measured Jerusalem a thousand Cubits and as with a Span measureth he Man Secondly For Grace as the Prophets who were Anointed privately with the Spirit Thirdly for Oyl as the Kings and Priests were Anointed with Holy Oyl and Men likewise with ordinary Oyl Fourthly in the way of Honour as it was said of the House of Abraham and Isaack Touch not my Anointed Fifthly by way of Distinction as they who are set apart to do somewhat by Direction as Cyrus and Hazael who being seperated for a design were called Anointed Sixthly for Faith as That which is of Faith and Baptism is as the Body of Christ Seventhly for the Holy Ghost even as the Word Anointed his Body that is with his Godhead and with his Spirit for the Christ whom we Worship we do not call so as the Man born only of Mary and afterwards Anointed by the Spirit and Sanctified as the Hereticks say but we call Christ the Word of God who was begotten of the Father from Eternity and we call him Christ because he vouchsafed to be Anointed with the Spirit and to be Sanctified in the Flesh and as his Nature was high and above the Birth of a Woman of Passion and Death and yet vouchsafed to be born and to suffer and to dye in the Flesh for us so did he take upon him to be Anointed with the Spirit being the Giver of it and Holy in in his own Nature he was pleased to receive the Grace of the Spirit as not needing it and therefore receiv'd it that he might bestow it upon us And in all things he was the beginning to us as the Second Adam according to the saying of Paul That by his means he might give us the Holy Ghost Moreover we call him Christ because the Spirit descended into the Womb of the Virgin as the Angel said and this Spirit framed the body of the Word of God and Anointed and Sanctified it and so the Word was United to this Body and this the Spirit did not that it was unable to frame and Sanctifie the body out of the Womb but that it might be known that he that was born was God coequal in Nature with the Spirit who formed and Sanctified the body and not meer Man Again the Spirit formed the body of the Word and Sanctified and Anointed it that the distinctions of persons in the Trinity might be made known It was the Fathers pleasure the Son should be incorporated and it was the Holy Ghost who made him a Body in that he formed his body of the Virgin The same Order was observed in the Creation The Father commanded things to be made and the Son made them and the Spirit finish'd and accomplish'd them Furthermore the Father said Anoint and the Son was Anointed and the Spirit supplied the place of Oyl wherefore we call the Word of God Christ or Anointed Again we call the Word of God Christ for two Reasons and the first is for that he vouchsafed to be Anointed in the Flesh by the Holy Spirit tho' equal in Nature with the Giver of the same Secondly because the Holy Ghost Anointed and Sanctified his body being United to the Word Moreover this Name Christ teacheth the whole Doctrine of the Trinity it was the Father who Anointed the Son who was Anointed and the Holy Ghost was the Oyl or Unction he who said That Christ was made Man Naturally and that he was Anointed by the Spirit for Sanctification let him tell us where he was Anointed if before his Conception he had then no body in the Womb of the Virgin and behold it is not written that he was Anointed at his Baptism but behold he was called Christ at his Birth Some Hereticks there are who say that Jesus Christ signifies one made Man against whom we say that Jesus Christ signifies the Word of God not as he is God alone but as he is made Man Again The Name of Jesus Christ doth not denote Man from Mary nor God and Man together but the Word of God and it is most certain from hence for Jesus saith thus to the Jews Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the World do ye say Thou art a Blasphemer Who therefore was he who was sent from the Father Man Or God and Man together Or the Word as saith Paul that God sent his Son and he was made of a Woman Therefore he who was sent to the World is the Word which was from the Father and he is called Jesus and is the same who is said to be Sanctified and not meer Man neither God and Man together but the Father Sanctified the Word by the Holy Ghost who Anointed him not as he is God for so he is equal to the Father and the Spirit and the Giver of Holiness but as he was made Man for us Moreover Christ said before Abraham was I am who therefore was before Abraham the Man who was of Mary or God and Man together For the Man who was from Mary was so far from being before Abraham that he was not before Mary but after Mary being born of her 't is certain therefore that the Word of God who was called by this Name of Jesus Christ was before Abraham Furthermore Jesus said to the Jews What say ye concerning Christ whose Son is he They said unto him the Son of David and he said unto them How did David call him in the Spirit Lord for he said The Lord said unto my Lord sit on my right Hand if David called him Lord how was he his Son he therefore who is the Lord of David is the Man from Mary who as yet was not in the time of David nor Mary of whom he was born Either he calls Man and God together Christ for he calls one in the singular Number my Lord and not many Lords it is therefore certain that he calls the Word of God coequal with the Father in Nature Lord according to this The Lord sent down Fire from before the Lord on Sodom and according to this also There is born unto them to day a Redeemer who is the Lord Christ wherefore he calls him Christ again it is written That thy Throne is for ever and ever after he had called him God and said Thy Scepter is for ever and ever that is to say there is no end or term to his Kingdom he said God hath Anointed thee that is the Father hath Anointed the Word of God by the Holy Spirit but not as God but as he was made Man and accordingly as the Word said He whom the Father Sanctified and Sent. Moreover the Prophet said He hath Anointed him above his Fellows that is he hath Anointed him above us and above the Prophets and Apostles and others who are Anointed for all Men who are Anointed of the Spirit receive what they stand in need of but the Word being Sanctified and Anointed with the Spirit received it tho not in want thereof but full and a bestower thereof
on others as said John That of his fulness we have all receiv'd and being equal in Nature and a Giver of the Spirit he vouchsafed to be Anointed therewith that by means of him he might give us his own wherefore the Word of God is called Christ not for that he was Man nor Man of Mery nor Man and God together and this John confirms saying There are different Spirits some are of God and some of this World every Spirit that saith Jesus Christ is not come in the flesh this is not of God but of the World this being certain that he who came in the flesh is the Word of God and John calls him Christ and he is not Man nor Man and God together Moreover Paul saith We have one God the Father from whom are all things and one Lord Jesus by whom are all things and this further that in Christ all things were created Again Paul saith unto the Philippians That Jesus Christ being the likeness of the Father thought this no Robbery to be compared with God what therefore is this comparison or equality Who therefore is to be compared with God the Father the Man born of Mary or God and Man or the Word For Man is not only not equal to God but is also a Creature and a Servant but the Word of God is to be compared with God the Father because he is of the same Nature and Coequal in Essence and did not Usurp this but had it Naturally Again who was it that emptied himself Man of Mary or Man and God together or the the Word of God Man was already empty necessitous and indigent and the Apostle doth not speak of both God and Man nor are there two that stand in comparison with God and did empty themselves but the Word emptied himself because he was made Man and he it was who emptied himself in the Flesh without being changed Furthermore it is written that he assumed the likeness of a Servant he assum'd and was not assumed for Man was assumed and did not assume it being impossible that both of them should assume but the one assumed and the other was assum'd Again That he emptied himself what is it 't is this that being God he was voluntarily made Man without being changed Secondly That being equal in Nature with the Spirit and Giver thereof and had Sanctity naturally he did vouchsafe to be Anointed by the Holy Ghost inasmuch as he was Incarnated Thirdly That his Nature being High and above Passions he took sufferings upon him and suffer'd death in the Flesh not as God but as Man yet he suffer'd natural Passions but not culpable Hunger Thirst c. and he bore Evil and contemptible Names of Reproach being God and Lord and King And the three hundred and eighteen Fathers call the Word Jesus Chrst and not the Man from Mary nor Man and God together for they said And in our Lord Jesus Christ the only Son of God Again we say to those who maintain this Errour that if the Word Christ signifies God and Man as they say and both of them were Anointed wherefore the Name is applicable to both that there are three Names the first is he who applies the Oyntment the second signifies the Operation it self and the third him to whom it was applied Wherefore if the Name Christ signifies both God and Man then according to their saying Man is Anointed and God also is Anointed and if it be so wherefore do ye fly from what ye say That the Word of God is Anointed of the Father by the Holy Ghost as he was Man Again if the Name of Christ signifies God and Man there seems to be two Christ and not one as the Name Horse signifies a Land-Horse and a Sea-Horse and each of them peculiarly and again both of them together and both of them are called Horses so then when ye say That Man is Anointed and God Anointed him therefore ye call him Anointed Anointing and Oyntment and not Anointed only And that ye say that Man who was Anointed being in Union with the Word and communicating unto the Word this Name of being called Christ or Anointed it were fitting that the Word also should communicate unto Man his Name of being called One Anointing for which Reason we call the Word of God Christ not that he is but that he was made Man and he is not Earthly who was made Man but Heavenly who was made Earthly as he said that he came down from Heaven and was to go to his own The Doctors also speak in Confirmation of this that the Word is called Christ and that he was anointed by the Spirit in as much as he was made Man Gregory Nyssen saith the holy Ghost calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Anointing of the only Son of God a Divine Word and a little after If therefore Christ be the only Son of God and Anointing be the holy Ghost the Name of Christ signifies Regal Authority for Anointing is a sign of Regality the holy Ghost also communicates of the Power John Chrysostom in his Exposition on the Gallatians saith he is called Jesus from delivering his People from their Sins and also hints by the Name of Christ the Anointing of the Spirit Severus in the forty second Chapter against Grammaticus It being said after the manner of Men that he was Anointed We all are they who are Anointed in him for he being baptized we are they who are baptized in him St. Philoxenus He is therefore called Christ because the Father by the Spirit revealed that he was his Son by Nature and that He is God as He is Himself according as he said Glorifyme O Father with the Glory which I had with thee and a Voice was heard I have glorified and will glorify and concerning the Spirit he said When the holy Ghost shall come he will glorify me But when was Christ Anointed Whether in the Conception or before he was Conceived or after he was Born The Hereticks say After he was born of the Virgin but they are not in the Truth and it is manifest from hence that Mathew saith The Book of the Birth of Jesus Christ for hereby he sheweth that he was born being Christ but some of the Doctors say that he was Anointed before he was Conceived in the Womb because they call his Mission from the Father his Anointing according to what he said Whom the Father sanctified and sent into the World and who ascended into heaven and brought down Christ But we say That the Word was Anointed in the very Conception in the Womb of the Virgin for in as much as the Spirit descended into the Womb and purified her and formed of her a Body to the Word he anointed and sanctified the Body and the Word was united thereunto personally and that is evident from this That the holy Ghost shall come and the power of the most High shall dwell upon thee And the Generation of Jesus Christ
priviledg'd than he who Prophesied of his Passion and knew that he was to be Crucified and to dye but it is certainly known that he is greater than the Prophets as ye have said and were it true that he had not known wherefore he was forsaken then was it false which was written concerning him that he is the Wisdom of the Father and if he knew not then neither did the Father know for he said As the Father knoweth me so know I the Father but if ye shall say That the fear of Death hinder'd him from knowing his Death let them take notice That it hath not been written either of the Martyrs or Prophets who sustained Passions that they were hindered so that they cou'd not know of their Death Now let us reprove the Arians who say That it was the Son who was forsaken of his Father Against whom we say How did he forsake him Since that the Son himself said I am in my Father and my Father in me and whether did he depart who is every where without Limitation And how did the Father forsake his Power and his Wisdom spontaneously For behold Paul said That Christ is the Power and Wisdom of God the Father for as he spoke this I thirst for two Causes First That he might fulfil the Prophecy as said the Evangelists And Secondly That he might give us Drink who were Thirsty and as he asked Water of the Samaritan Woman not in behalf of himself but to induce her to ask Water of Life from him for behold it is not written that he drank of the Waters which he asked of her which is evident from hence that as soon as she perceiv'd him she began to demand of him Living Waters and behold it is not Written That he drank of the Waters which he asked of her wherefore he asked it not for any other end but that he was willing to confer on her the Drink of Life So when he said to the Jews I thirst he sought to give us Water of Life Moreover he said I thirst in respect of his Human Nature which Thirsted after the knowledg of the Holy Ghost for as he demanded in the matter of her who was Healed Who touched me when the multitude pressed upon him that by the asking of a Question the Faith of her may be Revealed who touched him so here he asks Why hast thou forsaken me not that he was Ignorant but that the Auditory hearing this Interrogation might inquire and be informed that it was not He who was forsaken but the Human Nature Moreover He calls the Father his God because He was Man for as he was not to be Blamed or Reprehended when he exercis'd Divine Function because he was God so was he not to be Reproved or Contemned when he spake as a Man forasmuch as he was a Man He calls Elias for the Word Eli my God and Elia are near a like in the Hebrrw Language for Eli is Interpreted God and Elohia is Interpreted Divine And one of them ran and brought a Spunge and filled it with Vinegar For he was a Jew who offered him Vinegar and Myrrh as is evident from hence that the Jews said Behold he calls Elias They many times offered him Vinegar in derision and he drank but here he did not And Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the Ghost that is to say he shewed that voluntarily and freely he gave up his Soul and not by constraint for he dismissed it and it was not taken from him as ours which is taken by force It is said of us Creatures Thou takest their Spirit and they die but he was Creator and did give it up of his own free will Some Men ask of what kind of Death died our Lord Whether that of ours or of his own And we answer That ours is the Separation of the Soul from the Body but the death of God is the Separation of the Divinity from the Humanity and this he did not suffer wherefore we say that he died our death for his Soul was separated from his Body and not his Divinity from his Humanity For tho' his Soul was separated when he died on the Cross till he arose from the Grave yet his Divinity was not at all separated neither from his Soul nor from his Body for his Divinity was united to his Soul and to his Body with an unseparable Union that is to say his Divinity to his Humanity for his Divinity remained with the Body and with the Soul went into Hell and preached to the Souls there detained which did not obey the preaching of Noah as Peter say'd in the Acts for the Divinity is unlimitted and therefore with his Body and Soul and by him are all things and without him nothing and within him are all things we say also of Christ that he was God for it is say'd of the word of God that it is God and the very same is Man who is God John said And God was that Word and that he was Man the same John said The Word was made Flesh and dwelt in us and Paul sayth God sent his Son and he was made of a Woman therefore that word of the Father is God and was made Man and as he is God he is not limitted by space or place nor to be comprehended with words or thoughts but as He was made Man He was with the Body in the Sepulcher and with the Soul in Heaven Moreover Jesus cried twice with a loud Voice First My God my God wherefore c. as Matthew writes Secondly Father into thy hands I commit my Soul as Luke saith The first time as in the Person of Adam My God my God The second time in his own Person My Father into thy hands He calls him My Father to shew that he is God and equal in Essence with the Father and God to shew that the same was made Man And in saying I commend my Spirit he sheweth that voluntarily and of his own free will he laid it down and that no other took it from him by constraint as is our case Stephen in saying Christ into thy hands I commit my Spirit signify'd Christ accept of my Spirit From Adam to this time the Souls of the Righteous and of the wicked were sent to Hell as we have say'd before and from the time that Christ cried Father into thy hands I commit my Spirit until the end of the World the Souls of the Righteous are in the hands of God as Solomon said that is to say they are near unto him and dwell in Paradise He bowed his Head and gave up his Spirit With us first the Soul departs from us and afterwards our Heads fall down but with Christ it was not so but first he bowed his Head and presently gave up his Soul that is to say of his own accord and free will he delivered it up and not by constraint Furthermore In saying I lay down my Spirit he sheweth that after a
short time he was to take it up again according as he said I lay down my Life that I may take it up again I have power to lay it down and to take it up For the Spirit is called Soul For the Soul is called by three Names Soul Vnderstanding and Spirit as we have writlen in our Book of Distinctions concerning Natures Intellectual and Sensitive It behoves us therefore to enquire how on the Friday and at the same time was our Lord in these three places in the heart of the Earth as he said The Son of Man shall be in the heart of the Earth and in Paradise as he said to the Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise and in the hands of the Father according to that Into thy hands I commit my Spirit Immediately the Preface to the Gate of the Temple was rent The Preface to the Gate he calls the Curtain which hung before the Gate of the Temple which is called a Veil Why was the Veil of the Gate rent Because the holy Spirit departed thence who dwelt there in the Mysteries of the Law But in what manner was it rent They say That this Texture of the Veil was on the one side and the Woof on the other which was wonderful It was rent That is to say The Veil was divided for that it could not suffer the Passion of him who was principally typified thereby and to signifie that the Grace of the holy Ghost was departed thence and that the Sacrifices of the Law ceased and that it was designed for Destruction And after the Ninth hour the Darkness was dispersed in token that the Ancient Sorrows which came by Sin were to cease The Earth was moved as a Dish in the Water In the first place forbidding the Disputation of the Arrogant it is to be considered that it was established on a Foundation of Immobility and that an Earthquake was never over all the Earth and at once yet this motion was in all the Earth and the whole Body thereof was moved as a Dish in the midst of the Water So also this Darkness was over all the Earth and not one part thereof only as it is wont to be And the Stones were Cleft that it might be known that it was the Creator who was Crucified and it was known from hence that the Creatures Suffer'd in Compassion with him Moreover the Rocks were cleft in reproach to obdurate hearts for all this odious Deed. Moreover because Rational Creatures were silent out of crafty Policy the Stones Cryed out and this is meant by those words If these should by silent the Stones would cry out Again because God many times instructs men for their Conversion by Irrational and Insensitive Creatures as he instructed Baalam by an Ass and Jeroboam by an Altar and Ashes and Pharoe and the Egyptians by the Elements So he removed the Earth out of it's place and cleft the Rock in Reprehension of the Jews who he desired might have been converted from their wickedness and they would not And the Sepulchers were open'd and many Bodies That is to say Arose on the Ninth hour of Friday and they were not of those who were dead long before but such as fell asleep about three years more or less before the Passion of our Lord and they were Saints because they believed in our Lord before their Death And they were of Jerusalem and arose out of the Sepulchers round about the City and enter'd into Jerusalem and were known some to their Fathers some to their Brethren and some to their Mothers and reprehended them saying What wicked â—eed is this which ye have done that ye have Crucified the Life and the Giver of Life and they remained there three days Eating nothing but were preserv'd by Divine Efficacy as was Moses and Elias in their Fasting and their Bodies were really United to their Souls and concerning this Mathew said That many Bodies of the Saints Arose and abode three days in Jerusalem and there Preached and afterwards returned unto their Sepulchers and fell asleep but did not go into Paradice neither were they dispersed to the utmost Limits nor were they seen of all Men. And it is certain from what Mathew said That they appeared unto many for many are not all and so our Lord after his Resurrection was not always seen but sometimes and that not unto every one as at first but to his Disciples and to those who were Worthy Others say That they were Prophets who knew the Holy Scriptures and believed in him before their Decease as saith Ignatius and had Preached the Resurrection of Christ and their own the Dead arose in manifestation of this Raiser from the Dead Johannes de Dara The Dead who Arose did not enter the City to Preach until he Arose Others That they remained at their Sepulchers Standing and giving Praises Others That they were Assembled at the Mount of Olives Others That they went into Paradice And they went into the Holy City Jorusalem Some say That he doth not call this Earthly City which was polluted Jerusalem but that which is in Heaven and when Christ cryed on the Cross they were reviv'd and remained in their Graves as Jonas did in the Fish and after his Resurrection they also Arose Spiritually and when he Ascended in abscondito to his Father in the Heavens they also Ascended privately with him to the Holy City which is in Heaven Others say That Jerusalem as to the Upper part thereof was Holy and that many believing Persons dwelt there but that the Lower Part was Prophane by Reason of the Deceit practis'd there and he calls the Upper Region thereof the Holy City whereunto the Dead who Arose Entred and Preached to the Believers who Lamented his Death Others That he calls by the Name of Jerusalem the whole Terrestrial City into which they Entred and Preached and more then 500 Souls returned to their Bodies and Entred and appeared to many and they appeared to the Grief of those who knew not that they had Crucified their Lord and therefore he spake to them who were bitterly griev'd in Spirit Others say That they at first appear'd in Gallilee and in many other places and that after the Resurrection they came to Jerusalem and appear'd to many that they might declare that the Resurrection was no Phantasm There were five Miracles when Christ was Crucified whereof some were in the Heavens some in the Air some on the Earth and some under the Earth In the Heavens the Sun and Moon were Darkned in the Air the Veil was Rent on the Earth the Rocks were Cleft and from under the Earth the Dead Arose and some of the Miracles were Universal as that of the Eclipse of the Sun and the Emotion of the Earth some also were particular as that the Rocks and Veil were Rent and the Dead Arose Who therefore was he who hung upon the Cross God or Man If he were God it were impossible that
or Faulty if Faulty it was his Duty to put her to Shame and to Accuse her and if Innocent to keep her with him and to be careful of her but he was Just and Merciful his Justice did not permit him to maintain a Whore in his House and Pity Councelled him to dismiss her privily and therefore he thought to send here away privily And therefore he thought to send her away secretly that he might not seem to cohabit with a guilty person or to be a Transgressor of the Law And he sent her thus privily away as having compassion on her that she might not be disgraced and condemned to death Again he was Just in this Respect that he did not Disgrace her because he knew no Sin in her Moreover for that he had heard of Elizabeths being with Child of Zacharias loss of Speech and of John's Exaltation and he thought also that this was a Miracle and therefore he did not repute her a Whore though he did not detain her as Righteous Others say That there is said to be a two-fold Justice the one is that which gives unto every Man according to his doing the other is Grace which doth not Revenge Offences but forgiveth So one is said to be Just two manner of ways the one is of the Law who giveth blow for blow the other is of the Gospel who Blesseth him who Curseth him such a Righteous Man was Joseph who in his Mercy which was his Justice was minded to send her privily away He was minded to send her privily away when as the Jews knew nothing hereof When he discerned that she was with Child he demanded whence she came to be with Child and she answered of the Spirit But he stood in doubt as saith Jacobus Batenensis if it were from the Spirit he ought not to come near unto her and if from an Adulterer his Righteousness was not to be joyned with the Body of one guilty of Fornication He was minded therefore to dismiss her privately that the Jews might not put her to death and that he might not be guilty Others say that Mary said nothing unto him as knowing that he would not believe her words for it was a wonderful thing and moreover that he would be troubled in mind at the hearing of it she was also perswaded that he who was pleased to be incarnated from her would plead her excuse and she thought it not decent to reveal such a mystery as this that the Angel had whispered unto her he that is faithful in his spirit conceals a matter Whilest he meditated on these things that is to say to dismiss her privily that the Jews might not take notice and stone her and that she might not be blamed There appeared unto him in a dream the Angel of the Lord and said unto him Wherefore did not the Angel appear manifestly to Joseph as he did to Zachary to the Virgin and to the Shepherds Because he was one ready to believe and needed not a manifest Vision as witnesseth this that he doubted not after the Vision of the Angel he appeared likewise to the Virgin by reason of the difficulty of the thing and for that it was supernatural to the Shepherds also because they were rude and simple Persons For Dreams are manifested in sundry kinds either from God as the Dreams of Joseph of Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel and of Pilate's Wife or from Satan as the imaginations of Phancy by an Operation transporting the Soul out of a correspondency with the Body not differing from the Phantasms of Sleep and offending the Brain as also the Spirits and stupifying the Understanding which they call Frensie or from the Cogitations of the day as whatsoever a man doth or meditates on in the day occurres to him in his dream or from some predominant Temper as say the Physitians for if Blood be predominant in a man he sees slaughter and effusion of blood and if Melancholly he sees darkness and caves and solitary houses and all things that import fear and terror and if Phlegm he sees rain rivers and running brooks and if Choller he sees fire the Sun the Sun Beames and conflagrations and in other manners are dreams seen Joseph's Dream here was from God Wherefore did not the Angel come unto Joseph before he meditated on these things We say that he permited him to put her away that he might not doubt or be like Zachary but when as she had conceived and the Angel soon made faith thereof he easily believed but Mary therefore held her peace and did not publish it because she conceived he would not give credit to her words for that the woman was already subject to capital punishment if he had heard such like a matter The Angel came to the Virgin before she conceived that she might not be surprized by the change of condition for if she had conceived without having had notice thereof before-hand she not knowing from whence she did Conceive had murdered her self that she might have escaped from reproach or had dyed for grief but he did not come before to Joseph to tell him of it as he did to Zacharie because he would not have believed and the same would have happned as in the case of Zacharie Moreover he hearing that it was from the Spirit he had fled from her as from a descending fire and had not dwelt with her And moreover it was fitting that the Mother of the Child should perceive it before others Joseph the Son of David he calls him rhe Son of David and not the Son of Jacob or the Son of Heli. aceording to the Law to put him in mind of the Promise made to David and that it was he who had the Promise that he should spring from his Seed as is said by the Prophets Fear not to take Mary thy Wife by the Words fear not he exempted him from fear for Joseph was afraid that he might have sinned before God in taking unto him an Adulterous Wife but the Angel encourages him in taking away the doubt which he had in his mind and shewed that he was sent from God To take Mary That is to say to keep her with thee for in thy Resolution thou hast sent her away because God now delivers her unto thee and not her Parents Thy Wife He calls her his Wife to signifie that she was not an Adulteress for had she been an Adulteress he had not called her his Wife for it is certain That one is called a Mans Wife rather from betrothing than Consociation for though a Man accompany himself with an Adulteress she is not called his Wife neither doth he perswade him to approach unto her in saying Fear not to take her but he said unto him Thou shalt not fear to come near unto her as conceiving her to be an Adulteress but as thinking her to have conceived from the holy Ghost Sanctifie thy self before thou approach unto her Again He calls a Spouse a Wife
as it is written in the Law and as the Scripture is used to call one but betrothed Son-in-Law and as he called Mary the Mother of John before she bore him So doth the Angel call Mary the Wife of Joseph though he knew her not the Angel doth not threaten Joseph as he did Abimelech because the Administration to Joseph was great and much differing from the other and Joseph was confirmed by him who revealed unto him his thoughts and by the promise which he made to David and by the Testimony of Esaiah to the House of David and from the Majesty of the Generation and over and above these Considerations he added a Declaration whence she Conceived For he who is begotten in her is from the Holy-Ghost The Power therefore of the Most High that is to say God the Word being to be United to the Flesh dwelling in the Virgin the Holy-Ghost first Sanctified the Word and framed into one Person with the Word his Holy Body for always the Spirit creates with the Word according to this That by the Word of the Lord they were made and Thou sendest thy Spirit and they are Tormented for these Words Begotten in her in this place signifie as much as Conceived in her for if the Word Birth or Nativity be said of remote things as this I know not what to morrow will bring forth and the rest of other the like places whereof we have spoken formerly it is certain that Conception may be spoken of Nativity Moreover to shew That this Child was not of the Seed of Man nor yet of Maries own Concupiscential Seed but of the Holy-Ghost and of the Virgins own Body for he saith Born in her and not from her for he doth not speak a Man newly created but of God Incorporated for we because we took beginning from our Mothers are said to be from them as having had no other being before but he because he was before yet Conceived in her and not Born before the Angel said in her but the Words from her are said of meer Man who derived his beginning from a Woman and because he had no being 't is said that he is born from her and in her is said of God who was from the beginning and dwelt in the Virgin therefore because it was God who was Incarnated the Angel said in her who had an Eternal being beyond all times and because he was incorporated he said that he was born in her Concerning the Word from we have before set forth how many ways it is taken Of the Holy Ghost that is to say as his Creature and his work for the Body of Christ is from the Holy Ghost not by way of Generation for whatever is Generated is Flesh from Flesh and whatever is from Spirit is Spirit though not yet naturally for it is above Nature when the effect doth not participate of the same Essence in Generation It remains therefore That he was from the Spirit as his Creature Saint Severus For the Spirit made the Child after the manner of one who gives Shape and Figure to things But Mary contributed without deficiency whatever belongs to women of their own nature to contribute to generation without deficiency except sin and Concupiscence because Adam and his wife fell by Concupiscence of the Tree therefore the being and generation of their children was also by Concupiscence and God the Word being minded to renew our decayed inveterate nature it was fit that there should be nothing of Concupiscence in his conception And shall bring forth a Son He did not say to thee because he was not born to him but to the whole world and again because he had nothing to do with his generation he did not say to thee And thou shalt call his name Jesus That is to say though he were not his own Son yet for as much as fathers imposed names on their Children I give thee authority to impose a name on him that thou mayest not be made a stranger to the Administration And it was said of Joseph in the Masculine Gender Thou shalt call his name but Luke said that the Angel spake to Mary in the feminine gender Thou shalt call and these are not contradictory because it is the part of the Father and the Mother to give names Jesus is expounded Redeemer and that we might not think him to be a sensible Saviour and that he was to free us from bodily bondage he sayed For he shall quicken his people from their sins he did not say who shall redeem for he came to revive those who were dead in sins and he did not say the Gentiles that Joseph might not be grieved at the passing of a Redeemer from the Jewes to the Gentiles as it happened unto Jonas But the Intelligent know that not only the Jews but also all they who imbrace his knowledge are his people according to that The Gentiles shall expect him But how did he save his people By Faith in him and Baptism and Repentance Moreover in as much as he said his people he gave notice before hand of his power and coequality with his Father calling the people of the Jewes his people as also he is said to be Father of his people for these two things belong to God and not to man that the people should be his as it is written That the People of Isreal is the Portion of the Lord and to quicken his people from sins as said the Jews It is God only who forgiveth sins wherefore Christ is God who was made man All this was done that is to say because Joseph wondered at this matter he said All this was done And what was all this The Virgin who conceived without carnal Copulation God who became a humane Child without being changed the middle wall of Partition broken down Reconciliation made between God and Man and ye are not to think this as a new thing for it was manifested many Ages past in Types and Mysteries and therefore he saith That it might be fullfilled which was say'd of the Lord by the Prophet that is to say The Angel doth not set this down as the cause as if a man should say that the Lord did this because Esaiah say'd it but because what he was to do he signified unto Esaiah and he prophesied for by this What was say'd of the Lord he signifies That these were the Words and Speech of the Lord and by these words by the Prophet he declares that the prophet was the Organ of the Lord that although Esaiah spoke these words yet they descended from on high And he produceth this Testimony to teach that this Administration was anciently promised and to make it clear that the Conception of the Virgin was not adulterous but as Isaiah prophesied Behold a Virgin shall conceive and if it chance that thou shalt forget the Dream when thou shalt awake in remembring the words of the Prophet thou shalt call to mind the Vision For behold
Children of Bethlem and all the borders thereof from two Years old and under according to the time he had inquired For he slew the Children that with them he might murder Christ and because he did not know him he slew all their Children and slew also the Children in the Borders thereof because it was suspected they might have made him fly into one of the bordering Villages and that he might not escape death And in saying All he shew'd that there was not one omitted He said From two years old and under because he enquiring of the Wise-men they answered him It was two years since the Star appeared unto us therefore said the Lord Ephraim and Eusebius that the Wise men came in the second year of our Lords Nativity And the Lord John and St. Cyrill say that the Star appeared two years before and that the Wise men tarried long before they came in the way and when they came our Redeemer was born and worshiped in a Manger and in Swadling-Cloaths But whether these or they be in the right the Discourse of the Evangelist is certainly true which saith According to the time he had enquir'd Some they killed waking some sleeping some having hold of the Brest some swimming others they snatch'd from their Mothers Embraces and wash'd with their blood their Mothers and the Earth and there was great Lamentation and weeping because there was not an house wherein a Boy had not been murdered and from the contest and inquisition of some saying the Lad is two years old and of 〈◊〉 saying he is not and of some saying there is a Child here and of others saying to the contrary and the like there was a great clamor and Lamentation Some men demand How many Children were slain And this is not known but some busie-bodies babble saying That Herod sent forty Head-Officers and with every of them forty Butchers or Man-slayers and every of these Butchers killed forty Children Wherefore there being forty Officers and the Butchers with them being 1600 the Children who were slain must be 64000. This we have not writ as believing it to be true but for delight of the simple Wherefore did our Lord withdraw the Killing of the Children and was our Lord or Herod the cause of the Killing of them We answer That Christ was not the cause of their being slain no more than David was the cause of killing the fourscore Priests whom Saul slew but as Saul himself was the cause of killing the Priests so Herod was the cause of slaying the Infants And as Elia was not the cause of burning the two Captains of Fifties and those who were with them but those who sent them But we say As Peter was the cause of killing the Soldiers so Christ was the cause of killing the Children Moreover The execrable wickedness of the King was the cause of their destruction for had Herod seen the Walls broken and the Doors pulled open he might have put the Soldiers to death but all things being sure he ought to have worshiped the Doer of Miracles and not to have slain the Keepers for God was willing to have converted the King and not that the Guards should have committed destruction So here the coming of the Wise-men the assembling of the Scribes the Testimony of Prophecy were that Herod might believe and be saved and not that he should kill the Children And wherefore did God permitt them to be slain Some say That the Fame of his Nativity might be made known in every place others that the Prophecy might be fulfilled according to that a voice was heard in Rama But these are not approv'd expositions We say therefore that this permission was given that they might not be as their parents nor partake of Innocent blood 2ly That they might receive an Earnest of the Kingdom long since prepared for them as an Inheritance and might at his second coming enter into possession thereof Again All our Sufferings are of two kinds either for our Sins or that a Reward might be given to us for the same and 't is evident from what Paul said of him who committed Fornication Deliver him to Satan in the Body that he may live by the Spirit in the day of our Lord. And David when he overcame Shimei commanded he should not be put to Death and he said Behold my Subjection and Labour and forgive me all my Iniquity they therefore are not miserable who suffer Evil if they patiently suffer whether they be corrected of God or Persecuted by Satan for their Sin and for Sufferings of the second kind to wit for Wages or Reward that of Job may suffice for Illustration wherefore the Children suffer'd in the second kind in relation to Wages or Reward And what Sin was it that was Attributed to the Children For behold they sinned not We Answer it was sufficient for them that they were to be Rewarded with Bliss after Death he did not impugn the Free-Will of Herod for Free-Will is a great Gift given unto Men for the doing what they will and God does not Reverse his Gift and if they perish'd they obtain'd great Trophies of Victory and we say that if God had known that they would have proved Virtuous he had not permitted that they should dye for if he forbears the Wicked how much less would he have permitted them to have been overcome but they went away being Innocent and escaped Evil and became Martyrs because they bore Testimony for Christ and the Baptism of Blood supplyed the Place of Water-Baptism But how were they Martyrs being slain without knowledg We Answer that in this kind or manner Children receive the Gift of Baptism without Knowledg and it is a true Gift unto them and so Slaughter was true Testimony Rachel Weeping for her Children Jeremy said this personating the Jews led Captive to Babylon and by Rachel adumbrated the Tribes of Benjamin and Judah Mathew makes use of this Text in reference to the Murther of the Children Others with whom we also agree say That Jeremy hereby Typified the Children and 't is evident from the subsequent Words which run thus Restrain thy Voice from Weeping for there is a Reward for thy Tears for they who were led Captive to Babylon had no Reward for their Tears for they were led into Captivity for their Sins but the Children being put to Death in their Infancy there was a Reward reserv'd for them it is therefore evident that Jeremy spoke in Relation to them and Rama belonged to the Children of Benjamin and Bethlehem of Judah also belonged unto them and because Rama was the Capital City of the Tribe of Benjamin therefore it was reputed also the City of his Mother But Since Rachel dyed so long before wherefore are the Children imputed to her We Answer because it is agreeable to the Law of Nature and to the Scripture accordingly all the Children of Men are called the Children of Adam and the Israelites are called the Children of
Scripture not only to compute a long time by days according to that In the days of Amraphel and In the days of Hosiah but also by a day as thus The whole day of Warfare afflicted me and The whole day of my shame is before me speaking of an extended duration of time Others are of opinion that Mathew spoke not these things as immediately referring to the time wherein the things above spoken of relates for John did not suddenly begin to baptize when he returned from Egypt But when our Lord was baptized he was Thirty Years of Age. So that Mathew intended to say that at a certain time that John came So when he saith then came Jesus or then was Jesus led to the Wilderness he doth not speak in the series of time relating to what immediately was before spoken of for it is the Custom of Scripture to speak thus for though when he sat in the mount of Olives and spake of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Finishing of that Generation he subjoyns a Declaration concerning the End of the World which were farr distant the one from the other So here he includes the whole time of his infancy and that of his abode in Nazraeth and also the Thirtieth year of his Age with one of those times that John came Augustus reigned fifty Six years and in the forty first year of his Reign Christ was born and his Son Tiberius took upon him the Kingdom and in the fifteenth year of his Reign came John the Baptist so that the years from the Taxing which was in the days of Augustus when our Redeemer was born to the fifteenth of Tiberius being computed make up thirty years Came John the Baptist That is to say from the Ziphian Wilderness to the Region of Judea he calls him the Baptist because God sent him to Baptize with the Baptism of Repentance Mathew doth not definitely declare those days but Luke speaks definitely It behoves here to make inquiry of many things from whence therefore came John We Answer from the Ziphian Wilderness where he was brought up for at the time the Infants were slain forasmuch as the Wise-Men returned not unto Herod he began again in Rage to enquire of the Priests where Christ was born and one of those who stood by said unto him There is born in our Neighbourhood a Boy the Son of a Priest and it is given out that he is the Messiah and he sent immediately to make pursuit after him and when Zachary came he demanded of him saying Where is thy Son and Zachary Answer'd He is in the House and he sent Souldiers with him to fetch him but one of the Standers by made haste and gave notice thereof to Elizabeth she took him up and departed in haste and went to the Ziphian Wilderness Zachary then coming to the House and finding neither Elizabeth nor John he was afraid to return and went his way and took Sanctuary at the Altar but Herod sent thither and caused him to be slain The Lord Ephraim saith That she received Direction by Vision to fly from the Sword of Herod and that she made him a Coat of Gamels Hair and a Girdle to bind his Loyns and that they grew together with him thirty years as the Garments of the Children of Israel increased with them forty years John was two years and a half Old when he fled Others said That an Angel snatched him from his Mothers Arms and that neither his Mother nor Father knew the Place of his Abode Others say That when his Father perceived the Sword of Herod drawn against him he carried him up to the Temple where his Conception was Denounced and betook himself to his Prayers and that he was thence Translated to the Wilderness which when the Jews apprehended they asked him Where is the Lad And he Answer'd I know not but they said Thou hast destroyed thp Son out of Envy to our Redemption he then betook him to the Altar for Refuge but such was their Accursed Prophaness that they flew him there Others say That the Jews slew Zachary out of Spleen and Envy because he did not deprive the Virgin of her place among the Virgins but we agree with those who say That Herod slew him yet this Blood remained Crying with a fervent Voice fifty eight years until Titus the Son of Vespasian coming against the City and subduing it entred into the Temple and saw the reeking Blood and there hearing the Cry enquired and found this to be the Cause and then upon the place gave his Command and accordingly the Priests were Slain and at this time ceased the Cry and Reeking of the Blood John as they say until he Arrived at fifteen years of Age sucked of his Mothers Milk in the Wilderness and was Nourished with Roots and his Mother went about and lived by the Alms of Passengers the remainder of the Thirty Years John abode in the Wilderness and the Holy-Ghost accompanied him and supplied him with Food and Rayment and Inriched him with Revelations and taught him what it behoved him to know But why did he Fly to the Wilderness We Answer That there might not be any absurd pretext or opinion among Men concerning what he was to Testifie of Christ as first That either he should Testifie of him for their being of Kin or for the Love of their Parents or for their society from their Childhood wherefore he was of Favour Translated to the Wilderness and remained there full thirty years until both of them arrived at that perfect Age wherein those things that were to be spoken concerning the Gospel were to be believed and confirmed and he came to open the Fountain of Baptism and this was not of his own Will but of the Will of God as saith Luke The Word of God was upon John That is to say His Command and he came by the appointment and Word of God And he who sent me to Baptize said unto me He whom thou seest He was sent to baptize that he might proclaim Christ to Israel and that they hearing that he did baptize the Jews might from all parts be gathered unto him and he preach concerning Christ And because they were polluted with sins John came to put them in mind of their sins preparing them to Repentance by Baptism The Lord John saith That there was no Remission of sins in the Baptism of John because Christ was not yet sacrificed on the Cross nor was the Spirit as yet given nor was Sin slain And Paul saith That John baptized with the Baptism of Repentance but adds not for Remission of Sins But how then do Mark and Luke say That John did baptize for Remission of sins The Lord John says Because the Jews were Impostors and that they might not onely not suffer for their Sins but also purify their Souls it was necessary that John should say I baptize for remission of Sins that he might put them in mind of their Sins and prepare them
should do no Work on the Sabbath and therefore they prepared Sweet Odours as the Custom was that they might perfume on the third day the Body for the Love they bore unto it But the Morrow after That is to say it was the Sabbath day after the Friday or Preparation The Chief Priests Assembled together That is to say to desire Pilate to grant them their Pleasure Our Lord we Remember that this Deceiver They called Pilate Lord and denied Christ and by the Words we Remember they shew'd that they knew all things which were said by him But observe how void of Pride Mathew was who wrote all Words of Reproach and was not ashamed to express the Word Deceiver and others the like Command therefore that they watch the Sepulcher They desired Watch-Men because they were mov'd with his Speech That he was to Rise the Third day Secondly Because the Watch-Men were to be Preachers of the Resurrection to the Region of the Jews Pilate said unto them Ye have Watches go and have a Care Pilate did not send a Guard of his own nor did he Seal the Sepulcher that they might not have occasion to say That he took a Bribe and permitted his Disciples to take him away And they Sealed the Stone the Soaldiers being present Some say That they made the Souldiers to stand as Centuries at the Stone and tied them thereunto and fixed the Impression of their Seals on their Necks or their Thighs or their Loyns or their Feet Others That they placed them on both sides of the Stone with their Faces one against the other and that they stretched forth their Hands over the Stone and knit their Fingers together about it and Sealed them Others say That they sealed the Stone over the Sepulcher with all their Rings as did Darius the Cistern with his Ring and the Ring of his Nobles And if they had not sealed it and appointed Keepers they might have a pretence to say that he was stoln away but this fell out more to their Shame That the Keepers themselves became Preachers and Witnesses of the Resurrection and that the Seals and Signs gave concurrent Testimonies with the Keepers that they did not Lye And he calls Keepers those who were appointed to keep Prisoners in Custody or those who were ordained Executioners in Capital Causes and there were 15 Keepers whereof some were Hebrews and some Romans There were three Captains and twelve under Command and this is Written in St. Paul's Roll and in other Hebrew Histories A Discourse against Hereticks and Gentiles AS to those who weigh and refer the Exinanition of Christ to Human Nature we have opposed Supereminencies for John said When ye shall lift up the Son of Man by listing up meaning the Cross and brings him saying as it were thus Had I not quieted the Sea yet when I shake the Earth and remove it out of its place were it so that I had not made Streight those who were Crooked yet when I do Rend the Veil of the Gate and the Stones and did I not restore Souls to their Bodies yet when I make the Holy-Ghost to depart from the Temple were I not the Light of the World whilst I cry out yet when I darken the Sun and the Moon and all Creatures did I not set at Liberty Mouths that were Chained up in Silence yet when I open Sepulchers securely shut up Nay I Raise to Life those who were Buried and had I not Cured the Sick and Diseased yet when I do renew the whole Creation as well Visible as Invisible then will ye confess who I am That is to say then shall ye by Conviction be forced to confess who I am and to believe upon these Tokens That I am God who was Crucified in the Body which I assumed and not a meer Man nor divided into two Substances after that Union made The Divine Excellencies of our Saviour THE Word was begotten of the Father from Eternity he is in all places without Limitation he is by his Nature God the Word he is Rich as God Simple as God he is Perfect in his Essence he gave the Law as God he is Obedient to God his Father he was Baptiz'd by the Holy-Ghost he is above Passions and Indigences he is Immortal in his Nature John Danced in the Womb at his Approach he fed thousands with a small quantity of Bread he cleansed the Leapers with a Word as God he Interdicted the Winds and Sea and they ceased as God he created Eyes to the Blind as God he remitted the Guilt of Sin as God he knew the Secrets of all Hearts as God he commanded the Apostate Devils into the Sea he stilled the Tempest of the Sea as God he heard the Prayer of the Cananitish Woman as God he said to the Disciple Fear not Death he called Lazarus and Rais'd him as God he called the Young Man and Rais'd him as God he was Sanctified of the Seraphims as God he made the Earth to tremble and cleft the Rocks as God he Darkned the Sun and the Firmament as God he changed Water into Wine as God he caused the Spirit to depart from the Jewish Temple he opened the Sepulchers and Raised the Dead as God Things belonging to the Humanity and Exinanition of our Saviour HE was Born of a Virgin in time and took his beginning in the Womb of a Virgin and appear'd comprehensible as to the Flesh but incomprehensible as to the Divinity he was made Man by his Grace being unchanged he was made Comprehensible because he was made Man being Rich in his own Nature he had in him the Composition of Soul and Body he increased in bodily Stature he kept the Law in Person as Man he was Tempted of Men and suffer'd Indigencies as Man he Tasted our Death in Humane manner as Man he Fasted and was Hungry in the Wilderness as Man he was Clothed with Contempt as Man he Slept and was Immersed in Sleep as Man there Gushed out Tears from his Eyes as he was Man he sate down with Publicans and Sinners he besought the Samaritan Woman as Man he was bound by the Rebellious Jews as Man and he said My Soul is troubled as Man he Pray'd in his Passion for us as Man he shew'd that he was afraid of our Death as Man he asked Where have ye laid Lazarus as if he were Ignorant he said Into thy Hands I commit my Soul as Man the Jews cry'd Crucifie him as Man he was Crucified between two Thieves as Man he was Hanged on the Cross and Pierced with Nails as Man he was Buffetted on the Cheek by an Impudent Servant as Man he was Wounded in the Head with a Cane as Man he Drunk Vinegar on the Cross as Man his Side was Wounded with a Spear as Man he was laid in a New Tomb as Man and there are many the like Instances but we do not admire the Miracle of Christ for it behoves not us but Strangers yet as being