matter to those others This is the first Reason to prove that the Pagan Historians Philosophers and Poets were beholding to the Scriptures Secondly I will prove it from the way of Communicating those Scriptural Truths and Histories to them 1. This happen'd by reason of the Commerce which the Iews had with the Neighbouring Nations Chaldeans Phaenicians Egyptians and others Especially in King Solomon's time there was a great Commerce between the Hebrews and these latter and then it is probable the Egyptians learnt many things of the Iews As Solomon Married a Wife thence so it is likely they affected some of the Rites and Manners of his People and espoused their Customs and Usages together with their Notions and Opinions It must be remembred also that the Chaldeans Phaenicians and Egyptians were the Nations which Greece Traded with and so this Country had an opportunity of receiving the Iewish Traditions and Customs at the second hand and hence it is that you have the footsteps of them so frequently in the Greek Authors as well Poets as others Nay to speak more generally Iudea was very well âituated for the propagating of Laws and Usages to all other Nations for it was placed in that Climate of the World which was fit for this purpose viz. in the middle of the then Inhabited Earth To which convenient situation perhaps the Psalmist refers in Psal. 74. 12. God worketh Salvation in the midst of the Earth And so that of Ezekiel concerning Ierusalem I have set it in the midst of the Nations Ch. 5. v. 5. Secondly A great part of the Hebrews being dispersed over all the World by Divine Providenâe had an opportunity of Communicating these things to the Gentiles The main Body of them were sent into Assyria and Babylon by Nehuchadnezzar where they had converse with those Sârangers seventy years and a part of them were carried at the same time into Egypt with Ieremiah It is not to be doubted that they carried with them the Holy Writings which were then extant and out of them they daily imparted the passages of the History of the Creation of the World and Noah's Flood and the Propagation of Mankind and other the like particulars contained in those Books Afterwards when they were beaten by Pompey and made Slaves they were carried Captive into Egypt Syria Greece Rome Besides that in the times of the Maccabees some had freely left their Country and went into Egypt to make Proselytes there When they were thus scattered into these Foreign Countries it is no wonder that the People in these parts attain'd to some knowledge of the Sacred Books and of the Traditions of the Iews They must needs hear and learn something of those Matters Conversing familiarly with the Iews 3. The Iewish Notions and Customs might easily be Communicated to the Gentiles seeing Moses's Writings were Translated into Greek in the time of the Persian Monarchy if not before it as Eusebius reports from Megasibenes a Man well Skill'd in History and who
lived with Seleucus as Eusebius in the same place affirms seeing there was a Greek Translation of a considerable part of the Old Testament before Alexander the Great 's time as Clemens of Alexandria Testifieth And accordingly Demetrius Phalereus Library-Keeper to King Ptolomeo Sirnamed Philadelphus in an Epistle to him which Eusebius citeth saith that before the Septuagint Version many things were Translated out of the Bible But this is most certain and agreed to by all that upon Alexander the Great his Conquests the Iews and Greeks had converse with one another and were no longer Strangers being now United under the same Empire And as an effect of this soon after Alexander the Great all the Old Testament was entirely Translated into Greek by Seventy two Iews whom the foresaid King of Egypt appointed for that purpose Hence the knowledge of those things contained in the Sacred Writings could not but be communicated to the Gentiles 4. This Communication was made by the Travels of Philosophers and inquisitive Men among the Pagans Of Pythagoras we are told by Laertius that when he was young and being very desirous to Learn he left his Country and was initiated into all the Mysteries not only of the Greeks but Barbarians And particularly he testifies that he Travell'd into Egypt and Chaldea Of the same Philosopher it is asserted by Origen Clemâns the Alexandrian Porphyry and others that he went into Chaldea in the time of the Captivity where he had the opportunity of conversing with the Iews Ludovicus Vives thinks that he Travel'd also into Egypt and was acquainted with Ioremiah there Mr. Seldon likewise holds that he went and visited Iudea and there Convers'd with Ezekiel with whom he was Contemporary and learnt the Tetragrammaton and other Mysteries of him Concerning Plato it was believ'd by many saith St. Augustin that he took a journey into Egypt and was there the Prophet Iereâniah's Auditor and read the Prophetick Writings and though this Father himself was not inclin'd as he declares to believe this because he thinks that Philosopher was born after that time yet he most readily assents to this that he had many things from the Books of the Old Testament and to prove this he citeth several passages out of that Heathen Writer It is most evident to all that have convers'd with this Author's Writings that there are sundry things in them above the strain of common Philosophy as concerning the Creation of the World the Formation of the First Man out of the Earth the Innocent and Happy State of Mankind the loss of that Primitive State and the vile degeneracy of the Sons of Men with many other Particulars which are fetch'd from the Sacred Writings I might mention likewise how loftily he speaks of God and his Nature how admirably he Discourses of the Soul how clearly he asserts a Future Life and the Rewards and Punishments of another World how feelingly he treats of Vertue and Goodness how Divinely he writes concerning Religion which he represents as Pure and Spiritual and Purged from the Heathen Superstitions This Sublime and Extraordinary Knowledge the Ancients think he gained by Travelling into Syria Iudea and Egypt and holding converse with those that understood the inspired Writings And it is their Opinion that though he Convers'd with some of the Iewish Nation and imbibed their Sentiments yet he carefully avoids mentioning their Name because they were odious to other Nations and consequently those structures of true Theology which are in his Works would have fared the worse for it But though he would not speak this out plainly yet he seems to utter it in a disguised manner Perhaps he hinteth that he receiv'd those Notions from the Iews when he mentions ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for the Syrians and Phaenicians who were the Neighbouring People to Iudea generally pass'd for Iews That other Great Philosophers as Solon Democritus Heraclitus c. Travel'd into Egypt and Babylon is testified by Diogenes Laertius in their Lives The same is attested by Diodorus concerning Orpheus Musaeus Homer Lycurgus and other Wise Grecians viz. That they went and visited those Foreign Parts and thence came furnish'd with the Knowledge of those things which they had learnt in those Countries The like is confirmed by the testimony of some Christian Fathers who also add that those Chief Philosophers of Greece when they sojourn'd among the Egyptians learn'd many things of their Priests which they had from the Tradition of the Iews who had been among them And there they perused the Mosaick Writings which were of great account among some of them Hence the Religion Rites and Practices Recorded in those Books were divulg'd and spread abroad in the World Indeed it is very probable in the Nature of the thing it self that this would happen for the Iews being a People so Renowned for Religion and their Fame and Glory being every where Celebrated it could not be but that foreign People especially the most Philosophical and Inquisitive among them should be desirous to confer with the Bible or Iewish Authors and to know their Laws Ways and Customs and that whole Nations should be forward to imitate and make use of them This is more than Prophetically intimated in Deut. 4. 6. where 't is said that when the Nations shall hear all those Excellent Statutes given to the Iews They shall say surely this great Nation is a wise and understanding People If the Pagans should so admire and value the Iewish Customs and Ceremonies they would as the consequent of that imitate and practise them Thus you have a Rational Account of the Consonancy of Pagan Writings and Customs to the Sacred Scriptures you see how they were derived from these Fountains In the next place I am to enquire how the Scriptural Stories and Truths came to be corrupted whence it is that they are mixed with Obscurity and Falsity in the Writings of the Pagans how it comes to pass that one thing is put for another and that it is so hard oftentimes to understand what they deliver I will give you an Account of this in these following particulars 1. The confusion of Languages did not a little contribute to these Mistakes Corruptions and Falsities When the World was of one Tongue the notices of things which were imparted by Speech were very clear and intelligible when they all joyn'd in one Language they could easily apprehend one another and there could arise no mistakes by Ambiguity in the variety of words But upon confounding the first I anguage and dividing it into many there follow'd a great disorder among Mankind for then it became difficult to understand one another The Words being confused the Conceptions and Things which were convey'd to Men by those words were also confused obscure and uncertain The variety and multiplicity of Words begot mistakes and confusions among so many millions of words it was impossible but that there should be a great
many ambiguous and equivocal and thence the Phrases Sentences and Speeches must needs be so too This is one Reason why the Sacred Truths of Scripture were corrupted when they came into the Hands of the Heathens The Eastern words and forms of speaking were misunderstood by the Grecians the Hebrew Dialect and Idiom were mistaken by the People of another Language and Country The Oriental Expressions were misinterpreted by the Europeans who were Strangers to the literal and proper Sense of them Hence arose Fables Fancies and groundless Conceits which they mixed with the Spiritual Verities and almost defaced and extinguished them 2. The Sacred History of Scripture and the Traditions of the First Ages of the World were easily corrupted because they were Transmitted to Ignorant and Barbarous People God was pleas'd not to vouchsafe that Light and Knowledge to the Gentiles which he bestowed on his own People but he thought fit to leave them in that darkness and blindness which their gross Sins had brought them to and which were now become the just Punishment of them Many of them were so besotted that when they heard of those Holy and Mysterious Truths they were not able to bear them they could not apprehend the true meaning and import of them But because some of them who were the most Contâmplative would be exercising themselves about them they resolved to make something of them or out of them And accordingly when they committed them to Writing they applied them to some Person or Thing which was known and famous among them and thus an Historical passage in Holy Scripture became a Story of their own or a Divine Truth was turn'd into a Fable By this means the things which they borrowed from the Word of God came to be Dâpraved and Disguised 3. The long tract of Time and diversity of years have partly introduced this corruption and alteration For length of time blotted out some of the former Accounts and defaced the Memoirs of things The Antient Names of several Persons and Places are worn out and others quite different from them are used in their stead The true Original Occasion and Meaning of many things were forgotten and in place of them New but False Relations crept in Then came to pass at last when the right Notions of things were worn out that Men of Poetry and Invention thrust upon silly People their own Fancies and Conceits and perswaded them to accept of the most unlikely Stories for Truth 4. The Historical passages of Scripture and the strange Events which hapned among the Iews being spread abroad and passing through many Hands or rather Mouths could not but for that Reason be corrupted By the great diversity of Relators they were changed some adding to them and others diminishing them so that at the last they were quite different from what they were at first 5. As Superstition and Idolatry increased the greater Corruptions there were of True History Men making that to Administer to their Idolatrous Worship So that in those Countries especially where there were the fiercest Bigots for the Pagan Devotion there was alwaies a more plentiful coyning of these Fables under which were hid very useful Truths taken out of the Old Testament 6. This must be added that it was the Custom of the Antient Pagans to wrap up their Notions in obscure and dark Terms and to represent them in an Aenigmatical way Origen thinks Plato in one of his pieces hath something of that Paradise which Moses in the beginning of his Writings speaks of and he gives this Reason why he thinks so viz. because it is Plato's usual way to describe things obscurely and to disguise the greatest and most excellent Verities under the vail of Mysteries and Fables And this was the guise of others besides Plato especially of the Pagan Poets they affected obscurity and difficulty of Stile whence sprang several of the Fabulous Histories of the Gods and other odd passages in their Writings And so when they took some things of moment from Scripture or from those who were acquainted with those Sacred Records they cloath'd them with their dark and Mystical Expressions in so much that it was hard to know whence they had them 7. The Grecian Humour was to Invent and Romance their Poets especially who were their first Writers were famous for this They abused mangled jumbled and confounded the Stories in Holy Writ they turn'd those Sacred Things into Magical Pranks sometimes and from the Names of Holy Persons spoken of in the Old Testament they took occasion to invent new Deities and shape new Gods Their frequent practice was to piece out Scripture with their own Fancies and to add something of their own heads This is owing to the Greek Vanity it is to be ascribed to the Levity and Capriciousness of these Fabulous Men whose very Genius led them to affect Banter and Fictions The Poets dealt with Sacred History as the Legendaries do with the Lives of Saints they have some general ground for what they say but they make plentiful additions to it there is perhaps something of Truth at bottom but then you have their own Inventions besides Thus the Grecian Writers counterfeited all along the shape of Real Truths in most of their Fables there was a medly of Falshood and Truth together 8. This is also certain that the Pagan Philosophers did out of fear sometimes disguise the Notions of Truth which they received from Scripture Plato saith Iustin the Martyr had learnt in Egypt the True Doctrine concerning God One only God with several other Sacred Truths but lest some Melitus or Anytus should Accuse him he would not divulge them to the People For fear of incurring Socrates's Misfortune he either conceal'd or disguis'd all He dreaded the Poysonous Cup and so would not discover those Sacred Things but rather chose to lap them up in Poetick Conceits and Fables in Mysteries and Riddles which his Writings are full of And this it is likely was the Case of other Philosophers and Writers among the Gentiles they were Timorous and dared not Transgress the Publick Laws and incur the punishment due to Innovators in Religion and therefore they spoke ambiguously and obscurely and corrupted those Truths which they had received from the Holy Fountains 9. Some out of meer Ignorance of the Iewish Religion and Affairs misrepresent and corrupt those things This is seen plainly in Strabo and Diodorus the Siciâian who as was hinted afore make the Iews to be Egyptians and Strabo particularly saith of Moses that he was an Egyptian Priest So Herodotus because the Hebrews had lived among the Egyptians saith those things of the former which belong to the latter and so perhaps vice versâ I remember he particularly saith that Circumcision was first of all used among the Ethyopians and Egyptians and from them went to the Phaenicians and Syrians and thence some thought Abraham receiv'd this Rite and commended it to his Posterity It is as easie to
to King Ptolomee by the foresaid Demetrius a very serious Man and it was assigned as a Reason why the Contents of these Sacred Writings which were so Divine and Admirable were but rarely mention'd by the Historians and Poets These Examples had struck a terrour into some of them having heard how some Prophaners of these Holy Things were Animadverted upon by a Divine Hand they were afraid to Record any passages in the Old Testament Therefore some of them chose rather to disguise the Sacred Stories and to stuff them with Fabulous Narrations that they might scarcely be known to have been borrowed from that Holy Book Lastly the Devil hath a design in all this Tertâlian's Words are remarkable when he had said that the Things which are contrary to Truth i. e. the Heathen Fables Rites and Usages are made out of the Truth i. e. the Holy Scriptures he further adds that this Imitating of the Truth is wrought by the Spirits of Error that is the Devils who affect sometimes to Ape God and what he doth This is most apparent that they are a Mimical fort of Creatures and shew themselves sometimes diligent Emulators of the most Holy Pârsons and Things Their great Subtilty and Craft are to be discern'd here for when they brought the Hebreâ Rites and Ceremonies of Gods own appointment into the ãâã Worship and Service they did this to Prophane them and âo make them contemptible and ridiculous They did it that those Divine and Sacred Things might be despised and that they might be turn'd into Superstition and Idolatry So likewise they cunningly mixed something of sacred Truth with Fables that thereby they might make the things that are True to be suspected Satban is desirous to pervert and even erase the whole Sacred Scripture and Antient Truth but because he sees he cannot effect this he therefore contrives how he may disguise the Scripture-Stories he sets the Poets to work to make them into Fables and thinks by that means to take off our Esteem of those Inspired Writings and to diminish that Credit which we ought to give to those Sacred Truths He pushed on those Grecian Wits to obscure and deface the Old Names in Scripture that the Original of them might not be known He out of direct malice moved those fanciful Men to invent Fables to defame the Primitive Stories to blemish the Sacred History to obscure and pervert the Truth The Poets turning the Scriptures into Fabulous Narrations was the way to invalidate the Testimony of them and to make them seem a meer Poetick Fiction a Dream a Fansie that hath no real bottom It is no wonder then that the Devil imped their Fancies and assisted their Inventions and help'd them to change the Truth into a Lie that thereby he might rob God and the Scripture of their Honour This I say might be a device of that Evil Spirit as he hath Devices and Wiles of all sorts to elude the Authority of Sacred History and to take away the Credit of Divine Truth Again as that Crasty Spirit designs by this means to disparage yea to null the Truth so he thinks hereby to gain assent to Falshood and to promote the greatest Impiety imaginable for when Truth is mixed with Falshood he hopes that this latter will be entertain'd for the sake of the former And when Lewd and Vitious Practices are founded in those that are Innocent and Religious he expects that these should justifie those Perhaps when he added the Sacred Ceremonies of the Iews to the prophane Worship of the Gentiles he thought thereby to take away the difference between them and to render them alike so that Men should not be able to distinguish between a True and False way of Worship Thirdly the Devil's Design in introducing several Sacred rites and Customs into the practice of the Heathens was to conciliate to himself a greater Authority and Esteem a greater Glory and Repute among them He commends those things to the Pagans which were Religiously used and even by God's own People and prescrib'd by God himself this he doth to inveigle the Pagan World and to bring them to Admire and Worship him Wherefore an Answer may easily be return'd to that Objection of a late Learned Writer What advantage can the Devil have by his imitating the Divine Worship He ever Acts for some end that may be prositable to himself but how can this prove so seeing it would be more advantageous to him to institute a Worship and Ceremonies that are Diametnically contrary to those in the Divine Law that by those as by so many proper and peculiar Characters his Herd might be distinguished from the Flock of the Shepherd of Israel The Answer I say to this is very easie and obvious for there can be nothing more Advantageous to that Evil Spirit than his emulating of Divine Worship and appointing Ceremonies suitable to it for by this means his Kingdom is most sensibly advanced and that with the greatest Artifice and Craft imaginable because this Vile Fiend is Adored even whilst the Divine Worship of the True God seems to be earried on It was the Subtilty of this Great Mimick to approach as near to God and True Religion as he could to make use of those things which by God's own express Command were used in his Worship This is a cunning way of gaining Proselytes and increasing the number of his Worshippers Thus he Acts for some End and that a very Profitable one too certainly much more Profitable to him than if he had Instituted Proper and Peculiar Ceremonies of Worship for these would too palpably have distinguish'd his Herd from the True Flock whereas those bring them into a kind of Rivalty with it Besides this fond Emulation in the Devil is a gratifying of his first Proud Inclination and aspiring to be like God He is still Ambitious of Divine Honour otherwise certainly he would not have desired to be Worship'd by the Son of God himself And he would be Worshipp'd in the same way that God is with the same Signs and Badges of Adoration Hence most of those Sacred Rites enjoyned by God himself and made use of in his Worship by the Iewish Church were transferred by Sathan to his Idolatrous and Impious Worship This is the effect of his Haughty Spirit which thirsteth after Divine Honour even such as is given to the only True God Thus I have amply shew'd you how it came to pass that the Rites and Practices and the greatest Truths contained in the Holy Scripture were corrupted disguised misapplied and abused by the Pagans I have given you the Reasons and Arguments which may convince you of this and render you an account of the manner of it CHAP. IX The Author's Assertions Confirmed by the ample Suffrage of the Ancients and Moderns Consectaries drawn from the whole viz. That we cannot with any shew of Reason admit of the Opinion of those who hold that the Jews borrow'd all or most of
their Religious Rites from the Gentiles That from what hath been premised we may take notice of and admire the singular Providence of Heaven That we are ascertain'd of the Antiquity Reasonableness and Certainty of our Religion That we are reconcil'd to the writings of Prophane Authors That we are assured of the Truth and Authority of the Scriptures of the Old Testament I Will now add unto Reason and Evidence the Suffrage of the Learned and Wise whether Ancients or Moderns It was averr'd long since by Demetrius Phalereus that Great Historian and Philosopher in an Epistle of his to King Ptolomey that the Gentile Philosophers took many things from the Holy Scriptures as you will find him cited by Eusebius in his Evangelical Preparation This is an early Testimony to the truth of what I have asserted By this it appears that the Notion which I have offered is above two thousand years Old Iosephus the Learned Iew who lived about half a thousand years after attests the same and professedly proves that both Philosophers and Poets borrowed from the Sacred Fountains of Scripture This is abundantly testified by the Christian Fathers as Tatianus who hath a set Oration on this Subject that what Learning the Greeks gloried in was received all of it from the Barbarians as they call'd the Iews Tâeophilus Bishop of Antioch who lived likewise in the Second Century asserts this in defence of Christianity proving that whatever the Pagan Poets writ of Hell and the pains of it and several other Subjects in Divinity was stolen from the Writings of the inspired Prophets and that the Christian doctrine which is in a great part taken from them is the Ancientest Religion Iustin the Christian Philosopher and martyr speaks to the like purpose and proves that all the true Notions in Theology among the Pagans sprang from Moses and the Holy Writings and he instanceth in and enlargeth on many Particulars shewing that Orpheus Homer and Plato had several of their Words Phrases Opinions Traditions Descriptions from the Prophetick Writings He maintains that the Fables of Bacchus Hercules Aesculapius c. were made out of the depraved sense and meaning of the Holy Writ At another time he pursueth the same Argument and attempts to demonstrate that all the Great and Brave things in the Philosophers and Poets Writings are from the Holy Book Clement of Alexandria is very copious on this Theme The Scope of the first Book of his Stromata is to shew that the Philosophy of the Hebrews was many Generations older than that of the Gentiles and in prosecution of this he endeavours to evince that the Opinions of the Greek Philosophers and others were taken from Moses and other Hebrews And in the Second Book of his Stromata he farther insisteth on this Subject and proves that the Greeks were Notorious Plagiaries and stole their Philosophy from the Barbarians And so he goes on in the following Books to prove that all the good Notions among the Greeks came from the Hebrews that whatever Excellent Truths the former taught thây had from the latter they Sacrilegiously took them from the Holy Patriarchs and Iews This is the sense of the forty seventh Chapter of Tertullian's Apologetick he there maintains that both Poets and Philosophers were beholding to the Prophets and derived all their best things from them Yea those very Arguments which the Pagans bring against the Christian Truth are fetch'd from it as I observ'd from him before I have mention'd Origen already but if you consult his Fourth Book against Celsus you will find this more largely asserted viz. That the Pagan Rites and Stories were taken from the Scriptures Eusebius likewise hath been quoted before but if the Reader think good to peruse the Author he will see this Argument insisted on in four or five Books together where he proves that the Greeks had some understanding of Moses's Theology and follow'd the Iewish Writers in several things which he makes good by alledging several passages out of Theophrastus Hecataeus Porphyrius Numenius Megasthenes c. And afterwards he goes on and more designedly clears this Proposition that what is good in the Writings of the Gentile Philosophers is all stoln from the Hebrews and that the Wisdom of the Greeks especially came from the Iews I might add the Testimony of St. Augustin who shews that the Platonists borrowed from the Scripture And of Theodoret who agrees with him in this and farther proves that other Philosophers had their Theologick Notions from Moses and the Prophets Thus we see this is an Old and Received Truth Nor doth it want the Sâffrage of the most Learned Modern Writers some of whom without any order of time I will briefly mention Stuckius is very plain and peremptory and speaks the Sum of what we have delivered in the preceeding Discourse The whole Religion of the Old Pagans saith he proceeded from a depraved perverse and preposterous kind of imitating that Ancient and truly Divine Religion which the Patriarchs and their posterity the Iews had such a reverence for as being prescribed them by God himself Villalpandus on the Pentateuch professedly declares that the Sacrifices and other Usages among the Gentiles came from the Iews Who can deny saith another that the Laws which were given to those Holy Men the Hebrews came first to the Egyptians and then out of Egypt went to Greece The Elder Vossius hath in almost innumerable places assorted this that the Gentiles made a great number of their Fables out of the Histories which are in the Sacred Writings Bochart hath with great Wit and Learning traced and discovered the footsteps of Scripture-History among the Heathens in their Mythology It is the Opinion of Marcus Marinus that the Theological Sentiments concerning Divine Things were the same among all the Ancient Hebrews and Patriarchs but afterwards they were depraved by the Greeks and Converted into Fables Lewis Capell hath these express words In the Old Fables of the Greeks you may perceive some shadow and Image some dark and flying footsteps as 't were of several of the Histories in the Bible Which might be demonstrated by a manifold induction of particulars It is the declar'd judgment of another that the Gentiles were wont to transferr the more remarkable Histories of the Old Testament and the Divine Miracles related therein to their false Gods And he instances in several And because I have asserted in the foregoing Discourse that the Sacred Mysteries and Rites of God's own appointment have been prophaned and abused even to Magical purposes I will adjoyn here the Testimony of Petrus Crinitus who expresly tells us that the Egyptians and others made and invented Magical Ceremonies out of the Scacred Rites and Observances of the Iews and that they were wholly indebted to these for them Kircher and Isaac Vossius have done their part in this Subject but Huetius in his Evanââlical
of Mesopotamia that he prophesied concerning the future State of the Iews and concerning the Coming of Christ. Saul was a very bad Man yet was endued with a prophetick Spirit Caiphas one of Christ's Judges was stirred up by the Holy Ghost to prophecy concerning our Saviour's Death And why might not God inspire Heathen Women though they were Wicked with a Spirit of Prophecy And that they were such seems to appear from their Verses wherein there are some things very Fond and Superstitious and so indeed they may be quoted by the Roman Catholicks in defence of their Cause This shews that they were not possessors of true Virtue and Goodness But then I ask this can we think that the choicest Mysteries of Religion were revealed to them if they were Wicked and Prophane Would God vouchsafe so great and peculiar a Privilege to the worst of Persons 3ly Therefore some hold that these Pagan Prophetesses spake not by a good but evil Spirit The Devil reveal'd these things to them saith St. Ambrose and helped them to fore-tell these future Events And some have turn'd those foresaid Instances this way telling us that Baalam Saul and Caiphas prophesied by the assistance of some Evil Daemon So the Heathen Oracles spoke truth oftentimes though their Answers came from the Infernal Spirits That these Sibylls received their Skill from Satan may be discern'd say some in the Errors and Superstitions which are in their Books yea the Idolatries of the Gentiles are countenanced by them in some passages which occur in their Predictions But then this may be said to baffle this Opinion that the fore-telling of such future Contingencies is not in the power of that Evil Spirit Moreover it is unlikely that these Gentiles were they informed by a Divine Intelligencer but especially when they were acted by a Diabolick one should have as clear nay a clearer fore-sight and discovery of Christ to come than the Iews God's own People and the holiest Men among them had 4ly It is the Judgment of the Learned Isaac Vossius that the Sibylline Verses so call'd were made and collected by the Iews This he asserts only concerning those Writings of theirs which were extant before Christ's coming for the Iews being dispersed over the World and knowing that Daniel's Seventy Weeks were expiring were stirred up by God to compose these Verses thereby to signifie to the Gentiles the approaching of Christ. But of the other Works of the Sibylls viz. those that were afterwards quoted by some of the Fathers he hath not the same opinion and esteem but thinks they were made and compiled or in plain terms forged by some Christians particularly the Gnosticks This is a very odd account of the Sibylls and shews that the Learned Author of it was in a great streight He was first willing to reject the Christians from being the Composers of those Writings which some had asserted and yet it seems afterwards he retracts that Sentiment and is not unwilling to believe that the Christians themselves forged and counterfeited these Sibylline Oracles But if the Iews were the Authors of some part of these Writings then I ask how came they to insert things savouring of Heathen Superstition and Idolatry And if the Christians were Compilers of an other part of these Verses how came they to insist in the steps of the former and to add some things as is said in favor of those Pagan Corruptions But I dismiss this as a divided and distâacted Opinion Besides that I can't see why the Iews might not as well have produced the Bible to the Gentiles for it had been translated into Greâk a Tongue intelligible to the Pagan World a long time before our Saviours Coming that had been more Authentick than any other Writings whatsoever of their own Composing In the Fifth and Last place I take leave to propound an other Opinion which is this I hold that these ancient Writings or Oracles were not made by Iews but Pagans and particularly by those Women call'd Sibylls who made them in no other sense than this that they took them out of the Holy Scriptures of the Old-Testament and turned them into Verse This is that which I assert as most consonant to Reason and it is a farther Proof of what I have been so long insisting upon viz. that the Pagans borrowed from the Bible I am not sollicitous whether these Women were good or bad whether they were moved by God or by an Evil Spirit There are some Inconveniencies in asserting of either side But there is a plain and easie way different from both viz. that we are not to look upon them as Prophetick Persons as if they had a Gift of fore-telling all those things they speak of No they only extracted what they writ from the Scriptures from the ancient Prophesiâs therein contain'd especially from that of Isaiah And so indeed in some sense their Writings may be said to be Divine and Inspired for whatever these Pagans fore-told was no other than what they took from the Inspired Prophets in holy Writ They are Instances of the like nature with those that I have so often produced in the foregoing Discourse namely Gentile Poets that made use of several passages in the Sacred Volume and inserted the main Substance of them into their Verses And as those Heathen Poets mingled prophane Notions and Fables with the Sacred Doctrine and History which I shew'd before so here it is as true that these Pagan Versifiers mixed some things that were Superstitious with their Prophesies of Christ and his Kingdom which they derived from the Old-Testament It is well known that there were Female Poets among the Pagans as Sapho c. and therefore we need not scruple to believe that the Sibylls writ in Verse Indeed the looseness and neglectfulness of the Stile shews that it was done by some easie Poets That they were Pagan Women is clear from the frequent Allegations of the Fathers who represent them always as such and produce the Writings of these Pagans as a proper Confutation of the Gentiles whom they dispute against And the Heathens themselves acknowledged them to be such and no other as is apparent from what you shall hâar afterwards concerning Erythraea and the Cumaean Sibyll Now concerning these Poetick Pagan Women I assert that they were no Prophetesses no more than Hesiod and Ovid and other Pagan Writers before-mentioned and that they like these took some things out of the Old-Testament which also were much fam'd and talk'd of and digested them into Numbers It is undeniable that in their Verses there are very notable Testimonies concerning our Saviour there are mentioned many considerable Circumstances of his Birth Life Miracles Passion Death Resurrection Ascension and his coming to Judgment but there is no more Reason to think that these were spoken by them from a Prophetick Spirit than to believe that Orpheus and Homer were inspired when they refer to some things that are in the Books of Moses
reason no Man can rationally think that such Notable Concomitants of our Saviour's Nativity as the General Taxing and the Appearing of the Star could be recorded by this Historian And as for Tacitus who is the other Celebrated Historian there is as little reason to expect any of these notorious Matters in his Writings because he goes not back so far as Augustus His Annals begin with Tiberius and continue to the death of Nero and his Books of History begin where his Annals left off and go on to the end of Titus Vespasian's Expedition against the Iews and there have their Period L. Florus is but an Abbreviator of Livy and therefore we can look for nothing there So Velleius Paterculus though he goes something farther is an Epitomizer a Scantling of an Historian As for Iustin who flourished in the Emperor Antoninus Pius's time he was but an Epitomizer of Trogus Pompeius and goes no farther than he went therefore we cannot expect any thing of him concerning the Christian Affairs Thus you see what are the boundaries of these Chief Historians and what you may look for or rather not look for from them and also you have the Reasons given you why but few things which have reference to the History of the Gospel are found recorded in Pagan Writers But all that could be rationally look'd for is recorded as I have shew'd you by the best Historians among the Pagans These are the several Considerations which I undertook to offer and I question not but that they will fully satisfie the Scruples and Objections before started and abundantly clear up this Truth to us that we have sufficient Testimony from Pagan and Iewish Writers concerning the Gospel-History This Proposition is evident that the New-Testament is confirmed by Prophane Writers that the Evangelical Records are attested by the authority even of those who were without These have transmitted to us many of those things which are registred by the holy Evangelists The Memoirs of these things are in Prophane Story in the Writings of those that opposed the Christian Religion Thus I have finish'd what I attempted that is I have proved the Truth and Authority of the Scriptures from the suffrage and attestation of Strangers I have let you see that the Confession of our Adversaries agrees with that of our best Friends We appeal to the Iews and to the Gentile-World even these bear witness to the Sacred Writings And their witness cannot be rejected by any reasonable Person because a Testimony is least to be suspected when it comes from an Enemy yea because such a Testimony is reputed firm and solid because it is worthy to be believed bâcause it is most valid for the Commendation and Establishment of the Truth This then rendârs the Books of the Old and New-Testament worthy of all Acceptation viz. that they are vouched by Profesâ d Adversaries And this is that which I have been urging in this Discourse viz. that Iews and Pagans testifie the same things which the Inspired Writers deliver A great part of the memorable Passages set down in these Sacred Writings are left on Record in those others This is a mighty Confirmation of the Truth of these holy Books this is a clear Evidence that they are not forged and supposititious but that the Matters contain'd in them are real and certain that they give a just and faithful Account of the things they treat of in brief that they are the Word of Truth and endited by the Spirit of Truth And thus much in pursuance of the First General Head concerning the Holy Scriptures viz. the Truth and Authority of them FINIS ADDENDA Refer this to Page 261. Line 15. THe English Iay from the Hebrew Ajaâ pica cornix To abash is taken from the Hebrew âush puduit And from the Greek we borrow many words with the omission of a Letter or two in the beginning as Licourice for Glicourice from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Emonies vulgarly so call'd for Anemonies from the Flower ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã whence the Latin Anemone Sciatica for Ischiatica ab ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Hip or Huckle-bone Scaroticks among Physicians for Escharoticks Scar from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã crusta cauterio in carne facta Sol from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Rice from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã oryza Star from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Box from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Maurâs a Moor from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã obscurus Tanâie from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã To gaze from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã admiror stupeo Gay from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã elegans and perhaps Trull from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã laena And I have taken notice of several Words from the Latin with the first Letter or more cut off in the beginning as Uncle from avunculus qu. avuncle Tills as they are call'd in some Countries from Lentils Lenticula Story from History Historia Bishop qu. Pischop from Episcopus Spain from Hispania Sparagus for Asparagus A Plaister from Emplastrum Stum from mustum Dropsy from Hydrops Gypsy for Egypsy of Latin original Pouch for Capouch a Cowl or Hood whence the Capuchin Friars have their Name from Caputium a Hood worn on the Head Picked i. e. sharp at the end qu. spiked from Spica an Ear of Corn Or if it comes from a Pike then that seems to come from Spiculum a Pike or Spear and that is from Spica it is likely Sides men corruptly for Assisting-men it being their Office to Assist the Church-Wardens unless you will rather understand by them Testes Synodales Synods-Men who were anciently joined with the Church-Wardens There are other English Words derived after the same manner from the English Saxon and French Thus Poppy with the p left out in the beginning and middle seems to give the denomination to Opium which is now a Word that may pass for English and signifies the Juice of Poppy as if Popium were the Word Sterling for Easterling Bour or Bowr from Arbour Spittle or Spital for Hospital Valis for Avail Vantage for Advantage Say for Essay Grees Stairs for Degrees Cantle in Heraldry quasi Scantling Prentice vulgarly for Apprentice Stover for Cattle from the French Estover Squire for Esquire à Gall. Esâuyer Quiry or Querry for Equerry a Place a Stable where Race-Horses are set To Ply for Employ Instead of Sacristan we corruptly say Sexton For God be with you we say Good By For Koningstable or Kingstable we say Constable the Officer that is appointed and establish'd by the King or to conserve the King's Peace We vulgarly a say Spice for a Specimen Hogo for Haut-goust Carfax for Quatre voix the place were Four Ways meet in Oxford Some have thought that Elphs and Goblins with which they frighted Children heretofore are derived from the famed and so âalked of Feud between the Guelphs and Guibilines Saragosa in Spain is most corruptly pronounced for Caesar Augusta The Emperor of the Abyssines is called Prestor-Iohn
four thousand p. 369. KINGS Book 2. ch 6. v. 25. The fourth Part of a Cab of Doves Dung was sold for five Pieces of Silver p. 288. CHRONICLES Book 2. ch 14. v. 5. He took away out of all the Cities of Judah the High Places and the Images p. 358. JOB Ch. 1. v. 5. It may be my Sons have cursed God in their Hearts p. 342. Ver. 11. He will curse thee to thy Face ibid. Ch. 2. v. 9. Curse God and die p. 337. Ch. 4. v. 18. His Angels he charged with Folly p. 269. PSALMS Psal. 120. v. 5. Wo is me that I sojourn in Meshec and dwell in the Tents of Kedar p. 115. Psal. 133. v. 3. As the Dew of Hermon and as the Dew that descendeth upon the Mountains of Zion p. 331. ECCLESIASTES Ch. 12. v. 2. While the Sun or the Light or the Moon or the Stars be not darkned nor the Clouds return after the Rain Ver. 4. And the Doors shall be shut in the Streets He shall rise up at the Voice of the Bird. Ver. 5. The Grashopper shall be a Burden and Desire shall fail Ver. 6. Or ever the Golden Bowl be broken or the Pitcher be broken at the Fountain or the Wheel broken at the Cistern p. 139. ISAIAH Ch. 59. v. 19. The Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a Standard p. 205. St. MATTHEW Ch. 10. v. 14. Shake off the Dust of your Feet p. 189 Ver. 34. Think not that I am come to send Peace c. p. 363. Ch. 12. v. 40. Jonas was in the Whales Belly Gr. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã p. 281. Ch. 13. v. 32. Which indeed is the least of all Seeds p. 117. Ch. 24. v. 34. This Generation shall not pass away till all these things are fulfilled p. 391. Ch. 26. v. 64. The Son of Man Why our Saviour is called so p. 221. St. LUKE Ch. 22. v. 36. But now he that hath a Purse let him take it and likewise his Scrip he that hath no Sword let him sell his Garment and buy one p. 126. St. JOHN Ch. 20. v. 10. Then the Disciples went away again unto their own home Gr. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã p. 82. ACTS Ch. 7. v. 15. Jacob went down into Egypt and died âe and our Fathers Ver. 16. And were carried over into Sychem and laid in the Sepulââre that Abraham bought for a Sum of Money of the Sons of Emmor âhe Father of Sychem p. 361. Ch. 13. v. 20. After that he gave them Iudges about the Space of four hundred and fifty Years until Samuel the Propâet p. 402. Ch. 23. v. 5. I wist not that he was the High Priest p. 128. CORINTHIANS 2d Epist. Ch. 2. v. 5. He hath not grieved me but in part p. 99. COLOSSIANS Ch. 1. v. 15. Who is the first-born of every Creature p. 215. Ver. 18. The first-born from the Dead p. 217. THESSALONIANS 2d Epist. Ch. 3. v. 1. That the Word of the Lord may have free Course and be glorified And Other Texts which refer to the Olympick Games p. 180. HEBREWS Ch. 9. v. 4. Wherein was the Golden Pot that had Manna and Aaron's Rod that budded and the Tables of the Covenant p. 365. Ch. 12. v. 24. The Blood of Sprinkling which speaks better things than that of Abel p. 389. TIMOTHY 1st Epist. Ch. 1. v. 8. The Law is not made for a righteous Man Ch. 4. v. 8. Bodily Exercise profiteth little p. 167. TIMOTHY 2d Epist. Ch. 4. v. 13. Especially the Parchments p. 420. St. PETER 2d Epist. Ch. 1. v. 20. No Prophecy of the Scripture is of any private Interpretation The rest of the Texts are interpreted according to the Sense of Other Expositors OF THE STILE OF THE Holy Scriptures CHAP. 1. There is a primary or literal and a secondary or mystical Sense in the Sacred Writings A brief Explication of both Several Instances of them in the Old Testament Episcopius's Opinion concerning the fulfilling of some Passages of the Old Testament by way of Accommodation animadverted upon Instances in the New Testament of the double Sense of Scripture The Nature of Parables especially of those that our Saviour useth fully discussed The several Reasons of this parabolical and mystical way of instructing the People The Parable of the Ten Virgins particularly illustrated A double historical Sense in the 24th Chapter of St. Matthew The like in other Places asserted by Dr. Jackson Whence the peculiar and transcendent Excellency of the inspired Writings is inferred A just Censure of those Writers who vilify the Letter of Scripture and mind nothing in it but the mystical Interpretation Dr. Bufnet's allegorizing and at the same time ridiculing the 3d Chapter of Genesis rebuked The great Mischiefs of excluding the literal Sense of Scripture The other Extream viz. of resting altogether in the literal meaning of the Bible condemned Erasmus Calvin Grotius tax'd for this Rules to be observed for knowing what Places are to be understood in a primary literal Sense and what in a secondary or mystical HAving in a former Discourse treated of the Authority of the Sacred Writings of the Old and New Testament I am now obliged according to what â then undertook to give a particular Account of their Stile By which taking it in a large and extensive Notion I understand the Sense and Import of the Holy Writ as well as the Composition of the Words The Stile of Scripture comprehends the Divine Meaning no less than the Phraseology of it Accordingly I will reduce all that I intend to say upon this Subject to these ensuing Propositions I. There is a mystical as well as a literal Sense of many Passages of these inspired Writings and we are carefully to attend to both II. The Stile of Holy Scripture hath several things in it which are according to the Phrase and Strain of other applauded Writers which therefore we ought to be acquainted with that we may the more easily understand the sacred Penmen III. As there are many things in the Stile and Composure of the Bible common to it with other Authors so there are some things peculiar and proper to it which we are more especially concern'd to take notice of that the Singularity and Propriety of them may be rightly understood by us IV. The Stile and Expression of Scripture are such that there are many Passages in it which are obscure and difficult And here a particular but full Account must be given of that Obscurity and Difficulty And likewise I shall make it my Task to remove them by a particular Explication and Illustration of those Texts which shall be alledged The first Proposition This is to be laid down in the first Place that there is both a literal and a mystical Sense in Scripture The literal Sense is when the Words are taken as they originally and properly signify The mystical one is when the Words are to be understood in a more sublime Sense than the bare Letter of them imports This mystical
which derides the 3d Chapter of Genesis and who committed it to the Press for the sake of some of the witty Folks of the Town and to please the Atheistical Rabble This signal Act of avenging Providence is well known to the World and I wish the ingenious Theorist would seriously reflect upon it and learn thence to make Sport with the Bible no more And I request him not to be offended at my plain Dealing with him for I assure him that I have said nothing out of any disrespect or ill Will to his Person but wholly from a deep Sense of the great Mischief which is like to ensue upon this late Attempt of his I abhor the treating of any learned Man's Writings with Contempt yea on the contrary I have always paid a due Respect and Deference to them though they are not adjusted to the Notions which I have of things But when I see the Holy Scriptures struck at and Religion it self shock'd and extremely hazarded I cannot forbear from uttering my Sentiments and âhewing my just Indignation on such an Occasion Christian Charity which beareth all things endureth all things cannot by any Means brook this And I must freely tell this learned Writer that let his Character otherwise be never so fair and 't is not my Design to âisown it or blemiââ it in the least it is certain that the better this is the worse is his Enterprize for he seems to come sober and demure to undermine the Bible and destroy Christianity as many a Cracovian Reasoner hath done before him But truly there is little Sobriety in jesting and buffooning in jeering and drolling away our Religion and that under the Pretence of Philosophick Antiquity Nay let me tell him and I hope by this time his own Thoughts do so too that to trifle and droll after the Rate that he doth on the inspired History concerning Adam and Eve is a near Approach to Blasphemy I heartily wish he may be apprehensive of his Delinquency in this kind and that for the future he may guide himself by that wholsome Rule viz. that we are not to quit the literal Interpretation in any Place of Scripture unless there be a necessity of doing so And 't is certain there is none in the present Case nay there is an absolute Necessity of acknowledging the literal and historical Meaning unless we will subvert the very Foundations of our Religion He that makes this first Book of the Bible to be wholly mystical doth not observe the Distance between Genesis and some Part of the Revelation We must be careful that we follow not the Masters of abstruse Divinity so far that we exclude the literal Sense of Scripture for this will prove fatal to the Scriptures themselves and to all Religion especially Christianity If we dote upon Allegories and defy the Letter and History of the Bible we quite null these Sacred Writings because we thereby render them ambiguous and precarious we authorize any wild Interpretations that can be made of them If we may leave the literal Sense of Scripture when we please and fly to metaphorical and mystical ones then the Certainty of the Word of God will soon vanish for then we cannot tell what is true or what is false or if we know it we can never confute any Error or maintain any Truth from the Holy Writ For by this Means theââwill be innumerable Explications of Scripture and who can possibly determine which of them is to be made choice of If you offer any Text to prove âuch or such a Doctrine it will easily be evaded if the Letter may not be our Guide for it is but saying The Place is not meant as the Words sound but must be taken figuratively and mystically Thus Scripture it self is destroyed by cashiering the literal Acception of the Words Yea we destroy the whole Gospel and pluck up the Foundations of Christianity we deny Christ and all his blessed Undertakings for our Redemption and Salvation for these being Matter of Fact are founded upon the literal Account we have of them upon the historical Relation of them which we have in the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles Thus dangerous and fatal it is to let go the literal Sense of Scripture and to catch at a mystical one only By this wild Practice Men attempt to thrust Religion out of the World or which is the same thing to present us with a metaphorical and allegorical Religion instâad of a true and real one Therefore there is good Reason why we should not quit the literal Construction of Scripture Secondly The other Extream which is to be avoided by us is the resting altogether in the outside the looking no farther than the literal Meaning of Scripture There is such a thing as mystical or symbolical Divinity however some have mistaken and abused it and this if it be rightly used is exceeding profitable yea necessary for it is no other than the Reâult of the mystical Sense of Scripture which I have been speaking of He is truly a Divine he may deservedly be said to have Skill in Christian Theology who contents not himself with the primary or literal Import of the Sacred Writings but dives into the secondary but more abstruse Meaning of them who penetrates into the hidden Mind of the Word of God If there be a ãâã Sense in Scripture as I have proved in several Instances it must be reckoned a great Oversight to say no worse in the Expositors of this Holy Book not to take notice of this Interpretation but to acquiesce wholly in the literal Meaning This is observable in the Expositions which some of the Rabbins give of the Bible for as the Jewish Caâalists are too allegorical as we took notice before so another Set of their Doctors is too much devoted to a literal Interpretation This they stick to when there is no Reason for it yea when the Words are plainly figurative and must needs be taken so Yet even then they interpret them according to the Letter and thence are produced some of those foolish Propositions and childish Assertions those groundless Fables and Legends yea those gross Lies and Forgeries which are found in the Books of the Rabbins Erasmus was faulty in this kind his Readers may observe that he neglected the mystical Sense of Scripture and resolutely adhered to the bare Letter In which he is followed by Calvin who generally leaves out the secondary and more sublime Sense of many Texts of Scripture and satisfies himself with the literal one only This he doth in his Comment on Gen. 3. 15. I will put Enmity between c. which he interprets simply of the Antipathy between Men and Serpents which is the poor and lank Interpretation which Iosephus the Jew gives of it as you have heard whereas those Words in the highest Meaning of them as the antientest and learnedest Fathersâ have suggested are the first and grand Promise of the Messias made to our first Parents and
Knife to thy Throat if thou be a Man given to Appetite And that of our Saviour Matth. 5. 29 30. If the right Eye offend thee pluck it out and if the right Hand offend thee cut it off To which I may add Prov. 25. 21. Rom. 12. 20. Heap up Coles on your Enemies Heads When a Person is thus commanded in Scripture to do some thing contrary to the express Law of God we may conclude that Command is to be understood in a secondary or mystical Sense and not according to the Letter So when God bids Hosea take a Wife of Whoredoms and Children of Whoredoms ch 1. 2. And when it is added that he went and took such an one ver 3. we must look upon it as a Parable a mystical Saying It was a Vision saith St. Ierom. So saith Ionathan the Chaldee Paraphrast and Maimonides agrees with him It is certain that this was done only in Shew and Representation but not actually and really because it was contrary to that direct Prohibition in the Law Lev. 21. 7. Thou shalt not take a Wife that is a Whore The Meaning then of the foregoing Words is this that seeing this People brag that they are my People my Spouse my Children go and represent the true State they are in by a Parable and let them know that they are as much my Wife and my Children and no more than if you should take a professed Whore with her spurious Brats and say that she is your lawful Wife and they are your lawful Children which is absolutely false This I conceive is the plain Meaning of the Words But that Command of God to Abraham Gen. 22. 2. Take thy Son the only Son Isaac and offer him for a Burnt-offering is of another kind for that this is not to be understood mystically but literally we can prove from the History it self which is so related that we may plainly see it was a Matter of Fact and it is inserted among other Historical Passages concerning that Patriarch whereas the Prophetical Books such as that of Hosea contain in them Visions and Representations of things spoken of as really done although they are not Besides we are certain that Abraham's offering his Son Isaac i. e. his binding him and laying him upon the Altar and undertaking to kill him were real things and actually performed because we are âold by the infallible Penmen of the New Testament that they were so for they alledg this Matter of Fact to prove and demonstrate the Doctrine which they deliver Heb. 11. 17. Iam. 2. 21. Wherefore we are sure it was a Reality and consequently the Words in Genesis are to be understood in a plain Literal Sense A third Rule and the most useful is this See what Texts of Scripture are already interpreted in a Mystical Sense by the Evangelists and Apostles and observe the Nature Occasion and Circumstances of those Places and thereby you will be able to Discern what other Places of Scripture are to be understood in the same manner And accordingly you must interpret them not after the Bare Letter or History but in a Spiritual Sense And so much for the first thing which is to be taken notice of in order to our having a right Understanding of the Stile of Scripture viz. that there are many Places in it that have a Double Sense CHAP. II. The Scripture in many Places speaks not accurately but according to the Vulgar Opinion and Apprehensions of Men. Several Instances of this in the Old and New Testament The Phrases Expressions and Modes of Speaking used by the Inspired Writers are the same with those that we find in the best Classick Authors This largely proved from the Phraseology of the Old and New Testament More particularly the Similitudes and Comparisons in both are alike The Correspondence of Scripture-Phrase with the profane Stile shew'd by Grotius Pricaeus Gataker c. There are in the Bible the same moral Notions and express'd in the very same Stile that there are in Pagan Writers In both Man's Life is a Way a Pilgrimage a Warfare Other Ethick Notions viz. that Good and Vertuous Men are Free and that all Vicious Persons are Slaves that Good Men are Wife and all others are Fools to which latter the Author reduceth John 20. 10. though generally interpreted otherwise and comments upon it that Good Men are the Friends of God that Vitious Men are Dead that Death is a Sleep All which occur in the Sacred Writings as well as in Pagan Moralists THE Second Proposition is this that the Stile of the Holy Scripture hath many things in it which are according to the usual Strain of other Writers and Authors Take this in these Particulars â The Scripture in many Places speaks not accurately but according to the vulgar Opinion and Apprehensions of Men. Thus it is a common Observation but I will not balk it here that in the Mosaick History of the Creation of the World it is said God made two great Lights Gen. 1. 16. and the Moon is reckoned as one of them whereas it is not to be doubted that the Sun but especially the Moon is but a little Light in comparison of some of the Fixed Stars But this we may truly say with an antient Christian Writer It was not Moses's Purpose to act the Philosopher or Astronomer in the Book of Genesis But because the Sun is nearer to us than those Fixed Lights are and the Moon is much nearer than the Sun therefore though they be less in themselves than those Remote Stars yet they seem to our Sight to be the Biggest Lights that God hath set up in the Heavens Wherefore they are emphatically and by way of Eminency call'd in the Hebrew the Great Lights though the least of the Stars be a greater Light than the Sun or Moon So though it is said of the Almighty Creator and Preserver of the World that he hangeth the Earth upon nothing Job 26. 7. which is exactly and philosophically true yet in another Place of this Book we read of the Pillars of the Earth Job 9. 6. which is a manner of Speech adapted to the Capacity of the Vulgar who cannot conceive how so great and massy a Body as this Ball of Earth can hang hovering in the Air and be upheld without some Props And several other such Expressions there are in Scripture which are spoken according to the popular Apprehensions and the seeming Appearance of things not the Exactness of the things themselves Therefore their Attempts have been to little purpose who would force a Philosophy out of the Bible as if they had a mind to present us with a Body of Philosophy jure divino As some Grammarians and Criticks pretend to find all Arts and Sciences whatsoever in Homer's Poems so these fond Men undertake to discover a Compleat System of Natural Philosophy in the Sacred Writings But this is a very vain Enterprize because though there is a great deal of
Saviour The World is gone after him John 12. 19. which only expresses the Vast Numbers of People that flock'd to him wheresoever he went Such is the Stile here The World it self cannot contain c. The Evangelists and Apostles must in a manner have fill'd the World with their Writings concerning Christ the Books would have been so Numerous that even the Whole World could scarcely have held them that is in plainer terms there must have been an Incredible Number of Books to have contain'd all those Matters There are many other Instances of this Hyperbolical Manner of speaking in the Holy Writings but my Design is only to give you a Taste of these and the like Figurative Expressions in order to your being better acquainted with the Stile of Scripture There is a Learned Modern Divine who thinks there is no such thing as an Hyperbole in Scripture he will by no means grant that this way of speaking is to be found in the Sacred Writings because it is a kind of Lie But all that is to be said in answer to him is this that it is impossible to give any other Account of some of the forenamed Instances and several others than by resolving them into an Hyperbole which is no Lie nor a kind of one because it is not contrary to the Mind of him that speaks it nor is it spoken to impose upon them that hear it Yet it is to be granted that there is a Moderation to be observed by us as there is in Scripture in using this sort of speaking You meet with but few Hyperboles in the Holy Writers and as they are rarely and sparingly used so it is done in a fit and convenient Subject and where there is no likelihood of their degenerating into a Lie and where the Story or other subject Matter is not thereby falsly misrepresented But it is otherwise where Writers immoderately affect an Hyperbolick Strain for they make use of it in Matters where it is not fit to be used and where the Truth and Reality of the Subject are endangered and where it administers to Falshood Thus it is in the Poems of that Historical Poet Lucan who is a Prodigious and Unsufferable Hyperbolizer And thus it is in Monsieur Balsac An Extravagant Hyperbole goes all along through his Letters though to the Greatest Persons and Men of profess'd Gravity A great Fault certainly it is in those Ingenious Pieces of his But there is no such thing in the Sacred Writings there is nothing there Romantick and Extravagant the Hyperbole is seldom used and when it is it is Modest and Becoming Fit and Convenient and doth not in the least administer to Levity or impair and endamage the Truth Again in this Holy Book as well as in Other Writings there is that sort of Speaking which is call'd an Irony i. e. when something is said in way of Derision or Scoff contrary to what is meant as in that commonly observed Place Gen. 3. 22. Behold the Man is become as one of us to know Good and Evil which refers to Satan's Words to Adam Ye shall be as Gods knowing Good and Evil ver 5. And so Man is here upbraided with his Belief of the Devil before the God of Truth Look you now is not Man become a God Yes this mightily appears indeed from what hath befallen him he hath lost the Divine Image wherein he was created and is become a Wretched Sinner and Apostate Is not this Creature then become as one of us or now he hath been as one of us he hath already experienced what it is to be like God Hath he not Thus he is justly derided for his wilful Folly by the Sacred Trinity And if they think fit to speak after this manner it will not unbecome the Sons of Men. This Ironical way of speaking you meet with in 1 Kings 18. 27. Cry aloud for he that is Baal is a God either he is talking or he is pursuing or he is on a Iourney or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked Thus the Prophet Elijah mocks those deluded Priests of Baal he makes himself pleasant with them Even Grave and Austere Elijab laughs at the Baalites invoking of a Deaf Deity he plays upon their serious but idolatrous Devotion Whence I gather that it is not light and unbecoming to scoff at Superstition and jeer Idolatry Those Words of the Prophet Micaiah to King Abab 1 Kings 22. 15. Go and prosper are a plain Ironical Concession In this Sense those Woâds are to be understood Iob 5. 1. Call now if there be any that will answer thee and to which of the Saints will thou turn And chap. 12. 2. No doubt but ye are the People and Wisdom shall die with you And that of Solomon to the Youthful Sinner Rejoice O young Man in thy Youth c. Eccles. 11. 9. Which manner of speaking is more particularly suted here to the Humour and Genius of the Young Man whose Fashion is immoderately to scoff and to entertain himself and others with Pleasantry and Drollery But that he might see that this was intended as a Rebuke to him and that he might be sure that Solomon was serious and in good earnest notwithstanding this way of speaking 't is added in the Close of the Verse Know that for all these things God will bring thee to Iudgment And he that considers that will have no Reason to rejoice i. e. to be loose and inordinate in his Mirth but rather to be sober and retired and to be preparing for Judgment and to set about so great a Task betimes and not fondly presume on Health and Length of Days No Man need question whether those Words of Isaiah ch 8. 9. Associate your selves O ye People be not spoken Ironically which are parallel with Ioel 3. 11. Assemble your selves and come all ye Heathen and gather your selves round about c. And those in Isa. 50. 11. Walk in the Light of your Fire and in the Sparks that you have kindled i. e. trust in those things that cannot help you Sparkâ that give a short Light and soon vanish That is a terrible Biting Taunt in Ier. 22. 23. How gracious shalt thou be when Pangs come upon thee the Pain as of a Woman in Travail And so is that other Lam. 4. 21 Rejoice and be glad O Daughter of Edom the Cup viz. of Vengeance shall pass through to thee Who doubts whether Ezek. 20. 39. be not Sarcastical Thus faith the Lord God Go ye serve ye every one his Idols The like Command we read in Amos 4. 4 5 Come to Bethel and transgress at Gilgal multiply Transgression c. That also in Mic. 5. 1. must be reckon'd as spoken Ironically Now gather thy self in Troops O Daughter of Troops c. i. e. O Assyrians come and do your worst with your joint Forces invade us and most severely treat our Prince and People yea by all means destroy extirpate and even annihilate the Church
our selves with some that commend themselves c. are spoken meerly in Derision of the False Apostles and Teachers who had gain'd upon the Corinthians and other Churches by their confident Boasting and vain Brags I dare not presume âaith the Apostle to think my self as worthy as they are and so rank my self with thâse high-flown Teachers Yet we know he commends himself in the beginning of the 11th Chapter and again in ch 12. 11. which shews that these Words are said in an Ironical way This is that which he seems to say in ch 11. 17 c. That which I speak I speak not after the Lord but as it were foolishly in this Confidence of Boasting Seeing many glory after the Flesh brag of their Parts and Attainments I will glory also For ye suffer Fools gladly seeing ye your selves are wise Which is all of the same biting Strain and is as much as if he had said You that are so great Admirers of the false Apostles and are Men of such wise Heads and of so profound Capacities I know it is below you to censure such a shallow Fool as I am who cannot forbear prating of my Gifts and Abilities of my great Feats and Exploits forsooth which alas are nothing in comparison of what your famous Teachers and new Evangelists may glory in and value themselves upon But then in the following Verses he leaves off and 't was time to do so this looser sort of Stile and in a plain and close manner vindicates his Reputation and Dignity by vying with those bragging Impostors Are they Hebrews so am I c. That is a plain downright Irony in 2 Cor. 11. 4. If he that cometh preacheth another Iesus ye might well ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã fairly and honestly bear with him As if he had said Yes indeed you Men of Corinth are a civil easy sort of People if a new upstart Teacher should bring another Gospel to you you would do very well to receive him and bid him welcome Thus he in an Illusory kind of way rebukes their shameful Inconstancy and Levity In the same Vein is that in 2. Cor. 12. 13. Forgive me this wrong He had told them in the same Verse that they were inferiour to no Churches in any thing i. e. in any Privileges or Excellencies whatsoever except it was in this that he was not burdensom to them that is he put them to no Charges for his Preaching he preach'd the Gospel gratis For which great Wrong and Injury done to them he hopes he saith they will pardon him A very smart and pleasant Irony Thus it appears that this Figurative way of Speech is frequent in the Holy Writings Some perhaps would scarcely believe that there are so many Ironical Passages in this Holy Book they may think it is below the Gravity of the Sacred Stile to use Expressions of this kind But herein they are mistaken for the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures uses several different ways of dealing with Mankind and sutes himself to the various Dispositions Genius's and Inclinations of Men and therefore among other ways of Address and Application he disdains not This in particular because it may be made serviceable to very good Ends and be fitted to the Purposes of Religion Even in the Holy Tongue the same Word signiâies to Deride and to Argue or Ratiocinate Both these may go together when there is a fit occasion for them A Man may use his Rational and Risible Faculty at once Ridentem dicere verum Quid vetat A Man may laugh and speak Truth at the same time This Urbanity may sometimes be very useful Very excellent things may be suggested in a Scommatick way For this Reason it is not unworthy of the Holy Ghost it is not unbecoming the Gravity and Seriousness of the Holy Prophets Apostles and even Christ himself to use this nipping sort of Raillery sometimes A Synecdoche is another common Figure in the Holy Writings whereby the Whole is mentioned instead of a Part and a Part instead of the Whole Of the former which is but rare there are some Instances in Glassius and such other Writers as treat of the Grammatical and Rhetorical Part of the Bible which the Reader may consult if he please Of the latter which is most observable there are various kinds but it will be sufficient to mention these which follow Sometimes the Soul which is but one half of Man is put for the whole Person All the Souls that came with Jacob into Egypt were threescore and ten Gen. 46. 26. i. e. so many Men and Women came with him And there are abundant Examples of this sort both in the Old and New Testament Sometimes the other Moiety the Body is expressive of the Whole Man as Rom. 12. 1. Present your Bodies i. e. your selves a living Sacrifice And Phil. 1. 20. Christ shall be magnified in my Body i. e. by me my whole person There is another Text which I will name Luke 21. 34. wherein there is this kind of Synecdoche though I find not that it is observed by those that comment on it Take heed to your selves lest at any time your Hearts be overcharg'd with Surfâiting and Drunkenness and Cares of this Life your Hearts i. e. your selves It must be meant of the Whole Man Body and Soul because not only Surfeiting and Drunkenness which belong to the Body only but Cares of this life which belong to the Soul and Mind are expresly mentioned Again some Parts of the World are mentioned for the whole as in Zâch 8. 7. I will save my People from the East Country and from the West Country i. e. from all Regions and Parts of the World And in other Places two or three of the Cardinal Points stand for them all To the Synecdochical way of speaking belongs the using of an Even Number for an Odd one or a Round Number for one that is lesser or greater So some think the Year of Iubilee is call'd the Fiftieth Year Lev. 25. 10. meerly for the Evenness or Roundness of the Number and not because full Fifty Years go to every Jubilee for they hold that Forty nine Years make a Jubilee or rather that the forty ninth Year is the Year of Jubilee And truly it is adjusted to Reason and the Discovery we have concerning this Matter for the Jubilee is the Great Sabbath of Years and is composed of seven times seven Years which is exactly forty nine the last of which is the Jubilaean Year Odd Numbers are not regarded sometimes The Scripture is not so minute and critical as always to reckon preciâely It is not unusual to omit a small Number of Years in a greater and bigger one In Numb 11. 24. the Elders are said to be seventy though two of the Number be wanting as is plain from ver 26. But others solve this by saying the full Number of them was seventy two It is recorded that the Persian King reigned over a hundred
suââice to have mention'd the foregoing ones the explaining of which is sufficient to give us an account of the Stile of Scripture so far as it is Figurative And from what hath been said we may gather that these Divine Writings come not short of the most Applauded Pieces of the Greek or Latin Orators for here are those very Schemes and Modes of Speech which imbellish those Authors Works here are all the Graces and Elegancies which enrich and adorn them Therefore in that place beforementioned where Origen saith the Scriptures are not written Politely his meaning is that that is not the Scope and Design of those Writings and that it is not the thing that is pursued generally there being a Greater and Higher Design yet in many places there are very Excellent Strains of Oratory there are very Artificial Periods and Sentences there are Words Phrases and Expressions in a very Rhetorical Dress But where you find others that are as you think Inartificial Uncouth and no ways Graceful you must remember this to take off your prejudice against the Sâripture-Stile that the Eastern Eloquence is vastly different from ours in the West The Mode and Guise of their Oratory were unlike that of the Greeks and Romans and of Ours at this Day and therefore we are not to expect that they should be fitted to it It is certain though we perceive it not that their Stile was Graceful and Fashionable which is clear from the considering the Persons that were the Penmen of some parts of Scripture namely Moses David Solomon Isaiah Daniel Men of great Improvements and Accomplishments and Masters of the Language they spoke Neither are the Scriptures in some parts of them Defective in the Western Oratory they abound with the Choicest Schemes of Speech with the Greatest Ornaments of Language with the Chiefest Elegancies which Greece or Rome were famous for Yet notwithstanding this there are those who have vilified the Stile of Scripture Some Pretenders to Criticism but of debauched Minds and loose Lives have endeavour'd to render it very Mean and Despicable You have heard of the Canon of Florânââ who preferr'd an Ode of Pindar before the Psalms of David though he could not deny as Caspar Peucer tells us that there were Excellent Sentences Histories Examples and Figures of Speech in this Divine Poem Yet such was the Sottishness of Politian for that was his Name that he profess'd he never spent his time worse than in reading this and other parts of the Bible and at last he desisted from reading any further because of the Barbarity of the Stile But observe what Character Ludovicus Vives a Man of his own Religion gives him he represents him as a Person who though he had more Polite Learning than was frequent in those Days made but ill use of it and employ'd it wholly in the worst sort of Criticism and Playing with words It was this Busy but Idle Critick that spoke so contemptibly of the Bible where because he met with some things unsutable to his Grammatical and Critical Genius he censured and condemned all Of the same Profane Disposition was Domitius Calderinus who advis'd his Friends especially those that were Youthful not to read the Bible for it would be of no use to them But what it was that these two Persons were employ'd about which wholly estrang'd their Minds from that Sacred Book may be guess'd from the Shameful Epigram which the former composed and the Obscene Comment which the latter made both which they publish'd to the World It is no wonder such Men disrelish'd the Sacred Truths contain'd in the Inspired Writings and found fault with the Language and Stile of them this proceeded from their aversion to that Purity and Holiness which those Holy Writers urge upon the Practices of Men and which these two Vile Italians knew were directly contrary to what they both loved and acted Who would not think the better of this Holy Book because it was despised and vilified by these Men Who would not highly esteem those Writings which by such Dissolute Wretches as these were scorn'd and trampl'd under Feet If it was an Argument that Christianity was Good because Nero persecuted it then we may with as much reason infer that the Bible is an Excellent Book because this pair of Lewd Varlets disparaged it This certainly was founded in the Wickedness and Profaneness of their Lives They could not think or speak well of those Writings which contradicted their beloved Lusts and Vices It was thus with Ierom and Augustin whilst they were wicked and unreclaim'd Persons the Scripture-Language seem'd very harsh and unpleasant to them so far were they from discerning any Elegancy in it The former of these tells his Eustochium that he us'd when he awaked in the Night and could not sleep to read Plautus and if after that he read the Prophets as sometimes he did their Speech seem'd to be horribly rough and ânpolished devoid of all Fineness and Eloquence And the latter of these Persons freely confesseth that before his Conversion the Stile of Scripture was deemed by him very Rude and Unstudied and as having nothing Neat and Delicate in it This is the apprehension which those Men have of it who are not Competent Judges and they are not so not because they have not Understanding enough but because they have an Inward Abhorrence of the Sacred Verities which they find in that Book This is the true Reason why so many in this Age yea within our own Borders scoff at and ridicule the Language of the Bible The Matter of this Volume makes them dislike the Stile of it Nothing can be Eloquent which speaks against their Vices Bât let it offend none that this most Excellent Book is depretiated by some Vitious or by some Half-witted Men for there are no other that ever spoke against it In the Stile of this Book of God there are no Blemishes but what are approved of in the Best Classical Authors as those who were of the greatest Skill in Grammar and Rhetorick have fully demonstrated therefore the Bible is not a Book to be disparag'd no not by the greatest Grammarians and Rhetoricians The Excellent and Choice Wording of the Scripture is commended by St. Chrysostom When I read the Bible saith St. Augustin I find that as nothing is more Wisely said so nothing is more Eloquently spoken than there And particularly I have shew'd that it is beautified and enrich'd with many Figures Thus I have largely proved that the Stile of Scripture is generally of the strain of Other Approved Writers as to its Phraseology or manner of Expression I proceed and add 3dly This Observation that Proverbial Sayings and commonly received Adagies used by other Writers are mention'd also in the Holy Scriptures This is abundantly proved by those who have Purposely writ on this Subject I will remit you to them and at present only confine my self to the New Testament and
many other Hebrew Modes of Speech the Vse of God's Name to augment and inhanse the Sense the Vse of the word Sons or Children not only applied to Persons but Things the Import of the word first-born or first-begotten and of those Expressions the Son of Man a Weight of Glory are chiefly insisted upon There are no Soloecisms in Scripture St. Jerom Erasmus Calvin Beza Castellio Dr. Hammond censured for asserting the contrary Sir Norton Knatchbull salves the Grammatical Part of the New Testament and olears it of Soloecisms The same things which some call Soloecisms and undue Syntax are found in the best Classical Authors There are Chasms Expletives Repetitions and at other times unexpected Brevity seeming Inconsistencies and Incoherencies in the best Greek and Latin Authors The Propriety and Excellency of the Sacred Stile may be justiâied from the Writings of the most celebrated Moral Philosophers Orators Poets c. 4thly I Further offer this to your Observation that there is in the Scriptures a great and delightful Variety of Tongues and Languages There are in the Old Testament besides the Hebrew of which it is composed many Chapters written in Chaldee as in Ezra part of the 4th Chapter all the 5th and 6th with part of the 7th in Daniel the greatest part of the 2d Chapter and all the rest that follow till the 8th in Ieremiah one single Verse viz. the 11th of the 10th Chapter And besides these greater Portions there are many Chaldee Words dispersed up and down in several Places as Chartummim Magicians Astrologers Gen. 41. 24. used also in Dan. 1. 20. ch 2. 2. Nishtevan an Epistle or Letter Ezra 4. 7. Pithgam a Word or Decree Esther 1. 20. Sethav Winter Cant. 2. 11. Saga to magnify Iob 36. 24. Tiphsar a Captain Ier. 51. 27. and some think Macha Numb 34. 11. is a Chaldaick Verb. Other Words are of Persian Extraction as Pardes and Pardesim Eccles. 2. 5. Cant. 4. 13. Orchards or Gardens whence the word Paradise for so the Persians call'd their Orchards Gardens and Parks saith Philostratus and we read the like in Iul. Pollux Partemim Nobles or Princes Esther 1. 3. is a Word borrowed from the Persians and is proper to that Country So is Pur a Lot Esther 3. 7. and Achashdarpanim Lieutenants or Governours of Provinces Esth. 3. 12. ch 9. 3. and Chiun Amos 5. 26. passes for a Persian Name among some Learned Men. From Egypt with which the Hebrews had great Commerce several Words are borrowed as Zaphnath Paaneah Gen. 41. 45. the Title of Honour which King Pharaoh conferr'd on Ioseph which some interpret a Revealer of Secrets as both Ionathan and Onkelos render it and most of the Rabbies but others with St. Ierom translate it the Saviour of the World But whatever the meaning of it is 't is not to be doubted that 't is Egyptian for a Title given by an Egyptian King was certainly such And some think the same of the word Abrech Gen. 41. 43. the Term of Applause and Acclamation which the Egyptian People made use of when Ioseph was advanced to be the Second Man in the Kingdom and rid in Royal State through the Streets Zephardegnim Frogs Exod. 8. 3. and Zephardeang a Frog Psal. 78. 45. are of Egyptian Race and such is Ob an Inchanter Deut. 18. 10. if we may credit the Learned Kircher and Manor a Weaver's Beam 1 Sam. 17. 7. and Sarim an Eunuch 2 Chron. 18. 8. and Sarisim Eunuchs 2 Kings 20. 18. and several other Words were brought with the Israelites out of Egypt or were learn'd by Converse Totaphoth Frontlets Exod. 13. 16. Deut. 6. 8. is a compound Word as Scaliger thinks from Tot and Photh the first an Egyptian Word the second used in some other part of Africa Atad a Thorn Psal. 58. 9. is also reckon'd an African or Punick Word From Arabia others are fetch'd as Raphelingius and Golius and other great Linguists have observ'd especially in the Book of Iob they find several Arabick Words for he was of that Countrey Leviathan is of this fort saith Bochart and signifies a Dragon and any Great Fish Seranim Lords 1 Sam. 6. 18. and Cabul 1 Kings 9. 13. and many others are look'd upon as Phoenician Zamzummim Giants Deut. 2. 20. is purely an Ammonitish Word Gnerabon a Pledg Gen. 38. 17. is Syriac and Sharbit a Scepter Esth. 4. 11. ch 5. 2. used here and no where else is such rather than a pure Hebrew Word The Names of the Months among the Hebrews several of which occur in the Old Testament are generally taken from other Languages And many other foreign Words are brought into the Hebrew Tongue and mix'd with it which was caused by Correspondence with other Nations of whom they were taught these Words and particularly by Traffick and Importing of foreign Goods as Avenarius has observed the Things and the Names being brought at the same time from foreign Parts and accordingly we find them in the Writings of the Old Testament Here that of the Rabbies is true though they applied it as I have shewed before in another Sense The Scripture oftentimes speaks in the Language of the Sons of Men it hath Words which are used in other Tongues and borrowed from other Nations Thus likewise it is in the New Testament there is a Variety of Languages in it For though the main of it be Greek yet there are sundry Words there of a different Original Some Hebrew ones are made use of by the Holy Ghost as Allelujah Rev. 19. 1 3 4 6. Sabaoth Rom. 9. 29. Iam. 5. 4. Amen Rom. 1. 25. Eph. 3. 21. and in several other Places and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mark 14. 16. and often used in the Gospels and in 1 Cor. 5. 7. Heb. 11. 28. is originally Hebrew These Words were so much in use among the Faithful that the Apostles thought fit not to translate them but to retain them as they are Again some Words in this Part of the Bible are Persian as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Matth. 2. 7 16. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Acts 8. 27. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mat. 5. 41. Mark 15. 41. and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Paradise Luke 23. 43. 2 Cor. 12. 4. Rev. 2. 7. is of Persick Extract Remphan Acts 7. 43. is thought by some to be Egyptian It is certain that there are a great many Latin Words Grecized as Quadrans Matth. 5. 26. Legio Matth. 5. 9. ch 26. 53. Census Matth. 17. 25. Praetorium Matth. 27. 27. Acts 23. 35. Phil. 1. 13. Custodia Matth. 27. 65. ch 28. 11. Spiculator Mark 6. 27. Centurio Mark 15. 45. Opsonium Luke 3. 14. Rom. 6. 23. Modius Luke 11. 33. Sudarium Luke 19. 20. Colonia Acts 16. 12. Semicinctium Acts 19. 12. Sicarius Acts 21. 38. Macellua 1 Cor. 10. 25. Membrana 2 Tim. 4. 13. And ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the same Verse is a Greek Word made out of the Latin one Penula with
sometimes very Emphatical The Repetitions which some think to be needless Tautologies are very useful as well as elâgant What is more frequent in Homer the Father of Poets There you meet with Verses and Half-verses over and over again and the Commentators on those Places tell us that his frequent using the same Words is an Argument that his Stile is Natural and Genuine as in common Discourse we are wont to say the same things again and again and that it sheweth the Intenseness and Earnestness of the Speaker that it argues the Necessity of the Matter as well as the Certainty of it that it is to conciliate Attention and that sometimes it is a great Ornament and Elegancy besides that it was the Mode of speaking then in use and accordingly is to be found in all Good Authors more or less Why then should we not satisfy our selves after the same manner when we find the same things repeated in the Bible especially in the Old Testament and more particularly in the Books of Moses which far exceed Homer in Antiquity That Reiteration of the Words in Gen. 1. 27. God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he him should not offend us nor that in Moses's Song in Exod. 15. 16. Till thy People pass over O Lord till thy People pass over nor those many Reduplications in the Song of Deborah and Barak I will sing unto the Lord I will sing unto the Lord God of Israel Judg. 5. 3. The Mountains melted from before the Lord from before the Lord God of Israel ver 5. The Inhabitants of the Villages ceased they ceased in Israel until that I Deborah arose that I arose a Mother in Israel ver 7. Awake awake Deborah awake awake ver 12. The Kings came and fought then fought the Kings ver 19. The River of Kishon swept them away that antient River the River Kishon v. 21. At her Feet he bowed he fell and lay down at her Feet he bowed he fell where he bowed there he fell down dead ver 27. To Sisera a Prey of divers Colours a Prey of divers Colours of Needle-work of divers Colours of Needle-work of both sides ver 30. This Repeating and Reduplicating the Words is so far from being any Blemish to this Antient Song that it is to be accounted a great Elegancy and a singular Grace to it This Anadiplosis is deemed a very becoming Figure and might have been mentioned with those before in the best Classical Writers and there is no Reason why it should not be so here If the repeating the same thing be in them a Sign of the Naturalness of the Stile and of the Seriousness and Fervour of the Speakers of the Weightiness of the Subject and the like we cannot deny it to be the same in these Antient Writings of the Bible It is observable that as in the Sacred History of this Book so in Homer the Messenger whether he be sent from God or Man relates his Errand verbatim in the same Words and Syllables usually that it was delivered to him so that he alters it not in the least In this as in several other things that Antient Poet comes near to the Simplicity of the Stile of Scripture I could remark unto you also that that excellent Emperor Antoninus hath many things in his Book which are conformable to the Stile of the Holy Writ and seem to resemble it His way of Writing is like an Emperor Short but Pithy and Sententious Many things are not express'd which must be supplied and understood He sometimes useth Words and Phrases as he pleaseth not as Other Writers are wont He hath unusual ways of expressing himself and sometimes he coins Words as it was his Royal Prerogative to do so with Money He hath several abrupt and incoherent Periods he is generally neglectful and not studied This is some Resemblance of the Stile of Holy Scripture where there is a Princely Brevity wherein more is contain'd than express'd where are as I shall shew you anon either New Words or those which are usual are applied in a New and unheard of manner The Stile seems in sundry Places to be inconsistent and independant and in most Places it is careless and no ways elaborate But as no Wife Critick ever defamed the Emperor for his particular Strain of Writing so neither can any Man of Judgment disparage the Penmen of Holy Scripture whom he doth as 't were imitate In brief the Bible hath something in it of all manner of Stiles and partakes of the Excellencies of all Authors and where you see any Defect in the strict Rules of Grammar even there it is not unlike to Other Writers This may satisfy us amidst the Cavils of some Censurers of Scripture that it hath in it the same Phrases and Modes of Speaking and manner of using them that are in the best Greek and Latin Writings Let us come then to the Reading of Scripture as we see Men do to Homer and Virgil. This is a fair Request any Man will say and it must needs be granted Now you see that if any thing less Grammatical or Elegant occurs in those Writers the Course which is taken is this Lexicons and Dictionaries are consulted the Masters of Grammar and Rhetorick are advised with Interpreters are search'd into Other Authors are compared with these and their Business is to reconcile them and to make Sense of these Poets and by all means to make them speak well And shall we not do thus with the Sacred Writings Shall we not indeavour by all those Ways to vindicate the Credit of them and to justify the Propriety and Excellency of their Stile when we are able to do it by Great Examples from the Best and most Celebrated Writers among the Moral Philosophers Orators Poets Historians The Worthy Knight beforementined hath done his Part here very laudably he hath salv'd the Grammar of the New Testament in many Places and hath shewed that its Stile where it seems to be strange and uncouth is parallel with very Good and Approved Authors And lastly if any find fault with the Holy Writings because they are immethodical because neither the Mosaick Law nor other Parts of the Old Testament nor the Christian Doctrine in the New are reduced to Method and Artificial Order the like Answer may be given viz. that this was not the way of Other Writers in those Times It is evident that it was not the old way of the Iews their Books of Religion and Morals were not Orderly disposed but generally made up of Historical Passages and Wise Aphorisms and Sentences And as for the Gentiles most of their Learning was not more accurate and reduced You can descry nothing in their Writings of that Method and Order which have since been observed But my Business here chiefly is not to consider whether the Scripture be Methodized but to defend the Propriety of its Language Or rather it is not my Business now because I have
sufficiently dispatch'd it I hope I have let you see that those are no impartial Judges of Scripture-Stile who cry out of its Barbarisms but the Truth is they betray both their Ignorance and Irreligion at once in giving such a Judgment of it their Ignorance in that they shew themselves unacquainted with the Best Authors who are not always wont to bind themselves to the strict Observation of Grammatical Rules To this purpose the Learned Henry Stephens's Animadversions and Appendix at the End of his Thesaurus Gr. L. are worthy of the Perusal of all Curious Persons that would be fully acquainted with the Genius of the Attick Phrase and Idiom and the reading of these will abundantly satisfy them that the New Testament is like other Greek Writers and that the most Classick Greek Authors speak in the same strain that this doth This Accomplish'd Critick shews that there are pure Atticisms sometimes in these Holy Writings and particularly that an Ellipsis which is so frequent in them is a common Atticism in the best Grecians If those who raise Objections against the Stile of the New Testament would converse with These they might see that those Passages which seem not so proper or elegant in Scripture and that whatever looks like Soloecisms and favours of Rudeness or Defect of Language in these Holy Writings may be parallelled with what they meet with in the most Applauded Authors Their Irreligion likewise is discovered in this that nothing pleaseth them in the Holy Book and that what is not thought Improper or Rude in other Writings is accounted such in These yea that what are Soloecisms in a Sacred Writer are look'd upon as Atticisms and Elegancies in a Profane One. Having hitherto been in pursuance of this that the Holy Scripture hath many things in it according to the Strain of Other Writers I am to pass to the next Proposition CHAP. VII The Scripture-Stile hath some things in it that are not in common with Other Writers but are proper and peculiar to it self The LXX's Greek Version and the New Testament have words that are not extant in any other Authors ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mark 14. 3. was coin'd by the Evangelist It s true Signification enquired into Inward Goodness or Righteousness is express'd by Terms which are unknown to other Writers Instances of several other Peculiar ways of Speaking Some Profane Authors differ from the rest as to the use of some particular Words and Phrases Ecclesiastical Writers have Words proper to themselves The Difficulty of Scripture proceeds partly from the Different Acception of Words which we meet with there Many Instances in the Old and New Testament The various Significations of the Word Spirit enumerated and reduc'd to distinct Heads The Author confines himself to the Hebrew Verbs of the Old Testament and shews how Different the Senses of the same words are and endeavours to remove the Ambiguity of them in the several Texts which he cites and to determine the Sense which is Proper to those particular Places The like he attempts in those Texts where Hebrew Nouns of a different meaning occur THE Third Proposition is That the Scripture-Stile hath some things in it that are not in common with Other Writers but are Proper and Peculiar to it self For though it is true some Other Authors have words proper to themselves which are not found in others thus in Pindar Plato Isocrates Homer Aristophanes Hippocrates c. there are some particular Words and Phrases peculiar to them alone yet the Bible hath Words and Expressions which are not to be met with in any of these nor in any other Writers The Original Hebrew hath greater choice of Words than any Book extant in that Language it is the most Copious Vocabulary that is in the World and all Hebrew Writers of note borrow from this The Septuagint have words peculiar to themselves as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is proper to them and was made on purpose to answer to the Hebrew ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and the Writers of the New Testament took it from them They also made the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cant. 4. 9. to express the Hebrew word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ex. 2. 5. is of their coining and the Apostle thought fit to use it Tit. 2. 14. And some have thought the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as it signifies Sleep or Slumber Isa. 29. 10. was made by them as if it were from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This word is also used by the Apostle Rom. 11. 8. The New Testament in Greek hath words never heard of before as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Lord's Prayer a word which was first used by the Evangelists And St. Luke's ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Angels Salutation of the Virgin Mary Luk. 1. 28. is a new Greek word which the Evangelist himself made as some have thought but that is a Mistake because the Apocryphal Writer had used it before Eccles. 18. 17. Yet this is not to be denied that the word is no where to be found in any other Greek Author i. e. any Prophane one but St. Paul useth it viz. the Active ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã though not the Passive ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Eph. 1. 6. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Passive Voice have a peculiar Signification in Mat. 5. 24. Rom. 5. 10. 1 Câr 11. 7. 2. Cor. 5. 20. which is in no other Writer saith Grotius upon Mat. 5. 24. That likewise in Mark 14. 3. and Iohn 12. 3. is scarcely used by any Writer whatsoever and therefore the Grammarians and Criticks know not well how to assign the meaning of it some deriving ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is the word there used and joined with ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and so it denotes that Ointment to have been faithfully prepared and compounded for ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã according to this Etymology is as much as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã true pure not adulterated approved it being rightly and faithfully made This is according to the Syriac Version and 't is approved of by St. Ierom and Theophylact Others think ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is put here for ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the vulgar Latin having it Spicata and so it is translated Spikenard by us Beza and Camerarius are of this Opinion and think the Ointment had this Name because it was made ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã spicis nardi that is of the choicest part of Nard A third fort among whom Casaubon is Chief tell us that it is the same with ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã potabilis à ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and so signifies such a Liquid Ointment as might be drank And lastly some have thought that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is for ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as if it were call'd so from a place viz Opis a City not far from Babylon whence
for a Fir and others for a Turpentine-Tree And Pererius that he might say something singular and different from all the rest fancies it was not the Wood of one sort of Tree but that it was made of divers Kinds But the Translators of the English Bible retain the Hebrew word it self because they were not satisfied with any of these Significations Eolah and allah and allon Ezek. 6. 13. Josh. 24. 26. Isa. 6. 13. according to different Interpreters are rendred not only an Oak but an Elm an Alder-Tree a Turpentine a Lime or Teil-Tree a Pine a Chesnut What kind of Trees Algummim or Almuggim 1 Kings 10. 11. 2 Chron. 2. 8. Chap. 9. 10 11. were is not easy to tell yea the Hebrew Doctors think Coral which we can't properly call a Tree is meant by them But Grotius hath warn'd us not to trust to the Rabins especially the latter ones in their Interpretations which they give of Herbs and Trees What particular kind of Wood that is which is call'd Shittim of which you read so often in Exoduâ and is rendred ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã incorruptible Wood by the LXX is not agreed among the Learned some thinking it to be Cedar others the Pitch-Tree others Box but Ierom and Theodotion take it to be the White-Thorn or a Tree very like it The truth is we are certain of nothing but this that it was some very excellent and choice Wood which they found to be very Useful in Building It is probable that it was denominated from the Place where it grew and whence it was fetched for of Shittim we read in Numb 25. 1. Iosh. 2. 1. and in other places but what kind of Tree it was is uncertain for which reason both the Vulgar Latin and English Translators thought fit to retain the Hebrew word it self For we are in the dark as to these things and how can it be otherwise seeing 't is not to be doubted that they had Trees and Plants in the Eastern Countries which are not in these places and therefore we know them not So for Animals of which we spake before there were some proper to those Regions and because these Western Parts of the World have them not we are ignorant of them Wherefore 't is no wonder that several Names of Sensitive and Vegetative Creatures mention'd in the Old Testament are unintelligible Whether the Hebrew Bedolach Bdellium Gen. 2. 12. be a Tree or a Stone or a Gum or a Pearl is disputed Pliny and Diascorides mention Bdellium as Wood or a Tree and Iunius upon the place is of the same Mind Others and particularly Iosephus understand it to be an Aromatick Gum or the Juice of some Odoriferous Tree The Jews generally hold it to be a Precious Stone but some of them think it is a Crystal others a Jasper and others of them a Carbuncle it being so rendred by the Septuagint Bochart and some other Moderns tell us that Bedolach is not Bdellium or any other Precious Stone but a Margarite a Pearl of the Sea which is usually fetch'd up in that Maritime Part of Arabia which is call'd Havilah in the foremention'd Text. And to corroborate this Opinion he further adds that Manna is said to be Numb 11. 7. of the colour of Bdellium i. e. white which is the singular Ornament and Beauty of a Pearl It might be observ'd here that the words for Minerals and Precious Stones are very ambiguous I will mention only one viz. Nophek the first Precious Stone in the second Order of those in the High Priest's Breast-plate this is rendred by St. Ierom a Carbuncle by Onkelos an Emerald by some Interpreters a Topaz and by others a Ruby And there is almost the like difference in interpreting some of the other Words whereby other Stones are signified For indeed it is the Confession of the Hebrew Doctors as Buxtorf and others tell us that the Names of Precious Stones in Scripture are unknown to us There is such a discrepancy saith a Learned Hebrician about these among all Interpreters whether Christians or Jews that no Man is able to determine any thing certain The same may be said of Musical Instruments mention'd in Scripture which have employ'd many Criticks and Grammarians but with little Satisfaction But I have said enough for my present purpose viz. to shew you that the Hebrew Names of divers things are not well understood which sometimes begets a misunderstanding concerning the things themselves There are indeed among the Greeks and Latins a great number of words of Different Senses but the number is far greater in Hebrew by reason of the paucity of words in this Tongue for there being many Things but few Words to express them it will follow that sundry of them must be of various Significations and consequently that it is no easy matter to distinguish between them This may be the reason why the Septuagint have inserted several Hebrew words into their Version namely because they could not tell how to express them in Greek their Signification being so Doubtful Hence also some Proper Names are translated by these Interpreters as Appellatives which is done also sometimes by the Vulgar Latin because those Names are seemingly and as to their Sound no other than Appellatives however the Dubious meaning of them prompted the Translators to take them as such Nor are we to think that this Ambiguity is any Blemish or Disparagement to the Bible and that for this reason because we find it no where but in those Matters which are Indifferent and the Knowledg of which is not indispensably required of us Nay on the contrary this Difficulty which we meet with in many Words and Passages in these Holy Writings is so far from disparaging them that it is an undeniable Proof of the Unparallell'd Antiquity of them We are assured hence that they have the Priority of all other Books we may rationally gather that a great part of this Volume at least was composed and written before any other Writings were extant If this Sacred Book were of a later Date we should have had few or none of those Difficult Terms that it abounds with now We could not then have a more Convincing Argument of its being Exceeding Antient than its being Dark in some places And therefore instead of complaining of the Obscurity of these Writings let us reverence and admire its Matchless Antiquity and congratulate our own Happiness that the Divine Providence hath entrusted us with the First and Oldest Records of Truth in the World I will go on then still with my present Undertaking and shew in other particulars the Dubious Import of some words in these Sacred Writings and attempt to clear some of them I will here speak of the Measures Weights and Coins mention'd in Scripture which are another Instance of the Difficulty which arises from our being ignorant of the exact Significations of some Words in the Sacred Volume The Hebrew Measures are either of Application or
have studied to impair the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scriptures and particularly of Moses's Writings have exposed this Place as disagreeing with the rest of the Sacred Story concerning the first Rise and Propagation of the World But this is a very shallow and vain Attempt and grounded chiefly on Prejudice and Ill-will against the Inspired Volume of Scripture I have made it clear that there is no Absurdity or any thing that looks like it in the words above-mentioned and I defy that Man who pretends to give any Satisfactory Answer to the Particulars which I have offered in defence of them Again 't is said That none save Caleb and Joshua should come into the Land of Canaan Numb 14. 30. and yet we read that Eleazar and others entred into that Land Ios. 14. 1. Chap. 22. 13. This is objected by some as a Passage in Scripture derogatory to the Truth of it But if we will read the Holy Book with the same Candour and Ingenuity wherewith we read other Authors we shall not be offended at this or the like Passages For nothing is more common in the most serious and considerate Writers than to speak things by way of Restriction and Limitation as those words are spoken and yet to leave them to be understood with some Latitude which shall afterwards be express'd and explain'd when they speak of the same Matter So here we read that none but Caleb and Ioshua entred into the Land of Promise this being spoken of the Chief Leaders that had that Privilege and Honour but then if we consult other places where this thing is more particularly related we shall find that a Larger meaning was not excluded We cannot think that the Tribe of Levi were denied entrance into that blessed Land because 't is evident from the History that they murmured not and 't is as evident that 't was threatned to the Murmurers only that they should not see the Land which God swore unto their Fathers Numb 14. 22 23. therefore Eleazar and Phineas being Priests are excepted Again it cannot be meant of those that at that time were gone to spy the Land of Canaan for they were none of the Murmurers and therefore that Threatning before cited doth not reach them and consequently those words are consistent with what we read in other places relating to this matter But That in 1 Sam. 16. 22 23. is cried out against as an unanswerable Repugnancy to Chap. 17. 55. for in the former we are told that David came to Court and stood before King Saul i. e. waited continually upon him and play'd upon the Hart before him and was greatly beloved of him and became his Aymour-bearer and yet in the latter we read that Saul did not know David but ask'd who he was Whose Son is this Youth These seem to be very repugnant to one another but there is really no such thing all is clear and obvious for in Chap. 17. 15. it is said David went and returned from Saul to feed his Father's Sheep at Bethlehem He stay'd not long at Court either because he liked not that manner of Life or because Saul was weary of him David then having been absent from Saul a considerable time and following a Country-Life and now appearing perhaps in his Shepherd's Weeds it is no wonder that Saul did not well know him This I think is sufficient of it self and clears the Text of all Contradiction though I know there are other Solutions used by the Learned as that of our English Rabbi Saul saith he asked whose Son David was not that he was ignorant who he was but he only enquired who that was that had such a Son The question is not of David's Person but Parentage So Lightfoot Others are more Curious in their Objections as thus Whereas the Diameter in respect of the Circumference is as seven to two and twenty this is not observ'd in 2 Chron. 4. 2. speaking of the brazen Laver and by consequence the Geometry of Scripture is faulty In answer to these men who are such Well-willers to the Mathematicks I say first That the Proportion of a Diameter to its Circle is not exactly as seven to two and twenty therefore these Gentlemen are not exact themselves Secondly I say this that the Scripture oftentimes speaks after the Vulgar manner as I have shew'd elsewhere and it is likely it doth so here and then we must not expect Accuracy of Words or Things The Bible was not calculated for them only that can square a Circle or that understand all the Mysteries of Algebra Thirdly If this doth not satisfy I answer that the Circumference of the brazen Sea was not exactly Round but it may be towards an Oval Figure which makes some alteration as to the Proportion of the Diameter It was ten Cubits from brim to brim and a Line of thirty Cubits did compass it round about saith the Text but if it had been quite orbicular the Circumference must have been one and thirty Cubits Or perhaps in this place as in several others a round Number is express'd and the remainder being so small and inconsiderable is omitted But further 't is Objected that this Molten Sea or Laver is said to contain 2000 Baths 1 Kings 7. 26. but in 1 Chron. 4. 5. we read that it received and held 3000 Baths therefore some infer that one of these places is faulty and ought to be corrected I answer there is no need of it because both these are consistent The Laver was of that vast dimension that it could hold 3000 Baths of Water but it generally and usually contain'd but 2000. In a Synagogue of the Jews at Amsterdam there is one of these Lavers and thence we may solve the seeming difficulty they fill it up to the Neck but not higher but if they would fill it higher it would contain much more The Neck is large and of another figure and is capable of receiving a third part more Another Place which they alledg cannot they will tell you be answer'd any of these ways for it plainly Contradicts another place of Scripture It is said of Asa 2 Chron. 14. 5. he took away the high Places but in 1 Kings 15. 14. it is expresly recorded that the high Places were not removed by him I answer first there were two sorts of high Places namely some where they worship'd Idols and False Gods others where they worship'd the True God The former were taken away as is intimated to us when 't is said he took away the high Places and Images i. e. the high Places where those Images were adored but the latter were not taken away the Reformation which he had set on foot had not gone so far Besides 't is observable that he took away the high Places out of all the Cities of Judah which signifies to us that he removed them out of all the Chief Places of his Kingdom though he had not time to effect it in some other less considerable places
both to the Ismaelites and Midianites because the Company of Merchants who bought him consisted of both it is probable they were joint-Traders and did traffick in common Thus we see here is nothing inconsistent Some object against the Geography of Scripture because Zippora Moses's Wife is call'd an Ethiopian Nâmb 12. 1. although she was of another Country namely the Land of Midian as appears from Exod 2. 15 16. In answer to which Iosâphâs would perswade us that Moses had two Wives one an Ethiopian the other a Midianitess or Arabian But there is no Foundation at all for this and therefore some other Answer is to be given Some are of opinion that Cushith which is the Word used in the Book of Numbers should not be translated an Ethiopian but an Arabian Woman for Arabia was call'd Cush because the Seat of Cush the eldest Son of Ham was there saith Sir W. Raleigh Whence he concludes that Moses's Wife was not an Ethiopian though a Woman of Cush but an Arabian And Bochart asserts the same and on the same Ground viz. because Cush was seated in Arabia not in Etâiopia But this Opinion hath found but little Reception among those who have further enquired into this Matter and have found that sometimes the word Cush in the Old Testament must necessarily be understood of Etâiopia Therefore it is more reasonable to adhere to those Authors who affirm that Cush is an ambiguous Word and that not only Arabia but Ethiopia is expressed by that Name Or rather there is a double Etâiopia one in Africa beyond Egypt under the Torrid Zone the other in Asia and particularly in some part of Arabia And that there are both these Ethiopia's is testified by Philostratus Herodotus and Pausanias This latter viz. the Asiatick Ethiopia is meant in the forenamed Place where 't is said Moses married a Cushite an Ethiopian Woman She was not of the African but the Asian Cush or Ethiopia and so it well agrees with the other Text where we are told she was a Midianite Nor is this to be wondred at that Cush is thus differently taken for it might be proved from several Examples that one and the same Name is given to two or three Countries Thus there is Caesarea in Palestine and in the Lesser Asia There is Antioch in Syria in Pisidia and in Caria There is Babylon in Chaldea and Egypt There is Thebes in Baeotia in Egypt and in Cilicia There is Heliopolis in Egypt in Coelosyria and Cilicia There is Albania in Greece and Armenia And so in our neighbouring Countries there is Zeland in Denmark and in the Netherlands And not only in France but England several Places have the same Name But although this be very satisfactory yet I am inclined to offer another Resolution of the Place viz. that Midian was divided from Ethiopia only by the Red Sea a short Passage and by reason of this Nearness Midian is call'd in Soripture the Land of Cush or Ethiopia and thence Zippora is call'd a Cushite ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã according to the Seventy Interpreters an Ethiopian She is call'd so I say because the Midianites dwelt near to the African Ethiopians and thence sometimes had their Name communicated to them Midian being a neighbouring Country was call'd Ethiopia and those other Parts of Asiâ and Africa that lay about the Red Sea had the like Dânomination as at this Day among Cosmographers some Places that border on other Countries are sometimes said to belong to them and to be Parts of them and are call'd by their Name Thus Tyre and Sidon of old were reckon'd both in Syria and Palestine And in our modern Geography âome Places in the Netherlands and Gârmany are sometimes rank'd among those of France Some Geographers place Lorain in Germany others in France The Alpes are divided among the Germans Italians French and so are said to belong to all of them Piedmont is reckon'd both in France and Italy So it is in the present Case the Vicânity of the Place to some other causes the Name to be communicated to both The Midianites and other People because they bordered on Ethiopia were call'd Ethiopians hence Cushan or Ethiopia and the Land of Midian are join'd together Hab. 3. 7. Lastly it is probable that Cush the eldest Son of Cham was seated not only in Ethiopia but in those Parts of Arabia which were bordering upon it and thence it comes to pass that a Cushite or a Woman of Cush is an Arabian as well as an Ethiopian properly so call'd She that is call'd a Woman of Canaan Mat. 15. 22. is call'd a Syrophoenician Mark 7. 26. which some imaginâ are inconsistent and therefore they think the former Word should be Cana which was a Town in Phoeniâia and was known by the Name of the Greater Cana for there was a Lesser in the lower Galilee where Christ turn'd Water into Wine But there is no Necessity of âhanging the Word because Canaan and Phoenicia are but different Names for the same Region Thus in Gen. 16. 35. the Land of Canaan is call'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by the LXX and in Exod. 6. 15. a Canaaniâââ Woman is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã We must know then that the whole Country of Palestine is a part oâ Syria and Phoenicia is a part of Palestine and Syro-Phoenicia as well as Phoenicia is the North Part of Canaan But especially the People of this Country that lived on the Sea-coasts were call'd Phoenicians and that in a peculiar manner as is evident from Straâo pliny and others Yea and those were properly and strictly of old câll'd Canaanites that dwelt at Tyre and Sidon and inhabited near the Sea The Canaanites dwell by the Sea Numb 13. 29. and some quote Isa. 23. 8. where the Tyrians are call'd Canaanim So this Woman who came out of the Coasts of Tyre and Sidon as is expresly said ver 21. is rightly stiled both a Canaanite by St. Matthew and a Phoenician or Syro-Phoenician by St. Mark for the word Syrian is added as Grotius well notes only to distinguish the Asian Phoenicians from those of some Colonies in Africk Thus there is no Reason to find fault with the Chorography of the Bible Here for the better clearing some Passages in the Holy Writings and the removing some Cavils which ill-disposed Men are wont to raise I will further remark that the Chorography of the Scriptures is sometimes different from that in Profane Authors Several Places mention'd in Holy Writ have not the same Names which they are known by in other Writers of which the Learned Mr. Selden hath taken notice which may sometimes occasion Dispute about certain Places in Scripture Bahylon is call'd Shinar Gen. 11. 2. Egypt hath the Name of Ham Psal. 78. 51. 105. 23. and Raâab Psal. 87. 4. 89. 10. Of old On and Bethshemesh were the Names of that Place in Egypt which since is call'd Heliopolis Gen. 41. 45 50. Ier. 43. 13. Some gather
with Hard and Dark Passages we ought to be so far from blaming and disparaging this Divine Book because of these that we should rather reckon them an Ornament to it The Dubiousness of Scripture in some things is part of its Excellency It is a great Commendation of this Sacred Volume that it is not destitute of Absârusities and Difficulties that we are not wholly tied up and confined in our Interpretation of it that there is a Freedom of Disquisition allowed us that in several Places every Man is at his Liberty to imbrace what Sense he pleaseth of the Words so it be according to the Analogy of Faith and the Tenour of the other Parts of this Inspired Book This gives us an opportunity of exciting our Care of exerting our Industry of improving our Knowledg of enlarging our Faculties by continual Researches and Examinations Thus the Obscurity of some Parts of Scripture is of great and excellent Use. But then where-ever the Indispensible and Necessary Points of Faith and Manners are treated of in these Writings their Stile is sufficiently clear and plain and the Matter which is express'd by it is easy to be understood In brief the Scripture is plain where it should be so But if in some other Places there be Controversy and Perplexity if some Texts seem to oppose and clash with one another let us remember this that the Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Ghost and therefore there can be no real Oppositions or Repugnancies in them because Truth cannot contradict it self By impartial Study and Enquiry let us dive into the Meaning of these Antient Writings and by the Helps which I have tendred in the foregoing Discourse endeavour to reconcile those Places which seem to differ but let us never be so daring as to accuse the Scriptures which were endited by God himself of Contradiction FINIS FINIS ADDENDA Refer this to Page 267. Line 19. HEBREW Verbs of different Significations 1. Those of two Significations Anah in Kal to grieve or mourn Isa. 3. 26. ch 19. 8. in Piel to deliver up Exod. 21. 13. Dabar in Kal to speak in Piel to reduce into order Chalatz in Piel to save in Hiphil to arm Iaal in Hiphil to will or desire in Niphal to be foolish or mad Pala in Niphal to be admired in Piel to separate Alam in Niphal to be silent in Piel to gather Mashal in Kal to rule in Niphal to be compared with or likened to any thing or Person Sabar in Kal to consider in Piel to expect to hope for Rakah in Kal to spit in Hiphil to attenuate Tanah in Kal and Niphil to hire in Piel to discourse with Gaal in Kal to redeem in Piel to pollute Bara in Kal to create in Hiph to make fat Cacash in Kal to be lean in Piel to tell a Lie Lamad in Kal to learn in Piel to teach Cabad in Kal to be heavy in Piel and Niph to be honoured Puk to stumble to produce Gnarak to ordain to esteem Saphak to suffice to clap Hands Shabar to break to buy Kut to loath or abominate to contend Katar to offer Incense to bind Kam or Kum to stand or rise to be dim-sighted Ragang to quiet to break or cut asunder Ramah to dart to deceive Shaal to request to borrow Panah to behold to remove Nakaâ to bore or make a Hole to curse Samaâh to rejoice to shine Pharash to separate to interpret Lutz to laugh to arguâ or dispute Zachah to be innocent to overcome Lacham to eat to fight Gnatsam to strengthen to shut Gnatsab to disturb to fashion or form Gnaraph to cut the Throat to distil Gnathak to wax old to be removed 2. Those of three Significations Rab or Rahab and so the Verb Rabah to be many or much to shoot Arrows to educate Ragal to search to calumniate to walk or make to walk or go Halal to praise to shine to be mad Shalam to be peaceable to be perfect to recompense Gnabar to pass to be with Child to be angry Nashaâ to forget to let out Money upon Interest to put out of joint Gnur to be watchful to make blind to make naked Alaph to learn to teach to make or produce a thousand Ruang to do Evil to break or bruise to make a great Noise Charash to plough to think to be silent Gnaraâ to be emptied or poured out to make naked to adhere Mahar to make haste to be liberal to be foolish or inconsiderate Gur to travel abroad to gather together to fear Damah to be quiet to be like to one to consent Pharang to be open or naked to be free to vindicate Aphah to boil to bake to fry Zur to abhor to sneeze to compress Gnanaâ to answer to humble to commit Adultery Shar to sing to walk to observe Shalah to be quiet to be fortunate to err or be faulty Kutz to rise or awake betimes to be weary of or nauseate to summer or spend the Summer-time Kara to call to read to meet one 3. Verbs of four or more Significations Natzah to bud forth to fly to fight to overcome Salad to strengthen to warm or heat to harden to desire or beg Kalal to be light or vile to curse to destroy to polish Shagnah to behold to be astonish'd to abstain or desist to shut Pathach to open to engrave to plough to expose to loose Carah to open to pierce to dig to prepare to entertain one with a Feast to traffick or merchandize Chalal to begin to profane to bring forth Young to wound to mourn or grieve to cut or bore to leap Lastly no Verb in the Holy Tongue hath so many different Significations as Gnarab the Import of which is to mingle to negotiate to be sweet or pleasant to undertake for or be Surety to be dusky as in the Evening c. Refer this to Page 274. Line 1. Hebrew Nouns of two Significations Ed a Vapour Calamity Siach a Shrub Speech Tagnar a Whetstone a Sheath Goel a Redeemer a Kinsman Sheber Corn or any Food interpreting or unriddling Racham the Womb a Girl so Mother hath this double Signification with us Lahat a Flame the Edg of a Sword Kesil a Fool a certain Constellation Aven Iniquity Vanity Nagnal a Shoe a Glove Nouns of three Significations Nachal an Inheritance a Floud or Torrent a Valley Alluph a Teacher a Prince a Bull or Ox. Keren a Horn Strength Splendor Gevah Pride Excellency a Body Nouns of four or more Significations Chebel Corruption Grief a Rope or Cable a Croud or Multitude besides other collateral ones as an Inheritance c. Shebet a Rod a Staff a Scepter a Tribe a Stroke or Plague a Quill a Writing-Pen Charutz cut off industrious Gold pretious a Ditch a Flail a Rake Refer this to Page 343. Line 7. Hebrew Words that have Contrary Significations Nacar to be known to be unknown Kalas in Piel to slight or disesteem in Hithpael to praise or extol Ragang to move and roll up
Ch. 11. v. 6. Though I be rude in Speech p. 437 Ver. 17. I speak not after the Lord. p. 472 St. JAMES Ch. 4. v. 5 6. Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to Envy But he giveth more Grace p. 463 St. PETER 2 Epist. Ch. 3. v. 5. This they are willingly ignorant of that by the Word of God the Heavens were of old and the Earth standing out of the Water and in the Water p. 62 St. JOHN 2 Epist. Ver. 12. I will not write with Paper ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã p. 167 Besides sundry Texts mention'd in that Part of the Discourse where the Emendation of the present English Version of the New Testament is attempted ERRATA PAge 30. line 1O r. able fully to P. 79. l. 29. r. who were P. 104. l. 33. r. as P. 11O l. 5. r. Foundârs P. 117. l. 28. r. Greeks P. 121. l. 33. r. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã P. 139. l. 25. r. aâ P. 140. â 33. r. from its P. 146. l. 27. r. require either of P. 159. l. 15. r. recorded that the Letters of their Alphabet were P. 188. l. 14 after Times dele l. 15. after these dele P. 196. in the Margin r. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã P. 206. l. 20. r. this P. 216. l. 1. r. which we read of in P. 230. l. 15. r. Places P. 244. l. 27. r. which we and include the following words which is rendred ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i. e. rotulae by the LXX in a Parenthesis P. 322. l. 33 34. r. the former and f. were r. was P. 336. l. 30. r. might P. 340. l. 3. r. the deadly P. 361. l. ult r. Lives P. 432. l. 1. after thus insert P. 433. l. 3. before but leave out P. 491. l. 13. r. that P. 493. l. 4. r. in the. P. 504. l. antepenult r. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã P. 554. l. 32. delâ all P. 558. l. 9. r. they did P. 562. l. 5. r. for one P. 563. l. 30. r. mist. P. 565. l. 15. r. are The Faults in the Hebrew are leât to be corrected by the Learned The CONTENTS of the Several CHAPTERS CHAP. I. THE different Esteem and Sentiment of Persons concerning the Authors they make choice of to read No Writings can equal the Bible It hath been highly valued in all Ages by Men of the greatest Learning Wit and Judgment A Scheme of the following Discourse briefly propounded The Holy Scriptures are the perfect Rule of Faith They are the best Conduct of our Lives and Actions They are the only Ground of solid Consolation Joy and Happiness This Perfection of Scripture is opposed by many of the Rabbins An Account of their Cabala and Oral Law The Papists by preferring their Traditions before the Scriptures and by indeavouring to keep these latter in an unknown Tongue deny the Perfection of them So do Familists Quakers and all Enthusiasts pag. 1 CHAP. II. The Bible is furnish'd with all sorts of Humane as well as Divine Learning Hebrew wherein the Old Testament was written is the Primitive Language of the World The True Origine of the World is plainly recorded in no other Writings but these The first Chapter of Genesis is a real History and records Matter of fact It is largely proved that the Mosaick History gives us a particular Account of the first Rise of the several Nations and People of the Earth and of the Places of their Habitation Also the true Knowledg of the Original of Civil Government and the Increases of it and the different Changes it underwent is derived from these Writings The Courts of Judicature and the severâl kinds of Punishment among the Jews distinctly treated of The Government among the Heathen Nations The four Celebrated Monarchies or Empires of the World p. 45 CHAP. III. In these Sacred Writings we have the first and earliest Account of all useful Employments and Callings viz. Gardening Husbandry feeding of Sheep preparing of Food The antient manner of Threshing Grinding of Corn and making Bread is enquired into What was the Primitive Drink The Posture which they used at eating and drinking Sitting preceded Discubation The particular manner of placing themselves on their Beds Eating in common not always used Discalceation and Washing the Feet were the Attendants of Eating and Feasting So was Anointing They had a Master or Governour of their Feasts Who were the first Inventers of Mechanick Arts. The first Examples of Architecture Houses were built flat at top and why p. 111 CHAP. IV. The first Original of Letters and Writing is recorded here The several kinds of Materials they wrote upon of old The Instruments with which they formed their Letters or Characters The Antientest as well as the most Excellent History is in the Bible So is the Antientest and most Admired Poetry The first Invention and Practice of Musick and on what Occasions it was wont to be made use of The Rise of Natural Philosophy and who were the first Founders of it The Knowledg of the Holy Scriptures necessary in order to the due Study of Natural Philosophy The first Instances of Anatomy Medicks Chirurgery Embalming and the Apothecaries Employment are in the Old Testament Here are the first Examples of Shipping and Navigation An Enquiry into the Place whither Solomon's Navy went every three Years A Conjecture concerning Ophir Astronomy and Judiciary Astrology mention'd in Scripture Of War and Skill in Arms. The Nature of those Military Weapons which are spoken of in Scripture particularly and distinctly enquir'd into The Antiquity of Martial Ensigns and Standards The vast Numbers which the Armies of old consisted of The Scripture is not silent concerning Sportive Diversions and Exercises some of which but especially Dancing are considered p. 157 CHAP. V. We are furnish'd in the Bible with the Knowledg of the first Vsages relating to Matrimony Of Nuptial Feasts and other Antient Feasts We have here the first Notices of Buying and Selling and the Antient use of Money We learn hence what was the first Apparel and what Additions there were afterwards The chief Ornaments of Men and Women viz. Crowns Mitres Frontal Jewels Ear-rings the occasion of wearing these at first and among what Persons and Nations together with the Abuse of them Chains Bracelets Finger-Rings and Signets Changes of Garments The Antient Vse of White Apparel Fullers Earth Looking-Glasses Rending of the Garments P. 225 CHAP. VI. Here we are informed concerning the Primitive Institution of Burying Graves and Sepulchres were generally in the Fields and without the Walls of Cities They usually embalmed the dead Bodies Why they sometimes burnt them Burning also signifies Embalming There was a Difference between the Funeral Burning of the Jews and of the Heathens The Manner and Time of Mourning for the Dead Both Vocal and Instrumental Musick used at Funerals The Antiquity of Funeral Monuments The old way of erecting great Heaps of Stones over the Dead Stone-heng is a Sepulchral Monument and in imitation
Men of the greatest Learning Wit and Judgment A Scheme of the following Discourse briefly propounded The Holy Scriptures are the perfect Rule of Faith They are the best Conduct of our Lives and Actions They are the only Ground of solid Consolation Joy and Happiness This Perfection of Scripture is opposed by many of the Rabbins An Account of their Cabala and Oral Law The Papists by preferring their Traditions before the Scriptures and by indeavouring to keep these latter in an unknown Tongue deny the Perfection of them So do Familists Quakers and all Enthusiasts IT may be observed that the Minds of Men have been differently disposed as to the choice of the Authors they would read and their Esteem and Value of them have been as various It hath been usual for Persons to express a particular Kindness for one Writer above another Thus Homer of old was excessively magnified by those famous Warriors Agesilaus and Alexander the Great The former read him continually at home and in the Camp and whenever he had any time to spare for Reading The latter could not sleep without his Iliads under his Pillow Scipio âirnamed the African had a great Opinion of Xenophon's Institution of Cyrus and was always consulting it and valued it at a high rate So among Christians St. Cyprian was a great Admirer of Tertullian and when he had a mind to read him his usual Saying was Give me my Master Charles the Great was hugely taken with St. Augustine de Civitate Dei and had it constantly read to him yea even at Supper King Alphonsus in all his Expeditions and at all other times carried Iulius Caesar's Commentaries others say Livy's History with him Theodore Gaza gave his Vote for Plutarch's Works and was so pleased with them that he protested if he could have but one Man's Writings he would certainly choose His before all others Thomas Aquinas was no less in love with St. Chrysostom on St. Matthew and expressed his high Esteem of him by saying he preferr'd him before the goodly City of Paris Charles the V th gave a greater Deference to Comines than to any other Writer and perpetually conversed with him Scaliger would rather be the Author of the ninth Ode of Horace than be Emperor of Germany And to come down yet lower Grotius gives Cujacius the Prefârence to all the other Commântators on the Imperial Laws Salmasius admired no Divine so much as Calvin and particularly preferred his Institutions And the Reverend Mr. B. Oley tells us if he were to be conâined to one Author he would choose Dr. Iackson's Works Thus have Mens Sentiments and Esteems been various about Books âome preferring one Writer and some another according as their Genius or Studies led them âut when we mention the Bible i. e. the Book of Books we are certain there is no Comparison between This and any others whatsoever This Sacred Volume is emphatically and by way of Eminence call'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as if other Books in respect of This deserv'd not the Name For in what other Writings can we deâcry thoâe Excellencies which we find in This None of them can equal it in Antiquity for the first Penman of the Sacred Scripture who relates the Origine of the World and whose Writings contain the Acts and Monuments of the Patriarchs hath the start of all Philosophers Poets and Historians and is abâolutely the Antientest Writer extant in the World No Writings are equal to these of the Bible if we mention only the stock of Humane Learning contain'd in them Here Linguists and Philologists may find that which is to be found no where else Here Râetoricians and Orators may be entertained with a more loâty Eloquence with a choicer Composure of Words and with greater Variety of Stile than any other Writers can afford them Here is a Book where more is understood than expressed where Words are few but the Sense is full and redundant No Books equal This in Authority because ãâã is the Word of God himself and dictated by an unerring Spirit It excâls all other Writings in the Excellency of its Matter which is the Highest Noblest and Worthiest and of the Greatest Concern to Mankind Lastly to name no more at present that I may not anticipate what is intended in the following Discourse the Scriptures transcend all other Writings in their Power and Efficacy This Word of God is pure enlightning the Eyes irradiating Mens Minds with Supernatural Truth affecting their Hearts and Consciences subduing the Refracotriness of their Wills transforming their Lives and changing them into other Persons Thence it is that all Men of well-disposed Souls find a plain Differene between their reading This and other Books When they read those it is true they are something affected and pleased the Stile or the Matter give them some Satisfaction but if they read them often and confine themselves to them their former Pleasure and Satisfaction abate and the Authors seem not to be so entertaining and acceptable as they were before and at length they become burdensom and nauseous and hence it is that some Writers grow out of fashion and other New ones are called for But it is far otherwise with this Holy Book the Affection and Pleasure which you feel in the reading it are lasting and durable because this Blessed Word sinks down into the Center of the Soul and is always present with it Though you lay this Book aside and afterwards take it up and do so again and again yea never so often you will not âind it grow worse but much better i. e. it will yield you greater Delight and Satisfaction and the oftner you converse with it the more you will discern the Worth of it yea the more pleasing will the very Words and Syllables of these Divine Writings be to you For what the Great Critick observes of Homer's Poem that there is a certain kind of Peculiar Easiness and Sliding in his Verse which are not to be found in any other Poets is eminently true of the Holy Scriptures if compared with other Authors there is a peculiar Sweetness a matchless Softness and Pleasantness in the Stile of these Holy Books the Words as well as the Matter are Winning and Ravishing and all pure and sanctified Minds have a clear Perception of this yea the clearer because they so frequently converse with these Inspired Writers We may then on this Account as well as on others challenge the World to shew us where there is any Book like this where there is any Author comparable to it In all Humane Writers there is something wanting something imperfect but in this Sacred Volume there are all things and every thing here is compleat To the Holy Scriptures therefore all other Writings must vail to this Best of Books they must all submit and acknowledg their Meanness and Inferiority Hence it was that the Wisest and Best Men as we may observe did always extol the Scriptures I adore the Plenitude
of the Scripture said Tertullian and to him have ecchoed the rest of the Antient Fathers especially St. Cyprian Ierom Augustine Chrysostom who have highly magnified the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles and have been very Rhetorical in their Panegyricks upon them These and some other Brave Men in the first Ages of the Church signalized themselves by their Reverence and Esteem of the Scriptures and some of them consecrated their Wit and Poetry to this Noble Cause Nor have thse latter Ages been destitute of Persons of the most Celebrated Parts and Learning that have adored the Fulness and Perfection of the Scripture and have used their Wit and Eloquence in setting forth its Praiââs ãâã âicinus that Great Philosophick Soul and the Noble Piâus Mirandula who was the best Linguist and Scholar of his age two as Learned Italians as that Nation ever bred and who may more than compound for those two other Italians mentioned in my former Discourse who so impiously vilified the Sacred Writings after they had read all good Authors rested in the Bible as the only Book and particularly it was pronounced by the latter of them that now he had found the ãâã Eloqueââe and Wisdom Yea these last Times have produced Men of the Choicest Brains of the Briskest Parts of the Greateât Humane Learning who have employâd these excellent Talents in embelishing the Sacrâd Scriptures witness Caâââllio who hath turned the Whole Bible into Purâ Terse Elegant Latin able to tempt us to read this Book And ârotius hath incompaâably asserted the Propriety and Elegancy of the Sacred Stile and many Other excâllâât Persons who have defended this Holy Book against the Insults and Cavils of profane Men. We could name Others of the most Sparkling Wit and Fancy who have exercised their Poetick Genius in descanting either on the Sacred Hiâtory of the Bible or on those Divine Matters which are contained in it and have thought their Pens yea Poetry it self ânobled by such a Subject We could mention others of the most Serious Thoughts and of the most Impartial Judgment not only among those that are Prââessed Divines and that have adorned the Sacred Scripture by their Learned Expositions Comments Annotations Paraphrases Lectures Sermons Discourses but also among Persons of another Rank and Capacity who have given the Bible the Pre-eminence of all Writings I will at present mention only Mr. Selden and Judg Haâe the former was one of the greatest Scholars and Antiquaries of this Age and made a vast Amassment of Books and Manuscripts from all Parts of the World a Library perhaps not to be equall'd oâ all Accounts in the Universe This Man of Books and Learning holding some serious Conference with Archbishop Vsher a little before he died professed to him that notwithstanding he had poââessed himself of that vast Treasure of Books and Manuscripts in all antient Subjects yet he could rest his Soul on none but the Scriptures And hear what the other Gentleman of the same Studies and Profession declares I have been acquainted somewhat with Men and Books and have had long Experience in Learning and in the World There is no Book like the Bible for excellent Learning Wisdom and Vse and it is want of Vnderstanding in them that think or speak otherwise This is sufficient to shew that the most Noble and Refined Wits the most Knowing and the most Judicious Heads bear the greatest Regard and Esteem for the Holy Scriptures and prefer them before all other Writings in the World It may pass for a Certain Maxim that the more learned any Man is the more he prizeth the Bible the greater Regard he hath for these Sacred Records It was said of old that it was a Sign of a great Proficiency in Good Letters to love Tully's Writings It is much more a Sign of our Improvement in true Learning that we delight in the Holy Scriptures and love them above all Writings whatsoever We shew our Proficiency by reverently esteeming the Bible and preferring it before all other Authors We discover that we have a Sense of True and Useful Knowledg when we value this Book wherein it is contain'd when we admire this Volume where all Excellencies meet together To evince this I will undertake these following things I. To shew the matchless Usefulness of the Bible in respect of Spiritual Divine and Supernatural Matters II. To demonstrate its Transcendent Excellency in regard of things Temporal and Secular such as are for the Improvement of all kinds of Humane Learning and for the Use of Life III. To give a Proof of this Excellency and Perfection by a particular displaying of the several Books contain'd in this Holy Volume IV. To let you see that this Perfection is not impaired by what is objected and alledged 1. Concerning the Loss of some Books which had formerly been a part of the Old and New Testament 2. Concerning the great Difference between the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek Translation of the Seventy Where I will endeavour to discover the true Grounds and Foundations of those Mistakes that are in the LXX's Version and shew whence it arises that there is such a Discrepancy between that and the Original Verity V. I will attempt an Emendation of the present English Version which in several Places seems to me to be defective that I may hereby restore the New Testament for of that I shall chiefly speak to its native Perfection and Lustre Lastly I will invite and solicit the Reader to the Study of the Bible and direct him in so laudable and worthy an Employment First I will demonstratively prove the Transcendent Excellency of these Writings in respect of the things which are Divine and have an immediate relation to Religion Thus they are the only Canon of our Faith the exact Standard of our Lives and they mark us out the Way to solid Comfort peace and Happiness These are the three things I will insist upon 1. This Holy Book is the Absolute and Perfect Rule of our Faith This comprises in it every thing that is the Object of our Belief the Maâââr of our Assent Here we are taught to believeâ a God an Immortal Independent All-sufficient Self-subsisting Spirit who is infinitely Wife powerful Just and Merciful who though he was ineffably happy in the fruition of his own immense and transcendent Perfections yet that he might communicate his Goodness to others was pleased to frame the World with all the excellent Furniture which we behold in it By the Word of the Lord the Heavens were made and all the Host of them by the Breath of his Mouth Psal. 33. 6. He laid the Foundations of the Earth and gave to the Sea his Decree and set a Compass on the Face of the Deep Psal. 104. 5. Prov. 8. 27 29. We are assured from these Writings that God's Providence governs the World and all things in it whether great or small Psal. 147. 8 c. Matth. 10. 29
30 c. And that he doth whatsoever he pleaseth both in Heaven and Earth Psal. 115. 3. But more especially the Divine Oracles acquaint us that this Divine and Benign Author gave existence unto Man the Choicest of all the Creatures of this lower World whom he created in his own Image after his Likeness Gen. 1. 26 27. that is in Knowledg Righteousness and true Holiness Col. 3. 10. Eph. 4. 24. And we are told in these Sacred Writings how Man lost this Image and miferably defaced and corrupted his Nature viz. by listning to the Temptation of Satan and by wilful disobeying the Divine Command Here also we are informed that all Flesh is desiled and polluted by this Transgression of our First Parents in Paradise and that their Sin is become the Sin of All Mankind Rom. 5. 12. Hence we learn moreover that the Merciful Creator out of his infinite and boundless Philanthropy vouchsafed to promise that the seed of the Woman the Blessed Iesus who was to be born of a Virgin should bruise Satan's Head Gen. 3. 15. and save and redeem lost Mankind and restore them to their former State of Happiness Here is taught the Rise of Religion and the Church which began with our Peâtent First Parents and their Children of whom Abol was the Chief Their first and early way of expressing their Devotion and Religion was by Offerings and Sacrifices unto God Gen. 4. 4. To which end without doubt they erected Altars though these are not mentioned till after the Flood Gen. 8. 20. We are told at what time there was established an Open and more Solemn worshipping of God viz. in Seth's days then it was that Men began to call upon the Name of the Lord and to form a Visible Church Gen. 4. 26. i. e. an Orderly and Solemn Society of Men gather'd and chosen out as a peculiar People to serve God For as Men encreased they began to embody themselves into Communions and to worship God more signally and openly and with a joint Consent Here and no where else we have an Account of the Church's Progress and Increase under the good Patriarchs Noah Abraham c. Here we are informed what were the several Defections and Restorations of Religion in the first Ages Here we have an Account of the Erection of the Levitical or Mosaick Service the whole System of Religious Rites and Ceremonies unto which the Jewish Church was obliged This yields abundant Matter of Contemplation and Enquiry to the Studious who will find that these Observances were instituted after the Israelites had been a while in the Wilderness and had shew'd themselves inclinable to commit Idolatry Then it was that God by Moses gave them these Laws and prescribed them these Usages which he knew would be the best Antidote against the Idolatrous Practices of the Nations that were round about them And withal if we look into these Ceremonies with a discerning Eye we shall see that they had a farther End and were Presignifications of the great and wonderful Transactions of the Evangelical Dispensation that they obscurely pointed unto the Messias and his Blessed Undertakings for the Redemption of Mankind They were Forerunners and Harbingers of the Blessed Child Iesus that Child that was to be born that Son who was to be given and on whose shoulders the Government was to be settled Isa. 9. 6. And we are ascertained that in the fulness of time God actually sent forth this his Son made of a Woman Gal. 4. 4. that He so loved thâ World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life John 3. 16. All âe like Sheep have gonâ astrây we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the Iniquity of us all Isa. 53. 6. He bare our Sins in his own Body on the Tree 1 Peâ 2. 4. He was wounded for our Transgressions he was âruised for our Iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his Stripes we are healed Isa. 53. 5. The True Nature the Admirable Method and the Inestimable Worth of this Healing and Saving us are the main Subject of these Inspired Writings where we are taught likewise that this Salvation is Free and Undeserved and founded on the Meer Grace and Bounty of God and is not the Acquist of any Merit and Worth in us We are justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Iesus whom God âath set forth to be a Propitiation for Sin through Faith in his Blood Rom. 3. 24. And in the Evangelical History we are told that this Blessed Redeemer who laid down his Life for us took it up again rising from the Grave by the irresistible Power of his Godhead and after a few Days Ascended gloriously into Heaven from whence He shall come at the last Day to call the whole World to an Account for He hath appointed a Day in which he will judg the World in Righteousness Then all the Dead shall hasten out of their Dormitories and stand before that Great Tribunal and receive Sentence according to their past Behaviour These are some of the Grand Principles of our Faith these are the Fundamental Verities of our Religion and they are originally fetch'd from this Sacred Volume and are established and confirmed there by unanswerable Arguments and Demonstrations Behold here the Eminency of Scripture-Notions see the Transcendency of these Excellent Truths which are contain'd in the Bible Here are things of a higher Nature than any Moral Writings afford us These say nothing of the Gracious Oeconomy of the Gospel of the Incarnation of the Son of God of Satisfaction made for Sins through the Blood of Christ of Justification by his Righteousness and other the like unparallell'd Discoveries which are to be learn'd out of Scripture only In short the Bible is the Standard of all Notions Propositions and Articles in Religion it is the Rule and Square of all our Opinions Discourses and Arguments relating to Christianity and all our Conceptions though they seem never so sine and plausible are of little worth and nse unless they be regulated according to This. If there arise any Disputes and Controversies concerning Matters of Christian Faith This is the Judg that we must have recourse to or rather This is the Rule by which we are to judg for every Man is to judg and choose and the Rule whereby he is to guide his Judgment and Choice is the Scripture It is true Reason or Conscience is our Immediate Guide or Rule but then we must have a Mediate Rule that is a Guide or Rule for our Reasons and Consciences and That in all Sacred and Religious things is the Word of God and That is the only Rule By This and This alone all Controversies of Faith which are necessary to be decided may and ought to be decided And it is the Excellency and Perfection of this Rule that it is
it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation And this is a sufficient and solid Proof of a thing 's not being Necessary to Salvation that it is not contain'd in Scripture This then we assert that these Writings are Plain and Perfect as to all Matters that are Necessary and accordingly are able to put an End to all Controversies which relate to Salvation And if Men will not end them with This Rule they will never do it with any This is the Chief Perfection of Scripture that in it the whole Will of God as to those things that have a necessary Tendency to our Happiness and consequently are the only Necessary Things to be known and done by us is plainly revealed The New Testament particularly is the last Revelation of God's Will and Counsel and nothing is to be added to it or taken from it which makes it a Perfect Standard of Belief and a Compleat Rule of our Lives in which there is nothing short and defective nothing superfluous and redundant Here are all the Principles of True Religion and all the Measures of Holy Living so that whilst we proceed according to this Perfect Canon we are infallibly certain of the Truth of what we believe and of the Rectitude and Lawfulness of what we act On this sole Account the Holy Writ excels all Writings in the World besides 3. We are to adjoin this that as it is a Light to our Vnderstandings and a Rule of our Lives so it is the grand Procurer of our Comfort Ioy and Tranquillity Alas they are Cold Topicks of Consolation which the Writings of the Best Moralists afford us When our outward Distresses and Miseries much more when our inward and spiritual Maladies increase upon us Epictetus and Seneca with all their Spangled Sayings are too mean Physicians to take us in Hand The Great Cicero when in the Close of his Life he was reduced to marvelous Difficulties declared that his Learning and his Books afforded him not any Considerable Arguments of Comfort that the Disease of his Mind which he lay under was too great and too strong to be cured by those Ordinary Medicines which Philosophy administred to him There must be some greater Traumatick some more powerful Application to these Wounds to work a perfect Cure And this Divine Book is able to furnish us with it This alone can remove our Pains and Languors and restore us to an entire Health This faith the Psalmist is my Comfort in my Affliction Thy Word hath quickned me And again Vnless thy Law had been my Delight I should then have perished in my Affliction It was this which upheld and chear'd him in his greatest Straits and yielded him Light and Joy when all things about him look'd black and dismal If but a small part of the Bible had this blessed Effect how powerful and successful will All of it prove if we duly consult it seriously meditate upon it and give it admittance into our Hearts If the Apostle could say Whatsoever things were written asore time in this Book were written for our Learning that we through Patience and Comfort of the scriptures might have Hope how much greater Hope must needs be administred to us in all Conditions of Life but more especially in the Day of Trouble and Calamity when we have the Scriptures not only of the Old but New Testament to repair unto This latter especially will be a never-falling Spring of Contentment and Joy to us In these Books we have a true and perfect Landskip and View of the World Here is unmask'd and laid open the Vanity of it Here we are assured that many of the Gay things which it presents us with and which fond Minds so dote upon are but empty Bubbles deceitful Phantoms and Apparitions mere Conceits and Castles in the Air. Here we are inform'd that a Prosperous State is not really Good that an Overplus of Riches and Worldly Abundance does frequently prove a Clog to vertuous Minds and that Excess of Pleasures is too fulsom and luscious and takes away that purer Relish of spiritual and heavenly Delights yea that Men generally find a worse Effect of them for when they are gorged and clogg'd with them they revolt from God when they are waxen fat they kick against Heaven So their Worldly Plenty is turn'd into the worst of Punishments and this Plethory is their Disease On the other side we are taught in these Writings that Crosses and Afflictions are not evil in themselves yea that they are Good and Medicinal and advance our spiritual Health that they are so far from being a hindrance to our Happiness that they are a part of it for otherwise the Afflicted would not be so often pronounced Blessed That God's Afflicting a Man is Magnifying of him and setting his Heart upon him It shews that God is greatly concern'd for his Good and that the Almighty hath more care of him than he hath of himself Here we are instructed that we have ground to suspect our Condition if we be wholly exempted from the Distresses of this Life and that not to be Chastised is a Mark of Bastardy Here we learn the true use and end of all those Adverse Dispensations which we meet with viz. that they were designed to try us to make us know our selves and to inform us how evil and bitter a thing it is to offend the Divine Majesty to awaken us out of our Sloth and Security to hold us in Action to keep us in Breath and Exercise as Carthage was useful to rouze Rome's Valour to abate our Pride and Haughtiness and make us humble and submissive Creatures to check our immoderate Passions and Pursuits after earthly things to disintangle us from these Snares to free us from these Charms to keep us from being suck'd in and swallowed up in the powerful Circle and Eddy of this World as who knows not that it is True Philosophy that the World is made up of Vortices to cause us to look after Better Things when these are taken from us to reclaim us from our evil Courses and to reduce us unto Vertue and Goodness to excite us to a Renunciation of all Trust and Confidence in our selves and the transitory Enjoyments of this World and to depend upon God alone It is this Book whence we are acquainted that our Sufferings make us conformable to Christ our Master and therefore are Honourable Badges of Christianity That the Curse which usually attends outward Crosses is taken away by our Saviour's Death That the Calamities of the Faithful are Chastisements rather than Punishments That no Adverse Accidents can do us any hurt if we believe in Jesus and abandon our Sins That the Pressures of this Life are serviceable to make us pity those that are in Misery to know and relish the Love of Christ in suffering for us to inhanse the Comforts of a Good Conscience to commend
the Favour of God to us to prepare us for Heaven and to increase the Happiness of it Thus the Scriptures reconcile our Minds to those Disappointments Dangers and Calamities which are our Allotment in this World thus they allay the evil Spirit of Discontent they effectually cast out and vanquish those Legions of Impatient and Tumultuous Thoughts which are the frequent Attendants of Adversity They assure us that these Afflictive Dealings of Heaven towards us are intended for our real Advantage that they are the greatest Kindness and Favour that can be shew'd us that they are undeniable Tokens of Divine Love and in brief that Good Men are happier in their worst Circumstances than others are or can be in their greatest worldly Felicities Upon these rational Grounds the Holy Scriptures become the most effectual Anodynes to take away or at least to mitigate all our Pains and Sorrows They successfully remove all those Murmurings and Discontents which russle and imbroil the Soul they quash and defeat all those troublesome Passions which embarass and plague the Mind By the help of these Divine Instructions which the Holy Writ affords us we are enabled to encounter the greatest Evils with courage and bravery to receive the Shock to weather the Storm to bear all the Insolencies and Insults of our Enemies to break through all Difficulties to have Peace within though we find none without to keep a Sabbath in our own Breasts to entertain our selves with the Serenades of a Good Conscience This is the Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures and no Writings in the World can bless us with them but these And indeed this necessarily follows from those foregoing Assertions viz that Scripture is a Perfect Rule of Faith and also of Manners As it is the former it is a sure Basis for us to rest upon we know whom we have believed and so we are fixed and determined which doth effectually contribute towards our Peace and Solace As it is the latter also we cannot but receive Comfort from it because being a Certain and Unerring Guide in all our Actions it must needs administer great Satisfaction and Joy to us through our whole Lives when we consider that we have a Stable Rule to walk by and that we cannot do amiss if we follow that but especially when we reflect on our Manners and see that they are adjusted to this Canon and that we have in Simplicity and godly Sincerity had our Conversation in the World This will be our Rejoicing and Exultation Again the Scripture yields an inconceivable Joy by prescribing the Best Means for attaining Peace and Unity which are Comfortable Blessings of this Life by allowing us all Innocent and Harmless Delights such as will neither destroy the Peace of our Souls nor impair the Health of our Bodies by throughly convincing us that Christianity in it self is most Satisfactory to our Minds and is made to convey Joy and Peace into our Hearts by teaching us Contentedness in all Conditions by assuring us that Christianity provides for our greatest and most Important Wants and supplies our most Urgent Necessities and therefore we ought to acquiesce in it and solace our selves with it Thus it administers the most Chearing Cordials and so it doth by directing us to the Worthiest Ends by setting before us the Strongest Motives the most Powerful Perswasives to our Duty whereby we are enabled not only to undertake it but to discharge it with Chearfulness and Delight by propounding and presenting to us the Best Rewards viz. Forgiveness of our Sins Assurance of God's Love and Eternal Life and Blessedness For as a Great Man saith No Book in the World but this shews a Man the Adequate End of his Being his Supreme Good his Happiness nor directs the Means of acquiring it The Bible is the Great Instrument as it was emphatically call'd by the Fathers of our Salvation and Happiness By these Writings we hold our Everlasting Inheritance And these are the Great Deeds and Evidences whereby we prove our Title to it In a word as these sustain and support us in all Conditions of our Life and give us a happy Prospect of a better State so they render Death welcom and joyful to us they enable us by virtue of those Sacred Truths contained in them to expire our last Breath with Peace and Tranquillity On all which Accounts we must acknowledg them to be the greatest Support and Relief of our Souls yea the Only Source of Comfort and Content Thus if you consider the Holy Scriptures as they dictate the Best Principles as they beget in us the greatest Holiness and Purity and as they are the Solace of our Lives we must be forced to acknowledg their Incomparable Excellency These three Particulars wherein I have endeavoured to display the Perfection of Scripture are to be found together in Psal. 19. 7 8. where These Properties are ascribed to the Law of God namely that it enlightens the Eyes and so is a Director of our Faith that it converts the Soul and so is a Reformer of the Manners and that it rejoiceth the Heart and so is the Fountain of True Comfort You find all these in conjunction in that other remarkable Place 2 Tim. 3. 16. All Scripture whereby we may understand not only the Old Testament but part of the New viz. St. Matthew's Gospel which was extant when Timothy to whom the Apostle here speaks was a child V. 15. is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness It is not to be doubted that Doctrine refers to the Understanding and Belief and Reproof and Instruction in Righteousness to the Will and Manners and then ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Rectifying restoring setting all streight again as the World imports includes in it that Comforting and Chearing which I spoke of These are the Main Contents of the Holy Scripture First it is a Body and System of the Best and most Consistent Notions it regulates the Apprehensions and presents us with True Conceptions of things Here is nothing delivered that thwarts our rectified Understandings or is a Contradiction to the most refined Faculties of our Minds Moreover it most successfully conducts us into the Ways of Piety and a Holy Life The Design of it is to perfect humane Nature to exalt Men to the highest Pitch their Condition is capable of both by Moral and Revealed Truth the latter of which none but the Blessed Redeemer was able to communicate to bring them to the Noblest improvement and Exaltation of Vertue which they can possibly arrive to on this side of Heaven In brief to make us act not only as Rational but as Divine Creatures yea even to render us like God Himself And lastly it not only inspires us with Excellent Principles and promotes the Practice of Holiness but administers the greatest Matter of Joy imaginable This raises our Spirits and fills our Souls with Delight and Pleasure this
Strengthens and supports us under our heaviest Crosses and makes our Life Happy whatever befals us All which are undeniable Arguments of the Perfection of Scripture whence we are enabled to Believe aright to Live well and to Rejoice Thus these Holy Writings were endited that we might be Perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works And thus Scripture must needs be Perfect because its Design is to make us so But I am sensible that several Devout and Practical Writers have enlarged on this Subject and therefore I will say no more of it because my present Discourse is designed to be chiefly Critical Let it suffice that I have briefly asserted the Perfection of the Holy Scriptures as to the three foremention'd Particulars and that I have shew'd that this Perfection is not communicable to any Other Writings under Heaven Such is the Peculiar Excellency of the Bible Wherefore it behoveth us to take notice and beware of those Men who oppose or rather deny this Excellency and Perfection First the Circumcised Doctors shew themselves great Oppugners of it whilst they excessively magnify their Traditions and even prefer them before the Sacred Text. We must know then that the Jews talk much of their Cabala or as that Word signifies the Received Doctrine among them which was propagated by Oral Tradition and Continual Succession This their Cabala is twofold First that which deals in Mysterious Criticisms and Curiosities about Words and Letters to which belongs the Masoreth which as I have shew'd in another Discourse is serviceable for the Preservation of the Bible Secondly that which by them is call'd the Oral Law or the Law delivered from one to another as an Exposition on the Written Law It may not be impertinent to give the Reader a short Account of this Oral Law which they so much boast of This was either before Moses and was the Doctrine of the Patriarchs propagated by Word of Mouth before the Law was committed to Writing it consisted of the Seven Precepts of the Sons of Noah of the Apothegms Sentences and Paradoxes of the Wise Men in the first Ages or it was in and after Moses's time who is reckon'd the Great Author of the Cabala because he deliver'd it viva voce to the Jews say the Rabbins at the same time that he gave them the Decalogue and the Other Written Laws This Torah gnal peh as they stile it this Oral Law is the Exposition of those Written Laws and is meant they say in Deut. 4. 14. The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you Statutes and Iudgments And for this they alledg Deut. 12. 21. which they tell us refers to some Special Command of God about Killing and seeing we read no such Special Command about it in the Written Law it is reasonable to conclude that it is to be understood of the Oral one that must be the Sense of those Words there As I have commanded thee That Moses received this Law on Mount Sinai Rabbi Bechai proves by the same Token that he knew by this Law how long time he was upon that Mount for when God taught him the Written Law then he knew it was Day because he could not write in the Dark but when God gave him the Oral Law he knew then that it was Night A most profound Answer to the Difficulty how Moses could tell that he was 40 Days and Nights on the Mount Well God they say delivered this Law to Moses Moses delivered it to Ioshua Ioshua to the Seventy Elders they to Ezra who some say committed it to writing for he was the Chiefest Cabalist next to Moses but the Books which he composed of this Matter were lost and so it went on after the old way again viz. by Tradition and came to the Prophets of whom Zechary and Malachi were the last and from them the Great Sanhedrim had it and at last it was made into a Book that it might not be lost by reason of the Dispersion of the Jews He that compiled this Volume or Book was Rabbi Iudah who for the singular Holiness of his Life was call'd Hakkadosh the Saint He flourish'd in the Days of the Emperor Antoninus Pius about a hundred and twenty Years after our Saviour's Passion The Title which he gave to it was Mishnah i. e. the Repetition of the Divine Law or a Larger Explication of it given immediately to Moses by God and by Tradition derived to the Jews This ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã this Iterated or Second Law is divided by him into six general Sedarim i. e. so many Heads or Subjects of which it treats and every Sedar is divided into Books every Book into Chapters or Pirka's About a hundred Years after this famous Rabbi had reduced the Traditions of the Jews into one Volume the Learned Doctors began to comment upon it and first the Ierusalem Talmud call'd so because 't was made for the Jews that lived in Iudea especially in Ierusalem was finish'd by R. Iochanan about A. D. 240. The Comment which he and the other Rabbies made on the Mishnah is call'd the Gemara the Supplemental Exposition of that Volume of Jewish Traditions Next the Babylonick Talmud was put forth by the Learned Jews at Babylon who gathered their Traditions into a more Compleat and Exact Body as they thought for the Benefit of their Country-men in those Parts of the World It was compiled by Rabbi Ase and his Companions about A. D. 500. and consisteth as the former Talmud of the Mishnaioth and the Gemara the one is the Text the other is the Comment or the Decisions of the Doctors on the Book of the Mishnah So then the Oral Law which the Jews so much boast of and set so high a Value upon is contain'd in the Two Talmuds which are made up of the Mishnah and the Gemara The Mishnah is that which R. Iudah compiled the Gemara's are the Work of R. Iochanan and Ase and other Rabbies and both are a Compleat Body of the Civil and Canon Law of the Jews Whoso nameth the Talmuds nameth all Iudaism saith Lightfoot These as he adds are the Jews Council of Trent they are the last and fullest Determinations which they have about all their Religious Opinions Rites and Usages Thus I have exhibited a brief Account of the whole Talmudick System wherein the Oral Law is comprized explained and descanted upon And it is not to be denied that there may be a very excellent Use made of this Collection of Jewish Traditions it may be serviceable in sundry Instances to expound the Mosaick Law to acquaint us with the Jewish Antiquities to illustrate several Places in the Old Testament yea to interpret many Passages in the New which have reference to the received Practices and Usages of the Jews But the Iews who are the Persons whom I am now blaming make very ill Use of it because they immoderately extol these Traditions calling them Torah shebegnal Peh their Infallible Oracle and esteeming the
Authority of them equal with that of the Bible For as the Canonical Scriptures were dictated by Divine Inspiration so these Laws they hold were from God Himself and are of the same Authority with those Scriptures They make no difference between the Inspired Writings of the Old Testament and the Books of Mishnaioth or the Talmuds which are in truth an Amassment only of the Traditions of the Jews and of the Diverse Decisions of the Schools of Hillel and Shammai of the Different Determinations of R. Akiba and R. Eliezer of R. Simeon and R. Ioshua c. bandying against one another or rather if we speak plainer they are a Rhapsody of Idle Dreams Groundless Fables Cursed Errors Superstitious Rites and Practices yea if we should instance in the Babylonick Talmud of Horrid Blasphemies against Christ of Obloquies against the Mosaick Law it self and of Contradictions even to the Law of Nature These are part of the Books so highly prized by the Jewish Masters these go along with their Oral Law which was first given by God himself and consequently is of the same Original with the Canon of Scripture But they go yet higher for they do not only equalize these Traditions with Scripture but they prefer them before it They do not only say in a Proverbial Manner that they cannot stand upon the Foundation of the Written Law without the Help of the Vnwritten one i. e. the Oral Law which they talk of and that the Words of the Law as they are found in the Text are poor and wanting but as they are expounded by the Doctors have great Riches and abundance in them And again that very Great and Weighty Matters depend upon these Little Traditions which they contend for but they are so bold and presumptuous as to proceed further and give a far Greater Deference to these Traditions and Doctrines of their Wise Men as they call them than to the Holy Scriptures themselves For they tell us that their Doctors have done more good viz. as to strengthning and confirming of Religion by their own Sayings than by the Words of this Holy Book it self And accordingly their Advice is My Son attend more to what the Scribes say than to what is said by the Law though I know this may admit of another Sense viz. that we ought to look more to the Sense of the Law than the bare Letter of it But that in the Talmud is plain and can have no other Meaning To read the Holy Scripture and to be studious in searching out the Sense of it is good and not good i. e. it is not of any considerable Advantage but to turn over the Mishnah Night and Day is a Vertue which will have a great Reward hereafter and to learn the Gemara is an incomparable Vertue Yea the Jews blasphemously say that God himself studies in the Talmud every Day Here you see they prefer their Delivered Law before the Written one they make the Infallible Scriptures truckle to the Fabulous Traditions of the Mishnah To this purpose it is a Noted Saying of the Hebrew Rabbies that the Text of the Bible is like Water the Mishnah like Wine and the Six Books of the Talmud are like the Sweetest Honey'd Wine Thus to magnify the Traditions of their Fathers they vilify the Scriptures They are not content with the Rites and Injunctions written in the Law which in way of Contempt they call the Precepts of the Law but they admire those most which are taken from their Wise Men which they call the Precepts of the Rabbins and which are summarily contain'd in the Talmud these they hold to be of greater Value than the other The Persons that are skill'd in these are sliled by them Tannaim Profound Masters and Doctors but they that study the Scriptures only are but Karaim Poor Readers and Men of the Letter All this shews how these Men depretiate the Written Word of God and exalt above it their Oral Law which is a mere Fiction and Forgery as to the pretence of its being given to Moses by God and therefore is not owned by the Karaint among them who stick close to the Text nor by some of their Perushim their sobrest sort of Expositors who think those Traditions are derogatory to the Holy Scriptures Secondly Papists as well as Ieâs disparage the Holy Scriptures and deny its Perfection Nor by the way is this the only thing wherein they agree with the Jews a great Part of their Religion being no other than Jewish Rites and Ceremonies These Modern Talmudists will not own the Sufficiency of the Sacred Writings they have their Cabala the Doctrine Received from their Ancestors they are for their Oral Law delivered from one to another they supply the defect of Scripture so they are wont to speak with their Traditions They are of the same Mind with the Jews that there must be a Fence made about the Law that it must be hedged in with Traditions The Scripture is not a Perfect Rule of Faith and Manners say they but the things which are necessary to Salvation are partly contained in the Scripture and partly in unwritten Traditions A very absurd and wild Doctrine because they have no way to prove any thing to be necessary to Salvation but by proving it to be found in the Scripture Whatever was or is necessary for the Universal Church is revealed in these Writings and no New Doctrine necessary to Salvation is delivered since to the Church or any particular Person But notwithstanding the Absurdity of this Tenent they hold it fast and make it a Great Article of their Belief For they are taught by an Oecumenical Council as they repute it that Unwritten Traditions are of equal Authority with the Scriptures that they are to be received with the same pious Affection and Reverence those are the words wherewith the Infallible Writings of the Prophets and Apostles are to be entertained and consequently they are to be made a Rule of Faith equal with the Scriptures But they rest not here they not only equal Humane and Ecclesiastical Traditions with the Written Word of God but following the Steps of the Old Talmudists they proceed yet further preferring Traditions before Scripture Thus a Renowned Divine in their Church tells us plainly that Traditions are exceeding necessary for the welfare of the Church yea that they are more requisite than the Scripture it self and this he endeavours to make good With him concur several others of their Writers whom we find extolling Traditions but at the same time speaking very meanly and slightly of the Holy Writ Hence they blasphemously call it a Nose of Wax and a Leaden Rule and many such vilifying Terms are used by Pighius and Melchior Canus and other Great Doctors of that Church We deny not the Usefulness nay even the Necessity nay the Perpetuity of Tradition viz. That Tradition whereby the Doctrines which were entrusted in the
Church's Hands by the Prophets and Apostles shall by her be deliver'd over to her Children to the World's End which way of Transmission is the great Prop of our Religion Besides the Apostle enjoins the Thessalonians to hold fast the Traditions which they had been taught whether by Word or his Epistle for he had used two ways of delivering the Truth to them namely Preaching and Writing and other Apostles committed the chief and necessary Heads of their Doctrine to Writing So that the Traditions meant here are the Revealed Truths of the Gospel delivered by the Apostles and Evangelists and are no other than what Christ deliver'd to them according to that of St. Paul I delivered to you that which also I received whence they have the Name of Traditions i. e. they are Evangelical Doctrines delivered to us from those that were taught them by Christ. And whether they were imparted by Word or by Epistle by Preaching or Writing they are the same the same as to substance the otherwise there may be some difference But that which we condemn and that most justly the Papists for is this that they magnify and rely upon Traditions which have no affinity with the Doctrine of Christ and the Apostles yea which contradict it in many things and yet they equalize these with the Word of God and sometimes prefer them and the Authority of the Church before that of the Sacred Writings of the Old and New Testament Thus One saith The Church sometimes doth things contrary to the Scriptures sometimes besides them therefore the Church is the Rule and Standard of the things that are delivered in the Scriptures and therefore we believe the Church though she acts counter to the formal Decisions of the Scriptures And an other Famous Doctor gives it for good Divinity that the Decrees and Determinations of a Council are binding though they be not confirmed by any probable Testimony of Scripture nay though they be beyond and above the Determination of Scripture Thus the Holy Writings of the Bible are most impiously disparaged and vilisied by the Pontificians Whereas there is nothing defective or redundant nothing wanting or superfluous in these Writings they assert in the open face of the World that they are short and imperfect and therefore have need of being supplied by Traditions which in some things are of greater Value and Authority than they Again that the Church of Rome oppugneth or rather denieth the Perfection of the Scriptures might be evinced from their constant care and endeavour to keep them in an Vnknown Tongue It is true they have translated them But 1. There was a kind of necessity of doing it the Protestants having turned them into so many Tongues By this means they were compelled as it werâ to let some of their people see what the Bible was in their own Language But 2. It is so corruptly translated that it is made to patronize several of their Superstitious Follies and Errors And yet 3. They dare not commit these Translations to common View Although in all Countries where People were converted to Christianity in elder times the Scripture was turned into their Language and every one was permitted yea exhorted to read it as is proved by many Writers the Learned Dr. Stillingfleet particularly yet the Church of Rome denieth the common People the Use of it as a thing hurtful and pernicious The Bible as some Bad Book is tolerated to be read with great Caution and Restriction in some Countries only and by some Persons It is like the Sibyls Prophecies of old among the Romans not to be look'd into without the permission and Authority of the Senate none can read it without a Licence from their Superiours so dangerous a thing is the Bible From this Practice the People generally imbibe a strong Prejudice against the Scriptures and believe they cannot be good for them because the Pope and their Pastors tell them they are not Wherefore as one who was once of the Communion of the Church of âome hath well observed As soon as ever any Man imbraces Popery he presently throws the Bible out of his Hands as altogether useless to say no worse Which unreasonable and wicked Behaviour of theirs was one great Reason or Motive as he professeth of his returning to the Church of England again For what Considerate Man can think That to be a True Church which teacheth its Members to slight and reject the Word of God which is the Source of all Divine Truth and without which we can neither believe nor practise aright we can neither have Comfort here nor arrive to Happiness hereafter This indeed is not only to null ââe Perfection of Scripture but to abolish the whole Body of Scripture it self A third sort of Persons that are Opposers of the Perfection of Scripture are Enthusiasts and such who act out of a truly Fanatick Principle Such were the Familists heretofore whose Pretences to the Spirit were so high that they excluded and renounced the Letter of Scripture which according to their Stile was a dark Lanthorn a liveless Carcass a Book shut up and seal'd with seven Seals the Scabbard not the Sword of the Spirit or if it be a Sword it is the Sword of Antichrist wherewith he kills Christ. This was the impious Jargon of these High-flown Men who made no other Use of the Bible than to Allegorize it and to turn it all into Mystery These have been followed by Others of a like Fanatick Spirit who have made it a great part of their Religion to despise and reproach the Sacred Writ A late Enthusiast or rather one that pretends to be such but designs the Overthrow of all Religion tells the World that the Bible is founded in Imagination that God's Revelations in Scripture are ever according to the Fancy of the Prophets or other Persons he spoke to and that all the Phrases and Speeches all the Discoveries and Manifestations yea all the Historical Passages in the Old and New Testament are adapted to these The Quaker comes next and refuseth to own the Scripture to be the Word of God and the Perfect Rule by which we are to direct our Lives It is a great Error and Falsity saith one of the most considerable Persons of that Perswasion that the Scriptures are a filled up Canon and the only Rule of Faith and Obedience in all things and that no more Scriptures are to be writ or given forth from the Spirit of the Lord. With whom agrees another of as great Repute among that Tribe I see no Necessity saith he of believing that the Canon of Scripture is filled up And again The Scriptures saith he are not to be esteemed the Principal Ground of all Truth and Knowledg nor yet the Adequate Primary Rule of Faith and Manners but they are only a Secondary Rule subordinate to the Spirit And accordingly he adds That the inward Inspirations and Revelations which Men
have are not to be subjected to the Examination of the outward Testimony of the Scriptures but are above them Thus these bold Men out of a pretence of Inspiration vilify the Sacred Volume of the Bible Thus absurdly and irreligiously these deluded Persons out of an Enthusiastick Heat prefer their own private Spirit before the Holy Spirit of God speaking in the Scriptures The Men hold themselves to be Perfect but the Scripture must by no means be so it is weak and imperfect and ought to give way to the Inward Impressions in their Minds which according to them are that more sure Word of Prophecy whereunto they think they do well to give heed as unto a Light shining in a dark Place But we see that they are thereby led into gross Error and Darkness And as to this particular Perswasion concerning the Meanness of the Scriptures they therein as in several other things symbolize with the Church of Rome whence they had their Original They confound Natural Light or Reason with Revelation they hold that Pagans are in as good a Condition as Christians they make their private Dictates as Authentick as the Bible yea they must needs hold that there is no Infallible Rule of Truth or Practice but their own Notions and Sentiments which some of their Writers call Canonical I might observe to you that besides Iews Papists and Enthusiasts there are Others that deny the Excellency and Perfection of the Holy Scriptures as Atheists and mere Politicians who indeavour to perswade the World that all Religion is a Cheat and that This Book is so too Likewise the Generality of Hereticks Seducers and Impostors who it is no wonder debase that which they design to pervert But the bare mentioning of these Persons is sufficient to beget a Dislike of them with all that are Wise and Sober and who are convinc'd of the Scriptures perfection from those Topicks which I have propounded It may be said of most Books as Martial said of his There are some good and some bad things in them and some of a middle Nature But in this Divine Book there are no such Allays all is pure and uncorrupt entire and unmixed there are no Defects no Mistakes in this Infallible Volume given us from Heaven Shall the Turks then when they find a Leaf or any part of the Alcoran on the Ground take it up and kiss it and deposite it in some safe place affirming it to be a great Sin to suffer that wherein the Name of God and Mahomet's Laws are written to be trodden under Feet And shall not we Christians highly value and reverence the Sacred Volume of the Bible the Writings of the Old and New Testament which contain the Words of God Himself and the Laws of the Blessed Jesus which enrich us with that Sublime and Supernatural Learning which is the Rule of our Faith the Conduct of our Manners and the Comfort of our Lives CHAP. II. The Bible is furnish'd with all sorts ofHumane as well as Divine Learning Hebrew wherein the Old Testament was written is the Primitive Language of the World The True Origine of the World is plainly recorded in no other Writings but these The first Chapter of Genesis is a real History and records Matter of âact It is largely proved that the Mosaâck History gives us a particular Account of the first Rise of the several Nations and People of the Earth and of the Places of their Habitation Also the true Knowledg of the Original of Civil Government and the Increases of it and the diffârent Changes it underwent is derived from these Writings The Courts of Judicature and the several kinds of Punishment among the Jews distinctly treated of The Government among the Heathen Nations The four Celebrated Monarchies or Empires of the World I Proceed now to the Second General Head of my Discourse viz. the Vniversal Vsefulness of the Bible as to things that are Temporal and Seculaâ Not only all Religious Divine and Saving Knowledg is to be fetch'd hence but that likewise which is Natural and Humane and bâlongs to the World and Arts. Many believe the former but can't be induc'd to credit the latter for they think the Bible was writ only for the saving of Mens Souls but that all other Knowledg and Discoveries are to be derived wholly from other Writers I have sometimes observ'd that Persons who have had a good Desire to Learning and were greedy Devourers of all other Authors yet have no regard to the Scriptures and fondly imagine there is no Improvement of Mens Notions no enlarging of their Understandings no Grounds of Excellent Literature from the Sacred Writ They perswade themselves that the Bible may serve well enough for the Use of those that study Divinity or make Sermons but that the Writings of Profane Authors must be wholly consulted for other things But this is a gross Surmise and possesses the unthinking Heads of those only that consider not the Matchless Antiquity of the Bible or that on a worse Account refuse to acquaint themselves with these Writings and care not for that Book which speaks so much of God and Religion and checks the Disorders of Mens Lives All honest industrious and impartial Enquirers into Learning know that the Scriptures are the Greatest Monument of Antiquity that is Extant in the whole World and particularly that the First and Earliest Inventions of things are to be known only from the Old Testament especially the five first Books of it In vain do you look for these in the Writings of other Men for though some of them relate very Antient Occurrences yet they are not so old as these and as for those Writers who pretend to some Greater Antiquity and have been so impudent as to think that they could impose upon the World they have been exploded by all Persons of Sobriety and serious Thoughts In Pagan Writers we have some wild Guesses at the Origine of things and the First Inventors of Arts but he that is desirous to have Certain and Infallible Information concerning these must consult the Writings of Moses and other Books of the Old Testament From these alone we learn what were the Antientest Usages in the World and what was the first Rise and Original of them Wherefore I may safely pronounce that no Man can have the just Repute of a Scholar unless he hath read and studied the Bible for in this one Book there is more Humane Learning than in all the Books of the World besides And therefore here by the way I cannot but look upon it as a very Scandalous Mistake that the knowledg and Study of the Holy Scriptures are for Divines only as if these were not to be skill'd in any Humane Learning They that talk after this rate understand not what the Study of Divinity and True Scholarship are for there is no Compleat Divine that is not well vers'd in Humane Literature and there is no Compleat Scholar that is not skill'd in
founded on these Antient Records because no other Writings give an Account of the Government which was first of all settled among the Sons of Men. Here and only here we are told that Adam and the other first Partriarchs were Supreme Governours in their respective Tribes and Houses that the Father of every Family was at the first the King of it and reigned over his Children and Houshold as Soveraign and that upon the Decease of the Father the Eldest Son by a natural Right and Title was Successor and inherited the Paternal Power and Dominion Thus with the Paternal Rule went Primogeniture i. e. the First-born Sons of Fathers of Families were Rulers and there were many of these every where And thus the Authority quietly and peaceably ran in this Channel and 't is not likely was interrupted till some years before the Flood when there was a general Corruption of Mankind and some affected extraordinary Dominion and Sway and perverted the Primitive way of Government After the Flood we find that the Authority was continued in the Heads and First-born of Families and now by a more especial Commission the Magistrate's Authority is confirm'd Gen. 9. 5. whoso sheddeth Man's Blood by Man shall his Blood be shed The Ruler is authorized to punish Murder with Death to require Blood for Blood This is the first Formal Appointment of the Power of the Sword that we read of this is the first Erection of a Tribunal of Life and Death From some Instances in the Records of this Time we may gather that the Sacerdotal Dignity was joined to the Secular Power they that were Magistrates were Priests And so far as we are able to discover these Offices were exerted by those who had the Paternal Right or that of Priority of Birth Thus it was in the first Patriarchal Oeconomy this was the Government which lasted till after the Deluge in the Race of Shem. For as yet there was no one Person who usurped Authority over all the rest though those of Cham's Offspring had a Monarchy in the mean time Nimrod being their King of whom I shall speak afterwards but the Patriarchs kept up the first and original Laws of Paternity and Primogeniture all the time they lived at Liberty there was no failure of this Government till they were brought under the Egyptian Yoke And then afterwards when the Jewish People were in the Desarts of Arabia the Primogeniture more signally ceas'd in Moses who was appointed by God himself to be Ruler over them And so we are come to give an Account of the Civil Government of the Iews which we can learn from no other Writings under Heaven but These Moses I say was their Ruler and was the First of that kind that they had He was not only their Captain and Leader but their Civil Magistrate yea he may be said to be their King for even that Title is given to him Deut. 33. 5. Moses was King in Jeshurun i. e. in Israel He was an Absolute King say Philo and the Jewish Doctors and Mr. Selden and some others Ioshua was their next Ruler Captain and King who was succeeded by the Iudges who were like the Roman Dictators set up upon emergent Occasions to desend protect and deliver the People But all this time the Jews were under a Theocracy i. e. they were governed in a more signal manner by God They received their Laws from Him and he appointed the Punishments for the Breach of those Laws They went to War by His Advice and Direction and they did nothing in Civil or Ecclesiastical Affairs without consulting him Thus God was their King it was a Divine Government and the Iudges were but God's Vicegerents and held a Power under Him That God himself exercised this Regal Power over the Jews was expresly acknowledged by Gideon Judg. 8. 23. I will not rule over you saith he to that People neither shall my Son rule over you the Lord shall rule over you So Samuel told the People that the Lord their God was their King 1 Sam. 12. 12. And this is implied in what God said to Samuel They have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not Reign over them 1 Sam. 8. 7. This Kingdom of God among the Iews began when he renewed the Covenant with them Exod. 19. 5 6. Then they took God for their King and Governour and accordingly the Jewish Government is stiled a Theocracy not only by Iosephus but many of the Christian Writers But this wanton People desired another King besides God they would by no means be Singular they would be Ruled as other Nations were a King they must have as Egypt Babylon Syria Persia and the rest of the Pagan World had And a King they had according to their earnest Desire for they chose Saul to be their King in desiance of God's Soveraignty over them and now the Theocratical Dispensation ceased Their Kingly Government lasted till the Captivity when Zedekiah was their last King After their Return from Assyria they were governed by the Chief Heads of their Tribes Thus the Sacred Writings acquaint us that Zerobabel a Prince of the Tribe of Iudah was their Supreme Ruler But the Canonical Scripture goes not on to tell us the great Variety of Governours over the Jews after the Captivity Only in the New Testament we read of Herod who was the first Stranger that was King of the Jews but the last of all their Kings for their that famous Prophecy of the Scepter departing from Iudah was accomplished and Shiloh the Blessed Saviour the Prince of Peace came into the World Having given you a short Survey of the Government among the Iews I will in the next Place speak of the Particular Exertments of it in their Courts of Iudicature There was the Iudicatory of three Men two of which were chosen by the Parties that were at Controversy and those two chose a third This sort of Courts was call'd the Iudicature of Moneys because it was conversant about Pecuniary Causes i. e. wherein Life was not concerned but only a Sum of Money to be paid for the Fault viz. Thest Trespasses Defamation Hurt and Damage and all Private Injuries In short all Lesser Causes and Petty Actions were tried by these Triumviri I must add that though this was usually call'd the Iudicature of Three yet this Number was sometimes increased to five or seven And this must be noted that these three five or seven Iudges or rather Iustices of the Peace were settled in every City and considerable Town and they tried the Causes and decided the Controversies of the Inhabitants of their proper City and Town Again there was the Iudicatory of Three and Twenty Men and sometimes it consisted of Four and twenty This Court was stiled the Iudicatory of Souls because Great and Capital Causes such as concern'd the Life of Men were brought and tried here This Court was also called the Little Sanedrim
Enquirers into Antient Arts. Here is described the Famous Thebah Gen. 6. 15. c. the Ark which Noah and his Sons and theiâ Assistants built by the particular Direction and Guidance of God himself There were in this Habitation upon the Waters this Floating House three Principal Stories and Floors of an equal Length from one end of the Fabrick to the other in which were peculiar Kinnim Nests for that is the Metaphorical Word that is used by the Holy Ghost to express the sundry Mansions the various Cells Apartments and Divisions for the convenient lodging of Noah's Family and all sorts of Animals and their different Foods This Structure was six times longer than it was broad and ten times longer than it was high and so was exactly proportion'd to the particular Symmetry of Man's Body at its full Extent and as to several other things the Admirable and Singular Contrivance of this Edifice worthy of its Divine Author hath been demonstrated by the Learned So that we have no cause to wonder at Clemens of Alexandria when he propounds the Ark as also the Mosaick Tabernacle which I will mention next as an Eminent Exemplar of Geometrick Art Another famous Specimen of Antient Architecture was the Tabernacle that Portable Habitation of God that Vehicle of the Divinity that Ambulatory House of the Almighty that Travelling Temple that Appointed Place of Publick Worship for the Israelites that Visible Pledg of the Divine Presence among them All the Materials of which as Gold Silver Brass dyed Wool fine Linen Goats Hair Rams and Badgers Skins Shittim Wood with all the sacred Utensils belonging to it and the individual Shape and Formation of every one of them were by the particular Order Appointment and Designation of God himself who extraordinarily inspired Bezaleel and Aholiah with Skill and Art about that Noble Work Here likewise we have an Account of that most Celebrated Piece of Architecture Solomon's Temple wherein every thing is Great August and Divine and sutable to its Author The whole Contrivance is so various so artificial that it hath been reckon'd by some of the Wisest and most Judicious Men as the Basis of the whole Art of Building Villalpandus who was a Good Judg in the Case declares that the whole Architectonick Art which the Grecians communicated to the Romans and which Vitruvius's Books present us with was first derived from the Hebrew Proportions in this Sacred Building and the Apartments that belong to it But more especially it is the Idea and Pattern of all Great and Stately Structure whatsoever As to the more ordinary way of Building it is certain that the general Draught or Scheme of Erecting of Houses as they are represented in theââ Sacred Writings hath been taken for the Model of these Dwellings in all Countries ever since And here I will choose out only one thing to speak of because it may give Light to several Passages in Scripture It was the Custom in Palestine to build their Houses flat at top and they made aâ much use of this as of any part of their Habitation Here they walked as may be partly gather'd from Deut. 22. 8 but it is in express Terms said in 2. Sam. 11. 2 that David walked here in the Evening the time when he saw the fair Bathsheba Here they pray'd as is evident from Acts 10. 9. Peter went up upon the House-top ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is the Word in the New Testament that answers to Gag in the Old to pray about the sixth Hour For here the Jews had the Convenience of looking towards Ierusalem which they were commanded to do whenever they pray'd in a Place distant from it I Kings 8. 48. and this was St. Peter's Case here wherefore he went up hither to offer his Prayers Here they sacrific'd sometimes whence you read of burning Incense on the Roofs of Houses Jer. 19. 13. 32. 29. and worshipping the Host of Heaven upon the House-tops Zeph. 1. 5. This was also the place of Publick Mourning and Lamenting as is clearly deducible from Ier. 48. 38. And in Isa. 22. 1 to go up to the House-tops is to make an open Condolance and Lamentation From these high and eminent Places they were wont to discover any Danger at a Distance thence you read of the Watchman going up to the Roof 2 Sam. 18. 24. They used to speak to the People from these Places as fittest for that purpose whence that Proverbial kind of speaking used by our Saviour Mat. 10. 27. to preach on the House-tops is to make a thing known to all to proclaim it to the World Here they did eat and drink and sleep especially in the Summer-Evenings thus David rose from off his Bed 2 Sam. 11. 2. the Bed where he had supped and it is probable had taken a short Nap afterwards and from hence had his unfortunate Prospect Again this was usually among the Jews and other Eastern People a Place of Employment and Business of one kind or other and therefore by him which is on the House-top Mat 24. 17. is meant the Man that is about his Business or Work at Home in contradistinction to the Man employ'd in the Field v. 18. Lastly from what hath been suggested and from the very Nature of the Place it must needs be gather'd that it was open and exposed to the Sight of the World and therefore Absalom purposely made choice of this to defile his Father's Concubines in that it might be in the Sight of all Israel 2 Sam. 16. 22. But then why were the Spies that were sent by Ioshua into the Land of Canaan lodged here by Rahab âos 2. 4 6. She brought them up hither to hide them therefore it seems there was upon this Roof some Place that was private otherwise she would not have disposed of them here It might be answer'd and that from the Context that though it was an open Place yet she knew that the green Stalks of Flax which lay there a drying would sufficiently cover those Persons and keep them from being seen especially in the Night-season But I rather think that the Cunning of this good Woman lay in this that she carried them up to a Place that was known to be open and frequented and therefore it could not be imagined that she would or that she could hide them in the openest Place of her House Here was the Subtlety of this Female she knew that ãâã Body would look for them in that Place for therâ could not be the least suspition of their being there however she had taken a Course to prevent their being discover'd if the busy Searchers should have had the groundless Curiosity of looking into that Place Further I might observe that because Flat-roofed Houses were the way of Building in thosâ Countries and generally in all Asia there was care taken to fence this Part about that it might not be dangerous Among the Jews this was by the particular Injunction of the
Pârlege rubras Majorum leges At other times they made use of Chalk and of Coal both which are mention'd by Persius Illa priùs cretà mox bââc carbone notasti But these were used only on special Occasions and were not the ordinary manner of Writing therefore 't is no wonder that the Bible is wholly silent aâ to this But it mentions the Writing Instruments that were of common Use as first those which were peculiar to the Harder Materials those wherewith they made Incision into Stone Wood c. Accordingly it tells us that they used an Iron Pen or Style and therewith cut what Characters they thought fit in them Of this we have mention in Iob 19. 24. where that holy Man wisââth that his Complaints were written down and recorded that future Ages might take notice of them which Moses or some other Inspired Person who digested and compiled this Book thus expressetâ O that my Words were engraven with an Iron Pen and Lead with a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã according to the Seventy made of Iron and with Lead plumbi laminâ as the Vulgar Latin a thin Sheet or Plate of Lead on which they engraved Letters with this Iron Pen. And in the next Clause of this Verse he wisheth yet further that his Words might be written in the Rock ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as the LXX render it ut sculpantur in silice the Vulgar Latin following the Septuagint as it generally doth every where which refers to the antient manner of writing in those Days which was by Engraving of Letters not only on Leaden Tables but on Stone and Flint with Iron Pens or Bodkins These were the first Instruments used in writing in the World And when Ieremiah saith The Sin of Judah is written with a Pen of Iron and graven upon the Table of their Hearts it is an Allusion to this Practice though here another Word is used viz. Cheret from Charath sculpsit whence ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is a graving Tool and so is rendred Exod. 32. 4. With this they made the Letters on Wood and Stone and such like hard Substance and in Wax-Tables Next the Scripture takes notice of the antient Instrument which was proper to the other way of writing viz. upon the softer Materials as the Papyrus and Parchment This is called Shebet which Word in other Places is rendred a Scepter We read that the Tribe of Zebulon afforded some that handled the Pen of the Writer Judg. 5. I4 such as were dexterous at this Instrument such as knew how to wield this Shebet this Writing-Scepter with Art and Skill In other Places it hath the same Names that were given to the Engraving Pen thus it is stiled Cheret ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã according to the Septuagint Isa. 8. 1. the Pen of a Man i. e. such a Pen as Men usually writ with in those Days when they wrote upon any soft and yielding Matter and that was a Reed which is confirm'd to us by Ier. 8. 8. where Gnet the Pen of the Scribes is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Greek Interpreters And in Psal. 45. 1. where it is again call'd Gnet the Pen of a ready Writer the same Interpreters render it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and the Vulgar Latin Calamus which is the Word used by Martial and others for the Egyptian Reed Which was the Writing Pen in their time Dat chartis habiles calamos Memphitica tellus And Aquila a Learned Jew who knew the genuine Meaning of the Hebrew Word in this Place renders it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i. e. juncus arundo aquatica wherewith they antiently writ It appears then that Egypt afforded both Paper and Pens the former was of that Rushy Plant before described the latter were of a Reed growing in the same Place viz. about the River Nile and the fenny Parts of Egypt which being dried and hardned and conveniently shaped was the usual Instrument of writing before the Invention of Quills It was so made that it would contain and convey in it a black sort of Liquor which answers to our Ink which we use at this Day into which they used to dip it To this antient writing with Ink or such like dark Substance some have thought Ezek. 9. 2. hath reference where we read of the Writers Inkhorn but though the Hebrew Word be rendred Atramentarium by the Vulgar Latin yet in its Original Signification it hath no reference to that particular thing but may be translated a Pen-case or a Writing-Table as well as an Inkhorn From the bare Sound of the English Word we cannot infer the thing it self We may as well affirm the Art of Printing was found out and practised in Iob's Days because he wisheth that his Words were printed in a Book Job 19. 23. But there is a Place to our purpose and that is Ier. 36. 18. I wrote them i. e. the Words which Ieremy spoke with Ink in a Book The Antient way of writing appears from what Baruch here saith that he wrote Ieremiah's Prophecy ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã atramento which was the black and inky Matter whatever it was that was laid on by his Pen in writing This is the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã mention'd 2 Cor. 3. 3 2 Ep. Iohn v. 12. and again 3 Epist. v. 13. where it is joined with ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Which shews what was at that time the way of writing viz. with Reed-Pens dipp'd in Ink which as we are told by Pliny and Persius was variously prepared The Greeks and Romans made it of Soot saith the former of these Writers and from him and Persius we learn that the Africans used the dark Excrementitious Humour which the Sepia afforded them and other black Juices serv'd for Ink in other Countries Thus the most Antient as well as the most Authentick Memoirs concerning Letters and the Manner of Writing are in the Books of the Holy Penmen Thus the Foundation of all Grammar and the Root of all Learning is laid here Next unto Grammar I might mention History the first Father of which was Moses whose Writings begin the Bible All that I will say of him under this present Character is this that we are solely indebted to him for our Knowledg of the Transactions of the First Ages of the World As he wrote before all other Historians so he gives us an Account of those things which none besides doth wherefore his Books are the Key of all History To him are added Others who are not only of admired Antiquity but ought to be prized as much for the Admirable and Various Matter they communicate Here are Excellent Historical Passages of all sorts Religious and Civil Sacred and Profane Foreign and Domestick relating to Politicks and Oeconomicks to Publick and Private Affairs Yea the Title of Procopius's History belongs only and properly to these Sacred Chronicles for here the Secrets and Depths of all Antient Occurrences are
Great Man that he was learned in all the Wisdom of the Egyptians Acts 7. 22. which comprehends not only Arithmetick Geometry Astronomy all Parts of Mathematicks Physicks of all which there are several remarkable Strictures in the Pentateuch but Moral Philosophy with which his Books are every-where fraught Solomon also was a most profound Philosopher as those Words in 1 Kings 4. 29 c amply testify God gave Solomon Wisdom and Vnderstanding exceeding much His Wisdom excell'd the Wisdom of all the Children of the East-Country and all the Wisdom of Egypt He spake of Trees from the Cedar-tree that is in Lebanon even to the Hyssop that springeth out of the Wall he spake also of Bâasts and of Fowl and of creeping things and of Fishes And as Iosephus adds after the same manner he discours'd of All Terestrial Things for he was ignorant of no natural Things he pass'd by none of them unexamin'd but philosophized concerning every one of them and fully discuss'd the Properties and Nature of them Thus he was certainly the Greatest Natural Historian that ever was and his Book of Proverbs and that which is entituled Ecclesiastes abundantly inform us what skill he had in Ethicks Oeconomicks Politicks so that we may justly stile him an Vniversal Philosopher Iob's skill in the choicest Parts of Physicks is evident from his excellent Discourses and Disquisitions concerning Thunder the Clouds the Sea Chap. 26. concerning Minerals and other Fossiles and Fountains Chap. 28. concerning Rain Vapours Snow Hail and other Meteors Chap. 37. 38. And several sorts of Animals both wild and tame with their chiefest Properties and Qualities are discours'd of in Chapters 39 40 41. And here I must insert this that the Knowledg and Study of the Bible are absolutely necessary in order to the Study of Natural Philosophy It is a very good Thought of an Ingenious Man The Doctrine of the Scriptures saith he is to be well imbiâed before young Men be enter'd into Natural Philosophy because Matter being a thing that all our Senses are constantly conversant with it is so apt to possess the Mind and exclude all other Beings but it self that Prejudice grounded on such Principles often leaves no room for the admittance of Spirits or the allowing any such things as immaterial Beings in the nature of things Which shews the necesâity of our conversing with the Inspired Writings wheâ we have abundant Proofs of the Existence and Operation of those Invisible Agents No Book â so fully and demonstratively convince us of their Being and Power as the Holy Scriptures And the grand Reason in my Opinion why so many reject the Notion of Spirits and run into wild and extravagant Notions which are the Consequent of it is because they are unacquainted with and which is more dislike this Book which is the Basis of aââ Natural Philosophy in that we have here an irrefragable Demonstration of those Incorporeal Beings Whence it follows that no Man can be a Good Naturalist if he be a Stranger to the Holâ Writings much more if he slights and vilifiââ them We shall perpetually fluctuate without an Adherence to these Infallible Records The Cartesian and indeed the whole Corpuscularian Philosophy depraves Mens Minds unless it be temper'd by these Nay I may say the Study of Nature abstract from them will lead us into Scepticism and Atheism for many Substantial Notions as well as Phaenomena are utterly unaccountable without Help from this Book But this rectifies our Apprehensions and gives us a true Account of the State of Things and of the Government of the World which is managed chiefly by Spiritual and Immaterial Substances This salves the most surprizing Difficulties by acquainting us with the Spring of the Generality of those Motions and Transactions which are observable in Natural Bodies In short this will season and qualify our Speculations concerning Nature and all its Operations for when the Operations and Results of Matter are defective here we are taught to have Recourse to a Higher Principle Thus the Bible lays a Foundation for our Study of Philosophy and is it self the Best Body of Philosophy I mean on the foresaid Account because it assures us of the Existence of Spirits by whose Influence so many Works of Nature and those of the greatest Importance in the World are effected This was known of old by the Name of the Barbarick Philosophy and 't is frequently call'd so by Clement of Alexandria and both he and Eusebius and some Modern Writers have shew'd that the Grecian Philosophy was derived from this Which indeed was the Confession of some Considerable Men among the Pagans whence Diogenes Laertius tells us this was their Saying Philosophy had its Original from the Barbarians i. e. the Hebrews which is as much as to say that all the true Notions about God and Providence and the Souls of Men and other great Doctrines in Philosophy are taken from the Jewish Writings the Sacred and Inspired Scriptures In the next Place the Antiquity of Medicks Chirurgery Anatomy Embalming is likewise discover'd here For Ioseph commanded the physicians to embalm his Father and the physicians embalmed Israel Gen. 50. 2. The Word here repeated is Rophim and it is the proper Hebrew Word for Men skill'd in Medicks and there is no other Wherefore Vatablus and some others are mistaken who fancy this Place is not meant of Physicians properly so called because this Term is translated ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by the Septuagint and because they are bid to embalm Jacob. Whence they infer that they were not Physicians in the Sense that we use the Word in at this day viz. for such as take care of sick and diseased Persons and endeavour by their Skill and Art to restore them to Health but that they were only Embalmers that is that their sole Office and Employment was to take care of the dead Bodies and to preserve them from putrifying But this Misapprehension had its Rise from this that they judged of Physicians and their Employments according to what they see now according to the Practice of these Days which no Man of due Coâsideration and unprejudiced Judgment ought to do For of old the Physician was both Chirurgeon and Embalmer yea even in Hippocrates's time the Work of the Physician and Chirurgion was not different but the very same In Antienter times much more these Professions were united and were the Employment of the same Person It is no wonder therefore that Embalming was annex'd to it and constantly went along with it for the Chirurgion or Physician call him which you will or both was the Man that had Skill to dissect Bodies in order to their Pollincture He knew what Parts to take out and how being acquainted with the Situation of the Vessels for Anatomy was first of all practised among the Egyptians as we may gather from Pliny and others who attest that the Egyptian Kings used it to find out the Cause and
this purpose and which shews the Antiquity of this Military Usage and will give us an Account of the first and most early Marshalling of Armies is Numb 2. 2. Every Man of the Children of Israel shall pitch by his own Standard with the Ensign of their Fathers House For the explaining of which we must know that when Moses had received the Law and finish'd the Tabernacle he mustered all the Tribes and Families of Israel and disposed them for their March through the Wilderness This Great Army as this Chapter informs us was divided into four Battalions or Squadrons each of which contain'd three whole Tribes The first contain'd the three Tribes of Iudah Issachar and Zebulon and every Tribe being distinguish'd by his particular Standard this Squadron marched under the Standard of Iudah And it was peculiar to this Tribe to encamp always on the East Side of the Tabernacle and to hold the first Place and lead the Vanguard The second Battalion consisted of the Tribes of Reuben Simeon and Gad and Reuben's Standard was that which they were placed under These had the second Place in the Army and encamped on the South Side of the Tabernacle The third Division marched under the Standard of Ephraim to whom were joined the Regiments of Manasse and Benjamin and they were situated always on the West Quarter The fourth Squadron were rank'd under the Standard of Dan to whom belonged the Tribes of Naphthali and Asher These were placed on the North Side of the Tabernacle and always march'd in the Reer In every Standard or Banner there was a particular Ensign or Badg by which those of that Squadron were known In that of Iudah which march'd in the Van there was pourtrayed a Lion in that of Reuben a Man in that of Ephraim an Ox and in that of Dan an Eagle Where by the way we may observe here the Invention of Badges and Coats of Arms. The Tribes were distinguish'd by their different Scutcheons which were of diverse Figures and 't is not to be doubted of different Colours Though truly this Invention seems to have been begun first of all in Gen. 49. where the several Tribes have assigned them by Iacob their particular Distinctive Ensigns and Armorial Cognizances as Iudah a Lion Dan a Serpent Issachar an Ass c. which were certain Arms or Badges by which they were known and distinguish'd In these and the forenamed Instances Heraldry had its Original hence it may fetch its Pedigree Thus that Noble Camp was disposed and situated thus the several Tribes and Princes of them were marshall'd Thus the Tabernacle was placed in the midst of the four Divisions of the Army which pitched round about it as a Guard to Defend and Protect it But I should note withal that the Tabernacle was more Immediately surrounded by the Priests and Levites Moses and Aaron and Eleazar and his Brethren were lodg'd on the East at the Entrance of the Court of the Tabernacle the Families of Cohath were placed on the South the Families of Merari on the North the Geshurites on the West and all others that were dedicated to the Service and Attendance on the Tabernacle were quartered near it This was the Excellent Order that was observ'd the Ecclesiastical Persons were placed next to the Tabernacle because of their Employment and Office and to guard both them and the Tabernacle the whole Host was drawn about them in a Circle I might further take notice that there was not a fixed Distance of Ground from every part of the Camp to the Tabernacle for it was necessary that some should be further off than others but this was enjoined them that the Limits of their travelling on the Sabbath-Day should not be above two thousand Cubits Iosh. 3. 4. But by reason of the different Acception of the Cubit it is not easy to determine exactly the Length of the Way which they were permitted to travel If it was two thousand Paces it amounted to two Miles but most of the Rabbins agree that it was 2000 lesser Cubits which make a large Mile So far the furthest Part of the Israelites Camp was distant from the Tabernacle according to the general Opinion of the Hebrew Doctors This whatever it is is call'd a Sabbath-Day's Iourney Acts 1. 12. i. e. as much space of Ground as it was lawful for the Jews to go on a Sabbath-Day This shall suffice to be said concerning the Antient Situation of the Camp of Israel A very Curious and Excellent Prospect it is and worthy of our Observation it being the First Platform of a Military Encamping To close this Head I will take notice of the Vast Numbers which some of the Armies mention'd in Scripture consisted of of old That of the Jews in the Wilderness which I last spoke of according to the Muster-Roll in Numb 1. contain'd no less than six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty There were enrolled about a thousand thousand fighting Men in Israel and about half as many in Iudah when David numbred the People 2 Sam. 24. 9. 1 Chron. 21. 5. King Vzziah had an Host of three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred besides a choice Band of two thousand and six hundred 2 Chron. 26. 12 13. King Asa's military Force consisted of about six hundred thousand 2 Chron. 14. 8. And against him came an Ethiopian Army of above a thousand thousand Chariots 2 Chron. 14. 9. whence we must collect that the whole Force was much more Numerous for the Chariots generally had more than one single Person in them King Ieroboam brought eight hundred thousand Men into the Field of whom five hundred thousand were slain 2 Chron. 13. 3 17. And other vast Numbers we read of in the Books of Kings and Chronicles that were brought into the Field in those Days Which I the rather mention because some have questioned the Truth of it and have thought that it is by the Fault of Transcribers that the Arithmetick mounts so high And I am sorry to find a Great Man whom I will not name enclining this way I doubt not but if he had lived to revise his Writings he would have expung'd what seems to favour this for so Great an Asserter of the Authentick Verity of the Scriptures as well as of the Christian Religion could not have done otherwise But this I desire may be considered by those that think the Number of the Men in the foremention'd Armies is mistaken by those who copied out the Bible they setting down as they imagine one Arithmetical Figure instead of another I desire I say this may be consider'd that the Numbers in these Sacred Writings are set down in Words at length and not in Figures which these Objectors did not think of and therefore those who transcrib'd the Bible did not mistake the Numbers by writing down one Figure for another and consequently these Mens Conceit is groundless Again we are to remember what is said in
Numb 1. 45. they numbred from twenty Years old and upward all that were able to go forth to War and so afterward they train'd up all that were able to bear Arms unto Martial Exercises and Military Discipline which if we consider it will not seem strange and incredible that the Number of those in their Armies was so great Moreover the Cavil will vanish if we consult Pagan Authors and thence learn how numerous their Armies were of old Ninus the third Assyrian Monarch rais'd an Army of seventeen hundred thousand Foot and two hundred thousand Horse and ten thousand six hundred Chariots of War and invaded Bactria with these Forces as Diodorus Siculus and other Good Authors relate Zâroaster the King of Bactria met him with four hundred thousand fighting Men say the same Historians And the foresaid Diodorus tells us that Semiramis that celebrated Queen of Assyria Ninus's Relict carried an Army that consisted of three Millions of Men into India and Staurobates the King of India encountred her with more numerous Forces and vanquish'd her It is universally acknowledg'd that Xerxes entred Greece with an Army of above a Million of fighting Men. Thus Prophane History may induce us to credit that which we meet with in the Sacred When we find such vast Numbers mention'd in the former we have no reason to wonder at the like in the latter And though it is true there is a Disproportion between Iudea and those Countries which I have named yet if it be remembred how Populous the one was in respect of the others and likewise that in time of War every Man that could handle a Weapon turn'd Souldier the great inequality which some imagine between this and the others will soon vanish This is some Account of Martial Affairs which the Antient Writings of the Bible give us and though we read since the like things in other Authors yet here we see the First and Earliest Instances of them I might pass form Military Affairs to some Sportive Diversions and Exercises which the Scripture speaks of and gives us the first notice of as Hunting which was the mighty Nimrod's Sport Gen. 10. 9. though as was said before under that Term likewise his Tyrannical and Arbitrary Rule is denoted to us It is likely that he kill'd and destroy'd the wild savage Beasts that grew numerous at that time and became very troublesom and noxious for upon that signal Dispersion of Mankind they remain'd not together in so great a Body as before and thence the Beasts were more formidable and therefore Hunting began to be necessary to preserve themselves But this Great Man might follow this Employment also for Pleasure and Recreation So the first Hunting was for private Delight and publick Profit Esau afterwards is call'd a Cunning Hunter Gen. 25. 27. and his Game is particularly specified Gen. 27. 3 5. And I have intimated bâfore that this Robust Exercise was a Specimen of Warlike Enterprizes and Arms. Hunting and Fowling are joined together in Lev. 17. 13. and in order to the catching both Beasts and Birds there is mention of Nets Traps Snares Ginns Washing or Bathing as it was a Recreative Exercise of the Female Sex you will find mention'd Exod. 2. 5. where we read that Pharaoh's Daughter washed her self in the River Nile It may be Ruth 3. 3. Wash thy self after which immediately follows anoint thee which was the usual Attendant of Bathing refers to this Ruth's Mother thought this not an improper Exercise before she went to engratiate her self with Boaz. Bathshebâ was bathing her self in a Garden in the Evening when David espied her 2 Sam. 11. 2. This made way for Artificial Baths aftewards among the Jews in their Gardens and Orchards which if we may credit the Targum upon Ecclesiastes are meant by the Delights of the Sons of Men Eccl. 2. 7. This was the known Practice of the Persians Greeks and Romans and other Nations but the Antientest and most innocent Examples are in the Bible viz. among the Egyptians and Hebrews Other Recreating and Pleasurable Entertainments I had occasion to mention before as Instrumental and Vocal Musick though I consider'd them chiefly as they were used on serious Occasions I will now add Dancing which also was sometimes on a Religious Account as in Exod. 15. 20. where Miriam and her Females with Dances as well as Timbrels sang and glorified God after the Deliverance from the Egyptians This Miriam may pass for the true Terpsichore whom the Poets make the Inventer of Dancing she being the first famous Instance of it We read that David danced before the Ark 2 Sam. 6. 16. But it is not the Sacred but Civil Use of this Exercise which I am now to take notice of It is certain that a pleasant and decent moving a Graceful Agitation of the Body help'd by some innocent noise of Musick was one of the first and most natural expressions of Joy when there was some great occasion for it This we learn as from Reason so from the sacred Monuments of Antiquity in the Scriptures Here we are inform'd that this was an old Expression of Mirth at times of solemn Feasting Judg. 21. 19 21. There was not only Musick but Dancing at the Festival of the returning Prodigal Luke 15. 25. This was usual also after Victory and in Publick Triumphs Iudg. 11. 34. 1 Sam. 18. 6. 21. 11. and at all Seasons of Mirth and Rejoiâing Psal. 30. 11. Jer. 31. 4 13. And still so far as Dancing imports a Graceful Motion and Comely Deportment of the Body I see no reason to declame against it But we read that this Usage oftentimes degenerated into inexcusable Extravagancy and Vice The Idolatrous Jews made it part of their mad Worship which they paid to the Golden Calf Exod. 32. 19. The Amalekites after their Victory used it to advance their Luxury and Debauchery 1 Sam. 30. 16. Iob makes it part of the Character of the Prosperous Wicked such as forget God and Religion that their Children dance Iob 21. 11. And what was the bloody and execrable Fruit of this sort of Lewd Frolick the Evangelical History records Mat. 14. 6 c. where Hârodias's Daughter's Heels made the Baptist's Head fly off his Shoulders And it cannot be denied that this is the frequent Companion of Luxury and Wantoness in these Days in which so great Numbers yea and of the inferiour and ordinary Rank immoderately affect and addict themselves to this Diversion This Vanity seems to be part of the Temper and rooted Inclination of the gay People of this Age as if the Punctum Saliens were yet in their Blood and they were still made up of those Capering Particles the first Rudiment of their Conception and Life One would think the Scene chang'd from Naples to England and that our People were stung with the Tarantula and were as we might hope dancing and playing it away But then when we see that the Sting is rather encreased than cured and the
part of it extant before there were any Writers in the World and so it was utterly impossible to borrow from Others This is the Peculiar Excellency of this Book this is the Particular Commendation of these Writings that they were the First of all and could not be taken from any else These Holy Scriptures borrow from none unless you will say they do so from Themselves as the 18th Psalm is taken out of 2 Sam. 22. or this out of that The Evangelists borrow from one another The Virgin Mary's Magnificat refers in several Places of it to Hannab's Song 1 Sam. 2 and St. Paul takes some things out of his Epistle to the Epbesians and puts them into that which he wrote to the Colossians and so st Iude may be said to borrow from St. Peter but this is not the Plagiarism which Other Writers are guilty of and which is an Argument of their Wants and Defects whereas the Holy Spirit supplied the Penmen of the Bible both with Matter and Words In the Old Testament especially and more particularly in the Books of Moses there is nothing at second hand all is fresh and new thâ things there spoken of were never delivered by any Writer before But most of the Profane Historians began when the Holy History was just ending And Herodotus himself the Father of History writ not till Ezra and Nehemiah's time The Greeâ Historians go no further back than the Persjan Eâpiâe and most of the Roman History takes not its Rise so high Indeed the Egyptians boasted that they had been ruled by Kings above ten thousand Years as Herodotus relates and thence perhaps it was that one of their Pharaoh's which was the common Name of all their Kings bragg'd that he was the Son of antient Kings Isa. 19. 11. The Chinoises pretend to give an Account of Passages almost three thousand Years before Christ and we are told by Martinius in his Atlas that they preserve a continued History compiled from their Annual Exploits of four thousand and five hundred Years yea they have if we may credit the younger Vossius Writers antienter than Moses But these high Flights are exploded by all Considerate Men and upon a View of whatever Pretences are made by Others they conclude that Moses was the Antientest Writer and that the earliest Discovery of Transactions and Occurrences in the World is to be learnt from him alone Some of the Wisest Pagans had a hint of this and travell'd into the Eastern Countries to acquaint themselves with these Records And it was observ'd long since by Plato as I took notice before that the Oldest and most Barbarous Tongues meaning the Hebrew and Chaldee were very requisite for the finding out the first Beginnings of things for the first Names of them which are now grown obsolete by length of time are preserved in those Languages they being the antientest of all In the Hebrew especially are to be found the Primitive Origines of things and most of the Pagan Historiââs have borrowed from these And so have their Poâts Orators and Philosophers as a great Number of the Christian Fathers whom I have particularly quoted in another Place to evince the Authority of the Scriptures have largely proved In a word all other Antient Writings refer to these or suppose them this Inspired Volume alone being the Fountain from whence either they or we can derive any Truth and Certainty And as there is the Antientest Learning so there is All Learning I speak now of that which is Humane and is reckon'd the Accomplishment of Rational Persons and all the kinds of it in this Book of Books Here is not only Prose but Verse here are not only Poems but Histories Annals Chronicles Here are things Profound and Mystical and here are others that at the first sight are Intelligible and Clear here are Prophecies Visions Revelations for even in the Narratives which are given of These there are some things serviceable to promote the Study of Humanity here are Proverbs Adagies Emblems Parables Apologues Paradoxes Riddles and here are also Plain Questions and Answers Propositions Discourses Sermons Orations Letters Epistles Colloquies Debates Disputations Here are Maxims of Law and Reason Rules of Iustice and Equity Examples of Keen Wit and Deep Politicks Matters of Church and State Publick and Private Affairs and all manner of Subjects either treated of or referr'd unto Thus the Bible is excellently sitted to entertain any Persons as they are Students and Scholars for here is a Treasury of all Good Letters here are laid up all things that conduce to Humane Knowledg Porphyrius is said to have writ a Book of Homer's Philosophy wherein he attempts to prove that he was as much a Philosopher as a Poet and no less a Person than Maximus Tyrius affirms him to be the Prince of Philosophers and another Grave Author undertakes to shew that the Seeds of all Arts are to be found in Homer's Works This is said by his Admirers to inhanse his Credit and Repute but far greater things and more justly may be pronounced concerning these Famous Records of Learning and Antiquity With more Reason may we maintain that the chiefest Arts and Inventions are originally in the Sacred Volume and that the Foundations of all Humane Learning and Science are laid here for though these are not the chief things designed in this Book it being writ to higher Purposes yet they are occasionally interspersed every where and a Studious Enquirer cannot miss of them It is rationally and undeniably to be inferr'd from the Particulars above-mention'd though many more might have been added that the Bible is the most Compleat Book and hath All Learning in it This truly deserves the Name which Diodore the Sicilian gives his History that is it is indeed a Library an Universal one and contains All Books in it As the Writers of it were Persons of Several Conditions Kings Noblemen Priests Prophets c. so the Matters of it are Various and Different and by reading and studying these Writings we may Commence in all Arts and Sciences we may be accomplish'd Grammarians Criticks Chronologers Historians Poets Orators Disputants Lawyers Statesmen Preachers Prophets Many valuable Monuments of Learning have been lost The famous Library of Alexandria which contain'd six or seven hundred thousand Volumes and that of Constantinople which consisted of an hundred and twenty thousand perished by Fire And the Works of Varro the Learnedsâ Man of all the Romans are extinct And many others might be reckon'd up besides those that Historians say nothing of But having the Scriâture Hacatub as the Jews rightly call'd it by way of Eminence the most Excellent Writings in the World fraught with all manner of useful Literature we may afford to be without the other for this is a certain Verity that if we have the Bible we want no Book And more particularly I have made it appear that the Choicest Antiquities are to be found here A prying Antiquary may
I find it is yea flatly denied by Aben Ezra and Pererius and lately by Hobbs and Spinosa A very little Portion of them was writ by him saith Monsieur Simon who hath a new Notion of certain Publick Scribes or Registers that penn'd this and other Parts of the Old Testament which sort of Abbreviating Notaries he borrows from the Egyptians as he confesâes himself because there were such Officers in the Egyptian Court who had a Privilege to add to or take away from to amplify or abridg the Publick Records he thence groundlesly infers there were such among the Iews who made what Alterations they pleased in the Sacred Writings which Paradox of his I have consider'd and made some Reflections upon in a former Treatise This I may truly say that it is not necessary that we should know who was the Particular Penman of this or any other Book of the Holy Scripture because the Authority of them depends not on the Writers of them but on the Holy Ghost who endited them They are the Books of God that is their peculiar Character and Dignity and that alone makes them Authentick after they have been delivered to us by the unanimous Consent of the Church so that there is no absolute Necessity of our certain knowing who penn'd them Yet this must be said that it cannot with Reason be denied that the Authors of some of these Sacred Books are well known and particularly there are very convincing Proofs that Moses wrote the Books which I have been giving an Account of This may be evinc'd from our Saviour's Words Luke 16. 31. 24. 27. where by Moses as is most evident he means the Books of the Pentateuch and consequently thereby lets us know that Moses was the Writer of them And more expresly the Book of Exodus is call'd the Book of Moses by our same Infallible Master Mark 12. 26. And St. Paul tells us that when these Books are read Moses is read 2 Cor. 3. 19. And both our Saviour and this Apostle distinguish between Moses and the Prophets Luke 16. 29. Acts 26. 22. plainly signifying that as those Books which pass under the Prophets Names are theirs so these that are said to be Moses's were written by him I think this is very plain and needs not to be further insisted on As to the Objections of those Men before named against this I forbear to produce them and to return particular Answers to them because this is so lately done by Monsieur Clerk and because another Learned Frenchman hath laudably performed this Task Especially he hath with great Vigour and as great Success attack'd Spinosa a Iew as they tell us by Birth but neither Iew nor Christian by Profession but a Derider of both We may also find his Arguments which are generally borrow'd from Aben Ezra refuted with great Clearness by the Learned Professor of Diâinity at Paris who at the same time betakes himself to the Positive Part and renders it unquestionable that Moses himself was the Author of the Five Books that go under his Name Wherefore the particular Fancies of those few Objectors and those no Friends to the Sacred Text are not to be heeded by us As to that common Scruple which is so much insisted upon that in the last Book of the Pentateuch there is mention of Moses's Death and some things that happen'd after it whence they conclude that Moses wrote not those Books or at least not the last of them I take this to be a sufficient Answer that Moses being a Prophet might foresee and have revealed to him a particular Account of his own Death and so he committed it to writing by a Prophetick Spirit wherefore none can from thence prove that he was not the Penman of all this Book However we will not contend here for perhaps the Conclusion of this Book was affixed by Ioshua or afterwards by Ezra who was an Inspired Person likewise and who revised the Books of the Old Testament and inserted some things into them by the same Spirit that endited the rest Notwithstanding then the foresaid Objection which refers only to a few Passages in the End of the Book of Deuteronomy wâ have Reason to assert that the whole Five Books excepting that little Addition in the Close were written by Moses these are his Authentick Records consisting chiefly of History which compriseth in it the Occurrences of about 2400 Years and Laws which were given by God Himself to his own People and will be of use to the End of the World Here is the Cabinet of the greatest Antiquity under Heaven here are the First and Oldest Monuments of the World CHAP. VIII A short Survey of the Books of Joshua Judges Ruth which is a Supplement to the History of the Iudges Samuel the Kings Chronicles Ezra which is a Continuation of the Chronicles Nehemiah Esther The Author Stile Composure Matter of the Book of Job discuss'd An Enquiry into the Penmen Subjects Kinds Titles Poetick Meter and Rhythm of the Psalms NExt unto this is that Excellent History written by Ioshua the Captain General of the Israelites and Moses's famous Successor whose very Name without doubt was as terrible to the Canaanites as those of Hunniades and Scanderbeg were afterwards to the Turks Here he admirably describes the Holy War the Martial Atchievements and Stratagems of the People of God against those Nations whose Lands they were to possess and at length their Victory over them Here are very particularly set down their Conquests over those Kings and Countries This Book is the Fulfilling of the Promises which were made to them concerning the entring into Canaan and enjoying that Land which is a Type of the Heavenly Canaan the everlasting Rest which remaineth to the People of God Heb. 4. 9. Here is the Actual Possession of that Promised Inheritance and the Division of it among the several Tribes by Lot The short is in the whole Book which I must not now give you by retail there are abundant Demonstrations of the Divine Providence repeated Instances of the Infinite Kindness of God to his Servants remarkable Examples of the Divine Vengeance on his Enemies yea and visible Proofs of his Severe Dealings with his own People when they refuse to obey his Will and when they act contrary to it Here is in the large Account which is given of Ioshua and his Actions an Exact Character of a Worthy Prince a Ruler a General who ought to signalize himself by his Exemplary Piety and Zeal for Religion by his constant Sobriety Justice and Charity by his undaunted Courage Valour and Prowess by his deep Wisdom Policy and Conduct And his Great and Wonderful Success which is so much required in a General crowned all The Whole contains the History of the Jews from Moses's Death till the Death of their Great Commander Ioshua in all about eighteen Years And 't is not to be wondered at that the Age Death and Burial of this latter are
as the Original if we will be exact in rendring it expresses it And if we interpret this Proverb in this Sense it Exactly comports with the next Verse They lay wait for their own Blood they lurk privily for their own Life Those that thus design Mischief against innocent Persons bring Ruine upon themselves and are frequently taken in that Net which they spread for others This seems to be the most Genuine Exposition of the Words but every one is left to his Liberty to choose any other Interpretation which is agreeable to the Context and opposes no other Text of Holy Scripture Which of all these Senses was at first design'd by the Holy Ghost we cannot certainly tell It may be in such Places as these of which there is a considerable Number in this Book there is a Latitude and questionless it is best it ââould be so that we may with the greater Freedom search into and descant upon these Sacred Writings that we may understand the full Extent of these Excellent Moral Observations and Remarkable Sayings of this Wise King which for the most part are short and concise and therehy sometimes become somewhat difficult But if ãâã Imâeratoria brevital as Tacitus calls it was commendable no wise Man surely will dislike it in Solomon especially when such Divine and Admirable Truths are couched in it His next Book is entituled Ecclesiastes for the LXX by whom the worââ Kabal is generally rendred ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã do accordingly render Kobeleth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It is probable he penn'd it when ãâã was Old and had pass'd the several Stages of Vanity It is an open Disowning of his former Folies and Extravagancies it is the Royal Preacher's Recantation-Sermon wherein he tenders himself a Publick Penitentiary Which is the Meaning as One thinks of that Title of this Book in the Hebrew Kohelâth or the Gathering Soul because iâ this Book he recollects himself and gathers and râduceth others that wander after Vanity To this end he makes a clear and ample Discovery of the Vanity of all things under the Sun i. e. in this Life or in the whole World a Phrase peculiar to Solomon and in this Book only where it is often used Here the Wise Man convinceth us from his own Experience that none of the Acquists of this World are able to satisfy the Immortal Spirit of Man that the greatest Wit and Learning the most exquisite Pleasures and Sensual Enjoyments the vastest Confluence of Wealth and Riches and the highest Seat of Honour even the Royal Throne it self are insufficient to make a Man Happy and consequently that our Happiness must be âought for some where else Here we are taught that notwithstanding this World is Changeable and ââbieât to Vanity though at one time or other all things come alike to all in it yet the Steady and Unârring Providence of God rules all Affairs and Events here below and in the Conclusion of all God will bring every Work into Iudgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil Here are âarticular Directions given us how we are to discharge our Duty first with reference to our selves viz. that we ought very strictly to observe the Laws of Sobriety and Temperance and to live iâ a Thankful Use of the good things of this World and to be Content with our Portion and Allotment in this Life and to banish all Covetous Desires and Projects As we must go to the House of Mourning i. e. be very retired and solemn very âââlous and composed and banish all superfluous Mirth and Gaiety so we must eat our Bread with Ioy i. e. live in a comfortable Fruition of these earthly Blessings and delight in these Enjoyments so far as they are lawful and innocent Our Duty to Others is here also briefly prescribed us viz. that we ought to pay a Profound Respect to Good Kings and to keep their Commandments yea that our very Thoughts towards them ought to he Reverent Then as to those who are of an Equal Level with us or inferiour to us that we shew our selves Just and Righteous to them in all our Converse and Dealings and that when we see any of them reduced to Poverty and Straits that we extend our Charity to them that we cast our Bread upon these Waters that we relieve their Wants and Necessities Lastly we are instructed in our Duty to God we are taught to approach him with âeverence and Devotion to keep our Feet when we go to his House to pay our Vows to him to remember him our Creator and Preserver to fear him and keep his Commandments and we are assured that this is the whole of Man his whole Duty and his whole Concern The Canticles or Solomon's Song is another Piece of Hebrew Poetry which he writ when he was Young and in an Amorous Vein and yet breathing most Divine and Heavenly Amours If you take it according to the Letter only it is King Solomon's Epithalamium or Wedding-Song of the same Nature with the 45th Psalm which is a Song on his Nuptials with the King of Egypt 's Daughter but in a Spiritual Sense it sets forth the Glory of Christ and his Kingdom and the Duty and Privileges of the Church which is there called the King's Daughter Such is this Dramatick Poem wherein are brought in the Bridegroom and Bride and the Friends of both alternately speaking but we must not be so gross in our Apprehensions as to conceive this to be barely a Marriage-Song as Castellio groundlesly fancieth and therefore deems it to be Scripture not of the same Stamp with the rest Besides the Literal Import of the Words in this Love-Song there is a Mystical Sense couched in them Carnal Love is here made to administer to Religion the Flesh is subservient to the Spirit and therefore by reason of this Mystery in this Love-Poem the Iews were not permitted to read it till they were of Maturity of Years If we take this Mystical Weddingâ Song in the highest Meaning of it it is an Allegorical Description of the Spiritual Marriage and Communion between Christ and the Church it iâ a Representation of the Mystical Nuptials of thâ Lord Christ Jesus and Believers Their Mutuââ Affections and Loves are deciphered by the Soâ Passions and Amours of Solomon and his Royal Spouse This though the Name of God be not in it makes it a most Divine Poem and highly worthy of our most serious Perusal and Study For here we see the Gospel anticipated and the most Glorious Subject of the New Testament betimes inserted into the Old Object But is it not a great Disparagement to this and the other before-mentioned Books of Solomon that âe was a Reprobate and finally rejected by God Are we not discouraged from receiving these Writings as Canonical Scripture when we know that the Author of them was a Damned Person For what can He be else who towards his latter end revolted from the True Religion
constant Profession of it without wavering and to a Holy Life and Conversation sutable to so excellent â Doctrine he with great Industry endeavours to convince them of the Danger of Apostacy he confirms them in the Christian Doctrine amidst all the Persecutions and Difficulties they labour'd under And lastly he is solicitous to prevent their revolting by setting before them the most Eminent Examples of Faith and Patience These are the Momentous Themes which are observable in this Epistle I know some have doubted whether this Incomparable Epistle be St. Paul's and others have absolutely denied that it is his yet still allowing that it was written by some Inspired Person and belongs to the Canon of Holy Scripture The Learned Grotius endeavours to prove that St. Luke wrote it But for my Part I have no Inclination to believe that any other Person than St. Paul penn'd this Epistle for this is most clear from that one Place 2 Pet. 3. 16. Even as our beloved Brother Paul also according to the Wisdom given unto him hath written unto you St. Peter here speaks to the Iews for to them this Epistle as well as the former was written as appears from the Title of it To the Strangers scatter'd throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia i. e. the Iews dispersed up and down the World who by St. iames are call'd the twelve Tribes which are scatter'd abroad These tho they neither lived in Palestine nor used the Hebrew Tongue but lived among the Greeks and spoke that Language generally and used the Greek Bible viz. the Translation of the Septuagint in their Synagogues and were commonly known by the Name of Hellenists and consequently were not Hebrews or Iews in the strictest and properest Sense yet because they were of Iewish Parentage and professed or had once professed the Iewish Religion they were still call'd Iews or Hebrews and accordingly have that Denomination here So that St. Paul here and St. Peter and St. Iames write their Epistles to the same Persons that is to the Converted Iews that were dispersed abroad especially in Greece and which is the Argument I make use of at present St. Peter particularly takes notice of St. Paul's Writing to these Dispersed Jews But how doth it appear that he writ to them Thus all the Epistles of this Apostle which we have mentioned before excepting this which we are now speaking of were written either to the Churches of believing Gentiles or to some Particular Persons as hath been noted already whence it follows that seeing he wrote to the Iews or Hebrews as St. Peter testifies he was the Author of this remaining Epistle which is inscribed to them We are certain that St. Paul writ to the Iews because St. Peter tells us so that is he tellâ us that St. Paul wrote to those to whom he wrote but St. Peter wrote to the Iews or Hebrews both his Epistles therefore St. Paul wrote to them likewise and this Epistle to the Hebrews which we now have must be that very Epistle because thârâ is no other of his to them besides it Wherefore it is an undeniable Consequence that the Epistle to the Hebrews was writ by St. Paul and by none else which was the thing to be proved Again I might further add that what the Apostle Peter saith concerning St. Paul's Epistles or concerning the Matters contain'd in them for ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã may refer rather to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã than to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã viz. that there are in them some things hard to be understood doth agree well to the Sublime Matter of the Epistle to the Hebrews wherein so many Prophecies Types Allegories and Mysteries are treated of and applied so that it may probably be inferr'd hence that this Epistle is referr'd to in particular and consequently that St. Paul was the Author of it To corrobate this we may subjoin the unanimous Testimony of the Greek Fathers who generally attribute this Epistle to St. Paul With whom agree the Schoolmen and all the Writers of the Church of Rome but Erasmus and Cajetan and Ludovicus Vives assert the same Most of the Lutherans are of this Opinion though herein they dissent from their Master Luther and the Reformed Churches as distinct from the Lutherans are of the same Perswasion though Calvin be of another Mind which shews that there are very Cogent Reasons for this Opinion otherwise these Parties would not dissent from their Masters It may be added that Our English Church in the Title calls it the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews As for the Reason of the Omission of his Name in the Beginning of this Epistle which is not to be observ'd in his Others perhaps it was as Clement of Alexandria Athanasius Chrysostom Theophilact conjecture because his Name was odious to most of the Iews he having been once a Iews but afterwards abandon'd that Religion wherefore he advisedly left out his Name that it might not prejudice what he writ and that the Epistle might not be thrown away for the Author's sake But whether this was the Reason why his Name is not inserted as in the rest of his Epistles I am not able to determine only I am sufficiently convinced from what St. Peter saith that this Epistle was writ by St. Paul that single Testimony is Proof enough Here I might take occasion having hitherto given you a brief Account of the Excellent Matter of this Apostle's Writings which are so great a Part of the New Testament to speak something concerning his Stile or rather to add to what I have already said of it in another Place under this Proposition There are no Solaecisms in the Holy Writings This I am the more willing to do because some have look'd upon this Apostle as a Man of no Eloquence yea scarcely of any Grammar and Consistency of Sense which Imputation would argue a great Defect and Imperfection in Scripture and therefore I am obliged to take notice of it It is true there are several things which render his Stile somewhat dark and perplexed in sundry Places He brings in Objections sometimes but doth not intimate that the Words are spoken in that way as in Rom. 3. 5 6 7. and other Places which makes the Sense difficult to those that do not carefully examine the Context In the 4th Chapter of that Epistle ver 1. a Negative is left out viz. the Answer to the preceding Question which should have been thus No he hath not found And in ver 8. the Note of Parenthesis is omitted as 't is in several other Places Further 't is observable that the Apostle hath sometimes references to Words and Things which he had mention'd before but which he seem'd to have quite laid aside in his Discourse Thus he turns back again in 2 Cor. 3. 17. and refers to what was said before in ver 6. for those Words in the latter Place The Lord is that Spirit refer to the former
Close of it when Christ shall come to Judgment Thus I have attempted to evince the Perfection of Scripture by enumerating all the Books of both TESTAMENTS and giving you a brief Account of them These Excellent and Incomparable Books are the True Pandects indeed the Books that comprehend all that treat of every thing that is necessary They are the most Valuable Collection of Writings under Heaven they are of all the Books in the World the most worthy of all Acceptation because they are our Infallible Rule and Surest Guide to Wisdom Holiness and Blessedness to the Attainment of the most Desirable Things here and of the most Eligible hereafter If this and all that I have said before do not prove them to be Compleats and Perfect I despair of ever telling you what will CHAP. XI None of the Books of the Holy Scripture are lost Not the Book of the Covenant Nor the Book of the Wars of the Lord Nor the Book of Iasher Nor the Acts of Vzziah An Account of the Book of Samuel the Seer the Book of Nathan the Prophet the Book of Gad the Seer the Book of Iddo the Books of Shemaiah Iehu c. What is to be thought concerning the Books of Solomon mention'd Kings 4. 32. 33. Objections drawn from Jam. 4. 5. from Luke 11. 49. from Acts 20. 35. from Judev. 14. from 1 Cor. 5. 9. from Col. 4. 16. fully satisfied Other Objections from 1 Cor. 7. 6 12 25 2 Cor. 8. 8. 11. 17. particularly answer'd But tho this be a clear and demonstated Truth yet it is question'd and doubted of by some Wherefore the Fourth General Undertaking which I propounded was this to clear the Point of those Objections which are wont to be brought against it and to shew that notwithstanding these the Prefection of Scripture is unshaken First Some tell us that there is a considerable Number of Books mention'd or quoted in Scripture as the Books of the Covenant the Book of the Wars of the Lord the Book of Iasher c. which seem to have been once a Part of this Holy Volume but now are lost Among the Fathers St. Chrysostom who is followed by Theophilact is of this Opinion Bellarmine and several of the Papists hold it Yea some Protestants acknowledg as much Calvin and Musculus and our Whitaker encline this way And Drusius is very angry with any Man that denies that there any Books of Holy Scripture missing Now if this be true there is ground to complain of a Defect and Imperfection in the Sacred Writings by reason of the loss of these Books That therefore which I am to undertake here is to shew that there are no Books mentioned in Scripture as belonging to it but what are now to be found in it and are really a Part of it and consequently that the Holy Writings are not Defective that the Body of Sacred Scripture is not Maimed and Imperfect First As to the Book of the Covenant mention'd in Exod. 24. 7. which some fancy is lost it is not any distinct Book from the Body of the Iewish Laws If we impartially weigh the Place we shall find that it is no other than a Collection or Volume of those several Injunctions and Institutions which we read in the foregoing Chapters viz. 20 21 22 23. which God delivered to Moses on the Mount It is the very same with the Book of the Law Deât 31. 9. That which hath caused a different Perswasion in some is this that these Laws are call'd a Book but I shall make it evident afterwards that this Appellation is of a great latitude and is applied to any sort of Writing by the Hebrews Secondly As for the Book of the Wars of the Lord Numb 21. 14. which is thought to be now wanting the Answer given by some is that this was an Apocrypbal Author and so cannot be said to belong to the Holy Scriptures and consequently the loss of this Book doth not argue the Imperfection of the Bible But tho this way of Solution be tolerable when made use of as to some Other Books hereafter mentioned yet I think there is no need at all of using it here because it is not unlikely according to the Judgment of our Learned English Rabâi that Moses refers here to himself and a Book of his own composing for we read that upon the Discomfiture of Amalek God commanded Moses to write it for a Memorial in a Book Exod. 17. 14. and as it follows to rehearse it in the Ears of Joshua So that it may seem to have been some Book of Directions written by Moses for Ioshua's managing of the Wars after him Thus this Learned Writer makes this Book only to be of private use and dictated by an Ordinary not a Divine Spirit wherefore it cannot be one of the Books of the Bible And if this be true then though it be lost yet no Canonical Scripture is lost hereby But from what I shall propound I think it will be found reasonable to believe that the Book in this Place mention'd is one of the received Books of the Old Testament i. e. it is the Book of Iudges which deservedly hath the Name of the Book of the Wars of the Lord because it recounts those Warlike Enterprizes which those Heroâck Spirits stirr'd up by God in an extraordinary Manner were famous for Or Milchamoth Iehovah the Wars of the Lord are as much as the Great Wonderful and Renowned Wars for perhaps the Name of God is used here as in several other Place to augment the Sense and to express the Greatness and Excellency of the Thing fought by the Valiant Iews To any one that consults the Text together with the 26th v. of that Chapter it will plainly appear that this Passage particularly refers to the 11th Chapter of Iudges v. 15 16 17. But if you ask how Moses who was dead long before could write this I answer though he undoubtedly writ the Book of Numbers as well as the rest of the Pentateuch yet some few Passages in this and the other Books may reasonably be supposed to be inserted afterwards by some other Inspired Persons as I have had Occasion to advertise before Ezra it is likely revising this Book added this of what God did in the Red Sea and at the Brooks of Arnon And to give yet more ample Satisfaction to this Scruple I desire it may be observed that though we translate the Text thus It is said in the Book of the Wars c. yet in the Original the Verb is in the future Tense ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã diceture it shall be said and so we may look upon it as a Prophecy of Moses He here foretels that afterwards it shall be commemorated how God fought for his People When there shall be at solemn Times a Rehearsal of the Jewish Wars then this Passage shall be call'd to mind and made mention of And then we must look upon these two Verses not as cited
Ghost saw to be most profitable and necessary for the Church That one would think should content us So as to his Songs which were a thousand and five as we read in the fore-mentioned Place there is but One of them that hath arrived at our Hands and was thought worthy to be inserted into the Sacred Writings unless we reckon the Forty fifth Psalm to be a Song of his This then adds to the Excellency of these Writings of Solomon which we have that they are Choice Pieces selected even by the Holy Ghost who was the Prime Author of them This surely may satisfy us that the Books or Writings of this Wise Prince which were most Excellent and which were dictated by the Spirit are transmitted to us and are Part of the Bible Thus there is nothing lost that belongs to the Canonical Scripture of the Old Testament And whereas it is Objected that some Places are quoted in the New Testament as taken out of the Old and yet are not to be found there as Mat. 2. 23. Iames 4. 5. Iude v. 14. I answer as to the first that from those Words That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophets He shall be called a Nazarene no Man can gather that some of the Canonical Books of Scripture are missing because if you take the Prophets here for Prophetick Men who spoke only and did not write then there were no Books of theirs to be lost Or if by Prophets you understand the Penmen of the Bible it may be shew'd that what they foretold is still extant in their Writings For though those individual Words He shall be call'd a Nazarene are not found among the Prophecies of the Old Testament yet the Purport and Sense of them are there and the Places to which they have reference are very obvious as I have shewed in that particular Interpretation of the Words which I have offered to the Publick in my Enquiry into some Remarkable Texts of the New Testament Thence I hope it will appear that the Objectors have no ground for what they alledg and also that the Iews Cavil against this Place of St. Matthew where they say he quotes a Text out of the Prophets which is not to be found in any of them is void of all Reason Another Place which is wont to be mention'd on this Occasion is Iam. 4. 5. Do you think that the Sâripture saith in vain The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to Envy Which Words are no where to be found in Scripture therefore say they some Part of the Holy Writings is lost And Sir N. Knatchbull seems to say that this is Passage taken out of the Writings of the Prophets which âre missing at this Day In answer to this some say that Gen. 6. 3. is the Place of Scripture here referr'd to but after they have taken a great dealâof Pains to make this out their labour is in vain for surely no Man of free and unprejudiced Thoughts will be perswaded that those Wordâ My Spirit shall not always strive with Man are of the same Import with these The Spirit that dwelleââ in us lusteth to Envy This Exposition is built upon a mistaken Notion of the Hebrew word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã contendet which our Translators truly rendââ shall strive some fancying that it is to be derivââ from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Sheath and then forsooth the Soul or Spirit is a Sword Lowis Chappel and some Others as groundlesly make these Words an Interrogation Doth the Spirit that dwelleth in us lust to Envy and think they refer to Numb 11. 29. Enviest thou for my sake The Question say they is a Negâtion and is as much as if it had been said Doth the Scripture and the Holy Spirit teach you to contend to be envious and quarrelsom No. But this likewise is forced and strained and an impartial Eye cannot possibly see any Affinity between the two Places of Scripture besides that there is one Interrogation to introduce another which confounds the Stile The plain and unforced Answer is this that St. Iames doth not here quote any Particular Place of Scripture as if there were such express Words in the Old Testament as are here set down by him He only tells us what is generally deliver'd in Scripture viz. that Man's Nature is depraved and corrupted that it is enclined to Envy as well as to other Lusts and Unlawful Affections Or If any âne Particular Place be referr'd to more than another it is probable it is that of Gen. 6. 5. or ch 8. v. 21. where we are told that the Imaginations or the Purposes and Desires of Mens Hearts are evil from their Youth yea they are only evil and that contiâually The Words then are not to be understood of the Divine Spirit but of that Corrupt Spirit which is in Men not the Spirit which is of God âât the Spirit of the World as the Apostle Paul distinguisheth 1 Cor. 2. 12. This Spirit lusteth to Envy and prompts Men to all other Vices And ãâã for the next Words He giveth more Grace they refer not to the Spirit here spoken of but to God who though he be not named in this Verse is twice in the immediately foregoing one He giveth ãâã Grace he according to his good Pleasure restrains Mens Lusts and envious Desires and teâcheth them Humility Submission and all other Divine Vertues Or according to a late Worthy Critick it i. e. the Scripture giveth more Grace for that it saith c. In this Holy Book there are Examples of some Persons in whom this Spirit of Envy was restrained When the Apostle then here saith Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain c. we must not wonder that those very Words are not found in any Part of the Old Testament for the Apostle only speaks here of what may be deduced from these Sacred Writings or what is said in them to the same purpose though in other Words There are many Places of Scripture which speak of the Lusts of that corrupt Spirit which is in us whereby we are stirr'd up to Envy and Strife From several Texts we may gather that Man's Nature is prone to these and the like Passions This I take to be the true Account of the Words In the same manner we are to understand Luââ 11. 49. Therefore said the Wisdom of God I will send them Prophets and Apostles c. There is no partâcular Text that hath these Words but there are several Prophecies to this Purpose So Ephes. 5. 14. He saith Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give the Light is not meanââ of any such particular and individual Words ãâã of the Spirit 's speaking in the Gospel to that Effect though I know Dr. Hammond and others refer iâ ãâã Isa. 60. 1. and some Interpreters to Isa. 51. 9. ãâã you will not find these or such Words in either of those Places That Passage in
use was drawn up in haste whereby some Matters that should have been united are severed and vice versâ The 1st Verse of the 4th Chapter to the Colossians should have been joined to the third Chapter and the Division of the Verses in many other Places ought to be corrected and altered as Sir N. Knatchbull hath in several Instances shew'd We may take Iunius and Tremellius for an Example who have alter'd the Chapters sometimes in the Latin and it might be as convenient to imitate them both in the Old and New Testament in English Nor will this Changing or any other Alteration which I have before suggested be any Argument at all of the Imperfection of Scripture This remains entire in it self and is not in the least changed And the âesign of my present Enterprize was to assert this and to evince the Perfection of the Original Text and to let us see that all Translations must be regulated by that No Version of the Bible is so absolutely Authentick that we ought to adhere to that and no other The Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New are the only Standard and all must be examined and tried altered and amended by this It is granted there is some Variation in the Copies but the Diligent and Unprejudiced may find out what is Genuine Some have fancied that the carelessness of Transcribers hath caused some Literal Faults but then they acknowledg that none of them are Material and Considerable they relate not to Faith and Good Manners This is the very Confession of Spinoza who hath spoken so ill of the Bible This I can certainly affirm saith he that I have not found any fault or variety of readings about the moral Documents which may render them obscure and dubious Wherefore our Assertion still remains impregnable and unshaken that the Sacred Volume of the Scriptures is Compleat and Perfect and hath all things in it which can speak it a most Consummate Work CHAP. XIV The Reader is invited to the Study of the Bible as he values the Repute of a Scholar and a Learned Man That he may successfully study this Holy Book he must be furnish'd with Tongues Arts History c. It is necessary that he be very Inquisitive and Diligent in searching into the Mind and Design of the Sacred Writers In examining the Coherence of the Words In Comparing Places together In observing and discovering the peculiar Grace and Elegancy and sometimes the Verbal Allusions and Cadences of the Holy Scripture of which several Instances are given He must also be Morally qualified to read this Book i. e. he ought to banish all Prejudice He must be Modest and Humble He must endeavour to free himself from the Love of all Vice He must with great Earnestness implore the Assistance of the Holy Spirit IT remains that I conclude with a serious Address and Invitation to the Reader to admire and value this Book which is so transcendently Excellent and Compleat to prize it above all others whatsoever constantly to read peruse and study these Holy Writings The Laws of that Vile Impostor Mahomet are stiled the Alcoran from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã legit as much as to say the Book is to be read And shall we not think that that Sacred Volume which contains the Laws of our Heavenly Master and Infallible Teacher deserves that Respect from us For this reason the Hebrews call the Holy Scripture Mikra i. e. lectionem because it is to be read by all because this Divine Book is to be universally perused revolved and searched into We are not forbid to be acquainted with Other Authors such as may conduce to uâeful Knowledg whether secular or religious especially such as may be someways helpful towards the understanding of the Scriptures But there is a great Number of Writers that are trifling vain and useless others are dangerous and pernicious Meddle with neither of these or if you have lay them out of your Hands forthwith and take up the Bible the only Book that is Worthy of your most serious perusal Behold here the Book of God! There are no Writings any where like these none can afford any thing comparable to them It may be observed that the Holy Spirit hath made use of divers Sorts of Persons in the penning of this Volume Moses bred up in the Schools of the Egyptians Daniel one of the chief of the Wise Men and Princes of the Persian Court David and Solomon Kings Ieremy and Ezekiel Priests Amos a Herdsman in the New Testament Matthew a Converted Publican Paul broâght up at the Feet of Gamaliel the rest of the Evangelists and Apostles Fithermen and Tradesmen that hence Persons of all Ranks and Degrees may be admonish'd to converse with these Sacred Writings that they may think themselves concern'd in these Messages deliver'd by different Embassadors I have sometimes observed that some Men of no contemptible Learning and Reading and who are acquainted with store of Good Authors have no regard for this Excellent Book and never think themselves obliged to look into it But this argues a great defect of Judgment to say no worse now for even in the Point of Scholarship they cannot be without the Knowledg of the Bible So far as they are Ignorant of this they are deficient in Learning for as I have demonstrated this Book is fraught with all Humane Learning and gives Instructions concerning the choicest Arts and Sciences Upon which account it is of such universal use tâat no sort of Persons can be ignorant of it without great Inconvenience and Damage He is no Antiquary that is not skill'd in these Writings which are of the greatest Antiquity He is no Historian that is not acquainted with the Important Transactions of this Book He is no Statesman or Politician who hath not insight into the Excellent Maxims and Laws which are found here He is no right Natural Philosopher who is not acquainted with the Origin and Make of this Mundane System as they are represented in the Mosaick Physiology in the first Chapter of Genesis He is no Accomplish'd Grammarian Critick or Rhetorician who is ignorant of that Philological Learning which these Writings afford And chiefly he is no Good Man or Christian who is a Stranger to those Admirable Rule which are here laid down Wherefore it is the concern of all Persons to converse with the Scriptures and to apply themselves with great diligence to the reading of them and that daily and frequently Let this Holy Book be seldom out of your Hands Though you have often perused it yet continue to do so still for you will thereby receive infinite Advantage There is ever something gain'd by a fresh and repeated reading of it Some new Matter is discover'd or the old is illustrated and confirm'd We either know more or know better than we did before That our Reading of the Holy Scriptures may be of this Nature and that we may study and
understand them aright I propound these ensuing Rules and Directions First It is requisite that we furnish our selves with other Learning to make our selves capable of understanding the Bible All Arts require a Master and Teacher even the lowest and mechanical All Trades and Sciences are to be learn'd none presumes to meddle with them till they have been instructed in them And yet we may observe that all degrees of Persons pretend to interpret the Scriptures though they were never instructed never prepared as St. Ierom complain'd of old A great many imagine that the Weakest Brains can comprehend the Contents of this Book and without all other knowledg attain to the meaning of them But this is a gross Mistake and is one cause of Mens wresting and corrupting the Scriptures They are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 2 Pet. 3. 16. unlearned and unwilling to be taught for so the Word imports they neglect the means of Knowledg they use not the proper Helps conducing to it Or whatever they were in St. Peter's Time we are sure that now a competent Measure of Humane Learning is required to understand these Writings For though they surpass all Humane Wisdom yet it is as true that they have strictures of all Arts and Sciences in them and are written in the Learned Languages and as I have shew'd formerly contain in them all sorts of Words Phrases and Idioms Wherefore there is a Necessity of the Arts and Tongues for understanding this Book In the Writings of Moses and the Prophets of the Apostles and Evangelists there are the Rites Customs Manners Opinions Sayings Proverbs of almost all Nations in the World especially of the Antient Hebrews Wherefore a Knowledg of their Writings and Antient Monuments a Converse with History and Antiquities are absolutely requisite especially for explaining the difficult Places And to have a true Notion of several Passages in the Epistles of the Apostles Ecclesiastical History in needful which gives us nitice of the Hereticks of that time or of those concerning whom the Apostles prophetically speak The Writings of the Fathers are to be consulted and that with great application of Mind that we may not mistake the Interpretations which those Learned and Pious Men give of the respective Places of Scripture that we may be ediâied by their Religious Comments but not imbibe any of their Errors This which I now say principally concerns the Guides and Ministers of the Church who are supposed to be Men of Learning and Scholarship and truly a great Part of the Bible is more especially fitted for such It is their province to expound and teach this Holy Book which is it self a Library and is of that Nature that it cannot be rightly understood and explain'd without acquaintance with the Antient Writers of the Church without skill in the Tongues Rhetdrick Logick Philosophy History Criticism for as it is furnish'd with all Literature so it requires all to unfold it aright As for the Apostles tho some of them had no knowledg in Arts and Sciences yet that Defect was abundantly recompensed by the extraordinary Gifts and Endowments of the Holy Ghost So most of the Primitive Christians in the Apostles Days who were not Hebrews understood the Language in which the Old Testament was written by their Gift of Tongues And as for the Greek of the New Testament it was universally known and so was in a manner the native Tongue both to the Jews and others of that time But Men are not now instructed in Strange Languages by the Spirit nor are they born with Hebrew or Greek neither are they Inspired with Arts and Humane Knowledg and consequently Study and Reading and Long Exercise are indispensably requisite Clement of Alexandria would have his ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i. e. his Perfect and Compleat Theologuâ be skill'd in Humane Literature and Philosophy Inshort to be a Consummate Divine and thorowly knowing in the Bible it is necessary that he be a Man of Universal Learning Secondly that we may read and understand the Scriptures it is requisite that we be exceeding Attentive Observing Considerate that we be very Inquisitive Thoughtful and Diligent This Rule may be explain'd in several Particulars 1. We must use great Thoughtfulness Diligence and Care in penetrating into the Design and Sense of those Inspired Writings St. Chrysostom delivers the Rule thus we must not only examine the meer naked Words and insist upon them simply and absolutely consider'd but we must chiefly attend to the Mind and Intent of the Writer Sometimes instead of an Absolute meaning of the Words in Scripture they are to be taken Comparatively or with Limitation they must be restrain'd to the Matter in Hand As to Instance No Man can say that Iesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost 1. Cor. 12. 3. i. e. no Man can say so from his Heart There is that Reserve implied Where I am ye eannot come John 7. 34. i. e. ye can't come yet but afterwards you shall All that came before me are Thieves and Robbers John 1 o. 8. i. e. all False Prophets for he means them are such It is reported that there is such Fornication among you as is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his Father's Wife 1 Cor. 5. 1. This sort of Fornication was not only named but practis'd among the Gentiles for there are several Examples in Pagan Story of marrying the Father's Wife therefore here must be meant the more Sober Sort of Gentiles And so in many other Places things which seem to be absolutely spoken are to be understood in a restrained Sense 2. It is necessary that we be very thoughtful and inquisitive about the Context the Dependance the Connection of those Places which we search into We are to be exceeding mindful what the Words refer to what Coherence they have with what went before and what follows To Know the true Sense of them we must carefully observe the Subject-matter for this is certain that Propositions are true or not true according to this You will meet with several Instances of this in my former Discourses on the Holy Scriptures and therefore I will forbear to mention any here Only I offer this at present as a General Rule for guiding us to the true and genuine meaning of Scripture 3. This Attentiveness and Care must be exercis'd in Comparing one Place with another or with divers others if there be occasion For as an Intelligent Person rightly suggests all Truth being consonant to it self and all being penn'd by one and the self-same Spirit it cannot be but that an industrious and judicious Comparing of Place with Place must be a singular help for the right understanding of the Scriptures This One Rule if well and duly observ'd will carry us through most of the Difficulties of the Bible For this we may depend upon that the Scripture is its own Interpreter that the best Comment on this Book is it self Wherefore let
be great Moral and Religious Qualifications likewise for this is the Book of God and therefore we must come to it with agreeable Inclinations Wills and Affections Men complain that there is a great Contention about the interpreting of Scripture and Different Parties can't agree whence they proceed to blame the Obscurity and Uncertainty of the Scripture it self But herein these Persons themselves are very blameable for this Disagreement in the interpreting of Sacred Writ arises not wholly from the Obscurity of it nor doth it proceed from the Uncertainty of it as some would suggest but from Mens Depraved Minds and Passions Wherefore our main Care ought to be 1st To free our selves from all Wilful Prejudice and Perverseness which have been the first and original Causes of misunderstanding the Scriptures Thus the Infernal Spirit when he tempted our Saviour most perversly quoted Psal. 91. 11. and misapplied it to his purpose And from him Hereticks and Seducers have learnt to cite and make use of Scripture to evil Designs viz. to uphold some Error or Vice What an Antient Writer of the Church saith of one sort of Heretical Teachers that they interpret the Sense of the Holy Writ according to their own Pleasure is true of them all their constant Practice is to strain and distort these Sacred Writings to construe them according to their own Fancies and to make them like an Echo speak what they please Their great Work in consulting and turning over this Volume is to find something they may misinterpret for their own Ends. Their Affection to a particular Cause makes them believe and assert any thing though never so improbable and then they alledg Scripture to back it though it be wholly foreign to the purpose These Persons are of the Number of those Depravers of Truth who as One of the Antient Fathers gives us their Character do not accommodate their Minds to the Scripture but pervert and draw the Mind of the Scripture to their own Wills This glossing and expounding of the Bible according to Mens corrupt Fancies is as M. Luther hath expressed it like straining Milk through a Colesack it blackens and deâiles the pure Word of God it depraves and falsifies the Mind of the Spirit Those Men are to be abhorr'd that submit not their Thoughts and Conceptions to this Sacred Standard who compel the Scripture to serve their Private Opinions who make no conscience of putting a Text upon the Rack to make it speak what it intended not of miserably torturing it that they may force it to confess what it never meant These Persons should be reminded how great a Sin it is to distort and deprave the Holy Writ and designedly to draw it to another Sense than it naturally bears And the Penalty is as grievous as the Crime for as the Apostle St. Peter informs us this Generation of Men wrest the Scripture unto their own Destruction 2 Pet. 3. 16. Wherefore let none presume to be guilty in this Nature and dare to follow their own sinister Imagiâations in the interpreting of the Inspired Writings but let them attend to that Advice of a Pious and Learned Author We should be more willing to take a Sense from Scripture than to bring one to it Let us strive to know the naked and pure Meaning of the Spirit and in order to that read the Bible with an Unprejudiced and Sincere Mind which is an Excellent Interpreter Whereas 't is a certain Truth that Perverse Minds will pervert the Scriptures 2dly We ought to read these Divine Writings with great Modesty and Humility Let it not trouble us that some Parts of them are not level to our Understandings And where we cannot solve some things let us not arrogantly pretend to do it It is no Disgrace to confess our Ignorance here I can assure you this hath been done by the Learnedest Heads There is a Learned Ignorance as St. Augustin terms it and we need not be ashamed to be Masters of it These four things mention'd in Eccles 12. 6. I understand not saith Castellio I scarcely understand the thousandth Part of this Book saith he concerning the Apocalypse And 't is frequent with this Learned Man to say I know not the Meaning of this Place That Man is impudently rash who dares profess that he understands one single Book of the Bible in all its Parts saith Luther I own it that I am so blind that I cannot see any thing at all in that dark Place of Scripture Amos 5. 26. saith the Great Selden But the contrary Temper and Spirit have swell'd some with proud Conceits of their understanding some Passages of this Book when they have no true Apprehension of them in the least and accordingly they have endeavour'd in a supercilious manner to impose their crude Sense upon others not craving but commanding Assent to what they have propounded These bold Men forget what the Wise King saith It is the Glory of God to conceal a Matter to speak sometimes in so dark and hidden a manner that there is need of great searching studying and enquiring into the things that are said and yet at last they remain abstruse and unintelligible It hath pleased God the Wise Governour of the World that the Scripture should have Difficulties and Obscurities in it that there should be some things hard to be understood But as Socrates said of Heraclitus's Writings What he understood of them was very good and so he believed that to be which he understood not the like may we with more Reason pronounce concerning the Sacred Scriptures The Matters which we have Knowledg of which are the main Body and Substance of the Book are Excellent and Divine and so there is Reason to conclude that those Parts of it which are hidden from us are of the same Nature There is no occasion to find fault with the Sovereign Wisdom of God but it is our apparent Duty to lay aside Pride and to exercise Humility which will capacitate us to understand even those Great Mysteries and Abstrusities when we have with much Diligence and frequent Study search'd into them 3dly We must think our selves concern'd to purge our Hearts and Lives from all Deâilements of Vice For 't is certain that a quick Brain a subtile Head and a nimble Wit are not so much required to the understanding of Divine Truth as an Honest Mind and a Religious Practice To Men of polluted Consciences and profane Manners the Scriptures seem dark and mysterious but to those of sanctified Minds and holy Lives they are as to the most part plain and clear These Qualifications render them as bright as a Sun-beam What the Turks are said to write on the back-side of the Alcoran Let none touch this Book but he that is pure may with great Reason and Justice be written on the Holy Book of Scripture and that only for a Pure Life is the best Commentator on these Writings A wonderful measure of
Knowledg and Insight into these Divine Truths which are here contain'd is the Effect of observing and practising the Holy Precepts of this Book This then we ought to urge upon our selves to come to the reading of Scripture with defecate and purged Minds with Love to what it dictates and with Obedience to it This should be our principal Care to live well and to walk according to this Excellent Rule All our Religion and the whole Conduct of our Actions in this World depend upon the Scriptures therefore let us be directed and govern'd by the Infallible Maxims Precepts Promises and Threatnings of this Book We see Men live by Custom by the Dictates of Others or by their Own Opinions which oftentimes prove erroneous and lead them into unwarrantable Practices But they would not be thus misguided if they consulted These Lively Oracles of God this sure Word of Prophecy if they regulated their Actions by this Exact Canon And hereby we are certain to improve our Knowledg in this Holy Book for by living according to it we shall the better understand it by minding the Practical Contents of it we shall have a full Discovery of its Principles and Doctrines Lastly That we may attain to a right understanding of the Sense of Scripture that we may have a due Perception of the Meaning of what is deliver'd here let us most earnestly invoke the Divine Aid and Assistance He that reads this Book without Prayer can never expect to be bless'd with a compleat Knowledg of it For it is the sole Work of the Divine Spirit to illuminate our Minds effectually There is required the special Help of this Heavenly Instructor to direct us into Truth wherefore he is call'd the Spirit of Truth and the Vnction from the Holy One whereby we know all things The same Spirit that endited these Holy Writings must enlighten our Minds to understand them Which I find thus expressed in the Words of our Church The Revelation of the Holy Ghost inspireth the true meaning of the Scripture into us in truth we cannot without it attain true Saving-knowledg And a Learned and Pious Son of our Mother gives his Suffrage in these Words Wicked Men however learned do not know the Scriptures because they feel them not and because they are not understood but with the same Spirit that writ them Seeing then a Spiritual Illumination is requisite in order to the comprehending of Scripture-Truths we ought with great Fervour and Zeal to request it we ought with a singular Devotion to repair to this Infallible Teacher and with mighty Importunity beseech him to open our Eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of the Divine Law and to conduct our Reasons aright in our Enquiry into this Sacred Volume And He that commands us to implore his Help will certainly vouchsafe it to all sincere and devout Supplicants The Eyes of our Understanding shall be irradiated with a Celestial Beam and we shall feel an internal Operation of the Spirit on our Hearts communicating Light and Wisdom By the Assistance of this Blessed Guide we shall not miscarry in our Searches and Endeavours This Divine Book shall be laid open to us and we shall have its Mysteries and Depths disclosed to us so far as is convenient for us and no rational Man ought to desire any more Yea as it is with some of those that have studied for the Phâlosophick Elixar though they attain not to it yet in their impetuous Search after it they find out many Excellent Things admirably useful for Mankind which are a Recompence of their Labours so though we may fall short of some Grand Secrets which are treasured up in this Inspired Volume yet we shall not faâl of some Choice Discoveries that will make us amends for our most laborious Enquiries We shall mightily improve our Knowledg and we shall likewise be under the special Benediction of Heaven The Rabbins tell us that when R. Ionathan writ his Targum on the Bible if at any time the least Fly lit upon his Paper it was presently consumed with Fire from Heaven But though this be Romantick and after the rate of the Rabbins yet it is a sober Trutlâ that God will protect us in reading and studying the Holy Scriptures Whilest we are thus employed nothing shall disturb or hurt us the Divine Arm will defend and prosper us and we shall peruse this Book with that happy Success which we pray'd for In short by continual conversing with this Book which is the only one that hath no Errata's we shall know how to correct all the Failures of our Notions and of our Lives we shall enrich our Minds with a Stock of Excellent Principles and we shall be throughly furnish'd unto all good Works we shall be conducted to the highest Improvements of Knowledg and Sanctity in this Life and to the most Conââmmate Happiness in another FINIS Books written by the Reverend Mr. John Edwards AN Enquiry into several ãâã Texts of the Old and New Testament which contain some Difficulty in them with a Probable Resolution of them In two Volumes in 8â A Discourse concerning the Authority Stile and Perfection of the Books of the Old and New Testament Vol. I. with a Continued Illustration of several Difficult Texts throughout the whole Work A Discourse conâârning the Authority Stile and Perfection of the Books of the Old and New Testament Vol. II. wherein the Author 's former Undertaking is further prosecuted viz. An Enquiry into several Remarkable Texts which contain some Difficulty in them A Discoeurs concerning the Authority Stile and Perfection of the Books of the Old and New Testament Vol. III. treating of the Excellency and Perfection of the Holy Scriptures and illustrating several difficult Texts occurring in this Undertaking All sold by Ionathan Robinson Iohn Taylor and Iohn Wyat. * Plataic â Panegyr Plataic â¡ Plataic * Orat. 2. ad Nicocl â Panegyr Orat. â Orat. ad Philip. â¡ Panegyr ad Philip. Epist. ad Philip. Epist. ad Mitylen * Panegyr Orat. â Plataic Orat. 1. â Orat. ad Philip. * Panegyr Orat. Plataic Orat. bis â Olynth 1. â Philip. 1. * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Clem. Alex. in Protrept â Gen. 9. 27. * Deut. 28. 49 c. â 1 Kings 13. 2. * Antiqu. 1. 11. c. 1. â Dr. Jackson * Dan. 2. â Temporum conscius totius Mundi Polyhistor Epist. ad Paulin. * Ver. 2. â Ver. 20. â Ver. 5. * Ibid. * John 21. 18. â Ver. 22. * Earum rerum quae foââuitae putantur praedictio atque praesentio De Divinat l. 1. * Lib. 3. c. 8. * Colloqu Mensal * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Orig. cont Celâ l. 6. * Lib. 1. â ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Isid. Pelus Ep. l. 5. * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Just. Mart. Dialog cum Tryph. â Arnob. lib. 1. â Sozom. l. 1. c. 11. ââ Gr. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mark 2.
and twenty after the number of the Hebrew letters And Cyril of Ierusalem hath these express Words Read these two and twenty Books but have nothing to do with the Apocryphal ones Study and meditate only on these Scriptures which we conâidently read in the Church The Apostles and first Bishops were true Guides and were more wise and religious than thou art and these were the Men that delivered these Scriptures to us Thou then being a Son of the Church do not go beyond her Bounds and Orders but acknowledg and study only the two and twenty Books of the Old âââstament And other Fathers of the Churââ as Melito Bishop of Sardis Athanasius Amphiloââus Epiphanius Eusebius Gregory Nazianzen Gââgory the Great Basil Chrysostom testify that ãâã Books and no others of the Old Testamâââ which we receive now were the Canonical Booââ of old and received so by the first Christiââ Those eminent Lights of the Latin Church Rât Ierom Hilary disown as Uncanonical ãâã Books of Apocrypha The two latter especially ãâã very positive Ierom expresly tells us that ãâã Canonical Books of the Old Testament are but ãâã and twenty just the number of the Hebrew Alâphabet and no more and he enumerates the particular Books which constitute the whole ãâã saith indeed that some make them four and twââty but 't is the same Account for they reckââ Ruth and Lamentations separately But as for ãâã others he saith they are not part of Inspired Scripture and the Church doth not receive theâ among the Canonical Writings So Hilary givâ us the just Catalogue of the Books of the Old Tâstament and peremptorily affirms that there ãâã but two and twenty Canonical Books of it in all which are the same with the thirty nine according to the reckoning in our Bibles To Fathers wâ might add Synods and Councils as that antieââ one of Laodicea conven'd A. D. 364. which drew up a Catalogue of the Books of Scripture and makes mention only of these which we now râceive but leaves out the Apocryphal ones This Canon was received afterwards and confirmed by the Council of Chalcedon one of the first four General Councils And the sixth General Council held at Constantinople A. D. 680. expresly ratified the Decrees of that old Laodicean Council and particularly this that the Canonical Books of the Old Testament were but two and twenty There is another Reason also besides the Universal Suffrage of the Christian Church why the Apocryphal Books are ejected out of the Canon viz. because some things in them are false and contrary to the Canonical Scriptures as in Ecclesiasticus 46. 20. 2 Esdras 6. 40. and some things are vitious as in 2 Maccab. 14. 42. After all this it is easy to answer what the Romanists say on the other side They quote the third Council of Carthage which they tell us received the Apocryphal Books into the Canon And among the Fathers St. Augustin they say owns them besides that two Popes viz. Innocent the First and Gelasius took those Books which we stile Apocryphal into the Canon As for the Council which they alledg it was but a Provincial one and therefore is not to be set against those more Authentick and General Councils which I produced Nor must that one single Father whom they name stand out against that great number of Greek and Latin Fathers whom I mentioned The Popes bear a great Name among our Adversaries but they are but two and must not be compared with those Councils and that multitude of Fathers who are on our side Or if they lay such great stress on a Pope I can name them one and he one of the most eminent they ever had viz. Pope Gregory the Great who declares that the Book of Maccabees a main Piece of the Apocryphal Wrââtings is no part of the Canon of Scripture Wâ may set this One Pope for he is Great enough against the other Two Besides their own ãâã are against them the Apocryphal Books are ãâã received as part of holy Inspired Scripture by Iââdorus Damascen Nicephorus Rabanus Maurus Hâgo Lyranus Cajetan and others who are of greââ Repute in the Church of Rome We regard ãâã what the pack'd Council of Trent hath decreed viz. That besides the two and twenty Books ãâã the Hebrew Canon those also of Tobias Iuditâ the Wisdom of Solomon Ecclesiasticus Maccabeâââ Baruch are to be received as Canonical and thâ they are of equal Authority with the Canon oâ the Old and New Testament What is this to the general Suffrage of the Primitive Councils Fathers and Writers who have rejected the Apocryphal Books and received but twenty two into the Canon of Scripture belonging to the Old Testament You see what Ground we have no other than the Vniversal Church We reject some Books as Apocryphal because they were generally rejected by the antient Primitive Church and we receive the rest as Canonical because they were believed and owned to be so by the universal Consent of the Church See this admirably made good in Bishoâ Cousins's History of the Canon of Scripture Yet aâter all that hath been said we count the Apocryphâ Writings worthy to be read and perused The there be some things amiss in them yet we give great Deference and Respect to them as containing many Historical Truths and furnishing us witâ Matter of Jewish Antiquity as likewise because there are many Doctrinal and Moral Truths in them especially in the Books of Wisdom and Ecâlesiasticus For this Reason I say we bear great Respect to them and rank them next to the Holy Canon and prefer them before all Profane Authors This was done by the antient Fathers who frequently alledg'd them in their Sermons and Discourses which is one Reason I question not why these Apocryphal Books came to be made Canonical by some of the Church of Rome namely because they were so often quoted by the Fathers and in some Churches read publickly But this is no Proof of their being Canonical but only lets us know that these Books were in their Kind useful and profitable as indeed they are Therefore St. Ierom saith the Church receives not these Books into the Canon of Scripture though she allows them to be read And concerning these Writings our Church saith well quoting St. Ierom for it She doth read them for Example of Life and Instruction of Manners but yet doth not apply them to establish any Doctrine Which gives us an exact account of the Nature of these Books namely that they contain excellent Rules of Life and are very serviceable to inform us of our Duty as to several weighty things but they being not dictated by the Holy Ghost as the other Books of Scripture are they are not the infallible Standard of Divine Doctrine and therefore are not to be applied and made use of to that purpose This and the other Reasons before mentioned may prevail with us to think that these Writings ought not to be
excellent Philosophy in several Places of Holy Scripture yet these Writings were never intended mainly for this End but for one far higher and nobler Hence it is that you hear the Holy Writers speaking sometimes not according to the very Nature of the things but according to their Appearance and the Opinion Men have of them Yea they oftentimes express themselves according to the received Opinions although they be erroneous and false as in the Instance before mentioned Theodoret gives us the Reason of it in his first Interrogatory upon Genesis he bâgins his Work with This that the Holy Script ãâã wont to sute its ãâã of Teaching to the ãâã of the Learneâ ãâã d in another Place ãâã like purpose ãâã Scripture saith he ãâã as is most ãâã and fit for Men. The ãâã Ghost in it is pleased to condescend to their Capacities and to adapt himself to their shallow Apprehensions Thus frequently in the Scripture corporeal Properties are attributed to God you read of his Face and Back-parts Exod. 33. 23. and that these latter were seen by Moses which is spoken by way of Anthropopathy as Divines commonly speak i. e. after the manner of Men in compliance with their weak Capacities As when a Man's Face and Fore-parts are seen there is a considerable Discovery and Knowledg of his Person but when he is seen behind only it is imperfectly so was it when God appeared to Moses he shew'd himself to him not fully but in part as when a Man turns away his Face from another and lets him see only his Back-parts And so in other Places of Scripture we read of God's Eyes Ears Hands Feet and other bodily Parts and Members but we must not forget here the old Rule of Cyril of Alexandria When Members and Parts are attributed to God it is said after the manner of Men but it is to be understood in a Sense sutable to the Divine Nature And Athanasius hath the like Words on this Occasion But the not attending to this gave Rise to the Sect of the Anthropomorphites who pervesly understanding those Texts which ascribe these Parts to God held him to be Corporeal and of Humane Shape Tâey ãâã not knowing not rightly interpreting the ãâã which sometimes speak after the Guise of ãâã in condescension to ãâã shallow Understandâââ Thus Gen. 6. 6. It ãâ¦ã Lord that he ãâã Man and 1 Sam ãâã The Lord repented ãâã he made Saul King are ãâã that is as spoken in a vulgar manner and after the way of Mortals who when they repent abandon their former Doings So when God is said to repent that which we are to understand by it is this that he acts in a contrary manner to what he did before As in the forementioned Places it repented the Lord that he made Man the meaning is that he purposed to destroy Mankind viz. with a Deluge for so you find it explain'd in the next Verse the Lord said I will destroy Man whom I have created And when 't is said The Lord repented that be made Saul King the meaning is that he ââââosed to depose him and set up another as you read he gave Order in the Words immediately following in the next Chapter Therefore Theodoret saith well God's Repenting is no other than the changing of his Dispensation And thus we are to interpret this Expression where-ever it occurs in Holy Writ for in many other Places God is said to repent of what he did as knowing that the Phrase of this Sacred Book is oftentimes fitted to the Apprehensions and Language of Men and not the absolute Reality of the thing That of St. Chrysostom is certainly true God accommodates himself sometimes to humane Infirmity when he speaks in Scripture So those Words are to be understood in Gen. 11. 5. The Lord came down to see the City And again ver 7. Let us go down which are spoken in a vulgar manner and with respect to the shallow Conceptions of Mankind And the same Expression is used in Gen. 18. 20 21. Exod. 3. 7 8. Psal. 144. 5. Isa. 64. 1. God is here said to come down which signifies God's taking more than ordinary Notice of the Actions of Men and his designing to do some extraordinary thing The Scripture calls the Angels that appeared to Abraham Men because they feem'd to be such The Man Gabriel you read of in Dan. 9. 21 because he appear'd in the Shape of Man And so in the New Testament the Angles at our Saviour's Sepulchre are stiled young Men because as to outward Appearance they were such Nothwithstanding what some Commentators have said upon 1 Sam. 28. 15. Samuel said to Saul and again ver 16. Then said Samuel I am fully perswaded that those Words are spoken according to the Appearance not the real Truth of the thing The Name of Samuel is given to the Devil or Spectre that appeared but we are not to think that Samuel himself in Body and Soul appear'd for 't is ridiculous as well as impious to imagine that the departed Saints are at the Command and Disposal of a Necromantick Witch a Cursed Sorceress a Hellish Hag as if she could fetch them down from the Celestial Regions when she pleaseth But this she did she raised a Spectre or substituted some Person who resembled Samuel whom she represented to Saul's Sight as if he were the Prophet Samuel indeed Thence we read in this Sacred History that Samuel said to Saul because he who appear'd in Samuel's Likeness was thought to be Samuel and thought to speak to Saul Thus a Learned Father long since expounded this Passage of Scripture and gives us this as the Reason of it We find this saith he to be the Custom of Scripture that oftentimes it relates that which is only in appearance instead of what is true and real And with him agrees another of the learned Antients The Sacred History saith he calls the Apparition Samuel because Saul believed it to be the real Samuel for the Scripture speaks frequently according to other Mens Belief and Notions So it usually calls those Gods that are not really such but because the false and feigned Deities of the Heathens were reputed True Gods by them therefore the Name of Gods is given them often in the Old Testament and sometimes in the New But to confine my self to this latter here we find several things delivered not according to the Reality of the Matter spoken of but according to the Sense and Notion of others So I understand our Saviour's Words Matth. 12. 5. The Priests in the Temple profane the Sabbath i. e. by killing of Beasts and doing other laborious Work they according to you profane that Holy-day according to the Notion which you Pharisees have of keeping and breaking the Sabbath and according to which you condemn me and my Disciples as Profaners of that Day The Phrase used by St. Mark ch 1. 32. is according to a very vulgar Conceit
of it Anah's Invention of Mules Writers borrow from one another The Bible only is the Book that is beholden to no other Here is the Antientest Learning in the World and that of all Kinds 'T is common with Authors to contradict themselves and one another they are uncertain lubricous and fabuâous But the Divine Writers alone are certain and infallible How strange and improbable soever some of the Contents of this Holy Book may seem to be they justly command our firm Assent to them p. 263 CHAP. VII A particular Distribution of the several Books of the Old Testament Genesis the first of them together with the four following ones being written by Moses his ample Character or Panegyrick is attempted wherein there is a full Account of his Birth Education Flight from Court retired Life his Return to Egypt his conducting of the Israelites thence his immediate Converse with God in the Mount his delivering the Law his Divine Eloquence his Humility and Meekness his Sufferings his Miracles and his particular Fitness to write these Books A Summary of the several Heads contain'd in Genesis to which is added a brief but distinct View of the Six Days Works wherein is explained the Mosaick Draught of the Origine of all things and at the same time the bold Hypotheses of a late Writer designed to confront the First Chapter of the Bible are exposed and refuted The Contents of the Book of Exodus to which is adjoined a short Comment on the Ten Plagues of Egypt A Rehearsal of the remarkable Particulars treated of in Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy That Moses was the Pen-man and Author of the Pentateuch notwithstanding what some have lately objected against it p. 305 CHAP. VIII A short Survey of the Books of Joshua Judges Ruth which is a Supplement to the History of the Iudges Samuel the Kings Chronicles Ezra which is a Continuation of the Chronicles Nehemiah Esther The Author Stile Composure Matter of the Book of Job discuss'd An Enquiry into the Penmen Subjects Kinds Titles Poetick Meter and Rhythm of the Psalms p. 350 CHAP. IX The Book of Proverbs why so call'd The transcendent Excellency of these Divine and Inspired Aphorisms Some Instances of the Different Application of the Similitudes used by this Author The Book of Ecclesiastes why so entituled The Admirable Subject of it succinctly displayed The particular Nature of the Canticle or Mystical Song of Solomon briefly set forth It is evinc'd from very cogent Arguments that Solomon died in the Favour of God and was saved The Books of the Four Great Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah with his Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel are described So are those of the Twelve Lesser Prophets Hosea c. p. 379 CHAP. X. An Account of the Writings of the Four Evangelists the peculiar Time Order Stile Design of their Gospels The Acts of the Apostles shew'd to be an Incomparable History of the Primitive Church The Epistles of St. Paul particularly delineated He is proved to be the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews An Enquiry into the Nature of this Apostle's Stile and manner of Writing The excellent Matter and Design of the Epistles of St. James St. Peter St. John St. Jude An Historical Series or Order is not observ'd in the Book of the Revelation p. 415 CHAP. XI None of the Books of the Holy Scripture are lost Not the Book of the Covenant Nor the Book of the Wars of the Lord Nor the Book of Iasher Nor the Acts of Vzziah An Account of the Book of Samuel the Seer the Book of Nathan the Prophet the Book of Gad the Seer the Book of Iddo the Books of Shemaiah Iehu c. What is to be thought concerning the Books of Solomon mention'd 1 Kings 4. 32 33. Objections drawn from Jam. 4. 5. from Luke 11. 49. from Acts 20. 35. from Jude v. 14. from 1 Cor. 5. 9. from Col. 4. 16. fully satisfied Other Objections from 1 Cor. 7. 6 12 25. 2 Cor. 8. 8. 11. 17. particularly answer'd p. 451 CHAP. XII A short View of the Eastern Translations of the Old Testament especially of the Targums The several Greek Translations more especially that of the LXX Jewish Elders The impartial History of them and their Version Some immoderately extol it others as excessively inveigh against it The true Grounds of the Difference between the Hebrew Text and the Greek Translation of the Septuagint assigned viz. One Hebrew Vowel is put for another One Consonant for another Sometimes both Vowels and Consonants are mistaken The Difference of the Signification of some Hebrew Words is another Cause sometimes the Sense rather than the Word it self is attended to Some Faults are to be attributed to the Transcribers Some because the LXX are Paraphrasts rather than Translators they take the liberty to insert Words and Passages of their own The Greek Version hath been designedly corrupted in several Places Why the Apostles in their Sermons and Writings made use of this Version though it was faulty Sometimes the Sacred Writers keep close to the Hebrew Text and take no notice of the Seventy's Translation of the Words At other times in their Quotations they confine themselves to neither but use a Latitude The Greek Version is to be read with Candour and Caution and must always give way to the Hebrew Original The chief Latin Translations of the Bible especially the Vulgar examined Modern Latin Translations and lastly our own English one consider'd p. 477 CHAP. XIII Our English Translation shew'd to be faulty and defective in some Places of the Old Testament But more largely and fully this is performed in the several Books of the New Testament where abundant Instances are produced of this Defect and particular Emendations are all along offer'd in order to the rendring our Translation more exact and compleat The Date of the Division of the Bible into Chapters and Verses p. 532 CHAP. XIV The Reader is invited to the Study of the Bible as he values the Repute of a Scholar and a Learned Man That he may successfully study this Holy Book he must be furnish'd with Tongues Arts History c. It is necessary that he be very Inquisitive and Diligent in searching into the Mind and Design of the Sacred Writers In examining the Coherence of the Words In Comparing Places together In observing and discovering the peculiar Grace and Elegancy and sometimes the Verbal Allusions and Cadences of the Holy Scripture of which several Instances are given He must also be Morally qualified to read this Book i. e. he ought to banish all Prejudice He must be Modest and Humble He must endeavour to free himself from the Love of all Vice He must with great Earnestness implore the Assistance of the Holy Spirit p. 532 OF THE EXCELLENCY PERFECTION OF THE Holy Scriptures CHAP. I. The different Esteem and Sentiment of Persons concerning the Authors they make choice of to read No Writings can equal the Bible It hath been highly valuâd in all Ages by