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A38026 Polpoikilos sophia, a compleat history or survey of all the dispensations and methods of religion, from the beginning of the world to the consummation of all things, as represented in the Old and New Testament shewing the several reasons and designs of those different administrations, and the wisdom and goodness of God in the government of His church, through all the ages of it : in which also, the opinion of Dr. Spencer concerning the Jewish rites and sacrifices is examin'd, and the certainty of the Christian religion demonstrated against the cavils of the Deists, &c. / by John Edwards ... Edwards, John, 1637-1716. 1699 (1699) Wing E210; ESTC R17845 511,766 792

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Shadows Christ in this sense is call'd the tr●e Light and true Bread Joh. 1. 9. Joh. 6. 32. The Ceremonial Law was but a Figure of the Evangelical Truth And this is deservedly called Tr●th because all the Ceremonial Types are Verified and Fulfill'd in Christ. All those Iudaick Hieroglyphicks are now unridled and plainly discovered to the World and he that runs may read them The Types and Symbols are gone and now the Things themselves are present and are clearly understood by us This makes the difference between the Mosaick Dispensation and the Evangelical One. The Doctrine of Salvation and the means of Life by Christ are more intelligible and plain than they were before Their Conceptions of those things were intricate and obscure but we have arrived to clear and distinct Notions concerning them In short the way of Salvation was before more dark and general they saw Christ through ●ertain Perspectives afar off but now the fulness of time is come and hath given us a near and more perfect view of those things which they saw but in a glass darkly 4. The Religion of the Gospel is more Inward and Lively than that of the Law and the Jewish Administration There is now introduced a Rational and Manly Service our Religion is chiefly the employment of our Minds and Understandings and not so much of our Bodies and lower Faculties We now worship God in Spirit as well as in Truth of which I spake befo●e we worship in a spiritual manner opposed to outward and bodily Service as Sacrifices Purifications c. The Evangelical Righteousness is a Spiritual Administration a Vital Principle able to beget a Divine Life whereas the Law comparatively was an external dead Letter and did not sufficiently actuate the Minds and Spirits of Men. It is true the History of the Gospel or the Doctrin of the Evangelists as it is merely propounded and written is as much external as the Law but the ministration of the Spirit as the Apostle calls it going along with the Gospel in a more especial and peculiar manner is a powerful Principle in the Souls of Men whereby they are inwardly renewed and transformed And so the Gospel compared with the Law is of greater Power Might and Efficacy and is able to produce a heavenly and spiritual frame of Soul and a sincere performance of the Divine Laws This is the Law promis'd to be written in the Hearts of Men and to be put into their inward parts Jer. 31. 33. 5. This Dispensation of the Gospel is larger and ampler than that of the Law and of other Dispensations before it For the Church was shut up in narrow bounds and confined to a few Families of the Patriarchs Afterwards it was limited to the Land of Canaan and to the H●brew People excepting a few that were without who knew God's Will and were graciously accepted But after Christ came the Church was not tied to one Place or certain Nation but hath been ever since the Congregation of all such as truly know and worship Christ in any part of the World The Christian Dispensation is not local and temporary not confined to place or time not circumscribed by a particular Country Now not one Nat●on only or a few of others are honoured with Laws given from God himself but Gentiles and Iews Greeks and Barbarians all Kindreds and Tongues all Countries and Regions of the Universe have heard the sound of the Gospel and have had the Divine Laws which were given by Christ himself offer'd to them Our Saviour bid his Disciples go into all the World and teach all Nations And accordingly as was observ'd before they travell'd into all the World which was at that time known and proclaimed the Messias to them Thus Christ came and preach'd Peace to them that were afar off and to them that were nigh Ephes. 2. 17. All Places and Countries had the privilege of the Gospel and might receive advantage by it This is one remarkable Difference between the Legal and the Evangelical Dispensation the former was Narrow and Contracted the latter was Full Ample Comprehensive and Catholick 6. Altho as hath been said the Conditions of Salvation are the same now as to the main with those before yet they vary as to several Circumstances To begin with Faith the first and chief Condition of Salvation the grand Fundamental Grace of Christianity This is reckon'd by the Reverend Bishop Taylor among the Instances of Duties which are new under the Gospel But the true account is this that Faith was not a Precept of the Natural or Moral Law but was a new Precept added to it by Revelation when the First Promise and New Covenant were made But ever since that it hath not been New for as I have proved the Antient Patriarchs were saved by Faith in Christ. He was the Object of Faith then as well as now the Faith of the first Believers was the same with the Faith of Christians Yet notwithstanding this this Grace of Faith hath a different aspect from what it had The Fathers believed in the Messias that was to come and we believe in the same Jesus who is come and hath taken on him our Nature and laid down his Life and shed his precious Blood for the redemption of lost Man and rose again and ascended into Heaven Thus the believing of Christ's Birth Passion Resurrection and Ascension is in this respect n●w that Faith looks upon them as accomplished But otherwise in respect of the things themselves it is the old Faith i. e. the same which those that lived before the time of the Messias exerted Christ that was to be crucified was the Object of their Belief and Christ already crucified is the Object of ours This is confirm'd ●rom Isa. 53. Acts 15. 11. 1 Cor. 5. 7. Heb. 9. 11. and abundance of other Texts St. Augustine having affirmed that the Saints of old were saved in the same way that we are viz. by Faith in Jesus adds this distinction They saith he were saved by Faith in Christ's future Sufferings and we by Faith in those Sufferings as they are already past This is that which our Church saith speaking of the People of God that lived before Christ's Incarnation Alth● they were not named Christian men yet was it a Christian Faith which they had for they looked for all the Benefits of God the Father through the Merits of his Son Iesus Christ as we now do This difference is between them and us that they looked when Christ should come and we are in the time when he is come Besides a more general Belief was sufficient for mens Salvation before the Messias's coming than is now It was not necessary to Salvation to believe so expresly and explicitly concerning Christ and his Undertakings as we are obliged to believe since So that tho there is not now a New Faith neither are there New Articles of Faith yet there are New Exertments of Faith and more clear
them in the least none but God could alter them who designed to do so in due time for he intended those Mosaick Precepts should continue to such a certain period of time and no longer These Words of Ieremiah are very observable Chap. 3. 16. It shall come to pass in those days saith the Lord they shall say no more the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord neither shall it come to mind neither shall they remember it neither shall they visit it neither shall it be magnified any more i. e. The Mosaick Rites and External Ceremonies of the Law shall not be in request as they were before Men shall not prize and value them as they used to do yea they shall lay the use of them aside but this they must not do till they have Authority from God And God revealed to the Prophet Daniel that he would alter the Law after a certain Revolution of Years The Messias shall cause the Sacrifice and Oblation to cease Dan. 9. 27. But it was unalterable in respect of the Jews themselves 3. The Promises and Predictions in the Old Testament which are very many concerning the perpetual Duration of Ierusalem and the Temple and the Iewish Worship and their Polity and Government are to be understood of the Perpetuity of the Church of Christ and his spiritual Kingdom And to this purpose you may observe that in the Writings of the Old Testament where the Times of the Gospel are foretold the Evangelical Worship and Service of God are set forth by sacrificing and other the like Observances commanded in Moses's Law By the Ritual Worship of the Jews is express'd the reasonable and spiritual Service of the Gospel and by those Expressions which seem to denote the Perpetuity of the former the Duration of the latter is signified and ascertained to us This is a most certain Truth and the observing of it will lead us to a right understanding of a great number of Texts which speak of the Iewish Laws and Government as if they were to continue for ever without any Limitation and Restriction We are to know that those places especially the Prophesies in Isaiah concerning the glorious things that shall befal Ierusalem and the Iews are to be interpreted of the State of the Christian Church they are to be understood of the Spiritual Kingdom of the Messias and the Times of the Gospel Sacrifices and the Temple signify Spiritual Oblations and the Gospel-Church for the Evangelical Prophet is to be understood in an Evangelical Sense The Angels Words concerning Christ in Luke 1. 32 33. The Lord God shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David and he shall reign over the House of Iacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end are a plain Comment on all those places in the Old Testament where the Perpetuity of the Mosaick Laws and the Jewish Oeconomy and Government is promis'd They shew that they are all meant of Christ and his Kingdom i. e. his Church both here and hereafter which was prefigured by David's Kingdom From what this Heavenly Messenger saith here we learn that the Prophesies concerning the endless continuance of the Throne of David of raising up to 〈◊〉 David their King Jer. 30. 9. of raising up the Tabernacle of David Am. 9. 11. of God's setting up his Servant David Ezek. 34. 23. are all accomplish'd in Christ. And indeed the Jewish Commentators themselves acknowledg that the Messias is often stiled David in these and other Prophesies of the Old Testament nor are they backward to confess that by David's Throne and Kingdom is meant the Messias's Government as is plain from Psal. 132. 11. 2 Sam. 7. 12. 1 Chron. 22. 10. where God promised David that Christ should sit on his Throne which is taken notice of and applied not only in the forenam'd place in St. Luke but in Acts 2. 30. For Christ is represented by David and the Evangelical Dispensation is express'd in Terms which relate to the Iewish Administration and Government So that it is no wonder this is said to be for ever for it shall last to the end of the World and afterwards Christ shall reign in the Kingdom of Glory to eternal Ages This if duly considered cannot but yield a satisfactory Answer to the foregoing Objection as well as give light to several Prophesies of the Old Testament But here it will be asked where hath God formally abr●gated the Ceremonial Law of the Jews I answer it is not necessary he should do this for the Law ceaseth when the Reason of it ceaseth Now the Reason of the C●r●monial Law and all its Observances was chi●fly to prefigure Christ and the Gospel of which he was the Institutor and therefore they are now ceased Christ being come of whom they were but Figures and Shadows The Abrogation then of those Mosaick Rites wherein the Religion of the Iews was placed may be proved by this one Argument viz. that Christ was designed by the legal Rites that the Ceremonial Law was a Prefiguration of the Gospel-Dispensation Here it might be shew'd that the Evangelical Oeconomy was prefigured by certain Persons as Abel Noah Abraham Isaac Ioseph Melchisedec about the last of whom the Author to the Hebrews spends a whole Chapter these were Typical Persons as well as Moses and Ioshua and some others afterwards And not only Persons but Things were Typical as the Pillar of a Cloud the Red Sea the Manna and the Rock which two last were Symbols of the Evangelical Sacraments the Eucharist and Baptism 1 Cor. 10. 1 2 c. and the lifting up of the brazen Serpent signified Christs Crucifixion Iohn 3. 14. But if I should speak of those that are properly Legal Rites and Vsages it is yet further evident that they were Representations of our Saviour and of the grand things of the Gospel As for Sacrifices I have treated of them already and made it appear that they foresignified the expiatory Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. As for the Tabernacle and all the appurtenances of it I have particularly display'd their Typical Nature and how they all pointed to this Dispensation I am now speaking of I might proceed to make this good concerning the Ceremonious Washings and Purifications under the Law that they typified some greater Purity they signified the Spiritual cleansing and sanctifying of the Soul and the abstaining from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit The Apostle acquaints us that the difference of Meats and Drinks observing of a Holy Day or of the New Moon or of the Sabbath Days were a shadow of things to come but the Body of this Shadow is Christ Col. 2. 16 17. The Truth the Solidity the Substance are to be sought for in some higher things than those were even in Christ Jesus and in the Benefits of the Gospel Yea he tells us that the whole Mosaick Law is but a shadow of good things to come Heb. 10. 1. All the things contained in it are but rude
the Ear. If I would go abroad and observe what hath been found out for the Use and Benefit of Mans Life I might take notice of that so Pleasant and Profitable Commodity of Sugar For whereas former Ages knew the use of Honey only as the Universal Sweetner there is now discover'd a more convenient one by which a great part of our Food is made more delicious and many things in Physick are prepar'd and by which the whole work of Confectioning is maintain'd It is true Pliny speaks of Sugar Saccharum as it was taken out of the Canes and saith it was used in Medicines but it was rare and in small quantities and in Galen's time it was scarcely known and then it was used raw and indigested and was unserviceable to many Purposes But at last this useful Condiment was Boyl'd and Bak'd Dried and Condens'd and made up as now we see it This is an Invention not above 200 Years old And the first Confectioner● or Comfit-maker in England was one Baltazar Zanches a Spaniard A. D. 1596. I might mention the many Ingenious and Artificial Contrivances about Planting Agriculture ordering of Bees Architecture Painting which last is in some respects much better and more exact than it was of old as Monsie●r Perault hath shew'd And in several other things the Moderns have made great and worthy Improvements and very considerable Additions to what was before But I will confine my self to some of the Arts and Sciences and briefly recount some of the Improvements which have been made in them To begin with Medicks unto which Anatomy belongs it is true Pliny tells us that the Egyptian Kings caused Dead Bodies to be cut up to find out the Situation and Structure of the Parts of Man's Body and the Causes of Diseases But another tells us that Hierophilus was the first that Diffected the Bodies o● Men he was Contemporary with Phalaris and practis'd this on Malefactors that were sent to him out of the Prisons Democritus of old used Dissections by the same token that he was thought by the Abderites to be made for doing so i. e. for cutting up Cats and Dogs But it doth not appear that he or Hippocrates or Galen or any of the Famed Physicians open'd Humane Bodies But we have of late ventured to search frequently into these as well as those of Brutes and from both we have found out several things worth our search The Circulation of the Blood may justly pass for a New Invention even the Discovery of this Age for though some and even a Physician too have thought that Solomon meant this by the Wheel as the Cistern Eccl. 12. 6. Though Plato in his Timaeus seems to have had some knowledge of this according to others and though a late Writer before mentioned affirms very confidently that the Chinese were no Strangers to it above 4000 Years ago yet we are not certain that the Wise Man's Words are to be understood with reference to this thing and Plato's Words can much less be understood so and that Relation concerning the People of China as well as their extravagant Computation is disbelieved by most of the Learned Or say that this was not first found out by Dr. Harvey yet if we consider that he was the Person who so plainly Illustrated this matter and set down the true way and method of it and clearly demonstrated how this Operation in the Body is perform'd and fully answer'd all the Arguments and Objections which were brought against it we may justly stile him the first Inventor of it Not to speak of the Infusion or Injection of Blood into the Veins of Animals first used by Dr. Wren which afterwards was advanced into Transfusion and first practised by Dr. Lower I might mention several New Passages and Conveyances in the Body lately found out as the Valuae of the Veins by Fabricius ab Aquapendente the Lymphatick Vessels by Bartholine the Lacteal Veins dispers'd through the Mesentery by Asellius the Common Receptacle of the Chyle fastned to the Vertebr● of the Back a little above the Reins and the Lacteal Veins of the Breast or the Ductus Thoracicus which go from the Receptaculum to the Subclavian Veins found out by Pecquet Glisson hath nobly search'd into the Liver Wharton into the Glandules Willis hath discover'd several things in the Brain And what plenty of useful Inventions do we meet with in the Writings of Sylvius Bilsius De Graeff Diemerbroek Malpighius Ves●ingius Densingius Steno Highmore c. Indeed Physick and Anatomy have had the greatest Improvements of late of any Faculty whatsoever Medicks are exceedingly Cultivated the Nature of Diseases is more narrowly enquired into and understood the Signs and Symptoms of them are daily more manifested and the Therapeutick part is infinitely more inlarged and advanced by a mixing of Galenical and Chymical Medicines by the vast variety of Observations and Experiments and by the Skill and Sagacity of those that have lately labour'd in that Art so that this Age is grown Famous for Great and Wonderful Cures and the Health and Long Life of Man are marvellously promoted In Astronomy there are New Discoveries also The late Ages have been more knowing in the Heavens than those that went before Now we are acquainted with the Suns Spots i. e. the Filth and Scum which it sometimes contracts the Mountains and Shadows of the Moon the Lunulae or Satellites of Iupiter mutually Eclipsing one another and the Ansulae Saturni So that whereas heretofore there were but Seven Planets known now Six more are added 4. about Iupiter and 2. about Saturn We have found Mercury and Venus to be Horn'd and to be subject to the other Aspects of the Moon The Stars are grown into Suns in our Days for there are as many Suns as Fixed Lights and there is on difference between these and that Luminous Body which we call the Sun but that they are further off from us than this There are New Hypotheses of the Heavens and the Earth and of the Rest and Motion of either which if they be not adjusted to exact Truth yet serve to illustrate and better set forth the Doctrine of the Celestial Bodies and their various Phaenomena and thereby to lead us to admire the Wonders of the Creation and to extol and praise the Great and All-wise Contriver of this Mundane Fabrick Nor is Astronomy yet come to its Zenith to its Meridian We on good Grounds expect that by the benefit of the Optick Tubes and Telescopes which are every day growing more perfect we shall penetrate farther into the Nature of the Heavenly Bodies and have a more compleat insight into them And it is not to be doubted that we shall in time have a more correct Account of the Suns Course and consequently a Reformation of the Calender and then that Complaint will cease that the present Computation is not exactly agreeable to the Natural Motion of the Sun or Earth Arithmetick is mightily