Answer to John De Albines, Answer to discourse · Chapter 19
The XIX. Chapter.
LActantius Firmianus in his book of his diuine inſtitutions. cap. 5. vvriting againſt the Gētiles, doeth proue, that there is but one God, & he doeth alleadge as witneſſes, all the olde learned Philoſophers, ſuch as Thales Mileſius, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Cleanthus, Anaximeus, Cryſippus, Heno, Plato, Ariſtotle, Seneca, and others. Octauius likewiſe, a Chriſtian Oratour, diſputing againſt Cecilius, as thē a Gentle, doeth alleage likewiſe, to confound theſe olde Philoſophers, and he doeth adde more, Xenophon, Spenſippus, Demaritus, Strato, Theophraſtus & many more.*a Act. 12. S. Paul likewiſe, preaching to the Athenians, doeth proteſt,aAct. 17. you ſhould hauehave ſaid. that he doth teach them no new thing, but rather him vvhom they did vvorſhip, & did not know. By the vvhichwhich it is plainelie to be ſeene, that the Apoſtles did not announce vntounto the people anie new law, for it vvas verie olde, and notwithſtanding, they did confirme it vvith miracles. And if you ſaie, that although thoſe learned Philoſophers had aknowledge of God, as it doeth appeare by their vvorkes: yet there is foūd in them no mention of Ieſus Chriſt, and therefore, that it vvas neceſſarie to approue that doctrine vvith ſignes and miracles. But contrarivviſe, that you in your new reformed Goſpell, doe preach the olde Apoſtolicall lawe, I doe anſwere you to this, that the 9. SybillesbThough it was foreſeene that ſuch a one ſhuld come, yet that Ieſus the ſonne of Mary was he, was new, and needed ſuch cō firmation by miracles. did ſpeake of his comming and birth, euen as plainelie as anie of the Prophets: and amongſt other Sybilla Erithrea did as fullie Propheſie of the comming of our Sauiour to iudge the quicke and the dead, as anie other Prophet; at S Auguſtine doeth teſtifie.cTher is nothing once ſounding that way. In other places I graunt he ſpeaketh hereof, but he no where th…s matcheth them with the Prophets. Lib. 1. de ciui. dei. cap. 23. Likewiſe of his death and paſſion, and of the miracles he ſhould doe before his death. The Oracles of the falſe Gods hauehave likewiſe declared vntounto the Gentiles the cō ming of Chriſt, as Lactantius Firmianus doeth vvrite,*Li…. 1. cap. 15. li. 4. cap. 15. in his booke of the diuine inſtitutions. Nicephorus in like maner doeth vvrite how Auguſtus Ceſar ſacrifiſing to the God Apollo Pithius in his temple could get no other but a verie briefe anſwere, then Ceſar did demaund why hee could not make him then as fullie anſwere as he did at other times, Apollo vvas conſtrained to ſaie the trueth, the vvhichwhich was, that a young Hebrewe childe borne of late, did commaunde him to retire himſelfe into his hell,dYou text and your margent agree …o…y our margent is right and the other wrong. vntounto vvhom he was forced to yeelde obediently, foraſmuch as he was God, and gouernour of the other Gods, & therefore that he did coūſell the ſaied Ceſar quietlie to retire himſelfe, & to make no more adoe: the verſes are theſe.
Me puer Hebraeus, diuos deus ipſe gubernans,
Cedere ſede …ubet, triſtem que redire ſub orcum:
Aris ergo dehinc tacitus abſcedito noſtris.
The XIX. Chapter.
YOur proofes in this Chapter, out of Lactantius and Octauius, that the doctrine of one God is olde and ancient, in that they induce the olde learned Philoſophers as witneſſes thereof: and that which you alleadge to the ſame ende, ſpoken by S. Paul Act. 17. and not (as your quotation is) Act. 12. might well inough hauehave beene omitted. For as it is a thing not in queſtion, ſo alſo (as you may perceiue, by that which I hauehave ſaied in mine anſwere to your former Chapter) it proueth not the thing you intend: for that both Moſes and the Apoſtles had other matters in their commiſſion, that were new and ſtrange, for confirmation whereof they wrought their miracles, and not for this purpoſe only. But foreſeeing, that we would in ſome part anſwere (as I hauehave ſhewed) that the doctrine of Ieſus to be the perſon of the Meſsias, yet was new, in reſpect whereof it was neceſſarie for them, to approue their doctrine by miracles: you would proue, that that was not new neither, and ſo your meaning is, yt the oldnes of our doctrine cānot proue miracles to be vnneceſſary. But let vsus heare, how you proue this. In this Chapter you proue it, by the teſtimony of the nine Sibils, eſpecially of Sibilla Erithrea, the rather for Auguſtines teſtimony of her, in his 1. booke of the citty of God, c. 23. though indeede there be no mention at al of her in that place: who (you ſay) did ſpeake as plainely & fully of his comming, birth, miracles, death, & comming to iudgement, as any of the Prophets: out of Lactantius 1. booke, & 15. c. of diuine inſtitutions: & out of Nicephorus, by the oracle yt Apollo gaue of him to the gentiles, & namely to Auguſtus Ceſar: which profes though they were granted to be of ſufficient force, to proue that the gentiles had thereby ſome knowledge of the cōming, maner of cōming, & office of ſuch a Meſſias, yet they proue not, but that it was notwithſtāding a thing newe and not vnderſtoode to moſt of thē: neither doe they at all proue, but that ſtill the doctrine concerning the particuler perſon of that Meſſias, namely that Ieſus the ſonne of the virgin Mary, whom the Iewes crucified, was he, & no other, was a new doctrine both to Iew and gentile, and therefore in that reſpect, it was neceſſary for the Apoſtles (for all theſe thinges) to confirme that by miracle: whereas now amongſt vsus, that beare any waie the name of Chriſtians, that doctrine is not newe, neither anie thing elſe that wee preach, but to thoſe to whom the ancient doctrine taught in the Scriptures is newe, and therefore as yet there remaineth cauſe ſufficient, why the Apoſtles ſhould worke miracles, and not wee. This alſo I cannot but tell you of, that howſoeuer the Sybilles are reported to hauehave prophecied of Chriſt, your compariſon is verie odious, when you ſaie, they did it as fully, and as plainelie as anie of the Prophets: and that you wrong Auguſtine too too much, in making your Reader beleeue, that hee either in the place quoted by you, or anie where elſe ioyneth with you in that malaperte compariſon. But theſe compariſons of yours argue the profaneneſſe of the ſpirite, that directeth your pennes.