his heart to attribute it unto him 76. A fragment taken out of Athanasius concerning the Observation of Sabbaths Unto these there are added seven homilies more never before extant by Lucas Holsteinius out of the French Kings the Vatican and Oxford Libraries and they are these following 1. Of the taxing of the Virgin Mary upon Luke 2. 1. 2. Upon Matth. 21. 2. Upon whiâ—h text we had an Homily before viz. the 41. in this Catalogue 3. Upon Luke 19. 36. which with the former Holstein verily believes to be of Athanasius 4. Upon the Treason of Iudas which as also the following hath the Character of Athanasius by Photius 5. Upon the holy Pascha which of all is the best and most Elegant 6. Upon the man that was born blind Iohn 9. 1. which together with the following hath nothing of Athanasius in it nec vola nec vestigium but the title only 7. Upon the Fathers and Patriarchs a most foolish rustick and barbarous piece They may all well be conceived to be of very small credit having lain so long dormant Also certain Commentaries upon the Epistles of Paul are by some ascribed unto Athanasius which yet are not his but Theophylacts Some of his works are lost of which the Names or Titles are these that follow 1. Commentaries upon the whole book of Psalms which I think saith Holstein to be Palmarium Athanasii opus the chief of Athanasius his works 2. Upon Ecclesiastes 3. Upon the Canticles 4. A Volum upon Iohn § 4. Athanasius hath a peculiar stile or manner of speech making use of words which were known only unto the age wherein he lived and neither before nor after The subject whereof he for the most part treateth being very high viz. of the Trinity of the Son begotten of the Father before all time equal unto him but distinct in person from him c. Yet making use of terms very apt to express those hidden and mysterious things by which cannot well be rendred in the Latine or other Tongue without loss or lessning the grace of them such are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He shunneth all flourishes and expresseth the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God in Evangelical words In his speech he useth much simplicity gravity and energy and saith Erasmus he is wonderful in teaching He is most plain in his Commentaries yet in all his writings perspicuous sober and candid in his five books against Arius vehement and profound managing his arguments very strongly moreover so fruitful is he and abundant as is indeed very admirable But his Epistles especially those wherein by way of Apology he excuseth his flight are both elegant and splendid and composed with much clearness flourishing with such neatness and force of perswasion that it is pleasant to hear how he pleads for himself § 5. Many are the memorable and worthy passages that are to be found in his works for a tast I shall present you with these that follow 1. His Symbol or Creed every where received and recited in the Churches both of the East and West it was so famous and generally approved of that it was embraced with an unanimous consent as the distinguishing Character between the Orthodox and Hereticks Nazianzen calls it a magnificent and princely gift Imperatori inquit donum verè regium magnificum offert Scriptam nimirum fidei confessionem adversus novum dogma nusquam in Scripturâ expressum ut sic Imperatorem Imperator doctrinam doctrina libellum libellus frangeret atque opprimeret It is as it were an interpretation of those words of Christ Iohn 17. 3. This is life eternal to know thee the only true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent And may be divided into these two parts 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanasius saith Doctor Andrews in his speech against Mr. Trask was great for his Learning for his Vertue for his Labors for his sufferings but above all Great for his Creed The words whereof are these Whosoever will be saved before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholick Faith which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled without doubt he shall perish everlastingly And the Catholick faith is this That we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity Neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance For there is one Person of the Father another of the Son and another of the holy Ghost But the Godhead of the Father of the Son and of the holy Ghost is all one the glory equal the Majesty Coeternal Such as the Father is such is the Son and such is the holy Ghost The Father uncreate the Son uncreate and the holy Ghost uncreate The Father incomprehensible the Son incomprehensible and the holy Ghost incomprehensible The Father eternal the Son eternal and the holy Ghost eternal And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal As also there are not three incomprehensibles nor three uncreated but one uncreated and one incomprehensible So likewise the Father is Almighty the Son Almighty and the holy Ghost Almighty and yet they are not three Almighties but one Almighty So the Father is God the Son is God and the holy Ghost is God and yet they are not three Gods but one God So likewise the Father is Lord the Son Lord and the holy Ghost Lord and yet not three Lords but one Lord. For like as we be compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord so are we forbidden by the Catholick Religion to say there be three Gods or three Lords The Father is made of none neither created nor begotten The Son is of the Father alone not made nor created but begotten The holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son neither made nor created nor begotten but proceeding So there is one Father not three Fathers one Son not three Sons one holy Ghost not three holy Ghosts And in this Trinity none is afore or after other none is greater or less then another But the whole three Persons be coeternal together and coequal So that in all things as is aforesaid the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God is God and Man God of the substance of the Father begotten before the worlds and Man of the substance of his Mother born in the world Perfect God and perfect Man of a reasonable soul and humane flesh subsisting Equal to the Father as touching his Godhead and inferior to the Father touching his manhood Who though he be God and Man
what their life and doctrine is and why they contemn death As not the two first so neither are these two last mentioned by Eusebius or Ierom yet are all these seven conceived to be the proper works of Iustine Besides these there are other extant under his name which yet are either question'd or conceived to be none of his but supposititious falsly ascribed to him They may be discerned from those that are genuine either by the diversity of the Stile or some other evident Notes distinguished the one from the other And they are these that follow 1. His Book de Monarchia the Stile whereof is not unlike that of Iustine yet is it doubtful whether he were the Author of it 1. Because the Title differs from that mentioned by Eusebius Ierom Photius and Suidas who intitle the Book written by him de Monarchia Dei whereas this is only de Monarchia 2. In that he tells that he fetcheth Testimonies not only from our own Authors i. e. the sacred Scriptures but also Writings of the Heathens whereas in this now extant the later sort of Testimonies only are to be found Gelenius also in his Latin Edition of the Works of Iustin which he saith comprehended all those then extant leaves this out altogether Perionius therefore concludes that either this that we now have is not perfect but wants many pages or else for certain Iustin wrote another Book upon this Subject Miraeus is of this judgement that half of the other Book de Monarchia remains and that half of one Book de Monarchia Dei is lost The sum of it is to exhort the Greeks to leave their idolatry and to worship the true God whom their Poets did acknowledge to be the only Creator and Governour of all things but made no reckoning at all of their feigned gods 2. An exposition of the true Faith or of a right Confession of the holy and coessential Trinity Which by divers Arguments may evidently be proved to be none of his especially 1. By the Stile which seems to differ from that of Iustin being more curt and neat than his 2. Because he speaks much more apertly and distinctly of the Mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation than the Writers of that age are wont to do 3. None of the Ancients make mention of it 4. The words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. were not then so usual in the Church nor are they any where to be found in the Writings of Iustin when as yet he sometimes professedly handles the Doctrine of the Trinity Bellarmine himself therefore is doubtful of it Ambigo saith he â—n ejus sit and well he might there being so much cause But whoever were the Author of it it is an excellent and profitable discourse and worthy of such an Author as Iustin. Herein he shews that there is indeed but one God who is known in the Father Son and holy Spirit and that these three have but one and the same Essence as also discourseth of the Incarnation of the Word who is Mediator according to both Natures the manner of the Union whereof in Christ is ineffable 3. A confutation of certain Opinions of Aristotle which saith Possevine Iustin did not write neither will Baronius undertake to determine whether it be his or no. Eusebins Ierom and Suidas mention it not for which cause it is justly rejected as not written by Iustin though Photius speak of it as his and it have no evident note of falshood in the judgement of Bellarmine Therefore saith he I have nothing to say one way or other 4. Certain Questions propounded by the Christians to the Gentiles and their Answers to them together with a confutation of those Answers Which piece as the Stile bewrays it to be none of Iustins so may it easily be discerned also from the often mention of the Manichees in the confutation of the answer to the first question who arose above an hundred years after Iustin. 5. Certain questions propounded by the Greeks or Gentiles with the answers of the Christians unto them Which are ranked with the former by the Centurists 6. This answers to 146 questions unto the Orthodoxes it seem not to Iustins saith Possevine the same thinks Bellarmine yea that this is certain many things contained in them do plainly evince As 1. Some words which were not in use in the Church till a long time after Iustin. e. g. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 2. In them is cited Irenaeus Quest. 115. whom he stiles a Martyr yet did Iustin die some fourty years before viz. An. 165. where Irenaeus suffered Martyrdom an 205. according to the account of Baronius Also Origen is quoted Quest. 82. 86. who yet was long after Iustin. 3. Divers passages are here to be found which are cross to what is contained in the genuine Writings of Iustin. e. g. That the Witch of Endor did but delude the eye that they seemed to see Samuel when 't was not he Quest. 52. whereas Iustin asserteth that 't was the true Samuel that was raised Also Quest. 112. the Angel that spake with Iacob and Moses and other of the Patriarchs is said to be a created Angel and that for his office committed to him he was honoured with the name of God Whereas Iustin earnestly contends and affirms that that Angel was Christ the Son of God Add hereto that the stile shews them to be counterfeit which seems saith Sixtus Senensis not unlike unto that of Theodoret in his questions upon the Octoteuch and it is conceived that they were written by some one who lived about that time Besides all this there are among them so many questions and answers unworthy of the Piety Candour and Learning of Iustin that if they be compared with his true Writings they will be found to differ no less than Gold and Lead the one from the other Upon how frail a foundation then are those unsound Doctrines of the Papists built for the proof whereof these spurious Writings are often alledged viz. the lawful use of the Cross the Virgin Mary without sin keeping and worshipping of Reliques religious Vows Baptism necessary unto Salvation the use of Chrism Ceremonies of the Mass Free-will and that Confirmation is a Sacrament § 4. The stile that Iustin used was vehement and worthy of one that handled serious matters but it came nearer to that of the Philosopher than to that of the Orator which is the reason why he is sometimes obscure § 2. Many things of special Note and very observable are to be met withal in this ancient Author among the rest are such as these 1. He acquaints us with the manner of the Christians performance of the duties of worship in their publick Assemblies which was thus Upon the day which is called Sunday saith he or the first day of the Week are the Meetings or publick Assemblies
have been both written by the same Author not Athanasius but one Maximus a very Learned Man many years after the death of Athanasius Scultetus tells us that he hath seen the name of Maximus upon a certain old Parchment in which these Dialogues were wrapt up This Maximus was a Constantinopolitane Monk who lived in the time of Pope Honorius a Monothelite and died Ann. Six hundred fifty seven The Catalogue of whose book mentioned by Photius or which are in the Vaticane Library contains divers that have the very same title with those which are inserted among the works of Athanasius 64. A book of divers questions of the Sacred Scripture unto King Antiochus which appears to be supposititious because first Athanasius himself is therein cited quaest 23. and that under the name of Athanasius the Great which would have argued too much arrogance Secondly Many things are to be found therein which are dissonant from the judgment of Athanasius Thirdly The Mystical Theology of Dionysius Areopagita is alledged therein which I suppose saith Sixtus Senensis was altogether unknown in the time of Athanasius he conjectures it to have been collected out of the writings of the Fathers by some studious man Fourthly The questions are variously reckoned in some Copies there being only fourty and six in others one hundred sixty and two Fifthly Gregory Nazianzen is twice named in it Also there are cited Gregory Nyssen and Epiphanius as ancient authors yet was Athanasius before them also Chrysostom Scala Iohannis Maximus Nicephorus c. all of them juniors unto Athanasius Sixthly Yea quaest 108. the Romans are said to be a kind of Franks whence he evidently appears to be a late author for all those of the West are called Franks in the Turks Dominions Luce ergò clarius est inquit Cocus libellum hunc filium esse populi nec novisse parentem suum Yet is the authority hereof urged by many of the Romanists to prove that there are nine orders of Angels that the Saints departed do know all things images lawful distinction of sins orders of Monks necessity of baptism Sacrament of pennance prayer for the dead Antichrist to be a certain person the sacrifice of the Altar c. 65. Questions of the words and interpretations of the Evangelical parables they are supposititious for they are gathered out of Chrysostom Cyril of Alexandria and Gregory Nyssen their very names being expressed 66. Certain other Anonymous questions which appear to be spurious in all likelyhood the work of some late Greek for in them the procession of the holy Ghost from the Son is denied 67. The life of Antony the Monk That such a narration was written by Athanasius both Nazianzen and Ierome do affirm But that this now extant should be the same believe it who will I doubt not saith Scultelus but that it is the figment of some foolish man for endeavoring to shew how in the whole course of his life Antony imitated Christ he talks childishly and ridiculously and there are many things in it saith Tossanus that are fabulous and savour not of the gravity and simplicity of Athanasius Besides some report Antony to have been a Lawyer and very learned but this Author makes him altogether illiterate But that this is an Ancient Legend appears from hence that Damaseen cites a place out of it Yet is it but a Fable and no more notwithstanding all Bellarmines vain confidence to the contrary 68. A Sermon in Parasceuen or the preparation which I find no where mentioned but in the Parisian Edition by Nannius only Possevine saith that it was first set forth in Greek and Latine in the Antwerp Edition 69. Certain fragments of Athanasius upon the Psalms taken out of Nicetas his Catena with some other out of other Authors 70. Eleven books of the united Deity of the Trinity others reckon but seven they are found only in Latine and seem to have been written in that Language and not Translated out of the Greek as appears partly from the Stile and partly because the Author tells us how those things are expressed by the Greeks which he wrote in Latine he also confutes one Vrbicus Potentinus a disciple or follower of Eunomius which Athanasius could not do 71. A disputation concerning the Faith held at Laodicea between Athanasius and Arius it is clearly Commentitious and Counterfeit nor can it be a true disputation between those two for Athanasius is here brought in as a Deacon disputing in the second year of Constantius whereas it appears that Athanasius was made Bishop long before viz. In the one and twentieth year of Constantine the Great and Arius infamously died in the one and thirtieth year of the same Emperor who therefore could not dispute in the Reign of Constantius 2. Herein is mention made of Photinus the Heretick as if from him Arius had Learned his Heresie whereas Photinus was after Arius It seems rather to be that Dialogue which was written by Vigilius Bishop of Trent against Sabellius Photinus and Arius which he therefore set forth under the name of Athanasius that saith he persons present might seem to deal with those that were present 72. An exhortation unto the Monks It is forged 73. An Epistle unto Pope Mark for the exemplars of the Nicene Council with the answer of Mark thereunto both which without doubt are supposititious for this Mark was dead at that time when as 't is pretended this answer was written also at this time was Athanasius in banishment in France and so could not write from Alexandria So that both these Epistles and also the seventy pretended Canons of the Council of Nice contained in them are none other then a meer forgery 74. A Sermon upon the passion of our Saviour which is a meer patch taken almost verbatim out of the Sermon upon the same subject being the forth in this Catalogue 75. Of the passion of the image of Christ Crucified at Beryth in Syria It savors of the Golden Legend And that it cannot be the work of Athanasius may evidently appear from the title that Anciently was wont to be prefixed hereunto which was this D. Athanasii Archiepiscopi Alexandrini de passione imaginis Domini nostri Iesu Christi qualiter crucifixa est in Syria in urbe quae Berythus dicitur temporibus Constantini senioris Irenae uxoris ejus Now it is known unto all that Athanasius was dead some Centuries of years before the reign of those two abovementioned This Fable is by Sigebert referred unto the year Seven hundred sixty five about which time the question about worshipping of images was agitated It must needs therefore be the work of some later Author saith the Learned Daille so tastless a piece and so unworthy the gallantry and clearness of that great wit that he must be thought not to have common sense that can find in
indivisible and the operation thereof one For the Father by the Word in the holy Spirit doth all things and so the unity of the Trinity is kept or preserved and so one God in the Church is preached who is above all and through all and in all viz. above all as the Father as the beginning and fountain but through all by the Word moreover in all in or by the holy Spirit But the Trinity is not in name only or an empty form of speech but in truth and reason of subsisting the Trinity For as the Father is that very thing that he is so also the Word God over all is that very thing that he is so also the Holy Ghost is not any inessential thing but truly existeth and subsisteth 10. According to the Ecclesiastical Canons saith he as the Apostle commanded the people being gathered together with the Holy Ghost who constitute a Bishop publickly and in the presence of the Clergy craving a Bishop inquisition ought to be made and so all things canonically performed 11. Concerning the lawfulness of flight in time of persecution he thus speaks I betook me to flight not for fear of death lest any should accuse me of timidity but that I might obey the precept of our Saviour whose command it is that we should make use of flight against persecutors of hiding places against those that search for us lest if we should offer our selves unto open danger we should more sharply provoke the fury of our persecutors Verily it is all one both for a man to kill himself and to proffer himself unto the enemies to be slain but he that flees as the Lord commands knows the Articles of the time and truly provides for his persecutors lest being carried out even to the shedding of blood they should become guilty of that precept that forbids murther Again concerning the same thing 12. That law saith he is propounded unto all in general to flee when they are pursued in time of persecution and to hide themselves when they are sought for neither should they be precipitate and rash in tempting the Lord but must wait until the time appointed of dying do come or that the Judge do determine something concerning them as shall seem good unto him But yet would he have us always ready when either the time calls for it or we are apprehended to contend for the Church even unto death These things did the blessed Martyrs observe who while they lay hid did harden themselves but being found out they did undergo Martyrdom Now if some of them did render themselves unto their persecutors they were not thorough rashness moved so to do but every where professed unto all men that this promptness and offering of themselves did proceed from the Holy Ghost 13. He giveth this character of an heretick Heresie saâ—th he or an heretick may thus be known and evinced that whosoever is dear unto them and a companion with them in the same impiety although he be guilty of sundry crimes infinite vices they have arguments against him of his hainous acts yet is he approved and had in great esteem among them yea and is forthwith made the Emperour's friend c. But those that reprove their wickedness and sincerely teach the things which are of Christ though pure in all things upon any feigned Crime laid to their charge they are prefently hurried into Banishment § 6. The defects and blemishes of this eminent Father and Champion of Jesus Christ were neither so many nor so gross as are to be found in most of the Ancients that were before him yet was he not altogether free but liable to error as well as others as appears from somewhat of this kind that dropt from his pen which were especially such passages as these in his genuine works for as for the apparently supposititious I shall forbear to meddle with them having in them so much hay and stubble as we cannot imagine should pass thorow the hands of so skilful a Master-builder 1. He affirms the local descent of Christ into Hell He accomplished saith he the condemnation of sin in the earth the abolition of the curse upon the Cross the redemption from corruption in the Grave the condemnation of death in Hell Going through all places that he might every where perfect the salvation of the whole man shewing himself in the form of our image which he took upon him Again The body descended not beyond the grave the Soul pierced into Hell places severed by a vast distance the Grave receiving that which was corporeal because the body was there but Hell that which was incorporeal Hence it came to pass that though the Lord were present there incorporeally yet was he by death acknowledged to be a man that his Soul not liable unto the bands of death but yet made as it were liable might break asunder the bands of those Souls which Hell detained c. 2. Concerning the state of the Fathers before Christ that they were in Hell he thus speaks The Soul of Adam detained in or under the condemnation of death did perpetually cry unto the Lord and the rest who by the law of nature pleased God were detain'd together with Adam and were and did cry with him in grief In which passage we have also a third error of his viz. 3. That men by the law of nature may please God contrary unto what we find in Heb. 11. 6. 4. He maketh circumcision a note or sign of Baptism Abraham saith he when he had believed God received circumcision for a note or sign of that regeneration which is obtained by Baptism wherefore when the thing was come which was signified by the figure the sign and figure it self perished and ceased For circumcision was a sign but the laver of regeneration the very thing that was signified Besides these there are in him some other passages not so aptly nor warily delivered as they ought to have been viz. 1. Concerning the freedom of mans will he thus speaks The mind saith he is free and at it's own dispose for it can as incline it self unto that which is good so also turn from it which beholding its free right and power over it self it perceives that it can use the members of the Body either way both unto the things that are i.e. good things and also unto the things that are not i.e. evil 2. He is too excessive and hyperbolical in the praise of Virginity The Son of God saith he our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ among other his gifts bestowed upon us in virginity an example of angelical holiness Certainly Virgins endowed with that virtue the Catholick Church is wont to call the Spouses of Christ whom being beheld by them the very heathen do prosecute with admiration as the Temple of Christ. There is a large encomium hereof in the end of the treatise of Virginity which being but a vain
After these Iohn the Disciple of our Lord who also leaned on his breast published a Gospel remaining at Ephesus in Asia 9. When the Hereticks saith he are convinced from the Scriptures they betake them to the accusation of the Scriptures themselves as if they were not right nor of any Authority and because they are variously spoken and because from them the truth cannot be found out by them that know not Tradition 1. We ought to obey them that are Presbyters in the Church even those who have succession from the Apostles as we have shewn who together with the succession of their Bishoprick have received the certain gift of truth according to the pleasure of the Father Succession of Doctrine is the principal and without that certain gift of truth it is vain yea impious to boast of personal succession 11. Of the Translation of the Septuagint thus Ptolemy willing to have an experiment of them and fearing leâ—t perhaps by consent they should through their interpretation hide that truth which was in the Scriptures he separating them one from another commanded them all to interpret the same Scripture and this he did in all the Books when therefore they come together into one place with Ptolemy and compared their Interpretations God was glorified and the Scriptures were believed to be truly divine all of them reciting the same both in the same phrases and in the same words from the beginning to the end So that even the Gentiles that were present did acknowledge that the Scriptures were Interpreted by the Inspiration of God 12. Very memorable is that passage of his in an Epistle unto Victor Bishop of Rome recorded by Eusebius Although saith he Christians differed in their Judgements about the manner of Fasting yet notwithstanding were they at unity one with another for this variety of fasting commendeth the unity of Faith They that were Presbyters before Soter of that Church whereof now thou art President Anicetus I mean and Pius and Hyginus and Telesphorus and Xystus neither did so observe it themselves nor left any such Commandment to their posterity and yet nevertheless they not observing it were at unity with them who resorted unto them from those Churches that did observe the same when yet their observance was contrary to those who observe it not Neither was any one at any time rejected or excommunicated for such kind of fasting but those very Presbyters who were thy predecessors have sent the Eucharist to the Brethren of those Churches who kept it after their own manner And when Polycarp was at Rome in the time of Anicetus and they were at variance among themselves about some certain small and trifling matters they were soon reconciled but about this particular they had no contention at all Neither was Aniceâ—us able to perswade Polycarp mark the Roman Bishops used not it seems to command them as now that he should not retain that which he had always observed with Iohn the Disciple of our Lord and the rest of the Apostles with whom he had been conversant neither did Polycarp perswade Anicetus so to observe it but told him he ought to observe the Ancient Custom of the Elders whom he succeeded And things being at this pass they held communion one with another and in the Church Anicetus granted the Eucharist unto Polycarp for the reverence which he bare him and so they parted from each other in peace and in the Universal Church both those that did observe it and those that did not observe it were at peace one with another These and many other the like worthy sayings are to be found in the Books of this Ancient Father but let it suffice to have given you this tast of them § 6. Yet are there some things observed in him as his blemishes and failings wherein he is not to be followed because therein he swerves from that un-erring Rule the word of Truth Even the most eminent Men in the Church after the Apostles have built some hay and stubble upon the foundation they held which will not endure the trial of the Fire Those of this Father are as followeth 1. Somewhat harsh and to be corrected is that concerning Christ. Si quis exquirat causam propter quam in omnibus Pater communicans Filio solus scire horam diem Domino manifestatus est neque aptabilem magis neque decentiorem nec sine periculo alteram quam hanc inveniat in praesenti quoniam cum solus verax Magister est Dominus ut discamus per ipsum super omnia esse Patrem Etenim Pater ait major me est secundem agnitionem itaquâ— praepositus esse Pater annunciatus est à Domino Nostro ad hoc ut nos in quantum figura hujus mundi-sumus perfectam Scientiam tales quaestiones concedamus Deo Et ne fortè querentes altitudinem Patris investigare in tantum periculum incidamus uti quaeramus an super Deum alter sit Deus 2. He hath some passages concerning free will not to be admitted though again in other places he hath somewhat directly opposite thereunto E.g. Dedit deus bonum qui operantur quidem illud gloriam honoreâ— percipient quoniam operati sunt bonum cum possint non operari illud Hi autem qui illud non operantur judicium justum recipient Dei quoniam non sunt operati bonum cum possint operari illud Item Quoniam omnes sunt ejusdem naturae potentes retinere operari bonum potentes rursum amittere id non facere justè etiam apud homines sensatos quanto magis apud Deum alii quidem laudantur dignum percipiunt testimonium electionis bonae perseverantiae alii verò accusantur dignum percipiunt damnum eò quòd justum bonum reprobaverint Adhuc Quoniam liberae sententiae est Deus eujus ad similitudinem factus est semper consilium datur ei continere bonum quod proficiscitur ex eâ quae est ad Deum obedientiâ Et non tantum in operibus sed etiam in fide liberum suae potestatis arbitrium homini servavit Dominus Contrà Dominus pollicitus est mittere se paracletum qui nos aptaret Deo Sicut enim de arido tritico massa una fieri non potest sine humore neque unus panis Ita nec nos multi unum fieri in Christo Iesu poteramus sine aquâ quae de caelo est Et sicut arida terra si non percipiat humorem non fructificat sic noâ— lignum aridum existentes primum nunquam fructificaremus vitam sine supernâ voluntariâ pluviâ i. e. Spiritu Sancto 3. His opinion concerning the Age of Christ is evidently contrary to what may be collected from the History of the Evangelists for thus saith he Omnes venit per seipsum salvare omnes inquam qui per â—um rena
bonus est benedicat te Deus Deus videt omnia Deo commendo Deus reddet Deus inter nos judicabit c. His last words in this Treatise are remarkable which are these Mâ—ritò igitur omnis anima rea testis est in tantum rea erroris in quantum testis veritatiâ— stabit ante aulas Dei die judicii nihil habens dicere Deum praedicabas non requirebas Daemonia abominabaris ilâ—a adorabas judicium Dei appellabas nec esse credebas inferna supplicia praesumebas non praecavebas Christianum nomen sapiebas Christianum persâ—quebaris 22. Of the Soul wherein he handles divers questions and discusseth many controversies with the Philosophers about the essence operations adjuncts and various state of the Soul which he would have to be corporeal endued with form and figure and to be propagated and derived from the substance of the Father to the body of the Son and engendred with the body encreasing and extending it self together with it and many other the like dreams he hath in the maintaining whereof he useth so much subtilty strength of reason and eloquence as that they are the words of the learned Daille you will hardly meet with throughout the whole stock of Antiquity a more excellent and more elegant piece than this Book of his yet was it composed by him when he was turned Cataphrygian Hence Bellarmine having made use of a passage taken from hence for the proof of Purgatory the most Reverend Vsher thus replies he must give us leave saith he to put him in mind with what spirit Tertullian was lead when he wrote that Book de animâ and with what authority he strengtâ—eâ—eth that conceit of mens paying in Hell for their small faults before the Resurrection namely of the Paraclete by whom if he mean Montanus the Arch-Heretick as there is small cause to doubt that he doth we need not much envy the Cardinal for raising up so worshipful a Patron of his Purgatory 23. Of Spectacles or Plays written as Pamelius conceives in the twelfth year of Severus the Emperour in which were exhibited unto the people those plays that were called Ludi seculares because they were presented only once in an age or an hundred years unto which therefore the people were solemnly invited by a publick cry made in these words Convenite ad ludos spectandos quos neque spectavit quisquam neque spectaturus est Come ye unto those Spectacles which no man now beheld or shall behold again Hereupon Tertullian in this Book which he wrote both in Greek and Latine makes it evident that these plays had their original from idolatry and were full of all kind of cruelty and obscenity and that therefore it was utterly unlawful for Christians to behold them and that they should provoke the truth of God against them should they not fear to be present at them Therefore Constantine the Great did by a law prohibit the setting forth and frequenting of such kind of plays And herein our Author doth so largely treat of the several sorts of play which then were wont to be made use of that a curious Reader needs no other commentary fully to acquaint himself with those Antiquities 24. Of Baptism against Quintilla one of the Disciples of Montanus who denyed or took away Baptism by water of whom he scoffingly thus speaks Optimè novit pisciculoâ— necare de aquâ auferens He therefore proves that it is not an empty or idle Ceremony but of great force and virtue setting down the form and manner together with the Rites observed by the Ancients in the administration thereof and resolves divers questions about it This also was written both in Greek and Latine 25. Scorpiacum a Book against the Gnosticks so called from one Scorpianus an Heretick against whom particularly it was intended saith Pamelius but more probably from the nature of it being an antidote against the bite and sting of the Scorpion to which purpose Ierom thus speaks Scribit adversum haerâ—sim tuam quae olim erupit contra Ecclesiam ne in hoc quasi repertor novi sceleris glorieris Tertullianus vir eruditissimus insigne volumen quod Scorpiacum vocat rectissimo nomine quia arcuato vulnere in Ecclesiae corpuâ— vâ—nena diffudit quae olim appellabatur Cainâ— Haeresis multo tempore dormiens vel sepultâ— nunc à dormitantio suscitata est These Hereticks vilified Martyrdom teaching that it was not to be undergone because God would not the death of a Sinner and Christ had died that we might not die By this Doctrine they did much harm to many weak ones in the Church who to save themselves would deny Christ and offer incense Against these Tertullian herein opposeth himself proving Martyrdom to be good and setting forth the excellency thereof by many examples And in thus doing he deserved well had he not unhappy man ran afterwards into the other extreme of the Montanists who magnified Martyrdom too much denying the lawfulness of flight to avoid danger in that case as these did too much undervalue it 26. Of Idolatry written about the same time with his Book de spectaculis wherein being desirous to take away all kind of idolatry lest Christians should longer labour under gross ignorance herein he shews the original of it and how many ways and not only in the worshipping of Idols they may be guilty of it all which they ought to beware of and avoid and not to comply with Idolaters in their Festivals Solemnities and such like observations 27. Of Chastity which was written upon this occasion Zephyrinus Bishop of Rome having published an Edict in which he gave notice unto all the faithful that the Catholick Church receives such as repent though they had fallen into the sins of Fornication and Adultery Tertullian herein opposeth him as may be gathered from his own words I do hear saith he that there is an Edict published and that a pâ—remptory one Pontifex scilicet maximus Episcopus Episcoporum dicit ego moechiae fornicationis delicta paenitentiae functis dimitto O edictum cui adscribi non poterit Bonum factum Erit ergò hic adversus Psychicos so he used to call the Orthodox after he became a Montanist And herein he undertakes to answer all the arguments brought for this practice denying that such ought to be received Ierom saith that he wrote this book against repentance and wonders at the man that he should think those publicans and sinners with whom Christ did eat to be Gentiles and not Jews the better to defend his error weakly grounding his opinion upon that in Deut. 23. non erit pendeâ—s vectigal ex filiis Israel This book he wrote against the Church 28. Of Fasting against the Psychiici So as we have said he
they should have been to abstain from it Est autem hic commentarius ejusmodi ut theologi eum debeant ad unguem ediscere nam egregium monumentum est antiquitatis tam sanctè docet tam piè suadet tam instanter urget rem ecclesiasticae disciplinae summopere necessariam In the argument of this book Rhenanuâ— that expert Antiquary solertissâ—nus Tertulliani interpres hath spoken so much and so freely against the Auricular Confession of the Romish Synagogue crudelis illa conscientiarum carnificina that cruel rack of consciences that the Council or rather that politick and pack'd Conventicle of Trent took order that the most part of it should be expunged as unskilful rash false heretical and otherways scandalous as they did also by somewhat contained in the argument of his book de carne Christi because it suited not with their Doctrine of the perfection of the Virgine Mary a short way were it as safe and honest to make all sure But this book also in the judgment of the quick-sighted Erasmus grounded upon the difference of the stile from that of Tertullian is none of his but of some other very studious in our Author and living about the same time to whom Rhenanus subscribes though the author use many words and figures agreeable to and borrowed from Tertullian I am of opition saith Daille that both the birth and fortune of that piece de paenitentiâ hath been if not the very same yet at least not much unlike that of the Trinity though Pamelius and Baronius be of another mind and would fain it should be his 4. His Poems which are diverse according to Pamelius viz. 1. Against Marcion 5. books 2. Of the Judgement of the Lord. 3. Genesis 4. Sodom 5. His Poem to a Senator that turned from the Christian Religion to the service of Idols But should we reject them all as Apocryphal seeing neither Ierom nor Eusebius make any mention of them together with Iuret's Ionab and Nineveh notwithstanding the Authority of his old Manuscript I suppose that neither our Authour nor the Commonwealth of Learning would at all be injured hereby Pamelius tells us that in his Edition of Cyprian's works he had entituled them unto him as the composer of them but thinks it not amiss to follow the censure of Sixtus Senensis who ascribes the Poem of Sodom unto Tertullian induced hereunto by the fidelity as he supposeth of some Manuscripts and because the stile is the same with that of the other he concludes that all three were his viz. Genesis Sodoma ad Senatorem A weak ground for him to change his mind and build such confident conclusions upon as well may we deny them to be either Tertullians or Cyprians and so leave him to seek a Father for them § 4. For his stile and manner of writing he hath a peculiar way of his own sâ—us quidam est character saith Erasmus sufficiently elegant ejus opuscula eloquentissimè scripta inquit Augustinus eloquentiâ admodum pollens est full of gravity and becoming a Learned man creber est in sententiis sed difficilis in loquendo very sententious and of much strength and vehemency but hard difficult and too elaborate varius est inquit Rhenanus in phrasi in disputationibus dilucidior simplicior in locis communibus velut de pallio c. est durior affectatior Not so smooth and fluent as many others and therefore not in so much esteem as otherwise he might have been His expressions saith Calvin are somewhat rough and thorny and therefore dark and obscure certè magis stridet quà m loquitur idem in Epist. 339. Phraseos Character inquit Zephyrus minùs semper câ—mptus multùmque brevis obscurus fuisse videtur Commata enim potiùs habet qùam â—olâ— frequentes periodos qualia decent gravi vehementique stilo quo semper ipse usus est So that durè Tertullianicè loqui to speak harshly and like Tertullian are equivalent phrases And the causes whence this proceeded might be chiefly these four 1. His Country being an African of the City of Carthage which was a Province of the Roman Empire Now those that were Provincials scarce any of them could attain unto the purity of the Latin Tongue except such only as were brought up at Rome from their child-hood as was Terence our Authour's Countryâ—man Romam perductus cum in tenerâ aetate foret comoedias sex composuit easque ab Apollodoro Menandro Poetis Graecis in Sermonem Latinum convertit tantâ Sermonis elegantiâ proprietate ut eruditorum judicio nihil perfectiùs aut absolutiùs in eo scribendi genere habitum sit apud Latimos Cicero in Epist. ad Aâ—â—icum refert Terentium esse optimum autorem Latinitatis The same Author elsewhere speaking of the difference in this language among those living in several Countries thus observes Romani omnes inquit in suo genere pressi elegantes proprii Hispani autem florentes acuti qui ad peregrinum inclinent Punici Carthagiuenses duri audaces improbi palam aberrantes vitium virtuti praetulerunt ut Tertullianus Apuleius Cyprianus It 's also the observation of Loys le Roy in his discourse of the variety of things Every thing saith he by how much the farther it is from its original spring is the less pure as the Gauls Spaniards and Africans did not speak Latin so purely as the Romans for although their words were Latin yet they retained the phrase of their own Country insomuch that speaking Latin they were always known for Strangers Perturbatissime loquitur Tertullianus inquit Ludovicus Vives ut Afer And in the decrees of the Africans many whereof Augustin relates you may perceive saith Erasmus an anxious affectation of eloquence yet so as that you may know them to be Africans 'T is no wonder then Ierom should say that the stile of Tertulâ—ian and also of other Africans was easily discerned by Nepotian and it appeareth by Augustin in sundry places that the Roman Tongue was imperfect among the Africans even in the Colonies 2. His calling and profession for before his conversion he had studied and practised the Law wherein he was very skilful hence it comes to pass that using many Law terms juris verborum erat retinentissimus and phrases borrowed from thence his Language comes to be more perplex and obscure It 's apparent saith Danaeus from his continual stile and manner of speaking that he was a most expert Lawyer and by reason of the unusual novelty of his words his stile is very obscure saith Sixtus Senesis 3. His constitution and natural temper for words are the mind's Interpreters and the clothing of its conceptions wherein they go abroad which therefore are in a great measure fashioned by it and receives a tincture from it Hence
Nature Substance or Essence which term he therefore useth lest he should seem to make God an empty Phantasm and meer nothing And indeed comparing this expression with divers passages in the works of our Author we shall find there was cause why he should conceive this to have been his meaning and that he had ground sufficient for so friendly a construction of his words As where he saith the very substance is the body of every thing Also every thing that is is a body in its kind nihil est incorporale nisâ— quod non est Nothing is incorporeal but what is not Again who will deny God to be a body though he be a Spirit For a Spirit is a body of its kinds in its shape and fashion The less reason had Alphonsus de Castro to make Tertullian the first Author of the Heresie of the Anthropomorphites though they might abuse these expressions of his and by them be confirmed in their opinion confidering withal that those Scriptures upon which they built their gross conceits of God art otherwise understood by him than they were by them e. g. where the Scriptures do speak of the eye ear hand and feet of God they understood them literally but he metaphorically and as spoken after the manner of men to our capacity For faith he by those expressions the Divine operations are declared but not corporeal lineaments given or ascribed unto God For by the eye is signified that he seeth all things by the ear that be heareth all things c. this therefore made him not an Heretick Another such expression is this that the father was before the Son and that the son had his original or beginning when the Father would that he should proceed from him Yet doth he in the same Book assert the Eternity of the Son saying That he was always in the Father nor can time be assigned unto him who was before all time Again the Father is the whole Substance but the Son a derivation or portion of the whole Of which words Bellarmine gives this favourable interpretation Haec verba inquit intelligi debent de sola distinctione personali quem iu toto libro intendit vocat autem Filium portionem Patrem totam substantiam quia Pater est fons principium aliarum personarum in eâ ratione majoritatem quandâ—m habet These and other the like dangerous expressions are scattered up and down his Books in regard whereof Rhenanus saw cause why he should in the Margin against the last mentioned passage warn the Reader that here and elsewhere Tertullian is to be read with caution Again Here and elsewhere saith he let the Reader remember that he is perusing Tertullian Yet again Divines saith he are to be admonished that they do interpret some things more commodiously or aptly then they sound and indulge something to antiquity 2. He delivereth and laboureth to maintain many unsound Opinions and gross Errours which are carefully to be avoided and rejected as what is sound and Orthodox in him to be embraced the good is not to be neglected for the bad nor the bad to be received for the sake of that in him which is good I think saith Ierom that Origen for his Learning is sometime to be read in the same manner as Tertullian Novatus Arnobius Apollinarius and some other Ecclesiastical Writers both Greek and Latin viz. So that we chuse the good in them and refuse the contrary according to the Apostles saying Prove all things hold fast that which is good We are to make use of him as Cyprian did who honoured him with the Title of Master though he took a great deal of delight in the wit of that learned and zealous man yet did he not follow Montanus and Maximillia with him And this gives a hint of his foulest Errour which I shall mention in the first place 1. He became a follower of Montanus whose gross and sottish Errours having once entertained he for ought that appears to the contrary persisted in unto the end of his days stiling and owning the blasphemous Heretick together with his Female consorts Priscilla and Maximilla sor the Paraclete or Comforter whom Christ promised to send distinguishing him from the holy Ghost contrary to that clear Text Ioh. 14. 26. The Comforter which is the holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name c. This say his followers descended upon the Apostles but the Paraclete upon Montanus and his Minions whose Prophesies or rather idle Dreams and Fancies they much magnified wherein second Marriages are condemned and Fastings and Martyrdoms are exacted which things Tertullian being overmuch taken with and approving of he thereupon embraced that new Prophesie A strange thing that so learned and eminent a man should give credit unto such foolish and frantick conceits Especially considering that not long before himself had ranked the followers of Montanus viz. Proclus and Aeschines amonst the most notorious Hereticks whom he chargeth with this blasphemy as he call it that they say the holy Ghost was in the Apostles but not the Paraclete and that the Paraclete had spoken more in Montanus than Christ had delivered in the Gospel and not only more but better and greater things Erasmus conceives that he did this contra mentis suae sententiam appellans Montanum omnis veritatis deductorem For he could not be perswaded that a man of so piercing a judgement and so exercised and versed in the Sacred Scriptures did ever believe that Montanus was the holy Ghost or Paraclete whom Christ promised unto the Apostles 2. He advanceth the freedom of mans will after the fall so highly that even Pelagius himself would scarce dare to do it with the like Liberty e. g. The Law saith he would not have been given to him that had not the obedience to the Law in his own power And a little after thus So we find the Creator propounding unto man or setting before him good and evil life and death exhorting and threatning which he would not have done unless man had been free and voluntary to obey or contemn Again Behold saith he the Kingdom of God is within you Who will not so interpret it within you i. e. in your own hand and power if you hear and do the command of God Also that the Patriarchs Noah and Abraham were just by the righteousness of the Law of Nature 3. He condemns second Marriages accounting them no better than Adultery and worthy of Excommunication May we not say saith he that second Marriage is a kind of Adultery c. Also he calls the lawful company of Man and Wife contumelia communis A common contumely or reproach 4. He denys that it is lawful for a Christian to flee in time of persecution being immoderate in the praise of Martyrdom as if it merited pardon
held at Ariminum in Italy and Seleucia in Isauria wherein is set forth the levity and inconstancy of the Arians there present in the matter of the faith This Bellarmine supposeth may well be taken for his book against Valens and Vrsatius mentioned by Ierom two Arian Bishops who saith Marianus deceived the Fathers in those Synods faining themselves Orthodox An Epistle of Athanasius and ninety Bishops of Egypt and Lybia unto the Bishops in Africa against the Arians wherein the decrees of the Council of Nice are defended and the Synod of Ariminum is shewn to be superfluous that of Nice being sufficient 37. An Epistle unto all the Orthodox wherever when persecution was by the Arians raised against them 38. An Epistle unto Iohn and Antiochus two Presbyters also another unto Palladius nihil continent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 39. An Epistle unto Dracontius whom flying away he by divers arguments perswades to return unto the Church of Alexandria whereof he was Bishop elect and that he would not hearken unto those that would deter him from so doing It is saith Espencaeus a learned Epistle 40. An Epistle unto Marcellinus concerning the interpretation of the Psalms which seems to be the same that Ierom calls of the Titles of the Psalms stiled by Sixtus Senensis thus In Psalterium Davidis ad Marcellinum de titulis et vi psalmorum Isagogicus libellus Of which Cassiodorus thus Testis est inquit Athanasii episcopi sermo magnificus qui virtutes psalmorum indagabili veritate discutiens omnia illic esse probat quaecunque sanctae scripturae ambitu continentur It is by Mr. Perkins put among the suspected works 41 A treatise of the Sabbath and Circumcision in the Latine Parisian Edition Anno 1581. It is joyned as his enarration upon those words Matth. 11. 27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father c. being the seventh in this Catalogue Unto which is added in the same Latine Edition a Compendium of what had been formerly written against those who affirm the Holy Ghost to be a creature 42. Upon those words Matth. 12. 32. Whosoever speaketh against the Son of man c. suspected 43. A Sermon upon the passion and cross of the Lord the phrase saith Erasmus savoureth not of Athanasius Also it altogether forbids oaths which Athanasius doth not It is therefore supposititious Herein also the questions unto Antiochus are cited which are not of this Author Besides the Author foolishly makes Christ to feign words of humane frailty when hanging upon the Cross he so cryed out Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani which yet the true Athanasius saith were truly spoken of him according to his humane nature Sixtus Senensis calls it eloquentissimam concionem 44. A Sermon upon Matth. 21. 2. Go into the village over against you c. It seems to be a fragment taken out of some other work or commentary wherein the Author as playing with them wresteth the Scriptures saith Erasmus it is forged 45. A Sermon of the most holy Virgin the Mother of God or of the Annunciation it is evidently spurious for the Author is large in refuting the error of Nestorius and presseth the Monothelites both which errors were unknown as not sprung up in the time of Athanasius The Author also lightly and almost childishly derives the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and moreover saith that the attributes of God are not the very substance of God sed circa substantiam versari which is discrepant from the manner of Athanasius who is wont to speak very considerately It appears by many passages that the Author hereof lived after the sixth general Council 46. Of Virginity a Sermon or Meditation it is dubious If it be of Athanasius's penning he did saith Erasmus strangely let fall his stile and I may add saith Seultetus that he also laid aside his Theological gravity if he prescribed those childish rules unto a Virgin which saith the Author whoso observeth shall be found among the third order of Angels and also teacheth that no man can be assured of his salvation before his death 47. An homily of the sower it is suspected as being found only in an English book 48. A Sermon against all heresies it is none of his but some doting fellow est vilis et confusus ut plurimum 49. An oration of the ascension of Christ which because of the flourishing stile thereof Scultetus is scrupulous to ascribe it unto Athanasiusâ— 50. An oration or history of Melchisedech in the end whereof the Author speaks of the fathers of the Nicene Council as dead long before it 's therefore spurious 51. A brief oration against the Arians I find no where mentioned but in the Parisian edition by Nannius 52. The declaration of Leviticus it is suspected 53. Short colloquies between Iovianus and certain Arians against Athanasius Also 54. Of the incarnation of the Word of God both which are no where to be found but in the last Parisian edition 55. The Symbol or Creed of Athanasius by Scultetus judged to be dubious he having met with it in no book among the works of Athanasius only in one it is read without the name of the Author It hath been a great dispute among the learned saith Pelargus whose it should be Some ascribing it unto Athanasius and others unto some later Author as yet unknown 56. An Epistle of Iovianus the Emperour unto Athanasius and Athanasius his answer therâ—unto 57. An Epistle unto Ammun a Monk it is dubious 58. A fragment of a festival Epistle containing a catalogue of the canonical books of the old and new Testament it is dubious I believe it saith Scultetus to have been taken out of his Synopsis 59. An Epistle unto Ruffinianus 60. Theological definitions said to be collected by Clement and other holy men It is supposititious and by Scultetus ranked among those which seem to be written with no judgment It seems not to have been of Athanasius his writing because therein Gregory Nyssene is cited who in all likelyhood had not begun to write till after the death of Athanasius Besides the Author speaks so distinctly of the two Natures of Christ in one Hypostasis that it seems to be altogether of a later date then the Council of Chalcedon 61. A brief Synopsis or Compendium of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament Wherein first he sets down a Catalogue of the Canonical and Non-canonical books Secondly he shews by whom each was written whence it had its name and what it doth contain Thirdly he names the books of both Testaments that are contradicted or accounted Apocryphal 62. Five Dialogues of the Trinity Also 63. Twenty Sermons against divers Hesies which are Pious and Learned and therefore most worthy to be read The phrase shews them to
him to have been dead though indeed he were then alive 3. His book against the Arians or agaâ—nst Auxentius Bishop of Millain written unto the Bishops and people detesting the Arian heresie which by Ierom is stiled an elegant book wherein he accuseth the said Bishop as infected with Arianism To which is annexed an Epistle of Auxentius wherein he cleareth himself as not guilty of the crime laid to his charge 4. His book of Synods unto the Bishops of France whom he congratulates that in the midst of so great tumults as are in the world they had kept themselves free from the Arian faction wherein he declares in what meetings of the Bishops the Arian heresie had been condemned This book as himself testifieth he translated out of Greek but with this liberty that neglecting the words he kept still to the sense and where the place invites him so to do he adds and intermingles somewhat of his own Of which Chemnitius thus speaks He gathered together saith he the opinions of the Greeks concerning the Trinity and unless he had collected the decrees of the Eastern Synods we should have known nothing of them as touching their opinions and doctrinâ—s 5. His commentary upon the Gospel of Matthew which he divided into thirty and three Canons by which name it is called of some Going through almost the whole of that Evangelist in a succinct and brief but learned and solid explanation Being more delighted with the allegorical than literal sense herein imitating Origen out of whom I doubt not saith Erasmus he translated this whole work it doth so in all things savour both of the wit and phrase of Origen For as it containeth many choice things which do proclaim the Author to have been most absolutely skilled in the sacred Scriptures so is he sometimes too superstitious and violent in his allegories a peculiar fault to be found in almost all the commentaries of Origen 6. His commentary upon the Psalms not the whole but upon the first and second then from the one and fiftieth unto the sixty and second according to Ierom's reckoning but as now extant in Erasmus his edition from the one and fiftyeth unto the end of the sixty and ninth which addition Sixtus Senensis saith he had read being printed Also from the hundred and nineteenth unto the end of the book only that upon the last Psalm is imperfect the last leaf saith Erasmus in the manuscripts being either torn or worn away as it oftentimes falls out This work is rather an imitation than a translation of Origen for he adds somewhat of his own some do affirm that he set forth tractates upon the whole book of the Psalms and that it was extant in Spain But commonly no more is to be found than the above mentioned as also his book of the Synods being very large Ierom transcribed with his own hand at Triers for he had him in very high esteem There are also some books abroad under his name which are justly suspected and taken for spurious As 1. An Epistle unto Abram or Afram his Daughter which is a mere toy of some idle and unlearned man it hath nothing in it worthy of Hilary much less that which follows viz. 2. An Hymn which hath in it neither rhythm nor reason yet doth Ierom testifie of Hilary that he wrote in verse and perhaps some of those hymns which at this day are sung in the Church whose Author is unknown may be his He was so far skill'd this way that Gyraldus gives him a place and ranks him among the Christian Poets Bellarmine and Possevin had but small reason upon so slender a ground as they have to affirm both of these to be his without doubt 3. A book of the unity of the Father and the Son which whether it were his or no seems very uncertain seeing Ierom makes no mention of it It seems to be a rhapsody of some studious man taken partly out of the second but for the most part out of the ninth book of the Trinity who omitted and added what he pleased With this as a distinct book from it Bellarmine joyns another of the essence of the Father and the Son which yet I find not named by any other Author Indeed there is an appendix unto the former of the various names of Christ which Bellarmine mentions not the phrase whereof differs much from Hilary's The Author whereof would fain imitate Hilary which he was not negligent in the performance of They are grave and learned books saith Bellarmine of his two and not unworthy the spirit and eloquence of Hilary 4. An Epistle unto Augustine concerning the remains of the Pelagian heresie which cannot be Hilary's because that heresie was not known in his time 5. Another Epistle unto Augustine being the eighty and eighth in number among Augustines in which he propounds certain questions to be resolved but neither this nor the â—ormer are our Hilary's who was dead before Augustine became a Christian and yet in his answer he stiles him his Son They both seem to belong unto another Hilary that was afterward made Bishop of Arles who together with Prosper of Aquitain defended the cause of Augustine against the French Semipelagians The former of the Epistles gave occasion unto Augustine to write his treatises of the predestination of the Saints and of the good of perseverance to which are prefix'd this Epistle together with one from Prosper concerning the same matter 6. A fragment concerning the things that were done in the Council of Ariminum rejected by Baronius 7. An heroick Poem stiled Genesis written unto Pope Leo who lived Ann. 440. at what time Hilary had left this life And therefore it cannot be his but may better be ascribed unto the abovenamed Hilary Bishop of Arles 8. A fragment of the Trinity which contains his creed but of little credit as being no where else mentioned It might happily be an extract out of his work upon this subject § 4. As for his stile it is perplex and thâ—rny such as should he handle matters in themselves very clear yet would it be both hard to be understood and easie to be depraved Very lofty he is after the Gallicane manner for this seems to be peculiar unto the wit and genius of that nation as appears in Sulpitius Severus Eucherius and of late the famous Budaeus adeo sublimis ut tubam sonare credas non bominem adeò faeliciter elaboratus ut eruditum lectorem nunquam satiet trivialiter literatos procul submoveat and being adorned with the Flowers of Greece he is sometimes involved in long periods so that he is far above the reach of and in vain perused by unskilful Readers which yet Sixtus Senensis thinketh ought to be referred unto his books of the Trinity wherein he imitated Quintilian both in his
yet is he not two but one Christ. One not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh but by taking the manhood into God One altogether not by confusion of substance but by unity of Person For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one Man so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation descended into hell rose again the third day from the dead He ascended into heaven he fifteth on the right hand of the Father God Almighty from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire This is the Catholick Faith which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved As for the censures annexed hereunto viz. 1. In the beginning except a man keep the Catholick faith 2. In the middle he that will be saved must thus think and 3. In the end this is the Catholick faith which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved I thought good to give you Dr. Hammond's apprehensions of them how they ought to be understood His words are these I suppose saith he they must be interpreted by their opposition to those heresies that had invaded the Church and which were acts of carnality in them that broach'd and maintain'd them against the apostolick doctrine and contradictory to that foundation which had been resolved on as necessary to bring the world to the obedience of Christ and were therefore to be anathematiz'd after this manner and with detestation branded and banished out of the Church Not that it was hereby defined to be a damnable sin to fail in the understanding or believing the full matter of any of those explications before they were propounded and when it might more reasonably be deemed not to be any fault of the will to which this were imputable Thus he 2. The canonical books of the old and new Testament owned by him are the same with those which the reformed Churches acknowledge for such of which he thus speaks All scripture of us who are Christians was divinely inspired The books thereof are not infinite but finite and comprehended in a certain Canon which having set down of the Old Testament as they are now with us he adds the Canonical books therefore of the Old Testament are twenty and two equal for number unto the Hebrew Letters or alphabet for so many elements of Letters there are among the Hebrews But saith he besides these there are other books of the Old Testament not Canonical which are read only unto the Catechumens and of these he names the Wisdom of Solomon the Wisdom of Iesus the Son of Syrach the fragment of Esther Iudith and Tobith for the books of the Maccabees he made no account of them yet he afterward mentions four books of the Maccabees with some others He also reckons the Canonical Books of the New Testament which saith he are as it were certain sure anchors and supporters or pillars of our Faith as having been written by the Apostles of Christ themselves who both conversed with him and were instructed by him 3. The sacred and divinely inspired Scriptures saith he are of themselves sufficient for the discovery of the truth In the reading whereof this is faithfully to be observed viz. unto what times they are directed to what person and for what cause they are written lest things be severed from their reasons and so the unskilful reading any thing different from them should deviate from the right understanding of them 4. As touching the way whereby the knowledge of the Scriptures may be attained he thus speaks To the searching and true understanding of the Scriptures there is need of a holy life a pure mind and virtue which is according to Christ that the mind running thorow that path may attain unto those things which it doth desire as far as humane nature may understand things divine 5. The holy Scripture saith he doth not contradict it self for unto a hearer desirous of truth it doth interpret it self 6. Concerning the worshipping of Christ we adore saith he not the Creature God forbid Such madness belongs unto Ethuicks and Arians but we adore the Lord of things created the incarnate Word of God for although the Flesh be in it self a part of things created yet is it made the Body of God Neither yet do we give adoration unto such a body by it self severed from the word neither adoring the Word do we put the Word far from the Flesh but knowing that it is said the Word was made Flesh we acknowledge it even now in the Flesh to be God 7. He gives this interpretation of those words of Christ Mark 13. 32. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man no not the Angels which are in heaven neither the Son but the Father The Son saith he knew it as God but not as man wherefore he said not neither the Son of God lest the divinity should seem to be ignorant but simply neither the Son that this might be the ignorance of the Son as man And for this cause when he speaks of the Angels he added not a higher degree saying neither the Holy Spirit but was silent here by a double reason affirming the truth of the thing for admit that the Spirit knows then much more the Word as the Word from whom even the Spirit receives was not ignorant of it 8. Speaking of the mystery of the two natures in Christ What need is there saith he of dispute and strife about words it's more profitable to believe and reverence and silently to adore I acknowledge him to be true God from heaven impâ—ssible I acknowledge the same of the seed of David as touching the Flesh a man of the earth passible I do not curiousty inquire why the same is passible and impassible or why God and man lest being curiously inquisitive why and how I should miss of the good propounded unto us For we ought first to believe and adore and in the second place to seek from above a reason of these things not from beneath to inquire of Flesh and Blood but from divine and heavenly revelation 9. What the faith of the Church was concerning the Trinity he thus delivers Let us see that very tradition from the beginning and that Doctrine and Faith of the Catholick Church which Christ indeed gave but the Apostles preached and kept For in this Church are we founded and whoso falls from thence cannot be said to be a Christian. The holy and perfect Trinity therefore in the Father Son and Holy Ghost receives the reason of the Deity possesseth nothing forraign or superinduced from without nor consisteth of the Creator and Creature but the whole is of the Creator and Maker of all things like it self and