CHAP. IV. Lardner, p. 386. 'They are not charged by their adversaries with be'ing vicious. They had respect to the will of God, and were desirous of obtaining his favour as the greatest good. They did not allow themselves in 'indulging carnal desires, though their adversaries 'said that their principles led directly to the gratifying them." 48. "In short, it is evident that these people were Volin general strictly virtuous; that they dreaded sin as 'the greatest evil, and had such a real regard for Christ, as to undergo martyrdom rather than offer 'incense to idols. They seem indeed to have had a great number of martyrs." ibid P. 364. ibid P. 165. ibid P. 387. tors. 49. We come now to the principal charge of heresy which exposed them to the rage of their persecu"They contemned marriage, and highly extolled 'virginity." Clement, in particular, fills up almost all his third book of Stromata, in rehearsing and confuting the arguments of Marcion, and other Encratites i. e. continent persons] against marriage. 50. "These proud men, (says Clement,) boast of "imitating our Saviour, who never married, and pos"sessed nothing in this world. But they should "know that God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace "to the humble." This is a comment on the scrip-. tures truly worthy the mystic predecessor of Origen. Had he in truth brought out what he couched under the dutward veil of the letter, he must have said, that God resisteth the sincere and harmless imitators of Christ, but giveth grace to the aspiring followers of Saccas. 51. St. Ephrem lived at Edessa.-There were 'many Marcionites in that country; which induced 'him to write against them.-He says that " Marci"on's apostles were wolves, but they had sheep's cloth“ing: and that the Devil put a cowl upon him, that "he might deceive the children of light." 52. Unhappily this Saint who covered himself with the outward veil, or cowl of the letter, left out the most important part of the sacred text: By their fruits ye shall know them. 53. According to St. Jerome the Marcionites 'seem to have considered the connubial state, not IV. 'merely as less perfect, but even as sinful, impure, CHAP. ' and odious in the eyes of their God; whom they 'call a hater of marriage." 54. Had this canonized father of the Church adopted but one sense to the scriptures, most likely he would have represented the God of the Marcionites as a hater of the lust of the flesh; but with all their learned authority, and compound philosophy, it is easy to see their misrepresentations. 55. "Clement supposeth them to abstain from mar'riage, that they might not people the world of the 'Creator: which is a reason similar to that which he 'assigns for their offering themselves voluntarily to 'martyrdom, namely, out of hatred to the Creator." 56." Another of their institutions was fasting, es'pecially on the Sabbath or seventh day, which had 'been a day of rest to the Creator, or God of the 'Jews, whom they despised. This day therefore, · they kept as a fast, because they were inclined to do every thing contrary to what would shew the least 4 respect for him." 57. Here then is about the heaviest charge of atheism, and impiety, fixed, by the Catholic fathers, upon the ancient Heretics; which may be more clearly understood by what follows. Lardner, vol. ix. P. 388. ibid 58. It is said, that Marcion rejected the Old Testament. He also objected to the appointment of sac- p. 389. rifices and likewise said that many parts of the New Testament were writings not for Christians, but for Jews. He is also charged with altering many places to suit his own principles, and of putting a wrong sense upon others: one particular point as a specimen, is here inserted from Lardner. ibid 59. "In the second epistle to the Corinthians, ch. iv. 4. Marcion understood by [ds TX A¡ÑVOS TUTH,] p. 408. the god of this world, the Creator, and considered him as here opposed to the good God, or the Father ' of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was the God of the Christians. In opposition to this, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and others, who wrote against the Marcionites, were for placing a comma after Oss, and referring • Ciavos TT8 to axis, and so read it " In whom T CHAP. God hath blinded the eyes of the unbelievers of this • world." IV. 60. "To us of the present day, (says Lardner,) this sense appears very harsh, and is one instance, ' among many others, how far the heat of controversy 'will carry men."-But harsh as it is, this comment of these orthodox Fathers has been retained as a Catholic doctrine down to the present day-that it is Confes, the office of God, as a righteous judge, to blind and . Sec. vi. harden the wicked.* *See Pbn. Faith, Ch. 61. And yet, after all they have said concerning the Heretics' rejecting the scriptures, the whole of the charge, even according to their own account, is, that they perverted them. As an evidence of this, Lardner produces what was said by one of the bishLanner, ops of the council of Carthage. "I am of opinion "that blasphemous and wicked Heretics, who per"vert the sacred and adorable words of the scriptures, "ought to be accursed." vol. iä. P. 176. 62. That they did not, in every point of view, reject the scriptures, is manifest from the accounts of their enemies. The truth is, they rejected the catholic sense of them. What was said of those early Heretics, was probably the same, in substance, that was said of other Heretics after them. 63. This general charge against ancient Heretics, of rejecting the scriptures, is judiciously stated by Robinson in the following words, which relate to HeFeel. Re- retics of a later period. "The fact is, they know the 'Old Testament economy was dissolved and abolish searches. p. 90. Among the many evidences, which Lardner produces, to prove that the heretics did not reject the scriptures, we notice the following. "Augustin often ⚫ blames the heretics for perverting the scripture in favour of their errors; not that they rejected or despised the scriptures, but that they misunderstood them, and put wrong interpretations upon them. All heretics, he says, endeavour to defend their false opinious by the authority of the divine scriptures.-In like * manner St. Jerom says-that heretics strive to support their doctrines by que tations of scripture-that they corrupt the truth of the gospel, by wrong interpretations. Tertulian speaks much to the same purpose.—Ambrosiaster's de ⚫scription of heretics is, that they are men who endeavour to support their opin ions by scripture,--attempting to defend their errors by the authority of the sacred writings. Vicentius Lirincusis testifies the same thing, informing us that 6 some in his days, who were called heretics, made great use of seripture, and continually answered their adversaries and calumniators by quotations from the sacred writings. He indeed says. "It is the devil who puts these arguments "into their mouths and speaks by them." From which probably some will con *clude, [and perhaps very justly too that many of their arguments from scripture, were such as their adversarks could not answer.-It would be endless to enter into particulars; suffice it to mention one instance: They argued against the resurrection of the body from St. Paul's words; 1 Cor. xv. 50." Lardner, vol. ix. p. 152, 153, 154. T V. ed, and therefore they rejected, not as history, but CHAP 6 as a rule of faith and practice to Christians, all the books of the Old Testament down to Job.-They 'saw that people, who did not make this distinction, 'confounded christianity with Judaism." 64. The schools under pretence of expounding Genesis, filled the church with vain disputes about matter and spirit, the origin and duration of the world. They saw the priests set up Exodus, Num. 'bers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, as the rules of an hierarchy, never intended to take place among Christians. They heard them employ kings to kill and slay for Jesus, on the ground of the book of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles: and they discovered their • wisdom by renouncing all such sophisms, and the consequences deduced from them." 65. They placed religion in what it really con- Eccl. Re sists, piety and virtue. They had neither sophistry in their doctrine, nor tyranny in their government. They are said to have been bad expositors of scripture, and to have abounded in allegory: but assur edly, the vilest of all expositors is he, who finds in 'the gospel of peace a divine commission to spill the blood of his fellow creatures." 66. Thus far for the first distinction between Catholics and Heretics. It now remains to pursue those progressive steps by which the power of Antichrist was finally established, searches.. P 91. CHAPTER V. Antichrist established by Roman Emperors. THE HE design of Antichrist from the beginning, was to get the name, the seat, and reputed authority of Christ, and convert that light and revelation which was given through the Son of God, into a source of wealth and honour, to the carnally-wise. and wicked of the world. 2. The enemy of God and man, had been always CHAP. .1 Cor. i. 39, 25. ready to pervert and corrupt whatever had been revealed from heaven, by getting it into the hands of proud and wicked priests, who could accommodate it to their own carnal ends, for the purpose of promoting still higher degrees of wickedness, until it was made manifest, that such doctrines and institutions, whatever they were at first, could not, in their corrupted state, be of God. 3. The Jewish and Pagan religions, at the time of Christ's first appearing, were quite sunk, as to any spiritual authority, and the priests were so notoriously wicked, that they had quite lost their credit with the people, as ministers of God; nor could they raise sufficient evidence, upon their corrupted forms and superstitions, to regain their influence over the people. 4. Under the ministry of Jesus and his followers, the wisdom of these impostors was turned into foolishness, and their strength became weakness. Their violent opposition against those harmless characters, which their own prophets and poets had described as the people of God, made it manifest, that in all their religious zeal, they were actuated by no higher motive than a regard to their own honour and interest. 5. And therefore, when all men were likely to desert them, and withdraw from them, not only their ill-gained salaries, but that religious reverence which they had deceitfully gained by their splendid superstitions, there remained no possible way for them to regain their credit and influence, but by hypocritically embracing that religion, which was confirmed to the people by the power of God. 6. By this means they could change their ground to advantage, and rise in wealth and honor, above their former standing, in proportion as this new revelation was superior to any that was past. This was to be the last time for their aggrandizement. God had sent his Son into the world, who was exalted above all principality and power; and what could be greater, than for them to become the sons of God? 7. Honest souls set out for this prize by taking up their cross, and following Christ. They entered by the door of self-denial; but these thieves and robbers |