step to Idolatry which of all his Works may justly be stiled his Chief Master-piece It is true the wisest of the Pagans asserted One God and knew that there were not Different Deities but the generality of them thought and believed otherwise and the Philosophers themselves complied with these Vain Worshippers and so confirmed the People in their Error Nothing is more evident than that the greater part of the World heretofore declared for a Multiplicity of Gods The Idea of God like some great Mirror was broken in pieces by the Heathens and in every one of these they saw a Deity or fancied they did so Every Attribute of God was a Distinct God But this was more pardonable they proceeded to worship the Heavenly Bodies and ascrib'd Life and Divinity to them Nay they ransack'd for Gods and Goddesses below as well as above they found them in the Earth and in the Deep as well as in the Heavens The Number of these Deities had reached to thirty thousand in * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiod's Time and they were almost as many more afterwards for if Varro's Computation be right there were above that Number of Gods and Goddesses worshipp'd by the Europeans alone Nor would one way of worshipping them serve their turn There were as many various Rites and different Sacrifices as there were Deities the Solemnities which were performed to one would not suffice another Nothing forsooth would please Ceres but a Sow nothing would serve Aesculapius but a Cock and the most acceptable Offering to Neptune was a Bull. The Pagans fancied that one God delighted in this Oblation and another in that and therefore to be sure to please them they had Particular Services and Diversities of Worship for them Egypt was the most fruitful Soil for this it furnish'd the rest of the World with Gods The Grecians who afterwards stock'd the Romans took the Names of their Gods their Temples their Altars their Images and most of their Superstitious Ceremonies from that Country as * In Euterpe Herodotus testifieth And with him agrees †Lib. 22. c. 43. Ammianus Marcâ—llinus who positively tells us that all Idolatry came from Egypt And ‖ Lib. 17. Strabo and others acquaint us that All sorts of Living Creatures were worshipped by the Inhabitants of that place That Sheep and such-like Animals had Divine Respect paid to them is attested by the most Ancient and Undoubted Annals of Holy Scripture for it is said in Gen. 46. 34. that a Shepherd is an Abomination to an Egyptian viz. because the Egyptians did not kill or eat Sheep or such-like Animals but look'd upon them as Sacred Hence Moses saith * Ex. 8. 26. Shall we sacrifice the Abomination of the Egyptians before their Eyes and will they not stone us i. e. If we sacrifice Sheep or Oxen Creatures that they worship and abominably idolize they will be incensed against us They abhorred the Iâ—ws because they were generally Shepherds and fed upon that sort of Animals and used them in Sacâ—ifice And this it is probable was the reason why when Ioseph entertainâ—d his Brethren at Dinner they did eat asunder because it was an Abomination to the Egyptians to eat Bread with thâ— Hebrews Gen. 43. 32. For as Oâ—kelas here adds the Hebrews eat those Animals which the â—gyptians worship And for this Cauâ—e the Israelites lived apart in the Land of Goshâ—n And besides they were not permitted to Sacrifice all the time they were in Egypt as appears from those words of God to Moses Exod. 9. 13. Let the People go that they may serve me i. e. that they may Sacrifice unto me as appears from Ch. 10. 25. which implies that they were not permitted to Sacrifice before and the Reason was because the Egyptians would not let them kill and offer in the Fire those Animals which they had so great a regard for and even Deified So besotted were these Gentile Adorers that not only Irrational but Inanimate Creatures were deified by them You might have seen the Greatest Men to whom others bowed and did lowly obeisance prostrate themselves to Stocks and Stones to Wood and Brass and Iron shaped into Gods and by the Art of Masons Carpenters and Smiths made Deities This was the Idolatry which obtain'd so much in the World this was the Capital Enormity of Mankind this was the Main Guilt which they were polluted with as * Principale crimen generis humani summus 〈◊〉 reasons De Idololar cap. 1. Tertullian call'd it Our Learned Dr. Hammond thinks this is meant by the Apostle in Rom. 8. 20. The Creature was made subject to Vanity for he takes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Gentile World and Vanity for Idolatry as this is called very frequently in the Old Testament The Heathen World was every where enslaved subjected to this Vile Sin though not willingly i. e. as this Author expounds it the Devil forced them to it otherwise he would not be appeased But this gross Folly and Madness was soon disgraced and discountenanced by the introducing of Christianity and even in Egypt the Mother and Nurse of all Idolatry where Garlicks and Onions no very fragrant Deities had Veneration paid them and Cats and Crocodiles were good fashionable Gods where they worship'd all things in Nature where every thing living or dead was a Deity even here this Prodigious Idolatry was destroy'd by Christ's Coming for upon on St. Mark 's preaching there and at Alexandria especially Images were soon demolished the Counterfeit Gods were thrown away and the only True God Father Son and Holy Ghost were worshipp'd with an unanimous Veneration At Rome it self and even in Nero's Palace and in all the Territories belonging to the Roman Emperours there were some to be found who discover'd their hatred and detestation of Idols and adored the True God in Spirit and in Truth But the Pagan Worship had got such deep rooting in the Hearts of Men and had by long Custom and Prescription so gained their good Will and Approbation that almost four Centuries of Years had passed after Christ's Incarnation before it could be universally extirpated and the True Worship of God become the Religion of the Roman Empire Constantine the Great made the first remarkable and generous Essay towards this Glorious Work in his Reign it was that Idolatry received its greatest mortification and he was succeeded by many Worthies that imitated him Let all the Images be pluck'd up from their Seats was * In Cod. Theodos. l. 16. Tit. 11. Honorius's Constitution and by the Edict of Theodosius and Valentinian the Idol Temples were all demolished and Idolatry every where in their Dominions destroyed and all False Gods discarded Thus the Blessed Work went on with great Life and Vigour being set forward by Royal Hands and those Hands being strengthned by the Son of God Therefore the Pious Father said well * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Lib. de Incarnat Verbi Dei When the
reading a Sentence in Plato's Works he was excited to leave Paganism and to embrace Christianity Theodoret another Greek Father in that known Treatise of his wherein he addresses himself to the Grecians makes it evident to them that the Evangelical Truth is consonant to and may be confirmed by the Gentile Philosophy in some parts of it St. Ierome a Latin Father altho once in a Dream he thought he was beaten for reading Tully and such like Authors yet in his Epistle to Magnus a Roman Orator after he had shew'd what Allowance Human Learning hath in Sacred Scripture sets down in order the Fathers who made use of the Writings of the Gentiles in confuting their Errors and in his 84th Epistle he gives an account why he himself in his Writings made use of secular Learning And as I related before how Iustin was guided to Christianity by a Sentence in his Master Plato so you may be certified from St. Augustin himself †Confession l. 8. c. 7. that he was very much helped forward toward imbracing the Christian Faith by reading one of Tully that great Philosopher his Dialogues which is put out in Hortensius his Name These things thus alledged represent to us the Usefulness and Serviceableness of true and sober Philosophy This certainly is a great Help to Religion yea a part of it For a Philosopher as Tully defines him and not amiss ‖ Philosophus is est qui omnium rerum divinarum atque humanarum naturam causasque noscit omnem bene vivendi rationem tenet ac prosequitur De Oratore 1. Is one that enquires into and is acquainted with the Nature and Causes of all things relating to God and Man i. e. so far as Natural Reason will conduct him and he is one that both knows and pursues all the ways of living well Or take the Description of the rectified Philosophy in the words of Maximus Tyrius * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dissertaâ— 15. It is saith he such an accurate knowledg of Divine and Human Things as leads to Vertue and conduceth to excellent Reasonings and causes a Melody and apt Proportion in a Man's Life and teacheth us Moderation and Right Conduct of our Manners Hierocles is short but very full †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philosophy is the Purgation and Perfection of Man's Life This clears the Mind of Pollution this enlightens and consummates Human Nature This I may call the Vrim and Thummim of the Heathen Moralists the Light and Perfection which they attained to Philo's Definition of Philosophy agrees with this but advanceth it yet higher ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Opiâ— Mundi It is that saith he by which Man tho he be mortal attains to Immortality And that is a high Flight of Cicero who as it were speaking to Philosophy saith thus * Est unus dies bene ex praeceptis tuis actus peccaâ—ti immortalitati anteponendus Tusc. qu. 2. One single day well spent in the Observance of thy Dictates and Rules is to be preferred before an Eternity of living after the vicious way of the World But if we should speak moderately certainly what the Apostle saith of the Law is the least that can be said of true Philosophy viz. It is good if a Man use it lawfully It may be serviceable to excellent Ends and Purposes if it be rightly made use of and in a way subordinate to the revealed Truth of Scripture We may be assured thereof that St. Paul here condemns not Philosophy and Human Learning as they are considered in themselves but only with respect to the Abuse and Corruption of them St. Paul himself was bred up first at Tarsus a noted School of Learning and afterwards sat at the feet of a famous Doctor of the Law who was Nephew of Hillel Prince of the Sanhedrim and was if we may credit our learned Antiquary created by him a Jewish Elder and a Member of that venerable Council He was the greatest Master of Logick and Reason of all the Apostles a profound and accurate Disputant and one no less seen in the Syriack Greek and Latin Tongues than in the Hebrew Traditions and Jewish Constitutions His citing of the Greek Poets assures us of his Skill in that sort of Learning And who now will believe that he wholly neglected the Philosophers none surely who considers that he was signally called to be the Apostle of the Gentiles and that he chiefly repaired to those Countries where there was the greatest number of these as St. Peter most of all applied himself to the Iews our Apostle being the fittest Person to preach to them who were Professors of Reason and Lovers of Arts and Ingenuity Among these he would by no means inveigh against Philosophy as it was pure and innocent but finding it to be miserably corrupted and perverted and to have espoused many fond and absurd Principles and to have abetted many undue Practices there was Reason he should declare against it And indeed this Corruption had been of a long date insomuch that in the days of the Asmonaeans †Grotius in locum it was decreed That that Parent should be pronounced accursed who taught his Son the Philosophy of the Greeks Now if the Jews thought it would corrupt and debauch their Children it is no wonder that St. Paul saw it would be injurious to the Christian Proselytes and undermine the Principles of the Gospel Yea it is very probable that at this time when the Apostle writ to the Colossians the Christians began to mix their Christian Divinity with the Subtilties of Philosophy and so to corrupt the Mysteries of Christianity with those Sophistries and by that means to bring in Heresies Thereupon the Apostle remonstrates against this Abuse of Philosophy as a thing of very dangerous Consequence such as would pervert the Minds of Christians and prove hazardous even to Christianity it self Wherefore he warns his Christian Converts of Coloss against this corrupt way of Philosophizing Beware saith he lest any Man spoil you through Philosophy and vain Deceit Observe the Apostle's manner of expressing himself Lest any Man spoil you The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Military Term and sometimes is used in the Imperial Laws particularly concerning Reprisals More generally it signifies Praedam abigere to carry off the Prey or Booty either at Land or Sea The Apostle then doth very emphatically express his meaning when he saith Beware lest any one spoil you i. e. take from you by Force prey upon you make a Prize of you rob you of your Christianity through Philosophy and vain Deceit i. e. through the vain deceit of Philosophy or the Philosophy which is both vain and deceitful This is a common Figure not only used by our Apostle but by other accurate Wâ—iters The Apostle proceeds in the latter part of the Text to tell us the Rise of the Grecian Philosophy which was so vain and deceitful It is after the
7. 2 Chron. 11. 15. Isa. 13. 21. 34. 14. And 't is likely this worshipping of Satyrs was a piece of Devilish Idolatry which they learnt and brought from * Diodor. Sic. l. 1. Egypt where 't was practis'd But this we are certain of from a more sure word as you heard that the Devils themselves were adored by them And concerning the Gentiles Worship the Apostle is peremptory 1 Cor. 10. 20. The things which the Gentiles sacrificed they sacrificed to Devils and not to God Whereas the Greeks used to call the Victims or Beasts which they offer'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Apostle on the contrary plainly stiles them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things sacrificed to Idols 1 Cor. 8. 1 4 7. 10. 19 28. In which places Idols are no other than Diabolick Spirits which inhabited in those Idols But Christ by his coming soon put a Period to this Hellish Usage When the Devil was so impudent as to make that offer to him All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me he presently rebuked the bold Spirit by alledging what was written not only in the Law but in all Mens Hearts that they should worship the Lord their God and serve him only And by the whole System of his Heavenly Doctrine he built up this Truth and pull'd down the Contrary and all the least Tendencies to it After our Saviour left this Earth his Apostles and Followers managed the same Work and endeavour'd by all means to run down this Cursed Project of the Devil viz. of his being worship'd As a particular Effect of their Care to baffle this Design we read that the Primitive Christians solemnly vowed at their Baptism to renounce the Devil and all his Works By which * De Spectac c. 4. saith Tertullian is principally meant Idolatry yea and the worst kind of Idolatry a giving Divine Honour and Worship to those that are Devils and not Gods a Sin very common at Christ's Coming into the World the greatest part of it at that time living in this Vile Practice therefore â—aith this Father this was made a chief part of the Baptismal Vow that the Proselytes and Converts to Christianity should in a solemn manner bid Defiance to that detestable Enormity of the Heathens Conformably to this our Learned †Dr. Hammond Pract. Cat. l. 6. Sect. 3. P. 375. Catechist in reply to that Question What is meant by the Devil and all his Works answers thus Certainly the principal thing here renounced is the False Gods i. e. Devils which the Heathen World did worship so universally before Christ's Time and against which the Catechists who prepared all for Baptism did first labour to fortify their Disciples and are for that Cause called in the Ancient Church Exorcists as those that cast out these Devils Very near a-kin to This is that which is added next in the Solemn Vow at Baptism viz. The renouncing the Vain Pomp and Glory of the World For that word Pomp in its Original meaning refers to the Idolatrous Shews of the Heathens it properly signifying sending of some thing and carrying it up and down to be seen and exposed so that hereby are denoted those Splendid Sights and Stately Processions in use of old among the Heathens at which Solemn Times the Images the Thrones the Ornaments and all the Habiliments as also the Oblations and Sacrifices which were to be offer'd to their Gods were carried openly through the Streets and Honour was done to these false Deities The Ancient Fathers of the Church very strictly caution'd their Flock against these Devilish Customs and particularly when they admitted Converts into the Church by Baptism they took care to fortify them against them Hence may be observed the Antiquity of the Form and Office of Baptism which our Church makes use of at this Day The solemn Renuntiation of the Devil and his Works and of the Pomp and Vanity of the World is as old as Primitive Christianity Yea some Learned Men have thought that the Apostle St. Peter alludes to it in his 1 Epist. Chap. 3. v. 21. and that the Answer of a good Conscience there refers to the manner of Interrogation and Answer used in Baptism But this by the by That which you are chiefly to take notice of is that whereas the Wicked Ghosts and Daemons were ambitious of Divine Adoration it pleased God so to bless and succeed the Christian Religion that in a short time this wicked Usage wore away this cursed Work of the Devil came to nought the Christian Faith being by the wonderful Providence of Heaven â—â—opagated so universally through the World Sixthly I conceive that by the Works of the Devil are meant here especially those Sins which have most of his Image upon them and wherein Men more immediately and directly resemble that Accursed Spirit those Works which the Devil chiefly tempts Men to and which he himself is observed to practise most As first Malice and Envy are the proper Guise and Character of Devils for these lapsed Spirits being irrecoverably damned themselves are fired with Revenge and Malice against all Mankind being thrust down from Heaven they endeavour to hinder us from coming thither Wherefore Envy which is a Grieving at the Good and Welfare of others Sporting with Mens Infirmities Exposing them to Obloquy and Disgrace Delighting in the Miseries of those we affect not Rejoicing at the Evils which befal others these have all an Impress of the Devilish Spirit on them Our Saviour pronounced concerning the Pharisees whom he found to be Envious and Malicious that the Works of their Father they would do plainly giving us to understand that these Vices are more eminently Diabolical But the Laws of Christianity strictly enjoin us * 1 Pet. 2. 1. to lay aside all Malice and Envy and command us to †Rom. 12. 15. rejoice with them that rejoice to weep with them that weep and ‖ V. 10. to be kindly affectioned one towards another and to delight in the Welfare and Happiness of our Brethren Again Rage and Passion Bitter Strife and Contention may be justly ranked among the Devil's Works Schism and Faction are from him who was the first Mutineer and Rebel against Heaven and ever since delights in Wars and Tumults and loves to ruffle and embroil the World and raise Tempests and Storms in it But Christ Jesus our Blessed Peace-maker and Reconciler came to remove all Grounds of Difference and to introduce Universal Love and Charity And Christianity it self is furnish'd with Peaceable and Healing Principles and offers all the Motives and Incentives to it imaginable The Laws of Christ are fully set against all undue Passion and Choler and there are in no Institution whatsoever so severe Prohibitions of this Diabolical Temper * Ephes. 4. 31. Let all Bitterness and Wrath and Anger be put away from you †V. 26 27. Let not the Sun go down on your Wrath neither give