against the Eunomians the Incomprehensibility of God which he doth often He shews that there is an infinite number of things in Nature which we do not comprehend to conclude from thence that 't is no good Reasoning to deny that something is in God only because we do not comprehend it Having thus prepared the Mind of his Reader or Hearer he proposes his Opinion concerning the Divinity of the Son ‖ Orat. 35. p. 562. and the Holy Trinity in general which he doth in these remarkable terms That which we worship is a Monarchy I don't call Monarchy what is possest by one Person only for it may happen that a Person not agreeing with himself produces the same effect as if there were many but what is grounded upon the Equality of Nature the Consent of the Will the same Motion and the same Design with respect to the things which that Monarchy produces which is not possible in Created Natures so that although those that compose that Monarchy differ in Number yet they differ not in Power Had Gregory believed the Numerical Unity of the Divine Essence he would have spoken very weakly and obscurely since instead of the Equality of the Nature he should should have said the Identity and not mention'd the Consent of Will but One only Will in Number In that Oration Gregory answers the Objections which the Arians raised against the Eternal Generation of the Son which are often very weak either because they are not well propounded or because the Arians argued not better However as one might Personate an Arian better so so one might perhaps maintain with greater advantage the Sentiments of the Council of Nice Among the Arian Objections which Gregory proposes to himself this is one of them which is the Eighth viz. * Pag. 569. That if the Son is as to the Essence altogether as the Father is it will follow that the Son is not Begotten as the Father is not Gregory answers not as the School-men do That the Son is not Begotten as to the Essence which is the same in Number with the Fathers as he should have said according to the Principles of the Modern Schools but that not to be Begotten is not a thing Essential to the Deity To which he adds Are you the Father of your Father that you may not be inferiour to him in any thing because you are the same thing as to the Essence If any one should doubt still whether the Vnity which our Orator speaks of is a Specifick or a Numerical one he needs only read these words which are at the bottom of the following Page †Pag. 570. This is our Doctrine As we judge alike of things which are under the same Species as a Horse an Oxe and a Man and every thing is properly called by the Name which suits the Nature of which it partakes whereas that which doth not partake of it doth not go by that Name or hath it but improperly so there is but One Essence and Nature in God which hath the same Name though the Persons and Names are distinguished by the Thoughts In the * Orat. 36. Fourth Oration Gregory resolves according to his way the Objections of the Arians by which they pretend to shew the Unequality of the Father and the Son In the †Orat. 37. Fifth he disputes about the Consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit against the Macedonians Some of those who believed the Divinity of the Son denied that of the Holy Spirit and were even so bold as to call the Holy Spirit a Strange God because he is styled God no where in the Holy Scripture Gregory made his Fifth and last Theological Oration against them In that Discourse speaking of the several Opinions that have been about that he says amongst other things ‖ Orat. ib. p. 595. That the greatest Theologers among the Pagans and those who came nearest to us have an Idea of Him though they gave him another Name having called him The Soul of the World and The Soul which comes from without and used some other such Names As for the Wise Men of our times some believe that the Holy Spirit is a Faculty some that he is a Creature some that he is a God and some know not in what Order of Things they should place him by reason of the respect they have for the Scripture which is not clear upon that Point Gregory maintains That 't is a Person Consubstantial with the Two other And when he answers his Adversaries who ask'd him wherein the Generation and Procession differed he hath recourse to the Incomprehensibility But one of the chief Objections against the Orthodox was * Pag. 600. That they acknowledged Three Gods If there is said their Adversaries a God and a God and a God how comes it that there are not Three Gods c. This is replyes Gregory what is said by those whose Impiety is come to its height and even by those who are in the Second rank that is who have a right Belief concerning the Son I have a common Answer to both and another which concerns only the latter I ask therefore the latter why they call us Tritheists since they honour the Son and whether though they leave out the Holy Spirit they are not Ditheists How d' ye explain your Ditheism when they offer you this Objection Teach us how we ought to answer for the Answer by which you will clear your selves from Ditheism will serve us to vindicate our selves from Tritheism c. Thus we shall get the Victory and our Accusers will be our Defenders c. But we have a Dispute with those two sorts of Adversaries and a common Answer to both We have but One God because there is but One Godhead and that those who emaned from it refer to One only thing though we believe Three of them The one is not more God than the other the one is not Anterior and the other Posterior They are not divided in Will nor separate in Power and there is nothing in them that is found in things divided but to say all in a word the Godhead is without Division in Three Divided Persons as in Three Suns fastened one to another there would be but One Mixture of Light When we consider the Deity and the First Cause of the Monarchy we conceive but One Thing but when we consider those in whom the Deity and those who emaned from the First Cause before Time was and enjoy the same Glory we worship Three But it will be said Is there not One only Deity among the Pagans as their most learned Philosophers say All Mankind hath but One Humanity and yet there are Many Gods among the Pagans not One only as there are Many Men. I answer That in those things the Unity lies only in the Thought Every Man is divided from others by Time Passions and Power which is not in God Therein doth the UNITY of God consist as far
as I can conceive it If that Reason be Good let God be thanked for it if not we must look for a Better Afterwards Gregory proposes to himself an Arian Objection which shews more clearly still that the Orthodox placed not the Unity of God in the Numerical Vnity of the Divine Essence but in a Specifick Vnity of Distinct and Equal Essences and in a perfect Agreement of Wills * Pag. 602. Things which are of the same Essence say ye are ranked in the same Order of Things and those which are not Consubstantial are not so ranked From whence it follows that you cannot but confess that there are Three Gods according to your reckoning For as for us we are not in the same danger because we do not say that the Persons are Consubstantial The Arians meant That forasmuch as they admitted but of One Supreme God and who hath created all other things they might say in that respect that there is but One God because that God could not be ranked in the same Order and under the same Name with his Creatures but that the Orthodox acknowledging Three Beings of a perfectly like Nature they could not deny that they acknowledged Three Gods properly speaking Gregory answers only That Things which are not of the same Species are often reckoned in the same Rank 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of which he gives several Instances out of the Scripture That shews that the Arians might be accused of admitting of Many Gods as well as the Orthodox not that the Orthodox acknowledged not Three Eternal Minds though perfectly Equal and having the same Will A little lower in the same Oration * Pag. 611. Gregory says That having sought among Created Things something like the Holy Trinity he could find no satisfactory Comparison He thought of an Eye a Fountain and a River but he found not those things proper enough to express his Thoughts I was afraid says he First that I should seem to introduce a cetain Fluxus of Divinity which should have no Consistency Secondly establish a Numerical Unity by those Comparisons For an Eye a Fountain and a Sun are One in Number though differently Modified I was thinking of the Sun the Beams and the Light but it was to be feared still on this occasion First That we should suppose a Composition in a Nature wherein there is none such as the Composition of the Sun and what is in the Sun Secondly That indeed we should give an Essence to the Father but should not ascribe a Distinct Existence to the other Persons by making them to be some Faculties which exist in God and have no distinct Existence The Rays or the Light are not other Suns as the Son and the Holy Spirit are other Minds distinct from the Father but some Emanations and Essential Properties of the Sun Lastly Gregory * Pag. 612 found nothing better than to lay aside those Images and Shadows as being Deceitful and very Remote from the Originals After all Gregory believes †Pag. 608 that the Holy Trinity was only revealed by degrees so that the Revelation manifested to Men first God the Father without speaking of God the Son but obscurely afterwards the Son without requiring from Men the Belief of the Holy Spirit and lastly the Holy Spirit after the Ascension of the Son One may judge from those places of the Doctrine of Gregory and the Orthodox of his time with whom the Orthodox of ours agree as well in Terms as they differ from them in Sence One may also observe in the Expressions of our Bishop a remarkable Effect of Disputing viz. when Men are afraid that their Adversaries will take advantage of certain Expressions they carefully forbear using them for fear of lying open to 'em though those Expressions are very proper to express the Doctrine they maintain 'T is manifest that Gregory to be well understood should have answered the Arians Yes 't is true we worship Three Gods since we acknowledge Three Eternal Minds who have Distinct Essences But those Gods are perfectly Equal and as perfectly United as Distinct Beings can be having the same Thoughts and the same Will hence it is that we commonly say that we acknowledge but One God But had he spoken thus the Arians who boasted of their studying and following the Scripture would have presently replied that the Scripture represents the Unity of the Supreme God as a Numerical Unity not as a Unity of Species and Agreement They would have said as they already did but with greater shew of Reason that the Homoousians introduced a New Paganism by acknowledging Three Collateral Gods So that they were obliged to avoid those Reproaches stoutly to maintain that there is but One God according to the Nicene Opinion The Platonicks who had the same Thought but were not confined to Expressions spoke it out and said that the Principles of All Things are Three Gods I cannot forbear quoting on this occasion some remarkable Words of St. Augustine which do admirably confirm what I have just now said * De Civit. Dei l. 10. c. 23. Liberis Verbis loquuntur Philosophi nec in rebus ad intelligendum difficillimis offensionem Religiosarum aurium pertimescunt Nobis autem ad certam Regulam loqui fas est ne verborum licentia ETIAM in rebus quae in his SIGNIFICANTVR impiam gignat opinionem Nos autem non dicimus Duo vel Tria Principia cum de Deo loquimur sicuti nec Duos Deos vel Tres nobis licitum est dicere quamvis de unoquoque loquentes vel de Filio vel de Spiritu Sancto etiam singulum quemque Deum esse fateamur The Philosophers do freely use any Words and are not afraid of offending Pious Ears in Matters very difficult to understand As for us we are not allowed to speak but according to a certain Rule lest some Words used with too great a licence should produce an impious Opinion if understood according to their Signification When we speak of God we neither mention Two nor Three Principles as we are not allowed neither to say that there are Two or Three Gods though speaking of every one of them either of the Son or Holy Spirit we say that each of 'em is God Such a Conduct was the Cause of departing by degrees from the ancient Notions because the word Vnity was taken in its ordinary Signification without minding that the Antients understood it in a particular Sence The same hath happen'd in several other Doctrines Having thus alledged so many Proofs of our Bishops Opinion concerning the Doctrines which then divided Christians 't is now time to return to his History The Council which I have already mention'd * Socrat. l. 5. c. 8. Sozom. l. 7. c. 7. met at Constantinople in May in the Year 381. It was made up of a CL. Orthodox Bishops and XXXVI Macedonians whom they hoped to bring to the Orthodox Faith Besides some Canons made in
it concerning the Discipline which I shall not mention the Business of Gregory and Maximus was debated in it and they made a Creed Maximus's †Conc. C.P. c. 4. Ordination and all those which he might have conferred were judged Null and then ‖ Carm. de Vit. p. 14. they declared Gregory Bishop of Constantinople though he endeavoured to be excused from it They made him promise he would stay in it because he persuaded himself that being in that Station he could more easily reconcile the different Parties which divided Christianity Indeed it was said against Gregory's Promotion that having been Bishop of Sasime and Nazianzum he could not be transferred to Constantinople without breaking the Fifteenth Canon of the Council of Nice which is Formal thereupon But Meletius Bishop of * Theodor. l. 5. c. 8. Antioch replied to that That the Design of that Canon was to bridle Pride and Ambition which had no share in that Business Besides it seems that that Canon was not observed in the East since †Carm. de Vit. sua p. 29. Gregory calls what they opposed to him Laws dead long since Furthermore he had exercised no Episcopal Function at Sasime and as to Nazianzum he had been only his Father's Coadjutor That Business being over they came to treat of the chief Subject for which they were met viz. Macedonius's Opinion who had been Bishop of Gonstantinople and believed that the Holy Spirit is but a Creature though all the Disciples of that Bishop agreed not about the Nature of that Divine Person as may be seen from a Passage of Gregory which I have quoted The Nicene Creed was presently confirmed in the Council and 't was thought fit ‖ Vid. Conc. Chalced. Act. 2. to make some Additions to it especially to what concerns the Holy Spirit That Addition is exprest in these words I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord and Giver of Life who proceedeth from the Father who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified and who spake by the Prophets The Council did also Anathematize the Opinions of Sabellius Marcellus Photinus Eunomius Apollinaris and Macedonius but I shall not enlarge upon those Errors because they have no essential relation with the Life of Gregory For the same reason I shall omit what concerns the Discipline All things went quietly enough with respect to Gregory till there arose a Storm which deprived him of the Episcopal See of Constantinople when he least expected it The Spirit of Vengeance of a Party which he opposed was the cause of that Disturbance which Gregory who was not courageous enough to sustain the shock of his Adversaries could not get himself rid of but by running away There happen'd some time before a mischievous Schism in the Church of Antioch where there were Two Orthodox Bishops at the same time Meletius being dead at Constantinople before the Council was ended 't was proposed to give him a Successor Thereupon Gregory proposed an Expedient to put an end to that Schism viz. That Paulinus who was the other Orthodox Bishop * Carm. de Vit. p. 25. and had been Ordained by Lucifer of Cagliari should govern alone the Church of Antioch during the rest of his life and afterwards those of Melelius's Party being reunited with those of Paulinus's should chuse a Bishop by common Votes Lest it should be thought he had some Interest in favouring Paulinus and that he designed to make a Party he offered the Counsel to leave the Episcopal Throne of Constantinople on which he was just setled But the Ambitious Men and Incendiaries as Gregory calls 'em who began to move to give a Successor to Meletius would not hearken to that Proposal * Ib. p. 27. A company of Young Men fell a crying like Mag-pies and made so great a Noise that they drew in even the Old Bishops who should have resisted them and brought to a second Examination the Business of Gregory which was just before ended Gregory describes admirably well their Ambition Ignorance and their other Defects in the Poem he made concerning his Life One had better read it in the Author himself than here In the mean time the People having heard that Gregory began to be weary of the Council and was talking of retiring fell a crying that they would not take their Pastor from them and desired him that he would not leave his Flock Thereupon Timothy Bishop of Alexandria who had succeeded Peter and was of a violent and quarrelsom Temper arrived with several Egyptian Bishops The old Grudge they bore Gregory on the account of Maximus the Cynick had inflam'd them to such a degree against our Bishop that the first thing they did was to complain that they had broke the Canons by transferring Gregory from one Bishoprick to another This caused a great stir in the Council and on that occasion Gregory made his Oration concerning Peace which is the Fourteenth wherein he describes at large the Advantages of Concord and the Mischiefs which arise from Divisions He severely censures the Inconstancy of the Bishops who had other Thoughts of him without any reason and suffered themselves to be imposed upon by the Calumnies of his Adversaries He says that the ill Reports which are commonly spread against Moderate Men ought to be despised Lastly One may easily perceive by all that he says that 't is not only in our time that Men have cover'd their most shameful Passions with the specious Name of Zeal for the Purity of the Faith Wherefore Gregory says * Ib. p 29. that he told 'em That they should not trouble themselves so much with what concerned him but that they should endeavour to be re-united That 't was time for 'em to expose themselves no longer to be laught at as Wild Men and such as have learned nothing but Quarrelling That provided they would agree he would willingly be the Jonas who should make the Storm to cease That he had accepted of the Episcopal See against his will and willingly parted with it and that his Body weakened with Old Age obliged him to 't But because notwithstanding they charged him with Ambition still he made a Discourse which is his Twenty seventh Oration whereby he protests that he had accepted the Bishoprick of Constantinople against his will and appeals to all the People for it He says * Ortt. 27. p. 465. he doth not know whether he ought to call the See of Constantinople the Throne of a Tyrant or a Bishop He complains of his Enemies Evil-speaking and the Envy they bore him †Pag. 466. because of his Eloquence and Learning in the Sciences of the Pagans That perhaps raised the Envy of some but the Station he was in raised without doubt the Envy of many more He might have made use of all his Rhetorick at Sasime without being put to any trouble upon that account Having declared a Full Council that he desired to leave the
Subject in hand I shall not undertake this Matter Perhaps some time or other I shall publish a Dissertation about it I had rather observe here That although Clemens doth often charge the Greek Philosophers with Theft yet he believed that God had given them part of their Knowledge by the Ministry of Inferior Angels whereas he instucted the Christians by the Ministry of his Son * Strom. l. 7. p. 702. The Lord of all Men of the Greeks as well as the Barbarians persuades those that will believe in Him For he doth not force him to receive Salvation who may chuse and do what is in his power to embrace the Hope which God offers him 'T is He who gives Philosophy to the Greeks by the Ministry of Inferior Angels †Ibid. l. 1. p 309. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the Angels have been long ago dispersed among the Nations by the Command of God but the Opinion of those that Believe is the Gift of the Lord. Afterwards he proves at large in the same place that God is the Saviour of the Heathens as well as the Jews As to the Ministry of Angels to reveal Philosophy to the Greeks Clemens and those who have been of the same Opinion came by it partly by reason of what Socrates said concerning his Daemon who warned him of several things and of whom ‖ Ibid. l. 1. p. 311 334. Clemens seems to speak in such terms as may make one believe that he was persuaded that Socrates spake the Truth And this agrees well enough with the Opinion of the same Father and several others who believed after several Heathen Philosophers that every Man had a Tutelar Angel who might sometimes advize him After what hath been said 't is no wonder that Clemens should ascribe a kind of Prophecy * Ibid. l. 5. p. 601. to Plato especially if it be considered that the words of that Philosopher suit Jesus Christ so well that the Condition which the Saviour of the World was reduced to when he was nailed to the Cross can scarce be better described now He †De Rep. l. 2. p. 423. ed. Ficin describes a Perfect Vertue and says that one might bestow that Name upon the Vertue of a Just Man who yet should be accounted a Wicked for being a strict Observer of Justice and who notwithstanding the ill Opinion which the World should have of him would walk on in the way of Vertue even to Death although he should be Whipt although he should suffer several Torments and be kept in Chains although his Eyes should be burnt out with a red-hot Iron although he should be exposed to all sorts of Misery and at last be Crucified However Clemens did not equal the Heathen Philosophy to the Doctrine of Christ He acknowledges that before his coming into the World it was only as it were a Degree and Preparation to Christianity and that the Philosophers could only be lookt upon as Children if compared to the Christians He thought that Faith was Necessary since the Gospel had been published through the whole World * Strom. l. 7. p. 704. The Saviour says be having given his Commands to the Barbarians and Philosophy to the Greeks hath shut up Unbelief until his Coming in which time whosoever doth not believe in Him is without Excuse All the Books of Clemens are full of these Sentiments and he defends them every where so clearly and so fully that it plainly appears that in his time those Opinions were not at least so commonly lookt upon as dangerous for it is not likely that they would have made him a Catechist after his Master Pantaenus or bestowed so many Praises upon him as they have done since if he had been lookt upon as a Man infected with dangerous Opinions St. Chrysostom maintained the same thing concerning the Salvation of Heathens in his 38th Hom. upon St. Matthew 'T was necessary to observe in few words those Opinions of Clemens because without it several places of his Writings cannot be understood and because 't was upon this account that he kept whatever he thought to be Rational in the Doctrine of the Heathens rejecting only what seem'd to him False or inconsistent with the Doctrines of the Gospel or what had been blamed by Christ and his Apostles Thus All the Greek Philosophers even those who were for a Fate having believed that Men are Free by their Nature and can abstain from doing Evil as they are able to apply themselves to Vertue And Christ and his Apostles having not undertaken to take them off from this Opinion Clemens openly maintains That Men have a liberty of Doing Evil or Abstaining from it * Strom. l. 1. p. 311. Neither Praises says he nor Censures nor Rewards nor Punishments are Just if the Soul hath not the power of Sinning or not Sinning and if Sin is Vnvoluntary The Pagans knew nothing of what was called since Original Sin And Clemens observing that the Sacred Writers do not upbraid the Heathens with their Ignorance in this Matter nor teach them that even New-born Children deserve the Fire of Hell he denies that Children are any ways corrupted The before-mentioned Hereticks who condemn'd Marriage faid amongst other Reasons That Men did only thereby bring Polluted Children into the World †Ibid. l. 3. p. 468 469. since David says of himself Psal 51. That he was conceived in Sin and shapen in Iniquity And Job maintains chap. 14. ver 4 5. That none is free from Pollution even though he should live but one Day Hereupon Clemens exclaims thus Let them tell us how a Child new-bown hath sinned or how he who hath done nothing yet is fallen under Adam 's Curse Afterwards he explains that Passage of David as if the Prophet had meant only that he was descended from Eve who was a Sinner It must be further observed That a Man with such a Disposition of Mind could scarce avoid believing that the Philosophers were of the same Opinion with the Apostles as soon as he perceived some Likeness between their Terms Thus Plato having spoken of the Three Chief Deities whom he acknowledged * In the Life of Eusebius as I shall shew elsewhere in Terms like those that were used by the Primitive Christians speaking of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Clemens believed that the Doctrine of that Philosopher was the same with that of the Christians I think says †Strom. l. 5. p. 598. he that Plato understood nothing else by it but the Holy Trinity and that the Third Being mention'd by him is the Holy Spirit as the Second is the Son by whom all things were made according to his Father 's Will. Wherefore when he speaks of Christ's Divinity he doth not describe it otherwise than the Platonicks did the Reason * Strom. l. 5. p. 598. The Nature of the Son says he is the most Perfect the most Holy that which hath the greatest share in the
third of Greek Words and Phrases either worthy of Observation or such as that Author hath used in a particular Sence If those Index's were Compleat and Correct they would be undoubtedly very useful but they are neither There is a great many Faults in the Numbers and the Sence of Clemens is often mis-represented in them That Passage of Job There is none but is polluted is referred to the 25th Chapter of his Book whereas 't is in the 14th There is in the Index Peccato originali infectae omnium animae corpora 468. d. On the contrary Clemens confutes that Opinion in that place but Sylburgus or another who made that Index in all probability thought of what Clemens should have said in his judgment rather than what he did really say There is besides a Fourth Index before the Book which contains a Catalogue of the Authors cited by Clemens but the Pages in which they are cited being not marked 't is altogether useless 'T were to be wisht for the Common-wealth of Learning not only that Kings were Philosophers or Philosophers Kings but also that Printers were Learned Men or Learned Men Printers and that we might see again the Age of the Manutius's and Stephens to give us good Editions of the Writings of the Antients and make that Study more Easie which is Difficult enough of it self without encreasing the Difficulties by our own Negligence The Life OF EUSEBIUS Bishop of Caesarea THE same Reason that induced me to give the Publick the Life of Clemens Alexandrinus obliges me to give an Account of that of Eusebius of Caesarea It will be so much the more Curious to those who cannot consult the Originals because there happened more Remarkable Things in Eusebius his time than in Clemens's and because the former was in a Higher Station than the latter Eusebius was born in Palestine and perhaps at Caesarea at least * Ap. Socrat l. 5. c. 8. he seems to intimate in the beginning of his Letter to the Christians of that City That he was Instructed in the Christian Faith and Baptized there He was Born towards the End of the Third Century though we cannot find exactly the Year of his Birth He began early to apply himself to Learning especially to Divinity as it sufficiently appears in his Writings wherein may be seen that he had carefully read all sorts of Profane Authors and that all the Writings of the Christians who wrote in Greek and those of the Latin that were translated into that Tongue were known to him He had the advantage of the curious Library which the Martyr Pamphilius his particular Friend had collected at Caesarea It s affirm'd * Hieron Epist ad Chron. Heliod Antipater Bostrencis in Concil Nicaen II. Act. 5. That being become Bishop of this City he entreated Constantine who passed through it and who had bid him ask some Favour in behalf of his Church that he would permit him to make a search into all the Publick Registers to extract the Names of all the Martyrs and the Time of their Death However he has committed Faults enough in Chronology as Joseph Scaliger and a great many other Learned Men have observed and especially in relation to Martyrs as Mr. Dodwel has lately shewn in his Dissertation de Paucitate Martyrum But it was no easie Matter to escape these kind of Faults in such a Work as his Ecclesiastical History which was the first of that sort that was ever undertaken the Primitive Christians taking no care of the History of their Times Eusebius is commonly call'd the Son of Pamphilius Whether he was really his Son as some affirm or his Nephew according to the Opinion of others or in fine as most believe by reason of the great Friendship between them This Pamphilius was of Beryte in Phoenicia and Priest of Caesarea he held Origen's Opinions for whom he wrote an Apology of which there remains to us but a part of it in Latin among the Works of Origen and St. Jerome He made it in Prison where he was put in the Year 307 under the Emperor Decius and where Eusebius did not forsake him He could write only the five first Books having been hinder'd from finishing * Phot. Cod. CXVIII this Work by the Death which he sustered for the Gospel two years after he had been thrown into Prison But Eusebius finish'd it in adding thereto a sixth Book and publish'd it after his Death Pamphilius had for Master †Id. Cod. CXIX Pierius Priest of Alexandria who likewise suffer'd Martyrdom and was also of Origen's Opinion whose Assiduity and Eloquence he imitated which got him the Name of Second Origen It 's not amiss here to relate the Judgment which Photius makes of his Works He advances several things says he remote from those which are at present establish'd in the Church perhaps according to the Custom of the Antients Yet he speaks after a pious manner of the Father and the Son excepting that he assures us that they have Two Essences 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Two Natures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 using the words Essence and Nature as it appears by what precedes and follows in this Passage for that of Hypostasis and not in the sence of the Arians But he speaks of the Holy Spirit in a dangerous and impious manner for he attributes to him a Glory inferiour to that of the Father and the Son Yet he was Catechist of Alexandria under the Patriarch Theonas who was Consecrated in the Year 282. Pamphilius being dead as has been said Eusebius retired to Paulinus Bishop of Tyre his Friend where he was Witness as he tells us * L. 8. c. 6. himself of several Martyrdoms the History of which he has left us in his Book of the Martyrs of Palestine From thence he went into Egypt where he found the Persecution yet more violent and where he was thrown into Prison But this Persecution having ceased he was set at liberty and a while after elected Bishop of Caesarea after the Death of Agapius It 's not certainly known in what Year this Election was made but at least he was already Bishop when Paulinus dedicated a stately Church in the City of Tyre which he had built there which was in the Year 316 in the 10th of Year Constantine's Reign for it was the Custom of the Christians * Ant. Pagi Diss Hypat par 2. c. 3. n. 12 13. as well as of the Pagans to Consecrate their Churches in the time of the Decennales of the Emperors or of any other Solemnity Eusebius recites a fine Oration spoken at this Dedication †L. 10. c. 4. and though he does not say that it was he himself that spoke it yet the Stile of this Oration and the modest Manner after which he mentions him that made it gives one reason to believe that he has supprest his Name only through Modesty One might imagine that he was then but Priest were it
Projection and the other that he was not begotten no more than the Father To this Arius added the Explanation of his Opinion which we have already related The Bishop * Sozom. II. of Nicomedia having receiv'd this Letter call'd a Synod of his Province of Bythinia which wrote Circular Letters to all the Eastern Bishops to induce them to receive Arius into Communion as maintaining the Truth and to engage Alexander to do as much We have still a Letter of Eusebius to Paulinus Bishop of Tyre wherein he not only intreats Paulinus to intercede for Arius but wherein he exposes and defends his Sentiments with great clearness He says He has never heard there were Two Beings without Generation nor that the One has been parted into Two but that this single Being had begotten another not of his Substance but perfectly like to him although of a different Nature and Power That not only we cannot express by Words the Beginning of the Son but that is even Incomprehensible to those Intellectual Beings which are above Men as well as to us To prove this he cites the 8th of the Proverbs God the Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways before is works of old I was set up from Everlasting and he has begotten me before the mountains were brought forth He says That we must not search in the Term of Begetting any other signification than that of Producing because the Scripture does not only use it in reference to the Son but moreover in speaking of Creatures as when God says I have begotten Children and I have brought them up but they have rebelled against me But these Letters not having had the Success which Arius expected he sent to get leave of Paulinus of Eusebius and Patrophilus Bishop of Scythopolis to gather those who were of his Opinion into a Church and to exercise among them the Office of a Priest as he was wont to do before and as was done at Alexandria These Bishops having Convocated the other Bishops of Palestine granted him what he demanded but ordered him however to remain subject to Alexander and to omit nothing to obtain Communion with him There is extant a Letter of Arius directed to this Bishop * Apud Epiph II. and written from Nicomedia which contains a Confession of Faith according to the Doctrine which Arius affirm'd that Alexander himself had taught him wherein after having denoted his Belief touching the Father which includes nothing Heterodox he adds That he hath begotten his only Son before the times Eternal that it is by him that he has made the World that he has begotten him not only in Appearance but in Reality that this Son subsists by his own Will that he is unmoveable that he is a Creature of God that is perfect and not as other Creatures that he is a Production but not as other Productions Nor as Valentinian said a Projection of the Father Nor as Manes affirm'd a Consubstantial Part of the Father Nor as Sabellius call'd him a Son Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor as Hieracas spake a Lamp lighted by a Lamp or a Torch divided into two that he did not exist before he was begotten and became a Son that there are three Hypostases that is to say different Substances the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and that the Father is before the Son although the Son was created before all Ages Arius adds that Alexander had several times preach'd this Doctrine in the Church and refuted those who did not receive it This Letter is sign'd by Six Priests Seven Deacons and Three Bishops Secondus of Pentapolis Theonas of Lybia and Pistus whom the Arian Bishops had Establish't at Alexandria Alexander * Socrat. l. 1. c. 6. wrote on his side Circular Letters wherein he sharply censures Eusebius of Nicomedia in that he protected Arius and recommended him to others He joins to this the Names of those who had been Excommunicated and explains their Doctrine wherein he contents not himself to set down what we have seen in Arius's his Letters touching the Beginning which he attributes to the Son he says moreover that this Priest maintain'd that the Son is one of the Creatures that we cannot call him the Reason and Wisdom of the Father but improperly seeing that he himself has been produced by the Reason and Wisdom of God that he is subject to change as other Intelligent Creatures that he is of another Essence than God that the Father is Incomprehensible to him and that he doth not so much as know what his proper substance is that he has been made for our sakes to serve God as an Instrument in Creating us and that without this God had never begotten him Alexander adds That having assembled near a hundred Bishops of Egypt and Lybia they had Excommunicated Arius and his Followers by reason of his Opinions He afterwards comes to prove this and shews first The Eternity of the Son by this passage of St. John In the Beginning was the Reason 2. That he cannot be reckoned among the Creatures because the Father says of him in the 45th Psalm My Heart has uttered eructavit a good Word 3. That he is not unlike the Essence of the Father of which he is the perfect Image and the Splendor and of whom he says He that has seen me has seen the Father 4. That we cannot say There was a time in which he was not seeing that he is the Reason and the Wisdom of the Father and that it will be absurd to say There was a time in which the Father was without Reason and Wisdom 5. That he is not subject to change because the Scripture says He is the same yesterday and to day 6. That he was not made because of us seeing St. Paul says That it is because of him and by him that all things are 7. That the Father is not Incomprehensible to the Son seeing he says As the Father knows me so I know the Father This Letter wherein Eusebius of Nicomedia is extremely ill treated shock't this Bishop to the utmost Point and having great access to the Court because Constanstine made then his abode at Nicomedia this occasion'd divers Bishops to be at his devotion But he could not engage Alexander to forget what had past to speak no more of this Controversie and to receive Arius into Communion The Quarrels every day grew hotter and the People were seen to range themselves some taking Arius's side others Alexander's and the Comedians being Gentiles this gave them occasion to make a Sport of Christian Religion on their Theatres Each side treated one another with the odious Name of Heretick and endeavoured to shew that the Sentiments of the opposite Party overthrew the Christian Religion but it appears that neither the one nor the other Party could yet persuade the Emperor seeing he wrote to Alexander and to Arius a long Letter of which Hosius Bishop of Cordavia was the Bearer wherein he
thank God because that which arose in the Church of Nazianzum was over 4. That the Church of Nazianzum which before that last Division knew not what Schism was ought to endeavour for the future to enjoy a perpetual Peace 5. That in the last Discord Men were so fully persuaded that the Bishop of Nazianzum acted sincerely and kept the Truth of the Faith that they upbraided him only with his being imposed upon by equivocal Words 6. That every thing invites us to Peace God Angels and all Creatures which are maintained by Concord 7. That the Jews had been happy whilst they were at Peace one with another but became unfortunate as soon as they were divided 8. Notwithstanding that all manner of Peace ought not to be sought after but that a medium ought to be kept and that 't is one 's Duty to oppose Heresie with all one's might when any body prefesses it openly but that one ought to forbear making a Schism upon meer Suspicions * Pag. 203. When says he that which troubles us is only a Suspicion and a Fear grounded upon no Certainty Patience is more useful than Precipitation and Condescension more than Passion 'T is much better to remain united together to correct mutually one another as the Members of the same Body than to condemn one another by a Schism before they understand reciprocally one another or to lose the Trust which they put one in another by a Division and than to undertake to correct others not after a brotherly but tyrannical manner with Edicts and Laws Lastly Gregory exhorts the Church of Nazianzum to keep the good depositum concerning the Doctrine of the Trinity which he expresses in these terms * Pag. 204. We worship a Father a Son and a Holy Spirit in the Son we acknowledge the Father and in the Holy Spirit the Son c. Before we join them we distinguish 'em and before we distinguish 'em we join ' em We don't look upon those Three Things as One GOD for they are not things †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See the Life of Eusebius destitute of a distinct Existence or that have but One Existence so that our Riches be only in Names not in Things and that Three Things be really but One. 'T is One Thing not in Existence but in Divinity We worship an Unity in a Trinity and that Trinity re-united in the Unity is all adorable and Royal it hath but One Throne and Glory it is all above the World above Time Uncreated c. That Speech as almost all the Speeches of Gregory is 1st Without any great Order Thoughts are heaped one upon another as they came into the Author's Mind a Defect which almost all the ancient Orators were guilty of as well as he and which makes him repeat the same things to no purpose 2dly His Reasonings seem too far-fetch'd and are not very convincing as when he says That the World is preserved by Peace That 's a far-fetch'd Thought and the contrary might be said as indeed some Philosophers have asserted That the Opposition which is between the several Parts of the Universe keeps them in the state they are in because they hinder one another from leaving it 3dly The Style of that Oration is too full of Figures little correct and even sometimes harsh all which things often breed Obscurity However it must be confest that he abounds in noble Comparisons and happy and Energick Expressions such as those * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he uses in that place wherein he condemns the Schism which I have mentioned He is also full of Ornaments taken out of History or Heathenish Fables nay he speaks sometimes of the later as the Pagan Philosophers did without openly rejecting them Thus speaking of the Flames of Mount Aetna he uses this Expression * Orat. iii. p. 86. whether it be something else or the blowing of a Giant in torment Elsewhere having spoken of the Torments of Tantalus Ixion †Orat. iv p. 132. and Tityus he adds whether it be True or a Eable which teaches us the Truth under a Fiction Yet there is no doubt but Gregory look'd upon all those things as meer Fables but the Greek Philosophers whom he had carefully read spoke after the same manner It seems that the custom of speaking as others did made Gregory say many things which he had read in Pagan Authors without being willing to examine ' em But he is far from equalling the Neatness Exactness and Elegancy of Isocrates whom they say he proposed to himself as his Model I thought my self obliged to set down here in a few words what may be said of Gregory's Style that I may forbear repeating it when I come to speak of his other Orations I shall only present the Reader with some Examples of what I have said when occasion offers I must also observe here once for all that Gregory with respect to Philosophy followed the Platonick from which he borrows several terms which can't be understood without the knowledge of it Thus he says ‖ Pag. 1â—8 That God is the most Excellent and Highest of all Beings if one had not rather place him above the Essence and put in him the Whole Being since he gives it to other things To understand the meaning of those words to be above the Essence we must know that the Platonicks establish'd some Chains of Beings as they worded it that is a Series of Beings placed one above another so that going up by degrees in that Chain more excellent Beings did still offer themselves and at last the Supreme Trinity which is above all the Essences of those Beings that is to say which can't be referred to any particular Species but contains in it self all their Essences and therefore can produce ' em * Vid. Proclum Theol Platon l. 3. c. 20. alibi Whence it is that those Philosophers say that the Gods have some Super-essential Qualities Without the knowledge of that Platonick Doctrine one can't know Gregory's meaning in the words which I have just now quoted He says in the same Page That Angels partake first of the Light That they are enlightned by the True Reason and that they are some Beams of that Perfect Light All those terms are taken from the bottom of Platonism as I could easily shew by explaining them were it not that I should too much enlarge To return to the Historical part The Arians being informed of the Division which happened at Nazianzum took advantage of it and laughed at the Orthodox Which gave occasion to Gregory to make the Homily which is the XIII amongst his Orations wherein he shews the Arians that the Division of Nazianzum having been only by a Mistake and having not lasted long they did unjustly insult over that Church Besides he shews the advantage which the Orthodox had over the Arians and Sabellians by comparing the Opinions of those three Societies one with
Angels that were in Love with Women Clemens * Pad l. 3. p. 222. Strom. l. 3. p. 450. l. 5. p. 550. says in more than one place that he thought the same thing and most of the Ancient Greek and Latin Fathers have explained so the Beginning of the Sixth Chapter of Genesis Photius cannot blame that Opinion without censuring at the same time all Antiquity but 't is his Custom to treat ill the most Ancient Authors when he finds in them some Opinions that were not received in his time or some Expressions which he doth not think energick enough to express such Thoughts as in his judgment the Antients should have had because 't would have been an Heresie not to think so in his time 7. The Incarnation being a Mystery which we do not comprehend and Clemens's Style not being for the most part very clear he might have exprest himself so as not to be well understood by Photius which is so much the more easie to believe because that Patriarch commonly explains the Thoughts of the Antients agreeably to the Opinions and Ways of Speaking of his time The Writings of the Antients are full of Equivocal Terms which they use in such a sence as they had no more in the following Ages Terms which signifying Spiritual and Obscure Things and very compounded Idea's must necessarily be difficult to understand because they took no care to Define them and make an exact Enumeration of the Idea's which they fixed to them Perhaps it did not so much as come into their Mind that this was very necessary to be well understood At least One may observe that when they endeavour to explain themselves about those Obscure Matters they use Terms as Obscure as the fore-going 8. One may observe an Example of it concerning the Two Reasons mention'd by Photius Those who will carefully read the Second Tome of Origen upon St. John may observe that he establishes a First or Supreme Reason which is Christ's Divinity and many Inferior Reasons which are made according to the Image of the Precedent It might be said in that sence that None but the Second Reasons became Flesh because none but they animate Humane Bodies for although the First was united to the Humane Nature of Christ it did not supply the Place of a Soul So that although Clemens had said what Photius pretends yet he could not be charged with Heresie upon that account But he did not say so as appears by the Passage which Photius himself quotes out of him The Son is called Reason as well as the Paternal Reason but 't is not that which was made Flesh Nor is it the Paternal Reason neither but a Divine Power which is as it were an Emanation of that same Reason which became Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is come into the Hearts of Men. By those Terms The Son we must not understand the Only Begotten Son of God but the Man as it clearly appears by what follows Clemens perhaps call'd him only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he might have before clearly enough denoted whom he meant by that word Photius who did not well apprehend the Meaning of that Passage might easily mistake the Series of that Discourse As the Jesuite Schottus otherwise a Learned Man was altogether mistaken in the Latin Translation of those Words as one may presently observe by comparing it with mine Lastly We have a Latin Work * In Bibliot Pat. ascribed to Clemens and intituled Commentariola in Primam Canonicam S. Petri in Epistolam Judae Tres Epistolas S. Joannis Apostoli There is indeed several things in those Notes which do not differ from Clemens's Doctrine but we can't know whether they are an entire Translation of part of the Hypotypoles or only some Extracts corrected according to the Interpreter's mind 'T is well known that when the Latins translated some Greek Writings they were very apt to make such Alterations in them as they thought fit as Ruffinus hath been upbraided with it Nay there is no need to look so far for Examples of that ill Custom since we have one with relation to part of Clemens's Hypotyposes of which Cassiodorus speaks thus * Lib. 1. de Just Div. Script Clemens Alexandrinus explained in the Athenian Language the Canonical Epistles that is the First Epistle of St. Peter the First and Second of St. John and that of St. James wherein there is many subtle things but also some unwarily spoken which we have caused to be so translated into Latin as to take away what might give scandal that his Doctrine thus purified might be more safely read Vbi multa quidem subtiliter sed aliqua incautè loquutus est quae nos ita transferri fecimus in Latinum ut exclusis quibusdam offendiculis purificata doctrina ejus securior posset hauriri Clemens also composed Five Tracts which are lost 1. The Rule or Canon of the Church against those that followed the Opinions of the Jews 2. Concerning Easter 3. Concerning III Speaking 4. Some Disputes about Fasting 5. An Exhortation to Patience directed to the Neophytes Having thus made some Particular Remarks upon every one of his Works and some General Ones on that Occasion what remains is only to take notice of Three Things 1. He often cites Suppositious Writings as if they had been acknowledged by every Body as one may observe by that Place of St. Peter's Preaching which I have alledg'd and another of St. Paul which seems to have been taken out of the Book of his Travels upon which Eusebius and St. Jerome may be consulted Which may make one believe that the great Reading of that Learned Man gave him no refined Palate One need not be a great Master of this sort of Learning to perceive that what he cites out of them doth not suit the Style of the Apostles and is not agreeable to their Principles It cannot be doubted but that they believed that the God whom the Jews worshipped was the True God Maker of Heaven and Earth and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ who says so himself Nor can the Jews be charged with having served the Angels the Month and the Moon with any probability and the Reason which the Author of St. Peter's Preaching gives for it is so ridiculous that none but such as will be deceived can be deceived by it 'T is true that some * Huet in Orig. T. 2. p. 212. Learned Men have otherwise explained that Accusation which that Author lays upon them but one may easily see by what follows that he understood it in a more simple manner than they do However that Book being manifestly Supposititious †Ibid. T. 14. in Joan. Origen dealt much more prudently than his Master since being to refute Heracleon a Valentinian who drew some Consequences against the Old Testament from those pretended words of St. Peter he begins with saying That one should enquire whether that Book is truly St. Peter ' s
the New Testament But it will be sufficient to remark here That the Apostles apply to our Saviour Christ Passages of the Old Testament which Philo had applied to the Reason and that this Jewish Philosopher has given to this same Reason most of the Titles which the Apostles have given to Jesus Christ. The Pagans who had then embraced the Gospel and who were in some measure vers'd in the Heathen Philosophy remarking this resemblance of Terms persuaded themselves that the Apostles believ'd the same things in respect of these Matters as the Platonick Jews and Pagans And this seems to be that which drew several Philosophers of this Sect into the Christian Religion and giv'n such a great Esteem to the Primitive Christians for Plato Justin Martyr in his First Apology says * Pag. 48. Edit Col. An. 1686. That Jesus Christ was known in part by Socrates for the Reason was and is still the same which is in every Man It is She that has foretold the Future by the Prophets and who being become subject to the same Infirmities as we has instructed us by her self He says moreover †Pag. 51 â—â—â—sd edit That the Opinions of Plato are not remote from those of Jesus Christ. And this has made likewise St. Augustine to say That if the ancient Platonists were such as they were described and were to rise again they would freely embrace Christianity in changing ‖ De. Ver. Rel. c. 3. Vid. Ep. LVI some few Words and Opinions which most of the late Platonists and those of his time had done Paucis mutatis verbis atque sententiis Christiani fierent sicut plerique recentiorum nostrorumque temporum Platonici fecerunt Tertullian affirms in his Apology * Cap. XXL That when the Christians say That God has made the Universe by his Word by his Reason and by his Power they speak only after the sage Heathens who tell us That God has made the World by his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Word or Reason Clemens Alexandrinus has likewise believ'd that Plato held the Doctrine of the Blessed Trinity as I have observed in the Life of that Father Origen against Celsus does not deny but that Plato spake the truth in speaking of †Lib. 6. pag. 270 280. God and of his Son He only maintains that he did not make such a just Use as he ought of his Knowledge He does not say that the Foundation of the Christian Doctrine is different in this from that of Plato but that this Philosopher had learn'd it from the Jews Constantine in his Harangue to the ‖ Cap. IX Saints after having prais'd Plato in that he was the first Philosopher who brought Men to the Contemplation of Intellectual Things thus goes on He has spoken of a First God who is above all Essences wherein he has done well He has likewise submitted to him a Second and has distinguisht Two Essences in number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Perfection of the one being the same as that of the other and the Essence of the Second God taking his Existence from the First For it is He who is the Author and the Director of all things being Above All. He that is after him having executed his Orders attributes to Him as to the Supreme Cause the Production of the Universe There is then but One to speak properly who takes care to provider for All to wit the Reason who is God and who has set all things in their Order This Reason being God is likewise the Son of God for who can call 〈◊〉 otherwise without committing a great Fault He that is the Father of all things is justly said to be the Father of his own proper Reason HITHERTO 〈◊〉 TO HAS SPOKE LIKE A WISE MAN 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but he has varied from the Truth in introducing a multiplicity of Gods and in giving to each of 'em his Form We might cite several other such like Passages whereby one might see that several among the Fathers of the first three Centuries have believ'd that the Opinion of Plato and that of the Apostles was the same If we consider that the Question here is about things of which we have naturally no Idea and which is even Incomprehensible supposing Revelation and of which one can only speak in metaphorical and improper Language it will then appear to us no wonder if since the Apostles times there have arose several Opinions on this Subject Thus the Ebionites are charged to have denied the Pre-existence of Our Saviour's Divinity and to have held that he was only a meer Man These Ebionites have remain'd a long time seeing that not only Justin Martyr and St. Irenaeus do mention them but St. Jerom seems to take notice that they were in his time It 's affirm'd That Artemon under the Emperor Severus and Paulus Samosatenus Bishop of Antioch under the Emperor Aurelius maintain'd the same Opinions Cerinthus on the contrary held the Pre-existence of the Reason which he call'd the Christ and affirm'd that she had descended on Jesus in the form of a Dove when he was Baptiz'd and that she ascended up into Heaven when he was Crucify'd It is indeed very difficult to affirm that this was precisely the Opinions of these Hereticks because we have nothing remaining to us of them and that we cannot fully trust those who speak of 'em only with detestation seeing it might easily be that their great Zeal has hindred them from well comprehending them And this is a Remark which we must make in respect of all the Ancient Hereticks whose Opinions are denoted to us only from the Writings of their Adversaries About the Middle of the Third Century Sabellius of Ptolemaïs in Lybia produced a new Opinion which was condemned in Egypt and afterwards every where He was charg'd with * Synod Const ap Theod. l. 5. c. 9. Damas is apud eundem c. 11. confounding the Hypostases and for denying the Properties which distinguish the Father the Son and Holy Ghost and for having said That the Father is the same as the Son Whereas Plato and his Followers reckon'd Three Numerical Essences It seems that Sabellius would acknowledge but One whom he call'd the Father the Son or Holy Spirit in divers regards It 's said that some others had maintain'd the same thing before and after him as Noet and Beryllus of Botsra A while after Sabellius appear'd Paulus Samosatenus Bishop of Antioch who was as we have said of the Ebionites Sentiment in relation to our Saviour's Divinity Although the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had been used in the Platonick Philosophy to signifie what is of the same kind as has been observ'd already and as may be seen in Bull 's Defence of the Nicene Council § 2. chap. 1. Yet the Council which met at Antioch to Condemn Paul of Samosotia Condemn'd likewise this Term. But its hard to find in what sence it was taken because the Acts of
this Council are lost and we know nothing of them but by what St. Athanasius * Vid. Bull. Def. Fid. Nic. §. 2. c. 1. §. 10 seq and some others extremely interessed to uphold this word have said in their Disputes against the Arians If we believe them the Fathers of the Council of Antioch said that the Father and the Son were not consubstantial in the same sence wherein we say that two pieces of Money made of the same Metal are consubstantial because that these pieces suppose a pre-existent Matter of which they have been form'd Whereas the Father and the Son do not suppose the like substance Paulus Samosatenus said that if the Son had not been made God we must suppose that he is of the same kind of Essence as that of the Father and that thus there must have been an anterior substance to the one and to the other of which they must have been form'd St. Athanasius assures us †In lib. de Syn. Arim. Seleu. Tom. 1. p. 919 seq that the term of Homoousios was condemn'd at Antioch in as much only as it might include the Idea of a Matter anterior to things which we call Coessentials These are the chief Heretical Opinions touching the Divinity of Jesus Christ which appear'd before the Council of Nice As for the Fathers which are respected as Orthodox they have not varied from the Expressions of the Platonists and as these have sometimes said that the Reason is different from the Supreme Being and sometimes that they are both one The Fathers have exprest themselves in the same terms The Platonists have said That the Father could not be without the Son nor the Son without the Father as the Light could not be without the Sun nor the Sun without Light And the Fathers have said the same thing Both one and the other have acknowledged that the Reason has existed before the World and that she has produced it and as Plato speaks in his Timaeus and Plotinus in his Enneades of the Generation of Reason as if the Good it self had produced it to create and govern the World So the Fathers have said that the Son hath proceeded in some manner from the Father before the Creation of the World to manifest himself to Men by his Production and that hence it is that the Scripture calls him the Son of God and his First-born Sometimes they say there was a time in which the Son was not sometimes that he was from Everlasting as well as the Father sometimes they affirm they are Equal and elsewhere they say the Father is Greatest Some of them believe that the Father and Son are two Hypostases two Natures two Essences as appears from the passage of Pierius related by * Cod. CXIX Photius others deny it To bring Instances of all this would be too great an Enlargement for this place and there being enough to be seen in Bull 's Book which we have already cited If it be demanded at present what Idea's they fix'd to these Expressions it cannot be affirm'd that they have been clear First Because whatever Endeavours are used to understand what they say a Man can get no distinct Notion thereof And Secondly Because they acknowledge themselves that it is a thing Incomprehensible All that can be done on this occasion is to relate the Terms which they have used to the end that it may be seen how they have heretofore exprest themselves on this Matter However learned Men have given themselves a great deal of trouble to explain the Passages of the Fathers who liv'd before the Council of Nice without considering that all their Explications are fruitless seeing the Fathers in acknowledging that what they said was Incomprehensible acknowledg'd at the same time that they fix'd no Idea on the Terms they used unless such as were general and confused Had the Matter staid here there had never been such great Disputes on the Sentiments of the Antients touching this Mystery seeing the Dispute doth not so much lie on the Terms they have used as the Idea's they have fasten'd to them which cannot be reduced to any thing that is clear Sometimes they use Terms which seem perfectly to agree with those which have been used since but there is found in some other places of their Works Expressions which seem to overthrow what they had said so that one cannot form any Notion of what they thought Lactantius for Example answers thus to the Heathens who ask'd the Christians how they said they acknowledged but One God seeing they gave this Name to the Father and to the Son * Instit l. 4. c. 29. p. 403. Ed. Oxon. When we call the Father God and the Son God we do not say that each of them is a different God And we do not separate them because the Father cannot be without the Son nor the Son separated from the Father He cannot be called Father without his Son nor the Son be begotten without his Father Seeing then that the Father makes the Son and that the Son is made the one and the other has the same Intellect One only Spirit and One only Substance VNA VTRIQVE MENS VNVS SPIRITVS VNA SVBSTANTIA These are Words which seem to be decisive and had Lactantius held to these Expressions he had never been accused of Heterodoxy But if he be question'd what he means by the word Vnus whether it be a Numerical Vnity or an Vnity of Consent and Resemblance he will appear determin'd to this latter sence * Ib. p. 104. When any one says he has a Son whom he dearly loves and who dwells in the House and under the governing Power of his Father although the Father grants him the Name and Authority of a Master yet in the terms of Civilians here is but one House and one Master So this World is but one House belonging to God and the Son and the Father who inhabit the World and who are of one Mind Vnanimes are One only God the One being as the Two and the Two as the One. And this ought not to appear strange seeing the Son is in the Father because the Father loveth the Son and the Father is in the Son by reason of his faithful Resignation to his Father's Will and that he does nothing nor never did do any thing unless what the Father has will'd or commanded him We may read further the 6th Chap. of the 4th Book which begins thus God who has conceived and produced all Things before he began this curious Work of the World begat a Spirit Holy and Incorruptible that he might call him his Son Although he has produced infinite others whom we call Angels for his Ministry yet he has vouchsafed to give the Name of Son to his First-born who is cloathed with the Vertue and Majesty of his Father That which is particular in this is That though Lactantius says That the Son is Co-eternal with the Father yet he
embraced That they admired among themselves what they sharply censured in another Party That there was nothing to be seen amongst 'em but Disputes like Night-Fights wherein Friends are not distinguished from Enemies That they wrangled about Trifles on the specious Pretence of defending the Faith Lastly That they were abhorred by the Heathens and despised by good Men among the Christians This is a true Picture of the Lives of the Ecclesiasticks in his time as it doth but too plainly appear by the History of that time It 's an unlucky thing that those of our time are so much like them that were it not known from whence those Complaints come one would be apt to look upon them as a Picture of our Modern Divines Another Difficulty which attended the Exercise of Episcopacy consisted in discoursing well of the Mysteries of Christianity and especially of the * Pag. 16. Holy Trinity concerning which according to Gregory a medium ought to be kept between the Jews who acknowledge but One God and the Pagans who worship Many A Medium which Sabellius did not keep by making the same God considered under several Relations Father Son and Holy Spirit nor Arius by maintaining that they are of different Natures As for him he believed as we have already seen and as he repeats it here and in many other places that he kept that wished for Medium by establishing Three Principles Equal in Perfection though the Father be the Principle of the Son and Holy Spirit It seems that Gregory had not been long his Father's Coadjutor when his Brother Caesarius died 'T was not long after the Earthquake which happen'd in Bithynia in October in the Year 368. He was then at * Orat. x. p. 169. Nice where he exercised the Office of Questor or the Emperor's Treasurer That City was almost altogether ruined and he was the only Officer of Valens who saved himself from that Danger Gregory made a Funeral Oration in his Praise which is the Tenth of those that are extant He makes a short Description of his Life the chief Circumstances of which I have related describes the Vanity of whatever we enjoy here and makes several Observations upon Death and the manner of comforting one's self upon the Death of one's Relations He wishes that his Brother may be in †Pag. 168. Abraham's Bosom whatever it may be And towards the ‖ Pag. 173. end describing the Happiness of Good Men after Death he says that according to Wise Men their Souls are full of Joy in the Contemplation of their future Happiness until they are received into the Heavenly Glory after the Resurrection Caesarius had given his Estate to the Poor at his Death yet notwithstanding they had much ado to save it those who were at his death having feized the greatest part of it as Gregory complains in his Eighteenth Letter whereby he desires Sophronius Governor of Bithynia to use his Authority in it Basil Gregory's Friend having been made Bishop of Caesarea * Vid. Pagi Crit. ad hunc ann in the Year 370 had some difference with Valens which I shall not mention here because it doth not at all relate to the Life of his Friend This was perhaps the reason that moved that Emperor to divide Cappadocia into Two Provinces and to make Tyane the Metropolis of the Second Cappadocia Forasmuch as the Jurisdiction of the Metropolitans reached as far as the extent of the Province several Bishops who were before Suffragan of Caesarea became Suffragan of Tyane so that Basil saw himself at the head of a lesser number of Bishops than before †Orat. xx p. 456. The new Metropolitan drew to himself the Provincial Assemblies ceased the Revenues of his Diocess and omitted nothing to lessen the Authority and Revenues of Basil Anthimus such was the Bishop of Tyane's Name who was an Arian shelter'd himself under the pretence of Piety and said that he could not give up the Flocks to Basil's Instruction whose Opinions concerning the Son of God were not right nor suffer that any Tribute should be paid to Hereticks Gregory assures us that he got some Soldiers to stop Basil's Mules to hinder him from receiving his Rents Basil found no other remedy to it but to make new Bishops who should have a greater care of the Flocks than he could have and by whose means every Town should carefully receive what was due to them Sasime being one of those Towns in which he was resolved to put some Bishops he cast his Eyes upon his Friend Gregory to send him to it without considering that that Place was altogether unworthy of a Person of such Merit 'T was a * Greg. de Vita sua p. 7. little Town without Water and Grass and full of Dust a Passage for Soldiers and inhabited only by some few poor Men. The Income of that Bishoprick was very small and besides he must either resolve to defend it by Force against Anthymus or submit to that new Metropolitan Gregory refused that Employment but at length the Importunity and Dexterity of Basil who wrought upon Gregory's Father obliged him to accept of it It seems that about that time he made his Seventh Oration wherein he addresses himself to his Father and Basil and desires their Help and Instruction to govern his new Church at Sasime Notwithstanding he says freely enough to Basil that the Episcopal Throne had made a great Alteration in him and that he was much milder when he was among the Sheep than since he was a Pastor The next day he made * Orat. vi another Oration on the Arrival of Gregory Nyssen Basil's Brother to whom he further complains of the violence his Brother had done him and because 't was a Day of some Martyr's Feast he adds several things on that occasion concerning the Manner of Celebrating Holy-days not with Profane Rejoycing but Pious Exercises He says amongst other things That 't is then time to raise one's self and become God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if one may so say and that the Martyrs perform therein the Office of Mediators 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Expression to become God instead of to become a Good Man and despise Earthly things doth often occur in Gregory's Writings He says elsewhere That the Priests * Orat. i. p. 31. Orat. xxiii p. 410. are Gods and Deifie other Men †Orat. ii p. 46. That Solitude Deify's Introducing ‖ Orat. xx p. 349. Basil who refused to embrace Arianism he makes him say That he could not worship a Creature he who was a Creature of God too and had received a Commandment of being God It ought to be observed that that Expression was used among the Pythagoreans as may be seen by the last Golden Verse of Pythagoras upon which Hierocles may be consulted When Gregory came to Sasime the misery of that Place made him believe that Basil despised him and abused altogether his Friendship Though he took
Whereupon several Bishops and many amongst the People who followed the Council of Nice obliged Gregory to go to Constantinople to confirm the Orthodox and oppose the Hereticks He says that he undertook that Journey against his will especially because 't was reported that there was to be a Synod made up of Apollinarists to establish their Opinion Being arrived at Constantinople ‖ Orat. 28. p. 484. †towards the end of the Year 378 he lodged at a Kinsman 's of his whom some Authors conjecture to have been Nicobulus who had marry'd Alypiane Daughter of Gorgonia Gregory's Sister Valens had given to the Arians all the Churches of Constantinople so that Gregory was obliged to Preach at his Kinsman's House There was soon after so great a concourse of People that that House having no Chamber that might hold them the Owner of it pull'd it down to make a Church of it * Orat. 32. p. 527. It was named Anastasis that is the Church of the Resurrection because the Orthodox Faith had been as it were raised in that Place Then the Arians stirred up almost the whole City against him by accusing him of believing Three Gods He ascribes the Zeal of the People against him to their ignorance of the manner how to reconcile the Trinity with the Unity of God It was not altogether the People's fault because Gregory himself speaks of it so as to make one believe that he introduced what we should call Three Gods according to the common way of speaking though according to his manner of defining the Unity it must be said he believed but One. He complains that they threw †Carm. de Vita p. 10 11. Stones at him upon that account and that he was summoned before the Judges as a Seditious Person All that helped to make him more Famous and encrese the number of his Admirers 'T was then that St. Jerom heard him as he said in ‖ Ep. ad Nepot Catal. Script Eccles cont Jovinian lib. 1. several places I have quoted elsewhere a Passage out of that Father wherein he gives but an ill Character of Gregory's Eloquence whom he describes as a Declamator and whom the People applauded without understanding what he said The number of the Orthodox encreasing every day they desired to have a Bishop of their Opinion and generally cast their Eyes upon Gregory The Eastern Orthodox Bishops especially Meletius of Antioch Basil of Caesarea and Peter of Alexandria did openly favour him Yet they succeeded not in their Design There was at Alexandria * Carm. de Vita sua p. 12. one Maximus a Profest Cynick and yet a Christian He pretended to be desoended from a Noble Family and in which there had been some Martyrs After the Death of Athanasius the Orthodox having been persecuted in Egypt he had been banished into a Village of the Wilderness of Thebais named Oasis He went drest like the Philosophers that is with a ragged Cloak on his Back he never cut his Hair nor shaved his Beard and went with a Stick as Diogenes Thus living a very austere life he took upon himself to censure every body's Vices without any regard to any one's Quality as the Ancient Cynicks did Yet under that severe Out-side and mortified Countenance there lay a Soul Deceitful Ambitious Malicious Covetous and full of the most shameful Passions But because those things appeared not to the Eyes of Men he got a great Reputation not only among the People but also among the most learned Men. He kept Correspondence with the Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia Gregory's Friend * Basil Ep. 41. 42. as it appears from two Letters of Basil which are directed to him Gregory received him so well at his arrival at Constantinople that he made an Oration in his Praise †Orat. 23. wherein he omits nothing that might contribute to make that Impostor be look'd upon as a Great and Good Man But having since found out his Cheat ‖ Hieron in Cat. in Greg. instead of the Name Maximus which was prefix'd to that Oration he put that of Heron and entitled it thus An Oration in the Praise of Heron a Philosopher of Alexandria sent into Exile because of the Faith and returned three Years after Gregory shews in that Discourse what use might be made of the Cynick Philosophy in the Christian Religion and mentions the Persecutions which the Princes who favour'd Arianism had exercised against the Orthodox especially in Egypt and against the Philosopher Maximus He concludes with explaining the Mystery of the Holy Trinity and exhorting his Philosopher constantly to persevere in the Sound Doctrine which kept a medium between Judaism and * Arianism †Pag. 425 c. He often makes that Observation when he mentions the Holy Trinity and one may observe in general by reading his Works that the same Thoughts do frequently occur He advises his Philosopher to despise the Objections that are raised against that Doctrine and bids him not be ashamed of the Charge of Tritheism whilst others the Arians and Macedonians run the hazard of establishing Two Gods for says he either you 'll resolve the Difficulty as they do or you will not be able to resolve it no more than they c. Gregory having thus made the Panegyrick of Maximus received him at his House Instructed Baptized and Ordained him and imparted to him his most secret Thoughts †Carm. de Vita sua p. 12 c. But as soon as Maximus thought himself Learned enough he saw with grief that they designed to make Gregory Bishop of Constantinople He thought he deserved that Station better than his Master and Benefactor and perceiving that one of the Chief Priests of that Church envied also Gregory that Dignity he joined with him to cross him In order to it Maximus got on his side Peter of Alexandria who before favoured Gregory Some time after the Corn Fleet which came every year from Alexandria to Constantinople arrived there and the Masters of the Ships Hammon Aphammon Harpocras Steppas Rhodon Anubis and Hermanubis joined presently with Gregory's Assembly though they had Orders to favour the Design of Maximus whom two or three Egyptian Bishops designed to uphold more vigorously afterwards In the mean time the arrival of the Egyptians and the care they took to join with Gregory rejoyced him so much that he made * Orat. 24. an Oration thereupon wherein he doth very much extoll the Piety and Constancy of those of Alexandria and explains to them his Opinion concerning the Equality of the Father Son and Holy Spirit He doth especially enlarge to prove the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and among other Reasons he uses this Argument the Terms whereof would seem strange had I not already observed the like before †Pag. 429. If the Holy Spirit is not God let him be made God first and then let him make me God equal to him in Honour The meaning of that harsh
Expression seems only to be this viz. that if the Holy Spirit is not God he cannot sanctifie Men which Gregory styles elsewhere to make Men Gods Some learned Men conjecture that about the same time Gregory made the Panegyrick of St. Athanasius which is his One and twentieth Oration He displays in it not only the Vertues of the Bishop of Alexandria but also relates at large the Persecutions he suffered and the Troubles that happen'd during his life He praises him especially for his Orthodoxy and Constancy in the defence of the Truth All those says * Pag. 394. he who profest our Doctrine were divided into Three Parties-Some did not think well of the Son and worse yet of the Holy Spirit Those who had a sound Belief in those two Points were very few He was the first and only Man who durst openly publish the Truth or at least he was seconded by very few People Gregory gives also St. Athanasius †Pag. 395. the Glory of having brought to an Agreement the Eastern and Western Churches which disputing only about Words yet look'd upon one another as Hereticks We said agreeably to the Doctrine of Godliness that there is One Essence and Three Existences Hypostases the Former relating to the Nature of the Deity and the Second to the Properties of the Three The Bishops of Italy apprehended it so but because of the scantiness of their Tongue they could not distinguish the Hypostasis from the Essence because the Latin Churches ‖ Hieron in Ep. ad Damas T. 2. p. 13. Ed. Gryph render'd the word Hypostasis Substance and they introduced the word Person lest it should seem they acknowledge Three Essences What followed from it Something ridiculous or rather that deserves Pity A meer Dispute about Words was look'd upon as a Dispute concerning the Faith Those who said that there are Three Persons were suspected in the East of Sabellianism and those who mention'd Three Hypostases were suspected in the West of Arianism Such was the effect of those Disputes c. St. Athanasius remedied it by mildly conversing with every Party and carefully examining the sences of the words which they used and as soon as he perceived that the Eastern and Western Bishops were of the same Opinion as to the thing and differed only in Expressions he allowed the use of different Terms and re-united them as to the Substance of the Doctrine To return * Carm. de Vit. p. 14 c. to Maximus his Party grew stronger by the arrival of his Country-men in the Year 379 and the better to engage the Bishops of that Country to serve him he sent to them considerable Presents Wherefore he borrowed some Money of a Priest who was lately come from Thassus an Island of the Archipelago with Orders to buy at Constantinnple some Marble and other Materials for a Church which they design'd to build in that Island Not long after that Gregory being indisposed went out of Constantinople to take the Air and so gave occasion to the Bishops to go very early to his Church and to place Maximus upon the Episcopal See They could not make an end of the Ceremony of that Cynicks Ordination before it was noised about in the City Whereupon the Magistrates of Constantinople the Clergy and the People without excepting the Arians themselves went in a Crowd to the Anastasis and turned those Bishops out of the Church They retired into a Play-house that was hard by where they cut his Hair and Consecrated him Which did but exasperate the People who gave Maximus all sort of ill Language and blamed Gregory for having too kindly received that wicked Man into his House Gregory having notice of what past returned presently to Constantinople and made that Oration which is the Twenty-eighth in order wherein he says that he was gone out of Town with some repugnancy and that the little time he had been absent had but encreased his Love for his Flock He doth again shew the Perfidiousness of Maximus and those of his Party to which he adds a Description of a true Christian Philosopher He excuses himself for his having been deceived by Maximus because Good Men being not Suspicious he could not suspect that that Philosopher would deceive him Lastly He says that he is ready to leave the Episcopal See and that he never desired it He mixes several general Reflexions in that Discourse and seems to prepare himself to Patience by the Consideration of the Miseries of this Life It appears that he was an Old Man because he says that Maximus * Pag. 483. would perhaps upbraid him with his Old Age and want of Health which is contrary to the Opinon of those who believe that Gregory was born about the time of the Council of Nice Indeed Gregory's Return got him the People on his side and obliged Maximus to leave the City but not to give over his Design It seems that he wrote to the †Ep. Ambros Epp. Italiae ad Theod. Imp. Conc. T. 2. col 1007. Bishops of the Italick Diocess met in a Synod at Aquileia to whom he imparted the News of his Election which had been approved by the Communicatory Letters of Peter of Alexandria which he sent to them to be read in their Council He confest he had been Ordained in a Private House but he said it was because the Arians had seized all the Churches and that he was forced to give way to their Violence The Council who knew not the Circumstances approved his Ordination thinking that Gregory's Promotion was not according to the Canons because a Bishop was not allowed to leave one Church and settle himself in another Their Approbation of Maximus's Ordination was also the reason why they refused since to Communicate with Nectarius his Successor and wrote to the Emperor to desire him to have an eye to it and to restore Maximus or to call a General Council at Rome to examine that Business Damasus Bishop of Rome disappaoved also Gregory's Election who according to the Canons should have stay'd at Sasime since it was not lawful for a Bishop * In Collect Rom. Holsten p. 37. to leave the People committed to his Charge to remove to another out of Ambition which breeds Quarrels and Schisms Thus he speaks of it in a Letter written to some Bishops of Egypt wherein he also blames Mavimus's Election as being contrary to the Canons He wrote †Ibid. p. 43. further to Acholius Bishop of Thessalonica against the same and exhorted him to endeavour to get a Catholick Bishop established at Constantinople It appears from thence that Gregory's leaving Sasime had offended several People and perhaps he was somewhat too Nice for one who was so little addicted to the World as he himself says he was Besides his resolving to go to Constantinople after he had despised Sasime was a thing that might raise Suspicions in the Mind of ill-affected Persons 'T is not to be doubted
they sent a Man to kill him who moved with repentance confest to him at the feet of his Bed that they had incited him to commit that Crime the Pardon of which he presently obtained As for the Revenues of the Church Gregory says that having not been able to find any Account of them neither among the Papers of those who had been Bishops of Constantinople before him nor among those to whom the care of gathering them was committed he would not meddle with them and took nothing out of them to avoid giving an account of them Theodosius called at that time a Council at Constantinople either to condemn several Heresies or to settle Gregory Canonically in the Episcopal See of that City But before I relate what past with respect to Gregory it will not be amiss to say something of the Orations he made whilst he was at Constantinople and which are extant Basil Bishop of Caesarea * Vid. Pagi ad An. 378. n. 1. being dead on the First Day of the Year 380 Gregory made an †Orat. 20. Oration in his Praise some time after having not been able to pay that last Duty to his Friend as soon as he could have wished He praises Basil's Ancestors who were Persons of Quality and besides Christians for a long time He says that ‖ Pag. 319. during Maximin's Persecution some of Basil's Ancestors having retired into a Forest of Pontus without any Provision and without Arms to go a Hunting they prayed to God that he would send them some of the Fowls or a little of the Venison which they saw in that Wood and God presently sent 'em a great number of the fattest Stags who seemed to be grieved because they had not called them sooner Gregory delights in that Subject according to the Custom of the Pagan Orators who did the same with respect to the Fables of Paganism The worst of all is that it makes one suspect the other Relations of Gregory 2. Afterwards he gives a short Account of Basil's Life and insists upon every Particular according to his custom with a great deal of Exaggeration many Figures and Moral Observations Speaking of the manner after which he himself had spent his Life he says that he wishes * Pag. 333. his Affairs may better prosper hereafter by the Intercessions of Basil 3. The manner of getting * Pag. ib. Church-Preferments in his time was not more Canonical than the Means which are now-a-days made use of for the same end if we believe Gregory Having said that in other Professions Men raised themselves only by degrees and according to their Capacity he assures That the Chief Dignity was got as much by Crimes as by Vertue and that Episcopal Sees were not for those who deserved them best but for the most Powerful c. No body takes the Name of a Physician or a Painter before he hath studied the Nature of Diseases well mixed his Colours and made several Pictures but a Bishop may be easily found not after he hath been carefully formed but upon the spot as the Fable feigneth That the Giants were no sooner sowed but they sprung out of the Earth We make †The Bishops were then called Saints as now-a-days Lords SAINTS in one day and we exhort to Wisdom those who have not learn'd to be Wise and who have brought nothing to perform well the Episcopal Duties but the Desire of being Bishops 4. Gregory ascribes to Basil ‖ Pag. 340 358. some Monastical Laws and written Prayers We have the former still without any great alteration but the Liturgy which bears his Name hath been very much alter'd since 5. He not only praises his Friend but also makes his Apology against those who accused him of Pride of which notwithstanding he himself accuses him in several places * Pag. 364. and suspected he did not believe the Divinity of the Holy Spirit because he had not stiled him God in his Book Gregory says that Basil did so for fear of exasperating the Hereticks who could not abide that that Title should be bestowed upon the Holy Spirit because the Scripture doth not ascribe it to him but that he had said something equivalent to it which was the same thing since Words do not save us but Things 6. Lastly Having described Basil's Funeral he goes on thus †Pag. 372. He is now in Heaven where he offers as I think Sacrifices for us and prayeth for the People for when he left us he did not altogether forsake us c. He advises me still and chides me in Night-Visions when I depart in something from my Duty At the end of his Oration he addresses himself to him and asks his Help in energick terms as if he heard him though he seemed to doubt whether he was in Heaven that is in the Place of greatest Bliss into which the Antients believed no body went except Martyrs but after the Resurrection as we have already seen by another Passage of Gregory There is some likelyhood that he composed at Constantinople most of the other Orations which are extant which I have not mention'd yet especially those which he made against the Arians wherein he hath been thought to have so well defended the Doctrine of the Council of Nice as well as in his other Writings that for that reason they have given him the Title of Theologue One may read especially his Thirty third Oration and the Four following upon that Subject In order to give an Idaea of those Five Orations I shall observe that the Design of the First is to shew that it doth not belong to All to dispute about Religion and that it ought not to be done before every body neither at all times nor with too great a heat He censures the Hereticks as if they had no regard to any of those things and preaches some common places which all Parties have always equally made use of He complains * Orat. 33. p 535. That they make Saints the very same day they go about it That they chuse Divines as if they had inspired them with Learning and That they make a great many Assemblies of Ignoramus's and Babblers Forasmuch as he knew that some Men can't forbear Disputing he tells 'em to satisfie their Desire that he will give them a large Field in which they may exercise themselves without danger * Ib. p. 536. Philosophize says he about the World or Worlds the Soul Rational Creatures less or more Excellent about the Resurrection the Judgments the Rewards the Sufferings of Christ 'T is not an useless thing to succeed in those Matters as there is no great danger in being mistaken about them Christians have been since of a very different Opinion and 't is certain that one may fall into dangerous Errors and that there hath been real Mistakes about those Articles In the †Orat. 34. Second Oration he comes to the Matter in hand and doth chiefly enlarge to prove