SCCL
^0^wms^
ncTll ^^0 .
NA ZJ RE NU S:
O R,
Jemjh-, Gentile^ and Mahometan
CHRISTIANITY.
CONTAINING
The hiftoiy of the anticnt Gospel of Barnabas^
and the modem Gospel of the Mahome-
tans, attributed to the fame Apostle: this kit
Gospel being now firft made known among
Christians,
^ ALSO,
The ORitJiNAL Plan bp Christianity
occafionally explained in the hiflory of the N a z a-
R e N Sj wherby diverfe Controversies about
this divine (but highly perverted) Institution
may be happily terminated.
WITH
The relation of an Irish Manuscript of the
four Gospels, as likewife a Summaiy of the
antient Irish Christianity, and the reality
of the K E L D e E s (an order of Lay-rehgious) againlt
the two laft Bifliops of Worcefter.
By Mr. T O L A N "D.
Inta^a ^ Nova ? graves Offet^fae^ levis Gratia, riin. lib, 5. Epift. 8.
Afi Ego Coelicolis gratum reor ire per omnes
Hoc opus, Qsf Sacras populis mtefcere Leges. mean. lib. 10. ver. 157.
The Second Edition Rcvifed.
LO NDO N, Printed: And Sold by J. Brotherton at
the Black Ball in Cornhill, J. Roberts in Warwick-Iyitie,
and A. D ODD at the Peacock without Temple-Bar. 171 8.
[Price Two ShiiliDgs Sdtch'd,]
There is an
A P P E N D I X,
CONTAINING
I. Two Problems, hiftorical, political, and theo-
logical, concerning the Jewish Nation and
Re LI gi o n.
II. A further account of the Mahometan Go-
spel of Barnabas, by Moniieur d e la
M o N N o Y E of the French Academy.
III. Qjj E R I E s to be fent to Christians travel-
ling or refideing in M a h o m e t a n Countries.
PREFACE
TO
Mr. D. S.
INC E you are deUrminW to
continue in town this whole
Winter i^ and that I know none
of my friends to he a nicer judge
of exaB Printings I muft beg
the faz'or of you ^ to convey (du^
ring my necejfary ahfence^ for
fome time^ in the country) the
inclos'd DISSER TA "flQN
to the Prefs^ and to fee it every way correBly finifh'd :
tho I hope to he with you again^ before you have half
done. But tis zood to provide azainft all chances.
I dejign to publifrj it next fpring^ for the fame reafon
that all books are or ought to be publifh^d : namely^
that I may inform others of what I know^ which in
many things I apprehend to he my duty 5 or that^ if
mifinform'dj I may be fet right by thofe^ who fhow
themfelves rather lovers of 'Truth than of Contention.
A % They
11
PREFACE.
^bey are^ for the moft partj eafily diftinguijh'' d : tho^
thro feme 'men's management^ even 'Truth does often
wear the badges of FalJJoood, I have in the firft chap-
ter fo farr declared the Contents of the Jirfi Letter,
as to render any other Preface (/ once thought) en^
tirely unnecejfary^ at kaji a very long one. But the
hetter neverthelefs to prepare you for the reading of
iV, as alfo, of the fecond Letter, efpecially fince they
are both fwelVd beyond their original bulk > and that
you may not pojfibly ly under any mijiake by that too
Jhort Introduftion, I fhall reduce the fum of what
you are to expedi to the following heads : not think-
ing it needful to indicate every particular ^ no nor
every general fuhje^l^ in a work of fo moderate a
fize.
I. IN the firft place youll find the fuccin6i hi"
Jlory of a 1>^ -EW Gospel, which I difcover'd at
jlmfterdam^ in the year 1 709. // is a Mahometan
Gofpel, never before publicly made known among
Chriftians^ tho they have much talkt about the Ma-
hometans acknowledging the Gofpel. I ftrait fent
an account of this difcovery to his moft ferene High-
nefs^ the ever vi6lorious Prince Eugene of
Savoy, to whom I had the honour of writing fom-
timeSj by the way of his Jdjutant General the Baron
de HoHENDORF, who co'mes behind very few in
the knowledge of all curious and ufeful books : and
$is really furprizeing how much the Prince himfelf
has read^ how minutely^ how critically^ in how ma--
ny languages-, conftdering his perpetual feries of aEli^
en as well in the Court as in the Camp, He's now
tnafter of this hook^ as may be feen in the Appcn*
dix. But our Turkifh Gofpel being fathered up'
ow Barnabas, and all Chriftians agreeing that-
Mahomet acknowledged the Gofpel j / have
fhown by unexceptionable authorities,^ that Eccleftafti'.
cal writers did antiently attribute a Gofpel to Bar-
nabas,
PREFACE. iir
N A B A s, ivhether there be any remains of it in this
ne-iV'found Gofpel, or i7ot : and therfore upon this
occafion I have given a clearer account^ than is com*
rnonly to he met^ of the Mahometan fentiments with
relation to Jesus and the Gofpcl > infomuch that
it is not ( / believe ) without fuffcient ground^ that I
have reprefented them as a fort of Chrifiians^ and
not the worfi fort neither^ tho farr from being the
hefi.
II. BUT happening to fpend that fummer in the
delicious gardens of Honflaerdyk {a palace formerly
belonging to King William of immortal memo"
ry) from which I cou^d eafily make an excurfton to
Leyden^ upon any occafion of confulting the public
Library y I was naturally led by the Gofpel of Bar-
nabas to re fume foyne former confiderations I had
about /Z;^ N A Z A R E N S 5 as being the Primitive
Chriftians raofi properly fo calVd^ and the onely Chri*
fiians for fo7ne time, fheir Hifiory I have here fet
in a truer light than other writers^ who are gene*
rally full of confufion and mifreprefentation concern*
ing them ; making them the fir ft ^ if not the worftj
of all Heretics : nor did they want their miftakes^
to be fur e^ ayiy more than the Apoftles themfelves^
who were often reprehended by their mafter and by
one another. One of their miftakes^ in common zvith
the ApoMcs for fo?ne time^ was a grofs and world-
ly notion of the perfon and fpiritual kingdom of
Christ 3 which ^ with fome opinions falfly i?nputed
to them^ and others as falfly held by thcm^ are not
the immediate fiibjcB of their Hiftory {thcfe requiring
too nice a difcuffion for this place ) but tis the very
groundwork of the Chriftian Economy^ of which I
fljall prefently give you the detail 1 was long be*
fore dire5led to my materials by the celebrated Fre-
DERic Spanhemius, when I fludy'd Eccle*
fiaftical Hiftory under him at Leyden^ tho I differ
A 3 widely
iv PREFACE.
widely from my mafter in this point. But the Bible
and the Fathers, the Hebrew and the Greec Origi-
nals, being what he ever exhorted his difciples to
confult as their fountains^ without giving up their
judgements to any thing Jhort of truth 5 / have foh
low^d his excellent advice to the beft of my power^
and tis for the able and equitable readers to decide^
how I have profited by it. They who have read the
fame hiftory and languages in tJ^e fame Clafs with
me^ have not (that I can fee) received any fuch
change of organs or undcrftanding from any of the
Profefftons they have fence efpous'd^ as to capacitate
them for comprehending thefe things better than one
without any Profejfion : and therfore the more likely
to be freer from prejudices^ as he has more leifure
maturely to confider j neither being tfd down by Ar-
ticles upon Oath^ too frequently produUive of per^
jury^ nor crampt by any other partial or politic re--
ftraint. But fuch reflections not being always fo juftly
made as they ought to be^ men of candor will accu-
rately judge of the things themfelves^ without regard-^
ing whether he be a Clergyman or a Layman that de^
livers them.
III. FR O M the hiftory of the NAZARE NS^
and more particularly from the evident words of
Scripture, / iyiferr in this difcourfe a diftin6ii-
on of two forts of Chriftians^ viz. thofe from
among the Jews^ and thofe from a?nong the Gentiles :
not onely that in fa6l there was fuch a diftinction
{which no body denies) but likewife that of right it
Qught to have been fo (which every body denies) and
that it was fo deftgn'd in THE ORIGINAL
P LA N OF CHR IS T lA NITT. I mean
that the Jews^ tho ajfociating with the converted
Gentiles^ and acknowledging them for brethren^ were
fiill to obferve their own Law thro-out all generati-
ons j and that the Gentiles^ who became fo far r Jews
as
PREFACE. V
tis to acknowledge ONE GOD^ were not howe-
"uer to obferve the JewiJJj Law : but that both of
them were to he for ever after united into one body
or fellowflnp^ and in that part of Chriftianity par-
ticularly^ which^ better than all the preparative pur-
gations of the Philofophers^ requires the fan^tfica-
tion of the fpirit^ or the renovation of the inward
man ^ and wherin alone the Jew and the Gentile^ Rom.x.ii."
the Civilized and the Barbarian^ the Freeman ^W^al.in.28.
^ ,^ 11 ■ r< 1 Col. 111.11.
the Bondjlave^ are all one 111 Christ, however
ctherwife differing in their circumftances. In corn-
par ifon of the New Creature, Circumcifion and Un-
circumcifion are as nothing : which yet no more takes
away the diflin^ion of Jewifh and Gentile Chrifti-
ans^ than the diftin6iion of [exes s fence it ts likewife
faid in the fame fenfe^ and in the fame place^ that
'in Christ there is neither Male nor Female. Gal. iii. 28.
57:?/^ fellowfiip in Piety and Virtue is the Myftery
that Paul rightly fays was hid from all other Rom. xvl
ages^ till the manifeftation of it by ] Esvs^y and Ms Y' Ep^e^
Union without Urtiformity^ between Jew and Gen- |jj^^^^°^,^^
tile^ is the admirable Economy df the Gofpel. Now^ Col.'i.'26,
this Golpel confifts not in words but in virtue-, tis-t-t,
inward and fpirltual^ abflracled from all formal and
outward performances : for the moft exa^ obfervati-
on of externals^ may be without one grain of religion,
ylll this is mechanically done by the help of a little
hook-crafty wheras true religion is inward life and
fpirit. So that fomthing elfe befides the Legal Ordi-
nances^ mofi of 'em political^ was neceffary to render
a Jew religious : even that Faith, which is an
internal participation of the divine nature^ irradi-
ating the foul'y and externally appearing in benefi-
cence^ juftice^ fanci:ity^ and thofe other virtues by
which we refemhle God^ who is himfelf all Goodnefs.
But the Jews generally miftook the means for the
end: as others^ who better under flood the end^ wou''d
not onely abfurdly take away the means > hut even
A 4 i^^
yi PREFACE,
thofe other civil and national rites which were to con-
tinue always in the Jewijh Repuhlick (as I particu-
larly prove) thus confounding political with religious
performances. From this doBrine it follozvs {its true)
that Jesus did not take away or cancel the
Jewish Law in any fenfe whatfoever, Sacri-
fices only excepted y hut neither does this affedi any
of the Gentile Chrijiians now in the world^ who have;
nothing at all to do with that Law. It follows in-
deed that the Jews, whether becoming Chri-
stians or not, are for ever bound to the Law
OF Moses, as now limited : and he that thinks
they were ahfoWd from the ohfervation of it by
Jesus, or that tis a fault in them fiill to adhere to
it^ does err not knowing the Scriptures > as did moft
of the converts from the Gentiles^ who gave their
hare names to Christ, hut referv'd their Idola-
trous hearts for their native fuperftitions. 7'hefe did
almoft wholly fuhvert the tR UE CHRIS TIA-
]SI ITT^ which in the following Treatife I vindi-
cate > drawing it out from under the ruhhifl) of their
endlefs divifions^ and clearing it from the almofi im-
penetrahle mifts of their fophifiry. So inveterate was
their hatred of the Jews (tho indebted to them for
the Gofpel) that their obferving of any things how-
ever reafonahle or necejfary^ was a fufficient motive
for thefe Gentile converts to reje^ it. Theywou'd
neither fafi nor pray at the fame time with them^
where they could poffihly avoid it. They had no
ether reafon for changing the time of Ealler, to the
dividing and di ft racing of all Chriftian Churches -,
hut that they might have nothing in common with
the Jews^ as being fo exprefty commanded by C o N-
s T A N T I N e //:7^ great^ which we are told by E u-
sebius in the ijth chapter of the ^h hook of
that Evfiperofs Life. And all Chrijiians are enjoined.
hy the 1 1 th Canon of the 6th General Council (in
Trullo) 10 have no familiarity or commerce with the
Jews^ not to call for their affi fiance when fick^ nei-
ther
PREFACE. vii
iher to receive any phyfic from them^ ?wr to waJJj
in the fame hath with them. I do here teach a 'very
different do^rine^ more confonant (/ am perfuaded)
to the 7nind of Christ and his Apoftles, as tis
more agreeable to the Law of nature and the dictates
of Humanity. As for what J think of Chrijiiamty
in general^ contrary to the malicious fuggeftions of
wicked men (whofe Godlinefs is Gain) I referr you to
the perpetual tenor of this prefent book. Tet they are
in the right of it^ if they mean that I disbelie've their
fort of Chriftianity > which no good man can appro've
inpra^ice^ no more than any wife man canunderfland
in theory. T'is Paganifm or Policy^ hut not Chrifti-
anity or Humanity. 'This will he cjident from the
account I give 0/ C H r i s t i A N i t y in general in
the fir ft Letter, and after a more particular manner
in the fecond Letter.
IV. VARIOUS difficulties^ and fuch as have
hitherto exercis''d many Pens to no purpofe^ or to the
had purpofe of needlefty divideing mankind^ are rea-
dily foWd hy this healing and uniteing SCHEME ;
not that I have arbitrarily contrived it^ tho for fo
good an end^ as feveral Syftems have upon other oc-
cafions been merely coined for accommodation : but I
maintain it^ hecaufc I judge it to be moft right and
true^ the genuin primary Chriftianity ; and therfore
produceing the promised effeEis of the Gofpel, Glo- Luc.ii.i^..
RY TO God qn high, Peace on earth.
Goo D-w ILL TOWARDS MEN. Among thofe
feemingly infoluhle difficulties cleared by it^ is that of
eating blood, and things fti'angl'd, and things dead
of themfelves > which I have brought (/ fancy) to
he no longer a fubjecl of doubt or fcruple to any one.
I have moreover prov'^d^ that the diftincftion of
Jewifh and Gentile Chriftians, and this diftinUion
onely^ reconciles Peter and Paul about Circum-
cifion and the other Legal Ceremonies.^ as it does
Paul ^«^ J a m e s about Juftification by Faith
or
viii PREFACE.
cr by M^orks 3 // makes the Gofpcls to agree with
the Ads and the Epiilles, and the Epiftles with the
Adis and one another : but^ what is more than allj
it jJoows a perfeU accord between the Old Teftament
and the New 3 and proves that God did not give
two LawSy wherof the one was to cancel the other ^
which is no fmall flumbling block to the oppofers of
Chriftianityj as the refolviyig of this difficulty is nofign^
I hope ^ of my want of Religion. Many are the falu-
tary fruits I fore fee from the obtaining of this
S C HE ME in the worlds and but one fad con-
fequence 3 / mean the turning to wafle paper an infi-
nite number of volums^ particularly on Juflification
in the modern fenfe^ on the feveral meanings of the
Law {a things by the way^ inconjiftent with all Law)
on- the calling of the Jews to quit the Religion they re-
ceived fro7n Moses, and the utter exploding of
tbofe forc'd or unintelligible j4llegories^ which have
no inanner of foundation in the Scriptures, but are
the precarious inventions of fanciful or worfe men^
fit only to puzzle the curious^ to amuze the indiferent^
and to diftraci the ignorant. One main obje^ion
againfi C^artefianifin in its infancy^ was^ that a great
many bookfellers woiCd be undone^ and cart-loads of
books become ufelefs in Libraries^ fhou'd this pernici-
ous feci prevail. But they need not be alarmed,
V. / SHALL mention here no other difficulty
removed by the SCHEME I ef^oufe^ but onely
two more J which I have barely toucht as I go along :
for the mafier-key being once found^ tis eafy opening
all the doors. 'The firft of thefe regards the con-
troverfy about the Seventh dav, or Saturday-Sab-
bath 5 and the fecond^ that ^/anointing fick per-
fons ; points which fome of late have labofd to in-
troduce .^ and which I have no lefs clearly than
briefly terminated. I ?night have inftanc'd feveral
others^ ccu'd the circ urn fiances of ?ny writeing this
niSSER-
PREFACE,
DISSERTJtlON have admitted it: nor an?
I 'wilUng to inlarge it at prefent fo very much beyond
its primitive ftze^ tho fever al things I have occafio-
nally added^ amounting at leaft to a third part of the
mihole. Whatever may he the reception of this piece
at the heginniyig^ I doubt not hut after a while the
Tnoft judicious and ynoderate will approve of thoje
Explications^ which appear to be the moft fingular
in it : for this is not the firft time I have known-
ihem^ who were the for war deft to write againft me^
afterwards to fall in themfelves with the fame fen-
timents > which has not paft tmobferv'd by the public^
efpecially with regard to certain late co?npounders for
M Y s T E RY. Tet I might hazard to prophefy^ that
fome of the fe fame gentlemen 7nay now be among the fore-
moft to conteft my explications j merely becaufe they are
mine^ or rather becaufe they are not originally theirs :
as others will oppofe them^ becaufe contrary to fome of
the received opinions^ or not precifely futeing with
their intereft. I onely deftre that in doing this they
wou'd deal cautioufly^ and not commit fuch miftakes^
as Dr. Blackhall did formerly^ expos d in A-
myntor. / made no obje^ions then^ nor do I make
any now^ to invalidate or deftroy^ but in order to /7-
luftrate and confirm the Canon of the New Tefta-
ment -, wherof I have written the Hillory in two
parts^ to be publifb'd in convenient time. And as
for my being fo particular in relating^ what the Na-
zarens or Ebionites objected againft Pa u l, befides
that my fubjeH manifeftly required it ; tis likewife as
jnanifeft that it was to ftoow their mi flakes^ which I
have done^ and that they had unjuftly charged him
with aboliftoing the Law. Let others make his Apo-
logy better if they can.
VI. T'HIS much I had to fay to you^ Sir^ in
relation to the firft Letter of the book you are to
fee printed. But^ as to the fecond Letter^ be pleas' d
to
IX
PREFACE.
to under fiand^ that in the heginning of the fame year
170P5 / difcover'd at the Hague a manuTcript of
the four Gofpels (then lately brought from France )
all 'written in Iriflo charaUers^ which "were rnifiaken
for Anglofaxon^ hut yet the 'whole text in the Latin
tongue. Some little thing in Irifl) it felf is here and
there 7nixt among the NOTES, which are very
numerous, and other paffages in the Irifl) language
occur r alfo elfewhere. Of what age or importance
this hook may be, and what Father Simon has
faid ah out it, with my ccnfure of him j yoiCll find
fo particularly difcufs'd in their due place, that I
need fay no more of thefe things here. However, be-
fides doing juftice on this occafton to the Learning and
florifjing Schools of the antient Irish, while the
rcfi of Europe coiztinu'd dijlradled by warrs and over -^
fjjadoiv'd with ignorance j / have fet in its true
light, beyond what moft others had an opportunity of
doing, the Chriftianity originally profeft in that na-
tion (wherof I have given a diflinct S U MM A-
RY in \'j paragraphs) and which appears to be ex-
tremely different from the religion of the prefent
h ijh . / mean the poflerity of the aboriginal Proprie-
tors, to whom, as my countrymen and fellow-fubjeBs,
I do moft earneftly recom?nend the impartial confide-
ration of this matter. If they are fond of antiqui-
ty, this Religion is much ancienter than the Popery
which moft of ^em now profefs : it haveing been the
peculiar honor of Ireland, as they'll find in perufing
this Letter, to have afferted their Independency
more ftrenuoufty agai?ift the ufurpatians of Rome,
and to have preferv'd their Faith unpolluted againft
the corruptions of it longer, than any other nation.
But truth being what people ought to value more than
either country or kindred, as I have not been want-
ing to commend whatever I thought deferving s fo I
have never palliated what I judge blame-worthy in'
Irelandy no. more than in any other country : nor
have
on.
PREFACE. xi
ha've I any "where exceeded the reverend Dr. V r i-
D E A u X 'j expreffions^ -who {in the 241/ page of the The 189th
firft part of the id vohime of his excellent pcrfor-^^f^^^^^
mance^ The Old and New Teflament con-,°^'^
ncfted) fays^ that^ in the ages I mention^ Ireland
was the prime feat of Learning in all Chriltcn-
dom. What he has f aid I have prov^d^ and thi^
from Authors unexceptionable^ many of ^em conteyn-
poraries^ and -none of ''em Irip. I floall difpatch
with the APPENDIX^ which confifis of three
fniall pieces, the two PROBLE M S ( whcrof
the firfi piece confifis ) are preparatory to a Treatife
concerning the Republic of Moses, a^
bout which few men have hitherto written coimnon
fenfe : not excepting Sigonius, or Cuneus,
or even Harrington the author of Oceana j
who^ tho the hefl of \m^ is yet very defective^ and in
many things erroneous. Next follows an account of the
"TURKISH GOSPEL by Monfieur de la
M o N N o Y E [to whom the Baron d e H o h e n-
D o R F fhow'd it^ after the owner had parted with
it /d? P R I N c e E u G e N e) and which I have ad-
ded^ as a further illufiration of the book ; and withall
as a conjirmatiGn of my own defcription of it^ which
I am perfuaded the Baron did not fJjow to that inge^
nioHS Academician. Lafily^ come certain QJUE-
RIES / drew up for my private fatisfa6lion^ and
that of fome others -y haveing already fent diver fe
copies of them to Afia and Africa^ as well as to
Greece.
VII. IN the marginal NO T'ES I have cord-
wonly expreft my [elf in Latin^ the obvioufefi lan-
guage on fuch occaftons : befides that it is intelligible
to all who are converfant with fuch paffdges^ and ^-
hout which others muft rely on the skill of thofe they
can trufl. But my text is plain and perfpicuous e-
noughy even to the meanefl capacity, haveing^ after
the
xii PREFACE.
the great example of the antients^ interwo'ven thofe
paffages into my oimi difcourfe in a continued thread:
and not onely being of opinion that the Jimpleft Stile
{not incompatible with the politeft) is in teaching the
heft -y but that every man^ who clearly concehi'es any
fubjecl^ may as clearly exprefs it. M^itty conceits
and harmonious florifloes are for another -giiefs fort of
writing : but obfcurity is to be avoided in all forts^
and nothing to be affe^ed but 'not to be mifunderftood^
if too great a care of being intelligible^ can he reckon d
aff elation. In the Greec NO I'E S at the foot of the
page^ I floou^d have avoided ligatures and contract-
ons^ which are no more ufeful in this Tfongue than
in the Latin 5 or rather they are fill as troblefom
and deform'd in the one^ as they were once in the 0-
ther. I admire t her fore that We t s t e i nV ex-
ample is not more follow'' d by other printers. For
the fame reafon the Greec is printed without Accents^
which are a ufelefs., perplexing^ and no very ancient
invention^ on the foot they now ftand. But let it
be fpecially remembef d^ with regard to all citations
of Authors^ that I give them onely for what they
are y haveing always had recourfe to the Originals,
whether quoted by others or not^ except where I hint
the contrary for want of fuch Originals, and neither
wilfully curtailings garbling^ or mifreprefenting any
of them : produceing Fathers as Fathers, Heretics
es Heretics, Antients and Moderns for juft fuch -^
and therfore not anfwerable for any thing they fay^
unlefs where I exprefly approve it^ as I may proba-
bly dif approve them on other accounts. I anfwer in
others for no more than what I fay with them^
which is nothing the worfe for what they may elf-
wh ere fay againft it. Their judgement of things can-
not alter the nature of them. I allow all of ''em to
he judges of the opinions of their own times as tofa^
(if they be any thing fair or accurate) but not al-
ways to reafon for me^ much lefs implicitly to lead
me.
PREFACE. xiii
me. rtoe PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE
I hope will be read at lengthy in the few places
where I have not quoted them fo^ particularly thofe
in the beginning of the twelfth chapter : and I ha-ve
taken care in general not to overbnrthen the reader
with citations of any fort ^ contenting my felf to prove
or illufirate my allegations by no more authorities
than are neceffary y tho I often abound with others^
which I judge needlefs^ or referve againfi Anfwerers.
VIII. THE S E Anfwerers naturally put me in
mind of Cavillers^ whom I woiCd not have to run
away with a notion^ as if I thought Faith did
every where fignify the Chriflian Infiitution > he-
caufe^ in the 1 6th chapter of the firfi Diirertation,
/ fay it does fo whenever opposed to the IVorks of
the Law : or as if I maintained Wo r k s did eve-
ry where fignify the Levitical Rites^ becaufe I fay
they do fo^ whenever opposed to Faith. The vari-
ous meanings of thefe words are obvious to every
reader^ as Faith {for example) in the 6th verfe of
the ifi chapter of j am es^ fgnifes a full perfuafi-
on : but in the \fl and ph verfe s of the fecond chap-
ter^ it fignifies the whole Chriflian belief. So does
it in the i^th verfe of the fame chapter^ as Works
there betoken the Levitical Rites : and the inftance of
Charity in the r yth and 1 6th verfes is plainly a ji-
mile^ of what is inforc'd in the \jth verfe. The
examples 6?/ A b r a H a m and R a h a b /"/^ the z i/,
21(^5 13^, z^th^ and zph verfe s.^ fJjow that works
here betoken the pofitive^ not the moral Law. For
Chriflianity is by the fame Apoflle^ in the z \fl verje
of the id chapter^ mofi properly fiird the engraiteJ
word able to favc their fouls, engrafted I fay on the
Law of M o s E s, not fan^ifying the inward 7nan\
yet for moft wife reafons to be perpetually obfervd
by the Jews^ and wherof Chriflianity isthefpirit:
for as the body without the breath is dead, fo>ni.ii,25.
Faith without Works is deadalfo3 yea and by
Works
xiv PREFACE.
Ui, V. 24. Works a man is julHfy'd, and not by Faith onely*
^ois is literally true of the Jews^ and had Luther
underftood this diftinclion^ he 'woii'd ne'uer han;e re-
jedled {which he once did) the Epillle of J a m e s
as ftramineous and contrary to the do^rine ^/Paui. :
which flands upon the fame foot with that of J ames,
as in our firft DilTertation one running may read.
Johni. 17.7^^ LAIVwas given hy Moses, hut GRACE and
TRUfH came by Jesus, who has confirmed that
Law. I hope no fmall advantage will accrue to Chri^
flianity from the fyftem advanced in the faid 1 6th
and I "jth chapters of this Differtation j in which ^ as
well as hy the Summary of Christianity
contained in the fecond DilTertation, tho not onely
the reality^ hut {as I am reafonably to hope) the
foundnefs of my Religion fiifficiently appears: yet
feeing learned difquifitions are not for every hodfs
tafie or capacity^ however grateful to the curious^
and neceffary for the proof of things y I fi all here*
after {God willifig) give a ynore difiinU; account of
my Religion^ fiript of all literature^ and laid down
in naked theorems., without ftotes of a-ny kind. I
promife you {Sir) hefore-hand^ that it will not he a
mechanical and artificial Religion^ confifllng inore
in a fiupid refpeB for received forms^ and a lifelefs
round of performances hy rote., than in a rcafonahle
worfhip or unaffecied piety. 'There will he 7nore oh-
je5ls ofpraElice than of belief in it \ and nothingpra-
6iis'd hut what makes a man the better., nor any thing
heliev*d hut what necejfarily leads to praBice and
knowledge : yet nothing that does not concern people
to know., or that they cannot pojfibly know at all. It
will contain nothing fabulous or myfterious^ nothing
hypocritical or auftere 5 nothing to divert people from
their imploymentSj or tending to beget idlenefs and
licentioufnefs : nothings in fhort., that contributes to
enflave their minds or bodies^ nothing to ferve the
purpofes of Princes or Priefls againfl the interefl of
tnankind. This you'll fay^ after what I have alrea-
PREFACE. XV
dy perform' d in the following hook^ fcems to be fufcr^
fluous : hut^ by that time the year csmes round^ you'll
find reafon for your felf to change your mind^ and
for me to publiJJj that Syftem of Religion,
F RE §JJE NT complaints are dcfervedly made
about the want of P I E T T^ wherof the caufe ne"
'verthckfs is known but to very few : for the little
effect of Religion procedes in mofl places from the too
great influence of the CLERQ T^ who make that
to pafs for Religion which is none^ or quite the re^
verfe^ as they make Piety often inconfificnt with Pro^
hlty J and this they do to ferve their own private
ends^ which in fuch places are ever oppoftte to the
public good of the people. But let it be always under^
fiood^ that I mean corrupt and interefled PRIES TSj
the bitterefl enemies to good MINIS TE R S^ for
whom I both have^ and fhall ever retain the highefi
veneration. The fun^ions and views of the latter I
fhall fpecify on another occafion. The pracilces and
pretences of the former are too flagrant to be denfd.
Every day yields freflo inftances of the ambitious and
tr alter ous defigns of degenerate Clergymen^
Whofe lives make Atheifts, and v/hofe doctrine
Slaves.
The ultimate defigns of fuch men are to procure
to themfclvcs Riches, and confequently Power
and Authority y as, in order to fecure both, they
train up their heurers in Ignorance, and confe-
quently in SuperiHtion and Bigotiy. Their con--
fiant Preaching will be made an objection to this af-
fertion : but confta-nt Preaching is not always effeiiU"
al Teaching. If the things preach'' d be met aphy fecal
riddles^ or fnythological tales^ or myflical dreams -^
if they are Politics inflead of Faith and Repentance,^
the People are as farr from being taught^ as if they
beard nothing: but with this difference^ that they
B ima^ne
xvi PREFACE.
imagine they know fomthing^ while they onely make
good the chara5fer of ever learning, but never bcr
1 Tim. iii. ing able to come to the knowledge of the Truth.
7* The moft libertine Priefis^ the mo ft illiterate Mendi-*
cants^ can eafily make what imprejfions they pleafe
upon a People thus pre'uioufty difpos'd j who believe^
when thofe Empirics are malicioufly blackening the
lovers of J'ruth^ that they are ftrenuoufty afferting
the caufe of God againft the fervants of the Devil :
and thus they are commonly workt up to become the
mortal enemies of fuch as are pleading their own
caufe J and who woii'd generoufty fet 'em free^ from
the bondage of their fpiritual "Task-mafters. Tloey
are accuftoyn'd to look upon them no longer with
eyes of Humanity^ no nor to believe their own fenfes
concerning them j for once they know ''em to differ
from their Leaders {whofe human Inventions they are
taught to be the Oracles of God) they abhorr ''em as
the moft licentious and abandon'' d Libertines^ be their
lives and converfations ever fo irreproachable : not
being able to conceive how one^ who is not right in
his notions^ that is^ in their notions of things^ can
be juft in his anions 5 even tho fuch notions ft)ou'd
not relate to pra^ice at all^ but end in pure fpecula-
tion. The GENTRY in fome countries know
little more than the VULGAR^ being induftrioufty
molded to their own purpofes by the C LE RGT^ to
whofe care their Earlieft Education is prepofteroufly
committed : or if in fome other countries they happen
to be more difcerning^ yet out of a fordid principle of
Inter eft ^ to which they bafcly facrifice Truth and
Virtue^ they affeU to be more credulous than the ve*
ry FULGA R'y and this with a view of being
recommended to the P RING E by the CLER^
G Ty who preach up his abfolute Power over thePeo-
pky that their own Authority may become arbitrary
both over thefe and him too. But haveing nothing
to apprehend in this Jaft refpc^ {our Britiftj Throne
being
PREFACE. xvii
ifeing happily filTd 'with a Prince no lefs difcerning
and judicious^ than jufl and magnanimous^ and ah^
.horring '•Tyranny as much as he defpifes Superftition)
Ifiall^ in jfpite of all difcouragements^ openly prof efs
the Religion I believe to he mofi for the inftru6lion
and benefit of mankind ^ for what is not fo^ can ne^ver
be true^ much lefs divine. This Religion^ I f^J-y I
fl3 all fairly deliver : and to theprefent reward^ which
the confcioufnefs of doing my duty necejjarily brings
alofig with it^ Ifloall add the certain profpecl I have^
that the few in all ages who are wife and good (which
qualities ought to be infeparable) willdojuftice to a man
who dar'd to own his affection to Jruth^ the beauty
wherof had fet him above dll fears and expe^ationsi
I AM farr from being ignorant of the ARTS^
which thofe corrupt Clergymen wherof I have fpoken^
and fuch onely of the Clergy^ daily ufsiy to decry their
Antagonifls ^ experience as well as obfervation have-
ing abundantly difcover^d to me thofe Myfteries of
iniquity^ and convinc'^d me of this maxim : that all
curious Enquiries and ufefal Difcoveries wou'd be
for ever ftopt, fhou'd men put a Hop to their
Pens for fear of Obloquy, or any other Oppofiti-
on. The meft learned and univerfally celebrated Mr.
L E C L E R c has written an entire DifTertation
(Argumentum Theologicum ab Invidia ducbum)
to expofe the Calumnies of Divines^ when other Argu-
ments fail them. Every little Chaplain's transform-
ing himfelf into the CathoVfolmChurch^ and making
Chrifiianity {forfooth) to fuffer by the exploding of
his whimfies^ ought no ynore to terrify us from appear-
ing for Truths than we fjou'd be fcolded or bufoon'd
out of it by others^ who write^ as if they had the
high office of being the Church's Jefiers and Merry-
Andrews. To [peak againft any one of thcfe^ if
you take their own word for it^ is to be an enemy to
ell Clergymen^ to disbelieve the Cbriflian Religion^
B 2 and
xviii PREFACE.
and not to own the being of a God. Numherlefs are
the wiles and artifices of fuch mercenary Priefts^ to
puzzk the caufe^ or to di [credit the per [on of an Ad-
Terfary j wherof I think it convenient here^ to fpe-
I . cify the moft principal. They are fiire^ in the firfi
place^ to mifreprefent the ftate of the ^efiion^ and
to make it more or lefs important than it is^ as may
\ heft [lite their ends > their implicite followers being
ever ready to acquiefce in their report of the matter^
2.. without once darelng to think for thernfelves. They
comynonly deliver the Senfe of the man^ whofe book
they oppofe^ in their own words inftead of his > under
pretence of fettlng it in a clearer light^ when indeed
they defign to involve and perplex it : or if they pro-
duce the words of the Original^ they are always dif-
jointed and imperfe6i -y and their obfervations upon
them^ for fear their fophiftry might be dete6led^ are
"^.equivocal., indiiflrioufly confufc.^ and obfcure. They
conceal his chief Reafons and ftrongeft Arguments^
loudly infifting at the fame time upon Incidents either
not ejfential or for en to the fuhjecl -y and nibbling at
unguarded expreffions or inaccuracies of Stile^ into
which^ thro more attention to the ?natter than to the
words^ the correcleft writers are fometimes apt to
A' fall .^ efpec tally in a work of any length. Unfairly
dropping the 77iain ^icftion.y they attribute Defigns
to their opponent the moft remote from his viewsy
and from the evident [cope of his whole writeing :
judgeing of others by thernfelves^ as if there were a
trick at the bottom of every thing men did-, and
that.y upon a proper occ:ifion.y they wou'd make no
fcruple of faying one thing and meaning another.
^' This puts me in mind of another of their main ar-
tificeSy for fo impotent is their malice^ that almoft
in the fame breath they make the fame man equally
ftupid and cunning -y telling you in this page^ that his
whole Performance is fo infuperably dull and incohe-
rent.^ as fcarce to deferve animadverfion : which in
the
PREFACE. xix
the next page they contmdi^i themfelves^ not oneJy
in the oil and fweat they expend to confute him \ but
in laying his plot fo deep for him^ and reporting his
skill fo formidable^ as to call for abler hands^ nay
feme times for the Magtftrate^ to take him to task,
"They draw invidious Confequences from his pofitions^ <5»
which either follow not by any Logical dedu^ion^ or
are difoivrCd by him as wrefted and unforefeen 3 yet
by them popularly imputed to him^ as if he had
a5lually intended and maintained them. They never J.
fail to accufe him of Innovation^ which^ if not his
greateft merit (as new Reformations ought to be fub^
ftituted to old diforders ) yet his greatefi crime is
many times the reviveing of fome obfolete unfafljio-
nable Truth^ a novelty not to be endufd by men who
live upon error. But what do I talk of Truth ? to 8.
which they are fo little us^d^ that they ever charge
their Antagonifl with not believing what he affirms^
and as writelng onely out of Singularity^ or vainly to
get a Name > not confidering with what greater pro-
bability it may be retorted upon them^ that the fine e-
rity of their own belief is much more juftly to be
caird in queftion^ fince it is rewarded with Riches^
Fame^ and Authority : which is the reafon.^ that the
real Infidels are {in appearance) the moft zealous
Profeffors and Perfecutors in all national Churches^
ever cver-a^ing their parts -, it being vifibly abfurd^
that an Atheift fljou'd be a Nonconfor?nift^ or that
any man who docs not care for Truth wau'' d fuffer for
what he does not believe. No^ no : fuch people can
hawl Orthodoxy^ and never fail going to Church.
If the Stile of the man they love not^ be chafle and g,
unaffe^ed^ fiript of the enthiifiafiic cant of the Fa-
thers, the barbarous jargon of the Schools, and the
motly dialect of later Syftems, then his Principles
are vehemently fufpeBed 3 and by how much more
they are intelligible^ j^dg'd to beby fo much the more
dangerous. If the dtfpute be about matters of Fa^^ 10,
B 3 and
XX PREFACE.
and that a man produces Authorities no lefs apt tha'ri
numerous^ this they call a Jhow of Readings or bor*
row'' d Learning: endeavoring to depreciate what they^
cannot difprovc^ and fanUifying their illiberal Scur-
rility with the name of Zeal : for of all men they
are the moft bitter and foul-mouth' d againft an Ad-
'verfary-y which the Popijh Jefuits commend as meri-
torious^ and which the Proteftant Jefuits praBife as
if it were foy fneaning by thefe laft^ fuch as a5l like
II 'the firft. He muft^ among other epithets^ be branded
with the odious denomination of fome ancient or m.o-
dern HE RES T^ which often happens to be onely
a nickname for "Truth : and^ whether he will or no^
he's made to agree with thofe in every things with
whom he happens to agree in any one thing j as if e--
very SeU did not hold fome truth^ were it but to
I z. countenance their faljhoods. If neither any nor all
thefe methods can run down his DoHrine^ they will
next attack his Perfon^ running away with every idh
Jiory they can catchy and poorly rakeing into the frail-
ties of his life^ tho he fhoiCd be lefs obnoxious to cen-
fure than the beft of his neighbors > and chargeing\
him even with the aUual guilty of what they pretend
to follow frc?n his Notions : never hefitating at th^
vilefi inftnuations^ to the end fome calumny may ft ick y
for^ of all ?nen^ they have the quickeft knack of cir-
culateing Scandal. Tet they woiCd do well to aftign
the time^ when a Layman is not to be twitted with
the follies of his childhood^ or reproaclfd with th&
exceffes of his youth {ftoou'd he be guilty of any-);
ftnce they will not admit it fair to accufe a Clergy-
man^ of any thing he did before Ordination^ or rather
before he's Doctor' d or Dignify' d.
THE S E are fome of the ordinary AR TS of
Corrupt Clergymen {of which alone I [peaky to fay it
^nce for all) and by thefe marks you fhall know them :
^Ht by none more than the charge of AT HE IS My
'ippich
PREFACE. xxi
nvhich^ in their pajjion or ?naUce^ they bully out againjl
any perfon that prefumes to contradict them : andj
ivhat extremely contributes to the fcandal of Religion^
and to make Atheifls in good earneft^ they commonly
lay this afperfion on men of the cleareft fenfe and the
fobereft lives -y while they beflow the appellation of
GOOD CHUR CHME N on the mofl ignorant
fots and rakes^ if they but appear devoted to their
perfons or their intereft. The P RIES 't-R ID-
DEN LyI ITT imitate ynore or lefs thefe practices
of their Clerical Guides^ till at laft a man becomes an
INFIDEL for differing from another aboMt the
meanefi trifle in nature. It becomes a Spirit that
haunts them^ and they meet it every inhere. Of this
a notable example is furniflot us by the author of the
Builder's Dictionary, vuho inveighing {in the ^th
page of his Proem) againft the defpifers of Archi-
teUure^ I muft and will tell fuch men {fays he)
the plain truth, that they mull; certainly be Infi-
dels, and do not deferve the title of a Jew, and
much lefs of a ChrilHan : for which his weighty
reafon is^ that if they were Jews^ they muft have
been acquainted with the buildings appointed in the
Oki Teltament 5 and that if they were Chriftians^
they muft have read the books of the Jews. But it hap-
pens unluckily for him , that Heathens and Infidels
have been much better ArchlteUs^ than either Jew^
or Chriftians. He concludes the page by telling us^
that Christ was pleas'd to exercife this art of
Architecture, and to be a Mechanic, even a Car-
penter y which I mult needs tell you {adds he) is
no fmall honor to the Mechanics and to Archi-
tecture : and I muft needs tell hiw^ that he might as
well conclude a man an Infidel for being merry with
his neighbors.^ or having a houfe of his own j fince
we read that Jesus had not a hole wherin to lay
his head^ and that he wept hut never laught that
*we know, lis feldom that Divines fix their accufli-
B 4 tion
xxii PREFACE.
tion of Athnfm more concluft^oeJy^ "which makes it as
contemtihle as the Pope's Bulls at Conji amino pie.
Nay Hell- fire it felf^ in their mouths^ has loft much
of its ant lent terror > fince they aftlgn no lefs a pu-
nijhment than eternal damnatian^ to the rejetling of
certain chimerical notions about Friefthood and Schifm^
alemhick'd out of the Fathers : and to the disbelief
ef certain Dohtrines of their o'tvn coinings ivhich they
neither praclife nor helie've > and therfore ought to
fafs for counterfeit ivith all others^ fuch^ for exam-
ple^ as PafHve Obedience, Indefcafible Hereditary
Right, and the like^ 'whether impioufty father'' d upon
GO D^ (?r M o s E s, cr J E s u s . Thcfe however are
the ft rat age ms again ft which I am to guard^ aga'rnft
which my Readers^ being forewarn' d^ ought to ha
forearm' d'y hut which piece ofjuflice^ owing to them-
felves as well as to me^ I am not to hope they will
he all judicious and eq^ui table enough to obferve.
WHE REFORE^ after all thefe neccjfary pre-
cautions^ I yet expert to be unmercifully pelted by
thofe 3 who a.re the leaft able to confute me^ fhou'd I
happen to be any where in the wrongs as no perfon
on earth is infallible. 'This anfwering for anfwdr-
ing fake^ whether the thing be anfwerable or not >
and the allowing of nothing where any thingis thought
jit to be denfd^ is fo vulgar and cuftomary apraHice^
that all wife men do as much defpife as they deteft
it : and^ for my own part^ I have^ without pre-
tending to he one of their number^ refoh'd before-
hand to receive all that fort of fire unmov'd > and ta
repel at the fame the attacks of my enemies^ tho
not with the like ft ink-pots to thofe they may throw
at me. Of this I gave a fpecimen in Amyntor. The
only favor I deftre isj that as I wrote my book alcne^
I may anfwer alone for ity and that Meg ale tor
he not made to adopt the contents of all the Letters
joe receives^ no more than of all the Bocks in his Lir
hrary.
PREFACE.
Irary. B:it being a forene}\ he's happily out of the
reach of their fpite. I fay as much however on the
behalf of my other Friends at home , for it is an ar-
tifice peculiar to certain folks^ to hook in every one
they dijlike^ to what they frft proclaim a crime. Be-
ftdes^ that in other refpeEls^ the thing is very unfair :
for if the Book be good the true Juthor ought not to
be rob'd of the praife he deferves > and if it be bad^
no others ought to fuffer for a faulty they did not
commit. 'Thus {for exa??iple ) have I my felf been,
by more than one^ no lefs confidently than falfely re-
ported^ to have had a hand in the Difcourfe of Free-
thinking j of which charge^ neverthelcfs^ lam quite
as clear as themfelves. I -never club brains^ I do
affure them. But my Adverfaries thought it enough,
that J am well acquainted with the writer of that
hook^ who is a very worthy Gentleman and a ftanch
Engl i firm an. With fuch I fioall ever think it a hap-
pinefis to be acquainted, let their fpeculative Senti-
ments be what they will > for which I am no more
hound to be accountable, than they for mine. Other-
wife I fiy)0'Cd have a fiine task indeed on my hands,
heingintimate with Turks and Jews, with Chriftians
of mofi deno'mi fiat ions, with Deifis and Sceptics, with
men of wit or worth in every nation of Europe^ and
with fome out of it. I wifio I were with more fo every
where. "This was the laudable manner of the Anti-
ents, this I take to be the way to fiolid Knowledge,
this I am certain is true Hwrnanity : and as I fet no
value on the judgment of peevifl) narrow-fouVd Bi^
gots of any kind, by whom no Improvement is to be
made^ cramping onJhe contrary all generous Re-
fear ches y fio I am perfiuaded, that whatever is afraid
to truft it fielf alone abroad, is not able to ft and alone
at home. A good Caufe dares hear the worft that
,jcan be [aid againft it, having no difirufi of its own
Worth. I dare venture my Belief with any man. If
lis right he may come into it, if wrong he 7nay con-
vince
xxm
xxiv PREFACE.
*vince me^ and if heUl do neither he's at his liberty :
it breaks no fquares at all^ provided he's mafter of
any Art ^ or Science^ or other good §uality^ by which
I may reap any benefit or entertainment.
ALL the arts of defamation I have enumerated^
ure now jointly put in pra5life in this nation againji
me man > for being nobly ingag'd in the caufe of Man-
kind^ in the caufe of Chrifiianity^ in that of the Re-
formation^ and in that of the L^ity. By this ac-
count every one mufi conclude^ I mean the right re-
'verend the Bijhop 0/ B A N G O R : who^ tis to be
hop''d^ will not be deferted by the Laity -, whofe pri-
vileges as men andChriftians^ as Reafonable creatures
and Proteftants , he does with no lefs honefty than
courage affert^ againft the encroachments of the Popifh-
ly affected part of the Clergy, fhe malice of De-
vils is fet at work^ and the tongues of wicked men-
are fet on edge againft him^ for the ft and he makes
againft Popery j which is the heavieft curfe that can
light on any nation^ the greateft unhappinefs that can^
befall rnen^ with refpeEi to their civil or religious Li-
berties, i'hey who are for fet ting up themfelves in*
Jlead of God (no matter under what name) and cr
reding a Political empire over the under ft andings and
confciences of others > cannot bear with a man^ who
preaches that as Christ is King in his own
Kingdom^ fo his Kingdom is not of this World^ nor
Religion confequently to be propagated or promoted by
fecular Rewards and Puniftoments. Or if for mere
Jhame, becaufe the words are in Scripture, fome of
his Antagonifts own^ that C h r i s t's Kingdom is not
of this World 'y yet it is in fuch a manner^ as to be con-?,
tent with nothing lefs than the whole World for their
poffeffion : and favoring or diftinguifmng the houfe-
hold of Faith^ is in their fenfe to rob others of their
Rights^ to make religion a Moncpolyy and to confine
' th€
PREFACE. XXV
the Gofpel to their Peculium^ inftead of giving it a,
free pciffage over all the earth, 'This Antichrifiian
fpirit is the fource of infinite evils^ that will
certainly attend this Church and Nation ; unlefs^
in behalf of Chriftian Liberty^ other able perfons do
feafonably interpofe^ after the example of this mag"
fianimous Bifhop^ whom^ tho unknown to him^ I pro-
foundly reverence for his main Principle : however hs
?nay differ from me in any thing of lefs importance^ or
that I may poffibly differ from his Lordflnp in many
of the things I advance in this very book.
BUT to conclude this Letter^ the flrft of thefe
DISSERTATIONS {which I made a fecret
to no body^ fmce in the Tear aforefaid I fent it to
Me gale tor) did^ upon a miftaken notion of the
SubjeU^ probably occafion the alarm that was founded
four or five years ago^ by the ingenious author of the
"Clergyman's thanks to Phileleutherus Lipsi-
ENsis j as if a new Gofpel were to be foifted^ I kyiow
not how^ into the room of the four old ones. But now /
hope his fears will abate ^ and that^ for all this fame
Barnabas of Turkey^ Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and J o h n, may ft ill make good their pofts.
And fo^ my Friend^ /^^ Letters I wrote tn that time
of warr^ and fent by the poft under the feign'' d name
of Pa n t h e u s, / comirmnicate to you this day
without any difguize^ in order to publiJJ) them to all
the world. I am^ with perfe^ refpsEi^
Dear Sir^
^m. ;o. i748> 'Jfour m.oft obedient fsrvanty
7- ^
N A ZAR E NU S:
O R,
JewiJIhGentile^and Mahometan
CHRISTIANITY.
LETTER I.
CHAP. I.
N my kft Letter I pro-
mis'd to fend you a Dif-
fertation upon a fubjecl al-
together new (moll il-
lultrious M E G A L E-
T o r) and now I deiign
to be as good as my word.
But firfl I mull make one
or two reflections, which
however will not lead us
much out of our way. You know what vafl
fums have been publicly promised, and I have
known much ampler rewards privately proposed
to be given that man, who fliou'd recover the
remaining parts of the incomparable hiftorians,
LiVY
NAZARENUS.
Liv Y and Tacitus. Yet I am perfuaded,
from the prefent praftice of mankind, as well as
from feveral inftances that have formei*ly happen'd
of this very nature : that if any peifon were fo
happy, as to difcover thofe or the like valuable
manufcripts > he wou'd, contrary to his Own and
the world's expe6lations5 be left to the mercy of
the bookfellers, or the generofity of fubfcribers.
Do we not find all the books of the learned
fiU'd with complaints, that the ancient Egyptian
language and letters, with the means to decypher
their Hieroglyphicks, are irreparably loft ? What
labor, what expence do they not profefs they
wou'd lay out, to obtain thofe hidden, and
therfore by them rcckon'd ineiHm_able, treafures ?
cou'd they perceive the leaft probability, or even
pofTibility of fucceeding. But for all this, Tho-
mas Hyde, the late Bodleian library-keeper at
Oxford, Doctor of Divinity, Canon of Chrifl-
Church, and Profeffor of the Oriental languages,
after publifhing to the world that he was become
a perfect mailer of the ancient Perfian literature,
that he underftood their language and letters,
which arc fuppos'd long ago extinft^ nay, and
that he cou'd prove the genuin works of Zo-
roaster, with feveral other books of the
Mages (containing their hiftory, reHgion, govern-
ment, agriculture, and the like) were flill extant :
after averting all thefe particulars, I fay, and giv-
ing various fpecimens of their characters, in whole
pariages of his Latin ^ hiftory of the Religion of the
ancient Perfians^ tho referving the Alphabet a fe-
cret to himfelf 5 yet he cou'd neither engage the
public of any fort (applying to Whig and Tory
minifters by turns) nor a fufficient number of pri-
1 . Hifloria Religionis vctcrum Perfarum, eorumque Magorum,
^c, Oxoniae, 1700,
vate
NAZARENUS.
vate benefiicElors, to enable him to print the books of
that kind he had akeady procur'd, nor to purchafe
thofc others which he knew were now in being.
He was at the charge of calling a fett of thofc
ancient Perfian letters, and he once fhow'd roe
one of the books, by means wherof he attain'd
the interpretation of the relf, written in alternate
lines > the one red and the other black ( if I re-
member right ) the one in the old, the other in
the modern character: which forts of writing
had not the leall affinity or fimilitude together,
no more than the two languages. Tho I confefs
I never had any extraordinary opinion of Dr.
H Y D E 's judgement, when he took upon him to
reafon in matters of philoibphy or theology j yet
I generally found him a competent judge of fa6ts
in his moft peculiar profeflion, and cou'd not
therefore forbear wifhing he had received due en-
couragement : that, after his tranflating of thofe
books, we might like wife judge for our felves,
and fee how farr what the prefent * fire-worfhip-
pers in Perfia, with their exil'd brethren the Per-
fecs in the Eall-Indies, beheve with fo much zeal,
and conceal with fo much induftry, might agree
with what the Greec and Roman authors have re-
corded concerning Zoroaster and his Mages,
the Perfians themfelves, their cuftoms, language,
and religion. Nor is it lefs to be wifh'd, that
fome body, out of the Malabar language, wou'd
publifh the Shafier^ now lying ufclefs in the
3 Bodleian libraiy at Oxford -, and which con-
tains the Religion of the prefent Indian Bramans,
tranfmitted to them from the ancient Brachmans^
who affirm'd they received it from heaven. It
1 . So they are commonly y tho erromoujiy nick-nam'd ( as the Mah^^
mettms likewife call 'em Gaurs^ Heretics or Unbelievers) from thiir re-
f^cSiing the fire as a fymbol of the Divinity.
3. MSS. Bodl. liipra P. 3. Art. num. 2861.
fignifies.
N AZ ARENU S.
iignifies nothing how fabulous, contradiftoiy, or'
myfterious fuch books may proves fince they
fei-ve not only to difcover what the modem Indi-
ans bcheve, but to illuftrate what old authors have
deliver'd concerning the Indian Religion and
Philofophy. But that I may not wander too
farr, I cou'd never admire at our ignorance about
things contain'd in dead languages, or the con-
cerns of nations quite abohfh'd, when v/e ai*e fo
fhamefully at a lofs in the afFliirs of a people, that
have flourilTi'd farr and wide for above a thoufand
years, that are contemporary with our felves, that
are divcrfify'd into numerous fects and dialects,
and v/ith whom we not only daily converfe and
traffic j but who are alio in fome places polite and
extreamly fubtil, abounding with men of letters
in their way, and a great variety of books. Ne-
verthelefs, tis but very lately that we begun to
be undeceiv'd about Mahomet's pigeon, his
pretending to work miracles, and his tomb's be-
ing fufpended in the air : pious frauds and fables,
to which the Mufulmans are utter llrangers. The
truly learned and candid Mr. Reland, the
celebrated profelfor of the Oriental languages
at Utrecht, has exploded not a few vulgar errors
relating to the Alcoranills j as others in other ar-
ticles have, with that moderate Divine andfinifh'd
Scholar, Dr. P r i d e a u x Dean of Norivicb^ done
'cm the hke juftice. But the fubjed of this Let-
ter^ Sir, is a point not yet clear'd, if indeed
touch'd by any : and tho the very title of Maho-
metan Chriftianity may be apt to ftartle you ( for
Jewijlj or Gentile Chriftianity ihou'd not found
quite fo ftrange ) yet I flatter my felf, that, by
perufing the following Dijfertation^ you'll be ful-
ly convinc'd there is a fenfe, wherin the Maho-
metans may not improperly be reckon'd and call'd
a fort or feft of Chrillians, as Chriftianity was at
firft
NAZARENUS.
firft efleem'd a branch of Judaifm 5 and that con-
fequently, ihou'd the Grand Seignior infift
upon it, they might with as much reafon and fafe-
ty be tolerated at London and Amftcrdam, as the
Chriftians of every kind are fo at Conftantinople
and thro-out all Turkey. You'll further fee rea-
fons here to perfuade you ofa great paradox, name-
ly > that Jesus did not, as tis univcrfally believ'd,
abolilh the Law of M o s e s (Sacrifices excepted)
neither in whole nor in pait, not in the letter no
more than in the fpirit : with other uncommon
particulars, conccrnins; THE TRUE AND
ORIGINAL CHRISTIANITY. Final-
ly, you'll difcover fome of the fundamental do6trines
ofMahometanifm to have their rife, not from Ser-
G I u s the Neitorian monk ( a perfon who has hi-
therto fei*v'd for a world of fine purpofes) but
from the earlieft monuments of the Chriilian re-
ligion. And tho for the moil part I am only a
hiftorian, refolv'd to make no Reflections but what
my facts will naturally fuggeft, which fa6ts are
generally collected from the Bible and the Fathers y
yet I am not wanting, when there's occafion for
it, to chalk out the methods, whereby the er-
rors of fimple or defigning men may be feafona-
bly confuted: as particularly, by fiiowing the
moft material difficulties they object 5 and by ex-
horting our Divines, with all others that are equal
to the task, to prove the authenticnefs, divinity,
and perfection of the Canon of Scripture^ the beil
means to filence all gainfayers. Concerning the new
<^ofpel I difcover, you'll receive due fatisfaCtion in
the next chapter, and in thofe immediately follow^
ingit. In the mean while, we may (I hope) be as
reafonably allow'd to lay out fome portion of our
time and diligence about the Mahometan doctrine
(wherin we arc not wholly unconcern'd) as in
explaining the old Heathen Mythology, which
C makes
N AZ ARENVS.
makes fo great a part of our ftudies, bothatfchool
and in the univerfity. So much byway of Intro-
du£tion : now to our fubjeft.
CHAP. II.
AMONG the numerous Gofpels^ A^s^ Epi"
files^ and Revehtions^ which were handed a-
bout in the primitive Church, which fince that
time have been pronounc'd apocryphal by the ma-
jority of Chriftians, and wherof fome remain
entire to this day, as the Gofpel of ] am bs for
example (tho we have only a few fragments of
feveral others ) among thefe, I fay, there was a
Go/pel attributed to Barnabas, as appears
from the famous Decree o/Gelasius ^ Biihop
of
4. Hujus Decreti 'verba hue fpeBant'my cum variant ibus quorunJam
eodicum leSHombus, fc fe habent. Itinerarium nomine Petri apofto-
li, quod appellatur fandi dementis, libri o£lo [^ot'ms decern] apo-
cryphum: Aftus, nomine Andreae apoftoli, apocryphi: Aftus
nomine Philippi apoftoli, apocryphi : Adlus nomine Petri apoftoli,
apocryphi: Adus nomine Thomae apoftoli, apocryphi: Evangeli-
um, nomine Thaddaei \ut & Matthiae'j apocryphum ; Evangcli-
um, nomine Thomae apoftoli, quo utuntur Manichaei, apocryphum :
Evangelium, nomine BARNABAE, apocryphum : Evangelium
nomine Bartholomaei apoftoli [etiam ziOfnine Jacob't m'tnms] apocry-
phum: Evangelium, nomine Andreae apoftoli {ut ^ Vetrt] apo-
cryphum: Evangelia, quaefalfavitLucianus, apocrypha: Evangelia,
quae falfavit Hefychius, apocrypha: liber de Infantia Salvaroris,
apocryphus: liber de nativitate Salvatoris, & de Sanda Maria, ficde
Obftetrice Sakatoris, apocryphus: liber qui appellatur Paftoris, a-
pocryphus: libri omnes, quos fecit Lenticius [pot'tus Leucius, Cha-
finus fcilicet] difcipulus Diaboli, apocryphi : liber, qui appellatur
Adus Theclae 8c Pauli apoftoli, apocryphus: Revelatio, quae appel-
latur Thomae apoftoli, apocrypha : Revelatio, quae appellatur Pauli
apoftoli, apocrypha : Revelatio, quae appellatur Stcphani, apocrypha :
liber, qui appellatur Tranlitus Sandtae Mariae, apocryphus: liber, qui
appellatur Sortes Apoftolorum, apocryphus: liber, qui appellatur
Laus Apoftolorum, apocryphus: liber Canonum Apoftolorum, a-
pocryphus; Epiftola Jefti ad Abgarum regem, apocrypha ■
N AZ ARENUS.
of Rome^ who inferts it by name in his roll of
apocryphal books. Yet G e l a s i u s, who only
augmented and confirm'd it, is not generally al-
low'd to be the firll author of this Decree -^ but
D A M A s u s before him, as it was augmented a-
gain by Hormisdas after him. , The Gofpel
£?/ Barnabas is likewife quoted in the Index
of the Scriptures^ which Cotelerius has
^ publifh'd from the lySpth manufcript of the
french King's library. Tis further mention'd in the
Z0(5th manufcript of the Baroccias collecti-
on in the Bodleian ^ libraiy, and is follov^'d by
the Gofpel according to Matth : which, to be fure,
fignifies Matthias and not Matthew^
fince not only in fome copies of the Gelafian De-
crce there is a Gofpel attributed to Matthias,
but alfo by Origen, Eusebius, Jerom,
and Ambrose, as may befeen by the Catalogues
Apud Gratian. dijlinB. i^. can. 3. ^ intomo 4. Co?}ciIior. ac alibi
pajjim.
5-. Indiculus Scripturarum, in Judicio de Conflitiit. ApoJloUc.
6. Catalcgus hicce Barroccimns, cui noftras obfervat<07ies uncinulif
iKclufas interffergemus, fic fe habet in pmeMclo codice pofi Damafcenum
de menfibus Macedonum. AS'chu (Hbri nimirum Adamo olim a
Judaeis affidti, fpeciatim farva Genefis) Es^wy {(cMctt prophetta)
Acti''i^(itidempr:>phetia) nArpiapX'^' {TijiatmntuiTi duodecimFa-
triarcharum) lci'(7i
tctAi/4'<> Yl^.CioS'oi k-m ^i^cf/ym A?7orcAcr ( Petji
nempe, Pauli, Joannis, thomae, & cetcrorum) ^i^va^^ Fa-/rc-
A», ilcivKy. 'JPcf.^K;^ rictvAsf Aro;cAAf ^^f* A/cT'iicr^ctA/ct Kam/x^j-
TO^, lyVclTlii^lS'AfTKcLh.ldL [HoAL'/CCip'TS A^cTrfCTK-OlA/C ] ^ V AT'
r E A I O N'K ATA B A P N A B A N, Vvrtyyihiov k-clta M ^.t-^ .
Habentur o* i^i(^r apocrypha in Nicephori Chronographia {i^el ptitfi in
Stichofnettu eidem addita) Th^n^aeEvangeliiim, Clementis primal
fecunda EpiftoJa, Ipnatii Epiftoke omnes, cum Hermac pallgre.
c % of
S N AZ ARE NV S.
offuch as have written concerning the Apocry-
phal books of the New 'Teftament. However we
muft not conceal that in the forefaid Index of
CoTELERius, which is the veiy fame with
that of the Bodleian library, Matthew is
printed at length y whether it be erroneoufly ex-
prelt fo in the manufcript, or that the tranfcri^
ber has from M at t h, unaware of this diftin-
ftion, made Matthew. But notwithftand-
ing ancient teftimonies, there appears not one
fingle word or fragment of the Gofpel ^/Bar-
nabas, printed by any author under this title :
yet in the 7^^t\\Baroccian ^ manufcript there is one
fragment of it in the following words. 'The A-
poftle Barnabas fays^ he gets the worft of it^
"who overcomes in evil contentions j becaufe he thus
comes to have the more ^ fin. Barnabas is
here calPd an Apoflle, as he's more than once fo
term'd by » Clemens Alexandrinus,
'A^s xiv. and indeed by Luke himfelf, or whoever was
^4^' the writer of the AUs of the Apoftks. But no
particular work of Barnabas being quoted
in the Baroccian manufcript, I know (Sir) that a
perfon of your exadnefs w^ill prefently ask me,
how I come to affirm that this Saying did belong
to his Gofpel? fince it can be no fulficicnt proof
hereof, that it is not to be found in the Epiftle
extant under his name. The objeftion mull be
granted to be pertinent, becaufe he might have
written other books to us unknown 5 and ther-
fore I promife a fitisfadory anfwer in a few words.
7. Vide Grabii Spicilegium Patrum, torn. i. p. 302.
9. Strom at. lib. 2. Sic etiam audit apud plerofque V aires, ^ fa-
rum ahefl quin EpiJioU ipfi tril>uta, a qtiibufdam hodieciue habeatur
Canoy/tca.
whicfi
NAZARENUS.
which will appear in a better light further on in
this Letter^ the longell I ever fent you. As for
the Epiftle afcrib'd to Barnabas, and which
is ilill extant, it has been prov'd long fince to be
fpurious by feveral able hands : but let it be of
what authority you will, the modern Gofpel^ of
which we lliall fpeak prefently, cou'd not be writ-
ten by the fame perfon > feeing the Epiftle is pur-
pofely direded againft the Judaizing Chriflians.
CHAP. III.
AFTER giving tl-iis account of the ancient
Gofpel / B A R N A B A s, or rather a bare
proof that formerly there was fuch a Gofpel^ I come
now to the Gofpel of the Mahometans^ which ve-
ry probably is in great part the fame book with
that ofBARNABAS> and fo not yet extind, as
all Chriftian writers have hitherto imagined. But
here I know you'll be furpriz'd, that I fhou'd
talk of any Gofpel of the Mahometans at all. You'll
ceafe your wonder neverthelefs, when you confi-
der how the Mahometans believe, as a funda-
mental article, that there have been fix mo ft e-
minent perfons, who Vv^ere the authors of new
Inftitutionsj every one of thefe gradually ex-
ceding each other in perfe6bion, tho in fubftancc
it be ftill one and the fame religion. Thefe fix
are A D A M, N o a h, A b r a h a i\i, Moses,
Jesus, and M a H o m e x j whcrin all Chrifti-
ans (excepting only as to this latter) agree with
them, reckoning up in their feveral Syftems fo
many ^° periods or difpenfations, and calling the
lo. Tritum efi illud Theohgomm, germs fcslket humamm fib Ada-
mo ad NoMhum fu'tffe fiib lege Naturae, a Noacho ad Abrahamum fuh
fraeceptii Noachicis, ad Abrahamo ad Mo/en fitb Circumcifione, a Mofe
ad Chrijium fub riitbHs Levitkis, & fa indt Jtib Evangelio uffie ad
Millemtumi velfechndi'.m alios ad fap-emnm Jadimm.
C I whole
lo N AZ AR E NUS.
whole G O D's ECONOMY. Nor are there
wanting who continue fubdividing fuch periods
to the'end of the world ^ and^ according to fome,
there's but one period and a piece of one yet re-
maining : fo exactly they know the beginning,
the end, the meafure of time and things ! Now,
altho the Mahometans do hold by tradition that
Ada]m, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, and
other patriarchs and prophets, had feveral books
divinely fent 'em (even to the number of 104)
containing the reveal'd will of God 5 yet the
only obligatory ones are, according to them,
thefe four, viz. the Pentateuch of Moses, the
Pfalms of David, the Gofpel of J e s u s, and
the Alcoran of Mahomet. Of all and eveiy
of thefe books they pronounce in this manner,
nay and in thefe terms : 'whoever denies thefe vo-^
lumes^ or doubts of the whole or part^ or any chap^
ter^ verfe^ or vuord of the fame^ is certainly an infi-
del. I cou'd allege for this formulary many un-
deniable authorities j but fhall content my felf at
prefent to refer you to the third chapter of "ithe
" compendious Mahometan Theology^ tranflated, iU
luftrated with Notes^ and publiili'd five or fix
years ago by the eminent ProfefTor Adrian
R E LA N D, before mention'd. In the mean time
you may perceive, that the Mahometans are not
only more careful in preferving the integrity of
their facred books, than the Chriftians have ge-
nerally been > but that they are likewife, as ma-
ny of 'em adert, more confillent with themfelves:
fince if any book be divinely infpir'd, fay they,
every hne and word of it mufl neceffarily be fo i
^nd therforc no room left, one wou'd imagine,
I J, Adriani Rclandi de Rdigtone Mahommedica libri duoi
for
NAZARENVS. n
for various Readings^ or fuch other Criticifms. The
minute the learned may alter, add, or fubftitute,
what to them fhall feem moft becoming the di-
vine fpirit, there's an end at once of Infpration^
{according to thefe gentlemen) and the book be-
comes thenceforth their own : meaning, that it is
then the produ6tion of different times and diverfc
authors, till nothing of the original be left, tho the
book continues as bulky as ever. But it muft be
carefully obferv'd, that the Mahometan fyjiem of
Infpiration^ and that of the Chrillians, are mo ft
widely different : fince we do not fo much ftand
upon words, phrafes, method, pointing, or fuch
other niceties > as upon the matter it felf, and the
defign of the whole, tho circumftances fhou'd
not be always fo exad. 'Tis here we caft our
fheet-anchor, and tis here we are confirmed by
matter of fa(5t5 notwithftanding the 30000 varia-
tions, which fome of our Divines have difcover'd
in a few copies of the New T'eftament : nor have
the copies of the ylkoran efcap'd fuch variations
(which is impoflible in nature for any book to do) ,
whatever the Mahometans pretend to the contra-
ry, and even fome of themfelves have produc'd
fuch different readings.
CHAP. IV.
TIS for the abovefaid reafon, no doubt, of
joining the Pentateuch^ the Pfalms^ and the
Gofpel to the Alcoran^ that I have heard fome J*
rahians call Mahometanifm the Religion of the
ibur books, as the Chriftian Religion that of the
two books. Nor is there any thing more evident
to thofe who have taken pains in this matter, than
that the Mahometans openly profefs to believe
the Gofpgl : tho they charge our copies with fo
C 4 much
11 NAZARENUS.
much corruption and alteration, that our Gofpel
is not only no longer certain or genuin > but, ac-
cording to them, the farthefl: of all books in the
world from being divine. About this charge,
and the four books which they acknowledge di-
vine, may be particularly confulted 'The hiftorical
Compend of ^* Levinus W a r n e r . But why
fhou'd I mention Warner, or any other ? fince
the Alcoran it felf does fo often referr to the Pen-
tateuch^ the Pfalmsj and the Gofpel^ the infpirati-
on and authority wherof it always allows. This
camiot be difputed. That the four books con-
llitute the foundation of their Rehgion, is fo
much their general and conftant belief, that one
might as well be at the troble of quoting authors
to prove the Chriftians receiv'd the Old and New
Teftament. But fince in a late converfation cer-
tain perfons, who ought to know better, appear'd
furpriz'd at this > I defire that, over and above
the now-mention'd hiftorical Compend of War-
ner, and the Mahometan Theology of Re la n d,
they wou'd pleafe to read the formulary or pro-
feflion of Ja c o B ben S i d i A l i, produced
by the Maronitc ^' Gabriel Sionita.
Beyond exception is the teftimony of the cele-
brated Divine A l g a z e l, in his Expofition of
the faith of the Scnnltes^ or the Turkifh Maho-
metans, in contradiilinftion to the Schafites^ or
the Se6t of the Perfians; where, in the arti-
cle of the ivord of God^ he thus fpeaks : we are
bound to helie've that the Alcoran, the Pentateuch,
the Gofpel, and the Pfalms of David, are books
12. Compendium hiftoricum eorum quae Mahommedani de
Chrifto, 2c praccipais aliquot Religionis Chriftiaaae capitibus tra-
did-Tunt.
15. De nonnullis Orientalium urbihus nee non indigenarum
religioneac moribus, Tra6tatus brevis; audtoribus Gabricle Sioni-
ta U Joanne Heironita, Maronitisc Libano. cap. 14.
given
N AZ ARENU S. 13
gi'ven hy God^ and re'veaVd to his Amhajfadors. Who-
ever has a mind to fee the original Arabic paflage,
may read it in the 8pth page of the third part of
M A R A c c I's Prodromus to the Alcoran. In ano-
ther Mahometan formulary, quoted in the p4th
page of the fame third part by M a r a c c i, you
have the names of thofe Ambafladors in thefe words :
the Pentateuch was fent /o M o s e s the Son of
A jsi R A M, and the Gofpel to ]es\js the Son of
M A RY, and the Pfalms to Da v i d, and the Al-
coran to Mahomet. It were fuperfluous to
add the concurrent tcftimonies of others. But
ftill that Gofpel is not ours, which, as I faid,
they decretorily brand with falfification. Every
travellor almoll will tell you, that where Jesus J^^^^ ^iv-.
promifes to fend the Paraclete to complete or per- *^' ^^' ^
feft all things, the Mahometans maintain the origi- ^vi \^ ^
nal reading was '^Periclyte^ or the famous and iWu- compar'd
flrious, which in Arabic is Mohammed : fo that their*''^.^ Luke
prophet was as much, in their account, foretold ^^^^•'''^*
by name in the Gofpel 5 as C y r u s is behev'd by ^^^^^^^^'^•
the Jews and Chriilians, to have been foretold by ^^' ^ ''^^^'-
name in the Old Teftament. Here's one inftance'*
of Mahometan Criticifm > not lefs fubtil or more
flightly grounded, than abundance of fuch difco-
veries hammered out of founds or letters by Jews
and Chriflians : and I own that I have always ad-
rair'd fo few other examples of various Readings or
Interpolations were produced by' learned travellors
(tho fome they do) fince the Mahometans have fo
different an account of the perfon of Jesus
Christ, of his miniftry on earth, and the cir-
cumflances of his afcent into heaven. I was fom-
times temted to fancy, that the excefHve venera-
tioaof the Mahometans for the Alcoran^ made
them fuffer their Gofpel to pcrifh by neglcd : but
J 4. n^eaAi/l©-, 6c noa UAes^KhidO-*
correfted
14 NAZARENUS.
correfted that thought again, when I found fuch
multitudes of citations out of it in their writings,
over and above thofe contain'd in the Alcoran ^^.
the palTages fomtimes agreeing with thofe in our
GoCpels^ often with thofe we count apocryphal,
and oftner with neither. Hence I concluded, that
fince they counted the Gofpel a divine book, and
had more knowledge of it than their Alcoran fur-
nilli'd, they muft needs have a Gofpel of their
own 'y tho I was always aftonifh'd (as I faid) at
the negligence of travellors, or whatever other
reafon it might be, that hinder'd 'em from pro-
ducing that Gofpelj and yet fo pofitively talk of its
variety from ours. Nay, fome of 'em have di-
re6cly deny'd the Mahometans had any fuch Gofpel
now remaining j and Mr. R e l a n d, in his fore-
Tag,!^, mentioned Treatife, adopts their '^ opinion: not
to fpeak of M a r a c c i, and divers other Wri««
ters of moil Chrillian communions.
CHAP. V.
BU T at length (Sir) after wholly defpairing of
ever having a better account, it was my good
fortune, inilead of other information, to light on
the Gofpel it felf •, and translated into Italian, by
or for the ufe of fome renegades : for it is moft
certainly the performance of a Mahometan fcribe.
Yet knowing a more particular account will not
be ungrateful, be pleas'd to receive it as follows.
The learned gentleman, who has been fo kind as
to communicate it to me {yiz. Mr. Cramer,
I f. But ha'-uvng better hformation fince that timet he does in an
edition he has made of his book this very year, affirm, that the Maho-
metans have a Goipel of their oven (page 13) and J fuppofe he means
thofe of Bar bury i hecaufe he fays this Goipel is in Spanijh and Arabic.
Counfellor
NAZARENUS. ij
Counfellor to the King of Prujfjia^ but rcfiding at
^^ Amfterdam) had it outof the Library of a perfon
of great name and authority in the faid city ; who,
during his life, was often heard to put a high va-
lue on this piece. Whether as a rarity, or as the
model of his religion, I know not. It is in the
veiy firft page attributed to Barnabas, and the
title of it runs in thefe ^7 words: "the true Qo{^t\of
Jesus called Christ, a new prophet fent by God
to the isoorld^ ace or ding to the relation of Barnabas
his apoftle. Here you have not only a new Go/pel^
but alfo a true one, ifyou believe the Mahometans.
But how honeft foever they may be reprefented,
this is a topic where none are to be credited with-
out the utmoft caution > lince, tho every Gofpel
forbids lying, yet never are more lies told than about
the Gofpel The fir ft chapter of it begins ^^ thus.
Barnabas <^;? apoflle of J bsvs of Nazareth^ call'
^^ C H R I s T, to all thofe who dwell upon the earthy
wifheth peace and confolation. Whatever may be-
come of the truth, this is the Scripture- ftile to a
hair. The book is written on Turkifh paper
delicately gumm'd and polifli'd, and alfo bound
after the Turkiili manner. The ink is incom-
parably fine 5 and the orthography, as well as the
chara6ter, plainly fhow it to be at leaft three
hundred years old. I ever chufe to fpeak ra-
ther under than over in fuch cafes. Any pro-
per name of God, and the appellative word
D I O it felf, are conftantly writ in red letters out
1 5. He's dead Jince the rPrhing of this LETTER.
17. Vero Evangelio di leiTu chiamato Chrifto, novo profeta
mandate da Die aJ mondo, fccundo la defcritione di Barnaba Apo-
ftolo fuo.
18. Barnaba Apoflolo di JefTu Nazareno, chiamato Chrifto, ha
tutti quelli che habitano fopra la terra, pace he confolatione defidc-
ra. Chariflimi.
of
i6 NAZARENUS.
of refpeft, and To are the Arabic Notes in tranfverfe
lines on the margin. The contents of the chap-
ters are like wife written in red letters, and reach
about the twentieth 3 a void fpace being left for
the reft before each chapter, but no where filPd
up. The author of thefe fummaries was a zealous
Mufulman, who charges the Chriftians all along
with falfification, from this his only authentic Go-
fpel But they'll be nothing behind hand with
him, whenever his Go/pel counts to be better known.
Much care and ornament was beftow'd upon the
whole, and the Arabic word Allah is in red let-
ters fupcrftitioufly interUn'd over D I O, for the
firft three times it occurs. The Story of J e s u s
is very differently told in many things from the
receiv'd Gofpels^ but much more fully and parti-
cularly j this Go/pel^ if my eye has not deceived
me, being neai* as long again as any of ours. Some
wou'd make this circumftance a prejudice in fa-
vor of it, becaufe as all things are beft known
juft after they happen j fo every thing diminifhes,
the further it proceeds from its original. But in
this cafe the rule will be found not rightly apply'd,
till the Book is prov'd to be the genuin iffue of
Barnabas. Mahomet is therin exprefly
nam'd for the Paraclete^ as we have been told that
he's fo eftecm'd, by all the hiftorians of the Maho-
metan Religion: theMufulmans acculing our Go-
/pels of corruption (as I noted before) in the i6th
See d{o and 26th verfesof the 14th Chapter of John 5 and
John XV. pretending further that M a h o M e t 's name was
^^•^^^yftruck out of the Pentateuch and the Pfalms.
with Luke M A H o iM E T is nam'd again or foretold in fome
xxiT. 49. Other places of this book of B a r n a b A s, as the
defign'd accomplifher of God's economy towards
man. Tis, in fhort, the ancient Ebionite or Na-
zaren Syftem, as to the making of J e s u s a mere
man (tho not with them the Son of J o s e p h, but
divinely
NAZARENUS. x?
divinely conceiv'dby the Virgin Mary) and agrees
in every thing almoft with the fchcme of our mo-
dern Unitarians 3 excepting the hiftory of his death
and refurredion, about which a very different ac-
count is given from that in our Gofpels : but per-
fectly conformable to the tradition of the Maho-
metans, who maintain that another was crucify'd
in his fteadi and that Jesus, flipping thro* the
hands of the Jews, preach'd afterwards to his dif-
ciples, and then was taken up into heaven.
CHAP. VI.
Ho W great (by the way) is the ignorance of
thofe, who make this an original invention
ofxthe Mahometans! for the BafiHdians, in the
very beginning of Chriftianity, deny'd J? that
CHRisiv. himfelf fuffer'd, but that Simon of Gy-
rene was brucifyldJn his place. The Cerinthians
before them,' and the Carpocratians next (to name
no more of thofe, who affirm'd Jesus to have
been a mere Man) did believe the fame thing;
that it was not himfelf, but one of his followers
very like him, that was crucify'd : fo that fhe Go-
Jpel ^/Barnabas, for all this account, may be as
old as the time of the Apollles, bateing feveral in-
terpolations (from which, 'tis known, that no Go-
fpfl is exemt) fince Cerinthus was contem-
porary with Peter, Paul, and John, if
there be any truth in ^° Ecclefiaftical hiftory.
Thus Phot I us tells us, that he read a book,
entitul'd. The Journeys of the Apoftles^ relating the
19. Iren. lib. i. cap.15, gccltem Epiphan. Haerer24. num. 5;
20. Iren. 1. g. c. 3 : Eufeb. Hift. Ecclef. I. y c. 28: item 1. 4.
c. 14: Epiphan. Haeref. 28. n. 2, 3, 4. Idem aflerunt Auguftinus,
Theodoretu^, cum reliquis,
afts
t8 NAZARENUS.
a£bs of P E T E R, J O H N, A N D R E Wj Th O M A S,
and Paul : and among other things contain'd in
the fame, this was ^^ one, that Christ was not
crucify'' d^ but another in his ftead^ and that th erf ore
he laught at the crucifiers^ or thofe who thought
they crucify 'd him. Some faid it was Judas that
was executed. This laughing of Jesus at the Jews
was alfo affirm'd by the Bafilidians, as you may fee
in the place I quoted about them juft now out of
Epiphanius. Tis a ftrange thing, one wou'd think,
they ihou'd differ about a fa6b of this nature fo
early j and that Cerinthus, who was con-
temporary, a countryman, and a Chriftian, fhou'd
with all thofe of his Se6V, deny the ^^ refurreclion
of Christ from the dead : tho we cou'd eafily
folve the difficulty, were this a proper occafion
for it > and I. may, in convenient time, fend you
my obfervations on this fubje6t. But they who
deny'd his crucifixion^ deny'd alfo his Genealogy,
as it flands according to Matthew. In an Iriih
manufcript of the four Gofpels ( of which I ihall
give you an account in my next Letter ) the Ge-
nealogy of J E s u s is inferted apait, among cer-
tain preliminary pieces ^ and the firfl: chapter of
Ver. 18. Matthew begins at thcfe words. Now the birth of
Jesus Christ was on this wife. The Ebio-
nites, according to Epiphanius, had not the
*3 Genealogy in their Gofpel-, which makes it need-
lefs for him to fay ^4 elfewhei*e that the Cerinthi-
ans reje&ed it, whofe Gofpel was the fame. But
yet Epiphanius, who confounds every thing
Kcti nATcLyi^ctv cT/ct TuTo 7CCV 9(Ltj^^V7m* lo Bibliothcca,
cod. 14.
^^. Haeref. 28. n. 6.
ij, Haeref. i8. n. f. Sc 30. n. 3.
24. Haeref. 28. n. fl
(as
NAZARENUS. 19
(as particularly this Gofpel of the Hebre'ws with that
of M AT T H E w) tells us that Cerinthus and
Carpocras wou'd needs prove by this very
Genealogy, that Jesus was the ^5 Son of
Joseph and Mary. Nay, he farther acquaints —
us, how in the fourth Century, while Con-
stant i n e the great reign'd, this Genealogy,
with other curious pieces in Hebrew, was found
by a certain Joseph in a cell of the treafury at
Tiberias, which hehoneftly broke open to ^^ fteal
fome mony 5 and that this odd accident was the
chief reafon of his becoming a Chriftian. But
whether the word ^7 there fignifies the Genealogy
by it felf according to P e tav i u s, or the whole
Gofpel of Matthew, according to Fabricius,
tis certain that^^AT i A N left the Genealogy out
of his Gofpel 'y which fo impos'd on the Orthodox
themfelves, thatTHEODORET affirms he had ^^ re-
moved above 200 of thofe Gofpels out of pubHc
Churches, and plac'd others in their ftead. So
that the want of this Genealogy in the Iriih copy
of Matthew is not fo ftrange a thing, as it may
feem at firlt fight 5 which is all the confequence I
fhall now draw from it, refemng the further dif-
cuffion of it to another time, as it particularly re-
lates to our Irifh Manufcript.
IS' Haeref. 30. n. 14.
26. Ibid. n. 6.
17. To itdLTet yiAT^dlOV Ej3^X0y (pVTOVt
i8. Haerct. fabul. I.i. cio.
CHAP.
20 NAZARENUS.
CHAP. VII.
BU T that I may not forget, what I promis'd
above concerning the fragment of Barnabas
in the Baroccian Manufcript, I found it ahnoft in
terms in this Gofpel^ and the fenfe is evidently there
in more than one place > which naturally induces
me to think, it may be the Gofpel anciently attri-
buted to Barnabas, however fince (as I laid) in-
terpolated. I had not time to fee if it contained
the four fayings, or rather difcourfes of Christ,
inferted by L e v i n u s Warner out of Maho-
metan books, into his Notes on the ^^ Century of
Perftan Proverbs^ which he publifh'd at the end
of his Hiftorkal Compend^ cited before. I found
many fayings afcrib'd to Jesus by '^Kesseus
(as I read his Lives of the Patriarchs and Prophets
cited ) and by other Mahometan writers, exprefl
in this Gofpel of Barnabas : tho I have not yet
examin'd all of that kind I have obferv'd, no more
than any of thofe in the Alcoran^ the groifeft of
all impoflures. But from what I have already had
opportunity to do, two difcoveries naturally re-
fult 'y which cannot, Sir, but be agreeable to you.
I. Thefirftis, that we now probably know, whence
the Mahometans quote moft pafTages of this kind,
they have concerning Christ: fome having for
this very reafon rafhly charged 'em with forgery,
and others gravely averting, that they took them
all out of the known Apocryphal pieces 5 as if they
had kept thefe with more care than the Chriftians,
and without ever naming or producing any of the
Apocryphal books they cou'd fo eafily fuppofe.
29. Ad proverb, 6i. in Appendice Compendii hiilorici, fag. 30
30. Abu-Mohammed Abd-Alla.
"iths
NAZARENUS. zi
T'he Gofpel of the Infancy 0/ C H r i s t, publifli'd
ibme years ago out of Arabic, appears not only
from the invocation of the Trinity to be no Ma-
hometan impollurc 3 but from Ecckftaf/ical hijlo-
ry^ and the extant original Greec Manuscripts,
unknown to Mr. . S i k e the editor of it|> to be
long anterior to Mahomet; This is as true
oithc Gofpel o/James^ which boalls of being the
firft of ail the Gofpcls, ot the P R O T O E V A N-
G E L I O N : nor is it lefs true of the Gofpel of
N i c o D. em u Sj. which lall is only extant in La-
tm ; and feems by diverfe of its cxprefiions and
dodrines, to be one of the latell of all thofe fpi-
ritual cheats. I deny not, that, the Mahometans
have borrowed ibme of their fables from thef? and
the like apocryphal Scriptures : I only deny it of
all fuch, as believing molt of 'cnl to be cliird out
of their own Gofpel of Barnabas. They are not
ignorant however, either of the exifbcnce or im-
poilure of the juilmention'd Gofpel of the Infancy^
which AhxM^P Ebn Edris cites by name,
calling it alfo the fifth Gofpel ( as you may fee in
the 2d Chapter of the firii part of M a r a c c Ts
Prodromus) hut redundant^ fays he, in many things^
and in many things defe^ive. Our next difcovery IL
is^ that the Mahometans not only believe, as is
well known, many things recorded of Jesus in
our Gofpeh > but that they have likewile a pecu-
liar Gofpel of their own, tho probably in a few
hands among the learned, from which perhaps fome
parages in ours may be farther iliullrated : tor vt-
ry ancient books, tho never fo fpurious, alwaysr
fpeak the language, often cxprefs the traditions,
and commonly allude to the cuftoms of their own
times. I would here add, as a third difcovery, II L
that we have at length found out the Gofpel fa-
fher'd of old upon Barnabas, tho not in its ori-
ginal purity. But I had not the perufal of the
D book
li , N AZ ARENVS.
book long enough, to form any peremtory (fc-
cifion in this cafe > notwithftanding the force of
thofe prefumtions, I have already alledg'd. I
knov/ how difficult a thing it is, to come at any
Alcoran it felf j and how few have it in their hands,
even in Turky : Yet I have taken the moft proper
meafures to gain all the further light about the
Go [pel of Barnabas that can poffibly be pro-
cured > as you'll perceive by fome QUERIES
I have drawn up, and which I fliall da my felf
the honour to 3^ communicate to you in a few
days,
CHAP. VIII.
NOW, as I have before given the firfl 'VP'ords
of this Qoffel^ I fliall add the laft words of it
in this place. Jesus being 3^ gone ( that is intO'
heaven) the I)(fciples fcattefd themf elves into many
parts of Ifrael^. and &f the reft of the world: and
the truths being hated of Satan, was perfecuted
hy faljhood^ as it ever happens. For certain wicked
fnen^ under pretence of being Difciples^ preaclfdthaf
JesuS was dead ^ and not rifen again: others preached
that J E s u s was truely dead^ and rifen again : others
preach' d^ and ftill continue to preachy that J e s u s^
51. Set the ^ppcndix, num. III.
32 Partito Jellb, fi divifTe per divcrfle parte de Ifdrahelle he del
mondo li difTepoli; he la verita, hodiata da Sattana, fu perfliegui-
tata dalla Bugia, chome tutavia fi trova: perche alchuni malli ho-
ineni, fotropretefto didilfepoli, predichavano |e{lueflere mortohe
flon riflufcitato; altri predichavano Jeflti efftre veramente morto,
he riflufcitato i altri predichavano, he hora predichano, JeiTu eflere
fiolo di DIO, fra li qualli he Paulloingannato. Noi pe"ro, quanto
habia fciuto, predichiamo ha cholloro che ternono DIO, aziochc'
fiano falvi ncllo ultimo giorno dello jiiditio di DIOi Amen. Fine
dello Evan^lio.
ii
NAZARENUS. 23
is the Son of God^ among which perfons Pa u l has
been deceived, IVe therfore^ according to the mea-
fure of our knowledge^ do preach to thofe who fear
God^ to the end they may he fav'd at the laft day of
his divine judgment 5 Amen. T'he end of the Go/pel,
Tis plain that the writer of this book has known
of the diflention betwcn Barnabas and Pa u l,
recorded in the AUs of the Apoflles : and it will be Afts xv:
faid, perhaps, that this quarrel fet Barnabas a 3<^' 37.33,
writing. Paul had likewife no little conteft ^^* '*'°'
with Peter, about his manner of preaching the Ccm^xre
Gofpel to the Gentiles. Neither do I doubt but Afts x.wiVi
tis the Apoltle of the Gentiles, that is aim'd at in ^^^^ "'^ "*
an Epiftle of Peter to James, prefixt by
CoTELERius to tlic Clementines. The words
of P E T E R (after entreating James not to com-
-municate his Preachings to any Gentile, nor even to
anyjew without previous examination) are ^^ thefe.
For if this be not done^ fays he, our fpeech of truth
op toiovto Av]i'7r^.(T7tiV iTt no 7k
•^€K vofjL&)i TO) S'iA Moi'ij'sw? ps-^Mrr/, Kcu 'caro ra Kvtiov vy.cjy
^rtprupH^ci/T/ *skx TJK C/jJ'lQV ee,V7CU S'lAfJ.oyV^i €T« OVTCOi
eiTT&iVi ov^.i/Q- yyju M^H isrA^iKiiKJovlcUy ico]Akv « y.ist Kz^-tO.
ev (/.» ^etpih-d-ii ATTO TK vouov. Tovjo J^l eipilKZyf iv^ '7^
vtavIa ytVifJAj. 'O/ cTs, ovk oiS'a. ^co^^ tcv iyov vow irAy-
yiKKoy.iVoiy oi/f y)icov7AV gf zyov ^-oyov;^ iy.ov rov et^oi^Q-^
ewjai <^^viyco]z^9V iiTiKeieS^^iv ipytpiveiv : K'^yovii^ ^oii v/r^
eujjeoy Ketjti^ouuzvoii* Tov^o ^'.voJi ro iyov (pe^vny-ct^ cyu cvS
ei/c^uiXiid-iu. El cTr iyov st/ -Ts-ietovlQ^ ToicfjfJA TOhyuaiv ka-
TA-ilV ^i^ltt, TOJM yt€ 'CTO/r*/ »/ ^€T Ci/fi
mm^^Qty* Tom. i. Patr, Apoftolic. pag. ^02,
14 NAZARENVS.
'will he divided into many opinions. Nor do I knoiJtS
this thing as being a prophet,^ hut as feeing even noix)
the beginning of this very evil: for J ome from among
the Gentiles have rejected my Legal preaching', em-
bracing the trifling and Lawlefs do^rine of a man^
'who is an enemy. And theje things fome have en-
deavor'd to do now in my own life-time >^ transfornt-
^ ing my words by various interpretations to the de-
See Gal. ii. ftru^lion of the Law 5 as if I had been of the fame
11,12, iZyfnindi^ but durft not openly prof efs it^ which be farr
*^* from me. For this were to aU againft the Law of
God fpoken by Mofes^ and which has the teftimony
of our Lord fw its perpetual duration^ fince he thus
Mat.v. i^.has faid : heaven and earth fhall pafs away, yet
Luke XVI. Qj^^ JQ^ Qj. Qj^g tittle fhaii not pafs from the Law.
''* And this he faid^ that all might he fulfilVd. But
thefe^ I know not how^ promijing to deliver my opi-
Set Gal. as f^jon^ fake upon them to explain the words they heard
« ove. j^^^ ^^^^ better than I that fpoke them, telling their
dlfciples my fenfe was that^ of which I have not fo
much as thought. Now^ if in my own life-time they
dare feign fuch things j how much more will thofe^
that come after me^ do the fame ? This inoft re-
markable and inconteftably ancient piece, with
others at leaft as ancient, which I cou'd cite were
it needful, do manifeftly fhow 5 that this notion
of Pau l's having wholly metamorphos'd and per-
verted the true Chriflianity (as fome of the Here-
tics have exprefl it) and his being blam'd for fo
doing by the other Apollles, efpecially by Ja m e s
and Peter, is neither an original invention of
the Mahometans, nor any fign of the novelty
of their Gofpel: but rather a ftrong prefumtion
of its antiquity, at leaft as to fome parts of it 5
iince this was the conftant language and profeflioii
of the moft ancient Sects, as i fliall convince you
beyond any room for doubt,
CHAP-
NAZARENUS. ly
CHAP. IX.
To fet this matter therfore in the clcarefl
light, it is to be noted, that the Ebionites
caird Pa u L an Jpoftate from the Law j and re-
jeSed all his Epiftles^ as thofe of an Enemy and
an Impoftor. This is recorded by ^^Qrigen
3 J and Eu s E B I u s, which fhows that E p i p ha-
N I u s (whofe teftimony we ihall produce hereaf-
ter) is neither the only, nor the firft, Ror with-
out an author, that faid this of the Ebionites, as
the acute Mr. Nye has too pofitively affirmed in
his Judgement of the Fathers , denying this of O- ^ag- ?/•
R I G E N by name, whom I have this moment
quoted for it. The like charge againft Pau l is
acknowledged of the Nazarens, who were the
fame people under another name, or rather this of
NAZARENS is the only name they own'd :
and both of 'em, if they muft needs be made two,
were the firft converts among the Jews to Chri-
ftianityj that is to fay, the firft Chriftians, and
consequently the only Chriftians for fome time.
Mr. S E L D E N, never to be mention'd without
honor, fhows, that at leaft for the fpace of fe-
ven years after the death of Chris t, none of
the Gentiles embrac'd his dodrinej all his follow-
ers, till the converfion of Cornelius the ^fts x. 47..
Centurion, who was a profelyte of the-gave, hav- ^ •/*^«^
mg been of the Jewiili 36 nation and religion. -
24. Contra Olf. 1. f .
I,-. Hift.Ecclcf. 1. 3. c. 27. 'Ou7&/ '^i ^« uivA^or^KM ^ma?
A«t/15? as they faw feveral other
Seels had pecuhar founders, of whom they dc-
•riv'd their appellation. But we ought much foon-
er to believe the Ebionites thcmfclves about their
own name of Nazarens, and nick-name of Ebio-
nites, than J E R o M, or E p I p H A N I u s, or any
other of their enemies 3 who either did not know
them enough, or wilfully and malicioufly mifre-
prefented them. Others again, who cou'd no
more digefl this veiy grofs account, than content
themfelves with the lovely fimplicity of truth,
infinuated that thofe firll Chrillians were calPd
Ebionites from their ^^ poor and low notions of
.C H R I s t's perfon : a derivation as farr fctcht as
any other, and which diverfe learned men have
deiervedly exploded. Neverthclefs, whatever con-
fuiion and diverfity may be obfeiT'd concern-
ing them in I RENE us, Justin Martyr,
EusEBius, Epiphanius, Augustin,
Theodore T, and others of thofe they call
the oldi'^^//:?^rj-, tis conftantly agreed among them,
' that the Nazarens and Ebionites affirmed Jesus
^ to ha've been a mere ma7i^ as well by the father as
f the mother's fide^ namely the Son / J o s e p H
41. E3/6'j/c«cl/f Tovlouf o/x.e but that he was 4^ juft^ and wife^
' and excellent J ahon;e all other perfons^ meriting to
' he peculiarly calVd The Son of God, by
^ rcafon of bis moft virtuous life and extraordinary en-
' dowments : and that they join'd with their Chri-
^ flian profeffion^ the necejjity of circumcifton^ of
*- the ohfervation of the fabhath^ and of the other
' Jewijh ceremonies 5 which neceility muft be un-
derftood only of the Jewifh Chriftians, for the
reafons I fhall produce by and by. Eusebius
fays, that fome few of 'em in his time (that is, in
the fourth century) behev'd, like the Gentile Chri-
itians, the mother of Christ to have been a
43 Virgin j and that he was conceiv'd by virtue of
the Spirit of God, tho ftill but a mere man (which
is juft the Socinianifm of our times) but that they
enjoin'd the obfervation of the Legal ceremonies,
as ftriftly as the others. There were diverfities
of opinion among 'em, no doubt, no lefs than a-
mong other focieties, as this fame diftin^tion is as
old as O R I G E n's time : yet tho thefe latter were
a quite different fort from the former, as the beil
Critics fairly acknowledge , they rejected Paul's
Epifiles equally with the others, and were as high-
ly irritated 44 againfthim. But the Fathers a6ted
with incxcufable confufion and injuftice, to call
men profeffing two fuch contrary fentiments by
the fame name of Ebionites, if fuch a Heretic as
Ebion had ever exifted^ which fome of 'em,
as I faid, did moll ignorantly averr, efpecially Je-
R o M and Epiphanius: tho the Ebionites
42. Iren.l. i. c. a6: Eufeb. Hift. Ecclef. 1. 5. c. 27: Epiphan.
Haeref. y.n. 2. 28. n. i. &; 30. n. 2. 18 : Tlicodoret. Haerer. fab.
1.2. c. I, 2, cum reliquis.
4^. Hift. Ecclef. 1. :^. c. 27. Idem dlcmt Origen. contra Celf. 1.
%\ Hieronym. in Epift. ad Auguftin: 5i Thodorct. in loco jan^
notato.
44^ Origen. contra Cclf. 1. j-.
them-
NAZARENUS. 29
themfelves (as even Epiphanius 4f confefTes,
who yet will not believe them) deny'd any fuch
Ebion> and gloiy'd in their name, alledging
their poverty was occafion'd by the laying of all Aas W.
their fubftance at the Apoftles feet, for the firft44»4f- &
and moft powerful fupport of Chriflianity, by a ^- 3^^' 5/'
community of goods. Thefe Nazarens therfore
or Ebionites were mortal enemies to Pa u l,
whom they ftird^;^ Apojlate (as we faw juft now)
and 46 a tranfgrejfor of the Law : reprefenting him
as an intruder on the genuin Chriftianity, and,
tho a llranger to the perfon of Christ, yet
fubftituting his own pretended Revelations to the
doctrines of thofe with whom G h r i s t had con-
versed, and to whom he a6i:ually communicated
his will. This is the fiam of what we certainly
know concerning them" j for in ot:her things, one
or two* pointp excepted, the Fathers are; not of
accord. Moreover, the Chriftians are to this day
by the Arabians and Perfians calPd NAZARI,
and NOZERIM by the Jews, who calPd
them at the beginning (as I fuppofe upon occa-
fion they do flill) MINEANS or Heretics : CTJl^D
fince all feftaries, of all forts, are fo nam'd by
them y and that Chriftianity was then reckon'd
but a Jewifh Herefy, tho it was rather truely and
properly their Reformation. The Nazarens or
Mineans, whofe Churches florifh'd over all the
^^7 eaft, us'd to be curs'd by the Jews in their fy-
nagogues, at morning, noon, and evening pray-
45-. Haeref. 30. n. 17.
4^5. Hieronym. in cap. ii. Matth.'
47. yfque hodie per totas Oricntis Synago^as inter Judaeos
haereiis eft, quae dicitur Minaeorum, &a Pharifaeis nunc uf-
que damnatur, quos vulgQ Nazaracos nuncupant. Hieronym, in
i^iji, nd Angufiin,
ers^
39 NAZARENUS.
ers, under this very name of ^^ Nazarens j as be*
ing excommunicate perfons, and apoftates from
their body. Jn effeft, they were commonly con--
founded together by the Heathens, even a good
.while after die Gentile converts made another
XDhurch : nor is S e l p e n the only perfon, that,
in later times, has aflerted Christianity to
be no more than 49 Re formed Judaismj
the t;rue religion being one and the fame in fub-
ftance from the beginning, tho in circumftances
the Inftitutions of it at different times be different,
and confequently more or lefs perfeft. But we
muft not forget how his adverfaries us'd the Apo-
ftle of the Gentiles.
c H A p. X.
NOR does Paul deny the charge of the
Ebionites, that he did not learn his Gofpel
^^- ^.*^> (a phraze familiar to him) from thofe who were
11! & ii. immediately taught by C h r i s t himfelf. For he
1. 2 Tim. tells theGalatians plainly, that the Gofpel which he
ii. 8._ prmch'd was not after man 5 for I neither recei^u'd
Gall. II, ^-^ ^y ^^^ j^^^yg j^g) neither was I taught it hut hy
Ver. 1 7, ^^^ revelation o/jesusChrist: neither went
s8, 19. I up to Jerufalem to them which were Apo files he*
fore me^ but I went into Arabia and Damafcus,
Then after three years I went up to Jerufalem to fee
Peter, and abode with him fifteen days 3 hut 0-
ther of the Apoftles faw I none^ fave Ja M e s the
48. Ufque hodie perleverant in blafphemiis, & fer per fingulos
dies in omnibus Synagogis, fub nomine Nazaraeorum;, anathema-
tjzant vocabuium Chriftianum. U.in Jfriami cap. f. ver 18.
49. Nee difciplina ilia apud eos alia, quam Judaifmus vere Re-
fonnatus, if u cum fide in Mefliam, feu Chriihim, rite conjunftus.
Lor^s
NAZARENUS. 31
Lord's brother. And fo he went on preaching
this Gofpel to the Gentiles, as he informs us in
the fame Epiftle and elfewhere 3 exprcfly abfolving
them (and, as tis now generally believ'd, the
Jews themfelves) from Circumcilion, and all the
Lcvitical ceremonies^ againft which he flrenu-
oufly argues every where. Then he declares,
how that fourteen years after he went again to Je- Uid. If:
rufalem^ and communicated unto them that Gofpel, i, a,
ijuhich he had preach' d among the Gentiles 5 yet but
privately to them who were of reputation^ for fear Ver. ij
of thofe who did not approve of the liberty he
preach'd from the Jewifh ceremonies. Next he
tells of what paft between him and the other
Apoftles, who^ tho they feeni'd to be fopewhat^ in ver. 6, 7,
conference added nothing to him : but contrarywife^ 8, 9.
fays he, when they (that is, James, and Ce-
phas, and John, who feem'd to be pillars )
faw that THE GOSPEL OF THE UN-
CIRCUMCISION was coynmitted unto me^
^iTHE GOSPELOF THE CIRCUM-
CISION was unto Peter, and percei^'Sd the
grace that was given unto me 5 they gave to 7m and
Barnabas the right hands of fellowjlnp^ that
we fJoou'd go unto the H E AT H E N, and they
unto the CIRCUMCISION. This confent
of James, Peter, and the reft, the Ebio-
nites flately deny'dj maintaining, that if thefc
had approved of P a u l 's pra6lice, they wou*4
as well have gone in that manner to the Gentiles
themfelves, which cou'd be no lefs than the duty
of forxie of them: and that his rivalling of Pe-
te r and James for fuperiority, being ambiti-
ous to be the head of a party, is undeniable from
thefe his ov/n declarations. They further obje6l-
ed that he gave onely his own word for his reve-
lations : and that fome few miracles recorded in
{he jd5ls of the Apoftles were no demonftration of
■ his
/
3t N AZ ARENU S.
his miflion, for a rcafon we fliall alledge prefently,
which reafon confifts m the opinion they had of
this book. But to go on with Pa u l's account,
Vcr. II. when Peter (fays he) ^w as come to Antioch^ I
*withftood him to the face^ hecaufe he was to he
hlanCds fince he had ah'eady, it feems, departed
from the forefaid confent, recorded alfo in thefif-?
teenth chapter of the ABs of the Apoftles : for be*
fore that certain came from James ( adds Pa u l.
Vcr. 12. here to the Galatians) he did eat with the Gentiles j
hut when they were come^ he withdrew and feparat^
ed him f elf ^ fearing them which were of the CIR-
CUMCISION. This account the Ebionites
again rejeded as contradi^ory, fince James
was one of thofe, that according to Pauj:. him-
felf, had approv'd of his preaching to the Gen-
tiles : and yet now they were thofe, who came
from James, that made Peter withdraw
from the Gentiles. There's but one way in the
world of reconciHng thefe things, which we
{hall fee a little further, and firmly hope it will
fatisfy the moll incredulous. The Nazarens or
Ebionites ( for I ufe thefe words promifcuoufly )
wou'd likewife probably fay, it was this verymif-
reprefentation of his fenfe, that Peter meant
in his fore-cited Letter to James. And tis in-
deed more than probable, when Peter fays
Asdhovi^ there, that certain took upon them to explain his
^age 24. qj^QYi^s better than himfelf^ giving out that he was
of their mind^ but durft not openly profefs fo much 5
tis pritty plain, I fay, that the author of this
Letter had that paflage in his view, where Paul,
as we faw juft now, charges Peter with not
daring to own his opinion, for fear of them
Ter. 13. which were of the Circumcifion: adding, that
the other Jews dijfemhled likewife with them^ info^
much that Barnabas was carrfd away with
their diffimulation. But we ought not flightly to
nm
N AZ AREISV S. 33
run over this paflage, fince from the hiflory of
the Nazarens we fhall take occalion ( and a very-
natural occafion it is) to fet T H E O R I G I N A L
PLAN OF CHRISTIANITY in its pro-
per light 'y the want of which made it a My-
ilery to both Jew and Gentile, before the de-
claration of it by J E s u s : but fince that decla-
ration it ceafes to be longer a MYSTERY to
any, but to fuch as love darknefs better than the
light > or that take upon them to teach others,
what they profefs not to underlfand themfelves.
Wheras, after the manifeftation of it by the
Gofpel^ nothing is more intelligible or conceivable,
as nothing is more amiable or interefting, than
the true and genuin Chriflianity : fo plain and per-
spicuous indeed, that it was preach'd at the very
beginning to men of the moft ordinary capacities j
who were not puzzl'd but enlightn'd, not banter'd
but thoroly inflrufted.
CHAP. XI.
TO be c-arrfd away therfore here (MEGA-Gal. i. 13:
L E T o R ) muft fignify purely by opinion, or
difference of fentiments, and not by any feparati-
on of company : or elfe it wou'd be a contradi6ti-
on to the reafon of the conteft between Pa u l
and Barnabas, that is given in the A^s of the
Apoftles y the time and the place, at Antioch, be-
ing unqueftionably the fame. For in the A^s, Aasix.iC,
Barnabas (who firft entertain'd and introduced 27.
Paul to the Apoftles, wheras before none wou'd
receive him, nor beUeve him to be a difciple) is
reprefented all along as his fellow-Apoftle to the
Gentiles without fhowing the leaft fcmple in this
affair of the Levitical rites. He was deputed with
him from the Church of Antioch, to reprefent the
ftate
34 N AZ ARE NVS.
ftatc of this fame controverfy to the Apoftles at
Jerufalem > and came back again in his company
with the determination they made in this cafe,
wherin he's ever mention'd as of Pa u l 's fide.
Then follows this different account of the quarrel
lhid.T9. 36, in thefe words. Pa u l faid unto Barnabas,
37» &'^' Jet us goagain^ and mjit our brethren in every City^
rcohere we have preach' d the word of the Lord^ and
fee how they do. And Barnabas determin d to
take with them John whofe Surname was Mark :
and Pa u l thought not good to take him with them^
who departed from them from Pamphylia^ and went
not with them to the work. And the contention was
fo fharp between them^ that they departed afunder
one from the other : and fo Barnabas took
5° Mark, and faiVd unto Cyprus 3 and Pa u l
chofe Silas, and departed. This is quite another
flory, and we learn from it that Barnabas
now preach'd apart > which probably gave a han-
dle to Impoflors, of framing a Gofpel in his name^
But the Ebionites did not troble themfelves with
this difference feeming or real, nor with anything
elfe in the AUs of the Apofiles^ which they rejedb-
ed as a 5 ' fpurious piece j not deferving the title,
were the contents of it true : fince nothing was
faid thcrin of many of the Apoflles, and compara-
tively very little of Peter or James, being
almoft wholly taken up about Paul. Neither
did the 5^ Cerinthians (a branch of the Ebionites)
any more than the s' Marcionites, acknowledge
it : and the Ebionites had veiy different Acts of
the Apoflles^ wherin it was recorded, among other
5-0. His Sifter's Son, Co). 4. 10.
5-1. Epiphan. Haeref. 50. n. ^6.
52. Philaftr. Haeref. 7,6.
^5, Teriuiiisn. contra Marcion, 1. r. c. a^
thing%
N AZ ARENV S. 35
things, that ^4 P a u l isoai of Tarfusj which he
owns and denies not^ fays Epipmanius. It was
added, that he was originally a Heathen^ from that
faff age where it is truely faidby him^ I am a man of ^^i^ -xak
TarfuSj a citizen of no mean city-, whence they con- 39,
elude him to have been a Heathen both by the fa*
ther and mother's fide. It was further affirm'd in
thofe jl6is that he came to Jerufalem^ ftafd there
for fome time^ and had a mind to marry the High
Prieft's daughter 5 on the account of which he became
a profelyte^ and was circumcised ( contrary to what Phil, ifi, fi
he relates of himfelf in his Epiftle to the Philippi- Aasxxiii,
ans^ as well as often elfewhere) but that afterwards ^'^^''^\'
not obtaining the young woman^ he was angry y and^^'^^^^
wrote againfi Circumcifion^ againfi the Sabbath^
and againfi the keeping of the Law. The Ebionites
likcwife retorted the charge of diflimulation on
Pa u L himfelf, not only in circumcifing T i m o- a^s^vL rl
THY, tho the fon of a Heathen, becaufe of the 4,3-
Jews that dwelt at Lyflra and Iconium 3 but par-
ticularly as to his condu6t on another occafion,
which was thus. After he had gone up to Jeru-
falem, and declar'd to J a m e s and all the Elders,
what had pafl in his miniftry among the Gentiles, ibll. xxL
they f aid unto him: thou feeft^ brother^ how many io~i6,
thoufands of the Jews there are which believe^ and
they are ALL zealous of the Law (as we fhow'd be-
^^Q^etciy ZK Ta TO'zr\i S"iA to ^iKa.K))^i<; yV tuSlov ptid-?t', or/
T<^pcr«f$" wK' E/Tct caTyois-iV
aujov eivcu 'YKKtiva, km 'EAA^?f/c^©- /^n^p-i^ kcu *EAA)?i'©-
'srpO" yety.ov ayu.yi^i Kif.t rma Ihka 'ur^^O'tiAvlov yivi^,
}COl]a tzrse^TO/y.H? y^yC^-OZVAt, KAI KaJa ^*33c«TJ?9 KAt icuc-
'^iJiAi* Epiphan. Haercifwjo. n, 16, if,
fore
3«
N AZ AtiENV S.
fore of the Nazarens) ayid they are inform'' d of thie'^
that thou tcacheft all the Jews^ which are among the
Gentiles^ to for fake M o s e s > faying^ that they ought-
not to circumcije their children^ neither to walk after
the cufiom. So he's now underilood, I am fure.
What is it therfore ? the multitude muft needs come
together : for they will hear that thoil art come. Do
therfore this that we fay to thee. We have four
men^ which have a vow on them 5 take them^ and
purify thy felf with them^ and he at charges with
them^ that they may fJoave their heads : and all may
know that thofe things^ wherof they are informed
concerning thee^ ARE. NOTHING^ hut that
thou thy felf alfo walkefi orderly^ and keepeft the
Law. As touching the Gentiles which believe^ we
have written and ccnc^uded^ that they obferve no
fuch thing -y fave only that they keep themfelves from
things ofjer d to Idols^ and from hlood.^ and front
things flrangVd.^ and from fornication. By *he way,-
here is no reftriction made as to time or place, ei-
ther in the abftinence of the Gentile Chriftians
from thefe four heads, or in the keeping of the
Law by the Jewifh Chriftians. But of this
Ver. xd. prefently. Then Pa u l took the men^ and the next
day purifying himfelf with them^ entered into the
Temple > to fignify the accomplijhment of the days of
purification.^ that an offring JJjou'd he offefd for eve*'
ry one of them. It follows therfore irrefragably,
that Pa u L contended onely for the liberty of t\tt
Gentiles from Circumcifion and the refk 6f the
Law, but not by any means of the Jewiih Chri-
ftians : for if the matter was not fo, how cou'd it
Vcr. 14. be tmly faid, that thofe things were nothings with
which he was charg'd ? namely, that he taught
the Jews to forfake Moses, and that they ought
not to circumcife their children, neither to walk
after the cuftoms. And, upon any other foot,
wou'd not the other Apoftles be as great diflem-
blers
N AZ ARENU S. 37
biers as he ? this being, as I hinted before, the
onely way in the world to reconcile things 5 and
reconcile them it abfolutely does, without any
doubt or difficulty. Abftrule and multiform are
the windings of error ; but the clew of truth
is uniform and eafy. Yet to what unaccountable
fhifts are moft Commentators driven, to fave their
own precarious Syftem, and withall the integrity
of the Apoflles ! what loofe maxims, incompatible
even with ordinary morals, do they not authorize !
when nothing can ever do, but the real diilin6t:i-
on of Jewifh and Gentile Chriftians > who are
ever to fubiilt in the Church, as in the fequel will
be made evident. Neither am I altogether lingu-
lar in this point : for this very pafTage of Pa u l's
juftifying himfelf to his countrymen in this man-*
ner, appeared fo decifive to Jam e s Rh e n f e r d,
Profeftbr of the Oriental tongues in 5s Franeker^
that he doubted not in one of his excellent ^^ Dif-
fertations to maintain, that Pa u l taught onely
the Gentile Chriftians (and never the Jewifh, as
is univerfally fuppos'd) to abftain fi'om Circumci-
fion, and the obfei-vation of the rell of the Law.
He confirms his opinion by thefe words of Paul.
himfelf to the Corinthians : but as God has diftri^ i Cor. vif:
huted to every man^ as the Lord has calVd every ^"^^^^ >^ 9*
one^ fo Jet him walk 3 and fo ordain I in all the
Churches. Is any man calVd being CIRCUM-
CIS'D? let him not become \5^C\V^C\} M:-
CIS'D: is any calfd in UNCIRCUMCI-
SION? let him not become C\lLC\3yiQ\^'V>.
CIRCUMCISION is nothings ^and UN-
CIRCUMCISION /"j nothings but the keep-
ing of the commandments of God. Let every man
^•f. He's de^.d fine; the xcriting of this Letter,
f6. De fi(5tis Judaeorum 2v judaiinniium Haerciibus,
.£ ahi'dg
38 NAZARENUS.
cihide in the fame callings wherin he was called, 1
repeat it again, that Pa u l can never be other-
wile defended againft the Ebionites > tho I know
at the fame time, that this will be call'd contra-
diding all the Churches in the world : and I de-
fpair not of fetting the argument here in its due
light, as I fiiid before, without making my Dip'
fertation too bulky. Yet let Criticifm and Rca-
fon be ever fo clear in the cafe, let Scripture
and Hiftory be ever fo politive, or an Accommo-
dation with the Jews be ever fo much facilitated j
fome of the reigning Divines will be as fond of
their errors as of their benefices, and fooner keep
up an eternal warf between the Jews and the Gen-
tiles, than own themfelves to have been ever in
the wrong. No Innovation is the word, when
the quellion is all the while about reducing things
to the Old Foundation,
B
CHAP. XII.
UT waving what the Ebionites further urg^^J^
and, as you fee, very unjuftly concerning
Pa u l's diflimulation, let's now procede with in-
conteftable matter of facb 3 and obferve from the
• foregoing difcourfe of J am e s and the Elders to
Afts xxi. him, that all the Jews which became Chriftians
ao. were ftill Zealous for the Levitical Law. This
Law they look'd upon to be no lefs national and
Exod. xii. political, than religious and facred : that is to fay,
26, 27. &; expreflive of the hiftory of their peculiar nation,
xiii. 8, 9. eflcntial to the being of their Theocracy or Re-
c/LrpS! public, and aptly commemorating whatever be-
fl/Deut.iv. fell their anceilors or their (late 5 which, not re-
f— 10. & gai'ding other people, they did not think them
Y^-^^^'^^f^' bound by the fame, however indifpenfably fubje6t
ii\'xx. ^0 the Law of Nature, Our teUher Moses,
%S^ • fays
NAZARENUS. 39
fays 5^ Maimonides, did not deliver the inheri-
tance of the Law and the Ordinances^ hut to the Ifrae-
lites onely -, according to that of Deuteronomy, Mo- Deut.
SEs commanded us a Law^ even the inheritance of^^^^^'^'
the congregation o/ Ja c o b : and alfo to all thofe^
who become Profelytes out of other nations ^ accord-
ing to that of Numbers, as you are^ fo jhall the Num. xv.
fir anger he. But no hody^ againft his will^ mufi be 'i"-
forc\l to embrace the Law and the Ordinances. Be-
iides this, the Jews were perfuaded of the Law's ^^^^o^Vl*.
eternal duration, of Circumcifion's being an ever- Exodxjvxi.
lafting covenant, and of the Sabbath's being no lefs 1^. 17- ^
plainly deem'd than call'd fuch a covenant, not to ^j''^^- 5- ^
fpeak of the paflbver, £5?^, from the manifold exprefs Levifvii.
declarations and promifes of the Old l'efia7nent : ^6, (^c,
and all this without any other limitation, but that t>euc iv,
of the days of heaven upn earthy and the final pe- 4-o«Scvi.i.
riod of their generations^ or the utmoil; date ofoeut. xi.
time. They were further rooted in this perfuafi- y • ^^^l^*
on from the repeated words and conilant pra6tice ^ ' *^' ^^'
of J E s u s, who they believ'd came not as a di-
minilTier or an abolifher, but (as he himfelf openly Mat.T. 17,*
profeft) an accomplifher or perfe6ter of the Law, i^^.^^^'^*°*
the reftorer of the fame, and a reformer of the Manvui.';,*
abufes which had gradually crept in upon it : for 8, 9. Luc
the Pharifees had almofl wholly perverted, tranf- xn. ii.a^c
form'd, and made it of no eitect, by their Tra-
ditions, Explications, and even Difpenfations 5
as all Inftitutions (tho ever fo facred) come to
be corrupted and difguiz'd in time, by men
of weak or worldly minds. Thus therfore the
Nazarens, following the precept and exam-
ple of their mafler Jesus, concluded they
might be very good Chrillians, yet ftill ob-
ferve their own country rites (Sacrifices excepted)
^7. Tradat, de Reg. cap. 8.
E z there
40 iSf AZ ARE NUS.
there not being one word in any Gofpel concern-
ing the abolition of them, but dirc6tly the con-
traiy in all others, as well as in their own Gofpel
of the Hebrews^ or of the twelve Apoflles^ as it
was indifferently call'd. This is fo manifeft, that
in the late difputes about Occaftonal Conformity^
the example of J e s u s and the Apofbles has been
alledg'd a thoufand times, as continuing in the
practice of thejewilh. rites andworfhip, frequent-
ing the Temple and the Synagogues, obferving
the folemn fealls and particularly the PafTover, like
the reft of their Countrymen. And this indeed is
undeniable fa6i: : the Apoftles were fo farr from
condemning the Nazarens, that they confirm'd
their dodbrine by their own pradice. But then I
challenge any in the world to fhow me as plain-
ly, that it was onely by way of prudential con-
defcention for a certain fcafon, as it is now taken
for granted on all fides. I am as much as any
man for Occaftonal Conformity^ among Churches
not differing in cffentialsj which was evidently
the practice of the primitive Church moft proper-
ly fo call'd, and founded upon unanfwerable
grounds. 'Toleration alfo (in Scripture^ among
other names, call'd Long-fiiffering and Forbearance)
is no lefs plainly a duty of the Gofpel^ than it is
felf-evident according to the Law of Nature :
fo that they who perfecute others in their reputa-
tions, rights, properties, or perfons, for merely
fpeculative opinions, or for things in their own
nature indifferent, are fo far equally devefted both
of Humanity and Chriftianity. But the prefent
cafe is nothing at all to the matter, nor can there
be any folution given of it (otherwife than on the
foot of our fcheme) that will not appear perfectly
precarious, if not fubje6t to fcvcral great incon-
veniences : as no other fcheme can reconcile Chri-
ftianity, and the promifes of evcrlafting duration
made
NAZARENUS. 41
made in favor of the Jewifli Law : which arc
poorly, I will not fay fophillically, evaded, by
making the words eternal^ everlafting^ for ever^
perpetual^ and throout all generations^ to mean one-
ly a great while 5 that the way of Chrift's accom-
plifiing the Law^ was to aholtJJo it > and that till
heaven and earth Jloall pafs^ iignify'd //// the reign
/TiBERius Cesar. Confonant to both the
example and the do6trine of J e s u s and his Apo-
illes is the judgment of J u s t i n Martyr,
who is very exprcfs, and repeats it over and over 3
that the Jews believing on C h r i s t may fafely
obfei-ve their own Law, provided they neither
perfuade nor force the Gentile Chriftians to do
the fame. Nay and he highly difapproves fuch
of thefe laft, as 58 made a fcruple of halving any
commerce, and connjerfation with the firft^ or even to
Jive in the fame houfe with them. Tis true, he's
of opinion the Nazarens were no longer under
the obligation of their country Law: but he's
fo farr from damning or excommunicating them
for their obfervation of it, as did moft of the
oih^r Fathers 'y that, notwithllanding this miftake,
he acknowledges them for brethren, and teaches
communion with them in all things elfe. If they
will needs J ^^ fays he, out of a weak opinion^ obferve
5-8. YLuj /j.nS'i acii'coifeiu ouihict^ »i Itia^ toi^ raovjoi^ toA-
{jMi^iij o/< iyco Qu (TVvcuvQ- eif^t' In dialogo cum Tryphonc
Judaea.
S'WAvlcU VVV T^jpS/J/j KAl Tff^KAfJ.^AVi^i KAJ. y.OlVl'JVZlV
a'TTAVTOy^ OULCO^ 0U07'7rhAVyV0li KCU A.S'i^^pOl^, i'itV A-TTOfpAlVl^'
Id. IbM. ' •
' E 3 whatever
42 N AZ ARE NUS.
whatever they can of the Laws of Moses {which
we think were ordain' d out of regard to the hard-
nefs of the peopWs hearts) and add to thefe their
hope in Jesus, with the practice of the eternal
and natural virtues of Jujiice and Piety -y being fur-
ther de^reous to make one fociety with Chriftians
and Believers {as I [aid before^ yet fo as not to
perfuade them to he circumcised Me themfelves^ nor
to keep the fahhath^ nor to obferve any fuch other
cf their rites : I think they ought not only to be
rcceiv^d^ but likewife to be admitted to a communion
tf all things^ as ihofe of the fame bowels and bre^
thren. Tho I cannot approve his notion of their
being in a miilakc, yet I applaud his charity for
bearing with them. A u g u s t i n, as we fhall fee
hereafter, went further than J u s t i n 5 and main-
tained for fome time the very notion that I now do,
without any material difference : that the Chriftian
Jews fliou'd ever obferve their own Laws, with-
out impofing the Levitical ceremonies on the Gen-
tiles. But the Jewifh Believers did not in the leaft
pretend, to oblige the Chriftians from among the
Gentiles to the like things with themfelves 5 as ma-
Acts vy. I. ny wotf d inferr from one paflage in the AUs of the
Jpofiles^ rafhly afcribing the opinion of a few pri-
vate perfons to the whole Church. For after it is
there related that certain men^ which came from
Judea^ taught the brethren at Jntioch^ that except
they were circumciz'd after the manner of Mo ses^
they coiCd not be fav'd 5 and that fome of the be-
Ver. >-. lieving Pharifees faid, // was necejfary to circumcife
them^ and to command them to keep the Law of
Moses: it was the fentence of the Apoftles,
yer.i5),io. given by the mouth of Ja m e s, that thofe fhou d
not be trobVd^ which from among the Gentiles were
TURN'D TO GOD> but that we write un-
to them (fays he) that they abfiain from pollutions
of Llols^ and from fornication^ and froyn things
firangVd^
NA ZARENUS. 43.
firangVd^ and from hlood. Here is no fetting of
the believing Jews free from the Law, but onely
of the Chriltian Gentiles : and the laft were en-
join'd the obfervation of thefe, not indifferent,
out necejfary things j without which there cou'd Ver. ag.
be no tolerable communication or commerce be-
tween them and the firft. The greateft endear-
ment fliou'd ever reign among brethren. And
what is it, I pray, but the non-obfervance of thefe
precepts, that makes fociety fo difficult a thing
even at this time between the Chriftians and the
Jews, tho the latter are in a fort of flavciy to the
former ? It is a known obfervation, that there
can never be any hearty fellowship, wliere peo-
ple don't eat and drink together. This was evident^
lydefign'd in the ancient Sacrifices, national, urbi-
cal, and familiar j as it was practis'd likcwifc in
their folemn Treaties of peace or friendlhip, and
was inftituted in C h r i s t 's laft Supper. I need
not mention the "^primitive Love-feafts. But in
the Apoftolical decree no accommodation is hint-
ed in the leaft, no time is limitted either unto the
one for quitting the old Law, or unto the other for
negle6i:ing the four Precepts \ as is pofitively taught
in all our Syftems or Catechifms. When Peter
preach'd the Gof^pel to Cornelius, a Gentile
profelyte of the gate > and publickly declar'd, con-
trary to the inveterate prejudices of many of the
Jews, that in every nation he that fears God^ a?id Aasx.-^^
works righteoufnefs is accepted of him : they were Ver. 4^-.
aftonilh'd at it, and expoftulated with him for as ibid.xi. i,
much as eating with the Gentiles. But after- 2, 3.
wards he gave full fatisfadion to the Apcftles and
others at Jerufalem, as to his proceeding in this
refpedj and they were joyfully convinced, that^^^- ^^'
God had alfo to the Gentiles granted repentance unto
life: this being the great MYSTERY, which
E 4 as
44 NAZARENU S.
Rom. xvi. as Pa UL fays more than once or twice, had been
25-. EpheT j^jj £-Qj^ jjggg ^,^j generations, till it was now
Jjj^;J°^ 5^ manifefted by the Gofpel. But in all this account,
9. Ccl.'i. there is not one word of Peter's fubjefting
26,^7. thofe converted Gentiles to the Mofaic Law,
nor of exemting the Jewifh Chriftians from the
obfervation of it : and tho he did eat with Cor-
nelius, it does not appear that he ate any
thing prohibited by the Law 5 any more than
thofe Jews do, with whom we eat, and who eat
with us, eveiy day. Thus therefore The Re-
public OF Moses might ilill have fubiiiled
entire, fuch as it was, or rather ought to have
been, in Judea, and yet the inhabitants be veiy
good Chriftians too : requiring no more f'* a
their brethren of the Gentiles that liv'd amoag
them (and agreed with them in the maixi article
of the unity of the Deity, as well as > >er
important tho not fo effential points) thar u.6fc
abftinence from the four things now mejic.:rfd,
which were likewife originally prohibited by the
Jewiih Law to their Profelytes of Jufike,
CHAP. XIII.
THIS Abftinence from blood and things
flrangl'd, was the undoubted fenfe of all
the primitive Chriftians : and did not only conti-
nue in all places (as it does ftill in the Eaftern
Churches) till Augustin's time> but, even
till the eleventh centuiy, in moft parts of the
Weftern Church. Cardinal Humbert, who
wrote about the middle of that centuiy, amply
juftifics the Latin againft the Greec Church, as
to
NAZARENUS. 4j
CO this point -, for retaining (diys ^° he) the ancient
ufage or tradition of our ancefiors^ we in like man-
ner do abominate thefe things : infomuch that a fe-
vere penance is imposed on thofe^ who^ without ex-
treme peril of lifej do at any time feed on bloody or
any animal dead of it [elf ^ either choak'd in the wa-
ters^ or firangl d by what accident foevcr. I ad-
mire how thofe perfons can herein be fcitisfy'd in
their confciences, or by virtue of what nice di-
iHnclion r«hcy can coin to themfclves a difpenfati-
on from this abllinencc 3 who make the practice
of the primitive Church to be the befl commen-
tary on Scvipture^ when the dodrine of it too is
fo exprefs and uniform in this refpecb. But I have
ever obferv'd, that they, who make the loudeft
pretences this way, are either the fiirthefbof all
others from primitive pra6lice5 or the leall: ac-
quainted with primitive hiftory. What is it, I
pray, that has the Fathers^ that has Tradition
and Succeflion more or as much of its fide, as
this very Abftinence ? It was commanded in an
affembly of the Apofiles^ without hmitation of
time. Tis injoin'd in the ^^ Canons antiently attri-
buted to them. Tis alleg'd as a proof of their
innocence by the firft Apologifis of Chrillianity,
to all whom, that mention it, I appeal without
exception 3 which makes particular citations un-
neceflary, as they wou'd make my Letter too
prolix. Tis coniirm'd by the Decrees of fcveral
Councils-, and has been defended by fome of the
60 Anriquam etenim confuetudinem, feu traditionem majo-
rum noftrorum, diligenter retinenres, nos quoque haec abomina-
mur : adeo ut fanguine, vcl quocunque morticino, aur aquis feu
quacunquc negligentia praefocaro, apud nos aliquandc vcfcentibus,
-abfquc exlremo periculo vitae hujus, poenitentia gravis impona-
tur. In bibliothzcm Tatrum, torn. 4. I>ag 202.
61. Can, ^3, aliis vero j-2,
moft
4<^ NAZARENUS.
mofl learned men in the lafl centuiy. The cita-
tions, I fay, wou'd be endlefs. Not to fpeak of
Hugo Grotius, Claudius Salmasi-
us, or Gerard John Vossius (what
mighty names!) the great Stephen Cur-
cell e u s has written an elaborate difcourfe on
this *^ fubject, wherin he ihows abftinence from
blood to have continued in many places to al-
moft his own time > and Christian Bec-
M a N N u s made a Theological Exercitation to
the fame ^^ purpofe before Curcelleus.
They all maintained it was no part of the cere-
monial Law of the Jews, but ^^ a Noachic pre-
cept, equally binding all the world upon a moral
account. The words fpokcn to Noah and his
fons (and confequently, fiy they, to all man-
kind ) in the ninth chapter of Genefts^ are thefe :
Gen. ix. every moving thing that lives jhall he meat for yoUj
I 4- even as the green herb have I given you all things -y
hut flejh with the life therof^ m/jich is the blood
therof^ fhall you not eat. This indeed is con^
firm'd in the Levitical Law, tho properly no
part of the fame according to thofe Gentlemen,
a great many other moral duties being occafio-
nally mention'd there > and they think it obferva-
ble, that thro-out the whole Pentateuch^ the
Stranger as well as the Jew are forbidden to eat
the blood of any manner of flefli ( as being the
€i, Diatriba de cfu fanguinis.
65. Exercitat. 26.
64. The Jevos maintain that No AH and his children, did. Before
the flood, govern themfelves by the fix following precep;s, as an abjiraci
»f the Law of Nature, viz.. I. Not to worflnp Idols, or any ether crea-
ture, il. Not to blafbheme God, or his holy naf?2e. IH. Not to fhed
Blood, or not to kill IV. Not to commit incefi, or aJultery. V, Not
to rob or fieal. VI To appoint fudges, who fhou'd fee thefe precepts;
duly executed: to which the Rabbins add a VWth, as commanded after
the flood, namely, Not to eat the member of tiny living creature.
hfe
NAZARENUS. 47
life or foul therof) under the penalty of being Gen >:v i.
cut off from his people^ or, in plainer language, ' y„^ ^
of being fent into banifhment : for the delerved-^ '**
ly famous Mr. L e C l e r c has, in all the
texts where it occurrs, prov'd this ^J phrafe of
being V^^ off from his people.^ to fignify disfran.chi-
fing and baniiliing quite out of the countrcy j
but not to dy an untimely death, and much lefs
to be eternally damn'd, in one or both which
fenfes mofl people have abfurdly learnt to under-
fland it. This prohibition of eating blood, is L'-'^''^- '";
repeated in feveral places of the Pentateuch'/J.^ '!^^'
chiefly, as is fuppos'd by thofe who allow not \^1^ , J
the moral reafon, to create a horror againfl: the & xix. 2^'
ihedding of human blood, as well as for the a- ^^"'^ ^rii.
voiding of unwholfom or infeftious diet: and be- '^' \^" ^
ing in the Apoftolical decree neither rcftrain'd to * ^*
any time, nor counted an indifferent, but plainly
a neceffary thing 5 there are flill many Chriilians A^^s xy,
here in the Weft who think themfelves as much ^S.
bound to refrain from things ftrangPd and from
blood, as from meats offer'd to idols and from
fornication, which are join'd together as of equal
obligation. I faid, that I wonder'd by what di-
ftincStion certain moderns cou'd juftify themfelves,
in their eating of birds caught in gins, black pud-
dings, and fuch other things j and yet a dillincli-
on there is, but on which neither they, nor the
primitive Jpologifts cou'd ever hit, or at leaft wou'd
never ftick to it, by reafon of their being utter
ftrangers to the true conftitution of the T h k
Mosaic Republic: for the cafe out of Ju-
dea, or any place where the Jews and Gentiles
don't cohabit in one focicty, is quite another
6f. InGcneCifuo adverfum i^^ capitis ij, & w Commentariis
4d reliqtm Pentateuchi li6ros,
thing--
48 NAZARENUS.
thing. They are not all ftrangers indefinitely,
Levit. xvii.but cxprelly the fir angers who fijoii'd fojotirn among
JO — i^.the Ifraelites^ that are forbid to eat blood: and fo
farr were thefe points concerning blood, or things
Ibangl'd, from being parts of the moral Lawj
that the Jews were freely permitted to give or
fell things that dy'd of themfelves, to travelling
Peut. xiy. Grangers and aliens, that they might eat them :
?•■• which wou'd be highly immoral, were their own
abftinence from eating fiich things grounded on
the Law of nature. And juft as they granted
this liberty to aliens, and to Profelytes of the gate ;
or thofe flrangers, who, tho believing in one
God, yet were not circumcis'd, but worfhipt in
the outer court of the Temple, not conforming
to the Jeivifij Law : fo the Egyptians, who, no
lefs than the Jews, had the diltin6tion of meats
clean and unclean, us'd to fell the ^^ head of the
facrific'd beafl to Grangers, it being to themfelves
an abomination and an accurfed thing. But as
for the Profelytes of juftice^ or thofe ftrangers,
who not onely were fettPd among the Jews, and
inhabitants of their cities, but alfo received Cir-
cumcifion as well as the belief of one God, and
did in every thing conform to the JewilTi Law 5
they were bound in all parts of focial life (as in
Exod xii. ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^ pafTover, and in meat and drink-
48,49. offerings particularly) to comply in the ftridefl
Num ix. ienfe with the eftabliili'd Laws and Cufloms.
iiva ' ^^^^ La-uo^ fays Moses fpeaking of thefe very
i(^. ' " things, and one Manner fh all be for you^ and for
the Jlrayiger that fojournetb with you : which is
there dire6tly calVd a perpetual ordinance. To
this purpofe alfo Maimonides, as above-
A ^<^oyl:i a 7m dyopm; a,^'' m iJ'o/lo. Herodot. 1. %, c. 59.
cited.
N AZ AR E NV S. 49
cited, of the fame nature and neccflity therfore Pag. 39.
was the cafe of the Jewifh and Gentile ChrilH-
ans, who, in the infancy of ChriiHanity, made
up one Church or fociety at Antioch y as it wou'd
be again fo, ihou'd all the Jews become Chrifti-
ans, and be refettl'd in Judea : and upon a due
examination the general prohibition inGene/is will
be found to be no barr to this do6trine > as many
other feeming generals there, were written never-
thelefs with fpecial regard to the people of Ifra-
el, and to them onely. Of fuch general prohi-
bitions, yet only meaning the particular ufages
of the Jews, L e C l e r c will afford you many
inftances in his moil learned Commentary before
quoted. And therfore Paul writing to the Pag. 47.
Corinthian Gentiles, with whom the Jews were
not fo much intermixt, tells them that meat com- i Cor.viii.
mended us not to God-, forneither if we eat are we the 8. 9*
better^ neither if we eat not are we the worfe : hut
take heed^ lefi by any means this liberty of yours be-
come a fumbling- block to them that are weak. This
fcandalizing of others ( whether about eating of
blood, or about meat offer'd to idols ) was all that
wife men had to avoid, as Paul further ac-
quaints the fame Chrillians, faying, whatfoevcr /jlbid.x.
fold in the flja?nbles that eat ^ asking no quefiionfor'^^^'^^y^J*
confcience fake : for the earth is the Lord's^ and the ^^> ^9' 3^-
fullnefs therof. If any of them that believe not^ bid
you to a feaft^ and you be difpos'd to go y whatfoevcr
is fet before you eat^ asking no queftionfor confcience
fake : but if any man fay zinto you^ this is offer\l
infacrifice to Idols^ eat not for his fake that fjow'd
it and for confcience fake {for the earth is the Lord's
and the fullnefs therof) Confcience^ I fr-'J ^ot thine
vwn^ but of the others; for why is my liberty jud^d
of another 7nan^s confcience ? — Give none offence.^
neither to the Jews^ nor to the Gentiles^ 72or to the
Church of God. This regard to the Jews and to
their
JO NAZARENUS.
their obfervations is fo evident every where, that
I wonder it cou'd evei* become a fubje£b of con-
troverfy : but the true reafon is, the belief which
fo early obtain'd, that the Levitical Law was quite
abolifht, and that the Jews were no more oblig'd
to keep it than the Gentiles. This is the fource
of numberlefs errors, to the great depravation of
Chrillianity •, and this, with relation to the eat-
ing of blood in particular ( after recommending
the whole fourteenth chapter to the Romans to
your perufal ) may be eafily made out againft the .
primitive Jpologifts and Fathers^ as well as againfl
CuRCELLEUs, Mr. Whist ON, and fuch
others : who, for want of obferving the faid di-
llindion of Jewifh and Gentile Chriflians, have
run into one extreme 5 as they, who limit the
prohibition to a certain time, abfolving all men '
and in all places alike, have run into another.
But the firft extreme is the more tolerable of the
two, not onely for being the leaft mifchievouS
in its confequences, and that the Jewiih Chrifli-
ans are frill oblig'd to this abftincnce 5 but as be-
ing withall both innocent and wholfom, as well
as eafy enough in its pradice. But to return, the
fifteenth chapter of the AEis cou'd not but be a
ftrong prejudice in behalf of the Ebionites, and
the ftronger, as being the teftimony of a book
they believed compiPd in favor of P a u l : befides
I Pet i. I. that Peter in his fir ft Epiftle (indifputably ad-
dreft to the believing Jews) calls them a chofen
lbid.il 9. generation^ a royal priefthood^ a holy nation^ a pe-
culiar people. He does not fay they were formerly
fuch, but ftiou'd be accounted fo no longer j he
delires 'em, on the contrary, to ha've their conver-
Vcr 12 faction hone ft aniong the Gentiles^ from whom they
were therfore to be diilinct : fo that they might
ilill enjoy all the prerogatives and dillindions of
t,heir nation, no lefs than in Judea (the Temple
and
NAZARENVS, ji
and Sacrifices excepted) as a feparate people even
c^mong the Gentiles, and yet be very true Chri-
ftians alfo.
CHAP. XIV.
THIS) I am perfuaded, was in this particular
point (for I approve of no men's errors) the
genuin Theology of the Nazarens > however mi-
Itaken or mifreprefented by the Chriftians from
among the Gentiles, as if they wou'd have them
likewife to obferve the whole Law of Moses.
They indeed in their turn may have millaken
Pa u l's meaning, in whofe Epiftles are fo?ne things ^ Pet. iii'
hard to be under flood^ as is well remark'd in the Je- '^'
cond Epiftle attributed to Peter. But if the
Nazarens did fo miflakePAui., the Gentiles have
fufficiently reveng'd their Apoflle's quarrel. The
Fathers are fhamefully inconiiftent, both with one
another and each with himfelf, concerning the
Ebionites : fplitting them where they ought to
be united (as they unite them where they ought
to be fplit) turning their bleflings fometimes into
curfes, and making their godly prayers to pais for
diabolical conjurations. The Gentile Chriftians
(as I have (aid more than once) fhow'd on all oc-
cafions an inexpreflible hatred againft thofe from
among the Jews, even to the fpeaking many times
irreverently if not profanely of the Law 5 tho
they were acknowledged debtors to the Nazarens
for the Gofpel^ the Jewifh Church having been
formed, before any Gentiles had embraced Chrifti-
anity. But none of any fort has treated them with
more undifguiz'd rancor than Epiphanius, the
moft ignorant and partial of all Hiftorians 5 as has
been made out in multitudes of inftances by the
bcft writers of the two laft and the prefent cen-
tury,
5t N AZ AkENVS.
tiiiy, net to inention any more ancient. Failing
over his palpable ignorance in Grammar, Hiftory,
Chronology, and the Hebrew tongue (tho a con-
verted Jew) this may be truly faid in general of him ;
that as none v/as more ready to make every man
heretical, fo hone was more backward to find any
man orthodox : and thofe, who diipleas'd him in
one thing, he was furc to mifreprefent in every
thing. Neveithelefs, this fame bungling and con-
fus'd Epiphanius owns, that the Nazarens
67 diffefd in this ONE THING, as -well from
the Jews as the Chrifiians : not agreeing with the
former^ hecaufe they believe in C h r i s t > nor be-
ing of one mind with the latter^ becaufe they conti-
nue ftill addicted to the Jewifly Law^ to Circumcifi-
on^ to the Sabbath^ and to the other ceremonies.
You may take notice that he does not fay, they
urg'd thefe things on others, but only bbfen^'d
them among themfelves > which is what I precife-
ly infill; upon, not merely as their real fentiment t
but like wife as a very innocent andharmlefs thing,^
nay and will maintain it to be fo far the T R U E
ORIGINAL PLAN OF CHRISTIA-
NITY. For all this he'll have them a little lower
to be ^' downright Jews, tho he fays in the very
fame place that they are declared enemies to the
Jews ', and that the Jews on the other hand do
mortally hate them, curfing them three times 2L
day in their Synagogues, as we learnt from J e-
:R o M before. Any man elfe, but E p i p h a n i u s^
wou'd have remember'd the diftinftion he had
^^'.TTi^iv/Avett ; -y^ei^iAveif cPg |an oy.oyv6)f^ovvli<;y J'tct to err
voi^u 'ui'7nS'r\kK^y^ •TffiejL\oiiy\ n, Kctt ffci^^ct^(!>y y^At Ton clkkoi^-
Haeref. ap. n. 7.
68. Ibid. n. 9.
jufl
NAZARENUS. 53
juft made himfclf: and not reckon 'em Chriftians
the Icfs in religion, that they had ^^ Synagogs
and Elders as Jews by nation 3 nor, becaufe they
were partly Jews in the outward man, deny 'em
to be in the inward man entirely Chriilians. Here
I wou'd defire thole among us, who prefs the ne-
ceflity of obferving the Jewilh Sabbath (for
which reafon they are call'd Sabbatarians^ or Se-
ventb-day-fabhath-men) to confider, that they
were not the Chriftians from among the Gen-
tiles, but the Nazarens from among the Jews^
that anciently obferv'd^ or rather were onely
bound to obferve, the Jewifh Sabbath : for we of
the Gentile Hock are not oblig'd to obferve days-^ cr Gal.iV. 10:
months^ or times^ or years s we are to hcjudgd ^j/Col, ii. i5.
no man in meat or in d'rink^ or in refpeU of a holy
day^ or of the new moon^ or of the Jab baths. And
indeed had the original diftiilction of two forts
of Chriftians been heeded, this difpute had ne-
ver rifen : neither had the voluntary complaifince
of the Gentile Chriftians in fomtimes celebrating
the Sabbath of the Jews, nor of the Jewifti Chri-
ftians in obferving the firft day of the Vv^eek with
the Gentiles, been ignorantly dr^wn by any into
the nature of a precept, or as an example of in-
difpenfable imitation y which yet was done by
many Fathers and Councils ( not neceffary at pre-
fent to name) by the 7° Apoftolical Conftitutions^
and by the Edicts of ^^ ConstantIne the
Great. Our Sabbatarians therfore (fo calPd) a-
69. Haeref. 30. n. 18.
■ 70. To (Kf.&'pctlov (xzv roi ncti rw KvetAK^iv hi^rct^'^.r'.', ort
TO fxzv J^ijfjLiov^y/a,<; i^tv t/Vii/x^'W/t/tf. h S'i a.vdL^eta-^^afA.'/. C 23.
71. '"i^TTO T'AV Pc0U'AlSc>V cL^yjW TOJTiVQlXiVOli cItAITI (TyjJK'AV
sTs KcLl Tea TH (Tct^fictTii TtU{i.l'; yA'ilUil^ h'iKcL UOI J^OKtriV TC.^V
feb- de vita Conftantini, 1. 4. c 18. "
F inong
54 NAZARENUS.
mong whom I was intimatly acquainted with the
late excellent Mr. S t e n n e t, being right in
their pofition, tho wrong in the application of
it, into which they were mifled by fo great au-
thorities and examples, have this advantage how-
ever ; that they may alter their pra6tice, without
recanting their opinion, namely, that the Jewijb
Sabbath is to be obferv'd in all ages. After the
fame manner may be readily terminated abun-
dance of other difficulties, folely arifing from
the mifipplication to all, of what pecuHarly be-
longs to one fort of Chriflians. Thus, to name
no others, came into the Church Extreme Un5ii'
en J which in time has been erefted into a Sacra-
ment. Yet this Undion originally was neither
facred nor extreme. Every one knows in what
high elHmation Oil was among the eaflern nati-
ons, and he has not read the Old T'eftament^ who
is not acquainted with the moft frequent ufe of
Anointing among the Jews. It was efpecially
pradlis'd on a medicinal account, and adminiftr'd
publicly in the fynagogues by the Elders on the
Sabbath j where the applying of this remedy to
poor fick people, was accompany'd by the pray-
ers of the faithful for their recovery, and the
pardon of their fins : or if the perfons were in a
very weak condition, the Elders came home to
them. Light FOOT 7* obferves out of the
Jerufalcm 73 \talmud^ that Rabbi Simeon, the
Son ^/Eleazar, permitted Rabbi M e i R to
mingle wine with the oil^ when he anointed the fick
on the Sabbath : and quotes as a Tradition from
74 thence, that anointing on the Sabbath was per^
raitted. If his head akes^ or a fc aid comes upon it ^
71. Harmony of the N. Tejfament, Works, vol. i. pag. 333.
73. In Bcracoth. fol. 3. col. i.
74. Id. in Maazar Sheni, fol. ^3. col. 3r
NAZARENVS, jy
he anoints 'with oil. So, in the Babylonian 75 TaU
mud^ tis faid almoft in the fame words > if he he
Jickj or a fcald he upon his head^ he anoints accord^
ing to his maymer. The Apollle James ther-
fore writing to thejewifh Chrillians, whole fy-
nagogues and rites were precifely the fame with
thofe of the other Jews, is any fick among you Jam. v:
(fays he) let him fend for the Elders of the Churchy H> '/«
and let them pray over him^ anoiriting him with oil
in the name of the Lord-y and the prayer of the
faithful pall fave the fick^ and the Lord floall raife
him up J and if he have committed fins^ they floall
he forgiven him. This, you fee, was nothing
like the extreme un6lion of the Roman Church,
but pecuhar to the Jewiih nation : as tis recorded
of the other Apoflles, who w^erc not onely Jews,
but likewife Elders of the Jewifli Churches, that
they anointed with oil many that were ftck^ anduir.yu
healed them. Several of our Proteftant Divines, ^ 3-
ignorant of the Jewifh cuftoms, yet perceiving
the abfurdity of the Roman pradice, v/ou'd have
this Apollolic Un6lion to be miraculous and tem-
porally 3 tho others were for extending it to all
men and times, as fome did the obfervation of
the Sabbath. But they were onely the Naza-
rens that were to keep their national Sabbath,
and yet this is one of the heinous crimes the
Gentiles cou'd never forgive them > and for
which they muft not, forfooth, fo much as de-
Icrve the appellation of Chriftians : fmce while
they wou'd he both Jews and Chriftians^ fays 7^ J e-
R o M, they are neither Jews nor Chriftians j and
fpeaking of thefe Nazarens in another place, they
7f. In Joma, fol. 77.2. ., ^ - r i
J 6. Dum volunt 8c Judaei efie Sc Chriftianj, nee Judaei iunt
Rcc Chriftiani. In E^ijl . ad AHQiifiin
5<5 NAZ ARE NUS,
fo recein)e Christ, fays 77 he, as not to quit the
ceremonies of the old Law. Well ; where's the
harm of all that ? and why ihou'd it trouble him,
or me, or any other, that were to obferve no fuch
thing ? Yet this, it feems, is the chief thing, e-
ven more than their opinion concerning the per-
fon of Christ, for which the new inmates un-
juflly expelPd the old inhabitants : for the fame
J E R o M roundly tells 7« us, that the Cerinthians
and Ebionites^ ivho were the Jews that believed in
Christ, were anathematized by the Fathers for
this ONE L Y THING, that they intermixt the
Ceremonies of the Law with the Go{pe\ of Christ 5
and fo prof eft the new matters^ as not to part with
the old. Very nice and deliberate ! Here you fee
the antiquity of prefling Uniformity.^ and the ef-
fefts of it too : and I am entirely fatisfy'd, that,
were it not for this execrable treatment of them
(fo contrary to the pra6tife of J e s u s, and the
do6trine of the Gofpel) not a Jew, but, many
ages iince, had been likewife a Chriilian 3 as it
muft be on this foot alone, that their convcrlion
to Chriftianity can ever be reafonably, expected.
Thus then the poor Jews were expell'd at once,
and none of 'em to be ever receiv'd again, ac-
cording to the mind of thofe Fathers.^ without a
particular abjuration not only of their Judaifm,
but I may fay of their Chrillianity too.
77. Nazaraei ita Chriftum recipiunt, ut obfervationes Legis ve^
tcris non amittant. Id. adjef. 8.
78 Qui [Ebionei & Gerinthiani] credcntes in Chrifto, propter
hoc folum a Patribus anathamatizati funr, quod Legis ccremoniaj
Chrifti Evangelic mifcuerunt ; 8c fie nova confeiTi funt, ut vetcra
non amitterent. In Epjl, ad ^ngujih.
CHAP,
N A Z ARE NUS. 57
CHAP. XV.
AU G U S T I N indeed made fome fmall effort
in favor of the Nazarens, as may be feen
in the Letters that palt between him and J e R o m
on this Subjeftj where, as it happens in moft
difputes, they quickly loll the main point, and
ran after foren matters, trivial incidents, or per-
fonal reflexions, till they came at laft to fight per-
fectly in the dark, and to make the reader admire
about what it is they contend. Jerom, endea-
voring upon a wrong fuppofition to reconcile
thofe feeming contradiftions, which I have eafily
accorded above upon the bottom of truth, had
rccourfe to the lawfulnefs of an officious Ly for the
fake of a good endy and fo aflerted that Paul, in
acculing Peter, had prevaricated in effe6t him-
felf, but all well done, it feems, for the impor-
tant end of gaining the Jews, and excufing his
own condu6t. This doclrine however cou'd not
but fcandalize A u g u s t i n, who wrote fmartly
to him about it, and juftify'd Paul by faying
as I do, and as ;:he things fay themfelves, that
when he fpeaks againil the Law as dangerous or
ufelels, he means this of the Gentiles : and that
all padages fpoken by him or others in favor of
the Law, or enjoining the obfervation of it, re-
late purely to the Jewiih Chriftians : befidcs that
Peter had onely mifled fome Gentiles by his
example, which they miftook, but not by his
do6trine, which ought to have been better ex-
plain'd. To this purpofe Augustin. But
of all your difcourfe ( fays 79 Jerom) "which you.
F 3 have
79. Totius fermonis tui, quern difputatione longiflima pro-^
t^axifti, hie fenfus efti ut Petrus non crraverit in eo, quod his
^4
j% NAZARENUS,
have [pun out into fo proUa a difputation^ this in
port is the fenfe j that Peter did not err^ in
thinking the Law JlooiCd he ohfew^d hy thofe^ who
heliev'd among the Jews : but that he declind from
the right way^ in forceing the Gentiles to Juuaize 5
which you fay he didy not hy the precept of his do-'
6frine^ hut by the example of his converfation. Tou
"maintain therfore that Pa u"t. did not fay any
thing-, contrary to what he had done himfelf : hut
had truly accused Peter, of having compelled the
Chriflians froyn among the Gentiles to obfirve the
Law. The fum therfore of your queftion^ or rather
(f your judgment^ is this\ that^ even after the
Gofpel, the Jews who believe^ do well to ohferve
the ordinances of the Law : that is to fay^ if they
effer facrifices as Paul didi^ if they circumcife
their children^ if they keep the fabbathj 13 c. This
he's fo farr from approving, that he utterly de-
tefts it : tis turning Chrillianity into Judaifm.
If we muft ly^ fays ^*' he, under the neceffity of re-
ceiving the Jews together with their ohfervations of
the Law y and that they may perform in the Chur-
ches of Christ, what they exercis''d in the Sy-^
vagogues cf Satan: ru tell you my opinion
fi'celyj they will not become Chriflians^ but make us
or
Gentile race^ is flung' d into the gulf of the Dcrcil,
Thus this hotheaded raving monk, who to fuch
a degree frighted A u g u s t i n (for convinc'd
he cou'd never be) with his vehemence and bawl-
ing, that he flunk to the poorefl; fubterfuges ima-
ginable for getting well off > firfl giving another
fenfe to an opinion, which he had before expreil
in the plainell terms, and then quite giving it up
to the overbearing weight of the majority. He
was a Bifhop, and Vou'd continue fo. The Jews
therfore were cut off for ever, as I fud, from
the body of that Church which they had found-
ed, wherin their Law is continually read to this
day, where the Gentiles are proud to bear their
proper names, and where they mufl in fomc nia:i-
8i. Ego c contrario loquar, &, reclamanfe mundo, liber ^ voce
pronuntio, cercmonlas Judaeorum & perniciofas efft ?•' mcrtifcras
Chriftlanis: 8c quicunc)ue eas obfervaverir, five ex Judaeis five
ex Gentibus, eum in barst-hrum Diaboli devolumm. // thU.
F 4 ^"^-^
^o NAZARENUS.
ner become Jews before they can be reckoned
good Chriftians. Nor ought this proceding to
appear any way furprizing, or the intrigue be
reckon'd lo very flagitious, when we confider
what a damning crew the Fathers were 5 and
how prone on the flighted occaflons, fomtimes
for mere pundliUos of Criticifm or Chronology
(wherin they were generafly wrong ) to fend not
onely private perfons, but even whole focieties,
churches, and nations, a packing to the Devil.
This is well known to all that have lookt into
Church-hifioryi But I am weary of tranfcribing
fo many citations out of books, that are very un-
pleafant to read, as are almoft all the works of
the Fathers : and wou'd think my felf bound to
make an apology for it, were it not that the
thing is unavoidable in this kind of writings
where altho the befl: proofs imaginable, and the
mofl; clear are requifite, the worfb in the world
are generally us'd, the mofl: precarious, perplcxt,
^w„ and obfcurc. And, if the truth may be freely
fpoken, there remains very little on record, very
little that's any way certain or authentic, con-
^" cerning the originals of Chriftia?iity^ from the be-
ginning of Nero to the end of Trajan or
Adrian, that I may take the narroweft com-
pafs I can : for others will bring this period of
uncertainty much lower, whfch Ihou'd the more
engage' us to keep clofe to the Scriptures^ where
alone we can find refl: for the foles of our i^ti.
Yet in this labyrinth of the Fathers we have been
at no lofs ( you fee, Megaletor) tho fom-
times a little at a ftand, to find out the unfophi-
fl:icated fentiments of the Nazarens or Ebionites,
fo farr as here infifted on, for of their other o-
f)inions we fliall difcourfe another time : and this
pr the mofl part by the light of fuch teftimo-
riies, as if juftly doubted or opposed, there will
be
NAZARENUS. 6t
t)e no evidence left for any fort of Chrillianity
whatever. Now, from all thefc things, and par-
ticularly from the Letter 0/ P e t e r ?(? Ja m e s Pag. 15.
above cited, as well as from the AEls of the Apo^
ftks^ and from other places of the New Teftament^
together with what fome ancient Sedlaries be-
liev'd concerning the death and refurreclion of
Jesus, it maRifelHy appears from what fource
the Mahometans (who always mofh religioufly
abftain from things ftrangl'd and from blood)
had their peculiar Chriftianity, if I be allowed fo
to call it ; and that their Gojpel^ for ought I yet
know, may in the main be the ancient Gofpel of
Barnabas. For the Mahometan Interpola-
tions are too palpable, not to be eafily dilHn-
guifh'd : I wifh we cou'd as calily come by the
pmiffions, if there be any. Peter Martyr
(by the way) does, in the firft chapter of the
4th part of his Common places^ maintain, with o-
ther eminent Divines, that Mahometanifm is no-
thing elfe but a Chrillian Hercfy > from which I
ftill inferr, that, whether upon a profpe6b of ad-
vantaging Traffic, or of putting them in the way
of converlion to a better Chriftianity, the Maho-
metans may be as well allow'd Mofchs in thefc
parts of Europe, if they defire it, as any other
Seftaries : and certainly it would not onely be
highly unreafonable, but withall be the highell
ingratitude, in the King of Sweden to oppofe it
at Stockholm j confidering the generous and hu-
man treatment, I v/ill not fay the charitable and
pious reception, he found fo many years at Ben-
der with his Chriflian followers. No future mif-
underllanding may cancel the obligation : for if
we are bound to forgive the injuries of our ene-
mies, we ought certainly much rather to forget
ihe mifcarriages of our friends.
CHAR
[6x ■ NAZARENUS.
I
CHAP. XVI.
SHALL conclude thefe refledrions concern*
ing the perpetual obfeiTation of the Mofaic
Law by the Jewiih, and of theNoachic Precepts
by the Gentile Chriftians liying among them,
with remarking, that the Apoftle Ja M e s docs
not in his Efijlle mean by WORKS the mo-
ral Law, nor by FAI T H a merit iii believing,
as is fuppos'd by the cunc'it of Expo'fitors, the
one half at leail of Scbolaftic l3ivinity bc'^
ing built on this very interpretaticn : but that
WORKS there fignify the Levitkd- Law^ as
FA I T H is put for ChriJUanity. This likewife is
apparently Pa u l's meaning, whenever he ufes
the fame expreflions : and thus onely may thcfe
two Apoifles be reconcifd, without recurring
to evafions, fuppo fit ions, and fophifms, that will
fatisfy no reafonable man, however he may think
fit perhaps to hold his tongue. James writes
Cjp.i.v.i.expreily to the fcatter'd tribes of the Jews, and
therfore tells them that FAITH (i.e. Chri-
ftianity) can neither profit or fa've them 'without
Cap. ii. V. W O R K S (i. e, the Levitical rites) as being
.*4" obhg'd by an eternal and national covenant to the
Law of Moses: but Paul, writing by the
Jcwifli converts to the Romans, tells them, that
Cap. Hi. a Man isjuftiffd by FA I T H without the works of
v-iS. theL,kW^ the Gentiles not being at all concern'd
Cap.ii, V. in the Mofaic rites or ceremonies. Ja m e s fays,
16. that the FA I T H of a Jew (for to fuch onely he
writes) without the WORKS of the Law is
dead:, and Pa u r. fays, that the Gentiles (for fuch
Cap. vii. he himfelf calls the Romans) are dead to the LAW
V. 4. hy the body of Christ. In the fime manner h
to be undcrftood the Epifile to the Galatians^ Gcn-
Ules
NAZARENUS. 6^
tiles whom certain more zealous than knowing
Jews wou'd needs compel to be circumcis'd : and
in the fame manner alfo ought we carefully to di-
llinguiih what is faid to the ColoJJians^ Philippiansj
or any other Chriftians from among the Gentiles
(as fuch) from what is faid by way of parenthefis
in Pa u l's Epiftles^ or more direftly elfewherc,
to the Jewiih Chrillians, and proper to them one-
ly. Thus that the LAW was our Schoolmafter to Gal.iii. 24;
bring us unto Christ, and ^that its ordinances^')' ..
'were blotted out and naiTd to C h r i s t's crofs^ ' "* ^^'
are phrafes to be underftood onely of us Gentiles.
I might with equal facility run over all the Epi-
flles^ and not onely Ihow this diftinftion perpetu-
ally reigning thro them j but remark at the fame
time thofe infinite miflakes that the want of ob-
ferving fuch a di{lin6bion has occafion'd : efpecial-
ly thofe grofTer errors, which have been too com-
monly advanc'd into fimdamental Doctrines, ad-
miniflring fuel for endlefs contentions > but nei-
ther reforming men's manners, nor informing their
underftandings. They are the prime handles, on
the contraiy, for the oppofition made to all Chri-
ftianityi while fuch writers are in the mean time
combating a Phantom, and wou'd forae of them
be the zealoufeft advocates for the Chriftian Infti-
tution, cou'd they but fee its original beauty,
llript of all fuch paint and difguize. A perfon (Sir)
of your great penetration and f^Hd judgement,
cannot fail making fuch obfervations to himfelf j
tho, in regard of the Epifile to the Hebrews^ the
cafe is peculiar: for which reafon I referve what
I have to fay about it, till I come to treat of the
nature and end of Sacrifices, without which the
fcope of the author to the Hebrews is obfcure if
aot unintelligible. For in this refpe6t: I grant there
is a change of the Law, as the Lawgiver himfelf
has exprelly foretold theve ftiou'd be j wherin he's
foUow'd
<^4 NAZARENUS.
follow'd by Jeremiah, Ezechiel, Joel,
and fuch others, as muft be acknowledged to have
well underftood the reafon and defign of the
Jewifh Sacrifices. Wherfore defiring you to fu-
fpend your judgement till you fee the *^ RES-
PUBLICA MOSAICA, I return to my
general pofition. Bcfides the pafTage alledg'd
^3g. 37- before out of the fir ft E fifth to the Corinthians^
the following pafiage alfo out of that to the Ro-
mans, may fei*ve for a perpetual key to this Sy-
llcm of reconciling Ja m e s and Pau l, 'viz. that
V/ORKS, as oppos'd to FAITH in their
writings, iignify the of us operatum of the Leviti-
cal Law^ or the outward pradtice of it > and that
FA I T H fignifies the belief of one God, a per-
fuafion of the tmth of C h r i s t's dodrine, and
the inward fanctification of the mind. Without
this Faith and Regeneration (as a change from
vice to virtue was properly call'd even by the Hea-
thens) the ever fo pun6hial performance of Cere-
monies cou'd not juflify a Jew, or render him a
good man, agreeable and well-pleafing to God ;
but Jesus and his Apollles made it manifeft that
the Gentile, who bcliev'd one God and the ne-
ceflity of Regeneration, might, contrary to the
notions of the degenerate Jews (who then plac'd
all religion in outward pra6bices) be juftify'd by
fuch his Faith, without being obliged to exercife
the ceremonies of the Law, being things no way
regarding him, either as to national origin or ci-
vil government 5 while the Jew, on the other
hand, mull, to the outward obfci-vance of his
countiy Law by eternal covenant, add this inward
Regeneration and the Faith of the Gofpel^ or the
Levitical Law wou'd avail him nothing tho ever
fo ftridtly obferv'd. Here Pau l himfelf fpeak.
8z. Ste the Appendix, number 1.
Where
N AZ ARE NU S. 6^
fnere is boajiingthen? It is excluded: by what^om.wi
Law? of Works? Nay, but by the Law of^T^"^^-
Fa I T H. Therfore we conclude^ that a man is
juftify'd by Fa i t H without the JVorks of the
Law. Is he the God of the Jews onely ? is he
7iot alfo of the Gentiles? Tes of the Gen-
tiles alfo ; feeing it is one God which fJoall jufii^
fy the Circumcision by Fa i t h, and the
Unci RcuMcis ION thro Faith. Do we
then make void the Law thro Faith? God
forbid: yea we eftablifh the Law. What can
be more plain or pertinent ? and is not this the
onely way to reconcile the Gofpels with the J6fs
and Epiftles^ as well as thefe with the Old tefta^
ment ? Is not this the onely method of according
the Jews and the Gentiles ? yea and of j unifying
God himfelf againft thofe, who object the muta-
bility or imperfection of giving one Law at one
time, and another Law at another time ? wheras
there is no fuch abrogating or obrogating accord*
ing to the Original Plan of Chri-
stianity. The Religion that was true yefler-
day is not falfe to day > neither can it ever be falfc,
if ever it was once true.
CHAP. XVII.
THUS therfore the Jewifh Chriftians were
ever bound to obferve the Law of M o s e s,
and the Gentile Chriilians, who Hv'd among them,
only the Noachic precepts of abilinence from
blood and things offer'd to Idols : for the Moral
Law was both then, and before, and ever will
be, of indifpenfable obligation to all men, it be-
ing the grofleft abfurdity and impiety to aflert the
contrary i fince found Reafon, or the light of
common fenfe, is a catholic and eternal rule,
without
^6 NAZARENUS,
without which mankind cou'd not fubfifl in peace
or happinefs one hour. It i$ the fundamental
bond of all fociety, where there is or there is not
a reveal'd reUgion : and tis the onely thmg that's
appro v'd by the moft oppofite Revelations, or by
any foit of parties and divifions in each other.
Nothing can be more appofite in this place, than
what Cicero divinely writes to the fame pur-
pofe. RIGHT REx^SON, fays ^^ he, is a
true Law y futeahk to nature^ diffused among all peo^
fk conftantly the fame^ everlafiing : which obliges men
to their duty by commands^ and deterrs them from
wickednefs by prohibitions -, but which never com--
mands or prohibits the virtuous in vain^ tho the viti-
ous are ?iot mov'*d by menaces or injunctions. Of
this Law nothing mujl be chan^d^ nor may any part
of it he repealed J nor can the whole be ever abolijh^d^
neither can we be abfoWd from obferving it^ by the
authority of the Senate or the People. No other ex^
pounder or interpreter therof^ but it felf^ is to be
fought 'y nor is it one Law at Rome^ another at
AtJjens^ one at this time^ another hereafter : but the
fame Law^ both eternal and immortal^ is to govern
all nations and at all times. And there will i?e^ as
S3. Eft quidem vera Lex re6la Ratio, naturae congruens, diffufa
in omnes, conftans, fcmpitcrna: quae vocet ad officium jubendo,
vetando a fraude deterreat ; quae tamen neque probos fruftra jubet
aut vetat, nee improbos jubendo aut vetando movet. Huic Legi
reque obrogari fas eft, neque derogari ex hac aliquid licet, neque
rota abrogari poteft ; nee vcro aut pcrPopulum, aut per Senatum,
folvi hac Lege pofTumus. Neque eft quaerendus expknator, aut
interpres ejus alius j nee erit alia lexRomae, aliaAthenis, alia nunc,
alia pofthac: fed £c omnes gentes, 8c omni tempore, una Lex, &:
fempiterna & immortalis, continebit. Unufque erit communis
quail magifter, impcrator omnium, Deus illc, Legis hujus inven-
tor, difccptator, lator: cui qui non parebit, ipfe fe fugict, ac na-
turam hominis afpcrnabiturj atque hoc ipfo luet maximas poenas,
ctiamfi cetera fupplicia (quae putantur) effugerit. Cic. de Repub.
I, ^. ex Ldctunt. I, 6. f S.
we
NAZARENUS.
nve way fay^ one common mafler and ruler over afty
tven GODy the propofer, debater^ and enafter of this
Law : to whom he that will not yield obedience mufi
fly from himfelf^ and JJmke off the nature of a man^
in doing which 'very thing he fuffers the higheft pu-
nifhmentSj tho he fhou'd efcape thofe other torments
which are commonly believ'd. It was a faying of
Dr. Whitchcot, that natural Religion was
eleven parts in twelve of all Religion : and Pa u l
was fo farr from exhorting his difciplcs of the
Gentiles againft this Moral Law of Nature (as he
juftly did againft the Levitical Law of Moses)
that the FA I T H which he recommends to thein
inftead of this laft Law (even that FAITHGalv. 6.
which works by love^ and whofe end is to beget a ibid.vi icJ
new creature) is made by him radically productive
of the Moral Law. T'he fruit of the Spirit (fays Ibid, v. zi;
he) is love^ joy^ peace ^ patience^ gentlenefs^ goodnefs^ ^3»
fidelity^ meeknefs^ temperance : againfi fuch there
is no Law. No certainly, neither againft any
other virtue > nor wou'd any ReHgion be receiv'cl
in the world, that fhou'd go about to contradict
or annul them : and tis evident to all, but fuch as
will not fee, that one main dciign of Chriflianity
was to improve and perfeft the knowledge of the
Law of nature, as well as to facilitate and inforcc
the obfervation of the famej tho tis very true,
that when we have done all, v/e have done but
our duty, and that but ever impcrfecbly. Ja M e s
v/as alfo in the right, by preiling upon the Jews
the WORKS of the Levitical no lefs than thofe
of the Moral Law, for the reafons given before
(particularly in the nth chapter) and therfore
needlels to be repeated here, fmce he recom-
mends FA I T H as earneftly as Pa tj l himfelR *
Now, all tliis is very intcUigible, eafy, and con-
fiftent, according to the Nazaren Syftem : v/heras
nothing in the world is more iiuricate, difficult,
or
^8 NAZARENUS.
or incoherent, than the controverfies between the
Proteftants and the Papilb, about Merit of JVorks
and Juftification by Faith^ occaiion'd by the fecm-
ing contradiction of James to Paul. But
thefe are nice fpeculations, of which thofe plain men
never dreamt > being founded on Scholaflic diftincli-
ons and Roman Law-terms, to which moil of the
Apoflles were utter flrangers. Good works^ as mo-
ral duties are commonly call'd, were no part of
the queilion at all: not the WORKS menti-
oned by Pa u L and James, in contradiilindion
to FA I T H. The Papifls are no better agreed
among themfelves in all their divilions and fubdi-
viiions, than the Protcftants, who are no lefs fplit
about thefe points of Merit and Juftification >
which, as we all know, have occafion'd as much
loofenefs and libertinifm on the one handj as they
have produced fuperftition and bigottiy on the
other. Antinomianifm and Supererogation are the
two monftrous extremes of their difputes. They
keep ftill a woful pother : and I forefee that many
of 'em (not onely on account of this expHcation,
but alfo for what I have delivered concerning the
perpetual obfervation of the Levitical Law) will
lay, that I advance a new Chriftianity, tho I think
it undoubtedly to be the old one. But minding
the calumny of fome as little as they do the truth,
I leave all impartial perfons to examine > if what has
been written by either fide on thefe heads, be for
the moft part any thing elfebut elaborate nonfenfe,
mere jingle, and logomachy? and confequently,
whether all the barbarous ftuff that's deliver'd in
the Scholaftic Syftems concerning Faith and
Jufiification^ be not an after-device of Priefts to
puzzle the caufe j and fo to raife fcruples in mens
confciences (to the bringing of them often into
defpair) that they may have recourfe to them for
the folution of their doubts, to the no fmall
incrcafe
N AZ ARRNVS. 6^
ilicreafe both of their pay and their power ? How-
ever the matter may appear to others, I am pcr-
fuaded that my expHcation was the real fenfe of
Ja M E s i and I am every whit as certain, that he
can never be made to agree with Pa u l, as well
as that Paul can never be fairly made to agree with
him, on any other foot. As to the fiibllance of what
our modern Divines wou'd feem to contend a-
bout, for my own part I readily acknowledge that
no man can merit any thing of God by his good
works, be they ever fo many or great 5 and that
whatever he receives is by mere grace and mercy,
even the bell: of us being, ftri6i:ly fpeaking, unpro-
fitable fervants : but I deny that any thing of all this
matter is meant in the phraze of Juftification by
fVorks or by Faith in the whole New i'eftament.
CHAP. XVIII.
HITHERTO then we have partly feen
what the true original Chrillianity in many
things was not, and partly what it was > efpecial-
ly as to the Jews perpetual keeping of their own
rites, and the cohabiting Gentiles no lefs perpe-
tual obfervation of the Noachic precept about
blood : while both of 'em agreed to the necefli-
ty of Regeneration, and fubjecling themfelves to
Jesus as their fpiritual Lav/giver. To thefe
things I cou'd add much greater luilre, had I
time to digell and mechodize my obfervations
touching the rife and growth of Chriilianity.
There it wou'd appear, how {Irangely the moil
part of the Jews of his time miftook the true de-
fign of Jesus, having been deluvded and prepofiefl
by the artifice of a prevaiUng fiction, that had
not the lincere intercft of their country, nor the
purity of their Conilitution, at heart. But they
G v/er9
N AZ AR ENUS.
were chiefly irritated againft him by the influence
of a rampant Priellhood, who, tor their own
profit and power, had openly and Ihamelefsly per-
verted the Law of M o s e s j rather than to fee
which rellor'd to its primitive inftitution , and
tliemfelves obhg'd to change their formal into a
fpiritual life, they wou'd not have even the king^
dom reitor'd at that time to Ifrael. Yet for re-
je&ing the falutiferous doftrine and admonitions
of the holy Jesus, they brought upon themfelves
fwift deftruclion. And indeed the divine wif-
dom of the Chriilian Inflitution (the original,
uncorrupted, eafy, intelligible Inflitution j but
not the fabulous fyftems, lucrative inventions,
burthenfom fuperflitions, and unintelligible jargon
early fubllituted to it) is fo apparent in enhght-
ning the minds and regulating the conduct of
men, in procuring their highelt happinefs in all
refpe6bs, particularly in the admirable Economy
of uniting the Jews and the Gentiles into one
Family, and thus leading all the world to the
knowledge of one God : that nothing, I am per-
fuaded, but a perfe6t ignorance of what it really
is, or private intereft, a worfe enemy to truth
than ignorance, cou'd keep any from cheerfully
imbracing it. I do not onely mean thofe who
declare againil both name and thing, and this
fomtimes very juftlv as they are reprefented to
them : but likewife too manv of thofe who
make loud profeflions of their Chriftianity, nay,
and v/ho rcllrain the benefits of it folely to
thofe of their own cant and lively , tho the ar-
ticles of their belief and the rubric of their
practice, be manifeitly the very things which
Jesus v/cnt about to deHroy. A change in names
makes no change in things ; and tho' I cannot fay,
that I wifh there Vv^as but one communion of
Chrillians, fince this in nature is impollible, nei-
ther
NAZARENVS. 71
ther is it in it fclf defircable, nor the thing In-
tended by the communion of Saints : yet I wifh
with all my heart that there were none in any
communion, whofe Christianity, not-
withftanding all their boafls and pretences, cou'd
be fhown to be down-right Antichristia-
N I s M > for we mull govern our fclves by things,
as I faid juft now, and not by names, which fre-
quently continue after things are chang'd quite
contrary to what thofe words at firfb imported.
And for God's lake. Sir, what can be more An-
tichriftian than heathenifh Polytheifm and Ido-
latry, pious Frauds and fuperilitious Fopperies, fo-
phiilical Subtilties and unintelligible Myileries,
damning Uncharitablenefs and inhuman Perfecuti-
ons, vain Pomp and ridiculous Pageantry, abfo-
lute Authority over confcicnce, and making tem-
poral Rewards or Punifhments the means of (up-
porting Religion? what can be lefs Chriftian, I
lay, or more contrary to the deiign of J e s u s
Christ, than all thefe things I have here
enumerated •, with a fa6t:ious engroffing of Gain,
and an artful propagation of Ignorance to fup-
port the Trade, or whatever clfe our Deliverer
oppos'd in the degenerate Jew and in the bewil-
dered Gentile? Thefe and the like corruptions
wherever they are found, be it in any one fociety,
or among feveral focieties calling themfelves Chri-
ftians, are yet the very reverfe of genuin Chri-
stianity, and confequently Antichrist!-
ANiSM. But tis no wonder Chriftianity fliou'd
, in procefs of time be mifunderftood or mifrepre-
fented, when the author of it was very early dil^
belicv'd by his ov/n neareft relations, and charg'd
with madnefs, nay and dealing with the Devil, by Johii vlf.
others: this charge of madnefs having been of- 4' 5— 8. ^
ten fmce laid by men of craft and intereil againft ^' ^°"-"34»
thofe, that wou'd gcneroully risk life or reputa-
G 2. tion*
7i N AZ ARE NVS.
tion, an employment or a benefice^for the fake of
truth and the public good, or whatever they take
to be fuch. Is not Mr. W h i s t o n (for exam-
ple) reckoned mad, tho no man in England writes
more coherently ? This truth bids me willingly
acknowlege : and yet I am much farther than his
detractors from allowing all his premifTes, or admit-
ting every one of his confequences to be juft. Sit
ftill, fays the fly Pharifee, if you are a private man,
and footh the knavery of the great, that you may
enjoy their protection : or if you chance to be a
man in power, keep what you have got by what
title foever, and be fure to make the moll; of the
people's folly > for he that does otherwife is a
madman. This language I have heard a thoufand
times, and as many times reje6ted fuch advice.
Tho I declared long fince that I love not to call
names in Religion, and that I am neither of Paul,
nor of Cephas, nor ofApoLLosj yet fince
men are fure to be diftinguifli'd by their friends
as well as by their foes, and that the delignati-
ons they beftow are often inexpreflive, but gene-
rally falfe or improper : fo I own that, for more
than one reafon, I have lefs exception to the name
of NAZAREN than to any other. My firft
reafon is, becaufe this name, as I have already
Pag. 16. prov'd, w^as that which the followers of Jesus
took to themfelves at the beginning, even prefer-
ably to that of CHRISTIAN, which was
given them next: and my fecond reafon is, be-
caufe this name was afterwards peculiarly apply'd
to thofe, who underllood the defign of Chriilia-
nity as I do> namely, that the Jewifli nation
Ihou'd always continue to obferve their own Law
under the Chriflian difpenilition, tho neverthelefs
the difciples from among the Gentiles do ftand
under no obligation to keep that Law, either as it
is ceremonial or judicial. This is the fenfe wherin
I
NAZARENUS. 73
I underftand N A Z A R E N I S M, as now be-
tokening a dii1:in6t fociety of Chriftians : for with
regard to any other opinions juftly or unjuftly at-
tributed to the old N A Z ARE N S, as I have
neither exprefly adopted nor defended fuch > fo
they do not enter into the idea I give of the
word, andtherforeamnot hereafter to be charg'd,
with what I before-hand difclaim.
CH A p. XIX.
A S moft of the Jews miilook the defign of
jtlL Jesus, fo the Gentiles did as much mi-
flake the few Jews who adher'd to him. You
know already to what a prodigious degree Im-
pofture and Credulity went hand in hand in
the primitive times of the Chriftian Church;
the laft being as ready to receive, as the firll
was to forge books, under the names of the
Apollles, their companions, and immediate fiic-
ceflbrs. Ireneus, fpeaking of thofe primi-
tive falfe coiners, fays, that in order to ^^ amaze
the fimple^ and fuch as are ignorant of the Scri-
ptures of truths they ebtrude upon them an inexpref-
fible multitude of apocryphal and fpurious Scriptures
of their o'wn devizing. This evil grew afterwards
not onely greater, when the Monks were the fole
tranfcribers, and (I might Hiy in a manner) the
fole keepers of all books good or bad \ but in
procefs of time it became almoil abfolutely im-
poffible to diftinguifh hillory from «>' fable, or
G X tiuth
84. K[J.v^',\\w '?:rAn-3-©- ct:Toxpu?K cth»^ticti y.v\ iTTi^ctixivcdv y^-uiJ-ct\ct. Advcrlus
Hacrcf. 1. i c. 17. •, o 1 •
85-. Vereribus ilUs bono animo multa & fcnbennbus Sc iegenri-
bus ouae aliquo f^ltem modo inftruae poilenr piebemj quorum
■" ■ ^ crali!!}
74 NAZARENUS.
tmth from error, as to the beginnings and origi-
nal monuments of Chriftianity. The truth of
this you may particularly fee in all the treatifes
written about the Canon of the New 'Teftament^
where there occurr a pritty ample lift of difficul-
ties, not to be flightly aniwer'd, or pafl: over in-
differently, by any who are fincere lovers of
truth > thefe being in themfelves matters of the
high eft importance, as well as fubje6ts of the
greateft curiofity, and therfore deferving all the
pains of| the moft able Critics to folve them fatis-
^ — ^- iadorily. Thofe Apocryphal books occafion'd
me to ftart a difficulty formerly in Amyntor^
which, for ought I yet perceive, muft be folv'd
at laft by my felf It was this. How the im-
7nediate fuccejfors of the Apoftles cou'd fo grofsly
confound the genuin writings of their mafters^
•with fuch as were falfely attributed to them ? or^
fince they were in the dark about thefe matters fo
early ^ how tame fuch as followed ''em by a better
light ? And obfervdng, that fuch Apociyphal books
were often put upon the fame foot with the Ca-
nonical books by the Fathers > and the firft cited
as divine Scriptures no lels than the laft, or fom-
times when fuch as we reckon divine were difal-
low'd by them, I propos'd thefe two other que-
stions : why all thofe books^ which are cited as ge-
r^uin hy Clemens Alexandrirus, Ori-
G E N, T e R T u L L I A N, a7id the refi of fuch wri-
ters^ fhou^d not be accounted equally authentic ? and
what firefs ought to be laid on the teftimony of thofe
Fathers, who not onely contradiU one another^ but
craflis ingeniis, 8c temerariis Monachis patientiam fequentibu.fs
alta nox eiiarn dariflimis Chriftlanifmi pyincipiis tandem invedla
eft: fabulis & fophifmatis veritatis regnum dolo 8c vi occupanti-
bus. Gaf^ar Bmh, m Noiis ad Clmdhfli Mameni ho. i. de Stam
idnmas. > ■ • ■'
'"•''■-■■ " are
NAZARENUS. 7$
tire often inconftflent with themfeh'cs in their relati-
ons of the ^cery fa?ne fuEls ? Nor do I think it a
meaa feiTice to true Religion, to fet objcclions
of this nature in their cleareil light, no Ids to
acquaint the perfons concern'd with thofe fcru-
plcs of many, which had otherwife perhaps ne-
ver come to theij: knowledge s than to put 'cm
hereby in the right way of removing fuch, by an-
fwering them as fairly as they are proposed. I
am farr from being ignorant that the wooddcn
Priells and Divinelings of all communions (eafily
diflinguifh'd from the true Paftors) inilead of la-
boring forfatisfadionin fuch cafes to thcmfelves or
others, are accuftom'd immediately to rail and raife
a cry againft thofe that do, as profeft Heretics or
ConceaPd iVtheifts : wheras if they had been fuch
indeed, they fhou'd the more earneftly iludy to
inform and convince them, which Billingfgate
and defamation can never effed. This condu6t,
on the contraiy, will make them fufpect all to
be a cheat and impoflure, becaufe men naturally
cry out when they are touch'd in a tender part.
Thofe Smatterers and Hypocrites, its true, wou'd
ordinarily cover their malice with the pretence
of zeal : but the real caufe of all their paiiion, is
either their ignorance which they wou'd not
have exposed, or their lazinefs which they wou'd
not have difturb'd, with the bufmefs of their
profef?ion. Tis not poflible, however, for any
Church or Community to be rid of fach 3 fince
there's a mob of Priells, a mob of Lawyers ^
a mob of Gentlemen, a mob of Phyficians,
and a mob (to be fhort) in all mniierous focie-
ties. But the able, the exemplary, and confci^
cntious Divine, who merits all the honor and
refpe6t that is fure to be paid him, ads quite a-
nother part : for mifreprefentation of his very
enemies is as little to be fear'd from him, as much
•G 4 i^s
76 N4ZARENUS.
as it is to be defpis'd from thofe of another cha-
racter j and information will be much more agree-
ably receiv'd from his hands, as it is more Ukely
to be found and fmcere. Being therfore fure,
that no man will be angry at a queflion who's
able to anfwcr it, I fhall here add one more to
the difficulties relating to our prefent Canon of
^..^^Jhe New J'efta?nent. Tis this. Since the Nazarens
or Ebionites are by all ChHrch-biftoriam unanimoujly
achioivled^d to have been the firfl Chriftians^ or
thofe who beVicv'd in Christ among th^ Jtws^
with which his own people he liv'd arid dfd^ they
haviyig been the witneffes of his a5lions^ and of
whom were all the Apoflles : confidering this^ I fay^
how it was poffible for them to be the fir ft of all o-
thers {for they are made to be the fir ft Heretics) who
fhoiCd form wrong conceptions of the doBrine and
deftgns of ] Esv s^ and how came the Gentiles^ who
believed o?i him after his death^ by the preaching of
perfons that never knew him^ to have truer notions
of thefe things -, or whence they coiCd have their infor-
mation^ but from the believing Jews ? To the cu-
ftoms of the Jews I grant the Gentiles were
nioil averfe, and their language they fo little un-
dcrilood 5 as to commit on divcrfe occafions
endlefs and monftrous miitakes, many inftances
of which may be ^cti\ in R h e n f e r d's Dijfer-^^
Fag; 57. tat ions before-cited j which (by the way) I ap-
prove wot in all things, particularly in his con-*
founding the Nazarens of the firfl with fome of
thofe of the third and fourth centuries : yet Hill
the Gentiles mull: have their water from the
Jewifh ftream, or their ciftcrns will be very mud-
dy and unwholfom. But not to digrefs, tho I
am my felf moil firmly rooted in what I am
thoroly perfuaded to be the right belief concern^
ing Christ and Christianity, which I
iliall particularly deduce in the account of my
' ' • ■ " Religions
N AZ ARE NUS. 77
Religion, which I have often promised you j yetj
for the fake of others, I wou'd pafHonatcly re-
commend ( in the mean time ) the clear folution
of this difficulty about the Ebionites to the moft
capable Critics, be they Divines or Laymen:
lince not onely of old it occalion'd two emi-
nent parties, but even now in a manner in our
own days > and that one of them docs affirm,
the true Chriftianity of the Jews was over-
born and deftroy'd by the more numerous Gen-
tiles, who, not enduring the reafonablcnefs and
fimplicity of the fame, brought into it by de-
grees the peculiar expreffions and myflcrics of
Heathenifm, the abftrufe doctrines and dillincli-
ons of their Philofophers, an infupportable pon-
tifical Hierarchy, and even the altars, offirings,
the facred rites and ceremonies of their Prieib,
tho they wou'd not fo much as tolerate thofc of
the Jews, and yet owning them to be divinely in-
ftituted. The Socinians and other Unitarians no
lefs confidently affiert, that the Gentiles did like-
wife introduce into ChrilHanity their former po-
lytheifm and deifying of dead men : thus retain-
ing (add they) the name of Chriftianity, but
quite altering the thing j and futeing it, as their
interell: or the neceffity of their affiiirs required,
to all the opinions and cufloms any where in
vogue from that time to this. The timc-fcrving;
and ficklenefs of many Chriilians are too manifell
to be deny'd. This is the nature of man. Yet
for all the pretences of the Socinians to reafon,
they are in many things relating to this very fab-
je6t, and in feveral other refpe6ts, not proper
here to be mentioned, guilty of as palpable abfur-
dities and contradictions, as any fe6t whatfoever ;
fo little confident is man in his opinions, any
more than in his actions.
fi H A P.
7$ NAZARENUS.
CHAP. XX.
TO folve the faid difficulty then about the
Ebionites, it will not be enough barely to
,quote our Gofpels^^ Epiftles^ and the Acis of the
Apoftles-y but their genuinnefs and integrity mufl
be likewife eilablifh'd by thofe arguments, of
which evei7 good Chriftian may and ought
to be apprized : lince the Nazarens and Ebi-
onites ( whofe Synagogues or Churches were nu-
merous, as I faid above, over all the orient, as
well as particularly in Judea) had a Go/pel of
their own, fomtimes call'd by Ecclefiaflical wri-
ters *^ THE Gospel of the Hebrews,
and fomtimes the Gospel of the
twelve Apostles j but ignorantly mi-
ftaken by Ireneus, Epiphanius, and
their followers for the Gospel of Mat-
thew interpolated. This Gofpel was publick-
ly read in their Churches as authentic, for a-
bove *7 J 00 years > which might very well be for
the mo ft part, and yet the other Go/pels never be
the lefs authentic alio. Do61:or Gr ab e (who has
86 Pap'as apud Eufeb. Hiil. Ecclef. 1. ;. c.39: Ignat. in Epill.
ad Smyrn. n. 3: Iren. adverfus _ Haeref. 1. 5. c. 11 : Clem Alex.
ftromat.l. I : Origen. homil. i. in Luc: tra£t. 8. in Mat: homil.
ir. in ]erem; 8c in torn. 2. comment, in Joan: JuH. Martyr ^ut
njtdetur) in dlakgo cum Tryphone: Ambrof. in prooem. com-
mentarior. in Luc: Euieb. H;i^. EcclcfJ. 5. c. 25- £c 27 : item I.4.
c. ^^•. Epipban. Haeref. 29 & 30, paffim: Hieronym. inCatalogo,
n.4. Contra Pehgian. 1 3. c. i : Comment in cap. 12. Mat; 6c
alibi faepilTime: Theophyladl. comment, in Luc; Tit, Boftr. com-
jnent. in eundem.
87. Vid. Augultin. contra Fauft. 1 19. c, 18: & contra Crcfco-
cium, c. 31 : «f Ti
AVTi OUT? y^-\,a.<; avto /.dLi tjuv^e.':- Homil.in Act.
c}6. Mjt-3!i:Xii yct^ (-j^ov J/doi^l'^) .)-? .'-
/>.«;, UiTet /,ctl Ti y.<±VA' Ifj (Ll -TrrtfTrff T-^f ^.C^Ol/f Til TSy S'S'-'T'-
^Ir- ^i-^yo-y.fJ.i^f.. Epiphan. Haeref. 33. n. 7.
97. Adverfus Haeref. 1. 1. c. x,
were
Si NAZARENUt
were folely of their fide, loudly glorying that
they themfelves were the Church and the Ortho-
dox, while thofe whom others call'd Orthodox
were Heretics and Intniders. Every one of them
likewife had Apostolical Succession
ever in his mouth. But
Non noflrum inter 'vos tantas componere lites :
Et "i'ituld tu dignus^ £5? hie Virgil.
Juft fo it is at this day between fome of the Pro-
tellants and all the Papiils ( not to fpeak of the
Greecs) each of 'em boafting I know not what
uninterrupted Tradition mid Succejfion^ which are
the moil chimerical pretences in nature 3 and
which not only iliows how little any oral traditi-
on whatever is to be valu'd -y but that no truth of
univerfal concern can pollibly depend on fo flight
a foundation, as the way of bandying about an
old Itory for numerous generations. To the Law
therfore and to the Tefiimony. To the New Tefla-
ment^ I fay 3 and to that alone both for doctrine
and difcipline. So farr is the Succcffion of Bi-
fhops in any ancient See from being unintermpt-
ed, that it is not fo much as certain fa6t, no not
for the firft half-dozen of pretended Bifhops in the
See of Rome, from which our Englifh High-
church Pharifees are proud to derive their Suc-
ceilionj which I deliberately and pofitively defy
'em to make out to me, either in Rome, or here
i\\ Great Britain with refpe6b to the firll: Britiili
Bifliops. Befides that fevcral even of the Billiops
who are not contefted, were Schifmatics, Here-
tics, Apoftates, Atheilh, and monfters of men for
wickednefs, by the confent of all hiitorians. Thefe
were cleanly conveyances for the pure doclrine of
Christ, farr better preferv'd in the Scriptures^
and in the fucceffive profeilion of the faithful.
Shou'd
NAZARENUS. %i
Shou'd the validity of Ordination and Ordinances
depend on the fuccefHon of Sees, it wou'd then
be downright Conjuring, and not a rcafonable,
much lefs a divine Inftitution. If Tradition ther-
fore, and this Epifcopal fucceflion be not weak
and beggarly elements > I know not what can be
fo call'd with any propriety. This Succcffion, in
a word, and ApoiloHcal, that is to fay. Oral Tra-
dition, are Hterally in the Apoftle Pa u l 's words, iTim, 1.4;
Fables and endlefs Genealogies^ miniftring qncftions
rather than godly edifying : intricate queitions that
can never be folv'd, and divifion inftead of edifi-
cation. This bufinefs puts me in mind of a learn-
ed Gentleman, who told me fometime jQnce, that
he was about to collect the Traditions of his
Church fince the Reformation : and if he goes on
witk this defign, he'll be llrangely furpriz'd to
find fuch prodigious variety, alteration, arid un-
certainty, within fo fmall a compafs as from Lu-
ther's time to ours. The iirit difpute will be
(and no logomachy I affure him) whether his
Church was well reform'd or not ? The next, whe-
ther the Clergy or the Laity made this alteration,
whether the motives to it were temporal or fpiri-
tual? and the third, to name no m^ore, who were
precifely the perfons, or thofethat wxre the chief
inllruments of the fame ? Every one of thefc
points will be eagerly contefted. Yet they are
trifles to the confufion and intricacy he'll meet at
every ftep about the difcipline and do&ine, the
ceremonies andufages of this Church: when even
llories void of all rivalfhip or intcrell:, where nei-
ther point of honor nor preferment is conccrn'd,
are fcarce ever told twice the fame way. A p o-
s T o L I c A L Tradition, to fay it in few
words, was the engine usVi formerly, as it \% at
prefent, to introduce or countenance whatever
men had a mind to advance without the authori-
- ty
N AZ ARENV $.
ty of Scripture^ or contrary to it: and thus (to
give an example in the very point we have been
hitherto chiefly clearing) Augustin, fpeaking
of the Nazarens by name, fays, that tho they
5« acknowledge the [on of God to be the MeJJias^ yet
they ohfewe all the precepts of the old Law 5 which
the ChrifiianSj continues he, have learnt by Apos-
tolical Tradition not to ohferve car^
7ially4^ but to underftand fpiritually. Jesus no
where, the Gofpel no where, forbids the pra6bice
of the Jewiih Law to the Jews > but the Tradi-
tiop of the Apollles is here made to fupply the
dele6b of their writcing. And fo this very Tra-
dition is alledg'd by others to warrant the invoca-
tion of Saints, prayers for the Dead, the worfhip
of Images^ with the whole train of Greec and
Romifh fuperftitions, wherof the leaft footftep
appears not in the Bible, Again therfore I fay,
to the Law and to the 'fefiimony : fince it will not
avail any thing to fay here (for there's nothing
fome men will not fay ) that by Apoflolical tradi-
tion A u G u s T I N means the written doftrine of
the Apoflles, till it appears that they have
written any fuch matter. You perceive by this
time (Megaletor) that what the Maho-
metans believe concerning Christ and his
doctrine, were neither the inventions of M a h o-
M E T, nor yet of thofe Monks who are faid to
have aflifled him in the framing of his Alcoran ;
but that they are as old as the time of the Apo-
98. Nazaraei, cum Dei filium confiteantur eflcChridum, omnia
tamen veteris Legis obfervantj quae Chriftiani per Apostoli-
c A M T R A D I T I o N E M noH obfervsre carnalitcr, fed Ipiritualiter
intelh'gere didicerunt. Ebicnei Chrifium etiam tantummodo ho-
minem dicunt: mandata carnalia legis obfervant, circumcifjonem
iciiicer carnis, Sc cetera, quorum oncribus per novum Teftamen-
tum libciati fumus. Bi Hawef, r, 9.
^ nics,
NAZARENUS.
files, having been the fentimcnts of whole Seds
or Churches : and that tho the Gofpel of the He-
brews be in all probability loft, yet lome of thofe
things are founded on another Gofpel anciently
known, and ftill in fome manner exifting, attri-
buted to B A R N A B A s. If in the hiftory of this
Gofpel I have fatisfy'd your curiofity, I ihall think
my time well fpent ; but infinitely better, if you
agree, that, on this occafion, I have fet The
Original. Plan of Christianity
in its due light, as farr as I proposed to do. I am
with inexpreffible admiration and rcfpecb.
Tour mofl faithful^ obedient^
Ifonflaerdyke, and devoted Servant^
J. T.
H AN
A N
ACCOUNT
O F A N
Irish Manuscript
O F T H E
FOUR GOSPELS;
WITH
A Summary of the ancient IRISH
CHRISTIANITY, before the
Papal Corruptions and Ufurpations:
AND
The reality of the KELDEE^S (an order
of Lay Religious) againft the two laft
Bifhops of Worcelter.
Exempla Major urn perquire^ ? p
Ubi nihil invenies Fallaciae. S ^"^ ^ ^ ^•
LONDON^ Printed in the Year 171 8,
LETTER II.
Contammg an account of an Irijh
Manufcripty Sec.
SECTION I,
A M not without hopes (ex-
cellent Megaletor)
that you may have receiv'd
fome entertainment from
my account of the Go/pel
c/ B A R N A B A S5 as well
as fome benefit trom the
Original Plan of Chrijli-
anity : but I now do my
felf the honor to give you
an account of a Gofpel that will tend much more
to your edification, and by which that Plan will
be further illuftrated, I mean a Latin Manufcript
copy^ that 1 have now before me on the Table,
of the fdur Gofpels generally recei-v'd in the Chrilli-
an world. It is not onely veiy remarkable and
valuable for being a reliqae of the ancient Irilli
Churciij but moreover for being one of the cor-
reaelt copies I have ever feen, and finely written
in Irifli charafters ; as alfo for 'various R£adings of
H 3 ibnis
i N AZ ARENUS.
fome impoitance, for fome very fingular obferva-
tions, and for a Catena Patrum on the Gofpel ef
Matthew (interfperft with a few N§tcs in
the Iriih tongue) that dellroys the credit of cer-
tain corrupt editions of the Fa t h e r s 3 wherin
fome of thofe palTages being manifeflly deprav'd, it
probably follows that many more are fo. There
IS an interlineary Glofs o£ little worth in another
hand, and fome odd fej)arate pieces, among whom
the Genealogy of Christ, which I told you in
Pag. 18. niy lafl Letter did not begin the firft chapter of
Matthew. But thefe Notes^ and fome other
books of this kind not yet made public, {how
much fuller and better than the incomparable
Archbiihop Usher (the glory of Ireland) has ei-
ther ' done, or for want of fuch vouchers cou'd
do, what was the genuin Chriilianity of the an-
cient Irifh : for the Irifh and the Albanian Scots,
with the Weftern Britons, were the lafl of all
European nations that fubmitted (fince neither the
Greecs nor the Waldenfes ever truely fubmitted)
to the hierarchy, ceremonies, and doftrine of the
Roman Church j tho they became the moft eager
fticklers for it, with all its fuperflitions, in after
times of ignorance. This late Conformity is una-
nimoufly agreed by the Church-hillorians of all
communions. I appeal in particular to Baro n i-
u s and S pa N h e m i u s, iince domeftic writers
may be liable to fufpicion. And fo farr, in eifedl:,
were they from acknowledging any fubjection to
the Church of Rome, or implicitly conforming
to its Decrees 3 that, on the contrary, they did
in very many things ftrenuoufly oppofe it: nor
wou'd Dagan, an Irifli Billiop in the beginning
I . Jn hh Difcourfe of the Religion anciently profeft by the Irilh
tnd LHeBritifli.
of
N AZ AR ENUS.
of the 7th centuiy, as much as eat with the Pope's
agents (whom he met in Britain) no not under the
fame ^ roof with them \ fo highly did he abhorr
their impofing Spirit, as they found Columban
alfo did, an Abbat of the dime nation whom they
met in France. In Ihoit, the Irifh deny'd all
communion with them and their Church j as
the Roman Chinxh, on the other hand, did then
treat the Irifh as downright ^ Schifmatics and He-
retics, whofe Clergy, with thofc of the Britons
and Albanian Scots , were not only to be rcor-
dain'd (their countiy Ordination and Sacraments
being by the Romanics reputed invalid) but like-
wife their people to be 4 rebaptiz'd, if they de-
fir'd it. Here's the true fource of the High-church
fpirit, that infatuates fo many among us at pre-
fent. Of Rome it is, and by this you may per-
ceive the maintainers of it to be failing for Rome:
the fpirit, I fay, of reordaining and rebaptizing,
of unchurching and unchrillianing. The befl ar-
gument that Pope HoNORius the firft cou'd
ufe, towards reducing the Irifh to the obedience
2. Cognofcentes Bri tones, Scottos meliores putavimus. Scottos
vero per Daganum Epifcopum in hanc infulam, & Columbanum
Abbatem in Galliis, venientem, nihil difcrepare a Britonibus in
corum converfatione didicimus : nam Daganus Epifcopus ad nos
veniens, non foliim cibum nobifcum, fed nee in eodem hofpitio
quo vefcebamur, fumere voluir. BU. Hift. Ecclef. I. a c. 4.
5. Sed perflitit illc \Wtlfridus] negare, ne ab Epifcopi? Scottfs
\uti tunc vocabmtur turn HibernUey turn bcrealis incclae BntannUe'^
vel ab lis quos Scotti ordinaverunt, confecrationem lulciperet, quo-
rum communionem fcdes afpernarerur apoftolica. Gul.Mabnesbur.
deGefi. Fontif. Angl /. 3. Vide us licet ipjius ^tlfridi verba in ejus Vita,
tap. 11.
4. Licentiam quoque non habemus eis pofcentibus Chrifmam .
vel Eucharifliam dare, ni ante confelli tuerinr, velle fe nobifcum
cfle in unitare Ecclefiae: &:qui ex horum fimilirer gente, vel qua-
cunque, de Baprifmo fuo dubicaverint, baptiientur. Decret, ?07)tif,
US. ab Uffem citat,
H 4 <>f
NAZARENUS.
of the Roman fee, was ^ exhorting them^ not to
efieem their own [mall number^ feated in the extre-
mities of the earthy to be ijuifer than the ancient or
modern Churches of Christ, that were thro-out the
world. Thus C u m m i a n, one of the Irifh pro-
felytes to Rome, in his Letter to S e g i a n Abbat
of I-Colum-kill, defires him to <» confider, which
are likeliefi to be in the right concerning the celebra-
tion of Eafter^ the Jew s^ Greecs^ Romans^ and Egyp-
tians^ agreeing together -, or a parcel of Britons and
IrifJj^ who are almoft the remoteft of mortalsy and^
as I may call them (continues he) the tetters of the
terreftrial globe. And again in the fame 7 Letter,
what can be more perverfely thought of our mother
the Churchy than if we fjjou'd fay? Rome errs^ Je-
rufakm errs, Alexandria errs, Antiochia errs, the
whole world errs : but the Irifh alone, and the Bri-
tons, are in the right. Now, this is ftill the bur-
den of the fong among us, this is the never-faiUng
cant of every Theologafter, and of eveiy little bi-
got that licks up his fpittle : ' arc you wifer than
' fo many Fathers, Councils, Princes, Nations ?
' Do you know more than all the world beiidcs ?
But it will be very flirprizing,. when a true ac-
f. Exhortans, ne paucitatem fuam, in extremis terrae finibus
conftitutam, fapientiorem antiquis five modernis, quae per orbem
terrae fiint, Chrifti eccleliis acflimarenr. Bed. HiJi.Ecde/.l.i. c. ig,
Vtdsatur etiam fujlus de hac re, I. '^. c. ij*.
6. Vos conlidera e utrum Hebraei, & Graeci, & Latini, &
Aegyptii, fimul in obfervatione praecipuarum folennitatum uniti;
anBritonum Scottorumque psrticula, quifunt pene extremi, 8c (ut
ita dicamj mentagrae orbis terrarum. Cummiani Hiberni ad Segi-
mum Huenfem Abbatem, EpifloU MS. in Bibloth. Cotton. ^ edit. a&
UJfer. m E;iftoUr. Hibernicar Sylloge
7. Quid autem pravius fentiri poteft de Ecclefia matre, ^am fi
dicamus? Roma errat, Hierolblyma crrat, Alexandria crrat, Antio-
chia errat, totus mundus crrat; Soli tantum Scoti &; Britoncs
f cftum iapiunt. Id. ibid,
count
N A Z AR ENU S.
count is given of the folid Learning and pxire
Chriftiiinity, that anciently llorifh'd in the moit
dillant even of the Britiih Ilets : and it appeiu's
that as low as the loth century, the famous con-
teft about the celebration of Eafler (a qucllion in
it fclf unneceflary and infignificant) was Hill kept
on foot in thefe Hands 3 as Usher judiciouily
^ obfeiTes, out of the anonymous writer of C h r y-
s o s T o m's Life. But ufelefs as this qucflion does
otherwife appear, yet we learn by it, that the in-
habitants of our Britifh world thought then as
highly of Conitantinople as of Rome, without
fervilely fLibie6ting themfelves to the decifions of
either : and that they judg'd the New Teftament
clear enough, and fuiScient of it felf, in all things
relating to Salvation 3 being fo little acquainted
with the Fathers (tho by that time grown fond of
Tradition) as to have but one fuch piece among
them relating to Ecclefiaftical ufages. And hap-
py had it been for them, if none of the extrava-
gant fancies of the Fathers^ nor any other human
Traditions in Religion, had been ever diflemina-
ted in their Schools or in their Churches. But
becaufe Usher has given us onely a bare hint,
and that the palTage of Chrysostom's Life
has not been otherwife noticed (that I know of)
nor even as much as translated, I fhall here give
it you entire. Certain ^ Clergymen from among
thofcy
8. Bifcourfe of the Religion ^roffjf by the ancknt Irlflj and Brittp,
chap. 10. psg. 114.
N AZ ARENUS.
thofe^ "who inhabit the extremities of the worldy
coming upon the account of fome ecclejiaftical Tradi-
tions^ but particularly the obfervation and exadi cal-
culation of Eafier^ to the royal city [of Conftantino-
ple] did wait upon the Patriarch who at that time
rejided therin. This was Methodius, a man
famous in the days of our anceftors^ by whom being
quefliorCd from what place^ and on what occafion^
they had travelVd thither ? they anfwer'd^ that they
came from the ^° Schools of the Ocean ^ and withall
they clearly explained to him^ the occajion of coming
from their own country. Upon his asking them^ what
books of holy SCRIPTURE were read there by
the inhabitants ? they an/wefd^ that they made ufe
of the " Gofpel and the Apoftlej and of thofe onely :
But
^v\yLY\yLctffit (TAifUi i^ei^ov odtu. Tqv cTs ^^oieu? T>f< d-eieti
y^(pn^ (it^^ioi? 0/ i}tei<7i Ketjoiyji (TyoKctjaa-tv ei^o/jQ- ? T«
Ef66^T/SA/Q- ZfJ.(riVi.
10. Aietjei^ii interdutn fumitur pro ipfo loco, in cpw Thikfopki ^
DoHores S'tctlti^ovcri' /Ic apud Suidam, in hac 'voce, eji inter alios
fenfi4s TOT©" ^v u> nvi.^ [xavd-Ai/ovoT, 0> de feipfo loquens AhIus
Gelli'^s, ut alios praeteream, interrogavi (inquit) inDiatriba Taurum,
an fapiens irafceretur ? dabat enim faepc, poft quotidianas lectio-
nes, quaerendi quod quis vellet poteftatem. Li6. i. cap. 26.
11. He means the four Gofpels, with the Adls and Epiftles of tht
Apoftles, rphich make up the Canon of the New Teflamcnr ; as may
befeen ^^ B E d E, difcoHrfm^ upon this very difpute about leafier amtng
the Britons and the Scots : who being fituated {fays he) farr beyond
the Ocean, no body Cent them the Synodal decrees concerning the
obfervation of Eaftcr ; fo that they oneJy carefully obferv'd the works
of piety and purity, which they learnt out of the writings of the
Prophets^,
NAZARENUS.
But he further demanding^ by what Traditions of
the Fathers or Dolors they go'verrCd themfelves ?
they faid^ that they had one onely hook of the Fa^
ther C H R Y s o s T o M, from whence they happen'' d
clearly to learn the Faith ^ and the exa6i ohfer^vatiort
of the commands j affirming.^ that they daily reap'd
great advantage by this pie ce^ which was very agree-
able and acceptable to all^ being handed about from
one to another^ and diligently tranfcriWd : infomuch
that there was no city {as they [aid) nor any of
tioeir Clans^ or territories^ that remained void of Jo
great and important a benefit. I fhall make no
other remark nov/ upon this curious paflage, but
that as thefe Oceaners cou'd find no footllieps of
Eafler in their Gofpels and Epijiles at home ; fo if
they had obferv'd no Eafber at all, they needed
not to have been at the expenfe, pains, and ha-
zard, of going a Tradition-hunting from I-colum-
kill all the way to Conflantinople. And, pray,
is it not as manifeft as the iun at noon, to what
danger the peace of thefe nations, and the purity
of the fiiith it felf, have been of a long time ex-
pos'd ? on accoimt of Ceremonies, Habits, ilated
Fafls and Feftivals, with many other fuch matters ^
no where commanded in the Gofpel^ but built up-
on Traditions extremely dubious, and abfolutely
ufelefs were they ever fo certain. Nor fhou'd it
pafs unobferv'd, that in the BritiJh Hands we had
Prophets, the Evangelifts, and the Apoflles, Hip. Ecclef.l ;. r. ^,
.Ah'd /peaking in the third chnpter of the fims bodk about Finn a n
Abbat of Hy, he omitted nothing (/?y; he) of ail that he knew w.is
to be pinform'd out of the Evangelic, or Apoilollc, or Prophetical
^pvritings; but, to the utmoll: of his power, fhow'd his obedience
by his works. 5"^ that no dbtfion is here made to thofe Leftionaries
of the Greecs, ypheyof I haie feen fame •, and which are call' d the Go-
ipel and the Apoftle, becanfe they contm the Goipels and Epi flics of
ikeir d^ii^y Offcos.
in
S NAZARENUS.
m thofe days moft florifhing Schools 5 it being
likewife a thing very certain, that the Greec lan-
guage was taught in them, and particularly in
thofe of Ireland, long before this time. But of
this fubjecl at more leifure. In the mean time.
Sir, I cannot forbear giving you a memorable in-
ftance how cautious we fhou'd be, in relying too
much on the bold afTertions of Critics or Anti-
quaries : but efpecially of your dealers in Manu-
fcripts, of whom I know very few whofe judge-
ment equals their induilryj and among thefe I
muffc do Mr. Wa n i. e y the juftice to acknow-
lege, that his great ability is ever accompany'd
with as great candor. Yet it was not want of
judgement, but the vanity to appear ignorant of
nothing, that made father Simon commit fp
many prodigious blunders and millakes, about the
irifh Manuicript of the Gofpels v/hich I have hap-
pily difcover'dj and wherof he treats in the i8th
chapter of the firfl tome of his Bibllothequs Cri-
tique^ where he writes of it profejGTedly. So farr
he's in the right, when he fays it is a very " fair
copy 5 nor is he void of all skill (tho fomwhat
miftaken) when he guefles the age of it to be 800
, Years. But, mifled by the affinity of the cha-
ra6ters, he affirms in the firft place, that the book
is written in old Saxon letters, and that there are
fome lines in the ^3 Saxon language at the end of
it. This iliows that he underftood not a word of
Saxon, no more than of Irifh : for they are all
thro-out the book very neat Irifh chara6ters5 and
thofe lines at the end are every word of 'em pure
12. On trouve dans la Bibliotheque du Roy un beau Manufcripf
Latin des quatie Evangiles, ecrit il y a pour le moins 800 ans, en
vieux caradteres Saxons.
15 II ajoutc [le copiftej a la fin de fon exemplairr, plufieurt
Hgnes en langage Saxon.
Irifh
N AZ AR E NU S,
Irifh except '^ confer ipjlt hum lihrum^ which im-
mediately follow the name of the writer. In
the next place he declares without any doubt or
hefitation, that the writer was an '^ Englifh Be-
nediftin monk, and that his name was Dom
Aelbrigte, When I fir ft: read this paflage
I was perfeftly aftonifli'd, fince thofe lines were
as eafy to me, as his Pater nofter cou'd be to Fa-
ther Simon. But being pritty well acquainted
with the myfleries of the Critical Art Divinato^
ry^ I quickly perceiv'd that the good Father,
wholly ignorant of the Irifh language, and yet
knowing that the Benedi6tins K^^ere formerly nu-
merous in England, took do Maolhrigte to be Dom
Aelhrighte 5 this laft being a Saxon name, and
Dom being as commonly prefixt to the proper
names of the Benedi<5bins, as Sir is to thofe of
our Engiifli knights, or was formerly to the
names of thofe fryers, as Sir James, Sir John,
Sir Wi L L I A M. Hence it is plain, that guef-
fing at random is but groping in the dark, where
tis a hundred to one but a man lofes his way 5
nor is it lefs evident, that an Antiquary is not al-
ways a good Chronologift, tho tis commonly-
time alone that makes any thing precious in his
fight. As for his changeing the dipthong ao in-
to ae^ direftly contrary to the mantifcript, it
wou'd indeed be reckon'd difingenuous in any but
a Hypercritic : who, feeing ^/ enter into the
compofition of many Saxon names, might fan-
cy this an error of the copyer : and fo a fair op-
portunity for himfelf, to demonftrate his acute-
nefs by an emendation. Now the real truth of
14. Wrote this book.
1 j-. Le Copifte, ^ui etoit un Moiae Bcnediftin, prend Ic nom
de Dom iElbrigtc.
the
xo NAZARENUS,
the matter is, that do is an Iriih prepofitive parti-
cle figiiifying to^for^^c; and Maolhrigte thetran-
fcriber's name, fignifying ^^ the fervant of B r i-
GiT, or, according to the Latin analogy, and
as the aboriginal Irifh were wont to Latinize
their own names, Brigidianus. Maol and
Gilla^ two words fignifying fervant with the
fame difference as fervus and famulus in Latin,
begin abundance of Irifh names : fo M a o l M u-
iRE is Marianus, and hkewife Gilla-
MuiREj Maoleaspuic is Episcopius,
GiLLACRiosD is Christianus, Gil-
LACOLUiM isCoLUMBANus as wcll as Ma-
OLCOLUIM. Thus Maoliosa, Gillamor, with
a world of fuch others, veiy common in that
country and in the highlands of Scotland. Our
MuLBRiDE then ( that we may Anglify him )
or B R I G H T M A N, wrotc fome of this book at
the age of eight and twenty. This he tells us
himfelf at the end of Mark, as well as his
father's name at the end of J o h n 5 and fo where
he wrote the firfl part, and where he finifh'd the
fecond part of his work, together with veiy par-
ticular dates from the hves or deaths oi Kings
and Clergymen : things of which Father S i m o K
underftood not in this place one fyllable. This I
objefl: not to him, as if I thought him obliged
to underftand Irifh > or as if it were any deroga^
tion to his great learning, that he underftood
Saxon no better. But I think it abfurd in any
man, to give himfelf an air of knowing what
he does not, which pretence cannot long im-
pofe : and it mufl; appear egregioufly ridiculous,
when fuch a one will needs betray his ignorance,
by takeing upon him to play the Critic in parts
16. Sirvm Brigh^e,
Pf
NAZARENUS. zx
of Literature he has never ftudy'd^ particularly
in languages as little intelligible to him, as Chi-
nefe or Tartarian are to me. Nor cou'd I for-
bear laughing, believe me, when I read in him,
that the Saxon characters of this book were ve-
ry fincj but yet different from thofe, which
^7 Father M a b i l l o n has exhibited in his book
^e Re DIpIomatica. As for the Cham of the Fa-
thers^ or the colleflnon of paflages from their
works to explain the text of Scripture^ he fays
(as I alfo fay) that it is made out of ^^ Hila-
ry, Jerom, Ambrose, Gennadius,
Brde, and others. Some of thefe NOTES,
he 19 fays, are 'very impertinent : and ^° lower, as
for the NOTES, this "work is a coUeBion good
enough^ 'when the colkElor cites good authors \ but
when he fpeaks of his own head^ he fometimes utters
great impertinencies. The meaning of this infbort
is, that every thing's impertinent, which contra-
dicts the prefent editions of xhc Fathers 'y or the
prefent doftrincs, and the novel ufages of the
Roman Church. There are, I confefs, accord-
ing to the cuftom of thofe ages ( I wiih it were
onely of thofe ages ) feveral allegorical explicati-
17. Pour ce qui eft ces cara£leres Saxons, dans lefquels ces
quatre E\' ng les font ecrits, ils font tres-beraix, ?-z (^iff rent de
ceux que le pere Mabillon a reprefenrez, d'ns fa rJtj!omatici:ie.
18. Outre le texte des Evangiles, cer excMplaire contientdepe-
tites Glofes interiineaires en Latin fur des cer rains mo's; avec quel-
ques Notes maiginales, qui compofent une efpece de petite
Chaine recueiilic de St. Hilaire, de St. ^mbrcife, de St. Jerome,
de St. Augullin, de Gennadius. 6c, ce me femble, de Bede ; qui
eft indique par la fcule lettreB, comme St. Jerome eft icdique par
k feule letrre H.
19. Ces Notes, dent il y en a quelques-unes fort Impertinentes,
&;c.
^o. Cctouvrage, quant aux Notes, eft une compilation qui eft-
bonne, lorfquc le compilateur cite des bons aureurs: m^is quand il
par.> de fon chef, il dit quclquesfois de granges ijnpertincnces.
ons.
i% N AZ ARE NUS.
or\Sj which I think impertinent enough j and it
too often appears, how farr fuperilitious belief
and ceremonious pra6tice had got footing by
that time : but thefe expHcations are almoft all of
'em from approv'd Doftors in the Roman Church,
and therfore can be none of thofe the reverend
Father cenfures. He ought likewife to have re-
jnark'd, that in the body of the Notes there ap«-
pear, not onely two different hands, but alfo two
forts of ink, which fhou'd be carefully diflin-
guifh'd. He fays, its true, there are two diffe-
rent hands, and that, in ^^ all appearance thofe im-
fertinent Notes were the compiler'' s own y part of
^err 'reing in the Saxon^ and part in the Latin cha-
tcioiers^ wherof thefe laft are much the latefi,
Wheras what appears in the Latin chara61:ers, as
he calls them, are never mixt with the Notes at
all 5 but ever feparate by themfelves, being added
fo latelv as to be properly no part of the book :
aad befidcs, that they are not explicatory Notes
in the leafl, but dire6bions about the divifion of
the text, and the poifions to be read at certain
times and occafions > which fome pofTefTor of the
bookj long after the finiDiing of it, inferred for
his own ufe and convenience. I agree with him
in what he fays of the interlineary Glofs^ which
is good for httle, and^ as I faid before, by ano«
ther hand. But he's quite out in what he affirms
of the ^* 'various Readings^ which he wou'd have
found to be confiderable, had he read over the
whole text with any application : nor does he
2T. Ces Notes qui font ppparemmrntdu Compilateur,vJen"
Tient de deux mains j car ks unes font en caradleres Saxons, Sc les
aurres en caraderes Latins : celles-ci font beaucoup plus recentes.
2i. Quant au fond du texte 6&?> Evangiles, il diflfere peu as if they cou'd damn the innocent^
or abfohe the guilty : ivheras with the Lord not the
fentence of the priefts but the life of the finner is
epcamin'd. In the fame manner that the prieft
cleanfes the leprous perfons in Leviticus (^not
that the priefts are able to make them clean or un^
clean ^ but that they know by certain ftgns thofe
who are leprous and thofe who are not) fo the Bifhop
in this place binds or loofes^ not thofe who are inno-
cent or guilty : but after he hasy according to his
office^ heard the variety of finner s^ he then knows
who is to be bound^ and who is to be loosed. That
is, he declares them penitent or obftinate, and
confequently that they are already forgiven, or
remain ftill guilty. His fentence does nothing
2^. Ex hoc Joco Epifcopl fie Presbyteri ja£t^nr, & alTumunt alj-
quod de fuperbia Pharizaeorum . ut vel damnent innocences vel
folvant; cumapud dominum non fcntenria, fed reorum vira, quac-
ratur. Quo modo, in Lezhico, Sacerdos Icprofum murdum facie
(non quod Sacerdotes leprofos mundos vel immundos faciant, fed
quod habeant notitiam Icproii 3c non leproii) fic 5c hie alligat vel
folvit Epifcopus, non eos qui innoccntes funt vel '.oxii; feo, pro
officio fuo, cum peccatorum audicrit varietatcsj fcic qai ligandus
fn, qui folycndu*.
I clfe
14 N AZ A R E NUS.
elfe in this cafe, tho his advice may be very ufc-
ful. How much more reafonable is this dodrine,
than the blafphemous poiition lately advanced by
fome High-cnurchmcn in England j namely, that
God ftands bound to expe6b5 yea and to ratify the
fentence of the Prieft, even tho erroneouily pro-
nounc'd : wheras, in the New Teftament^ there's
not a fy liable of confefling to the Priell at all.
Jam.v. i6. Confefs your faults one to another^ is not onely the
plaineft text in the world, but alfo the moft ap-
proved by common fenfe : for he that commits a
fault, if againft any particular perfon, ought rea-
dily to acknowledge it, and ask his pardon 5 or
let it be of what nature foever, he ought feri-
oully to advife (for the quieting of his mind, if
it be a doubtful or difficult cafe) with fome
grave and experienced perfon, be it Layman or
Clergyman, who yet have no other authority but
what is merely declarative. The contrary wou'd
be Magic. By the way, you may perceive from
this author, that Priellcraft was breaking in a-
main in his time > and I beg you to enquire a-
mong your learned acquaintance, of the Iriih col-
lege in Lovain, who isMANCHANus? a wri-
ter illuflrious in this colledlion, concerning whom,
tho there be many of this name, I have my own
conje6tures. But to return to our NoteSj it is
likewife impertinent no doubt, in Father Si-
mon's account, that it is faid the reafon of
bleffing the Lord's Supper -4 was, that it might
he myft'ically made hishoUy 'y and, ina fpiritiialfenfe
this bread is the Churchy which is the body of
Christ. Nor will it by fome be counted lefs
24. Ut myftice corpus ejus fier^— fpiritualiter pariis hie Ecclc*
fia eft, quae eft co;pus Chrifti. ^
imper-
N AZ ARE NU S. i;
impertinent, that the Supper is call'd, the ^^ my-
ftery and figure of the body of Christ, and the
firft figure of the New Teflament (hinting Bap-
tifm to be the fccond) or that tis added, this fi-^
gure or reprefentation is daily reiterated^ it is re-
ceived in faith : and that Concerning thefe words,
this is my body ^ it is written among other ^-s
things, this he faid left our faith fljou^d ftagger a-
hout the daily facrifice in the Churchy as if it were
the body of Christ, fince Christ fits on the
right hand of God. You fee Tranfubftantiation was
then getting ground. Is not this dctach'd Note
that follows, the moft extravagant of ail ? will
it not be fo accounted by fome nearer -7 home ?
Let the Priefts heap up knowledge ^ rather than
riches : neither let them be afham'd to learn from
thofe Laymen^ who know what belongs to the offxe
of the Priefts. Wo be to the author of this
Note^ tho he fhou'd prove to be a Father of the
Church. But, as I hinted before, I hope for a
fitter occaiion to put this book in its due light^
haveing had it in my cuflody above half a year.
Ardmacha^ commonly Armagh^ being the place
where the book was finiili'd, I lliall cite it al-
ways hereafter (when occafion offers) by the
name of Codex Armachanus^ or the book of Ar-
magh. The perfon who convev'd it out of
^* France, was under the fame illuiion with Fa-
ther
25- Myderium 8< figure corporis ChriiLi'-— primix novi Tefla-
menci figaia — Haec veio fi^ura quotidie iteratur, accipiiur in ti-
de &c.
26. Et hoc dixit, nenoflra dubiraret fines de fatrificio quotidia-
no in Ecclelia, quafi corpus Chrifti efli-ti quoniam Chriilus in,
dex'tra Dei feder.
27, Augeant Saccrdotes fcientiam, magisqnam div"tia.'^i & non
erubefcant dilcere a Laicis, qui lioverant quse ad cflkiutn pciti-
nent Sacerdorum.
iS. Since the vrimg of this Difiertation, in the Tc.-.r 1709, the
I X book
x6 NAZARENUS.
ther S I M o N, that it was the work of an An-
glofaxoiij till I undeceiv'd him, together with
lome others of great diftin6lion.
SECTION II.
NO W upon the whole, what from this ma-
niiicript Commentator, and fome other au-
thors not \ et better known, tho not lefs ancient,
ii- not indeed more fo : and what from the write-
nigs of ArchbilTiop Usher, and other learned
liicn, it may be moft evidently made out > that
rlie Religion which the aboriginal Irifh profeft,
efpecially before the ninth century, was not
that, wherof the bulk of their poilerity are fo
fond at this day. Chrillianity got footing in
fome parts of Ireland, long before Pa l l a d i-
u s and Pa t r i c, the fupposVl firil preachers
of it there : and after the thorough fettUng of it
by this laft in the beginning of the fth century,
tho the Irip differed in their laws from other people
as Jonas 29 fays in the life of C o i. u m ban)
yet they floriJJfd in the vigor of Chrifiian doctrine^
and exceeded the frith of all the neighboring nations.
This faith conlifted in a right notion of God,
and the conltant pra6tice of virtue : for the enor-
mities which rendered 'em afterwards infamous,
if not literally barbarous (begging my country's
pardon for the cxprcfiion) enfu'd upon their
cliangcing the purity and iimplicity of their faith,
booh is come into E^glmd; being purchased by the EHrl of Oxford,
in whofe Urge Colkciion of Mamifcripts it is net the leaft iduable
piece.
29. Gens, cjuar.quam abfque reliquarun? gentium legibu?, ta-
men in Chiifliani vigoris dogmate fiorens, omnium vlcinarum
gentium fidem praepollet. f,i/>. i.
, . into
NAZARENUS. 17
into grofs Idolatry and endlefs Superftitions ; fo
true is that remark of S a l v i a n the Presbyter,
who was call'd the mafter of the Bijhops of his time^
that 30 Fices abound there moft^ where the Romans
mo ft prevail. Nor is there any thing we ought
to obferve more narrowly, bccaufe nothing more
nearly touches us 5 than that as authority in mat-
ters of judgement, necefiarily caufcs lazincfs and
llupidity : fo from ignorance thus eiVablifird un*
der the management of Priefls, whofe intercll
leads them to continue it, no lefs naturally pro
cede loofe morals and favage cuftoms. I'liis is
the genuin effect of prieftly power in all places,
and became moil conlpicuouily fo in Ireland : for
it cannot be deny'd that the inhabitants grew to
fuch a pitch of brutality, their Princes and Lords
perpetually imbruing their hands in one another's
blood, and inhumanly tyrannizing over the infe-
rior fort j that, according to the bed Chronicles
of the Hand, the ftate of the country was infi-
nitely better under Hcathenifm, than under their
degenerate Chriftianity. The common people in
"the mean time grew idle, poor, and profligate ;
and the vicious illiterate gentry cou'd deny thofe
Clergymen nothing, who, for mony, lands, or
immunities from the civil power, engag'd that
God wou'd pardon all their crimes, while they
were lilly enough to believe them. Before
this ftupendous change (an effe£l that will ever
follow from the like caufe) our anceflors were to
all others ^ i a harmlefs race > and to the EngJiJh
{whom they entertained^ furnijh'd with hooks^ and
inftruEled gratis) a moft friendly nation^ as venera-
30. Ibi praecipue vitia, ubicunque Romani. 'De Cu^ermt. Be'h
lib. 6.
31. Egfridus — vaftavit mifere Gentem innoxiam, & nationi
Anglorum lemper amiciflimam. Bed. Hift. E:clef. I, 4- c. 16.
I 3 ble
N AZ A RE NUS.
ble B E D E 51 records to their honor : or, as Wi l-
L I A M of Malmesbury fpeaking of thofe 33 ^imes,
the Irtfly were an innacent kind of people^ of un-
feign d fimpUclty^ and ne-'jcr defigning any mifchief-^
v/hich is the true fp'rit of the Gojpel^ but unal-
tered, unmixt, and unadulterated. The Saxons
were indebted to thern for their letters, no lefs
than for then learning > but much more obhg'd
both to them and the Albanian Scots (whom I
commonly fo call to diftinguifli them from the
Iriili Scots) for the planting of a better Chriflia^'
nity in the northern parts of England, than Au-
s T I N, the Pope's fa6tor, had in the fouthern.
I ihall here therfore draw up A S u m m a ry of
THE ANCIENT IrISH CHRISTIANITY,
which I recommend not to you merely for being
theirs (Mega le tor) when molt of theiv
own defcendants are fincc grown fo averfe to it :
but as plain matter of fact, which you are at li-
berty to approve or difipprove, according as vou
£nd it confonant or not to Scripture and Reaibn.
This liberty mufb be ever as readily given, 03
juilly taken. I referr many of the hillorical
proofs to the other book on this fubject, which
1 have more than once infiniiated in the pre-
ceding Section. To this I generally keep, un-
lefs where I exprefs my felf in the very words of
34 others, which the thread of the difcourfe ma-
ny times occafions me to do. In the mean while
I am afraid, that I may ftill too much entrench
11. Quos omnes \^Anglos] Scotilibentifllmefufcipientes, viftum
eis qaotidianuni line prcrio, iibros quoque ad legendum, 8c magi-
flcrium pjatuitum praebcre curabant. Id. I. 3. c. 27
35 Hibcrnenfe genus hominum innccens, gcnuina fimplicitatc,
nihil qr.quam mc;li mclicn.-. Be gcflis Anglor /. i. ^r ;.
54. S:xh waf rny refcluttcn.r^hen I wrote this Summary: ^^^it
fome, n>ho have fitice fmnil u^ prevailed v'nh me to Add more of my
frofs. ■
upon
NAZARENUS. ip
Upon your patience, by fuch a number of quota-
tions out of ancient authors -, which yet are ab-
folutely necefTary in all fads, but more efpecially
in matters of this nature.
I N the firft place then, the Irifh did promif- I.
cuoufly read the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue
of their Hand, as their onely rule of faith : and
their Do6bors were fo remarkably eminent be-
yond others in afliduoufly teaching and explaining
the fame, that men llock'd thither to lludy it
from all the neighbouring nations, as to fome
common '^ Univerfity 5 philological, philofophi-
cal, and theological Learning happily florifhing
in that peaceable corner, while the other parts
of the world were miferably diftrac^ed by civil
dilTentions or foren im^aiions. Thefe are things
confirmed by unfufpeded witnefles : and tis the
common eloge beftow'd on their holy men (fuch
as 56 C o L u M B A N u s, ^^ G A L L u s, and others) G a l l^
^f. Beda in hcis flurimis: Gulkhn. Malmesbur. qtiem j^mcitavi-
mus: Alcutnus de tit a M^ilUbrordi: Aldhelm. Malmesbur in 'Epifi. ad
Eadfrid: Notherus Balbulus in zitaCarolimagni: Vincent, in fpeadoHi-
/lor. /. 23, c. 175 : Antonin. ChrorAc. tit. 14. f. 4. §. 12: Joi^n. Rof-
fius War^'ic. lib. de Re^ibus : Eric. AtiJJiodorenfis m ziiis Sancior. ^
fpeciatim fancli Germmi, cap. 168: Autor I'itae Sulgeni: autor zitae
Gddae Badonici : cum aliis ex anttfiioribus innumeris, ut Catndsnum
^ recentiores quofcunque tace.xm.
56. Evangelicum clipeum fcnens Uevz [Columbanus] enfemque
anclpitern tenens dextra, contra immmes cuneos hominum pug-
naturus cocpit pergere; ne fruftraro laborc, quo potiiTimo ingenio
fudaverat [puerulus] in Grammatica, Rhetor ;ca, & Geometria, &:
divinarum Scripturarum ferie, feculi illecebris occuparetur. fonas
invito, Columbani, cap. 12. Qucm [Columbanum'] cum vir fandtus
[Senile] ingenii fagacis efle videret, omnium divinarum Scripcura-
rum ftudiis imbuit. Ibid
37. Superna quoque gratia fe praeveniente, tanto ftudio divinas
epotavit \Gallus] Scripturas, ut de thefauro fuo nova proferre
pofTet 6c Vetera. — Obfcura autem Scripturarum tarn fapienter,
icire volentibus, rcferavit; ut cundi, qui ejus [utpote pueri] pru-
dentiam & fermones audicrant, admiratione eum & laude dignifil-
mum judicarcnt. WaUfridm Strabo in vita Sm^i Gdli, /. i. c.\,
I 4 that
lo N AZ ARE NUS.
that they had diligently fludy'd the Scriptures^
and explain'd them to others even in their child-
hood. Tis for teaching the Scriptures^ in fine,
that you'll find the Iriih Schools of thofe times
3« celebrated 3 but never for reading Le£tures on
the Fathers^ or handing down Tradition : and tis
not improbable, that in thofe tumultuous times,
the Mufes may have fled from the noife of arms,
• to thefe recelles, which the Roman eagles had
never diflurb'd.
II. I N their Temples they had no images or fla-
tues, which Sedulius, one of their firft Di-
vines, exprefly '^ condemns, and which others
of 'em brand as heathenifh and idolatrous. The
Clergy, officiating in thofe Temples, had no gor-
geous veflments 3 rather dazling the eye and di-
lb'a6bing the imagination, than informing the
mind or edifying the heart. There were not, to
the fame amuzing purpofes, any burning of in-
cenfe or day-light candles > no coflly fervices of
plate , the great Columban himfelf being
content with 4^<* brafs vefTels in the adminiilration
of the Lord's Supper. Neither had they Cano-
nical hours, or alternate finging in Choirs 5 which,
with many other fuch Romifh cuftoms, were "^^
intro-
58. Vcnit etiam tunc temporis de Hibernia pontifex quidam,
nomine Agilbcrtus, nationc quidcm Gallusj fed tunc, legendarum
gratia Scripturarum, in Hibernia non modico tempore dimoratus.
Cirkias. Dorobern. AB. Tontif. Cctntuar. in SttnSio Honor'to.
39. Recedentcs a lumine veriratis fapientes, quafi qui invenif-
fent quo modo invifibiiis Deus per fimukcrum vifibile coleretur.
Jn Roman, i . Deus nee in mctallo aut faxo cognofcitur. Claudius
Septus, I. 1. in Mat.
40. Praeceptor meus beatusColumbanus in vafis aeneis Domino
folet facrificium ofFerre falutis. iValafruL Strnb. in litd Gallic l.
I.e. iS,
41. Apoftolicas Sandriones, ac Decreta Sanftorum Patrum,
praecipuequc confuetudines Sajidlae Romanac Ecckfiae, in cun^is
Ecclefijs
N AZ ARE NUS. it
introduced by Malachias Archbiihop of
Armagh, in the i ith century. Nor had they a-
ny fuch other methods, fince but too frequently
praftis'd, of pompous, operofe, andfumtuous wor-
l"hip y fo vidbly foren to the dcfign and example
of the Gofpel^ nay fo contrary to the precepts of it.
THEIR Liturgy was veiy different from that III-
of the Roman Church, or rather their Liturgies 5
for they had fevcral in the fcveral parts ot the
Hand. Yet this bred no manner of diflention a-
mong them, till the BiJliops of Rome having
firft gain'd their Princes (a ftratagem ordinary
with them to this hour) wou'd needs make 'em
their tools and dmdges to force their own fubje6ts,
iincc the Popes cou'd not by their emiflaries fe-
duce them, into Uniformity j I mean into fubjedion,
which is ever the fignification of this word. But
Gilbert Bifhop of Limerick, the Pope's firftGiLLEAs-
Irifh Legat (who in the nth century wrote for^"^^*
their ufe what he calls the 42 Canonical cuftom of
faying evening and morning prayers^ and of perform^
ing the office of the whole ecclefiafiical order) tells
43 them, it was to the end thofe different and fchif-
matical orders^ by which almofi all Ireland was de-
luded^ might give place to one Catholic and Roman
office. Thus late it was, before they quite gave
up their liberty and independency. That their
Ecclefiis {Mcilcichmi\ ftatuebat. Hinc efi, quod hodieque in illis
ad horas Canonicas cantatur & pfailirur, juxta morem univerfae
terrae: nam minime id ante ficbat, ne in civitate quidem {^Ard-
macha] cum necdum in civirate, feu in Epifcopatu univerfo, can-
tare fcirent vcl vellcnt. Bernard, in vita, MaUcki^e, cap. ^.
42. Canonicalem confuetudinem in dicendis horis, & perar^en-
do totius Ecclfciinftici ordinis officio. Trolog. de ufu Eccleftafiico
MS. ia Colleg. Ben. CAntttbrig. ^ ab Ufferio in EprfloUr. HibernicAr.
fylloge imprejf.
45. Utdiverfi & fchifmatici illi Ordines, quibus Hibernia pene '
tota delufa eft, uni Catholico &; Romano cedant Officio. la. iiid.
orders
XX NAZARENUS.
orders for public prayers were not Roman was
the crime, but not charged with any other de-
IV. IT is not feven hundred years, fince the Iriih
did finally and univerfally receive the Roman ufe,
with its whole train of fopperies : their Baptifm
before that time having been by immerfion, and
without confecrated Chrifm, wherof L a n-
FRANC, Archbifhop of Canterbury, not a lit-
tle ^■^ complains. Nor had it any of thofe con-
curings, or other fuperftitious ceremonies, wher-
by it is fince fo heathenifhly profan'd : and Con-
firmation was quite in difule, if at all ever known
among them^ which we learn from 4s Ber-
nard of Clairval, afterwards fainted. If it be
true w4iat B romp ton tells us, that, before
the Council of Caihel held at Henry the Se-
cond's defire, it was the cuftom in many parts of
Ireland, for the father, or any other, to dip the
child three times in water as foon as it was born j
and, if it was a rich man's child, to dip it thrice
in 4^ milk : if this be true, I fay, for I have good
reafon to queftion it> yet it was introduced in
that ftate of barbarity, which I have before de-
fcrib'd, and wherof I affign'd the true caufe.
44. Quod infantes Baptifnno, fine Chrifmate confecrato, bap-
tiz-cntur. 'in Epijl. adTertklvdckum regem Hiberniae.
47. Ufum falubcrrimumConfcirionis, Sacramentum Confirma-
tioiiis, contraftum Conjugiorum (quie omnia aut isnorabant aut
neo;ligebint) Malachias de novo inftuuit. In vita Malachiae, cap. 2.
4,6. In illo autcm Concilio flatuerunt, & autoritate fummi Pon-
tificis pr^cccpcrunt, pueros in EccJefia baptizari in nomine patris,
& filii, & fpiritus fandij & hoc a facerdotibus fieri praeceperunt :
mos enim priiis erat per diverfa loca Hiberniae, quod ilatim cum
ruer nafcercrur, parer ipfius, vcl quilibet alius, eum mergeret ter
m aqua ■■, cc, fi divitis filius elTet, ter in iadc mergeretur. foan,
'Bromton in Chromes.
THE
NAZARENUS. 13
THE Lord's Supper (which they were wont V,
to term ^^ the communion of C h r i s t V body and
blood) they receiv'd in both kinds, as a thankful
4« commemoration of J e s u s the founder of their
faith, and a iign of their brotherly union in all
well-doing > to which they bound themfelves by
this external adt, denoting their fubjcction to the
Laws of the Gofpel\ by which alone, and the di-
6tatcs of reafon, they were guided in matters of
belief. They did not ufe any elevation, becaufe
they did not dream of the monfter of tranfub-
llantiation -, which, foon after its broaching, was
impugn'd by no man more zealoufly or learned-
ly, than by Joannes Scotus Erigena,EoinE-
whofe book was, by the authority of the Pope^iNACH.
and the Council of Verceil, flatly 49 condemned,
the onely way they had to confute it : as this me-
thod of anfwering is fucceflively pra6tis'd to this
day, by the promoters of error every where, and
by thofe who prefer r intereft to truth j a method,
I repeat it, onely proper to fupport error, and to
put truth it felf upon the level with falfhood.
No Council or Convocation whatfoever can al-
ter the nature of things, or make that to be falfe
which is true : and for this reafon it is, tha-6^no
wife man ever values their fentence, where tis
not back'd with the power of doing mifchief.
4,7. Sic omnesferme fecundum Script ur as loquuntur.
48. Suam memoriam nobis rejkjuit, quemiidmodum, iiquis pe-
regre proficifcens, aliquod pignus ei, quern diligit, dcrelinquatj ut
quoriercunque iilud viderit, pofiit ejus beneftcia cc amicitia'; re-
cordari. Sedul. in i Corinth. 1 1. Confulantur etiam KotuUeex Cute-
na tnaiiufcripta in fnperiore feciione adduciae.
49. Joannis Scon liber de Euchariftia ledtns efl: Sc condemna-
tus, Lanfranc. de luch^irijl. control Berengar. Inter cetera fecit li-
brum de Eucharillia. qui poftca le6lus eft, ^ condemnatus in Sy-
nod© Verccllend, a Papa Leone celcbrata. Joan. Varifenf. ad an-
nnm 877.
This
24 NAZARENUS.
This John the Scot (fo often confounded with
later perfons of the fame name) having left his
own country, betook himfelf to Charles the
bald king of France, who entertain'd and diftin-
guifh'd him at his court > which was full of learn-
ed men from all parts, but efpecially from Ireland
and Scotland. Why Jhou'd J mention Ireland^
fays 5° E R I c of auxerre a contemporary, not fear-
ingthe danger of the fea^ and removing almofi all of
it with a flock of Philofophers^ to our fbores ?
wherof by how m.uch any one excells the rejf^ he un-
dergoes a voluntary exile j and by fo much the rea-
dier he is to fiand before our mofi wife Solomon,
and to devote himfelf to his Service,
VI. THEY rejefted auricular ^' Confcffion, as
well as authoritative Abfolution j and confefs'd to
God alone, as believing God alone cou'd forgive
Sins : which made I know not whom to exclaim ,
moil gnevouily againlt fuch, and to ^^ fays that
if they cou^d coyiceal their fins from. God^ they wou'd
no more confefs the>n to him than to the Prieft. A
very fhrewd and egregious difcovery ! but laught
at by the Irifh Laity, who, no t with Hand aig
their native fimplicity, cou'd difcern this fan^ti-
fy'd trap laid for their private and public liberty,
with all the fubtilty of hypocritical Priefls. As
5-0. Quid Hiberniam nneiTtorem, contcmto pelagi difcriminr,
pcn.c totam, cum grcge Philolbphorum, ad litora notlra migran-
temr quorum quifquis peritior eft, ultio fibi indicat exilium, ut
Solomoni fapientilTimo famuletur ad votum. Fr.iefat. in pern, tie
vita fancli Germ^ini.
5-1. Chrifliani nomine, re Pagani: non dccimas, non primitias
dare, non legitima inire coningia, non facere confelTiones; poeni-
tcntias nee qui pererct, nee qui daret penitus inveniri. Bernard. i#
I'ita M.ilach. cap* 6 : ut (^ idem ubi fupra in Nota 4,5-. Ufum falubcr-
rimum Confeffionif — -— jut ignorabant aut negligebanr.
5-1. Deo vis, o homo, confiteri, quem nolens volens latere non
polTis forte fiDeum larcre,(icuthominem, potuiflesj nee Deo,
plufquam homini, confiieii voluifTes. Alcuin. e^ijl, 16.
there
NAZARENUS. 25
there can be nothing more dire£tly leveird againft
common fenfe, than auricular Confeflion ^ nor a
more impudent pretenfion in nature, than autho-
ritative Abfolution : {o I do not wonder to find
the antient Irifh Chriftians, mm*e frequently taxt
by the Romifli converters of that time, for omit-
ting or refufing the pradice of thefe than of any
other injundions. The reafon is manifeft. For
once a man abandons the ufe of his underftanding
fo farr, as to make a particular enumeration of his
thoughts, words, and a6tions to another > and to
believe that thi< other will not only keep his fe-
cret (tho fworn to the intereft of a political com-
munity caird the Church) but that he's like-
wife able to abfolve him from the guilt of all his
fins, there is nothing to which fuch a man can-
not be brought : and therfore thofe Clergymen,
who have form'd defigns againft Liberty civil or
religious, are indefatigable to inculcate the ne-
cellity of ficerdotal Abfolution and particular Con-
fefiion. Nor are there any furer marks, v/herby
to diftinguifh the emifiliries of Rome j who arc
aware that thofe points, once admitted, will eafily
draw after them all the reft.
THEY were fo farr from pretending to do VII.
more good than they were oblig'd, much lefs to
fuperabound in merit for the benefit of others (but
fuch others as ftiou'd purchafe thefe fuperfiiiities
of grace from their executors the Priefts) that
they readily deny'd all merit of their own 5 and
folely hop'd for falvation from the mercy of God,
thro faith in Jesus Christ: which faith, as
a living root, was to produce the fruit of good
works, without which it were barren or dead,
and confequently ufelefs 3 for as Claudius,
one of their moft celebrated Divines, obfervcs
from
i6 N AZ ARE NU S.
from fome other ^^ fage, the faithful man does not
live by righteoufnefs^ hut the righteous man by faith.
This excellent fentence, cull'd out of numberlefs
teflimonies to the fame purpofe in the oldefl: wri-
ters, comprehends at once and decides the whole
controversy.
VIIL THO they neither pray'd to dead men, nor
for them> yet, in their public worfhip, they
made an honorable mention of holy perfons
deceased : offring a facrifice of thankfgiving for
their exemplary life and death, but not by way of
propitiation for their fins. And tho naming par-
ticular men on fuch occafions, gave a handle for
ere6ting them afterwards into tutelary Saints 3 yet
at that time the Irilh were as firr from addrefling
themfelves to faints as to angels. For they were
perfuaded (toufe the words, of the jufl mention'd
^'<- Claudius) that while we are in the prefent
world^ we may help one another either by our Pray--
ers or by our Counfels > but when we come before the
tribunal of Christ, neither Job, nor Daniel,
nor Noah, can intercede for any one^ but every
cne muft hear his own burthen^ which is plain Senfe
and Scripture. But that which is plain nonfenfe,
and no where authoriz'd in Scripture^ I mean the
fervice for the dead, the Irifh never pra6tis'd,
till they were oblig'd to do it by the Council of
5^ Cafhel, convok'd by order of Henry the fecond,
in the Year 1171. And tis certain, that nothing
5*3 . Scita eft enim Sapientis viri ilia fententia, non fidelem vi-
vcre ex juftitia, fed juftum ex fide. In Galat. g.
5-4. Dum in praefenti (eculo fumus, five orationibus, five con-
filiis invicem pofTe nos adjuvari: cum autem ante tribunal Chrifti
vcnerimus, nee Job, ncc Daniel, ncc Nee, rogare polTe pro quo-
quamj fed unumqaemquc portare onus fuum. In Gulm. 6.
j-j. Ut cxtrema officia mortuis reddancur. m?j. 7.
does
NAZARENUS. 27
does more contribute to harden the more ignorant
fort in a vicious courfe of life, than this mumme-
ly : when they obfervc fuch things faid and done at
burials, with relation to their deceased profligate
companions 5 as may perfuade 'em they arc upon a
level with the bell, 'for all their pall wickedncfs.
NONE of thofe pious men or women, whom IX.
they accounted their Saints, were ever canoniz'd
by any Pope before the Romifh ufurpation j not
Patric himfelf, nor Columba, nor Furseus,
norBRiGiT: for which I need not bring any proof,
becaufe no proof can by any be brought to the
contrary. Malachias O Morgair Arch- Maolmae-
biibop of Araiagh (the introducer of the Ciilercian ^^'
fryers into that Countiy in the nth century) and
Laurence OTole (Archbifhop of Dublin Lo& can,
in the time of the conqueft ) are the firft that
were papally canonized in Ireland. Nor, before
the faid ufurpation, was the very word Purgatory
known to the Irirfi writers, notwithftanding the
filly after-fable of Pat r i c 's cave > of which I
might give you an entertaining account, this Pa-
T R I c 's Purgatory being fituate in the county
where I was born. They did indeed entertain the
notion of a middle ftate of blifs or infenfibility, a
good while before they transformed it into a place
of temporary torment j both alike groundlefs, and
unfcriptural.
MATRIMONY was celebrated by the X,
Magiftrates, as being truly reckoned a civil con-
tra6t appertaining to their jurifdi6lion 5 but not
folemniz'dby thePrieils, till this right was veiled
in them by the ^^ Council of Cafhel, twice already
5*6. Ut omncs Laici, qui uxores habere velint, eas fccundum jus
Eccleriafticum habeant, Cm, 3 . %el [ecundtrm C'tr^hL Qmi>rer?f. Cm. i .
cited
28 NAZARENUS.
cited. They follow'd the Old Teftament (tho not
binding to them) in one brother's marrying the
other brother's J 7 widdow, for which they were
ridiculoufly charged with inceft by theRomanifts,
and abfurdly reported not to marry at all 5 tho
the thing be impofTible in it felf, where any fo-
ciety and government fubfifts. But what is not
done after the manner of the Roman Clergy, is
m their account as never done, or at leaffc very
ill done. One of them fays thelriih did not ^^ mar-
ry at all^ contrary to what he fays himfelf elfwhere j
and another pretends, that they did not marry
59 rightly : both equally true, that is to fay, both
abfolutely falfe. We may ealily imagine however,
that where priefts were not employed to marry,
they had nothing to do about divorce, which
makes them brand the Laity with too much faci-
lity in this article : and as little concern had they
in the probation of Wills, or in other Teilamenta-
ry affairs ; which a miftaken notion of their Sanfti-
ty, together with an imaginaiy power of helping
the dead into Paradife, made people fottifhly com-
mit to their care. No footftepof a fpiritual Court
is to be found in that Kingdom, for feveral hun-
dred years after they became Chriftians.
5-7. JudaifmurH inducens {CUrmm Scotus\ judicat juflum efle
Chriftiano, ut, fi voluerit, viduam fratris defunfti accipiat uxo-
rem. Bopjfac. Ep/Ji. ad Zachar'tam Papam. torn. 3. concilior. par. i.
pag.-^^z. Qiiinimo (quod valde deteftabile eft, & non t;anmm
fidei, fed & cuilibct honeftati valde contrarium) fratres pluribus
perHiberniamlocisfratrum defundorum uxores, non dicoducunt,
fed traducunt, imo verius feducuntj dum turpiter eas, Sc tarn ir-
ccftuofe co.^nofcunt : Veteris in hoc Tcftamenti non medullae, fed
cortici adhaerentes; vetcrefque libentius in vitiis, qu-lm virtutibus,
imitari volcntes. GiraU. Caf?}lrenf. Topograph. Hibern. dljlmci 3.
c. 19,
5-8 Bernard, ubi fupra in Notts 4-7 & S^'
5-9 Nondum Matrimonia rite ccntrahunt. Ramtlph. Htgd Vo-
hchrcn. de incolarHm moribuu
THAT
N AZ ARE NV S. 2p
^ T H AT they paid no ^« Tythes till the Coim'. XL
cil of Cafhel, was, to be fure, reckon'd an unpar-
donable crime by the Roman partiians, who ridi-
eulouily derived the divine right of Tythes under
the Gofpel from the Law of Mo sbs: as others
of 'em, from fome Laws of Heathen governments,
alFerted the natural right of Tythes ; tho, un-
happily for their pretences, this rather fets up the
right of the Laity than of the Clergy. But vo-
luntary Contributions contented thofe honelllrilli
Priefts of old^ who as yet did not aim at a fpiri-
tual empire ; and fo to make the people tributa-
ries, inllead of benefadors. Nor can I fufficient-
ly admire the wifdom of our ancelloi-s, for their
not ellablifhing at the beginning ^Landed Clergy,
which feldom tails to corrupt Religion, and to
imbroil the State. This refledion the L^ifli
found afterwards to be too true to their cofl:,
when, from beginning with fmall glebes (bet-
ter fupply'd by ftated falaries from the public)
they promoted their Priefts by degrees to great
lordfhips -y thus infpiring them to contrad a fe-
parate interefl, as the Pope prefented them at
length with Independency. Another thing among
them mofl: deferving the imitation of the moderns,
tho few obferve it fo exactly as the Hollanders, isj
that they feem to have had no more pallors than
they had flocks, confonant to thefe metaphors de-
figning preachers and people: no priefls without
a title as we phraze it, according to the third ca-
non of the Synod held byPATRic, Auxilius,
and IsERNiN, Le^ there be no ^' z^agrant Prieft
60. Non decimas, non primitias dare, ^c. Bernard, ubi fupr.^
in Nota fi. Nondum decimas vel primitias iblvunt. Girald.
C»mbrenf ubi fupra j ^ ex eo Ranulph. Higd. in Polychronico. Uc
Decimaedm ur Ecclefiae, de omnibus c^uae poiridcntur.Ca»c;7,C>-j/.
Jil. cm 2. vd fecmdum Giraldum can 3. anno iiji,
6i. Clericus Vagus non fie in populo. can. 3.
K amon^
30 N AZ ARE NUS.
among the people. This Synod was held in the
Year 4f o.
XII. CELIBACY . was not praftis'd by the
^^ Priefts, who all marry'd 5 P a t r i c, their pat-
. tern after Peter, having been himfeli* :he foa
oFCalphurnius a ^^5 Deacon, and the grand-
fon ofPoTiTUS a Prieil : and the Iriih, as well
as the Brittifh Pricils (Patric's countrymen)
were often fucceeded by their <^4 children in the
fame benefices, for fome generations 3 no com-
plaints being then heard againft thofe diforders,
which afterwards overfpread the whole Hand, by
reafon of the expulfion of the marry'd Clergy.
Nay the Archbilliops of Armagh themfelves were
not onely marry'd, eight fuch being recorded,
but fucceeded hereditarily for fifteen generations,
as we are aflur'd by B e r n a r d in /^^ ^^ Life of
Malachias, Archbifhop of Armagh : that
dignity having been withall perfectly fecular, lilce
many fuch now in Germany > and the Bifhops ab-
6^. Siquis Clericus 2cc — 8c uxor ejus \Clerlci Nimim?n] fi non
velato capite ambulaverit, pariter a Laicis contemnentur, dc ab
Ecclefia feparentur. Unl. Cm. 6.
63. So writes ?ro if MS, Joceliih and all the wfiters of his Lrfey 9r that
have (my occajion to mention his Parents.
64. Succefllve, Sc poft patres, filii Ecclefias obtinent j notl
eleftwe, fed haereditate pofiidentes, Sc polliientes Saii(3:uarium Deh
Girald. Catnbrenf. in Ca?nbrrae defer ipt.
6f. Mos pefTimu? inoleverat quorundam Diabolica ambitionc po-
tentum, fedcm fandlam [Ardmacha?n] obtentum iri hacreditaria
fucceffione ; nee enim patiebantur Epifcopari, nifi qui eflent de
tribu & familia fua. Nee enim parum proceflcrat execranda fuc-
ccflio, decurfis jam in hac malitia quafi gcnerationibus quindecim.
Et eb ufqiie firmaverat fibi jus pravum, imo omni mortc punien-
dam injuriam, generatio mala & adultera; ut, etfi interdum dck-
cifTcnt Clerici dc fanguine illo, atEpifcopi nunquam. Denique jam
ofto exriterant ante Celfum viri uxorati, 8c abfque Ordinibus, li-
terati tamen. Inde teta ilia per univerfam Hibemiam, dequa mul-
ta fuperius diximus, diflblutio Ecclefiafticae difciplinae, ccnfurae
enervatio, religionis evacuatio. ea^, 7.
folutc^
NAZARENUS. 31
ifblute Laymen, about which the Roman flitellites
made tragical oiitcries. What, by the way, will
become of us, who are of the ancient Irilli race ?
for the Archbilliops of Armagh having been Lay-
men for fo long a time, and all the Clergy deriving
their Ordination fronl them, as its commonly
thought j it follows, according to the prefent High-
church doctrine, that, for want of a Succeflion of
rightly ordain'd priefts) we are very many of us, with
all our Anceftors, unavoidably damn'd. C o r m a c
the Ion of C u L L i?. N A N, a nian of eminent learn-
ing and piety, author o^ Pflilter-CaJJoel a chronolo-
gical work of great authority, and likewife king of
Munfter in the beginning of the loth centur}^,
was his own BiiKop of Callicl (as the Czar has
lately made himfelf his own Patriarch) which is
not the fole example of this kind in Ireland, tho
unlcnown to thofe who comment on this verfe of
Virgil,
Rex Anius^ R$^ idem hofninum Phoehique Sacerdos,
The pallagc I have jull now cited from B e r-
nard's life of M A L A c H I A s, may be further
illuilratcd by another paltage, out of the Extra^ls
of the Regifter of the Priory of Saint Andrew s,
cited by that learned Antiquary Sir J a m e s Dal-
r Y M p L E : whence it appears, that j at Saint
ANDREwsinScotland, there were ^^ thirteen mar-
ry'd fucceffions of the Culdees -, who^ fiys the au-
thor of thefe Extra6iSj liv'd rather according to
their own judgement and the traditions of men (he
66. Cultus ibi religiofus deperierat, ficut gens barbara 5c incul-
ta fuerat. Habebantur tamen in Ecclefia fandi Andreae, quota cic
qualis ipfa tunc erat, trcdecim per fuccelTionem carnalem, quos
Kelledcos appellant; qui fccundum fuam aeftimationem, &c horni-
tum traditioncm, magis quam fecundum fandorum flatuta Pa-
trum, vivebant. Scd adhuc fimiliter vivunt. Excerpt, ex Regifiro
trlorat. S. J.idr. perns docWmHrri'virum, domimm Bfib SihMd.Equit.
K a Ihould
3x NAZARENV S.
fhou'd have faid the examples of the Gofpel) than
according to the Statutes of the holy Fathers, and
they continue to live fo ft ill. Note that this Regi^
fter ends in the beginning of King David
Bruce's reign: but more of thefe Culdees, or
more properly Keldees, before I have done.
XIII. THE IriiTi Monks, according to the ancient
tho unfcriptural inftitution of fiich men, were all
fed and cloath'd by the labor of their own
^7 hands 3 thofe retir'd perfons liberally imparting
to others , inftead of extorting proviiions from
them : but not living idly and vagrantly, like the
begging fiyars that came after them, to the fcan-
dal of Chriftianity and the difturbance of the
world, to which they are a devouring burthen.
Wheras the other Monks before them, and alfo
the fccular Priefts of Scotland and Ireland, were
famous over all the world for their virtue, piety,
and learning j but particularly for their Converh-
ons, and the Schools that they founded among
the Pi6ts, Anglofaxons, Germans, Burgundiansj
Switzers, and French : as who has not heard of
Sedulius, Col u MBA, Columbanus,
C O L M A N N U S, A I D A N U S, F U R S E U S, K I-
LiANus, Gallus, Brendan US, Clau-
dius, Clemens, Scotus Erigena,
and numberlefs others? among whom muft not
Fearghai . be forgot V i r g i l i u s, Biihop of Saltzburg,.
67. Qui in Monafteriis degunt, cum filentio operantcs, fuura
panem mai ducent. Autor litae Furfei. Monachum oportct labore
manuum fuarum velci & veftiri. Autor vitae Brendmi. Alii ho-
rum laboravcrunt i alii arbor es pomifcras excoiuerunt. Beatus vcro
Gallus tcxebat retiaj 8c, mifericordia dei cooperantc, tantam pifci-
um copif.m cepit, ut nunquam fratribus defuiflent : quinetiam
advcntantes peregrinos hujufmodi juvit folatio ; &; dc codem la-
bore afllduas populo tcncdidiones exhibuit. Wdfifrid.Strab, in zUa
(3dlit I. I. c%6,
in
NAZARENIJS. 33
in the 8th century 5 who, having been an excel-
lent philofopher and mathematician (farr above
the pitch of the age wherin he liv'd) was barba-
roufly perfecuted tor maintaining the (pherical fi-
gure of the earth, and the exiftence o\ Antipodes \
which opinion he was forc'd to recant, before he
cou'd get out of prifon. This Hiows what flrefs
is to be laid upon forc'd recantations, when they
are even made againft mathematical evidence.
Neither is it to be forgot, that thofe ancient
Monks were of no order, nor indeed men in Orders
at all (as <*« J e ro m notes among others) but mere
Laymen, out of whom the Clergy were common-
ly chofen : their Monafteries , and particularly
thofe of the Britons, Iriih, and Scots, having^
been Schools of all good literature 5 and many of
'em in the nature of Univerfities, as, to name no
more, the Britifh and Irifh Bangor, the Scottilli
I-colum-kill and Abernethy, where were taught
Hiftory, Philofophy, Theology, with all the li-
beral Sciences.
TEMPERANCE at all times, and one XIV.
moderate meal a day on fpecial occafions (general-
ly taken late, and about three in the afternoon,
particularly onWednefdays and Fridays in the 7th
century) was all the fiilHng of thofe Monks j as
may befeen among other evidences, by the ^^ Rule
of C o L u M B A N, deferving to be publifli'd in
Englifh : but not abftinence from certain kinds of
68. Alia Monachorum eft caufa, alia Clericorum; Clerici paf-
cunt oves, ego pafcor. £/)i/?. ad HeUodor. Breviter refpondeo, me
in praefenti opufculo non de Clerici s difputare, fed Monachum in-
ftituere — Ita ergo age & vive in Monafterio, ut Clericus efli mer
rearis Si te vel populus, vel pontifex civitati5, in Cleruin elc-
geritj agito quae Cleri lunt, Sec. Epift ad Rufi'tc.
,69. Videfis Columbani ReguUm, praeferi'tm caput fjus quintmn,
fit ^ decimum tert'mm de quotidian poeni ent. Monachor.
K 3 food.
34 NAZARENUS.
food, while they gormandiz'd and furfeited on o-
thers, more dainty, nourifhing, and lufcious. 'fbe
children of wifdom^ &ys 7° Claudius, do plain-
ly tinder ft and 'y that righteoufnefs conftfts not either
in ahftinence or eating : but in patiently hearing
hunger when they want^ and in temperately feeding
when they abound 5 as well as in feafonahly takeing
or not takeing thofe things^ wherof not tho ufe but
the abufe is bla?neworthy. Such accurate language
as this they commonly us'd, and not the recom-
mendation of Vigils, or the injunction of Lent,
or any other fuperflitious macerations of this na-
ture : tending to the impairing of health, and,
together with frequent holydiiys, to the manifeft
obllruction of 7^ induflry 3 but not conduceing ei-
ther to piety or probity, not procureing amend-
ment of life or improvement of under Handing.
XV. THE Church was elleern'd to be, not a poli-
tical empire, or an organiz'd fociety with a pro-
per fubordination of officers and lubjects> but
the congregation of the faithful thro-out the
world, whether vifible or invifible, and however
differing any where in their difcipline or modes
of worih-ip -, as the IriiTi differed among themielves,
uilng their Chriitian liberty : and the Sons of.
the Church (that I may fpeak in the words of
I 70. Oftendens evidenter \^AtigujlmHs citatus a Claudio] filios fa-
pientiae intelligere, ncc in abftmendo, tiec in mandiicando efle
juflitiam : fed in aequanimitatc tolerandi inopiam, 8c tempsrantia
per abundantiam non fc corrumpendi; atque opportune iumendi
vel non fumendi ea, quorum noa ufus, fed concupifcentia, rcprc-
hendcnda eft. Lib. 2. in Mat.
71. The political Lent in join d in England for preferving the Sreed^
of cattle, appears to have been impoliticly enough devis'd by daily expe-^
fience; there having never been ftich abundance of cattle bred, as Jmce
the non-obferzw:ce of the Adts to this purpofe.
7- Cl Ay-
N AZ ARENUS. sj
7i C LA u D I u s) they held to he all thofc^ who, from
the beginning of the world till this iime^ hai'e at^
tain'd to he juji and holy. This is a true and gene-
rous account : for the Communion of Saints con-
ilfb in fiiith and holinefs, but not in modes and
forms. But fo little did thcfc weftern Latitudi-
narians imagin the univerfiil Church was inflillible,
or that any paiticular Church was indefectible or
indcfcafiblc, that they frequently bemoan'd their
exorbitant coiTuptions ; coraplaining that the num-
ber of the faithful was fonitimes fo ^3 fmall, as to
be hardly, if at all, difccrnahlc.
THEY did not in the lead acknowledge the XVL
headfliip of the Roman Church, as may be ob-
ferv'd beyond all controverfy in our firll Section -,
and likcwife from the Epiftle of Pope Gregory
rhe firfl, in the Year fpi, inviting them to
74 Catholic unity : as alfo from the Epifle of
7J L A u R E N c E ArchbiHiop of Canterbuiy and
his aflbciates, exhorting, befeeching, and conju-
ring them, po unite with the Roman, which he
7i. Ecclefiac filii funt omne?, ab inftitutione generis huraani
ufquc nunc, quotquotjufti 8c iandti efTe potucrunt. li&.z. in Mat.
75. Nonnunquam Ecclciia tantis Gentilium prelTuris, non fo-
liim afflifta, {cd .Sc foedata eftj ur, fi fieri pciTir, redemtor ipfius
earn prorfus deferuiffe ad tempus videretur. Id. Ibid. Eccleiia non
apparcbit, impiis tunc Perfecaroribus ultra modumf3evicmibus,&:c.
hi. lib. 5. in M^a.
74. Unde iterum habita locutione, charifatem veflram admo-
neo, ut (quoniam, dco fuffrag^nte, fidei noftrae intcgritas in cctila
trium capirulorum inviolata pcrraanat} mentis tumore depofiro,
tanto citiiis ad matrem veflram, quae hlics fuos expe6lat Sc invi-
tat, Ecclefiam rcdeatis; quanto ros ab ea quoddie expedlari cog-
jiofcitis. Greg<^. Rege/i. I. 2. Epiji. 36.
7f, Saiplit cum Epifcopis fuis adhortatoriam ad eos Epiftolam;
obfecrans cos & conteftans, unitatem pacis, ScCatholicae obferva-
tionis cum ea, quae toto orbe diifura eft, Chrifti Eccleiia tenei'C.
Bed,HiJl.Ecclef. I 1. c.f-
K 4 means
3(^ NAZARENUS.
means by the Catholic Church. Neither did they
own the fupremacy of any other Church on
earth, managing all their affairs, both civil and
religious, within themfelves : but receiving no
vifitations, palls, indulgences, or any other the
like marks of fubjection, from the Roman Pon-
tiff, till 7 and fomtimes they had
76. Aegre fatis fercbat [MaUchks] Hiberniam ufque adhuc Pal-
lio caruifTe j utpote aemulator facramentorum, quorum ne uno
quolibet gcntem fuam vellet omnino fraudari. Bernard, in xiu
^lalach. Metropoliticae fedi [^Ard7nachanze fqlicet'] deerat adhuc,
£c defyerat ab initio, pallii ufus. Id. i6U.'
77. Anno Ufi, Papa Eugeniu s quatuor pallia, per Lcgatum fu-
um Johannem Papirum, tranfmilit in Hiberniam, quo nunquam
antea Pallium delatum fucrat. Anyjal. Melroff. pag. 167. Archi^-
pifcopi vero in fjibernia puJIi fuerant, fed tantum fc Epifcopi in-
vicem confecrabantj donee Johannes Papyrio, Romanae fedis Le?
gatus, non multis retro annis advenit, 6cc Girald. Cambrenf. To-
pograph. Hi&ern. df/Iincf. ^. cap jj.
78. Hie [GeUJim'] primps ArcbiepTcopus dicitur, quia primo
Pallio ufus eft. Alii veio ante ipfum ibio nomine A rchi epifcopi
Sc Primates voeabantur, ob reyerentiam & honorem Sandi Patri-
cii, tanquam Apofloli ililus gentjs. A^nal. H'tbern. a Camdeno edi-
ti : item Cafieus in Chronic. Hibern. ad annum 1 174.
79. Unus Epilcopatu uno non eflet coptentus, {t6 fingulae penc
Ecclcfiae fingulos habercnt Epifcppos. In vita Malachiae, c.-j.
more
NAZARENUS. 37
more than one Bifhop in one city, nay they had
them in villages, asLANFRANcof Canterbu-
ry and many others «° aflure us. This was but
treading in their admir'd P a t r i c's fteps : who •
as «' N E N N I u s, the moil ancient Britifh hifto-
rian after Gild as, relates, founded ^6f Chur-
ches^ and ordain' d ^6f Bifiops and more {with
3000 Presbyters) in whom was the Spirit of God,
I fhall not difpute with any here about the word
Bifhop^ which, befides its being an apoftolical
word, is very fignificantly us'd by other writers
to as many purpofes, as Overfeer^ the Engli/li of
it, can be apply'd : nor fhall I deny the conve-
nience, or even the divine right, of many Pref-
byters having one of their body to prefjde over
them for a time or for life 5 as there is a chairman
among the Juftices of a certain dillrid, or as any
other aiTemblies have their prefident. It mattei^
not, whether fuch a one (for juft caufes depofa-
ble) be call'd BifJjop or Superintendent -^ the firft
being Greec, and the fecond Latin for O^erfeer.
Whether he be call'd a Moderator^ I fay, or be
defign'd by any other name of like import, fio--
nifys nothing > which ought to take away all fcru-
ple againft uling the word Bifhop, if it be not
preferable to others for being the Scripture term
Againft fuch Bifhops therfore I have no excepti-
on : and fuch were the Bifhops in England at
the beginning of the Reformation. But that
Bijhop in Ireland did, in the fifth or fixth
centuries (for example) fignify a diflind or-
80. Quod in villi's vel civitatibus plures ordinanrur. In TAj}, ad
Terdelvachum regem Hiberniae, apudB^ron. ad annwn 1 080; apud
UJJer. inSylloge: Cf* inter opera La??fi-finc,
81. Ecclefias fundavit CCCLXV; ordinavit EpiTcopos coiem
pumero, 6c eo amplins, in quibus fpiritus Dei erat, CCCLXV :
Presbyteros aurem ufque ad tres mille ordinavit. Hi/l. Brit. cap.
59; (^uod ^ abalm (luamplurimii confrmatUTy a nobiit cum ppus
futritj adducfndts.
38 NAZARENUS.
der of men, by whom alone Presbyters cou'd
be ordain'd, and without which kind of Ordina-
tion their miniftry were invalid, this I abiblutely
ii deny : as I do that thofe Bifhops were Dioccfan
Bijhops^ when nothing is plainer than that moll
of 'em had no Bifliopricks at all in our modern
fenfej not to fpeak of thofe numerous Bifhops
frequently going out of Ireland, not call'd to Bi-
fliopricks abroad, and many of them never pre-
ferred there. This is a fa£b none can deny. It
was but in the nth century that the Iri/h Bi-
fhops were reduc'd, by the firft Legate they re-
ceiv'd from the Pope, to the number of twenty
fix •, and that the Kingdom was parpelPd out in-
to Diocefes, to which thofe Biftiops were feve-
rally allign'd and limitted. The bringing of this
to pafs, both for the better preventing of difputes
about Jurifdiffion, which by that time had been
introduc'd, and for the more effectual fecuring
of the Pope's dominion by thefe his Intendants,
was the chief reafon of convoking the Synod of
RathbreafTail, where the Legate above-mcntion'd,
Ceal- Gilbert Bifhop of Limerick, prefidedj and
I.ACH. under him fat Celsus of Armach, and Ma-
Maoliosa. j^ J g J u s of Cafliel, attended by -no fewer than
fifty BiHiopsj w^hich {hows to what a different
flate Epifcopacy was then grown from what it
was foimerly in Ireland, efpecially in the twofirit
centuries of their ChrilHanity. The right reve«
rend the Bifhop of ^^ Carlile, to whom all men
of Letters are fo much indebted, owns, that
S3 the BiJIjops in Scotland ( which were upon the
fame foot with thofe of Ireland ) had anciently no
certain and fixt fees 3 hut that every Prelate exer-
8i. Now of London-Berry.
S5. Scottiflj hiftorml Library, chap. 5-. pag. 4 10.
cis'd
NAZARENUS. 39
cls'd his Epifcopcil office and jurifdiclion indifcrimi-
nately-i in whate'ver part of the kingdom he chanc'd
to he. His Lordihip is not pleased to tell us, what
this iiirifdidion cou'd be, of BiHiops that had no
Diocefesj nor how they cou'd agree, when
they met together in one place, where each
had equal power. I am certain however there
was nothing temporal in this jurifdiction. But
tho this be not the place I 'have defign'd for
fuch matters, yet I cannot but wonder, if the
power and jurifdiction of the Iriih and Albanian
Biihops were fuch as fome pretend, that Os-
wald, the Saxon King of Northumberland,
fhou'd not fend to thofe Bifhops for perfons to
inifru6t his fubjccts in the Chriflian Religion -,
but that he difpatcht liis requell for fuch to their
Elders (as Bede *+ informs us) whether by
thefe be meant the Elders of their Churches^ or
the Elders of their People : for King O s wa l d,
who liv'd fo many years in exile among them,
and who there became a Chriflian, mull have
been well acquainted with their Dioceian Epifco-
pacy, if any fuch inftitution had then exifted.
SUCH (Megaletor) was the Chriftia-
nity of the antient Irifh > for I look upon the
contents of the feventeen paragraphs before-go-
ing, to be points, that, Vithout manifeit preva-
rication, will not admit of any valid exception,
of any ambiguous conftruction, or other fophifti-
cal evafion. Moft of 'em are pofitive facts, dcli-
ver'd by authentic writers : and the reft confirm'd
by the irrecufable witncfs of the Pope's moft
84. Mifit ad m^jores natu Scottorit7n, inter quos exulans ipfe Bap-
tifmatis facramenta, cum his qui lecum erant miliribiu, confecu-
tus erati petens ut iibi mirterctur Anrillcj, cuius dodrini ac mi-
niftcrio gens, quam regebat, Angloruin, Dominicae fidei 5c dona
diiceret, &: fufcipcr-r: i-;ramcnta. Uijl. ^ccUf. /. 3. r. 5.
' ' * zealous
40 N AZ ARE NU S.
zealous votaries, who frequently declaim'd agaiiift
them, as fo many intolerable abufes. When
Bernard (for example) in the life of M a-
L A c H I A s, relates his being made Bifhop of
Connor J he fays that ^^ he came not to men hut to
heafts^ abfolute barbarians^ a ftubborn^ fiiffnecked^
and ungovernable generation (you wou'd think it
was fome Highchurchman railing againft DifTen-
ters) impious^ continues he, and abominable^ Chri-^
fiians in name^ hut in reality pagans. Now, what
think you are the grounds of this heavy charge ?
or what the provocations that put this good Fa-
ther into fuch a rage? He immediately fubjoins
them, and they ^^ are, that they neither pay^d
Tythes nor firft-fruit offerings^ that they wou'd not
he laivfully marry' d ( that is, by the Clergy ) that
they refused going to Confeffton-y and that neither the
Laity ijuou'd undergo any pennance^ nor their Priejis
impofe it^ before the bleffed alteration (forfooth)
made by Malachias. Such complaints arc
as valid proofs in their due place, as pofitive te-
ftimonies can poflibly be. Befides that it was the
common artifice of the Monks, to declaim in the
bitterefl terms againfl all men in all countries, who
did not blindly receive their doftrines, as wholly
diffolute and licentious : till they were reclaimed,
if you believe them, by their powerful preach-
ing i that is, till they became vafTals to their Mo-
Sj". Cum autem coepifTet pro officio fuo agere, tunc intellexit
homo Dei non ad homines fe, fed ad beftias deftinatum. Nuf-
ijuam adhuc tales expcrtusfuerat, in quantacunque bai baric: nuf-
quamjrepercrat fie protervos ad mores, fie ferales ad ritus, fie ad
tidcm impios, ad leges barbaros. cervicofos ad difciplinam, fpurcos
advitam; Chriftiani nomine, re Pagani
86. Non decimas, non primirias dare, non legitima inire con-
jugia, non facere confeffioncs; poenitcntias ncc qui pereret, ncc
(qui daret penitus inveniri. In vita, Malachiae, cap, 6: quem locunt
Juperih etlvn a{(4nxi;?7us in Uoti; <^i 0> 6o.
narch
NAZARENUS. 41
narch the Pope, and refign'd their underftand-
ings to his Janizaries the Priefts. But in the dif-
cuilion of thefe things, we fhall not admit the
chimerical and vifionary teftimonies of legendary-
authors j who wrote of the matters in queftion,
long after the time wherin they happen'd ; and
who judg'd of them^ or at leaft tranfmittcd them
to others, according to the ideas of their own
times 5 which is a pra6tice no lefs frequent, than
very erroneous and dangerous. One critical lule
I fhall always obferve, as being equally juft and
necellary, viz. ' neither to conclude from fomc
things amifs in thofe elder times, that all were
fo y having the nature of things and undeniable
fads to the contrary, not a few fuperftitions be-
ing crept in even from the beginning: nor to
inferr from fome things right in later times,
that all things continued as right as before,
when the contrary is likewife from nature and
fads moil evident.' Yet fo many things re-
main'd among the Irifh, even to theEngliih con-
queft, oppofite to the Religion and Government
of Rome (in fpite of all the ignorance, bigottry,
and barbarity, to which by that time this fame
Rome had reduc'd them) that Pope Adrian
the fourth, in his brief to King Henry the
fecond in the year iif4, for encouraging him
to undertake that conqueft, alleges for his mo-
tives in fo doing > the «7 enlarging the bounds of the
Church (which is a very lingular exprellion, if
Ireland had been of his Church before) the de-
daring the truth of the Chrijiian faith to thofe un-
87. Ad dilatandos Ecclefiac termint)s, ad declarandum m6o€t\s
Sc rudibus populis Chriflianac fidei vcriratem, & vitiorum phntaria
dc agro Domini extirpanda. j4pud Baron, ad annum \if9& ^ptfJ
alios complureJ, fraecipne veto apud UJferium nojirum in EpiJloUr. Hiher-
nicar. fylloge; ^ ex antrogri^pho apud Rymern?n, tom.i. p^-g. i f.
learned
42 NAZARENUS.
learned and rude people .^ and the encreafing of the
Chriftian Religion^ as ijcell (continues he) as to
extirpate the nurferies of 'vice out of the field of the
Lord. Difobedience to the Roman fee, efpecial-
ly in public Schools, is reckon'd the greatelt of
vices, and no virtue allow'd, where there is not
abfolute fubje^tion profeft to it. This charge of
unfoundnefs in the faith, John Hardin g^
an old Enghfh poet, thus exprefles in the rjzd
chapter of his Chronicle,
I'he King Kt e i and
hopes thofe primitive Presbyters may have been
ordain'd the Lord knows where or how ( for he
no where attempts to prove it ) by Diocefan Bi-
ihops. Menhinks, fince one fuppoiition coils no
more than another, he needed not to have gone
veiy farr for fuch ordainers : but left anyihou'dgo
to Britain firft, or to Ireland afterwards j feveral
men of great name, fome to ferve one purpofe
and fome to ferve another, took upon 'em to
prove, that, before the beginning of the f th
century, there were no Scots in North-britain at
91. Et Britannorum inaccelTa Romanis loca, Chrifto veto fub-
diia. Adverfus JutUeos, cap.j.
93. Palladius ad Scottos m Chriftum credentes, a Pontifice Ro-
manac Ecclefiac, Coeleftino, primus mittiturEpifcopus. Bed. Hijl.
EcdefJ. I c. 13. Anno 429. Palladius Epifcopus a Cocleftino
Papa ad Scottos mittebatur, uteorum fidem confirmaret. Chrome.
Saxon. Mijfam nunc facie quaefiiomm, quinam per Scottos hie intelligent
di, ScQtQ-Jiiberr,i nemps vet Scoto-Britdnrii f tmnt fotiUs mritiue i
all.
NAZARENUS, 45
all. Prejudice never difplay'd its ftandard more
advantageoufly, than in the difcufHon of this ve-
ry point : I mean of 5+ Reuda's leading a colo-
ny out of Ireland into Scotland, which concerns
the fuccefTioii of our Kings in the firft place j
and the time of planting Chriftianity there, which
in the fecond place concerns the fucceflion of our
Bifhops. Thefe are the points which have driven
men out of the high road of truth, to wander in
the by-paths of party. I am well fatisfy'd^ arid
can fatisfy others if it be thought worth while,
that (notwithftanding I laugh at the Romance of
Gathelus, Scot a, Simon Breac, and
their fellows) the Scots came much earlier out
of Ireland, than either S ta n i ri u r s t, U s h e r,
the two laft Bifhops of Worcefter, or O F l a-
HERTY, will allow theiri. Nor am I lefs con-
vinc'd^ that Buchanan, Sir GeorgeMac-
KENZiE, Sir James Dalrymple, and
others, are miftaken in aflignirig this illuilrious
colony too ancient a date : as they are all defe-
ftive in proving the Regal fuccellion > a thing foihe
of 'em pretend to have had rriuch at heart. Sir
George Mackenzie is angry with Dr. Stil-
LiNGFLEET, Biihop of Worceftcr, for abridging
it 5 and the Bifhop as much difpleas'd with the Ad-
vocate, for making it in fome fort eledive. It is
moft evident out of the ancienteft Irifh Hiftorians,
Bardsj and Annalifts, that there were colonies
very early, and at different times fent, reviv'd,
or recruitedj out of Ireland into the weilern Lies,
94. Procedcnte autem tempore, Britannia, praeter Br if ones 8c
Piftos, tertiam Scotorum nationem in Pidorum parte recepitj
qui, duce Reuda, dc Hibernia progrefli, vel amicit'a vel fcrro fi-
bimet inter eos fedej, quas hadtenus habent, vindicarunt. Bed. Htji.
L arid
^6
Mac-
Cathlin.
NAZARENUS.
and the north- weft parts of Britain : thofe books
containing particular accounts of the many expe-
ditions made to this purpofe, of the battles fought
by the.Irifh to preferve or to regain the depeiv-
dency of fuch colonies, and the afliftance they af-
ten lent them (after they became indepei:kdeat)
againft the Picbs and Britons, or that one Irilb
King us'd to receive from thence againft fome
other. They were at firft govern'd by the lea-
ders of the feveral colonics, and by their Phy-
iarchs > that is to fay, the heads of Clans or
Tribes : and afterwards, for their greater union
and preferving the common peace, they ele a- 'Ayio-
mong whom Dempster (not a Monk, as the '^^ -^^rct/-
laft Bifhop of Worceller makes him, but a
Lawyer) was the moil notorious filcher, yet the
readyeft of all m.en to c\y flop thief. Neither are
the Welfh, Engliih, or Irifh, freer from this
national weakneis than their neighbors : and in-
deed by reafon that the inhabitants of Ireland and
North-britain were each call'd Scots^ and that
both likewife had the appellation of IriJJj<^ no
lefs becaufe of their common language than of
their origine -^ it is very difficult, nay fomtimes
impofiible, for a man wholly difengag'd, and
onely purfuing hiftorical evidence, precifely to
determine, except where circumilances are very
plain ; for fome criteria there are, no t vv it h (land-
ing the mills of fable and obfcurity. But as to
my particular view, it fignifics nothing to which
country thofc perfons did belong y fince the reli-
gion of both countries, as likewife of the anci-
ent Britons, is acknowledg'd to have been the
very fame. In a word, every one of thole learn-
ed gentlemen I have nam'd a little higher, fcem
to a6t, as farr as I can perceive, upon fome cer-
tain byafs or prejudice, not always becoming: hi-
L z florians.
48 NAZARENUS.
rians. Yet cou'd I overlook paflion in any of
them, I wou'd except 5<5 Buchanan, who was
fway'd by no other partiality but a little too much
afFciSbion to his countrey 3 which I grant to be
laudable, in the defence of its liberty, but not
in the writing of its hiftory. In other things he
ihows wonderful penetration and judgment 3 be-
fides that he had the advantage of underflanding
the ancient Iriih (abfolutely ^neceflary in thefe dif-
quifitions) which the greater part of the reft had
not. S TA N I H u R s T, ^7 a perfon of no fmall
abilities, hated the Scots for being Proteftants :
and fo wou'd neither allow them an early be-
ginning nor an early Chriftianity. The great
5"^ Usher took up the cudgels for his uncle
Stanihurst: not on the fcore of religion,'
for none was ever a better Proteftant, but of fa-
mily y and from that fame overweening prepof-
fcjG[ion in fxvor of his country, which we have
not approv'd in Buchanan. So Do6tor Lo yd,
the late BiHiop of 55 Worcefter, juftly fam'd for
his skill in Chronology, efpous'd the quarrel of
^ hisname-fake, if not kinfman, Humphry Loyd,
the firft mover of this controverfy : who doubtlefs
was not in the right, but not fo much in the wrong
in every thing as Buchanan wou'd have him.
Sir George Mackenzie, tho he was an ornament
to the Scottifh barr, yet ^ wrote with all the un-
fairnefs pofTible againft the Biihop (then of Saint
Asaph) to whom that living library Do6lor
Stillingfleet (afterwards Bifhop of Wor-
95. Rerum Scoticarum 8ccj or, the Hijlory of Scotland.
97. De Rebus in Hibernia geftis.
98. De Britannicarum Eccle/iarum primordiis.
99. Hiftotical account of the Britijlj Churches.
I. Brirannicae Defcriptionisfr?gmentum.
4. Antiquity dfthe Koyai line of Scotknd, firfl and fecondpartf.
cefter)
NAZARENUS. 49
cefter) became a ftrenuous ^ fecond : left, if the
Scots of Northbritain were allowed a Chriftianity
at firft without Diocefan Bifhops, and that next
the Bifhops themfelves were elefted by the Kel-
dees^ vulgarly calPd Culdees (a fort of Lay religi-
ous wherof by and by) for fear in fuch a cafe, I
fay, that the prefent Scots might thus have reafon
to expel their Billiops, which they fmce have
done> as being no lefs an ufurpation upon their
old Chriftianity, than upon their late Reformati-
on. So th^t rather than Bifhops fhou'd lofe any
f round, a great number of Kings, and a confidera-
le body of preceding adventurers, muft be ftruck
at one blow out of hiftory. Sir George
Mackenzie is not more referv'd to let us
into the fecret of his writing, which was to com-
plement the late King Ja m e s, whofe hne (he
fays) he thought it his duty, as his Majefty's Ad-
vocatc-general, to defend 5 and he truely does it
like an Advocate in all refpeds, making it even
Lefe-Majefty in others to oppofe it by the leaft
abridgment. It wou'd not be making his court,
he thought, any way to curtail the long catalogue
of the King's Anceftdrs, how much foever he ad-
mir'd Biftiops : but he alfo thought it wou'd be
as little ingratiating himfelf by deriving thole
Princes from any fubjed of Ireland, tho not able
to deny that they had originally iflu'd from thence -y
but however (according to him) a long time be-
fore thofe of that country allow it, as if fooner
or later fignify'd any thing in this argument, w^th
regard to true honor. He's ncverthelefs as much
in the right, in refpe£t of the main fa£b, the an-
tiquity of the Scots in Britain j as the induftrious
^ Mr. O r L A H E R T Y, out of complaifance per-
5. Orfgires Britannicae, &c.
4- ^^gy£*3' *'* '^•'^ Hiftory of Irthnd,
JO NAZARENUS.
haps to fome of his Patrons , is unqueftionably
in the wrong. But Sir G e or g e was not mafter
of hiftory enough (whatever his admirers may
fancy) to prove his point, where it was capable
of the higheft evidence > nor, without the help
of the Irifh Bards, can the Scottifh antiquities be
ever clear' d. He did not go by the rule of it
was fo^ but it Jhou*d he fo\ becauie, as he declares
his opinion, it was more honorable for the King
to be defcended from thofe he alligns for his pro-
genitors , than from fuch as others had nam'd :
and therfore delires the reader to judge, who
does the King greater honor, Dr. Stilling-
FLEET in making him defcend from a petty fub-
ject J or the Scottiih hiftorians, who derive him
from an uninteiTupted feries of abfolute Monarchs.
But is this to Vva-ite hiltory ? are we to facriiice
truth to imaginary honor? or was each of King
Ja M E s's anceftors an a6Lual Monarch, be his ge-
nealogy what you pleafe ? Carbre Riadha
was of the Ro3'al family, and not a mere Dynaft
of Ulfter, as he erroneoufly calls him : but fup-
poling him not of the regal flock, yet he was
farr fuperior in rank and fame, even in his own
Phlea- account of him, to Fleance the fon of
DHAN. Banc HO, who is made the firft of the Stu-
A R t's race. But to fhow an example in the Ad-
vocate-general, how farr the humor of flattering
the great, or over-rating their country, will ear-
ly men > I fliall lay before you, Sir, an expedient
no lefs admirable than diverting, on which he has
fagacioufiy hit for fupporting his pretences. He
P.irt2,p-!g.fays he cannot hut regret^ that the IriJJj f/jou'd mi-
^^9- fiake fo far their ow^n inter eft > as to fuffer^ or fur-
nip) their hiftories^ to over-turn the credibility of the
Sc^Mift^ hiftcries.. What ! not furnifh 'em, if they
have fuch } or not fuffer 'em, if they are true ?
Since (continues he) hesaufe we acknowledge our
fehes
NAZARENVS. yi
fih^i to have come Uft from Ireland^ it were our
common intereft to unite together^ and fuftain one
another's antiquities. Tis well he's no Irifhman
-that rpeaks at this rate, or we fhou'd quickly hear
of his iiiiderftanding, as another ought to be
minded of his honelly. But takeing my leave of
this otherwifc very ingenious man, the honorable
J Sir James Dalrymple has vifibly back'd
him j not fo much on behalf of the Royal line,
^as for the antiquity of the nation, and on behalf
of the Culdees. This lail point he has made fo
evident from inconteftable authorities of Hiftori-
ans, Regiftcrs, and Charters, mentioning many
of their lands and their Churches > that Biihop
L o Y D will be juftly condemned for haveing af-
ferted the Culdees to be a monkiJJ) dream^ as hepag. lii.
will be further fo, for making the word Keldee
to fignify a houfe of Cells : and Bifhop SxiL-pag. 15S.
LiNGFLEET niuft be contcut to bear him com-
pany, who fancies that from Kilrule or Kilrimont
(now faint Andrews) the clergy were call'd Kile- ^^cf. p. y^.
dei 5 from which title^ fays he, the fiUion of the
ancient Culdees came. This conceit does, in fpitc
of the analogy of the language and abundance of
fafts, fuppofe there were no Culdees elfwhere in
Scotland, the contrary wherof is demonftrable :
nor, unhappily for his Criticifm, were they ever
caird Kilcdei (which is a fidion of his own) but ip^t^fir
conflantly Kekdei^ from the original Irifh or an- *
cient Scottifh word Ceile-de^ fignifying feparated
or efpous'd to God 3 thefe having been hkewife ve-
ry numerous in Ireland, and in all the Irilh wri-
tings invariably known by this name. From Ceile- The sp^u
de many of the Latin writers made CoUdei in the °f ^^^'
plural number 5 and others, who did not under-
iland this word, did from the mere found (like
5-. Colleciions concerning the Scottijh Hijicry,
L 4 our
jj N AZ ARE NU S.
our two great Biihop's derivations) interpret it Cuh
prcs Dei^ whence the modern word Culdees^ tho
itht Keldees^ Kdedei J and Kelledei in all the ancient
C in irijJjU ScottilTi Writings. Ceile-de^ both name and thing,
^'^ ^f' cannot be deny'd by any man, who's tolerably
K or o . vers d in the language ot the Iriih or in then*
books J one of which, a Chronicle moftly in verfe
entitul'd P falter Na'rran^ was written by a Keldee,
A o N G H u s Ceile-de^ Latiniz'd iE,NEAS Coli-
DEUS, about the year 800. I can produce, if
there be occafion, feveral evidences about thefe
Keldees, anterior to thofe helps with whicl^
Sir J A M E s D A L RY M p i.E has plentifully fur-
nifh'd me : tho many more might be otfer'd by
others (as I doubt not fome will in time appear)
had not fuch numbers of Irifh books and records
been carry'd beyond the feas at the Reformation,
and even before 5 where they ly periihing in Li-
braries, being ufelefs as v/ell as unintelligible in
thofe countries. We need not a better example
of this, than the very book of the four Gofpels
which has occaiion'd you to be trobl'd with this
Differ tat ion. The Keldees were commonly Lay-
men, and marry'd as I noted ^ before j but, like
Bifoop and Monk^ the word remain'd the fame,
^fter the Ideas were chang'd with the condition
of the men, and that they became Clerks. But,
it feems, no change cou'd prevent the extindli-
on of the Keldees. They hc^d the right of
chufing their Prior or Prefident out of their
own body, as the Church in thofe parts was
long governed by Presbyters, after the exam-
ple of the ancient ^ Alexandrian Church y where
6. 7/7 Not A 66.
7. AJexandriae a Marco Evangelifta, ufque ad Heraclam 8c Dio-
«} fium Epifcopos, Presbyteri Temper unum ex fe eleftum, in ex-
• telfiori gradu collocatum, Epifcopum nominabant. Hieronym. Epift.
fld EvAgrium, m nihil de Eittjchio alii/qfte die am,
the
NAZARENUS. 53
the Presbyters chofe one from among themfelves,
to be their Bifhop or Superintendent : a form of
Government not fcrupl'd by the Scots at the Re-
formation, and which, if that were all, they wou'd
make no difficulty of admitting now. John
Ford UN therfore had reafon to affirm fo ma-
ny centuries fince, that * the Scots had, before the
coming of Pai^ladius, onely Presbyters or
Monks for teachers of the faith^ and Minifters of
the Sacraments^ following herein the ufage of the
Primitive Church, Thus did the famous Co-
L u M B A, who, coming out of Ireland to con-
vert the Northern Pi6ts in the year ^^^^ and
founding a Monaftry in the Hand from him call'd
^ I-coluim-cille^ eftabliih the felf-fame kind of
order in the Church there. "That Iland^ fays
'° Bede in the 7th century, is wont to have a
Presbyter Abbat^ to whofe government both the
whole Province^ and even the Bifhops themfelves are
to be fubje^l in an unufual manner ( with regard,
he means, to the practice of his time in England)
after the example of their firfi teacher y who was
not a BiJJjopy but a Presbyter and a Monk. To
the fame purpofe, and for the fame reafon tlie
8. Ante cujus [P^/Wi#] adventum, habebant Scoti fidei do6lorcs,
ac Sacramentorum miniftratores, Presbyteros folummodo vel Mo-
nachos, ricum fequcnres Ecclefiae Primitivae. Scotichrom. /, 5. «r 8.
9. That isy C o L u M K I L l's llaml-y for I, fromum'd as the French
and other loregners do this Letter, figmfies in Irifh an llmd, as Inis
likewife does. The name of this I land is often ■written HIT, II, HU,
10 avoid making a "word of one Letter-, and Co l u m b a is call'd bj
B E D E, N E N N I u s, and other sy Columb a-Celli, C o l u m k i l-
Lus, or CoLUMBA CELLAE ; as by the Iriff}, and Scots Highlanders,
he's to this day call'd C o l u i M-c i ll E. This llandgoes likewife under
the name e/ J O N A, and lies near the greater lland 0/ M U L L.
10. Habere autcm folct ipfa infuja redorem femper Abbatem
Presbyterum, cujus juri 8c omnisprovincia, 8c ipfi etiam Epifcopi,
ordine inufitato, debeant efle fubjefti ; juxta exemplum primi
doaoris illius, qui non Epifcopus, fed Presbyter cxticit &; Mona-
chus. Hid.'EccUf.l.i^c.^.
SaKon
y4 N AZ ARENUS.
Saaon Chronicle ' ' fays, that all the Scoitijh Bijhops
are to he fuhjeU to the Abhat of Hy. Then, to be
fure, they were no Diocefans. But after the Pope
had got firm footing in Scotland, and that the
country was parcell'd out by his order into Dio-
cefes ( moil of which are of very late ereftion )
the Keldees were difcountenanc'd and fuppreft by
degrees, and Canons regular plac'd in their room.
I confine my difcourfe to the Scots Keldees onely :
for as to the Keldees of Armagh, Tipperary, or
Cluanifh in Ireland, or as to thofe of Bardfey in
Wales, or any where elfe, mention'd by others or
not 5 I have nothing at this time to fay, what-
ever I may do hereafter. The right of eledting
Biihops, fo long enjoy'd, was forcibly taken at
laft from the Scots Keldees : and, the fooner to
€fFe6t the change that enfu'd, their Priors were
commonly gain'd by making them Bifiiops, as the
chief among the reft were preferred to regular Ab-
bacies. Thus Alexander Myln, Prebendary
and Official of Dunkel, in his account of the Bi-
fhops of that See, tells us, ^^ that Constan-
T I N E the third^ King of the Pi^s^ did^ in the
year 72,9, ereU the Monaftery of Diinkel^ in 'which
he plac d religious men hy the 'vulgar calVd Keldees ;
■^ho neverthelefs^ after the ufage of the eafiern
1 1. Deinceps perpetuus in li Abbas erit, non autem Epifcopus;
atque ei d^bent e.& fubdiri omnes Scotorum Epiicopi, propreici
quod Columbanus [reBius Columba] fuerit Abbas, non Epilcopus.
12. In quo quidcm Monafterio impofdit viros religiofos, quos
r.ominat: vulojus Kelledeos, aliterColideos ('hoc eft, cokntesDcum)
hibenre^ tamen, {"ecundum Oricntaiis Ecciefiac ritum, conjugesj
aquibus, dum vicifl'im miniftrarunr, abflinebant — - David, mu-
tato Monaflerio, in Eccleliam Cadit^dialem erexit; Sc, repudiatis
Kelledcis, Epifcopum £c Canonicos inftituit, Seculareque Collegi-
um in futurum clTc ordinavit, circa annos Domini 1 127. MS. m
BiMioii . kc. 'Edinburg. (^ a Jacoh Dalrymfle Baronetto citat.
Churchy
NAZARENUS. jy
Churchy had wives^ from whom they ahfiaty^dy
when it came to their turn to minifter. But King
D AV I D, fays he, did about the year of the Lord
1 1 ijj change this Monaftery into a Cathedral church 5
and halving caft out the Keldces, appointed a Bifhop
and Canons^ ordering it to he a fecular Colledge for
the future. Accordingly the Keldean Abbat was
made the firft Bifhop of that fee : and from hence
it appears, that the Culdees were not Canons >
which is another fubterfuge, to which fome have
had recourfe. Nor was it an eafy matter, to ex-
tirpate the Keldees out of Saint Andrews 3 who
at lait were reduced to '? perform their worjhip in
their own way^ in a corner of the Church once theirs.
The Keldees of Loch-levin (not to mention thofe
of Brechen, Dumblane, Monymusk, or others)
were fome of the laft left in Scotland. And I
cannot help faying on this occafion, that fome
other method of defending Diocefan Epifcopacy
(if it can at all be defended) had much bet-
ter become the two late learned Biihops of
Worcefter, than to draw their pens againft
clear matters of fad > the Keldees being already
fufficiently prov'd, neither to have been a dream
nor a fidion. Yet the prefent Bifhop of Carlile
calls Dr. Loyd's '4 book, an undertaking becoming
a Bifljop of our Englifh Churchy and fays his aim in
it was^ the encountring nn objection againft the order
of Epifcopacy^ from the ft or y of the Culdees: an ar-
gument put into the mouths of our Schifmatics by
B L o N D E L and S E L D E N, out of the abundant
kindnefs they had for our eftablifhment. I mull
take the liberty with his Lordfhip to affirm, that
13. Nee ibi Mifia cdebratur, nili cum rex vel Epifcopus ilio
advenerat: Keldei namque in angulo quodam Ecclefiae, quae mo-
d ca nimis erar, fuum Offici-um fuo more celebrabant. Excerpt, ex
Regijiro V nor at. S.Andr. ante a citat. in Not a 66.
14. E/3gli/J3 HifiorUfU Libr>^ry, part 2 page 93.
many
y^ N AZ ARENUS.
many of the Scottifli writers madeufe of this argu-
ment, long before Selden orB londel cou'd
write books. I wiih when he wrote the Scottijh Hi-
ft.orical Library^ he had given us a more particular
account of fo confiderable a piece as the Excerpts
out of the Chartulary of the Priory of St. Andrews^
than barely to ^^ fay, that there are fuch Extra6ls :
iince it is a record, that fo frequently makes men-
tion of the Keldees, of their long continuance in
the Scottifh Church, and of their fuppreilion at laft
by Diccefan Bifhops : which fhill further demon-
llrates, that they were farr from being a monkifh
dream5asLo YD the Bilhop of Worceftcr, who from
a Presbyter made F o r d u n a Monk, has ground-
lefly advanc'd. They might, in my opinion, have
all gone to work in another way, not onely fairer,
but likewife more fafe and reputable > I mean by
putting the caufe of Diocefan Epifcopacy upon the
bottom either of divine inftitution, or of the
greateft humane convenience: but not uponfadbs,
which if all true in thefenfe theywou'd have them
(as tis moft evident they are not) yet they wou'd
make nothing in the world to their purpofe. For the
moft curious enquirers into the hiftories of Ire-
land and Scotland, will not, if they reafon as they
ought, ground their Rehgion upon what has or
has not pafl there > but upon what is right and
true, upon what is inilrucbive and beneficial. Truth
is not confin'd to any country, nor Reafon its pe-
culiar growth j thefe being invariably the fame,
whatever country rejects or receives, practifes or
negleds them : and tho I may love a nation for
the fake of the Sciences or the Virtues, that flo-
riih'd in it, as the Greecs (for example) and the
Romans j yet I neither love Knowledge nor Re-
ij-. Scottijl} Hijloricd Library chap. f. pag, 220.
ligiou
NAZARENUS. 5;^
ligion on the fcorc of any nation, but for their
own intrinfic worth and value. You may ther-
fore conclude, that it is not out of any fondnefs
for my country, that I approve, where I have
not hinted the contrary, the Summary of
Religion contain'd in the fecond Se6tion oF
this Letter : but purely as it is agreeable to Scrips
ture and Reafon, whether my countrymen had
ever receiv'd it or not. You'll pardon, Sir^ my
llepping from the mother to the daughter, or the
natural tranfition I made above from the Irifh to
the Scottiih Antiquities, concerning which I have
collected not a few obfervations : having begun
my Academic ftudies in the Univerfity of Glalco,
and taken my degree in that of Edinburgh, be-
fore I went to Leyden, for which places I ihall
ever preferve a grateful refpe£t. This is what you
know I Ihall never want towards yourfelf : wher-
fore, I am. Sir, i3c.
J. T GLAND.
FINIS,
APPENDIX.
CONTAINING
I. Two PROBLEMS, hiftorical,
political, and theological, concern-
ing the Jewish Nation and
Religion.
II. A further account of the Maho-
metan Gospel of Barnabas,
by Monfieur de la Monnoye of
the French Academy.
III. ClU E R I E S fit to be fent to
any curious and intelligent Chrifti-
ans, refiding or travelling in Maho-
metan Countries ,• with proper di-
red:ions and cautions in order to
procure fatisfadory anjfwers.
LO N DO N: Printed in the Year 171 8.
I.
TWO
PROBLEMS
CONCERNING
The Jewifh Nation and Religion.
Et eris mihi magnus Apollo.
Virg.
in aftual exercife.
O U know ( Sir ) tKat I have
promis'd thofe, for whom I
have the greatcll deference, a
R E S P U B LI C A M O S A I C A,
or THE C O M M O N W EALT H
OF Moses, which I admire
infinitely, above all the forms
of Government, that ever yet
exiited : whether at any time
as thofe of the Spartans and
Romans of old, and now that of the V'enetians 5 or
fubfilling only in idea, as 'C^^ Atlantis of Plato,
Sir Thomas M o r e's Utopia^ and fuch like.
Neither my other friends at the Waters, nor even
M vou.
NAZARENUS.
you, were tolerably latisfy'd with SiGoiJiuS^
or C u N E u s, or with any one of thofe, who
have written on this fubjefl: : and I can now glad-
ly teil you, my materials are in fuch a readinefs;
that one half year, free from ail other buiinefs,
wou'd be fufficient for me to form and finiili the
whole work. You well remeraber^ that I main-
tain the Plan given by Moses, never to have
been wholly, nor indeed in any degree of per-
fe6tion, elbblifh'd in Judea : and that if it once
had, it cou'd never have been afterwards deftroy'd,
either by the internal fedition of fubjefts, or the
externarviolence of enemies, but fhoii'd have laft-
ed as long as mankind s which is to make a Go-
vernment immortal^ tho it be reckon'd one of the
things in nature the moft fubjedt to revolutions.
But I have not told you, whether I founded this
immutability on any promife and miraculous con-
currence of God 3 or on the intrinfic nature and
conflitution of the form it felf, be its original
what you pleafe. But fomthing there is, of which
at this day we are eye and ear-witnefles, which
feems to be no fmall confirmation of my alTertion,
tho not giving the reafons of the iame : for not-
withftanding the Mosaic plan was never whol-
ly executed, and that the imperfect imitation of
it, under various denominations, is long fince de-
flroy'd y yet the Jews continue if ill a diilin6b peo-
ple from all others, both as to their race and re-
ligion. Tho you cannot difagree with me about
the fa6t, yet I fufpe(5t your reafons for this phenome-
non (if I may fo call it) will be very different from
mine, which however can make no difference in
our affe61:ions. I never love to difputc, but am
ever ready to learn. In order therfore to receive
better information from you, and fuch others as
know more than my felf, I take the liberty of
©ffring to your confideration the two following
Problems,
NAZARENVS.
Problems. There is yet a third behind, which
wou'd be needlefs to produce, till an anfwer be
given to thefe j wherof it is a moft natural con-
lequcnce on the one hand (I mean as the folution
happens to be ^iven) but quite the contrary on
the other : for no wife man will admit of Chance
for a real mean between Reason and R e v e-
JLA T I o N, confider'd as two extremes. I obfcrvc
this the rather, becaufe, tho there be nothing
more evident, than that Chance fignifies with men
of fcnfe, an effect wherof the caufe is unknown
or unforefeen 5 yet a world of people mean by
Chance, an effe6b that has no caufe at all : and fo
they gravely pronounce concerning fomc of the
moll" remarkable Phenomena in nature, that they
happen (forfooth) by Chance 5 as if in reality any
efl-e£t cou'd poffibly be without a caufe, or that
this caufe cou'd be without another caufe as regu-
larly produceing it, or finally that there were no
caufes where we don't immediately and direftly
perceive 'em.
FIRST PROBLEM.
WHETHER, without having recourfe to
miracleSj or to promifes drawn from the
Old l^eftament (which is the fime thing, if you
don't take thofe promifes for wife forefight) it can
be demonflrated by the intrinfic conftitution of
the Government or Religion of the Jews, how,
after the total fubverfion of tlieir State for almoit
feventeen hundred years, and after the difperlion
pf their nation over the whole habitable earth j
being neither favor'd nor fupported by any poten-
tate, but rather expos'd to the contemt and ha-
tred of all the world : they have neverthelcfs pre-
ferv'd themfelves a diftinct people with all their
M 2i ancient
NAZARE NU S.
ancient rites, excepting a very fmall number of
ceremonies, they were neceflarily injoin'd to pra-
6bife within the bounds of Judea, and which they
are no longer permitted to do ? while that in the
mean time the Inftitutions of the Egyptians, Baby-
lonians, Greecs, and Romans (nations that were
much more powerful) are long ago entirely abo-
lifh'd, and brought to nothing : and that the names
only of certain celebrated Religions fubfift yet in
hiilory j without even fo ihuch as the names re-
maining of fome other worships, that doubtlefs
were neither lefs believ'd, nor lefs extended.
SECOND problem:
»■
WHETHER a fufficient reafon can be af-
fign'd, drawn from the nature and frame
of the Jewiih Republic or Religion (without al-
ledging miracles, or promifes not accounted mi*
raculous, as aforefaid) why, during the time that
they were the independent Lords of their own
country, and that their Government fubliiled in
a fiorifhing condition > they were perpetually in-
clined to the moil grofs idolatries, always in fufpenfe
whether they fhou'd follow Baal or J e h o v a h,
and having a ifarong propeniity to mix or marry
with the women of other nations, contrary to
their fundamental Laws ? wheras, iince their acbual
difperfion among thefe lame nations, they are ob-
flinately careful to keep their race entire, without
corruption or mixture : and that, notwithftanding
the mofl agreeable temtations or the moil: exqui-
iite tortures, they abhorr beyond all exprelHonldo-
latiy of every kind > but particularly the adoration
of dead men (from which they are evidently exemt)
as they are furprizingly uniform in their worfhip
and do6trine, which is not deny'd by any body.
NAZARENVS.
I HAVE made ufe (Sir) of more words per-
haps than were neceflary, in expreffing thefc Pro-
blems : but it was to avoid all/orts o.^ ambiguity,
perplexity, or obfcurity. Tis indifFcrcnt to me,
whether another be diifufe or concife in his anlwcr,
provided he fpeaks directly to the fubjeca in quciH-
on : and that he does not amuze himfclf with glo-
zing, or vending of allegories, and forccing of al-
lufionsi which will neither give fatisfadion tome,
nor to any othei' whatfoever. Certainly the caufc
of thefe effects muft needs be, either the conllitu-
tion of the Government, which any body that fays
fo ought to iliow j or a particular providence,
which mull- be likewife prov'd j or a concurrence
of both thefe, where thediftindionfhou'd be very
clear J or lalHy mere chance, which is abfurd. For
the reft, the Jews, the Chriftians, and the Deifts,
are equally intcrefted to clear this matter. The A-
theilts (if any fuch there be?) have nothing to do
herein. But the Heathens, the Mahometans, and,
in one word, all thofe who beUeve a divine Reve-
lation of any fort, muft be neceffarily determin'd
(as to right, whatever may happen in fa6l) by the
true folution, from what hand jfoever it comes. I
am not a ftranger to what is fo voluminoully dif-
cours'd on the fubje6b of the firft Problem, in the
common fyftcms, which never take notice of the
fecond : but a more fatisfactory explication is ftill
expe6bed, which perhaps may appear in a better
light by it felf > while the multitude of other
fubjecls is apt to confound ideas in a general fy-
ftem, if not unavoidably to withdraw the atten-
tion. A letter on this fubjeft therfore I expect
from your fclf , or from any body elfe by your
means, in ' communicating my demand > that if I
I . Shotid any be willing to write, but not to print his thoughts m
this fitbjeci, if he dire^s hit Letter to be left for me at Mr. Roberts
in IVarvick-lme, J (Jj^H do him sll poJjiblejnfiue,
M 3 happen
^ N A Z A RE NUS.
happen to be guilty of any miftakes in the Mo-
SAic Republic, they may not be afterwards
imputed to fufficiency, or want of asking advice.
I A M aware (my friend) that the Immortality
of a Commonwealth is not honor'd by you fo farr,
as to be reckon'd a paradox in politics, but art
egregious abfurdity in nature : and you muft ex-
cufe me, if I be at no pains to convince you, till
theRESPUBLiCA Mosaic A appears. Yet
it will not be amifs in the mean time to fhow
you, that this whim (as you often call it) of the
Immortality of a Government^ was not originally
Harrington's 5 who indeed dreamt fome fuch
thing about the Republic of Venice^ and who has
the moil excellent father Paul on his fide : but
that what I now particularly apply to the model
delivered by Moses, and to which only it can
be apply'd, was many hundred years ago the no-
tion which a confummate ftatefman, no lefs cele-
brated for practice than fpeculation, had of fra-
ming a Government in general ^ and this opinion
he declar'd in a book, which he exprefly wrote
concerning the beft kind of Government, when
he himfelf fat at the helm. I mean Cicero
and his fix books de Republican or de optimo flatu
Civitatis £5? de optimo Cive^ which are all loft, a
few fragments excepted. The words I am now
going to tranfcribc, are preferv'd by Augus-
tin, in the 6th chapter of his iid book de Ci-
vitate Dei. A Government^ fays * T u lly^
2. Debet enim conftituta fie efle Clvitas, ut Aeterna fit:
jtaque nuJlus interitus eft Reipubiicae naturalis, ut hominij in quo
mors Hon mode necefiaria eft, verum etiam optanda perfaepe. Ci-
vitas autem cum tollitur, deletur, extinguitur, fimile eft quodam-
modo (ut magnis parva conferamus) ac fi oronis hie muiidus in-
tereat ac concidat. f .v libro terdo de Rppubliai.
to.
N AZ ARE NUS.
to he fo conftituted^ as to be of e.tekn Ah du-
ration: and for this reafon it is^ that no kind
of dijfolution is natural to a Government^ as to a
marir j to whom death is not encly unavoidahle^ bftt
alfo very often dejirable. But when a Government
is overturn' d^ ruin'd^ and quite extinguiJJfd^ tis in
fome fort (that we may compare great things with
fmall) as if this whole world fJjou\l fall to -pieces^
and he for ever defirofd. For as the corruption
of ever-generating individuals neither leflens the
matter, nor diforders the form of the world, but
on the contrary perpetuates it : fo the fpecies of
mankind, which is the matter of Government,
ever continuing 5 if fuch a temperament (as C i-
c E R o fomwhcre calls it) or fuch a Vibration (as
Harrington) be fixt in the fonn, as to
make it proof againft all internal divifion and ex-
ternal force, that Government will confeqiiently
be immortal. Such was the language of Plato
and Aristotle long before.
HAVING therfore thus cleared Father
Pa u l, and Harrington, and my felf, I
am willing Cicero fhou'd patiently bear the
imputation of having broach'd a whimfical ab-
furdity, till I have time and leifure enough to
produce Moses in his vindication j who will
not give you bare authorities, but unanfwerable
reafons. They, who believe this form of Go-
vernment was immediately rcveal'd to Moses
from heaven on mount Sinai, cannot but be
wcU-pleas'd with me, for fhowing it to be much
more excellent and perfedt, and confequently
more worthy of God -y than thofe have hitherto
efteem'd it, who in all their books (not one Chri-
llian fyilem excepted) complain of its infufficien-
cy and manifold imperfe6bions : and they, who,
with Strabo and Diodorus Siculus,
M 4 make
N AZ ARE NUS.
make it to be purely his own contrivance (but
fathered upon God, to procure it the eafier re-
ception and the greater veneration) will be ob^
lig'd however for the future, to allow Moses
a rank in the politics farr fuperior to S a l e u-
cus, Charon DAS, Solon, Lycurgus,
R o M V L u s, N u M A, or any other Legiflator.
NOW if you'll fuppofe with me (till my
proofs appear) this pre-eminence and immortality
of the Mosaic Republic in its original puri-
ty, it will follow J that, as the Jews known at
this day, and who are difpers'd over Europe, A-
fia, and Africa, with fome few in America, are
found by good calculation to be more numerous
than either the Spaniards (for example) or the
French : fo if they ever happen to be refettl'd in
Palellrine upon their original foundation, which is
not at all impoffible > they will then, by reafoni
of their excellent conftitution, be much more
populous, rich, and powerful than any other na-
tion now in the world. I wou'd have you con-
lider, whether it be not both the intereft and du?
ly of Chriftians to affift them in regaining their
country. But more of this when we meet. I
am with as much refpcft as friendfhip (d^ar Sir)
ever yours,
Hague, 17 -p. J. 7!
II. A
II.
A further account of the MAHOMETAN
GOSPEL OF BARNABAS, by Monji^
eur DE LA MoNNOYE of the French Aca-
demy \ (?/^^^/^A^Menagiana, Edit,AmJf.
torn, 4. pag, 321.
H E Baron de Hohendorf, a
German Lord, who, to a birth of the
firft rank, has added exquifice litera-
ture, nice politics, and a very exten-
five knowledge of books, did me the
favor to ihow me the Gospel, fathered by the
Turks upon Barnabasj tranflated into Itali-
an (in all likelyhood from the Arabic) about the
middle of the fifteenth Century, and copy'd a
little while after. Tis at this day the onely ma-
nufcript cf its ^ kind, or at leaft a very rare one ;
and belongs to Prince Eugene, whofe fearch
after all forts of curious books is without any
bounds. Tis an Q6tavo volum fix inches long,
four broad, and one and a half thick, and con-
taining ^ip leaves, the full pages haveing about
18 or IP lines, enclos'd within four red rules.
In the margin, over-againft certain paflages un-
derlin'd in the Text, there are fome Arabic ci-
tations very well written, and relative to fome
verfes of the Alcoran. The tranfcriber intended
* lit muft mean the omly om in Chriftendom, or he contrndicii jhim-
felfy and [0 mufi Monjieur Cramer have meant, -mho knm nothing
o^the age or value of this book, but T^hat I told him.
10 N AZ ARE NUS.
to write in red letters all the Arguments of the
Chapters, which are in number zii: but he
went no further than the lyth, which he misfi-
gur'd the i^th, contenting himfelf with leaving
void fpaces for filling up the reft. The paper is
of a good body, ana made of poliiht cotton. On
a leaf in the beginning of the book is now writ-
ten the following Inlcription in Latin.
Serenissimo Sabauqiae Principi
Eugenio,
Heroi invito, Mufarum Hercuh,
Hoc Evangeliunt Mahumedanum^ quod Bar-
nab a e nomen prae fe fert^ in ItaUcum fermonem^
complurihiis abhinc feculis^ uti charaUeris duSlus £sf
'vetiiftae orthographiae ratio pftendit^ converfum:
quod Evangeliumftve Arahice^ five alia lingua^ fsf,
fi quis conjeElurae locus eft^ a Sergio Monacho Nefto-
riano^ uno e trihus illis Alcorani architehiSy
compofitum^ adhuc videre nemini Chrifiianorum li'
euit 5 quamvis hi ilhid perquirere £5? infpicere omni
ope niterentur^ ut tandem ejufmodi Evangelium^ quo
Mahornedani tantopere gloriantur^ ne exiftere quidem
fufpicari coeperint : hunc^ inquam^ codicem^ manu
fatis eleganti exaratiim^ (j^ ficuti conftat^ unicuniy
ut ejffet Bibliothecae^ quam Princeps incom-*
parabilt s Ubris rarijfimis^ feu typis feu manu de*
fcriptis refertiffimam^ conftruendam fufcepit^ non po*
ftremum ornamentum y i^ fimul fuae in immortaU
maximi Herois nomen perpetuae obfervantiae^ pie^*
tatiSy devotiffimipedioris^ qualecunque monumentum :
L. M. Q, D. D. D.
Joannes Fredericus Cr am e r u s.
Hagae^Comitis
a. d. XX. Juniiy CIDIDCCXIII.
THE
NAZARENUS. ii
THE oithography of this manufcript is remark-
able for its in-egularitics. The Confonants arc
often double, where they ought to be finglcj
and fingle, on the contrary, where they fhou'd
have been double. One v/ord is divided into
two, and two again are join'd into * one. Tis
every where ftuff'd with luperfluous and vicious
Afpirations, fuch as were affeded by Arrius
in Catullus. There's no diftin6lion of Ca-
pitals: but a veiy odd puncbuation, confifling
onely in certain large red points, plac'd for the
moll; part by mere chance. Elgi^ molgie^ fi^g^o^
pilgiare^ are put for Egli^ moglie^ fig^^o^ pigliare.
Scatiar is put for fcacciar^ fcernir and fcerno for
fchernir and fcherno^ piaze for piace^ and fuch o-
ther corruptions without number j which ought
to be look'd upon, rather as indications of the
ignorance and bad pronunciation of the Gopyer,
than of the f antiquity of the Writeing. The
Pages are markt by Arabic figures, form'd in this
manner : i one, ^ two, ^ three, 4 four, o five,
t| ^\x^ V feven, a eight, q nine, i . ten j after
which the figures are thus combined, 1 1 eleven,
I N twelve and fo on. The writeing, as I have
obferv'd already, is about the year 1470 or 1480,
the time when Tranfcribers begun to put a dot
or tittle over the letter i, which has been very
exa6tly followed in the manufcript, wherof we
are now fpeaking. The word Z)/^, or God, is out
of refped always written in red letters. The Turks
oppofe this Gospel, as the onely tmc ^ one.
* A thing very common in the oldefi Italian Manufcripts, and in their
firji -printed books.
f They are no lefs indicatiom of the one than of the other, as mu^
needs be apparent to any one that's verfi in Italian Manufcripts.
4: I dftrfi ntt be fo pofitive, nor do I fee any ground why Moafeur
DE LA MoNNOYE flm'd ^9 fo, fchich IS the reafon of the ^eries
i fki>jein,
to
It N AZ ARENV S,
to our four. Barnabas, who affirms that he
was commanded to write it, is reprcfented as an
Apoftle, not onely well known to Jesus and
the ViRGiNj but alfo better inll:rii61:ed than
Paul, concerning the importance of Gircumci-
iion, and the ufe of fuch Meats as were pemiitted
or prohibited the faithful. You learn in the fame,
that the infernal torments of the Mahometans are
not to be everlalliing. Jesus Christ is ther-
in but barely ItiPd a Prophet : and tis faid, that
the moment the Jews were makeing ready to go
and feize him in the garden of Olives, he was
taken up into the third heaven by the miniftry of
four angels, Gabriel, Michael, Ra-
phael, and Uriel: that he fhall not dy till
the very end of the world, and that it was J u-
DAS who was crucify'd in his ftead 5 God per-
mitting that this Traytor ihou'd appear to the
eyes of the Jev/s fo like to Jesus, that they
took him for him, and as fuch delivered him over
to Pilate. Tis faid further, that this refem-
blance was fo great, that every one was deceived
by it, without excepting the Virgin Mary and
the Apollles % but that afterwards Jesus had
obtain'd permiilion from God, to come and com-
fort them : and that Barnabas haveing then
ask'd him the queflion, how the divine goodnefs
cou'd fuffer that the Mother and Difciples of fo
holy a Prophet lliou'd believe, even for one mo-
ment, that he fuffer'd fo ignominious a death, the
following * anfvver is made by Jesus. O Bar-
nabas,
* RifpoffcJ lefu ho Barnaba chrcdimi che ogni pechato per pi-
cho]lo che fia Dio il punifle chon pena grande. effendoche Dio he
ofifeflb nel pechato onde ammandomi la mia madre he li fidelli con
miei difTcpoIi uno pocho di am more tcrrcno. il iufsro Dio ha vol-
]uto punire queHo am more chon il preflente dollore azioche fia
jion pufiito nelk Rami mfernalli. hs me che innocenro fonftaw
nd
NAZARENUS. 13
N A B A s, believe me that every fin^ how fniall foe"
*ver^ is punijl)*d by God with great torment^ becaufe
God is offended with fin. My mother t her fore and
my faithful difciplcs^ haveing lov'd me with a mix^
Hire of earthly love^ the juft God has been pleas' d
to puniJJ} this love with their prcfent griefs that they
might not be punifiot for it hereafter in the flames of
Hell, jlnd as for me^ tho I have my felf beert
blamelefs in the Worlds yet other men haveing
calVd me God^ and the Son of God'y therfore God^
that I might not be mock!d by the Devils at the day
of Judgement^ has been pleased that in this world I
Jhou'd be mock\l by men with the death ^/ J u D a s,
makeing every body believe that I dfd upon the
Crofs. And hence it is^ that this mocking is ft ill to
continue on till the comeing of Mahomet, the
Sent of God'y who^ comeing into the World^ will
from this error undeceive every one^ that fhall be-
lieve the Law of * God.
ncl mondo hauendomi li homeni chiamato dio he fiollo dii dio.'
dio per non far mi fcernire dalli demonii il giorno de il juditio.
ha voli'Jto che io fia fcernito dali homeni nel monddo chon la
morte di iuda facendo chredere ad ogniuno che io fia morto fa la
chroce onde quefto fccrno durera inffmo alia venuta di Machome-
to nontio di dio. il quale venendo al mondo Iganera ogniuno che
chrederano alia legie di dio di quefsto ingano.
* In the p^Jfigss vehich I have quoted my felf out of this Gorpcl,
tho I preferv'd the zicious Orthography, yet, to be the better undsrjiood,
I pointed them as they pond be : but in this p^ff'ige, tranjvrib'd by
Monfieur de la Monnoye, I have exhibited the V unB nation fmh
as he ^Hve it, as a fpecimm #/ the refl of the book.
III. QJJ E-
14
III.
QUERIES to he fent to Chrifiians
reftdmg m M a h o m ]e ta n Countries.
1.
ilNCE we find in all the books of
the Mahometans, that they believe the
L AW was deliver'd from Heaven to
Moses, thePSALMS to David,
and the GO S P E L to Jesus, as
well as the ALCORAN to Mahox\iet>
vou are to enquire and take due information, whe-
ther at this time the Mufulmans have 2, Pentateuch^
Pfalms^ or Go [pel of their own, and how farr
agreeing or disagreeing with thofe of the Jews
and Chrillians ? whether they fing any of D a-
v I D 's Pfalms in their public Service, or read any
portions of the Pentateuch ?
IL
SINCE we find moreover, that they charge
our Go/pels with cormption and alteration in many
things, and particularly that M a h o M e t 's
name was raz'd out of 'em, as likewife out of the
Pentateuch^ znd the Pfahns-, you are to enquire
of the moll learned, judicious, and candid among
'cm how they can prove fuch Expun6tions or
Interpolations, if they have no authentic Copies
to confront with ours? or, in cafe they pretend
to have (uch Copies, you are further to enquire,
what ufe they make of 'em? whether any part of
then Gofpel be ever read in their Mofchs? or whe-
ther it is to be perus'd onely by the Clergy and
the Learned? ^^^_^^^
N AZ ARE NUS. ij
III.
YOU are particularly defir'd to enquire after
the Gospel of Barnabas: for fuch a
book is in the poflefHon of his moft ferene High-
nefs Prince Eugene of Savoy, and was un-
doubtedly written (I doHit mean wholly compil'd)
by a profeft Mahometan 3 as the Summaries of the
Chapters, and the Arabic Notes on the margin of
the Italian Tranflation, are the work of a zealous
adverfary to Chriftianity. And if you fhou'd hap-
pen to meet with this book, you are diligently to
enquire, whether they acknowledge it as divine,
whether it be the onely Gofpel they admit? or, in
cafe they have any more of this kind, which arc
Apocryphal, and which authentic, in thek ac-
count ?
IV.
SINCE we find the Mahometans, in all their
writeings, aflerting that other books, befides the
four already mention'd, were divinely infpir'd, or
fent from heaven to their reputed Authors 3 name*
ly, Adam, S e t h, Enoch, Abraham,
and more fuch Patriarchs and Prophets : you are
to enquire if now they either have, or pretend to
have, any fuch books among 'em ? or, in cafe they
have not (as I think they fairly own) then by what
ai-guments they wou'd prove, that ever any fuch
exilled? For, I fuppofe, they lay no fti-efs on the
numerous books of this fort, that have been forg'd
by the Jews and Chriftians 5 tho, i^ the Mahome-
tans have any of their own, I take 'em to be fome
of the Apocryphal Jewilh or Chriftian books in-
terpolated, and accommodated to the Syftem of
the Alcoran fecundhn Artem,
V.
LASTLY, not only the Gospel of Bar-
nab a s, or any other Gospel (which in their
language.
N AZ ARE NUS.
language tliey call Al-Angil or Inghil) but
iilfo their Pentateuch (which they call A l-
Taourat, vulgarly Tevrat) and their
Psalms (which they call Z e b o u r) with the
books afcrib'd to thofe other Prophets (if any
fuch they have) are to be procured or purcha^'d,
according to the account you'll be pleas'd to fend.
But ill this whole Enquiiy beware of being impos'd
upon by Chriftian Arabic books, fuch as the Go-
[pel of the Infancy of ]ESVSy with diverfe others
of the fame itamp.
A S for the Mahometans themfelves, who arc
the proper fubjc6t of our curioiity, take care to
diftinguifh written from oral Tradition j as well as
the perfuafion of a particular Seftfrom that of the
whole body, or even the notion of a private man
from that of his peculiar Seft. And on thefe En-
quiries be fure to ground your Anfwers fo acca-^
rately, yea fo minutelyj as exprefly to ufe fuch
forms, as In anpwer to the flrft^ fecond^ third^ or
fourth ^eries^ or to any part ox particular of each,
difl:in£tly mark'd : neither be evertemted to affirm
any thing, that may feem to favor the real orfan^
cy'd belief or byafs of the Enquirer 5 fince Truth
ought to be the fole obje6t of our Refearch, and
not the fervice of any particular Caufe or Perforr
whatfoever.
FINIS.
ERRATA.
Picf. page xxii. line 31. read/itwf time. Ibid. p. xxiii. I. 7. commi
after good. Work, p. 7. Not. 6. r. l«tx»?js. p. 23. Not. 33. r. »7re;^«»
|i;cr/if. p. 25. 1. penult, r. of the gate. p. 31- 1.28- r flatly. 0.5*. Not.
78. r. anathematizati. p. 66. 1. u. comma after people, ibid. Not. 83.
t magiitet & imperator. p. 73. Not. 84. 1.2. r. x.«'rat?r/.«|/F. Letter II.
p. 51, in the laft marginal note iti^dthe Sfonfe of God, p. J3, Not. Z.
for palladia t. palUdii.
The reft (if any) arc left to the reader's capdor-
\
Date Due
"^^jwaniwiirffP
tfr
>mmmmm
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PRINTED
IN U. S. A.
1