YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY From the COLLECTION OF OXFORD BOOKS made by FALCONER MADAN Bodley's Librarian A N JOj O i5 Jljl X UPON TWO Arabick Manufcripts OF THE* r BODLEJAN LIBRJRT, ¦V and that ancient Book, call'd, THE DOCTRINE OF THE APO S TLBS, Which is faid to be extant in them; Wherein Mr. W H I S T ON'/ Mifiahes about , hth are plainly prav dy By John Ernest Grabe D.D. 0 X F o,J{ D, Printed at the T-h e a t e r for Hear/ Clements^ Book- feller at the HalFMoon in St. TauVt Church Yard fj^ndon. 1711. "" :?/'..¦ : To The RightiReverend FATHER IN GOX^; WILLIAM, LORD BISHOP OF WORCESTER. MY LORD, WHen I firft had the Honour to wait upon Your Lordlhip, I was receiv'd not as a Stran ger, but as a faiiiiliar Friend; Nay, your Lordlhip was pleafed to embrace a g me. The Dedication. me, as a Father doth a Son ; and has afterwards in many Refpeds been fa very kind, fo indulgent,and fo gracious to me, that I always thought , and ever fhall think my felf highly ob liged to Your Lordlhip, even as a Son to a Father. But it has been my Misfortune , that I never yet had an Opportunity, to fhew publickly my moft humble Duty to Your Lordlhip, in fuch a Manner as I would, and to give a folemn Token of my hearty Thankfulnefs for the many and fingu lar ' Favours befto w'd upon me. Wherefore I now lay hold of this Occalion,and prefume to dedicate even this fmall Treatife, (being the Firft, which I do publifh in the Engli/b Tongue for the Service ofthe Church) to Your Lordlhip, who was the Firft of all the Bifhops of this Church, that fhew'd me real Kindnefles; altho' I have receiv'd firice not a few from others alfo of that Apoftolical Order. And this Treatife ought the rather to be The Dedication, be infcribed to Your Lordftiip,becaufe in preparing the fame I have had the Affiftance of one , upon whom alfo Your Lordftiip has laid the greateft Obligatibris imaginable; not only by receiving and maintaining Him in Your Family for fome Years, but alfo by contributing largely to His prefent Settlement in the Univerfity of Ox ford. Moreover, confidering the Subjedl of this EfTay, and the Perfon againft whom it is written, I know not to whom I might better offer the fame, than to Your Lordlhip ; who is the beft Judge of the Matter in hand, and who have Yourfelf firft written to, and a- gainft the fame Perfon upon the fame Subject. For that fingle Man (and he a Presbyter only ofthe Church oi Eng land) has not only been fo bold as to caft down, as far as lies in his Power, the Foundations of many Generations, and to call in Queftion, yea indeed flatly to deny, and reject. What accord ing The T)edication. .. ing to His own Confeffion has been received among the Fundamental Ar^ ticles ofthe Creed, and fet IJorms ojf Publick Worfliip, above thefe thou fand Years in all C&riJ^f^«, Churches over the whole World, and what, ac cording to the Opinion of fo many yery Learned Men, has been the very F^ith and Religion once deliver'd in the Be ginning of Chriftianity to the Saints, and ever fince retain'd by all, except fuch as concerning Faith have made Shipwrack ; but He has alfo been fo prefumptuous , as to begin to lay new Foundations, and to of!er to the Church fuch Scriptures of the New Teftament, as he pretends to have been either villainoufly decry 'd, or un happily loft for many Ages; reckon ing among.the former the Clementine Con§iitutions , and among the latter the Do&rine ofthe ./^poHles. Now I can eafily imagin, that when Your Lordfliip heard firft of thefe daring Attempts, You were ready to break The Dedication, break out, with the old Apoftolical Biftiop St.Tofycarp, into that ufual Saying of His upon fuch Occafions : O good God^ to what Times haU thou re/er'vedme *. And accordingly Your Lordfliip has, as a truly Chriftian Bi fhop, fliewn Your felf fenfibly affe^ed with; and heartily griev'd at the bold Proceedings of the filid Presbyter, al tho' he be not properly under Your own Jurifdidlion ; and Your Lord lhip has even in the Declenfion of Life, when Reft fliould have been your Por tion, taken great Pains fome time ago to reclaim him, from what He then defign'd to do, and is now doing with all fpeed, namely printing His He terodox Scheme and Colledbion, with the Arguments for them , under the fpecious Title oiTrimittve Chrifliani- iy Rephed. Particularly Your Lord lhip has in Your laft very learned * Trenaus in his Letter to F^orinm writes of St. Po- b Letter The Dedication. Letter above two Years ago, writ ten largely againft the Compofure of the eight Books ofthe Clementine Con ftitutions ; . which this Defender of rejected , and Reftorer of loft Scri ptures endeavours to fet up as the mofi facred Standard ofChriBianitjyy equal in their (lAuthorityto the four Go^els themfelves , and fuperiour in .Autho rity to the Epistles of fingle jipoHles*^ thofhConSiitutions bemg fuppofed by Him to be written by all the Twelve Holy Apoftles together, and dictated to St. Clement their Secretary. And as Your Lordfliip has in the faid ex cellent Letter folidly confuted that ex travagant Fancy about the Conftitu tions ; fo have I in this ElTay fhewn, how much he has been miftaken in His pretended Difcovery of that loft Book, entitled the Dodlrine of the oyt- poHleSy which He has alfo ftiled a Sa cred Book ofthe New Teiiament ; and have ( as I perfwade my felf) plainly * See Mi.WhiBofi's Hiftorical Preface, Pag. 8^,8(5. prov'd The D^dicatiok prov'd upon Him three grofs Hrrors that he has committed in this otie Point. ^^' I hope therefore that this Treatife will not be unacceptable to Your Lordfliip, and that the Weighlinbfs of the Matter, which immediately concerns the very Foundation ofour Faith and Religion , namely the Ca- nori of the Holy Scriptures, which is to be preferv'd from all Additioii, will compenfate for the Smallnefs of the Book, which I have made bold to de dicate to Your Lordlliip's great Name, and to offer to Your moft worthy Hands. Be pleafed then , my good Lord, to accept this fmall Token of my moft humble Refpedts and hearty Thanks for the many Favours fhew'd unto me, and to pardon not only my Prefumption in making fo flender a Prefent to your Lordfliip, but alfo any Errors or Faults, that I may be found guilty of in any Part of this Book, and which! fhall be very ready bx to The Dedication. to niend and retradt, upon the leaft Notice, given me thereof I will trefpafs no farther upon Your Lordftiip's Patience, by enlarging on this Subjedl; and therefore I conclude with this hearty Wifli : That Almighty God, before whom a hundred, yea a thoufand Years are but as a Day, would yet preferve your Lordfhip's precious Life, and prolong even the very late D^ys of Your old Age; that as Your Lordlhip has feen an unhappy Open ing of a ftrange Scene,' with no fmall Trouble and Sorrow, fo Your Lord fliip may alfo live to fee a happy clofing of it, to your great Comfort and Joy. I fhall always remain ^ Lord, Tour Ij3rdjhips mofl ohedient Son and moH humhle Servant John Ernest Grabe, The P RE FACE To the Reader. §. I, A Ltho' I am not inclind to enter into f\ Controverfy ¦with particular Perfons'i "^ -^ yet I have written this Effay againfi Mr. Whifton , as for two ^afins in Illation to him., mention d §• 3. of this Treatife y fo for two others , concerning my felf and my own Affairs, Firft , / have been neceffitated , to publifh at lafi fomething againfi him, oAoutthe'Do&.tmtorQQn- ftitutiohs of i- dafcalia, ^0 i^fi really that which Mr. Whifton 7^ pofitively hadaffkmed it to be, namely that ancient Writing,which wentjinder the f^ame ofthe Dodtrine of the Apoftles, mdto "be thereby enabled tafhew,^ bow much the fame was interpolated and alter d, in the firfi; fix Book^ ofthe Clementine Conftitutions. And altho' I quickly perceiv d. this j4fiertion of Mr. A Whifton's 6 The Preface. Whifton"/ to be falfe, when I confider d the Bulkftf the Ar-abiCk Didafcalia, concluding from thence, that it could not be that ancient finall Book, call'd the' JDbdtrine of the Apoftles, which confifted but ofxoQ Stichs or Commas , of which I have fpoken §. i\. of this Effay -, yet being defirous to know , what then this Arabick Dodtrine was, Irefolvd to employ my Self and my Friend for feveral Days together in this Enquiry ; in which how I proceeded, and fucceeded in finding out Mr. Whifton'/ Miftake about the faid DidaicAYiz, I am going now to tell. §.4. When the aforementiori d Gentleman at my ^^^ueft iad interpreted to me the firft four or five Chaptl^yof the Arabick Dodtrine ofthe Apoftles, I found' them verbatim agree with the \fi and id Books of the Clementme Conftitutions, and there upon fuffered prefently the whole Book^to be no thing elfe but an Arabick Tranflation of them. However J began to be doubtful! of this, when I ob- ferv'd the firft Chapter of the faid Didafcalia to be gin from the Middle of the fourth Chapter of the firfi BooJ^of the Con^itniions; fo that what goeth be- fore, feem'd to be wanting and left out. But this Doubt was foon remov d, after Idefird Mr. Gagnier to interpret to me the Prologue, which foUoweth after the Preface to this Arabick Dodtrine of the Apo ftles, ipublijhed by Mr. Whifton in His firft ^e- ply to Dr. Allix'/ I^emarks upon Hts Book, Pag. zf. and 16. ) and perceiv'd by the Interpretation, thai tbe faid Prologtie contain a not only the fhort Proee- mium o/?^? Clementine Conftitutions, but alfo the firft three Chapters with the Beginning ofthe /\th.' Whncfore I went on to compare the Arabick Text with The Preface. 7 ivith the Greek, and found them exaUly correfpond- ing, and going together in Ordeyone wil^the,ojther, to the End of the fecond Book^of the Conftitutions; except that now and then I met ivith a various leading, or def^ d Alteration, made by the^^ra- bick Interpreter. But I ivasftartled again, fphen I ob ferv'd, that the fourth Book ofthe Conftitu tions immediatly follow' d the xd, without a Word of the third, as alfo that fome Chapters ofthef^rth Book were left out in their proper Placet However thinking that thofe Chapters with the whole third Book_ might perhaps be tranfpofed, and follow .after wards, Irefolvd to run even through the whole, to fee if I did not guefs right, and to get a compleat ^owledge ofthe Arabick Didafcalia^ow the Be ginning to the End. And when Ihaddone this,I found tt evenfo as I thou^t , and that none of the Chapters ofthe firft five Books o/^^e Clementine Conftitu^ tions were wanting, altho' they are ftrangely tranf pofed ; but that in the fixth Book^ only one great Chafm appear, d, ofwhichl have given an Account $. 10- of this Effay; and that five or fix Chapters were added in this Arabick Copy, of which nothing occurs in the Greek; fo that abating thefe new Chapters, of whichi have given the Titles ^.9, in «wy Table, and excepting the faid Chafme^ the Ara bick Didafcalia prov'd ta be nothing elfe but a Tranflation ofthe firfi fix entire Books ofthe Cle mentine Conftitutions. §. f . Having found Matters ftanding thus, 1 con fefs freely, that I was perfeUly amazed, and did not know what to think of Mr. Whifton. / could not fo much asufancy or imagine, that He kl^^ew what 8 The Preface. what TfiadlnoW learned^ namely ibixt the Arabick Didafcalia was bu^ a Tranflation of the Greek QQn^^Vitxbn^'. for\then he would not have call d it in general a loft Book, nor would he further have thejaihe afferted to be the Dodtrine ofthe Apo- ftlesj tohicbHetakes to be different from the Con ftitutions ; norlppould He have promifed to print an Ehgliih Verfion "of the faid Didafcalia in the fame Valtme' with the Englifh Verfion ofthe Conftitu tions ; becaufe no Man in his Senfes would print in one Volume twice the fame Book^ in the fame Lan guage. I did therefore fuppofe Him to be ignorant of thwTiidt.fc3X\a sbmg^he vety firft fix''&ook^ of the Glemehtin^ Conftitutions, But then I was put again to a hard Dilemma concerning Mr. Whi fton 5 for Joould I thinkjrlim to have read over the Arabick Didafcalia or not "> I could not think tbe former, becatifeff He had once read, or hear dread in Englifh the Interpretation of that Book, he would immediately have perceived the fame, which I did; being, to befure, as well acquainted with the Cl©- mentine Conftitutions a^ I am. For altho in former Times I have read the faid Qon^ilxxiiom more than Mr. Whifton, and confider d and writ ten publickly of them', even before He had look'd into them^* {n>ho notwithftanding thu , allows me now to kftoW but little of this Matter) yet He mtfi needs have of late read them as much3^^ Lj\s.!==> (_^^=.> (^^ *^i U^]^^.^ ^--i*-C ;^-i^b5^ J'**:^^ ^bJi Hyx.^iy ^^ cj\j OiS^b)'^^ '!i.jiux'i We begin with the Help ofthe moft high God to tranfcribe the Book ofDafcalia, (in ftead oi Didafcalia) which is the DoUrine delivered by the Fathers, the twelve Apoftles , and Paul tbe uipoftle, and James Brother of the Lord, Bifhop of Jerufalem , confifting of thirty-nine Chapters. And ' altho' the other Manufcript in fmall Folio, Num. 31.. has not this full Title, but is only in general infcribed i&aAau^o^I The DoUrine ; yet the Preface, which is in this as well as in the other Manufcript , fhews fufficiently, that the Author would have the faid Treatife thought^ to be a Writing or Work of the twelve Holy Apoftles , met together with St. Paul and St. James the Bilhop oijerufalem in that holy City. §. 2. To this , Mr. Whifton has been very ready to give Credit, and woiild fain have others believe the fame, and receive this Book as DoUrine of the Apoftles, 6cc. j as Sacred and Apoftolical. For which End He has promifed in the Propofals for printing by Subfcription His Colledtion, entituled, Primi tive Chriftianity revived, in four Volumes , to add in the fecondj to the eight Books of Cle ments Apoftolical Conftitutions, (which He in tends to print in Greek and Englijh,) an Englifh Tranflation alfo from the Arabick^ of the faid DoUrine of the Apoftles ; which, faith He there, appears to be a facred Book of the New Teftament, long lofi to the Chriftian Church. Which Words, even whilft I tranfcribe them, put me in Mind ofthe Sarcafrne oi Tertullian upon Marcion, ( who pretended to reftore not only the true Faith, but alfo the true Copy of the Gofpel ) in His firft Book againft Marcion, chap. 20. 0 Chrift e patientiffime Domine, qui tot annis inter- verfionem praedicationis tuce fuflinuifti, donee fcilicet tibi Marcion fubveniret. 0 Chrift thou long-forbear ing Lord, who fo many Tears has fuffer d the Sub- verfion ofthy DoUrine, tiU at laft Marcion came to thy Help. Furthermore Mr. Whifton hath been fb fond of His Difcovery of this loft Book of the holy Scriptures , ( as He thinks it to be ) that He has publifhed already after His ^ply to Dr. AUix's ^marks upon fome Places of His Books pag. 2f. an Englifh- Tranflation of the Preface to it, with two Note's, added pag. 27. altho' the fame, yea the very Beginning of it, might have afforded Him fufficient Grounds, if not to rejedi, yet at leaft ftrongly to fiifpedt this Book, either as quite fpurious, or grofsly interpolated » as will appear afterwards. B 2 §. 3. Now 4 An Effay upon the §.3. Now indeed I did not think at firft, to take Notice of this Miftake of Mr. Whifton^i till I fhould publifh a Treatife concerning the eight Books of Clements Apoftolical Conftitu tions, by which the Falfity of His Opinion about them will plainly appear; for there I would by Way of a ConfeUarium Jiave fhewHj how much likewife He is miftaken about the aforefaid Arabick DoUrine. But two Reafons have alter'd my Defign , namely a good one x*t' |i'S'^&)OTi',or according to Mr. Whifton %M.ind, and another, which is a true one. As for the former, in the aforemention'd Reply to Dr. AUix's Remarks, among five Reafons, why He thought, 1 Would hardly write againft His Opinion coricerning the Apoftolical Conftitutions, this is the third , p. 8. Dr. Grabe has not, I be lieve, promifed to anfwer the DoUrine of the Apo- files, or its Preface, found by me in Arabick^at Ox ford ; nor do I believe. He can do tt. Tet tiU that is done, 'tis perfeUly impoffible to do the other. If then it be fo, (altho' I think it not to be fb) I niuft firft anfwer the Arabic\ DoUrine of tbe Apoftles; that is, if 1 take Mr. rr^//o«'s Phrafe right, I muft firft fhew, that the Arabick Do Urine ofthe Apoftles and its Preface is either not a genuine Writing at all, or a grofsly interpo lated and falfified one; which He believes I cannot do, but, 1 hope, will find Himfelf quick ly miftaken, or others at leaft will fee it. How ever the true Reafon, why I write againft the ^rabickPtdafcdUa or DoUrine, confifting of 39 C^hapters, fo fbon, and fooner than againft the DoUrine of the Apoftles, &c. jr . the 8 Greek, Books of the Apoftolical Conftitu tions, is, becaufe 1 would not only out of Cha rity to Mr. Whifton, efpecially in His prefent Circumftances, prevent an unneceflary, and yet no finall Charge , which He will be at ia getting the former tranflated into Englifh, and fending upon that Errand a Gentleman to Ox ford to none or very littie Purpofe; but I would alfo fain by this Opportunity make Him, if poffible, or at leaft others very fenfible, how- much too forward and overhafty He is in mak ing Difcoveries and publifhing Affertions, even about Points of the higheft Confequence, be fore he hath throughly examin'd , and duly weigh'd them ; yea even before He knoweth, or can know exadlly , what or whereof He affirms. §. 4. We have feen, how Mr.Whiflon hath told the World of His Difcovery of what He look'd upon as reaUy ineftimable, namely of that ancient facred Book of our leligion, caUed theDo- Urine of the Apoftles, which has been loft in the Weft for aU thefe latter Ages; and how Jr^e hath promifed to publifh that Sacred Book of the New Teftament, as a Part of His primitive Chriftianity revived. Now furely any one would fuppofe, and no Body can think otherwife , but that Mr. Whifton, before He made fuch folemn Pror feflion and Promife, had v6ry diligently per ufed this Arabick, DoUrine twice or thrice all over from the Beginning to the End, and well confider'd, whether it was the fame with that ancient Book, call'd the DoUrine of the Apoftles, which 6 An Effay upon the which is mention'd by fome Fathers ; and if it was, whether it could bear that high Title cfa Sacred Book_ ofthe New Teftamerit, and how He would anfwer to the Arguments , which made the Ecclefiaftical Writers fpeak doubt fuUy of it, who yet liv'd much nearer to the Times of the Apoftles than we, and had at leaft more outward Light and plainer Ways. to know, what was an Apofljolical Writing, than any one now can pretend to. Has then Mr. Whifton done this } no truly ; nor has it as yet been poffible for Him, to do it. Yea I muft tell the World, which is now in Expe dtation of a new Sacred Book ofthe Apoftles, what is more ftrange, and very furpriziog. Namely who would think or imagine, that Mr. Whifton neither had then , when He pro mis'd to publifh that ineftimable Writing, nor has now to this very Day fb much as once read it entirely over, and confequently doth not fo much as know all that is in the Book, which He has promifed to offer to the Church as a Sacred one of the.New Teftament , and how bad fbme Parts of it may be, §. S- I know every Body, who reads this, will be ftartled at what 1 have faid, and hardly believe, that Mr.Whifton fliould overflioot him felf fo ftrangely: and yet it is certainly fo. For he himfelf underftands not the Arabick Tongue, in which we have this Didafcalia or DoUrine extant in the aforefaid Manufcripts of the Bodlejan Library ; nor has His and my Friend, the Reverend Mr. Ockly, who is very well DoUrine ofthe Apoftles, &c. 7 well skill'd in that Language, had yet Leifure to come to Oxford, and to make this Tranfla tion for Mr. Whifton; and therefore 'tis im poffible, that the latter, fliould hitherto have read over and confider'd the aforefaid ArdbicJ^ DoUrine. He might indeed learn by the Help of the former , when they were together laft September for fbme Days in this Place, that many Paflfages in it agreed with^ the Words of Clement in the firft fix Books of His Apoftoli cal Conftitutions ; and that is all, what either that Gentleman, or any Body elfe could tell, after having read and interpreted the faid Do Urine only in fome, nay in many Places. And upon this Information Mr, Whifton calls the fame in his Reply to Dr. AUixs Remarks p. 10. and 27. an ExtraU from the Conftitutions; namely from the firft fix Books, as He explains Him felf in the laft Place. But fuppofing it to be fo, (altho' it will appear by and by, to be other- wife ) how could He be fure, that araong the many Things taken out ofthe Conftitutions, (ome others might not be foifted in, or added to them quite contrary to,or different from the true Dodtrine of the Apoftles ? or why might not even fbme Parts of the Conftitutions have been ^defignedly alter'd , and transform'd into ano ther, and perhaps heterodox Senfe by fome He retick, to give Credit to His Opinion by the Name ofthe Holy Apoftles, or by fome other ignorant Perlbn, who had not a due Regard to their Sacred Authority > Of this and the like Mr. Whifton could have no Knowledge or Certainty, 8 An Effay upon the Certainty, before He had got the whole Book tranflated, and read it well over, and compar'd jt carefully with the Conftitutions. And yet before He has done fo. He promifeth at a Ven ture, to publifh an Englifh Tranflation of it, as of an Apoftolical Writing, and fo runneth thp Rifque of impofing upon the Chriftian World a falfe or falfified Piece, as a facred Book of the New Teftament. ' §. 6. But Mr. Whifton will perhaps fay in His Defence, or others, (who will hardly believe it poffible, that one fhould promife to publifh a Book, and that as a Part ofthe New Tefta ment , before He has read it once over f and knoweth all what is in it ) will think in His Favour, that altho' Mr. Oci^ has not yet made, or given in Writing to Mr. Whifton the Engliff Tranflation ofthe Arabick^ DoUrine; yet that when they, were both together here at Oxford^ they not only confulted the faid Manufcripts in many Places, but that the fbrmer did inter-» pret to the latter by Word of Mouth the whole Book in Order from the Beginning to the End ; and that from thence Mr. WhifiMl! clearly perceiv'd this Arabick^ Book to be the lame with that, which was of old call'd the DoUrine of the Apoftles, and mention'd by the ancient Fathers; as alfo, that the Reafbns, which made them doubt of its being a genuin Work of the Holy Apoftles, were vain and in valid , and thereupon He had refolv'd and pro mis'd to publifli the fame as fuch. To this I anfwer, firft, That I am well a^iir'd by feveral Circum- DoUrine of -^e Apoftles, &c. ^ Circumftances and by what I have heard, that this has not been done; jand if it had been done, Mr. Whifton muft needs have thereby per ceiv'd, and well known, what the Ardbicl^Do^ Urine properly was. And then I am very con fident. He would never have promis'd to print an Englifh Verfion of it together with the Cle- mentin Conftitutions in Greek,Sind Ei^iflj ; un lefs He had bepa refolv'd at .the fame time, to pfint fifteen JOC perhaps jnore Sheets twice over again in the famei Language, and in the fame Colledtion, yea in the fame Voluwie of it, and would bdSdes the expofing Hiftifelfby this, have taken upon him a needlefs Trouble, aad pat his Subfcribers to a double Expence. The latter of which, I iaipw. He would not be guilty of^ even by the aforemention'd Propo- i&hi in which he alloweth a Shilling to every Subfcriber, who has Ixjught the Hiftorical Pre face of His Colledtion, (which he thought ne- ceflkry to pkblifh beforehand ) for this Reafon, that the Buyer may not pay twice for tbe fame thing. Now that the Buyer muft of Neceffity pay dsmbly for the fame thing, if Mr. Whiftdh^rint?! iht Engl^ Verfioin of '^DoUrine and of the €vnfti$umiis s^tbe .Apoftles in one Volume, wiil plainly appedr by and by. iSecondiy, fuppofing, Mfe KPi&i/^flteiBad by the Affiftance of Mt. Ockly onice jjead or rtm quite over the ArabiekDbUrine in that! very :&OEt Time, while they were here cogether, liiiriSly tbe fbrmer aauft be exceedingly ^iekfightedf^ and not oialy be able to look very far, but to obfervie alfo agreat deal at i • C the I o An Effay upon the the fameTime, if by one cUrfory Reading He could both perceive, that it was the very fame with that ancient Book,'' entituled the DoUrine of the Apoflles ; and alfo penetrate through all the Difficulties, which not only ;the unlearned and unhappy \Athanafms, (according to Mr.Mz- j?o«'a. Judgement in his Effay. upon the Epiftles of Ignatius , p. 44. ) ^ but alfo the" confeffedly learned and great Hiftorian Eufebius, and many more, did fb ftruggle with, that they durft not receive it for a genuin Apoftolical Work, or put it in, the Catalogue of the Canonical and undoubted Books of the New;.Tcftament; of which Aereafter in its due Place. ';? .afi §. 7. But how fhortfighted Mr. Whifton has been in this Matter, and how -ftrangely He is miftaken about the faid Arabick^ DqUrine,nl 1 am going now to prove j and that at a very proper Time. For according t07Mr. Whifion's Propofals the World 5was to fee in the fecond Volume of his Colledtion by Midfiimmer-Day tliis new Light ofthe Apoftolical.DoUriiie; which according to his Opinion, had lain fb long in the Dark, before He difcover'd it. •? But fince He hath been hinder d hitherto from pubhfli-? ing hisiCoUedtion,: 1 will with his Leave pre vent Hifii, and at this Time, which is juft three Days before Midfummer *, take thSs falfe Light from under the Bulheljand fet it in a true Light, or rather extinguifh? it, by fheit^ing plainly, that the often- mention'd. ..^/r«^?c;^2)oSri»^ isnot a facred Book ofthe New Teftament, long * Tke 1 i/Z of June I began to write this Eflay. V I ;' loft DoUrine of the Apoftles, &c. ii loft to the Chriftian Church in thefe Weftern Parts, as Mr.Whifton hath aflerted; but that it is a grofsly interpolated Apocryphal Writing, printed already i j-o Years ago, and ever fince perufed by many thoufand Weftern Chriftians, altho' rejedted by moft of the Learned, not only Proteftants , but Roman-Catholicks too. And this I intend to do under thefe three Heads, and in the following Order :^ Firft, 1 will maike it plainly appear, that this Arabick, DoUrine, except the. Preface, and five or fix Leaves, is not an Extradl from the fix Books of tbe Clementine Con-. ftitutions ^nt the very firft five entire Books ofthem, and Part of the fixth; (which , by what Accident it came to be left out, 1 fhall alfb give an Account of; ) and that therefore Mr. Whifton has been greatly miftaken in efteeming it as a loft Book, and made a vain Promife to publifh it as fuch, together with the faid Conftitutions, when it is the very fame with thefe, al tho' the Order of fomeParts be tranfpofed. Secondly, 1 fliall fhew, that this Arabick^ Do^ Urine is not the fame with that ancient Book, caU'd the DoUrine of the Apoftles; but that , altho' the latter has been the Foundation of the former, yet it has beenfb;muchalter'dj and fb many Things have been added to it, as have made it a quite different and a much larger Book. C 2 Thirdly, 12 An Effay upon the Thirdly, I will prove from the very Preface of this Bpok and the laft Chapters, that it is not an Apoftolical Writing, and ought not to be call'd a Sacred Book of the New Teftament, nor to be publiflied as fuch. Indeed ainong the Rules of a right MethcKl this Diredtion is given j firft to fhew what a Thing is not, and afterwards, whiat it is ; be caufe the former is generally eafier to bg un derftood. Bat confidering that in this parti cular Point the Cafe is alter'd, and it is on the contrary eafier to fhew, even to fucb, as can not reafbn, but only read, what the Arabick DeUrine is , namely the aforefaid Part of the Clementine Conftitutions, I choofe to begin with that Article. ' '^ §. 8- Now that I may prove this by an ocu lar Demonftration, 1 will fet down, as it were in a Table, on the one fide the Number and Title of each Chapter of this Arabick^DoUrine, traniiated into Englifh, and over againft it the parallel Place or the Book and Chapter of Cler ment's Apoftolical Conftitutions, where the fame is word for word to be found; adding fbmetimes upon Occafion the Number" of fhe Page in MonCle Clerk's Edition ofthe Apoftolical Fa thers : and where the Order of the latter is chang'd in the former, fb that there feemeth to be a Chafine or an OmiffionOf fbme Part of the Cmfiitutions, ( which made perhaps Mut.Whi- fion think, that the ArabickDe^rine ie an ExtraU P«P DoUrine of the Apoftles, &c. 13 out of thefe) I'll diredt the Reader immediate ly to that Chapter of the faid DoUrine, into which it is tranfpos'd, and mifplac'd. More over fince Mr. Vanjleben in His curious Hiftory ofthe Church of Alexandria Part. f. Ch.i. §'. 4. 6nd out of Him Mr Ludolph in his learned Com ment upon His Mthiopick Hiftory pag. 334, and 33 r. have given the fame Titles of thirty-eight Chapters of this counterfeited DoUrine of the Apojiles (which the Mthiopick Church has re ceiv'd from. Her Mother- Church oi Alexandria) but after the eleventh Chapter in a different Order; I will from the twelfth Chapter begin to add to the Number of the Arabick Co- py thait of the Mthiopick in a Parenthefis ; by which it will appear, that in the Arabick Do Urine the third Book of the Apoftolical Con ftitutions is chiefly mifplac'd, butihthe^^^/'o- pickjCopY the fourth Book, befides fome other Tranfpqfitions, in which both thefe agree. §. 5». After the Preface then of the Arabick^ DoSriwf, publifh'd in Englifh by Mr. Whifton. in the above-mention'd Place, (which why it is not prefix'd before the eight Books of the To^- ftitutions, I fliall tell afterwards) followeth as it were another Preface of the T>oBrine ^ . pf Clemetts Apoft: Cm- ofthe Apoftles. ^ft'ititt. Preface and Book I. „.Chap. I. 2. 3. and 4. to the " Words pag.. 203. i'w wr/Jf Ch^.j. That it becom- The reft ofthe 4/^ Cfa. cth the rich, to keep, and to the End ofthe '-fb. r^ead theHoly Spripcures- Phap, '4 An Effay OF Women, that they ought to be fubjeil to their Husbands, and to go abroad with Mo defty. Chap-l- Concerning Bi fhops, Priefts and Deacons. Chap.af. That the Bifliop ought to receive the Peni tents willingly [or kindly) Chap, s- That none is to be excommunicated,:>till He is certainly found guil ty after a ftridt Enquiry {or Examination) Ch.6. Of the Laymen, that they ought to give Offerings to the Church according to their Ability. Ch.'-\. Concerning Dea- coiis, that they ought to^ Ihew themfelves obedient to, their Bifhop in every thingjwhich He requireth ; and that they ought to do nothing widiqut His Leave va His Diocefs, Chap. 8. That the Bi fliop ought to examine e- very thing with Juflice ^according to Truth, upon the Chap. 8, p, and lo. or thelaltoftheFBook. ,. Book II. Chap. i. unto the End ofthe \\th. Ch.i$. unto thefe Words of the ii/Z Chap, near the End pag. 2,30. atiunas i^l OXO'Ttt. Chap. 21 . from the next following Words, unto the End ofthe Qiiotation out of the Book of Numbers pag.2j8. not very far from the End of the z'jth Ch. ofthe Conftitutions. The Remainder ofthe 25^/^ Ch. unto thefe Words in the Middle ofthe loth, The next following Words of the 30//6 Chap. unto the End of the firft Period of the ^~jib Ch.'ot the Words ofthe Apbftl^ I Corinth. 6. 77 Ji 19 09' low- TW i KeiviTi Jiy-iuov ; The immediately fol lowing Paragraph ofthe 3 "/^ Ch. till after the Mid dle of Ch. J5.) That all Mankind fliall rife again, both good and bad. Ck\%. [iy0hi6p.i7.) That every one ought to keep & Gelebrate the Fe- Itivai Days in Spiritual Mirth. ; Ch. ip. ( (Ethiop. 12, ) Concerning Widows aiid Virgins, Yipon ibe ' This beginneth front thofe Words near the End ofthe ^th Gh. o^mvui^ Si- iinSii r T^iirm, to the End of Chap. 10.. » Note, The firfi fPart of the Sth Chap, which is bat Jhort Jeemeth to he a lattr Int-erpolation ofthe Confti tutions ; and is like<{Xife left out hy Anaftafius tn the ^0tatio» ^ifthis Tlace. Chap. 12. and 13. Note, Chap. 11. and 14. vaith ^hieh the Vi^ Book endeth^are the ajth and 26 th Chapters ^ the Arabick "Dolhrint. Bo OK V'^ Chap. 7. near the Beginning,at theie Words pag. 30 j. lifeJ /(i -^r ra.£/-6/oj!». I7-) That Widows and Or- phansvou^t thankfully to accept of what is given them. 17 7th Chapter is left out j fo that the ArdbickTt^- lator's Copy feemeth to have been fomewhat im- perfea or maioi'd iri' this Place. Chap. p. Chap. 10 and 11. The laft Paragraph' of the 14th Ch. and the i y th to the Middle, orto thefe Words, end xAff&xSi', [«el aJep^ei'wy, crse* ;^«pSl',] itiei, ¦hiimr thofe which are h6ok'd in, being left out in the yfr«^/r/(;Copy. Note, The iz.Ch. {ex cept the firft Period) the 1 3» 14: TS &c. to the End of the Book, IS the lafh Ch. cf tbe Arabick DoSirine. Of this I find nothing inthe Conftitutions; and the fame is put in here very odl';^ in the Middle of the Doarine, concerning Widows and Orphafis. Book IV. Ch. s- Note, tbe foregoing 4 Chapters and the ^foUovo- ing,are the 1 2//^ andfoUovo- ing Ch. ofth'eArabfDoRr. D Ch. i8 ; Ch.ij, {t^thiop. 1 8.) That[ it becomes Parents to teach their Children. Ch. 25. {t^thiop. ip. ) Of Virgins. Chap. 27. {{yEthiop. 20. ) Concerning Martyrs, which are punifh'd by (/>«- hlick^ Judgement, and put to feveral Torments ; [ as alfo ofthe Feafls, and Ea fter.] Note, In thii Chapter is faid, nothing ofthe Pa- fchal, , or any other Feaft \ and yet this laft, Partof the Title in the Arabick, hooUdtn, is the whole In fcription ofthe Chapter in /*6f ./Ethiopick. Ch.28. {Mhiop.zi.) Of Martyrs. Gh. 2p. ( jEthiop. 22.) That Chriftians ought to abftain from fcandalous A- 61ions,& profane WordSj&: {other] Sins, whilft they are allcmbled in the Church. Chap. 30. {jEthiop. 23.) That no Bpdy ought to fwear by the Names of I- dols, (falfe Gods ) or De vils, nor make Mention of their Natnes. • Ch. 31. (0^/^6/0^.24.) That we Chriftians ought to take Care of Eafter- Day, An Effay upon the Ch. ir. Note, Ch. 12 and 13. make up the 16th of the Arabick 'DoSirine. Ch. 14. Which is the laft of the IV* Book. Book V. Ch. 1.2.3.4. S. 6. and the Beginning of the 7th. ; Note, The Remainder ofthe "^th is made the i^ib Chapter of the ArabtckJ)i-. dafcalia. Chap. 8 and p. Chap. 10. Ch. II and 12. Note, Cbap. 13. 14. tju_ i\.^ fi^jAj Thefe then were in the former People ; namely the Jews, Now af ter DoUrim of the Apoftles, 5cc. 21 ter this fhould naturally follow the Applica tion to, or Defcription of the Herefies ofthe Chriftians, Iprung up from among the Samari tans and Gentiles by Birth; namely thpfe of i?- mon the Magician ahd others, as is intimated in the laid Conclufion. And fo the Clementine Conftitutions ?fiter theie Words'. Twaitt fj§p h h T^ is^pa hs^, Xhefe then were m the former Peo- pie; go on immediately thus : ^viuJo Timfos, m- ^oe cov a KOiXBiTs^iimf, Kf TS KctXh 071 m-n t rhm 'i^of^y, k KAvovi^of^a, /.Sfiy TtTvn-a^et. E2 rs 08 An Effay upon the ^k 'S?^ ? TTsiii^v ^ebytmnt^ Ttis ^pm 'Ss&oip^ ¦£opU ^hoi4,uivnf,'3^to(pi* ^i^Td— Xj ^^A%vi}taJ\n- ^mr A-m^hav,' X, I neifiliv. Tbereare alfo befides thefe { Canonical Scriptures) other Books, whicli are not put into tbe Canon, but have been marl(d tn- doptedoutby the Fathers to be read to th(fe, w&* have newly (ffeted themfelves, and are deprms, to he'catecU^edinthe Doarine of {the Chriftian) J^* ^gioU; namely the Wifdom of Solomon , and the Wifdom of Sirach- - and that which is call d the Do-> Brine of the ApcftleSi and the Shepherd {oi Her* pios-) From whence it is pkin^ that the Do* Mrine ofthe Apoftles, like the Reft of the Books, named hy Athanafius, confifted chiefly of mo ral Precepts, or of fuch other Things, as were fit to be made known tp the Catechumens ; but did not treat or fpeak of the fublime Myfte- ries of the Chriftian Religion , efpecially of the Sacrament ofthe Eucharift, which the an- cietjt Church always conceafd from the new Converts, before they were baptized; as Mr. Whifton alloweth, and has from, or after Mr. Schelftrate prov'd it at large in the firft Part of His Effay upOn the Apoftolical Conftitutions ; fo that I need not do it here. For which Rea fbn the laft of the Apoftolical Canons, Ipeak-^ ing of tihe eight Books of the Clementine Con ftitutions, exprefsly forbids thefe to be divulg'd pr made publick, 2^ tu h amu^ ymuM., upon the Account ofthe Myfterles containd in them. Sinee |:hen the Arabitk. DoUrine contains all that is ||i4 pf the Chrif^ist^ Myfteri^s gnd Sacraments m DoUrine of the Apiftles, &c. 29 m the firft fix Books of the Clementine fonfti- tutions, as appears from the Table ofjthe Con tents, given before; it cannot be the fame with that Book, mention'd by Athanafius as one , which was order'd to be read to thofe, who were catechifed or inftrudted in the firit Principles of Chriftianity. f. 14. Mr. Whifton further alledges the ancient Stichometries, or Catalogues of the Canonical and Ecclefiaftical Scriptures, in which is added the Number of Sticl>s or Comma's, of which each Book doth confift. Now I know butqf one fuch Stichometrie, in which the DoUrine of the Apoftles is mention d; vi!{. that, which goes under the Name of Nicephorus Patriarch of Conftantinople in the ninth Century : for in the other Stichometrie, publilh'd by Cotelerius in His Preface to the Epiftle of St. Barnabas, this indeed is fet down among the Reft ; but the DoUrine of the Apoftles is left out. And I doubt very much, whether Mr. Whifton will be able to name any other. However 1 guels, that when He Ipoke of Stichometries in the plural Number, He had in His Eye the other Catalogue of Scriptures, inferted in the Preface of Cotelerius to the Clementine Conftitutions; (which alfp is men tion'd by Archblfliop Ufher and Bifliop Pear fon in their Writings concerning St. Ignatius's Epiftles , as extant in the Bodlejan Library , where I have found it fobjoyn'd to Anaftafius's Queftions, in the 26* of the Baroecian Manu- feripts;) feeing that the b.i^Axaj\ K-mi^hav, the Po^rines nfthe Apoftles, are named in that Ca talogue, JO An Effay upon the talogae, altho' the Number of Stich' s or Com ma's. be not added in it, and confequently the lame cannot rightly be called a Stichometriei But from both thefe, efpecially from the for mer , Mr. Whifton might have very well con cluded, that, this Arabick^Book is not the fame with the t^i^oooA or AitTct^sj Atth^Xoiv , the Do Urine of the Apoftles, mention'd in the laid Ca talogues of facred Writings , but muft needs be different from it. For in the latter the Aj- Sauxjxji h-m(^Kav, the DoUrines of the Apoftles are quite feparated from the M^ctmahia. KA^/x-iviaf, tbe DoUrine of Clemens ; this being put under Number 21. and the other under Number 17. to'gether with the m^oSoi Am^oXm, the Travels or Itinerary of the Apoftles. Wherefore if this ArabickBooh is the Didafcalia of Clemens, it can not be the fame with theDoUrines of ths Apo ftles. Now that the ArabickBookis the Dida fcalia of Clemens, it's very Title feems to prove, which is Didafcalia, contradled into Dafcalia; altho' the Name of Clemens be not added ', but mention'd however exprefsly in the Pre face, And I am the more confirm'd in this Q- pinion, becaufe I know no other Book, which may be underftood by the Didafcalia of Clement, befides this Arabick Dafcalia or the Clementine Conftitutions ; and I obferve alfo, that the.Num- ber of Stich' s, namely 2600. added in the Sti chometrie of Nicephorus to Clements Didafcalia, as well as to the Gofpel of St. Luk^, very well agrees to this Arabick Book; efpecially if the §ye additional Chapters at the End, and the ?*^ DoUrine of the A^ftles, &cJ 31 22 little alter'd, occurrs in the Beginning of the 27''' Chapter. And that the Reader may plainly fee , hpw far both differ in CJuality and Quantity, I mean in Senfe and in Bignels ; I will fet down fir^ the Words oi Origen at the End ofthe 10''' Ho mily upon Letiiticus, and afterwards the Paflage of the Arabick^ DoUrine in the laid 27''' Cha pter. The former are thefe : Invenimus enim in quodam libello ab Apoftolis diUum : Beatus eft qui etiam jejunat pro eo, ut alat pauperem. Hu jus jejunium valde acceptum efi apud Deum ; ^re- i)era digne fatis. For wefindin fome fmall Book, this faying ofthe Apoftles : Bleffed is he, who even fafts to the End, that he may feed the poor. Such a Maris Fafting^ is higfily acceptable to God; and indeed juftly enough. The latter runs thus : J — o — "i *^=^Sj >,^^\.^(>-> o^f^y^^^ ^fy*'^ ^-* ^i My^ p*»» Ji> J^ jUi^=,>j jfjo^ii j^w jiJ cjimaJ >&a/« (ysJ^y *^JjaJkssrAj 5J^J..*.>. UAJT o-e>.\j <«*4> ij^ 1 j ! *4«^<^).» 0./C F 34 An Effay upon the ^^^y^ J\ N^^^j IL^i^ t/>-^=^. »^^» ^4¦•i^J=^;(:>'» For this Caufe, 6 all you FaithfuS, jninifter to tbe Saints out of your . Poffeffions and Labour by the Hand of your Bifhop. If any of you has nothings ( to give or tb fpare ) let Him faft, and ( fo ) impart half what would have ferv'd Him that Day, to the Saints. But if any be in Poffeffion of great Goods, let Him maintain them mere largely, accord ing to the Proportion of His Ability. And if He fhould give at once all what Hepofieffes, to deliver them frdm Prifon, happy will He be, nnd a Friend of Chrift, And a very little after it is added: And He will be worthy ofGod, and fulfill . His Will, Which Words feem to be a Paraphrafe of thofe laft in Origen s Homily: ^ digne fatis, and wor thily {or juftly) enough. For which Reafon I guefs them to be Part of the Apoftolical Saying; but if My. Whifton thinks otherwife, and takes them for Origen s Words, I will not difpute with Him about this. §. i6. Now every one may clearly perceive, how little Reafon Mr.?F/;i/?*« had for producing this Place of Origen , to confirm thereby the Arabick^ Didafcalia, as if it were the lame with that, which was formerly caU'd the DoUrine of the Apoftles ; fince it proves diredlly the con trary, not only by the Title oi 2i fmall Book, but alfo by fliewing plainly that to be true in this particular, which I have afferted in general againft Him in my fecond Propofition : name ly, that, altho' the ancient DoUrine of the Apo ftles DoUrine of the Apoftles, &c. is files has been the Occafion and Foundation of this ArabickJDidaJcalia, yet the former has been fo much alter'd, and fo many Things have been added in the latter, as make it neceffary to take thefe two for different Books ; the for mer being a little one, and the latter fo large, that it has been fince divided into 6 Books of the Clementine Conftitutions, Before I go far ther, 1 muft tell here the Reader by the by, that the Place of Origen, confider'd hitherto, is that, of which Mr. Whifton writes in His Hifto rical Preface, pag. y;. Dr. Grabe was fo kind as to inform Mr. Whifton oftwo eminent Citations of the Conftitutions, the one by Origen, the other by Chryfoftom ; ' ivhich Mr. Whifton thank'd Him heartily for. But I can hardly thank Mr. W%i<^ fton for h^ing thus written ; becaufe whofoe ver reads this, together with the other Mifre- prefentations of our Difeourfe, muft needs think, that I am, or was at leaft then, a Fa* vourerof His Error concerning the Clementine Conftitutions ; nay and that 1 fuggefted to Him Arguments to confirm Him in it; whereas I produced then this PaflTage of Origen, among other Things, againft Mr. Whifton in Confirma tion ofmy own Opinion, declared, §. 12. and to, Ihew, how vaftly the ancient Didafcalia were interpolated inthe faid Confutations; as I haVe now proved the fame of the Arabick DoUrine, which contains the firft fix Books ofthem. For what I have quoted from the 27''' Chapter of That, is nothing elfe but a Tranflation of the Greek, which is to be found in the firft Chapter F 2 of 3(J An Effay upon the of the fifth Book of Thefe j as any one may fee, who will compare them. §. 17. Furthermore, as this Quotation of^r;- gen has given us a plain Proof" and Inftance of the Interpolations and Alterations, by which that ancient Book, calfd the DoUrine of the A- poftles, has been quite transform'd j fo another notable one may be drawn frpm the foregoing Words oi Origen inthe lame Place : Sed efi fS alia adhuc religiofa, { jejunandi ratio ) cujus laut Qu o- RUNDAM Apostolorum Uteris preedicatur. But there is befides another religiouf Sort of Fafting, which is praifed in the Writings Of Some Apo stles. After which immediately follow the Words: Invenimus enim diC, For we find, and fo fotth. From whence it appears, that Origens fmall Book was like the Ai^&^ «^ Kavms bmM- ciewHst T aytuv Ainqixuv, the Conftitutions and Ec clefiaftical Canons ofthe Holy Apoftles , which I gpt from Vienna ; where likewife fome Apo ftles only, not all, are introduced fpeaking ; as will be feen in my other Treatife concerning the eight Books of the Clementine Conftitutions. But this Arabick^DoUrine is izid to he gisenhY' all the twelve Apoftles, and befides by St. Paul the Apoftle ofthe Gentiles, ^nd St. James Bi- Ihop of y£ra/^/ieOT,according to the exprefs Words ofthe Preface, printed by Mr.Whifton Himfelf: Wii^the twelve Apoftles ofthe only begotten Son of. God the Father Almighty, our Lord and our Saviour Jefus Chrift, {to whom be Glory) are gather' d to gether m Jerufalem, the City of the great igo?-, and tpgether wiph us fs prefent our Brother Paul,> tbe DoUrine of ^hoi Apoftles, &c. 37 the chofen Veffel, the Apoftle ofthe Gentiles, and James the Apoftle { it fliould be the Biftiop ) of the beloved City Jerufalem. We have alfo confirm d this Catholicks DoUrine in that City. This Preface therefore, or at leaft thefe Words now recited, were not in Origeris fmall Book, but are an Addition of the Interpolator ; which how ill contriv'd and falfe it is, yea how it diredtly contradidls one Place in this very Arabic\Di- dafcalia, I will fliew afterwards under the third Head of this Difeourfe. §. 1 8. I come now to another Paffage of that ancient Book, entitufd the DoUrine or DoUrines ofthe Apofiles,qnoted by the Author ofthe Trea tife de Aleatoribus, among St. Cypriaris Works; where we read the following Words, tranferib'd already in my Spicilegium Patrum Seel, pag.y f, Et in DoUrinis Apofiolarum { dicitur ) -.fiquisfrater delinquit in Ecchfia , ^ non paret Legi , hic non colligatur, donee poenitentiam agat, ^ non recipia- tuT, ne inquinetur ^ impediatur oratio vefira. If any Brother finneth in the Church, and doth not obey the Law, he Jhall not come into the Affembly, till he has done Penance, andJhaU not be receiv'd ( into the Congregation,) /ea/? Tour Prayers Jhould he defiled and hinder d. Thefe Words 1 cannot find inthe Arabick DoUrine, npmore thanPa^ melius could meet with them in the Clementine Confiitutions , or among the Canons ofthe Apo- files} as He tells us in His Annotation upon that Paffage. However there are two Places in the Akabick DoUrine, andin the Greek^Confiitu- tims, where vve find tapght at large, what is laid in 38 An Effay upon the in this Quotation in fhort; namely in the fix-! teenth and feventeenth Chapter ofthe fecond Book of the latter, which are contain'd in the fourth Chapter ofthe former; and again in the 37'"', 38' , and i^f^ Chapters ofthe laid fe cond Book, which makes up the firft Part of the eighth Chapter of the Arabickpidafcalia'. altho" 1 think rather the laft Place to be That, in which the Author of the Conftitutions and Arabick DoUrine has enlarged upon the afore cited Canon of the DoUrine of the Apofiles; be caufe fome Words of this agree with the latter Place, and not with the former. Namely to the Latin Phrafe, non paret Legi, anfwers the Greek, chap. 37. » TreuB-eitf, and the Arabick 0^>. ^J 1J^»; as with the, non colligatur donee pcenitentiam agat , f3 non recipiatur , agree the Words Chap. 38. ofthe Conftitutions: h }\ |S»Ao.i9 ^o>.d9 lAijkJo that is, Tbe Didafcalia or Catho licks DoUrine ofthe twelve Apoftles and holy Difci ples ofour Saviour; which He had in His own Library, as He tells in the Index of Authors lubjoyn'd to that Book. I indeed doubt very much, whether that Syriack Copy be the fame with that ancient Book, entitul'd the DoUrine ofthe Apoftles; and it is impoffible to form an exadt and certain Judgement ofit, till I receive a Tranfeript or more Notice of it frora I^me, whither I have written about it. However if it be not the feme, yet it is certainly not fo much interpolated as the Arabick Didafcalia and the Greek, Conftitutions of the Apoftles. Which that it may appear, I will fet down firft the Syriack Text, then the ^ro^/V^ and laftly the Englijh Verfion ofthe latter; in which fllput within Hooks thofe Words, which are not in the Syriack^ DoUrine ofthe Apoftles, but are added in the Arabick Didafcalia, as well as in the Greek Conftitutions of Clemens. §. 20. I begin then with the Place , which Ecchellenfis]^ag. i6i. has quoted from the End of DoUrine of the Apoftles, &c. 41 ofthe fifth Chapter of the DoUrine ofthe Apor files, where the foUowing Words are to be read : "%,£> XAA,j jo^5 OliSOOjO JSsjJ yufio'*'^ y^j.^] Jboo? v^X«o jJlv>o OJj« A-00) JliOOO Aj^ >x*^J laccDfiQxsjl *A^0» yO nN "^^s-O J^wmJ Joj.^ :Jt^j«3 vcoj The Place, which anfwers to this Paffage , is the third Chapter of the Arabick^ Didafcalia : j^aIL ^A5^a»ii ^»\ (Jiiwui W, I JJk Jo.55 ^9 ^\.9 S^'^^J «iS^5i/< 0>«3j ^^3UJ] J^t^i ra^^i^ ^-^Vb t^y^^^ ^^^-^ O.UJ1 ^\.s OM«*? iUJk^Lj J^^ !i*i»AA^3\ ^i !4>Ka (jiuAsa-J JtKy)a»Ji cx?.<>^^ Cy^ ^:>^^ f^=^ cJ^-* ^*'>^J U4^ . *U*»»3! ^_^9 (^yij,^ \yiy^=k L^^\ ij^ Wherefore thou 0 Bifhop, take Care that thou may ft be pure {or unhlameable) in all thy Works, knowing thy Station [and thy Dignity^, as reprefenting God G among 42 An Effay upon the among M?n , [ becaufe thou art the Head ( or Go vernour) over all Men, Kings, and Princes, and Priefts, and Fathers, and Sons, and Teachers, and all which are fubjeU unto Thee."] And Jo prefide in the Church, and preach the Word, confidering that you have Power to judge Sinners, For to Tou Bifhops the Lord has faid : iVhatfoever Tou bind on Earth, fhall be bound in Heaven ; and whatfoever HCou loofe on Earth , fhall be loo fed in Heaven. Here is a very remarkable Interpolation, which we likewife find in the GreekConftitutions,Book 2. Chap. 1 1 . raJ Tmvtm apx^v avS-^UTrdif, lipiuv, (which are put here in the firft Place) ^ctmkiuv, apx^y- ruv, TniTipm, i^m, ^^atntaKuv, Xj •mvray o/x,Q r VTopfsav. Upon which Place Cotelerius has made this juft Reflexion : Scilicet ita locuti funt Chrift iani, poft- ^am Imperatores ac I{egesfu« I^eligionis confortes habuere. Thus the Chriftians fpoke, after the Em perours and K^ngs became to be of their leligion. And forely no Body , that is acquainted with the undoubted Writings of the Holy Apoftles and Fathers, in the three firft Centuries of Chriftianity , can imagine , that fuch Words haye been didtated or written by thofe or thefe : but they agree very well with the Style ofthe latter Part of the fourth and fifth Century ; about which Time, I think, the Greek Original of this Arabick Didafcalia or the Clementine Con fiitutions to have been written and compofed. §. 21. The fecond Quotation, I fliall make ufe of, is from the ninth Chapter of the Sy riack^ DoUrine of the Apoftles, which Ecchellenfis P«g. i;_oj}s->3 JL0500 ^5 JU»a' vo^ ix^ yOjJ \ojo» jcJSSs jLxVS:^ JLso-o-co-wSt jAftoutxso jLtxAD JLito* JLdvo ^j JLiop voa.*JOiO Mo» .JL3o&pa*,'=»| ^ojjo^ jL»cp ojo ^ l-A-oI^. "^w^^ JoC$N '^ vO^ >£1a20 joo^J jl) .>0)i0 . ^arc^ ojjo "^o s^J JcJ$s^ JiJoovo JLaoaficusJ? The parallel Place of this Paffage is in the fixth Chapter ofthe ArabickJ>idafcalia, in which we read thus: JUi^Sl ,*o»>oJi*^A e«V'»l^» C^^l?- ^A^^ Lo^.l Aj ^;;:^^=s Ujjy ^A U^\ *^J* ^^ ^u»/«U-iJi i,_A \.^a1j . ^3lu»/«U»)o^ (^*J^ ^^-^'^ *saX/«j*j /-^l/^ *ia>5,*u!3*uAC^^ . -^=sJ lif^l Cy*«>^l s^/« -feaJj »J^3i o*> ^^^A 1^* » e^^^^ r^'* 5;>A ' ¦ G * 44 '^n Effay upon the ^JLc j^=43\_^A 14>A .^^=£l«^ f,^=^^ y^ i<>^ Jis if u\-* Jli Ui^ uj-co-'i j^3.«31 o^j\ ^^) Xes^O^ ^/»]^=^ (Jus*"*'* jfci^ (_^£3 . X«\iy» c>«i=!* u^ .«^W ^c)& are now the Oblations, which the [holy] Bifhop {or Bifhops) offers to the Lord God [by Je fus Chrift who died for us. ] For thefe are Tour High-Priefts; and Tour Priefts are Tour Presby ters i and Tour Levites are now Tour Deacons^ [and the Anagnofta, and leaders, and the DoorkjeeperS, and your Deaconefies, the Widows, and Virgins and Orphans. 3 But He who is above all is the Bifhop. He is to you the Minifter ofthe Word, [ He is the IQeper of what isright^ and Mediator [ between God and Tou in tbe { facred ) Miniftration : ] He is the Teacher [of whatis right,] He is your Fa ther after God, and has begotten Tou again by the Water [and the Spirit to the Adoption y^ Children^ He is your Prince , and your Governour ; He is your King and Potentate; He is your God upon Earth after the true God, and deferves to re ceive Honour from Tou. [ For of fuch and the like Cod has fpoken by David the Prophet, { Pfalm. 82. V. 6. ) Ihave faid, Te are Gods, and fe are call'd Children of the' moft High. And alfo (Exod. 22. V.2^8. ) Thou fhalt not revile the Gods ; which are the * The Arabick Copy is fomvwhat uneorre^ m this Place. Bifhops'} DoUrine ofthe Apoftles, &c. 4 y Bifhops'] Let the Bifhop therefore prefide over you, as being in the Place and Dignity of God. Here again among other Interpolations, that pf the Anagnoftie or leaders and Doorkeepers'isremirk- able ; becaufe thofe inferior Orders have not been ufual in the Apoftolical Age ; of which I fliall fay fomewhat more afterwards. §. 22. From all thefe Quotations , 1 think, it has plainly appear'd, how much that ancient Book, calfd the DoUrine of the Apoftles, has been interpolated and alter'd in the Arabick^ Didafcalia; and how fome things have been foifted in, not agreeable at all to the Times, in which the laid Book was written ; rauch lels to the Apoftolical Age. But this is not all ; for the Interpolator has been fo bold , as di redlly to contradidt the ancient DoUrine or Con fiitutions ofthe Apofiles; namely in the Bufinefs ofthe Pafchal Feaft or Eafter-day, of which He treats Ch.3 1. beginning with thefe very Words: ftJ>5\-> f^f^\ Ci^O-^S ^^iyss^ l_S >^=^3.c {^>js* plat £>« (•y^ ^^3! pl*SA^lj l^aii;^)!! J.^'* _jA lJo^\ . J\o^^\ . O^^J x^ uy^>. lSc^^ ^•ft.^*^! i.»»o ol/» Ci<>M J»a»^ . *«>a-Ij ^*9t> J> &-AM*Jl ]Ji t)^^A31 ^^ l;j-v*3 ^AJ l^ki^:^ . UAo.)( iSi)^\j 45 An Effay upon the ^=* (^4J-31 ^isLiiil pUL »^» j_5SJ^ Wc>.A . cyl^^J (>/» ty'^^c^ \M.^ts>. y-^ t_5t>3» j,3! LAasA eJ'>3^^>i»p {_5'AA3\^4«i»3l ^^-9 {jvsV^ 5./"*C (jy^ it'i . 5.9;-**3\ Jfc-\-JU.> S,-A— *u— 3\ ^_^9 *•.>. !utAja3 ^ (jwk»ivi+3^ _^uAi3\ fiyM> V„A->a— a— i;'* j. ^ S.^s>-\ Wherefore o our Bre thren, Tou, being redeem' d by the precious Blood of Chrift, ought to k^ep the Eafter-Day with all Care and great ExaUnejs after [*the Eating ofthe un- leaverid Bread which falls into the Time of] the ^Equinox, which is on the 2^ th Day of the Month, Bermahath. Do not therefore keep this Feaft, which is a Memorial only of the one Paffion, twice in a Tear, but once; becaufe He once died for us. Be ware leaft Tou celebrate the Feaft { at the lame Time ) with the Jews, becaufe Tou have no Felloro- Jhip with them : for they do err and are miftaken in reckoning, in which yet they think themfelves fto be in the rigjjt, but err in every J{efpeU, and are * Thefe -Words put in Hooks, are an Interrelation ofa later andignorant Hand. ftrangers DoUrine ofthe Apofiles, &c. 47 firangers to the Truth. But [ * do You beware diligently of the Feaft of the Jews, in which they eat unleaven'd Bread] which falls into the fourth Tme, ( or laft Quarter ofthe Year) namely upon the zfth Day of Bermahath, which is in the i2tb Month, and mar k_ well till the 21/ Day of the Moon, fo that the i^th Day of the Moon may not fall into another Week^, and fo Tou Jhould out of Ignorance keep Eafier twice in a Tear. Moreo ver concerning the I^urreUion of our Savioiir Jefus Chrifi, Tou ought not to celebrate the fame any other Day, but the firft Day (ofthe Week) only. Every Body may fee, that this Paffage is a Tranfla tion of the 1 7th Chapter ofthe jth Book of the Clementine Confiitutions ; lave that the Ara- ^ifi^ Interpreter has changed the Name ofthe Month Auspor, .which we call March, into the JE^ptian Name Bermahath, { or Parmahath, as the feme is written in Scaliger ; but in Epipha nius' s Haeref. fi. §. 27. ^a/Aec^S-) and did put the 2yth Day of the faid Month inftead of the 2ift, upon which the .Equinox, it feems^ fell in His Time ; becaufe the /Egyptians anti cipate four days in this Month, as they do alfo in fome others. And the like has been done by this y^ra^/V^Interpreter in other Places. For Inftance, in the Beginningof the 1 8th Chapter, which anfwers to the 13 th Chapter of the jth Book, after he had faid that the Nativity of our Lord is to be celebrated on the 2 ^th Day of the * Here the ylrabick Copy is again corrupted , and inftead of the Words hook'd in, we mult read thus, from the Con- flituiions : do ye obferve diligently tke JEqu'imxi ninth 48 An Effay upon the ninth Month { as it is in the Conftitutions, tucdh ^ wf|W7rT>) ^ 'aiATu f^bvor) He adds of his own : ac cording to the Hebrews ; which is the z^th Day of the 4th Month according to the /Egyptians. And prefently after, where He had according to the Words ofthe Conftitutions feid, that the Epi phany ofour Lord is to be celebrated on the eth Day ofthe \oth Month, {hr^ 5$* SixAm fju^vos') he adds again: according to the Hebrews; which is the llth Day of the sth Month according to the JEgyptians. $.23 Now as I have in my Spicilegium pag. 4(5. printed both the ancient Conftitution ofthe Apoftles about this Matter, quoted by Epipha nius, and alfo the Words of the feventeenth Chapter of the fifth Book of the Clementine Con fiitutions, to let the Reader fee, how one con- tradidts the other; fo 1 will now fet down the larae ancient Confiitution, { which altho.'. it may pot have been made by the Apoftles neither, at leaft not by all of them , yet certainly is much more like the Apoftolical Spirit and Do dtrine, than the other ) and fhew more diftind- ly, how this ArabickJ)idafcalia is diametrically oppofite to the faid Apoftolical Text, preferv'd hy Epiphanius in thefe Words Haeref 70. §. 10. O^Z,^ci ^ EV TJ) AiATB^H 01 AotjuAoj/oti vfieis fjuri vj/jjfp/- ^)j7r, kT^a, TnttjTt, 'oQ,]) ol rtJ*£Acf)Xcfiv (^Mma 0 S'stos Aoj/Sf ^ ri ih^ctincciM'a.. In the Conftitutions ofthe A- poftles faith the Divine Word and DoUrine. . But* I wave this Difpute, as I did before §. 19. and anfwer 2"^'^. Suppofing even the Conftttutiom] and the DoUrine of the Apoftles to have heen two different Books, 1 may yet very. well prove from the aforefaid Words, that the latter has been interpolated or contradidted in the Ara bick Didafcalia. For 1 argue thus : Either there was uottnne of the j^op;les,, &c. fi "was given in the DoUrine of the Apoftles a Di redtion about the Time of keeping Eafter, or, not. If not, then the Author of the Arabick Didafcalia, which has given a ftridl and full- Order about this Matter, has added as a Com mand of the Apoftles That, about. which no thing was faid inthe Book, call'd the DoUrine 0^ the Apoftles, yea fuch a Command, as was di redtly contrary to their Mind, exprefs'd in the ^ Conftitutions. And is not this, then a grofs and a fad Interpolation > Bur if in the faid Book was given a Diredt ibr) about the Day of keeping Eafter, then it was either the feme with that in the Conftitutions , or it was contrary to it. If the latter, then the Holy Apoftles contra didted themfelves, which is at^iird and im pious to think; if the former, then the Arabick^ DoUrine contradidted the DoUrine ofthe Apoftles. And thus, I think, it ha§ been clearly prov'd by all the Citations from the ancient Fathers and out of the Syriacf^ DoUrine, &c. that the Author ofthe Arabick Didafcalia has very much interpolated and thereby gr,eatly enlarg'd that ancient finall Book , call'd the DoUrine of the Apoftles, and has foifted in everi fuch Things, as arc either not agreeable, or quite contrary to the Mind and Phrafe ofthe Holy Apoftles: and confequently, that the former is by no Means to be taken for the fame Work with the latter. Yet this Mr. Whifton has done, and quoted for His Opinion fueh Teftimonies,which for the moft Part are diredtly againft Hiiii, and do demonftrate, that the Arabick^Didafcalia is H 2 not f2 At Eff^ Upon the • not the ancient DpUrine ofthe Apoftles, as hath likewife been prov'd. §. 2 J. Thirdly and laftly, I am to fhew, that this Arabick^DoUrine is not an Apoftolical Writ ing or a facred Book; "f ^^^ ^^''^ Tellament. But before I do this, I muft take Notice, that it is incumbent upon Mr.Whifton, to prove His Af firmative of its being fuch, and that He ought, to have gone upon fure Grounds and certain Demonftrations in fo weighty a Matter, in which He had a great Deal to confider. For if this Book fhould prove a Counterfeit,: and not only below the Dignity of an Apoftolical Spirit, but contrary to it, and contradidtory to itfelf; what a Scandal would He give to the Church of God^ and to Her Enemies, the, In fidels, by offering to the one a falfe Rule of their Faith and Religion, and by miniftring to the other a great Occafion of rejedting and ridiculing the true Scriptures together with this falfe one, and of arguing thus : if all the twelve Apoftles folemnly met together with Paul and James the Bifhop oi Jeri^alem-^ were fo void not only of the Spirit ofGod, which they pretended to have, but alfo of humane Underftanding and common Senfe, that they palpably contradidted themfelves, how much more would they difegree with one another, when they were feparated ? Why fliould we then depend upon the Authority of fuch a Sett of Men, and trouble, our Heads and Confeiences with their Didtates and Rules? And I do not Know , how the (?hi)rch could anfwer them , m4 DoUrine of the Aptftles, &c. si and wipe off that fliameful Blot, if once flie had receiv'd according to Mr. i^hiftonsTiei\re this ArabickDidafcalia, as a facred Book of the New Teftament. Yea more, what a dreadful Reflexion wbuld it caft upon the Spirit arid Wifdom of God himfelf, if His Apoftles, in fpired by Him, fliould be found Liars in their DoUrine, contradidting themfelves in the feme Book, and as it were, in the feme Breath .> And foch we fhall by and by find the Authors or Author of this Book to be. On the other Hand, if this Arabic^ DoUrine fhould be a ge nuin Writing of the Holy Apoftles, would it not be a Reflexion upon the good Providence ofGod, toinSer that facred Bookjf the New Te- • ftament (yea more facred than the Reft, be caufe written by all together) to be fo long loft to the Chriftian Church .> But here Mr. Whifton will doubtlefs repeat, what He has written about tfie Conftitutions and St. Igpatius's, Epiftles in His Effay upon thefe, pag. 38. God's Time was not come for the Difcovery of His primi tive Truths, and the Preparation for the Advance ment of His Son's Kingdom: till which Time Sir otig Delufions have prevail'd, and a Veil has beeri fpread over the Face of all Chriftian Nations ; fo that they could not fee the mofl obvious and plain Truths in thefe Matters. Therefore let us then confider, how Mr. Whifton came to fee the plain Truth in this Matter, and from whence He raay have taken fuch Arguments, as made Him fure, that this Arabick^ Didafcalia is a genuine Inriting of the Holy Apoftles: Did He de- ^ duce /4 An Effay upon the duce them from the internal ChardUers of this Book ; becaufe He had after a diligent Perufal and ftridt Examination of the whole, found it throughly Orthodox and Divine, or every where agreeable to the Truth, and coming up to the Wifdom and Gravity of an infpired A- poftolical Mind > No. For, as 1 have obferv'd before. He has never read the Arabick DoUrine fo much as once quite over from the Begin ning to the End, and confequently cannot know, whether fome Propofitions in it may not be differerit from the true Dodlrine ofthe Apoftles, and others much below the Wifdom and Dignity of an Holy Pen-Man; as certainly there are feveral of the latter Sort, and fome even of the former , if we fliould appeal to Mr. WhiftoTi sjndgment concerning them. Or had He met with external Teftimonies of fuch Evidence and Certainty , as put it out of all Doubt, that this Arabick Didafcalia is a facred Book of the New Teftament > No. For, all the Authors quoted by Him, fpeak not of this Arabick^ Didafcalia , but of that ancient Irnall. Book, calfd the DoUrine of the Apoftles ; which we have plainly prpv'd to be different from the other. §. 25. But fuppofing even thefe two to be the very fame , ( as Mr. Whiflon by a Miftake took them to be) could the Ecclefiaftical Wri ters, alledged \yf Him, namely Eufebius, Atha nafius, &c. make Him fure of the genuine Ori ginal, and Apo9:olical Authority of that Book, which went under the Title of the DoUrineof the DoUrine ofthe Apofiles, &c. j'y the Apoftles > No ; but they rather fliould have made Him very doubtful', or at leaft very cau tious in this Matter. For we have feen §. 1 3. how Athanafius has reckon'd it among the |8;- GAj* » Kamit!,oju^a, tbe IJncanonical Books , or which were not put 'into the facred Canon, becaufe it was uncertain , whether the Holy Apoftles were the Authors of. it ; whence it is ftyled by Hira : At^axri x^Kuf^n ^ A'm^Km.,, That which Is Called the DoUrine of the A- poftles. And altho' a Man fliould think, Mr. whifton did not value what that unhappy Fore-- runner of Antichrift, (as Athanafius is very mo deftly calfd by Him, pag. 109. of the Hiftori cal. Preface) had faid of this DoUrme of tbe Apoftles; yet to elude the Force or Evidence of his Teftimony, He has found out a new and unheard of Signification or Defcription of mcanoriicdl Scriptures, naraely, that they are thofe facred Books, which ¦were written, after the i^th .{Apoftolical) Canon was made, or which for certain B^afons were not therein inferted, as tfe expreffes His Thought pag.27. of His Reply to Dr. Allix's Remarks. But this is fo extravagant, that I will not fay a Word to it, till 1 hear, that any one thinks fo with, or after Mr. Whifton^ which I hope, will never be: And therefore I pafs on to His more beloved Author, who yet fa vours Him in' this Point as little; I mean Eufe bius, in whofe third Book of the Ecclefiaftical Hiflibry, ch.'2 j. we read likewife of the r aot- ?i^a,v .l o\._a-^^ ^o-* _A.m*.31 0*«A3 t>JW ^ijj&'iy <.y^Us*^j Q.A,\iaM.yi\ fy<Avo.^ V.^A_A)iJ /yJUu3\^ Viis is the Boo{ of the Decrees of the eleU Apoftles and of their Commandments after, the Afcenfion of Chrift our God and our Lord, and what they have conftituted as SanUions, and Canons, and Belles. Why did then Mr. Whiflon not pro mife to publifti an EnglJhYeriion oi thofe 3° Canons together with the DoUrine of the Apo ftles ? and why will He not joyn likewife the Reft of the Apoftolical Canons, contain'd in thofe Manufcripts, as alfo St. Pf /er's Letter to St. Clemens, which follows aiter the Didafcalia? Surely He can give no other Reafon for the OmiflTion of all thefe, unlefs it be, that He thinks or fufpedts them to be fpurious. And why raay not the ArabickJ>idafcaha and its Pre- , face be fo too ? ' . ¦ §. 28. Let us therefore begin to examine,whe- ther the Preface of this Didafcalia be a Coun terfeit, or whether it be on the contrary true and unanfwerable, as Mr. Whifton takes the feme I 2 to 6o An Effay upon the tobe. (See above pag.4.) It begins with thefe Words: We the twelve y^oftles —- are gather ednto- gether in Jerufalem &c. as cited before /§. 17*, Upon which Mr, Whifton makes in His firft Re ply to Dr. AUix's Remarks pag. ,27. the follow ing Note: that this general Affembly appears to beheld about A. D. 67. And truly if there hiad fceen at Jerufalem fuch an Affembly, as is men tion'd in that Preface, it muft be fix'd about that Time, as for many other Reafons, not tp be mention'd here, fo for this; becaufe, if it had been before, St. £»% inthe Hiftory or AUs ofthe Apoftles, which He endeth with the 61^ Year of our Lord, would doubtlefs have given us a Narrative, or made at leaft fome Mention of this as well as of the other Counr cil, of which we have a large Account in the %f^ Chapter of the faid AUs. And the rather; becaufe in the one was only determin'd this fingle Article, that the Gentiles, converted to the Chriftian Faith, were not bound to keep befides the Law of Nature, comprifed in the Decalogue, any other Statutes, recorded in the Books of Mofes, except thofe neceffary Things ; namely, to abftain from Meats offer'd to Idols, and from Blood,and from Things ftr angled,and from For nication, as we read, ver.28.29i whereas in the other AflTembly, and in the Arabick Didafcalia, faid to be given or confirnfd therein , many more Points of no lefs Moment were fettled. It appears therefore, that Mr. Whifton is thus far in the right, when He places the Meeting ofthe Council, raention'd in the Preface of the DoUrine of the Apoflles, &c. 6x the feid Didafcalia; in the Year 67. or there abouts, if really there had been foch a one. But how could that be ? for, to fey nothing of the Reft of the twelve Apoftles, St. Jamei the Great, Brother of St. John, ivas beheaded in br about the Year 44. by Herod at Jeru falem, AUs chap. 12. V. 2. How could He then meet with the Reft of the Apoftles at that Place 23 Years after? nnlefs Mr.Whifton will fpppofe. His Spirit to have appear'd there, and joyn'd Himfelf to the other Apoftles, who were yet in the Body ; which He will hardly ven ture to fay, nor can it be reafonably fuppofed. The Truth of the Matter is, the Author of this interpolated Arabick Didafcalia, or rather of its Preface, was lefs cautious, than the other, who wrote the mori^ ancient DoUrine of the Apoftles, For this Writer was contented tb ad- fcribe His Work only to fome Apoftles, as we have learned above p. 17. from Origeris Words ; knowing, or foppofing at leaft , that fome of the Apoftles were dead : and fo He feved His Credit in this Point, if He was an Impoftor, which yet I cannot pofitively affirm. But that other notorious Cheat, to give the greater Cre dit to His Book , would not loofe or leave out any of the twelve Apoftles, and fo loft Him- fell^ and Ipoifd His Work. §.29. This grofs Ignorance or Forgetfulnels of St. James's Death recorded in the AUs ofthe Apoftles, is indeed fufficient, to fliew. the Spu- rioufnefs of this Preface. But the Forger pf it was ftill more unlucky in adding St.. James the 62 An Effay upon the the Bifliop oi Jerufalem , as diftindt from the twelve Apoftfes, and prefent with them about the aforefaid Time; For i^. this St. ^ot^j Bi lhop oi Jerufalem and Brother ofthe Lord, feems- to have been one ofthe twelve Apoftles, narae ly St. James the Lefs; (as He is coraraonly calfd to diftinguifli Him from the other, mention'd before) which St. Paul Hiriifelf intimates, not only in the firft Epiftle to the Corinthians ch.i j. V. 7. in thefe Words: After that He (Chrift) was feen of James, ¦ then of all the Apoftles ,; but alfo Galat. chap. i. where having related, that at His firft Coming to Jerufalem , He abode with St. Peter fifteen days, He adds verf 19. But other of the Apoftles faw I none, fave James the Lords Brother. From wlierice may very well be inferr'd , that this James was of the Number ofthe Apoftles. But 2rf'/y whofoever this y^wzfj Bifliop oi Jerufalem was, it is certain from Hiftory and Chronology, that He died a Martyr fome Years before this Aflerably is feid to be held at Jerufalem; which could be'prov'd by feveral Teftimonies. But 1 need no other Witnefs in this Matter, becaufe this Impoftor witneffes againft Himfelf, or the DoUrine it felf contradidls the Preface, chap. 2 8 . where we read thefe Words : (^\ ^3 J^ii ^(y^iij) J^)! \jj^^£> U.6» . sJInJ-^ss. J>^=> *r>AC tyA.iAiri. ^..J-^t^ 5.,U1 c>,-c \^yhy.x/o ,** i:f,>.fy)\ ^^4 Concermng Mar' tyrS) DoUrine of the Apoftles, &c. 6^ tyrs, we tellTou, that they ought to be had by Tou in all Honour, as of us ha;ve been honour'd alfo the bleffed James Bijbop of Jerufalem, and St. Stephen ihe Deacon and our Fellow. Thefe are made happy of God. An*d fo we find it in the Conftitutions Book J. chap. 8. except that the Word Jerufa lem is left out there. Here the Author was fo zealous for keeping up St.James's Memory, that He quite forgot Himfelf; or if the Author of the Preface was later than the Didafcalia (of which by and by ) He had not read, or he had forgot this Paffage oiSt.James Bifliop oije- mfalem; otherwife He would not have joyn'd Him to the Apoftles met at Jerufalem in the Year 67, when before iri the Year do. He had fuffer'd Martyrdom in that Place. Could then St. James be at the feme Time dead and alive ? or could He being alive, fpeak of Himfelf as of a dead Man and a "Martyr ? or could He being a dead Men, be prefent with the Reft ofthe Apoftles, and give or confirm this Do dtrine ? How Mr, Whifton here will bring off the Author of the Preface from a Contradi dtion, and Himfelf from being too credulous, I cannot tell. He would do beft to leave Him, leaft by going on to believe, or by defending a Cheat, he (hould become guilty of the fame Sin, and impofe upon the World a fpurious Book for a genuin Work of the Holy Apoftles. However I muft not yet leave this Impoftor, but purfue Him ftill, and trace" the Footfteps 'of His Forgery, as I go on reading arid confi dering this Preface. §.30. ^4 An Effay upon the §.30. After the great Names of the twelve Apoftles and of St. Paul and St. James, who are faid to have been met together at Jerufalem^ followeth the Mention ofthe Bufinefs^ which they did there, in thefe Words: Wehmfecon- firrrid this Catholick DoUrine in that City; and we bave denominated the Degrees according to their Dignity, after the Pattern ofthe Heavenly Powers, to befo likewife in the Church. Let every one know, how to ftand with Thankfgiving in that Station, in which He is ordain'd of the Lord; the Biftiop as the Paftor, the Priefts as the Teachers, the Deacons as the Minifters, the Subdeacons, as the Affiftants, the Anagnofts or leaders, and the Chanters, finging with'Vnderftanding, andthe Acoluthi, andthe Door keepers, arid the ]^ ofthe People, who hear the Wordof the Gofpel with a good Difpofition. I'll pafs over the Word Catholick^ DoUrine , which we find not in the genuin Apoftolical Writings ; and obferve only , that here are named after the Bifhop, Priefts and Deacons, the other infe riour Orders of Subdeacons, leaders. Chanters, Acoluthi and Doorkeepers ; of which , particu larly of the Subdeacons and Acoluthi, Lombard, the Father of the Scholaftical Divines , has rightly obferv'd, Lib.^. Sentent. DiftinU. 24. that they were not in the earlieft Ages of Chriftia nity, but that the Church in Procefs of Time thought fit to add them. And Cotelerius upon the fecond Book of the Conftitutions, chap. 2 j. (anfwering to the fixth Chapter of the Ara-^ bick Didafcalia, quoted above §.21.) where like- wife after the Deacons , are named ol amyaut- emovTSf, DoSirine ofthe Apoflles, &c. ij- trKwn?,Xj ol uS'o), k^ wuXapo), The leaders. Chanters and Doorkeepers, and after them follow «}a<*x9- i/w the Diaconeffes, has made this judicious Re mark : §luo pofl Apoflolos tempore minores Ordines, Diaconatu inferiores, cceperint in Ecclefia inftitui, adeo obfcuritate involvitur, ut nulla poffit certa con- jeUura deprehendi atque explicari. Aperte quidem S.Ignatius, qui initio fecundi fceculi fcripfit, agno- frit folummodo tres majores gradus , Epijcopatum, Prejby ter atum , Diaconatum. Primus vero, quad jciam , LeUores nominat Tertullianus lib. de Pra- fcriptione Htereticorum, cap. 41. Hypodiaconi au tem, Exorcifia, (3 Acoluthi non comparent ante Cy- prianicas Epiftolas 24. 28. 78. 79. 80, 16. sS' ^ Epiftolam Cornelii Papa ad Fabium Antiocbenum in Eufebio lib. 6. cap. 43. quee etiam Oftiarios adjungit. ¦' Concerning the Time , how long after the Apoflles tbe leffer Orders, which follow after the Deaconjhip, have begun to be inftituted in the Church, we arefo much in the Dark^, that we cannot by any certain ConjeUure findit out, and explain it. St. Ignatius, who has written in the Beginning ofthe fecond Cen tury, plainly acknowledges only the three fuperiour Degees, Epifcopacy, Presbytery, and the Deacon jhip. But the firfi, as far as I know , who has named the leaders, is TertuUian in the Book con cerning the Prefcription ofHereticks,ch.4.i. And as for the Subdeacons, the Exorcifts, andthe Acoluthi, we fee nothing of them before St. Cyprian's Epiftles, tbe 24. 28. 78. 79. 80, 16. SS- ^nd the Letter of Pope Cornelius to Fabius Bifhop of Antioch, in Eu febius s Book^the eth, chap. 43//, where likewife the doorkeepers are'added. So have likewife Habertus, K Morinus 66 An Effay upon the Morinus and otlier/rfw^ Divines written more freely about this Matter, as being not fo ftridtly bound to the Decrees of the Council of Tr^w^, which has declar'd, Seff. 23. ch,2. the aforefeid, inferiour Orders to have been ab initio Ecckfiee^ from the Beginning of the Church. And indeed that Council was in thfe right, if this Preface were genuin. But we read nothing of them in the confeffedly true and Canonical Writings ofthe Holy Apoftles, even where they would' certainly have been named in particular, or at leaft men tion'd in general ; as in the firft Epiftle to Timo thy, whom St.Paul had left at Ephefus, as an Apo ftle or Angel, that is a Bifhop , of that Church, namely, fof fome Time, and gives Him plain Diredtions about the Qualifications of foch, as were to he ordain'd Bijhops , { fignifying tiiere the fecond Order oi Presbyters) and Deacons,and writes likewife about the Deaconeffes ; but makes no Mention at all of the other Orders, put between Deacons and Deaconeffes in the Clemen tine Conftitutions. Nor do we find them in any other genuin Monuments ofthe firft and fe cond Ce.ntury after Chrift, particularly not in the true Epiftles of St. Ignatius, in which yet Bijhops, Presbyters and Deacons are very ofteu named. 1 fay the true Epiftles of St. Ignatius ; for in the fpurious, or at leaft grofsly interpo lated Letter to the Antiochians near the End, the Author greets after the Presbytery and the Deacons ^xkewiie the 02zraJ\rt.?(si'»s-, kvawp^^?, -^a^- TUf, TTvKup^f, TH? ^mrnTx?, K. T. A. the Subdeacons, leaders, Chanters, Doorkeepers, and the Labourers; but DaUr^ine of the Apoftles, &c. 67 but He betrays His Forgery as by the Reft, fo more efpecially by the Addition of the latter, namely the K37nmTi? , or i{37notTUj ^ as they are called by Epiphanius in His Expofitio Fidei §.21. pag. 1 1 04. and faid to be ol tu rcofjumt -z^^^ov-, TiS r v3i{ACd/idiJuv, which cover'd the Bodies of the Deceas'd, (or placed them decently and well in the Grave ) For this Name oiiommTis or ^9- •mckTcij was not ufual in the firft three Centuries, but begun in the fourth, as we may learn from the Law made, when Conftantius the Emperour was Conful the 10th, and Julian the 4^ tfme, (that is in the Year of Chrift 160) which hath thefe exprefs Words: quos Copiatas Rec ens Us u s inftituit nuncupari; which Copiafce (or Labour ers) have By A Late Custom begun fo to be named,as we read in CodiceTheodofI.i Let DoUrine ofthe Apoftles, &c. . , 7 j Let the Widow know Herfe^to be a Temple ofGod ; and therefore let her ftt ftill in Her Dwelling, and not go to the Houfes of the Faithful, to the End, tbat fomething mi^t be given Her. For it behoves not the Temple of God, to be moved from Place to Place. I earneftly defire Mr. Whifton, ferioufly to confider with Himfelf, what an Affront and Difgrace He puts upon the whole College of the twelve Apoftles and St. Pcml, yea upon the Spirit ofGod Hirafelf, by whora they were in fpired, when He aferibes to them fuch a ftrange, mean and pityful Sort of Reafoning. $. 3 J. But altho' I never intended to meddle here with the Arabick Didafcalia, as far as it agreeth with, and is only an Interpretation of the Clementine Conftitutions; yet 1 defign'd to have run through the five laft additional Cha pters, which 1 do not find in the eight Books of thofe, and to have fliew'd, how much they are below the Dignity of an Apoftolical Spi rit; as alfo how they are coritrary to Mr. Whiftons Tenets about the H. Trinity. And yet even here I am ftopp'd and hinder'd by a Fit of Ulnels, which befell me a fortnight ago, even when I begun to tranfcribe fairly for the Prels the 3 2^ Paragraph of this Ef&y, and which came again upon me with worfe Sym ptoms, when after a few Days Reft I return'd to my Work ; fo that I have not without Diffi culty written or didtated the Remainder, and am now induced by the diredl and abfolute Advice ofthe Phyfician, yea forc'd by the con tinuing Weaknefs, arifing from the Want of L ai. neceffary f6 Ak Effay Upon the neceflTaryNights-Reftji to break off here. Which I do the edfier,, becaufe I believe Mr^ Whi fton will, not quite to fruftrate the Expedla* tion ofthe Worid, yet print the Englifh Ver fion oi the laft Chapters of this Arabick Dida fcalia; and then 1 doubt notyevery Judicious and unprejudiced Reader will plainly perceive the feme to be Injurious and unworthy ofthe 12 Holy Apoftles, gather'd together with St.Paul and St. James BifliiDp oi Jerufalem, to which the counterfeited Prefece doth aferibe this whole Book. However having forae Dou1?t, whether Mr. Wh^n will publifli the feid laft CJhapters, upon the Account of forae Paffages^ Jiot fevouring at all, or diredtly contradidting his Sentiraents concerning the three Perfons of tfie ever bleffed Trimiy; I'll briefly raention here the chiefeft of thofe Pafl&ges, to make good. fny Promife above pag. 20. and fo conclude. And firft, chap. 3 j. iri which the Author treats 0f the Form of Churches, how thefe and the fe veral Parts ofthem are to be built and order'd, it is commanded, that every Church fliall have three Gates, or three Entrances, to reprefent the M Trmity, o«t)ii*3T e»^U3i J^ fo that this Word is of an Apoftolical Antiquity and Autho rity^ ifthis Book be fo. Further, that all three I'erfons are to be equially worfhipped and glori fied, appears from the Form of Prayer, which is prefcribed chip. s6. in the Ordination ofa Bilhop, an^ endeth with thefe Wprds: (iS;A^\.^ DoUrine of (he Apoftles, a^c. 77 ipi^o^ ^]y u^ J^ t/bJ|; . WA^ * By thy enly Son Jefus Chrift our Lord. And this Praife and Honour and Glory is due to Thee, and to Him, and to the Holy Ghofi, before all the Worlds, and now and always, even to Eternity. The i^th or laft Chapter, containing the Myfiicdl DoUrine which is pretended to have been taught by Jefus Chrift Binxfelf, begins with thefe Words: oss^i (J^]y who was from Eterni^, which u , and which is to come; which was dead and buried, and rofe again with Glory 8tc. By vrhich Phrafe the Eternity of Chrift, as He is the Word of Gdd, is plainly enough exprefs'd, arid yet in more exprefs Terms taught alwaut the Middle pf this Myftical Dodlrine, where it is faidi cJj./<;«Ji He is God before all the Worlds, and He is Tpiik God the Father- eternal, everlaftiffg* as alfo a little befpre, the Author calls Chrift like the Nicene Fathers : <:/jix3 jj j* oyyj*S pi^tten, rut made, i. 3(J. ThusMr.l^^OTi's new-found Scripture doth plainly aiflert ^e Etemi^ ofthe Son of God iwith or in the Father; whieh alfo could be confirm'd from the geiauin Writings of the Holy Apoftles and Apoftolical Fathers. But this being hot my prdent Btifinefe, I coftclade here ; being in Hopes, that this Eflay will at tain its End;, and haye that Effedl, which I in tended yi Art Effay t^on the tended in the Beginning, namely, that th^^ Chrifliian Reader, finding Mr.Whifton fo palpa bly miftaken in his Difeovery ofa loft Book ofthe New Teftament , viz. the DoUrine of the Apoftles, will be the more cautious and circum- fpedt about fuch Matters, in receiving arid be lieving His Difcoveries and Affertions the lefs He is fo in making and publifliing them. Yea I wifli with all my Heart, that Mr.Whifton Him felf may from this Inftance of His complicated Errors about the Arabick DoUrine ofthe Apoftles, whichi have fliew'd in this Effay, be through ly perfwaded, that He is a fallible Man, and begin alfo to reftrain His great Fondnels of, and Haftinels in making new Difeoveries: which is the more dangerous a Difeafe, ifit proceeds not frora a pure Intention of Saving and Pro fiting ourfelves and others, but from a Mixture ofa fecret Arabition or Defire of being thought to be, or to have been a great Man, and a Re ftorer of what has been loft to Mankind for many (Generations. God, who alone fearcheth the Ground of Men's Hearts, knows beft, whe ther the laft is Mr. Whiftons Cafe ; and if it be, may He reveal it to Him, to the Saving of His iramortal Soul. Wherefore I include him at the End of this Bpok in that excellent Prayer of David, Pfalm 139, ver. 23,24. (which I almoft daily make for ray felf) Search us 0 God, and know our Hearts ; try us, and k^w our Tiot^hts- and fee if there be any Wm of Iniquity in us, ^nd lead us in the Way everlafting, F I N J 5,