Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

convivæ, duodecim deorum nomine et specie." Baptista Casalius, tom ix. Græcarum Antiquit. p. 127.

Septenarium numerum alii probabant ex dicto illo, septem convivium, novem convivium. Ad Homerum 2i Iliados denarius numerus refertur, nee plures decem accubuisse refert Eustathius. Apud Julium capitolinum duodenarius numerus refertur in conviviis Veri imperatoris. Apud Suetonium item Augusti in quo duodecim convivæ deorum dearumque habitu accubuerunt. Hi numerum potius respiciebant eum, et religiosa quadam curiositate sectabantur, cum convivarum numerus non ad vivum resecandus, sed pro loco et tempore instituendus. Joseph. Laurentius, tom ix. Græcar. Antiquit. p. 176.

It must be owned that the expressions used by Nestorius, Christ was born, Christ suffered, Christ died, were at least far more proper than those used by Cyril and others, the Eternal was born in time, the Impassible suffered, the Immortal died, which have since been adopted by the church of Rome. For, notwithstanding her schoolmen, well apprised of the objections to which they are liable, to excuse them from blasphemy, have been obliged to recur to a communication of idioms, in virtue of which the properties of both natures, say they, may be ascribed to the Hypostasis or person in whom both natures are united; this communication of idioms is in fact nothing else but a rhetorical figure. So that Cyril spoke like an orator, and Nestorius like a philosopher. The expressions of the former were in a strict sense false and blasphemous, those of the latter in the strictest sense true and orthodox. Tropes and figures serve only to disguise the truth, to lead men into errors, and, therefore, ought to be laid aside by all who seriously inquire into the truth or explain it to others. I shall conclude with observing, that if, by a communication of idioms, the properties of the divine and human natures may be ascribed to the person in whom those two natures were united, the properties of the body and soul might, by a like communication, be ascribed to the person in whom the body and soul are united; so that it might he said, with as much propriety, man is immortal, man shall never die, because the soul is immortal and will never die; as God was mortal, God died, because the humanity was mortal and died. The case is parallel; and the communication of idioms must justify both expressions, or neither. Bower's Hist. of the Popes.

These are bold assertions of Bower, which sundry passages of Scripture disprove; for instance, God was made flesh, Cod manifested in the flesh, &c.

Sir William Jones has given an exact translation of a passage in a Sanscrit book, so clearly descriptive of NOAH under the name of Satyorata, or Satyacarman, that it is impossible to doubt their identity. From the Padma-Puran.

1. To Satyavarman, the sovereign of the whole earth, were born three sons; the eldest Sherma, then Charma, and thirdly Iyapeti, by name.

2.

2. They were all men of good morals, excellent in virtue and virtuous deeds, skilled in the use of weapons to strike with or to be thrown, brave men, eager for victory in battle.

3. But Satyavarman, being continually delighted with devout meditation, and seeing his sons fit for dominion, laid upon them the burden of government.

4. Whilst he remained honouring and satisfying the gods, and priests, and kine, one day, by the act of destiny, the king, having drunk mead,

5. Became senseless, and lay asleep naked. Then was he seen by Charma, and by him were his two brothers called.

6. To whom he said, What now has befallen? In what state is this our sire? By these two was he hidden with clothes, and called to his senses again and again.

7. Having recovered his intellect, and perfectly knowing what had passed, he cursed Charma, saying, Thou shalt be the servant of servants.

8. And, since thou wast a laughter in their presence, from laughter shalt thou acquire a name. Then he gave to Sherma the whole domain on the south of the Snowy Mountain.

9. And to Iyapeti he gave all on the north of the Snowy Mountain; but he, by the power of religious contemplation, attained supreme bliss.

Now this extract most clearly proves that the Satyvrata, or Satyavarman, of the Purans was the same personage with the Noah of Scripture; and we consequently fix the utmost limit of Hindu chronology. Nor can it be with reason inferred, from the identity of the stories, that the divine legislator borrowed any part of his work from the Egyptians; and their age was not so remote from the days of the patriarch, but that every occurrence in his life might naturally have been preserved by tradition from father to son. Lord Teignmouth's Life, p. 357.

As there is not the least affinity between the words Noah and Satyavarman, and so remarkable a one between those of the three sons of Noah, it is not improbable that Satyavarman, which seems to be a compound, may signify, in the Sanscrit tongue, a husbandman, or planter of vineyards, as he is described as such in Holy Writ. See Gen. ix. 20.

As long as St Paul's Epistles are read, the ORIGINAL compact between God and man, the depravation of human nature, and the imputation of Adam's guilt, (in other words original sin,) must be received as standing doctrines of the church of Christ. But then we are to take great care, in our manner of explaining them, to preserve the divine attributes sacred and inviolate: and this may be happily effected, if we will but suppose that our hereditary corruption is occasioned, not by the infusion of any positive malignity into us, but by the subduction of supernatural gifts from us; that the cove-· nant of grace commenced immediately after the covenant of works was broken, and has included all mankind ever since; that the blood of Christ shields children from the wrath

Ff2

turn back me leaf

but by his substitutes, Noah and others) to the spirits in prison (those wicked men of that age, prisoners to sin and captives to iniquity) which were disobedient, and had exhausted the long suffering of God in the days of Noah while the ark was preparing, that is, the full term of one hundred and twenty years." Stephens's Serm. v. 1, Serm. 9. See Whitby, also.

But, to give a farther interpretation of the apostle's words, the order in which they are delivered is this; first Christ was put to death, then quickened and raised again, and after that he went and preached. Now, what Christ did by his apostles and ministers may be said to be done by himself; but how the preaching of the apostles to the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles is applicable to the spirits in prison, on whom the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, this is the question? But this difficulty may be easily solved, if, in the passage before us, we do but suppose there is an ellipsis, a figure very common in Scripture; and then the words are, by which, &c. as in the days of Noah; where, by the insertion of the word as, the apostles meaning is made clear and the comparison to this effect: as God heretofore shewed an extraordinary patience and mercy to the people of the old world by giving them the space of one hundred and twenty years to repent in, which almost all neglected except a few persons, who gave ear to the divine admonitions and so escaped the destruction of the flood; so Christ was pleased to give proof of his singular kindness towards the disobedient Jews and Gentiles, to whom he sent his apostles to reclaim them from their wicked courses and call them to repentance. But they, rejecting this message, continued in their wickedness, all except a select number, who, having embraced the Christian profession, were saved by baptism, even as a few antediluvians were preserved by the ark. Stackhouse on the Creed. See Limborch, also. Per spiritus hîc intelligit incredulos tempore Noachi, quos spiritus vocat, quoniam, cum scribebat, non erant homines integri, sed separata a corporibus animæ; quas Scriptura spiritus vocare solet, ut Ps. xxxi. 6, Matt. xxvii. 50, &c. minime vero animas: nam eo nomine potius aut ipsos homines significat; ut Gen. xlvi. 15, 26, &c. qut etiam ipsorum cadavera, ut Lev. xix. 28, et xxi. 1, 11, &c. Gerhardus, &c. Poole's Synopsis. But see Bishop Horsley on Christ's descent into hell, under article Desceat.

PROTESTANTS so called from several princes and the deputies of fourteen imperial cities, in Germany, protesting against a decree published by the States of Germany, assembled at Spire, on the 15th of March, 1550, revoking a former edict which allowed liberty of conscience, as they alleged it had been productive of great mischiefs. Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. xxvi. p. 299.

The Cardinal of Lorrain, at the council of Trent, made a long discourse concernang bishops and the means of preventing abuses in their elections, inveighing severely

against

( 225 )
225)

against PLURALITIES, though he himself then possessed church-revenues to the amount of 1,000,000 of livres a year. Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. xxvi. p. 354...

The false notions and unjustifiable practices which crept into the church in carly times, in the fourth century, were the forerunners and introducers of POPERY. As, first, an immoderate esteem for celibacy and virginity, for a retirement from the world, for voluntary poverty and voluntary austerities. 2dly. The inflicting of pains and penalties upon those who differed in their religious opinion from the majority. 3dly. The practice of collecting relics, of digging up the bodies of real or imaginary saints and martyrs, and depositing them with great solemnity in holy places. 4thly. The use of pious frauds, founded upon this pernicious principle, that it is lawful to deceive the common people for their good, and for the advancement of religion. Scarcely can any one father of the fourth and fifth centuries be named, who was free. from this blemish. 5thly. An adoption and imitation of pagan rites and ceremonies, partly introduced to allure the pagans to Christianity, and to amuse them with solemnities to which they had been accustomed. 6thly. The encroachments of the bishops' of Rome, which began in the fourth century, if not sooner. Jortin, vol. vii. p. 415.

: A PATRIOT is a religious man, who employs himself in serving the public, and a good citizen is one who loves God and his neighbour. Whosoever neglects his duty to God cannot perform his duty to the public in a complete and effectual manner. There are, as there ever have been, men who have little religion, and yet some share of what we commonly call honour and public spirit, who would not injure their nation for private advantage, and would risk their fortunes or their lives for their country. Yet these persons often do more harm another way, by their immoralities, by setting a bad example, and corrupting the minds of men, than they can compensate by intrepidity, generosity, and honour. But, in reality, a patriot without religion, and an honest man without the fear of God, is one of the most uncommon creatures upon earth; and unhappy are the people who have nothing better to trust to than to the honour of such counsellors and magistrates. Let revenge, or ambition, or pride, or lust, or profit, tempt the man to a base and vile action, and you may as well hope. to bind up a hungry tiger with a cobweb as to hold this debauched patriot in the visionary chains of decency, or to charm him with the intellectual beauty of truth and reason. Jortin's Sermons, vol. i. p. 120.

Sacerdotes indocti populo prodesse non possunt, improbi non volunt. Necesse est ut PASTOR animum scientiâ excolat, et scientiam moribus, ut gregem ad salutem ducere queat per viam fidam præcepti, et viam brevem exempli. Non tam vocem quam vitam sacerdotis, normam virtutis credunt homines. Linguam enim venalem existimant, et scholam potius quain hominem sapere. Vide Isidorus Pelausiota, lib. ii. Epist. 235. Spencer.

[blocks in formation]

DECEM PERSECUTIONES.

An. vulg. Christi 69
An. vulg. Christi 80.
An. vulg. Christi 106.

Ima, sub Nerone, an. U. C. 817. 2da, sub Domitiano, an. U. C. 834. 3a, sub Trajano, anno U. C. 860. 4ta, sub Aurelio Vero Antonini philosophi collegâ orta in Asia, anno U. C. 919. An. vulg. Christi 165.

5ta, sub Severo, anno U. C. 955.

An. vulg. Christi 201.

6ta, sub Maximino, anno U. C. 986. An. vulg. Christi 233.

An. vulg. Christi 249.
An. vulg. Christi 257.
An. vulg. Christi 274.

7ma, sub Decio, anno U. C. 1002.
8va, sub Valeriano, anno U. C. 1010.
9na, sub Aureliano, anno U. C. 1027.

10ma, sub Diocletiano, anno U. C. 1049. An. vulg. Christi 296, et duravit 10 annos. · Voss. Univ. Hist.

It is observable, that, in the ten first great persecutions of the Christian church, the principal promoters and abettors of them were, in their violent and untimely deaths, remarkable instances of divine vengeance. Stackhouse on Creed.

The custom of kissing the POPE'S TOE seems to have had its rise from a similar practice of that cruel emperor Diocletian, who, (as Vossius informs us, Univ. Hist.) “ dulci fortuna ebrius, ita se extulit; ut quum imperatores antehac judicium more salutarentur et purpureâ chlamyde ab aliis differrent, ille dei instar vellet adorari, gemmas vestibus et calceis insereret, pedesque salutantibus osculandos præberet.”

The author of the anonymous notes on the PSALMS, in Mr Merrick's annotations, supposed to be Archbishop Secker, has this observation on Psalm xl. 6, and Hebrews, x. 5. "It is not certain that the apostle argues from the word own at all. He' quotes the translation of the LXX. as he found it in his copy, lays a stress on what is` in the Hebrew, but none on the rest, either knowing it not to be there, or being restrained by the Spirit of God from making use of it.”

Quere. Does not the great stress of the apostle's argument lie in the opposition he so strongly points out between the legal sacrifices mentioned in the fifth and eighth verses, and the offering of the body of Jesus, in verse 10? And does not this rather -give countenance to the proposed emendation of the text in the Psalm by Pierce, Lowth, and Kennicot, who would read 18, tunc corpus, instead of DUIR, aures? See Poole's Synopsis. Unless we may proceed to a farther alteration, and read nns

? אן for

Nulli PURGATORIUM PAPALE plus debet, quam Gregorio Papæ, qui in dialogis magno conamine agit, ut probet purgatorium ex spirituum apparitionibus. Cum tamen mortuos nequaquam consulendos esse præcipiat Deus, Deut. xviii. 11, Jes. viii. 19.

Quadringentis

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »