of Jesus Christ to St. Thomas Happy are they that have not seen and yet have believed Which Words being not spoken by our Saviour till after his Resurrection nor written till a long time after it evidently appears that this Letter is counterfeit The History which is afterwards produced concerning these two Letters and taken from the same Archives is no less fabulous It is reported that Jude the Apostle c That Jude the Apostle who is also called Thomas Thomas the Apostle was not sirnamed Jude but Didymus and Jude the Apostle was not called Thomas which is a farther Proof of the Falshood of this History who is also called Thomas sent Thaddeus the Apostle one of the 72 Disciples to King Agbarus That this Prince being informed that there was a Man in his City that wrought many Miracles and doubting whether he were not the Disciple whom Jesus Christ had promised to send gave orders to one named Tobias to bring him into his Presence And that he had no sooner seen him but his Countenance seeming to him to be Divine he prostrated himself at his Feet to worship him desiring to know whether he were that Disciple whom Jesus Christ had promised to send to cure his Distemper Thaddeus having answered that he was and that if he believed in Jesus Christ he should be saved Agbarus replied I have believed so firmly in him that I included to prâ—… War against the Jews who Crucified him and utterly to destroy that Nation if the fear of the Roman Empire had not deterred me from this Undertaking Certainly the Person whosoever he be that caused this petty Prince of Edessa to utter these Words was endued with very little judgment in ascribing to him a Design so extravagant as this for is it not an egregious piece of folly to imagine that a Prince only of one single City should undertake to maintain a War against a Nation so powerful as that of the Jews and should hope to destroy it to revenge the Death of a Man whom he knew only by hear-say What probability is there that nothing but the fear of the Romans was able to divert him from so rash an Attempt I shall not proceed to make any Reflection on the other Circumstances of this Relation which appear to be no less fabulous than those that we have even now recited I shall only add that the time wherein it is affirmed that those Occurrences happened shews this whole History to be Supposititious They take notice at the end of this Record that these Things were Translated in the 430th Year of the Edessenian Aera now the 430th Year of the Edessenians is the 15th of Tiberius in which the Ancients believed that Jesus Christ died and rose again And we must say according to this Epocha and what we find recorded in the Acts that this happened immediately after our Saviour's Resurrection and that Agbarus and several other Gentiles of Edessa received the Gospel before Cornelius which is plainly contrary to the Acts of the Apostles and consequently we may be certain that this History is false and that these Letters are forged The Authority of Eusebius is not to be regarded in this case since it is evident that he hath too rashly given credit to the Memorials that were transmitted to him taken from the Archives of the Church of Edessa And none can be ignorant that this sort of Records ought not too much to be relied on especially with respect to Histories of such a nature But in regard that these Fables are always augmented in process of time it hath been likewise feigned that Jesus Christ in writing to Agbarus sent him his Picture drawn on an Handkerchief Evagrius is the first that makes mention of this Effigies in Book IV. Chap. 27. of his History relying on the Authority of Procopius who nevertheless takes no notice of this Relation However since the time of Evagrius the Defenders of Image Worship have often cited it and the modern Greeks so firmly believed it that they keep a Festival on the 16th of August in Commemoration thereof Of some Letters attributed to the Virgin Mary THere are several Letters likewise ascribed to the Virgin Mary which being not so ancient as those of Jesus Christ to Agbarus may more easily be proved to be false the Letter of Letters of the Virgin Mary the Virgin Mary to St. Ignatius is supposititious as we shall hereafter take an occasion to shew in discoursing concerning the Epistles of that Saint That to the Florentines published by Canisius as also another which the Inhabitants of Messina pretend to keep in their Possession have more evident Marks of their Falshood and are generally rejected insomuch that there is no necessity to prove them to be Apocryphal Of the Counterfeit Gospels NOthing more clearly evinceth the truth of this Maxim of Holy Scripture That the Father of Lies often changes himself into an Angel of Light than the great number of Books that Counterfeit Gospels have been heretofore forg'd in imitation of the Sacred Writings For as the Holy Ghost hath caused Gospels Acts Epistles and a Revelation to be written so in like manner the Devil to counterfeit the Truth hath procur'd several Gospels Acts Revelations and Epistles to be devis'd by his Ministers which have also been attributed to the Apostles To begin with the Gospels besides the four that are Canonical and true there were in the Primitive Ages of the Church several others that were fictitious and substituted in their room as well by the Hereticks as by some Catholicks Among these last we may reckon the Gospel according to the Egyptians and that according to the Hebrews which though spurious yet have been quoted by Catholick Authors as Works compos'd by the Orthodox The Gospel according to the Egyptians is cited by a QUoted by St. Clemens Stromat Lib. 3. pag. 452. St. Clement cites an Expression of Jesus Christ to Salome taken from this Gospel I am come to destroy the Works of the Woman and by the Woman he understands Concupiscence Moreover in pag. 465 after having produced another passage on the same subject cited by the Heretick Cassianus he replies first that it is not found in the four Gospels that are acknowledged by us and afterward endeavours to apply a good sense to it Clemens Alexandrinus as also by Epiphanius b By St. Epiphanius Haeres 26. The Valentinians likewise made use of this Gospel who declares that the Sabellians made use of this Gospel to confirm their Error because it contain'd divers Mystical Expressions concerning Jesus Christ some whereof might perhaps be applied by them to prove that the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost were but one Person The Gospel according to the Hebrews written as it is reported by St. Jerome in the Syriack Tongue with Hebrew Characters is yet more remarkable among the Ancients It is quoted by Hegesippus c By Hegesippus In Eusebius Lib. 4. chap. 22. by
The first Proof is That it is certain that the Gospel was Preached later in France than in the other Regions of the World and that there was no Persecution in that Country before that of Valerian as it is expresly attested by Sulpicius Severus an Author who lived in the Fourth Century Now if St. Dionysius the Areopagite had been in 〈◊〉 the Christian Religion would have been introduced there very early and there would have been many Martyrs in that Kingdom before the Perfecâ—tion of 〈◊〉 Secondly It is eviâ—â—nt that 〈◊〉 was the first that propagated Christianity in France that during his Life and that of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Faith was only established in the Proâ—â—â—â—â—s of 〈◊〉 and Lyâ—â—â— and that there were no Martyrs but in these two Churches in the time of the Persecution of 〈◊〉 Aurelius therefore there were no other Churches then planted among the Gaâ—ls And indeed â—â—seâ—iâ—s mentions no other Churches or any other Maâ—â—yrs in 〈◊〉 no more than the Christians of the Church of Lyâ—â—s in the Epistâ—â— that they wrote concerning their Martyrs called by them Protâ—-Maâ—â—yrs Thirdly it is related by 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 in the first Book of his History chap. 2â— on the credit of an ancient Author that composed a Treatise concerning the Passion of St. Satâ—rniâ—s that St. Denys and his Companions the Apostles of France 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under the 〈◊〉 of the Emperor 〈◊〉 about the year of our Loâ—â— 250 to â—…blish the Faith of Jesus Christ in that Country which was almost entirely extinct after the death of St. 〈◊〉 Fourthly there are great numbers of Martyrologies in which the Festivals of St. Diâ—â—ysius the Aâ—â—â—pagite and of St. Denys the Apostle of France are described as on two different days and wherein the place and circumstances of their Martyrdom are distinguished We may likewise draw the same Argument from the ancient Brâ—viâ—riâ—s Missâ—ls Kalâ—ndars and Lâ—itâ—niâ—s in which St. Denys the Apostle of France is reckoned after the Saints that suffered under Marcus Aurelius Fifthly the Author of the Life of St. Fujâ—ianus Fulbertus Carnutensis and Lethaldus distinguish two Denys's Sixthly the opinion of those that affirm that S. Dâ—â—ys the Apostle of France is the same with the Areopagite was unknown before the Ninth Century neither doth the Monk that wrote the Life of our St. Denys in the year 750 say one word concerning this matter â—ilduiâ—â—s who is the first that mentions it is a very fabulous Author who tells abundance of Lies and cites a Book written by one named Viâ—bius which is plainly forged on the credit of which wretched Author he builds up the Opinion of those that confound the two St. Denys's that there is scarcely any one tho' never so incredulous that can question it I could also very willingly forbear to give any Account of the Books that are attributed to him or to shew how they have been forged were it not that the Design of my Work obligeth me to this undertaking therefore I shall do it with as much Brevity and Moderation as is possible We must observe First that the manner of the first appearing of those Books ought to be suspected for it is certain that being unknown to all Antiquity they were first quoted by the Severian Hereticks in a Conference holden between them and the Orthodox Bishops at Constantinople in the Palace of the Emperor Justinian 532 Years after the Nativity of Jesus Christ. The silence of all the ancient Ecclesiastical Writers is without doubt a very great prejudice to them for who can imagine that so considerable an Author as S. Denys if these Books had been really Composed by him should have been unknown to Eusebius and S. Jerom. And who can believe that if they had known them they should take no notice of them when they Composed an exact Catalogue of all the Authors of whom they had any knowledge not omitting even those that had so little Reputation that they were scarcely heard of in the World Is it possible that Eusebius in making mention of Dionysius the Areopagite in two several placâ—s should not have observed according to his usual Method that he had written several Books S. Jerâ—â— in his Epistle to Magnus doth not omit the Testimony of one single Author to prove that it is lawful to make use of profane Books whereas the Writings of S. Denys might have served as a notable Proof why then doth he not speak so much as one word concerning them He gives us an Account in his Catalogue of Quadratus Bishop of Athens and of Aristides the Athenian Philosopher is it possible that S. Denys should be more obscure than these two Writers or less esteemed by S. Jerom How could it happen that all the ancient Writers that mention S. Dionysius the Areopagite as Dionysius Corinthius S. Chrysostom S. Ambrose S. Augustine and the Author of the Dialogues ascribed to S. Caesarius the Brother of S. Gregory Nazianzen should give us no Intimation of these Books In short why were these Books which contain many things relating to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Christian Church and that would have been of great Authority as proceeding from so ancient and considerable an Author as S. Dionysius the Areopagite never cited either for or against any Heretick or for the Illustration of any point of Discipline before the sixth Age of the Church Furthermore admitting that they had appeared even at that time as Books of whose Antiquity and Truth there could be no scruple if they had been then produced by the Orthodox as antient Records if they had been rejected by none would not this be a matter of great moment But who are they that produce them they are Hereticks who have been used to quote counterfeit Records How do they cite them As uncertain Books sicut suspicamini say the Catholicks To what end do they produce them To establish their Errors Against whom do they cite them Against the Orthodox And what do they reply This ought to decide the Controversy let us then hearken to them and let us give Credit to their Testimony rather than to that of the Hereticks How can you prove say the Orthodox Bishops to the Severian that these Records which you affirm to belong to S. Dionysius the Areopagite are Genuine as you imagine for if they were his they could not have been unknown to S. Cyril of happy Memory but why do we only mention S. Cyril If S. Athanasius had believed that they had been written by S. Dionysius would not he have made use of their Authority in the Council of Nice to prove the Consubstantiality of the Trinity against the blasphemies of Arius If they have not been cited by any of the ancient Writers how can you demonstrate that they were written by him Thus the Orthodox then argued but having since perused these Books and finding nothing therein that is contrary to the Catholick Faith they admitted them without much Examination tho' there have always been some
Narration yet it may be called a Prophecy because that as there are three sorts of Prophecies the first of Writings the Second of Actions and the third of both So likewise there are three parts of each Prophecy That the first respects the present the Second what is to come and the third what is past Men Prophesie upon the present when they discover what is designed to be kept from them as Elisha did who knew Gehazis wickedness Men Prophesie upon the future when what is to come is foretold And there are also Prophecies of what is past when by Divine Inspiration things already passed are written whereof no knowledge was had otherwise In this Sence Severianus saith that Moses was a Prophet in the History of the World's Creation He observes further that Moses proposed to himself two things in his Writings to teach and to gives Laws That he began by Instruction in relating the Creation of the World to teach Men that God having created them had a right to give them Laws and Precepts For saith he had he not shewed at first that God is the Creator of the World he could not have justifyed that he was the Soveraign Lawgiver of Men because it is Tyranny to pretend to impose Laws upon those that do not belong to us whereas it is very natural to instruct such as depend upon us He endeth this Preface by shewing the Reason why Moses spake not of the Creation of Angels and Archangels First because it was not pertinent to his Subject Secondly because had he done it there was danger that Men would have worshipped them After this he explains the Text of Genesis about the World's Creation in a plain and literal way He doth not inlarge upon the spiritual Sence but rather finds fault with some Explications as being too much Allegorical But he maketh several trifling Reflections as when he observes in the Fifth Homily that the first Man was called Adam a word signifying Fire in the Hebrew because that as this Element easily spreads and Communicates it self so the World was to be peopled by this first Man Several other Notions of this Nature may be found in that Work which have neither Beauty nor Exactness nor Truth He Answers the Arians and Anomaeans He observes in the Fourth Homily that all Heresies bear the Names of their Authors whereas the true Church has none other Name than that of Catholick Church He inlargeth but little upon Morals yet at the Latter end of this Fourth Homily he recommends Fasting provided it be accompanied with Abstinence from Vices In a word One may say that this whole Work tho' full of Erudition yet is of no great use and deserveth not the Esteem of Men of true Judgment Father Combefis hath added to these Homilies some Fragments taken out of some Catena's upon the Scripture attributed to this Author and extracted out of his Commentaries upon Genesis Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy and upon Joshua But if these passages did not shew themselves to be written in Severianus his Stile one could not affirm it upon the credit of these Catena's One might with greater Confidence produce two passages of Severianus of Gabala upon the Incarnation quoted by Gelasius in the Book of the two Natures where he observes That the first is taken out of a Discourse of this Bishop against Novatus ASTERIUS AMASENUS ASterius a Asterius There were several of that Name The oldest is an Heretick of Arius his Party mention'd in the first Volume There is another Asterius commended by Theodoret in Philotheo c. 2. but different from this as well as the Catholick Bishop of the same Name who lived in the time of S. Athanasius Bishop of Amasea a City of Pontus flourished at the latter end of the Fourth Century b Towards the latter end of the Fourth Century We have observed That in the Sermon upon New-Years-day he speaks of Ruffinus his Death and of Eutropius his Disgrace which he tells us happen'd the Year before which justifyeth that he lived at the same time with S. Chrysostom and in the beginning of the Fifth The Sermons of this Bishop have been Asterius Amasenus quoted with Commendation by the Ancients c The Sermons of this Bishop have been quoted with Commendation by the Ancients He is cited in the Second Council of Nice Act. 4. and 6. Photius made some Extracts out of his works Cod. 271. Hadrian in lib. de un quotes his Homilies and Nicephorus defends them against the Iconoclasts There are but a small number of them extant Collected by F. Combefis at the beginning of his first Volume of the Supplement to the Bibliotheca Patrum The Five first were Printed formerly by Rubenius who published them at Antwerp Ann. 1608. and afterwards inserted into the Bibliotheca Patrum The six following were lately published by F. Combefis who joyned to them the Extracts made by Photius out of the Homelies of Asterius Amasenus and a Discourse upon S. Steven the Proto-Martyr formerly published under the Name of Proclus The first Sermon is upon the Parable of Dives and Lazarus He begins it with this Reflection That our Saviour not only made use of Precepts to teach us Vertue and to forbid Vice but that he further proposed illustrious Examples to instruct us in that way of Life which we ought to follow Afterwards he sets down the Text of S. Luke's Gospel making moral Reflections upon each Verse Upon these words Verse 26. There was a rich Man which was cloathed with Purple and fine Liâ—… He observes that the Holy Scripture by these two words understands all Extravagancies of Riches That the only use of Garments is to cover our Bodies and defend them from the injuries of the Air That God hath provided for this by creating Beasts with hair and wooll whereof Stuffs are made to secure us against both cold weather and the Beams of the Sun That besides he hath given the use of Flax for a greater Conveniency that these things ought to be applyed to our use in giving God thanks not only because he made us but also because he has provided all necessaries to cover and defend us from the Injuries of the Season But saith he if you leave the use of Wooll and Linen if you despise what God hath prepared and to satisfie your Pride you will have silk Garments thin like Cobwebs if after this you hire a Man at a dear rate to take out of the Sea a small Fish that you may dye them in its Blood Do you not Act the parts of effeminate Men He reproves those afterwards whose Garments were painted with several Figures of Men Beasts and Flowers and spares not those who by a ridiculous Devotion Printed upon their clothes some Godly Histories As the Marriage of Cana in Galilee the Sick of the Palsie in his Bed the blind Man cured the Woman that had an Issue of Blood the Sinner at the feet of Jesus Christ Lazarus risen again
generated by the Soul of the Parent And whether being so derived by Propagation from the Soul of the first Man it draws Original Sin from him The fifth contains a short repetition of the Matters treated on in the fourth with some Questions and Distinctions such as this Whether the Faculty or Power of the Soul depends only on the Will The sixth inquires From whence proceeds the Opposition between the Flesh and the Spirit spoken of by St. Paul The seventh is about the difference between the Life and Death and Resurrection of the Flesh and Soul The eighth explains the Prophesies concerning such things as shall happen at the end of the World and contains an Explication of some Questions proposed about the Resurrection This Treatise is very Logical and Metaphysical it teaches us as Tertullian had done before That the Soul is Corporeal This Author hath written another Treatise dedicated to a Person named Principius about the contempt of Worldly Things as also a Book of Instructions for Virgins Three Books * De vitâ contemplativâ sive de futurae Vitae contemplatione Vel de actuali conversatione Dr. Cave of the contemplative and active Life and another Treatise of Virtues and Vices This is all that is spoken of this Author by Gennadius and Isidore in their Catalogues of Ecclesiastical Writers We have none of these Works but his three Books of the Contemplative Life which have been †They were also printed alone under Prosper ' s Name at Colen in 1536. 8â— and before in 1487. printed among S. Prosper's Works under whose Name they have been commonly quoted for above 800. Years but the disagreement of Style proves that they are not his and the Testimonies of the two Catalogues above-mentioned oblige us to attribute them to Julianus Pomerius under whose Name they are found in several MSS. We have long since cited an ancient MS. of M. De Montchal Archbishop of Toulouse F. Quesnel hath added another MS. in the Abby of Trappe and we have heard that there is a very ancient one in the Library of the Chapter-House of Beauvais where these three Books of a Contemplative Life bear the Name of Julian Pomerius the true Author of them In the first Book having described the Happiness of the Saints who enjoy the full Contemplation of the Godhead in Heaven which the most Holy Men never have had in this Life and shewed the difference between a Contemplative and Active Life he exhorts the Bishops and Priests to betake themselves to a Contemplative Life sequestring themselves from the Affairs and Business of the World and applying themselves wholly to the Study of Holy Scripture This gives him an Occasion to write against those Bishops whose greatest care it was to increase their Estates and Dignities Who placed their only Felicity in the enjoyment of Worldly Pleasurés Who seek their own Glory more than Jesus Christs Who have greater care of their Honour than Conscience and who place nothing of their Happiness in the hopes of the good things of another Life He excuses himself here that he undertakes to publish the Irregularities of his Superiours but still goes on speaking smartly against ignorant and vicious Bishops who negleÌ„cted the Care of their Flock Who are not at all troubled at the Crimes which they see committed by Sinners nor pleased with the good Actions done in their Diocess Who are very little affected with the sense of good or evil Who are filled with the love of the World living in Pleasures and Debaucheries transported with Ambition full of Injustice dare not preach up contempt of the World Temperance a solitary Life Meekness Charity Justice nor other Christian Virtues which they themselves do not practise In the next place he shews That it is not allowable for a Bishop to leave his Church to acquire his own Ease or to live at Liberty that he ought to reform his Life and become an Example to his Flock instructing them as well by his Manners as his Words that he is obliged to reprove Sinners severely Lastly he gives a Description of a good and wicked Bishop and Preacher He describes a wicked Bishop in this manner He is One that seeks after Honours Preferments and Riches not that he may put them to a good use but that he may live more at his Ease be more honoured feared and respected Who chiefly aims to gratifie his Passions confirm his Authority enrich himself and enjoy his Pleasures Who avoids the laborious and despisable parts of his Office but is rejoyced at the pleasant and honourable Who tolerates Vice and Honours Sinners with his Friendship yea applauds their Crimes for fear of offending them To these Bishops he applies the words of the Prophet Ezekiel Chap. 34. Wo to the Shepherds of Israel c. He directs I say these terrible words of the Prophet to these Bishops who have no care of their Flock who think upon nothing but how to get the Milk and the Wool that is to say the Oblations and Tythes with which they enrich themselves Who do not cure the Sick nor strengthen the Weak nor bring back the stray Sheep into the Ways of Salvation Who seek not those that are lost as good Shepherds ought to do nor comfort those that despair of the Pardon of their Sins Who never shew their Authority unless it be in domineâ—râ—â—g tyrannically over their People c. On the contrary he draws the Character of such good Bishops as the Doctrine of the Apostles requires them to be thus They are such as convert Sinners to God by their Preaching and Example Are very humble and free from Pride and Imperiousness Who treat alliche Members of their Flock with the same Love and Kindness Who heal the Wounds of their sick People with mild but effectual Remedies Who bear with the Incurable patiently Who in their Preaching seek not their own Glory but the Glory of Jesus Christ Who employ not their Discourses and Actions to obtain Favour or Thanks of Men but who give God all the Honour that they bestow on them because it is he that lives and preaches in the Bishops Who avoid Praises and Commendations Who comfort the Afflicted nourish the Poor cloathe the Naked redeem Captives lodge Strangers Who bring those that err into the way of Truth Promise Salvation to those that despair Quicken the Zeal of those who are going in the right way Hasten those that linger And who lastly discharge well all the Functions of their Ministry These are the true Successors of the Apostles the true Ministers of Jesus Christ and his Church the Oracles of the Holy Spirit Such Pastors as these appease the Anger of God against his People and instruct the People in the Knowledge of God They defend the Faith of the Church by their Writings and are ready to seal it with their Blood Lastly They hold themselves fast to God only in whom alone they put their trust The difference between a good and
Bishop of Ravenna his Life and Writings 119 the Editions of his Works 120. Petrus Mongus his Letter to Acacius 138. Petrus a Priest of the Church of Edessa his Quality and Writings 146. Piety that only is stable and firm 117. Pinuphius Abbot his discourse of Repentance 13. Plato he hath taken out of Moses all that he speaks about the Original of the World 72. Pollutions the causes of Night Pollutions 13. Polygamy of the Ancient Patriarchs why pardonable 6. Possidius a censure upon the Life of S. Austin composed by this Deacon 21. Potentus a Bishop why sent into Africa by S. Leo 83 Prailus Bishop of Jerusalem Ordained Domnus although a Person twice Married 77. Practises different Practises of the Church 53. Predestinations where there be any 165. Predestination Objections and Answers about 124. Preachers the difference between good and bad 184. Preaching reserved to Bishops only in some Churches 53. Priesthood to be preferred before Civil Powers 7. Priests ought not to be put to publick Penance 84. are subject to the Laws of Continency ibid. the Duties of Priests in the Administration of the Sacrament of Penance 6. Provision Things do not come to pass before God foresees them but he foresees them because they will come to pass 5. Prayers four sorts of Prayers 12. Priscillianists their Sect called A Jaques 93. their Errors described by S. Leo ibid. The Author of this Sect punished with Death ibid. Proba Falconia her Poem upon the Life of Christ and the Judgment which S. Jerom gave of it 143. Proclus how he was Ordained Bishop of Constantinople 48. the Number and Description of his Sermons ibid. his Volume 211. Projectus a French Bishop condemned by Hilary Bishop of Arles 90. Prophets what their Office is 60. they have fore-told nothing but what is true and reasonable 73. S. Prosper his Life Doctrine and Writings 122. he is not the Author of the Book of the Vocation of the Gentiles nor of the Epistle to Demetrias 128. Proterius Bish of Alexandria killed by the People 141 Providence 72 127 146. Provinces Suburbican 92. Prudens Bishop of Troyes 103. Psalms their Profit 59 c. Publius the Society which he established 65. Pulcheria the Empress 96 97 98. R. RAbulas Bishop of Edessa his Zeal for the Egyptian Bishops 211 218. condemned by the Bishops 204 Rape Ravishers Excommunicated 241 245. Ravennius Ordained Bishop of Arles 94 c. Religion Christian the Truth proved 572. Heathen confuted ibid. Reliques a Monk doubts where true 67. Resurrection 5 187. certain but not as to the manner and time 5. Renatus a Priest of the Church of Rome Theodoret's Letter to him 78. Revenues of the Church how what use the Bishops should make of them 159 177 185. Clergy that have Estates ought not to live of them ibid. 187. they may not take the Bishops Revenue ought to be managed by a Steward ibid. 241. Rheginus Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus he was on S. Cyril's side His Discourse in the Council of Ephesus about the Deposition of Nestorius 47. Riches the cause of Injustice ordinarily 117. Ries a Council held in that City in 439. about the business of Armentarius the History of it 243. Romanus a Monk his way of living 66. Rome as famous for the Martyrdom of S. Lawrence as Jerusalem for S. Stephen's 110. A Council held in this City under Pope Hilarius 249. Rufinus where he which is the Author of the Doctrine of Pelagius and made the Confessions of Faith be the Priest of Aquileia 20. Rufinus Bishop of Samosata he was present at the Council of Chalcedon 80. Rufus a Count he carried the Order to Theodoret to stay at Cyrus and not to go from thence 76. Rusticus a French Bishop S. Leo's Letter to him 97. Rusticus Bishop of Narbonn S. Leo advises him not to relinquish his Bishoprick 84. S. SAbboth what is the meaning of the second Sabboth after the first 4. Sabinian Bishop of Paros his Cause 240. Saints Honour to Saints and their Reliques 6 187. the Honour and Invocation of Saints 68. Salamanus a Monk of great Virtue 66. Solomon in what order to read his Books 4. Salonius where he was Bishop 149. his Writings ibid. Salvian a Priest of Marseille his Life and Writings 146. his Style and Genius 147. the Edition of his Works 148. Samuel the Abridgment of his Works 150. Sarabaites who 13. Holy Scriptures Dispositions necessary for the profitable reading of it 3. it is full of Light and Obscurities ibid. its Style is plain and natural 4. the Qualifications of him that undertakes to explain them ib. the manner of explaining them well 5. several places of Scripture explained ibid. the best way of Commenting 58. we must use them to prove Doctrines of Faith 45. the Books of Scripture which have been lost 59. Rules for the understanding of Holy Scripture 115. Sedulius a Censure upon his Poem 51. Seleucia a City of Isauria 139. Semi-Pelagians their Complaints 126. Septimus d'altimo S. â—eo's Letter to him 87. Serapsori an Abbot 12. Serenus an Abbot his Discourse about the Temptations of the Devils 11. Servus-Dei his Treatise of the sight of God 154 155. Service Divine one way of celebrating in a Province 249. Siagrius who he was and his Writings 144. Sees four Apostolick Sees 180. Simplicius Pope his Life and Letters 159. Simeon the Aged his Miracles 65. S. Simeon Stylites his Life and by whom written 67. his Letters 145. Simeon Bishop of Armda 77. Simony forbidden 6. condemned in the Council of Chalcedon and in another at Constantinople 141. Sixtus III. his Life and Letters 47. he wished for Peace between S. Cyril and the Eastern Bishops and rejoyced when 't was made 47. his Letters about the Affair of Nestorius and John Bishop of Antioch 207. his Death 48 81. Socrates who 53. his History ibid. c. Solitaries their Austerities V. Monks 67 68. Solitude the Happiness of it 117. Sons of God how we are to understand that Text where it is said That they went down to the Daughters of Men 139. Soul It is not a part of the Divine Substance 5. the Immortality of the Soul ibid. the Prae-existence of Souls opposed ibid. its Nature 150. Proofs of the Immortality and Spirituality of the Soul 151. c. The Opinions of Nemesius and Aeneas Gazaeus about the Nature and Original of the Soul 187. Faustus and Gennadius thought it Corporeal although it be Immortal 166 185 186. Other Opinions of Gennadius about the Original of the Soul 185. Sozomen his Life and a Censure upon his History 54. Subdeacons obliged to Caelibacy 85. Stewards of Churches not to give account to Ecclesiastical Judges 101. Syda a City of Pamphilia 51. Syrus wrote against Nestorius 149. T. TEmples Christians had none in the Apostles time since they have been very Magnificent 6. a lofty Church built at the expence of the Poor is a sin ibid. Temptations divers Temptations of the Devil 11. Testament Old what is the
baptiz'd by a Laick under this form I Baptize you in the Name of God and of the Holy and true Cross whether the Baptism had been Valid or whether providing the Child had liv'd it must have been Baptiz'd again St. Bernard is of the mind that it had been well Baptiz'd because he cannot think that the difference in words can prejudice the Truth of the Faith and the good Intention of him that Baptiz'd it His reason is because under the word God the Trinity is comprehended and by Adding the Holy and True Cross he had made mention of our Saviour That when one is baptiz'd according to the Custom of the Church in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and as we may read in the Acts of the Apostles that some were baptiz'd in the Name of Jesus Christ only it cannot be doubted but that those who have been baptiz'd in the Name of the Holy Cross have been sufficiently sanctify'd insomuch that the Confession of the Cross implys the Confession of Jesus Christ Crucify'd Moreover that in respect of him who had baptiz'd his simplicity and good Intention excus'd him but nevertheless that if any should endeavour to Introduce this manner of Baptism they would be Inexcusable This Opinion of St. Bernard disagrees with that of the Divines who maintain that Baptism of this kind is ipso facto Null and Void The Four Hundred and Fourth is Address'd to Albert a Recluse Monk who desir'd of St. Bernard that he might fast after his own fashion and Permit Women to enter into his Cell St. Bernard Answers that he has no power to Command him but that he has several times Advis'd him to Eat at least once a day to receive no visits from Women and to live by hard Labour In the Four Hundred and Fifth he takes Notice to an Abbot that one of his Monks was qualify'd to be Profess'd and therefore he ought not to dispense with him The Four Hundred and Sixth is Address'd to the Abbot of St. Nicholas in the Woods to whom he recommends a certain Monk In the Four Hundred and Seventh he blames Odon Abbot of Beaulieu for not having paid a Legacy to a Poor Man and tells him he had better have Sold a Chalice from the Altar than have suffer'd this Person to want In the Four Hundred and Eighth he recommends to William Abbot of the Regular Canons of St. Martin of Troyes a Clerk who had a mind to retire from the World and who was not able to undergo the way of Living at Clairvaux In the Four Hundred and Ninth Address'd to Rorgon Abbot of Abbeville he makes him a compliment upon his desiring to see him and desires him to bestow a spare piece of Ground belonging to his Abby to the Monks of Alchy In the Four Hundred and Tenth he recommends to Gilduin Abbot of St. Victor of Paris Peter Lombard who was come from Bulloign in France and had been recommended to St. Bernard by the Bishop of Lucca The Four Hundred and Eleventh is written to Thomas Provost of Beverlake in England and contains Exhortations to a Holy Life The Letter following is written upon the same subject to a young Man who had enter'd into a Vow to embrace a Monastick Life In the Four Hundred and Thirteenth he recommends a Probationary Monk to Rainaud Abbot of Foigny Advising him to send him back after he had corrected his Faults In the Letter following he blames a Monk of this Monastery for having Oppos'd the return of this Person By the Four Hundred and Fifteenth he exhorts a Man to perform the Vow he had made to become a Monk of Clairvaux In the Four Hundred and Sixteenth he Answers a certain Person who had complain'd to him that he had had no share of the Alms given by Count Thibaud that he was not concern'd in the Distribution of them The Two following Letters contain nothing remarkable These are all the Letters which are most commonly Ascrib'd to St. Bernard tho' Father Mabillon has Added some others which are doubtful and might very probably have been written by other Persons He also adds some Charters which may reasonably admit of the same doubt all which nevertheless continue the foregoing Numbers The Four Hundred and Nineteenth is An Exhortation to Probationers the which Father Mabillon believes does not belong to St. Bernard by reason that the Stile is more restrain'd and contains Maxims unlike those of St. Bernard such as this That we must Praise God even for our Damnation It likewise appears to me that this Letter differs in stile from those of St. Bernard The Two following Letters are also Unlike the stile of St. Bernard The Four Hundred and Twenty Second is only a short Billet Address'd to King Lewis The Four Hundred and Twenty Third is a draught of a Letter concerning the Croisade which might probably be his as well as the Letter following He therein recommends the Son of Count Thibaud going to the Holy War to Emanuel Commenes Emperour of Constantinople The Four Hundred and Twenty Fifth is a Copy of the Twenty Sixth Letter of St. Bernard The Four Hundred and Twenty Sixth is a Judgment by Arbitration pronounc'd by St. Bernard between Hugh Bishop of Auxerre and William Count of that City The Four Hundred and Twenty Seventh is a Letter from Geofrey Bishop of Chartres to Stephen Bishop of Paris by which he advises him to Refer himself to St. Bernard touching the dispute he had with Stephen de Guarlande The Four Hundred and Twenty Eighth from Bernard Abbot of St. Anastasius to St. Bernard Abbot of Clairvaux concerning a disobedient and haughty Monk The Four Hundred and Twenty Ninth is an Elogium of St. Bernard sent to him by Hugh Metellus a Regular Canon of St. Leon. The Four Hundred and Thirtieth is a Letter from the same written to St. Bernard which contains an Apology for his Monastery The Four Hundred and Thirty First is also from the same written in the Name of Siebaud Abbot of St. Leon to Abbot William to excuse him for having Answer'd the Calumnies of Herbert with too great severity The Two following Letters are written by Haimon Arch-Deacon of Chalons to St. Bernard In the First he acquaints him with his sickness and in the other he sends to him for his Sermons The Four Hundred and Thirty Fourth is a Letter Address'd to St. Bernard to excuse Thierri Bishop of Amiens from his Voyage to the Holy Land The Four Hundred and Thirty Fifth is a Charter by which Sampson Arch-Bishop of Rheims gives to the the Congregation of Clairvaux the Church of Mores which he had Obtain'd from the Monks of St. Denys there to Build a Monastery of his Order By the Four Hundred and Thirty Sixth Henry Bishop of Troyes makes the like Gifts of the Church of Billencourt to the Abby of Clairvaux The Four Hundred and Thirty Seventh is a Letter of Hugh Cardinal Bishop of Ostia to the general Chapter of Cisteaux concerning
the Apostles This Canon is cited by Gregorius Pessinuntius in the second Council of Nice but it is well known that many Apocryphal Records were alledged in that Council Cf several Books attributed to Prochorus Linus and Abdias and of the Acts of the Passion of St. Andrew IN the time of the Apostles there lived a certain Person named Prochorus one of the Seven first Deacons and there is now extant a Book under his name containing the Life of St. John which Prochorus Linus Abdias c. is Printed among the Orthodoxographa and in the Bibliotheca Patrum But Baronius Bellarmin Lorinus The Master of the Palace and in a word all those that have written concerning Ecclesiastical Authors both Roman Catholicks and Protestants unanimously agree that it is a supposititious Book and unworthy of him whose Name it bears and indeed it is a Narrative full of absurd Fables and Tales It is related there that St. John cast himself at the Feet of the Apostles desiring to be exempted from going into Asia That after he was taken out of the Caldron of boiling Oyl a Church was built in Honour of him That he composed his Gospel in the Isle of Patmos c. The Stile of this Book argues its Author to be a Latin or a Greek and not an Hebrew Lastly we find therein the words Trinity and Hypostasis The two Books attributed to Linus concerning the Passion of St. Peter and St. Paul are likewise generally rejected as fictitious and full of Fables They say that Agrippa was Governor of Rome in the time of St. Peter who suffered Martyrdom without the knowledge of Nero That this Emperor was offended that he was put to Death That part of the Roman Magistrates were Christians and that the Wife of Albanus departed from her Husband against his Will following the advice of St. Peter In fine both these Books are full of Errors Falsities Fictions and notorious Untruths in the last of which mention is made of the Epistles of St. Paul to Seneca and of Seneca to St. Paul We must likewise give the same Judgment upon the Book imputed to Abdias that contains divers extremely fabulous Relations concerning the Lives of the Apostles and was Printed by it self in the years 1557 1560 and 1571 at Basil Anno 1532 and at Paris in 1583 it is also inserted in the Bibliotheca Patrum At first they tried to make it pass for a Book composed in Hebrew by a Disciple of Jesus Christ named Abdias of the City of Babylon Translated into Greek by Eutropius and into Latin by Julius Africanus but now the whole World is convinced of this Error and it is generally agreed that it was forged by an Impostor that falsly pretends to be a Disciple of Jesus Christ who nevertheless cites Hegesippus and Julius Africanus whom he could not have seen if he had lived in our Saviours time and lastly he relates many fabulous Narrations concerning the Life of Jesus Christ and his Apostles which it would be too tedious here to rehearse Men are divided in their Censures upon the Acts of the Passion of St. Andrew written by the Priests of Achaia which are inserted in the History of the Saints published by Surius Baronius Bellarmine and some other Criticks of the Church of Rome admit them as authentick but they are rejected by many The ancient Ecclesiastical Writers know no other Records of St. Andrew than those that were corrupted by the Manichees mentioned by St. Augustine Philastrius and Pope Innocent a MEntioned by St. Augustin Philastrius c. St. Aug. lib. de Fide contr Manichaeos Philastr lib. de Haeres N. 40. Innocentii I. Epist. ad Exup Gelasius in conc Roman and which are reckoned by Gelasius in the number of Apochryphal Books But it is certain that those were different from these whereof we now discourse It is also evident that these last Acts of the Passion of St. Andrew have been cited by none but Authors that lived since the Seventh or Eighth Century as by Remigius Altissiodorensis Petrus Damianus Lanfrank St. Bernard and Ivo Carnutensis which is the cause that we can have no assurance that they are very ancient Thirdly the Mystery of the Trinity is not only explained in these Acts after such a manner as gives us occasion to suspect that he that wrote them lived after the Council of Nice but he likewise propagates the Error of the modern Greeks in affirming that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and remains in the Son It is indeed objected that there are Manuscripts wherein these words are not expressed but who knows whether they have not been omitted in some rather than added in others Therefore this History ought at least to be esteemed as a dubious Writing that cannot be applied as St. Jerome declares to prove any Doctrine of Faith The account of the Life and Death of St. Matthias was forged by an Author who pretends to have received it from a Jew that Translated it out of the Hebrew Tongue We ought also to place in the rank of Apocryphal and fabulous Books the Life of St. Mark and the History of St. Clement together with that of Apollinarius setdown in the Collection of ancient Histories compiled by Laurentius de la Barre And we need only read them over to be convinced of their falsity Of the Books of the Sibyls Mercurius Trismegistus and Hystaspes Of the Letters of Lentulus and Pilate concerning Jesus Christ Of the Epistles of Seneca to St. Paul and of those of St. Paul to Seneca And of a Passage in the History of Josephus WE joyn all these prophane Records together that have been heretofore alledged in favour of the Christian Religion that so we may examine them and although we should Sibyls reject them yet we do not believe that we do any wrong to Religion which is sufficiently furnished with solid and convincing Proofs without standing in need of those that are false or dubious We begin with the Verses that are attributed to the Sibyls which are frequently cited by the ancient Writers to convince the Pagans of the Truth of the Religion of Jesus Christ but before we proceed to Examine them it would be expedient to give some account of these Sibyls and their Books It is difficult to assign a true Etymology of the Word Sibyl Lactantius and after him St. Jerom affirm that the Sibyls were so called because they were the Interpreters of the Decrees of the Gods and that their Name consisted of two Greek Words a COnsisted of two Greek words These two words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in the Aeolick Dialect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lactantius Lib. 1. c. 6. Hierom. Lib. 1. in Jovin It is objected against this Etymology that the Adjective 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Three last Syllables whereof compose a Dactyl make it manifest that the word Sibylla cannot be derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying the Counsel of the Gods which
should soon be destroyed 948 years after its Foundation and many other Things that could never be asserted by later Christians who would have been very far from admitting such Notions when they were convinced of the falsity of these Predictions Upon the whole matter it ought to be concluded that the Books of the Sibyls were certainly forged in the Second Century but it is difficult to determine the precise time and by whom this was done all that can be alledged as most probable is that they began to appear about the end of the Reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius m They began to appear about the end of the Reign of Antoninus Pius Possevinus affirms that these Books were written under the Reign of Câ—mmodus but he is deceived in taking the Conflagration mentioned in Book V. for the Fire of the Temple of Vesta that happened in the time of that Emperor for the Temple of Jerusaleus is to be understood in this place which is called the desirable House and the Guardian Temple of God We have already shewn that the Author had seen Lucius and Marcus but that he knew not the later Emperors All the Fathers that have quoted the Sibylline Books wrote either under the Reign of Antoninus Pius or after that time Josephus indeed and Hermas cite the Sibyls but in general Terms and there were possibly some Verses extant under their Names even in the time of Josephus who produceth one of them concerning the Tower of Babel Lib. 1. Ant. c. 5. M. Vossius in his last Book gives us an Hypothesis of the Sibylline Oracles somewhat different from this he acknowledgeth that the ancient Writings of the Sibyls which were preserved until the burning of the Capitol were entirely prophane and differed from those that are cited by the Fathers But he maintains that among those that were brought from Greece by Octacilius Crassus there were some Prophecies inserted that had been received from the Jews who pretended that they were written by the Sibyls in which the Coming of the Messiah was foretold and that these were cited by the Fathers under the Name of The Books of the Sibyls which Title was actually attributed to them This Hypothesis which is well enough contrived yet lies liable to many Difficulties for first the Collection of Oracles ascribed to the Sibyls that was made after the burning of the Capitol related no less to the Pagan Superstitions than the ancient Verses ascribed to the Sibyl of Cuma Secondly Since the Predictions concerning Jesus Christ expressed in the passages of the Sibylline Books and quoted by the Fathers are clearer than those that were contained in the Prophecies of the Jews there is no probability that they could proceed from any of that Nation Lastly The Doctrine comprised in the Books of the Sibyls seems rather to be that of a Christian than of a Jew since the Coming of Jesus Christ is therein manifestly foretold the Resurrection of the Dead the Last Judgment and Hell Fire are expresly described in plain Terms and mention is made of the Millennium of the appearing of Anti-Christ together with many other Things of the like nature which could not be related but by one that had been instructed in the Christian Religion Therefore it is much more probable that the Writings attributed to the Sibyls were forged by a Christian rather than by a Jew However none ought to be surprised that we reject those Books as supposititious which have been quoted by the Ancients as real and it must not be imagined that we thereby contemn the Authority of the Fathers or that we impugn the Truth on the contrary we should do an Injury to it if we should endeavour to support it by false Proofs especially when we are convinced of their Forgery The Fathers are to be excused for citing the Sibylline Verses as true because they had not examined them and finding them published under the Name of the Sibyls they really believed that they were theirs but they that are certainly informed of the contrary would be inexcusable if they continued to rely on such Testimonials or refused ingenuously to confess what the Truth obliged them to own And indeed it ought not to be admired that the Fathers did not examine these Books critically it is sufficiently known that they wholly applied themselves to Matters of the greatest Consequence at that time and that they often happened to be mistaken in prophane Histories and to cite fictitious Books such are the Works of Hystaspes and Mercurius Trismegistus which they almost always joyned with those of the Sibyls as also the Acts of Pilate Apocryphal Gospels divers Acts of the Apostles and a great number of other Records that have been undoubtedly forged But altho' the most part of the ancient Writers cited the Oracles of the Sibyls yet there were even then many Christians that rejected them as Counterfeit and could not be perswaded to approve the practice of those that made use of their Testimony whom in derision they called by the Name of Sibyllists This is attested by Origen in his Fifth Book against Celsus Celsus says he objects that there are Sibyllists amonst us perhaps because he hath heard it reported that there are some amongst us who reprove those that affirm that the Sibyl is a Prophetess and call them Sibyllists St. Augustine hath likewise acknowledged the falsity of these pretended Oracles and as often as he makes mention of them he declares that he is not convinced of their Truth particularly in Lib. 18. c. 45. De Civit. Dei. Were it not says he that it is affirmed that the Prophecies that are produced under the Name of the Sibyls and others concerning Jesus Christ were feigned by the Christians And in cap. 47. It may be believed that all the Prophecies relating to Jesus Christ that are not contained in the Holy Scriptures have been forged by the Christians Wherefore there can be nothing more solid in confuting the Pagans than to alledge those Prophecies that are taken from the Books of our Enemies But the Heathens say they doubted not of the truth of the Predictions of the Sibyls that were urged by the Fathers they only put another sense upon them nay they even proceeded so far as to own that the Sibylline Verses foretold the Nativity of a certain new King and a considerable Revolution This is mentioned by Tully in divers places moreover when Pompey took the City of Jerusalem it was commonly reported that the Sibyl had foretold that Nature designed a King for the People of Rome the Senate was likewise astonished at it and by reason of this Prediction refused to send a General or an Army into Egypt Lentulus according to the Testimony of Cicero and Sâ—llust flatter d himself that he should become this King that was intimated by the Sibyl Others have interpreted this Prophecy with respect to Julius Câ—sar or Augustus as is observed by Cicero and Suetonius Virgil in his Fourth Eâ—logue produceth the Verses
Woman but his Wife That his Daughters remained Virgins and his Son was very Chaâ—t He says that the Apostles S. Peter and S. Philip were Married and that they had Children That even S. Philip married his Daughters and he adds also that S. Paul had a Wife wherein he is mistaken Tho' it is uncertain whether S. Paul was ever Married yet it is a rash thing to say positively he was not S. Clement alledges a Tradition in this Matter which might easily be conveyed entire down to his time It is plain that the true Yoke-fellow Philip. 4. 3. was a Woman which others of the Antients understood of his Wife besides S. Clement His Expostulating with the Corinthians and asserting that he had a Power to lead about a Sister or a Wife as well as S. Peter or any of the Apostles may as well prove that S. Paul justified his own Practice as that he thought the thing simply lawful especially since he is there making a Defence for himself The Question however is very far from being certain in the Negative and therefore at least ought to be left undetermined In the Fourth Book he treats of Martyrdom and Christian Perfection He shews the Excellency of Martyrdom and exhorts Christians to undergo it confuting the Hereticks who held that Martyrdom was no Vertuous Action He makes the perfection of Christianity to consist in the Love of God and our Neighbour He would have us love Sinners and yet detest their Sin that we should do good out of a principle of Love and not for Fear For that Man says he that abstains from Evil only out of a slavish Fear is not good voluntarily but for Fear-sake and he who would not have abstained but in Consideration of the Recompence cannot be said to be just with a good Heart For in the one 't is Fear and in the other the hope of a Reward which renders them Just or rather which makes them appear so to the Eyes of the World He says that God inflicts Punishments upon Men for Three Reasons First that the Man whom he Chastises may become better Secondly that those who are to be saved may take warning by these Examples Thirdly lest he should be despised by Men if he did not avenge Affronts and Injuries done to himself In the Fifth Book after having shewn that the way of instructing by Allegories and Symbols was very ancient not only among the Jews but also among the Philosophers he proves that the Greeks took the greatest part of the Truths which are in their Books from the Barbarians and principally from the Hebrews This Book is full of Citations from the Poets and the heathen Philosophers In the Sixth Book he speaks again advantageously of Philosophy Afterwards he begins to draw a Character of the True Gnostick that is to say to give the Idea of a Christian that is perfectly Good and Wise. These are the principal strokes of his Picture The True Gnostick has the Command over his Passions He is exactly Temperate and allows his Body no more than what is necessary He loves God above all Things and the Creatures for Gods-sake and the Relation they bear to him and nothing is able to separate him from this Love He bears with Patience all unfortunate Accidents He makes it his Business to know all things which relate to God without neglecting humane Learning His Discourses are regular and to the purpose full of Sweetness and Charity He is never overcome with Anger He prays continually by Charity that unites him to God First begging of him the Remission of his Sins and then the Grace not to sin any more but to do Good Afterwards S. Clement enlarges upon the Source or Spring from whence this Gnostick derives this true Knowledge and compleat Science He says that it is the Holy Scripture the Law and the Prophets and in particular the Decalogue which he briefly explains and Lastly the Doctrine of Jesus Christ foretold by the Prophets preached throughout the World and received notwithstanding all the Contradiction of Kings and the great Men of this World who opposed it with all their Might In the Seventh Book he goes on to describe the Vertues of his Gnostick he says that he employs himself entirely in honouring God in loving him in understanding hearing and imitating his WORD which was made Man for our Salvation that he does it not only upon certain days but during the whole Course of his Life that the Sacrifices by which he Honours him are the Prayers and the Praises which he offers up at all times and in all Places that he is Gentle Courteous Affable Patient Charitable Sincere Faithful and Temperate that he despises the good things of this World and that he is ready to suffer every thing for Jesus Christ that he does nothing either out of Ostentation or Fear or the Desire of being rewarded but out of pure Love to the Goodness and Justice of God Lastly that he is entirely Holy and Divine Afterwards S. Clement Answers several Objections of the Greeks and Jews who affirmed that the multiplicity of Heresies ought to hinder Men from the embracing the Religion of Jesus Christ. To which he Answers that this multitude of Sects is likewise to be found among the Heathens and the Jews that it was foretold by Jesus Christ that such a thing should happen among the Christians That it ought not to make us forsake the Truth but rather on the contrary to seek after it with the greater Care and Diligence That there is an infallible Rule to distinguish Truth from Falshood that this Rule is the Holy Scripture which being an incontestable Principle serves for a Proof of whatever we say That it must be Confessed that the Hereticks make use of it as well as the Catholicks But then first they do not make use of all the Sacred Books Secondly those which they do use are corrupted Thirdly they chiefly urge ambiguous Passages which they explain according to their own Fancy by departing from the true Sense and keeping only to Terms Hence he takes occasion to condemn in general all Hereticks who rejecting the Tradition of Jesus Christ and his Apostles and forsaking the Faith of the Church have made themselves the Authors of particular Sects by inventing new Doctrines and corrupting the Truth He says that there is but only One Catholick Church which is more ancient than all the Assemblies of the Hereticks that it was founded by Jesus Christ who dyed under Tiberius and established it in the World by the Apostles before the end of Nero's Region Whereas there was hardly so much as one Heresie older than Adrian's Time and that they all bore the Name of their Author or that of the Places and Countries where they first appeared or from the Doctrine they taught or the things which they honoured which sufficiently discovers their Falshood and Novelty He concludes by making the Description of these Books of the Stromata and by promising to begin
is so common and if I may say it so trivial that I do not think it necessary to say any thing of it in this Place Hermogenes was another African Heretick who maintained that Matter was Eternal and that God did not create it when he made the World but that he only made use thereof to form things as we see He suckt this Error from the Philosophy of the Stoicks and defended it by Syllogisâ—… connected according to their Methods of Reasoning which made Tertullian say in the Treatise which he composed against him that the Philosophers were the Patriarchs of the Hereticks He there discovers the Fallacies of the Sophisms of this Heretick and shews that our Religion teaches us that God created even that Matter whereof he made the World The Book against the Valentinians is rather a Satyr and Raillery than a serious Confutation of the Extravagant Sentiments of these Hereticks Valentinus the first Author of this Sect separated from the Church out of spight because hoping to be Elected a Bishop by reason of his Wit and Eloquence he was put by to prefer another Person who had suffered for the Faith of Jesus Christ in times of Persecution After he had separated from the Church he invented or rather revived an old Opinion according to the Principles of which he feigned a Succession and imaginary Generation of a kind of Deities His Disciples refined upon his Notion and formed quite different Systems But as all these Fancies were impertinent and ridiculous so they took great Care to conceal them lest if they should discover them all the World should be presently sensible of their Extravagancy 'T is this which Tertullian upbraids them with If you teach the Truth says he to them why don't you discover it It persuades by teaching and it teaches by persuading it is not ashamed of shewing it self on the contrary 't is ashamed of nothing but of being concealed You reproach us for our Simplicity it is true we love it because it is by this means that we know and make known the Will of God But 't is no wonder that the Hereticks should blame this Simplicity and should so carefully conceal their Principles for they were so extravagant that the bare Discovering of them would be sufficient to render them ridiculous 'T is this which Tertullian does in this Work I undertake says he in this Book to discover to the Eyes of all Men the hidden Mystery but though I profess to relate the Opinions of these Hereticks without making a particular Confutation yet I hope I shall be pardoned if I cannot forbear censuring them in some Places What I do is nothing but a Sport before a real Combat I shall rather shew them where I could strike them than lay them on But if there are found some Passages that may excite Laughter 't is because the very Subject causes it There are many things which deserve to be jeered and ridiculed at this rate lest if we should confute them seriously we should seem to lay too great Stress upon them Nothing is more due to Vanity than Laughter and to Laugh does properly belong to the Truth because it is pleasant and to Sport with its Enemies because it is certain of the Victory And these are all the Books which are particularly against the Hereticks there are others in which Tertullian likewise confutes some Errors and defends some Catholick Truths though they were not written against any Hereticks in particular Such are the following Books The Book of the Flesh of Jesus Christ. wherein he proves against the Hereticks Marcion Apelles and Valentinus that Jesus Christ took upon him true Flesh like to ours in the Womb of the Virgin The Title alone of the Book of the Resurrection of the Flesh is enough to discover that it was written against the Sadducees and against the Hereticks who denied the Resurrection The Scorpiacus so called because it is a Remedy against the Poison of Hereticks like Scorpions defends the Necessity and Excellency of Martyrdom against the Gnosticks The Book of the Soul written against the Opinions of the Philosophers and the Hereticks treats at large of the Nature of the Soul and its Qualities But it is full of false Principles and Errors He pretends that the Soul is Corporeal and that it takes a certain Form of a Body though it be invisible he confutes the Opinion of Plato concerning Reminiscency or the Faculty of Remembring and Pythagoras's Transmigration he affirms that the Soul does not come from Heaven but that it is formed with the Body and that as the Body of the Parents produces a Body so their Soul produces a Soul That all Souls and even those of the Martyrs which some have excepted are disposed of after Death in a certain Subterraneous Place where they receive Refreshment and Torment according to the Good or Evil which they have done And that they expect the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment which will render them entirely happy or entirely Miserable to all Eternity There are likewise in this Treatise some other particular Opinions as for Instance that the Soul and Breath are the same thing that that which is unreasonable in the Soul comes from the Devil that every Soul has its Daemon that all Dreams are not vain The Book of Baptism is divided into two Parts the First relating to Doctrine and the Second to Discipline In the First he defends the Necessity and Efficacy of the Sacrament of Baptism against the Hereticks called Caiannites he proves that the Waters of Baptism do procure to us Forgiveness of our Sins and of the Punishment which they deserve What can there be says he more miraculous than to see that by washing the Body by an external Baptism we efface at the same time the Mortal Stain of the Soul and when that Stain is once taken away the Punishment is likewise remitted to us He afterwards discourses of the Imposition of Hands and of the Unction which followed after Baptism to make the Holy Ghost descend upon the Faithful and to draw down upon them the Blessings of Heaven We do not receive says he the Fulness of the Holy Ghost by Water but it prepares us for receiving it by washing us from our Sins And as St. John prepared the Way of the Lord so the Angel which is present in Baptism prepares the Way for the Holy Ghost by the Absolution of our Sins which we obtain by Faith which is confirmed and sealed by the Invocation of the Father Son and Holy Ghost When we come out of the Font we are anointed and this Unction which is performed on our Flesh is profitable to our Soul as external Baptism has a spiritual Effect which is to deliver us from our Sins Afterwards there is the Laying on of Hands to draw upon us the Holy Ghost and this most Holy Spirit descends voluntarily from Heaven into purified and blessed Bodies In the Second Part he discourses of several Questions concerning Baptism
Protestations before the Bishop and in the Church That we renounce the Devil all his Pomps and Miniâ—â—es afterwards we are plunged in the Water three times and they make us answer to some Things which are not precisely set down in the Gospel after that they make us taste Milk and Honey and we bath our selves every day during that whole Week We receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist instituted by Jesus Christ when we Eat and in the Morning-Assemblies and we do not Receive it but from the Hands of those that preside there We offer Yearly Oblations for the Dead in Honour of the Martyrs We believe that it is not lawful to Fast on a Sunday and to pray to God kneeling From Easter to Whitsontide we enjoy the same Priviledge We take great Care not to suffer any Part of the Wine and Consecrated Bread to fall to the Ground We often Sign our selves with the Sign of the Cross if you demand a Law for these Practises taken from the Scripture we cannot find one there but we must answer That 't is Tradition that has established them Custom that has authorized them and Faith that has made them to be observed The Book concerning Flight in time of Persecution is a further Mark of the Extream Rigour of Tertullian for there he maintains That it is absolutely Prohibited to Fly in time of Persecution or to give Money not to be Persecuted The Book De Pallio is a small Treatise wherein he endeavours to prove that he had reason to quit the Toga or the long Roman Gown and to wear a Cloak he shews therein a great deal of Wit and Learning and it seems as if he Composed it rather to shew what he was capable of saying upon so trivial a Subject as this is than seriously to defend the Action In his Book concerning Publick Sights and Spectacles he dissuades the Christians from those Sights and Spectacles shewing how these Pleasures are both shameful and dangerous to those who have Renounced the Pomps and Pleasures of the World and Idolatry There is no need of giving the Reasons why he wrote those Books concerning the Ornaments and Dresses of Women since the Titles themselves do sufficiently shew against what Abuse they were written So likewise the Title of the Book that Virgins ought to be Veiled does discover the Subject but we are not to understand it only of Virgins Consecrated to God for Tertullian's Design is to prove that young Women should be Veiled that is to say that they should have their Face covered in the Church Which he undertakes to prove contrary to the Custom of his Country where only married Women were veiled And upon this Account he speaks against this Custom and maintains that it cannot prescribe against Truth which is true when it relates to Doctrine but not when it concerns only a Matter of Discipline which is but of little Consequence In the First Book written to his Wife he Exhorts her not to Marry again and in the Second he Advises her that in case she will Marry again to take a Christian for her Husband The Treatise of Patience is an excellent Exhortation to the Practice of this Virtue In which Discourse Tertullian sets forth with a great deal of Eloquence all the Motives and Arguments which might induce Christians to Patience and dissuade them from Impatience The Discourse directed to the Confessors whom he calls Martyrs according to the ancient way of speaking is likewise a very powerful Exhortation to those who were in Prison upon the Account of the Religion of Jesus Christ to encourage them to bear with Patience their Chains and Torments and to persevere with Constancy to the End nothing can be more Pathetical and Moving than this little Discourse I have now nothing more to do but to speak of those Books which Tertullian Composed against the Church in Defence of the Montanists and they are Four His Book of Modesty of Monogamy an Exhortation to Chastity and A Treatise of Fasts In his Book of Modesty he endeavours to prove against the Church that it has no Power to Remit the Sins of Fornicators and Adulterers and that when Men are once fallen into these Crimes after Baptism they cannot be any more admitted into the Communion of the Church how Penitent soever they may be In his Book of Monogamy and the Exhortation to Chastity he absolutely condemns second Marriages as being Adultery Lastly In his Discourse of Fasts he commends the Excessive Fasts of the Montanists who made several Lents observing the Stationary Fasts as if they had been expresly enjoyned making them to continue till Night and not eating upon those Days any thing but Bread and Fruits nor drinking any thing but Water In all these Books excepting his Book of Exhortation to Chastity he formally attacks the Church and the Catholicks whom he calls Psychici and speaks every where very advantageously of Montanus and his Prophetesses believing that the Holy Ghost had inspired them to set up and establish a more perfect Discipline For as to what relates to the Rule of Faith that is to say to the principal Doctrines of Religion Tertullian and the first Montanists were of the same Opinion with the Church And therefore it is that in this Book against Praxeas he says that he always believed in One only God in three Persons and that he still believes it more firmly since he has been instructed by the Paraclete or Comforter And in his Book which he wrote to prove that Virgins ought to be Veil'd he says that excepting the Rule of Faith which is immoveable and can no ways be changed Manners and Customs that relate to Matter of Discipline may be reformed and altered That it is this which the Paraclet has done by the Ministry of Montanus who has instructed Men in a much more perfect Discipline than that which the Apostles had taught them that Justice was with him in the Cradle while he was an Infant That the Law and the Prophets were as it were the Infancy that the Gospel was as it were the Youth but that there was no compleat Perfection to be found but in the Instructions of the Holy Ghost who spake by Montanus for Tertullian and the first Montanists do not believe that Montanus was the Holy Ghost but only that the Holy Ghost had inspired him and sent him to Reform and Perfect the Discipline of the Church and they did not attribute this Priviledge only to Montanus but also to several of his Disciples and principally to Women and they would have it believed that there were among them several Persons who had Revelations and prophesied Things to come These Persons were sometimes strangely agitated sometimes they fell into an Extasie This Sect gave a respectful Attention to all that they said either while they were thus agitated or after they came to themselves as it was believed that these were so many Revelations of which it was not lawful to make any doubt
de opere elâ—…synis were written in imitation of those of Tertâ—llian upon the same Subject Eusebius says of Tertullian that he was one of the ablest of the Latin Writers and that he has obtained a great Reputation in all the Churches Lâ—ctantius passes the Judgment which we have already related which is not very advantageous to him S. Hilary says in his Commentary upon S. Matthew that the Error into which he fell has taken away the Authority of his Books which deserved Approbation Câ—nsequens error hominis detraxit scriptis probabilibus Authoritatem S. Jerom speaks sometimes very advantageously of him as in his Catalogue where he calls him a Man of a quick and sharp Wit and in his Epistle to Magnuâ— he says that there was not any Author who had more Learning and Subtilty but in other places he reprehends his Errors and Defects In his Apology against â—uffâ—â—us he says I commend his Wit but condemn his Heresies and in his Book against Helvidius who opposed to him Tertullian's Authority he makes this Answer What I have to say to you concerning Tertullian is that he is not of the Church Ecclesiae hominem non esse S. Austin commends Tertullian's Style and always condemns his Error in his Book De Genesi at Literam he says that Tertullian having an excellent Apprehension did sometime discover the Truth and that he could not forbear sometimes to establish it even against his own Opinions Vincentius Lirinensis gives a Character of Tertullian in these Words Tertullian says he was among the Latins what Origen was among the Greeks that is to say the first and the most considerable Man they had In word Is there any Author more knowing and better versed both in Ecclesiastical and Prophane Learning Has he not comprized in his vast and prâ—digious Memory all the Philosophy of the Sâ—ges the Maxims of the different Sects with their Histories and what else appâ—â—tained to them Did he ever undertake to attack any thing which he has not almost always either pierced by the Vivacity of his Wit or overthrown by the Force and Weight of his Reasonings And who can sufficiently extâ—l the Beauties of his Discourse which is so well guarded and â—inked together by a continual Câ—nin of Argumâ—nts that he even forces the Consâ—nt of those whom he cannot persuade His Words are as so many Sentences His Answers are almost so many Victories as has been sufficiently experienced by the Marcions the Apelles ' s the Praâ—eas ' s the Hermogenes ' s the Jews the Gentiles the Gnosticks and a great many others whose Blasphemies he has silenced by great numbers of Books that have â—een as somany Thunderbolts which have reduced them to Ashes And yet though â—e has had all these Advantages he did not continue in the Ancient and Universal Faith of the Church and he has proved himself less faithful than Elâ—…t At last he altered his Judgment and his Error as has been observed by that blessed Câ—â—fessâ—r S. Hilâ—ry by which means he has taken away that Authority frâ—â— his Writings which otherwise they would have deserved I shall take no notice of the Judgment of Trithemâ—us Rhenanus Politian Paâ—elius Rigaltius and some other Moderns which every body may consult upon occasion and I shall conclude with the Judgments given by two of our French Authors who have both given us Characters of Tertullian but in a different way The first is the famous M. Balsac in a Letter written to Rigaltius which is the Second of the Fifth Book I expect says he the Tertullian whicâ— you are publishing that he may learn me that Patience for which he gives such admirable Instructions He is an Author to whom your Preface would have reconciled me if I had had an Aversion for him and if the Harshness of his Expressions and the Vices of his Age had dissuaded me from reading him but I have had an Esteem for him for a long time and as hard and crabbed as he is yet he is not at all unpleasant to me I have found in his Writings that Black Light which is mentioned in one of the ancient Poets and I look upon his Obscurity with the same Pleasure as that of Ebony which is very bright and neatly wrought This has always been my Opinion for as the Beauties of Africa are not less amiable though they are not like ours and as Sâ—phâ—â—isba has eclipsed several Italian Ladies so the Wits of that Country are not less pleasing with this foreign sort of Eloquence and I shall prefer him before a great many affected Imitators of Cicerâ— And though we should grant to the nicest Criticks that his Style is of Iron yet they must likewise own to us that out of this Iron he has forged most excellent Weapons and that he has defended the Honour and Innocence of Christianity that he has quite routed the Valentinians and struck Marcion to the very Heart The second Character of Tertullian Recherche 〈◊〉 to Verité is that which Father Mâ—llebranche gives us in his Search after Truth in his Second Book Chap. 3. Tertullian says he waâ— without doubt a Man of extraordinary Learning but he had more Memory than Judgment He excelled more in his Fancy and Imagination than in Judgment and true extent of Thought Therâ— is no doubt to be made but that at last he was an Enthusiast in that sense which I have explained it and that he had almost all the Qualities which I have attributed to these Fanaticks That Respect which he had for the Visions of Montanus and for his Prophetesses is an unquestionable Proof of thâ— Weakness of his Judgment That Fire those Heats those Enthusiasms upon little Subjects do evidently discover the Extravagancy of his Fancy How many Irregular Transports are there in his Hyperboles and Figures How many Pompous and Magnificent Reasons which prove only by their glittering and which persuade only by stunning and dazling of the Understanding He afterwards endeavours to shew that this is a true Picture by making some Excerptions out of his Book De Palliâ— which he thinks to be the most proper â—ook to justifie what he affirmâ— in the Judgments which they have given and which they still give of this Author which makes me believe that it is better to commend the Good and to blame what is amiss than to pretend to make an absolute Judgment which would be always subject to a thousand Disputes In the last place to speak briefly of the Editions of Tertullian there has hardly been any Author ofâ—…er Printed and upon whom more Persons have bestowed their Pains For which two Reasons may be given the Corruption of the Manuscripts and his Obscurity and these two Reasons are likewise the cause one of the other for his Obscurity induced the Transcribers who did not understand him to alter some Words that they might make such a Sense as they themselves understood And the Corruptions of these Transcribers have been so far from
very different because the Good after their Death are sent into a place of Refreshment whereas the Wicked are thrown headlong into a place where they are Tormented for ever that the first dye to be put into a better state of security and the last to be more severely punished That Sicknesses prepare us for Martyrdom and make us Martyrs of Jesus Christ that for this reason we ought not to be afflicted because they deprive us of the glory of Confession since not to mention that it does not depend upon our selves to be Martyrs and that it is the Grace of God to let us dye with a Will of suffering Martyrdom God will crown us as if we had really suffered it That it would be to no purpose to beg of God that his Kingdom may come if the Captivity wherein we are does still please us That we ought not to bewail those of our Brethren whom God has taken to himself since we have not lost them and they have only gone a Journey before us which we are all to make one time or another That we do in some sort distrust the promises of Jesus Christ if we concern and afflict our selves at the Death of our Neighbours and Friends as if they were no more and that we ought rather to rejoyce that they are passed into a better Life and enjoy a state of repose and tranquillity that will never end At last he exhorts all Christians heartily to wish for the happy day of their Death which will free them from the exile of this Life and give them admission into the Kingdom of Heaven which is their Country where they will be everlastingly in the Company of the Saints and with Jesus Christ. His Treatise to Demetrianus hh After the Death of Gallus and Volusian This Treatise was written during the Plague to shew that the Christians were not the cause of it He there speaks of the late Fall of Kings which is to be understood of the Death of Gallus and Volusian who were killed by their Soldiers a Judge in Africa was likewise composed during the rage of this Pestilence immediately after ii Judge It has been commonly believed that he was Proconsul But the Author of the English Edition has very well observed that St. Cyprian does not speak to him as to a Proconsul and that what he says of him viz. that he often came to him to dispute with him and that he drew several Persons over to his Party is by no means suitable to the Character of a Sovereign Magistrate of Africk the Death of Gallus and Volusian He there refutes a Calumny which the Pagans frequently formed against the Christians for being the cause of those Wars Famines Plagues and other Calamities that wasted the Roman Empire He shews that those misfortunes that daily happen in the World which grows old every day ought to be rather attributed to the Crimes and Impiety of Men and that the Christians were so far from being the occasion of them because they did not adore false Gods that the Pagans rather drew down all these heavy Visitations upon Mankind because they did not Worship the true God and Persecuted those that Worship'd him That all this was the immediate hand of God who to revenge himself for the contempt they shew'd of him and of those that served him punished Men after this rigorous manner and made them feel the weight of his displeasure That the Gods of the Pagans were so far from being able to exercise this Revenge that they were fettered and ill used as I may say by the Christians who ejected them by force out of the Bodies of those Persons whom they had possest That the Christians suffered patiently as being assured that their Cause would be soon revenged that they endured the same Evils which the Pagans did in this World but that they comforted themselves because after their Death they should possess everlasting Joy whereas the Pagans at the day of Judgment would be condemned to everlasting Torments He exhorts them at last with great zeal and ardour to quit their Errors and to repent of them while they are in a condition to do it because after this Life is once over there is no room for Repentance and afterwards the Satisfaction is useless since it is here upon Earth that every Man renders himself worthy or unworthy of everlasting Salvation That neither Age nor Sins ought to hinder any one from suffering himself to be Converted since as long as we are in this World there is still time for us to Repent the Gate of the Divine Mercy being never shut to those that diligently search the Truth Though you were says he at the point of Death if you pray'd to have your Sins forgiven and implored the goodness of God you would obtain remission of your Crimes and pass from Death to Immortality Jesus Christ has procured this favour for us by conquering and triumphing over Death on the Cross by redeeming those that Believe with the price of his Blood by reconciling Man to God and communicating a new Life to him by a celestial Birth Let us follow them all if it is possible and receive this Sacrament and his Sign c. It is probable that the kk The Treatise of the Works of Merey and Alms-giving This Treatise is cited by Pontius by St. Jerome Ep. ad Pamm by St. Austin contr Jul. contr Pelagianos alibi Treatise of Mercy and Alms-giving was writ when St. Cyprian gathered considerable Alms to redeem the Christians who had been taken Prisoners by the Barbarians towards the Year 253. He demonstrates in this Book by several Authorities of Scripture and many Convincing Reasons the necessity of giving Alms he refutes the frivolous excuses and vain pretences used by Rich Men to avoid the doing such acts of Charity and observes that in his time every one brought a Loaf at the Celebration of the Eucharist which was always once a day in the Morning before it was Light and often at Night after Supper St. Cyprian tells us himself in his Letter to Jubaianus that he composed his Book of Patience upon the occasion of a Question concerning the reiteration of the Baptism of Hereticks to shew that we ought to preserve Charity and Patience in all Disputes with our Brethren So this Treatise was composed at the beginning of the Year 256 and St. Cyprian ll He sent to Jubaianus a Bishop Ep. and Jub Teneatur à nobis patienter firmiter Charitas animi Collegii honor vinculum fidei concordia sacerdotii propter hoc etiam libellum de bono patientiae quantum valuit nostra mediocritas permittente Domino inspirante conscripsimus quem ad te pro multâ dilectione transmisimus Pontius mentions it St. Jerome cites it advers Lucif and St. Austin in several places sent it as soon as it was finished to one Jubaianus a Bishop together with the Letter which he writ to him
divided into Four Canons in the First of which he discourses about the Fast which the Ancient Christians observed before Easter and tells us That some Christians fasted Six days before Easter others Two others Three after an extraordinary manner That we ought not to break our Fast before Midnight and that those that were able to hold on till Easter-morning were more generous That there were some Persons who though they did not fast at all nay had spent the Four first days of the last Week in sumptuous and delicate Entertainments yet imagined they did Wonderful things in fasting only two days But that they were not to be compared with those that fasted several In the second Canon he says That Women ought not to enter into the Church or receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ while they have their Courses but to offer their Prayes to God at Home since none by right ought to enter the Sanctum Sanctorum that is not pure in Body and Spirit In the Third he particularly Counsels those that are superannuated to abstain from the use of Marriage that they may the better attend their Devotions In the Fourth he leaves those Persons that have had an Illusion in the Night-time at liberty to receive or forbear the Eucharist following the Dictates and Motions of their own Conscience Anastasius of Nice in his 23d Question upon Genesis cites a Passage drawn out of a Book of Dionysius of Alexandria against Origen but there is no ground to believe that it was written by our Dionysius who was so far from being his Adversary that he was both his Disciple and Defender He died in the Year 264 after he had held the See of Alexandria Seventeen years and had one Maximus for his Successor The Style of this Author is Pompous and Lofty he is excellent in his Descriptions and Exhortations in his Polemical Discourses he falls upon his Adversaries with all the Vigour imaginable he perfectly well understood the Opinion the Discipline and Precepts of the Church he had sound piercing Judgment he was very moderate very discreet and ready to take Advice In short the Loss of his Works is one of the most considerable Losses we could have sustain'd in this kind THEOGNOSTUS THEOGNOSTUS of Alexandria is an Author unknown to Eusebius and St. Jerome whom St. Athanasius cites with Commendation and whose Books were extant in Photius's time who read them over We don't precisely know the time when he liv'd though we cannot doubt but he was some time after Origen and long before the Council of Nice Photius informs us That he composed Seven Books Entituled Hypotyposes that is to say Instructions and he gives us this Account of that Work In the first Book he treats of the Father and endeavours to shew That he is the Creator of all things against the Opinion of those that suppose Matter to be Eternal In the Second Book he advances some Arguments whereby he pretends it necessarily follows that the Father had a Son but speaking of this Son he says That he is a Creature above all Creatures that have Reason He likewise attributes to the Son of God several other Qualities of the like Nature as Origen has done Whether he was of the same Opinion or whether he speaks after that manner rather by way of Disputation than a Design to propose his own true Doctrine or in short whether he was somewhat mistaken in the Truth and that to accommodate himself to the weakness of his Auditors who having no Knowledge of the true Religion were not capable of comprehending a perfect Instruction he supposed it most expedient to give them an imperfect Knowledge of the Son of God than not to speak of him at all But though a Man may follow this Method in a Dispute or in a Discourse when he is constrained to say the same things often that are not altogether conformable to his own Opinion of the matter yet 't is a Weakness to make use of this Pretence to excuse those Errours that are published in any Book where we are obliged to speak the Truth to all the World In the Third Book speaking of the Holy Ghost he brings some Arguments to prove that there is an Holy Ghost but in the rest he falls into the same Extravagancies with those of Origen in his Book of Principles In the Fourth Book he talks erroneously about Angels and Daemons and assigns small Bodies to them In the Fifth and Sixth he treats of the Incarnation and uses all his Endeavours to demonstrate after this manner That it was possible for God to make himself Man This Book likewise is full of several groundless Fancies As for Example when he has a mind to prove that the Son of God is circumscribed in Place by our Imagination though in Truth he cannot be known there In the Seventh Book which he wrote concerning the Creation of God he discourseth of matters of Religion after a manner conformable to the Doctrine of the Church and especially of the Son of God of whom he treats in the Last Part. His Style is elevated and very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His Discourses have the Beauty of Old Athens but without Affectation so that in his Compositions he does not go very far from the ordinary manner of Conversation and yet he avoids saying mean things Thus I have shown you what Photius has informed us of this Author St. Athanasius calls him an Admirable Man Studious and Eloquent and is so far from accusing him for having any Unorthodox Sentiments about the Divinity of the Word that he cites him as a Witness of Consubstantiality Learn says he O Arians ye Rebels to Jesus Christ that the Eloquence of Theognostus has made use of the Word Substance for behold after what manner he discourseth in his Second Book of Instructions The Substance of the Son is not a strange Substance he was not produced of nothing but was begotten of the Substance of the Father as the Raye is of the Light or a Vapour of Water Theognostus for the Vapour is not Water not is the Ray Light but neither one nor the other is a Stranger to that which produces it Thus the Son is as it were the gentle running of the Substance of the Father yet so as that the Father suffers no Division For as the Sun is not diminished though it produces Rayes continually so likewise the Father is not diminished in begetting the Son who is his Image This Passage and the Authority of St. Athanasius ought to convince us that Photius has wrongfully accused Theognostus to have erred concerning the Divinity of the Son upon the score of a few Expressions that did not agree with those of his own Age without taking notice that though the Ancients have spoken differently as to this Point yet the Foundation of the Doctrine was always the same and that it is an horrid Injustice to require them to speak as nicely and with as much precaution
never searched after it amongst the Jews and because it is inseparable from the Worship and Knowledge of the true God He afterwards explains the Doctrine of the Christians with relation to Jesus Christ and evidently proves That the Pagans themselves acknowledged that he was the Word and Wisdom of God existing before the World That this Word was begotten of God after an incomprehensible manner That he descended from Heaven and was born of a Virgin according to the Predictions of the Prophets that the Gentiles might know the true God He then gives an Account of the Life the Miracles and Death of Jesus Christ and shows That it was necessary for him to undergo the infamous Punishment of the Cross. He afterwards demonstrates That though the Christians do acknowledge that the Son is God as well as the Father yet they worship but one God That the Father and Son are one Spirit and one Substance and one God which 〈◊〉 illustrates and explains by the Comparisons of a Fountain and its Stream of the Sun and its Rays c. Towards the End he declaims in general against Heresies and tells us That the Catholick Church only has retained the true worship of God That it is the Sourse of Truth the Habitation of Faith the Temple of God That those Men who never enter into it or who depart from it are out of hopes of obtaining Everlasting Salvation That no Man ought to flatter himself whilest he continues stedfast in his Obstinacy since his Eternal welfare is concerned in the Matter which he will be in danger of losing unless he takes particular Care That though all the Sects of Hereticks pretend and boast to be the Church yet there is but one properly so called which heals the Wounds of Man by the wholsome Remedies of Confession and Repentance In the Fifth Book that treats of Justice He shews that the Pagans have no such thing as true Justice That 't is impossible to find it any where but in the Christian Religion That it is a great Injustice to pâ—…secute the Christians because of their Persuasion and that though they were in an Errour yet their Adversaries ought to recover them out of it by the force of Reason and not of Punishments That we cannot and that we ought not to constrain Men to be of any Religion which is a thing not to be defended by Killing of others but by Dying for it our selves not by Cruelty but Patience That that the Sacrifices which are extorted from Men by Violence neither signifie any thing to those that offer them nor to those that cause them to be offered nor to the Gods themselves That 't is a surprizing thing that the Pagans could suffer the Superstitions of the Egyptians and the Atheism of the Philosophers and yet should bear such an incurable hatred to the Religion of Jesus Christ In short That though God sometimes permits Truth and Justice to be persecuted yet he never fails at last to punish Persecutors with the utmost Severity The Sixth Book treats of the true worship of God He distinguisheth between Two sorts of Worship True and False and Two sorts of Ways One that leads to Hell and the Other that leads to Heaven He tells us That this last is a difficult Way that we must pass through Poverty Ignorance and a long Series of Sufferings before we can arrive at Virtue That the Philosophers search'd after it to no purpose since they neither knew what was Good or what was Evil having no Knowledge of God who was the Author of Good nor of the Devil who is the Author of Evil That the Law of God is made clear and manifest to us That this Law contains two Principal Heads The First of Piety The Second of Humanity That Piety consists in worshipping God and that Humanity which is also called Mercy and Charity consists in our mutually assisting one another to our utmost Endeavours since we are descended from the same Father That if we would acquit our selves of this Duty we ought to bestow Alms to relieve the Sick and Necessitous to protect Orphans and Widows to redeem Captives and bury the Dead and that the Apprehension of becoming poor ought not to hinder us from giving considerable Alms because they blot out and efface our Sins He afterwards discourses about the Passions and demonstrates contrary to the Sentiments of the Philosophers That Mercy or Compassion is not a Vice but a Virtue and that Fear and Love which are Vices when they carry a Man to Earthly things are Vertues when they move him towards Heaven From hence he proceeds to the Precepts of Justice that are less general such as are the following ones Not to Lye not to be guilty of Usury not to exact Gifts from the Poor not to revenge our selves of our Enemies to speak well of those that revile us to moderate our Passions and to refrain from the pursuit of Sensual Pleasures After he has thus show the way of Justice he says That if it should happen that a Man should forsake this way by falling into some Sin yet he ought not to despair but turn away from his Evil Practices and satisfie God who knows our secret Thoughts In one word That the Sacrifice which we are to present ought to be Spiritual and that we ought to offer him the Purity of our Hearts and the Praises due to his Divinity The Last Book of his Institutions treats about Happiness and a happy Life He shows that this supposes the Immortality of the Soul which he demonstrates by several Arguments and likewise that thiâ—… Mortal Life can never be Happy unless we take care to preserve Justice He afterwards discourseth of the End of the World which he imagines must happen Six Thousand Years after its Creation d Six Thousand Years after its Creation So that he seems to have thought that there were no more than 200 Years to reckon from his own time to the Day of Judgment and of the Signs that shall precede it amongst which he reckons the Destruction of the Roman Empire and of the last Judgment wherein he tells us God shall as it were weigh both Good and Evil and that those who have committed more Evil than Good shall be condemned to Everlasting Punishment That on the contrary those who are altogether Just shall not in the least manner feel the Divine Fire but that those who are in a middle condition shall be examined by it and so purified from their Sins That after this Solemn Trial is over Jesus Christ shall Reign a Thousand Years upon Earth with the Just and when that Course of Time is finished the World shall be renewed all Mankind shall be raised again and God shall make the Just like to Angels that they may be in his Presence and serve him during a happy Eternity but that he will throw the Wicked head-long into Everlasting Fire He concludes all with exhorting Mankind to be Converted and Repent while
the time of this Pope The Epistle attributed to Lucius is full of Citations out of the Vulgar Latin and of several Passages taken out of the First Council of Arles the Third of Carthage that of Milevis St. Leo Gregory Agatho Adrian and Sixtus the Pythagorean Besides it is dated Six Months before the Election of Lucius The two Epistles attributed to Stephanus are filled with Citations out of Modern Authors and Statutes that don't all agree with the time of this Pope and consequently are Spurious For the same Reasons we must pass the same Judgment of the two Letters of Sixtus the Second the two of Pope Dionysius the three of St. Felix the First the two of Eutychianus that of Carus the two of Marcellinus those of Marcellus the three of Eusebius the Letter and Decree of Miltiades and the rest of the Letters of the Popes collected by Isidore that are full of several Passages taken out of the Fathers Popes and Councils more Modern than the very Popes by whom they are pretended to be written and in which many things are to be found that don't in the least agree with the true History of those times and were purposely said to favour the Court of Rome and establish her Pretensions against the Rights of Bishops and the Liberties of Churches But it would take up too much time to show the gross falsity of these Monuments that are now rejected by a common Consent and even by those Authors that are most favourable to the Court of Rome who are obliged to abandon the Patronage of these Epistles though they have done a great deal of Service in establishing the greatness of the Court of Rome and ruining the ancient Discipline of the Church especially in relation to Ecclesiastical Decisions and Rights of Bishops An Abridgment of the Doctrine Discipline and Morality of the Three First Ages of the Church AFter having given a Summary of what is contained in the Works of the Ecclesiastical Authors for the Three first Ages of the Church I supposed it would not be amiss to present the An Abridgment of Doctrine c. Reader with an Abridgment also of the Theology of the Primitive Christians This Design besides the relation it had to the Work it self seem'd in my Opinion to be the principal Fruit and Advantage that could be gathered from it For the ultimate Scope and End which a Man ought to propose to himself in reading the Ecclesiastical Authors and their History is not to gratifie a vain foolish Curiosity but to learn Religion thereby We must not study these Matters only to make a Pompous Ostentation of our Knowledge but to become better Christians to become more certain of the Doctrine of the Church more respectful to its Discipline and better instructed in its Holy Morality For all Theology reduces it self to these Three Points Doctrine Discipline and Morality Doctrine concerns the Articles of Faith that our Religion teaches us Discipline concerns the Government of the Church and Morality teaches us what things we are to do and what we are to forbear Hereticks overthrow the Doctrine of the Church by their Errours Schismaticks destroy its Discipline by violating the Orders and Rules of the Church And lastly The vitious Christian discards and lays aside the Laws of its Morality by living after an irregular manner For the better avoiding these Rocks and Precipices it is exceeding requisite for all Christians to draw out of the Tradition of the ancient Church that is to say out of the Books of the Primitive Fathers who are the unquestionable Witnesses of the Opinion of the Church in their own times to draw I say from thence the Doctrine which they are obliged to believe to examine the Ecclesiastical Discipline which they are to revere and obey and lastly from thence to learn the most Holy Rules of the Christian Morality An Abridgment of the Doctrine THE Doctrine of the Church was always the same and will be ever so till the end An Abridgment of Doctrine of the World For 't is utterly impossible that the true Church should cease to be or that the true Church should not teach the Doctrine of Jesus Christ because whether she should teach a Doctrine different from that of Jesus Christ or whether she should not teach the Doctrine of our Blessed Saviour in both these Cases she would cease to be the true Church Jesus Christ as St. Irenaeus Tertullian and all the rest of the Ancients have observed taught his Apostles all the Truths of Faith The Apostles published them throughout all the Earth and opened them to all the Churches in the World whose Doctrine is found to be conformable each to other in Articles of Faith This Doctrine was always preserved in the Church which is the Pillar and Foundation of Truth 'T is indeed very true that they did not always make use of the same terms and that before the Birth of Heresies they did not observe that precaution in speaking of Mysteries which they did afterwards when they were attack'd by the Hereticks But still the Foundation of Doctrine was always the same as to the principal Articles of our Faith We must likewise acknowledge that there were some Errours very frequent in the First Ages of the Church that have been rejected since but then they don't concern the principal Articles of our Faith and besides were never looked upon to be the received Doctrine of the Church but only the most common Opinions These previous Observations will be confirmed by an Abridgment of the Doctrine of the Church as it is delivered by the Authors of the Three first Centuries which we are going to represent in as few words as possibly we can They taught That the Grounds and Principles of Faith were the Holy Scriptures and Tradition that we ought to believe Mysteries though we were not able to comprehend them they spoke of the Nature of God and of his Attributes after a most excellent manner they believed him to be Invisible Eternal Incorruptible c. they have frequently discoursed of his Providence his Power his Bounty his Mercy and his Goodness they wrote very sharply against the false Divinities of the Pagans and the Errours of Hereticks who imagined that there cou'd be above one Soveraign and Independant Being they proved that God Created all Things and even Matter it self which was not Eternal they acknowledged the Trinity of the Three Persons in one only God the Divinity and Eternity of the Word and of the Holy Ghost they maintain'd that the Word was from all Eternity in God as a Person distinct from the Father that the Father created the World by him and that he governs it and that it was the Person of the Word that appear'd to the ancient Patriarchs under different Figures and who was at last Incarnate that Jesus Christ was the Word made Man God and Man all together composed of two intire and different Natures that he had a Soul and Body like
together with Sound and true Doctrine This he proves by a particular Induction of their Opinions because there is no Theology but this which teaches the Immortality of the Soul which commands Men to Adore one God only which informs them that he was the Creator of the World which teaches them that the Word is the Son of God and that the Holy Ghost is to be Worship'd with the same Worship that is due to the Father and the Son There is no other Religion but this which teaches Men that they must not Adore the Angels as Gods but honour them as the Ministers of God which gives a rational Account of the Fall of some of the Angels and instructs Man that he is made after the Image of God In a word there is none but this whose Doctrine is agreeable to Right Reason After this he subjoins a long Fragment out of a Treatise of Maximus which demonstrates that Matter is not Eternal In the Eighth Book he gives the History of the Version of the Septuagint and to prove the Authority of the Holy Scriptures he makes it appear by the Testimony of the Jews that their Law is Mystical and very Significant which he afterwards represents as worthy of all Esteem by the holiness of their Lives who have embrac'd it by the Example of the Essenes whose manner of Life he describes and by the Wisdom of Philo. In the Ninth Book he relates the Testimonies of the Pagans who have spoken in favour of the Jewish Religion and of those who allow the Truth of Moses's History In the 10th he shows that Plato and the Pagan Philosophers have taken the greatest part of what they have written from the Books of Moses In the 11th Book he demonstrates particularly that the Doctrine of Plato is agreeable to that of Moses and compares many of the Opinions of that Philosopher with those of the Jews He carries on that Comparison in the 12th and 13th Books But in the mean time he demonstrates that this Philosopher had his Errors and that no Book but the Scriptures is wholly free In the 14th and 15th Books he relates the Opinions of the Philosophers he shows their Contradictions and oftentimes confutes one of them by another From all which he concludes that the Christians had reason to forsake the Religion of the Pagans and embrace that of the Jews After he has thus prepar'd the Minds of Men to receive the Christian Religion by establishing the Authority of the Religion and of the Books of the Jews he demonstrates the Truth of it against the Jews themselves by their own Prophecies This is the Subject of his Books of Evangelical Demonstration of which there are only Ten remaining of Twenty which he compos'd In the First Book he shows that the Law of the Jews was calculated for one Nation only but the New Testament was design'd for all Mankind That the Patriarchs had no other Religion but that of the Christians since they ador'd the same God and the same Word honour'd him as they do and resembled their holy Lives In the Second Book he shows by the Prophecies that the Messias was to come into the World for all Mankind In the Third he makes it appear in favour of the Faithful that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the World and demonstrates against the Infidels that he was no Seducer as his Doctrine his Miracles and many other Reasons do evidently prove In the Fourth Book he shows that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and gives an Account of the Reasons for which he was made Man he explains the Name of Christ and cites many Prophecies wherein he was foretold by that Name In the following Books he brings abundance of Prophecies to demonstrate that the Coming of Jesus Christ the time of his Birth the Circumstances of his Liâ—â— and Passion and in a word all things that concern'd him were foretold in the Books of the Old Testament What we have of these Books ends with the last words of Christ upon the Cross And in the following Books he recited the Prophecies concerning his Death his Burial his Resurrection his Ascension the Establishment of the Church and the Conversion of the Gentiles But these are wholly lost These Books of Evangelical Preparation and Demonstration are the largest Work that has been made by any of the Ancients upon this Subject where a Man may find more Proofs Testimonies and Arguments for the Truth of the Christian Religion than in any other They are very proper to instruct and convince all those that sincerely search after Truth In fine Eusebius has omitted nothing which might serve to undeceive Men of a false Religion or convince them of the true The Treatise against Hierocles was written against a Book of that Philosopher publish'd by him under the Name of Philalethes against the Christian Religion wherein to render it ridiculous he has compar'd Apollonius Tyanaeus with Jesus Christ and says That Apollonius wrought Miracles as well as Christ and ascended into Heaven as well as he But Eusebius has prov'd in his Answer That Apollonius Tyanaeus was so far from being comparable to Jesus Christ that he did not deserve to be rank'd among the Philosophers and that Philostratus who wrote his Life is an Author unworthy of Credit because he contradicts himself very often he doubts himself of those very Miracles which he relates and he reports many things which are plainly Fabulous At the End of this Treatise Eusebius has given some Observations against Fatal Necessity In the First of the Five Books against Marcellus of Ancyra Eusebius endeavours to prove That this Bishop wrote his Book upon no other Motive but the hatred of his Brethren he charges him with Ignorance of the Holy Scriptures and rallies him for the impertinent Explications of some Greek Proverbs brought in not at all to the purpose In fine he blames him for accusing Origen Paulinus Narcissus Eusebius of Nicodemia and Asterius of Error touching the Mystery of the Trinity and endeavours to justifie their Doctrine about it In the Second Book he discovers the Errors of Marcellus and proves from many Passages of his Book That he believes the Word was not a Person subsisting before he was born of the Virgin That he denies the distinction of the Son from the Father That he is positive in asserting the Flesh and not the Word to be the Image of God the Son of God the King the Saviour and the Christ and in short That he durst affirm that this Flesh shall be destroyed and annihilated after the Day of Judgment After he has discovered the Errors and the Malice of Marcellus of Ancyra he confutes his Opinions in the Three following Books Entitled Ecclefiastick Theology and Dedicated to Flacillus Bishop of Antioch In the First Book he proposes the Faith of the Church which he explains very exactly rejecting the Errors of the Ebionites Paulianites Sabellians and Arians After this he shows that Marcellus is guilty of
any thing of his Kindred b Of his Kindred The Greek Author of his Life who is very late says that they were very noble and of great Piety but he gives us no Name nor cites any Author to warrant his groundless Assertion His Aunt was a Catholick and died during the Tyranny of Gregory Ep. ad Solit. p. 817. You may see in a Latin Letter of this Saint related at the end of Lucifer's Works that during his Persecution he had not the Liberty to see his Parents which may be understood of his Father and Mother according to the proper Signification of the Latin Word He was so young during the Persecution St. Athanasius of Dioclesian and Maximian that when he speaks of it he does not say that he had seen what he says but only that he learn'd it of his Fathers c But only that he learn'd it of his Fathers In his Letter ad Solitar p. 855. I heard from my Fathers that the Persecution was rais'd under Maximian Grandfather to Constantius We know nothing either of his Infancy or Education Ruffinus indeed tells us That St. Athanasius being yet a Child and playing with other Children imitated the Ceremonies of the Church and baptiz'd his Comrades and that St. Alexander Bishop of Alexandria perceiving it and having enquir'd the manner in which they were baptiz'd he approv'd the Baptism and from that time design'd St. Athanasius for the Clergy But this Story which besides its being so very improbable cannot agree with the Age of St. Athanasius passes among Learned Men rather for a Fable than a Truth d Rather for a Fable than a Truth 1. This Story of Children baptiz'd by Athanasius does not at all agree with the Discipline of the Church of Alexandria upon the Subject of Rebaptization and 't is a thing unheard of that it should be approv'd of or that any could approve a Baptism of this Nature as Alexander of Alexandria is suppos'd to have done 2. It does not agree with the Age of St. Athanasius for Alexander was not ordain'd Bishop of Alexandria according to the Testimony of St. Jerom until the Year 321. and St. Athanasius being ordain'd Bishop in 326. was not in this Interval of an Age to play such little Pranks And though it were suppos'd against the Authority of St. Jerom that Alexander was ordain'd in 315 this would not remove the Difficulty for it cannot be said that St. Athanasius play'd at this Sport when he was above 10. or 12. Years old from whence it would follow that he was ordain'd Bishop at the 25. or 27th Year of his Age which is not very probable St. Gregory Nazianzen assures us in his Panegyrick on St. Athanasius that this Saint applied himself but a short while to the profane Sciences and proceeded quickly to the Study of the Holy Scriptures Afterwards he entred into the Clergy and discharg'd his Function when he was in Orders with general Approbation according to the Observation of Theodoret. He was particularly taken Notice of by Alexander his Bishop whom he accompanied to the Council of Nice being then but a Deacon and yet the first of the Deacons of his Church He oppos'd there the Heresy of Arius and 't is believ'd likewise that he maintain'd a Disputation against the Hereticks When he return'd again to the City of Alexandria Alexander cast his Eyes upon him to make him his Successor Apollinarius says in a Passage related by Sozomen B. II. Ch. 17. of his History That St. Athanasius fled to avoid being chosen Bishop and that Alexander being near his Death did several times call for him After the Death of this Bishop he was chosen Bishop of Alexandria in the beginning of the Year 326 e In the Beginning of the Year 326. Alexander died five Months after the Council of Nice and St. Athanasius succeeded him immediately St. Epiphanius says in Haeres 68. and 69. that Achillas was chosen by the Catholicks after the Death of Alexander and Theonas by the Melitians and that Athanasius was ordain'd three Months after But all this Story is fabulous because Achillas was Bishop of Alexandria before Alexander and all Historians testify that St. Athanasius succeeded Alexander immediately and St Athanasius says as much expresly in his 2d Apology by the common Voice of all the People and ordain'd by the Bishops of Egypt Libya and Pentapolis assembled in the City of Alexandria This is the Testimony which the Bishops of these Provinces give of his Ordination in a Synodical Letter reported by St. Athanasius Apol. 2. p. 726. where at the same time they refute the Calumny of the Arians who said That Athanasius was privately Ordain'd by seven Bishops against the Will of all the rest The Arians and the Bishops which Patroniz'd them assoon as they saw St. Athanasius their Adversary promoted to this See look'd upon this Promotion as a great Obstacle to their Designs and therefore resolv'd to drive him out of the Church And that they might execute this Design the more easily they join'd with the Schismaticks call'd Meletians or rather Melitians f Or rather Melitians Their Leader is call'd by all the Ancients 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and never 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they had follow'd the Party of an Egyptian Bishop call'd Meletius or Melitius who being depos'd in a Synod by Peter of Alexandria for having Sacrific'd to Idols g For having sacrific'd to Idol◠St. Athanasius testifies that this was the Occasion of the Schism of Melitius which is much more credible than what St. Epiphanius reports to be the Origin of this Schism after a fabulous manner being deceiv'd by the Memoirs of some Melitians separated himself from the Church and made a considerable Faction in Egypt Thus the Bishops that favour'd Arius not being able to persuade St. Athanasius to receive him into his Communion no more than his followers tho' Eusebius had written him a threatning Letter to that purpose did for that reason accuse him of laying a New Tax upon all the Linen or Woollen Vestments of the Egyptians for the use of the Church of Alexandria and deputed Ision Eudemon and Callinicus Melitian Bishops to carry this Accusation to the Emperour But Alipius and Macarius Priests of Alexandria being then at Court when this Accusation was brought against St. Athanasius defended him and demonstrated his Innocence to the Emperour Constantine who thereupon wrote to Athanasius to come and appear before him At that time Eusebius of Nicomedia being resolv'd at any rate to ruin St. Athanasius at Court caus'd these three Informers to stay there who invented new Accusations alledging that the Priest Macarius had broken a Sacred Chalice by Athanasius's Order and that Athanasius himself had conspir'd against the Emperour by sending a Chest full of Gold to Philumenus who design'd to Usurp the Empire But the Emperour himself having examin'd this Accusation in one of their Suburbs of Nicomedia call'd Psammathie declar'd St.
of the Arians who had relaps'd into their former Error and proves that the Son of God was from all Eternity He Justifies the Terms which are us'd by the Nicene Council in their Creed and says The word Consubstantial has a very good sence and that there is none more proper to express a formal Condemnation of the Error of the Arians And he adds moreover that this word is not new since Theognostus Denys of Alexandria Denys of Rome and Origen have us'd it long before the Council of Nice that this Synod had not establish'd any new Doctrine but confirm'd that which was approv'd by Scripture and Tradition He observes that in Matters of Faith its Decisions did not run in the same manner as those that were made about the Celebration of Easter when this Phrase was us'd It pleases us we will have it so for now they only say This is the Catholick Faith Ita credit Catholica Ecclesia The Second Book of this Nature is a Letter to the Bishops of Egypt which is improperly called The First Discourse against the Arians There he describes the Outrages which the Arians committed against the Catholicks and exhorts his Brethren to shun their Snares He warns them by no means to Subscribe their Confession of Faith how Catholick soever it may appear to them but to adhere to that of the Council of Nice in which the Impiety of Arius was condemn'd Then he recites the principal Heads of his Errour and refutes them by the Testimonies of Holy Scripture He describes the miserable End of this Heretick and concludes with an Exhortation to the Catholicks to maintain the Faith unto Death representing unto them that he is not only a Martyr who suffers Death for refusing to offer unto Idols but also he that dies rather than betray the Truth The Letter to all the Orthodox Bishops was written about the same Time and upon the same Subject There he gives an Account of the violent manner of introducing George into the Church of Alexandria and describes the Fury of the Arians and the Damage the Church has suffer'd by them very particularly In the two Letters to Lucifer he describes the Persecutions which the Arians set on foot against the Catholicks and represents the lamentable State of the Church In the Letter to Serapion concerning the Death of Arius he relates the Unhappy End of this Heretick who perish'd in a Jakes the very Night before he was to be received into the Church St. Athanasius says That he learn'd this Story from the Relation of Macarius a Presbyter The Letter written by St. Athanasius concerning the Opinion of Dionysius of Alexandria concerning the Trinity may be numbred amongst his Historical Books because it teaches us a very considerable Point of Ecclesiastical History which we should not have known if St. Athanasius had not reported it there namely That Denys of Alexandria wrote against the Sabellians of Pentapolis and that in Disputing against them he made use of such Expressions as would make one believe that he favour'd the contrary Error That he was accus'd of this in a Synod held at Rome That he wrote a Treatise to the Pope entituled A Refutation and Apology wherein he defends himself and confutes his Adversaries and that he taught in this Book a Doctrine perfectly contrary to that of the Arians All which St. Athanasius proves in this Treatise by citing several Passages out of the Book of Denys of Alexandria The Letter of the Council of Alexandria to those of Antioch concerns the State of the Church of Antioch after the Death of Constantius St. Athanasius and the other Bishops of this Council advise the Church of Antioch to receive the Arians who expresly condemn their Error to joyn themselves to Paulinus and those of his Party to admit into their Communion those that held their Assemblies in the Old City that is to say those of Meletius's Party without requiring any other Profession of Faith but that of the Council of Nice They give them notice That there was no Creed made in the true Council of Sardica they advise them to have no Disputes among themselves about the Hypostases since those who acknowledg'd Three in the Trinity and those who own'd but One were both of the same Judgment and only differ'd in the manner of Expression St. Athanasius speaks after the same manner of the Reception of the Arians in a Letter to Ruffinian where he mentions the Decision of this Synod In a Letter to the Emperour Jovian St. Athanasius and the other Bishops of Egypt propose to him the Nicene Creed as the only true one They say That this contains the Faith which was maintain'd by many holy Martyrs who are now with Jesus Christ that it had never had any Adversaries if the Malice of the Hereticks had not endeavour'd to corrupt it but that Arius and his Followers intending to introduce a New Doctrine contrary to the Truth the Council of Nice condemn'd it and made a Confession of Faith to establish the Truth and extinguish the Flame that was kindled by his Partizans That this Creed was prais'd and sincerely believ'd in all the Churches of Christ till some Bishops having a mind to revive the Error of the Arians began to despise it and yet they did not openly declare themselves against it but only in their Explications of it they reflected obliquely upon the Consubstantiality and spoke Blasphemies against the Holy Spirit After they have thus explain'd the Nicene Creed they set it down and tell the Emperour That this is the only Creed to which we must adhere I say nothing of the Conferences of the Arians and St. Athanasius because they contain little remarkable The Catholick Epistle to the Bishops of Egypt Arabia Syria Cilicia and Phoenicia was written as well as the preceeding Letters in the Name of the Synod of Egyptian Bishops in which St. Athanasius presided They Exhort the Bishops to whom they write to separate themselves from the Arians to act unanimously in the Defence of the Faith and not to dissemble the Truth for Fear or Ambition and to acknowledge the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and at last they propose to them as a Badge and Test of the true Faith these words The Consubstantial Trinity The Letter to the Africans was written upon the same Subject in the Name of St. Athanasius and 82 Egyptian Bishops wherein they recommend the Faith of the Nicene Council establish'd by 318 Bishops publish'd and receiv'd by all the World because this Synod had follow'd the Doctrine and manner of Expression us'd by the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers In the Letter to John and Antiochus Presbyters St. Athanasius rejoyces because he understood by their Letters written from Jerusalem that a great number of Brethren were re-united in one and the same Communion he reproves those that would trouble the Church by their Disputes about words and wonders that any should dare to reprehend the Doctrine of St. Basil. In the following
Hilary confirms this Answer by many places of Scripture where Jesus Christ gives himself the Title of Good and of Master from whence it appears that the Title was not here refus'd upon its own Account Upon this occasion he Answers the Objection of the Arians who say That Jesus Christ call'd his Father the only God and shows that the Father is the only God because the Divinity of the Father is the same with that of the Son which Truth he proves by many Passages of Scripture The Second Passage objected by the Arians is taken out of the Gospel of St John Chap. 17. This is life Eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent from whence the Arians concluded That Jesus Christ was not â—he true God but one sent from the true God St. Hilary answers That this Passage does not exclude the Essential Unity of the Father and the Son since in this and other places Jesus Christ affirms That he came forth from God That he is with God That he had overcome the World That he should be honour'd as the Father That he had received the Power of giving Eternal Life That all things which are the Father's are his He adds That in the same Place Jesus Christ prays the Father to glorify him with the Glory that he had with him from all Eternity which evidently proves the Unity of the Essence of the Father and the Son Moreover the words alledg'd in the Objection prove nothing contrary to the Faith of the Church which acknowledges that the Father is the only true God though Jesus Christ is also God because the Father and the Son are not two Gods but one God only The Third Objection is taken from Ch. 5th of the same Gospel of St. John The Son can do nothing of himself he doth only what he seeth his Father do St. Hilary shows that this Passage establishes the Divinity of Jesus Christ and is very far from destroying it because it proves the Unity and Equality of the Father and the Son The Fourth Passage is the grand Objection of the Arians founded upon those words of Jesus Christ in St. John Chap. 14. My Father is greater than I. St. Hilary says That the Father is greater than the Son consider'd as Man and as Mediator The last Objection is taken from those words of Jesus Christ in St. Mark Chap. 13. No Man knoweth the Day of Judgment nor yet the Angels nor the Son but the Father only From whence the Arians concluded That the Knowledge of the Father being more extensive than that of the Son his Nature must be more excellent St. Hilary having in answer to this Objection proved by many Reasons that Jesus Christ could not be Ignorant of the Day of Judgment and having demonstrated this Truth he adds That what Christ says in this place that the Son knew not the Day of Judgment ought not to be understood literally as if he were really ignorant of it but in this sence that he did not know it not so as to tell it unto Men. Wherefore being ask'd about the same Matter after his Resurrection he does not say That he was ignorant of it but he reproves his Apostles with that heat which testified his Knowledge of it by saying unto them 'T is not for you to know the times and the seasons which my Father has reserv'd in his own Power He adds also that it may be said in another sence That the Son of Man was ignorant of the Day of Judgment because he knew it not as he was Man but as he was God For says he as we may say That the Son of God was subject to Fear to Sadness and to Sleep because the Humanity of Jesus Christ was subject to these Infirmities So we may say That he was ignorant of the Day of Judgment because he knew it not as he was Man but upon the account of his Divinity In the Tenth Book he Answers the Objections which the Arians draw from those Passages of Scripture which prove that Jesus Christ was subject to Fear to Sorrow and Pain And here he maintains That Jesus Christ had not truly any Fear or Pain but only the Representation of those Passions within him In which if his Judgment is not different from that of the Church yet it must be confess'd that the manner of expressing it is very harsh He had answer'd the Arians better if he had said That the Fear the Sorrow and Pain of Jesus Christ did belong to his Humane Nature and not to his Divinity He acknowledges in this Book That all Men are conceiv'd in Sin and that none but Jesus Christ ought to be excepted from this General Law He says That the Soul is not communicated to Children by the Parents He observes That what is said in the Gospel of St. Luke concerning the Bloody Sweat of Jesus Christ and of the Angel that appear'd unto him is not to be found in many Greek and Latin Copies of this Gospel In the Eleventh Book he Answers some Passages of the Gospels and of St. Paul concerning Jesus Christ's being risen from the Dead and becoming Glorious which are alledg'd by the Arians to prove that the Son is not equal to the Father But St. Hilary shows That those Passages do much rather prove the Divinity of Jesus Christ than destroy it In the last Book St. Hilary explains that Passage of the Proverbs God created me in the Beginning of his Ways c. He demonstrates that the Word of God was not properly created but begotten of God from all Eternity which he proves by many Passages of Scripture He expounds this Passage of the Proverbs of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. He adds some Proofs of the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and Ends with a Prayer to God wherein he begs Grace to preserve in his Heart that Faith whereof he made Profession at his Baptism that he may always worship the Father and the Son and receive the Holy Spirit which proceeds from the Father by the Son His Book of Synods is Address'd to the Bishops of France and Britain He commends them for the Constancy which they had shown in refusing Communion to Saturninus and for the Zeal wherewith they maintain'd the Faith of the Church by condemning the Impieties of the Arians so sharply After this he sets himself to explain the Creeds made by the Eastern Bishops after the Council of Nice He declares That if there were any Error in some of those Creeds it ought not to be attributed to him since he only relates what others had said and if they were found agreeable to the Doctrine of the Apostles the Praise of it ought not to be given to him but to the Original Authors He leaves it to the Judgment of the Bishops to whom his Book is written whether they be Heretical or Catholick Then he intimates to them what Obligation lay upon him to instruct them in the Opinions of the
a Zeal that he might deserve to be accus'd of too violent a Passion if it were not otherwise certain that he was acted only from a principle of Love to the Truth * The best Excuse that can be made for St. Hilary is That Oppression may make a Wise Man mad and St. Athanasius needs it as much as he for in his Letter to all those that lead a Monastick Life he shews as great Marks of Rage and Anger against Constantius as St. Hilary does here and yet St. Gregory Nazianzen a Man that was never suspected of Arianism has said very great Things of that Prince when he set him against Julian the Apostate He begins with these Words which are all Sparks of Fire 'T is time to Speak since the time to be Silent is past we must wait upon Jesus Christ since Anti-Christ Governs Let the True Pastors cry aloud since the Hirelings are fled Let us die for the Sheep since the Thieves are entered and the Lion full of Rage goes about the Sheepfold After he has exhorted the Pastors in these Words and many others of the same Nature to Defend the Truths of the Gospel with Courage and Boldness He gives an Account of the Conduct which he had observ'd since his Banishment He says That he kept Silence in Modesty hoping that things would change for the better but there being now no further place for hope he found himself oblig'd to speak He declares That he wishes he had rather been in the time of Decius or Nero than in that wherein he liv'd That neither Tortures nor the Fire nor the Cross could have made him afraid but he would boldly have maintain'd the Combate against his declared Enemies and suffer'd with Constancy in this publick Persecution But now adds he we oppose a Persecutor that deceives us with false appearances an Enemy that puts on a Friendly Countenance to us Constantius the Anti-Christ who Persecutes the Church under a mask of designing its advancement He professes says he to be a Christian that he may deny Jesus Christ He procures Union to hinder Peace He stifles Heresies to ruine Christianity He honours the Bishops that he may make them lose the Title of the Ministers of Jesus Christ He builds up Churches that he may destroy the Faith Let him not imagine adds he that I Charge him falsly That I Reproach him The Ministers of Jesus Christ ought to speak the Truth If what I have propos'd be a Calumny I am willing to pass for an infamous Person but if it be true and publickly known I use the freedom of an Apostle in reproving it after a long Silence After this He Justifies his calling Constantius Anti-Christ by giving a horrible Representation of the Persecution that he raised He adds That it was neither through Indiscretion nor Rashness nor Anger that he spoke so of him but that his Reason his Constancy and his Faith oblig'd him to say these things Yes says he addressing himself to Constantius I tell you what I should have told Nero what Dioclesian and Maximian should have heard from my Mouth You fight against God You use Cruelties to the Church You Persecute the Saints You hate those that Preach Jesus Christ You utterly abolish Religion In a word You are a Tyrant I speak not with reference to the Things of this World but with reference to the Things of God This is what is common to you with the Pagan Emperours Let us now come to that which is peculiar to your self You feign your self to be a Christian and you are the Enemy of Jesus Christ You are become Anti-Christ and have begun his Work You intrude into the Office of procuring New Creeds to be made and you live like a Pagan You teach things Profane and are ignorant of Piety and Religion You give Bishopricks to those of your own Faction and take them away from the good Bishops that you may bestow them upon the Bad. You put the Bishops in Prison You keep your Armies in the Field to terrify the Church You assemble Councils to establish Impiety in them and you compel the Western Bishops to renounce the Faith that they may embrace Error You shut them up in a City to weaken them by Famine to kill them with the Rigor of the Winter and to corrupt them by your Dissimulation You foment the Dissentions of the East by your Artifices He adds also many other Accusations of the same Nature and to compleat all he says That the Church never suffer'd so much under Nero under Decius and Maximianus as it has done under Constantius who is more cruel than all those Tyrants because the former gave Martyrs to the Church who overcame Devils whereas Constantius makes an Infinite number of Prevaricators who cannot so much as comfort themselves by saying that they were overcome by the violence of their Torments I should never have done if I should relate all that St. Hilary says in this place of the Persecution of Constantius He charges him particularly with the Banishment of Paulinus and Liberius and the Troubles wherewith he exercis'd the Church of Tholouse and concludes with saying That all those things that he had accus'd him of were publick and certain and therefore he had Just Cause to call him Anti-Christ He shows afterwards the Impiety of those Bishops that Assisted at the Council of Seleucia who maintain'd that the Father was not like in Substance to the Son and condemn'd the Words Consubstantial and like in Substance He answers what Constantius alledges as the Reason of condemning these Terms That we must not make use of any but Scripture Expressions He answers I say That these Terms agree with the Doctrine of the Gospel That Constantius and those of his Party are also forc'd to make use of such Terms as are not to be found in Scripture and in short That the Scripture makes use of Terms more Emphatical since it establishes the Equality and Unity of the Father and the Son He blames Constantius for the variety and contrariety of those Creeds that were made after that of the Council of Nice He explains the Faith of the Church concerning the Majesty of God and proves by many Examples That we are not to wonder if the Eternal Generation of the Son is Incomprehensible This Book is also imperfect The Book of Fragments is a Collection of many Pieces taken out of two Books of St. Hilary and likewise of some Passages out of his other Works 'T is not known who is the Author of this Abridgment nor when he liv'd The Passages that are cited in it are certainly St. Hilary's and for the most part the Pieces that are collected in it are ancient but he does not observe any Order in this Collection He begins with a Fragment of St. Hilary's Preface wherein after he had spoken of the Excellency of Faith Hope and Charity he declares That he had undertaken to publish a Work of great Importance and vast
of this Treatise he refutes those that say The Word of God suffer'd Pain At last he concludes with saying That there is but One only God in Three Persons This is what we believe this is what we defend what the Prophets have taught us what the Gospel preaches to us what the Apostles left us by Tradition what the Martyrs confess'd in their Sufferings This is the Faith which is engraven on the Hearts and Minds of the Faithful and when an Angel shall descend from Heaven and teach the contrary he shall be accursed He adds afterwards as a kind of an Appendix when he speaks of Hosius Bishop of Corduba I know very well says he that the Name of Hosius that ancient Bishop may be objected to me whose Faith was always so Firm and I doubt not but they will make use of his Authority as a Buckler to cover the Opinion that is contrary to ours But I answer in a word to those who will make use of these Arms that his Authority cannot be alledg'd as an unanswerable Argument because either he is at present in an Error or else he always was so The World knows what he believ'd till this present time with what Assurance he approv'd the Sardican and Nicene Doctrine which I defend and with what Rigor he condemned the Arians But if he be at present of another Opinion if he maintains now what he always condemned heretofore if he condemns now what he always maintained How can his Authority be objected to me If he was in an Error for 82 Years together How comes it to pass that I must believe that at this Age he found out the Truth But suppose I could believe it What Judgment can be given of those who died in the Faith of the same Doctrine which he maintained before he altered his Opinion What Judgment would he have given of himself if he had died before that Council wherein he changed And so the prejudice drawn from the Arthority of Hosius is of no Consideration because it opposes it self Besides that we read in the Scripture that the Righteousness of a Judge shall not save him when he shall depart from it I was very willing to set down this Passage entire because it may be of great use to weak Persons who suffer themselves to be drawn into Errors by the Authority of those whom they highly Esteem and Value It serves also to discover that the greatest Men are subject to great Infirmities and that therefore we must not follow their Example blindly especially when Religion is the Matter in question and that the only Infallible Rule to which we should adhere is the Authority of the Church to which we ought to pay a blind Obedience and without reserve To Conclude This Tract is written very politely the Stile is clear and clean the Subject is handled very plainly and there are sometimes Sallies of Wit which discover that the Author wrote with much Vigour and Easiness St. OPTATUS ST OPTATUS a St. Optatus The Name of Optatus is very common among the Africans St Austin speaks of many other Persons of this Name who are easily distinguish'd from this Bishop Bishop of Milevi b Milevi Some Authors have thought that he was Bishop of Malta but this is a gross mistake Milevi is a City of Numidia in Africk often mention'd in the African Councils a City of Numidia wrote under the Reign of Valens and Valentinian about the Year 370 his Books of the Schism of the Donatists against Parmenianus St. Optatus a Bishop of that Sect. There is nothing in particular known of the Life of this Author He died according to the Testimony of St. Jerom under the Reign of Valentinian c He died under the Reign of Valentinian In B. II. he places in his Catalogue of Popes Pope Siricius who was not Bishop of Rome till after the Death of Valentinian which would cause a doubt of what St. Jerom says if it were not easy for a Transcriber to add the Name of Siricius when he Copied out this Book after the Death of Optatus St. Austin and St. Fulgentius cite him with great Commendation and he has been numbred among the Saints because of the Service he did the Church by this excellent Book which he compos'd in its Defence It was divided into Six Books since St. Jerom's time There is a Seventh now extant but 't is very probable that it is Supposititious First of all Because Optatus himself in his First Book divides his Treatise into Six Books without mentioning a Seventh Secondly Because St. Jerom says That Optatus wrote but Six Books against the Schism of the Donatists Thirdly Because the Stile of the last Book d The Stile of the last Book The Stile of it is flat mean and weak whereas the Stile of Optatus is sublime masculine and enrich'd with many Figures there are also many Terms which appear not to be Optatus's The Author of this Book treats of what Optatus had already handled in B. I. and III. and the beginning of the IV. which Repetition does also show that it is none of his comes not near the Elegance and Sublimeness that is in the others And Lastly Because it contains Opinions contrary to those that are in the other Books e Opinions contrary to those that are in the other Books This Author extenuates the enormity of their Crime who deliver'd up the Holy Books to be burnt he denies that it was a Capital Crime and endeavours to prove that it was light and pardonable On the contrary St. Optatus declares B. I. That it was a great Sin equal to that of Schism and that those who committed it should purchase some Years of this Life with the loss of Eternal Life which supposes that this Crime was Mortal and deserv'd Damnation but the Author of the Seventh Book teaches the contrary This Book therefore was written by some African who lived soon after St. Optatus for it cannot be doubted but that the Book is ancient who thought he ought to make this Addition which was afterwards attributed to this Father St. Optatus begins his First Book with words very full of Charity He complains That the Peace which Jesus Christ left to his Church is disturb'd by the Schism and by the Actions of the Donatists Yet he gives them the Name and Title of Brethren Though they renounce us says he though all the World knows that they hate us that they detest us though they would not have us call them our Brethren yet we will follow the Command of the Prophet Isaiah in saying unto them Ye are nevertheless our Brethren though ye be Evil We have the same Spiritual Birth but our Actions are different Afterwards he gives an Account of his Undertaking to write to Parmenianus whom he calls his Brother He says That he was the only Donatist with whom he could have a Conference in Writing and he shews the Usefulness of it He observes That this
of the true Creed though they are begotten in the bosom of the Church and being corrupted by their Impious Errors they call themselves Authors of their Sect. Optatus concludes from these Definitions That Hereticks can have no Baptism nor valid Sacraments but that there is not the same Reason for Schismaticks because they have preserv'd the true Sacraments of the Church though they are separated from its Body After this Digression he returns to his Subject and undertakes to prove Historically that the Authors of the Donatists are guilty of delivering up the Holy Books and making a Schism T is now says he 60 Years and more since Africk was harrass'd with a violent Persecution at which time you might have seen many Martyrs and Confessors but there were also some Christians who yielded in this Day of Tryal and others who hid themselves To say nothing of the Laity Ministers Deacons or Priests there were even Bishops those that were the Heads and Chief of the Clergy who deliver'd up the Books of the Divine Law with an astonishing Impiety and to preserve for some Years this Mortal Life expos'd themselves to the loss of Eternal Life Donatus of Mascula Victor of Rusiccadia Marinus of Aquae Tibilitanae Donatus of Calama and Purpurius the Homicide of Limata were of the Number of those Bishops together with Menalius who fearing to be accus'd of Sacrificing would not be present at the Assembly of his Brethren These Bishops and some others whom we shall show to have been your Authors assembled together after the Persecution on the 12th of May in the City of Cirtha in the House of Urbanus Carisius because the Churches were not yet rebuilt Secundus of Tigisis having ask'd them they confess'd to him that they had deliver'd up the Holy Books and when Purpurius objected the same thing to Secundus they all began to murmur so that Secundus being afraid of himself follow'd the Advice of his Nephew Secundus who counsell'd him to leave this Cause to the Judgment of God The other Bishops Victor Garbiensis Felix of Rotarium and Nabor of Centurio were of the same opinion and therefore Secundus declar'd that all the Bishops should Sit in the Council Sometime after the same Bishops Traditors and Murderers ordain'd Majorinus Bishop of Carthage in whose Chair Parmenianus now Sits Optatus having thus shown that the Ring-leaders of the Donatists were Traditors Convicts them also of being the Authors of a Schism In treating of this Separation 't is certain says he that there was but one Church in Africk as there is in all other Parts of the World before it was divided by the Bishops who ordain'd Majorinus It is only to be enquir'd who those were that remain'd united to the Body of the Church with all the World and who they were that departed from it who it was that sate in a Chair wherein he had no Predecessor who those were that set up Altar against Altar who he was that Ordain'd a Bishop in the room of another Bishop yet alive All the World knows that this was done at Carthage after the Ordination of Caecilian and that it was done at the Instigation of Lucilla a great Lady This Woman had been reprov'd by the Arch-Deacon Caecilian even before the Persecution begun because before receiving the Spiritual Food and Drink she had kiss'd the Bones of a Dead Man who was not publickly acknowledg'd for a Martyr preferring thus the Carcass of a Dead Man before the Cup of Salvation She retir'd in great Anger and very much enrag'd at this Reprimand The Persecution came on which hinder'd the Bishop from reducing her within the Bounds of her Duty In the mean time a certain Deacon nam'd Felix being cited to appear before the Tyrant and accus'd of writing a Defamatory Libel against him hid himself in the House of Mensurius the Bishop who being interrogated about this Fact deny'd it publickly and upon his Denial there came an Order from Court importing That if Mensurius did not bring forth the Deacon Felix he should be sent to Court When he had received this Order he was very much concerned He had then in the Church a great Number of Ornaments of Gold and Silver which he durst neither hide under Ground nor carry away with him he trusted them with the most ancient Men of his Church believing them Faithful and made an Inventory of them which he is said to have deliver'd to an old Woman with this Charge That if he did not return again she should deliver it to him that should be chosen Bishop in his Room When he came to Court he defended himself and being permitted to return to Carthage he died by the Way Liberty being restor'd to the Church of Africk by an Edict of Maxentius Botrus and Celesius who were ambitious to be Ordain'd Bishops of Carthage call'd together the Neighbouring Bishops about this City without Summoning those of Numidia to come to them Yet Caecilian was chosen by the unanimous Suffrages of the People and Ordain'd by Felix of Aptungis and so Botrus and Celesius fail'd of their hopes The Inventory of the Gold and Silver belonging to the Church was deliver'd to Caecilian who sends for the Old Men that were entrusted with this Charge who had already made it their own Property When they saw themselves oblig'd to restore it they alienated the People from the Communion of Caecilian Those who had intrigued for the See did the same thing and in short Lucilla an imperious and powerful Woman who could not bear a reproof would not hold Communion with him and hindred those that belong'd to her from doing it So the Schism was begun by the Passion of a furious Woman nourish'd by the Ambition of Botrus and Celesius and confirm'd by the Avarice of the Old Men. These three sorts of Persons invented Accusations against Caecilian and endeavour'd to get his Ordination condemn'd They fetcht Secundus Bishop of Tigisis to Carthage thither they came with the Bishops Traditors whom we have mention'd and were receiv'd by the Covetous Ambitious and Furious that we nam'd before but not at all by the Catholicks who had chosen Caecilian Not one of them durst enter into the Church where he was with all the People Caecilian took care to acquaint them That if his Accusers had any thing to say or prove against him they had nothing to do but appear His Enemies could find nothing to blame in his Conduct But they accus'd him that Ordain'd Caecilian of being a Traditor making this Infamy rebound upon him Caecilian also told them That if Felix had no Power to conferr Orders as they pretended they might Ordain him a new as if he had been but a Deacon still Purpurius then answer'd with his ordinary Malice Very well let him come Let us make as if we would lay hands upon him to Ordain him Bishop and instead of doing that let us put him under Penance This Design being discover'd the Catholicks detain'd Caecilian
his Pomps are Shows Plays and profane Feasts There is in this first Lecture a Passage expresly for Transubstantiation For says he as the Bread and Wine of the Eucarist which are nothing before the Invocation of the most Holy Trinity but Bread and Wine become after this Invocation the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. So those Meats which serve for the Pomp of the Devil tho' they be pure of their own Nature become impure by the Invocation of Devils All these Passages are necessarily to be understood according to those Notions wherein the Christians of that Age had been usually Instructed In the Second he treats of the Ceremonies and Effects of Baptism He says That the Catechumens after they were unclothed were anointed from the Feet unto the Head with exorcised Oyl That after this they were conducted to the Laver That they were ask'd if they believed in the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit That after they had made Profession of this Faith they were plunged three times into the Water and that they retir'd out of it by degrees at three times likewise He teaches them That the Baptism of Jesus Christ does not only remit Sins as that of John the Baptist did but also fills the Soul with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and makes us the Children of God by Adoption The Third is of Holy Chrism wherewith the Faithful were anointed immediately after they came out of the Waters of Baptism He declares to them That we ought not to imagine this to be common Oyl For says he as the Bread of the Eucharist after the Invocation of the Holy Spirit is no more common Bread but the Body of Jesus Christ. So the Holy Chrism after Consecration is no more common Oyl but it is a Gift of the Holy Spirit which has the Virtue to procure the presence of the Divinity So while the Forehead and other Parts of the Body are anointed with this visible Oyl the Soul is sanctified by this holy and quickning Spirit He observes afterwards That they anointed the Forehead the Ears the Nostrils and the Breast The Fourth Lecture is of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and the Fifth of the Celebration of the Eucharist These two Catechetical Lectures are so clear and so strong for establishing the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church about the Eucharist That we cannot excuse our selves from setting them down almost entire Take then as follows the Translation of them which has been printed in the Office of the Holy Sacrament The Doctrine of the blessed St. Paul alone is sufficient to give certain proofs of the Truth of the Divine Mysteries and the Church having judged you worthy to partake of them ye are by this means so closely united to Jesus Christ that ye are no more as one may say but one and the same Body and Blood with him For this great Apostle says in the place which we have already read That our Lord in the same Night wherein he was delivered up to his Enemies having taken Bread and given Thanks to God his Father broke it and gave it to his Disciples saying to them Take and Eat This is my Body Afterwards he took the Cup and having given Thanks he said unto them Take and Drink This is my Blood Seeing then that he speaking of the Bread declared That it was his Body Who shall ever dare to call in question this Truth And since that he speaking of the Wine has assured us so positively That it was his Blood Who can ever doubt of it And who shall dare to say 'T is not true that it was his Blood Jesus Christ being at a certain time in Cana of Galilee changed there the Water into Wine by his Will only and shall we think that it is not as worthy of Credit upon his own Word that he changed the Wine into his own Blood If he being invited to a humane and earthly Marriage wrought there this Miracle tho' no Person expected it from him there ought not we much rather to acknowledge that he has given to the Children of the heavenly Spouse his Body to Eat and his Blood to Drink that his Body and Blood may be nourishment to their Souls For under the species of Bread he has given us his Body and under the species of Wine he has given us his Blood that so being made partakers of this Body and Blood ye may become one Body and one Blood with him For by this means we become as one may say Christiferi that is to say we carry Jesus Christ in our Body when we receive into our Mouth and into our Stomach his Body and his Blood And thus according to St. Peter we are made partakers of the Divine Nature Jesus Christ speaking at another time to the Jews says to them Unless ye Eat my Flesh and drink my Blood ye shall have no Life in you But these gross and carnal Men not understanding the Words spiritually were offended with them and withdrew from him because they imagined that he would make them eat humane Flesh by morcels These Words do so fully explain St. Cyril s Sence that they need no Comment If the Jews were offended because they did not spiritually understand those Words of Jesus Christ when he talked to them in the 6th of St. John how much more according to this Father's way of Reasoning Would the Disciples have been offended if they had understood Jesus Christ literally when he Instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist There were in the Old Dispensation Loaves of Bread which were offer'd before God and because they pertain'd to that Old Dispensation they have ceas'd with it But now in the New Dispensation there is Bread from Heaven and a Cup of Salvation which Sanctisies Soul and Body For as the Bread is the Nourishment which is proper to the Body so the Word is the Nourishment which is proper to the Soul Wherefore I conjure you my Brethren not to consider them any more as common Bread and Wine since they are the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ according to his Word For tho' your Sense inform you that 't is not so yet Faith should perswade and assure you that 't is so Judge not therefore of this Truth by your Taste but let Faith make you believe with an entire certainty that you have been made worthy to partake of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Let your Soul rejoyce in the Lord being perswaded of it as a thing most certain that the Bread which appears to our Eyes is not Bread tho' our taste do judge it to be so but that it is the Body of Jesus Christ and that the Wine which appears to our Eyes is not Wine tho' our Sense of Taste takes it for Wine but that it is the Blood of Jesus Christ. Ye have seen that a Deacon gives Water to wash the Hands to the Priest that officiates and to the Priests that are about the Altar of God
du Pin may hereafter print upon Ecclesiastical Matters because Fear of giving Offence will make him extreamly cautious and he will dread a severe Inquisition that may set upon every thing which he shall write Those who are unacquainted with Antiquity will be hereby further confirmed in their Opinion of the Impartiality of our Author in his Abridgment of the Writings of these Ancient Doctors of the Church when they see how severely he has been dealt withal upon that account Otherwise it is very probable that some might think him too favourable in his Accounts of Monkery Invocation of Saints and some other Superstitions which arose very early and which were a means of introducing in a course of Ages such enormous Abuses into the Church but tho' some Errors have a more ancient Original than is commonly believed yet that ought not to be wondred at by any Man who believes that the Church was never Infallible since the Apostle's Days Still as we read downwards we shall see how that Primitive Simplicity which adorn'd the Profession of the first Christians who were almost always under Fear of Persecution lessened and wore away Those who were sensible of the decay of the Primitive Zeal sought to retrieve it by placing great Merit in the practice of monastical Austerities whereby they hoped to obtain that Reward which was believ'd to be peculiarly reserved for those who laid down their Lives for the Name of Christ This put them upon all those Opinions that tended to mortify not only forbidden Lusts but also the allowed Appetites of Human Nature which the Christian Religion intended to regulate and not to remove And when those who could not be Martyrs saw what Honours were paid to those who had formerly suffered for the Truth it raised in them an Emulation to do something for the sake of Jesus Christ that should be more disagreeable to Flesh and Blood than Death itself This I believe is the most probable Reason of that great Ardour wherewith so very many Persons bound themselves under Vows to embrace a Monastical Life in the fourth and fifth Ages of the Church The first Monks were some Aegyptians who in the tenth Persecution fled into the Deserts of Thebais there they accustomed themselves to Retirement and Use taught them to relish the Satisfactions of a Contemplative state When the Storm was over they returned home and easily perswaded others who had then as they thought no other way of shewing their Zeal for Jesus Christ to embrace this austere Course of Life In such warm Climates this was not so extraordinarily difficult Those Esstern People could live upon a very little better than other Men so that the terrible Mortifications mentioned in the oldest Ascetical Books were not so impracticable as we at this Distance of Place and Time may be apt to think them The Monk in Sulpicius Severus who heard Posthumianus give an account of the Abstinences of the Eastern Monks cries out Edacitas in Graecis Gula est in Gallis natura Excessive Eating is Luxury in a Greek it is Nature in a Gaule And though one can hardly believe all that Posthumianus there relates of the Abstinence of the Monks of Nitria and Cyrene yet it is most certain that they put a mighty Force upon Nature such a one as nothing but the modern Practices of some of the Mahometan Dervises could make us believe to be possible But though the Honours paid to Martyrs which gave Rise to an Opinion That they could intercede for us in Heaven or at least hear our Prayers together with the Love which most Men then shewed for a single and a retired Life may seem too excessive yet the Opinions and Practices of these Ages were generally speaking very venerable One sees a great and a serious concern for the Truths of the Gospel in almost all their Writings one sees a sincere Respect paid by Men of all Parties to the Censures of the Church and to the Persons of those with whom they were entrusted They always distinguished between the Faults of Men and their Character and Employment and when they punished the one they took care not to cast a Disrespect upon the other by which means they preserved a real Veneration for Holy Things in their Minds though their Divisions run as high and were as eagerly managed as ever they have been since This is not the only Age wherein Men have met with Temptations and have shewn their Frailty by being too weak to withstand them so that an Acquaintance with the Opinions and Practices of these earlier Ages before a general Corruption had infected the Church will be of great Use to such as value Religion and Godliness for their own sakes when it suggests such Thoughts as can only be effectual to restore that Sense of Piety and Charity which is so generally lost among us July 25. 1693. W. W. ERRATA PAge 96. line 10. from bottom read 140th ibid. l. ult r. that Hoshahna p 97. l. 22. r. against Jovinian p. 99. l. 3. r. altered in it p. 100. l. 15. from bot for speaking r. when he speaks p. 112. l. 12. r. published five ibid. l. 25. for Sons of Men. r. Sons of God p. 192. l. 6. from bot del being p. 204 l. ult for yea r. yet p. 206. l. 5. r. working by Love ibid. l. 18. from bot for suspicious r. suspected l. ult r. Opinator p. 208. l. 28. r. Zozimus's l. 29. r. for their making default p. 215. l. 16. r. he maintains p. 217. l. 2. r. This Practice is forbidden in very strong Terms and upon p. 222. l. 20. for retract r. re-examine p. 226. l. 16. for Parents r. Relations Proper Names mistaken Rufinus for Ruffinus Zosimus for Zozimus Province of Byzacena for Provincia Byzacena passim S. Maura p. 106. for S. Maurus Lodevae p. 210. for Lodeve CONTENTS of the Third Volume Of the Lives and Writings of the Ecclesiastical Authors that Flourished in the Beginning of the Fifth Century viz. EVagrius Ponticus 1 Mark the Hermit 2 Simplicianus Bishop of Milan 3 Vigilius Bishop of Trent 3 Prudentius 4 Diadochus Bishop of Photice 5 Audentius 5 Severus Endelechius 5 Flavianus Presbyter of Antioch 6 St. John Chrysostom 6 Antiochus and Severianus 52 Asterius of Amasea 53 Pope Anastasius I. 58 Chromacius Bishop of Aquileia 58 Gaudentius Bishop of Brescia 59 John Bishop of Jerusalem 61 Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria 62 Theodorus Bish. of Mopsuestia 64 Palladius 66 Pope Innocent I. 67 St. Jerom 73 Rufinus Toranius 107 Sophronius 111 Sulpicius Severus Ibid. St. Paulinus 113 Pelagius the Monk 119 Coelestius Disciple of Pelagius 120 Niceas 120 Olympius 120 Bachiarius 121 Sabbatius 121 Isaac 121 Paulus Orosius 122 Lucian Avitus Evodius and Severus 122 Marcellus Memorialis 123 Eusebius 123 Ursinus Monk 123 Macarius Monk 123 Heliodorus Presbyter of Antioch 123 Paul 123 Helvidius and Vigilantius Hereticks 124 St. Augustin 125 The first Vol. of his Works 126 The second Volume 135 The third Volume
Variety of Conceptions and Figures He extendeth his Matters by an infinite Variety of Expressions He is very ingenious in finding out Similitudes between things abundant in Examples and Comparisons His Eloquence is popular and very proper for Preaching His Style is natural easie and grave He equally avoideth Negligence and Affectation He is neither too plain nor too florid He is smooth yet not effeminate He useth all the Figures that are usual to good Orators very properly without employing false strokes of Wit and he never introduces into his Discourses any Notions of Poets or prophane Authors neither does he divert his Auditory with Jests His Composition is Noble his Expressions Elegant his Method Just and his Thoughts Sublime He speaks like a good Father and a good Pastor He often directs his words to the People and expresses them with a Tenderness and Charity becoming an holy Bishop He teacheth the principal Truths of Christianity with wonderful Clearness and diverts with a marvellous Art and an agreeable way of ranging his Notions and persuades by the strength and solidity of his Reasons His Instructions are easie His Descriptions and Relations pleasant His Inducements so meek and insinuating that one is pleased to be so persuaded His Discourses how long soever are not tedious there are still some new things which keep the Reader awake and yet he hath no false Beauties nor useless Figures His only Aim is to convert his Auditors or to instruct them in necessary Truths He neglects all Reflections that have more subtilty than profit He never busies himself to resolve hard Questions nor to give mystical Sences to make a shew of his Wit or Eloquence He searcheth not into Mysteries neither endeavours to comprehend them He is contented to propose after an easie way palpable and sensible Truths which none can be ignorant of without danger of failing of Salvation He particularly applies himself to moral Heads and very seldom handleth speculative Truths He affects not to appear Learned and never boasts of his Erudition and yet whatever the Subject be he speaks with Terms so strong so proper and so well chosen that one may easily perceive he had a profound Knowledge of all sorts of Matters and particularly of true Divinity He proveth the truth of the Christian Religion by the strongest the most probable and sensible In lib. Quod Christus sit Deus In Orat de S. Babylâ contra Gentes In exposit Ps. xliv Hom. contra Judaeos Hom. 4. in illud Vid. Dominum lib. Quod unus Christus sit Deus Reasons He urgeth Miracles Prophecies and other Proofs of the truth of Religion but particularly insists upon the miraculous Establishment of the Church and in this Argument he triumphs He shews that it is impossible that the Doctrine of Jesus Christ could have been received and believed all the world over notwithstanding the opposition of Secular Powers the Contradictions of the Wise men in the World and the endeavours of Devils had it not been supported by the power of God himself For says he there is need of more than humane Ability to produce such wonderful Effects both in the Earth and upon the Sea and to oblige Men already prejudiced by extravagant Opinions and prepossessed with prodigious Malice to such Actions yet Jesus Christ delivered all mankind not only Romans but Persians also and all other barbarous Nations from their Calamities And to bring about these Wonders he made use of no Arms and was at no expence raised no Armies and fought no Battles but by eleven Men who at first were unknown despicable ignorant Ideots poor naked and without Arms He persuaded different Nations and made them embrace an high Philosophy not only relating to the Government of this present Life but also to things to come and Eternity self His power over all minkind was such as that it made them abolish the Laws of their Fathers renounce their ancient Customs and follow new ones He spoiled them even of the love of those things they were most fond of to fasten their Affections upon such things as are most difficult and painful But the Promulgation of the Gospel and the setling of the Church are not the only Proofs of the truth of our Religion the Stedfastness and perpetuity of the Church is also in S. * In Ps. xliv Chrysostom's Opinion an invincible Argument of it For he addeth that it is not only a thing worthy of Admiration that Jesus Christ should settle his Church over all the Earth but also that he should render it invincible against so great numbers of Enemies as assaulted it on every side The Gates of Hell that cannot prevail against it are the Dangers which seem to hurry it to the very Gates of Hell Doe you not perceive the truth of that prediction of Jesus Christ .... Tho' Tyrants took up Arms against it tho' Soldiers conspired her Destruction tho' the People raged furiously tho' a contrary Custom opposed it self tho' Preachers Philosophers Magistrates and rich Men stood up to destroy it The Divine word breaking with greater force than fire it self consumed these Thorns cleansed these Fields and disseminated the Seed of preaching over the whole Earth And though such as believed the Gospel were shut up in Prisons sent into Banishment spoiled of their Goods thrown into the Fire cast into the Sea and exposed to all manner of Torments Reproaches and Persecutions and tho' they were treated every where as publick Enemies yet they multiplyed daily their being persecuted increased their Zeal ..... Those Rivers of Blood caused by the Massacres of the Faithful before their Eyes excited their Piety and the Pains they endured inflamed their Zeal This same Saint observes in another place that Christians are never so disorderly in their Behaviour Orat. contra Gentiles de S. Babyla and so cold in their Devotion as when he that sits on the Throne is of their Religion Which saith he justifies that this Religion is not established by the Powers of the World and is not upheld and preserved by Earthly force S. Chrysostom's way of dealing with Hereticks is not less rational than that which he useth towards Heathens and Jews He expoundeth the Mysteries very plainly and proveth them by Testimonies of Holy Scripture and the Authority of the Church not pretending to penetrate or give the Reasons of them and to answer those Difficulties which have no other Foundation but humane Reasonings He confesses that he does not understand the Reasons of what he believes Orat. 1. de incompreh Homil. 24. in Joannem I know saith he that God is every where and entire in every part of the World but I know not how this can be I doubt not but that God is without beginning but I conceive not how that is for humane Reason cannot comprehend a thing that hath no beginning I know that the Son is begotten of God the Father but I cannot imagine how that was done He believes that
by St. Augustin at the same time in the 33d year of his Age. It is dedicated to Manlius Theodorus whom he had known at Milan In the beginning he makes a distinction of three sorts of Persons Some to avoid the Troubles of this Life fly into Harbour as soon as they come to the use of Reason that they may live quietly Others on the contrary having been a while ingaged in the Storms of this Life carried away with Passions Pleasures or Glory find themselves happily driven into Harbour by some Storm The third sort are they who in the midst of Storms and Tempests have always had an eye to some Star with a design to return into Harbour The most dangerous Rock to be feared in this Navigation is that of Vain-Glory which we meet with at the first setting out and where it is difficult to avoid Shipwrack These Reflections St. Augustin applies to himself and saith That at Twenty five Years of Age having conceived a strong Passion for Philosophy by reading of Tully's Hortensius he resolved to give up himself to that Study but that having been some time wrap'd up with the dark Clouds of the Errors of the Manichees which hid from him the Star that should have guided him At last that mist was dissipated That the Academicks had long detain'd him in the midst of the Sea in a continual Agitation but he had now discover'd a lucky Star that shewed him the Truth by the Discourses both of St. Ambrose and Theodorus to whom he writeth That the love both of Pleasure and of Glory had for sometime detain'd him but in the end he weighed all his Anchors to come into Port. After this fair beginning he acquaints Theodorus with a Discourse which he supposeth to be held upon the 15th of November his Birth-day with his Mother his Brother his Son his Cousins and his Two Disciples Trygetius and Licentius who appeared already in the foregoing Dialogues That they might enter upon the Matter the sooner St. Augustin introduces them agreed in this Point That Man being made up of Body and Soul the Soul is to be fed as well as the Body because it hath equal need of Nourishment After this he propounds the subject of their Conference saying That since all Men desire to be happy it is certain that all that want what they would have are not happy but he asketh Whether they be happy that have what they desire St. Austin's Mother having answered That they are happy if that which they desire be good Si bona inquit velit habeat beatus est He replies immediately That she had found out the greatest Secret in Philosophy Ipsam prorsus mater arcem Philosophiae tenuisti Upon these Principles he shews in the Three Dialogues of this Book That true Felicity consists in the Knowledge of God For in the first place the Goods of Fortune cannot make us happy since we cannot have them when we would The Academicks cannot be happy in their enquiry after Truth since they have not what they would find but they that seek God are happy because they no sooner seek to him but he begins to shew them Mercy All those whose Souls want any thing are not happy None but God can fill the Soul therefore none but God can make us happy None is happy without Wisdom And can Wisdom be had without God Is there any other Wisdom than that which cometh from him Is he not VVisdom and Truth He concludes with Exhorting those to whom he speaks to seek after God that they may come to the perfect Knowledge of him wherein consists the Soveraign Felicity of Life and the true Happiness of the Soul He corrects this Passage in his Retractations observing that Man cannot be entirely and perfectly happy in this Life because he cannot know God perfectly till he comes to the other VVorld St. Austin treateth of Providence in his Two Books of Order Shewing That all good and evil Things come to pass according to the Order of divine Providence These Books are written Dialogue wise In the First he discourses of Providence in general in the Second he begins to enquire What Order is but immediately digresses to speak of the Love of Glory And his Mother coming in he puts an end to the Conference shewing That Women should not be forbidden to Study VVisdom In the Third Dialogue which begins the Second Book St. Augustin clears several particular Difficulties about the Order of Providence He enquires what it is to be with God and in God's Order in what Sence a wise Man may be said to abide with God and to be immoveable He maintains That foolish and wicked Actions come into the Order of Providence because they have their Use for the good of the Universe and manifest God's Justice In the Fourth Dialogue he proves That God was always Just tho' there was no occasion for the exercise of his Justice before there were wicked Men That Evil was introduced against God's Order but that the Justice of God submitted it to its Orders Having bandied these Metaphysical Questions he enters upon Morals exhorting his Disciples to follow God's Order both in their Behaviour and in their Studies He says Men ought to live after the following Pattern 'T is necessary saith he for young Men to avoid Debauches and Excess to despise gay Cloths and rich Attire to be careful not to lose their time either at Play or unprofitable Recreations not to be Idle or Sleepy to be free from Jealousie Envy and Ambition in one word not to suffer themselves to be transported by any violent Passion They should be perswaded That love of Riches is the worst Poyson that can infect their Hearts They ought to do nothing either with Cowardice or with Rashness If they are offended let them refrain their Anger They ought to correct all Vices but to hate no Body not to be too severe or too yielding Let their Reproofs be always for a good End and their Meekness never Authorize Vice Let them look upon all that are committed to their Charge as their own Let them serve others without Affectation of Dominion and when they become Masters let them still be willing to serve Let them carefully avoid making Enemies and if they have any let them bear with them patiently and endeavour to be quickly reconciled In all their Business with others and their whole Behaviour let them observe that Maxim of the Law of Nature Do not that to others which you would not have done to you Let them not meddle with Publick Affairs except they are very capable and study to get Friends in what Employment soever they be take a delight in serving those that deserve it even when they least look for it Let them live orderly honour God think of him and seek him by Faith Hope and Charity Having thus given Precepts for the Manners of Youth he prescribeth Rules for their Studies He saith That Learning is got by Authority and
then reflect upon the Action of Jesus Christ when he drove the Merchants out of the Temple with Scourges that came thither to Buy and Sell but saith he That cannot be looked upon as a violent Action Sed quid hoc aut quantum est Upon what he had said That Miracles were ceased in his time lest Men should still cleave to Sensible Things and their Minds be too much accustomed to them he noteth That these words are not to be taken strictly seeing that Miracles are still wrought in the Church and that himself had seen some at Milan The Rule which is the last Piece of this Tome is indeed St. Augustin's but he wrote if for Nuns and not for Monks Some body took it out of the 109th Epistle and fitted it for Men. This Alteration has been long made As they have placed by themselves at the latter end of each Tome those Pieces which are none of St. Augustin's and yet have some relation to those contained in that Volume so at the end of this there are the Treatises of Grammar Logick Categories and Rhetorick that were attributed to St. Augustin in the former Editions perhaps because he saith himself in his Retractations That he had began some Treatises upon those Sciences but his Discourses were written in the form of Dialogues and like that of Musick where he makes use of that Science to raise up the Mind of Man to his Creator but these are neither Dialogue-wise nor fit to lift up Mens Minds towards God The Manner how they are written and the Methods observ'd in them are very different from those of St. Augustin In a word There are in those Treatises several Observations unworthy of that Father and contrary to his Opinions The Discourse of Grammar begins indeed with the same words that St. Augustin hath noted in his Retractations but they have been added and are not to be found in the Manuscripts The Author of the Book of Categories has a great Esteem for Aristotle's Philosophy and saith That he could scare understand his Book of Categories with Themistius his help Whereas St. Augustin who had no great Esteem for Aristotle's Philosophy assureth us That he understood his Categories without Labour and without a Tutor The Name of Adeodatus that was inserted into the Printed Copies is not found in the Manuscripts The Monastick Rules which are at the latter end of this Volume are rejected with Common Consent The last wherein St. Benedict's Rule is quoted is if we believe Holstenius written by Aâ—lredus Rievallensis an Abbot in England who flourished in the Twelfth Century and indeed it is in the Catalogue of this Author's Works published by Bale in the Second Century of English Writers part of it is among St. Anselm's Works The SECOND TOME THE Second Tome of St. Augustin's Works containeth his Letters which do not only represent Tome II. the Genius and Character of that holy Father but contain also very important Points of Doctrine Discipline and Morality In the last Edition they are placed according to the Order of Time for which Arguments are brought in a Preface They are divided into Four Classes The First contains those which he writ before he was Bishop from the Year 386. to 395. In the Second are those which he writ from the Year 396. to the time when the Catholick Bishops had a Conference at Carthage with the Donatists and the breaking out of the Pelagian Heresie in Africa that is to the Year 410. The Third comprehends those that were written from the Year 411. to the end of his Life that is to 430. And the Fourth contains those whereof the time is not justly known though they were certainly written after he was St. Augustin Tome II. made Bishop There are Two hundred and seventy in all The Benedictines have taken away some Treatises which were put among the Letters and they have added those which he Answered And lastly Some are added that were not published before The thirteen or fourteen first are about Philosophical Matters that St. Augustin used to discourse about with his Friends when he was first Converted The First was written by St. Augustin to Hermogenianus about the latter end of the Year 380. concerning the Books that he wrote against the Academicks He tells him what his Aim was in writing them and asketh his Advice about what he had said concerning those Philosophers About the latter end of the Third Book he commends the Academicks and saith That he was so far from Condemning them that he had Imitated them He blameth the false Academicks of his own time and calleth them stupid who believed the Soul to be Corporeal He concludes with saying That he flatter'd not himself with triumphing over the Academicks as Hermogenianus said but that he thought himself happy for being above despair of finding the Truth which is the Food of the Soul and that he had thereby broken that troublesom Chain which hinder'd him from fast'ning as one may say to the Breasts of the True Philosophy In the Second Letter to Zenobius he testifies his Sorrow for his being Absent and his Impatience to see him again that they might resolve a Question which he had begun to examine This Letter was written the same time with the foregoing The Third to Nebridius is about his Books of Soliloquies composed in the beginning of the year 387. He speaketh there of his Happiness of having attained to the Knowledge of some particular Truths and particularly of those concerning our Nature confessing withal That he was ignorant of many things Among things unknown to Man he proposeth these Why the World is of such Bigness or rather How big it is Why it is where it is rather than any where else He observes That Bodies may be infinitely divided and That there is no Quantity but may be both infinitely encreased and diminished That it is not so with Numbers which may be infinitely encreased but not diminished proportionably seeing there is nothing below Unity In the next directed to the same and written about the same time St. Augustin acquaints him with the Progress that he had made in the Knowledge of the Truth during the time of his Retirement We have not the other Letters which he writ at that time to Nebridius as appears by the Ninth Book of Confessions The Fifth and Sixth are Letters written in Africa by Nebridius to St. Augustin about the end of the Year 388. or the beginning of 389. In the First Nebridius pitieth St. Austin that he was interrupted in the Contemplation of the Truth by other Businesses And in the Seeond he tells him his Notion That Memory cannot act without Imagination and That the Imagination draws her Images of Things from itself and not from the Senses St. Augustin resolves both these Questions in the Seventh Letter To the former he answereth That we remember things which cannot be represented by Sensible Idea's whence he concludes That there is a Memory
independent upon the Imagination To the latter That there are Three sorts of Images or Phantoms in our Imagination that some are transmitted by the Senses and these represent such things as we have seen and felt That the Second that are formed by Imagination represent such things as we never saw and which perhaps are not but which we fansie or suppose to be or to have been And that the last arise from the Consideration of some Speculative Truths as Numbers and Dimensions That without doubt the first sort do not proceed from Sense but we must grant that the Second have their Original from Sense since they represent nothing but what is true That the last though they seem to spring from the Reasons and Principles of Sciences which lead not into Error yet are false because they represent Spiritual Things as if they were Corporeal and Extended Whence he concludes That the Soul doth not imagine the things that it does not see and that it doth not feel but either by lessening or by encreasing the Images of what it hath seen or felt The following Letters to the Thirteenth are directed to Nebridius though the Years are not precisely known it is certain that they were written before St. Augustin was Ordained because Nebridius died before that time In the Eighth Nebridius asketh St. Augustin How Daemons can make us Dream St. Augustin answers him in the Ninth That they do it by stirring those Parts of the Body which can make an Impression upon the Soul after the same manner as Musical Instruments excite in us certain Thoughts Passions and Affections In the Tenth St. Augustin proposes to Nebridius To live together retired And he setteth forth the Advantages of Solitude In the Eleventh he endeavours to explain that Question in Divinity How the Three Persons being inseparable the Son alone was made Man Having diligently studied how to answer it he tells Nebridius That the understanding of Mysteries is got only by Piety That this is the surest way to compass it and therefore that Men ought chiefly to give up themselves to the Practice thereof He had also handled that Question in the Twelfth Letter but it is imperfect In the Thirteenth he advises Nebridius not to think any longer that the Soul hath another thinner Body than that which we see it being impossible to resolve that Question since our Senses cannot discern such a Body and Reason cannot discover any such thing to us In the Fourteenth he answers Two other Questions proposed by Nebridius The First concerning the Sun which is of small importance and hath no difficulty The Second deserves more Reflection Nebridius asks St. Augustin Whether the Knowledge of God includeth not only a general Idea of Mankind but also an Idea of every Man in particular St. Augustin answereth That in the Creation God had only a Prospect of the general Idea of Mankind but yet that there is in God a particular Idea of every Man He clears his Answer by this Example The Idea of an Angle is one single Notion as well as that of a Square so when I design to make an Angle one only Idea offers it self and yet when I go about to describe a Square I must have in my Mind the Notion of Four Angles joined together Even so each Man was Formed after the particular Idea of a Man but in the Creation of People it is no longer the particular Idea of one Man but the general Idea of many seen and conceived all at once This is refined Metaphysicks The Fifteenth Letter is written to Romanianus to whom St. Augustin promiseth his Book of The True Religion which he finished not long before he was Ordained Priest Which proves That this Letter was written about the Year 390. He exhorts Romanianus to renounce the Cares of the World and to seek after solid and lasting Goods The Sixteenth Letter is a Discourse written by Maximus a Grammarian of Madaura who disputeth against the Christian Religion He owns That there is but One Sovereign Being and One only God but pretends That it is the same God whom the Heathen worship under several Names which signifie his several Attributes He cannot endure that in the Christian. Religion they should preferr Martyrs of obscure and strange Names before those Immortal Gods whose Names are so famous He desires of St. Austin to let him know who that particular God is whom the Christians suppose to be present in secret and retired places St. Augustin answereth this in the Seventeenth Letter discovering the Falshood of this Pagans Rallery by other Ralleries that are more Spiritual At the latter end of his Letter he declares That among Christians and Catholicks the Dead are not adored And That no Divine Honours are done to any Creature but only to God who created all things Thefe Letters were written before the Worship of the Gods was prohibited by the Imperial-Law of the Year 391. whil'st St. Augustin was retir'd at Tagasta near Madaura and before he was a Priest namely about the Year 390. It is believed that the Eighteenth Nineteenth and Twentieth Letters were written before St. Augustin was Ordained Priest because he gives himself no Title in the Inscription and because they seem more florid than those which he wrote after he was in Orders The Eighteenth is directed to Coelestinâ—â—s There he distinguishes Beings into Three Natures The First Moveable in Place and Time and that 's Body The Second Moveable in Time but not in Place and that is the Soul And the Third is Immoveable in Time and Place and this is God The First is incapable either of Happiness or Unhappiness The Last is essentially Happy The Middle Being is Unhappy when it cleaveth to the Beings of the First sort but Happy when it carries it self to the Supreme Being In the Nineteenth Letter he exhorteth Caius to whom he sendeth his Works to continue in those good Dispositions of Mind wherein he left him In the Twentieth he giveth Antoninus Thanks for his Love and for the good Opinion he had of him with excellent Instructions desiring the Conversion of his whole Family St. Austin was Ordained Priest by Valerius Bishop of Hippo who being a Greek and not able to speak Latin fluently enough to Preach to the People cast his Eyes upon St. Augustin to Preach in his room St. Augustin being sensible how hard it was to discharge the Duties of that Station entreateth Valerius in the Twenty first Letter to let him withdraw for a time that he might fit himself by Study and Prayer for the Employment which he had laid upon him This Letter is very instructive for those that are to be promoted to Ecclesiastical Dignities It begins with this curious Reflection That there is nothing more acceptable especially at this time than the Dignity of a Priest a Bishop and a Deacon nothing more pleasant and easie than the Exercise of these Offices when Men will do things only of Course and flatter
of Esther that are now received in the Church of Rome the very same with ours The Rule he makes use of to distinguish them is this I desire saith he that to know the Canonical Books the Authority of the greatest part of the Catholick Church may be observed and particularly of those that have Apostolical Sees or which have had the Happiness of receiving the Epistles of the Apostles But among the Canonical Books those that are received by all Churches must be preferred before those which are rejected by some Again among those we should pay a greater regard to those which are acknowledged by a great number of Churches and by the most considerable than to such as are admitted only by few Churches and those of no great Authority And if some have been received by the greater Number of Churches and rejected by those that have greater Authority though it is hard to meet with such yet they ought to be put in the same Rank and to obtain the same Authority He adviseth all Pious Persons that fear God and seek to know his VVill to read all the Canonical Books to draw from them Precepts for Manners and Rules of Faith and at last he furnisheth them with the means to arrive to the understanding of hard and obscure Passages The First is the Knowledge of that Language wherein those Books were written The Second is to consult and compare the several Translations whereof some serve to explain the rest Among the Translations he preferrs the Vulgar Latin as being more literal and clearer And among the Greek Versions he adheres to the Septuagint to which he ascribes much Authority He doth not decide Whether the Seventy composed it separately every one in his Cell by God's Inspiration or by conferring together But he affirms That however it was composed it ought to be followed and preferred even before the Hebrew Text because it is not credible that they made this alteration without a secret Assistance of the Holy Spirit for the good of the Church As to the Books of the New Testament he saith That without doubt the Latin Translation is to be Corrected by the Greek Copies The Third Thing which St. Augustin looks upon as necessary for the understanding of the Scripture is the Knowledge of Things signified as the Nature of Animals Plants Herbs and of other Things which are made use of in Comparisons and Figures in Holy Scripture He lays great weight upon the Knowledge of Numbers and Musick which he pretends to be of great use And he would not have Profane Sciences neglected provided that such as are False and Superstitious be laid aside and particularly judicial Astrology and Magick He reckoneth Painting and Mythology among those Things whose Knowledge is Superfluous but he shews the usefulness of History Mechanicks Logick Rhetorick and other Sciences provided that a good Use be made of them that Men depend not too much upon them nor be lifted up because of them but that both Charity and Humility be preserved as the Two Keys without which the Holy Scripture cannot be understood The Third Book lays down Rules to clear those Difficulties that arise from the different Sences in which a Discourse may be taken as for instance when the Parts of a Discourse are distinguished by Points and Comma's which variously placed alter the Sence St. Augustin would have Men referr themselves in such cases to the Rule of Faith and reject that Distinction which makes an Heretical Sence That if both Sences be Catholick that is to be followed which agreeth best with the connexion of the Discourse and last of all if both agree with the Text then we may follow that which seems most probable He applies the same Rules to determine the pronunciation and signification of undetermin'd Terms At last he desireth that Men should consult the original Text. There is much more difficulty when the Words are taken in a Metaphorical and Figurative Sence then we must have a care how we understand them in a Proper and Natural Sence The Jews were for a long time Slaves to this literal Meaning The Gentiles likewise were Slaves to unprofitable Ceremonies But Christians deliver the Jews by discovering to them the Truths that were hid under the Letter and they set the Gentiles at Liberty by utterly rejecting their profane Ceremonies Themselves are charged but with a small Number of Signs easily practised whose Signification is very Majestical and their Observation very Pure Christ himself instituted them and the Apostles taught the Church the Knowledge of them Such are the Sacrament of Baptism and the Celebration of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. After this St. Augustin goes to the necessary Rules whereby we may distinguish the proper Sence from the Figurative The First and most general is That whatsoever cannot be made to agree either with Purity of Manners or with the Truth of Faith when 't is understood according to the Letter must necessarily have a Figurative Sence But we are not to judge of what may be Pure or True according to the Prejudices either of Custom or Opinion but only by the Rules of Faith and Charity because the Holy Scripture teacheth nothing but Charity and condemns nothing but Lust. Neither must those Opinions and Actions be taken in a Figurative Sence which seem to imply a kind of Cruelty which in Scripture is ascribed either to God or to Righteous Men when they are made use of against the Lusts of carnal Men. But a Word or an Action which is absolutely unjust and that cannot be excused by any Circumstance when it is attributed to God or to those whose Sanctity is commended in Scripture must necessarily be expounded by a Figure This Rule takes place in Things that are expressed in the Form of a Command If the Letter forbids a Crime and enjoins a good Thing there is no Figure but on the contrary if it seems to command a Crime and forbid a Vertue it is a Figure It often happeneth that such as are in a more perfect State do understand Figuratively what is said of a State less Perfect but let those Men consider that there are Precepts for all Men in general and some that relate to each State in particular He adds That we should not believe that since the Coming of Jesus Christ those Things can be observed which were either permitted or prescribed only for the time of the Old Law though at that time they were to be taken in their proper Sence He instanceth in the Polygamy of the Patriarchs because they lived Holily in Marriage with a prospect of having Children and he confidently preferreth that State before that of such Men who having but one VVife abuse Matrimony to satisfie their brutish Lust. Finally it must be confessed That when the Scripture mentions great Men's Faults we may not only seek there for a Figurative Sence but also for Instruction in the Historical Sence because their Fall teaches the Holyest Men
Husband's Death and that if the Wife is married to another while he liveth she committeth Adultery St. Augustin enlarges much upon the Sence of these two Passages He endeavours to make the first to agree with his Opinion which he groundeth especially upon the second He answereth Pollentius's Arguments and uses several Reasonings upon the Matter He confesses in his Retractations That he had not yet cleared that Point but that there are some considerable Difficulties besides though he had given Light enough to resolve them He further explaineth in the 1st Book another Passage in the same Epistle of St. Paul concerning the Dissolution of Marriage between Infidels Pollentius held That St. Paul absolutely forbids Believing Husbands to put away their Unbelieving Wives Whereas St. Augustin affirms That it is only an Advice that he gives them Not to use the liberty they have to Separate He concludes this Book with another Question concerning the Catechumens who fall into such Diseases as take away their Speech and Knowledge VVhether they should be Baptized or no He saith That they ought to be Baptized though he doth not condemn those that dare not hazard the Sacrament And he goes so far as to declare That in such Cases those very Catechumens may be Baptized who are known to be in a habit of Sin and who ought not to be admitted to Baptism at another time He adds That Penitents are to be dealt withal after the same manner and they should not be suffered to Die before they are Reconciled In the 2d Book he treateth more at large than in the First Of the Indissolubility of Maâ—riages and examines several Questions upon that Subject He concludes with an Exhortation to Husbands that have left their VVives to live in Continency alledging the Example of Church-men who abstain so religiously though they often were forced to take that Profession upon them against their VVills The rank which St. Augustin sets these two Books in in his Retractations shews that he composed them in the Year 419. The two next Books are concerning Lying There St. Augustin handleth this Question which was very famous in his time Whether a Lye may be used upon some Occasions He confesseth in the 1st Book entituled Of Lying and written in 395. That this is a perplexing Question often disturbing Consciences and that there seem to be some Occasions when in Civility and sometimes out of Charity officious Lyes may be lawful He says that he will forthwith examine the Question that he may find out some Light in so obscure a Matter and that at last he will declare for the Truth being persuaded That though he were mistaken in so doing yet his Mistake would prove less dangerous because Error can never do less mischief than when Men are deceived by a great Love of the Truth and by opposing Falshood with too much Zeal After this Preface he defines what Lying is He confesses That Ironies are not Lyes That every Untruth which a Man may speak is not a Lye if Men believe that what they say is True and That to Lye is to speak what we do not think with a design to deceive VVhereupon he examines this subtle Question VVhether a Man speaking what he knoweth to be false because he is sure that he to whom he speaks will not believe it tells a Lye And on the other side VVhether a Man that speaketh a Truth with a design to deceive him whom he speaks to because he knows that he will not believe him is free from Lying St. Augustin saith That neither of these can be taxed with Lying because the one design'd to persuade the Truth by telling an Untruth and the other spake the Truth to persuade a Falsity but neither can be excused from Imprudence and Rashness Then he comes to the Question which he proposed to himself VVhether a Man might Lye upon some Occasions Those that held the Affirmative alledged several Examples of Lyes which seem to be both approved and commended in the Old Testament and added a Reason from Common Sence Should any one said they flee to your House for shelter and it is in your power to save him from Death by telling a Lye would you see him unjustly murthered rather than tell a Lye If a sick Man asketh you a Question about something that he must not know yea supposing that he will be the worse if you give him no Answer would you then utter a Truth that might occasion Death or will you keep silence when you may ease him by telling a charitable Lye St. Augustin Opposes to these Reasons those Passages of Holy Scripture which forbid Lying without restriction and then answereth the Examples out of the Old Testament That the Righteous who seem to have Lyed did not intend that what they said should be understood in the usual sence but that by a Prophetical Spirit they meant to discover those things that were signified by those Figures as for other Persons which are not in the number of the Righteous the Holy Scripture never approves their Actions but by comparing it with a greater Evil. He affirms That there is no Example of Lying in the New Testament and endeavours to answer the Inferences which they pretend to draw from the Instances of the Dispute betwixt St. Peter and St. Barnabas and betwixt St. Peter and St. Paul as well as from the Circumcising of Timothy Lastly That he might put an End to all the Reasons alledged from Necessity or Advantage he maintains That we must never do Evil what Advantage soever we may get by it That so the whole Question is Whether Lying be Evil or no And not Whether it is sometimes Profitable VVhence he concludes That no Lye is to be told either to preserve our Chastity or our Life or for the Good of others or for any other reason whatsoever no not for the Eternal Salvation of our Neighbour because that Sin cannot be imputed to a Man which he cannot prevent but by committing himself another Sin To explain what he had said more at large he reckons up Eight sorts of Lyes and having laid this down for a Rule That we must depend altogether upon Gospel-Precepts he enlargeth upon those that make against Lying The Second Book against Lying is written upon the same Principles but long after the First for St. Augustin wrote it in 420 at the Request of Consentius who asked him Whether it was not lawful to make use of Lyes to discover the Priscillianists who concealed their Error by Lying and horrid Execrations St. Augustin condemns not only the Practice of the Priscillianists but also the Zeal of the Catholicks who made use of Lyes to discover the Men of that Sect. He positively condemns the Catholicks Action who feigned themselves Priscillianists more than that of the Priscillianists who feigned themselves Catholicks From hence he takes an opportunity to enter upon the general Question concerning Lying and he affirms That it is never allow'd upon any Pretence
4. 129. And that in one Letter of a few Lines he explains eight several Texts of Scripture l. 4. 112. so ready and familiar was it to him He sometimes unfolds those Texts which the Hereticks did abuse to uphold their Errors and maintains against their false Glosses those Texts which the Orthodox alledged He often enlarges upon such Maxims of Piety and Principles of Morality as are contained in those Texts of Holy Scripture which he quotes He likewise very commonly explains it in a Spiritual Sence that he may raise out of it some Moral Observations and useful Instructions Of his Letters of Doctrine Altho' S. Isidore hath not professedly treated of any Doctrine of Religion yet in many of his Letters we find them very strongly confirmed and proved He shews That the Heathen Religion hath evident Marks of Falshood l. 1. 95. l. 4. 27 29 30 c. And that Christianity hath all the Signs of Truth and opposes those who accuse it of Novelty l. 2. 46. He affirms That if we do but compare the Holy Scriptures with the Heathen-writers we may soon discern on which side the true Religion is l. 1. 21. That the former contain sublime Truths which beget Reverence whereas the latter are full of Fables and despicable Fooleries and Cheats l. 2. 4 5. Among the Proofs of the Christian Religion he forgets not to insert that of the confirmation of the Gospel by Miracles and the destruction of Paganism l. 1. 271. He confutes the Jews in several places not only by demonstrating That the Prophecies of the Messias are fulfilled in Jesus Christ but also by confirming the truth of the Conception of Jesus Christ in the Womb of the Virgin l. 1. 141. l. 4. 17. He proves That God hath created Angels Men and all Beings l. 1. 343. That all Things are over-ruled by Providence and not by the influences of the Stars or by Fate l. 3. 135 154 191. That Things do not come to pass because God foreknows them or foretells them but God foreknows and foretells them because they will so happen l. 1. 56. He explains the Mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation in so many Letters that it is needless to cite them all Among others these are worthy of our Consideration about the Trinity l. 1. 67 138 139 327. l. 4. 99. About the Incarnation l. 1. 323 403. He confutes the Error of the Arrians l. 1. 246 353. l. 4. 31 334. and of the Sabellians l. 3. 247. He proves the God-head of the Holy Ghost l. 1. 20 60 97 109 499 500 c. He condemns the Error of the Nestorians and shews that the name of the Mother of God ought to be given to the Virgin Mary l. 1. 54. He also opposes those who confounded the two Natures as well as the Manichees who asserted That the Flesh which appeared in Jesus Christ was a mere Phantom l. 1. 124 323 102 303. He refutes the Marcionites l. 1. 11. the Manichees l. 4. 13. the Montanists l. 1. 242. to the 246. and the Novatians l. 1. 100 338. He maintains the perpetual Virginity of Mary both before and after her Conception l. 1. 23. He is of Opinion That Jesus Christ came out of her Womb as well as out of the Sepulchre without opening the Passage l. 1. 404. He proves the Soul to be Immortal l. 3. 295. l. 4. 125. But he confutes the Doctrine of Origen about the eternal Praeexistence of Souls l. 4. 163. He also disproves the Opinion of those who believed That the Soul is part of the Substance of God himself l. 4. 124. He shews That the Resurrection of the Body is certain but the manner of it and time is uncertain l. 1. 284. l. 2. 43. He holds That after the Resurrection the Bodies of the damned shall be Spiritual as well as the Bodies of the blessed that is to say as he explains it active and of the nature of the Air. He believes That the damned shall be punished in different manners according to the difference of their Sins l. 4. 42. He defends the freedom of Man's Will l. 1. 271 303 352 363 c. He allows That Grace is necessary to perform that which is good but he will have Man on his part to use his diligence and labour that Grace may be operative The Nature of Man saith he hath received several Graces which it is in Man's power to make good use of Man's labour must concurr with Grace as the Industry of Sailers is helpful to the prosperous Winds It is of God's Providence that our help comes but we must also joyn our endeavours with it l. 2. 2. We are our selves saith he in another Letter the cause of our own Damnation and Jesus Christ is the cause of our Salvation for it is he that hath justified us by Baptism who hath delivered us from the Punishments we have deserved and hath enriched us with his Gifts but all his Graces will be of no advantage to us if we do not what we are able to do on our part l. 2. 61. Man saith he in another place stands in need of the divine Assistance to accomplish those very things which seem to be in his Power but that Grace is never wanting to those who on their part do what they are able for if the Divine Providence excites and stirs up those who have no desire to do good with what reason can it deny necessary helps for doing good to those whose Will is well enclined and do what they are able l. 4. 171. Nevertheless Man must not attribute the good he doth to himself but must referr all to the Grace of God otherwise his best Actions will be of no use to him l. 2. 265 242. In sum no Man lives upon Earth and sins not l. 1. 435. S. Isidore delivers himself upon the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper in a way altogether conformable to the Doctrine and Discipline of the present Church The Baptism of Infants saith he doth not only wash them from their natural Pollution caused by the Sin of Adam but it also conferrs Graces It not only obliterates the Sin of those that receive it but also makes them God's adopted Children l. 3. 195. The Veil that covers the Sacramental Elements doth undoubtedly overspread the Body of Jesus Christ l. 1. 123. And the Holy Spirit turns the Wine into the Blood of Jesus Christ l. 1. 314. The scandalous Life of Ministers their Sins and Impieties do not hinder the effect of the Sacraments which they administer l. 1. 120. l. 2. 37 52. l. 3. 34 394. He approves of the Honour which is given to the Martyrs and the respect which is bestowed on their Relicks He disallows not the presenting of Offerings at their Altars in honour of them but the principal respect which we can give them is to imitate their Lives l. 1. 55. l. 2. 89. He preferrs a single Life before Marriage l. 2. 133. He observes That the
and many others against the Bishops who conferr Ordinations for Money l. 1. 26 29. and others which we have cited in speaking of Symony Against proud and covetous Bishops and who make not a good use of the Revenues of the Church l. 1. 38 44 57 215. Against their lording and tyrannical Humour l. 2. 208 209. He describes the excellency of the Priesthood l. 2. 200. and preferrs it before the temporal Government because Bishops govern the Soul whereas Princes have Power only over the Body He speaks in several places of the necessary Qualifications of a Bishop and of the difficulty that there is in discharging that Ministry well l. 1. 104 151. l. 3. 216 259. l. 4. 213. 145. He admonishes those that desire to be Bishops that they ought to purifie themselves before they undertake to purifie others l. 2. 65. He thinks That there are two Things absolutely necessary for a Bishop Eloquence and Holiness of Life that if these two go not together 't is impossible that a Bishop should do any good in his Place l. 1. 44. l. 2. 235. l. 3. 259. That Gravity and a Constancy in his Actions ought also to be joyned with these two Vertues l. 1. 319. l. 2. 290. But S. Isidore did not only use such Admonitions and Reproofs towards his own Bishop and Clergy to amend them but also he dealt in the same manner with S. Cyril Patriarch of Alexandria in writing to him about the Troubles that happened at the Council of Ephesus He accuses him for acting too rashly and fiercely and tells him that many of those who were assembled at Ephesus boldly asserted That he sought more to be avenged of his Enemy than settle the Orthodox Truth He is say they a true Nephew of Theophilus he hath the same Spirit and Behaviour and as this last thundered out his Fury against the Blessed John his Nephew hath done the same altho' there be a great deal of difference between the Persons accused l. 1. 310. He wrote to him after the same fashion in another Letter The Examples of Holy Scripture saith he create in me such an horror as obliges me to write to you For whether I look upon my self as your Father as you call me I am afraid least if I do not admonish you I should be punished as the High-Priest Eli was for having not reproved his Sons But if I consider my self rather as your Son upon the Account of S. Mark whom you represent the punishment of Jonathan who was slain because he did not hinder his Father from consulting the Witch of Endor is a Warning to me Wherefore to avoid my own and your Condemnation I am obliged to admonish you to lay aside the Disputes now on foot and not engage the Church of Christ in a particular and domestick Quarrel and so raise a perpetual Schism in the Church under the pretence of Religion l. 1. 370. It was the Grief that S. Isidore had to see the Orthodox Bishops divided among themselves that made him speak thus He imagined that S. Cyril's Rashness was the Cause of it He thought that he sought to revenge an old Quarrel And it appears likewise that he suspected him not to have a thorough-sound Opinion about the Incarnation l. 1. 323. But afterwards being better informed he approved his Doctrine and exhorted him to continue stedfast in it and not contradict himself as it appears by Letter 324. l. 1. S. Isidore wrote not only to S. Cyril to endeavour a Pacification between the Bishops of the Council of Ephesus but thought himself obliged to write to the Emperor Theodosius He advised him to go himself to Ephesus to appease the Troubles and admonishes him Not to espouse the Animosities of either Side nor suffer his own Officers to intermeddle with Matters of Doctrine l. 1. 311. Thus did S. Isidore without leaving his Retirement engage himself in the greatest Affairs of the Church and joyned with the Prayers which he made to God for the Peace of his Church the most effectual Counsels and Advice So that he was none of those Monks who were contented to bewail their own Sins and pray to God for others in secret and who remain in perpetual Silence without concerning themselves with what happens or having any Commerce with other Men. He found out a way to joyn the Love of Solitude with the Knowledge of what happens in the World Piety and Silence with Charitable Advice and Admonitions Mental Recollection with a continual Observation of other's Actions And to speak in one Word all the Exercises of a Monastick Life with the Care and Vigilance of a Pastor There were no Persons of whatsoever State and Condition they were but he gave them Advice and Instructions about their Employments and Duties We have already seen after what manner he gave them to Bishops and Ecclesiastical Persons let us now take a view of some of them which he gives to the Laity Advice to Kings If you will obtain the Eternal and Incorruptible Kingdom which God will give to those who govern well here below as a Reward you must make use of your Power with Moderation and Goodness and liberally dispense your Riches to the Poor for 't is not a Prince's Power that saves him but his Justice Goodness and Piety He cannot avoid being counted an Idolater if he unjustly hoards up his Temporal Riches without distributing them to the Poor l. 1. 35. to Theodosius Advice to Magistrates and Governours They ought to think with themselves That the Time of exercising their Offices is short That Life it self is not of long continuance That the Rewards or Torments of another World are Eternal That they ought to Administer Justice freely to all the World use their Authority with gentleness and give no Man a just Ground of Complaint l. 1. 31 47 48 133 165 191 208 290. Advice to Courtiers Not to misuse the Favour of their Prince but to employ it for the Good and Safety of the People and to imitate Daniel l. 1. 36 47 48. Advice to Soldiers Not to take too much upon them to do no Violence nor Injustice c. l. 1. 40 78 297 327. Advice to Subjects Jesus Christ submitted himself to the Laws of the Emperours and paid Tribute to teach us Obedience to Kings and not to exempt our selves from paying their Dues upon the Pretence of Poverty l. 1. 206 408. Advice to Women If they would be commended as Judith Susanna or S. Thecla they must imitate the Vertues of those Illustrious Women l. 1. 187. That Christian Women should modestly apparel themselves and that they should not use the Adornings and Finery of the Women of the World Upon this occasion he relates a remarkable Story of a Young Woman who coming into the Sight of a Young Man who was extreamly in Love with her cured him of that fond Passion by presenting her self before him with her Heir cropp'd and her Head covered with Ashes l. 2. 53 145. He
not willing to forsake their Errors to make those Charitable Severities which are made use of to recover them to pass for insupportable Violences and unheard of Cruelties by aggravating them and representing them in such an odious manner as is proper to stir up Indignation The Principles which he lays down in the following Part are very agreeable with those of the Protestants In the First Article he opposes those who will have it determined where the Truth is by the Judgment of the greater Number Jesus Christ saith he is the Truth as Tertullian hath a long Time since affirmed and 't is he that we ought to consult This being so are they not to be pitied who judge of the Force and Authority of a Doctrine only by the Number of those who approve it without considering that our Lord Jesus Christ chose ignorant and poor Men whom he made use of to convert all the World He required that Millions of Men should yield themselves up to the Doctrines of these Twelve Thus hath the Truth always triumphed although it were among the smallest Number and whosoever he be that despairing to prove what he affirms to be true flies to the Authority of the Multitude he confesses himself vanquished The great Number may affright but cannot perswade There are but few that shall be saved S. Stephen Phineas Lot and Noah had the Multitude against them yet who had not rather be on their Side than on that which did oppose them 'T is not saith the same Author that I bear not a due respect to the Multitude but it is to that which proves what it teacheth and not to that which will not suffer us to examine and search out the Truth 'T is to that which doth not condemn with Severity but correct with Gentleness not to that which loves Novelties but to that which preserves the Truth which they have received from their Ancestors But what is this Multitude which you object against me It is the Throng of Men corrupted by Flatteries and Prisons 'T is the Number of ignorant Men who have no Understanding to guide them It is a crowd of weak and fearful Men who suffer themselves to be conquered They are the Souls which preferr the Pleasures that Sin affords us in this Life which are momentary before Eternal Life and Glory So that when you object to me this Multitude to gain Credit to a Lye you do but discover the extent of Wickedness and the great Number of the Miserable The Second Chapter is of like Nature with this First In it he opposes those who maintain That it is needless to search the Holy Scripture that we may know what we ought to believe either because it is sufficient for every one to believe what his own Reason teacheth him or because in searching for the Truth in Scripture we meet with more Obscurity and Uncertainty Our Author cannot approve of this Advice He saith That being perswaded of the Truth of the Mysteries and trusting in the Help of Jesus Christ who hath promised to those who seek after the Truth that they shall certainly find it he seeks after the Truth in the manner that he ought he shall find it without mistaking that he puts himself into a Condition of proving what he teacheth of instructing the Faithful confuting Hereticks and convincing himself of the Truth and confirming the Doctrines so as none can doubt of them Would you have me saith he neglect the Study of Holy Scripture whence then will you have Knowledge necessary to support your Faith It is dangerous for this Life to be ignorant of the Roman Laws and 't is no less dangerous for another Life to be ignorant of the Oracles of our Heavenly King The Scripture is the Nourishment of the Soul Suffer not then the inward Man to die with Hunger by depriving him of the Word of God There are too too many who inflict mortal Wounds upon the Soul suffer them to seek Medicines for their Maladies and Griefs But there are say you things which pass our Understand I own it but the Scripture teaches us That we must search and that there are things that we cannot comprehend And as it would be a kind of Impiety to desire to throughly comprehend it so it is to have a kind of Contempt for the Divine Truths to lay aside wholly the search into them Every one ought to know what it is he adores as it is written We know what we worship But it is a Madness to enquire how much After what manner By what Means and where we must adore him In sum they who discourage others from reading and studying the Holy Scripture under a Pretence That they ought not to dive into Things too profound do it because they are afraid that they should be convinced of their Errors by it So when they find themselves pressed by convincing Testimonies of Holy Scripture they give a Sence clear contrary to the Words and if they find but one Word which can be brought to their Opinion although it be nothing to the Sence of the Place they must use it as an invincible Demonstration We must own that these Principles are not ill although Men may offend in the Application they make of them In the other Chapters he answers the Objections which the Aegyptians made against the Eastern Bishops and opposes some of their Expressions such as these The Word hath suffered in an impassible manner The Word hath suffered in the Flesh. He hath delivered several Expressions agreeable to those of Nestorius In sum He hath written with much Elegancy and Reason This Work is a Doctrinal Treatise and not a Collection of Sermons It is in Tom. 2. of Athanasius's Works under the Name of that Father and since it hath been printed at the end of Tom. 5. of Theodoret's Works put out by F. Garner at Paris in 1684. There are also some of this Bishop's Letters in F. Lupus's Collection THEODOTUS Bishop of Ancyra THEODOTUS Bishop of Ancyra a City of Galatia whom Gennadius calleth Theodorus was one of the greatest Adversaries of Nestorius He was present at the Council of Ephesus Theodotus of Ancyra where he courageously delivered his Opinion against him Gennadius says That he made a Treatise on purpose to confute him and that that Work was very Logical but that it was not sufficiently grounded upon the Authority of Holy Scriptures but lays down several Arguments before he comes to Scripture-proofs This description agrees well to the two Sermons of Theodotus upon the Feast of the Nativity preached in the Council of Ephesus and which are recited in the Acts of that Council where he proves by several Arguments That Jesus Christ is God and Man and that it is truly said That God is born of a Virgin There is also a 3d. Sermon preached at Ephesus upon S. John's day where he likewise speaks against the Errour of Nestorius The beginning of it is remarkable wherein he compares a Bishop to
he asserts That the Bodily Sense is of the same Nature with the Elements whereas the Soul doth not depend upon them nor was formed out of them but enlivens the matter To confute the Objections of the Book which he undertakes to Answer he says That every thing that is incorporeal is not uncreated That the Angels have Bodies really but they have also a Spirit and Soul He maintains That S. Jerom and the Philosophers likewise were of the same Opinion when they held That Men after the Resurrection would be exactly like the Angels because they would have a Body as thin and subtile as theirs and a Soul He wonders that any Christians should be so very dull as to imagine that they shall see God with their Bodily Eyes Having made some such like Observations he comes to the great difficulty The Soul is in the Body it is in a place Ergo 'T is extended and consequently Corporeal He demands of his Adversary in what part of the Body it is Is it in the whole and in every part If it be in all the Body why doth it exercise its thoughts in one place only oâ— If it may be divided into parts why doth it not lose its strength when my Member is cut off This he says to intangle his Enemy But he must Answer the difficulty and for the perfect resolution of it he distinguishes Motion into Three sorts 〈◊〉 Local◠〈◊〉 that which is performed in no place The First agrees to God only the Second to Coâ—… Creatures and the Last is that which is proper to Spiritual Creatures God wills always the same thing this is a Stable Motion A Body moves from one place to another this is a Local Motion The Soul chuses a thing and again refuses it sometimes Hates sometimes Hates is sometimes Humble sometimes Proud sometimes Meâ—â—y sometimes Sad c. These are the Motions of a Creature which are not Local The effects 〈◊〉 perceived in a place but they are not done in a place As for example If a Man thinks upon a Mathematical Figure and to write some Name his Soul contemplates the Immutable Idaea's of these things his Arm and Hand writes them on the Paper by a Local Motion 'T is not his Soul that is Locally moved but without it his Arm could not perform so regular Motions You will say perhaps That it is that part of the Soul which is in the Arm that is Locally moved if that be so then the Soul is divisible Now that can't be for all things that can be divided may be handled by parts and act according to their parts Now the Soul acts all together in all its Motions it has neither length nor breadth noâ— heighth it is neither moved upwards nor downwards nor in a circle it hath neither inward nor outward parts it thinks perceives and imagines in all its substance it is all Understanding Sense and Imagination and in a word we may Name the Quality of the Soul but no Man knows how to express the Quantity of it Wherefore 't is neither extended nor in a place Having thus settled the Nature of the Soul of Man he shews how it differs from the Soul of Beasts and Plants The main difference is this That these last have no knowledge The Beasts may have the Images of Bodies impressed on their Brain but they know them not nor know the things themselves whereas the Soul of Man knows things Corporeal by the Body and Spiritual without a Body sometime it doth not apply it self to things which make an impression upon its Body I read another hears me and understands what I read but I my self if my Mind be elsewhere know not what I have read My Soul is present to make me perceive the Letters but not to make me understand what I read But may some say The Substance of the Soul is one thing its Operation is another You are mistaken in confounding the Thoughts of the Soul with the Substance of the Soul The Soul is sometimes without Thoughts Besides when the Soul thinks 't is in the Body and by the Body that it thinks They are the Corporeal Images of Objects that make it think and it would never remember any thing if these Images were not impressed upon the Brain This is as far as the difficulty can be urged But Mamertus gives such an Answer as leaves no intricacy behind it The Soul saith he is not different from the Thoughts altho' the things upon which the Soul thinks are different from the Soul it self It is not true that the Soul is at any time without thoughts it can very easily change its thoughts but to be without is impossible and it is wholly there where its thoughts are fixed because it is all thought You are mistaken in distinguishing the powers of the Soul from the Soul it self altho' it be accidental to it to think upon this or that Object yet its Essence is That it is a thinking Substance The same is to be said of the Will it is by accident that it chuses this or that but its Substance is to Will It is all Thought all Will all Love It is said of God that he is Love but he is Essentially Love Essentially Loving that which is Good The Soul is also Love but such a Love as can incline it self to God or the Creatures to Good or Evil. But upon whatsoever Object it is fixed it is always truly said that the Soul is all Love no such thing can be found in the Body Now to prove That the Thoughts of the Soul do not depend on the Body and are not Corporeal our Author makes use of some Examples in Geometry We conceive saith he what a Point Line Circle and perfect Triangle is Can the Corporeal Figures of these things be represented They never have been and never will be Yet the Soul conceives them and knows the properties of them The Soul knows its Thoughts its Desires its Love Is this done by any Corporeal Image No certainly It is the inward Truth which speaks to it which makes it understand that the Thought is distinct from the Speech Lastly The Soul inquires after God knows him hath it any image of the Divine Nature but it self These are the Principles which Mamertus hath laid down in his First Book concerning the Substance of the Soul I have added nothing but kept my self almost always to his Words which I think fit to remark because his Philosophy hath so great a resemblance to the Meditations of a Famous Modern Philosopher that I may seem to have this rather from him than Mamertus or at least that I have put some new Air upon it But 't is no such thing 't is the Truth it self which causes this Agreement between Two Philosophers They had both of them rational and exact Minds they followed the same train of Thoughts and having freed themselves from all Natural and Childish Prejudices they found out the true Nature of the
the Eastern Bishops rejected it But the Egyptian Bishops having shewed them that it was S. Cyril's they dare not condemn it Several Greek Authors have used it since but it is seldom found in the Latin Fathers and there are very few Divines which have approved of it There are divers senses given to this Expression Some say that S. Cyril means by this word Nature the Person and that he uses these terms promiscuously as it appears in his Defence of his eighth Chapter where he says That Jesus Christ is one Person or Nature that is One Hypostasis In this sense there is no difficulty in this Proposition but the true sense of S. Cyril is not that there is but One Nature in Jesus Christ but that the Nature of the Word was Incarnate For he never says plainly That there is but One Nature in Jesus Christ but that there is but One Nature of the Word which is Incarnate and having said that he explains how it being Incarnate was united to the Manhood Thus S. Cyril explains himself in several places but chiefly in his Letters to Succosius and Acacius He acknowledges indeed that the Humane and Divine Nature are distinct in the Person of Jesus Christ but for fear that distinction should be abused and they should divide these two Natures into two Persons he affected to use a term which signified this Union without denoting any division which he did not only to oppose the Nestorians the most strongly but to satisfie the most zealous of his own Party who could not endure to hear of two Natures in Jesus Christ and who were displeased that it was approved in the Confession of Faith made by the Western Bishops As to the Chapters of S. Cyril which made so much noise we must own that these twelve Propositions were very subtil and that some of them might be badly construed This S. Cyril himself was convinced of but 't is not true that they are not as well capable of a good sense He explain'd them in such a manner as might satisfie the Eastern Bishops They were read in the Council of Ephesus but they were approved by Name as his second Letter to Nestorius was When the Peace was concluded the Eastern Bishops were not obliged to subscribe nor approve them nor did they require it of S. Cyril to retract them They were not spoken of in the Council of Chalcedon nor was Theodoret obliged to recant what he had written against S. Cyril's Chapters They read also in this Council Ibas's Letter where it is said That the Eastern Bishops believed S. Cyril an Heretick before he had explain'd his Chapters All this proves that the twelve Chapters of S. Cyril were never made a part of the Faith of the Church and that the Eastern Bishops are not to be condemned for opposing and rejecting them Nor can we reasonably believe them guilty of any Errours in their carriage as to Nestorius It is evident that they thought him of Orthodox Sentiments and at the very time when they stuck closest to him they plainly rejected the Errours that were attributed to him They also advised him from the very first to approve the term of the Mother of God and shewed him that in one sense it might be said That the Son of God who was born before all Ages was also born of Mary But nothing better proves that the Eastern Bishops never departed from the Orthodox Truth than the Objections which they made against S. Cyril's twelve Chapters for though they condemned the Expression of this Father they acknowledged That there was but one Person in Jesus Christ and owned that the two Natures are united in a very strict Union and cannot be divided or separated but they oppose any confusion mixture or change of the two Natures Errours which they thought to lie couched in S. Cyril's twelve Chapters They always professed the same Doctrine both in and after the Council of Ephesus They always protested that they acknowledged but one Christ perfect God and perfect Man and that the two Natures were united in one Person When the Peace was making there was no Controversie about the Confession of Faith they agreed without any trouble with S. Cyril in that who acknowledged that they never were in Nestorius's Errours though they had been before accused of it Theodoret himself who was one of the most furious against S. Cyril's twelve Chapters had no sooner seen his first Letter but he owned it to be Orthodox All the difficulty which can be raised here is as to Alexander Bishop of Hierapolis Eutherius Bishop of Tyana and some other Bishops who would not be comprehended in the Peace or yielded to it only by force But we must own that these Bishops themselves did seemingly profess the Orthodox Faith and though they found fault with S. Cyril's Exposition of the Faith 't was not because they denied the Union of the two Natures in one Person but because they were afraid that there was some term which made it suspectous that there was but one Nature in Jesus Christ. They never defended the Doctrine attributed to Nestorius but maintained that Nestorius had no other than what they thought Orthodox 'T was a Question of Fact and not of Right that divided them But their Obstinacy and Separation gave occasion to suspect that they were of Nestorius's Opinion or at least was sufficient to make them to be condemned as Disturbers of the Peace and Schismaticks Lastly The chief Subject of these Contests which were raised between the Egyptian and Eastern Bishops at this Juncture may be said to proceed from hence that they attributed the quality of the Divine and Humane Natures which were in the Person of Jesus Christ after different manners For the Eastern Bishops could hardly understand how the Qualities of the Humane Nature could be attributed to the Divine and the Properties of the Divine Nature to the Humane and the Egyptians urged this Communication of Terms to an excess as has not since been followed 'T is for this Reason that the Eastern Bishops being desirous to take away all matter of Contest have annexed to the end of their Confession of Faith We know that as to those Qualities which Holy Scripture attributes to our Lord there are some which great Divines have made common to both Natures as agreeing to one and the same Person and there are others which they attribute to the two Natures severally referring to the Divinity of Jesus Christ those which are more sublime and to the Humanity of those that are more mean and unworthy of the Divine Nature We have seen that Nestorius would never allow it to be said that God is born dead or hath suffered but would suffer them to be said of Christ. The Eastern Bishops also would very hardly * Admit of allow these Expressions and desired that some softer terms might be added to explain them S. Cyril and the Egyptians used them upon all Occasions they scrupled not
capable of discharging his Episcopal Function The tenth Letter is from Apollinaris Bishop of Valentia Brother to Avitus wherein he acquaints him with a Dream which he had in his sleep on the night of the Anniversary of their Sisters death He takes this Dream for an Admonition which his Sister gave him that he should do her this service and informs his Brother of it who answers him in the next Letter That he had discharg'd this Duty at Vienna and that the Fault he committed in forgetting it was very pardonable The fourteenth Letter is from Victorius Bishop of Grenoble who had consulted Avitus his Metropolitan what he should do as to a Man call'd Vincomalus who had espous'd the Sister of his Wife deceas'd and liv'd with her afterwards for many years He asks Avitus what Penance he should impose upon them and whether or no he ought to part them Avitus answers him That he ought not to suffer this Disorder but should enjoyn them to part from one another and also Excommunicate them if they continued in this way of Living until they obey'd and did publick Penance for the Fault Vincomalus coming after this to wait upon Avitus endeavour'd to excuse his Fault by the length of time which he had liv'd with this Woman but Avitus gave him to understand That this Circumstance did rather aggravate then any ways diminish his Fault and made him promise to part with this Woman immediately And after he had extorted this Promise from him he wrote to Victorius that he should dissolve this unhappy Marriage by an innocent Divorce that nevertheless he should punish this Man according to the utmost rigor of the Canons and in the mean time he should not altogether trust his Word nor pardon him but upon the Security of those who had interceded for him That he should advise him to do Penance but not impose it upon him against his will The seventeenth Letter is address'd to the Priest Viventiolus who was afterwards Bishop of Lyons He exhorts him to take upon him the Government of the Monastery of St. Claude and wishes him a higher Preferment This Letter is without an end and the next is without a beginning it may be there were some between them which are wholly lost 'T is not known to whom the last is written Father Sirmondus thinks that it is to Pope Symmachus He tells him That altho there be some Reliques of the Holy Cross yet he ought to desire them of the Bishop of Jerusalem who keeps this precious Depositum in its purity The nineteenth is a short Note from King Gondebaud to Avitus wherein he puts a Question to him about two passages in Scripture Avitus answers him in the twentieth Letter The one and twentieth is addressed to Sigismond the Son of Gondebaud wherein he speaks of a Conference which he had with his Father about Religion In the three and twentieth Avitus thanks the Bishop of Jerusalem for the Reliques of the Holy Cross which he had sent into his Country This Letter begins with this fine Complement Your Apostolical Eminence exercises the Primacy which God has granted you and means to show not only by his Prerogatives but also by his Merits that he holds the first place in the Universal Church Some may think that this Letter is address'd to the Bishop of Rome but the Title and Body of the Letter do plainly discover that it is to the Bishop of Jerusalem The four and twentieth Letter is address'd to Stephen Bishop of Lyons about a Donatist who was in his Country Avitus advises him to labour after the Conversion of this Man to hinder this Error from taking root among the Gauls and acquaints him That he ought to receive this Donatist by Imposition of Hands since it is certain that he had received the Unction of the holy Chrysm with Baptism In the Churches of the Gauls they made use sometimes of Chrysm to receive Hereticks as appears by many Examples related by Gregory of Tours But probably it was not us'd save only to those who had not receiv'd it at their Baptism as this passage of Avitus invincibly proves In the five and twentieth Letter he promises his Brother Apollinaris to be present at the Dedication of a Church and commends the charitable Gifts that were design'd for the Poor at this Feast The six and twentieth Letter is address'd to a Bishop whose Name is not known Avitus rebukes him for his easiness in discovering our Mysteries to the Enemies of Religion He proves afterwards that an Heretical Bishop who is converted may be promoted to the Dignity of the Priesthood in the Church provided there be nothing in his Life or Manners which hinders it For why says he may not he govern the Flock of Jesus Christ who has acknowledg'd that the Sheep which he fed were not the Sheep of Jesus Christ Why may not he be promoted to the Priesthood among us who has quitted that which he had for love of the Truth Let him become of a Lay-man a true Bishop who of a false Bishop which he was was willing to become a Lay-man The following Letter was written by Avitus under the Name of King Sigismond to Pope Symmachus It is an acknowledgment which he made to the Pope for the Reliques he had sent him praying him at the same time to give him some other Reliques This Letter is fill'd with high Complements to the Pope to whom he gives the Title of Bishop of the Universal Church In the eight and twentieth Letter address'd to King Gondebaud he proves by express places of Scripture That Jesus Christ did subsist in his Divinity before he was made Man Florus the Deacon call'd this Letter a Treatise of Divinity The one and thirtieth Letter to Faustus and Symmachus who were the two chief Senators of Rome was written by Avitus in the Name of the Bishops of France on the behalf of Pope Symmachus who had been acquitted in a Synod held at Rome by the order of Theodoric King of Italy Avitus takes it very ill that a Council had undertaken to judge the Pope He maintains that the Bishops ought to assist but not judge him because there is neither Law nor Reasons which allows Inferiours to judge him who is above them And he adds That if any call in question the validity of the Ordination of one Pope it would seem that not the Bishop but Episcopacy it self were in danger At si Papa Urbis Romae vocatur in dubium Episcopatus jam videbitur non Episcopus vacillare 'T is difficult to understand what Avitus means by this for what if one Pope fall into Idolatry or Heresie if he become a Symoniack and commit many enormous Crimes is the Apostolick See ever the less worthy of Honour upon that account May not this Pope be reformed without endangering Episcopacy Avitus did not sufficiently reflect upon what he said and the Honour which he had for the Holy See made him propose such Maxims as are
1580 Carterius publish'd the Commentary of Procopius upon Isaiah from a Manuscript of the Cardinal of Rochefoucault This Work is printed at Paris in Greek and Latin over against it and is very carefully done The Anonymous Author of an Exposition of the Octateuque THis Author who is mention'd by Photius in the 36th Volume of his Bibliotheque liv'd under the Empire of Justinus He had compos'd a Book entitled The Book of Christians or An Exposition The Anonymous Author of an Exposition of the Octateuque of the Octateuque dedicated to one nam'd Pamphilus The style of this Work was mean and the Syntax of it not extraordinary He has proposed many Parodoxes altogether indefensible which are more like Tales and Fables then any thing that is serious Here follow some of them That the Heaven and the Earth are not of around figure but the Heaven is in the form of a Vault or an Arch That the Earth is longer one way and that its Extremities touch the Heaven That all the Stars are in Motion and that the Angels move them with several other things of this Nature He speaks also of Genesis and Exodus but as it were by the by He dwells a long time upon the Description of the Tabernacle he runs thro the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles he says that the Sun is as big The Monk Jobitus as the two Climates that the Angels are not in Heaven but above the Firmament and amongst us That Jesus Christ ascending into the Heavens stay'd between the Heavens and the Firmament that this is the place which is call'd the Kingdom of Heaven These are some part of the Absurdities which this Author asserts His Work was divided into Twelve Books We have none of them now remaining and what we have now said shews sufficiently how little reason we have to regret the loss of them The Monk Jobius THis is also an Author of the sixth Age out of whom Photius has preserv'd long and excellent Extracts The Monk Jobius wrote a Treatise of the Word Incarnate divided into nine Books and 45 Chapters upon those matters which were disputed in this Age concerning the Mystery of the Incarnation Photius remarks that he treated the Questions largely enough but he gave not very good Solutions of them contenting himself with what might probably satisfie without searching deeply into the Truth That his Doctrine was very Orthodox both in this Work and in what he wrote against Severus that he was well-skill'd and vers'd in the Holy Scripture and that he undertook to write this Treatise at the desire of an honourable Person This is what Photius observes in general upon this Work of which he afterwards gives an Abridgment The first and second Book were for the Explication of this Question Why is the Son made Man and not the Father or the Holy Spirit The Reason that he gives for it is That the Son bears the Name of the Image of the Father and of his Reason and that from these Titles it was reasonable that he should come to reform the Image of Man and restore to him that Reason which he had lost He thinks that the Birth of Jesus Christ in a Stable among Oxen and Asses the Parable of the Nets cast into the Sea which took all sorts of Fish the Piece of Silver which was found by St. Peter in a Fish the Entrance of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem upon an Ass and the Gift of Tongues are Figures of this Truth After this Preface which appears not very grave nor worthy of the matter he handles In the third Book which begins at the ninth Chapter he gives another Reason why the Son of God was made Man And that is because it was reasonable that he who created and form'd Man should create him anew and reform him Now tho the Father and the Holy Spirit created Man as well as the Son yet the Creation is attributed to the Son and 't is said that by him the Father made all things He demands afterwards Why Redemption was not made by an Angel or a Man And upon this Question he says That Men have try'd many times to bring Salvation to Men but with all they could do they were not capable of saving one single Nation how much more then was it impossible for them to redeem all Mankind and to chain up the Devil who was become their Master That no meer Man could do it because none of them is free from sin That neither did this agree to an Angel to whom it did not belong to lead Spiritual Powers in triumph That One being of the same Nature with the Rest could not bring them into subjection and that if St. Michael disputing with the Devil about the Body of Moses durst not bring a railing Accusation against him how much lefs could an Angel make us Children by Adoption From this Question he passes to another Why God did not redeem Men by his Divinity without making himself Man He answers That God having not done it we should believe that he ought not to have done it This is the best Answer or rather the only reasonable one and this being propos'd all the other become needless In this place he shows that tho God be Almighty yet there are some things which he cannot do because it would be a defect or imperfection to do them He says moreover That the Redemption of Mankind was a more excellent thing then his Creation and that it is a more particular sign of the Love of God to us He adds That it was fit the Word should be made Man for our Salvation since all other means had been ineffectual But one may say Why did he permit that Man should become wicked why did he not create him necessarily good If this had been so he would have had no Free-will and consequently he could have deserv'd nothing Why did not he make him may one say like the Angels This could not have been an advantage to Man answers our Author because God did not save the Angels who sinned But we easily fall into sin Yes says he and we rise again easily God having left to Man a thousand ways whereby he may do Penance and save himself He proposes to himself another very important Question Why God made Man of two Parts of a different Nature But he answers not this Question very well for he only relates some passages of the Fathers and says That the Terrestrial Substance must have been adorn'd with the Union of a Spiritual Substance He enquires Why the Word was made Man and he gives three Reasons for it The first is That he might give us an Example of Vertue The second is To deliver us from the Bondage of Sin The third To blot out Original Sin and restore us to the state in which we were before Sin He remarks that in the Trinity the Father is consider'd as the first Cause the Son as the acting Cause and the Holy Spirit as that
Lives of many Saints as the Monk Himonius affirms There are many of them among those which have been collected by Surius and Bellandus and among others the Lives of St. Hilary of Poictiers St. Albinus of Anger 's St. Germanus of Paris St. Medardus of Noyon St. Radegondes St. Maurilius of Anger 's St. Remigius of Rhemes St. Marcellus of Paris St. Amandus of Rhodes Fortunatus pass'd in his own time for an excellent Orator and a good Poet and not without reason for he did not only excel all the other Poets of his Age but he came near to those of a better not only for the Truth but the Purity of his Expressions not for the Beauty of his Verse but for the Poetical turn he gave it and the wonderful easiness wherewith he wrote in Verse Bandoninia His Poetical Works were printed at Mayence in 1603 and in 1616 and inserted into the Bibliotheques of the Fathers But these Editions were very imperfect F. Labbee has promis'd a more large and correct Edition of them which is said to be all ready for the Press BANDONINIA THis Maid was one brought up by St. Radegondes she has added a second Book of the Life of this Saint to that of Fortunatus 'T is printed by Surius Tome 4. at the 13th day of August St. GERMANUS Bishop of Paris WE have an excellent Letter of this Holy Bishop written to Queen Brunechildes wherein he exhorts her very smartly and withal very respectfully to hinder King Sigibert from making St. Germanus Bishop of Paris War upon King Chilperic In the Title he assumes the Name of a Preacher It is publish'd in the fifth Tome of the Councils p. 923. MARTINUS of Bracara MArtinus who was born in Italy came into Gallaecia where he was Abbot of Dumes and afterward Bishop of Bracara He flourish'd in the time of Miro or Theodomirus King of the Suevi Martinus of Bracara and Athanildes King of the Goths in Spain He converted many of the Suevi held Councils at Bracara in 572 and died in 580. The Principal Ecclesiastical Work of this Bishop is a Collection of the Canons of the Greek Church which he took the pains to translate himself into Latin finding that the former Translations were not faithful It contains 84 Canons or Chapters whereof 68 concern Ecclesiastical Men. The manner of living vertuously a Treatise of the four Cardinal Vertues attribute to Seneca under the Nâ—me of a Book of Manners is this Bishops The Version of some Sentences of the Greek Monks collected by an unknown Author is also attributed to him PASCHASIUS PAschasius a Deacon who liv'd in the time of Martin of Bracara translated at his Request the Questions and Answers of some Greek Monks He dedicates to him his Translation which makes the seventh Book of the Lives of the Fathers in Rosweidus Paschasius JOANNES SCHOLASTICUS Joannes Scholasticus Patriarch of Constantinople Patriarch of Constantinople John surnam'd Scholasticus because he had follow'd for some time the Bar was Ordain'd Priest of the Church of Antioch and had the Commission of a Surrogate to the Church of Constantinople He was put in the place of Eutycheus Patriarch of Constantinople who had been turn'd out by Justinian and govern'd this Church till the Year 578. After his death Eutychius was restor'd This Author made a Collection of the Canons which were dispos'd according to the Order of the Matters and another Collection of Ecclesiastical and Civil Laws and Chapters His Works are printed in the Bibliotheca Juris publish'd by Justellus GREGORY of Tours GEorgius Florentius Gregorius Bishop of Tours was descended of an Illustrious Family of Arvernia and the Son of Florentius Brother of Gullus Bishop of Clermont He succeeded Euphronius Bishop of Gregory of Tours Tours in the Year 574. The principal Work of Gregory is his History of France divided into ten Books In the first having made a Confession of his Faith and given a Scheme or Abridgment of Ecclesiastical History from the beginning of the World he relates the Origine of Christianity among the Gauls by Photinus Bishop of Lyons and the famous Mission of seven Bishops sent in time of the Emperor Decius viz. St. Saterninus to Tholouse St. Gatianus to Tours St. Trophimus to Arleâ— St. Paul to Narbonna St. Denis to Paris St. Stremonius to Clermont and St. Martial to Lemovicum He concludes this Book with the death of St. Martin and in those that follow he continues the Ecclesiastical and Profane History of the Gauls and Franks until his own time i. e. until the Year 596. Fredegarius has since added to it an eleventh Book wherein he has continued the History to the Reign of Charlemagne He wrote also eight other Books concerning the Miracles or the Lives of the Saints In the first he relates the Miracles of Jesus Christ the Apostles and Martyrs In the second he recounts many Miracles of St. Justin who was martyr'd in Arvernia The four following Books contain many Miracles of St. Martyn of Tours the seventh contains the Lives of some Holy Monks entitled The Lives of the Fathers at the end whereof is a Letter concerning the History of the seven Sleepers And the last is concerning the Glory or the Miracles of some holy Confessors He himself mentions his Works which were printed at Paris in 1640. Besides this he wrote a Commentary upon the Psalms and composed a Treatise De Cursibus Ecclesiasticis or The Divine Offices The Lives of some Saints are also attributed to him He speaks of a Preface which he had prefix'd to a Treatise of Messes written by Sidonius Sigibert says that he compos'd his History of France in the way of an Epitome and made a Chronicon This Author had reason to confess himself that his style was rude and rustical which ought not to be taken for a Figure but a sincere Confession of the thing as it is His style is low and mean his words are harsh He was credulous and simple as to the matter of Miracles and vented boldly such Histories as are uncerâ—ain or fabulous But notwithstanding this his History is very useful and contains many things of great consequence He died in the Year 596. GILDAS GIldas to whom is given the Name of Wise was born in England in the Year 520 which was fatal to the Saxons for the Battel fought by Arthur King of the Brittons near the Mountain of Badon which made this Author be surnam'd Badonicus to distinguish him from another Gildas elder Gildas then he surnam'd the Albanian He was the Disciple of Istutus the Abbot of Morgan and was made Abbot of Bangor and founded a Monastery at Venetia in Brittain In the Year 564 he wrote a Lamentation for the Miseries of England with a severe Reprimand to the Members of that Kingdom In this Work he describes rather by weeping then declaiming Evantius as he himself says the former and later Miseries of poor England He speaks freely against its
that day when it is done for health and not for pleasure B. 11. Ep. 3. Of the last Judgment WHensoever there happen'd any great Revolutions in the World the Christians were easily perswaded that the end of the World was approaching Now St. Gregory had seen some very considerable in his time and fore-seeing the Ruin of the Roman Empire to be very near at hand which some thought should never be till the end of the World he became of that Opinion that the last Judgment was drawing near This he affirms in many places of his Letters and chiefly B. 2. Ind. 11. Ep. 62. B. 3. Ep. 44. B. 7. Ind. 2. Ep. 128. c. Jesus Christ preach'd only to those Souls departed who had believed in him and led a good Life B. 6. Ep. 15. The Letters of St. Gregory against the Defenders of the three Chapters ALtho the Church of Rome approv'd the Condemnation of the three Chapters yet its example was not follow'd by all the Bishops of Italy Many did not only persist in their Resolution not to Condemn them but also separated from the Church of Rome and the other Bishops who had receiv'd this Condemnation or who communicated with the Bishops that had sign'd it St. Gregory being concern'd to see so many Bishops separate from the Church for a Question of so little Importance us'd all his Endeavours to bring them back again by ways of Meekness and Civility For this end he invited at the beginning of his Pontificat Severus Bishop of Aquileia and the other Bishops of Istria who were more obstinate to come to Rome there to treat amicably of this Controversie and promis'd to remove the Scruples they might have about it But these Bishops refus'd to admit of this Accommodation and maintain'd their Principle with so much stiffness that they attributed the Calamities wherewith Italy was then afflicted to the Condemnation of the three Chapters The City of Aquileia being afterwards taken by the Lombards Severus was forc'd to retire to Gradus from whence he was carried by the Emperor's Order to Ravenna where he condemn'd the three Chapters But finding a way to obtain Letters from the Emperor which forbad to disturb those who defended the three Chapters in the West he declar'd himself anew for the defence of them and so agreed the matter with the Lombards that he was restor'd to Aquileia where he died After his death Agilulphus King of the Lombards caus'd John to be chosen in his room who was a Defender of the three Chapters and the Pope being supported by the Exarch sent Candidian to Gradus for opposing John Many other Bishops of Italy submitted to the Dominion of the Lombards who would not approve the Condemnation of the three Chapters Nay they had so great an Aversion to those who condemn'd them that they separated from the Communion of Constantius Bishop of Milan whom they suspected to have sign'd this Condemnation and Theodolinda Queen of the Lombards follow'd their Example St. Gregory advis'd this Bishop to hold his peace and say nothing upon this subject and told him that he ought not to affirm that he had not sign'd them He wrote also to Theodolinda many Letters to perswade her that those who condemned the three Chapters receiv'd the Council of Chalcedon He speaks every where as one that was not too much convinc'd either of the Justice or Necessity of Condemning the three Chapters but he would not have any to separate from their Communion who did condemn them Against the Donatists ST Gregory stood up against the Donatists of Afric with the same boldness He hindred a Donatist Bishop from being Primate of Numidia and chose in his room one Columbus whom he made his Delegate and Agent in Afric He order'd him afterwards to hold an Assembly of the Bishops of Numidia to judge a Bishop who was accus'd of taking money to suffer a Donatist Bishop in his City and desires that he may be Depos'd if he was convicted of this Crime For it is very just says he that one who hath sold Jesus Christ for money to a Heretick should henceforth be disabled to dispense the holy Mysteries B. 2. Ep. 33. On the other hand he exhorted Pantaleon Governor of Afric to put a stop to the progress of this Schism B. 3. Ep. 32 35. He made an Order forbidding to admit the Donatists who were converted into the Clergy The Affair of Maximus of Salonae NAtalis Bishop of Salonae dying who had led a very licentious Life St. Gregory would have Honoratus chosen in his room and excluded Maximus B. 3. Ep. 15. Nevertheless this last was chosen and tho the Emperor at first scrupled to consent to his Election yet afterwards he approv'd it Maximus having received Orders from Court got himself Ordain'd and put in Possession of the See of Salonae St. Gregory understanding this wrote to Maximus forbidding him and all those who had Consecrated him to perform any part of the Sacerdotal Function until he was inform'd of the Truth in this case Whether the Letters of the Emperor upon which he was Ordain'd were true or forg'd At the same time he cited him to Rome to give an Account of his Ordination there Maximus did not much value this Letter but caus'd it to be torn in pieces and asserted that there was nothing to be blam'd in his Ordination and that he ought to be judged upon the place The Emperor also acquainted St. Gregory That he would not have the Ordination of Maximus medled with But this Order did not shake the Constancy of St. Gregory who as himself said upon this occasion was resolv'd rather to die then suffer the Church of St. Peter to lose its Authority and Rights by his Negligence Yet he declar'd that he would willingly Sacrifice his own Interest and admit the Ordination of Maximus altho it was done against his will But then he inform'd the Empress that as to what concern'd the Simony Sacriledge and the other Crimes whereof Maximus was accused he could not dispense with using all the Severity of the Laws against him if he did not come to Rome in a short time to justifie himself At last seeing that Maximus continued to Discharge the Sacerdotal Function and refus'd to come to Rome he Excommunicated him and all the Bishops who had Ordain'd him or were engag'd on his side and even those who should Communicate with them for the future The Emperor being desirous to put an end to this Contest order'd Calliâ—icus the Exarch to accommodate the difference between Maximus and St. Gregory By his Mediation it was agreed that Maximus should transport himself to Ravenna and there perform what the Archbishop Marinianus should enjoyn him He did so and having publickly asked Pardon for his Fault and purg'd himself by Oath before the Sepulchre of St. Apollinaris he receiv'd Absolution from Marinianus by the order of St. Gregory and in the presence of Castorius his Envoy who presented to Maximus a Letter from
set aside these Witnesses and consult the Book it self of Isidore we must judge very favourably of it for it has not any mark of Forgery the stile of it is not different from that of his other Works it contains nothing but what agrees with History the Author 's mention'd in it are genuine the greatest part of the Books which it mentions are still extant It cannot be said to be the Work of an Author born in France since it appears that he chiefly insists upon the Writers of Spain and that the History and People of that Country are best known to him He relates also some Particulars concerning the Writers of his own time which no ways appear to be fabulous and which could not be known but by an Author of that time and Country You need only read the last Writers he mentions to be convinc'd of this Lastly the Manuscripts of this Work were found in Spain from which Garcias publish'd it There are many of them yet extant there was one at Coria into which was inserted by a mistake the Work of another Author who made a Catalogue of twelve Writers But the other Manuscripts contain nothing but the Books of Illustrious Men by Isidore and Ildephonsus with their Names at the beginning These are all the Proofs that can be had that any Work is genuine It seems that they had never call'd in question the Authority of Isidore but that they might have some pretence to reject the Writings of Facundus and the Chronicle of Victor of Tunona which are mention'd by Isidore They saw well enough that if the Book of Isidore was genuine they could not doubt but these Monuments were Authentical And for the same reason they should have carried on their Conjectures to Ildephonsus also but either they durst not or they forgot it and so the Authority of Isidore stands good still and consquently that of Victor of Tunona and Facundus cannot be question'd But tho we could imagine that Isidore's Book of Illustrious Men is supposititious yet I believe they dare not say the same of his Books call'd Origines Now in the last Chapter of the fifth Book of this Work he mentions the Chronicle of Victor of Tunona Ado Bishop of Vienna does also mention it in the beginning of his Chronicle and Otho Frisingensis in his History Book 5. cap. 4. But that which determines this matter is this That John Abbot of Biclarum an Author of the same time has continued the Chronicle of Victor of Tunona as he himself assures us at the beginning of his Chronicle There are no Witnesses more worthy of credit than those who give testimony to the Authors who wrote before them upon the same Subjects For they having carefully enquired about them speak not at a venture nor upon the Credit of another Gennadius gives testimony to St. Jerom by continuing his Work of Illustrious Men St. Isidore to Gennadius and Ildephonsus to St. Isidore St. Jerom also gave testimony to the Chronicle of Eusebius by continuing it Prosper followed them after him came Victor of Tunona and lastly John Abbot of Biclarum who gives testimony to those who preceded him Honorius of Autâ—â— and Ado of Vienna undertake after these Authors to write upon the same Subjects they follow them and give testimony to them as well as those who come after 'T is not easie to break this Chain and to give the Lie to so certain a Tradition Lastly If we should refer our selves wholly to the reading of the Chronicle of Victor of Tunona we shall find nothing in it which appears either feign'd or fabulous On the contrary we find in it the most notable Transactions related with their proper Circumstances which do perfectly agree with other Histories There are many things in it which concern the Church of Afric and particularly Victor of Tunona and every where there are Marks of Ingenuity and Sincerity which are not to be met with in the Works of Impostors We have now re-establish'd the Authority of two Witnesses who Depose in favour of the Books of Facundus for both Victor and Isidore of Sevil make honourable mention of them Cassiodorus also speaks of this Author in his Commentary upon Psalm 138. a Work which is excepted out of the number of those which are falsly attributed to Cassiodorus 'T is true he speaks not there of the Twelve Books but of two others addressed to Justinian which are probably the same that are mentioned in the Preface of the Twelve But this testimony however informs us that there was an African Bishop call'd Facundus who dedicated some Works to Justinian that this Author wrote briskly and subtilly Haereticorum penetrabili subtilitate destructor a Character which agrees very well to the Twelve Books of his which still remain But without searching for Witnesses we need only consult the Work it self to be perswaded that it is serious and genuine and that it cannot be the Fiction of an Impostor 'T is plain that he who was the Author of it wrote at such a time when the Controversie about the three Chapters was very fresh and warmly debated He speaks of it himself with much heat as a Person extreamly addicted to one side he appears to be throughly inform'd of all that pass'd and he takes a great deal of pains to gather together every thing that might justifie his Cause His Exhortation alone to the Emperor Justinian with which he concludes sufficiently discovers that this Emperor was then alive and that this Work is not a Fiction The Preface also confirms the same thing Lastly If ever a Work had the Infallible Marks of being genuine this is certainly such I know not whether they had also a design to question the Letter of the same Facundus to Mocianus or Mucianus but I can assure them that there is the strongest Evidence that this is not the Work of an Impostor It has the same stile with the Twelve Books and this stile is peculiar to this Author There is no Writer that came after him who resembles it it is an Original in its kind In a word it is as clear as the day that these Works are a Bishops of Africk who was banish'd into the East and liv'd in the time of Justinian and who was one of the most zealous Defenders of the three Chapters This Truth cannot be call'd in question but you must overturn all the Rules of good Criticism and render all things liable to doubts The very same almost is to be said of the Works of Marius Mercator and Liberatus 'T is true the Ancients have not mentioned these Works but they have such plain Marks of being genuine and contain some Transactions so particular and remarkable that no question can be made of Receiving them upon the credit of the ancient Manuscripts from which they were publish'd They have been made use of for clearing up many Points of Ecclesiastical History which were unknown before these Authors came to light The learned Criticks
Dogmatical and contains nothing Gregory of Antioch but Prosopopoeia's of Joseph to Pilate and of Pilate to the Jews some Reflections of Death speaking to her self and Complaints of the Women upon Christ's death some Discourses of the Angel with the Jews and Women and of Jesus Christ with those Women JOHN ARAUSIUS HELLADIUS JUSTUS NONNITUS and CONANTIUS Bishops of Spain JOHN an Abbot and afterwards Bishop of Saragosa Braulio's Brother flourished towards the year 620. Ildephonsus assures us That he was well read in the Holy Scripture and that John Arausius c. Bishops of Spain he laboured to instruct by his Discourses more than by his Writings That nevertheless he had elegantly written some Prayers to be sung in Divine Service and also a Table to find out Easter-day every year We have nothing now of this Author The same Ildephonsus ranks among Ecclesiastical Authors Arausius Bishop of Toledo and his Successor Helladius but seeing he confesseth they have writ nothing it was needless to encrease the number of Authors with them This last had for his Disciple and Successor one named Justus a witty and a worthy Man who had written a Letter to Richilan Abbot of the Monastery of Agali in which he shewed him That he ought not to leave his Flock These three Bishops governed the Church of Toledo from the year 606 to 634 or 635. This last signed the Council of Toledo held under Sisenand in the year 633. and was but 3 years Bishop S. Ildephonsus puts also in the rank of Ecclesiastical Authors Nonnitus Bishop of Gironde who lived in the same time but he speaks of none of his Works He speaks lastly of Conantius Bishop of Palenzo as of a Man as Prudent and Grave as Eloquent and Learned and he saith he applied himself to regulate the Order of Divine Service That he had made Hymns to new Tunes and a Book of Prayers taken out of the Psalms We have not now those Works BONIFACE V. BEDE mentions three Letters of this Pope about the Conversion of the English The 1st is directed to Justus who from Bishop of Rochester became Archbishop of Canterbury Boniface V. wherein he grants him the Pall and congratulates him for King Adelvad's Conversion The 2d is directed to * King of Northumberland Edwin an English King wherein he exhorts him to leave Idolatry to worship the true God and embrace Christ's Religion The 3d. is to Queen †Wife of 〈◊〉 Edwin Edelburgh whom he congratulateth upon her Conversion and exhorts her to endeavour that of the King her Husband MODESTUS Bishop of Jerusalem WE have no other Monument of this Author who flourished towards the year 620. but an Extract of one of his Sermons mention'd by Photius in the 275th Volume of his Bibliotheca Modestus Bishop of Jerusalem The first is taken out of a Sermon upon the Women of the Gospel which carried Balm to anoint Christ. He tells us there That Mary Magdalen out of whom Christ cast 7 Devils was a Virgin and that she suffered Martyrdom at Ephesus whither she went to S. John the Evangelist after the Virgin 's death Which shews how far they were then from the Opinion which hath obtained since That Mary Magdalen is the same with the Woman that was a Sinner Luk. 7. 37. The 2d Sermon of Modestus mentioned in Photius was a Sermon upon the death of the Virgin the Mother of God which he calls A Dormitory Sermon after the manner of the Ancients Photius speaks of no Extract of it he only taketh notice 't is a long Discourse containing nothing necessary and nothing like the former The 3d. Sermon is upon the Festival of the meeting of Christ and Simeon or the presentation of Jesus Christ in the Temple Photius sets down an Extract of it in which the Vertues of Anna and the Virgin 's Purification are discoursed of Figuratively and Rhetorically GEORGE of Alexandria IT is thought That George the Author of S. Chrysostom's Life was the Bishop of Alexandria who succeeded S. John the Alms-giver in the year 620 and held that See till 630. George of Alexandria This Life is a great deal larger than that of Palladius but less faithful and full of many Untruths His Stile in the judgment of the learned Photius is very plain and somewhat flat He offends against the Laws of Grammar and is not exact in the construing of Words It is needless to make the Extract of this Life because what it contains more than is in Palladius and the other ancient Historians is either false or doubtful He hath often misrepresented the Matters of Fact which he relates upon trust from other Authors He alledges many of them contrary to the Testimonies of S. Chrysostom and the Authors of his time He hath counterfeited many Letters and falsly attributed them to the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius and Pope Innocent He confidently asserts contrary to the truth of History That this Pope excommunicated the Emperor Honorius and Empress Eudoxia He hath reported an infinite number of things evidently false Photius who made a long Extract of this Life confesses himself That he hath said many things contrary to the Truth of History but he thinks the Reader may pick out that which is true and useful and pass by the rest Methinks it were better and fitter to fetch things out of the Originals than to mispend ones time to read them in those ill Copiers and Plagiaries This Work was published in Greek by Sir H. Savil. in the last Volume of S. Chrysostom's Works printed at Eaton together with the Life of the same Father by other later Authors who copied out this Man's Fictions and added others to them after the manner of the modern Greeks HONORIUS POpe HONORIUS whose Name became so famous by reason of his Condemnation in the 6th Council was raised to the Pontificate the 13th of May 626. and died Honorius October 11th 638. Besides the two Letters he hath written to Sergius upon the Question of the two Wills in Christ which will be spoken of in the Acts of the 5th Council where they are inserted we have some others upon particular Matters The 1st is directed to the Exarch Isaeius to whom he complains That certain Bishops advised a Lord to forsake Adaluade the lawful King of the Lombards to side with the Tyrant Arioualde and he desires him after having restored Adaluade to send those Bishops to Rome to him that he may punish them for their Disloyalty We learn of Paul the Deacon That Adaluade was turned out by the Lombards because he had lost his Senses and that Arioualde was put in his room The Second Letter of Honorius is directed to the Bishops of the Provinces of Venice and Istria He recommends to them Primogenius whom he had Consecrated to be Arch-Bishop of Grado and prays them to admit him into the place of him who had been deprived of that Church The Three next Letters are concerning
it are very excellent and precious but there are many things taken out of the other Works of Alcuin especially the different Orations That the third part does not seem to be coherent to the two first there being several places in it copied out of them word for word which probably an Author whatever he might be would not have done in the same Work Besides that it is almost all of it taken from Pelagius's Confession of Faith and from the Book of the Ecclesiastical Doctrines yet so that the Pelagian and Semi-pelagian expressions of those Books are commonly left out in it that there are also some places of it without any rational coherency And above all what he set in the end to join it to the 4th seems to have been added That the 4th part in what it contains about the Eucharist is perfectly fine but doubtless it ends in the first Chapter all the rest being but a Rapsody of divers Orations He confesses the Stile of this last part as well as of the first does pretty well resemble that of Alcuin which is not always very pure and correct but very quick and lively He intimates that altho' these Four Words Caro Cibus Sanguis Potus which are found in S. Thomas's Prose are read there the Thread of his Discourse did so naturally lead him to use them in that order that one ought not to conclude that this Work was made since S. Thomas's time That the Stile hath nothing Scholastical yea and that it hath some expressions which were not used since Berengarius as that the Eucharist is †In a posthumous Treatise printed at Rouan anno 1675. Christ's Body and Blood only for the Just. Lastly that in this 4th part there are some places found in the Book of the Divine Offices attributed to Alcuin Daillaeus hath taken affirmatively what was said but doubtfully by the Author Of the Office of the Holy Sacrament and he adds new Conjectures to shew that this Confession was not Alcuin's The 1st is grounded upon this that in this Confession of Faith some things are met with which are taken word for word out of the Books of the Meditations and the Mirrour falsely ascribed to S. Austin and composed since Alcuin's time seeing that of the Meditations which is the ancienter was written since S. Anselm's time The 2d is grounded upon this Work 's not being set down in the Index's of Alcuin's Works The 3d upon this Author 's often copying himself which an Author does not usually do Moreover he insists upon this that there is a place in this Book which is found in the Book of Offices attributed to Alcuin 4thly Daillaeus pretends that this Author's Sentiments differ from Alcuin's He says that explaining the Creation of the World he relateth the two Opinions related by Alcuin also in his Questions upon Genesis but preferrs that which was disapproved by Alcuin He adds that this Author believes the real presence which Sentiment he does not think to be Alcuin's and that he looks upon the contrary Opinion as Heretical Lastly He pretends that there be some things in this Work which do not agree with the Ninth Tentury as when he complains of the infelicity of his Age and speaks of the Miracles whereby the Eucharist had been represented under the shape of a Man * In Auâ—l Tom. 1. p. 178. F. Mabillon contrary-wise asserts the truth of this Work chiefly upon the Antiquity of the Manuscript from which it is taken He maintains the Characters to be of Charlemagne's time or very near it and tho' the sole Testimony of a Man as much conversant in these matters as he was might be sufficient he joined to it the Attestation of many Learned Men. The Antiquity of this Manuscript shews that this Book is of Alcuin's time seeing the Manuscript it self is of that time 2dly He notes That the Ancient Title of this Manuscript was written in Red and that they only put Ink upon the Ancient Red Characters which are to this effect Albini Confessio Fidei 3dly He proves that this Author is older than the School-Men because he does not speak as exactly as they do of the Mysteries that he always translates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Greeks by the word Co-essential whereas the School-Men always said Con-substantial He taketh notice of the place in which he varies from our way of speaking of the Eucharist He adds that this Author hath some Opinions which were not common but in the Eighth and Ninth Century as when he pretends that Catechumens cannot be saved without either Baptism or Martyrdom that the Question of the Two Predestinations which he treats of was Agitated in this Age that all that this Author says of himself agreeth to Alcuin Lastly To bring in a Witness he says that John Abbot of Fescamp who lived in the Twelfth Century hath cited several passages of this Treatise in a Book he made against Berengarius Having alledged these proofs of the Antiquity of this Book he clears the difficulties he says it 's no wonder this Author should have made Extracts of Pelagius's Confession of Faith seeing it was commonly cited in this time and was look'd upon as a Work of S. Hierom. That it 's less to be wondred at that he should be cited in the Book of Gennadius's Ecclesiastical Doctrines seeing Adrian made no difficulty to alledge one Authority out of it That the passages which are found in this Confession are not taken out of the Book of the Meditations and the Mirrour but it is the Compilers of those Two Works that have inserted them in two places of Alcuin's Treatise seeing the Manuscript of this Work is doubtless older than the Author of those other Treatises And if this Confession be not found in the Catalogues of Alcuin's Works that 's not to be wondred at seeing all those Lists of Catalogues are imperfect that it is an ordinary thing with the Authors of this Age and with Alcuin not only to transcribe other Men's but their own Works also that the Author of the Book of Offices did transcribe Alcuin's Confession of Faith that it 's not true that Alcuin's Opinions about the Eucharist are different from this Author's that he had instances to prove that Jesus Christ had appeared in the Eucharist in the shape of a Man that some Authors of the Ninth Century before the Birth and the Condemnation of Berengarius's Error have condemn'd his Opinion as Heretical that it 's no extraordinary thing for an Author alledging in two places two different explications of the same passage to approve now the one and then the other that it were a more extraordinary thing that two different Authors should bring two like explications of the same passage that altho' Charlemagne's Age was more Learned than the Tenth yet Alcuin Expostulates the infelicity of that time and the disorders then in the Church in the Works not doubted of as in the 6th Letter and in his 271 Poem
save all Men without exception because if God would not have all Men to be saved some would be under a necessity of damnation And whereas his Adversaries objected that the Will of God is all powerful and therefore if God would have all Men to be saved they would be so He puts the same Question to them as to the Angels and urges them to answer it Are those Angels which are fallen fallen by the Will of God or not And since they could not deny according to their own Principle but that God did desire their Salvation He concludes that they must own that Gods will hath not always its effect He there recites several Passages of the Fathers to explain those places of Scripture where the All-powerful will of God is spoken of In the 27th Chapters he examines the State of the Question concerning the 4th Article the Death of Jesus Christ for all Men. He declares that it extends not to the Devils for whom Jesus Christ was no Mediator but only to Men. And whereas it was demanded of him whether Jesus Christ died for Antichrist He answers that Antichrist shall be a Man and since Jesus Christ died for all Men he is of the number of those for whom Christ died In the 28th Chapter he cites several Passages of the Fathers to prove that Jesus Christ died for those Men who are dead in their Sins although it can't be said that they are redeemed for Eternal Salvation In the 29th he justifies the Expression which he had delivered that there never was a Man whose Flesh was not assumed by Jesus Christ and cites several places of the Fathers which approve that Expression He then shews that those that are Baprized receive the Faith that worketh by Love which he had affirmed in his last Article He adds in the following Chapter that except two Sentences of it the rest of that Article is taken out of S. Prosper Hincmarus having thus justified himself passes his Judgment upon the Writings which were come to his hands made upon this subject He disapproves Scoâ—us's and Prudentius's Books and says that he will not enter into any Contest with them because he does not know their design yet he tells us that he had observed some Expressions in them contrary to the Catholick Truth viz. That there is a Triple Divinity That the Sacrament of the Altar is not the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ but a Memorial only of his true Body and Blood That the Angels are Corporeal That the Soul of Man is not in his Body That the Tortures of Hell are nothing else but the remembrance of Sins and the reflection of a guilty Conscience and other fruitless Questions concerning the manner how we shall see God which arise perhaps saith Hincmarus from hence that those who are busiest to move such disputes take no care to see him He rejects the 7 Rules laid down by Prudentius In the 3â—th Chapter he shews that those that lived before the coming of Jesus Christ are redeemed by his Death as well as those that live after his coming In the 32d he produces a great number of Testimonies both from the Greek and Latin Fathers to prove that Jesus Christ died for all Men without exception In the next Chapter he confirms the same Doctrine by several Reasons grounded upon the Doctrine of the Holy Fathers and shews that although Jesus Christ died for all Men yet they are not all redeemed and saved because they will not In the 35th he approves the 5th Canon of the Council of Valence propounded by his Adversaries That Jesus Christ died for all those that are Regenerate by Baptism But he maintains that Gotteschalcus and the Predestinarians deny that Baptism washes away the guilt of Original Sin from those that are not predestinated and confutes their Error The Bishops of the Council of Valence after the Articles of Grace Free-will and Predestination Hincmarus's Remarks upon the Constitution of the Câ—uâ—cil of Valencâ— about Ordinations confuted by Hincmarus added a Canon concerning the Ordinations of Bishops to this effect To prevent for the future that Ignorant Bishops unable to discharge that great Function and whose Lives are not sufficiently Examined may not be put into the Sees as they formerly have been to the utter ruine and overthrow of all Church Disciplineâ— it is decreed That after the Death of any Bishop they should Petition the Princes to grant the People and Clergy of that City power to make a Canonical Election of some Person of the same or the Neighbouring Diocess who is fit to fill the See and if any Clerk be sent from Court to be made their Bishop they should strictly examine and look into his Life and Doctrine and Manners before they Ordain him and if he be found an Ignorant Vicious and Simoniacal Person the Metropolitan should refuse to Ordain him and going to Court represent it to the Prince Hincmarus imagining that this Canon was made against him and some other Bishops who had been Ordained through the favour of the Court takes it into Examination and therefore in the 36th Chapter he observes first that this Canon makes directly against him whom he thought the Author of it because he was Shaved and Ordained in another Church than that of which he was Bishop evidently meaning Remigius Arch-Bishop of Lyons Secondly He observes that he had left out several things which concerned the Ordination of a Bishop as for Example If they choose a Clergy-man of another Church that he should not be Ordained till his Bishop hath given his Consent Thirdly He says that those Men are not worthy to bear the Names of Bishops whose Ordination was such as he describes Ignorant Vicious and Simoniacal Fourthly He says that in speaking so he affronts all the Bishops of France the Metropolitans who have made such unlawful Ordinations and the Princes who have approved them Fifthly He defends his own Ordination and relates the whole History of the Deposition of Ebbo and the Process had against him He relates the Judgment given in favour of him against Ebbo in the Council of Soissons in 853. the Declaration of Ebbo who acknowledged himself justly deposed and consented another should be made Bishop in his place approved by the Bishops met at Thionville in 835 whose Sentence was confirmed by Pope Sergius He adds that Theodoâ—is Villa 10 years after this Deposition the Bishops of the Diocess of Râ—ims being Assembled at Beauvais desired him of the Prince and he was Ordained by his Consent after he had been Canonically chosen by the Clergy and People of Reims Hereupon he says that he spake these things with regret but he was obliged to it lest any Man reading this Canon should think his Ordination contrary to the Canons and Rules of the Church Then he opposes to this Article 12 Canons of the Church concerning the Penalties to be inflicted upon such Persons as revive old Heresies that have been condemned Which are
he had Excommunicated at the Sollicitation of K. Charles coming to Rome with Judith cast himself at the Popes seet at which he was so much moved that he wrote several Letters to King Charles his Queen Hermentruda and the Bishops to obtain their Pardon by which means the King consented to the Marriage and so it ended As to the Wife of Boson Gonthierus wrote about her to Hincmarus An. 860. propounding the Question thus to him If this Woman come to me and tell me that she hath committed Adultery The business of Boson desiring that I would protect her from Death which she is afraid of from her Husband ought I to put her to publick Penance in my Diocess at a distance from her Husband or shall I send her again to her Husband making him promise that he will not put her to Death Hincmarus Answers That he ought not to put another Man's Wife to Penance who belongs to another Diocess nor Protect her That Boson doth not accuse her of Adultery but complains That she hath left him and promises that he will do her no harm So that all you can do upon this occasion is this That the King of the County whether she is fled should make her return to her Husband but withal taking such security of her Husband as is usual to be given for those who have put themselves under the Protection of the Church There was also another business of the like nature in which Hincmarus was engaged Count The business â—f Count Raimond Raimond had Marry'd a Daughter to a certain Lord Named Steven who would not live with her as his Wife under a pretence that she had had a Carnal knowledge of one of her near Relations but would not tell who it was E. Raimond wrote a Letter of Complaint about it to the Synod held at Toussi 860 whereupon Steven was Summoned to the Synod where he propounded the business and told them That whereas in his Youth he had had a Carnal Knowledge of one of the near Relations of the Daughter of Earl Raimond it happened that he desired to have her in Marriage and obtained it but afterward calling to mind what he had formerly done he went to a Confessor to know whether he might not do Penance for his Sin in private and Marry the Earls Daughter as they had agreed The Confessor Answered No and shewing him a Book which he said was a Book of Canons by which it was Decreed That he that hath had any Carnal Knowledge of the Womans Relations whom he would Marry must not Consummate the Marriage with her That afterward falling under the Displeasure of the King his Lord he was forced to leave the Kingdom without breaking of the Contract with Raimonds Daughter or Marrying her so that it was put off for some time That afterward he was constrained to Marry her publickly but for fear he should Damn his Soul he would not have any Carnal Knowledge of her This he assured the Council with an Oath that it was true and that he did not do it for Interest or because he loved another Woman declaring That he was ready to follow the Judgment of the Bishops if they could satisfy him that his Honour and Salvation might be alike secured in giving contentment to his Father-in-Law and Wife The Synod resolved that it was necessary to call a Council of Bishops and Lords at which the King himself should be present That the Lords should examine the business and the Bishops conclude it Steven accepted this condition and Hincmarus was employed by the Council to search into the Truth of the Matter by which he was obliged to write to the Archbishops of Bourges and Bourdeaux and the Bishops of their Provinces He tells them that they ought to bring Raimond's Daughter to the Assembly and inquire of her whether it was true that her Husband had no Carnal Knowledge of her That it ought to be searched into whether Steven did not say this that he might leave his Wife That he ought to Name the near Relation he had known That he ought to Swear it was true and if it did appear to be true that he had really done so with any of her near Relations they shou'd be parted and Steven should be put to publick Penance In 842 Nov. 1. Hincmarus held a Council at Reims with the Priests of his Diocess in which The Council of Reims 842. several very useful Consultations were made They Decreed and Ordered that all Priests should know how to explain the Creed and Lord's Prayer and be able to repeat by heart the Preface and Canon of the Mass and recite distinctly the Psalms Hymns and Athanasius's Creed That they should know how to Administer Baptism Absolve Penitents and Anoint the Sick That on every Sunday they should Consecrate Water and burn Incense after the Gospel and Offertory That they should distribute the Holy Bread to all those that would not Communicate That they should read the 40 Homilies of St. Gregory That they should know the Kalendar and how to Sing and should Sing the Service That they should take care of the Poor and Sick That they should not Pawn the Holy Vessels That they should not Bury any Man in the Church without permission from the Bishops and should demand nothing for Burials That they should take no Gifts of Penitents That when they meet at Feasts they should be sober That when they meet at Conferences they should not make any Feasts but be contented with Bread and two or three Glasses of Wine and no more That Fraternities should be upheld for Piety-sake and none should be suffered to promote Feasting and Revels And lastly That when any Priest Died no Man should get possession of his Church without the Bishops Order He gave also at the same time to the Prebends and Deans that were to visit his Diocess some Articles of Enquiry viz. What Titles every Priest had and by whom he was Ordain'd What is the Revenue of his Living and how many Houses in his Parish In what condition the Ornaments of his Church are and how the Relicks are Preserved If there be a place to throw the Water in with which the Vessels of the Altar and Ornaments are washed If the Holy Oils were kept Locked up If there be a Clergy man that keeps School In what case the Church is and whether it be in good Repair Whether the Tithes be divided into three parts and an Account be given of two of them to the Bishops Whether there be any Church Wardens Whether the Church Revenues be improved and no private advantage made of them If the Clergy live orderly and do not familiarly converse with Women frequent Ale-Houses How those that are vicious should be reproved and for what Crime they may be Condemned and Degraded In 857 which was the 12th Year of Hincmarus's Bishoprick June 9. he held another Synod A Syned of Reims in 857 874 in which
suddenly expire and that the Law of the Spirit a great deal more perfect would succeed it This Doctrine spread among a great many Spiritual Men and one of â—hem made a Book to establish it to which he gave the Title of The Eternal Gospel This Piece The Book call'd the Eternal Gospel appear'd about the beginning of this Century but what is the Author's Name is not known Matthew Paris ascribes it to the Order of the Jacobines Aimeric to John the Seventh General of the Franciscans Let the Case be how it will 't is certain that a great many Monks approv'd of this Work and that some of them would have Taught this Doctrine Publickly in the University of Paris in the Year 1254 but the Bishops oppos'd it And the Book of the Eternal Gospel was Condemn'd to be The Condemnation of that Book Burnt in the Year 1256 by Pope Alexander IV. who at the same time Proscrib'd those who maintain'd the Doctrine of that Book as William of Saint Amour and Ptolemey of Lucca assure us All the Errors of this Book turn upon this Principle That the Law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was The Errors of that Book imperfect in comparison of the law of the Spirit which was to succeed it For according to this Book the Law of the Gospel was to last no longer than Twelve hundred and sixty Years and consequently was upon expiring The Author of that Book advanc'd besides this several particular Errors viz. That none but Spiritual Men had the true Knowledge of the Scriptures That only those who went Bare-foot were capable of Preaching the Spiritual Doctrine That the Jews tho' adhering to their Religion shall be loaded with good things and deliver'd from their Enemies That the Greeks were more Spiritual than the Latines and that God the Father should Save them That the Monks were not oblig'd to suffer Martyrdom in Defence of the Worship of Jesus Christ That the Holy Ghost receiv'd something of the Church as Jesus Christ as Man had receiv'd of the Holy Ghost That the Active Life had lasted till Abbot Joachim but that since his time it was become useless That the Contemplative Life had begun from his time and that it should be more perfect in his Successors That there should be an Order of Monks by far more perfect which should flourish when the Order of the Clergy was perished That in this Third State of the World the Government of the Church would be wholly Committed to those Monks who should have more Authority than the Apostles ever had That those Preachers persecuted by the Clergy should go over to the Infidels and might excite them against the Church of Rome These are some of the Extravagancies which the Authors relate as extracted out of the Book of the Eternal Gospel The Maintainers of this Work are call'd Joachites or rather Joachimites in the Council of Arles 1260 The Condemnation of the Joachimites in the Council of Arles 1260. wherein their Doctrine was Examin'd and Condemn'd in these Terms Among the False Prophets who appear at this time none are more Dangerous than those who taking for the Foundation of their Folly several Ternaries in part true and making false Applications of them establish'd a very pernicious Doctrine and wickedly affecting to do Honour to the Holy Ghost do impudently derogate from the Redemption of Jesus Christ by aiming to include the Time of the Reign of the Son and his Works within a certain Number of Years after which the Holy Ghost shall Act As if the Holy Ghost were to Act with more Power and Majesty for the future than he has done yet since the beginning of the Church These Joachites by a Chimerical Concatenation of certain Ternaries maintain That the time of the Holy Ghost shall for the future be inlighten'd with a more perfect Law laying down for the Foundation of their Error this Holy and Coelestial Ternary of the Ineffable Persons of the Ever-blessed Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost and are for establishing their Error on the Basis of all these Truths They add to this Sovereign Truth other Ternaries by asserting That there shall be Three States or Orders of Men who have had or shall have each their proper Season The First is that of Marry'd Persons which was in Repute in the time of the Father that is under the Old Testament The Second is that of Clerks which has been in esteem in the time of Grace by the Son in this Age of the World The Third is the Order of the Monks which shall be glorify'd in time with a larger measure of Grace which shall be given by the Holy Ghost Three sorts of Doctrines answer to these Three States the Old Testament the New and the Eternal Gospel or the Gospel of the Holy Ghost Lastly They distinguish the whole Duration of the World into Three Ages The time of the Spirit of the Law of Moses which they attribute to the Father the time of the Spirit of Grace which they attribute to the Son and which has lasted 1260. Years and the time of a more Ample Grace and of unveil'd Truth which belongs to the Holy Ghost and of which Jesus Christ speaks in the Gospel when he saies When that Spirit of Truth shall come he will teach you all Truth In the First State Men liv'd according to the Flesh in the Second between Flesh and Spirit and in the Last which shall endure to the end of the World they shall live according to the Spirit The Consequence which they draw from this Fiction of Ternaries is That the Redemption of Jesus Christ has no more place and that the Sacraments are Abolish'd which the Joachites have almost the Impudence to Advance by asserting That all Types and Figures shall be Abolish'd at this time and that the Truth shall appear all naked without the Veil of Sacraments Maxims these are which ought to be Abominated by all Christians who have Read the Holy Fathers and who firmly believe that the Sacraments of the Church are visible Signs and Images of Invisible Grace under the Elements of one of which the Son of God abides as he has promised in his Church to the End of the World This Council adds That tho' this Doctrine had been Condemn'd a while ago by the Holy See in its Censure of the Book of The Eternal Gospel yet because several Persons maintain'd it under a pretence That the Books which serv'd as a Foundation to that Error had not been Examin'd nor Condemn'd viz. the Book of Concordances and the other Books of the Joachites which till then remain'd undiscuss'd because they lay conceal'd in the Hands of some Monks and began then to appear in the World and to Infatuate the Minds of many it Condemns and Disapproves of those Works and prohibits the making use of them under pain of Excommunication In the Year 1240 William Bishop of Paris having Conven'd all the Regent Doctors of the University
ought to make use of one and the other according to the usage of each Church That the Souls of true Penitents dying in the Love of God before they have brought forth Fruits worthy of the Repentance of their Sins are purified after their Death by the Pains of Purgatory and that they are delivered from these Pains by the Suffrages of the Faithful that are Living such as Holy Sacrifices Prayers Alms and other Works of Piety which the Faithful do for the other Faithful according to the Orders of the Church and that the Souls of those who have never Sinn'd since their Baptism or of those who having fal'n into Sins have been purified from them in their Bodies or after their departure out of them as we were just now saying enter immediately into Heaven and see purely the Trinity some more perfectly than others according to the difference of their Merits Lastly That the Souls of those who Die in actual Mortal Sin or only in Original Sin descend immediately into Hell to be there punish'd with Torments tho' unequal We define also That the Holy Apostolick See and the Pope of Rome hath the Supremacy over all the Earth That he is the Successor of St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles and the Vicar of Jesus Christ the Head of the Church the Father and Teacher of all Christians and that Jesus Christ hath given him in the Person of St. Peter the Power to Feed to Rule and Govern the Catholick Church as it is explain'd in the Acts of Oecumenical Councils and in the Holy Canons Renewing on the other Hand the Rank and Order of the Holy Patriarchs appointed in the Canons so that he of Constantinople is next after the Holy Pope of Rome he of Alexandria the third he of Antioch the fourth and he of Jerusalem the fifth without infringing any of their Privileges and Rights This Definition was Sign'd July the 5th The Emperor subscrib'd first and after him the Archbishop of Heraclea and the Protosyncelle Vicars of the Patriarch of Alexandria the Arch-bishop of Russia Vicar of the Patriarch of Antioch of Monembase Vicar of the Patriarch of Jerusalem of Cyzicum in his own Name and in the Name of the Archbishop of Ancyra of Trebizonde in his own Name and the Name of the Archbishop of Caesarea Bessarion of Nice in his own Name and the Name of the Bishop of Sardes of Nicomedia in his own Name of Tornobe in his own Name and the Name of the Bishop of Nicomedia of Mitylene in his own Name and the Name of the Archbishop of Sida of Muldoblach in his own Name and the Name of the Bishop of Sebasta of Amasia and Rhodes and lastly of Distres Ganne Melenice Drame and Anchiala together with the Grand Sacrist the Grand Keeper of Records the Grand Ecclesiarch the Grand Protector and the Arch-Priest of the Church of Constantinople the Ecclesiarch of the Royal Monastery of the Holy Mount and four Abbots When the Greeks had Sign'd in the presence of the Cardinals Ten Greek Archbishops went to wait upon the Pope and Bessarion having made a Discourse to him wherein he declar'd That the Greeks were of the same Judgment with the Latins concerning the Words of Consecration the Pope Sign'd it and after him Eight Cardinals and about Sixty Bishops and many Generals of Orders as well as Abbots The next Day the Ceremony was perform'd of publishing this Definition and the Union in the Grand Church of Florence The Pope the Emperor and the Greek and Latin Prelats were there present After the Singing-men of the Greeks and Latins had sung some Hymns of Thanksgiving the Cardinal Julian and the Archbishop of Nice ascended into the Pulpit and read the Definition of Faith the one in Latin and the other in Greek and demanded the one of the Latins and the other of the Greeks whether they approv'd it Having all answer'd Yes they embrac'd one another After this Mass was solemnly celebrated and the Ceremony being ended every one retir'd The next Day the Emperor caus'd to be demanded of the Pope That the Greeks might celebrate in the same Church and that the Pope Cardinals and other Latin Prelats might be there present The Pope made them answer That he must know before-hand the Order of the Liturgy The Archbishop of Russia having explain'd it to the two Cardinals who spoke to him in the Pope's Name they gave an account of it to him But the Pope thought That before he was present at their Ceremonies it was necessary That he should see them perform'd in private by some Greek Priest or that the Cardinals should be present at a Mass of the Greeks that he might be assur'd there was nothing in their Rites but what he could approve of The Deputies having brought this Answer to the Emperor he demanded this no more of the Pope But the Pope continu'd still to put several Questions to him As Why do the Greeks divide the Bread into parts before the Oblation and unite them into the Divine Bread of the Lord Why do they bow the Head when they carry the Oblation before it is consecrated Why do they mix warm Water in the Chalice Why do not the Bishops but the Priests confer the Unction of the Holy Chrism it being reserv'd as peculiar to the former Why do they anoint the Dead before they Bury them Why do not the Bishops and Priests confess themselves before they say Mass Why do they add after the Words of Consecration this Prayer Make this Bread the precious Body of Jesus Christ by changing it with the Holy Spirit Why do they separate Married Persons And lastly why do they not choose a Patriarch but will return home without Conferences after the Publication of the Decree of Union a Head The Archbishop of Mitylene satisfiy'd all these Demands except those which concern the Dissolution of Marriage and the Election of a Patriarch The Pope desir'd of the Emperor That he would send him some able Prelats to answer these Questions He sent him some that were very Ignorant who gave him only this Answer That they would propose them to the Emperor that he might answer them On the 14th of July the Pope call'd together the Greek Prelats and made the following Proposals to them First That all the World complains of them that they separate Married Persons which is a thing that needs Reformation Secondly That they must call Mark of Ephesus to an Account for separating from the Synod and punish him for his Disobedience Thirdly That they should choose a Patriarch before they departed The Prelats said That they could not give an Answer about these Articles without consulting the Emperor and the other Prelats That as Private Persons they answer'd They never order'd the Dissolution of Marriages but for just Causes That Mark of Ephesus should be judg'd by the Greeks upon the place if he continu'd to be refractory but that the Patriarch should not be chosen except at Constantinople
going to the Council of Pisa wherein he congratulates them that they were going to this Council to endeavour after the Peace of the Church exhorts them to make a Peace and shews them the means of procuring it There is a Trialogue of his about the matter of the Schism wherein he introduces Zeal Good-will and Discretion disputing together about the means of putting an end to Contention a Letter in the Name of the University of Paris against the Letter in the Name of the University of Tholouse and a Letter in the Name of the King of France to justify his Substraction of Obedience from Peter de Luna After these Works follow many Sermons preach'd at Constance during the time of the Council In the second he sets himself against the Partizans of the Duke of Burgundy who would hinder the Council from Examining and Condemning the Errors of John Petit and shews by many Reasons that 't is very necessary to be done At the end of this Sermon there is a small piece wherein he recollects divers Errors chiefly about this Precept of the Decalogue Thou shalt not kill against which some had advanc'd many cruel and sanguinary Propositions prejudicial to the Security of Princes and about the Validity of Confessions made to Friars Mendicants The Duke of Burgundy having caus'd the Proposition of John Petit to be maintain'd by Peter Bishop of Arras That it was lawful to kill Tyrants Gerson reply'd to him in the Name of the King of France in a long Discourse spoken in an Assembly of the Fathers of the Council on the 5th of May 1416. and made two other Sermons wherein he searches this Matter to the bottom and refutes at large the Propositions of John Petit and relates the Censure of it made at Paris both by the Bishop and the Doctors The three following Treatises are not concerning the Affair of the Schism but the Principles of Faith The first is entitled a Declaration of the Truths which must be believ'd and according to him they are as follow First All that is contain'd literally in the Canonical Books Secondly All that is determin'd by the Church and receiv'd by Tradition from the Apostles not all that it tolerates or permits to be read publickly but only what it defines by a Judgment condemning the contrary Thirdly The Truths which are certainly reveal'd to some private Persons Fourthly The necessary Conclusions of Truth which are establish'd upon the preceding Principles Fifthly The Propositions which follow from these Truths by a probable Consequence or which are deduc'd from a Proposition of Faith or any other suppos'd to be true Sixthly The Truths which serve to cherish and maintain Devotion though they be not perfectly certain provided they be not known to be false From these Propositions he draws the following Corollaries First That 't is false and heretical to affirm That the literal Sense of Scripture is sometimes false Secondly That 't is Blasphemy and Heresie to maintain That nothing that is evidently known can be of Faith Thirdly That 't is also Heretical and Blasphemous to say That the Precepts of the Decalogue are not of Faith and that the contrary Propositions are not Heretical Fourthly That the Learned are obliged to believe with an explicite Faith many Propositions that are the Consequences of the prime Truths which the common People are not oblig'd to believe Fifthly That the Pastors Doctors and other Persons plac'd in Ecclesiastical Dignity are oblig'd to believe explicitly the Precepts of the Decalogue and many other Points of Faith which other Christians are oblig'd to believe only implicitly The second Treatise is entitled Of Protestation or Confession in Matters of Faith against Heresies where he treats of Protestations both general and particular and of Revocations and Retractations which we are oblig'd to make in Matters of Faith and shews that a general Protestation is not sufficient to justifie a Man when he is guilty of particular Errors that a particular Protestation which is conditional and express'd in these Words I would believe this Truth if it were known to me to be so does no justifie neither before God nor Men. He that revokes an Error which he hath held ought no to satisfie himself with making a particular Protestation of the contrary Truth but ought to mention that he retracts the Error which he maintain'd and this Revocation does not hinder him from being an Heretick before Yet this is not necessary with respect to those who have been in Error but did not know it nor maintain it obstinately Lastly A Retractation does not hinder but he who has made it may still be suspected of Heresie if he discovers by external Signs that his Revocation is not sincere The third Treatise coâ—tâ—iâ—s the Characters of Obstinacy in Matters of Heresie In it he defines Obstinacy a Depravation of the Will caus'd by Pride or some other Vice which hinders him that is in Error from seeking carefully after the Truth or embracing it when it is made known to him The Signs of Obstinacy are these when he who is in Error suffers Excommunication when being Cited he does not appear when he defends an Error contrary to the Truth which he is oblig'd to believe with an explicit Faith when he hinders the explaining and defining of the Truth when he declares himself an Enemy to those who would have the Matter decided when he denies a Truth which he had formerly taught when being requir'd to explain the Truth to the Doctoâ— or Judges he will not follow their Advice when he stirs up Wars and Seditions because the Truth has been explain'd when he declares That he would rather die than change his Opinion when he defends or maintains a Heretick knowing that he is in an Error lastly when one does not oppose an Error as he may or ought either by his Office if he be a Judge or from brotherly Charity These according to Gerson are the 12 Signs of Obstinacy The Treatise upon that Question Whether it be lawful to appeal from the Judgment of the Pope in Matters of Faith was compos'd by Gerson after the Election of Martin V. upon occasion of that Pope's refusal to condemn the Propositions of which the Polanders desired the Condemnation There he maintains the Affirmative because the Judgment of the Pope is not infallible as that of a General Council is wherefore in Matters of Faith no judicial Determination of any Bishop or even of the Pope himself does oblige the Faithful to believe a Truth as of Faith although it oblige them under pain of Excommunication not to be Dogmatical in affirming the contrary unless they have evident Reason to oppose against the Determination founded on the Holy Scripture or Revelation or the Determination of the Church and a General Council but in every Case as we may appeal from the Judgment of a Bishop to the Pope so we may appeal from the Judgment of a Pope to a General Council The following Pieces are concerning
At first it was proposed That the Mendicants should declare they pretended not to acquire any new Right by this Bull But this Proposal appear'd to be captious and was not at all accepted Several other means were afterwards proposed which were also rejected and none but one was accepted viz. That the Mendicants should refer the Examination of this Bull to a future Council and that in the mean time they should adhere to the Definition of the Council of Lateran and the Doctrin of the Gallican Church but the Mendicants refused to submit to this Condition In the Month of September Pope Calistus granted a Bull wherein for promoting Peace he revokes all the Privileges granted to the prejudice of the Clementine Dudum which he orders all to observe This Bull was sent to the University and read in the Assembly held February the 3d in 1457. At last the Mendicants resolved to submit in order to their Restauration and interposed the Authority of Prince Artus of Brittainy Count of Richmont Constable of France who came with the Archbishop of Rhemes and the Bishop of Paris to the Assembly of the University which was held the 18th of that Month where it was proposed That in order to the restoring of Peace to the University the Bull in question should remain in the hands of the Bishop of Paris and that the Regulars Mendicants should be re-admitted into the University as they were before this Contest upon Condition that they would obey the Bull of Calistus III. which had revoked that of Nicholas V. The Prior of the Dominicans demanded this in the Name of all the rest but because he had not done it with Submission enough the Constable was obliged to bring the Regulars back into the Assembly and to cause them to make a most humble Supplication by the Mouth of the Prior of the Augustins after which they were admitted upon Condition that they should never make use of that Bull which remained in the Hands of the Bishop of Paris That they would obey the Bull revocatory and cause it to be approved within a Year by their Generals and that they would no more for the future obtain such Bulls under pain of the same Exclusion On the 11th of July following a Friar-Preacher came to wait upon the Rector of the University in the Name of his General and declared to him That he had Orders to forbid the Friars of his Order to enter into the University upon these Conditions The Rector made him no Answer but summon'd the Friars Preachers to ratifie the Agreement and when they refused to do it upon the Account of the Prohibition of their General the University excluded them yet a second time from their Society until at last they were brought to supplicate on the eighth of October That they would receive them and promise to observe the Treaty made in the presence of the Constable In 1465. the Faculty order'd its Deputies to examine three Propositions which had been A Censure of some propositions maintain'd in Theses of philosophy maintain'd in the Schools that are in the Street at Fouarra by a Scholar who answer'd about Physicks 1st That every Man is an infinite number of Men and that an infinite number of Men have but one Soul 2d That no Man shall be corrupted tho' a Man ought to be corrupted 3d That each part of a Man is Man The Faculty condemned these Propositions and referr'd the Propositions of other Respondents which do not concern the Faith to the Decision of the University In 1470. about the end of the Month of August the Faculty condemn'd also a Proposition A Censure in 1470. against some propositions concerning the Hierarchy like those of Sarrazin and Quadrigarii concerning Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction viz. That the Apostles did not receive their Power immediately from Jesus Christ but from St. Peter which was advanc'd by John Meunier of the Order of Friars-Preachers who made Satisfaction by declaring That he knew not that the Faculty had condemned this Proposition and that he submitted to their Decision In the same Assembly a Doctor of Divinity of the Order of Friars Minors called Donat A Censure of some propositions concerning the Hierarchy Dupuy who had obtain'd from the Pope an Exemption of his Order and was principal of the College of Lombards where he stay'd desir'd to be admitted to Profess representing that he was not a Regular but in Name and making great account of the Services he had done in the Restoration of this College The Faculty thank'd him but they would not grant his Desire lest they should infringe the Regulations made concerning the number of Professors of the Mendicant Orders In the Month of November in the same Year the Faculty of Theology at Paris was consulted A Conclusion of the Faculty about the Truth of some propositions of the Creed A Censure of a proposition about the Trinity by that of Louvain whether the Propositions of the Creed which respect the Future such as these Jesus Christ will come The Resurrection of the Dead will happen Be true whether those who affirm it do not fall into the Error of them who think that all things happen by Necessity And the Faculty answered affirmatively by its Conclusion on the 12th of this Month. In 1477. the Faculty being assembled January 15th condemn'd this Proposition which had been advanc'd by a Divine called William Milletis viz. That the three Persons are constituted by three Properties whereof one is not God and declared it scandalous false and erroneous The Theologue who advanc'd it submitted to this Condemnation In 1482. John Bethencourt a Professor of Meaux presented to the Faculty the following Proposition A Censure of an erroneous proposition about Indulgences which was preach'd in the Diocese of Saintes That every Soul which is in Purgatory is delivered from it as soon as any gives for it six Blancs of Alms to the Church of St. Peter of Saintonge This Proposition was founded upon a Bull of Indulgence granted by Pope Sixtus IV. to this Church August the 2d 1476. The Faculty declar'd by its Conclusion November 20th That this Proposition was not in that Bull and ought not be asserted or preach'd At the Beginning of the next Year the Chapter of the Church at Tournay sent to the Faculty The Censure of some propositions about the Hierarchy advanc'd by John Angeli fourteen Propositions which were advanc'd by Friar John Angeli of the Order of Friars Minors in the Sermons which he preach'd during the Lent of the preceding Year in the Cathedral Church at Tournay and the Parish-Churches of St. Peter and St. Quintyn The Faculty having examined them condemn'd them by its Conclusion dated February the 1st Here follow the Propositions and their Qualifications Proposition 1st The Friars Minors being presented and admitted by the Bishop are much more proper Priests and true Rectors than the Parish-Priests because they hold their Power of the Pope whereas
Books those Passages that appeared to be the most Beautiful and those Thoughts that were the most Sublime For the end which I always proposed to my self was to give a true Character of the Author I treated of and to omit nothing that was remarkable and yet for the Reader 's Ease I have done it as short as I could After this Abridgment of their Work I generally give my Judgment of the Stile and Genius and Learning of the Author I don 't in the least question but that several Persons will be offended at the Liberty I have taken and that even those who approve my Design in the main will be of a different Opinion from me for the Judgments of Mankind are so vastly divided in nothing as in the Censures they pass upon other Men. Every Man thinks he has sufficient Authority in himself to judge another and indeed every Man judges after his own Way led by his own Fancy or Humour without any certain or steddy Rules Hence it follows that it is almost impossible to find two Persons that agree in their Opinions of a Third Person and indeed this Reflection made me at first alter my design of drawing up the Characters of my Authors foreseeing plainly that I should hereby draw upon my self a great number of Adversaries For though the Persons of whom I speak have been long since dead yet they have abundance either of Admirers or Censurers that will appear either for or against them so that whether I commend or blame them it 's all one and I must expect to be censured and ill thought of But afterwards when I considered with my self that since all the World give themselves the Liberty to judge the Ancients upon all occasions just as they please I thought that no Man ought to condemn me for doing the same after I had carefully read them over and particularly in a Book where the Subject and Design seemed to require it I resolved to do it however with Moderation and yet with a convenient Freedom I don't pretend to oblige any Man to follow my Judgment neither do I flatter my self that I have always found out their true Characters I only desire my Reader not to condemn me inconsiderately or upon the Faith of another without having so much as read or studied these Authors and I likewise conjure him to rest satisfied that in passing my Censures I have used all imaginable Exactness and Application knowing that a Man cannot be too circumspect when he offers to judge others and especially those Persons that have left so great a Reputation behind them in the World and to whom we owe so much Respect I conclude with a Catalogue of the several Editions of those Books which I have examined with the utmost Care and Diligence I am not certain that I have set down all yet I am satisfied that I have mentioned the best and given my Judgment of each in particular So that any Man may see at first sight which Edition is most used and ought to be most valued At the End of these Three first Centuries I have made an Abridgment of the Doctrine Discipline and Morality of those Times that whatever is to be learnt in the Authors of those Ages may be seen at one View This Summary I have composed as faithfully and in as short a compass as I cou'd however I don't pretend to have taken notice of every thing that is to be found in the Authors of the Three first Ages upon these Subjects since I only designed to set down the Principal Points that I might give my Reader a small Idea of them Lastly There are several Tables at the end of each Volume which will not be wholly useless The first contains a Catalogue of the Authors in a Chronological Order where one may see the time of their Birth and Death and that wherein they flourished The Second contains a Catalogue of the same Authors in an Alphabetical Order The Third is a Catalogue of their Works The Genuine the Spurious and those that are lost The Fourth is a Catalogue of their Works according to the Matters contained in them And the last is an ordinary Table of the things contained in the Body of the Book I have only now to acquaint my Reader that at the end of each Author I have added some Annotations that are merely Critical to make my Book as plain and easie as was possible In these Notes you will find some Illustrations and Proofs of the things that I asserted in the Text. I was not willing to reserve them till the end of the Volume because generally most Men do not look so far and so never mind them nor to charge the Margin with them because they were too long to be placed there and consequently wou'd have interrupted the Series of the Discourse But I have placed them at the end of each Author where it is an easie Matter to consult them by observing the several Letters that will conduct the Reader and yet not detain him too long from the Text. Those that are but indifferently skilled in these Matters may if they please pass over these Notes but I would desire those that have a Mind to examine carefully what I have written to read them along with the Text because I have often barely asserted several things in the Text that are justified and proved by these Notes I shall leave the Reader to judge whether this Book may be of any Advantage to the Publick or no but I think I ought to acquaint him that the principal End I proposed to my self was to excite those that shall peruse it to read the Works of the Holy Fathers and that whoever imagines himself dispensed with from consulting the Originals by reading my Book does manifestly pervert and abuse the Design of it I published it with an Intention to give them a Taste and not to make them lose their Appetite for the Fathers and the Abridgment I have made of their Works was only designed to inflame those that love these things to go and refresh themselves at the Fountain head This Work may easily inspire Men with a Desire of reading the Fathers since it gives them before-hand a general Idea of their Doctrine and Maxims but here is not enough to save them the Labour of reading the Originals And let a Work of this Nature be never so well written yet we ought to read these things in their Originals where only they are to be found in their Purity and Natural Beauty This I thought necessary to premise before I set down the Necessity and the Rules of true Criticism and the great Importance of them which I am now going to explain Criticism is a kind of a Torch that lights and conducts us in the obscure Tracks of Antiquity by making us able to distinguish Truth from Falshood History from Fable and Antiquity from Novelty 'T is by this Means that in our Times we have dis-engaged our selves from an
infinite Number of very common Errours into which our Fathers fell for want of examining Things by the Rules of true Criticism For 't is a surprizing thing to consider how many spurious Books we find in Antiquity nay even in the first Ages of the Church Several Reasons induced Men to impose Books upon the World under other Men's Names The first and most general is the Malice of Hereticks who to give the greater Reputation to their Heresies composed several Books which they attributed to Persons of great Reputation in which they studiously spread their own Errours that so they might find a better Reception under the Protection of these celebrated Names And thus the first Hereticks devised false Gospels false Acts and false Epistles of the Apostles and their Disciples And thus those that came after them published several spurious Books as if they had been written by Orthodox Authors that so they might insensibly convey their Errours into the Minds of their Readers without their perceiving the Cheat. The Second Reason that inclined People to forge Books under other Men's Names is directly contrary to the First being occasioned by the indiscreet Piety of some Persons who thought they did the Church considerable Service in forging Ecclesiastical or Profane Monuments in favour of Religion and the Truth And this Reason prevailed with some ancient Christians to forge some Testimonies in behalf of the Christian Religion under the Name of the Sibyls Mercurius Trismegistus and divers others and likewise induced the Catholicks to compose some Books that they might refute the Hereticks of their own Times with the greater Ease And Lastly The same Motive carried the Catholicks so far as to invent false Histories false Miracles and false Lives of the Saints to nourish and keep up the Piety of the Faithful Now though the Design of these Persons seems to be commendable yet we ought not by any Means to approve of the making use of these sorts of Artifices to defend the Truth which is well enough supported by real Proofs without the necessity of inventing any false ones It would be a Shame to call Lying and Falshood to its Assistance and we must never use such sort of Methods which Truth and Sincerity will always condemn whatever good Effects they may pretend to have The Third Reason of the Forgery of some Books keeps a middle Way between those we have already mentioned for there have been some Persons in the World that have been guilty of this Imposture without any other Design than to divert themselves at the Expence of their Readers and to try how nearly they could imitate the Stile of other Men. Hence it is that some Authors have composed Treatises under St. Cyprian's St Ambrose's and St. Austin's Names But it must be confessed that this Reason has not been near so common as the other two and that it very rarely prevailed especially in the Primitive Times Only in these latter Ages there have been some who having Vanity enough to over-value their own Productions have published them under the Name of ancient celebrated Authors desiring rather as the Abbot of Billi says to appear abroad and be esteemed under other Men's Names than to continue despised and be buried in Darkness by writing in their own And these are the Reasons that may have occasioned the Forgery of Books Malice Indiscreet Piety and the Humours of Men. But besides these Reasons that have advanced this Trade of Forgery there are several others that have occasioned the setting Authors Names to several Books which they never writ The first and the most general is the Fault of the Transcribers or Printers who have frequently set wrong Names in the Title-Pages of their Books And this has happened several Ways for either they did it to raise the Price of the Copy or because they found these Tracts at the End of some other Author they therefore concluded too rashly that they were done by the same Hand or through Ignorance and Negligence or lastly some not being able to find out the Name of the true Authors upon the strength of a few feeble Conjectures have supposed they had good Reason on their side to change it From hence therefore one Book has often carried the Name of several Authors in Manuscript and this has principally happen'd to Sermons either because the Transcribers found it their Interest to publish them under the Names of Great Men to make them more vendible or because these Sermons though of different Authors by being often inserted into the Office of the Church and divided into Lessons were so interwoven and confounded one with another that it was a difficult matter to distinguish them A second Reason of the giving to some Books the Name of wrong Authors is because sometimes Men have written Books by way of Dialogue or otherwise to which in imitation of Tully they have given the Names of those Persons whom they have introduced there as Speakers After this manner Vigilius Thapsensis made five Books under the Name of St. Athanasius and perhaps too under the same Name he composed the Creed that is attributed to that Father Whence it happened that those that looked upon the Titles of these Books attributed them to St. Athanasius without examining the Reasons why they carried his Name As if we should attribute Tully's Books to Laelius Brutus or Cato Lastly The Ambiguity of Titles and the Resemblance of Names have often contributed to the ascribing of Books to those to whom they did not belong Two Authors were of the same Name though perhaps they differed in every Circumstance beside and this has given Occasion to several unwary or ignorant Readers to attribute their Books to the wrong Persons This has frequently happened and to give one remarkable Instance of it the Resemblance of the Names of Sixtus the Philosopher and Sixtus the Pope caused the Sentences that were written by the former to be attributed to the latter Having thus discovered the Reasons why we find so many Books attributed to Authors who have no just Title to them we ought to establish the Rules of true Criticism 'T is equally dangerous to be ignorant of them as to take them the wrong Way and mis-apply them for if we do not know them we may be easily imposed upon by false Monuments and if we do not understand them aright or if we abuse them by allowing our selves too great a Liberty we may very often reject the Truth it self This last Abuse has been frequent with many Criticks of our Time and particularly Protestants who upon very slight superficial Conjectures have rejected several Books that are unquestionably ancient and genuine because they contradict their Doctrine or Discipline Wherefore we may in the first place set this down for a general Rule in these Matters that we ought always to act fairly and upon the Square and that we must lay aside our Passions or our Interests and hearken only to our Reason when we pass our
Bishop in writing against the Catholick Church had written for it so that it had not been necessary to have answer'd his Treatise if he had not affirm'd many things whereof he was not well-inform'd as when he charges the Catholicks with desiring Souldiers that they might Persecute the Donatists He owns That this is the only place in all the Books of Parmenianus which is against the Church and that all others are either for the Catholicks only as when he proves that there is but one Church only or for the Catholicks and the Donatists as when he shows that Hereticks have not the Sacraments of the Church Or lastly against the Donatists only as when he speaks of the Enormity of their Crime who deliver'd up the Holy Books and made a Schism He adds That the Comparison which Parmenianus has made of Baptism with Circumcision and the Flood is honourable to the Church which maintains that there is but one only Baptism as there was but one Circumcision and one Flood Optatus having made this general Remark upon the Book of Parmenianus gives an account of the Method he has observ'd in his Work and then lays down a Scheme of his Refutation and proposes the Subject of his Books I shall begin says he First of all with giving an History of the Traditors and Schismaticks with an Account of their Abode their Persons and their Names that so it may be known who those are that are guilty of the Crimes that Parmenianus has Condemn'd Secondly I must show what is the Church and where it is because there is but one only and there cannot possibly be two Churches Thirdly I am to prove That we did not desire the Souldiers and that we are not guilty of the Crimes which are said to be done by those who would have procur'd a Re-union Fourthly 'T will be necessary to shew who is the Sinner whose Sacrifice God refuses and whose Unction we must flee from In the 5th Book I shall treat of Baptism In the 6th I shall lay open your Errors and Designs This is the Argument of those Six Books of Optatus In the First Book before we come to the History of the Donatists which is the Subject of it we must observe a Mistake of Parmenianus who says That the sinful Flesh being drown'd in the Waters of Jordan was purified from all its stains He reproves this Passage of Parmenianus because from hence it would follow either that the Flesh of all Men was purified by the Baptism of Jesus Christ or that the Flesh of Jesus Christ was sinful But because he foresaw very well that Parmenianus might explain his meaning by saying That nothing else was intended by those words but that the Flesh of Men was purified in the Flesh of Jesus Christ therefore he shows that this Expression is improper for we never say That a Christian was baptiz'd in the Flesh of Jesus Christ but in the Name of Jesus Christ. He adds That the Flesh of Jesus Christ could not be baptiz'd for the Remission of Sins since he had not committed any At last That he might not Pardon Parmenian in any thing he blames him even for the term Drown'd which he uses and tells us That he could only say of Pharaoh that he continued at the bottom of the Waters and not of Jesus Christ who descended into Jordan that he might come out of it and who Sanctified the Waters of this River by his descent He says That he cannot pass over the Imprudence of Parmenianus who having given a Description of the Flood and Circumcision and spoken in the Praise of Baptism should go about if I may say so to raise from the Dead the ancient Hereticks who were buried together with their Heresies in Oblivion and whose Names and Heresies were unknown long ago in Africa such as Praxeas Sabellius Valentinus and others who had been confuted in their time by Victorinus of Passaw by Zephyrinus of Rome by Tertullian of Carthage and other Defenders of the Catholick Church Wherefore says he do ye make such a War with the Dead as does not concern the Affairs of our Time Is it because ye have no Proof that the Catholicks are Schismaticks therefore ye would swell your Book with a Catalogue of the Names and Errors of the ancient Hereticks Why do ye speak of those who had no Sacraments which are common to us Those that are in Health have no need of Remedies Vertue and Innocence seek no help nor support but in themselves Truth wants no far-fetch'd Proofs None but the Sick seek after Remedies only the Weak and Sluggish trust to External Succors and 't is a Sign of a Lye when Men take much pains to find out a Justification Parmenianus had not mention'd these Hereticks but to tell us That they had not the Signs of a true Church That their Churches were Strumpets who had no right to the Sacraments and could not be the Spouses of Jesus Christ. Optatus was so far from refuting this Proposition that he approv'd it but he wondred that Parmenianus had joyn'd the Schismaticks with them since he himself was one of this Number I see very well says he to Parmenianus That you know not who were the Authors of the Schism at Carthage Look back to the Rise of this Affair and you will see that you have condemn'd your selves by joyning the Schismaticks to the Hereticks for Caecilian did not separate from Majorinus your Predecessor but Majorinus separated from Caecilian 'T was not Caecilian that deserted the Chair of St. Peter or St. Cyprian but Majorinus in whose Chair you sit a Chair that is of no older Original than Majorinus himself This being so he wonders that Parmenian should joyn the Schismatick with the Heretick and should say of the former as well as the latter after this manner How can a Man that is defil'd cleanse another by a false Baptism How can an impure Man Purifie How can one that makes others fall lift up those that are faln down How can one that is guilty grant Pardon or one that is Condemn'd absolve Optatus confesses That all this may be truly said of Hereticks who have corrupted the Creed and have no share in the Sacraments of the Church but he denies that this can be said of those that are only Schismaticks who as he thinks may lawfully Administer the Sacraments To prove this he shows the difference between Hereticks and Schismaticks Two things says he are necessary to render the Church Catholick The Confession of the true Faith and the Unity of Hearts Schism which breaks the Bond of Peace is begotten by Discord nourish'd by Envy and confirm'd by Disputes thus impious Children forsake the Catholick Church their Mother withdraw and separate themselves as you have done being cut off from the Church and become Rebels and Enemies But they innovate nothing in Doctrine still retaining what they had learn'd from their Mother The Hereticks on the contrary are Enemies to the Truth Deserters
Venice to take up some Gallies there After he had said this he would have given a Writing to the Emperor who refus'd to receive it The Pope being angry at this Refusal withdrew but he caus'd tell the Emperor by the Cardinal Julian that after the Affair was concluded he might return that he would defray his Charges as far as Venice and give him assistance to go to Constantinople The Greek Prelats having examin'd a-new the Articles propos'd by the Latins found them reasonable and pass'd even the Article of Purgatory On the 17th of June the Emperor call'd together the Greek Prelats who were all found to be of the same Opinion about the Union except Mark of Ephesus who remain'd unmoveable The next Sunday they examin'd the Privileges of the Pope and approv'd them all adding to them two Conditions First That the Pope could not Call an Oecumenical Council without the Emperor and the Patriarchs Secondly That in Case of an Appeal from the Judgment of the Patriarchs the Pope could not call the Cause to Rome but he must send Judges to sit in the Places where the Fact is committed The Pope being unwilling to pass these two Articles the Emperor was ready to break off the whole Negotiation but the Greek Prelats some Days after drew up the Article concerning the Pope in these Words As to the Pope's Supremacy we confess That he is the High-Priest and the Vicar of Jesus Christ the Pastor and Teacher of all Christians who governs the Church of God saving the Privileges and Rights of the Eastern Patriarchs viz. of Constantinople who is next after the Pope and then of Alexandria of Antioch and lastly of Jerusalem This Project was agreed to by the Pope and Cardinals and all Parties consented to labour from the next Day in composing the Decree of Union The first Difficulty which presented it self was to fix upon the Name that should be put at the Head the Latins would have it to be that of the Pope and the Emperor pretended to the contrary that it should be his At last it was order'd That the Pope's Name should be put there but then it should be added with the Consent of the Emperor the Patriarch of Constantinople and the other Patriarchs There was another Difficulty about the manner of expressing the Pope's Privileges The Latins would have it put thus that he should enjoy them as was determin'd in Scripture and the Writings of the Saints This Expression pleas'd not the Emperor for says he If any Saint has made honorary Complements in a Letter to the Pope shall this be taken for a Privilege And therefore he said That he would not pass this Article as it was thus express'd The Pope consented but with Difficulty that it should be amended and that in stead of saying according to the Writings of the Saints it should be put according as was contain'd in the Canons The Archbishop of Russia and Bessarion would have an Anathema pronounc'd against those who did not approve this Decree but the Archbishop of Trebizonde and the Protosyncelle oppos'd it and the Emperor was of their Opinion At last all the Words of the Decree having been for a long time weigh'd and examin'd on both sides it was fairly written out in Greek and Latin and a Day was set for Signing it and then concluding solemnly the Union The manner of expressing this Decree is as follows The Title of it is The Definition The Decreâ— of Union between the Greeks and the Latins of the Holy Oecumenical Council celebrated at Florence of Eugenius the Servant of the Servants of God to serve for a perpetual Monument with the Consent of our dear Son John Palaeologus the Illustrious Emperor of the Greeks and of those who supply the place of our most venerable Brethren the Patriarchs and of the other Prelats representing the Greek Church The Preface is a kind of an Hymn which contains the joyful Thoughts and Thanksgivings for the Union of the two Churches after which the Definition is express'd in these Words The Greeks and Latins being Assembled in this Holy Oecumenical Council have us'd all Care to examine with the greatest exactness possible the Article which concerns the Holy Spirit and after the Testimonies of Holy Scripture and the Passages of Greek and Latin Fathers were related whereof some import that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son and others that he proceeds from the Father by the Son it was acknowledg'd That they had all the same Sense tho' they make use of divers Expressions That the Greeks by saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father did not intend to exclude the Son but in regard the Greeks thought that the Latins by affirming The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son admitted of two Principles and two Spirations therefore they abstain from saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son The Latins on the contrary affirm'd That by saying the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son they had no design to deny that the Father was the Fountain and Principle of the whole Divinity viz. of the Son and of the Holy Spirit nor to pretend that the Son does not receive from the Father that wherein the Holy Spirit proceeds from him nor lastly to admit two Principles or two Spirations but that they did acknowledge there was one only Principle and one only Procession of the Holy Spirit as they had always held And forasmuch as these Expressions came all to one and the same true Sense they did at last agree and conclude the following Union with unanimous consent Therefore in the Name of the Holy Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost by the Advice of this Holy Oecumenical Council Assembled at Florence we Define that the truth of this Faith be believ'd and receiv'd of all Christians and that all profess that the Holy Spirit is eternally from the Father and the Son that he receives his Substance and his Subsisting Being from the Father and from the Son and that he proceeds from these two eternally as one only Principle and by one only Procession declaring That the Holy Doctors and Fathers who say That the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father by the Son have no other Sense which they discover by this That the Son is as the Father according to the Greeks the Cause and according to the Latins the Principle of the Subsistence of the Holy Spirit and by this That the Father has Communicated to the Son in his Generation all that he has except that he is the Father and also has given him from all Eternity that wherein the Holy Spirit proceedeth from him We define also That this Explication and of the Son was added lawfully and justly to the Creed to clear up the Truth and not without necessity We declare also That the Body of Jesus Christ is truly consecrated in Bread-Corn whether it be Leaven'd or Unleaven'd and that the Priests