l. 5; and by three eclipses of the sun, and one of the moon, mentioned by

_Thucydides_ and _Xenophon_. Now _Thucydides_, an unquestionable witness, tells us, that the news of the death of _Artaxerxes Longimanus_ was brought to _Ephesus_, and from thence by some _Athenians_ to _Athens_, in the 7th year of this _Peloponnesian_ war, when the winter half year was running; and therefore he died _An._ 4 _Olymp._ 88, in the end of _An. J.P._ 4289, suppose a month or two before midwinter; for so long the news would be in coming. Now _Artaxerxes Longimanus_ reigned 40 years, by the consent of _Diodorus_, _Eusebius_, _Jerome_, _Sulpitius_; or 41, according to _Ptol. in can. Clem. Alexand._ l. 1. _Strom. Chron. Alexandr_. _Abulpharagius_, _Nicephorus_, including therein the reign of his successors _Xerxes_ and _Sogdian_, as _Abulpharagius_ informs us. After _Artaxerxes_ reigned his son _Xerxes_ two months, and _Sogdian_ seven months; but their reign is not reckoned apart in summing up the years of the Kings, but is included in the 40 or 41 years reign of _Artaxerxes_: omit these nine months, and the precise reign of _Artaxerxes_ will be thirty nine years and three months. And therefore since his reign ended in the beginning of winter _An. J.P._ 4289, it began between midsummer and autumn, _An. J.P._ 4250.

The same thing I gather also thus. _Cambyses_ began his reign in spring _An. J.P._ 4185, and reigned eight years, including the five months of _Smerdes_; and then _Darius Hystaspis_ began in spring _An. J.P._ 4193, and reigned thirty six years, by the unanimous consent of all Chronologers. The reigns of these two Kings are determined by three eclipses of the moon observed at _Babylon_, and recorded by _Ptolemy_; so that it cannot be disputed. One was in the seventh year of _Cambyses_, _An. J.P._ 4191, _Jul._ 16, at 11 at night; another in the 20th year of _Darius_, _An. J.P._ 4212, _Nov._ 19, at 11h. 45' at night; a third in the 31st year of _Darius_, _An. J.P._ 4223, _Apr._ 25, at 11h. 30 at night. By these eclipses, and the Prophecies of _Haggai_ and _Zechary_ compared together, it is manifest that his years began after the 24th day of the 11th _Jewish_ month, and before the 25th day of _April_, and by consequence about _March_. _Xerxes_ therefore began in spring _An. J.P._ 4229: for _Darius_ died in the fifth year after the battle at _Marathon_, as _Herodotus_, _lib._ 7, and _Plutarch_ mention; and that battle was in _October_ _An. J.P._ 4224, ten years before the battle at _Salamis_. _Xerxes_ therefore began within less than a year after _October_ _An. J.P._ 4228, suppose in the spring following: for he spent his first five years, and something more, in preparations for his expedition against the _Greeks_; and this expedition was in the time of the _Olympic_ games, _An._ 1 _Olymp._ 75, _Calliade Athenis Archonte_, 28 years after the _Regifuge_, and Consulship of the first Consul _Junius Brutus_, _Anno Urbis conditæ_ 273, _Fabio & Furio Coss._ The passage of _Xerxes_'s army over the _Hellespont_ began in the end of the fourth year of the 74th _Olympiad_, that is, in _June_ _An. J.P._ 4234, and took up one month: and in autumn, three months after, on the full moon, the 16th day of the month _Munychion_, was the battle at _Salamis_, and a little after that an eclipse of the sun, which by the calculation fell on _Octob._ 2. His sixth year therefore began a little before _June_, suppose in spring _An. J.P._ 4234, and his first year consequently in spring _An. J.P._ 4229, as above. Now he reigned almost twenty one years, by the consent of all writers. Add the 7 months of _Artabanus_, and the sum will be 21 years and about four or five months, which end between midsummer and autumn _An. J.P._ 4250. At this time therefore began the reign of his successor _Artaxerxes_, as was to be proved.

The same thing is also confirmed by _Julius Africanus_, who informs us out of former writers, that the 20th year of this _Artaxerxes_ was the 115th year from the beginning of the reign of _Cyrus_ in _Persia,_ and fell in with _An._ 4 _Olymp._ 83. It began therefore with the _Olympic_ year, soon after the summer Solstice, _An. J.P._ 4269. Subduct nineteen years, and his first year will begin at the same time of the year _An. J.P._ 4250, as above.

His 7th year therefore began after midsummer _An. J.P._ 4256; and the Journey of _Ezra_ to _Jerusalem_ in the spring following fell on the beginning of _An. J.P._ 4257, as above.

Notes to Chap. X.

[1] Chap. ix. 24, 25, 26, 27.

[2] _Cut upon_. A phrase in _Hebrew_, taken from the practise of numbring by cutting notches.

[3] Heb. _to seal_, i.e. to finish or consummate: a metaphor taken from sealing what is finished. So the _Jews_ compute, _ad obsignatum Misna, ad obsignatum Talmud_, that is, _ad absolutum_.

[4] Heb. _the Prophet_, not the Prophecy.

[5] Heb. _the Messiah_, that is, in _Greek_, _the Christ_; in _English_, _the Anointed_. I use the _English_ word, that the relation of this clause to the former may appear.

[6] _Jerusalem_.

[7] See _Isa._ xxiii. 13.

[8] Iren. l. 5. Hær. c. 25.

[9] Apud Hieron. in h. l.

[10] 1 Kings xi. 7.

[11] The antient solar years of the eastern nations consisted of 12 months, and every month of 30 days: and hence came the division of a circle into 360 degrees. This year seems to be used by _Moses_ in his history of the Flood, and by _John_ in the _Apocalypse_, where a time, times and half a time, 42 months and 1260 days, are put equipollent. But in reckoning by many of these years together, an account is to be kept of the odd days which were added to the end of these years. For the _Egyptians_ added five days to the end of this year; and so did the _Chaldeans_ long before the times of _Daniel_, as appears by the _Æra_, of _Nabonassar_: and the _Persian_ Magi used the same year of 365 days, till the Empire of the _Arabians_. The antient _Greeks_ also used the same solar year of 12 equal months, or 360 days; but every other year added an intercalary month, consisting of 10 and 11 days alternately.

The year of the _Jews_, even from their coming out of _Egypt_, was Luni-solar. It was solar, for the harvest always followed the Passover, and the fruits of the land were always gathered before the feast of Tabernacles, _Levit._ xxiii. But the months were lunar, for the people were commanded by _Moses_ in the beginning of every month to blow with trumpets, and offer burnt offerings with their drink offerings, _Num._ x. 10. xxviii. 11, 14. and this solemnity was kept on the new moons, _Psal._ lxxxi. 3,4,5. 1 _Chron._ xxiii. 31. These months were called by _Moses_ the first, second, third, fourth month, _&c._ and the first month was also called _Abib_, the second _Zif_, the seventh _Ethanim_, the eighth _Bull_, _Exod._ xiii. 4. 1 _Kings_ vi. 37, 38. viii. 2. But in the _Babylonian_ captivity the _Jews_ used the names of the _Chaldean_ months, and by those names understood the months of their own year; so that the _Jewish_ months then lost their old names, and are now called by those of the _Chaldeans_.

The _Jews_ began their civil year from the autumnal Equinox, and their sacred year from the vernal: and the first day of the first month was on the visible new moon, which was nearest the Equinox.

Whether _Daniel_ used the _Chaldaick_ or _Jewish_ year, is not very material; the difference being but six hours in a year, and 4 months in 480 years. But I take his months to be _Jewish_: first, because _Daniel_ was a _Jew_, and the _Jews_ even by the names of the _Chaldean_ months understood the months of their own year: secondly, because this Prophecy is grounded on _Jeremiah_'s concerning the 70 years captivity, and therefore must be understood of the same sort of years with the seventy; and those are _Jewish_, since that Prophecy was given in _Judea_ before the captivity: and lastly, because _Daniel_ reckons by weeks of years, which is a way of reckoning peculiar to the _Jewish_ years. For as their days ran by sevens, and the last day of every seven was a sabbath; so their years ran by sevens, and the last year of every seven was a sabbatical year, and seven such weeks of years made a _Jubilee_.

* * * * *

CHAP. XI.

_Of the Times of the Birth and Passion of _Christ__.

The times of the Birth and Passion of _Christ_, with such like niceties, being not material to religion, were little regarded by the _Christians_ of the first age. They who began first to celebrate them, placed them in the cardinal periods of the year; as the annunciation of the Virgin _Mary_, on the 25th of _March_, which when _Julius Cæsar_ corrected the Calendar was the vernal Equinox; the feast of _John_ Baptist on the 24th of _June_, which was the summer Solstice; the feast of St. _Michael_ on _Sept._ 29, which was the autumnal Equinox; and the birth of _Christ_ on the winter Solstice, _Decemb._ 25, with the feasts of St. _Stephen_, St. _John_ and the _Innocents_, as near it as they could place them. And because the Solstice in time removed from the 25th of _December_ to the 24th, the 23d, the 22d, and so on backwards, hence some in the following centuries placed the birth of _Christ_ on _Decemb._ 23, and at length on _Decemb._ 20: and for the same reason they seem to have set the feast of St. _Thomas_ on _Decemb._ 21, and that of St. _Matthew_ on _Sept._ 21. So also at the entrance of the Sun into all the signs in the _Julian_ Calendar, they placed the days of other Saints; as the conversion of _Paul_ on _Jan._ 25, when the Sun entred [Aquarius]; St. _Matthias_ on _Feb._ 25, when he entred [Pisces]; St. _Mark_ on _Apr._ 25, when he entred [Taurus]; _Corpus Christi_ on _May_ 26, when he entred [Gemini]; St. _James_ on _July_ 25, when he entred [Cancer]; St. _Bartholomew_ on _Aug._ 24, when he entred [Virgo]; _Simon_ and _Jude_ on _Octob._ 28, when he entred [Scorpio]: and if there were any other remarkable days in the _Julian_ Calendar, they placed the Saints upon them, as St. _Barnabas_ on _June_ 11, where _Ovid_ seems to place the feast of _Vesta_ and _Fortuna_, and the goddess _Matuta_; and St. _Philip_ and _James_ on the first of _May_, a day dedicated both to the _Bona Dea_, or _Magna Mater_, and to the goddess _Flora_, and still celebrated with her rites. All which shews that these days were fixed in the first _Christian_ Calendars by Mathematicians at pleasure, without any ground in tradition; and that the _Christians_ afterwards took up with what they found in the Calendars.

Neither was there any certain tradition about the years of _Christ_. For the _Christians_ who first began to enquire into these things, as _Clemens Alexandrinus_, _Origen_, _Tertullian_, _Julius Africanus_, _Lactantius_, _Jerome_, St. _Austin_, _Sulpicius Severus_, _Prosper_, and as many as place the death of _Christ_ in the 15th or 16th year of _Tiberius_, make _Christ_ to have preached but one year, or at most but two. At length _Eusebius_ discovered four successive Passovers in the Gospel of _John_, and thereupon set on foot an opinion that he preacht three years and an half; and so died in the 19th year of _Tiberius_. Others afterwards, finding the opinion that he died in the Equinox _Mar._ 25, more consonant to the times of the _Jewish_ Passover, in the 17th and 20th years, have placed his death in one of those two years. Neither is there any greater certainty in the opinions about the time of his birth. The first _Christians_ placed his baptism near the beginning of the 15th year of _Tiberius_; and thence reckoning thirty years backwards, placed his birth in the 43d _Julian_ year, the 42d of _Augustus_ and 28th of the _Actiac_ victory. This was the opinion which obtained in the first ages, till _Dionysius Exiguus_, placing the baptism of _Christ_ in the 16th year of _Tiberius_, and misinterpreting the text of _Luke_, iii. 23. as if _Jesus_ was only beginning to be 30 years old when he was baptized, invented the vulgar account, in which his birth is placed two years later than before. As therefore relating to these things there is no tradition worth considering; let us lay aside all and examine what prejudices can be gathered from records of good account.

The fifteenth year of _Tiberius_ began _Aug._ 28, _An. J.P._ 4727. So soon as the winter was over, and the weather became warm enough, we may reckon that _John_ began to baptize; and that before next winter his fame went abroad, and all the people came to his baptism, and _Jesus_ among the rest. Whence the first Passover after his baptism mentioned _John_ ii. 13. was in the 16th year of _Tiberius_. After this feast _Jesus_ came into the land of _Judea_, and staid there baptizing, whilst _John_ was baptizing in _Ænon_, _John_ iii. 22, 23. But when he heard that _John_ was cast into prison, he departed into _Galilee_, _Mat._ iii. 12. being afraid, because the Pharisees had heard that he baptized more disciples than _John_, _John_ iv. 1. and in his journey he passed thro' _Samaria_ four months before the harvest, _John_ iv. 35. that is, about the time of the winter Solstice. For their harvest was between _Easter_ and _Whitsunday_, and began about a month after the vernal Equinox. _Say not ye_, saith he, _there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest_; meaning, that the people in the fields were ready for the Gospel, as his next words shew[1]. _John_ therefore was imprisoned about _November_, in the 17th year of _Tiberius_; and _Christ_ thereupon went from _Judea_ to _Cana_ of _Galilee_ in _December_, and was received there of the _Galileans_, who had seen all he did at _Jerusalem_ at the Passover: and when a Nobleman of _Capernaum_ heard he was returned into _Galilee_, and went to him and desired him to come and cure his son, he went not thither yet, but only said, _Go thy way, thy son liveth; and the Nobleman returned and found it so, and believed, he and his house_, John iv. This is the beginning of his miracles in _Galilee_; and thus far _John_ is full and distinct in relating the actions of his first year, omitted by the other Evangelists. The rest of his history is from this time related more fully by the other Evangelists than by _John_; for what they relate he omits.

From this time therefore _Jesus_ taught in the Synagogues of _Galilee_ on the sabbath-days, being glorified of all: and coming to his own city _Nazareth_, and preaching in their Synagogue, they were offended, and thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which the city was built to cast him headlong; but he passing thro' the midst of them, went his way, and came and dwelt at _Capernaum_, _Luke_ iv. And by this time we may reckon the second Passover was either past or at hand.

All this time _Matthew_ passeth over in few words, and here begins to relate the preaching and miracles of _Christ_. _When _Jesus__, saith he, _had heard that _John_ was cast into prison, he departed into _Galilee_; and leaving _Nazareth_, he came and dwelt at _Capernaum_, and from that time began to preach and say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand_, Matth. iv. 12. Afterwards he called his disciples _Peter_, _Andrew_, _James_ and _John_; and then _went about all_ Galilee, _teaching in the Synagogues,--and healing all manner of sickness:--and his fame went thro'out all _Syria_; and they brought unto him all sick people,--and there followed him great multitudes of people from _Galilee_, and from _Decapolis_, and from _Jerusalem_, and from _Judea_, and from beyond _Jordan__, Matth, iv. 18, 25. All this was done before the sermon in the mount: and therefore we may certainly reckon that the second Passover was past before the preaching of that sermon. The multitudes that followed him from _Jerusalem_ and _Judea_, shew that he had lately been there at the feast. The sermon in the mount was made when great multitudes came to him from all places, and followed him in the open fields; which is an argument of the summer-season: and in this sermon he pointed at the lilies of the field then in the flower before the eyes of his auditors. _Consider_, saith he, _the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet _Solomon_ in all his glory was not arayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is and to morrow is cast into the oven_, &c. _Matth._ vi. 28. So therefore the grass of the field was now in the flower, and by consequence the month of _March_ with the Passover was past.

Let us see therefore how the rest of the feasts follow in order in _Matthew_'s Gospel: for he was an eye-witness of what he relates, and so tells all things in due order of time, which _Mark_ and _Luke_ do not.

Some time after the sermon in the mount, when the time came that he should be received, that is, when the time of a feast came that he should be received by the _Jews_, he set his face to go to _Jerusalem_: and as he went with his disciples in the way, when the _Samaritans_ in his passage thro' _Samaria_ had denied him lodgings, and a certain Scribe said unto him, _Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest_, Jesus _said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head_, Matth. viii. 19. Luke ix. 51, 57. The Scribe told _Christ_ he would bear him company in his journey, and _Christ_ replied that he wanted a lodging. Now this feast I take to be the feast of Tabernacles, because soon after I find _Christ_ and his Apostles on the sea of _Tiberias_ in a storm so great, that the ship was covered with water and in danger of sinking, till _Christ rebuked the winds and the sea_, Matth. viii. 23. For this storm shews that winter was now come on.

After this _Christ_ did many miracles, and _went about all the cities and villages of _Galilee_, teaching in their Synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness, and every disease among the people_, Matth. ix. he then sent forth the twelve to do the like, _Matth._ x. and at length when he had received a message from _John_, and answered it, he said to the multitudes, _From the days of _John_ the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence_; and upbraided the cities, _Chorazin_, _Bethsaida_, and _Capernaum_, wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not, _Matth._ xi. Which several passages shew, that from the imprisonment of _John_ till now there had been a considerable length of time: the winter was now past, and the next Passover was at hand; for immediately after this, _Matthew_, in chap. xii. subjoins, that _Jesus went on the sabbath-day thro' the corn, and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat,--rubbing them_, saith _Luke_, _in their hands_: the corn therefore was not only in the ear, but ripe; and consequently the Passover, in which the first-fruits were always offered before the harvest, was now come or past. _Luke_ calls this sabbath [Greek: deuteroprôton], the second prime sabbath, that is, the second of the two great feasts of the Passover. As we call _Easter_ day high _Easter_, and its _octave_ low _Easter_ or _Lowsunday_: so _Luke_ calls the feast on the seventh day of the unlevened bread, the second of the two prime sabbaths.

In one of the sabbaths following he went into a Synagogue, and healed a man with a withered hand, _Matth._ xii. 9. _Luke_ vi. 6. And when the Pharisees took counsel to destroy him, _he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him; and he healed them all, and charged them that they should not make him known_, Matth. xii. 14. Afterwards being in a ship, and the multitude standing on the shore, he spake to them three parables together, taken from the seeds-men sowing the fields, _Matth._ xiii. by which we may know that it was now seed-time, and by consequence that the feast of Tabernacles was past. After this he went _into his own country, and taught them in their Synagogue_, but _did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief_. Then the twelve having been abroad a year, returned, and told _Jesus_ all that they had done: and at the same time _Herod_ beheaded _John_ in prison, and his disciples came and told _Jesus_; and when _Jesus_ heard it, he took the twelve and departed thence privately by ship into a desert place belonging to _Bethsaida_: and the people when they knew it, followed him on foot out of the cities, the winter being now past; and he healed their sick, and in the desert fed them to the number of five thousand men, besides women and children, with only five loaves and two fishes, _Matth._ xiv. _Luke_ ix. at the doing of which miracle the Passover of the _Jews_ was nigh, _John_ vi. 4. But _Jesus_ went not up to this feast; but _after these things walked in _Galilee_, because the _Jews__ at the Passover before had taken counsel to destroy him, and still _sought to kill him_, John vii. i. Henceforward therefore he is found first in the coast of _Tyre_ and _Sidon_, then by the sea of _Galilee_, afterwards in the coast of _Cæsarea Philippi_; and lastly at _Capernaum_, _Matth._ xv. 21, 29. xvi. 13. xvii. 34.

Afterwards when the feast of Tabernacles was at hand, his brethren upbraided him for walking secretly, and urged him to go up to the feast. But he went not till they were gone, and then went up privately, _John_ vii. 2. and when the _Jews_ sought to stone him, he escaped, _John_ viii. 59. After this he was at the feast of the Dedication in winter, _John_ x. 22. and when they sought again to take him, he fled beyond _Jordan_, _John_ x. 39, 40. _Matth_. xix. 1. where he stayed till the death of _Lazarus_, and then came to _Bethany_ near _Jerusalem_, and raised him, _John_ xi. 7, 18. whereupon the _Jews_ took counsel from that time to kill him: and _therefore_ he _walked no more openly among the _Jews_, but went thence into a country near to the wilderness, into a city called _Ephraim_; and there continued with his disciples_ till the last Passover, in which the _Jews_ put him to death, _John_ xi. 53, 54.

Thus have we, in the Gospels of _Matthew_ and _John_ compared together, the history of _Christ_'s actions in continual order during five Passovers. _John_ is more distinct in the beginning and end; _Matthew_ in the middle: what either omits, the other supplies. The first Passover was between the baptism of _Christ_ and the imprisonment of _John, John_ ii. 13. the second within four months after the imprisonment of _John_, and _Christ_'s beginning to preach in _Galilee_, _John_ iv. 35. and therefore it was either that feast to which _Jesus_ went up, when the Scribe desired to follow him, _Matth._ viii. 19. _Luke_ ix. 51, 57. or the feast before it. The third was the next feast after it, when the corn was eared and ripe, _Matth_, xii. 1. _Luke_ vi. 1. The fourth was that which was nigh at hand when _Christ_ wrought the miracle of the five loaves, _Matth_. xiv. 15. _John_ vi. 4, 5. and the fifth was that in which _Christ_ suffered, _Matth._ xx. 17. _John_ xii. 1.

Between the first and second Passover _John_ and _Christ_ baptized together, till the imprisonment of _John_, which was four months before the second. Then _Christ_ began to preach, and call his disciples; and after he had instructed them a year, lent them to preach in the cities of the _Jews_: at the same time _John_ hearing of the fame of _Christ_, sent to him to know who he was. At the third, the chief Priests began to consult about the death of _Christ_. A little before the fourth, the twelve after they had preached a year in all the cities, returned to _Christ_; and at the same time _Herod_ beheaded _John_ in prison, after he had been in prison two years and a quarter: and thereupon _Christ_ fled into the desart for fear of _Herod_. The fourth _Christ_ went not up to _Jerusalem_ for fear of the _Jews_, who at the Passover before had consulted his death, and because his time was not yet come. Thenceforward therefore till the feast of Tabernacles he walked in _Galilee_, and that secretly for fear of _Herod_: and after the feast of Tabernacles he returned no more into _Galilee_, but sometimes was at _Jerusalem_, and sometimes retired beyond _Jordan_, or to the city _Ephraim_ by the wilderness, till the Passover in which he was betrayed, apprehended, and crucified.

_John_ therefore baptized two summers, and _Christ_ preached three. The first summer _John_ preached to make himself known, in order to give testimony to _Christ_. Then, after _Christ_ came to his baptism and was made known to him, he baptized another summer, to make _Christ_ known by his testimony; and _Christ_ also baptized the same summer, to make himself the more known: and by reason of _John_'s testimony there came more to _Christ_'s baptism than to _John_'s. The winter following _John_ was imprisoned; and now his course being at an end, _Christ_ entered upon his proper office of preaching in the cities. In the beginning of his preaching he completed the number of the twelve Apostles, and instructed them all the first year in order to send them abroad. Before the end of this year, his fame by his preaching and miracles was so far spread abroad, that the _Jews_ at the Passover following consulted how to kill him. In the second year of his preaching, it being no longer safe for him to converse openly in _Judea_, he sent the twelve to preach in all their cities: and in the end of the year they returned to him, and told him all they had done. All the last year the twelve continued with him to be instructed more perfectly, in order to their preaching to all nations after his death. And upon the news of _John_'s death, being afraid of _Herod_ as well as of the _Jews_, he walked this year more secretly than before; frequenting desarts, and spending the last half of the year in _Judea_, without the dominions of _Herod_.

Thus have we in the Gospels of _Matthew_ and _John_ all things told in due order, from the beginning of _John_'s preaching to the death of _Christ_, and the years distinguished from one another by such essential characters that they cannot be mistaken. The second Passover is distinguished from the first, by the interposition of _John_'s imprisonment. The third is distinguished from the second, by a double character: first, by the interposition of the feast to which _Christ_ went up, _Mat._ viii. 19. _Luke_ ix. 57. and secondly, by the distance of time from the beginning of _Christ_'s preaching: for the second was in the beginning of his preaching, and the third so long after, that before it came _Christ_ said, _from the days of _John_ the Baptist until now_, &c. and upbraided the cities of _Galilee_ for their not repenting at his preaching, and mighty works done in all that time. The fourth is distinguished from the third, by the mission of the twelve from _Christ_ to preach in the cities of _Judea_ in all the interval. The fifth is distinguished from all the former by the twelve's being returned from preaching, and continuing with _Christ_ during all the interval, between the fourth and fifth, and by the passion and other infallible characters.

Now since the first summer of _John_'s baptizing fell in the fifteenth year of the Emperor _Tiberius_, and by consequence the first of these five Passovers in his sixteenth year; the last of them, in which _Jesus_ suffered, will fall on the twentieth year of the same Emperor; and by consequence in the Consulship of _Fabius_ and _Vitellius_, in the 79th _Julian_ year, and year of _Christ_ 34, which was the sabbatical year of the _Jews_. And that it did so, I further confirm by these arguments.

I take it for granted that the passion was on friday the 14th day of the month _Nisan_, the great feast of the Passover on saturday the 15th day of _Nisan_, and the resurrection on the day following. Now the 14th day of _Nisan_ always fell on the full moon next after the vernal Equinox; and the month began at the new moon before, not at the true conjunction, but at the first appearance of the new moon: for the _Jews_ referred all the time of the silent moon, as they phrased it, that is, of the moon's disappearing, to the old moon; and because the first appearance might usually be about 18 hours after the true conjunction, they therefore began their month from the sixth hour at evening, that is, at sun set, next after the eighteenth hour from the conjunction. And this rule they called [Hebrew: YH] _Jah_, designing by the letters [Hebrew: Y] and [Hebrew: H] the number 18.

I know that _Epiphanius_ tells us, if some interpret his words rightly, that the _Jews_ used a vicious cycle, and thereby anticipated the legal new moons by two days. But this surely he spake not as a witness, for he neither understood _Astronomy_ nor _Rabbinical_ learning, but as arguing from his erroneous hypothesis about the time of the passion. For the _Jews_ did not anticipate, but postpone their months: they thought it lawful to begin their months a day later than the first appearance of the new moon, because the new moon continued for more days than one; but not a day sooner, lest they should celebrate the new moon before there was any. And the _Jews_ still keep a tradition in their books, that the _Sanhedrim_ used diligently to define the new moons by sight: sending witnesses into mountainous places, and examining them about the moon's appearing, and translating the new moon from the day they had agreed on to the day before, as often as witnesses came from distant regions, who had seen it a day sooner than it was seen at _Jerusalem_. Accordingly _Josephus_, one of the _Jewish_ Priests who ministred in the temple, tells us [2] that the Passover was kept _on the 14th day of_ Nisan, [Greek: kata selênên] _according to the moon, when the sun was in _Aries__. This is confirmed also by two instances, recorded by him, which totally overthrow the hypothesis of the _Jews_ using a vicious cycle. For that year in which _Jerusalem_ was taken and destroyed, he saith, the Passover was on the 14th day of the month _Xanticus_, which according to _Josephus_ is our _April_; and that five years before, it fell on the 8th day of the same month. Which two instances agree with the course of the moon.

Computing therefore the new moons of the first month according to the course of the moon and the rule _Jah_, and thence counting 14 days, I find that the 14th day of this month in the year of _Christ_ 31, fell on tuesday _March_ 27; in the year 32, on sunday _Apr._ 13; in the year 33, on friday _Apr._ 3; in the year 34, on wednesday _March_ 24, or rather, for avoiding the Equinox which fell on the same day, and for having a fitter time for harvest, on thursday _Apr._ 22. also in the year 35, on tuesday _Apr._ 12. and in the year 36, on saturday _March_ 31.

But because the 15th and 21st days of _Nisan_, and a day or two of _Pentecost_, and the 10th, 15th, and 22d of _Tisri_, were always sabbatical days or days of rest, and it was inconvenient on two sabbaths together to be prohibited burying their dead and making ready fresh meat, for in that hot region their meat would be apt in two days to corrupt: to avoid these and such like inconveniences, the _Jews_ postponed their months a day, as often as the first day of the month _Tisri_, or, which is all one, the third of the month _Nisan_, was sunday, wednesday or friday: and this rule they called [Hebrew: 'DW] _Adu_, by the letters [Hebrew: W , D , '] signifying the numbers 1, 4, 6; that is, the 1st, 4th, and 6th days of the week; which days we call sunday, wednesday and friday. Postponing therefore by this rule the months found above; the 14th day of the month _Nisan_ will fall in the year of _Christ_ 31, on wednesday _March_ 28; in the year 32, on monday _Apr._ 14; in the year 33, on friday _Apr._ 3; in the year 34, on friday _Apr._ 23; in the year 35, on wednesday _Apr._ 13, and in the year 36, on saturday _March_ 31.

By this computation therefore the year 32 is absolutely excluded, because the Passion cannot fall on friday without making it five days after the full moon, or two days before it; whereas it ought to be upon the day of the full moon, or the next day. For the same reason the years 31 and 35 are excluded, because in them the Passion cannot fall on friday, without making it three days after the full moon, or four days before it: errors so enormous, that they would be very conspicuous in the heavens to every vulgar eye. The year 36 is contended for by few or none, and both this and the year 35 may be thus excluded.

_Tiberius_ in the beginning of his reign made _Valerius Gratus_ President of _Judea_; and after 11 years, substituted _Pontius Pilate_, who governed 10 years. Then _Vitellius_, newly made President of _Syria_, deprived him of his honour, substituting _Marcellus_, and at length sent him to _Rome_: but, by reason of delays, _Tiberius_ died before _Pilate_ got thither. In the mean time _Vitellius_, after he had deposed _Pilate_, came to _Jerusalem_ in the time of the Passover, to visit that Province as well as others in the beginning of his office; and in the place of _Caiaphas_, then High Priest, created _Jonathas_ the son of _Ananus_, or _Annas_ as he is called in scripture. Afterwards, when _Vitellius_ was returned to _Antioch_, he received letters from _Tiberius_, to make peace with _Artabanus_ king of the _Parthians_. At the same time the _Alans_, by the sollicitation of _Tiberius_, invaded the kingdom of _Artabanus_; and his subjects also, by the procurement of _Vitellius_, soon after rebelled: for _Tiberius_ thought that _Artabanus_, thus pressed with difficulties, would more readily accept the conditions of peace. _Artabanus_ therefore straightway gathering a greater army, opprest the rebels; and then meeting _Vitellius_ at _Euphrates_, made a league with the _Romans_. After this _Tiberius_ commanded _Vitellius_ to make war upon _Aretas_ King of _Arabia_. He therefore leading his army against _Aretas_, went together with _Herod_ to _Jerusalem_, to sacrifice at the publick feast which was then to be celebrated. Where being received honourably, he stayed three days, and in the mean while translated the high Priesthood from _Jonathas_ to his brother _Theophilus_: and the fourth day, receiving letters of the death of _Tiberius_, made the people swear allegiance to _Caius_ the new Emperor; and recalling his army, sent them into quarters. All this is related by _Josephus_ _Antiq._ _lib._ 18. _c._ 6, 7. Now _Tiberius_ reigned 22 years and 7 months, and died _March_ 16, in the beginning of the year of _Christ_ 37; and the feast of the Passover fell on _April_ 20 following, that is, 35 days after the death of _Tiberius_: so that there were about 36 or 38 days, for the news of his death to come from _Rome_ to _Vitellius_ at _Jerusalem_; which being a convenient time for that message, confirms that the feast which _Vitellius_ and _Herod_ now went up to was the Passover. For had it been the Pentecost, as is usually supposed, _Vitellius_ would have continued three months ignorant of the Emperor's death: which is not to be supposed. However, the things done between this feast and the Passover which _Vitellius_ was at before, namely, the stirring up a sedition in _Parthia_, the quieting that sedition, the making a league after that with the _Parthians_, the sending news of that league to _Rome_, the receiving new orders from thence to go against the _Arabians_, and the putting those orders in execution; required much more time than the fifty days between the Passover and Pentecost of the same year: and therefore the Passover which _Vitellius_ first went up to, was in the year before. Therefore _Pilate_ was deposed before the Passover A.C. 36, and by consequence the passion of _Christ_ was before that Passover: for he suffered not under _Vitellius_, nor under _Vitellius_ and _Pilate_ together, but under _Pilate_ alone.

Now it is observable that the high Priesthood was at this time become an annual office, and the Passover was the time of making a new high Priest. For _Gratus_ the predecessor of _Pilate_, saith _Josephus_, made _Ismael_ high Priest after _Ananus_; and a while after, suppose a year, deposed him, and substituted _Eleazar_, and a year after _Simon_, and after another year _Caiaphas_; and then gave way to _Pilate_. So _Vitellius_ at one Passover made _Jonathas_ successor to _Caiaphas_, and at the next _Theophilus_ to _Jonathas_. Hence _Luke_ tells us, that in the 15th year of _Tiberius_, _Annas_ and _Caiaphas_ were high Priests, that is, _Annas_ till the Passover, and _Caiaphas_ afterwards. Accordingly _John_ speaks of the high Priesthood as an annual office: for he tells us again and again, in the last year of _Christ_'s preaching, that _Caiaphas_ was high Priest for that year, _John_ xi. 49, 51. xviii. 13. And the next year _Luke_ tells you, that _Annas_ was high Priest, _Acts_ iv. 6. _Theophilus_ was therefore made high Priest in the first year of _Caius_, _Jonathas_ in the 22d year of _Tiberius_, and _Caiaphas_ in the 21st year of the same Emperor: and therefore, allotting a year to each, the Passion, when _Annas_ succeeded _Caiaphas_, could not be later than the 20th year of _Tiberius_, A.C. 34.

Thus there remain only the years 33 and 34 to be considered; and the year 33 I exclude by this argument. In the Passover two years before the Passion, when _Christ_ went thro' the corn, and his disciples pluckt the ears, and rubbed them with their hands to eat; this ripeness of the corn shews that the Passover then fell late: and so did the Passover A.C. 32, _April 14_, but the Passover A.C. 31, _March 28th_, fell very early. It was not therefore two years after the year 31, but two years after 32 that _Christ_ suffered.

Thus all the characters of the Passion agree to the year 34; and that is the only year to which they all agree.

Notes to Chap. XI.

[1] I observe, that _Christ_ and his forerunner _John_ in their parabolical discourses were wont to allude to things present. The old Prophets, when they would describe things emphatically, did not only draw parables from things which offered themselves, as from the rent of a garment, 1 _Sam._ xv. from the sabbatic year, _Isa._ xxxvii. from the vessels of a Potter, _Jer._ xviii, &c. but also when such fit objects were wanting, they supplied them by their own actions, as by rending a garment, 1 _Kings_ xi. by shooting, 2 _Kings_ xiii. by making bare their body, _Isa._ xx. by imposing significant names to their sons, _Isa._ viii. _Hos._ i. by hiding a girdle in the bank of _Euphrates_, _Jer._ xiii. by breaking a potter's vessel, _Jer._ xix. by putting on fetters and yokes, _Jer._ xxvii. by binding a book to a stone, and casting them both into _Euphrates_, _Jer._ li. by besieging a painted city, _Ezek._ iv. by dividing hair into three parts, _Ezek._ v. by making a chain, _Ezek._ vii. by carrying out houshold stuff like a captive and trembling, _Ezek._ xii, &c. By such kind of types the Prophets loved to speak. And _Christ_ being endued with a nobler prophetic spirit than the rest, excelled also in this kind of speaking, yet so as not to speak by his own actions, that was less grave and decent, but to turn into parables such things as offered themselves. On occasion of the harvest approaching, he admonishes his disciples once and again of the spiritual harvest, _John_ iv. 35. _Matth._ ix. 37. Seeing the lilies of the field, he admonishes his disciples about gay clothing, _Matth._ vi. 28. In allusion to the present season of fruits, he admonishes his disciples about knowing men by their fruits, _Matth._ vii. 16. In the time of the Passover, when trees put forth leaves, he bids his disciples _learn a parable from the fig tree: when its branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh_, &c. _Matth._ xxiv. 32. _Luke_ xxi. 29. The same day, alluding both to the season of the year and to his passion, which was to be two days after, he formed a parable of the time of fruits approaching, and the murdering of the heir, _Matth._ xxi. 33. Alluding at the same time, both to the money-changers whom he had newly driven out of the Temple, and to his passion at hand; he made a parable of a Noble-man going into a far country to receive a kingdom and return, and delivering his goods to his servants, and at his return condemning the slothful servant because he put not his money to the exchangers, _Matth._ xxv. 14. _Luke_ xix. 12. Being near the Temple where sheep were kept in folds to be sold for the sacrifices, he spake many things parabolically of sheep, of the shepherd, and of the door of the sheepfold; and discovers that he alluded to the sheepfolds which were to be hired in the market-place, by speaking of such folds as a thief could not enter by the door, nor the shepherd himself open, but a porter opened to the shepherd, _John_ x. 1, 3. Being in the mount of _Olives_, _Matth._ xxxvi. 30. _John_ xiv. 31. a place so fertile that it could not want vines, he spake many things mystically of the Husbandman, and of the vine and its branches, _John_ xv. Meeting a blind man, he admonished of spiritual blindness, _John_ ix. 39. At the sight of little children, he described once and again the innocence of the elect, _Matth._ xviii. 2. xix. 13. Knowing that _Lazarus_ was dead and should be raised again, he discoursed of the resurrection and life eternal, _John_ xi. 25, 26. Hearing of the slaughter of some whom _Pilate_ had slain, he admonished of eternal death, _Luke_ xiii. 1. To his fishermen he spake of fishers of men, _Matth._ iv. 10. and composed another parable about fishes. _Matth._ xiii. 47. Being by the Temple, he spake of the Temple of his body, _John_ ii. 19. At supper he spake a parable about the mystical supper to come in the kingdom of heaven, _Luke_ xiv. On occasion of temporal food, he admonished his disciples of spiritual food, and of eating his flesh and drinking his blood mystically, _John_ vi. 27, 53. When his disciples wanted bread, he bad them beware of the leven of the Pharisees, _Matth._ xvi. 6. Being desired to eat, he answered that he had other meat, _John_ iv. 31. In the great day of the feast of Tabernacles, when the _Jews_, as their custom was, brought a great quantity of waters from the river _Shiloah_ into the Temple, _Christ_ stood and cried, saying, _If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth in me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water_, John vii. 37. The next day, in allusion to the servants who by reason of the sabbatical year were newly set free, he said, _If ye continue in my word, the truth shall make you free_. Which the _Jews_ understanding literally with respect to the present manumission of servants, answered, _We be _Abraham_'s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayeth thou, ye shall be made free?_ John viii. They assert their freedom by a double argument: first, because they were the seed of _Abraham_, and therefore newly made free, had they been ever in bondage; and then, because they never were in bondage. In the last Passover, when _Herod_ led his army thro' _Judea_ against _Aretas_ King of _Arabia_, because _Aretas_ was aggressor and the stronger in military forces, as appeared by the event; _Christ_ alluding to that state of things, composed the parable of a weaker King leading his army against a stronger who made war upon him, _Luke_ xiv. 31. And I doubt not but divers other parables were formed upon other occasions, the history of which we have not.

[2] Joseph. Antiq. lib. 3. c. 10.

* * * * *

CHAP. XII.

_Of the Prophecy of the Scripture of Truth._

The kingdoms represented by the second and third Beasts, or the Bear and Leopard, are again described by _Daniel_ in his last Prophecy written in the third year of _Cyrus_ over _Babylon_, the year in which he conquered _Persia_. For this Prophecy is a commentary upon the Vision of the Ram and He-Goat.

_Behold_, saith [1] he, _there shall stand up yet three kings in _Persia__, [_Cyrus_, _Cambyses_, and _Darius Hystaspes_] _and the fourth_ [_Xerxes_] _shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength thro' his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of _Grecia_. And a mighty king_ [_Alexander_ the great] _shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided towards the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity_ [but after their death,] _nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be pluckt up, even for others besides those_. _Alexander_ the great having conquered all the _Persian_ Empire, and some part of _India_, died at _Babylon_ a month before the summer Solstice, in the year of _Nabonassar_ 425: and his captains gave the monarchy to his bastard brother _Philip Aridæus_, a man disturbed in his understanding; and made _Perdiccas_ administrator of the kingdom. _Perdiccas_ with their consent made _Meleager_ commander of the army, _Seleucus_ master of the horse, _Craterus_ treasurer of the kingdom, _Antipater_ governor of _Macedon_ and _Greece_, _Ptolemy_ governor of _Egypt_; _Antigonus_ governor of _Pamphylia_, _Lycia_, _Lycaonia_, and _Phrygia major_; _Lysimachus_ governor of _Thrace_, and other captains governors of other Provinces; as many as had been so before in the days of _Alexander_ the great. The _Babylonians_ began now to count by a new _Æra_, which they called the _Æra_ of _Philip_, using the years of _Nabonassar_, and reckoning the 425th year of _Nabonassar_ to be the first year of _Philip_. _Roxana_ the wife of _Alexander_ being left big with child, and about three or four months after brought to bed of a son, they called him _Alexander_, saluted him King, and joined him with _Philip_, whom they had before placed in the throne. _Philip_ reigned three years under the administratorship of _Perdiccas_, two years more under the administratorship of _Antipater_, and above a year more under that of _Polyperchon_; in all six years and four months; and then was slain with his Queen _Eurydice_ in _September_ by the command of _Olympias_ the mother of _Alexander_ the great. The _Greeks_ being disgusted at the cruelties of _Olympias_, revolted to _Cassander_ the son and successor of _Antipater_. _Cassander_ affecting the dominion of _Greece_, slew _Olympias_; and soon after shut up the young king _Alexander_, with his mother _Roxana_, in the castle of _Amphipolis_, under the charge of _Glaucias_, _An. Nabonass._ 432. The next year _Ptolemy_, _Cassander_ and _Lysimachus_, by means of _Seleucus_, form'd a league against _Antigonus_; and after certain wars made peace with him, _An. Nabonass._ 438, upon these conditions: that _Cassander_ should command the forces of _Europe_ till _Alexander_ the son of _Roxana_ came to age; and that _Lysimachus_ should govern _Thrace_, _Ptolemy_ _Egypt_ and _Lybia_, and _Antigonus_ all _Asia_. _Seleucus_ had possest himself of _Mesopotamia_, _Babylonia_, _Sustana_ and _Media_, the year before. About three years after _Alexander_'s death he was made governor of _Babylon_ by _Antipater_; then was expelled by _Antigonus_; but now he recovered and enlarged his government over a great part of the _East_: which gave occasion to a new _Æra_, called _Æra Seleucidarum_. Not long after the peace made with _Antigonus_, _Diodorus_ saith the same _Olympic_ year; _Cassander_, seeing that _Alexander_ the son of _Roxana_ grew up, and that it was discoursed thro'out _Macedonia_ that it was fit he should be set at liberty, and take upon him the government of his father's kingdom, commanded _Glaucias_ the governor of the castle to kill _Roxana_ and the young king _Alexander_ her son, and conceal their deaths. Then _Polyperchon_ set up _Hercules_, the son of _Alexander_ the great by _Barsinè_, to be king; and soon after, at the sollicitation of _Cassander_, caused him to be slain. Soon after that, upon a great victory at sea got by _Demetrius_ the son of _Antigonus_ over _Ptolemy_, _Antigonus_ took upon himself the title of king, and gave the same title to his son. This was _An. Nabonass._ 441. After his example, _Seleucus_, _Cassander_, _Lysimachus_ and _Ptolemy_, took upon themselves the title and dignity of kings, having abstained from this honour while there remained any of _Alexander_'s race to inherit the crown. Thus the monarchy of the _Greeks_ for want of an heir was broken into several kingdoms; four of which, seated _to the four winds of heaven_, were very eminent. For _Ptolemy_ reigned over _Egypt_, _Lybia_ and _Ethiopia_; _Antigonus_ over _Syria_ and the lesser _Asia_; _Lysimachus_ over _Thrace_; and _Cassander_ over _Macedon_, _Greece_ and _Epirus_, as above.

_Seleucus_ at this time reigned over the nations which were beyond _Euphrates_, and belonged to the bodies of the two first Beasts; but after six years he conquered _Antigonus_, and thereby became possest of one of the four kingdoms. For _Cassander_ being afraid of the power of _Antigonus_, combined with _Lysimachus_, _Ptolemy_ and _Seleucus_, against him: and while _Lysimachus_ invaded the parts of _Asia_ next the _Hellespont_, _Ptolemy_ subdued _Phoenicia_ and _Coelosyria_, with the sea-coasts of _Asia_.

_Seleucus_ came down with a powerful army into _Cappadocia_, and joining the confederate forces, fought _Antigonus_ in _Phrygia_ and flew him, and seized his kingdom, _An. Nabonass._ 447. After which _Seleucus_ built _Antioch_, _Seleucia_, _Laodicea_, _Apamea_, _Berrhæa_, _Edessa_, and other cities in _Syria_ and _Asia_; and in them granted the _Jews_ equal privileges with the _Greeks_.

_Demetrius_ the son of _Antigonus_ retained but a small part of his father's dominions, and at length lost _Cyprus_ to _Ptolemy_; but afterwards killing _Alexander_, the son and successor of _Cassander_ king of _Macedon_, he seized his kingdom, _An. Nabonass._ 454. Sometime after, preparing a very great army to recover his father's dominions in _Asia_; _Seleucus_, _Ptolemy_, _Lysimachus_ and _Pyrrhus_ king of _Epirus_, combined against him; and _Pyrrhus_ invading _Macedon_, corrupted the army of _Demetrius_, put him to flight, seized his kingdom, and shared it with _Lysimachus_. After seven months, _Lysimachus_ beating _Pyrrhus_, took _Macedon_ from him, and held it five years and a half, uniting the kingdoms of _Macedon_ and _Thrace_. _Lysimachus_ in his wars with _Antigonus_ and _Demetrius_, had taken from them _Caria_, _Lydia_, and _Phrygia_; and had a treasury in _Pergamus_, a castle on the top of a conical hill in _Phrygia_, by the river _Caicus_, the custody of which he had committed to one _Philetærus_, who was at first faithful to him, but in the last year of his reign revolted. For _Lysimachus_, having at the instigation of his wife _Arsinoe_, slain first his own son _Agathocles_, and then several that lamented him; the wife of _Agathocles_ fled with her children and brothers, and some others of their friends, and sollicited _Seleucus_ to make war upon _Lysimachus_; whereupon _Philetærus_ also, who grieved at the death of _Agathocles_, and was accused thereof by _Arsinoe_, took up arms, and sided with _Seleucus_. On this occasion _Seleucus_ and _Lysimachus_ met and fought in _Phrygia_; and _Lysimachus_ being slain in the battel, lost his kingdom to _Seleucus_, _An. Nabonass._ 465. Thus the Empire of the _Greeks_, which at first brake into four kingdoms, became now reduced into two notable ones, henceforward called by _Daniel_ the kings of the _South_ and _North_. For _Ptolemy_ now reigned over _Egypt_, _Lybia_, _Ethiopia_, _Arabia_, _Phoenicia_, _Coelosyria_, and _Cyprus_; and _Seleucus_, having united three of the four kingdoms, had a dominion scarce inferior to that of the _Persian_ Empire, conquered by _Alexander_ the great. All which is thus represented by _Daniel_:[2] _And the king of the_ South [_Ptolemy_] _shall be strong, and one of his Princes_ [_Seleucus_, one of _Alexander_'s Princes] _shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion_.

After _Seleucus_ had reigned seven months over _Macedon_, _Greece_, _Thrace_, _Asia_, _Syria_, _Babylonia_, _Media_, and all the _East_ as far as _India_; _Ptolemy Ceraunus_, the younger brother of _Ptolemy Philadelphus_ king of _Egypt_, slew him treacherously, and seized his dominions in _Europe_: while _Antiochus Soter_, the son of _Seleucus_, succeeded his father in _Asia_, _Syria_, and most of the _East_; and after nineteen or twenty years was succeeded by his son _Antiochus Theos_; who having a lasting war with _Ptolemy Philadelphus_, at length composed the same by marrying _Berenice_ the daughter of _Philadelphus_: but after a reign of fifteen years, his first wife _Laodice_ poisoned him, and set her son _Seleucus Callinicus_ upon the throne. _Callinicus_ in the beginning of his reign, by the impulse of his mother _Laodice_, besieged _Berenice_ in _Daphne_ near _Antioch_, and slew her with her young son and many of her women. Whereupon _Ptolemy Euergetes_, the son and successor of _Philadelphus_, made war upon _Callinicus_; took from him _Phoenicia_, _Syria_, _Cilicia_, _Mesopotamia_, _Babylonia_, _Sustana_, and some other regions; and carried back into _Egypt_ 40000 talents of silver, and 2500 images of the Gods, amongst which were the Gods of _Egypt_ carried away by _Cambyses_. _Antiochus Hierax_ at first assisted his brother _Callinicus_, but afterwards contended with him for _Asia_. In the mean time _Eumenes_ governor of _Pergamus_ beat _Antiochus_, and took from them both all _Asia_ westward of mount _Taurus_. This was in the fifth year of _Callinicus_, who after an inglorious reign of 20 years was succeeded by his son _Seleucus Ceraunus_; and _Euergetes_ after four years more, _An. Nabonass._ 527, was succeeded by his son _Ptolemy Philopator_. All which is thus signified by _Daniel_:[3] _And in the end of years they_ [the kings of the _South_ and _North_] _shall join themselves together: for the king's daughter of the_ South [_Berenice_] _shall come to the king of the _North_ to make an agreement, but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall she stand, nor her seed, but she shall be delivered up, and he_ [_Callinicus_] _that brought her, and he whom she brought forth, and they that strengthned her in_ [those] _times_, [or defended her in the siege of _Daphne_.] _But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his seat_ [her brother _Euergetes_] _who shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress_ [or fenced cities] _of the king of the _North_, and shall act against them and prevail: and shall carry captives into _Egypt_, their Gods with their Princes and precious vessels of silver and gold; and he shall continue some years after the king of the_ North.

_Seleucus Ceraunus_, inheriting the remains of his father's kingdom, and thinking to recover the rest, raised a great army against the governor of _Pergamus_, now King thereof, but died in the third year of his reign. His brother and successor, _Antiochus Magnus_, carrying on the war, took from the King of _Pergamus_ almost all the lesser _Asia_, recovering also the Provinces of _Media_, _Persia_ and _Babylonia_, from the governors who had revolted: and in the fifth year of his reign invading _Coelosyria_, he with little opposition possest himself of a good part thereof; and the next year returning to invade the rest of _Coelosyria_ and _Phoenicia_, beat the army of _Ptolemy Philopator_ near _Berytus_; he then invaded _Palestine_ and the neighbouring parts of _Arabia_, and the third year returned with an army of 78000: but _Ptolemy_ coming out of _Egypt_ with an army of 75000, fought and routed him at _Raphia_ near _Gaza_, between _Palestine_ and _Egypt_; and recovered all _Phoenicia_ and _Coelosyria_, _Ann. Nabonass._ 532. Being puffed up with this victory, and living in all manner of luxury, the _Egyptians_ revolted, and had wars with him, but were overcome; and in the broils sixty thousand _Egyptian Jews_ were slain. All which is thus described by _Daniel_: [4] _But his sons_ [_Seleucus Ceraunus_, and _Antiochus Magnus_, the sons of _Callinicus_] _shall be stirred up, and shall gather a great army; and he_ [_Antiochus Magnus_] _shall come effectually and overflow, and pass thro' and return, and_ [again the next year] _be stirred up_ [marching even] _to his fortress_, [the frontier towns of _Egypt_;] _and the King of the _South_ shall be moved with choler, and come forth_ [the third year] _and fight with him, even with the King of the _North_; and he_ [the King of the _North_] _shall lead forth a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his hand. And the multitude being taken away, his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many ten thousands; but he shall not be strengthned by it: for the king of the _North_ shall return_, &c.

About twelve years after the battle between _Philopator_ and _Antiochus_, _Philopator_ died; and left his kingdom to his young son _Ptolemy Epiphanes_, a child of five years old. Thereupon _Antiochus Magnus_ confederated with _Philip_ king of _Macedon_, that they should each invade the dominions of _Epiphanes_ which lay next to them. Hence arose a various war between _Antiochus_ and _Epiphanes_, each of them seizing _Phoenicia_ and _Coelosyria_ by turns; whereby those countries were much afflicted by both parties. First _Antiochus_ seized them; then one _Scopas_ being sent with the army of _Egypt_, recovered them from _Antiochus_: the next year, _An. Nabonass._ 550, _Antiochus_ fought and routed _Scopas_ near the fountains of _Jordan_, besieged him in _Sidon_, took the city, and recovered _Syria_ and _Phoenicia_ from _Egypt_, the _Jews_ coming over to him voluntarily. But about three years after, preparing for a war against the _Romans_, he came to _Raphia_ on the borders of _Egypt_; made peace with _Epiphanes_, and gave him his daughter _Cleopatra_: next autumn he passed the _Hellespont_ to invade the cities of _Greece_ under the _Roman_ protection, and took some of them; but was beaten by the _Romans_ the summer following, and forced to return back with his army into _Asia_. Before the end of the year the fleet of _Antiochus_ was beaten by the fleet of the _Romans_ near _Phocæa_: and at the same time _Epiphanes_ and _Cleopatra_ sent an embassy to _Rome_ to congratulate the _Romans_ on their success against their father _Antiochus_, and to exhort them to prosecute the war against him into _Asia_. The _Romans_ beat _Antiochus_ again at sea near _Ephesus_, past their army over the _Hellespont_, and obtain'd a great victory over him by land, took from him all _Asia_ westward of mount _Taurus_, gave it to the King of _Pergamus_ who assisted them in the war; and imposed a large tribute upon _Antiochus_. Thus the King of _Pergamus_, by the power of the _Romans_, recovered what _Antiochus_ had taken from him; and _Antiochus_ retiring into the remainder of his kingdom, was slain two years after by the _Persians_, as he was robbing the Temple of _Jupiter Belus_ in _Elymais_, to raise money for the _Romans_. All which is thus described by _Daniel_. [5] _For the King of the_ North [_Antiochus_] _shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former; and shall certainly come, after certain years, with a great army and with much riches. And in those times there shall many stand up against the King of the_ South, [particularly the _Macedonians_;] _also the robbers of thy people_ [the _Samaritans_, &c.] _shall exalt themselves to establish the vision, but they shall fall. So the King of the _North_ shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities; and the arms of the _South_ shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there he any strength to withstand. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which shall fail in his hand. He shall also set his face to go with the strength_ [or army] _of all his kingdom, and make an agreement with him_ [at _Raphia_;] _and he shall give him the daughter of women corrupting her; but she shall not stand his side, neither be for him. After this he shall turn his face unto the Isles, and shall take many: but a Prince for his own behalf_ [the _Romans_] _shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. Then he shall turn his face towards the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found._

_Seleucus Philopator_ succeeded his father _Antiochus_, _Anno Nabonass._ 561, and reigned twelve years, but did nothing memorable, being sluggish, and intent upon raising money for the _Romans_ to whom he was tributary. He was slain by _Heliodorus_, whom he had sent to rob the Temple of _Jerusalem_. _Daniel_ thus describes his reign. [6] _Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom, but within few days be shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle._

A little before the death of _Philopator_, his son _Demetrius_ was sent hostage to _Rome_, in the place of _Antiochus Epiphanes_, the brother of _Philopator_; and _Antiochus_ was at _Athens_ in his way home from _Rome_, when _Philopator_ died: whereupon _Heliodorus_ the treasurer of the kingdom, stept into the throne. But _Antiochus_ so managed his affairs, that the _Romans_ kept _Demetrius_ at _Rome_; and their ally the King of _Pergamus_ expelled _Heliodorus_, and placed _Antiochus_ in the throne, while _Demetrius_ the right heir remained an hostage at _Rome_. _Antiochus_ being thus made King by the friendship of the King of _Pergamus_ reigned powerfully over _Syria_ and the neighbouring nations: but carried himself much below his dignity, stealing privately out of his palace, rambling up and down the city in disguise with one or two of his companions; conversing and drinking with people of the lowest rank, foreigners and strangers; frequenting the meetings of dissolute persons to feast and revel; clothing himself like the _Roman_ candidates and officers, acting their parts like a mimick, and in publick festivals jesting and dancing with servants and light people, exposing himself by all manner of ridiculous gestures. This conduct made some take him for a madman, and call him _Antiochus_ [Greek: Epimenês]. In the first year of his reign he deposed _Onias_ the high-Priest, and sold the high-Priesthood to _Jason_ the younger brother of _Onias_: for _Jason_ had promised to give him 440 talents of silver for that office, and 15 more for a licence to erect a place of exercise for the training up of youth in the fashions of the heathen; which licence was granted by the King, and put in execution by _Jason_. Then the King sending one _Apollonius_ into _Egypt_ to the coronation of _Ptolemy Philometor_, the young son of _Philometor_ and _Cleopatra_, and knowing _Philometor_ not to be well affected to his affairs in _Phoenicia_, provided for his own safety in those parts; and for that end came to _Joppa_ and _Jerusalem_, where he was honourably received; from thence he went in like manner with his little army to the cities of _Phoenicia_, to establish himself against _Egypt_, by courting the people, and distributing extraordinary favours amongst them. All which is thus represented by _Daniel_. [7] _And in his_ [_Philometor_'s] _estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they_ [the _Syrians_ who set up _Heliodorus_] _shall not give the honour of the kingdom. Yet he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries_ [made principally to the King of _Pergamus_;] _and the arms_ [which in favour of _Heliodorus_ oppose him] _shall be overflowed with a food from before him, and be broken; yea also_ [_Onias_ the high-Priest] _the Prince of the covenant. And after the league made with him,_ [the King of _Egypt_, by sending _Apollonius_ to his coronation] _he shall work deceitfully_ [against the King of _Egypt_,] _for he shall come up and shall become strong_ [in _Phoenicia _] _with a small people. And he shall enter into the quiet and plentiful cities of the Province_ [of _Phoenicia_;] _and_ [to ingratiate himself with the _Jews_ of _Phoenicia_ and _Egypt_, and with their friends] _he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers fathers: he shall scatter among them the prey and the spoil, and the riches_ [exacted from other places;] _and shall forecast his devices against the strong holds_ [of _Egypt_] _even for a time._

These things were done in the first year of his reign, _An. Nabonass._ 573. And thenceforward he forecast his devices against the strong holds of _Egypt_, until the sixth year. For three years after, that is in the fourth year of his reign, _Menelaus_ bought the high-Priesthood from _Jason_, but not paying the price was sent for by the King; and the King, before he could hear the cause, went into _Cilicia_ to appease a sedition there, and left _Andronicus_ his deputy at _Antioch_; in the mean time the brother of _Menelaus_, to make up the money, conveyed several vessels out of the Temple, selling some of them at _Tyre_, and sending others to _Andronicus_. When _Menelaus_ was reproved for this by _Onias_, he caused _Onias_ to be slain by _Andronicus_: for which fact the King at his return from _Cilicia_ caused _Andronicus_ to be put to death. Then _Antiochus_ prepared his second expedition against _Egypt_, which he performed in the sixth year of his reign, _An. Nabonass._ 578: for upon the death of _Cleopatra_, the governors of her son the young King of _Egypt_ claimed _Phoenicia_ and _Coelosyria_ from him as her dowry; and to recover those countries raised a great army. _Antiochus_ considering that his father had not quitted the possession of those countries[8], denied they were her dowry; and with another great army met and fought the _Egyptians_ on the borders of _Egypt_, between _Pelusium_ and the mountain _Casius_. He there beat them, and might have destroyed their whole army, but that he rode up and down, commanding his soldiers not to kill them, but to take them alive: by which humanity he gained _Pelusium_, and soon after all _Egypt_; entring it with a vast multitude of foot and chariots, elephants and horsemen, and a great navy. Then seizing the cities of _Egypt_ as a friend, he marched to _Memphis_, laid the whole blame of the war upon _Eulæus_ the King's governor, entred into outward friendship with the young King, and took upon him to order the affairs of the kingdom. While _Aniochus_ was thus employ'd, a report being spread in _Phoenicia_ that he was dead, _Jason_ to recover the high-Priesthood assaulted _Jerusalem_ with above a thousand men, and took the city: hereupon the King thinking _Judea_ had revolted, came out of _Egypt_ in a furious manner, re-took the city, slew forty thousand of the people, made as many prisoners, and sold them to raise money; went into the Temple, spoiled it of its treasures, ornaments, utensils, and vessels of gold and silver, amounting to 1800 talents; and carried all away to _Antioch_. This was done in the year of _Nabonassar_ 578, and is thus described by _Daniel_. [9] _And he shall stir up his power, and his courage against the King of the _South_ with a great army; and the King of the _South_ shall be stirrd up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they_, even _Antiochus_ and his friends, _shall forecast devices against him_, as is represented above; _yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat, shall_ betray and _destroy him, and his army shall be overthrown, and many shall fall down slain. And both these Kings hearts shall be to do mischief; and they_, being now made friends, _shall speak lyes at one table_, against the _Jews_ and against the holy covenant; _but it shall not prosper: for yet the end_, in which the setting up of the abomination of desolation is to prosper, _shall be at the time appointed. Then shall he return into his land with great riches, and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall act_, against it by spoiling the Temple, _and return into his own land_.

The _Egyptians_ of _Alexandria_ seeing _Philometor_ first educated in luxury by the Eunuch _Eulæus_, and now in the hands of _Antiochus_, gave the kingdom to _Euergetes_, the younger brother of _Philometor_. Whereupon _Antiochus_ pretending to restore _Philometor_, made war upon _Euergetes_; beat him at sea, and besieged him and his sister _Cleopatra_ in _Alexandria_: while the besieged Princes sent to _Rome_ to implore the assistance of the Senate. _Antiochus_ finding himself unable to take the city that year, returned into _Syria_, leaving _Philometor_ at _Memphis_ to govern _Egypt_ in his absence. But _Philometor_ made friendship with his brother that winter; and _Antiochus_, returning the next spring _An. Nabonass._ 580, to besiege both the brothers in _Alexandria_, was met in the way by the _Roman_ Ambassadors, _Popilius Læna_, _C. Decimius_, and _C. Hostilius_: he offered them his hand to kiss, but _Popilius_ delivering to him the tables wherein the message of the Senate was written, bad him read those first. When he had read them, he replied he would consider with his friends what was fit to be done; but _Popilius_ drawing a circle about him, bad him answer before he went out of it: _Antiochus_, astonished at this blunt and unusual imperiousness, made answer he would do what the _Romans_ demanded; and then _Popilius_ gave the King his hand to kiss, and he returned out of _Egypt_. The same year, _An. Nabonass._ 580, his captains by his order spoiled and slaughtered the _Jews_, profaned the Temple, set up the worship of the heathen Gods in all _Judea_, and began to persecute and make war upon those who would not worship them: which actions are thus described by _Daniel_. [10] _At the time appointed he shall come_ again _towards the _South_, but the latter shall not be as the former. For the ships of _Chittim_ shall come_, with an embassy from _Rome_, _against him. Therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant. So shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant._

In the same year that _Antiochus_ by the command of the _Romans_ retired out of _Egypt_, and set up the worship of the _Greeks_ in _Judea_; the _Romans_ conquered the kingdom of _Macedon_, the fundamental kingdom of the Empire of the _Greeks_, and reduced it into a _Roman_ Province; and thereby began to put an end to the reign of _Daniel_'s third Beast. This is thus exprest by _Daniel_. _And after him Arms_, that is the _Romans_, _shall stand up_. As [Hebrew: MMLK] signifies _after the King_, Dan. xi. 8; so [Hebrew: MMNW] may signify _after him_. _Arms_ are every where in this Prophecy of _Daniel_ put for the military power of a kingdom: and they stand up when they conquer and grow powerful. Hitherto _Daniel_ described the actions of the Kings of the _North_ and _South_; but upon the conquest of _Macedon_ by the _Romans_, he left off describing the actions of the _Greeks_, and began to describe those of the _Romans_ in _Greece_. They conquered _Macedon_, _Illyricum_ and _Epirus_, in the year of _Nabonassar_ 580. 35 years after, by the last will and testament of _Attalus_ the last King of _Pergamus_, they inherited that rich and flourishing kingdom, that is, all _Asia_ westward of mount _Taurus_; 69 years after they conquered the kingdom of _Syria_, and reduced it into a Province, and 34 years after they did the like to _Egypt_. By all these steps the _Roman_ Arms stood up over the _Greeks_: and after 95 years more, by making war upon the _Jews_, _they polluted the sanctuary of strength, and took away the daily sacrifice, and then placed the abomination of desolation_. For this abomination was placed after the days of _Christ_, _Math._ xxiv. 15. In the 16th year of the Emperor _Adrian_, A.C. 132, they placed this abomination by building a Temple to _Jupiter Capitolinus_, where the Temple of God in _Jerusalem_ had stood. Thereupon the _Jews_ under the conduct of _Barchochab_ rose up in arms against the _Romans_, and in the war had 50 cities demolished, 985 of their best towns destroyed, and 580000 men slain by the sword; and in the end of the war, A.C. 136, were banished _Judea_ upon pain of death, and thenceforward the land remained desolate of its old inhabitants.

In the beginning of the _Jewish_ war in _Nero_'s reign, the Apostles fled out of _Judea_ with their flocks; some beyond _Jordan_ to _Pella_ and other places, some into _Egypt_, _Syria_, _Mesopotamia_, _Asia minor_, and elsewhere. _Peter_ and _John_ came into _Asia_, and _Peter_ went thence by _Corinth_ to _Rome_; but _John_ staying in _Asia_, was banished by the _Romans_ into _Patmos_, as the head of a party of the _Jews_, whose nation was in war with the _Romans_. By this dispersion of the _Christian Jews_, the _Christian_ religion, which was already propagated westward as far as _Rome_, spred fast into all the _Roman_ Empire, and suffered many persecutions under it till the days of _Constantine_ the great and his sons: all which is thus described by _Daniel_. [11] _And such as do wickedly against the covenant, shall he_, who places the abomination, _cause to dissemble_, and worship the heathen Gods; _but the people_ among them _who do know their God, shall be strong and act. And they that understand among the people, shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, and by captivity, and by spoil many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help, viz._ in the reign of _Constantine_ the great; _and_ at that time by reason of their prosperity, _many shall_ come over to them from among the heathen, and _cleave to them with dissimulation. But of those of understanding there shall_ still _fall to try_ God's people _by them and to purge_ them from the dissemblers, _and to make them white even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed._

Hitherto the _Roman_ Empire continued entire; and under this dominion, the little horn of the He-Goat continued _mighty, but not by his own power_. But now, by the building of _Constantinople_, and endowing it with a Senate and other like privileges with _Rome_; and by the division of the _Roman_ Empire into the two Empires of the _Greeks_ and _Latins_, headed by those two cities; a new scene of things commences, in which which [12] _a King_, the Empire of the _Greeks_, _doth according to his will, and_, by setting his own laws above the laws of God, _exalts and magnifies himself above every God, and speaks marvellous things against the God of Gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished.--Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the_ lawful _desire of women_ in matrimony, _nor any God, but shall magnify himself above all. And in his seat he shall honour _Mahuzzims__, that is, strong guardians, the souls of the dead; _even with a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honour them_, in their Temples, _with gold and silver, and with precious stones and valuable things_. All which relates to the overspreading of the _Greek_ Empire with Monks and Nuns, who placed holiness in abstinence from marriage; and to the invocation of saints and veneration of their reliques, and such like superstitions, which these men introduced in the fourth and fifth centuries. [13] _And at the time of the end the King of the_ South, or the Empire of the _Saracens_, _shall push at him_; _and the King of the_ North, or Empire of the _Turks_, _shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots and with horsemen, and with many ships_; _and be shall enter into the countries_ of the _Greeks_, _and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand, even _Edom_ and _Moab_, and the chief of the children_ Ammon: that is, those to whom his Caravans pay tribute. _He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of _Egypt_ shall not escape_; _but he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of _Egypt_; and the _Lybians_ and _Ethiopians_ shall be at his steps_. All these nations compose the Empire of the _Turks_, and therefore this Empire is here to be understood by the King of the _North_. They compose also the body of the He-Goat; and therefore the Goat still reigns in his last horn, but not by his own power.

Notes to Chap. XII.

[1] Chap. xi. 2, 3, 4.

[2] Chap. xi. 5.

[3] Chap. xi. 6, 7, 8.

[4] Chap. xi. 10, &c.

[5] Chap. xi. 13-19.

[6] Chap. xi. 20.

[7] Chap. xi. 21, &c.

[8] 2 Maccab. iii. 5, 8. & iv. 4.

[9] Chap. xi. 25, &c.

[10] Chap. xi. 29, 30.

[11] Chap. xi. 32, &c.

[12] Chap. xi. 36, &c.

[13] Chap. xi. 40, &c.

* * * * *

CHAP. XIII.

_Of the King who did according to his will, and magnified himself above every God, and honoured _Mahuzzims_, and regarded not the desire of women_.

In the first ages of the Christian religion the Christians of every city were governed by a Council of Presbyters, and the President of the Council was the Bishop of the city. The Bishop and Presbyters of one city meddled not with the affairs of another city, except by admonitory letters or messages. Nor did the Bishops of several cities meet together in Council before the time of the Emperor _Commodus_: for they could not meet together without the leave of the _Roman_ governors of the Provinces. But in the days of that Emperor they began to meet in Provincial Councils, by the leave of the governors; first in _Asia_, in opposition to the _Cataphrygian_ Heresy, and soon after in other places and upon other occasions. The Bishop of the chief city, or Metropolis of the _Roman_ Province, was usually made President of the Council; and hence came the authority of Metropolitan Bishops above that of other Bishops within the same Province. Hence also it was that the Bishop of _Rome_ in _Cyprian_'s days called himself the Bishop of Bishops. As soon as the Empire became Christian, the _Roman_ Emperors began to call general Councils out of all the Provinces of the Empire; and by prescribing to them what points they should consider, and influencing them by their interest and power, they set up what party they pleased. Hereby the _Greek_ Empire, upon the division of the _Roman_ Empire into the _Greek_ and _Latin_ Empires, became _the King who_, in matters of religion, _did according to his will_; _and_, in legislature, _exalted and magnified himself above every God_: and at length, by the seventh general Council, established the worship of the images and souls of dead men, here called _Mahuzzims_.

The same King placed holiness in abstinence from marriage. _Eusebius_ in his Ecclesiastical history [1] tells us, that _Musanus_ wrote a tract against those who fell away to the heresy of the _Encratites_, which was then newly risen, and had introduced pernicious errors; and that _Tatian_, the disciple of _Justin_, was the author thereof; and that _Irenæus_ in his first book against heresies teaches this, writing of _Tatian_ and his heresy in these words: _A Saturnino & Marcione profecti qui vocantur Continentes, docuerunt non contrahendum esse matrimonium; reprobantes scilicet primitivum illud opificium Dei, & tacitè accusantes Deum qui masculum & fæminam condidit ad procreationem generis humani. Induxerunt etiam abstinentiam ab esu eorum quæ animalia appellant, ingratos se exhibentes ergo eum qui universa creavit Deum. Negant etiam primi hominis salutem. Atque hoc nuper apud illos excogitatum est, Tatiano quodam omnium primo hujus impietatis auctore: qui Justini auditor, quamdiu cum illo versatus est, nihil ejusmodi protulit. Post martyrium autem illius, ab Ecclesia se abrumpens, doctoris arrogantia elatus ac tumidus, tanquam præstantior cæteris, novam quandam formam doctrinæ conflavit: Æonas invisibiles commentus perinde ac Valentinus: asserens quoque cum Saturnino & Marcione, matrimonium nihil aliud esse quam corruptionem ac stuprum: nova præterea argumenta ad subvertendam Adami salutem excogitans. Hæc Irenæus de Hæresi quæ tunc viguit Encratitarum._ Thus far _Eusebius_. But altho the followers of _Tatian_ were at first condemned as hereticks by the name of _Encratites_, or _Continentes_; their principles could not be yet quite exploded: for _Montanus_ refined upon them, and made only second marriages unlawful; he also introduced frequent fastings, and annual, fasting days, the keeping of _Lent_, and feeding upon dried meats. The _Apostolici_, about the middle of the third century, condemned marriage, and were a branch of the disciples of _Tatian_. The _Hierocitæ_ in _Egypt_, in the latter end of the third century, also condemned marriage. _Paul_ the _Eremite_ fled into the wilderness from the persecution of _Decius_, and lived there a solitary life till the reign of _Constantine_ the great, but made no disciples. _Antony_ did the like in the persecution of _Dioclesian_, or a little before, and made disciples; and many others soon followed his example.

Hitherto the principles of the _Encratites_ had been rejected by the Churches; but now being refined by the Monks, and imposed not upon all men, but only upon those who would voluntarily undertake a monastic life, they began to be admired, and to overflow first the _Greek_ Church, and then the _Latin_ also, like a torrent. _Eusebius_ tells us, [2] that _Constantine_ the great had those men in the highest veneration, who dedicated themselves wholly to the divine philosophy; and that he almost venerated the most holy company of Virgins perpetually devoted to God; being certain that the God to whom he had consecrated himself did dwell in their minds. In his time and that of his sons, this profession of a single life was propagated in _Egypt_ by _Antony_, and in _Syria_ by _Hilarion_; and spred so fast, that soon after the time of _Julian_ the Apostate a third part of the _Egyptians_ were got into the desarts of _Egypt_. They lived first singly in cells, then associated into _coenobia_ or convents; and at length came into towns, and filled the Churches with Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons. _Athanasius_ in his younger days poured water upon the hands of his master _Antony_; and finding the Monks faithful to him, made many of them Bishops and Presbyters in _Egypt_: and these Bishops erected new Monasteries, out of which they chose Presbyters of their own cities, and sent Bishops to others. The like was done in _Syria_, the superstition being quickly propagated thither out of _Egypt_ by _Hilarion_ a disciple of _Antony_. _Spiridion_ and _Epiphanius_ of _Cyprus_, _James_ of _Nisibis_, _Cyril_ of _Jerusalem_, _Eustathius_ of _Sebastia_ in _Armenia_, _Eusebius_ of _Emisa_, _Titus_ of _Bostra_, _Basilius_ of _Ancyra_, _Acacius_ of _Cæsarea_ in _Palestine_, _Elpidius_ of _Laodicea_, _Melitius_ and _Flavian_ of _Antioch_, _Theodorus_ of _Tyre_, _Protogenes_ of _Carrhæ_, _Acacius_ of _Berrhæa_, _Theodotus_ of _Hierapolis_, _Eusebius_ of _Chalcedon_, _Amphilochius_ of _Iconium_, _Gregory Nazianzen_, _Gregory Nyssen_, and _John Chrysostom_ of _Constantinople_, were both Bishops and Monks in the fourth century. _Eustathius_, _Gregory Nazianzen_, _Gregory Nyssen_, _Basil_, &c. had Monasteries of Clergymen in their cities, out of which Bishops were sent to other cities; who in like manner erected Monasteries there, till the Churches were supplied with Bishops out of these Monasteries. Hence _Jerome_, in a Letter written about the year 385, [3] saith of the Clergy: _Quasi & ipsi aliud sint quam Monachi, & non quicquid in Monachos dicitur redundet in Clericos qui patres sunt Monachorum. Detrimentum pecoris pastoris ignominia est_. And in his book against _Vigilantius_: _Quid facient Orientis Ecclesiæ? Quæ aut Virgines Clericos accipiunt, aut Continentes, aut si uxores habuerint mariti esse desistunt_. Not long after even the Emperors commanded the Churches to chuse Clergymen out of the Monasteries by this Law.

_Impp. Arcad & Honor. AA. Cæsario PF. P._

[4] _Si quos forte Episcopi deesse sibi Clericos arbitrantur, ex monachorum numero rectius ordinabunt: non obnoxios publicis privatisque rationibus cum invidia teneant, sed habeant jam probatos. Dat. _vii._ Kal. Aug. Honorio A. _iv._ & Eutychianio Coss._ A.C. 598. The _Greek_ Empire being now in the hands of these _Encratites_, and having them in great admiration, _Daniel_ makes it a characteristick of the King who doth according to his will, that _he should not regard the desire of Women._

Thus the Sect of the _Encratites_, set on foot by the _Gnosticks_, and propagated by _Tatian_ and _Montanus_ near the end of the second century; which was condemned by the Churches of that and the third century, and refined upon by their followers; overspread the _Eastern_ Churches in the fourth century, and before the end of it began to overspread the _Western_. Henceforward the Christian Churches having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, came into the hands of the _Encratites_: and the Heathens, who in the fourth century came over in great numbers to the Christians, embraced more readily this sort of Christianity, as having a greater affinity with their old superstitions, than that of the sincere Christians; who by the lamps of the seven Churches of _Asia_, and not by the lamps of the Monasteries, had illuminated the Church Catholic during the three first centuries.

The _Cataphrygians_ brought in also several other superstitions: such as were the doctrine of Ghosts, and of their punishment in Purgatory, with prayers and oblations for mitigating that punishment, as _Tertullian_ teaches in his books _De Anima_ and _De Monogamia_. They used also the sign of the cross as a charm. So _Tertullian_ in his book _de Corona militis_: _Ad omnem progressum atque promotum, ad omnem aditum & exitum, ad vestitum, ad calceatum, ad lavacra, ad mensas, ad lamina, ad cubilia, ad sedilia, quacunque nos conversatio exercet, frontem crucis signaculo terimus_. All these superstitions the Apostle refers to, where he saith: _Now the Spirit speaketh expresly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils_, the _Dæmons_ and Ghosts worshipped by the heathens, _speaking lyes in hypocrisy_, about their apparitions, the miracles done by them, their reliques, and the sign of the cross, _having consciences seared with a hot iron_; _forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats_, &c. 1 Tim. iv. 1,2,3. From the _Cataphrygians_ these principles and practices were propagated down to posterity. _For the mystery of iniquity_ did _already work_ in the _Apostles_ days in the _Gnosticks_, continued to work very strongly in their offspring the _Tatianists_ and _Cataphrygians_, and was to work _till that man of sin_ should _be revealed_; _whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders, and all deceivableness of unrighteousness_; coloured over with a form of _Christian_ godliness, but without the power thereof, 2 _Thess_. ii. 7-10.

For tho some stop was put to the _Cataphrygian_ Christianity, by Provincial Councils, till the fourth century; yet the _Roman_ Emperors then turning _Christians_, and great multitudes of heathens coming over in outward profession, these found the _Cataphrygian_ Christianity more suitable to their old principles, of placing religion in outward forms and ceremonies, holy-days, and doctrines of Ghosts, than the religion of the sincere _Christians_: wherefore they readily sided with the _Cataphrygian Christians_, and established that Christianity before the end of the fourth century. By this means those of understanding, after they had been persecuted by the heathen Emperors in the three first centuries, and _were holpen with a little help_, by the conversion of _Constantine_ the great and his sons to the _Christian_ religion, fell under new persecutions, _to purge them_ from the dissemblers, _and to make them white, even to the time of the end_.

Notes to Chap. XIII.

[1] Lib. 4. c. 28, 29.

[2] In vita Constantini, l. 4. c. 28.

[3] Epist. 10.

[4] L. 32. de Episcopis.

* * * * *

CHAP. XIV.

_Of the _Mahuzzims_, honoured by the King who doth according to his will_.

In scripture we are told of some _trusting in God_ and others _trusting in idols_, and that _God is our refuge, our strength, our defense_. In this sense God is _the rock of his people_, and false Gods are called _the rock of those that trust in them_, Deut. xxxii. 4, 15, 18, 30, 31, 37. In the same sense the Gods of _the King_ who _shall do according to his will_ are called _Mahuzzims_, munitions, fortresses, protectors, guardians, or defenders. _In his estate_, saith [1] _Daniel_, _shall he honour _Mahuzzims_; even with a God whom his fathers knew not, shall he honour them with gold and silver, and with precious stones, and things of value. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds_ or temples;--_and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land_ among them _for a possession_. Now this came to pass by degrees in the following manner.

_Gregory Nyssen_ [2] tells us, that after the persecution of the Emperor _Decius_, _Gregory_ Bishop of _Neocæsarea_ in _Pontus_, _instituted among all people, as an addition or corollary of devotion towards God, that festival days and assemblies should be celebrated to them who had contended for the faith_, that is, to the _Martyrs_. And he adds this reason for the institution: _When he observed_, saith _Nyssen_, _that the simple and unskilful multitude, by reason of corporeal delights, remained in the error of idols; that the principal thing might be corrected among them, namely, that instead of their vain worship they might turn their eyes upon God; he permitted that at the memories of the holy Martyrs they might make merry and delight themselves, and be dissolved into joy_. The heathens were delighted with the festivals of their Gods, and unwilling to part with those delights; and therefore _Gregory_, to facilitate their conversion, instituted annual festivals to the _Saints_ and _Martyrs_. Hence it came to pass, that for exploding the festivals of the heathens, the principal festivals of the _Christians_ succeeded in their room: as the keeping of _Christmas_ with ivy and feasting, and playing and sports, in the room of the _Bacchanalia_ and _Saturnalia_; the celebrating of _May-day_ with flowers, in the room of the _Floralia_; and the keeping of festivals to the Virgin _Mary_, _John_ the Baptist, and divers of the Apostles, in the room of the solemnities at the entrance of the Sun into the signs of the _Zodiac_ in the old _Julian_ Calendar. In the same persecution of _Decius_, _Cyprian_ ordered the passions of the Martyrs in _Africa_ to be registred, in order to celebrate their memories annually with oblations and sacrifices: and _Felix_ Bishop of _Rome_, a little after, as _Platina_ relates, _Martyrum gloria consulens, constituit at quotannis sacrificia eorum nomine celebrarentur_; "consulting the glory of the Martyrs, ordained that sacrifices should be celebrated annually in their name." By the pleasures of these festivals the _Christians_ increased much in number, and decreased as much in virtue, until they were _purged and made white_ by the persecution of _Dioclesian_. This was the first step made in the _Christian_ religion towards the veneration of the Martyrs: and tho it did not yet amount to an unlawful worship; yet it disposed the _Christians_ towards such a further veneration of the dead, as in a short time ended in the invocation of Saints.

The next step was the affecting to pray at the sepulchres of the Martyrs: which practice began in _Dioclesian_'s persecution. The Council of _Eliberis_ in _Spain_, celebrated in the third or fourth year of _Dioclesian_'s persecution, A.C. 305, hath these Canons. Can. 34. _Cereos per diem placuit in Coemeterio non incendi: inquietandi enim spiritus sanctorum non sunt. Qui hæc non observârint, arceantur ab Ecclesiæ communione._ Can. 35. _Placuit prohiberi ne fæminæ in Coemeterio pervigilent, eò quod sæpe sub obtentu orationis latentèr scelera committant._ Presently after that persecution, suppose about the year 314, the Council of _Laodicea_ in _Phrygia_, which then met for restoring the lapsed discipline of the Church, has the following Canons. Can. 9. _Those of the Church are not allowed to go into the _Coemeteries_ or _Martyries_, as they are called, of hereticks, for the sake of prayer or recovery of health: but such as go, if they be of the faithful, shall be excommunicated for a time_. Can. 34. _A _Christian_ must not leave the Martyrs of _Christ_, and go to false Martyrs_, that is, to the Martyrs of the hereticks; _for these are alien from God: and therefore let those be anathema who go to them_. Can. 51. _The birth-days of the Martyrs shall not be celebrated in _Lent_, but their commemoration shall be made on the Sabbath-days and Lords days_. The Council of _Paphlagonia_, celebrated in the year 324, made this Canon: _If any man being arrogant, abominates the congregations of the Martyrs, or the Liturgies performed therein, or the memories of the Martyrs, let him be anathema_. By all which it is manifest that the _Christians_ in the time of _Dioclesian_'s persecution used to pray in the _Coemeteries_ or burying-places of the dead; for avoiding the danger of the persecution, and for want of Churches, which were all thrown down: and after the persecution was over, continued that practice in honour of the Martyrs, till new Churches could be built: and by use affected it as advantageous to devotion, and for recovering the health of those that were sick. It also appears that in these burying-places they commemorated the Martyrs yearly upon days dedicated to them, and accounted all these practices pious and religious, and anathematized those men as arrogant who opposed them, or prayed in the _Martyries_ of the hereticks. They also lighted torches to the Martyrs in the day-time, as the heathens did to their Gods; which custom, before the end of the fourth century, prevailed much in the _West_. They sprinkled the worshipers of the Martyrs with holy-water, as the heathens did the worshipers of their Gods; and went in pilgrimage to see _Jerusalem_ and other holy places, as if those places conferred sanctity on the visiters. From the custom of praying in the _Coemeteries_ and _Martyries_, came the custom of translating the bodies of the Saints and Martyrs into such Churches as were new built: the Emperor _Constantius_ began this practice about the year 359, causing the bodies of _Andrew_ the Apostle, _Luke_ and _Timothy_, to be translated into a new Church at _Constantinople_: and before this act of _Constantius_, the _Egyptians_ kept the bodies of their Martyrs and Saints unburied upon beds in their private houses, and told stories of their souls appearing after death and ascending up to heaven, as _Athanasius_ relates in the life of _Antony_. All which gave occasion to the Emperor _Julian_, as _Cyril_ relates, to accuse the _Christians_ in this manner: _Your adding to that antient dead man, Jesus, many new dead men, who can sufficiently abominate? You have filled all places with sepulchres and monuments, altho you are no where bidden to prostrate yourselves to sepulchres, and to respect them officiously._ And a little after: _Since _Jesus_ said that sepulchres are full of filthiness, how do you invoke God upon them_? and in another place he saith, that if _Christians_ had adhered to the precepts of the _Hebrews_, _they would have worshiped one God instead of many, and not a man, or rather not many unhappy men_: And that they _adored the wood of the cross, making its images on their foreheads, and before their houses_.

After the sepulchres of Saints and Martyrs were thus converted into places of worship like the heathen temples, and the Churches into sepulchres, and a certain sort of sanctity attributed to the dead bodies of the Saints and Martyrs buried in them, and annual festivals were kept to them, with sacrifices offered to God in their name; the next step towards the invocation of Saints, was the attributing to their dead bodies, bones and other reliques, a power of working miracles, by means of the separate souls, who were supposed to know what we do or say, and to be able to do us good or hurt, and to work those miracles. This was the very notion the heathens had of the separate souls of their antient Kings and Heroes, whom they worshiped under the names of _Saturn_, _Rhea_, _Jupiter_, _Juno_, _Mars_, _Venus_, _Bacchus_, _Ceres_, _Osiris_, _Isis_, _Apollo_, _Diana_, and the rest of their Gods. For these Gods being male and female, husband and wife, son and daughter, brother and sister, are thereby discovered to be antient men and women. Now as the first step towards the invocation of Saints was set on foot by the persecution of _Decius_, and the second by the persecution of _Dioclesian_; so this third seems to have been owing to the proceedings of _Constantius_ and _Julian_ the Apostate. When _Julian_ began to restore the worship of the heathen Gods, and to vilify the Saints and Martyrs; the _Christians_ of _Syria_ and _Egypt_ seem to have made a great noise about the miracles done by the reliques of the _Christian_ Saints and Martyrs, in opposition to the powers attributed by _Julian_ and the heathens to their Idols. For _Sozomen_ and _Ruffinus_ tell us, that when he opened the heathen Temples, and consulted the Oracle of _Apollo Daphnæus_ in the suburbs of _Antioch_, and pressed by many sacrifices for an answer; the Oracle at length told him that the bones of the Martyr _Babylas_ which were buried there hinder'd him from speaking. By which answer we may understand, that some _Christian_ was got into the place where the heathen Priests used to speak thro' a pipe in delivering their Oracles: and before this, _Hilary_ in his book against _Constantius_, written in the last year of that Emperor, makes the following mention of what was then doing in the _East_ where he was. _Sine martyrio persequeris. Plus crudelitati vestræ _Nero_, _Deci_, _Maximiane_, debemus. Diabolum enim per vos vicimus. Sanctus ubique beatorum martyrum sanguis exceptus est, dum in his Dæmones mugiunt, dum ægritudines depelluntur, dum miraculorum opera cernuntur, elevari sine laqueis corpora, & dispensis pede fæminis vestes non defluere in faciem, uri sine ignibus spiritus, confiteri sine interrogantis incremento fidei_. And _Gregory Nazianzen_, in his first Oration against the Emperor _Julian_ then reigning, writes thus: _Martyres non extimuisti quibus præclari honores & festa constituta, à quibus Dæmones propelluntur & morbi curantur; quorum sunt apparitiones & prædictiones; quorum vel sola corpora idem possunt quod animæ sanctæ, sive manibus contrectentur, sive honorentur: quorum vel solæ sanguinis guttæ atque exigua passionis signa idem possunt quod corpora. Hæc non colis sed contemnis & aspernaris_. These things made the heathens in the reign of the same Emperor demolish the sepulchre of _John_ the Baptist in _Phoenicia_, and burn his bones; when several _Christians_ mixing themselves with the heathens, gathered up some of his remains, which were sent to _Athanasius_, who hid them in the wall of a Church; foreseeing by a prophetic spirit, as _Ruffinus_ tells us, that they might be profitable to future generations.

The cry of these miracles being once set on foot, continued for many years, and encreased and grew more general. _Chrysostom_, in his second Oration on St. _Babylas_, twenty years after the silencing of the Oracle of _Apollo Daphnæus_ as above, viz. A.C. 382, saith of the miracles done by the Saints and their reliques [3]: _Nulla est nostri hujus Orbis seu regio, seu gens, seu urbs, ubi nova & inopinata miracula hæc non decantentur; quæ quidem si figmenta fuissent, prorsus in tantam hominum admirationem non venissent_. And a little after: _Abunde orationi nostræ fidem faciunt quæ quotidiana à martyribus miracula eduntur, magna affatim ad illa hominum multitudine affluente_. And in his 66th Homily, describing how the Devils were tormented and cast out by the bones of the Martyrs, he adds: _Ob eam causam multi plerumque Reges peregrè profecti sunt, ut hoc spectaculo fruerentur. Siquidem sanctorum martyrum templa futuri judicii vestigia & signa exhibent, dum nimirum Dæmones flagris cæduntur, hominesque torquentur & liberantur. Vide quæ sanctorum vitâ functorum vis sit?_ And _Jerom_ in his Epitaph on _Paula_, thus [4] mentions the same things. _Paula vidit Samariam: ibi siti sunt Elisæus & Abdias prophetæ, & Joannes Baptista, ubi multis intremuit consternata miraculis. Nam cernebat variis dæmones rugire cruciatibus, & ante sepulchra sanctorum ululare, homines more luporum vocibus latrare canum, fremere leonum, sibilare serpentum, mugire taurorum, alios rotare caput & post tergum terram vertice tangere, suspensisque pede fæminis vestes non defluere in faciem_. This was about the year 384: and _Chrysostom_ in his Oration on the _Egyptian_ Martyrs, seems to make _Egypt_ the ringleader in these matters, saying [5]: _Benedictus Deus quandoquidem ex Ægypto prodeunt martyres, ex Ægypto illa cum Deo pugnante ac insanissima, & unde impia ora, unde linguæ blasphemæ; ex Ægypto martyres habentur; non in Ægypto tantum, nec in finitima vicinaque regione, sed _UBIQUE TERRARUM_. Et quemadmodum in annonæ summa ubertate, cum viderunt urbium incolæ majorem quam usus habitatorum postulat esse proventum, ad peregrinas etiam urbes transmittunt: cum & suam comitatem & liberalitatem ostendant, tum ut præter horum abundantiam cum facilitate res quibus indigent rursus ab illis sibi comparent: sic & Ægyptii, quod attinet ad religionis athletas, fecerunt. Cum apud se multam eorum Dei benignitate copiam cernerent, nequaquam ingens Dei munus sua civitate concluserunt, sed in _OMNES TERRÆ PARTES_ bonorum thesauros effuderunt: cum ut suum in fratres amorem ostenderent, tum ut communem omnium dominum honore afficerent, ac civitati suæ gloriam apud omnes compararent, totiusque terrarum _ORBIS_ esse _METROPOLIN_ declararent.--Sanctorum enim illorum corpora quovis adamantino & inexpugnabili muro tutiùs nobis urbem communiunt, & tanquam excelsi quidam scopuli undique prominentes, non horum qui sub sensus cadunt & oculis cernuntur hostium impetus propulsant tantùm, sed etiam invisibilium dæmonum insidias, omnesque diaboli fraudes subvertunt ac dissipant.--Neque vero tantùm adversus hominum insidias aut adversus fallacias dæmonum utilis nobis est hæc possessio, sed si nobis communis dominus ob peccatorum multitudinem irascatur, his objectis corporibus continuo poterimus eum propitium reddere civitati_. This Oration was written at _Antioch_, while _Alexandria_ was yet the Metropolis of the _East_, that is, before the year 381, in which _Constantinople_ became the Metropolis: and it was a work of some years for the _Egyptians_ to have distributed the miracle-working reliques of their Martyrs over all the world, as they had done before that year. _Egypt_ abounded most with the reliques of Saints and Martyrs, the _Egyptians_ keeping them embalmed upon beds even in their private houses; and _Alexandria_ was eminent above all other cities for dispersing them, so as on that account to acquire glory with all men, and manifest herself to be the _Metropolis_ of the world. _Antioch_ followed the example of _Egypt_, in dispersing the reliques of the forty Martyrs: and the examples of _Egypt_ and _Syria_ were soon followed by the rest of the world.

The reliques of the forty Martyrs at _Antioch_ were distributed among the Churches before the year 373; for _Athanasius_ who died in that year, wrote an Oration upon them. This Oration is not yet published, but _Gerard Vossius_ saw it in MS. in the Library of Cardinal _Ascanius_ in _Italy_, as he says in his commentary upon the Oration of _Ephræm Syrus_ on the same forty Martyrs. Now since the Monks of _Alexandria_ sent the reliques of the Martyrs of _Egypt_ into all parts of the earth, and thereby acquired glory to their city, and declared her in these matters the Metropolis of the whole world, as we have observed out of _Chrysostom_; it may be concluded, that before _Alexandria_ received the forty Martyrs from _Antioch_, she began to send out the reliques of her own Martyrs into all parts, setting the first example to other cities. This practice therefore began in _Egypt_ some years before the death of _Athanasius_. It began when the miracle-working bones of _John_ the Baptist were carried into _Egypt_, and hid in the wall of a Church, _that they might be profitable to future generations_. It was restrained in the reign of _Julian_ the Apostate: and then it spred from _Egypt_ into all the Empire, _Alexandria_ being the Metropolis of the whole world, according to _Chrysostom_, for propagating this sort of devotion, and _Antioch_ and other cities soon following her example.

In propagating these superstitions, the ring-leaders were the Monks, and _Antony_ was at the head of them: for in the end of the life of _Antony_, _Athanasius_ relates that these were his dying words to his disciples who then attended him. _Do you take care_, said _Antony_, _to adhere to _Christ_ in the first place, and then to the Saints, that after death they may receive you as friends and acquaintance into the everlasting tabernacles, Think upon these things, perceive these things; and if you have any regard to me, remember me as a father_. This being delivered in charge to the Monks by _Antony_ at his death, A.C. 356, could not but inflame their whole body with devotion towards the Saints, as the ready way to be received, by them into the eternal Tabernacles after death. Hence came that noise about the miracles, done by the reliques of the Saints in the time of _Constantius_: hence came the dispersion of the miracle-working reliques into all the Empire; _Alexandria_ setting the example, and being renowned, for it above all other cities. Hence it came to pass in the days of _Julian_, A.C. 362, that _Athanasius_ by a prophetic spirit, as _Ruffinus_ tells us, hid the bones of _John_ the Baptist from the Heathens, not in the ground to be forgotten, but in the hollow wall of a Church before proper witnesses, that they might _be profitable to future generations_. Hence also came the invocation of the Saints for doing such miracles, and for assisting men in their devotions, and mediating with God. For _Athanasius_, even from his youth, looked upon the dead Saints and Martyrs as mediators of our prayers: in his Epistle to _Marcellinus_, written in the days of _Constantine_ the great, he saith that the words of the _Psalms_ are not to be transposed or any wise changed, but to be recited and sung without any artifice, as they are written, _that the holy men who delivered them, knowing them to be their own words, may pray with us; or rather, that the Holy Ghost who spake in the holy men, seeing his own words with which he inspired them, may join_ with them _in assisting us_.

Whilst _Egypt_ abounded with Monks above any other country, the veneration of the Saints began sooner, and spred faster there than in other places. _Palladius_ going into _Egypt_ in the year 388 to visit the Monasteries, and the sepulchres of _Apollonius_ and other Martyrs of _Thebais_ who had suffered under _Maximinus_, saith of them: _Iis omnibus Christiani fecerunt ædem unam, ubi nunc multæ virtutes peraguntur. Tanta autem fuit viri gratia, ut de iis quæ esset precatus statim exaudiretur, eum sic honorante servatore: quem etiam nos in martyrio precati vidimus, cum iis qui cum ipso fuerunt martyrio affecti; & Deum adorantes, eorum corpora salutavimus._ _Eunapius_ also, a heathen, yet a competent witness of what was done in his own times, relating how the soldiers delivered the temples of _Egypt_ into the hands of the Monks, which was done in the year 389, rails thus in an impious manner at the Martyrs, as succeeding in the room of the old Gods of _Egypt_. _Illi ipsi, _milites_, Monachos Canobi quoque collocârunt, ut pro Diis qui animo cernuntur, servos & quidem flagitiosos divinis honoribus percolerent, hominum mentibus ad cultum ceremoniasque obligatis. Ii namque condita & salita eorum capita, qui ob scelerum multitudinem à judicibus extremo judicio fuerant affecti, pro Divis ostentabant; iis genua submittebant, eos in Deorum numerum receptabant, ad illorum sepulchra pulvere sordibusque conspurcati. Martyres igitur vocabantur, & ministri quidem & legati arbitrique precum apud Deos; cum fuerint servilia infida & flagris pessimè subacta, quæ cicatrices scelerum ac nequitiæ vestigia corporibus circumferunt; ejusmodi tamen Deos fert tellus_. By these instances we may understand the invocation of Saints was now of some standing in _Egypt_, and that it was already generally received and practised there by the common people.

Thus _Basil_ a Monk, who was made Bishop of _Cæsarea_ in the year 369, and died in the year 378, in his Oration on the Martyr _Mamas_, saith: _Be ye mindful of the Martyr; as many of you as have enjoyed him in your dreams, as many as in this place have been assisted by him in prayer, as many of you as upon invoking him by name have had him present in your works, as many as he has reduced into the way from wandering, as many as he has restored to health, as, many as have had their dead children restored by him to life, as many as have had their lives prolonged by him_: and a little after, he thus expresses the universality of this superstition in the regions of _Cappadocia_ and _Bithynia_: _At the memory of the Martyr_, saith he, _the whole region is moved; at his festival the whole city is transported with joy. Nor do the kindred of the rich turn aside to the sepulchres of their ancestors, but all go to the place of devotion._ Again, in the end of the Homily he prays, that _God would preserve the Church, thus fortified with the great towers of the Martyrs_: and in his Oration on the forty Martyrs; _These are they_, saith he, _who obtaining our country, like certain towers afford us safety against our enemies. Neither are they shut up in one place only, but being distributed are sent into many regions, and adorn many countries.--You have often endeavoured, you have often laboured to find one who might pray for you: here are forty, emitting one voice of prayer.--He that is in affliction flies to these, he that rejoices has recourse to these: the first, that he may be freed from evil, the last that he may continue in happiness. Here a woman praying for her children is heard; she obtains a safe return for her husband from abroad, and health for him in his sickness.--O ye common keepers of mankind, the best companions of our cares, suffragans and coadjutors of our prayers, most powerful embassadors to God_, &c. By all which it is manifest, that before the year 378, the Orations and Sermons upon the Saints went much beyond the bounds of mere oratorical flourishes, and that the common people in the _East_ were already generally corrupted by the Monks with Saint-worship.

_Gregory Nazianzen_ a Monk, in his sixth Oration written A.C. 373, when he was newly made Bishop of _Sasima_, saith: _Let us purify ourselves to the Martyrs, or rather to the God of the Martyrs_: and a little after he calls the Martyrs _mediators of obtaining an ascension or divinity_. The same year, in the end of his Oration upon _Athanasius_ then newly dead, he thus invokes him: _Do thou look down upon us propitiously, and govern this people, as perfect adorers of the perfect Trinity, which in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is contemplated and worshiped: if there shall be peace, preserve me, and feed my flock with me; but if war, bring me home, place me by thyself, and by those that are like thee; however great my request._ And in the end of the funeral Oration upon _Basil_, written A.C. 378, he thus addresses him: _But thou, O divine and sacred Head, look down upon us from heaven; and by thy prayers either take away that thorn of the flesh which is given us by God for exercise, or obtain that we may bear it with courage, and direct all our life to that which is most fitting for us. When we depart this life, receive us there in your Tabernacles, that living together and beholding the holy and blessed Trinity more purely and perfectly, whereof we have now but an imperfect view, we may there come to the end of our desires, and receive this reward of the wars which we have waged or suffered_: and in his Oration upon _Cyprian_, not the Bishop of _Carthage_, but a _Greek_, he invokes him after the same manner; and tells us also how a pious Virgin named _Justina_, was protected by invoking the Virgin _Mary_, and how miracles were done by the ashes of _Cyprian_.

_Gregory Nyssen_, another eminent Monk and Bishop, in the life of _Ephræm Syrus_, tells how a certain man returning from a far country, was in great danger, by reason all the ways were intercepted by the armies of barbarous nations; but upon invoking _Ephræm_ by name, and saying, _Holy _Ephræm_ assist me_, he escaped the danger, neglected the fear of death, and beyond his hope got safe home. In the end of this Oration _Gregory_ calls upon _Ephræm_ after the following manner: _But thou, O Ephræm, assisting now at the divine altar, and sacrificing to the Prince of life, and to the most holy Trinity, together with the Angels; remember us all, and obtain for us pardon of our sins, that we may enjoy the eternal happiness of the kingdom of heaven._ The same _Gregory_, in his Oration on the Martyr _Theodorus_ written A.C. 381, thus describes the power of that Martyr, and the practice of the people. _This Martyr_, saith he, _the last year quieted the barbarous tempest, and put a stop to the horrid war of the fierce and cruel _Scythians_.--If any one is permitted to carry away the dust with which the tomb is covered, wherein the body of the Martyr rests; the dust is accepted as a gift, and gathered to be laid up as a thing of great price. For to touch the reliques themselves, if any such prosperous fortune shall at any time happen; how great a favour that is, and not to be obtained without the most earnest prayers, they know well who have obtained it. For as a living and florid body, they who behold it embrace it, applying to it the eyes, mouth, ears, and all the organs of sense; and then with affection pouring tears upon the Martyr, as if he was whole and appeared to them: they offer prayers with supplication, that he would intercede for them as an advocate, praying to him as an Officer attending upon God, and invoking him as receiving gifts whenever he will._ At length _Gregory_ concludes the Oration with this prayer: _O Theodorus, we want many blessings; intercede and beseech for thy country before the common King and Lord: for the country of the Martyr is the place of his passion, and they are his citizens, brethren and kindred, who have him, defend, adorn and honour him. We fear afflictions, we expect dangers: the wicked _Scythians_ are not far off, ready to make war against us. As a soldier fight for us, as a Martyr use liberty of speech for thy fellow-servants. Pray for peace, that these publick meetings may not cease, that the furious and wicked barbarian may not rage against the temples and altars, that the profane and impious may not trample upon the holy things. We acknowledge it a benefit received from thee, that we are preserved safe and entire, we pray for freedom from danger in time to come: and if there shall be need of greater intercession and deprecation, call together the choir of thy brethren the Martyrs, and in conjunction with them all intercede for us. Let the prayers of many just ones attone for the sins of the multitudes and the people; exhort _Peter_, excite _Paul_, and also _John_ the divine and beloved disciple, that they may be sollicitous for the Churches which they have erected, for which they have been in chains, for which they have undergone dangers and deaths; that the worship of idols may not lift up its head against us, that heresies may not spring up like thorns in the vineyard, that tares grown up may not choak the wheat, that no rock void of the fatness of true dew may be against us, and render the fruitful power of the word void of a root; but by the power of the prayers of thyself and thy companions, O admirable man and eminent among the Martyrs, the commonwealth of _Christians_ may become a field of corn_. The same _Gregory Nyssen_, in his sermon upon the death of _Meletius_ Bishop of _Antioch_, preached at _Constantinople_ the same year, A.C. 381, before the Bishops of all the _East_ assembled in the second general Council, spake thus of _Meletius_. _The Bridegroom_, saith he, _is not taken from us: he stands in the midst of us, tho we do not see him: he is a Priest in the most inward places, and face to face intercedes before God for us and the sins of the people_. This was no oratorical flourish, but _Gregory_'s real opinion, as may be understood by what we have cited out of him concerning _Ephræm_ and _Theodorus_: and as _Gregory_ preached this before the Council of _Constantinople_, you may thence know, saith [6] _Baronius_, that he professed what the whole Council, and therewith the whole Church of those parts believed, namely, that the Saints in heaven offer prayers for us before God.

_Ephræm Syrus_, another eminent Monk, who was contemporary with _Basil_, and died the same year; in the end of his Encomium or Oration upon _Basil_ then newly dead, invokes him after this manner: _Intercede for me, a very miserable man; and recal me by thy intercessions, O father; thou who art strong, pray for me who am weak; thou who art diligent, for me who am negligent; thou who art chearful, for me who am heavy; thou who art wise, for me who am foolish. Thou who hast treasured up a treasure of all virtues, be a guide to me who am empty of every good work_. In the beginning of his Encomium upon the forty Martyrs, written at the same time, he thus invokes them: _Help me therefore, O ye Saints, with your intercession; and O ye beloved, with your holy prayers, that _Christ_ by his grace may direct my tongue to speak_, &c. and afterwards mentioning the mother of one of these forty Martyrs, he concludes the Oration with this prayer: _I entreat thee, O holy, faithful, and blessed woman, pray for me to the Saints, saying; Intercede ye that triumph in _Christ_, for the most little and miserable _Ephræm_, that he may find mercy, and by the grace of _Christ_ may be saved_. Again, in his second Sermon or Oration on the praises of the holy Martyrs of _Christ_, he thus addresses them: _We entreat you most holy Martyrs, to intercede with the Lord for us miserable sinners, beset with the filthiness of negligence, that he would infuse his divine grace into us_: and afterwards, near the end of the same discourse; _Now ye most holy men and glorious Martyrs of God, help me a miserable sinner with your prayers, that in that dreadful hour I may obtain mercy, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest. I am to day become to you, most holy Martyrs of _Christ_, as it were an unprofitable and unskilful cup-bearer: for I have delivered to the sons and brothers of your faith, a cup of the excellent wine of your warfare, with the excellent table of your victory, replenished with all sorts of dainties. I have endeavoured, with the whole affection and desire of my mind, to recreate your fathers and brothers, kindred and relations, who daily frequent the table. For behold they sing, and with exultation and jubilee glorify God, who has crown'd your virtues, by setting on your most sacred heads incorruptible and celestial crowns; they with excessive joy stand about the sacred reliques of your martyrdoms, wishing for a blessing, and desiring to bear away holy medicines both for the body and the mind. As good disciples and faithful ministers of our benign Lord and Saviour, bestow therefore a blessing on them all: and on me also, tho weak and feeble, who having received strength by your merits and intercessions, have with the whole devotion of my mind, sung a hymn to your praise and glory before your holy reliques. Wherefore I beseech you stand before the throne of the divine Majesty for me _Ephræm_, a vile and miserable sinner, that by your prayers I may deserve to obtain salvation, and with you enjoy eternal felicity by the grace and benignity and mercy of our Lord and Saviour _Jesus Christ_, to whom with the Father and Holy Ghost be praise, honour and glory for ever and ever_. Amen.

By what has been cited out of _Basil_, the two _Gregories_ and _Ephræm_, we may understand that Saint-worship was established among the Monks and their admirers in _Egypt_, _Phoenicia_, _Syria_ and _Cappadocia_, before the year 378, this being the year in which _Basil_ and _Ephræm_ died. _Chrysostom_ was not much later; he preached at _Antioch_ almost all the time of _Theodosius_ the great, and in his Sermons are many exhortations to this sort of superstition, as may be seen in the end of his Orations on S. _Julia_, on St. _Pelagia_, on the Martyr _Ignatius_, on the _Egyptian_ Martyrs, on Fate and Providence, on the Martyrs in general, on St. _Berenice_ and St. _Prosdoce_, on _Juventinus_ and _Maximus_, on the name of _Coemetery_, &c. Thus in his Sermon on _Berenice_ and _Prosdoce_: _Perhaps_, saith he, _you are inflamed with no small love towards these Martyrs; therefore with this ardour let us fall down before their reliques, let us embrace their coffins. For the coffins of the Martyrs have great virtue, even as the bones of the Martyrs have great power. Nor let us only on the day of this festival, but also on other days apply to them, invoke them, and beseech them to be our patrons: for they have great power and efficacy, not only whilst alive, but also after death; and much more after death than before. For now they bear the marks or brands of _Christ_; and when they shew these marks, they can obtain all things of the King. Seeing therefore they abound with such efficacy, and have so much friendship with him; we also, when by continual attendance and perpetual visitation of them we have insinuated ourselves into their familiarity, may by their assistance obtain the mercy of God_.

_Constantinople_ was free from these superstitions till _Gregory Nazianzen_ came thither A.D. 379; but in a few years it was also inflamed with it. _Ruffinus_ [7] tells us, that when the Emperor _Theodosius_ was setting out against the tyrant _Eugenius_, which was in the year 394, he went about with the Priests and people to all the places of prayer; lay prostrate in haircloth before the shrines of the Martyrs and Apostles, and pray'd for assistance by the intercession of the Saints. _Sozomen_ [8] adds, that when the Emperor was marched seven miles from _Constantinople_ against _Eugenius_, he went into a Church which he had built to _John_ the Baptist, _and invoked the Baptist for his assistance. Chrysostom_ [9] says: _He that is clothed in purple, approaches to embrace these sepulchres; and laying aside his dignity, stands supplicating the Saints to intercede for him with God: and he who goes crowned with a diadem, offers his prayers to the tent-maker and the fisher-man as his Protestors._ And in [10] another place: _The cities run together to the sepulchres of the Martyrs, and the people are inflamed with the love of them_.

This practice of sending reliques from place to place for working miracles, and thereby inflaming the devotion of the nations towards the dead Saints and their reliques, and setting up the religion of invoking their souls, lasted only till the middle of the reign of the Emperor _Theodosius_ the great; for he then prohibited it by the following Edict. _Humatum corpus, nemo ad alterum locum transferat; nemo Martyrem distrahat, nemo mercetur: Habeant verò in potestate, si quolibet in loco sanctorum est aliquis conditus, pro ejus veneratione, quod _Martyrium_ vocandum sit, addant quod voluerint fabricarum. Dat. _iv._ Kal. Mart. Constantinopoli, Honorio nob. puero & Euodio Coss._ A.C. 386. After this they filled the fields and high-ways with altars erected to Martyrs, which they pretended to discover by dreams and revelations: and this occasioned the making the fourteenth Canon of the fifth Council of _Carthage_, A.C. 398. _Item placuit, ut altaria, quæ passim per agros aut vias, tanquam memoriæ Martyrum constituuntur, in quibus nullum corpus aut reliquiæ Martyrum conditæ probantur, ab Episcopis, qui illis locis præsunt, si fieri potest, evertantur. Si autem hoc propter tumultus populares non sinitur, plebes tamen admoneantur, ne illa loca frequentent, ut qui rectè sapiunt, nullâ ibi superstitione devincti teneantur. Et omnino nulla memoria Martyrum probabiliter acceptetur, nisi aut ibi corpus aut aliquæ certæ reliquiæ sint, aut ubi origo alicujus habitationis, vel possessionis, vel passionis fidelissima origine traditur. Nam quæ per somnia, & per inanes quasi revelationes quorumlibet hominum ubique constituuntur altaria, omnimodè reprobentur._ These altars were for invoking the Saints or Martyrs buried or pretended to be buried under them. First they filled the Churches in all places with the reliques or pretended reliques of the Martyrs, for invoking them in the Churches; and then they filled the fields and high-ways with altars, for invoking them every where: and this new religion was set up by the Monks in all the _Greek_ Empire before the expedition of the Emperor _Theodosius_ against _Eugenius_, and I think before his above-mentioned Edict, A.C. 386.

The same religion of worshiping _Mahuzzims_ quickly spred into the _Western Empire_ also: but _Daniel_ in this Prophecy describes chiefly the things done among the nations comprehended in the body of his third Beast.

Notes to Chap. XIV.

[1] Chap. xi. 38, 39

[2] Orat. de vita Greg. Thaumaturg. T. 3. p. 574.

[3] Vide Hom. 47. in. S. Julian.

[4] Epist. 27. ad Eustochium.

[5] Edit. Frontonis Ducæi, Tom. 1.

[6] Ad. an. 381, Sect. 41.

[7] Hist. Eccl. l. 2. c. 23.

[8] L. 4. c. 24.

[9] Hom. 66. ad. populum, circa finem. & Hom. 8, 27. in Matth. Hom. 42, 43. in Gen. Hom. 1. in 1 Thess.

[10] Exposit. in Psal. 114. sub finem.

* * * * *

_The end of the first Part._

* * * * *