his heart to attribute it unto him 76. A fragment taken out of Athanasius concerning the Observation of Sabbaths Unto these there are added seven homilies more never before extant by Lucas Holsteinius out of the French Kings the Vatican and Oxford Libraries and they are these following 1. Of the taxing of the Virgin Mary upon Luke 2. 1. 2. Upon Matth. 21. 2. Upon whiâ—h text we had an Homily before viz. the 41. in this Catalogue 3. Upon Luke 19. 36. which with the former Holstein verily believes to be of Athanasius 4. Upon the Treason of Iudas which as also the following hath the Character of Athanasius by Photius 5. Upon the holy Pascha which of all is the best and most Elegant 6. Upon the man that was born blind Iohn 9. 1. which together with the following hath nothing of Athanasius in it nec vola nec vestigium but the title only 7. Upon the Fathers and Patriarchs a most foolish rustick and barbarous piece They may all well be conceived to be of very small credit having lain so long dormant Also certain Commentaries upon the Epistles of Paul are by some ascribed unto Athanasius which yet are not his but Theophylacts Some of his works are lost of which the Names or Titles are these that follow 1. Commentaries upon the whole book of Psalms which I think saith Holstein to be Palmarium Athanasii opus the chief of Athanasius his works 2. Upon Ecclesiastes 3. Upon the Canticles 4. A Volum upon Iohn § 4. Athanasius hath a peculiar stile or manner of speech making use of words which were known only unto the age wherein he lived and neither before nor after The subject whereof he for the most part treateth being very high viz. of the Trinity of the Son begotten of the Father before all time equal unto him but distinct in person from him c. Yet making use of terms very apt to express those hidden and mysterious things by which cannot well be rendred in the Latine or other Tongue without loss or lessning the grace of them such are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He shunneth all flourishes and expresseth the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God in Evangelical words In his speech he useth much simplicity gravity and energy and saith Erasmus he is wonderful in teaching He is most plain in his Commentaries yet in all his writings perspicuous sober and candid in his five books against Arius vehement and profound managing his arguments very strongly moreover so fruitful is he and abundant as is indeed very admirable But his Epistles especially those wherein by way of Apology he excuseth his flight are both elegant and splendid and composed with much clearness flourishing with such neatness and force of perswasion that it is pleasant to hear how he pleads for himself § 5. Many are the memorable and worthy passages that are to be found in his works for a tast I shall present you with these that follow 1. His Symbol or Creed every where received and recited in the Churches both of the East and West it was so famous and generally approved of that it was embraced with an unanimous consent as the distinguishing Character between the Orthodox and Hereticks Nazianzen calls it a magnificent and princely gift Imperatori inquit donum verè regium magnificum offert Scriptam nimirum fidei confessionem adversus novum dogma nusquam in Scripturâ expressum ut sic Imperatorem Imperator doctrinam doctrina libellum libellus frangeret atque opprimeret It is as it were an interpretation of those words of Christ Iohn 17. 3. This is life eternal to know thee the only true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent And may be divided into these two parts 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanasius saith Doctor Andrews in his speech against Mr. Trask was great for his Learning for his Vertue for his Labors for his sufferings but above all Great for his Creed The words whereof are these Whosoever will be saved before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholick Faith which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled without doubt he shall perish everlastingly And the Catholick faith is this That we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity Neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance For there is one Person of the Father another of the Son and another of the holy Ghost But the Godhead of the Father of the Son and of the holy Ghost is all one the glory equal the Majesty Coeternal Such as the Father is such is the Son and such is the holy Ghost The Father uncreate the Son uncreate and the holy Ghost uncreate The Father incomprehensible the Son incomprehensible and the holy Ghost incomprehensible The Father eternal the Son eternal and the holy Ghost eternal And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal As also there are not three incomprehensibles nor three uncreated but one uncreated and one incomprehensible So likewise the Father is Almighty the Son Almighty and the holy Ghost Almighty and yet they are not three Almighties but one Almighty So the Father is God the Son is God and the holy Ghost is God and yet they are not three Gods but one God So likewise the Father is Lord the Son Lord and the holy Ghost Lord and yet not three Lords but one Lord. For like as we be compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord so are we forbidden by the Catholick Religion to say there be three Gods or three Lords The Father is made of none neither created nor begotten The Son is of the Father alone not made nor created but begotten The holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son neither made nor created nor begotten but proceeding So there is one Father not three Fathers one Son not three Sons one holy Ghost not three holy Ghosts And in this Trinity none is afore or after other none is greater or less then another But the whole three Persons be coeternal together and coequal So that in all things as is aforesaid the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God is God and Man God of the substance of the Father begotten before the worlds and Man of the substance of his Mother born in the world Perfect God and perfect Man of a reasonable soul and humane flesh subsisting Equal to the Father as touching his Godhead and inferior to the Father touching his manhood Who though he be God and Man
profound meaning of them so that many times he would even gravel his Father questioning him what was meant by this and that place insomuch as his Father would check him sometimes in outward appearance admonishing him not to enquire curiously above the capacity of his years and more than the plain Letter gave him to understand yet inwardly did he rejoyce greatly hereat and would oftentimes uncover the Breast of his child while asleep solemnly kissing it as the Shrine or Closet of the Holy Ghost giving hearty thanks unto God that he had made him the Father of such a Son From this domestical Discipline he was delivered over unto other Masters whereof the famous Clement of Alexandria was one and the learned Philosopher Ammonius another whom he heard for the space of seven years When his Father was martyred he was left an Orphan of the age of seventeen years with his Mother and six Children in great want his Father's Substance and Estate being all confiscated into the Emperour's Treasury Origen therefore casting himself upon the providence of God he stirred up the heart of a Matron in Alexandria very rich and also religious to compassionate him in his necessities who received him into her House and not only maintained him but also liberally helped and promoted him in his studies at her own cost There was in the house at the same time a certain man of Antioch named Paulus accounted a profound and wise man but a notable Heretick whom she had adopted for her Son to him resorted a very great number not only of Hereticks but also of the Orthodox as unto their Master Origen then of necessity using his company and having made so good a progress in Learning that he could discern between true and false Doctrine would by no means be drawn either to discourse or to be present with him at prayers nor would he give him any respect at all so much did he detest his heretical opinions About the eighteenth year of his age heâ— publickly at Alexandria began to profess and teach the art of Granmar wherewith he maintained himself that he might not be burthensome to any one Olim senile arduum fuit negotium Grammaticam profiteri A work of great difficulty in former time saith Erasmus to the due performance whereof much labour and no less skill was requisite And because by reason of the heat of persecution those who had formerly catechised and taught in that School were forced to flie so that none of them were lest he under the person of a Grammarian acted the part of a Catechist Sub occasione secularis literaturae in fide Christi eos instituens together with Grammatical Rules scattering some seeds of piety and Christian Doctrine in the minds of his hearers which may be the ground of Zonaras his words concerning him Annos inquit octodecim natus instituâ—ndis Christianae Religionis tyronibus praefuit The Seed thus sown grew and prospered so well that divers of his Scholars profited exceedingly sucking from his lips the juice of Christian Religion and Heavenly Philosophy among whom one Plutarch was the first who at length was crowned with Martyrdom the second Heraclas the Brother of Plutarch who afterward succeeded Demetriâ—s in the Bishopprick of Alexandria Having for a while continuâ—d in this exercise with good success the charge of the School or Office of Catechist at Alexandriâ— wherein he succeeded Clement his Master was committed unto him by Demetrius the Bishop of that City Origen perceiving that many Scholars did resort unto him and frequent his Lectures he laid aside the reading of humanity and applyed himself to a more profitable course viz. the exercise of godly Discipline and in the instructing of his Auditors in the Sacred Scriptures in which employment he continued and flourished for divers years But at length the number of those who in companies flocked unto him and that even from morning to night growing so great that he had scarce a breathing time afforded him and perceiving that by himself alone he was not able to undergo the burden of so great a work nor could enjoy that leisure which he much desired to search into the profound mysteries of the Scriptures which his mind was chiefly carried out after he made choice of Heraclas a man expert in the Scripture most eloquent and not unskilful in Philosophy to be his assistant in the work of catechising committing unto him the instruction of those who were newly come to the faith reserving unto himself the care of such as had made a farther progress therein having attained unto more perfection While he was thus employed in preaching the word and instructing not only men but also women resorting unto him that he might cut off all occasion of suspicion and slander from the Infidels literally understanding those words of Christ Matth. 19. 12. There be some who have made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heavens sake He practised upon himself either by abscission or else by exsiccation and deading of those parts by certain herbs or medicaments which he made use of for that purpose A thing it seems commonly practised by the Heathen Priests for so Servius affirms Sacerdotes inquit qui maximae sacra accipiebant renunciabant omnibus rebus nec ulla in his nisi numinum cura remanebat herbis etiam quibusdam emasculabantur unde etiam coire non poterant Ierom gives us an instance hereof in the Hierophantae a sort of Priests among the Athenians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sacrorum interpres mysteriorum praeses qui enim sacris praesunt ceremoniis praedictionibusque Deorum multiplici nomine censentur namque Hierophantas aliquos alios Hierodidascalos nonnullos Hieronomos plerosque Hiâ—rophylaces aut Nomophylaces qui frequentes erant appellarunt Graeci inquit Alexander ab Alexandro Of these saith he Legant Hierophantas Atheniensium usque hodie cicutae sorbitione castrari postquam in Pointificatum fâ—erint electi surrecti fuerint inquit Rhodiginus viros esse desinere ut castissimè sanctissiméque sacrum facerent Of the virtue of which herb Pliny thus speaks Certum est quod lac puerperarum mammis imposita extinguat venâ—remque testibus circa pubertatem illita Chemnitius makes the reason of his so doing to be his too great admiration of single life which example of his many others followed Adeò ut Ecclesia coacta fuerit severiter 〈◊〉 prohibere So doth the Council of Nice provide that whoever was found guilty of gâ—lding himself if he were already in orders he should be deposed if not he was not to be ordained agreeable to what we find in the Canons of the Apostles as they are called concerning this thing This unadvised act of his Origen desired to conceal yet could not carry the matter so closely but that it came to the knowledge of Deâ—eirius the Bishop whereof
by immersion This saith he was our sentence in the Council that none ought by us to be kept back from baptism and the grace of God who is merciful unto all Now seeing this ought to be retained and observed toward all then we think it is much more to be observed about even Infants and such as are newly born Neither ought it to move any one that the sick are sprinkled or have water poured on them seeing they obtain grace of the Lord. it appears therefore that sprinkling also obtains even as the Salutary Laver and when these things are done in the Church where the faith both of the giver and receiver is sound all things may stand be consummated and perfected with or by the Majesty of the Lord and truth of Faith Concerning which opinion of his Augustine thus speaks Beatus Cyprianus non aliquod decretum condens novum sed Ecclesiae fidem firmisâ—imam servans ad corrigendum eos qui putabant ante octavum diem nativitatis non esse parvulum baptizandum non carnem fed â—â—imam dixit non esse perdendam mox natum â—itè baptizari posse cum suis quibusdam coëpiscopis censuit 7. That Devils were cast out in his time Be ashamed saith he unto Demetrian to worship those Gods whom thou thy self must defend Oh that thou wouldst but hear and see them when they are adjured by us and tortured with Spiritual scourges and by the torments of words are cast out of possessed bodies when wailing and groaning with humane voice and by Divine Power feeling whips and stripes they confess the judgment to come Come and know the things we say to be true thou shalt see us to be intreated by them whom thou intreatest to be feared by those whom thou adorest thou shalt see them stand bound under our hand and being captives to tremble whom thou dost honor and reverence as Lords Certainly even thus maist thou be confounded in these thine errors when thou shalt behold and hear thy gods at our demand forthwith to bewray what they are and although you be present not to be able to conceal their sleights and fallacies 8. The various operations of the three persons in the Trinity are thus elegantly described in the book of the Cardinal works of Christ. In this School of Divine Mastership it is the Father that doth teach and instruct the Son that doth reveal and open the hidden things of God the holy Spirit that doth replenish and endue us From the Father we receive Power from the Son Wisdom from the holy Spirit Innocence By the Father is given us eternity by the Son conformity unto his image by the holy Spirit integrity and liberty In the Father we are in the Son we live in the holy Spirit we move and go forward 9. Of inadvertency in Prayer what slothfulness is it saith he to be alienated and drawn away with foolish and profane thoughts when thou art praying unto the Lord as if there were some other things that thou oughtest to think on then that thou art speaking with God How dost thou desire to be heard of God when thou hearest not thy self wilt thou have the Lord to be mindful of thee when thou prayest seeing thou art not mindful of thy self this is not wholly to beware of the enemy this is when thou prayest unto God to offend with the negligence of prayer the Majesty of God this is to watch with the eyes and sleep with the heart whereas a Christian ought even when he sleeps with his eyes to have his heart waking 10. He doth most Rhetorically upbraid the slothfulness and sterility of the Lords people by bringing in Sathan with his sons of perdition thus speaking I for those O Christ whom thou seest with me have neither received blows nor sustained stripes nor born the cross nor redeemed my family with the price of my passion and death neither do I promise them the Kingdom of heaven nor restoring unto them immortality do I call them back again to Paradise And yet they prepare me gifts very precious great and gotten with too much and long labor c. Shew me O Christ any of thine admonished by thy precepts and that shall receive for earthly heavenly things who bring thee such gifts By these My terrene and fading gifts he means the Ethnick Spectacles no man is fed none clothed none sustained by the comfort of any meat or drink all perish in the prodigal and foolish vanity of deceiving pleasures between the madness of him that sets them forth and the error of the beholders thou promisest eternal life to those that work and yet unto mine that perish thine are scarce equal who are honored by thee with Divine and Celestial rewards Oh my dear brethren what shall we answer â—nto these things 11. Of Admission into the Church thus We saith he that must render an account unto the Lord do anxiously weigh and sollicitously examine those who are to be received and admitted into the Church For some there are whose crimes do so stand in the way or whom the brethren do so stiffly and firmly oppose that they cannot at all be received without the scandal and danger of many For neither are some rotten shells so to be gathered as that those who are whole and sound should be wounded nor is he a profitable and advised Pastor who so mingles diseased and infected sheep with the flock as to contaminate the whole flock by the afflictation afflictatione of evil cohering Oh if you could dear brother be present here with us when these crooked and perverse ones return from schism you should see what ado I have to perswade our brethren to patience that laying asleep or suppressing the grief of their mind they would consent unto the receiving and curing of those evil ones For as they rejoyce and are glad when such as are tolerable and less culpable do return so on the other side they murmur and strive as often as such as are incorrigible and froward and defiled either with adulteries or sacrifices and after these things yet over and above proved do so return unto the Church that they corrupt good dispositions within I scarce perswade yet extort from the common sort to suffer such to be admitted and the grief of the fraternity is made the more just because that one or other of those who though the people did withstand and contradict yet were through my facility received became worse then they were before nor could keep the promise of repentance because they came not with true repentance 12. That the people had at that time a voice in the election of their Bishop or Pastor even in Rome it self plainly appears in the case of Cornelius so chosen yea that it was the use every where is evident by these words of his That saith he is to be held and observed diligently from Divine Tradition and Apostolical observation which is held
de Sacramento calicis infudit Tunc sequitur singulâ—â—â— vomitus In corpore ore violato Eucharistia permanere non potuit Sanctificatus in domini sanguine potus de polutis visceribus erupit tanta est potestas Domini tanta Majestâ—s The necessity of this and the other Sacrament he seems to conclude from Iohn 3. 5. Except a man be â—orn of water and the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God And Iâ—hn 6. 53. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son if man and drink his blood ye have no life in you 6. But the greatest errour to be noted in him which yet oh how small in comparison of some in many other of the ancients was that about rebaptization by Chemnitius too harshly called a fundamental errour Ha 〈◊〉 inquit errorem in fundamento His judgment was this that those who having been baptized by Hereticks did forsake their Heresies and return unto the Church were to be received by Baptism In this opinion many Bishops not of Africa only but of Asia also consented with him about which there having been three Councils convened at Carthage in the third wherein Cyprian was President it was agreed in the affirmative upon this ground chiefly because they thought the Baptism of Hereticks to be a nullity Great was the contest between the African and Western Churches about this controversie these latter holding with the Bishop of Rome that Hereticks returning unto the Church were to be received only by prayer and imposition of hands wherein they are to be conceived no less erroneous than the former for that they allowed the Baptism of all sorts of Hereticks without making any distinction between them whereas not long after in the Council of Nice if any one flie unto the Catholick Church from the Paulianists meaning the Samosatenians called by either name from the Author Paulus Samosatenus and Cataphrygians it is ordained or decreed that they ought altogether to be rebaptized The reason was because these Hereticks holding Christ to be none other than a meer man they baptized not in the name of Christ and so the substance and true form of Baptism not being retained by them it was adjudged to be no Baptism And indeed whoever is baptized by such an Heretick as openly denies the Holy Trinity ought to be rebaptized so that it was the errour of Stephen and those who joyned with him that they excepted not such Hereticks as these as Cyprian erred in excepting none But Stephen though he were little less erroneous than Cyprian herein yet did he differ much in his disposition and carriage for according unto his hot and cholerick temper he declared publickly against Firmilian Bishop of Cesarea in Cappadocia of Cyprian's opinion and excommunicated all those that dissented from himself Contrariwise Cyprian discovering herein the mildness of his spirit thus bespeaks his colleagues in the Council of Carthage Ierom in commendation of him cites two passages of his to the same purpose the one ex Epistolâ ad Stephanum Episcopum Romanum the other ex Epistolâ ad Iubaianum In the former his words are these Quâ in re inquit nec nos vim cuiquam facimus aut legem damus cum habeat in Ecclesiae administratione voluntatis suae liberum arbitrium unusquisque praepositus rationem actus sui Domino redditurus It remains saith he that we produce what each of us thinks concerning this thing judging no man or removing any of another judgment from the right of Communion for none of us makes himself a Bishop of Bishops or with tyrannical terrour drives his collegues to a necessity of obeying seeing every Bishop hath a proper judgment according unto his own liberty and power as who cannot be judged by another seeing that he himself cannot judge another But we all expect the judgment of our Lord Jesus Christ who only and alone hath power of preferring us in the Government of his Church and of judging our actions Oh how much is Augustin taken and delighted with the peaceableness charity and moderation of Cyprian herein for which he greatly admires and commends him And saith he the Lord therefore did not discover this truth unto him that his pious humility and charity in wholsomly keeping the peace of the Church might be the more open and manifest and taken notice of as a remedy not only by the Christians of that time but also by posterity c. Moreover let me add as making much to his praise that he was not obstinate in his errour for as he was learned and skilful to teach othâ—rs so was he also docil and patâ—ent to learn of others which I doubt not saith Augustin he would have demonstrated had he discussed this question with holy and learned men Yea saith he perhaps he did correct his errour but we know it not for neither could all things which at that time were done among the Bishops be committed to memory and writing nor do we know all things that were so committed Again we do not find saith he that he corrected his errour yet may we imagine not incongruously of such a man that he did correct it and that it was perhaps suppressed by those who were too much delighted with this errour and were unwilling to want so great a patronage And this hath been by some so far charitably believed that they have plainly affirmed so much that he did being convinced by the Orthodox renounce his errour herein so Bede quoted by Pamelius Supplement Bergomens Platina in vitâ Lucii Scaliger in Elench Trihaeresâ—i Nicolai Serari cap. 31. And Baronius who tells us that none can justly doubt of it seeing both the Eastern and Western Churches have always used to celebrate the Birth Day of the Martyr Cyprian Briefly either he was not saith Augustin of the opinion that you the Donatists report him to have been of or he afterward corrected it by the rule of truth or else he covered this quasi naevum spot as it were of his white Breast with the pap or veil of charity while he most copiously defended the unity of the Church increasing through the whole world and most perseveringly detain'd the bond of peace § 7. As touching his Martyrdom it is recorded that upon his first entrance into Cuâ—ubis the place of his banishment it was revealed unto him in a Vision whereof he had divers and attributed much unto them that upon that same day in the year following he should be consummate and crowned which accordingly fell out For being by Galerius Maximus who succeeded Paternus in the Proconsulship recalled from his banishment he according unto the Imperial Edict abode a while in his own Garden from whence being certified that certain Officers were sent to bring him unto Vtica a famous Town not far from Carthage he withdrew for certain days by the perswasion of his
dearest Friends unto whom herein he consented and as himself saith not without just cause for that it is meet a Bishop should in that City wherein he is set over the Lord's Church there confess the Lord and so make the whole people famous by the confession of their present Overseer for whatsoever in that moment of Confession the Confessour Bishop speaketh God inspiring him he speaks with the mouth of all If it should be otherwise the honour of our so glorious a Church shall be maimed c. Here therefore lying hid we expect the coming of the Proconsul saith he returning unto Carthage that we may hear what the Emperour shall command and speak what the Lord shall give in that hour Accordingly there came suddenly upon the Ides of September two Apparitours to bring him before the new Pròconsul Galerius but being put off till the next day the Lord so willing that he might dispose of the affairs of the Church he was brought then into the Court of Judgment where he received this sentence that having been the Standard bearer of his Sect and an Enemy of the gods and one that would still be an example unto his own refusing to offer sacrifice It is my pleasure saith Galerius that he be beheaded Which Sentence being passed he was led away unto a certain place called Sexti about four miles six saith Baronius from the City a great multitude following him and crying Let us die together with the Holy Bishop Being come unto the place he submitted himself unto the stroke of the Sword by which his Head being severed from his Body he changed this frail for an eternal life being the first of the Bishops of Carthage that sealed the truth with his blood He suffered under the Emperours Valerian and Galerius anno Christi 259. The Carthaginians did so highly honour and had him in such veneration that they erected unto him a most magnificent Temple and kept a yearly Festival in memory of him which from his name they call Cypriana as Mariners do also a certain storm that usually falls out about the same time Lactantius § 1. LVcius Caelius was his name unto which his eloquence gained him the addition of Lactantius from his milky and smooth kind of speaking as his Country that of Firmianus being an Italian by Birth not an African as Baronius and Posseviue imagine because he was the Scholar of Arnobius that was so of the Province called Picenum of old but afterward by the Lombards Marchia Anconitana from the chief Town therein Ancona as also Marchia Firmiana from the strong Town Firmium heretofore the Head City of the Piceni which Country is a part of the Land of the Church under the Government of the Popes of Rome Some do contend that he was of the German Race and that at this day there is a Family not obscure among the Germans which bearing the name of the Firmiani do boast themselves to be the posterity of Lactantius but the general consent of Authors shews this to be but a vain conceit He was at first the Scholar of Arnobius Professour of Rhetorick at Sicca in Africa as also some time at Rome where Lactantius heard him and profited much in the study of eloquence who also instructed him in the Christian Religion which it seems he had embraced before he came into Bythinia whither under Diâ—olesian the Emperor he was called unto the City of Nicomedia wherein for some while he professed the Art of Rhetorick whereof he had been a learner before But being a Latine in a Greek City his auditory grew thin so that he was destitute of hearers hereupon laying aside the work of teaching he betook him unto his pen and fell to writing being provoked unto and put upon it by a couple of impure and foul-mouthed Philosophers who either of them had belched out their books against both the Religion and name of Christians He was at length in France made Tutor unto Crispus the son of Constantine the great and his great friend who committed him for his breeding unto the câ—re of Lactantius an evident argument both of his fame and faithfulness § 2. He was a man of great Learning 〈◊〉 eruditione clarus abundanter 〈◊〉 inquiâ— Trithemius a very grave Author saith Hospinian one notably skilled 〈◊〉 the Art of Rhetorick and in all Philosophy having diligently perused the writings of all sorts of Humane Authors as his books do sufficiently testifie in which he omitted almost â—one of any science or Profession whose testimony he made not use of and so excelled in â—loquence of speech that therein he was judged to be superior even unto his Master Arnolius who yet was of chief note among Orators He is for this cause often stiled Oratâ—â— disertissimus the most eloquent and elegant Lactantius who among the Latines especially added Ornament unto Christian Doctrine the very top and most eminent of the Latine Rhetoricians in Divinis Scripturis nobiliter institutus His great abilities he notably improved for the publick good for though he were somewhat defective in the inward knowledg of Divine Mysteries and far inferiour unto many others for his skill in delivering and confirming the Doctrine of Christianity yet was he a stout Champion for the truth and gave good testimony of his zeal thereunto in opposing with all his might the adversaries thereof for which work he was excellently furnished having such a dexterity herein that he easily refuted and overcame them Vtinam inquit Hieronymus tam nostra confirmare potuisset quà m facilè aliena destruxit For observing the Christian Religion to be destitute of those that should eloquently defend it the opposers of it being such I saith he undertook this task being grieved with the sacrilegious writings which they published and stirred up hereunto with their proud impiety and conscience of the truth it self that so with all the strength of my wit I might reprove the accusers of righteousness not that I might write against them who might have been confounded in few words but that I might at once by one assault put to flight all those who every where do or have undertaken the same work A most laudable enterprise wherein as he manifested no small love unto the truth in attempting it so did he manage it with no less dexterity for which he hath been deservedly famous in the Church of Christ unto this day His challenge that he makes of all the Heathen is remarkable Si qua inquit 〈◊〉 fiducia est vel in philosophiâ vel in eloquentiâ arment se ac refellant haec nostra si possunt congrediantur comminus singulâ— quaeque discutiant Decet cos suscipere defenâ—â—onem Deorum suorum ne si nostra invaluerint ut quotidie invalescunt cum delubris 〈◊〉 ac ludibriis deserantur Procedant in medium Pontifices seu minores seu maximi
ground That the Plants and Trees spring downward that the snow and rain and hail fall upward upon the earth And need any man marvel that hanging Gardens are accounted in the number of the seven wonders of the world since the Philosophers have made both Fields and Seas Cities and Mountains all hanging What to say of these I know not who having once erred do constantly persist in their folly and with vain defend vain things only sometimes I think that they play the Philosophers in jest or wittingly and knowingly undertake to defend falshood to exercise as it were and shew their wit in things that are evil Strange ignorance that accounts so palpable a truth so gross an error yet herein was Lactantius outgone by Zachary Bishop of Rome oh the infallibility of that Chair who condemned one Vigilius Bishop of Saltzburg as an heretick only for holding that there were Antipodes 13. That the Souls of all men are detained in one common prison until the coming of the great Judge 14. He hath fond conceits of the coming of a great Prophet immediately before the end of the world who shall convert men unto God and work strange miracles unto whom he applies those passages concerning the two witnesses meâ—tioned in Revel cap. 11. 15. He is a millenary asserteth two resurrections and largely discourseth of the reign of the Saints upon earth after the first for the space of a thousand years and what should fall out during that time After this saith he shall be the last judgment in which not all shall be judged the wicked being condemned already but only those who know God at what time their good works shall be weighed with their bad and if the good do over ballance the bad they shall go into life if otherwise they shall be condemned A gross error and cross to plain Scriptures 16. He thus speaks of the last judgment when saith he the Lord shall judge the righteous he shall prove or try them by fire he seems to allude unto 1 Cor. 3. 13. Then they whose sins shall prevail either in weight or number shall be burnt but those whom righteousness and maturity of virtue shall have fully concocted shall not feel that fire For they have somewhat that repels the force of the flame c. These and other the like unsound passages are scattered up and down in the Writings of Lactantius who is therefore to be read with much caution apud Lactantium inquit Hyperius invenies plura quae sapientem lectorem desiderant He made too much of Philosophy as did also other of the Ancients chiefly that of Plato and too closely followed Origen which was the cause why in so many things he swerved and wandred from the truth and was so great a stranger unto it Retinuit tamen hactenus inquit Bullingerus suam gloriam in Ecclesiâ Christi § 7. As concerning his death I find no mention at all in History where or after what manner he ended his life That he lived unto a great Age may be gathered from what Ierom writes of him that in his extreme old Age he was in France Schoolmaster unto Crispus the Son of Constantine the Great where therefore it is most likely he might end his days But withal he was reduced to such poverty and want which is somewhat strange being a man of such worth and so greatly favoured by that good Emperour that for the most part he lacked even necessaries for his subsistence Athanasius § 1. HE was born at Alexandria of vetuous and godly Parents and their only Son From his very Childhood he gave good evidences of his towardliness and inclination unto piety and spiritual things One thing especially as very remarkable and presaging his future dignity and employment is recorded by most Historians concerning him and it is this He with his play fellows in their childish sports imitating those things that were done in the Church was chosen by the rest for their Bishop Who acting his part accordingly baptized some of the boys that had not been baptized before according unto the due form of interrogatories and answers usually preceding Baptism giving them afterwards divers exhortations and admonitions All which Alexander then Bishop of that place passing by at a distance beheld and understanding by examining them how he had proceeded concluded with his Presbyters that what was done though in childish simplicity was valid and that those Children ought not again to be baptized Alexander being moved herewith and having sent for his Parents earnestly besought and charged them that he should be carefully trained up in piety and learning for the service of the Church which accordingly they diligently performed delivering him unto a certain Notary who instructed him in the Grammar After which he spent some small time in the study of the liberal Arts lest he should seem to be altogether ignorant in this regard which having lightly tasted and passed thorow he is as another Samuel by his Parents according to their promise presented unto the Bishop With him being taken into his care and tuition he applies himself wholly unto the study of divinity most diligently perusing and meditating in the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament by which means he became deeply insighted into them hereunto he added also the study of the Law wherein he attained unto so much skill that Sulpitius Severus speaking of him gives him the Title of Iurisconsultus or a Lawyer For a while he lived with the Bishop as his Amanuensis or Scribe who afterward promoted him unto the Office of a Deacon and from thence unto the rest of the sacred orders all which he passed through behaving himself in an admirable manner The Council of Nice so famous even unto this day of which Athanasius thus speaks Nulla inquit est in Catholicâ Ecclesiâ synodus existimanda preter unicam Nicaenam quae omnium haersiâ—v profligatarum ac imprinius Arianae trophaeum habenda est And Binnius thus Patrum hujus consilii autoritas erat orthodoxae fidei clypeus impiorum terror ac luctus ecclesiarum nexus quies This Council I say being called by the Emperor Constantine the Great Alexander Bishop of Alexandria going thither takes along with him young Athanasius who was present not only as a spectator but an assistant unto the Bishop now grown aged helping him much in refuting the subtile Sophisms of the adversaries wherein he gave a notable experiment of his Learning and Piety which much endeared him unto the Orthodox but made him from that time no less envyed and hated by the Arian Hereticks Alexander survived this Council but a little while not above the space of five months when he was upon his death bed he would often call for Athanasius who purposely absented himself being unwilling to undertake the charge of that Church which yet the old Bishop had designed him
him to have been dead though indeed he were then alive 3. His book against the Arians or agaâ—nst Auxentius Bishop of Millain written unto the Bishops and people detesting the Arian heresie which by Ierom is stiled an elegant book wherein he accuseth the said Bishop as infected with Arianism To which is annexed an Epistle of Auxentius wherein he cleareth himself as not guilty of the crime laid to his charge 4. His book of Synods unto the Bishops of France whom he congratulates that in the midst of so great tumults as are in the world they had kept themselves free from the Arian faction wherein he declares in what meetings of the Bishops the Arian heresie had been condemned This book as himself testifieth he translated out of Greek but with this liberty that neglecting the words he kept still to the sense and where the place invites him so to do he adds and intermingles somewhat of his own Of which Chemnitius thus speaks He gathered together saith he the opinions of the Greeks concerning the Trinity and unless he had collected the decrees of the Eastern Synods we should have known nothing of them as touching their opinions and doctrinâ—s 5. His commentary upon the Gospel of Matthew which he divided into thirty and three Canons by which name it is called of some Going through almost the whole of that Evangelist in a succinct and brief but learned and solid explanation Being more delighted with the allegorical than literal sense herein imitating Origen out of whom I doubt not saith Erasmus he translated this whole work it doth so in all things savour both of the wit and phrase of Origen For as it containeth many choice things which do proclaim the Author to have been most absolutely skilled in the sacred Scriptures so is he sometimes too superstitious and violent in his allegories a peculiar fault to be found in almost all the commentaries of Origen 6. His commentary upon the Psalms not the whole but upon the first and second then from the one and fiftieth unto the sixty and second according to Ierom's reckoning but as now extant in Erasmus his edition from the one and fiftyeth unto the end of the sixty and ninth which addition Sixtus Senensis saith he had read being printed Also from the hundred and nineteenth unto the end of the book only that upon the last Psalm is imperfect the last leaf saith Erasmus in the manuscripts being either torn or worn away as it oftentimes falls out This work is rather an imitation than a translation of Origen for he adds somewhat of his own some do affirm that he set forth tractates upon the whole book of the Psalms and that it was extant in Spain But commonly no more is to be found than the above mentioned as also his book of the Synods being very large Ierom transcribed with his own hand at Triers for he had him in very high esteem There are also some books abroad under his name which are justly suspected and taken for spurious As 1. An Epistle unto Abram or Afram his Daughter which is a mere toy of some idle and unlearned man it hath nothing in it worthy of Hilary much less that which follows viz. 2. An Hymn which hath in it neither rhythm nor reason yet doth Ierom testifie of Hilary that he wrote in verse and perhaps some of those hymns which at this day are sung in the Church whose Author is unknown may be his He was so far skill'd this way that Gyraldus gives him a place and ranks him among the Christian Poets Bellarmine and Possevin had but small reason upon so slender a ground as they have to affirm both of these to be his without doubt 3. A book of the unity of the Father and the Son which whether it were his or no seems very uncertain seeing Ierom makes no mention of it It seems to be a rhapsody of some studious man taken partly out of the second but for the most part out of the ninth book of the Trinity who omitted and added what he pleased With this as a distinct book from it Bellarmine joyns another of the essence of the Father and the Son which yet I find not named by any other Author Indeed there is an appendix unto the former of the various names of Christ which Bellarmine mentions not the phrase whereof differs much from Hilary's The Author whereof would fain imitate Hilary which he was not negligent in the performance of They are grave and learned books saith Bellarmine of his two and not unworthy the spirit and eloquence of Hilary 4. An Epistle unto Augustine concerning the remains of the Pelagian heresie which cannot be Hilary's because that heresie was not known in his time 5. Another Epistle unto Augustine being the eighty and eighth in number among Augustines in which he propounds certain questions to be resolved but neither this nor the â—ormer are our Hilary's who was dead before Augustine became a Christian and yet in his answer he stiles him his Son They both seem to belong unto another Hilary that was afterward made Bishop of Arles who together with Prosper of Aquitain defended the cause of Augustine against the French Semipelagians The former of the Epistles gave occasion unto Augustine to write his treatises of the predestination of the Saints and of the good of perseverance to which are prefix'd this Epistle together with one from Prosper concerning the same matter 6. A fragment concerning the things that were done in the Council of Ariminum rejected by Baronius 7. An heroick Poem stiled Genesis written unto Pope Leo who lived Ann. 440. at what time Hilary had left this life And therefore it cannot be his but may better be ascribed unto the abovenamed Hilary Bishop of Arles 8. A fragment of the Trinity which contains his creed but of little credit as being no where else mentioned It might happily be an extract out of his work upon this subject § 4. As for his stile it is perplex and thâ—rny such as should he handle matters in themselves very clear yet would it be both hard to be understood and easie to be depraved Very lofty he is after the Gallicane manner for this seems to be peculiar unto the wit and genius of that nation as appears in Sulpitius Severus Eucherius and of late the famous Budaeus adeo sublimis ut tubam sonare credas non bominem adeò faeliciter elaboratus ut eruditum lectorem nunquam satiet trivialiter literatos procul submoveat and being adorned with the Flowers of Greece he is sometimes involved in long periods so that he is far above the reach of and in vain perused by unskilful Readers which yet Sixtus Senensis thinketh ought to be referred unto his books of the Trinity wherein he imitated Quintilian both in his