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A49450 A new history of Ethiopia being a full and accurate description of the kingdom of Abessinia, vulgarly, though erroneously called the empire of Prester John : in four books ... : illustrated with copper plates / by ... Job Ludolphus ... ; made English, by J.P., Gent.; Historia Aethiopica. English Ludolf, Hiob, 1624-1704.; J. P., Gent. 1682 (1682) Wing L3468; ESTC R9778 257,513 339

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word Gaz signifies as well the Face or Countenance as it bears the force of the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Person The Nestorian Heresie asserting two Persons in Christ they so abhor that for that very reason they will not admit of his two Natures and two Wills tho they positively acknowledge his Divinity and Humanity For they affirm Christ to be true and perfect God and also true and perfect Man and to consist in one Individual Person of Divinity and Humanity without Confusion and Commixtion Farthermore They acknowledge the most Sacred Merits of Christ to be most sufficient and efficacious for the Sins of the whole world and consequently of all Mankind and this Gregory himself affirm'd to be true nor have I found in any of their Books which I have happen'd to see any thing that contradicts what he asserted However as the Greeks do they deny the Proceeding of the Holy Ghost from the Son yet all this while they acknowledge him to be equally the Spirit of the Father and the Son and to be a Person subsisting of himself For thus they declare in their Liturgy We believe the Father sending that the Father is in his own Person And we believe the Son who is sent that the Son is in his own Person and we believe the Holy Ghost who descended upon Jordan and upon the Apostles that the Holy Ghost is in his own Person Three Names One God Not as Abraham who is elder than Isaac nor as Isaac who is Elder than Jacob. It is not so The Father is not Elder than the Son because he is the Father nor the Son Elder than the Holy Ghost nor the Holy Ghost lesser or Younger than the Father and the Son nor is the Son Younger than the Father because he is the Son Not as Abraham who commanded over Isaac in respect of Generation because he begat him nor as Isaac who commanded Jacob. It is not so in Divinity The Father does not command the Son because he is the Father neither is the Son greater than the Holy Ghost because he is the Son The Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are Equal One God one Glory one Kingdom one Power one Empire But concerning the Hypostasis or Person of the Holy Ghost really distinct from the Father and the Son the Author of the Organon thus discourses But least any one from what has been already said should infer that the Holy Ghost is not a perfect and distinct Person therefore said Christ to his Apostles I will send you another Comforter By which we know that the Holy Ghost doth exist together with the Father and the Son and also together in his own proper Subsistance or Person Not that the Holy Ghost is partly in the Son partly in his own Person but one and the same existent in his proper Person and existent with the Father and the Son Gregory being ask'd whether this were the unanimous and constant Opinion of all the Ethiopian Doctors reply'd It was I thereupon urg'd Why they deny'd that the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father seeing they asserted that he was equally the Spirit of the Father and the Son He desir'd That I would first expound what was meant by Proceeding from the Father and then he would give the reason of the Denyal and that for his part he kept to the words of the Scripture John 15.26 and 16.24 Who goeth out from the Father and takes from the Son and that he sought no farther For that it was not lawful in Disputes concerning the most abstruse Mysteries of the Holy Trinity to argue by Consequences but to stick close to the very words and Expressions of Scripture themselves That I should consider what would follow if we should argue from the Unity and Equality of Essence to the Characteristical Proprieties of the Persons As if any one should undertake to averr That Christ is the Son of the Holy Ghost because the Holy Ghost is one and Coeternal God with the Father Some such kind of Argument his Countryman Tzagazaab may be thought to have had in his Brain when he wrote That Christ was the Son of himself and the Beginning of himself because he was co-essential with the Father whose Son he was By the way we are to understand That the Ethiopians instead of the word Vazzea went forth or proceeded and in the Preterperfect tense use the word Saraz to budd or sprout forth Thus Claudius in his Confession I believe in the Holy Ghost reviving Lord Zasratz em Ab who proceeded or sprung from the Father They never add from the Son altho the Liturgy Printed at Rome and Tzagazaab's Confession runs thus Zasraz em Ab vavalde who sprouted forth or proceeded from the Father and the Son Where 't is much to be doubted that from the Son was inserted by another hand We proceed to the Sacraments of which they neither have the common name nor number For they are utterly ignorant of Confirmation and Extreme Unction They make use of the word Mastar for a Mysterie whenever they go about to intimate the Mysterie of the Participation of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ Otherwise they do not think it necessary to signifie the Seals of Faith by any other Vulgar name not us'd in Scripture or to make much dispute about the Number Only said Gregory They make use of Baptism according to the Institution of Christ and with the Ceremonies anciently made use of by the Church But the Fathers of the Society reported That the Ceremonies of Baptism were so deprav'd and corrupted among the Habessines that they were constrain'd to Rebaptize great Numbers under a Condition As for the Holy Communion they Administer it indifferently to all both Layety and Clergy as it is the Custom in all the Churches of the East Neither has any thing more alienated their minds from the Fathers than their finding the Layety to be depriv'd of the Cup by the Latins Gregory being demanded what he thought of the real Presence of the Body and Blood in the Lord's Supper made answer That he acknowledged it Adding withal according to his manner when any Discourses arose of Matters more difficult and abstruse than ordinary Retzitze nagare vet 't is a nice business or Mastar vet It is a Mystery When I produc'd him these words in the Liturgies Lord now lay thy hand upon this Dish Bless it Sanctifie it and Purifie it that so thy Body may be made holy therein Again Lay thy hand upon this Cup and now bless it sanctifie it and purifie it that thy Blood may become holy therein In another place Lay thy hand upon this Spoon of the Cross to prepare the Body and Blood of thy only Son our Lord and God And in another place Convert this Bread that it may become thy pure Body which is joyn'd with this Cup of thy most precious Blood And out of the Eucharistic Prayer which bears the Title of the 318 Orthodox Divines these
The next is Drubbing if the Crime be not Capital The punishment of the Nobility is Exilement into the Zanic Lake or into their high and steep Rocks which are in a manner like Ilands from whence however they frequently escape by reason that the People are easily corrupted by Bribery Homicides are deliver'd up to the next of (l) A Custome still us'd in Persia as you may read in Tavernier and Olearius Kin to the Party murder'd at whose free will it is to pardon the Malefactors sell them to forraign Merchants or put them to what death they please If the Homicide escape unknown the Inhabitants of the place and all the Neighbourhood are oblig'd to pay a Fine by which means many Murthers are either prevented or discover'd Most certainly the Law of Like for Like was always and still is accompted the most just and plainest among several Nations Hence that of Moses An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth But because there is not the same use of all members among men some men according to their various Callings having more use of one Member than another some being better able to lose their Hands than their Leggs others the●r Leggs than their Hands therefore among the Civiliz'd Nations this Law grew out of custome And it seems unjust to surrender the Offender to the Malice and Fury of the Offended Party when they may have unbyass'd Judges to give Sentence without Favour or Affection The End of the Second Book OF THE Ecclesiastical Affairs OF THE ABISSINES BOOK III. CHAP. I. Of the ancient Religion of the Abissines and their Judaic Rites The Ecclesiastical History of the Abissines corrupt and why The first Relation of Matthew the Armenian false Tzagazaabus's Confession as little to be credited Those of the Fathers and Tellezius more certain Ecclesiastical History commended The Tradition of some concerning the Original of the Judaic Rites Circumcision us'd by many How it differs from the Judaic No piece of holy Worship among the Habessines Females circumcis'd Why the Abissines abstain from Swines Flesh The Various Customs of Nations concerning Meats The Sabboth observ'd in the Primitive Church Different from the Lords Day and how Whether lawful to marry a Brothers Wife They abstain from the shrunck sinew What to be thought of Candaces Eunuch Menihelec's Posterity revolted from the true Religion Claudius disclaims the Judaic Religion NOw we proceed to the Ecclesiastical History of the Habessinians then which there is not any other more corrupt For whatever we find scatter'd in our Relations were neither collected out of the Books which are publickly authentic in Habessinia nor taken from the report of any persons there skill'd in the Ecclesiastical Affairs of that Country but partly ill related through the Rashness of the Writers themselves partly by the same persons or others ill understood through their ignorance of the Ethiopic Language The first Relation concerning the Religion of the Habessines was set forth by Damianus a Goez a noble Lusitanian from the Report of Matthew the Armenian First Ethiopic Embassador to Emanuel King of Portugal which Narrative of his (a) In a little Treatise often quoted Of the Embassie of the Great Emperor of the Indians contains many things ambiguous many other things altogether false Insomuch that Tzagazaabus the second Habessinian Embassador plainly tax'd the Author of it (b) For thus he sayes in his Confession of Faith Matthew in regard he was an Armenian could not so perspicuously understand our affairs especially those that related to our Faith And therefore he reported many things to King Emanuel which are not in use among Vs Which he did not out of desire to tell an untruth because he was a good man but because he knew little concerning our Religion But in my opinion that good man Matthew spake many things which he knew much better for his ignorance Tho he himself in the Confession of his Faith which the same (c) Extant in the 2. Tom. of Spain illustrated p. 1302. Goez set forth did not much excel him either for truth or probability for which reason Tellezius not undeservedly reprehends him Certainly Gregory was very much offended with him And when he heard his following Doctrines 1. That Jesus Christ was the Son of the Father and the beginning of himself in the same manner that the Holy Ghost was the Spirit of himself and proceeded from the Father and the Son 2. That he descended into Hell where was the Soul of Adam and Christ himself which Soul of Adam Christ received from the Virgin Mary and toward the latter end of the Book That Christ descended into Hell for the Soul of Adam and not for his own 3. That the Souls of men piously deceas'd are not crucify'd in Purgatory upon the Sabaoth and Lords Day 4. That by the Decree and Commandment of Queen Maqueda the Women were also to be Circumcis'd as having a certain glandulous piece of Flesh not unfit to receive the Impression and mark of Circumcision I say when Tellezius heard these things and many other of the same mixture in no small heat and Passion he cry'd out That they were Fictions Dreams nay meer Lyes frequently repeating these words If he said this he was a Beast of the Field Yet out of these Books most of those Stories have flow'd which our Writers have made public concerning the Religion of the Abessines But the Fathers of the Society having bin conversant so long in Ethiopia and view'd the Habessine Books after several Disputations and Discourses with them have bin able to afford us more Truth whose Acts and Writings being free for the perusal of Tellezius we shall cull the choicest of his accurate Relations and what he has reported more ambiguous or more partially out of his dislike of the Alexandrian Religion we shall correct out of their own Writings or from the Discourses of Gregory himself Certainly to Christians no History can be more pleasant than that of Ecclesiastical affairs especially if we look back to the Primitive Church For whom would it not ravish into a high admiration of the wonderful Providence of God as well in founding as preserving his Church when he shall consider that it grew up and increas'd not by the Propagation of Arms or human Arts but by the Oppression of Heathenish persecution To whom can it be unpleasing to consider with a Pious Contemplation the undaunted Courage of the Martyrs the Constancy of her Doctors the Sincerity of the Christian People the Purity of the Faith the Strife of Good Works the Patience of the Weak the plainness of the Rites and Ceremonies Which when they once began to be alter'd with the reverence to the Church be it spoken then also enter'd in Pride instead of Modesty Ambition instead of Charity together with Faction and Contention As if our leisure and our Quiet were therefore granted us by Heaven to consume that time in making Scrutinies into all the misteries of
was any such thing either written or said by any Person of Credit CHAP. II. Of the Books and Learning of the Ethiopians Books not holy reckon'd Ethiopic Their Studies what No written Laws Lamentable Physicians Nor better Philosophers Of the mixture of the Elements in Humane Bodies They hold two Souls In Mathematicks not absurd They love Poetry but only Divine all in Rhime various sorts Riddles and Proverbs Desirous of the Latine The Fathers would not teach them Arabic frequent Their Epistolary Style BEsides Sacred Books the Habessines have but very few others For the Story of (f) Vrreta did not think worth while to tell so modest an untruth The most celebrated Libraries saith he that ever had Renown were nothing in respect of Presbyter John's the Books are without Number richly and artificially bound Many to which Solomon's and the Patriarchs Names are Affixt Godignus explodes him l. 1. c. 17. Yet Gallesius in his late Discourse concerning Libraries averrs the same and adds That Chancellor Seguiers Library contains more Books than any Ethiopic Library Barratti who chatters of a Library containing Ten Thousand Volumes 't is altogether vain and frivolous Some few we had an Account of One call'd the Glory of Kings already mention'd I know not whether it be that of which Tellez Writes because it is of high Authority among the Habessines and as it were a Second Gospel and preserv'd in the Pallace of Axuma In that is Recorded the History of the Queen of Sheba and others to which the Habessines give great Credit A Chronicle cited by King Claudius in his Confession of Faith The Book of Philosophy much esteem'd in Ethiopia The Ladder a Vocabulary in that the most difficult words are Expounded in Amharic and Arabic but very unfortunately and perversly As the following Example about Gemms will Testifie It was sent me by Gregory The Jasper in the Pentateuch and Apocalyps in the Arabic the Colour of it is White and Red. The Saphyr in the Pentateuch and Apocalyps in Arabic The Colour of it is like a burning Cole he meant the Carbuncle now call'd the Ruby They meddle with no Studies but those of their own Learned Language and Sacred Matters Most believe they have enough if they can but Read and Write and that either the Parents teach their Children to do or else certain of their Monks for a small stipend They have no written Laws Justice and Right is determined by Custom and the Examples of their Ancestors and most differences are ended by the Will of the Judge Their manner of Administring Physick is most Deplorable They Cure Men by cutting and burning as they do Horses They cure the Yellow Jaundies by applying a hot burning Iron in manner of a Semicircle toward the upper end of the Arm laying a little Cotton upon the Wound that the Humour may issue forth so long as the Disease remains In most Distempers every Person is his own Physitian and uses such Herbs as he learnt were useful from his Parents Some are of Opinion that it is not a Pin matter whether they make use of Physitians or Apothecaries or no not believing it worth their while to be recover'd at so great Expences If the King be sick they come to him ask him as if it were out of pity What he ayles and what is his Distemper And if any one have been ill of the same Distemper he tells what did him good deeming the same Remedies applicable to all Constitutions If a Pestilence chance to break out they leave their Houses and Villages and retire with their Heards into the Mountains putting all their Security in flying from the Contagion Tertian Agues they Cure by applying the Cramp-fish to the Patient which is an unspeakable Torture Wounds they Cure by the help of Myrrhe which is very plentiful among them I have not as yet ever seen the Treatise of Philosophy which I mention'd at the beginning of the Chapter but it appears by the Theological Disputations of their Divines that they are none of the Acutest Logicians nor have they any knowledge of Natural Philosophy as is apparent to any one that reads their Books concerning the mixture of the Four Elements in the Creation of Man as also concerning the Soul the Author of the Organum gives this accompt God made a Miracle when he Created our Father Adam and Formed him of the Four Elements he mixed the Elements yet so that they should not disagree among themselves the First with the Second and the Third with the Fourth he mix'd the dry with the Moist and the Hot with the Cold the Visible with the Invisible the Palpable with the Impalpable He made Two out of the Palpable and Two out of the Impalpable He made Three of the Dry and One of the Moist He made Three out of the Visible and One out of the Invisible The great Architect knew where the Inner Chamber was to be Seated and plac'd the Corners of the House in the Four Elements and understanding that a vessel of Clay could not move nor speak without the mixture of a Spirit that must come from Himself therefore he Breath'd upon his Face and made him Rational and Self-moving as saith the most Holy Law He Breath'd into the Face of Adam the breathing place of Life and he became Man by the Breath of Life Therefore the Soul dies not with the Body for that proceeding out of the Mouth of the Lord it was mixt with the Body as saith our Lord in the Gospel Fear not those who kill the Body but cannot kill the Soul Now as to what he said Thou shalt not kill the Soul be spoke concerning the sensitive Soul because there are two Souls in Man one the Spirit of Life which proceeded out of the Mouth of God not reckon'd among the Elements and which never dyes The other is the Blood of the Body that is to say the Sensitive Soul which has its Original from the Elements and that is Morral Wherefore God said Thou shalt not eat the Flesh with the Blood because the Blood is the Sensitive Soul But the Pillar of the House of God is the Spirit of Life Now after the Spirit of Life is departed the Body becomes a Carcass therefore the Law pronounc'd the Carcass Unclean because the Spirit of Life is departed from it But among us we reckon the Dead Body of a Christian to be clean because the Human Body was mix'd with the Blood of Divinity besides that the Grace of Baptism departs not from it and concerning the Carcass of the Son of the Virgin David said They cast away their Brother as an unclean Carcass That is they did not understand it to be holy because the Jews were his Brethren in respect of his Mother and by their Law the Carcass was reputed unclean It is to be wondred that the Habessines who cannot understand two Natures in Christ united in one Existence should find out two Souls in the body of Man And yet