Dissertation Concerning the Antiquity of Temples, Part

Dissertation Concerning the Antiquity of Temples · Part

p. 5The Antiquity of Temples.

Whether there were any before the Sanctuary made by Moſes.

WE read in the Old Teſtament, of Altars very …arly and frequently, without any Temples. Implyed in Cain and Abel's Offerings unto the Lord, Gen. 4. expreſt, of Noah's building an Altar unto the Lord, Gen. 8.20. ſo Abraham, Gen. 12.7. Iſaac, Gen. 26.25. and Jacob at Bethel, Gen. 35.7. Elias likewiſe in his Contention with the Prieſts of Baal, 1 Kings 18.32. And in the New Teſtament, of the Heathens Altar at Athens, Acts 17.23. (the Story whereof is related by Diog. Laertius in the Life of Epimenides, and L. Vives on Auſtin de C. D. l. 7. c. 17. and others) And Walafridus Strabo Writes, That at firſt both the Worſhippers of God, and of the Devil, performed their Service in the open Air; but when they began to make Idols, then, and not till then, and upon that occaſion, they began to build Temples. I ſhall not trouble the Reader with a multitude of Authours, that have written of the Original and Progreſs of Idolatry. I think Mercerus judgeth right, that there was none before the Flood: And though ſome Rabbins I know, and alſo Tertullian thought, there were Idols and Idolatry in the old World; yet Cyril l. 3. againſt Julian, and Epiphanius in's Panarium, with many others, the contrary. And that the Sin of thoſe days, which provoked God to drown the World, was Irreligiouſneſs and Prophaneneſs, rather than Superſtition and Idolatry. For the cauſe of the Flood is mentioned in general, that all Fleſh had corrupted their ways. It was very general, and therefore the Lord reſolved to corrupt the Earth. In Enoch's days, it ſeems by his Propheſie mentioned by Jude, that prophane Perſons did ſpitefully ſpeak, and practiſe againſt God's Servants; with which reproachful carriage, carnal Men being overcome, became prophane alſo; and the good being taken away by death, there was a general defection. In ſpecial we read, that the earth was full of violence; and this increaſed upon the degenerate condition of God's People. For the ſons of God ſaw the daughters of Men that they were fair, and they took them Wives of all that they p. 6liked, Gen. 6.2. which provoked the Lord in an high degree, verſ. 3. And hereupon there were Children born unto them, which were mighty men, and men of r…. Then Carnal Security was very great, as our … ſignifieth Luke 17.26, 27. which proceeded from … contempt of God's Word; and alſo of his Patience, and long ſuffering in his Works. For he bare with them an 120 years, and … Noah a Preacher of Righteouſneſs unto them; thus the Goodneſs of God led them to Repentance both ways, but they were diſobedient, 1 Pet. 3. and thereby treaſured up wrath againſt the day of wrath, and the Flood came and ſwept them all away, ſave eight Perſons. In all this we have no Evidence of any Sin of Idolatry committed by them; and had that been their ſin, it is unlikely the Holy Ghoſt would have pretermitted the mention thereof.

2. After this the experience of God's wrath breaking forth into ſo ſore a Judgment, and cauſing ſo great a Devaſtation, as to lay a whole World waſt; this I ſay might juſtly work in them the fear of God, and make them generally become the more devout, while the remembrance of ſo general a Deluge remained; and this might well be continued for ſo many years as they ſurvived who had ſeen the Flood. Now we read that Noah lived 350 years after the Flood, and Sem his Son 498 years. How long Ham and Japhet ſurvived after the Flood is not expreſſed. This Devotion proceeding only from a natural cauſe, as in all Perſons unregenerate, could prove but natural, and therefore the more apt to be corrupted with Idolatry: as indeed it was very timely, even in the days of Terah Abraham's Father, as we read Joſh. 24. though Noah himſelf, the Father of them all, ſurvived a 128 years in the very days of Terah; Abraham the Father of the Faithful being born but the third year after Noah's death; Sem yet living 152 years after this, as who died but ten years before Jacob and Eſau the twin Sons of Iſaac and Rebeckah were born. This Jacob with all his Children went down into Egypt, whither Joſeph was gone many years before, and in all the Sacred Hiſtory concerning Egypt, and the Children of Iſrael's dwelling there, and the Egyptians vexing and oppreſſing of them, until the Lord's wonderful Deliverance of them, though we read of the Gods of Egypt, Exod. 12.12. Numb. 33.4. as alſo how the Children of Iſrael were corrupted with their Idols, Ezech. 20.7. yet we read of no Temples they had. And Pharaoh, though he would p. 7have had them Sacrifice to their God, in the Land of Egypt, yet he knew full well they had no Temple for this; and when he promiſed to give them leave to go into the Wilderneſs to Sacrifice there, provided they went not far, he knew there was no Temple for them. But the third month after their coming out of Egypt, at Mount Sinai, the Lord took order for the building of a Sanctuary, ſaying unto Moſes, Let them make me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among them, Exod. 25.8, 9. And I am apt to be perſwaded, that hereupon the Devil wrought upon the Gentiles his Vaſſals, to build Sanctuaries and Temples for their Idols, as places for their habitation and dwelling among them.

3. For the Devil is commonly ſaid to be God's Ape, he doth affect to imitate God. Mr. Mede hath obſerved this in ſetting down his opinion concerning the firſt plantation of America, which he conceives to have been wrought originally by the Devil, by his perſuaſions drawing a Colony thither out of theſe Northern Parts, and that long ſince the preaching of the Goſpel began, yea, not very many hundred years ago: The Spaniards not finding by any means of Tradition from the Father to the Son, that they had been planted there above 400 years before their coming amongſt them, as the Mexican Hiſtory doth teſtifie. And like as when Idolatry at the firſt began to ſpread, and to corrupt the Family of Terah Abraham's Father, the Lord called him away from thence into another Country, who followed him, not knowing whither he went: So the Devil, when he ſaw what a ſtrange alteration was made in the World, by the preaching of the Goſpel, and fearing leſt he ſhould be turned out of all; he projected a courſe of drawing ſome of his Diſciples into a new World out of all danger, from the ſound of the Goſpel, that ſo he might rule the more ſafely over them without all controul; as indeed he did, and that in ſuch ſort as never in the like manner before, ſince the time that Mankind firſt fell into his clutches.

In all Ages, ever ſince his Fall, his practiſe hath been to draw Man from his Maker. Cupiunt perditi perdere (ſaith Cyprian) & depravati errorem pravitatis infundere, & cum ſint ipſi paenales, quaerunt ſibi ad paenam comites. And accordingly as he finds them, by one way or other, moſt apt to be led away from God; ſo his practiſe is to work upon them agreeably to their Natures. If he finds them profanely diſpoſed, his courſe p. 8is to confirm them therein, until he hath brought them to very Atheiſm, if God permit him ſo far to prevail: but in caſe he find them awed with fear of a Divine Providence; then he laboureth to work them to the ſervice of himſelf; wherein he plays the part of a Thief as well as of an Ape, labouring by all means to rob God of his Glory, as the Apoſtle ſheweth in 1 Cor. 10.20. where he faith, Know ye not that the things which the Gentiles ſacrifice, they ſacrifice to Devils and not to God. For whether he draws them to worſhip the Sun, Moon and Stars, and all the Hoſt of Heaven; or their deceaſed Anceſtors, he draws them from God the Creator, unto the Creature; or under the pretence of theſe, to worſhip the Evil Spirits themſelves, eſpecially when by giving forth his Oracles in ſuch places, where the Images of their Anceſtors were worſhipped, he had ſo infatuated them, as to think that ſuch Places were inhabited by God himſelf; and thus the Oracles there given forth with great ſubtilty and colluſion, were received as Divine. Thus hath the World beén drawn from God, and the Worſhip which is due to him, beſtowed upon the Devil his profeſt Enemy, and as oppoſite unto him as Darkneſs is to Light.

4. Now as for Inward and Spiritual Worſhip moſt proper to the Nature of God, theſe Angels of Darkneſs know full well wherein it conſiſts; as which was ſometimes performed by themſelves, even then, when God laid the Foundation of the Earth, and the Angels were newly created as God's firſt Workmanſhip. For even then we read, Job 38.7. The morning ſtars ſang together, and all the ſons of God ſhouted for joy. And this Worſhip by Prayer, Praiſe and Obedience due to God, he practiſeth to draw to himſelf: that Man made after the Image of God, may conform himſelf to the will of the Devil. But as for Outward and Corporal Worſhip, herein the Devil is to ſeek. For to preſcribe that, is meerly at the pleaſure of God, and according to his Wiſdom, which is unknown to the Creature. As namely, the worſhipping of God by Carnal Sacrifices, according to all the Variety thereof, as by offering Incenſe and ſweet Odours; Meat-offerings and Drink-offerings; Burnt-offerings of certain kinds of Creatures, Sin-offerings, and Treſpaſs-offerings; and laſtly Peace-offerings, according to all the ſeveral kinds of them. No Angels reaſon, whether of Darkneſs or of Light, is able by convincing Evidence to conclude that any ſuch Service is a thing pleaſing and acceptable p. 9unto God in it ſelf; and unleſs God himſelf ſhall think ſit to preſcribe it congruous in reference to ſuch ends as ſhall be intended by him. Rather Natural Reaſon is againſt it, God himſelf being a Spirit, and therefore Spiritual Worſhip, and a reaſonable Service ſtands in beſt congruity to his Divine and Spiritual Nature: otherwiſe he could not be worſhipped by Angels, which are meer Spirits without any Bodies. The like may be ſaid as concerning a Temple, where all ſuch Rites and Sacrifices are to be performed; for albeit the Actions of Men cannot be performed, but in time and place, yet this is to be underſtood of time and place natural. And indeed there is no time but natural; but place is not only natural but artificial; as Houſes built to dwell in, and the uſe hereof, came not into the World, but by the Sin of Man, whereupon his Body grew expoſed to the Injuries of Wind and Weather, whereto Angels are not: which is one end alſo of the uſe of Garments to cloth us. And we know well, that albeit Sacrifices had their courſe by God's Ordinance (as it ſeems) immediately after the Fall of Man, and that Promiſe made concerning the Seed of the Woman, namely, that it ſhould break the Serpent's head: yet theſe Sacrifices continued to be offered for ſome thouſands of years on Altars, without any Temples erected for this, as appears by the Sacrifices of the Patriarchs. And after their building, how different were they in their Figure, ſome round, others long, &c. as alſo in their ſite, the Gentile Idolaters worſhipping the Sun, had them towards the Eaſt; the Romans at firſt towards the Weſt, which they changed before Auguſtus's time to the Eaſt, as Vitruvius l. 4. c. 5. How much more the ordering of Temples according to the parts thereof, and Utenſils and Furniture, and Ornaments of all thoſe parts, no wit (I think) of Man or Angel, can conclude that any ſuch thing becomes God to dwell in, or there to hear Prayers, and accept the Service performed to him, more than in other places. Unleſs himſelf ſhall be pleaſed, to confine himſelf for ſuch purpoſes, to one place rather than another; which in Scripture phraſe is to place his Name there, 1 Kings 8.16. or to record his Name, Exod. 20.24. or make the memorial of his Name, which Piſcator underſtands, de illuſtribus Dei patefactionibus, as God ſhould be pleaſed to manifeſt himſelf, in illuſtrious manner, in one place more than another. And we know full well, that when ſuch Ceremonies and Place for the performance p. 10performance of them were appointed by God; they were appointed in all the parts of them, for myſterious Prefigurations; and therefore are called ſhadows of good things to come, Col. 2.17. Heb. 10.1. Yea and ſome of them, tending to the extream confuſion of Satan, and his Kingdom, yet ſuch as ſhould be brought to paſs by Satan's own Counſel and Practiſes: as namely the betraying and crucifying of the Son of God: and therefore the Lord ſaw it ſit that the preaching and practiſing of ſuch Myſteries, which in due time ſhould be revealed, ſhould be carried in the mean time in the Clouds of Types and Figures, ſo that Satan himſelf ſhould not be able to diſcover the depth of them, until the time came wherein they were accompliſhed. And indeed, there is no greater glory of God that manifeſts it ſelf, in the courſe of his Providence, than the glory of his Wiſdom;1 Cor. 1.10, 20.1 Cor 1:101 Cor 1:20 and this is moſt ſeen in taking the Wiſe in their craftineſs, and going beyond them throughout, and making their Devices vain, that it may appear, the wiſeſt of them are but fools in compariſon of him, not only amongſt Men, but among the Angels alſo. For the holy Angels are taken with a great deſire to peer into theſe Myſteries, and hereby is made known unto them the manifold wiſdom of God;1 Pet. 1.12. Eph. 3.10. Rom. 11.33.1 Pet 1:12Eph 3:10Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches, both of the knowledge and wiſdom of God, how unſearchable are his judgments and his ways paſt finding out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counſellor.

5. Therefore it ſtood Satan upon it to obſerve what courſe the Lord would be pleaſed to take for his outward Service, that ſo he might uſe his beſt endeavour to oppoſe it: either by alienating the minds of men from that kind of Service, or by corrupting it, drawing their hearts from God, and working them to beſtow that Service upon the Creature. An inſtance of the firſt kind, we may obſerve in the Egyptians, in whom he wrought an extream alienation from the Hebrews, for ſuch was their Superſtition that they might not eat with the Hebrews,Gen. 43.32.Gen 43:32 for that was an abomination to the Egyptians. Theſe Hebrews were the People of God, ſo called from the Patriarch Heber, who was great Grandfather to Abraham's great Grandfather, Serug. This Heber lived Nineteen years in the days of Jacob, who came down into Egypt. It ſeems he had a numerous Poſterity, and that might make him and his the more known in the World, even to Pharaoh and the Egyptians in Jacob's days: p. 11For one of his Sons, Joktan by name, had Thirteen Sons, as the Scripture doth expreſs. And Sem, that holy Patriarch, is peculiarly noted in Scripture to be the Father of the Sons of Heber, though he were Heber's great Grandfather. And this notion had a myſtery in the ſignification of it, as Moulin conceives. For foreign faith he, is as much as Paſſengers.1 Pet. 2.11.1 Pet 2:11 And ſuch is the condition of God's Children here; they are but Strangers and Pilgrims. It is afterwards ſaid, Gen. 46 34. that every Shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians **Vid. Cunaeus de rep. Hebr. l. 1. c. 5.. This we muſt underſtand aright, namely of ſuch Shepherds only as the Hebrews were, who did kill and eat Sheep, or kill and ſacrifice them. For it is apparent, that the Egyptians themſelves kept Sheep; and therefore when Joſeph bought their Cattel of them for Bread-corn, theſe are reckoned up to have been, not their Horſes and their Aſſes only, but their Flocks and Herds alſo. And Exod. 9.3. God threatens to lay his hand upon their Sheep to deſtroy them; but the ſacrificing of them, this was it which the Egyptians accounted abomination. And therefore when Pharaoh called for Moſes and for Aaron, and ſaid, Exod. 8.25, 16.Exod 8:25Exod 8:16Go ye and ſacrifice to your God in the Land; Moſes forthwith anſwered and ſaid, It is not meet ſo to do: For we ſhall ſacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. Lo, ſhall we ſacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not ſtone us? Nor the ſacrificing of them only, but to kill them for Food was an abomination to the Egyptians. And therefore whereas we read Gen. 39.6. that Potiphar left all that he had in Joſeph's hands, ſave the bread which he did eat: this both Junius and Schindler render thus, ſave the meat that he did eat; and Shindler gives the reaſon why he would not have Joſeph meddle with that, to wit, becauſe he was Carnis Eſor, an Eater of Fleſh, Quia eo tempore Egyptij non comedebant carnem, nec lac, Schindler on the Root foreignnec mactabant oves, & borum paſtores, & comeſtores abominabantur: The Egyptians in thoſe days did not eat Fleſh nor Milk, nor killed Sheep; and the Keepers and Eaters of Sheep were an abomination unto them. And Euſebius in the Second Book of his Evangelical Preparation, p. 49. Graeco-Lat. makes an enumeration of the Creatures which are Sacred amongſt the Egyptians, amongſt which are Sheep; and adds, That if any man do purpoſely kill any one of them, morte damnatur, he is put to death. Theſe Superſtitions were very ancient among the Egyptians, even in the days of Moſes, and in the days of Joſeph, before p. 12Jacob's coming down thither, and how long before I know not.

6. Nevertheleſs, the Devil being not able to expectorate out of the hearts of all men, that Opinion which had taken deep root, namely, That as there was a God, one or more, which governed the World, and who brought ſore Judgments upon them for their ſins, ſo this God or Gods, were to be appeaſed by ſome courſe or other, and no ſuch courſe for this as Sacrifices, a courſe whereof was derived from Noah to all his Poſterity. Therefore the Devil had another way to diſhonour God, by drawing them to Sacrifice to Idols, and to Creatures, inſtead of the Creator; yea, and to the Devil himſelf (being deluded by his Oracles) and that in moſt barbarous manner: for at length he brought them to Sacrifice Men, Women and Children unto him, and that under great ſhew of Devotion, whereof we read largely in very many Authors, both Ancient and Modern. I will only mention one notable Story in Panſanias; How when a Temple became polluted, by the impure courſes of a young Man and Maid, the Devil gave forth by his Oracle, that this Prophanation was to be expiated by Sacrifice; and no Sacrifice would ſerve the turn but this: Every year a young Man and Maid muſt be ſacrificed to that God, whoſe Temple had thus been defiled. And this barbarous courſe continued for certain years; only they beſtowed a denomination upon this God of theirs, calling him foreign, the rigid or cruel God. And accordingly I am of opinion, that like as Satan had never brought any to ſerve him by Sacrifices (the ancient Heathens by Light of Nature, diſcourſing againſt the unreaſonableneſs of ſuch a Service, as we read in Diodorus Siculus) if God had not gone before them in this, inſtructing Adam and the Patriarchs, even till the days of Noah, after this manner to ſerve him; and Noah leaving this courſe by tradition to his Poſterity, as Auguſtine writes to the like purpoſe, Ep. 49. ad Deo gratias. Hoc ſanè praetereundum non eſt, this is not to be omitted, Had not the Devils, thoſe rebellious Angels, conceived that Temple, Prieſthood, Sacrifices, and all other things pertaining thereunto were due to one, that one true God, they would never have urged their Worſhippers to ordain any of theſe things to them. In like ſort the Devil had never brought them to build Temples for this uſe and ſervice, if God had not taken order with his People to build a Sanctuary unto him that he might dwell amongſt them. p. 13And accordingly, though Heathens had Temples before Solomon built that Temple at Jeruſalem, (for this appears both by the high places which King Solomon built for his outlandiſh Wives, 1 Kings 11.7, 8. and by the Philiſtims, who had an Houſe for Dagon, 1 Sam. 5.2. and Judges 16.27. and 9.27. we read how the People went into the Houſe of their God, and did eat and drink and curſed Abimelech: and verſ. 46. of the houſe of the god Berith, and Judg. 8.33.) yet I do not find ſufficient evidence of any Temples in uſe with any before the Sanctuary was made, and that to this end, that God might dwell among them, Exod. 25.8. And as Schindler writeth on the root foreign that was aedificium inſtar templi ex lignis confectum atque it a conſtitutum ut diſſolvi in partes ac rurſus compingi, ac quocunque liberet deferri poſſet; a ſtructure Temple-like made of Timber, in ſuch ſort as it might be taken aſunder, in all the parts thereof; and again compacted together, that ſo it might be removed from place to place, whitherſoever it pleaſed God to have it carried. A notable inſtruction, that God would be a Sanctuary unto them, and dwell among them in all places whitherſoever they ſhould come, Ezek. 11.16. And among other Temples of the Gentiles, whereof we read in Hiſtory, one was portatile, a portable Temple, and removed from place to place, foreign, a Temple borne or drawn by certain Yoke of Oxen, and that in Phoenicia, which is the Country of Paleſtine. This Euſebius teſtifies in the firſt Book of his Evangelical Preparation, and Chap. 10. And ſuch a Tabernacle the Scriptures often call by ſuch a word, as is uſually rendred by Temple, as 1 Sam. 1.9. and 3.3. and 2 Sam. 6.17. and in the Pſalms of David's enditing it is found very frequently. For we know that in his days, there was no other Temple, than the Tabernacle. For though it was ſometimes in the heart of David to build a Houſe to the Name of the Lord God of Iſrael, 1 Kings 8.17, 18, 19.2 Sam. 7.2.1 Kgs 8:171 Kgs 8:181 Kgs 8:192 Sam 7:2when as yet the Ark of the Lord remained amongſt the Curtains: yet we know that the Lord anſwered him, He took it well that he was ſo minded (yet he had conſulted with the Prophet Nathan firſt, about the matter, before he grew to a Reſolution thereupon) Nevertheleſs thou ſhalt not build me an Houſe, ſaith the Lord; but thy ſon that ſhall come out of thy Loyns, he ſhall build the Houſe to my Name. So that till Solomon's reign, there was only a Tabernacle for the Ark of God, wherein was the Mercy Seat, and there the Lord is ſaid to have dwelt, and that in a Cloud, Lev. 16.2. p. 14Between the Cherubims. Neither have I yet found any evidence to the contrary, either in Scripture or elſewhere. Before the Flood no evidence of any; though Mercer obſerves, they had a place of Meeting for the Service of God: as upon Gen. 4. where we read of Cain and Abel's Offering, and God's acceptance of the one, and diſregarding of the other, and that (as it ſeems) in a viſible and ſenſible manner: For hereupon Cain was provoked againſt Abel. Likewiſe upon the birth of Enoſh, when it is ſaid, That men began to call upon the Name of the Lord, Mercer makes the ſame obſervation. Neither can we promiſe leſs unto our ſelves of Adam's care for the diſciplining, and inſtituting of his Family, and Seth's after him: and the like may be ſaid of all the holy Patriarchs.Gen. 6.Gen 6 This alſo is manifeſt by the diſtinction made between the Sons of God and Daughters of Men, until the degenerate condition came on, and the partition Wall was broken down by promiſcuous Marriages. But in all this, not any evidence of Temples ſeparate, and ſet apart for this.

7. After the Flood, when Noah came out of the Ark, there he built an Altar unto the Lord, and offered a Burnt-offering of every clean Fowl and Beaſt: After this, in the Story of Geneſis, the Genealogies being diſpatched, and the diſperſion of the People, by the occaſion of Confuſion of Tongues, we have the erecting of the two firſt Monarchies, the Babylonian by Nimrod, and after the ſame time the Aſſyrian by Aſſur, who built Niniveh, ſo called (as it is thought by very probable conjecture) from the name of his Son Ninus: For it is apparent in Scripture, that Places had their names from the names of ſome chief Perſons that dwelt there. Thus Egypt is called Miſraim, from Miſraim the Son of Ham, and the Land Canaan from Canaan, and ſo Jonia from Javan, and Aſſyria from Aſſur, After theſe particulars diſpatched in brief, we have the Story of Abraham his Peregrination, who built Altars, where the Lord appeared unto him, and ſo did Iſaac and Jacob; but we find no Monument of any Temple or ſeparate Houſe they had for God's Service;Gen. 24.63.Gen 24:63 but we read of Iſaac's going abroad into the Field to pray. Likewiſe when Abraham went down into Egypt, we find not the leaſt indication of any ſuch thing there, nor among the Philiſtims, whilſt Abraham ſojourned a good while with them, and Iſaac after him: No nor among the Canaanites, though we read of Melchiſedek the Prieſt of the moſt p. 15High God, and good Correſpondency between Abraham and him; yet no mention of any Temple or Houſe of God, wherein he performed any Religious Duties to that great God, poſſeſſor of Heaven and Earth, whoſe Prieſt he was. Indeed if we ſhould credit ſome uncertain Relations of fabulous Writers, we may find Temples much earlier mentioned. Albertus Cognatus in the fourth Book of Narrations (cited by Hoſpinian Tr. of Images) aſcribes the beginning of Idolatry to Nimrod, who as he pretends upon the loſs of his firſt-born Belus, to aſſwage his grief, cauſed his Image to be made of Gold, which he ſet up in a Temple built by him, and worſhipped it, and oſſered Sacrifices unto it. Aventinus writes, that Ninus the Son of Belus Jupiter (the ſecond King of the Babylonians the Son of Nimrod) cauſed his Fathers image to be made in the midſt of Babylon, and a Temple alſo, and Divine Honours to be done unto his Father. Both which are fabulous, and all of this kind, in Pliny and Victor Maſſilienſis. As alſo in the Apocryphal Beroſus, that Ninus adorned Nineveh, and was the firſt who built a Temple, and erected Statues to his Father Belus, and his Mother Juno, and his Grandmother Rhea. For we have no certainty of thoſe early times, but from Scripture, which acquaints us, that Nimrod was the Son of Guſh, and Grandchild of Ham, and Founder of the Babylonian Monarchy: as Aſhur was the Son of bleſſed Shem, and built Nineveh, the Metropolis of the Aſſyrian Monarchy. Which though conſiderably later, yet ſoon overtopt the Babylonian, and continued its Primacy for the greateſt part of many Ages, and in the time of Eſarchaddon, after Babylon had revolted, reduced it again, and carried Manaſſes thither, 2 Chron. 33.11. Though ſhortly after, about ten or eleven years, Nabopollaſar (or Nebuchadonaſor) having taken Nineveh, and aſſuming his Son Nebuchadneſſar to reign with him, the Babylonian Monarchy ſtarted up again, and overtopt the Aſſyrian, through the effeminateneſs of their Princes, as is plain in Hiſtory, and the manner thereof in Ariſtotle's Politicks: which Revolution, was the immediate cauſe under God, of Manaſſes Reſtoration. But leaving theſe Relations mentioned by the by,Gen. 47.28.Gen 47:28 let's proceed in the infallible Hiſtory of Truth. From the time of Joſeph's going down into Egypt at Seventeen years of Age, to the time of his firſt ſtanding before Pharaoh, the year before the Seven plentiful years began, at what time he is ſaid to be Thirty years old, and after Jacob's p. 16coming down into Egypt, with his whole Family, until his death, who dwelt in Egypt Seventeen years, and hence until Joſeph's death, who dwelt in Egypt, an Hundred years wanting ſeven; in the Story hereof I find no evidence of Temples among the Egyptians. Nor from the birth of Moſes, who was born (about Forty ſix years after the death of Levi, who was his Grandfather by the Mother, and great Grandfather by his Father) until his leading the Children of Iſrael out of Egypt, the ſpace of Fourſcore years, we find no mention of any Temple or Temples there. You will ſay they had Gods, for the Lord ſaid, Exod. 12.12. He would execute judgment upon all the gods of Egypt; and ſo it came to paſs, Numb. 33.4. But I anſwer, So Laban had his gods, which Rachel ſtole away from her Father, and ſate upon them to hide them from him, Gen. 31.30, 34. and in the days of Terah, Abraham's Father, they ſerved other gods: this we read; but of any Temples they had, we read not. If you ſay theſe gods that Terah and Laban had, were Houſhold gods, and ſome room in their private Houſes might ſerve for them, and for the Devotions performed unto them: but the gods of Egypt ſpoken of, were for Publick Uſe and Publick Service; and therefore they had their Prieſts alſo. To this I anſwer,Pauſanius in Corinthiacis, p. 54. That we read often in Pauſanius of Arae Jovis pluvij, which I underſtand of Images of Jupiter, ſtanding open without any covering. And p. 58. he writes that in the Court of Priamus the Son of Laomedon, there ſtood the Image of Jupiter Paleus ſub Divo, under the open Heaven, and that to his Altar Priamus ſled when Troy was taken. And Alexander ab Alexandro writes, that the Houſe of Jupiter Pulverinus, in the Country of Attica, had no Roof, but was open above; this he hath in his ſecond Book of Genial Days, and Chap. 22. So the Image of Minerva Pavia was, ſab Divo, in the open Air, as Pauſanius teſtifies in his Laconica, p. 90. & 95. The ſame Author tells us, that in a ſmall Iſland were the brazen Figures of Caſtor and Pollux, ſub Divo in the open Air, nibilo pedalibus majora of a foots length and no more; ſuch belike were the Puppets Rachel ſate upon, called Laban's gods; and a number of ſuch he mentioneth ſtanding in the open Air; and ſometimes he makes relation of certain Delubra, Temples which had no Roof, but were open above towards the Heavens, as in his Boeoticis, p. 260. And p. 264. He makes mention of a Chappel of Ceres, ſirnamed Europa, where there is ſub Divo Jupiter pluvius, rainy Jupiter, p. 17ſtanding in the open Air. Coelius Rodigimus l. 10. p. 355. Jovi Fulguri, Soli, Lunae, Coelo, Hypaethra, id eſt ſubdialia conſtitui debere Templa proponimus. Add unto this ſubdiales ſtatuas Levit. 26.30. as Junius renders it. And having Altars at ſuch Images where they offered Sacrifices, no marvel if they had Prieſts alſo. Melchiſedeck, we know, is called the Priest of the moſt High God, and King of Salem; but I do not think any Man will avouch, that he had a Temple there. Abraham was a Prophet, Gen. 20. and was he not a Prieſt alſo? it is clear he offered Sacrifice to the Lord, Gen. 12. and Iſaac, Gen. 26. ſo Jacob, and that by God's commandment, Gen. 35. And whereas ſome are of opinion, that when Jacob vowed unto God the Tenth of all that God ſhould give him in Meſopotamia, Gen. 28. and hereupon a queſtion is moved, To whom he ſhould pay the Tenth of all, that is, to what Prieſt? knowing no better Anſwer, are of opinion that he paid it to himſelf, ſuppoſing him to be a Prieſt, and capable of receiving Tythes. I willingly confeſs ſuch a Devotion is very profitable as to Temporals: but I ſee no neceſſity that caſts us upon ſuch conceits: For he might well Sacrifice unto God the Tenth, or the worth of the Tenth, and all that he poſſeſſed. As yet the Prieſthood was not confined to one Family, and till then, Moſes himſelf was a Prieſt as well as a Prophet, even to the erecting of the Tabernacle, which by Archb. Uſhers computation, was in the year of the World 1514. But let us proceed further, and take into conſideration what we find in profare Hiſtories concerning Temples.

8. Diodorus Siculus l. 1. c. 1. reports, that in the opinion of ſome, the Ethiopians were the firſt of Men, and he gives reaſons for it, but in a moſt atheiſtical and unreaſonable way, feigning Men to have been foreign born of the Earth and Air, in a natural manner, as Mice and other things of equivocal Generation. And how this came to paſs, he proſecutes in a moſt abſurd and brain-ſick Diſcourſe, without taking notice of any Creator, who of one blood made all mankind to dwell upon the face of the earth. And adds, that the worſhip of God was firſt found out by them. Sacraque inſuper, pompas, celebritates, aliaque quibus diis honores impenduntur, ab iis fuiſſe reperta. And what manner of Gods muſt they needs be, who are worſhipped by thoſe who acknowledge no Creator? St. Paul tells us that the eternal power and Godhead is known from the Creation, conſidered in his works. His beſt proof for this is out of Homer, who brings in Jupiter, p. 18and the reſt of the Gods with him, going in Progreſs into Ethopia, both to the Sacrifices there made unto them, and for the ſweetneſs of the odours there. And ſurely it is moſt congruous, that ſuch Gods as are deviſed by the fancies of Men, and made at their pleaſures, ſhould be well content to be ſerved and worſhipped according to the Fancies of Men, and at their plea ſure: for undoubtedly Man hath as much power to deviſe a Divine and Religious Worſhip, as to make a God; any Service being good enough, and too good, to be beſtowed upon the work of their own hands, yea or upon their own Fancies either. Yet the truth is, there was a time when the Bridegroom of God's Church was pleaſed with bodily Sacrifices offered with good hearty, and had his abode in the Mountains of Spices. Cant. 8.14. Make haſte my beloved, and be thou like unto a Roe, or to a young Hart upon the Mountains of Spices. But this was only for a time until the day did break, and the ſhadows fled away, Cant. 2.17. The Lord Chriſt now adays is the moſt ſweet ſmelling Savour, both to God the Father and us; by whom alone the Father is ſatisfied, and our Souls ſweetly refreſhed. Indeed I read that Heſiod and Homer, were Primi Deorum opifices apud Graecos, the firſt Crafts-maſters in coining Gods among the Grecians, in Herodotus lib. 2. p. 124. Graeco-Lat. Heſiodus atque Homerus, (qui quadringent is non amplius annis ante me extitere) fuere, qui Graecis Theogoniam introduxerunt, eiſque & cognomina, & honores, & diverſa artificia, & figuras attribuerunt. And p. 166. Ipſi Aegyptij extiterunt principes conventus, & pompas & conciliabula factitandi, & ab iis Graeci didicerunt. Cujus rei hoc apud me argumentum eſt, quod illa conſtet priſcis temporibus: Graecanica verò recens fuiſſe inſtitua. And we know Homer lived after the Wars of Troy, ſome ſay 80 years, ſome 100, others 140, others 180 years after the taking of Troy. Nay, there are that make him 200 years, yea 240 later than that, yea ſome 400, others 500 later; as Talianus gives inſtance in ſeveral Authors, thus tar differing about the time of Homer, as any may read in Euſebius his Evangelical Preparation, Book 10. p. 492. Graeco-Lat. We by the Word of God are brought acquainted not only with the Creation of Man, but of the World alſo, and how in 1656. it was drowned, and all Fleſh periſhed by the Waters of a general Deluge, in whom was the breath of Life, except thoſe four couple, eight perſons in all, who were reſerved for a Seed to ſow the World anew, and preſerved in the Ark which p. 19ſetled in Ararat, commonly conceived to be a Mountain in Armenia (though ſome think otherwiſe) and from thoſe parts near adjoyning, and particularly from Babel, after the Conſuſion of Languages, began the diſperſion of the People. And as the Lord by his extraordinary Providence, provided both for the making of the Ark, and bringing all ſorts of Creatures thereinto, and maintenance for them, and their preſervation there, did make himſelf known unto them, (after a degenerate time that came upon all) both as a God of Vengeance in deſtroying others, and alſo as a God of Mercy and Salvation in preſerving them from that common Deſtruction; promiſing withal never to deſtroy the World ſo again: ſo from them, and by them, was the knowledge of God propagated to their Poſterity; which about 101. years after the Flood, began to be diſperſed over all the World. And upon Nimrod's Uſurpation, Rebel-like, his Nature anſwering to his Name, it ſeems that both his Father and Grandfather, and many of them ſeparated themſelves from him, Cuſh into Ethiopia, Miſraim into Egypt, Canaan into Paleſtine, where we find Sidon a principal City by the Sea. And as Egypt is called in Scripture the Land of Ham, ſo by as good reaſon Ethiopia alſo. Lydiat is of opinon concerning Ham, that he was the eldeſt of Noah's three Children; and by the younger Son of Noah, Gen. 9.24. is meant Canaan Noah's Grandchild; (for even our Grandchildren we count our Children) and Noah's Curſe we know, paſſed not upon Ham, but upon Canaan: which makes it probable that the lewd prank which gave ſuch offence to Noah, and he ſound out by examination, was play'd by Canaan; and by him his Father Ham came to the knowledge of it, who told his two Brethren thereof, Sem and Japhet. And thus indeed the Egyptians and Ethopians, and whole houſe of Ham, may be accounted the eldeſt Houſe of the World, if he were elder than his two Brethren Sem and Japhet. But in this Lydiat is almoſt alone, moſt Authors being for Sem, or Japhet (which is more likely) being the eldeſt, as may be ſeen at large in Uſher's Chronol. Sacra. c. 4. Japhet ſeparated towards the North, both Eaſt and Weſt, but chiefly towards the Weſt. Sem's Poſterity continued in the Eaſt towards the South; Aſſur his Son having erected a Monarchy in Niniveh. But as yet no teſtimony for Temples any where.

p. 209. Diogines Laertius an approved Writer, in his fifth Book of the Lives of Philoſophers, in the Life of Epimenides, ſaith of him, That Conſtruxit apud Athenienſes phanum verendorum Deorum, ut ait Lobon Argivns in libro de Poetis. Fertur etiam primus domus atque agros expiaſſe delubraque erexiſſe. This Epimenides of Crete built a Temple to the Gods, call'd foreign, Dij reverends, ſome that deſerved to be reverenced (as he thought) more than all the pack, and he alledgeth Lobon of Argos, in his Book of Poets, teſtifying this. This Epimenides alſo is ſaid to have been the firſt that ſhewed a courſe for the expiation of Houſes and Fields, and that erected Temples. The expiation here ſpoken of, was by Sacrifice, as appears by the Story mentioned a little before: For having mentioned how the fame of this Man flying throughout all Grece, he was reputed a Man moſt dear to God; thereupon an Inſtance thereof is given thus: The Athenians were ſometimes viſited with a ſore Peſtilence, who thereupon asking counſel hereabouts, as their manner was, at the Oracle of Delphos, Pythia the Nun Priest anſwered them, That the City of Athens was to be expiated. And they being ignorant, how this was to be performed, diſpatched Niceas the Son of Niceratus by Ship into the Iſland of Crete, to Epimenides, to intreat him to come over unto them. Upon their intreaty he came, and expiated or purged their City after this manner: He took Sheep, ſome white ſome black, and brought them to Mars his Street, and there let them go whither they would, ſending ſome after them, to obſerve where they lay down; and whereſoever any of them lay down, there he gave charge they ſhould be ſacrificed peculiari cuipiam Deo, to ſome peculiar God. foreign, ſaith Laertius, to a fit God: his meaning was, to the God that plagued them; but who it was they knew not. And therefore Laertius addeth, That even in his days there were to be ſeen in the Streets of Athens, Altars without a Name, as a memorial of that expiation, and hereupon he ſaith that the Plague ceaſed. And in all likelyhood the Altar that St. Paul obſerved as he went in one of the Streets of Athens with this Inſcription, foreign, to the unknown God, was one of thoſe Altars Laertius writes of, though the Inſcription might be defaced in his days; for in Cauſabon's judgment, Laertius lived not until the year 200. after Chriſt, that is about the time of Tertullian; yet Altars with ſuch Inſcriptions were nothing ſtrange; ſuch a one being mentioned by Pauſanias in his Eliacks, p. 162. Adjacet ei ignotorum Deorum ara. Now this Epimenides came to Athens about this p. 21buſineſs, by Laertius's accompt in the 47th Olympiad, and others reckon him to be coaetaneus to Pythagoras, who lived in the time of Servius Tullus, the fifth King of Rome from Romulus. Now Rome it ſelf had its Foundation laid, but in the days of Jotham King of Judab, by Lydiat and Uſher's accompt, and the very year after Nabuchodonoſor had inchoated his Kingdom of Babylon, which was a Type of Romiſh Babylon.

10. Janus was a King in Italy long before Romulus; and unto him, a certain Writer, Xenon by name, in the firſt Book of his Italica, aſcribes the firſt building of Temples, as Macrobius teſtifies in the firſt Book of his Saturnals, Chap. 9. Now the beginning of Janus his Latin Kingdom, Lydiat reckons to be 150 years, before Aeneas his coming into Italy in the days of Latinus, the fifth King after Janus; Aeneas his arriving there being the third year after the taking of Troy, which yet by Lydiat's accompt was 60 years after the death of Othniel, the firſt Judge of Iſrael after the death of Joſhua, and 120 years after the Children of Iſrael's coming out of Egypt. Now this Janus was the Man that entertained old Saturn, when he fled from his Son Jupiter into Italy, and admitted him in Societatem Regni, to reign with him. Thence Italy came to be called Latium, as Ovid Writes, ſaying, Et dicta est Latium terra latente Deo.

And Virgil in his Aeneids 8.

Primus ab aethereo veniens Saturnus Olympo,

Arma Jovis fugiens, & Regnis exul adentis;

Is genus indocile, ac diſperſum montibus altis

Compoſuit, legeſque dedit Latiumque vocari

Maluit, his quoniam latuiſſet tutus in Oris.

where I obſerve the Poet's wiſdom, affecting to grace his Country; for he feigns Saturn not to come thither flying from the Iſle of Crete, but from Heaven forſooth, to ſalve the Reputation of his Deity, and the Honour of his own Country; and adds, that his days were the time of that golden Age of the World, as Ovid and other Poets feign: His words are theſe; Aureaque, ut perhibent, illo ſub Rege fuere. p. 22In the days of Saturn was the golden Age of the World. Now this fairly may revive the remembrance of a Note made by Servius upon a Paſſage in Virgil, deſcribing the goodly Temple that Queen Dido was building, when Aeneas, after the taking of Troy, came thither, being caſt by a Tempeſt upon thoſe Parts.

Hic Templum Junoni ingens Sidonia Dido

Condebat, donis opulentum & numine Divae:

Aerea cui gradibus ſurgebant limina, nexaeque

Aerc trabes foribus cardo ſtridebat ahenis.

Now whereas Virgil hath aerea limina, brazen Threſholds, Servius maketh a queſtion of the reaſon why he calls the Threſhold brazen; it ſeeming unlikly that they ſhould be made of, or covered with Braſs: his anſwer is, That Virgil delivers it, alluſione facta ad Saecula tunc temporis aerea, in alluſion to the condition of thoſe times, the brazen Age being then on foot. Though for ought I ſee, it might go for an Iron Age well enough, when ſuch ado was made in the World, ſuch Wars raiſed for 10 years continuance at Troy, and all for the Recovery of a Whore, if it be a true Hiſtory, and not a Poetical Fiction, as ſome conceive. In thoſe days there were Temples, I nothing doubt, and before; for the Trojans had theirs, as the ſame Virgil mentions in the perſon of Aeneas,

Nos delubra Deum miſeri quibus ultimus eſſet,

Ille dies feſta velamus fronde per urbem.

we poor Creatures made that day, a Feſtival day in our Temples; which alas was to be our laſt day, their Funeral following immediately after. And not in the brazen Age only can we well admit that Temples have been, but in the golden Age alſo, as namely in the days of Saturn, which yet will be found 160 years after the Children of Iſrael's coming out of Egypt. And if Saturn were the chief of Heathen Deities, ſurely Moſes is much more ancient than they all; how much more ancient than Temples made to them. It is true Cicero makes mention of three Jupiters, one the Son of Saturn and Ops King of Crete, whoſe Sepulchre is there found; which Callimachus is impatient to hear, and therefore brands them for lyars, ſaying,

p. 23foreign

foreign

The Cretians are always lyars, for they have built a Sepulchre to thee, O King, whereas thou dieſt not, but liveſt for ever-The other two, Cicero ſaith, were born in Areadia; the Father of the one Aether, of whom came Proſerpina and Liber, or Bacchus; the Father of the other Coelum, and he begat Minerva. In like ſort Japetus is ſaid by Heſiod to be the Son of Coelum & Terrae, of Heaven and Earth; as much as to ſay, they could not tell who was the Father of them, and therefore they feigned them to have been brought forth by the Heaven and Earth, and Sea and Rivers. But Virgil confounds theſe Jupiters which Cicero diſtinguiſheth, and feigns Saturn the Father of Jupiter Cretenſis to have come ab Aethereo Olympo, that is, from from Aether and Heaven. And Japetus we ſee how plainly it ſounds Japhet, one of the Sons of Noah, as Mercer upon Geneſis, and many others obſerve. And as Heſiod relates very ſtrange things of Saturns dealing with his Father Coelum; ſo the Jewiſh Rabbins relate as ſtrange things (yea the very ſame) of Ham's dealing with his Father, ſuppoſing they have ſome ground for it in the Scripture. And ſure we are, that Noah himſelf had no Children after the Flood, and this Ham was Japhet's Brother; and both better known to the World than their Father Noah, who with his Son Sem (as it ſeems) lived a private life; whilſt his Children, and Childrens children divided the World among them, calling the ſeveral Regions of it, after their own Names, and erecting Monarchies; Nimrod in Babylon, and Aſſur at Niniveh. Horace makes mention of A…dax Japeti genus, his Poſterity were bold Creatures, that d…ſt venture in a Ship to make a way through the Sea, which fairly refers to the Poſterity of Japhet, of whoſe Children, the Iſles of the Gentiles were divided in their Lands, every one after his tongue, Gen. 10.5.Gen 10:5and after their Families in their Nations. And all the three Sons of Noah it's likely were imployed by their Father, in building the Ark; and by them their Poſterity might eaſily be inſtructed in that Art, the Lord himſelf firſt inſtructing Noah. Eſpecially conſidering how long both Noah and Sem lived after the Flood: Noah 350 years, that is, not only after the Babylonian and Aſſyrian Kingdoms erected by Nimrod and Aſſur, 235 years; but p. 24after the Poſterity of Miſraim began to reign in Egypt, in ſeveral Principalities, 89 years; and after Ogyges built Thebes in Grece, 41 years; and after Aegialeus the firſt King of Sicyonians in Peloponneſus his beginning to reign, 23 years; and died but two or three years before Abraham was born. And Sem lived 150 years after his Father Noah; and Sem died but 10 years before Eſau and Jacob were born, according to Lydiat's Chronicle, which I take to be moſt accurate. And for ought I know to the contrary, both Ham and Japhet, might live as long as Sem, and the Grecians, and Iſles of the Gentiles, might be well known to be Japeti genus. Though I deny not but others of his Poſterity might be called by his name, like as we read of two Kings of Athens, each called by the name of Cecrops, the one of Cecrops major, and the other of Cecrops minor; and the younger of them divers Ages after the elder. And the name of Iphitus, who was but one Age before the Wars of Troy, doth plainly carry the ſame Radical Letters that Japetus doth. But to proceed.

11. The Pelaſgians are accounted by Strabo in his fifth Book, Populi Graeciae vetuſtiſſimi, the moſt ancient People of Greece. And theſe He and Heſiod, and Pauſanias in his Arcadicis, teſtifie to have proceeded from Pelaſgus. Ac primum omnium Pelaſgum memorant Arcadi in illa terra extitiſſe; The Arcadians report, that Pelaſgus was the firſt of Men in that Country: which relation Pauſanias modifies thus, That he was the firſt King there, to wit, in Arcadiae; and who firſt brought the rude People there, to build Cottages, to defend themſelves from the Injuries of the Weather. Lycaon was his Son, and him Pauſanias makes coetaneous to Cecrops, meaning Cecrops major, which Cecrops is commonly accounted coetaneous with Moſes; eſpecially Euſebius in his Tenth Book of his Evangelical Preparation, Chap. 19. and he adds this as a thing confeſſed by all, Nemo non fatetur. Lycanon's youngeſt Son was Oenotrius, who went with a Colony into Italy, and from him that Country of Italy was called Oenotria. Yet there were no Temples till the days of Janus by the Teſtimony of Xenon formerly mentioned, out of Macrobius his Saturnals, lib. 1. cap. 9. And this was the firſt of all the Grecian Colonies in the opinion of Pauſanias; and he adds alſo, That neither had he found any Tranſmigration made by the Barbarians before this. But therein we know Pauſanias miſtakes, and that Grece and all Europe, after the Univerſal Deluge, p. 25was firſt inhabited by thoſe of the Poſterity of Noah, and ſpecially of Japhet, who came into the Weſtern Parts from the Eaſt. And the Iones, a People ſo well known both in Aſia the leſs, and in Grece, do fairly manifeſt by their very Name, that they were deſcended from Javan, one of the Sons of Japhet. Now Janus, the firſt erector of Temples in Italy, was near about 200 years after Cecrops began firſt to reign in the Region of Attica. Yet I confeſs that Jupiter is ſaid to have gotten Lycaon's Daughter, Caliſto, with Child; and beſides Jupiter of Grece, Cicero makes mention of two Jupiters born in Arcadia; I doubt one of them might be Lycaon's Brother, for ſuch inceſtuous Generations were too too frequent amongſt thoſe Heathen called Gods.

12. But conſider we what Pauſanias writes in his Eliacis prioribus of Saturn, Saturnum primum omnium Coeli Regnum obtinuiſſe. That Saturn firſt of all obtained the Kingdom of Coelum, which we commonly render Heaven; but it might be the name of a Country in Crete, like as Olympia was a Country in Grece, where the hill Olympus was, which word Olympus is commonly uſed by Poets to ſignifie Heaven. Ei in Olympia homines eos (quod aureum genus nuncupatum eſt) Templum dedicaſſe; To him the Men of the golden Age dedicated a Temple in Olympia. After this Jupiter being born, his Mother committed him to the Dactyles of Ida to be kept; theſe were four Brethren, of whom Hercules, called Idaeus, was one, long before Hercules the Son of Amphytruo. This Hercules as the ſame Pauſanias writes, was great Grandfather to Clymenus, who coming out of Crete, firſt inſtituted the Olympian Games, 50 years after Deucalion's Flood. Now if we accompt 30 years to an Age, as Lydiat doth, and that according to Clemens Alexandrinus, if I miſtake not; and that Clymenus was 30 years old at the inſtitution of theſe Olympian Games, from thence to the Birth of Hercules, the ſum of years ariſeth but to 120. Now by Lydiat's accompt Moſes led the Children of Iſrael out of Egypt but 30 years after Deucalion's Flood; that is, 30 years before Clymenus his inſtitution, at what time Moſes was 80 years old. Hence it follows, that Hercules was not born above 20 years before Moſes, nor this Saturn neither. For that Hercules to whom the tutalidge of Jupiter was committed, might well be as old as Saturn himſelf, yet this Hercules Idaeus had his name from the Hill Ida in Crete; and therefore in all likelyhood Saturn p. 26his Father, was the ſame that fled into Italy, and there was entertained by Janus, many years after Moſes. And whereas Pauſanias gives much credit to Homer concerning Matters of Grece, why ſhould we not give as much credit to Virgil concerning the Story of Italy? Yet that of Saturn's Entertainment by Janus is a Story very commonly received. Yet I confeſs Diodorus Siculus makes mention of a Saturn, and a Jupiter, and an Hercules, and Curetes Dactyli in Phrygia; but upon what ground I know not, for Pauſanias doth not; and it ſeems from Curetes by Contraction came Cretes, and thence that Iſland of Crete might have his Name; but I ſtand not upon this: Nay, I yield rather that it had its Name from one Cres, who reigned there at the ſame time that Inachus reigned at Argos in Grece. It may be then the Curetes were the ſame with Cretes. But it is nothing ſtrange the Grecians ſhould be found to run wild ſometimes in their Accounts of times, conſidering that Cadmus was the firſt, who coming out of Phoenicia to Thebes, taught Greeks the uſe of Letters, as Euſebius writes in his Evangelical Preparation, lib. 10. cap. 5. and Clemens Alexandrinus in the firſt Book of his Stromata, p. 306. Graeco-lat. Though I know Diodorus Siculus minceth the matter, ſaying that he brought amongſt them only a new Character, belike for the Honour of the Greek Nation, being loth that the World ſhould take notice that they were beholden to the Phoenicians for this.

13. Before I have ſhewed out of Clemens Alexandrinus, that ſuch Structures as were firſt the Sepulchres of the Dead, afterwards, being enlarged to a greater Magnificence, came to be called the Temples of gods: And Arnobius, lib. 6. Quid quod multa ex his templa quae Tholis ſunt aureis, & ſublimibus elata faſtigiis auctorum conſcriptionibus comprobatur, contegere cineres at que oſſa & defunctorum eſſe corporum ſepulchra. Nonne patet & in promtu eſt, aut pro Diis immortalibus mortuos vos colere, aut inexpiabilem fieri numinibus contumeliam, quorum delubra & templa, mortuorum ſuperlata ſunt buſtis? What ſhall we ſay to this, that many Temples which are built with golden Arches and lofty Roofs, do cover Aſhes and Bones, and that they are the Sepulchres of Men deceaſed, as it appears by the Writings of divers Authors? Is it not manifeſt and prone to conclude hereby, that either you worſhip dead Men inſtead of gods, or that you do the gods an Injury that cannot be expiated, in that you build their Temples upon the Sepulchres of the dead? Now the firſt Inſtance p. 27given in this kind by Clemens Alexandrinus in his Admonition to the Gentiles, I find to be of the Temple of Minerva, which was the Sepulchre of Acriſius. Now this Acriſius was the 14th King of Argos, by the Account of Appion the Grammarian, alledged by Tatianus, and repreſented by Enſebius, in the …th Book of his Evangelical Preparation, p. 493. Graecolat. And in the Fourth Generation after Danaus, who came out of Egypt unto Argos in Grece, upon the Confuſion cauſed in Egypt, partly by the Slaughter of the Firſt Born, and partly by the Deſtruction of Pharaoh and his Egyptians in the Red Sea, when Moſes led the Children of Iſrael through it, towards the Land of Canaan; by the Account of Mr. Lydiat in his Emendation of Times. And that which Appion writeth hereof, was out of Piolimaeus Mendeſius. Pauſanias in his Boeotica ſpeaks of a Temple dedicated to Hercules; but whereas ſome imagine, or might imagine that it was a Temple dedicated to Hercules, the Son of Amphytrion, he profeſſeth that it was multo vetuſtius, much more ancient than ſo; and therefore he conceives rather, the Dedication of it ought to be aſcribed to a more ancient Hercules, who was one of the Idaei Dactyli, commonly called Hercules Idaeus. Now theſe Idaei Dactyli were thoſe Curetes to whoſe Care the Education of Jupiter was committed; to wit, Jupiter Cretenſis, the Son of Saturn, who flying out of Crete and coming into Italy, was there entertained by Janus; which Janus reigned in Italy long after Moſes, as formerly hath been ſhewed. The ſame Pauſanias in the firſt of his Eliacks, affirms, Pelops was the firſt that erected a Temple to Mercury in Peloponneſus; and in his Boeoticis reports that one Myron Byzantius, a Writer of Heroick Verſes and Elegies, had delivered that Amphyon was the firſt of all Men that dedicated an Altar to Mercury. Now Pelops is accounted but of the ſame time with Acriſius King of Argos, the Fourth King after Danaus, by Euſebius in his Evangelical Preparation, lib. 10. p. 493. Graecolar. And the ſame Tatianus in the ſame place of Euſebius, maintains Moſes to have been before Amphyon. But of all the Temples known to Pauſanias, the moſt Ancient he profeſſeth to have been the Temple of Apollo Thearius, which was the Troezenians. For albeit he takes notice of two other Temples which were very ancient; yet this, he ſaith, was much more ancient than they, and was reported to have been built by Pythius, and as it was built by him, ſo it was adorned by him alſo. Now p. 28what time Pythius lived, he ſheweth forthwith, when he ſaith, that Bellerophon coming to Troezene, where Pithias reigned, he required of him Aethra to be given him to Wife; but Aegeus married her King of Athens, and ſhe became the Mother of Theſous, as Robert Stephanus writes; and Pellerophon was deprived of his Kingdom of Ephyra by Praetos King of Argos, as the ſame Author writeth. Now this Praetus was the third King of Argos after Danaus, by Tatianus his account related by Euſebius, Praeparat. Evangel. lib. 10. and Danaus is by Lidiat's Account ſomewhat after Moſes.

14. But we proceed from the Grecians to the Egyptians, becauſe they are ſuppoſed by ſome to have found out and communicated to others, the Names of Heatheniſh Gods, and firſt erected Temples and Altars to them, for ſo writes Caelius Rodiginus, l. 18. c. 37. Traditur porro Aegyptios primos Deorum excitaſſe aras, conflaſſe ſimulacra, & Templa conſtruxiſſe: But this learned Antiquary (which is his uſual fault) tells us not his Authors. Probably Herodotus, lib. 2. Aegiptii primi & Deorum cognomina in uſu habuere, & ab illis Graeci fuerunt mutuati. Item primi Diis & aras, & ſimulachra & delubra ſtatuere. And Pauſanias in his Atticis teſtifies, that amongſt the Grecians, the Athenians went beyond all others in Devotion towards the Gods. Athenienſes Deorum cultu, ſtudioque Religionis longè caeteras omnes civitates anteire: And the Athenians had this from their King Cerops major, as Lidiat writes, Emend. temp. p. 18. Erat vero etiam Cecrops Magnus auctor ſuperſtitionis ac Idololatriae. This Cecrops was called Diphyes, becauſe he was genere partim Aegyptius; by Parentage an Egyptian, and Coquaeus out of Euſebius relates this of Cecrops, That primus Jovem appellavit, ſimulacra reperiit, aram ſtatuit, victimas immolavit, nequaquam iſtiuſmodi rebus in Graecia viſis, Coqu. in Auguſtin. de Civit. Dei, l. 18. c. 8. Porphyry, that enemy of the Goſpel, was wont much to magnify a certain Hiſtorian named Sanconiatho: His Hiſtory was much commended by one Philo Biblius, who added a Preface thereunto, wherein he writes, Barbarorum Antiquiſſimi Phoenices imprimis & Aegyptii, (a quibus caeteri deinceps populi morem illum accepere) in maximorum Deorum loco eos omnes habuere, qui res ad vit am agendam neceſſarias inveniſſent, qui que beneficium aliquod in genus humanum contuliſſent. Eos nimirum, quod ſibi plurimorum bonorum autores eſſe perſuaderent, Divinis honoribus coluere; ac templorum uſu, quae jam ante conſtructa fuerant, hoc ad munus officium que p. 29traducto; columnas inſuper ſtatuaſ que ligne as ipſorum nomine conſecrarunt, eo que precipue religionis cultu proſecuti; feſtos illis quoque dies longè celeberrimos dedicarunt. In quo eximium illud fuit, Regum ſuorum nomina univerſi hujus elementis, ac quibuſdam corum quibus divinitatem ipſi tribuebant imponerent. Naturales vero Deos Solem, Lumam, reliquaſque Stellase errantes, cum Elementis & caeteris cum ei…ſdem affinitate conjunctis, ſolos ex omnibus agnoſcebant; ut mortales quidem alios, alios autem immortales cos haberent. Where obſerve four things: 1. That the firſt Founders of Idolatry are noted to be Phoenicians and Egyptians, who were the poſterity of Ham by Miſraim and Canaan. 2. That Temples were not at firſt built for the Gods, but having been formerly built for other uſes, were afterward turned to this uſe; and if you ask for what uſe they were at firſt built, I have nothing to anſwer but that of Clemens Alexandrinus, namely, that they were at firſt built for ſome great Perſons to lie interr'd in after their deceaſe. 3. That the firſt Gods adored by them, which he calls natural Gods, were the Lights of Heaven, eſpecially the Planets and the Elements; all which makes up the number of eleven, and they had but twelve in all; now who might the Twelfth be? was he the firſt mover of all? Ariſtottle I am ſure, ſo interpreteth the Divinity of his Forefathers, as if by Sun and Moon, and the reſt of the Planets, they meant thoſe pure Minds which he calleth Intelligences; and whom he conceived to be the Movers of theſe Orbs; but withal he acknowledgeth a firſt Mover, in the Contemplation of whom the Perfection of all the reſt conſiſted. That was his Device by his Philoſophy to make the beſt conſtruction he could of the religious ways of his Anceſtors. But might not Pan be one of their Deities, and that a principal one? yet this ſeems to denote the whole Univerſe: For it is too too true, that ſoon they fell away from the Acknowledgement of the Creator to worſhip the Creature. And Euſebius ſaith Praeparat. Evangel. l. 3. c. 9. That as Orpheus took his Diſcourſe of the Gods from the Doctrine of the Egyptians; ſo he would have the world to be God, compounded of many Gods, according to the ſeveral parts of the World. Laſtly, They came about to worſhip their deceaſed Anceſtors with religious Adoration. And might not theſe be repreſented by the Images of thoſe Beaſts which were conſecrated by them? This ſurely is one ſpecial Interpretation, which Diodorus Siculus makes of thoſe Beaſts, which were ſo religiouſly, or ſuperſtitiouſly rather, p. 30eſteemed and reverenced by the Egyptians. And Diogenes Laertius, concerning the Devotion of the Egyptians this very way, ſaith in the Proem to his Book of the Lives of Philoſophers, Statuas praeterea & fana a ſe fabricari fatentur quod ignorent effigiem Dei: They make Images and Temples becauſe they know not the Shane of God. Ganſabon, though he acknowledgeth the Sentence to be defective, yet he perſecteth it only thus; foreign, they make Images and Temples to them, that is, to the bruit Creatures which they worſhip, becauſe the Images of God they could not, foraſmuch as they knew not the Shape of God. And indeed, no man hath ſeen God at any time, Joh. 1.18. No, not God's own People, Joh. 5.37. Ye have not heard God at any time, nor ſeen His ſhape, He is commended unto us as foreign, the inviſible God, 1 Tim. 1.17. Heb. 11.27 Thales Mileſius was reputed wiſe in his time, Diogenes Laertius writes that he had no Maſter, Niſi quod AEgyptiis Sacerdotibus, cò profectus, familiariter adbaeſit: He was very familiar with the Egyptian Prieſts. Himſelf profeſſeth as much in his Epiſtle to Phericides; and I willingly conſeſs two things were delivered by him concerning God very wiſely; the one concerning his Providence, for being demanded, whether a Man doing Evil might be hid from God, made this Anſwer, Ne Cogitans quidem, No not ſo much as touching his Thought. The other concerning the Nature of God: For being demanded what God was, he made this Anſwer, Quod initio & fine caret; That which is without beginning and without end. And indeed thus St. Paul ſeems to deſcribe the Godhead; namely, by his Eternal Power, when he ſaith, The eternal Power and Godhead hath been known from the Creation, being conſidered in his Works, Rom. 1.20. And Bradwardine maintains that the firſt Attribute of the Divine Nature is Neceſſe Eſſe, of Neceſſary Being; as much as to ſay, Eternal, without Beginning and without End. Add to this what Euſebius writes, Evang. Preparat. l. 10. p. 451. Graecolat. Athenienſes Aegyptiorum Coloniam habitos eſſe, cum alii tum Theopompus in tricareno confirmat: That the Athenians were a Colony of the Egyptians, both others and alſo Theopompus confirms in his Book entituled Tricarenum.

15. Come we then to the Egyptians: Now Euſebius alledgeth the former Paſſage out of Philo Biblius his Preface to Sanconiatho, to prove that at the firſt, the very Heathens had no p. 31other Gods, but the very Stars and Planets appearing and moving in the Heavens: And that the Name of foreign (God) at the firſt was foreign, a currendo, from moving or running, the Planets and Stars compaſſing all in the Courſe of Twenty Four Hours. He adds, that the very Scriptures do juſtifie this, ſhewing what was the Courſe of Gentiles in their Religious Devotions; namely, to worſhip the whole Hoſte of Heaven: And we know what Leſſon the Lord reads to his own People, Deut. 4.19. Take heed lest thou lift up thine eyes to Heaven, and when thou ſeeſt the Sun, and the Moon, and the Stars, with all the Hoſte of Heaven, ſhouldſt be driven to worſhip them, and to ſerve them; which the Lord thy God hath diſtributed to all people that are under the whole Heaven. As much as to ſay, the Lord hath made them thy Servants: Nay, the Servants of all Men under the Cope of Heaven; therefore take heed thou beeſt not carried away in the Courſe of Heatheniſh Blindneſs and Superſtition, as to make them thy Lords and thy Gods. In the ſame place the Lord gives them a Caveat, and admoniſheth them that they corrupt not themſelves, and make not a graven Image, or repreſentation of any Figure, whether it be the Likeneſs of Male or Female, the Likeneſs of any Beaſt that is on Earth, or Likeneſs of any feathered Foule, or the Likeneſs of any Fiſh that is in the Waters beneath the Earth; which gives ſhrewd Preſumption, that ſome ſuch Creatures were worſhipped among the Egyptians from whence they came, or in the Land of Canaan whither they were traveling. And Euſebius, Prepara. Evangel. l. 2. p. 49. Graecolat. Reherſing out of Diodorus Siculus, the ſeveral Creatures which were conſecrated by the Egyptians, makes mention of Apis and Muevis Sacri Tauri, holy Bulls, and of Bosfemina a Cow; as alſo of Sheep; yea, of the Goat, and Dog, and the Wolfe, and the Cat; and amongſt Birds, of Ibis, and the Hawke, and the Eagle, and of the Crocadile that lives in the Waters: And that it was a capital Crime among them to kill any of theſe. And p. 52. he adds out of the ſame Diodorus, that the Grecians Theology began from Cadmus, whom he ſaith to have been after the days of Moſes, and that he ſaith may be clearly and evidently confirmed; and hence concludes that all the Gods of the Grecians were brought to light after the Days of Moſes.

p. 32But concerning the Antiquity of Temples among the Egyptians, Diogenes Laertius in the Life of Cleobulus writes, that he was of Lindus, or as ſome ſaid, of Carea, and that he reſtored the Temple of Minerva built by Danars; the Paſſage is ſomewhat imperfect, but made compleat by Cauſabon, with refeence to that which Diodorus Siculur writes, lib. 5. cap. 13. where he writes, Danaus ex Aegypto cum filiabus aufugiens in Lindiam Cypri appulit, ſuſceptuſ que ab incolis, erecto Minervae Templo, ſtatuam ingentem dedicavit. He adds, that Cadmus about the ſame time being ſent to Sea to ſeek Europa, did perform his Vows at the ſame Temple: Now Lidiat accounts Cadmus his leaving Phaenicia and ſailing into Grece, to have been at the ſame time that Joſhua entered the Land of Canaan with his Ifraclites, and on the ſame occaſion, affrighted with the Invaſion made by Joſhua; and that Danaus his Expulſion out of Egypt by his Brother Aegyptus, was originally derived from the Confuſion that was brought upon the Land, by reaſon of the ſlaughter of the Firſt Born among them, and the Deſtruction of Pharaoh and his Hoſte in the Red Sea. And in all likelihood this brought great Conſuſion in Egypt, and amongſt the Seed Royal, whereupon fore Contentions might ariſe, the iſſue whereof was as ſome prevailed, ſo the expulſion of the Oppoſites: Aegyptus himſelf being driven out afterwards, as he had been a means of driving out Danaus before. For ſo Pauſanias writes in Achiacis, Patrae and Aroe are all one.Aegyptum Aroenveniſſe tradunt Patrenſes filiorum luctu confectum cum ipſum Argorum nomen exhorreſceret, & imprimis à Danao ſibi plurimum metneret. And after this there were two Temples of Serapis built, and in one of them was erected a Monument of Aegyptus the Son of Belut. Herodotus aſcribes the building of this Temple at Lindus to Danaus his Daughters, about the end of his Second Book. And whereas Diodorus Siculus reports the Temple to have been built in the Iſland of Cyprus, Stephanus Bizantinus acknowledgeth no other City of Lindins or Lindia, but that at Rhodes.

16. Euſebius in his 9th. Book of his Prepar. Evangel. and cb. 23. Writes, that two Temples, one at Athens, another at Heliopolis in Egypt, were built by the Children of Iſrael in the time of their Bondage there. But this he writes not according to his own Judgment, only ſets down the narration hereof out of one Artapanus an Heathen Author. Now we have no Reaſon to give Credit to his Relation in this particular; for albeit p. 33the Children of Iſrael were oppreſſed with ſore Bondage, and had Cruel Task-maſters ſet over them, who urged them to the making of Brick in abundance: Yet the Scripture expreſly tells us to what uſe theſe Bricks were employed, Exod. 1.11. They did ſet Task-maſters over them, and they built the City Pithom and Raaemſes for the Treaſures of Pharaoh. Thus they made them weary of their Lives by ſore Labour in Clay and in Brick, and in all Work in the Field, with all manner of Bondage, which they laid upon them moſt cruelly, as v. 14.

Herodotus makes relation of one Menon the firſt King of Egypt who built Memphis, and therein Templum Vulcani a Temple to Vulcan great and memorable. And this I confeſs was moſt Acient, and long before the days of Moſes, if it be true which there is reported to him from the Prieſts of Egypt; namely, how they rehearſed to him out of a Book, the names of three hundred and thirty Kings, beginning from this Menon, and ending with Mevis the Father of Seſoſtris, who is ſuppoſed to be Shiſhak King of Egypt, mentioned in Scripture, who came to Jeruſalem with a great Army and took it, and carried away all the golden Shields that King Solomon had made. The Providence of God being very remarkable herein, as it is commended unto us 2 Chron. 12.5, 6, 7, 8, Now Shiſhak's Depopulation of Judea, came to paſs in the fifth year of Rehoboam and Jeroboam, the year of the World 3029. by Lydiat, and 3033 in Uſher. Yet this Shiſhak was the Succeſſor of Mevis, the laſt of thoſe three hundred and thirty Kings in Egypt, whoſe names were related to Herodotus by the Prieſts of Egypt. And this Menon King of Egypt in Herodotus, is made all one with Amoſis by Lydiat. Euſeb. Prep. Evangel. l. 10. c. 9.I do not here mention how Porphyry makes Moſes more ancient than Inachus, who is more ancient then this Amoſis; nor how Africanus placeth him as Coaetaneous to Ogyges. Nor how Appion the Grammarian makes him of the ſame time with Amoſis, Ibid. c. 10.as in whoſe days he led the Children of Iſrael out of Egypt. Though in truth the Paſtoral Nation, which Manetho that Egyptian Hiſtorian mentioneth to have gone out of Egypt, and planred themſelves in the Neighbour-Country of Syria about Jeruſalem, were rather the Philiſtines, who came of the Caſlucheans and Caphtoreans, who were of the Egyptian Nation, and ſeized upon Paleſtine, and Maritime Coaſt of Judea; whoſe Trade alſo was the keeping of Sheep. p. 34And to theſe refers that of Herodotus in the beginning of his Hiſtory, namely, that the Phoenicians came from the Red-Sea, by Phoenicians underſtanding Strians dwelling by the Sea Coaſt from Caſſiolis the border of Egypt. But theſe things are more clearly and truly ſhewn by Uſher in his Annals from A.M. 2114. & ſeq. And how this was done in the days of Abraham, many hundred years before Moſes. But if any Man ſhall hence conclude, that therefore Temples were in Egypt many hundred years before Moſes, by the Teſtimony of Herodotus. I anſwer, That Herodotus's Teſtimony proceeded upon the Faith of the Egyptian Prieſts and their Regiſters, which deſerve no Credit with us Chriſtians; they making the King Menon to be many years more ancient than the World. Yet Lydiat ſhews how to ſalve their Credit in a tolerable way; namely, by ſuppoſing that the firſt reigning in Egypt (which he takes to have been ſixty years after the Diſperſion of the Gentiles, which is a hundred ſixty one years after Noah's Flood) by the Computation made by George and Conſtantine Manaſſes (out of the Fragments of ancient Hiſtorians, and ſet down in their Chronicles) all were not governed under one King; but look how many Cities ſo many Kings; like as Joſhua found it in the Land of Canaan, when he entred among them with the Iſraelites: And the Years of the Reigns of each King might be reckoned as ſucceeding one another, whereas indeed they reigned together in ſeveral Dynaſties at the ſame time. As that which followeth in the Relation of thoſe Prieſts made to Herodotus; namely, That in that vaſt ſpace of time the Sun changed his Courſe four times; as having twice riſen where now he ſets, and twice ſet where now he riſes; to aſtoniſh their Hearers with legends of great Admiration. They had an addition alſo, which was, That, before all theſe Kings, their Gods reigned, converſing familiarly with Men, and the laſt of them was Orus the Son of Oſiris. The ſame Herodotus writes, That the Egyptians much differed from the Grecians in the Eſtimation of their Gods: For whereas among the Grecians, the laſt of their Gods were Hercules, and Dionyſius, and Pan: Contrariwiſe, among the Egyptians Pan was Vetuſtiſſimus, the moſt Ancient, even of the number of the firſt Rank, which were but eight; (and Latona was another of them, as elſewhere he tells us) Hercules was one of the ſecond Rank, which were twelve in number; p. 35and Dionyſius of the third Rank, which contained ſuch as were begotten of the former twelve: This Dionyſius is Oſiris, as he ſaith, whoſe Son Orus was the laſt of the Deities regnant among the Egyptians.

17. Of this Oſiris, Diodorus Siculus writes, which is alſo related by Euſebius in his Preparat Evangel. l. 2. c. 1. That babuit Jovi Junonique parentibus ſacram aedem, item Diis caeteris aurea Templa, which carry a very ill Accent, that to Jupiter and Juno his Parents, he ſhould dedicate a Holy Houſe only, and to other Gods golden Temples. And withal he adds, That whatſoever was indeed verified of Oſiris the Egyptian, that Orpheus the Poet transferred unto Bacchus for the Honour of the Grecians; even to that Bacchus whom Jupiter begat of Semele Cadmus his Daughter; as if Oſiris were no ancienter than ſo; but that Cadmus might have been his Grandfather. Whereas we have very good Ground and Teſtimony, concerning the Antiquity of Cadmus, as a Man unknown to the Grecians, till he left Phoenicia, which was at the time that Joſhua entered the Land of Canaan with his great Hoſt of Iſraclites. And I do not think the Gods of the Egyptians were a making in thoſe days. He was a great and a proud King that oppreſſed Iſrael, and we know what Miſchief befel him and his People. Manetho makes mention of one Amenophis King of Egypt, whoſe Fortunes were, to be devoured of a Sea-Horſe: Probably this was that Pharaoh who was drowned in the Red-Sea. Great Benefactors while they lived, were honoured by Heathens with Divine Honour after their Death; but this Pharaoh was a Plague to the whole Land and People, and nothing likely that any of his Poſterity came to be deified by the Egyptians; and a long time after great Confuſion ſeized upon that Nation, witneſs Danaus flying out of Egypt into Thebes in Greece, from the Fury of his Brother Aegyptus; and after that Egyptus himſelf leaving Egypt, and coming into Patre in Greece, mourning for the loſs of his Children. And we read in Scripture of the Gods of Egypt while Iſrael lived under them, yea, and how they were corrupted by them. Oſiris was a great Euergetes, or Benefactor, chiefly for the Invention of Tilling of the Ground, and Planting of Grapes, that of Virgil Georgic. 1.—Uncique puer monſtrator aratri; touching the firſt Inventer of the Plow. It was well, ſaith Servius, that he mentioned not his name, but p. 36in general ſaith, The Boy that found it out. For it was not one Body that acquainted all the World with the Plow, but divers Perſons in divers Places. And if you ask who is chiefly meant here: His anſwer is, That ſome ſay Triptolemus, others Oſiris, Which is the truer of the two in the Judgment of Servius. So Sabinus Pliny relates, That Bizeſer the Athenian ſome that Triptolemus did this: But the Tradition is, That Oſiris was the firſt of all Mortals who Plowed with Oxen, in memorial whereof, two Oxen are honoured of the Egyptians, Apis in the City Memphis, and Meuris in Heliopolis; and in the Offices of Iſis Ears of Corn are carried before, and in the time of Harveſt Ears of Corn are conſecrated unto her. Now Iſis was the Siſter of Oſiris, ſaith Pomponius, though that by the way is but a Figment, and Probus confirms the ſame. Nevertheleſs ſome have ſeemed to ſmell a Myſtery in this. And Coelius Rodiginus, lib. 5. c. 12. obſerves, That before the Temples of the Egyptians was wont to be placed the Figure of Sphinx, to ſignifie thereby, that the Wiſdom of their Theology was obſcure, and veſted in Fables; and that in the City Sais there is a Temple of Palles (which ſome think to be Pallas) that hath this Inſcription in the Face of it, I am that which was, and is, and ſhall be; my Veil no Mortal Man hath ever unfolded. Yet I conceive theſe to be but Illuſions of Satan, to blanch and ſet a fair Face upon foul things, under the Pretence of Myſterious Significations. Coelius adds the Opinion of ſome to have been, That by Oſiris is meant no other thing than the River Nilus, the overflowing whereof, and the Mud which it brings ſoiling it, is a great means for the enriching of that Land. The ſame Interpretation is made by Euſebius, Preparat. Evangel. l. 3. c. 10. p. 115. And Suidas on the word Serapis writes, Hunc Deum alii Jovem eſſe dixerunt, alii Nilum propter modium quod in capite habet, & cubilum, menſuram aquae ſcilicet, alii verò Joſeph. And in Forſterus there is a fair Derivation of Oſiris from the Hebrew foreign bos ille; for under ſuch a ſhape he was worſhipped; and foreign is in Hebrew the uſual name of the River Nilus, by reaſon of the blackneſs of the Mud which it brings with it. Others conceive Oſiris and Iſis to ſignifie the Sun and Moon; and firſt, theſe natural things being glorious to behold, were adored and invoked by them, according to that in Virgil,

p. 37Vos clariſſima mundi

Lumina labencem Coelo quae dueit is annum

Liber & alma Ceres, veſtro ſi munere tellus

Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit ariſta

Poculaque invent is Acheloia miſcuit uvis.

Here Liber and alma Ceres are no other than the Sun and Moon; and Iſis and Ceres are all one, Euſeb. Preparat. Evangel. l. 2. c. 1. and the ſame things are attributed to them in their kind by the**Martianus in Nuptiis ad Solem, Te Serapim Nilus, Memphis veneratur Oſirim. Poet, which are uſually attributed to Oſiris and Iſis in their kind by Hiſtorians. Namely, the Proſpering and Maturating of Corn and Wine, according to their ſeveral proper Seaſons, wherein they are to be Sown or Planted, and the Fruit thereof to be expected. But leave we the Myſterious Signification, and come to the Hiſtorical Truth. Lydiat thinks that Menon the firſt King reigning over all Egypt, by what variety of names ſoever called (wherein there is found very great Variety as he ſhews) was the Man that married Iſis, and commonly received to be Oſiris, or Serapis; for theſe two are both one. But others conjecture, that Serapis being repreſented bearing a Buſhel upon his Head, doth fairly ſignifie Joſeph, who was ſo great a Benefactor to the whole Land of Egypt, and to King Pharaoh himſelf; and that eſpecially in providing Corn for them againſt the ſeven ſore years of Famine; and that by a wiſe managing of the abundance of the ſeven plentiful years. And this hath peculiar reference to that very particular which made Oſiris ſo renowned, namely, the Proviſion of Corn; and he was married to Aſenath, which taking away the laſt Syllable, founds very near to Iſin; the Daughter of Potipherah Prieſt of On, and the laſt two Syllables of his name comes near to Phorom the Argive, whoſe Siſter as ſome ſay, or Daughter as others ſay ſhe was; and that from Pharoneus the Argive, the Kings of Egypt took the name of Pharaoh, Lydiat conjectures, Schindler ſaith it ſignifies immunem eſſe, to be free from Taxes and Impoſitions, which is the Prerogative of Abſolute Kings; and it may ſeem to ſome, that in the ſeven plentiful years, Pharaoh took up the fifth part of all their Increaſe throughout the Land, by vertue of his abſolute Regal Prerogative. I am not acquainted with the manner of the Government of Egypt in thoſe p. 38days: But that the fifth part was rather bought by the King, to his ſingular great Advantage (as appeared by the event) Corn being little worth in thoſe plentiful years; I have this reaſon out of the Holy Text. For we read, that when the years of Dearth came, the Egyptians were at length driven to ſell their Land, after they had ſold their Caſtle, and all means ſailed them: And Joſeph bought all their Land for the King providing them Corn for their preſent Neceſſity, both for Food and Sowing their Land; and the Bargain was this, They ſhould have the uſe of the Land ſtill, only the fifth part of their Increaſe they ſhould pay unto the King. Now if he had but a fifth part of the Harveſt after the Land was his, and he gave them the uſe of it; How unlikely is it, that by vertue of his Royal Prerogative, he either could or did take the ſame Proportion when the Land was none of his, but theirs, for in this caſe it had been but a very ill Purchaſe, if hereby he had no more than he had formerly right unto, when as yet he had paid nothing for it. And this is the more unlikely, conſidering what courſe was taken to make the Purchaſe good; and that no Man might plead Right of Inheritance thereunto; for he changed their Habitations, ſo that albeit they might have as much Land as they had before; yet they had not each one the ſame Land which he enjoyed before.

18. Euſebius ſaith, that Serapis had upon his Head diſcum, as the Latin renders it: But Alexander ah Alexandro, l. 4. c. 12. of his Genial days, Aegyptii Serapidi modium apponunt ſupra caput. The Egyptians repreſent Serapis with a Buſhel upon his Head, but like enough both took it from Suidas, and it is mentioned by Ludovicus Vives upon Auſt. de Civit. Dei, l. 18. c. 5. and the truth is in Coquaeus upon Auſtin de Civit. Dei, l. 18. c. 5. writes the ſame in theſe words, Nonnulli Serapin eſſe volunt Joſeph conſecratum, immani Sepulchro & fano exornatum, in quo bos nutriebatur in agriculturae Symbolum, quod famem ſeptennem ſingulari prudentia ab Aegyptiis detuliſſet. And this might be a very congruous Memorial of Oſiris, of whom it is written by divers, that primus mortalium boves aratro junxit; the firſt who taught the World to Plow with Oxen: And for this cauſe the Oxe Apis, might be a fit Emblem of him, and of all ſuch who ever ſince have provided the People with Bread. Like as Menenius Agrippa (if my Memory fail me not) was the Man who for the like p. 39Service was honoured by the Romans, with making Coins in his name, and the Inſcription of an Oxe upon one ſide of it: And in this reſpect (as Dr. Reynolds obſerves) might the Iſraclites think to repreſent God in the form of a young Bullock in the Wilderneſs, to notifie thereby, that God who provided Manna for them in the Wilderneſs. And it is like enough, that if the Egyptians had an Apis in thoſe days, ſome Oxe or other which they worſhipped, they by the Egyptians might be acquainted with the meaning of it, as a Memorial of Oſiris who taught them to Plow their Ground with Oxen, that ſo with greater eaſe they might have Corn yearly in abundance. Yet I deny not but Joſeph deſerved to be in everlaſting remembrance with them for this very cauſe. But the Text ſaith, A new King aroſe that knew not Joſeph; and though all Iſrael deſerved well at the Egyptians hands for Joſeph's ſake; yet we know how proudly they dealt with them, and how barbarouſly they carried themſelves toward them, not only oppreſſing them with Burthens, but cauſing their Male children to be caſt into the River Nilus, even Joſeph's, who was a greater Bleſſing to them, and to their King eſpecially, than ever the River Nilus was; and the People of Iſrael might have been ſo ſtill, had they uſed them well; for ten Perſons ſuch as Lot had ſaved Sodom; how much more 600000. And truly Pineda upon Job is of Opinion, that this Pharaoh was that Buſiris King of Egypt, of whoſe Barbarouſneſs in Sacrificing Strangers that came into his Country, the World ſo much talkt of. Surely had they made a God of Joſeph, they would not have plaid the Devils; yea, ſuch arrant Devils with his Poſterity. But the Lord, to make them amends in a congruous way, firſt turned the Water of Nilus into Blood, a fair means to revive the remembrance of their Mercileſs Courſe in Drowning the Hebrew Children; but when that would not ſerve the turn to bring them to Repentance, the Lord drowned Pharaoh and his Hoſt in the Red-Sea: So periſh all thine Enemies, O Lord, but Grace, and Peace, and plenteous Redemption ever be upon the true Iſrael of God.

19. Yet I rather think Oſiris to have been more ancient than Joſeph; Sure I am they had their Gods in the days of Moſes, Exod. 6.26.Exod 6:26by whom the Children of Iſrael were corrupted; and Hebrew Shepherds were an Abomination to the Egyptians,Gen. 46.34.Gen 46:34 not only in p. 40the days of Moſes, but in the days of Joſeph. And Herodotus. writes, Non eoſdem Deos ſimiliter colunt univerſi Aegyptii praeter Iſidem & Oſiridem quem Bacchum eſſe aiunt, Hos peraeque univerſi colunt. Herein they all agreed in worſhipping Iſis and Oſiris not ſo in the worſhipping of other Gods. So that I am content to tread in Mr. Lydiat's ſteps, that the firſt King of Egypt Menon, or Ammon, or Amoſis, or Amuris, or Amenophis, to have been the Egyptians Oſiris, whoſe Memorial was an Oxe; becauſe he was primus omnium mortalium qui boves aratro junxerat, the firſt that taught Men to Plow with Oxen; and thence might his name be derived, namely from foreign bos, as Forſterus conceives; and Serapis, which at firſt was Sorapis, from foreign and Apis; for as Suidas ſaith, Sepulchrum bujus Apidis in quo est ejus corpus conditum, Alexandriam tranſlatum eſt; afterwards by Corruption it came to be called Sarapis, and laſt of all Serapis; and that Iſis his Queen was Io Argiva, the Story of whom the Poet calls Argumentum ingens in Virgil, wherewith drawn to the Life, he feigns Turnus his Buckler was flouriſhed, when he came into the Field againſt AEneas; and that becauſe he was the Progeny of Acriſius and Inachus Kings of Argos;

At laevem clypeum ſublatis cornibus Io

Auro inſignibat, jam ſet is obſita, jam Bos,

Argumentum ingens, & cuſtos Virginis Argos

Caelataque amnem fundens Pater Inachus urna.

For whereas Poets feign, that Io was turned into an Oxe by Jupiter being found by Juno, the truth ſeems to be no other than this; Oſiris was that Jupiter, and being repreſented by Bos mas; no marvel if hereupon ſhe becoming his Wife, they feigned her to be turned into Bos foemina. And whereas it is further feigned, that Argos was ſet by Juno to watch her; this Argos fairly repreſents Oſiris alſo her Husband, under another Notion, namely, as in an Hieroglyphical Interpretation he is taken for the Sun. For ſuch was the Oxe repreſenting Oſiris full of white Spots, and whoſe Hair was towards the Head; to ſignifie the Sun's proper Motion from Weſt to Eaſt, contrary to the general Motion of the Heavens from Eaſt to Weſt, (though Aſtronomers think otherwiſe in theſe days.) And the Stars of Heaven, by Ariſtotles Doctrine, receive their Light p. 41from the Sun. Afterwards Poets feign that by Juno's means ſhe was Oeſtro percita, plagued with an Hornet, and driven to fly into Egypt; the Truth whereof was no other than Oſtris his marrying of her, and carrying her over with him into Egypt, and there, ſaith Servius, ſhe was turned into Iſis: Aug. de Civit. Dei, l. 18. c. 3. Jo filia Inachi.this is that Argumentum ingens Virgil ſpeaks of, in reference to the true Story obſcurely carried, and dreſt by the Wits of Poets. But ſome rubs I find lying in the way, to hinder us in the Acknowledgment of ſo great Antiquity of Iſis and Oſiris. For whereas Danaus that fled from his Brother Egyptus out of Egypt unto Argos in Grece, is ſtiled by Mr. Lydiat, à Belo Egyptio oriundus, by this Belus meaning Oſiris; as from whom Danaus was derived, but afar off, as who is accompted but the 10th King of Argos, beginning from Inachus: Egyptus the Brother of Danaus I find ſtiled Beli filius the Son of Belus, in a Monument of him erected, in a Temple of Serapis the City of Patrae, or Aroe a City of Achaia, as Pauſanias relates in his Achaicis. Yet this is not of force to take me off from following Mr. Lydiate in this. I underſtand filius here in a larger ſenſe than to take it for a Son begotten of Belus, and that it is no more than à Belo oriundus, one that was derived from Belus. For it is not credible that Pharaoh, whom the Lord drowned in the Red-Sea, or any of his Poſterity, or his Father was Oſiris the great God of the Egyptians, as before hath been argued. As alſo that the Gods of Egypt in Moſes his days, were not the ſame with the Gods of Egypt in the days of Joſeph. Another rub is caſt in the way by Ludovicus Vives upon Auſtin, de Civit, Dei. lib. 18. c. 3. Pauſanias affirmeth, (ſaith he) that ſhe was the Daughter of Jaſius the ſixth King of Argos. Yet he confeſſeth, that Valerius Flaccus in his Argonautes, lib. 4. calls Jovem Inachidem; but withal he takes notice that he calls her Jaſtam virginem; as much as to ſay, the Daughter of Jeſius; yet ſhe might be called Inachides nevertheleſs, becauſe ſhe deſcended from Inachus, who was the firſt Founder of that Kingdom, and Author of their Nobility. He gives alſo another Reaſon drawn from the Teſtimony of Euſebius both in his Chronicles, and in his tenth Book of Evangelical Preparation, teſtifying, that this Jo lived in the days of Triapas the ſeventh King of Argos, 400 years after Inachus. And indeed thus I find it in Pauſanias in his Corinthiacks, 58. that Triapas had two Sons, Jaſus and Agenow; and that Jo was the Daughter of Jaſus, and p. 42ſo two Ages after Triapas, and but one before Danaus, who was after the time of Moſes his leading the Children of Iſrael out of Egypt, which I willingly confeſs is nothing probable; and though this be to my greater advantage in this preſent Argument, yet I chooſe rather to hold with Mr. Lydiate ſtill; ſo utterly improbable and unlikely it is t…a… Pharoah, who was drowned in the Red-Sea, or his Father, either was Oſiris, the times of Moſes and of Joſeph are ſo congenerous as touching the ſame Saperſtitions in courſe among the Egyptians. And as touching Panſanias this I find; that howſoever he writes thus in his Corinthiacks, yet in his firſt Book called Attica, reckoning up the Statues which were found in the Town of the Athenians, two were of Women, Jo the Daughter of Inachus, and Caliſto the Daughter of Lycaon; whoſe Fortunes, he ſaith, were repreſented to be much the ſame, both as touching Jupiter's Love and Juno's Wrath, and the Metamorphoſis of each, the one into a Cow, the other into a Bear. But then you will ſay, the more antient Oſiris was, the more evident it is that Temples were in uſe long before Moſes, yea divers hundred years. Whereto I anſwer, though I grant the greateſt Antiquity aſcribed to them, and do not help my ſelf with Teſtimonies out of the antient Fathers, as Clemens Alexandrinus, lib. 1. Stromat. Tertullian in his Apology, cap. 9. Juſtinus in his Oration againſt the Gentiles, and Tatianus in his Oration againſt the Greeks, and Epiphanius in his firſt Book againſt Hereſies, yea and of divers prophane Authors alledged by Euſebius in his tenth Book of Evangelical Preparation, and third Chapter, all teſtifying that Inachus King of Argos reigned in the days of Moſes: becauſe Inachus, by the computation of times, was much elder, for which v. Uſher, A.M. 2174. Yet Diodorus his Teſtimony, of a Temple built by Oſiris himſelf, deſerves no credit; for he doth but relate what he heard from the Prieſts of Egypt, who told Herodotus, that between Orus his Reign, and that ancient Amoſis we ſpeak of, (Contemporary to Inachus) there were no leſs than 15000 years. And as for Jupiter and Juno, we know ſuch Deities received by the Egyptians, were no other than Oſiris and Iſis themſelves, which all the Egyptians worſhipt, as Herodotus teſtifies; ſo did they not any other God. And if there were any ſuch building of Temples in Egypt in thoſe ancient times, when the Iſraelites were ſo much imployed in making p. 43of ſuch ſtore of Brick, in all likely hood theſe Bricks would have been imployed about ſuch ſacred uſes; but the Scripture teſtifies that they were imployed about the building of certain Cities, to be made Store houſes for the King. It is true, Clemens Alexandrinus was to ſeek whether Phoroneus or Merops was the firſt Founder of Temples: Phoroneus, we know, was the Son of Inachus, and ſecond King of Argos, and Brother to Jo or Iſis; but who Merops was, I have had much ado to find, from the word foreign to divide, and foreign a voice; of foreign we read in Homer, as an attribute of Men, who alone of all bodily Creatures diſtinguiſh the Voice, into Words, Syllables, and ſingle Letters; whence it is called articulate, conſiſting as it were of ſeveral joints, as Coelius Rodiginus writeth; who by the way tells of a Cardinal (Aſcainus by name) who had a Parrot which coſt him 100 Crowns, that could repeat the Apoſtles Creed diſtinctly and accurately. I wonder of what Spirit he was, that took ſuch pains to teach a Parrot ſuch a leſſon: I preſume he was none of St. Francis his Auditors, a part of whoſe Legend it is, that he would preach the Goſpel even to bruit Creatures, ſo great was his deſire of the Salvation of all. The other Interpretation Rodiginus gives of the former Etymology is in reference to the Diviſion of Languages, upon the Building of Babel for years after the Flood; and both of them are very ingenious in my judgment. But concerning any Perſon whoſe proper name was Merops, I find nothing in Coelius, nor in divers others. But in Stephanus Bizantinus foreign, I find Merops himſelf, ſaid to be the Son of Triopas, and from him the People of Coos called Meropes, and that Iſland Meropis; and ſo, much about the time of Jo the ſecond, whom Euſebius obſerves to have lived in the days of Triopas, as Ludovicus Vives relates upon the 18th Book of Auſtin, de Civitate Dei, and the third Chapter. Antoninus Liberalis, in his Metamorphoſes, makes this Merops to be cooetaneous to Jupiter, for thus he writes, Num. 36. as it is tranſlated (for he is a Greek Author;) Jupiter poſtquam Titanibus pulſis, Saturno regnum ademit, Aegem (quae mammam ei praebuit) immortalitate donavit, & ejus imago extat in aſtris: aureum autem canem Templi Cretenſis cuſtodiae, praefecit. Hunc ſuffuratus Pandareus Meropis filius in Sipylum adduxit, Cuſtodiendum que dedit Tantalo Jovis & Plutus filio; cum autem aliquanto poſt tempore Pandareus in Sipylum veniſſet, canem que repoſceret: p. 44Tantalus depoſitum ejuravit. So that the Son of Merops by this Author's accompt was but cooetaneous to Tantalus, who was the Father of Pelops, Grandfather to Agamemnon, chief of the Grecians at the Trojan War. Now touching Clemens Alexandrinus, he was to ſeek whether it were Phoroneus or Merops, or ſome other, qui eis poſuerunt templa, who erected Temples. Belike he had ſome evidence that made him incline to think, that Phoroneus was the firſt; other evidence that ſwayed him another way, and made him think Merops was the firſt; and thirdly, he had ſome ground to conceive that neither of theſe but ſome other, after both theſe, was the firſt. Now of theſe Evidences we can ſay nothing by way of examining them, becauſe we do not know them. Arnobius in his ſixth Book ſpecifies three by name, in queſtion about the primacy of building Temples, and they are Phoroneus not Argivus, (of whom I underſtand Clemens Alexandrinus to have delivered his mind in this Argument) but Phoroneus Egyptius; the other two mentioned by him are Merops, mentioned by Clemens Alexandrinus; and the third and laſt Aeacus, who as he is placed after the former two, ordered according to their Age; ſo it ſeems he was later than both the former. And for the laſt of the three to be the firſt in this kind of Devotion, he alledgeth no meaner Author than Varro; who was commonly accounted the moſt learned of all the Latins. Now AEacus was but the Grandfather of Achilles, and ſo but two Generations before the Wars of Troy, which in common accompt, is not above 66 or 67 years; whereas Moſes led the Children of Iſrael out of Egypt above 300 years before the Wars of Troy. Therefore when Varro writes, as Auſtin reports him, de Civit. Dei, lib. 18. cap. 3. that the Sicyonians did ſacrifice at the Sepulchre of Thurimachus, the 7th King of the Sicyonians; ſurely at that time there was no Temple built at that Sepulchre, for ought Varro found in all his reading. And again, when Auſtin ſaith, in the ſame place, that when Phegous the Brother of Phoroneus was dead, there was a Temple built at his Sepulchre, by reaſon (as he gueſſeth) that Phegous was a devout Prince, and had in his time erected Chappels for Divine Service, he had not this from Varro; nay Varro acknowledgeth no Temples until many years after. Not to mention that both Clemens and Arnobius thought it more likely that Phoroneus rather than his Brother was the firſt Erector of Temples, p. 45yet neither of them had any ſure and certain grounds for their Opinions.

20. Thus much concerning the Graecians and Egyptians; ſomething remains to be added concerning the Aſſyrians and Babylonians, and the Original of Temples amongſt them alſo: Diodorus Siculus, lib. 2. cap. 4. writing of Semiramis and her building of Babylon, adds that, In vrbis medio templum Jovi erexit quem vocant Babylonii Belum; In the midſt of the City ſhe built a Temple to Jupiter, whom the Babylonians call Belus: But withal he ſaith that of this Temple, Nihil certi pronuntiari poteſt, cam & Scriptores diſcordent, & opus ipſum vetuſtate collapſum ſit; Nothing can certainly be affirmed, conſidering that Writers differ, and the Work it ſelf is fallen to decay through Age. Herodotus alſo makes mention of the Temple of Belus, but he makes no mention of him that built it; and as for Semiramis, Herodotus makes her to precede Nitocris but five Ages, which is ſhort of 200 years; for three Ages makes an 100 years by his Accompt. And Nitocris he writes to have been the Mother of Labynitus, againſt whom Cyrus waged War. No Cyrus we know took Babylon whilſt Belſhazzar reigned, who alſo was ſlain that night wherein Babylon was entred into by the Perſians, through the Channel of the River Euphrates, whoſe ſtream was turned another way by the Army of Cyrus; yet we confeſs the Babylonian Monarchy was far more ancient than this Simiramis Herodotus writes of, (and that by Scripture evidence) having been founded by Nimrod, that mighty hunter before the Lord, whom ſome conceive to be Belus Babylonius; and I nothing doubt but the remembrance of ſo great a Man, and the firſt Monarch, might be preſerved by figures made of him, and theſe figures become Idols; like as in the days of Sem, yea, and Noah, alſo Idols were among the Poſterity of Sem, in the Family of Terah. The beginning of Nimrod's Monarchy is placed by Lydiat and Uſher the 14th year after the Diſperſion of the People through the confuſion of Tongues, that is 115 years after the Flood, 185 before the Death of Noah, and 335 before the Death of Sem; which they ground on the Babylonian Antiquities, ſearcht into by Calliſthenes the Philoſopher, and Follower of Alexander in his Perſian War: for he found by his Calculation of thoſe Antiquities, that the Babylonian Monarchy began 1903 years before Babylon was taken by Alexander. A little after p. 46the Aſſyrian Monarchy began, as Scripture teſtifies, Gen. 10. for Moſes having mention'd the beginning of Nimrod's Kingdom to have been Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calne in the Land of Shinar, vor. 10. he forthwith adds, that out of that Land (to wit the Land of Shinar) went Aſhur and built Nineveh, and the City Rehoboth, and Calab. This Aſhur was the Second Son of Sem, ver. 22. It is thought his Eldeſt Son was Ninus the Firſt, from whoſe Name was the Name Ninive given to the City built by him; and Ninive I find is all one with Ninus, in Herodotus, whoſe Kingdom began 1360 years before Lycurgus gave Laws to the Spartans, according to the Computation of George the Monk, mention'd by Scaliger, with one years only difference, provided we underſtand Aſhur to have reigned 60 before his Son Ninus; and from the firſt of Ninus, to Lycurgus his giving Laws, are 1300 years. And which Act of Lycurgus was 97 years before the Account of Iphitus his Olympiads began. Now this was 1485 years before the Reign of the latter Belus Babylonius, Beladan, or Nabonazar by Name, who in all likely hood was that Belus which Herodotus ſpeaks of, and Diodorus Siculus. For this Baladan, or Nabonazar, the ſecond Babylonian Belus, began his Reign but the twelfth year of Iotham King of Iudah, a little before the Foundation of the Walls of Rome was laid by Romulus. But whereas Scaliger conceives there were two Dinaſties in Babylonia, one ſucceeding the other 368 years before the moſt ancient Belus, whom yet he accounts more ancient by 125 years than the Computation of Calyſthenes doth reach unto: This Lydiat conceives to have no colour of Truth. And thus I have diſpatched this Enquiry about the Antiquity of Temples, according to my Power, and preſent Leiſure.

Yet I deny not, but that as Men, before there were any Temples, did worſhip their deceaſed Anceſtors, and offer Sacrifices at their Sepulchres; as Auguſtine teſtifies they did, according unto Varro his Obſervations, de Civit. Dei, lib. 18. c. 3. Apud ſepulchrum ſeptimi ſui Regis Thurimachi; ſacrificare Sicionois ſolere, The Scythians were wont to ſacrifice at the Sepulchre of their Seventh King. Thurimachus, which Thurimachus is ſaid to have reigned amongſt the Sicyonians before Inachus reigned amongſt the Argives; thô others make Inachus, the Firſt King of Argos, to be more ancient than AEgialcus. Firſt King of the p. 47Sicyonians, as Ludovious, Vives relates, upon the 18th. Book of Auſtin. de Civit. Dei, chap. 3. And Pauſanias, in his Corinthiacks, pag. 54. ſhews where was the Sepulchre of Phoroneus; and adds, Phoroneo quoque noſtra etiamnum aetate parentant, to this day they do offer Sacrifice to Phoroneus, to wit, at his Sepulchre: And no marvel if they were of their Opinion, who knew no other Gods, than the Ghoſts of Dead Men, from whom they received Anſwers, lying over their Graves, as Melo and others write of certain People of Afriea, call'd Augitae. Likewiſe, I deny not, but that in proceſs of time, the Sepulchres of great Men were fair Houſes or Structures, built to no other end, but that the Bodies of great Perſonages might lie therein, as it were in State. Such were the Mauſolaea Regum Sepulchra, faith Caelius Rodigimus, l. 9. c. 10. the Sepulchres of Kings; the firſt of them, Mauſolaeum, having its Name from Mauſolus (as the ſame Author writeth, l. 23. c. 6.) King of Halicarnaſſus, as Pauſanias relates in his Arcadia; and he adds, that it was built ea operis magnitudine, atque omni ornamentorum magnificentia, ut Romani rei miraculo adducti, magnificentiſſima quaeque apud ſe monumenta, Mauſolea appellarint; So great, and ſo adorned, that the Romans admiring it, afterwards called all ſuch magnificent Monuments by the Name of Mauſolaea: And he writes ſtrange things of the Sepulcher of one Helena an Hebrew Woman in Ieruſalem, before it was deſtroyed by Adrian. And Lilius Giraldus, in his Book de Vario Sepeliendi ritu, writes, that Temples and Churches had their Original from hence; his words are theſe, Fuit verò uſque adeò antiquis ſepulchrorum cura, ut non aliundè templorum & ſacrarum aedium originem deductam, diligentiſſimi ſcriptores tradant, Euſebius & Lactantius. Qua de re & Clemens Alexandraeus in adbortatione ad Graecos, ſi ita rectè foreign interpretamur ſic ſcriptum reliquit; Superſtitio (inquit) Templa condere perſuaſit quae enim prius hominum ſepulchra fuerunt, magnificentius condita Templorum appellatione vocata ſunt. Nam apud Lariſſaeam civitatem in arce in Templo Palladis Achriſii ſepulchrum fuit quod nune ſacrarii loco calebratur. In arce queque Athenienſi ut eſt ab Anticcho in nono Hiſtoriarum ſcriptum, Cecropis, ſepulchrum fuit. In Templo verò Palladis jacet Erichthonius. Iſmarus autem Eumolpi atque Dairae filius in Eleuſine una cum Celei natabus ſepultus, & reliqua, quae multa Clemens collegit & ab eo Euſebius quae in Latinis codicthus non babentur. He adds, That as Temples, ſo Images and Idols (as p. 48touching the publick uſe of them) took their Originals from Sepulchres alſo, and he alledgeth Diophantes the Làcedemonian, in his Books of Antiquities, for the Proof of this. But whether there were ſuch in Egypt in the days of Ioſeph, or Moſes, I am very uncertain: Suppoſe they had their Bull Apis, ſevered and kept in a Placè by himſelf; this required only Septum, a Place compaſſed about with a Wall, where might be aſſo ſome Place of Succour, with a Covering to reſort unto in time of Rain, Hail, Storm, or Tempeſt; though we read not ſo much as this, of thoſe ancient Times. Only we read of thoſe Times, that ſome Creatures were accounted Sacred by the Egyptians, and it was not lawful to kill ſuch; nay, it was Abomination to ſacrifice any ſuch. Or ſuppoſe they had Images of thoſe Gods whom they worſhipped, yet Temples were not neceſſary for this; for, as I have ſhewed before, many ſuch, together with Altars alſo, were erected ſub Divo, in the open Air. I will conclude all with that which Alexander ab Alexandro writes in his genial days, lib. 4. cap. 7. Perſae nec Deorum imagines habent, nec Templa erigunt (crant enim aedium ſacrarum & ſimulacrorum everſores) ſed in loco mundo & excelſorum, praecatione Diis victimas immolant, quod à pleriſque uſitatum invenimus. Nam Carmeli Deus colebatur, cui nec Templum erat nec ſimulachrum, ſed ara tantum & divinus cultus. Iudaei mente ſola, unum numen colunt, ideo nulla apud eos ſimulachra non modo Templis, ſed nec urbibus inſunt. Germani queque nullam humani oris ſpeciem Diis, prae eorum magnitudinè dederunt, nec Templa dicarunt: ſed lucos & nemora Deorum nominibus appellant; illa velut ſacra templa venerantur. And in his 2 d. Book, cap. 2. Nulla ficta apud Lycurgum vel picta imago fuit: quippe hominum aut animalium ſpecies Diis tribui vetuit. Templum verò in quo colebatur deſuper patens foramen habuit, quia nefas duxerunt Terminum Deum pacis & juſtitiae cuſtodem, ſub tecto conſpici. Sic Iovi, Soli, Lunae, & Deifidio in aperto mundo, Templa hypaethra & ſub divo veteres extruxere, quod à Graecis ſaepe factitatum novimus, ut his Diis hypaethra templa conſtituant, ſicut aedes Iovis Pulverii in Attica, ſemper ſine tecto erigebatur. Graeci verò Minervae in ſumma parte aedium ſine victima ſacrificant; AEſculapio in montibus. Apud Perſas nulla dicabantur templa diis, quia cum ſolem praecipuun numen, & Deorum maximum colant, mundum univerſum illi Templum eſſe dixerunt. A Bithynis uſurpatum legimus, ut adoraturi montium cacumina conſcendant, & ſine templis Iovem Pappam ſalutent, ſicut Scythae Pappaeum. p. 49Quae etiam Diogenis opinio fuit, qui mundum fanum Dei ſanctiſſimum exiſtimavit. Fucre autem Termini, atque Fidei Templa juxta aedem Iovis optimi maximi, in capitolio primum a Numa conſtructa, cui ſacrum feſt Terminalibus in agris, ſexto ab urbe milliario, ſub patente caelo fieri ſolebat. With the Engliſhing of this I mean to ſet a period to this Diſcourſe, &c. The Perſians have neither Images of Gods, nor do they erect Temples (rather their courſe was to pull down to the ground Holy Houſes and Images) but in a clean Place, in high Places, with Prayers they did ſacrifice to the Gods, which we find to have been in uſe with many. For at Carmel God was worſhipped, where was neither Temple nor Image, but an Altar only, and Divine Worſhip. The Iews in their minds only worſhip One God, and therefore with them are no Images, neither in Temples nor in Cities. The Germans alſo give no ſhape of Man to the Gods, by reaſon of their Greatneſs, nor dedicate Temples to them; but Groves and Woods they call by the Names of Gods, and they reverence them as holy Temples. Lycurgus ordained no painted or graven Image, as who forbad to expreſs the Gods in the ſhape of Men, or other Creatures. And as for the Temple wherein God was worſhipped, that was open at the top, as thinking it unlawful that the God Terminus, the Preſerver of Peace and Juſtice, ſhould be ſeen under a Roof or Covering. In like ſort, Men of ancient Times built Temples to Iupiter, Sol, Luna, and to Deus Fidius, in the open Air, which they called Hypoethra, as much as to ſay, under the cope of Heaven, open; which was the Graecians uſual courſe, as the Houſe of Iupiter Pulverius in Attica was always without a Roof. And the Graecians ſacriſiced to Minerva on the tops of their Houſes, without ſlaughter made of any Beaſt; and to AEſculapius upon the Hills. Amongſt the Perſians, no Temples were conſecrated to the Gods; beeauſe being of Opinion that the Sun was the chief Power Divine, and the greateſt of Gods, they ſaid the whole World was his Temple. We read it to have been the Bithynians Practice, that when they worſhipped, they went to the tops of Hills, and there ſaluted Iupiter Pappas without any Temple, as the Scythians did Pappaeus. Such alſo was the Opinion of Diogenes, who maintained the World to be the moſt holy Temple. As for the Temples of the God Terminus, and the God Fides, they were by the Houſe of Jupiter p. 50optimus Maximus, in the Capitol, which were firſt built by Numa Pompilius; to whom Holy (or religious) Office was performed on the Terminal Feaſts in the Field, and under the open Heaven, ſix miles diſtant from the City.

I might add our Learned Antiquary Inego Iones's Opinion, concerning that ſtrange Structure of Stoneheng on Salisbury-Plain, that it was originally no other than Templum ſub Divo, a Temple all open at the top, (ſuch as are mentioned by Alexander ab Alexandro;) but I reſer the curious to his Book, and conclude this firſt Diſſeratation.