Answer to the Animadversions on the Dissertations, Treatise · Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
Of the Apoſtolical Canons.
Sect. 1.
The Controverſie about them. The Codex Canonum. What is meant by Apooryphal, and ſo by Genuine Canons. The two miſtakes of the Praefacer, which produceth his Animadverſion. What is meant by the title, Apoſtolical Canons. The Praefacers ungrounded ſuggeſtion againſt the writings of the firſt times.
Numb. …. TO ſet out then, with all ſpeed that may be, on this new Stage, not knowing of what length it may prove, the firſt Animadverſion I finde my ſelf concern'd in, is in *Praef. p. 6.theſe words.
The firſt Writings that are impoſed on us after the Canonical Scriptures, are the eight Books of Clement, commonly called, The Apoſtles Conſtitutions, being pretended to be written by him at their appointment, with the Canons aſcribed to the ſame perſons. Theſe we ſhall bu… ſalute; for beſides that they are but faintly defended by any of the Papiſts, diſavowed and diſclaimed as Apocryphal by the moſt learned of them, as Bellarmine de Script. Eccleſ. in Clem. who approves onelyonly of fifty Canons of eighty five. Baronius, An. Dom. 102▪ 14. who addes thirty more, and Bi…ius with a little inlargement of Canons in Tit. C…n. T. 1. Con. p. 17. and have been throughly diſproved and decryed by all Proteſtant writers that have had any occaſion to deal with them; their folly, and falſity, their impoſtures & …triflings have of late been ſo fully manifeſted by Dallaeus de Pſeudepigrap…i… Apoſt. that nothing need be added thereunto. Of him may Dr. H. H. learn the truth of that inſinuation of his, Diſſert. 2 c 6. ſect. 3. Canone Apoſtolico ſecundo (ſemper inter genninos habito) but of the confidence of this Author in his aſſertions afterward.
2. I am not here much ſurpriſed 1. with this charge of untruth; and 2. this promiſe, that my confidence in aſſerting ſhall be diſcovered, knowing that it was one of Ariſtotles inſinuations in his Elenchs, at the beginning of a Dispute to endeavour to put the Reſpondent in paſſion, and then he might eaſily have fallacies impoſed on him, foreign. If this were his deſign, I have more reaſons than that one, to hope his pardon, if I do not thus gratifie him. And although there be not one word ſaid in this place, to prove either of theſe charges, but I am appointed to learn one from Mr. Daillé, whoſe book I have not been ſo curious as to ſee, and to expect the other afterwards from the Prefacer; yet being concerned to know that veracity and humility are my duties, as I am a Chriſtian, and that I ought not to live one minute under the ſcandal of having offended againſt either of them, and having yet no motive to retract that expreſſion in the Diſſert. I am obliged to render an account of my uſing it. And it is this.
3. In the ſecond Canon of the Council in Trullo. An. 681. I find a conciliarie affirmation of eighty five Canons under the title of foreign, the Canons of the holy and honourable Apoſtles before us. And what was there confirmed is farther ratified by the ſecond Council of Nice, An. 787. which cites the 53d of thoſe Canons. And this I take for a teſtimonie of the Eaſtern Churches reception of that number of 85 Apoſtolical Canons at that time. Whereas in the Weſtern Churches, both before, and after this time, although the Canons of the Apoſtles were by the Eaſtern communicated to them, yet that number was not received, but in a Council of ſeventy Biſhops at Rome, under Pope Gelaſius, ſomewhat before 500 years after CHRIST, the Book of the Apoſtles Canons, was defined to be Apocryphal. By Apocry…hal here I conceive to be meant ſuch as are not obligatorie, w…ch are not ſo owned, or received by the Church, as to be entered into Codex, ordinarily known by the name of Corpus Canonum▪ foreign, in *Bibl, Num. 112.Ph…ti…s his ſtile, The body of Synodical Canons, their *Novell. Conſt 131.foreign in Juſtinia… their Rule of Diſcipline, in like manner as the Books of Canonical Scripture (to which *foreign. Nov. 131. See Anton. Auguſtin. l 1. de … mend. Gratiani, Dial. 11.Juſtinian added the foreign, or definitions of the four firſt General Councils) made up their Rule of Doctrines: That there was ſuch a Codex, we find in the fourth General Council (that of Chalcedon) when the Book of Canons, as well as the Bible, was ſolemnly brought in at the opening of the Council, and * call'd for to be read before them as occaſion required. And 'tis ſufficiently known what Juſtellus obſerves, That the Chriſtian Church was ruled of old by a double Law, Divine, the Books of the Canonical Scripture, and Canonical, the Codex of Canons: And thoſe Canons that were not received into that Codex, though they might hold the authority due to antient pieces, be eſteemed worthy the reading and obſerving, were yet ſtiled Apocryphal, i. e. uſefull, though not obligatory, reverenced for their Antiquity, but not allowed the power, or title of Laws, as the body of the Canons is known to be, foreign, we obſerve them as Laws, ſaith Juſtinian, and they are thence called Nomocanon, and Canon Law.
… That this is the meaning of the word Apocryphal, I ſhall conclude from the ſtory of the fact; for ſoon after this ſentence of that Council of Rome, within very few years, we know that they were ſet up and received in that very place, where they had been thus lookt on as Apocryphal: For Dionyſius Exiguus about the year 527. made a collection of Canons, ex Graecis exemplaribus. Canones Eccleſiaſticos—compoſuit, quos …odie uſu celeberrimo Eccleſia Romana complectitur, out of the Greek copies he compoſed Eccleſiaſtical Canons, which at this day the Church of Rome embraceth, and uſeth moſt honourably, as Caſſiodore his contemporarie and conſort ſaith of him, Divin. Lect. c. 23. In this collection he ſet fifty of theſe in the front, under the title of Apoſtolical Canons, prefacing this concerning them, In principio Canones, qui dicuntur Apoſtolorum de Graeco tranſtulimus, quibus quia plurimi conſenſum non praebuere facilem, hoc ipſum ignorare veſtram noluimus ſanctitatem, quamvis poſtea qu…dam conſtituta Pontificum ex ipſis Canonibus aſſumpta eſſe videantur: In the beginning we have tranſlated out of Greek the Canons, which are ſaid to be the Apoſtles, to which becauſe very many have been hard to give aſſent, we have thought fit to mention ſo much to you, though afterward▪ ſome conſtitutions of Biſhops ſeem to have been taken out of theſe very Canons. Here it is evident, 1. that what was a few years ſince lookt on as Apocryphal, is within a while received into their Codex, cel…berrimo uſu, ſaid Caſſiodore at that very time. And 2. whilſt it was not in the Codex, yet Conſtitutions of the Biſhops were taken …ut of them, which argues to me, that they were not to be rejected, as to be diſliked, but onelyonly ſo, as not to be obligator…, any farther than as ſome new Decrees of the Church ſhould give them their authority. So again in Iſidore Mercator's Collection, he prefaceth thus, Propter …orum authoritatem c…teris concil…s praepoſ…imus Canones, qui dicuntur Apoſt…l…rum, lic…t a quibuſdam Apocrypha dicantur, quoniam plures eos recipiunt, & ſancti Patres eorum ſententias Synodali authoritate roboraverunt, & inter Canonicas poſuerunt conſtitutiones. In reſpect of their authority we have before the reſt of the Councils paſt ſet down the Canons of the Apoſtles, ſo called, though by ſome they are ſaid to be Apocryphal, becauſe more receive them, and the holy Fathers have confirmed them by authority of Council, and placed them among Canonical Conſtitution▪ Where the oppoſition is clear, betwixt Apocryphal on one ſide, and confirmed by Councils, and placed among Canonical constitutions on the other ſide.
5. One thing onelyonly I can foreſee to bee by Mr. Daille or any man objected againſt this, viz. the Cenſure that *In Praef. ad Concil. Toler. See Gratian. d. 16. c. 1 & Anton. Augustin. de …m…nd. Gr…tian. l. 1. dial. 6. p. 47. …dit. Par. 1607.Iſidore Hiſpalenſis hath paſt upon the Apoſtolike Canons, in theſe words (which I ſee are thought by ſome learned men to refer to that Council at Rome under Gelaſius, but whether by Mr. Daillé, I know not) Eodem nec ſedes Apoſtolica recepit, nec ſancti patres illis aſſenſum praelucerunt, pro co quod ab haereticis ſub nomine Apoſtolorum compoſiti dignoſcuntur: The Apostolike See received them not, and the holy Fathers have not allowed them their aſſent, becauſe they are diſcerned to be framed by haereticks under the name of the Apoſtles. Here I ſhall offer my conjecture (and ſubmit it to better judgements) that Iſidore ſpeaks not of the firſt fifty Canons, which were certainly before his time (who was a member of the Council of Toledo in Spain, An. 633.) received into the Romane Codex, as hath already appeared, nor conſequently refers to the Synod under Gelaſius (which, upon other reaſons I acknowledge, ſpake even of thoſe fifty) but of the whole number of 85, for in thoſe latter 35 it is, and not in the firſt fifty, that the Apoſtles are praetended to be the Authors of them, viz. Can. 82. Where they call Philemon's ſervant foreign, our Oneſimus, and Can. 85. foreign, the Acts, or Canons of us the Apoſtles, whereas no ſuch thing is ſo much as intimated in the firſt fifty: For as for thoſe words in the fiftieth Canon which refer to the Apoſtles, foreign, according to the ſentence of Chriſt, and our conſtitution by the spirit, 'tis evident that they are in Turrian's Edition, inſerted, and added to that Canon, after the words, with which Dionyſius Exiguus his old collection and tranſlation ended. And ſo in the former part of the Canon [foreign, for he ſaid not unto us] (as if the Writers were the Apoſtles) 'tis certain that the [foreign to us] is inſerted: And accordingly in Balſamon's Text and Comment, which I have before me, the Canon is intire without either of thoſe inſertions. To all which I may adde, that the matter of all thoſe firſt fiftie Canons, and the very form of words, is ſuch, as gives not the leaſt occaſion to think them compoſed by haereticks (certainly not put under the Apoſtles names by thoſe haereticks) as Iſidore affirms of thoſe of which he ſpeaks.
6. This is to my underſtanding the meaning of the Controverſie concerning the number and authority of theſe Canons, which were to be accounted Apocryphal, and which not, and ſo likewiſe which Genuine, and which not, and to this Controverſie it is, that my inſinuation and my words refer, and the ſecond Canon being one of thoſe former 50, which though they have been counted Apocryphal in one ſenſe, were yet Genuine in another, i. e. none of the later addition of 35. which are called by learned men novitii and adulterate, I thought I had reaſon (and cannot but ſtill think it) to ſay that that ſecond Canon was ſemper inter genuinos habitus, alwayes accounted genuine, i. e. received and acknowledged among the Canons of the Antient Church by thoſe who controverted, and rejected the other 35.
7. Thus much may perhaps ſuffice to remove the two miſtakes, which by ſome indications I conceive to have produced this Animadverſion: For 1. when in the words immediately precedent, he ſaith, they are diſavowed and diſclaimed by the moſt learned Papiſts as Apocryphal, this I ſuppoſe muſt be his meaning, either that by that Synod at Rome under Pope Gelaſius, they were defined to be Apocryphal (and then as there is truth in that, ſo I may be permitted to have told him what I conceive meant by Apocryphal in that place thoſe that were not yet received into their Codex) or elſe that the reſt beſides the firſt 50 are diſclaimed by the moſt learned Papiſts, ſo I learn from my Lord Primate, that they are by Humbert in his Anſwer to Nicetas, Sancti Patres Canones Apoſtolorum numeraverunt inter Apocrypha, exceptis capitulis quinquaginta, quae decreverunt regulis Orthodoxiae adjungenda. The Holy Fathers have numbred the Canons of the Apoſtles among Apocryphal writings, except onelyonly fifty Canons, which they have decreed to be annext to the rules of the true doctrine, i. e. to the Book of Canons received by them: (Where again, by the way, the notion of Apocryphal is evident, as oppoſed to thoſe which are received into the Codex, Regulis Orthodoxiae adjungenda) And ſo by Bellarmine, whom he names in the front of thoſe moſt learned Papiſts, and of him ſaith expreſly and truly, that he approves onelyonly of 50 Canons of 85 (de ſcript. Eccleſ. in Cl…m.) And then again, I have now minded him of that which was before evident, that the ſecond Canon, which was cited by me, was one of thoſe fifty, and ſo not diſproved by that learned Papiſt. As for the other two, Baronius, and Binius, whom he names to the ſame purpoſe as thoſe who have diſavowed and diſclaimed them as Apocryphael, I ſhall not accuſe his confidence, but muſt think he was in ſome haſte, that he could doe ſo, Baronius being by him acknowledged to adde 30 more, and Binius to have made a little inlargement of Canons, which ſure doth not intimate that they diſavowed, or diſclaimed the fifty.
8. So when he ſaith of them, that they are faintly defended by any of the Papiſts, I ſhall deſire to know (among many others, Bovius, Lamb. Gruterus, Stapleton Haleander, &c.) what he thinks of Turrian, whether he were a Papiſt or no, and whether he were a faint defender of them, nay whether Monſieur Daillé take no notice of his zeal for them? If he doe not, I ſhall very much wonder at it: If he doe, I ſhall have the more reaſon for my queſtion, how he that ſends me to be taught by M. Daillé, had not learned ſo much from him, that there was ſome Papiſt, by whom they were not faintly defended? So again when he ſaith that they have been throughly diſproved and decryed by all Proteſtant writers that have had any occaſion to deal with them, I might certainly mind him of more Proteſtants than one that have been far from decrying them. I ſhall not mention, as I might, the ſeverall Biſhops of our Church, ſince the Reformation, and our Divines in their writings, that make their Appeals to them frequently, and with as pompous forms of citations, as I have done [ſemper inter genuinos habito] I ſhall not adde the learned Hugo Grotius, becauſe I know not whether any, or all of theſe may not be deemed by him to be no Proteſtants. OnelyOnly what doth he think of Frigevillaeus Gautius? He certainly An. 1593. in his ſecond part of his Palma Chriſtiana (dedicated to Queen Elizabeth) c. 1. & 2. was far from diſavowing, and decrying thoſe Canons: How little ſhort he came of Turrian himſelf, I ſhall not now tell him, leſt he be diſavowed as no Proteſtant, for ſo doing, but leave him at his leiſure to inquire, whether one ſuch example might not have taken off from the generalitie of the affirmation [decryed by all Proteſtants] or indeed whether D. Blondel's vouching them in the manner which I ſhall by and by ſet down, might not have had ſome force in it, if he had taken notice of ſuch things. But all this by the way, as an Eſſa…, that ſome other men, as well as H. H. may be confident in aſſerting.
9. Secondly, When immediately after his Animadverſion on my words, he mentions his Exceptions to the Books of Apostolical Conſtitutions and Canons taken out of Daillé, and the learned Ʋſher, 'tis apparent that theſe all belong to the Books under Clement's name, called the Apoſtles Conſtitutions: But then it muſt be remembred, that that Book of foreign, or Conſtitutions is another thing, clearly diſtinct from the Book called the Apoſtles Canons, and there is but one way imaginable to involve the later under the cenſure that belongs juſtly to the former, and it is this, That in ſome Copies the Constitutions and Canons are put together into one Volume (and that … *foreign (i. e. in the volume of Clements Conſtitutions) foreign. Numb 112.Photius his time) and that in the end of the Canons, there is a ſolemn confirmation of the Conſtitutions. But then it muſt be remembred again, that theſe are later Copies, which ſo confound them, and I take not them to be genuine, and that Canon is the eightie fifth of that Book, and ſo no part of the firſt fiftie, which I ſuppoſe to be the onelyonly genuine Canons, and conſequently that none of the ridiculous things in the Conſtitutions is imputable to that former Collection, but indeed, on the contrary, that one expreſſion in that eightie fifth Canon, which preſcribes the keeping them *foreign.cloſe, becauſe of ſome myſterious paſſages in them, is juſtly thought by learned men to betray them both (the later 35 Canons, and the Conſtitutions ſo magnified by them) to be of a much later Edition, than that which they pretend to.
10. And thus I hope I have vindicated my ſelf, and given the grounds of my Aſſertion, And for the confidence, I did not, I confeſs, expect to be charged with any immoderate degree of it from any, nor doe I yet diſcern how thoſe few words in the Parentheſis (ſemper inter genuinos habito) could be deem'd ſo criminouſly guilty of it, or that hee that undertook to be my Monitor, having in ſo ſhort a time proved ſo much more guilty of it, ſhould in any reaſon think himſelf the moſt competent for that office.
11. To help him to any appearance of reaſon, and ſo to qualifie him thus to charge me, ſome want of obſervation of vulgar ſtile muſt be neceſſary, either in not adverting what is ordinarily meant by their title of Apoſtolick Canons, or ſome other the like. That he takes the meaning of that title to be their pretenſion to be written by the Apoſtles, or by Clement at their appointment, I conclude from the words with which he begins that Paragraph [The firſt writings, that are impoſed on us after the Canonical Scriptures, are the eight Books of Clement, commonly called the Apoſtles Conſtitutions, being pretended to be written by him at their appointment, with the Canons aſcribed to the ſame perſons] and if according to this his notion, he conceive me by the word genuine to affirm that they are rightly ſo aſcribed, he is miſtaken.
12. That thoſe Canons, whether to the number of 85. or but of 50 were written by the Apoſtles, I never meant, but neither is that the meaning of thoſe that cite them, and call them as I have done, by the vulgar name of Apoſtolick Canons: If there be any doubt of this, I ſhall prove it by competent teſtimonies, whether among Papiſts or Proteſtants. Of the former, in ſtead of many, I inſtance only in that account, which Gabriel Albispine in his Obſervations rendreth of it, * Lib. 1.that ſome of theſe Canons (the fifty he means) being made by the Succeſſors of the Apoſtles (the Biſhops of the Antient Church) who were called (ſaith Tertullian de Praſeript.) Apoſtolici viri, Apostolical men, Apoſtolicorum primum Canones, dein nonnullorum Latinorum ignorantia, aliquo… literarum detractione, Apoſtolorum dicti ſunt, They were firſt call…d the Canons of the Apoſtolicks, after by the ignorance of ſome Latine Writers, and by the taking away of a few Letters, they were called the Canons of the Apoſtles.
13. Among Proteſtants I might inſtance in the Archbiſhop of Armagh, here cited under the name of the Learned Ʋſher, who by ſtiling the fifty, Veteres Canones Eccleſiaſticos …b antiquitatem Apoſtolicos doctos, the old Eccleſiaſtical Canons for their Antiquity ſtiled Apoſtolical, and diſtinguiſhing them from the thirty five nova Capitula & novitii Canones, new Chapters, and novice Canons, clearly juſtifies all that I have ſaid: But I have no reaſon to goe any farther than Dr. Blondel himſelf, with whom I had then to doe, and I am ſure 'tis ordinary with him to cite theſe Canons under the title of Apoſtolick, and ſo to yeeld them their authority (yet I ſuppoſe is not thought by his Colleague Mr. Daillé to have made the Apoſtles themſelves the Authors of them) you may ſee it twice together in two lines, Apol. pro ſent. Hieron. pag. 96. Anno Dom. 363. Laodicano Canone 56. ſecundum Apoſtolicum 38. cautum fuit, Care was taken by the Council of Laodicaea, Can. 56. according to the 38th Apoſtolical Canon, calling it firſt an Apoſtolick Canon, and then affirming it the rule by which the Laodicaean Canon was made, and ſo clearly giving it a greater Antiquity than that Council: And immediately again, Apoſtolico 33d (longè antequam Ancyrae conveniret Synodus) in the 33d Apoſtolick Canon, long before the Synod met at Ancyra, which we know was in the year 314 and what was acknowledged to be long before that, muſt be of a pretty antiquity, although it were not written by the Apoſtles.
14. 'Tis true indeed ſome have thought fit to uſe greater exactneſs of ſpeech, as the Council of Paris, Anno 580. calling them *Gregor Tur…ner… H…ſt. …ra… lib. 5. …. 18.Canones quaſi Apoſtolicos, the Canons as it were Apoſtolick; and Dionyſius Exiguus, and Iſidorus Mercator, Canones qui dicuntur Apoſtolicorum, the Canons ſaid to be the Apoſtles. And Hincmarus Rhemenſis ſaith, they were A primis temporibus traditione viritim Apoſtolicorum virorum, mentibus commendati; From the firſt times by tradition of Apoſtliocal perſons commended to the minds of men, from man to man, and a devotis quibuſ que collecti, collected by all devout men. See Concil. Gallic. l. 2. p. 473, 474. And as for thoſe which pretend the whole 85. as well as the Conſtitutions to have been peun'd by Clemens, there is little doubt but they did, by ſo doing indeavour to impoſe falſe ware upon the Church, but ſtill this praejudgeth not my affirmation of the former fiftie, that they were alwayes accounted genuine. Not meaning thereby that they were written by the Apoſtles, or at their appoint-ment by Clemens (I ſay not a word, that ſo much as inſinuates either of thoſe to be my ſenſe, and I can juſtly affirm it was not) but genuine, i. e. truly, and without contradiction (as foreign and foreign are taken for Synonyma's in this matter) what they were by the Church generally taken to be, i. e. Canons of antient Biſhops (before the times of the General Councils) of Apoſtolical perſons, ſucceſſ…rs of the Apoſtles, in Churches, where they praeſided, called Apoſtolical Churches.
15. I adde no more of a matter ſo clear, yet before I proceed, I ſhall deſire the Author of this Animadverſion, to conſider how unjuſtly his Cenſure hath fallen (in the page immediately praecedent) on the Writings of the firſt times, immediately after the Apoſtles fell aſleep. His words are theſe, I muſt be forced to preface the nomination of them (the firſt Writers) with ſome conſiderations: The firſt is that known paſſage of Hegeſippus in Euſeb. Eccl. Hiſt. l. 3. 26. foreign. Setting out the corruption of the Church as to Doctrine, immediately after the Apostles fell aſleep, whereof whoſoever will impartially, and with diſengaged judgements ſearch into the writings that of thoſe dayes doe remain, will perhaps finde more cauſe than is commonly imagined with him to complain.
16. Here is a …ad jealouſie raiſed againſt all Antiquity, even of the pureſt times next the Apoſtles, and indefinitely without any limitation, on the writings of thoſe dayes that remain, foreign, i. e. all that are extant, in one common maſſe, and yt (beſides that one ſaying of Hegeſippus) no one word added to found it on (but onelyonly dubious, ſuspicious expreſſions [will perhaps find more cauſe than is commonly imagined] to warn all how they give any truſt to the pureſt Antiquitie. Whereas all that Hegeſippus there ſaith, is onelyonly this (which they that pay moſt reverence to Antiquity, take as much notice of as he could wiſh) viz. that the poyſon of the Heretical, or Apoſtatical, or Atheiſtical Gnoſticks, in expreſs words, the foreign the ſect of the Gnoſticks, falſly ſo called (the ſame that had been mentioned by St. Paul to Timothy) and foreign, the Atheiſtical ſeducers did openly ſet up againſt the truth of Chriſt, as ſoon as ever the Apoſtles were dead. Which being by Hegeſippa… terminated in the known despiſers and perſecuters of the true Church and Orthodox profeſſors, the grievous Wolves that worried the flock, and thoſe conſtantly reſiſted, and combated with, preacht againſt, and written againſt by the Fathers and antient Writers, and never obſerved by any man to have gain…d on them, or infuſed any the leaſt degree …f their poyſon into them, or their Writings, which are come to us (which to undertake to make good againſt any oppoſer is no high pitch of confidence, again to be cenſured in me) It is a ſad condition that the juſt and the unjuſt, the falſe Teachers and the Orthodox Profeſſors ſhould fall under the ſame envy, be involved under the ſame black cenſure, thoſe that watched over the flock as Shepheards, and oft laid down their lives for the Sheep, be again defamed and martyred by us their unkind poſterity, under pretence, forſooth, that they were in the Conſpiracie of the Wolves alſo. I leave this to his, and the Readers conſideration, and ſo proceed to the next charge.