Gods Arrow Against Atheists, Chapter 3
CHAP. III. Wherein is shewed that the Christian Religion is the only true Religion, against the Gentiles and all Infidels of the world.
THat there is a God the heathen hauehave euermore confessed, and that there is but one God (as the Christian religion holdeth) all the learned sort of the heathen philosophers hauehave acknowledged: for howsoeuer they dissembled at some times, & applied themselues outwardly to the errour of the vulgar sort in naming of gods, yet surely they neuer spake of mo than of one God. Which thing may appeare by Plato in an Epistle which hée writeth vntounto Dionisius king of Sicilie,Plato epist 13. ad Dyonis. Plotin. Enneae. 1. lib. 8 1.2. & En. 6. lib. 4. cap 12.3.4. Porph. lib. 2. de Abst. & lib. de occa. cap. 2. Procl. in Theolog. Platon. & lib. de Anima & daem 1.31.42.55. wherein hee giueth him a signe when hee spake in ieast, and when in earnest. Hinc disces tu scribam ego seriò, nec ne cum seriò ordior… pistolam ab vno Deo: cum secus, a pluribus: hereby (… he) shall you know whether I write in earnest or not, for when I write in earnest, I begin my letter with one God: and when I write not in earnest, I doo beginne my letter in the name of manie Gods. And three of the most learned that euer professed the Platonicke Sect, Plotinus, Porphyrius, & Proclus, doo all testifie and proue in diuers partes of their workes (béeing themselues but Heathens) that both themselues, and their Maister Plato, neuer beleeued indéede but one God.
Aristotle that insued Plato, Arist. lib. de mundo.and began the sect of the Per…pateticks, though he were a man so much giuen to the search of nature, as that sometime hée seemed to forget God the author of nature, yet in his old age, when hee wrote the booke of the world, hee resolueth the matter more clearely, acknowledging also one God, and saith moreouer in the same place, that the multitude of Gods was inuented to expresse the power of this one God by the multitude of his ministers, whereby dooth appeare, that belike the foolisher sort of heathens did imagine of God as of earthlie Princes, for they sawe that eueryevery earthly Prince had a great manie men ministers, otherwise called seruantes, and attendantes vppon him, thereby to declare and shewe his power, his magnificence, and high honor, and therefore they thought likewise that the great & high God could not be sufficiently conceiued of, except it were supposed that hée had a greate number of inferiour gods waiting and attending vponupon him, in like sort to shew his greatnes and magnificence. This opinion of their Master concerning One God, Theophrastus and Aphrodiseus, Theoph. in Metaph. Alex. Aphro. lib. de prouid.two principal Peripateticks doo confirme at large.
Zeno the chiefe and father of all the Stoicks was wont to say (as Aristotle himselfe reporteth) that either one God, or no God. Which opinion of One God, is auerred eueryevery where by Plutarch and Seneca, two most excellent writers, and great admirers of the Stoicke seueritie: And before them by Epictetus, a man of singuler account in that sect, whose wordes were estéemed Oracles, Dicondum ante omnia vnum esse Deum, omnia negere, omnibus prouidere, Before all thinges (sayth hee) wee must affirme that there is one God, and that this God gouerneth all, and hath prouidence ouer all.
As for the Academickes although their vsage was to doubt and dispute eueryevery thing as Cicero séemeth to doo in his discoerse concerning the gods,Cicero. lib. de natura De. Apuleius. Aleg. & Laert. in vita Socra. yet at last he concludeth in this point with the Stoicks, who beléeued One God. And as for Socrates who was the father and founder of the Academicke Sect (and who was iudged by the Oracle of Apollo to bée the wisest man in all Gréece) the worlde doth know that hée was put to death for …easting at the multitude of gods among the Gentiles.
All these foure Se…s of Philosophers then (who in their time ba…e the credit of learning) made (as we sée) profession of one God,Vide apud Plutarch. De placit Philos. Trismeg. paeman. in… Ascl. &… when they came to speake as they thought. And yet if wée will ascend vp higher to the daies before these sects began, that is, to Pythagoras, and Archytas, Tarentinus, and before them againe to Mercurius, Trismegistus that was the first Parent of Philosophy to the Aegyptians wée shall finde them so plaine and resolute herein, as none can bée more. It is true that the Heathen did honour such men as were famous either for their valiant actes, their singuler inuention in matters, their good turnes to others, or their owne rare gifts and quallities aboue others) with their titled gods, but yet they beléeued not that those men were gods: yea, they knewe them to bée no other than mortall men, which thing Trismegistus sheweth, when hée sayth,Trisme. in paeman. ca. 2.3.4.5. &c in Asclep. ca. 2.6. &c. Deos non natura ratione, sed honor is causa nominamus: Wee name them Gods not in respect of their natures, but for honours sake. That is, wée call them gods not for that we thinke them to be so, but because vnderunder that title, we would honour some famous acts, or rare parts and quallities which were in them.Cicero his opinion concerning the gods of the Painyms. Cicero likewise testifieth the same in these words: The life of man (sayth hée) and common custome hauehave now receaued to lift vp to heauen by fame and good will, such men as for their good turnes are accounted excellent. And hereof it commeth that Hercules, Perseus his opiniō. Herod li. 1Castor, and Pollux, Aesculapius, and Liber, (which were but men) are not reckoned for gods. Persons likewise Zenoes scholler testifieth the same: And therefore did the Gretians truly thinke, who (as Herodotis reporteth) thought that their gods (whom they so called) were no other at first than mortall men, and so is the common opinion of all. And when men and women that were famous, excellent, and surpassing others dyed, because the memory of them should not dye with them, but remaine as presidents to follow, or as persons to be admired at, those that were liuing coulde not bée content to honour them with the title of gods and goddesses,The beginning of Idolatry. but also woulde néeds hauehave their pictures or Images drawen, and s…t vp some where for posterity … behold: Her of it ame that they after a while began (as mans naturall corrupt inclination is too prone that way) to giuegive honour and to doo reuerence vntounto them… and not so contented, they procéeded further and builded Altars and Temples vntounto them, and at length consecrated Priestes and appointed certaine rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices to be done there: The Diuell hereupon taking occasion and fit oportunity (purposing alwaies to seduce the world, and to hold them in error so far forth as he might) entred at last into those Altars (which were dedicated to those men) and vnderunder the names of those men, made a way to hauehave himselfe worshipped, (in st…ede of the true God.) For true it is which the sacred Psalme witnesseth, That the Gentiles sacrificed their Sonnes and their Daughters vntounto Diuels: And which Paul saith,Psal. 105. 1. Cor. 10, 20. that whatsoeuer the Gentiles offer, they offer vntounto Diuels, and not to God. For the diuels being entred into those altars receiued their sacrifices offred to them, being glad they had them in such a predicament, and because their delusion shoulde bée the stronger, vnderunder the names … those men they would yéeld forth … is to such as came to demaund any questions of them, and those their answers were written by their Priestes, and called Oracles, and with such fights those diuellish spirits bewitched the world and deceiues them: Of which their Oracles, more shall bee spoken hereafter: But here first I make this Argument against them.
They which (howsoeuer ignorantly) worshippe Diuels, are far from the true Religion: this is plaine.
But the Gentiles worshipped Diuels: Ergo, &c.
That the Gentiles worshipped Diuels (not God) may appeare, first by this reason, for that those their Gods allowed (yea required) not beasts but men to to be sacrificed vntounto them, delighting themselues in such infinite murders and manslaughters, as were most cruell and vnnaturall, signifiyng themselues to bee thereby appeased, wherin God is most displeased.Polid. de Inuen. li. 5. cap. 8. For (as Polydore Virgill hath collected) the people of Rhodes sacrificed a man to Saturne: In the Iland Salamis, a man was acci…ced to Agrauala: To Diomedes in the Temple of Pallas, a man was offred, who being thrise led about the Altar by yong men, was at last by the Priest runne through with a speare and put into the fire and burnt: Among the people of Cyprus, Teucrus sacrificed humane sacrifice vntounto Iupiter, and left the same to posteritie to follow: To Diana likewise humane sacrifices were offred: The like was done to Hesus and Teutate…t Amongst the Aegyptians three men a day which were sought out (if they were cleane) were sacrificed to Iuno:: Amongst the Lacedemonians they were wont to sacrifice a man to Mars: The Phenicians in the calamitous times of warre and pestilence, were wont to sacrifice vntounto Saturne their déerest friends: The people called Curetae sacrificed children vntounto Saturne: At Laodicia a virgin was sacrificed to Pallas: And amongst the Arabians, eueryevery yeare a child was sacrificed and buried vnderunder the Altar▪ Also the Thracians, Scythians, the Carthaginian…, and almost all the Grecians (especially when they were to goe to warre) sacrificed a man: All barbarous Nations hauehave doné the like: yea, the Frenchmen and Germanes: yea, the Romanes themselues did the like sacrifice, as namely to Saturne in Italy a man was Sacrifice… at the Altar: and not onelyonly so, but he was also to bée cast downe from a bridge into the riuer Tyher:Dionyl. Halicar. 1. Antiqui. Diony sius Halicarnesseus writeth, that Iupiter and Apollo were … angry, for that the tenth part of men were not sacrificed vntounto them, and therefore sought they reuenge vponupon Italy: Diodorus reporteth, that the Carthaginians when they were ouercome of Agathocles king of the Sicilians thought their Gods to bée angry with them, and therefore to appease them, sacrificed vntounto them two hundred of the Noble mens sonnes at a time. Omonstrous cruelty! Who then can possibly be perswaded otherwise, but that these gods of the Gentiles (which they thus worshipped and sacrificed vntounto) were méere Diuels, considering that such monstrous vnkinde and vnnaturall slaughters at men (which must néedes offende God the more) were the appeasements of their anger and wrath?
Againe these gods of the Gentiles were not only well pleased with the sacrifices of the blood of men, but also well liked and allowed of fornications, adulteries, and all vncleannes: For at Alexandria the Image of Saturne was most deuoutly worshipped, whose Priest Tyna…us by name,Ruffin. li. … Eccles. hist. brought certaine Matrons of the Citie, which he had selected out vntounto that image, or idoll, as being sent for by their god, and there when the lights were put out had to doo with them in the name of that their god. Also among the Nasamones it was the custome that the Bride the first night after her marriage should lie with all the guests,Polid. de Inuent. lib. 5. cap. 8. in honour …f the …oddesse Venus. I therefore conclude, that those gods of the Gentiles which delighted in the slaughters of men, and likewise in their filthines and vncleannes, must néeds be diuels: for the kind and righteous God ran abide none of these things (as any mans owne reason, sense, and vnderstanding may teach him.)
2 An other …ument to prooue that the gods of the gentiles were diuels, is this: because the oracles which they gaue foorth in matters méerely contingent, were either false, or els so ambiguous and vncertaine,Porphyr. lib. de respons. & oracul. as that they were deceitfull, and thereforé could not come from God, but from the diuell. This falshood and deceitfulnes of their Oracles Porphyry himselfe, the great patron of Paganisms testifieth in a speciall booke of the answers of the gods, wherein he professeth, that he hath gathered truely without addition or detraction, the Oracles that were most famous before his time, with the false and vncertaine euent thereof: in consideration of which euent, he setteth downe his owne iudgement of their power in predictions after this manner. The gods doe foretell some naturall things to come, for that they obserue the order of their naturall causes: But in things which are contingent, or doe depend vppon mans will, they hauehave but coniectures, onelyonly in that by their subtiltie and celeritie they preuent vsus: But yet they oftentimes lie, and deceaue vsus in both kindes, for that as naturall thinges are variable, so mans will is much more mutable. Thus far Porphyry, of the prophecies of his gods: whereunto agréeth another Heathen among the Grecians named Oenomaus, Oenomaus de falsitatis oraculorū & de artificibus maleficiis.who for that he had béene much delighted with Oracles, and more deceaued, wrote also a speciall booke in the ende of their falshood and lies, and yet sheweth that in many thinges wherein they deceiued, it was not easie to conuince them of open falshood, for that (cunningly) they would in…olue their answers (of purpose) with such obscurities, Acquinotations, Amphibologies, and doubtfulnes, as that alwaies they would leaue themselues a corner wherein to saue their credits. As for example, when Craesus that famous and rich king of Lydia, consulted with the Oracle of Apollo, whether he should make warre against the Persians, and thereby obtaine their Empire, the Oracle gaue aunswere thus: If Craesus without feare shall passe ouer Halys, (which was a riuer that lay betwéene him and Persia) hee shall bring to confusion a great rich kingdome. Upon which wordes Craesus passed ouer his Armie in hope to get Persia, but he lost Lydia his owne Kingdome, and so was deceaued by that vncertaine Oracle.
Like answer gaue the Oracle of Apollo to Pyrrus king of Epirus, demaunding whether he shoulde prosper in the warre against the Romanes, for it was deliuered in these words. Aio te Aeacid… Romanos vincere posse: I say that the Sonne of Aeacus, the Romanes may ouercome. Uppon which Oracle, Pyrrus the sonne of Aeacus thinking to be the Conqueror, was himselfe vanquisht by the Romanes.
A number more such Oracles there were wherewith the world was deceiued, that trusted them, but I néede not recite them, for (as it appeareth) the Oracles and answers which their wicked spirits gaue forth in matters future and méerely contingent, were such as might be taken and construed two waies, and therefore their worshippers (if they had béene wise to hauehave noted their cunning and deceitfull answers, concontaining no certainety at all) they had béene as good neuér to come at them to inquire of any matter future, for they had such ambiguous answers, as whereby they might remaine as doubtfully, and as vnresolued as they were at first, and so depart home as wise as they came, or rather more fooles than when they went. But what might be the reason why these diuels or diuellish spirites, gaue no cert…er aunsweres to their worshippers in these matters future whereof they were demanded?
The reason is manifest, for no doubt they would if they could, that so their credit might hauehave beene the more: But it was a thing not in their power, but onelyonly reserued vntounto God to knowe and foretell certainely the thinges that are to come, for here in God prouoketh all the gods of the gentiles to make triall and experience of their power in these words: Declare vntounto vsus (saith hée) what shall ensue hereafter, Esay. 41, 23and thereby wee shall know that yee are Gods indeede. Which sheweth that the certaine foretelling of things future, doth manifest a diuine power, whereof these diuellish spirits are not pertakers, for had these wicked spirits such a power in them, as certainely to know and foretell such thinges as were to come, out of all doubt they would then hauehave giuen such certaine, plaine, and vndoubted Oracles and answers in this behalfe, as would hauehave purchased them euerlasting credit in all the world: but now the falshood and vncertainty and deceitfulnes of them, hauehave got them iustly perpetuall discredit in all the world, and manifested them to be no better than lying spirits, whose worshippers were miserably deluded by them (as euen the Heathen themselues hauehave testified.
Hauing thus briefly, yet I trust sufficiently, disprooued the religion of the gentiles, as being a cruell, wicked, false, lying, and deceitfull religion hauing in it no certaintie at all, whereupon men might relye or assure themselues, it remaineth now that I shewe and proue against them the truth of the Christian religion, which we profasse. Where in the first Argument, to shewe the powerfull and vndoubted trueth thereof shall bée this: namely, the confession of the gods of the Gentiles, that is, of Diuels and hellish spirits themselues, who hauehave giuen testimonie thereof, euen to their owne worshippers, especially when the time of Christ his appearing in the worlde (who should bée the light of the Gentiles) drew néere an… approched: for the manifestation whereof, two Oracles of Apollo may su…ice, the one whereof was to a Priest of his owne that demaunded him of true Religion, and of God: to whome hee aunswered thus in Gréeke. O thou vnhappy Priest, Suidus in Thulis, & Porphyr. & Plut. de oraculis.why dost thou aske mee of God, that is the Father of all thinges, and of this most renowned kings deare and onelyonly Sonne, and of the spirit that conteyneth all, &c. Alas that spirit will enforce mee shortly to leaue this habitation and place of Oracles. The other Oracle was to Augustus Caesar, euen about the very time that Christ was readie to appeare in the flesh: for the said Emperour now drawing to age, would néedes go to Delph…s, and there learne of Apollo who shuld raigne after him, and what should become of things when he was dead? Apollo for a great … would make no aunswere, notwithstanding Augustus had béene very liberall in making the great sacrifice called Hecatombe: but in the end, when the Emperour began to iterate his sacrifice, and to bée instant for an aunswere, Apollo (as it were enforced to speake) vttered these strange wordes vntounto him:Suida… in vita Augusti. An Hebrew childe that ruleth ouer the blessed gods, commaundeth mee to leeue this habitation, and out of hand to get mee to hell. Niceph. li. …. hist. c. 17.But yet doe thou departe in silence from our Altars. Thus it appeareth, that this Hebrew childe (which is our Christ Iesus) hath power ouer the gods of the Gentiles, to command them vntounto hell from whence they came, to inioyne them silence, and to remoue them from their habitations. And therfore the religion of this powerful Iesus (whereof he is the author) must needes, euen by the acknowledgement of the Diuels themselues (whom he doth command) be the true religion.
3 Another Argument of the diuinitie and trueth therof is this: namely, that it hath remoued by the puissant force thereof, all the gods of the Gentiles in despite of them, ceased their oracles, and driuen them cleane out of the earth, so that now they are no where to be found.Ioph-2. And so it was fore-told by the Prophets, that Christ (when he came) Attennuabit omnes deos terrae, shall weare out all the gods of the earth. The trueth whereof all the world doth now sée clearely to be certaine and vndoubted by the euent.
The Oracles and aunsweres of of these gods,Cicero lib. de diuin. 2. euen in Ciceroes time (as Cicero himselfe witnesseth, who syued somewhat before the comming of Christ) began to cease: and at last by little and little they ceased altogether,Polid. lib. 5. cap. 8. and were vtterly extinct. It is reported that in Egypt (when Christ was there with Ioseph and his mother Marie) all the Adals of that foolish and superstitious Nation fell downe of theyr owne accord. Afterwardes, in the time of the Emperour Adrian, all sacrifices vntounto those gods ceased, as also the Oracle of Apollo, and all other Oracles became d…nube.luuenad. Wherefore Iunenal sayth, Cessant oracula Delphis, that is, The oracles cease at Delphos. And another Poet sayth:
Lucan.Excessere omnes a ditis arisque relictis,
Dij quibus imperium hoc steterat, &c.
that is, All the gods whereby this Empire stoode, hauehave departed from their Temples, and left their Altars and place of their habitation. Plutarch affirmeth the like,Plutarch de defectus oraculorū, and is much busied to search out the cause & reason of the ceasing of their Oracles, who being a heathen was much troubled heerewith, gessing at the matter, and vainly deuising fond conceits in his brain not able indéede to pierce into the very cause thereof. But Porphiry (euen that great patron of Paganisme, and enemie of Christian Religion) can teach him or any other the true cause thereof, shewing them that since the comming of Iesus their gods are dumbe, & can doo them no good, but are all gone and departed from them. His words bee these, Nune vero mirantur (inquis) fi tam multos annos ciuit as peste vexetur, Porphyr. … aduers. rel. Christ.cum & Aesculopius & alii dii longe absint ab ea: postea enim quam IESVS colitur, nihil vtilitatis adiìs consesequì possumus. Now (saith he) they maruell why this citie is so many yeares vexed with pestilence, when as (indeed) Aesculapius and other gods bee far gone and departed from it: for since the time that Iesus is worshipped, all our gods hauehave beene vnprofitable to vsus. Considering then that Iesus (the author of the christian religion) hath silenced & utterly destroied the gods of the Gentiles (as histories & the visible event them, his religion must needs be the only true religiō.
4 What should I say more & euen the Gentiles themselues, the most ancient, & the best, hauehave testified of Iesus Christ, & of the truth of his religion: for in as much as Christ was appointed before the creation of the worlde, to worke the redemption both of the Iew and Gentile, and to make them both one people in the seruice of his Father: héere-hence it is that hée was fore-tolde, and not altogether vnknowne or vnheard of to both these Nations, and therefore diuers fore-warnings and significations of him were leste, aswell amongst the Gentiles as the Iewes, to stirre them vp to expect his comming. For first by the consent of writers it is agréed, that in those ancient times there were thrée famous men that liued together: namely Abraham (who descending from Heber, Euseb. in Chron.was the father or beginner of the Hebrews, who were afterwards called the Iewes) and with him Iob & Zoroastres, that were not of that Iynage of Heber, but (as wée call them for distinations sake) heathens or Gentiles.Iob. 19.25.26.27. Iob (wee knowe) testifieth of Christ, calling him the Redeemer, and was most assured to sée him one day with his owne eyes, and none other for him, although wormes should destroy that body of his (as he himselfe testifieth.) Zoroastres liuing thus in Abrahams time also, might (by account of scriptures) see or speake with Noe, for Abraham was borne 60 yéers before Noe deceased: and héere of it is, that in the writings of Zoroastres, Clem, Alex. lib. 1. Strom. & Orig. lib. 6. contra Cel sum, & Procl. lib. 2, & 3 Parm, Plato.which are yet extant, or recorded by other Authors in his name, there bée founde verie manie plaine spéeches of the Sonne of God, whome hée calleth Sucundam mentem, the second mind: but much more is to bee seene in the writings of Hermes Trismegestus (who receiued his learning from this Zoroastres) h… whome appeareth, that these first heathen philosophers had manifest vnderstanding of this second person in Trinitie: whom Hermes calleth the first begotten Sonne of God:Herm. in Paeman. cap. 1. & deinceps. his onelyonly Sonne: his deare, eternall, immutable, and incorruptible Son, whose sacred name is ineffable. … are his wordes. And after him againe amongst the Grecians, were Orpheus, Hesiodus, and others, that vttéred the lyke speeches of the Sonne of God, as also did the Plateniffs, whose words and sentences were too long to repeate. Moreouer the Gentiles must remember, that they had also some Prophets among them:Nam. 24. for Balaam was a Prophet among the Gentiles, and a Gentile, and hee is such a one as testified of Christ, & of the Starre that should appears at his birth, by means of whose prophecie (it shoulde séeme) the wise men in the East séeing that Starre, were assured that Christ was borne, and therefore came a long iourney to Iudea to sée him (as one Gospell sheweth.) The same Starre is mentioned by diuers heathen writers,Plin. lib. …. cap. 25. as by Plini… vnderunder the name of a Comet (for so they tearme all extraordinarie Starres) which appeared in the latter dayes of Augustus Caesar, and was farre different from all other that euer appeared. And Pliny saith of it, Is comet a vnus tote orbe colitur, that onelyonly Comet is worshipped throughout all the worlde. Calcidius a Platonicke doth say,Calcid. apud martil. vicin. tract. de stella mag. Lact. contra gent. that the Chaldean Astronomers did gather by contemplation of this Starre, that some God descended from heauen to the benefite of mankind.
The Gentiles also had certaine women called Sibylla, which were Prophetesses, who béeing endued with a certaine spirit of prophecie, vttered most wonderfull particularities of Christ to come: one of them beginning her Gréeke m…eter in these very wordes. Know thy God, which is the Sonne of God. Another of them maketh a whole discourse in Gréek verse called Accresticki, expressely affirming therein, that Christ Iesus (by name) should be the Sauiour, & that he was the Sonne of God, & expressely saying that he should bée incarnate of a virgin, that he should suffer death for our sinnes, and that hee should bee crucified, that he should rise againe and be exalted into the glorious heauens, and from thence (at the time appoynted) and at the day of the resurrection of all flesh come againe to the last iudgement. Of these Sybils there were ten in number,Sibyl. Samia apud Betu…. & talking of his first comming into the world, they also say, that Rutilans cum fidus monstrabit, A blazing Starre shal declare him. These Sybils speake so plainly of Christ Iesus, as the Prophets among the Iewes did, yea more plainely, and as plainely as may bée, and in a manner as fully as our Gospell speaketh: and therefore if the Gentiles will beléeue their own Prophets, they must likewise beléeue the Christian religion (wherof Iesus Christ is the author, of whome they aboundantly testifie.) Now least it might bée thought by some suspitious heades, that Christians hauehave deuised and inuented these thinges, as also that it may yet more fully appeare, that Christ before his comming was notified ouer the world, by meanes of those verses of the Sybils, Varro lib. de reb. diuin. ad Caesarem. Font. Max.it must be remembred, that Marcus Varro a learned Romane (who liued almost a hundred yéeres before Christ) maketh mention at large of the Sybils, (who in number, he saith, were ten) and of their writings, countries, and ages, as also of the writers and authors that before his time had left memorie of thē: and both he & Fenestella (another heathen) do affirme,Fenest. cap. de 15. viris that the writings of the Sybils were gathered by the Romanes,See the oration of Constant, in Euseb. lib. 4. cap. 32. de vita Const. from all partes of the world where they might be heard of, & laid vp with great diligence and reuerence in the Capitol. Sybilla Erithraea, who made the former accrostoick verses, testifieth of her selfe (as Constantine the Emperour doth record) that shee lyued about fire hundred yeares after the floud of Na…: And her countryman Apollidorus, Erithraeus & Ʋarro doo report that she liued before the warre of Troy, and prophecied to the Grecians that went to that warre, that Troy should be destroied: (as it came to passe) which was more then a thousand yéeres before Christ was born. Cicero also (that died more than 40 yeares before Christ was borne) translated into latin the former accrosticke verses (as Constantine sayth) which translation was to be séen in his works, when Constantine wrote that his oration: sée Cicero of these accresticke verses of Sybilla, lib. 2. de diuinatione. Cice. lib. 2 de diuin. Sueton. Tranq, cap, 3. de vitaAnd finally Suetonius an heathen recordeth, that Augustus Caesar (before our Sauiour Christ was borne) had such speciall regard of the sayinges of the Sybils, that hée laide them vp in more straighter order than before vnderunder the Altar of Apollo in the hil Palatine, where no man might hauehave the sight of them but by speciall licence. And so much for the credit of the Sybils, who gaue full testimonie of our Sauiour Iesus Christ (by name) and therefore if the Gentiles wil beléeue them (who were their owne Prophets, & highly reuerenced of all the world) they must also beleue our Gospell, and the Christian religion to bée the onelie true religion. Lastly, the Gentils might hauehave the vnderstanding of Christ the Messias by the Hebrew scriptures, which were in the Gréek language diuers ages before Christ was borne. For Ptolomy king of Egipt, which had the famous library, was studiously inquisitiue to search out the originall of all nations & religions, & he found that the people of the Iews was the most ancient, and that they onelyonly had the most certaine and vndoubted historie of the creation of the world, & therfore he sent vntounto them to send to him frō Ierusalem seuentie men, by whose helpe the sacred Bible might bée translated out of Hebrew into their tongue, which was doone accordingly: as also the Gentiles might hauehave knowledge of this Messias, eyther by accesse into the Iewish cuntry, or by the access of the Iewes into their country: as namely by their long bondage in Egypt, as also their long captiuitie in Babylon, &c. But I conclude this matter thus: Sith the Prophets of both Iewes and Gentiles (that is to say, the Prophets of all the worlde) hauehave giuen full, plaine, & euident testimonie of Iesus Christ the sonne of God, that therefore his religion is the onelie true religion, and all other to be reiected and detested.
5 That religion which is most ancient is the true religion (for truth was first, insomuch as error is nothing else but the corruption of truth, or wandering from truth:) but the religion whereof Christ is the author is the most ancient (in as much as Christ the author thereof is the most ancient of dayes, béeing the Sonne of God, as also because hée is testified of by the Hebrew records, which are the most ancient writings in the world:) Ergo the Christian religion is that which must néedes bée the onelyonly true religion in the world.Tertul. contra Pra…. For it is a true saying of Tertullian, Ʋerum quod primum, quod posterius adulterinum est: that is true whatsoeuer is first, & that is adulterate which is not the first. That the Hebrew records doo testifie and foreshew Christ to come, is declared before in the second Chapter, and none can denie it. For hee was promised to Adam the first man that euer God made, vnderunder the name of the séede of the woman, that should breake the Serpents head: hée was fore-tolde to Abraham that hée should come of his séede, in whom all the Nations of the earth should bée blessed.
Iacob fore-tolde of him, calling him Shilo, and that hée should bée the expectation of the Gentiles. God telleth Moses of him, and fore-sheweth to him that he should be the Prophet whose voice all should heare and obey, &c. Considering then that hée is come, and that hee is the very same that was fore-tolde by the writings of Moses, and by the Hebrew records, which are the most ancient recordes of the worlde, I conclude, that his religion (whereof hée is the author) is the onelyonly true religion.
The antiquitie of the Hebrew historie to bée long before al other, is acknowledged by the heathen them selues, and therefore I néed not to proue it: only this I say, that Eupolonius and Eusebius also doe say,Euseb. lib. 10. de praepar. Euang that letters (which are the beginning of words that should bée written) were first found out by Moses, & by him deliuered to the Iewes, and that the Iewes taught them to the Phenicians, and that lastly the Grecians receiued them of the Phenicians: and therefore the Hebrews most néedes bée they, amongst whome the first and most ancient records of the world were to be found, as Ptolemy also king of Egypt did find, and affirme, and therefore made much of the Hebrew scriptures. Now then for as much as the Hebrew wrytings and histories bée the most ancient, they must also néedes bée supposed true, in as much as in themselues they all agrée in a swéet harmony, and no other records are able to disproue them: yea, if men will be so incredulous as to doubt of Moses historie (because it is so ancient) why may they not (with as good reason also) doubt of any other historie which is ancient, and long before their times? But because some are of so little beléefe (although the historie doo sufficiently giuegive credite to it selfe) yet for better setling of their minds in this behalfe, I will briefly shew, that euen the heathen historiographers & writers doo confirme the same, that so the credite and reuerence due vntounto Moses may be reserued, & wicked tongues that barke against him may bée stopped. The verie heathen and prophane writers themselues that speake of Moses, speake of him most reuerently,Treb. Pol. in Claud. insomuch that Trebellius Pollio speaking of Moses, Solum Dei familiarem vocet, doth call him the onelyonly man with whom God was familiar. Tacit. Annal, lib. 21.Cornelius Tacitus although he speaketh what hee can against the religion of the Iewes, yet cannot discredit Moses historie, but is inforced to confesse (according to the historie written by Moses) that after there were botches and swelling, sores sent into the land of Egypt, which were noysome both to men & beastes, the king of Egypt then tooke order that the people of the Hebrews should go out of his land, and depart whither they should be directed. Procopius also mentioneth Iosuah the sonne of Nun, Moses successor, and saith that the people of Phenicia, for feare of Iosuah and of the Israelites, left their owne country, & departed into Affrike, he mentioneth likewise the Iehusites, Gergesites, & the other people named in the sacred Bible. Orpheus one of the most ancient wryters next to Moses, and an heathen, doth mention the two Tables of stone wherein the lawe of God was written, and wisheth moreouer all such as he studious of vertue, to learn out of his verses diuine knowledge, whereby (saith he) they shall vnderstand and knowe the author of the worlde, which is one God which created all things, cherisheth all things, nourisheth all things, who is not seene with humane eyes, but is perceiued only by the mind, which doth no hurt to mortal men, insomuch as hee is the causer & procurer of all good things, Furthermore he addeth that no man mortall hath seene God at any time, except onelyonly a certaine most godly olde man that came of the Chaldeans (vz. Moses.) At last hee concludeth with this saying, that hee had learned these thinges out of the monuments which God in times past had deliuered in two Tables of stone, Linus also saith that God created all thinges, & in the seuenth day had finished all things. Homer also & Hesiodus testifie the same, the one saying that the seuenth day did perfect & finish al things, the other, septimam lucem fuisse sanctā & praefulgidam, that the seuenth day was most holy & bright. How the earth was without forme before it was fashioned by God; Ouid testifieth, calling it a Chaos, which is rudus indigesta que moles, a rude & vnfashioned heape: which Homer & Hesiodus also testifie, calling it Hyle, a certaine vnſhapen & rude matter, which God afterwards brought into good forme & fashion. These hauehave testified we sée of the creation of the world (which is the great maruaile of maruels) affirming in a manner the very words of Moses which he writeth in Genesis, the wing that the world had a beginning, & that God treated heauen & earth▪ & at therin in seuen dayes, and that the seuenth day was holie vntounto the Lord.Vide Plut de placit, philos. And this truth of Moses historie concerning the creation of the worlde; all the chiefe & best learned Philosophers amongst the heathen did also firmly beléeue. The floud that drowned the worlde, which we cal the floud of Noe, Ioseph. li. de anti que Iud. Euseb. lib. …. de praep▪ Euang,not only Ouid testifieth in his Metamorphosis, but also diuers ancient heathē writers, namely Berosus, Chaldaeus, Ieronimus Egiptius, Nicholaus Damascenus, Abydenus, & others (according as both Iosephus and Eusebius doo proue.)
Concerning the tower of Babylon, and institution of tongue… … which Moses recordeth Gen. … … testimo… … …en by A…ydenus that liued abo… king … ▪ …useb. li. 9. de praep. …. 4.the word… of … of Sennar where … was …: and these Gentiles doo shew by reason, that … there had not béene … such myracle in the din…on of tongues, no doubt but that all tongues being deriued from one (as all men are of one Father) would still hauehave reteyned the same … which we sée and was séene long, not to bee the worlde: the difference of languages in the world is a proose of that confusion of tongues.
Of the long life of the first Patriarchs, not onelie, the fore-named Baerosus, Chaldeus, Ieronimus Aegiptius, Nicholaus Damascenus, Abydenus, but also Manethus, that gathered the historie of the Egyptians, Molus Hestians that wrote the actes of the Phen… ans, Hesiodus, Hecatenus, Abd…rica, H…lamicus, Acusilans, and Epherus doo testifie, that these first inhabitants of the world did liue so long. And they alledge the reason thereof to bée for the multiplication of people, and for the bringing of all sciences to perfection, especially Astronomie and Astrologie, which (as they write) could not be brought to any sufficient perfection by any one man that had liued lesse than sixe hundred yeares, in which space the great yeare (as they call it) returneth about.Alex. Poly hist. lib. de Indaica historia.
Of Abraham and his affaires I hauehave alleadged some heathen writers before, as Barosus H…cataus, & Nicholaus Damasc…nus: but of all others Polyhistor alleadgeth Eupol…mus most at large of Abrahams being in Egypt, of his fight and victorie in the behalfe of Lot, of his entertainment by king Melchisede…h, of his wife and sister Sara, and of other his dooinges, especially of the sacrifice of his sonne Isaac. To …ehem agréeth Melo in his books written against the Iews, and Artabanus, of the strange lake whereinto Sodoine and Gomorrha were turned, by their destruction called Mare m…rtuum, the dead Sea, where nothing can liue: both Galen, Pausanius, Galen de simpli. Paul, in Eliae. Solin. in Poly hist. Tacit. lib. vlt. trift.Solinus, Tacitus, and Strabo, doo testifie and shewe the particular wonders thereof.
From Abraham downe to Moses, writeth very particularly the said Alexander Polyhistor, albeit he mingleth sometime certaine fables: whereby appeareth that he tooke not his storie wholie out of the Bible. And he alledgeth one Leodemus who (as he saith) liued with Moses, & wrote the selfe same things that Moses did: and with these also doo cancurre Theodorus a most ancient Poet, Artabanus & Philon Gentiles. And therefore it is manifest that Moses history, (as also all the rest of the sacred and canonicall scriptures) is no fable or feined matter (as the deuil would make vsus beléeue) but a true; certaine, & most vndoubted historie in all points. All which matters be sufficiently and substantially shewed also euen by the heathens writings, which are too tedious to hée héere rehearsed.
But the great wonders and miracles which Moses did, béeing acknowledged to bée doone not by his owne power, but by the power of God, doo sufficiently giuegive credit vntounto him: of whom and of whose actes doo beare witnesse, not onelyonly the fore-named (especially Artabanus in his booke of the Iewes) but manie others also (especially Eupolemus) out of whome Polyhistor reciteth very long narrations of the wonderful and strange things done by Moses in Egypt. Yea the myracles done by him, the greatest enemies that euer he had in the world,Appion li. 4. contra Iudaeos. Porph. lib. 4. aduersus Christian. that is Appion in the fourth booke against the Iewes, and Porphiry in his fourth booke against the Christians doo confesse. And Porphiry adioineth more for proofe thereof, namely, that hée found the same thinges confirmed by the storie of one Sacontathon a Gentile, who liued (as hée saith) at the same time with Moses: but all those myracles (say those two his great enemies) were doone by Art Magicke, and not by the power of God. But first where could Moses a simple shepheard learne so much magicke? or why could not then the great Magitians of Egypt either doo the like, or at least wise deliuer themselues from those plagues that were in Egypt, (especially since their study was in Art Magick from their infancie) yea why did they crie out The finger of God is heere, Exod. 8.18when they could not doo as hée did? or let them aunswere why Pharao king of Egypt did speake to Moses and Aaron, Exod. 8.9.10.11, &c.saying: Pray yee vntounto the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from mee and from my people. His great Magitians belike could not doo it, yea hee signifieth in that spéech that none can doo it but God, yea and that neither Moses nor Aaron could doo it any otherwise than by praying vntounto God. And indéede Moses and Aaron did by praier vntounto God effect it, at the very same time that the king did appoint it to be done: that he & all the world might knowe, that there was not anie like vntounto the God of Israell.
Where did you euer heare of such workes done by Art Magicke as Moses did? when hée diuided the great and mightie redde Sea, that the people of Israell might goe through on drie lande?Exod. …4. when the waters came together agayne vppon Pharao and all his host, and drowned them and all theyr glorie in the Sea?Exod, 16. when hee called so manie Quailes vppon the sodayne into the Campe, as suffised to feede sixe hundred thousand men, beside women and children?Exod, 17. when hee made a verie Rocke by smiting it, to yéelde foorth abundance of water, sufficient for the whole companie of Israell?Num, 16. when hee caused the ground to open and swallowe downe aliue thrée of the greatest of his Armie, Corah, Dathan, and Abyram together, with their tabernacles, bagges and baggages?
Beside, what wondrous workes or myracles soeuer Moses did, hee alwayes acknowledged to come from God, reiecting vtterly all glorie from himselfe, and attributing and yéelding all the glorie vntounto God. Agayne,Deut. 32. Gen. 49. Num. 12. Deut. 14. in his writinges hee dooth not excuse nor conceale his owne sinne, nor the sinne of his people, no not the sinne of Aaron his owne brother, nor of Marie his sister, nor of Leui his grandfather, nor of anie other of his lynage and kinred: neyther did hee once séeke or goe about (although hee were in place of power and authoritie to doo it) to bring in anie of his owne Sonnes into the rule and gouernement after his decease (although hee had manie) but left the onelyonly rule and gouernement vntounto a stranger named Iosuah, as God commanded.Deut. 3. Num. 37.
All which thinges doo shewe (and many more too tedious to rehearse) that Moses both in his writings, in his wordes, and in his works, was no man of ambition, or of worldly spirite, but of a méeke, humble, dutifull, obedient, and faithfull seruant of God in all matters.
The historie of Moses therefore béeing the most ancient, and the same béeing most vndoubted and certaine true, insomuch as he and his history do plentifully testifie of Christ, which was to come, & should bée heard in all that he should say and teach, it remaineth that his religion which hée hath taught vntounto the world, is the onelyonly true religion, and all other religions (not grounded of the like antiquity and truth) to bée abandoned.
6 None can discredit Moses, nor the Psalms, nor any of the Prophets amongst the Iewes, but they must withall discredit Christ: for Christ saith thus of himselfe,Luk. 24.44 that All must be fulfilled which were written of him in Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalmes. And againe hée sendeth such as would knowe of him whether hée were the true Messias, to the scriptures of the Iewes, saying thus: Search the Scriptures, for they are they that testifie of me. So that Christ, Moses, Iohn. 5.39.the Psalmes, and the Prophets, and in a word the whole canonicall scriptures of the Iewes doo got arme in arme, and bée linked together like inseparable friends that will not bée sundred: and therfore the one is alwayes a proofe for the other, as likewise a disproofe of the truth of the one, is a disproofe of the other: and therefore is it that though the incredulous Iews be so false in friendship, as that they will not (through vnbeléefe) take part with the Christiās, yet the Christians bée more firme, and will holde with the Scriptures of the Iewes to the death. Now if there were no more to proue the diuinitie of Christ, but the great and wonderfull miracles which he did (some wherof were such, as neuer any did before, nor could doe but God onelyonly) it were sufficient to proue him to bee the S…nne of God, and that hée came from the bosome of his Father. The great and many myracles that hee did (béeing famous not onelyonly in Iudea, but in all the Romane Empire, and so ouer all the worlde) are and were such as none of the heathen dare doo, or can denie, but all acknowledge. And therefore I conclude, that the Christian religion, procéeding from so diuine a power, and from one whose workes and wonders is aboue all the world, is the most vndoubted true religion.
7 Christ did neuer any hurt on earth, but hee did maruellous much good, hée healed all manner of diseases, he caused the dumbe to speake, the halt to goe, the blind to sée, and the deafe to heare: hée stilled the raging of the windes and seas, gaue sight to him that was borne blind; raised the deade to life againe, cast out deuils, knew mens thoughts, and did such works as no man could doo except God with him, yea except himselfe were God. Moreouer his life was such, as none was able to accuse him of any sinne, so pure and vnreproouable was he. Againe, the doctrine he taught was farre from a worldly spirit, béeing most heauenly, most innocent, and most diuine, for neuer any man spake as hee spake, nor with such authoritie. Agayne, hée alwaies pronounced that he sought not his owne glorie (which deceiuers are wont to doo) but the glory of his Father, and as hée spake so it was indeede. The whole course of his life and death, resurrection, and ascention doth shewe the same: for when the Iewes would hauehave made him an earthly king, hee would none of it, but conueyed himselfe away. Iohn. 6.15. teaching his Ministers to doo the like also. Luk. 22.25 26. for hée proclaimed that his kingdome was not of this world. Iob. 18.36. but that hée came to doo the wil of his Father. Ouer and aboue all this, hée was the greatest Prophet that euer was, and fore-told diuers things (as namely, that hee should bée crucified of the Iewes, and the third day rise againe: that Ierusalem and the Temple should bée destroyed ere that generation passed: that after his Ascention the holy Ghost shoulde come downe vppon his Disciples assembled at Ierusalem, and diuers others) all which the world doth knowe came to passe accordingly. And nothing which hée hath spoken but it shall bée performed, for there was neuer any fraud within his lippes, or falshood within his tongue. And therefore I conclude, that the Religion of him (who was most holy in his life, most harmlesse towardes others, most beautifull towardes all, most wonderfull in his workes, most true in his propecies, most heauenly in his doctrine, not sauouring of any carnall delight or worldly affection, nor by any way or meanes séeking his owne glorie, but the glorie of God, and to doo the will of his Father) is and must néedes bée the onelie true Religion.
8 An other argument I frame thus: that Religion which procéedeth vndoubtedly from God, is the true Religion: But the Christian Religion proceedeth vndoubtedly from God: Ergo &c. that it procéedeth vndoubtedly from God, I proue thus. Either it must procéed from God, or from the Deuill, or from men: But it is too holie to procéede either from men or Deuilles, for it ouerthroweth the workes and kingdome of the one, and forbiddeth the reuenging spirite of the other (commaunding men to louelove theyr enemies, to doo good to them that hate them and persecute them) it condemneth their wanton eye, and the adulterous thoughts of their harts, and their couetous humour, admitting no vncleannes or impuritie, and forbidding all iniquitie and wickednes bee it neuer so secrete or close: Sith therefore it is so opposite and contrary to mens affections, wherewith naturally they bee carryed, and that it commandeth to bée holie, euen as God is holie, it is manifest, that it can neither bee of mans deuising, nor of the deuils inuention, it remayneth therefore, that it must néedes bée of God, and consequently the onelie true Religion.
9 An other Argument is this: that Religion which respecteth onelyonly the glorie of God, is and must néedes bée the onelyonly true Religion. But such is the Christian Religion: for it alloweth not anie man to glorie in himselfe, but sheweth that whatsoeuer gloryeth should glorie in the Lorde. 1. Cor. 1.30.31. Rom. 4.2. Therfore the Christian Religion is the onlie true Religion.
10 Lastly, the spreading and preuailing of the Gospell of Christ ouer the vniuersall world, when as all the worlde (both Iewes and Gentiles) were sette and opposed against it, doth demonstrate plentifully and effectually, that the Christian Religion procéeded from God, and that God is the author thereof: for if it had not had a God to protect and patronage it, and to make it passe currantly through the world, it must needes hauehave béene vtterly suppressed and choked euen in the springing and first rising thereof. For after the ascention of Christ Iesus into heauen, what were his few Apostles (in the iudgement of reasonable men) able to doo, for the spreading and preuailing thereof, against the force and power of all the world, which was then readie bent with all both furie and fraud, violence and vengeance, & with all their deuises which they could inuent to suppresse it? or what eloquence had his few Apostles to perswade the worlde, or any therein, to the receiuing and imbracing of that Christian Religion which they were appointed to preach: they (as al men know) were reputed & known to bée vnlearned men, but only that they were taught and instructed by the spirit of God, which (according to the promise of Christ their maister) at the time appointed descended downe vponupon them, béeing assembled at Ierusalem, by which spirite they were enabled to speake all languages, and imboldned to preach his Gospell and religion, in such sort and with such puissant and diuine wisedome, as none should bée able to resist that spirit they spake by, howsoeuer their persons might bée hindered, molested, vexed, and persecuted.
This, euen this is a wonder of wonders, and an infallible demonstration of the diuine vertue of the Christian religion, that it hauing so few to publish it, and such as they were, and beeing encountred by all the Princes and Potentates of the worlde, it shoulde notwithstanding so strangely preuaile, as within a short time to bée vniuersally spread ouer the face of the whole earth. Who can now say but that it was protected and preuailed by the power of God: for the power of all the world was against it: and if the Christian religion had béene no better protected by God than by men, alas it had perished long ago, yea, it had neuer liued vntill this day, but it had béene choked euen at the first vprising, & as it were in the cradle or infancie thereof. Let all wittes therefore throw downe themselues, and let all tongues fréely confesse the diuine vertue of the Christian religion, which could not bée stopped or suppressed, but was so mightie, as that the power of all the worlde, and of all the deuils in hel ioyning with them, was not able to stay the course and passage thereof, but that it did preuaile, and that within short space ouer all the earth. And therefore the Christian religion (without al doubt) is the onelyonly true religion, which came downe from heauen, béeing brought by Iesus Christ the true Messias, from the bosome of God his father. Of which (hauing so many and so infallible arguments to prooue to eueryevery mans sence the truth thereof) none can doubt except hée will also doubt whether the eye dooth see, the eare doth heare, and the heart dooth vnderstand: the euidence thereof is so cleare and manifest, as that it is able, if not to conuert, yet to conuince all gayne-sayers whosoeuer, and to make vsus that alreadie professe, firmely to hold the same, knowing for certayne, that the Christian Religion is the onelyonly true religion in the world, and that saluation is no where els to be sought. For run ouer all the religions of the worlde, and where shall you finde any so pure, so diuine, so powerfull, so miraculous? It hath all the signes, tokens, argumentes, and proofes that may bée, for the splendent truth thereof, and to demonstrate that vndoubtedly it came from God.