Works Volume 4, Sermon 12 – Part 2
SERMON XII.
ACTS XVII.30.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men every where to repent.
THE words in our Engliſh Tranſlation carry ſomewhat in the ſound, which doth not fully reach the importance of the Original, and therefore it muſt be the task of our Preface not to connect the Text, but clear it; not to ſhew its dependence on the precedent words, but to reſtore it to the integrity of it ſelf, that ſo we may perfectly conceive the words, before we venture to diſcuſs them; that we may foreign, as Ariſtotle phraſes it, firſt repreſent them to you in the bulk, then deſcribe them particularly in their ſeveral lineaments. Our Engliſh ſetting of the words,Eth. 1.…. ſeems to make two Propoſitions, and in them a direct oppoſition betwixt the condition of the ancient, and preſent Gentiles; that God had winked at, i. e. either approved, or pitied, or pardoned the ignorance of the former Heathens; but now was reſolved to execute juſtice on all, that did continue in that was heretofore pardonable in them, on every one every where that did not repent. Now the Original runs thus, foreign, &c. that is, in a literal conſtruction, God therefore paſſing over the times of ignorance, as if he ſaw them not, doth now command all men every where to repent. Which you may conceive thus, by this kind of vulgar foreign, or ſenſible proceeding in God. God always is eſſentially and perfectly every one of his Attributes, Wiſdom, Juſtice, Mercy, &c. but yet is ſaid at one time to be peculiarly one Attribute, at another time another, i. e. to be at one time actually juſt, at another time actually merciful, according to his determination to the object. As when God fixes his Eyes upon a rebellious people, whoſe ſins are ripe for his juſtice, he then executes his vengeance on them, as on Sodom: when he fixes his Eyes upon a penitent believing people, he then doth exerciſe his mercy, as on Nineveh. Now when God looks upon any part of the lapſed World, on which he intends to have mercy, he ſuffers not his Eye to be fixed or terminated on the medium betwixt his Eye and them, on the ſins of all their Anceſtors from the beginning of the World till that day; but having another account to call them to, doth for the preſent foreign, look over all them, as if they were not in his way, and imputing not the ſins of the Fathers to the Children, fixeth on the Children, makes his Covenant of mercy with them, and commandeth them the condition of this Covenant, whereby they ſhall obtain mercy, that is, every one every where to repent. So that in the firſt place, foreign, muſt not be rendred by way of oppoſition, he winked then, but now commands, as if their former ignorance were juſtifiable, and an account of knowledge ſhould only be exacted from us. And in the ſecond place, foreign, a word read but this once in all the New Teſtament, muſt be rendred, not winking at, but looking over, or not inſiſting upon; as when we fix our Eyes upon a Hill, we ſuffer them not to dwell on the Valley, on this ſide of it, becauſe we look earneſtly on the Hill. Now if this be not the common Attical acception of it, yet it will ſeem agreeable to the penning of the New Teſtament, in which whoſoever will obſerve, may find words and phraſes which perhaps the Attick purity, perhaps Grammar, will not approve of. And yet I doubt not but Claſſick authorities may be brought, where foreign ſhall ſignifie, not a winking, or not taking notice of, but a looking farther, a not reſting in this, but a driving higher, for ſo it is rendred by Stephanus, Ad ulteriora oculos convertere; and then the phraſe ſhall be as proper as the ſenſe, the Gre…k as authentical as the doctrine, that God looking over and not inſiſting upon the ignorance of the former Heathen, at Chriſts coming entred a Covenant with their Succeſſors, the condition of which was, that every man every where ſhould repent.
And this is made good by the Gr. Schol. of the N. T. foreign, &c. that is ſpoken, O…cume…. Arelas.not that the former heathen ſhould be unpuniſhed, but that their Succeſſors to whom St. Paul preached, if they would repent, ſhould not be called to an account of their ignorance, ſhould not fare the worſe for the ignorance of their Fathers; and at this drives alſo Chryſoſtome, out of whom the Scholiaſts may ſeem to have borrowed it, their whole foreign being but foreign, gleanings out of the Fathers before them.Tom. 4. I might farther prove the neceſſity of this interpretation, if it were required of me: and thus far I have ſtay'd you to prove it, becauſe our Engliſh is ſomewhat imperfect in the expreſſion of it. foreign, ſaith Ariſtotle, Two Cubes are not a Cube, but another figure very different from it: and indeed our Engliſh Tranſlations by making two Propoſitions of this Verſe, have varied the native ſingle Propoſition in that regard, and made it unlike it ſelf, which briefly (if I can inform my ſelf aright) ſhould run thus, by way of one ſimple Enunciation; God therefore not inſiſting on, but looking over thoſe times of ignorance, doth now command all men every where to repent; of which thoſe three lines in Leo his fourth Sermon de Paſſione Domini, are a juſt Paraphraſe, Nos ſub veteris ignorantiae profunda nocte pereuntes, in Patriarcharum ſocietatem, & ſortem electi gregis adoptavit. p. 47.So then the words being repreſented to you in this Scheme or ſingle Diagram, are the Covenant of mercy made with the Progeny of ignorant Heathens upon condition of repentance, in which you may obſerve two grand parallel lines, …. the ignorance of the Heathen, ſuch as in the juſtice of God, might have provoked him to have pretermitted the whole world of ſucceeding Gentiles: 2. the mercy of God, not imputing their ignorance to our charge, whoſoever every where to the end of the world ſhall repent. And firſt of the firſt, the ignorance of the Heathen in theſe words, foreign, the times, &c.
If for the clearing of this bill, we ſhould begin our inqueſt at Japhet the father of the Gentiles, examine them all by their gradations, we ſhould in the general find the evidence to run thus; 1. That they were abſolutely ignorant, as ignorance is oppoſed to learning: 2. Ignorant in the affairs of God, as ignorance is oppoſed to piety or ſpiritual wiſdom: 3. Ignorant ſupinely, perverſely, and maliciouſly, as it is oppoſed to a ſimple or more excuſeable ignorance.
Their abſolute ignorance or foreign, their want of learning, is at large proved by St. Auſtin 18. de Civ. Dei, Euſebius Praepar. 10. Clemens in his Protr…p. and others, ſome of whoſe writings to this purpoſe (becauſe it is eaſier for my Auditors to believe me in groſs, than to be troubled with the retail) is this, that the beginnings of learning in all kinds, was among the Jews, whilſt the whole Heathen world beſides, was barbarouſly ignorant; that Moſes appointed Maſters among the tribes, foreign, which initiated the youth of Iſrael in all kind of ſecular learning; or if you will believe Patricius and his proofs,In Zoroaſter. P. 4. l. 9. p. 244. that Sem erected, and afterwards Heber enlarged Scholas Doctrinarum, Schools or Seminaries of learning, where learning was profeſſed and taught, that Abraham, as Euſebius cites Nic. Damaſcenus for it, was excellent in the Mathematicks, and diſperſed and communicated his knowledge in Chaldea, from whence the Aegyptians, and from them the Grecians came to them;ib. p. 245. that Enoch was probably judg'd by Polyhiſtor, to be that Atlas to whom the Heathen imputed the beginning of Aſtronomy; that in the ſumm, all learning was primitive among the Hebrews, and from them by ſtealth and filching, ſome ſeeds of it ſown in Phoenicia, Aegypt, and at laſt in Greece. For they make it plain by computation, that Moſes (who yet was long after Enoch, and Sem, and Heber, and Abraham, all in confeſſo great Scholars) that Moſes, I ſay, was 1500 years ancienter than the Greek Philoſophers, that all the learning that is found and bragg'd of amongſt the Grecians (whoſe ignorance my Text chiefly deals with, St. Pauls diſcourſe here being addreſt to the Athenians) was but a babe of a day old, in reſpect of the true antiquity of learning: that all their Philoſophy was but ſcraps, foreign, which fell from the Jews tables; that in their ſtealth they were very imprudent, glean'd only that which was not worth carrying away, foreign, &c. ſtuft their ſacks, which they carried into Aegypt to buy food, only with ſome unprofitable chaff, with empty ſpeculations that would puff up, not fill or nouriſh the ſoul, but brought no valuable real commodity away with them, whereby they might improve their knowledge, or reform their manners; upon which two grounds, 1. the vanity and unprofitableneſs of their learning; 2. the novelty of it in reſpect of the Hebrews from whom they ſtole it afar off; they are not thought worthy of the title of Scholars; and for all the noiſe of their Philoſophy, are yet judged abſolutely ignorant, as ignorance is oppoſed to learning.
In the ſecond, for their ignorance in the affairs of God, their own Authors examination will bring in a ſufficient evidence. If you will ſort out the chiefeſt names of learned men amongſt them, you will there find the verieſt dunces in this learning. The Deipnoſophiſts, the only wits of the time, are yet deſcribed by Athenaeus, to imploy their ſtudy only how to get good chear a free-coſt, foreign, they fed deliciouſly, and yet were at no charge for the proviſion; and amongſt them, you ſhall ſcarcely find any knowledge or worſhip of even their Heathen Gods, but only in drinking, where their luxury had this excuſe or pretence of religion, that it was foreign, an experiment of the power of that good God, which had provided ſuch a creature as Wine for them to abuſe; which perhaps a drunken Romiſh Caſuiſt ſtole from them, where he allows of drinking ſupra modum, ad glorificandum Deum, &c. to the glorifying of God, Creator of ſo excellent a creature, which hath the effect in it of turning men into beaſts. So that it ſeems by the ſtory of them in brief, that the Deipnoſophiſts, men of the fineſt, politeſt conceits, as Ʋlpianus Tyrius, Calliphanes, and the like in Athenaeus, in the multitude of the Grecian Gods had but one Deity, and that was their belly, which they worſhipped religioſo luxu, not ſinging, but eating and drinking praiſes to his name; to this add the Sophiſtae, Protagoras, Hippias, and the like great boaſters of learning in Socrates his time, and much followed by the youth, till he perſwaded them from admiring ſuch unprofitable profeſſors, and theſe are obſerved by Plutarch, to be meer huckſters of vain glory; getting great ſtore of money and applauſe from their auditors, foreign, ſilver and popularity, but had no manner of profitable learning to beſtow upon them, as Plutarch dooms them in his Platonick queſtions, and Socrates in his Dialogues in confutation of them; and certainly by their very profeſſion 'tis plain that theſe men had no God to know or worſhip, except their gain. But not to inſiſt on theſe or other their Profeſſors of more curious, trim, polite learning, as their Philoſophers, Grammarians, and Rhetoricians, it will be more ſeaſonable to our Text to examine St. Pauls auditors here, the great ſpeculators among them: (1) the deepeſt Philoſophers, and there where you expect the greateſt knowledge, you ſhall find the moſt barbarous ignorance; in the midſt of the foreign of the Grecians, the Philoſophers (ſaith Clem. and 'tis plain by their writings) finding out and acknowledging in private this multitude of Gods to be a prodigious vanity, and infinitely below the gravity and wiſdom of their profeſſion, took themſelves off from this unreaſonable worſhip, and almoſt each of them in private worſhipped ſome one God. And here you would think that they jump'd with the Jews of that time, in the acknowledging an unity: but if you mark them you ſhall find that they did not reform the popular Atheiſm, but only varied it into a more rational way. Thales would not acknowledge Neptune, as the Poets and people did, but yet he deifies the water, In foreign. vid. ch. 15.as Clem. obſerves: another ſcorned to be ſo ſenſeleſs as to worſhip wood or ſtone, and yet he deifies the earth, the parent of them both, and as ſenſeleſs as them both; and does at once calcare terram, & colere, tread on the earth with his feet, and adore it with his heart. So Socrates (who by bringing in morality, was a great refiner and pruner of barren Philoſophy) abſolutely denying the Grecian Gods,In foreign. and thence called foreign, is yet brought in by Ariſtophanes, worſhipping the clouds, foreign, &c. and by a more friendly Hiſtorian deſcribed addreſſing a ſacrifice to Aeſculapius, Plato.being at the point of death. So that in brief, the Philoſophers diſliking the vulgar ſuperſtition, went to School, ſaith Clem. to the Perſian Magi, and of them learnt a more Scholaſtick Atheiſm. The worſhip of thoſe venerable Elements, which becauſe they were the beginnings, out of which natural bodies were compoſed, were by theſe naturaliſts admired and worſhipped inſtead of the God of nature. From which a man may plainly judge of the beginning and ground of the general Atheiſm of Philoſophers, that it was a ſuperficial knowledge of Philoſophy, the ſight of ſecond cauſes and dwelling on them, and being unable to go any higher. For men by nature being inclined to acknowledge a Deity, take that to be their God which is the higheſt in their ſphere of knowledge, or the ſupremum cognitum which they have attained to; whereas if they had been ſtudious, or able, by the dependence of cauſes, to have proceeded beyond theſe Elements, they might poſſibly, nay certainly would have been reduced to piety and religion, which is foreign, the knowledge and worſhip of God; but there were many hindrances which kept them groveling on the earth, not able to aſcend this ladder: 1. They wanted that foreign,P. 11. which Aphrod. on the Topicks ſpeaks of, that kindly, familiar good temper, or diſpoſition of the ſoul, foreign, by which the mind is able to find out and judge of truth; they wanted either that natural harmony, or ſpiritual concord of the powers of the ſoul, by which it is able to reach thoſe things which now in corrupt nature, are only ſpiritually deſcerned. For it is Clem. his Chriſtian judgment of them, that the Gentiles being but Baſtards, not true born ſons of God, but Aliens from the Commonwealth of Iſrael, were therefore not able to look up toward the Light, In foreign. A. 16.(as 'tis obſerved of the baſtard-brood of Eagles) or conſequently to diſcern that inacceſſible light, till they were received into the Covenant, and made foreign, true proper Children of light. A ſecond hindrance was the groſſeneſs and earthineſs of their fancy, which was not able to conceive God to be any thing but a corporeous ſubſtance, as Philoponus obſerves in Schol. on the books de anima, foreign, &c. When we have a mind to betake our ſelves to divine ſpeculation, our fancy comes in, foreign, raiſes ſuch a tempeſt in us, ſo many earthly meteors to clog, and over-cloud the ſoul, that it cannot but conceive the Deity under ſome bodily ſhape, and this diſorder of the fancy doth perpetually attend the ſoul, even in the faireſt weather, in its greateſt calm and ſerenity of affections, foreign, &c. ſaith Plato, even when the ſoul is free from its ordinary diſtractions, and hath provided it ſelf moſt accurately for contemplation. Philoponus in this place finding this inconvenience, fetches a remedy out of Plotinus for this rarifying and purifying of the fancy, and it is the ſtudy of the Mathematicks, foreign &c. Let young men be brought up in the ſtudy of the Mathematicks, to ſome acquaintance with an incorporeous nature: but how unprofitable a remedy this ſtudy of the Mathematicks was, to the purpoſe of preparing the ſoul to a right conceit of God, I doubt not but he himſelf afterwards found, when he turned Chriſtian, and ſaw how far their Mathematical and Metaphyſical abſtractions fell below thoſe pureſt Theological conceits, of which only grace could make him capable. So that in brief their underſtanding being fed by their fancies, and both together fatned with corporeous phantaſms, as they encreaſed in natural knowledge, grew more hardned in ſpiritual ignorance, and as Clem ſaith of them, were like birds cram'd in a Coop;foreign. P. 52. fed in darkneſs, and nouriſhed for death: their groſs conceits groping on in obſcurity, and furniſhing them only with ſuch opinions of God, as ſhould encreaſe both their ignorance and damnation. That I be not too large and confuſed in this diſcourſe, let us pitch upon Ariſtotle one of the lateſt of the Ancient Philoſophers, not above 340 years before Chriſt, who therefore ſeeing the vanities, and making uſe of the helps of all the Grecian learning, may probably be judged to have as much knowledge of God as any Heathen; and indeed the Colen Divines had ſuch an opinion of his skill and expreſſions that way, that in their tract of Ariſtotles Salvation, they define him to be Chriſts Praecurſor in Naturalibus, as John Baptiſt was in gratuitis. But in brief, if we examine him, we ſhall find him much otherwiſe, as ſtupid in the affairs of 1. God, 2. the Soul, 3. Happineſs, as any of his fellow Gentiles. If the book foreign, were his own legitimate work, a man might gueſs that he ſaw ſomething, though he denyed the particular providence of the Deity, and that he acknowledged his omnipotence, though he would not be ſo bold with him, as to let him be buſied in the producing of every particular ſublunary effect. The man might ſeem ſomewhat tender of God, as if being but newly come acquainted with him, he were afraid to put him to too much pains, as judging it foreign &c. neither comely nor befitting the Majeſty of a God, Ariſtot. foreign. cap. 9.to intereſt himſelf in every action upon earth. It might ſeem a reverence and awe which made him provide the ſame courſe for God, which he ſaw uſed in the Courts of Suſa and Echatana, where the King (ſaith he) lived inviſible in his Palace, and yet by his Officers, as through proſpectives and Otacouſticks, ſaw and heard all that was done in his Dominions. But this book being not of the ſame complexion with the reſt of his Philoſophy, is ſhrewdly gueſt to be a ſpurious iſſue of latter times, entitled to Ariſtotle and tranſlated by Apuleius, but not owned by its brethren, the reſt of his books of Philoſophy; for even in the Metaphyſicks (where he is at his wiſeſt) he cenſures Zenophanes for a Clown for looking up to Heaven, and affirming that there was one God there, the cauſe of all things, and rather than he will credit him, he commends Parmenides for a ſubtle fellow, who ſaid nothing at all, or I am ſure to no purpoſe.
Concerning his knowledge of the ſoul, 'tis Philoponus his obſervation of him,Schol. in lib. de anima. that he perſwades only the more underſtanding, laborious, judicious ſort to be his Auditors in that ſubject, foreign, &c. But dehorts men of meaner vulgar parts, leſs intent to their ſtudy, from medling at all with this ſcience about the ſoul, for he plainly tells them in his firſt de anima, C. 2.'tis too hard for any ordinary capacity, and yet in the firſt of the Metaph. he defines the wiſe man to be one who beſides his own accurate knowledge of hard things, as the Cauſes of the ſoul, &c. is alſo able to teach any body elſe, who hath ſuch an habit of knowledge, and ſuch a command over it, that he can make any Auditor underſtand the abſtruſeſt myſtery in it. So then out of his own words he is convinced to have had no skill, no wiſdom in the buſineſs of the ſoul, becauſe he could not explain nor communicate this knowledge to any but choice Auditors. The truth is, theſe were but ſhifts of pride, and ambitious pretences to cloak a palpable ignorance, under the habit of myſterious, deep ſpeculation: when alas poor man! all that which he knew, or wrote of the ſoul, was ſcarce worth learning, only enough to confute his fellow ignorant Philoſophers, to puzzle others, to puffe himſelf; but to profit, inſtruct, or edifie none.
In the third place, concerning happineſs, he plainly bewrays himſelf to be a coward, not daring to meddle with Divinity. For 1 Eth. c. 9.1 Eth. 9. being probably given to underſtand, or rather indeed plainly convinced, that if any thing in the world were, then happineſs muſt likely be foreign, the gift of God beſtowed on men, yet he there ſtaggers at it, ſpeaks ſceptically, and not ſo magiſterially as he is wont, dares not be ſo bold as to define it: and at laſt does not profeſs his ignorance, but takes a more honourable courſe, and puts it off to ſome other place to be diſcuſt. Where Andronicus Rhodius his Greek Paraphraſe, tells us he meant his Tract foreign, about Providence: but in all Laërtius his Catalogue of the multitude of his writings, we find no ſuch title, and I much ſuſpect by his other carriages, that the man was not ſo valiant as to deal with any ſo unwieldy a ſubject, as the Providence would have proved. Sure I am he might, if he had had a mind to it, have quitted himſelf of his engagements, and ſeaſonably enough have defined the fountain of happineſs there,Eth. 1.10. in Ethicks, but in the 10. c. it appears that it was no pretermiſſion, but ignorance; not a care of deferring it to a fitter place, but a neceſſary ſilence, where he was not able to ſpeak. For there mentioning happineſs and miſerableneſs after death, (where he might have ſhewed his skill if he had had any) he plainly betrays himſelf an arrant naturaliſt, in defining all the felicity, and miſery, to be the good or ill proof of their friends and children left behind them, which are to them being dead, happineſs or miſeries, foreign, of which they are not any way ſenſible. But *f. by.of what hath been ſpoken it is plain that the Heathen never looked after God of their own accord, but as they were driven upon him by the neceſſity of their ſtudy, which from the ſecond cauſes, neceſſarily lead them in a chain to ſome view of the firſt mover; and then, ſome of them, either frighted with the light, or deſpairing of their own abilities, were terrified or diſcouraged from any farther ſearch; ſome few others ſought after him, but as Ariſtotle ſaith the Geometer doth, after a right line only, foreign,Eth. l. 1. c. 7. as a contemplator of truth, but not as the knowledge of it is any way uſeful or conducible to the ordering, or bettering of their lives: they had an itching deſire to know the Deity, but neither to apply it as a rule to their actions, nor to order their actions to his glory. For generally whenſoever any action drove them on any ſubject which intrenched on Divinity, you ſhall find them more flat than ordinary, not handling it according to any manner of accuracy or ſharpneſs, but only foreign, only as much uſe or as little as their ſtudy in the ſearch of things conſtrained them to, and then for moſt part they fly off abruptly, as if they were glad to be quit of ſo cumberſom a ſubject.1 Met. 4. Whence Ariſtotle obſerves, that the whole Tract de cauſis was obſcurely and inartificially handled by the Ancients, and if ſometimes they ſpake to the purpoſe, 'twas as unskilful, unexerciſed fencers foreign, they lay on, and ſometimes ſtrike a lucky blow or two, but more by chance than skill, ſometimes letting fall from their pens thoſe truths which never entred their underſtandings,l. 2. p. 17. as Theophilus ad Auto. obſerves of Homer and Heſiod, that being inſpired by their Muſes, i. e. the devil, ſpake according to that ſpirit, lyes and fables, and exact Atheiſm, and yet ſometimes would ſtumble upon a truth of Divinity, as men poſſeſt with Devils, did ſometimes confeſs Chriſt, and the evil ſpirits being adjured by his name, came out and confeſt themſelves to be devils. Thus it is plain out of the Philoſophers and Heathen diſcourſes, 1. Of God, 2. The Soul, 3 Happineſs, that they were alſo ignorant, as ignorance is oppoſed to piety or ſpiritual wiſdom, which was to be proved by way of premiſe, in the ſecond place.
Now in the third place, for the guilt of their ignorance, that it was a perverſe, groſs, malicious and unexcuſable ignorance, you ſhall briefly judge. Ariſtotle, 1 Met. 2.1 Met. 2. being elevated above ordinary in his diſcourſe about wiſdom, confeſſes the Knowledge of God to be the beſt Knowledge and moſt honourable of all, but of no manner of uſe or neceſſity; foreign, &c. No Knowledge is better than this, yet none more unneceſſary, as if the Evidence of truth made him confeſs the nobility of this wiſdom, but his own ſupine, ſtupid, perverſe reſolutions made him contemn it as unneceſſary. But that I may not charge the accuſation too hard upon Ariſtotle above others, and take as much pains to damn him, as the Colen Divines did to ſave him, we will deal more at large, as Ariſtotle preſcribes his wiſe men,c. 2. 1. Met. and rip up to you the unexecuſableneſs of the heathen ignorance in general:foreign. p. 36. 1. By the authority of Clemens, who is gueſt to be one of their kindeſt patrons in his foreign. where having cited many teſtimonies out of them, concerning the unity, he concludes thus, foreign, &c. Seeing that the Heathen had ſome ſparks of the divine truth, ſome gleanings out of the written word, and yet make ſo little uſe of it as they do; they do, ſaith he, ſhew the power of Gods word to have been revealed to them, and accuſe their own weakneſs, that they did not improve it to the end for which it was ſent; that they encreaſed it not into a ſaving knowledge; where (by the way) the word weakneſs is uſed by Clement by way of ſoftning, or mercy, as here the Apoſtle uſeth ignorance, when he might have ſaid impiety. For ſure if the accuſation run thus, that the word of God was revealed to them, and yet they made no uſe of it, as it doth here in Clem. the ſentence then upon this, muſt needs conclude them, not only foreign, weak, but perverſe contemners of the light of Scripture. Again, the Philoſophers themſelves confeſs that ignorance is the nurſe, nay, mother of all impiety: foreign,V. Clem. foreign. p. 56. &c. whatſoever an ignorant man or fool doth, is unholy and wicked neceſſarily; ignorance being foreign, a ſpecies of madneſs, and no mad-man being capable of any ſober action; ſo that if their ignorance were in the midſt of means of knowledge, then muſt it be perverſe; if it had an impure influence upon all their actions, then was it malicious and full of guilt. 2. Their chief ground that ſuſtained and continued their ignorance, proves it to be not blind but affected, which ground you ſhall find by the Heathen objection in Clem. to be a reſolution not to change the religion of their fathers. foreign. p. 42. foreign. Wiſd. xiv.16. Tert. Apol.'Tis an unreaſonable thing, ſay the Heathens, which they never will be brought to, to change the cuſtoms bequeathed to them by their anceſtors. From whence the Father ſolidly concludes, that there was not any means in nature, which could make the Chriſtian Religion contemned and hated, but only this peſtilent cuſtom of never altering any cuſtoms or laws, though never ſo unreaſonable: foreign, &c. 'tis not poſſible that ever any nation ſhould hate and fly from this greateſt bleſſing that ever was beſtowed upon mankind, to wit, the knowledge and worſhip of God, unleſs being carried on by cuſtom, they reſolved to go the old way to Hell, rather than to venture on a new path to Heaven. Hence it is,foreign. p. 1. B. P. 2. A. that Athenagoras in his Treaty with Commodus for the Chriſtians, wonders much that among ſo many Laws made yearly in Rome, there was not one enacted foreign, that men ſhould forſake the cuſtoms of their fathers, which were any way abſurd. From whence he falls ſtraight to their abſurd Deities, as if it being made lawful to relinquiſh ridiculous cuſtoms, there would be no plea left for their ridiculous gods.P. 47. So Euſebius Praep. l. 2. makes the cauſe of the continuance of ſuperſtition to be, that no man dared to move thoſe things which ancient cuſtom of the Country had authorized; and ſo alſo in his fourth book, where to bring in Chriſtianity was accounted foreign, to change things that were fixt, P. 78.foreign, &c. and to be pragmatical, friends of innovation; and ſo 'tis plain they eſteemed St. Paul, and hated him in that name, as an Innovator, becauſe he preached unto them Jeſus and the reſurrection, Acts 17.18.Acts xvii.18. So Acts the 16.21. St. Paul is ſaid to teach cuſtoms which were not lawful for them to receive nor obſerve, being Romans, becauſe, ſaith Caſaubon out of Dio, 'twas not lawful for the Romans to innovate any thing in religion, for ſaith Dio, this bringing in of new Gods, will bring in new Laws with it. So that if (as hath been proved) their not acknowledging of the true God,foreign. was grounded upon a perverſe reſolution, not to change any cuſtom of their fathers, either in opinion or practice, though never ſo abſurd; then was the ignorance (or as St. Paul might have called it, the idolatry) of thoſe times impious, affected, not a natural blindneſs, but a pertinacious winking, not a ſimple deafneſs, but a reſolved ſtubbornneſs not to hear the voice of the charmer; which we might further prove by ſhewing you thirdly, how their learning or foreign, which might be proved an excellent preparative to religion, their Philoſophy, which was to them as the Law to the Jews, by their uſing of it to a perverſe end, grew ordinarily very pernicious to them. 4. How that thoſe which knew moſt, and were at the top of prophane knowledge, did then fall moſt deſperately headlong into Atheiſm; as Hippocrates obſerves, that foreign, and St. Baſil, that foreign,Aph. 3. P. 230. the moſt perfect conſtitution of body, ſo of the ſoul, is moſt dangerous, if not ſuſtained with good care and wiſdom. 5. How they always forged lies to ſcandal the people of God, as Manetho the famous Aegyptian Hiſtorian ſaith, that Moſes and the Jews were baniſhed out of Aegypt, foreign, becauſe of an infectious leproſie that over-ſpread the Jews, as Theophilus cites it, and Juſtine out of Trogus, Ad Autol. l. 3. P. 130. L. 36.and alſo Tacitus; and the Primitive Chriſtians were branded and abomined by them for three ſpecial fau…ts, which they were little likely to be guilty of; 1. Atheiſm, 2. Eating their Children, 3. Inceſtuous, common uſing of women, P. 4. L. 3. p. 119.as we find them ſet down and confuted by Athen. in his Treaty or Apology, and Theophilus ad Autol. &c. 6. By their own confeſſion, as of Plato to his friend, when he wrote in earneſt, and ſecretly acknowledging the unity which he openly denied, againſt his conſcience and the light of reaſon in him; and Orpheus the inventer of the foreign, profeſſing and worſhipping 365. Gods all his life time, at his death left in his will foreign, that, however he had perſwaded them all the while, there was indeed but one God. And laſtly, how theſe two affections in them,Theop. ad Autol. l. 3. p. 117. admiration and gratitude; admiration of men of extraordinary worth, and gratitude for more than ordinary benefactions done either to particular men or Nations, were the chief promoters of idolatry; making the Heathens worſhip them as Gods, whom they were acquainted with, and knew to be but men, as might be proved variouſly and at large. If I could inſiſt upon any or each of theſe,2 Chryſoſt. Hom. 1. p. 15. it would be moſt evident, what I hope now at laſt is proved enough, that the ignorance of thoſe times was not ſimple, blind ignorance, but malign, perverſe, ſacrilegious, affected, ſtubborn, wilful, I had almoſt ſaid, knowing ignorance in them; which being the thing we firſt promiſed to demonſtrate, we muſt next make up the Propoſition which is yet imperfect, to wit, that ignorance in theſe Heathen, in Gods juſtice, might have provoked him to have pretermitted the whole world of ſucceeding Gentiles: which I muſt diſpatch only in a word, becauſe I would fain deſcend to Application, which I intended to be the main, but the improvident expence of my time, hath now left only to be the cloſe of my diſcourſe.
The ignorance of thoſe times being of this compoſition, both in reſpect of the ſuperſtition of their worſhip, which was perverſe, as hath been proved, and the prophaneneſs of their lives, being abominable even to nature (as might farther be ſhewed) is now no longer to be called ignorance, but prophaneneſs, and a prophaneneſs ſo Epidemical over all the Gentiles, ſo inbred and naturalized among them, that it was even become their property, radicated in their mythical times, and by continual ſucceſſion derived down to them by their generations. So that if either a natural man with the eye of reaſon, or a ſpiritual man by obſervation of Gods other acts of juſtice, ſhould look upon the Gentiles in that ſtate which they were in at Chriſts coming, all of them damnable ſuperſtitious, or rather idolatrous in their worſhip; all of them damnable prophane in their lives; and which was worſe, all of them peremptorily reſolved, and by a law of homage to the cuſtoms of their fathers, neceſſarily ingaged to continue in the road of damnation; he would certainly give the whole ſucceſſion of them over as deſperate people, infinitely beyond hopes or probability of ſalvation. And this may appear by St. Peter in the 10. of the Acts, where this very thing, that the Gentiles ſhould be called,Acts x. was ſo incredible a myſtery, that he was fain to be caſt into a trance, and to receive a viſion to interpret it to his belief: and a firſt or a ſecond command could not perſwade him to ariſe, kill, and eat ▪ verſe 16.Verſe 16. that is, to preach to Gentiles; he was ſtill objecting the foreign, the prophaneneſs and uncleanneſs of them. And at laſt, when by the aſſurance of the ſpirit, v. 15.Verſe 15. and the Heathen Cornelius his diſcourſe with him, he was plainly convinced, what otherwiſe he never dreamt poſſible, that God had a deſign of mercy on the Gentiles, he breaks out into a phraſe both of acknowledgment and admiration, Of a truth I perceive, &c. verſe 34.Verſe 34. and that you may not judge it was one ſingle Doctors opinion, 'tis added, verſe 45.Verſe 45. And they of the Circumciſion which believed, were aſtoniſhed, becauſe that on the Gentiles alſo was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghoſt. Nay, in the 3 to the Epheſians verſe 10. it is plain, that the calling of the Gentiles was ſo ſtrange a thing, that the Angels themſelves knew not of it till it was effected. For this was the myſtery which from the beginning of the world had been hid in God, verſe 9. which was now made known by the Church to principalities and powers, verſe 10. The brief plain meaning of which hard place is, that by St. Pauls preaching to the Gentiles, by this new work done in the Church, to wit, the calling of the Gentiles, the Angels came to underſtand ſomewhat, which was before too obſcure for them, till it was explained by the event, and in it the manifold wiſdom of God. And this Propoſition I might prove to you by many Topicks: 1. By ſymptoms, that their eſtate was deſperate, and their diſeaſe foreign, very, very mortal; as that God, when he would mend a people, he puniſheth them with afflictions; when he intends to ſtop a current of impetuous ſinners, he lays the ax to the root, in a foreign or total ſubverſion of them: but when his puniſhments are ſpiritual, as they were here, when he ſtrikes neither with the rod, nor with the ſword, but makes one ſin the puniſhment of another, as unnatural luſt of idolatry, and the like; when he leaves a nation to it ſelf, and the very judgement laid upon them, makes them only leſs capable of mercy; then is it much to be feared that God hath little mercy intended for that people, their deſertion being a forerunner of judgment without mercy. 2. I might prove it ab exemplo, and that exactly with a nec datur diſſimile in Scripture, that the nine Monarchies which the learned obſerve in Scripture, were each of them deſtroyed for idolatry, in which ſin the Heathen now received to mercy, ſurpaſs all the precedent world, and for all their many deſtructions, ſtill uniformly continued in their provocation. Theſe and the like arguments I purpoſely omit, as *f. conceiving.concerning St. Peters viſion mentioned before out of the 10 of the Acts, ſufficiently to clear the point, and therefore judging any farther enlargement of proofs ſuperfluous, I haſten with full ſpeed to Application.
And firſt from the conſideration of our eſtate, who being the off-ſpring of thoſe Gentiles, might in the juſtice of God have been left to Heatheniſm, and in all probability, till St. Peters viſion diſcovered the contrary, were likely to have been pretermitted eternally; to make this both the motive and buſineſs of our humiliation: for there is ſuch a Chriſtian duty required of us, for which we ought to ſet apart ſome tithe, or other portion of time, in which we are to call our ſelves to an account for all the general guilts, for all thoſe more Catholick engagements that either our ſtock, our nation, the ſins of our progenitors back to the beginning of the world, nay, the common corruption of our nature hath plunged us in. To paſs by that ranker guilt of actual ſins (for which I truſt, every man here, hath daily ſome ſolemn Aſſizes to arraign himſelf) my text will afford us yet ſome farther indictments; if 1700 years ago, our father were then an Amorite, and mother an Hittite, if we being then in their loyns, were incloſed in the compaſs of their idolatry; and as all in Adam, ſo beſides that, we again in the Gentiliſm of our Fathers, were all deeply plunged in a double common damnation; how are we to humble our ſelves infinitely above meaſure; to ſtretch, and rack, and torture every power of our ſouls to its extent, thereby to enlarge and aggravate the meaſure of this guilt againſt our ſelves, which hitherto perhaps we have not taken notice of? There is not a better foreign in the world, no more powerful medicine for the ſoftning of the ſoul, and keeping it in a Chriſtian tenderneſs, than this lading it with all the burdens that its common or private condition can make it capable of; this tiring of it out, and bringing it down into the duſt, in the ſenſe of its ſpiritual engagements. For 'tis impoſſible for him, who hath fully valued the weight of his general guilts, each of which hath lead enough to ſink the moſt corky, vain, fluctuating, proud, ſtubborn heart in the world; 'tis impoſſible, I ſay, for him either wilfully to run into any actual ſins, or inſolently to hold up his head in the pride of his integrity. This very one meditation, that we all hear might juſtly have been left in heatheniſm, and that the ſins of the Heathens ſhall be imputed to us their children, if we do not repent, is enough to looſen the tougheſt, ſtrongeſt ſpirit, to melt the flintieſt heart, to humble the moſt elevated ſoul, to habituate it with ſuch a ſenſe of its common miſeries, that it ſhall never have courage or confidence to venter on the danger of particular Rebellions.
2. From the view of their ignorance or impiety, which was of ſo hainous importance, to examine our ſelves by their indictment, 1. For our learning; 2. For our lives; 3. For the life of grace in us. 1. For our learning, Whether that be not mixed with a great deal of Atheiſtical ignorance, with a delight, and aquieſcence, and contentation in thoſe lower Elements, which have nothing of God in them: whether we have not ſacrificed the livelieſt and ſpritefulleſt part of our age, and ſouls, in theſe Philological and Phyſical diſquiſitions, which if they have not a perpetual aſpect and aim at Divinity, if they be not ſet upon in that reſpect, and made uſe of to that purpoſe; foreign, ſaith Clement, Strom. 1. vid. A. 17.their beſt friend, they are very hurtful, and of dangerous iſſue; Whether out of our circle of humane heathen learning, whence the Fathers produced precious antidotes, we have not ſuckt the poyſon of unhallowed vanity, and been fed either to a pride and oſtentation of our ſecular, or a ſatiety or loathing of our Theological learning, as being too coarſe and homely for our quainter palates; Whether our ſtudies have not been guilty of thoſe faults which curſed the Heathen knowledge,Apol. pro Chriſtian. p. 8. A. as truſting to our ſelves, or wit and good parts, like the Philoſophers in Athenagoras, foreign, &c. not vouchſafing to be taught by God, even in matters of religion, but every man conſulting, and believing, and relying on his own reaſon; Again, in making our ſtudy an inſtrument only to ſatisfie our curioſity, foreign, only as ſpeculators of ſome unknown truths, not intending or deſiring thereby either to promote vertue, good works, or the Kingdom of God in our ſelves, or which is the ultimate end (which only commends and bleſſes our ſtudy or knowledge) the glory of God in others.
2. In our lives, to examine whether there are not alſo many relicks of heatheniſm, altars erected to Baalim, to Ceres, to Venus, and the like; Whether there be not many amongſt us whoſe God is their belly, their back, their luſt, their treaſure, or that foreign, that earthly unknown God (whom we have no one name for, and therefore is called at large) the God of the world; Whether we do not with as much zeal, and earneſtneſs, and coſt, ſerve and worſhip many earthy vanities which our own phanſies deifie for us, as ever the Heathen did their multitude and ſhole of gods; And in brief, whether we have not found in our ſelves the ſins, as well as the blood of the Gentiles, and acted over ſome or all the abominations, ſet down to judge our ſelves by, Rom. i. from the 21 verſe to the end.
Laſtly, for the life of grace in us, Whether many of us are not as arrant heathens, as mere ſtrangers from ſpiritual illumination, and ſo from the myſtical Commonwealth of Iſrael, as any of them; Clem. Strom. 2. calls the life of your unregenerate man, a Heathen life, p. 281.and the firſt life we have by which we live, and move, and grow, and ſee, but underſtand nothing; and 'tis our regeneration by which we raiſe our ſelves foreign, from being ſtill mere Gentiles: and Tatianus farther;foreign. p. 154. that without the ſpirit, we differ from beaſts, only foreign, by the articulation of our voice. So that in fine, neither our reaſon, nor Chriſtian profeſſion, diſtinguiſheth us either from beaſts, or Gentiles; only the ſpirit in the formalis ratio by which we excel and differ from the Heathen ſons of darkneſs. Wherefore, I ſay, to conclude, we muſt in the cleareſt calm and ſerenity of our ſouls, make a moſt earneſt ſearch and inqueſt on our ſelves, whether we are yet raiſed out of this heatheniſm, this ignorance, this unregeneracy of nature, and elevated any degree in the eſtate of grace; and if we find our ſelves ſtill Gentiles, and (which is worſe than that) ſtill ſenſeleſs of that our condition, we muſt ſtrive, and work, and pray our ſelves out of it, and not ſuffer the temptations of the fleſh, the temptations of our nature, the temptations of the world, nay, the temptations of our ſecular, proud learning, lull us one minute longer in that carnal ſecurity, leſt after a careleſs unregenerate natural life, we die the death of thoſe bold, not vigilant, but ſtupid Philoſophers. And for thoſe of us who are yet any way Heatheniſh, either in our learning or lives; which have nothing but the name of Chriſtians to exempt us from the judgment of their ignorance; O Lord, make us in time ſenſible of this our condition, and whenſoever we ſhall humble our ſelves before thee, and confeſs unto thee the ſinfulneſs of our nature, the ignorance of our Anceſtors, and every man the plague of his own heart, and repent and turn, and pray toward thy houſe, then hear thou in Heaven thy dwelling place, and when thou heareſt forgive; remember not our offences, nor the offences of our Heathen Fathers, neither take thou vengeance of our ſins, but ſpare us O Lord, ſpare thy people whom thy Son hath redeemed, and thy ſpirit ſhall ſanctifie, from the guilt and practice of their rebellions.
Now to God, who hath elected us, hath, &c.