Fragment on Athanasius and the corruption of the true Church (section 7.3m)

Athanasius in his Epistle to Marcellinus concerning the book of the Psa{lms} introduces an old man – – – – – – – & cannot bear them. This was the doctrine of Athanasius which in the name of the old man he recommended to Marcellinus. & this doctrine he imbibed in his youth. For he wrote his exposition upon the Psalms & this Epistle to Marcelline in

Athanasius was of opinion from his youth that the souls of the Prophets & dead saints had knowledge of humane affairs & heard our prayers. For in his Epistle – – – – – doctrine of Athanasius which he imbibed in his youth & in the name of the old man

In the reign of Iulian when the reliques of Iohn the baptist were brought to Athanasius, he hid them saith Ruffin in the hollowed wall of a church prophesying that they would be usefull to a future generation. And in the reign of Theodosius the Ægyptians erected to the{m} a very sumptuous temple.

In the life of Antony written in the beginning of the reign of Valentinian & Valens, Athanasius attributes wonderfull effects to the signe of the cross & tells many stories of apparitions of Devils & of the souls of dead men ascending up to heaven, & in the end of the book , he tells how Antony when he was dying (that is in the year 356) exhorted those about him in this manner: Do you take care to adhere to christ in the first place & then to the saints, that after death they may receive you as friends & acquaintance into the eternal tabernacles. And when the church of Alexandria (the metropolis of saint worship) sent reliques into all the world [ that they might thereby, saith Chrysostom, procure glory with all men to their city & declare her the metropolis of the whole earth;] & the Church of Antioch following her example, sent the reliques of the 40 martyrs to other Churches: Athanasius Basil & Eph{r}æm S. celebrated these 40 martyrs with Orations. The Oration of Athanasius is not yet published; But Gerard Vossius saw it in MS in the library of Cardinal Ascanius in Italy as he mentions in his commentary on the Oration of Ephræm Syrus upon the same martyrs.

And by this early encouragement of the veneration of saints their worship was soon established in Egypt. For Palladius going into Egypt in the year 388 to visit the monasteries . . . . . . . . ejusmodi tamen Deos fert tellus.

By what has been cited out of Basil, the two Gregories & Ephræm you may understand that Saint worship was established in the east among the Catholicks before the year 378. this being the year in which Basil & Ephræm died. Hilary coming from the east in the year 360 brought with him into Gallia not only the fame of great miracles done by the reliques of the saints , but also the doctrine of the protection & intercession of Angels 2^{[Editorial Note 1]} & Saints 1 For upon the 129^th Psalm – – – – true, but &c. Hilary died in the year 368 & therefore spread this doctrine in Gallia before that year, having learnt it of the Catholicks in Asia before the year 360.

Damasus who was made Bishop of Rome A. C. 367 & died A. C. 384,

By all that hath been said, compared with the wonderful life of Antony & the stories of his seeing devils & dead mens souls, it may appear that Antony inspired his disciples with these principles, that his disciples presently after his death propagated them among all the Catholicks first in the east & then in the west,

In the year 524 the Greek Emperor Iustin put out an edicte that the churches of the Arians should be every consecrated to the catholic religion. Whereupon Theodericus the Gothic king of Italy sent Pope Iohn I with some of the senators to the Emperor to tell him that unless he restored the Churches to their owners, he would treat the catholicks in Italy in the same manner. The Pope going the next year upon this embassy was received very honorably by the Emperor & received great presents from {him} & instead of perswading the Emperor to restore the churches conspired with him & consecrated as many of them as he could to the use of the catholicks, & upon his return to Italy was impri{soned} for it by Theodericus & wrote from prison to the bishops of Italy, to arm themselves with the sword of the Spirit against the Arian religion for extirpating it & to consecrate all the churches of the Arians wherever they could find them for the use of the Catholicks, as he had done at Constantinople. Whence it is apparent that he acted in confederacy with the Greek Emperor against the Gothic king of Italy. Iustinian succeded Iustin & in the year 532 or 533 designing to make war upon the Vandals sent to Pope Iohn II great presents with an Epistle conteining a profession of his faith, to be approved by him & & represented therein that he had always a desire to keep the unity of the Apostolic seat, & therefore made hast to subject & unite all the Priests of the whole eastern territory to the seat of his Holiness, – which was the Head of all the Churches. This he did to engage the Church of Rome in his party during the wars against those of another religion. When he had conquered the Vandals he began a war upon the Goths & thereupon Theodahatus king of the Goths A. C. 535 sent Pope Agapetus upon an embassy to Iustinian for putting a stop to the war. Agapetus went very unwillingly, was received splendidly by the Emperor, & against the mind of the Emperor & Empress deposed Anthimius Patriarch of Constantinople & substituted Mennas into that bishopric, [& soon after died.] Whence it is manifest that the Emperor for keeping the Church of Rome in his interest against the Goths, still suffered the Bishop of Rome to act in the east as universal bishop. The next year A. C. 536 Bellisarius, having taken Sicily from the Goths sailed into Italy & landing at Regium all the people in the villages out of hatred to the Goths immediately came over to him. Thence he marched to Naples & the Neopolitans were at first inclined to surrender, but the City being garrisoned by Goths held out a siege of twenty days. Thence he marched to Rome, the Romans by the perswasion of Pope Silverius inviting him & promising to surrender their city so soon as he came near it. This was done in December A. C. 536, the Garrison of the Goths withdrawing when they found themselves betrayed. ✝ < insertion from lower down f 1v > ✝ Sammium Calabria Apulia Beneventum & All Italy southward of Rome also revolted to Belisarius & so did Tuscia Narnia Spoletum & Perusia. And all the next year the Romans & the small forces of Belisarius defended Rome against an army of 150000 Goths, & ruined that great army And the year following A. C. 538 Dacius the Bishop of Millain with the chief men of that city went to Belisarius desiring him to send them a small force because Millain & all Liguria were ready to revolt. And accordingly a force being sent, Millain revolted with almost all Liguri{a}, & maintained another siege against the Goths. Thus <2r> the Church of Rome, by conspiring with the Greek Emperor & causing their people to revolt & revolting & join him, weakened & imbroiled the Goths & gave such a turn to the war as ended in the ruin of that kingdom. The Franks also seized part of the Gothic territories. And now the Pope, having by the assistance of his allies subdued one kingdom which had reigned over him & hindred his rise, deserved by this conquest & the aquisition of the universal bishopric over the Greek Churches, to weare the Crown which had been lately conveyed to him from the Emperor by the Franks, they helping him as well to the conquest as to the crown. Yet the bishop of Rome being carried prisoner to Constantinople A. C. 545 & there imprisoned by Iustinian the year following, & the City of Rome by these wars being almost emptied of inhabitants & its buildings ruined, the Greeks bishops A. C. 551 began to disregard his authority till the Emperor Phocas restored it. < text from higher up f 1v resumes > And this conspiracy of the Roman Church with the Greek Emperor gave such a turn to the affairs of the Goths as ended in the ruin of that kingdom. The Francks also seized part of their territories. And now the Pope having by the assistance of his allies, removed one kingdom which reigned over him & hindred his rise, he deserved by this conquest & the acquisition of the universal bishopric to weare one crown, the crown which came to him from the Emperor by the hands of the King of F{r}ance a little before, & may be looked on as a prognostication of the success.

Thus the Church of Rome by conspiring with the Greek Emperor against the Goths & inclining the people of their communion to revolt from them gave such a turn to this war, as enabled Belisarius with a smaller force assisted by the revolting Romans to ruin the Gothic kingdom. The Francks also

And at the same time the garison of the Goths in Ariminum suspecting the fideli{t}y of the citizens retired & left the city to the forces of Belisarius which put the Goths upon the siege of that city also.

After this Belisarius being recalled, the Goths took up arms again & revived the war for a time & in the contention Rome was almost dispeopled & the buildings thrown down, & the bishop of Rome lost his authority in the east till the Emperor Phocas restored it, & the Lombards invading Italy A. C. 568 took from him the Alpes Cottiæ & restored them not till the reign of Pope Iohn VI A. C. 704.

You may translate ממנן not out of him but after him as ממלח signifies after the King Dan. 11. And then the words will run thus. And after him arms shall stand up & the interpretation will that after the 8^th year of {Antio{c}hus} the Romans shall stand up over the kingdoms of the Greeks conquering Macedon by the assistance of the kingdom of Pergamus in the 8^th year of Antiochus & inheriting the kingdom of Pergamus soon after, by the death of Attalus & after that conquering the kingdoms of Syria & Egypt successively. Whether you take those arms for the kingdom of Pergamus or for the power of the Romans is not materiall, since in the reign of Antiochus, they were united by a league & assisted one another in conquering the kingdom of Macedon & soon after by the death of Attalus became one kingdome.

The four Empires being described by Daniels interpretation of Nebuchadnezzars dream {&} again by Daniels vision of the four Beasts, & the third Empire being more fully described by the vision of the He-Goat & still more fully by the Prophesy of the scripture of truth: a fuller description of the fourth Empire was reserved for the visions of Iohn in the times of [the that Empire] Gospel. Daniels vision commenced with the times of the Babylonian Captivity, Iohns was in the beginning of the Roman. captivity & the analogy of the two captivities is represented by giving the name of Babylon to Rome. {}

Iustin martyr was a Platonist & took the λογὸς of Plato & Orpheus to be the same with the λογὸς of the Christians or Christ the Word of God, & from those Philosophers derived the antemundane generation of this λογὸς & considered him as λογὸς προσφόρικὸς verbum prolatitium a word spoken by God. For in his Oration Ad Gentes he cites these words of Orpheus I swear{e} by heaven which was created by the great & wise God, I sweare by the voice of the father which he first emitted out of his mouth when he designed to create the whole world, & interprets this voice of the Word or Son of God. And these opinions he explains further in Dialogue with Tryphon in these words.

By this it is manifest that before th{e ye}ar 378 the Orations & Sermons upon the saints went much beyond the bounds of mere oratorical flourishes & that the common people of the Catholicks in the east were already generally corrupted with Saint-worship. And its further observable that the reliques of these 40 martyrs which are here said to be sent into many regions & to adorn many countries, were sent from Antioch to those places before the year 373. For Athanasius who died that year had also an oration upon them. This Oration is not yet published, but Gerrard Vossius saw it in MS in the library of Cardinal Ascanius in Italy, as he mentions in his commentary upon the Oration of Ephræm Syrus on the same 40 martyrs. And since Alexandria sent the reliques of the martyrs of Egypt in to all parts of the earth thereby acquiring glory to their city & declaring her the Metropolis of the whole earth, as you have heard out of Chrysostom: it may be concluded that before she received the reliques of the 40 martyrs from Antioch & began to celebrate their anniversary festival she began to send out the relique of her own martyrs into all parts, that their anniversary days might be every where celebrated. This practice therefore began some considerable time before the death of Athanasius; & by consequence by his approbation & encouragement. In ^{[Editorial Note 2]} his younger days he had been a Monck attending upon Antony, as he himself acknowledges in the beginning of the life of Antony written by himself, & all the Moncks were entirely at his devotion & unanimously progagated this superstition into all the world , pretending to find out the bodies of the martyrs by dreams, running up & down all the empire with their reliques & erecting altars over the graves for worshipping them untill these shamefull practices were checkt by publick laws as you have heard above.

The year in which these practises began is difficult to assigne. I take it to be presently after the death of Antony the Monck or at the furthest, after the death of Iulian & Iovian A. C. 364. For in the end of the life of Antony Athanasius relates that these were his dying words to his disciples who stood about him. Do you take care to adhere to Christ in the first place & then to the saints, that after death they may receive you as friends & acquaintance unto the eternal tabernacles. Think upon these things, perceive these things: & if you have any regard to me, remember me as a father &c This being the common doctrin of Antony & Athanasius & being delivered by Antony in charge to the Moncks at his death A. C. 356 & published by Athanasius in his life of Antony written in the beginning of the reign of Valentinian & Valens A. C. 364 or 365, could not but inflame the whole body of the Moncks in their devotion towards the saints, as the ready way to be received by them into the eternall tabernacles. And this put the Moncks in the end of the reign of Constantiu{s} upon crying up the miracles pretended to be done by the reliques of the saints, & after the death of Iul{ian} & the return of Athanasius from banishment, upon sending the miracle-working reliques of the Egyptian saints & martyrs from Alexandria into all the world. For even in the reign of Iulian Athanasius with a prophetic spirit (as Ruffin tells us) hid the bones of Iohn the baptist, not in the grownd to be forgotten, but in the hollowed wall of a church, before proper witnesses, that they might again see the light & be profitable to a future generation.

For Athanasius even from his youth looked upon the dead saints & marty{r}s as mediators of our prayers. For in his epistle to Marcellinus written in the days of Constantine the great, he saith that the words of the Psalms – – – – – assisting us.

Now by the working of the Monks, who abounded more in Egypt then in any other country, the veneration of the saints spread there so fast that Palladius going into Egypt in the year 388 to visit the Monasteries & visiting the sepulchre of Apollonius & other martyrs of Thebais who had suffered under Maximinus, saith of them – – – – salutavimus.

^{[Editorial Note 3]} And Eunapius a heathen, but yet a competent witness of what he saw done in his own times – – – – – fert tellus – – – – – – – et dapibus. But let us return to take a fuller view of the propagation of saint-worship by the monks in the east.

^{[Editorial Note 4]} was first embraced by the Moncks, & by their influence began to overspred the Empire between the years 356 & 365, & grew general among the catholicks before the year 380 & in all the Empire before the year 390. For between —

○ Gregory Nazianzen in the end of his Oration upon Athanatius written presently after his death A. C. 372 thus invokes him. Do thou look down upon us from above propitiously & govern this people a perfect adorer of the perfect Trinity which in the father son & holy ghost is contemplated & adored, & if there shall be peace preserve me & feed my flock with me, but if war reduce me & assume me & place me with your self & with such as you are, altho it be great which I desire. And in the end of the funeral Oration upon Basil written A. C. 378 he thus invokes Basil. But thou, O divine & sacred head look down upon us from heaven & by thy prayers either take away that thorn of the flesh which is given us by God for exercise or perswade that we may beare it with courage, & direct all our life to that which is most conducible & when we depart this life receive us there in your tabernacles, that living together & beholding the holy & blessed Trinity more purely & perfectly whereof we have now but an imperfect view, we may there come to the end of our desires, & receive this reward of the wars which we have waged or suffered. And in his Oration upon Cyprian bishop of Carthage he invokes Cyprian after the same manner & tells us also how a pious virgin called Iustina was protected by invoking the Virgin Mary.

Gregory Nyssen in his funeral Oration upon Meletius Bishop of Antioch spoken before the Bishops of the Council of Constantinople A. C. 381 said that Meletius interceded for them & for the sins of the people: by which you may know, saith Baronius that this was the Opinion of the second general Council & by consequence of the Church Catholick.

Damasus who was made bishop of Rome A. C. 367 & died A. C. 384 & adorned the Tombs of several saints with verses, invoked them as in the following instances

Athanasius in his epistle to Marcellinus saith that the words of the Psalms are not to be transposed or any wise changed but to be recited & sung without any artifice as they are written; that the holy men who delivered them knowing them to be their own words may pray with us; or rather that the Holy Ghost who spake in the Holy men, seing his own words with which he inspired them may joyn in assisting us. In the year 388 Palladius went into Egypt to visit the Monasteries & telling how he visited the sepulchre of Apollonius & other Martyrs of Thebais who had suffered under Maximinus, saith: Iis omnibus Christiani fecerunt ædem unam ubi nunc multæ virtutes peraguntur. Tanta autem fuit viri gratia ut de ijs quæ esset præcatus statim exaudiretur, eum sic honorante servatore. Quem etiam nos in martyrio precati vidimus cum ijs qui cum ipso fuerunt martyrio affecti; et Deum adorantes eorum corpora salutavimus. Eunapius a heathen but yet a fit witness of what was done in his own times, relating how the soldiers delivered the heathen temples of Egypt into the hands of the Monks (which was done in the year 389) rails thus at the Martyrs as succeeding in the room of the old Gods of Egypt. Illi ipsi [milites] Monachos Canobi quoque collocarunt, ut pro Dijs qui animo cernuntur servos et quidem flagitiosos divinis honoribus percolerent, hominum mentibus ad cultum ceremoniasque obligatis. Ii namque – – – – – – – fert tellus. This was the opinion which the Heathens had of the Saintworship of these times, & some of the old Hereticks had much the same opinion of it. For Faustus an eminent Bishop of the Manichees in Afric thus accused the Catholicks: Vos sacrificia Paganorum vertistis in agapes, Idola in Martyres quos votis similibus colitis; defunctorum umbras vino placatis et dapibus. [Vigilantius accused them of Idolatry, following therein the example of Eunomius & the Arians that Gervasius & Protasius were no martyrs & that Ambrose hired men to feign the miracles ascribed to them.] And Ierome lets us know that Vigilantius & the Eunomians charged these practises with Idolatry.

This Gregory Nazianzen relates to have been the staate of the Christian Churches when he fled & retired into the wilderness which was in the reign of Iulian the Apostate about four years before he wrote this Oration, & that he then retired as out of a tempest for the sake of a quiet life. These ecclesiastical feuds & calamities – – – – appetuntur. So Sidonius Appollinaris a writer of the same age ascribes the sinking of the Western Empire – – – oppress the people. And Ammianus Marcellinus a faithful historian contemporary to Gregory Nazianzen, gives us a signal instance of the factious & violent spirit of the Christians of Rome. Damasus & Vrsicinus, saith he, supra – – – – regales superent mensas. This was the state of the Roman Church when Damasus was made Bishop of Rome which was in the year of Christ 367 And the Church of Rome being thus given up to pomp & luxury, & faction & arrived at this state of magnificence, tis not to be wondered that the most ambitious men prest most into this bishopric & then studied nothing so much as under a shew of religion to encrease their power & honour & wealth. For this end they supported a Schism in Afric against the main body of the African Church who by their rejecting the < insertion from the bottom of the page > the baptism of hereticks, are manifested to be the genuine successors of Cyprians Church. For this end they claimed appeals from all the world < text from f 5r resumes > [For this was the true reason of the Bishop of Rome's beginning to claim appeales from all the world presently after the death of Constantine the great & of the western Bishops supporting him in this claim]. This made Basil complain of the Western superciliousness & say he hated the hautiness of that Church: This made Socrates write that the Bishops of Rome & Alexandria had of old (that is long before the Papacy of Cælestine of whom he was speaking) transgressed the bounds of the Priesthod & degenerated into external dominion: The corruption was universall & therefore the Luciferans asserted that the whole world was become the Devils & the Church was turned into a bawdy house. & others complained that the corruptions of the Christians were the occasion of the fall of the Western Empire, & that for 5 Luxury, 6 drunkenness, keeping of concubines adultery, 8 Sodomy, 13 murders, 9 injustice, 11 oppression, 12 rapine, 3 voluptuousness, 14 common swearing, 15 faction backbiting 4 frequenting of Theaters & publick shows, 10 bribery, 1 pride, 2 ambition, & all manner of impiety & immorality the Roman Catholicks in the fift century & end of the fourth outdid all mankind. And These being the works of the Devil shew that he was no sooner cast out of heaven but he began to come down among the inhabitants of the earth & sea.

Ierom also describes the vices of the Clergy & tells us that Bishops were chosen not by merit but by affection & interest & by the power of great men & that the Apostles command that a bishop should not be a Novice was observed by no body. Yesterday in the Amphitheater to day in the Church, yesterday a Catechumen to day a Bishop lately a patron of stageplayers now a consecrator of Virgins was the practise. [And instead of gravity & a modest dress it was usual for Presbyters to spruce themselves up that they might go about from house to house visit weomen & fare daintily.] And that the Presbiters affected to go spruce fare deliciously, & visit weomen & sick persons for lucre.

Nor was it the crime of a few, the corruption was generall & early. The western Bishops in the Council of Sardica A. C. 347 conspired generally to set up the authority of the Bishop of Rome over all the world, The Luciferans asserted early that the whole world was become the Devils & the Church was turned into a bawdy house. And several were of opinion that the previous wickedness of the Christians was the occasion of the fall of the Western Empire (Sidonius Apollinaris. D. Augustin.          Salvian         For in pride, ambition, factiousness voluptuousness, frequenting of theaters & publick shows, luxury, drunkenness, inchastity adultery, Sodomy, injustice, bribery, oppression, rapine, murders, common swearing, blasphemy & all manner of impiety & immorality the Roman Catholicks in the fift Century & latter part of the fourth outdid the northern Barbarians the Hereticks & all mankind & tho there were some who grieved at these things yet they durst not oppose them openly (Salvian passim. Augustin. Serm. de temp. barbarico. Gildas) Now all these things being the works of the Devil shew that when he was cast out of heaven he came down among the inhabitants of the earth & sea.

This made the Bishop of Rome cite the Bishops of all the East to appear before him in a Council at Rome A. C. 442, & all the western Bishops endeavour in a Council of Sardica A. C. 447 to set up the authority of the Bishop of Rome over all the world. If Athanasius was unjustly condemned by the Council of Tyre the Eastern Bishops were wicked in condemning him, if justly the Western were wicked in absolving him, & whether justly or unjustly the Western Bishops were irregular factious unjust proud & very ambitious in endeavouring to exalt their own authority above that of the eastern Churches, & disturbing the whole Empire for compassing this designe. And before this, if Cæcilian was a good Christian & duly elected Bishop of Carthage the Church of Afric were wicked in accusing him of being a traditor. . But if Cæcilian was a traditor the Bishops of Italy & France were wicked in absolving him. And whether he was or was not the Bishops of Italy and France were partial in refusing to hear living evidence against him, & impious in <5v> in perpetuating a schism which they might easily have composed had it been their interest, a schism I say, whereby all Afric was long disturbed much blood was spilt & the ancient Church of Afric was ruined. For the Donatists were at first the main body of the African Church & by their rejecting the baptism of hereticks are manifested to be the genuine successors of Cyprians Church. And the Cæcilianists by allowing the baptism of hereticks are manifested to be a new set of African Christians siding with the Church of Rome against the ancient Church of Afric. [ And the Bishops of Italy & Gallia had they not been biassed with interest & ambition they would not have medled with an appeal from Afric untill a council had been called of all the Bishops with in the Diocess of Carthage to whom the cognisance of this matter properly belonged . But having met first with this appeal & then with another from Egypt their ambition prompted them to claim appeals from all the world] Cæcilian was a scandalous person generally being reputed a Traditor by the Bishops & Churches of Afric & stood excummunicated by them for it, & therefore by the Apostles rule was unfit to be Bishop. And as he was unqualified so the Bishops of Rome & Italy had no authority to impose him upon them They had no more authority over the churches of Afric then the Bishops of Afric had over those of Italy. And the consequence was to claim in the next place appeals from all the world, & by these to set the whole world in flames. Which is sufficient to shew that the devil was now come down among the Clergy. < insertion from the bottom of the page > But Constantine the great understood not this. He thought to quiet Afric by referring their matters to the Bishop of the imperial city. & thereby imbroiled not only Afric but all his Empire. For the next step was for the Bishop of Rome to claim appeals from all the world & to set the whole Empire in flames for compassing this ecclesiastical jurisdiction. By these b{roi}les you may know that the Devil was now come down among the Clergy: & the rest of the people were not much better. The wickedness of the Christians < text from f 5v resumes > And the rest of the people were not much better. The wickedness of the Christians in general in the fift century & latter part of the fourth was such as to give occasion to the Lucife{r}as to say that the whole world was become the Devils & the Church was turned into a brothel house, & to others to attribute the fall of the Western Empire to the vices of the Christians. In pride – – – – the Roman Christians of those ages outdid the barbarous nations the Hereticks & all mankind, & tho some men grieved at this wicked state of things yet none durst oppose it openly. All these things were the works of the Devil & sufficiently shew that he was now come down amongst the inhabitants of the earth & sea with great wrath.

Chap       Of the Empire of the Latines.

Chap.       Of the religion of the Iews & Christians.

Chap.       Of the corruption of the Christian religion in morality.

Chap       Of the corruption of the Christian religion in superstition & idolatry.

Chap.
The original of the worship of dead men in the Christian Churches.

Gregory Nyssen tells us – – –

The God of this king was composed of three substances of one & the same nature or kind like Peter Iames & Iohn, as D^r Cudworth in his Intellectual Systeme & Curcellæus in          have made appear beyond dispute & this God as it is unknown to the Christians of the present age so it was unknown to the Christians of the three first ages, as I gather from their condemning that arch Heretick Paul of Samoset for affirming the father & son to be two substances of the same kind.

Grapes.

Sect. 6.
Of the Dragons coming down among the inhabitants of the earth & sea with great wrath when he was cast out of heaven.

After the Empire became Christian, the Christians by the prosperity of their affairs & by the flowing in of the most hypocritical part of the heathens into the Churches for temporal ends without mending their lives & by the crowding in of flatterers & ambitious men into Ecclesiastical dignities, quickly grew as vicious as the heathens were before if not more vicious & to describe this fully would require a large discourse You may satisfy your self about this matter by reading only the book of Salvian De Gubernatione Dei written about the year 440 to convince the Romans – – – – & Gildas.

It would require a large discourse also to shew how the Empire after it became Christian, became in a short time very superstitious. I shall content . . . . . subjiciuntur.

But that which is most to the present purpose is the falling away of the Christian Empire to Idolatry – – – – – wine of her fornication. Tis with respect to the Idolatrous religion of the heathens that the Dragon that old serpent is called the Devil & Satan which deceiveth the whole world, & | . Now this idolatrous religion consisted in worshipping dead men & their images upon a supposition that their souls remained alive after the death of the body & resided either in the heavens earth sea or subterraneal regions whence they were called Gods celestial terrestrial marine & infernal, But chiefly they were feigned to reside about their graves & statues & therefore rich men built sepulchres to their dead friends {after this} to their kings in the form of spatious houses or Temples for people to frequent & there to invoke the dead & honour them with praises & hymmes & incense & sacrifices & festival days & ceremonies processions & sports, & & venerate their monumental statues & pictures & grave stones. For before the invention of carving they worshipped rude stones instead of statues, but after the invention of carving & painting, they adorned sepulchres with painting 2 & 1 carving & worshipped the ornament. This is that old serpent called the Devil & Satan which was cast out of heaven by the victory of a Christian Emperor & was no sooner cast out but he began to come down among the Christian inhabitants of the Earth & sea with great wrath, the Heathens who out of temporal ends pretended in great numbers to be Christians being still heathens in their heart & taking all plausible occasions to introduce their superstitions into the Christian religion. It was usuall for conquered heathens to receive & worship the Gods of their conquerers & the Romans received even the Gods of the {illeg} nations whom they conquered. But the Christians having no such Gods the conquered heathens who made a profession of the Ch. rel. found out pretenses to worshipp the < insertion from the bottom of f 5v > found out a way to do it without quitting their old religion. For as they been used to deify their Emperors so they made no great difficulty in praying to the < text from f 6r resumes > Apostles & martyrs & such other dead men as the Christians had most in honour, & by their great numbers prevailed to set up this worship in all the Empire, & to suppress all christian assemblies but their own.

Gregory Nyssen – – –

had the Iewish new Moon & ceremonies under her feet & upon her head a crown o

— continues in the kingdom of the Dragon. For when the Dragon has made war with the remnant of the womans seed which were left in his kingdom & all are mystically killed who will not worship the Image of the Beast & none are allowed to buy & sell except those who receive the mark or name of {the B} , & all have received his mark or name except the 144000 which are sealed with the name of God in their foreheads: these 144000 being sealed in his kingdom where the rest are marked, sing a new song on mount Sion before the throne & before the four Beasts & the Elders & by consequence in the first Temple: And at length there come Angels out of this Temple Apoc. xiv.3, 15, 17, 18. And after the fall of Babylon the four & twenty elders & four Beasts who were in the two courts of this Temple fall down & worship God that sat upon the throne between the Cherubims (Apoc. 19.4.) And this Temple (not the second Temple, but the Temple of the Tabernacle that Temple which has the four Beasts in its outward court & the 144000 standing upon its sea of glass) stands till the seven plagues of the seven Angels be fulfilled Apoc. xv.8 Also The seven Angels continue sounding the Trumpets & pouring out the Vials to the end & are the lamps of the seven Candlesticks of this temple & the Candlesticks also continue to the end. For the Churches of Pergamus Sardis Thyatira & Philadelphia are four of the seven Candlesticks & the Church of Pergamus lasts till Christ comes & fights against the Nicolaitans with the sword of his mouth & that of Sardis till Christ comes as a thief & those of Thyatira & Philadelphia are to hold fast what they have till Christ comes. So then the first Temple with its throne & seven Candlesticks & lamps & 24 Elders & 4 Beasts & 144000 worshippers continues in the Dragons kingdom to the end, & a new Temple with two Candlesticks is built in the kingdom of the Beast: and by this means the Greek & Latin Empires with their Churches fals & true are distinguished & represented by the Dragon & first Beast, the Fals Prophet & Whore, & the seven candlesticks in the first Temple & two Candlesticks in the second. For it was fit that all these things should be represented.

But for understanding what is meant by the two Candlesticks you are to remember that the nations

Iohn tells us that before the Beast asended out of the abyss five of the kings represented by his heads were fallen & the six was in being. For before he ascended he was latent in the Dragons body & therefore partakes of all the Dragons heads. For he was the water which – – – – – signifies that division.

— For Dioclesian Galerius & Maximinis & Licinius reigned successively over the eastern Province being carried on by Dioclesian, Galerius & Maximus successively besides And the Dragon at the same time being cast out of heaven by Michael began to come down amongst the inhabitants of the earth & sea with great wrath, that is the heathens being cast out of their old thrown flowed into the Christian Churches of the Earth & Sea making an outward shew & profession of the Christian religion for temporal ends but retaining their vicious lives & heathen principles & thereby they {/} soon corrupted the Christian religion & & filled it full of the superstitions & vices of the heathens, making hast to do this because the Dragon had but a short time to reign among the Christians before he should be cast into the bottomless pit. when therefore the Dragon saw that he was cast down he troubled the woman & by the building of Constantinople A. C. 330 she received two wings of a great Eagle that She might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished from the face of the serpent & after he had put her to flight & oppressed the remnant of her seed he reigned a short time.

That they send hither by land carriage blank Dyes for as many six-penny heads as they shall want f{rom} time to time, & the like for crowns & half crowns. And That our Gravers shall here sink & finish the Dies at a certain price & send them back to you by land carriage to be hardened by the Smith who made them.

Gregory Nazianzen in his first Oration against the Emperor Iulian expostulates thus with Constantius for making him Emperor. What happened to you, most divine & Christ-loving Emperor (for I am carried on to expostulate with you as if you were present & heard me, altho I know that you are much more excellent then that you should deserve to be reprehended by me, For you are joyned to God & have received an inheritance of heavenly glory & are so far gone from us as to change your kingdom for a better.) What counsel is this that you have taken who have far transcended in skilfulness of mind & sharpness of wit all the Emperors not only of your own but also of former memory. Who hast driven out the barbarous nations round about & partly by speeches partly by arms subdued intestine tyrants to your dominion, & both so dexterously & notably as if neither gave you any trouble. — And a little after excusing Constantius for electing Iulian Emperor he thus goes on. When I have named his benignity I have made his apology. For who knows not (even among those who knew him but moderately) that for the sake of piety & the love of us & desire to do us all good, he would not only neglect the honour of his whole family & the increase of his Empire but also he would willingly prefer our safety & prosperity to his empire it self & to all his fortunes & even to his own life then which nothing is more dear to any man For never was any man taken with so eager a desire of any thing as he was that the Christians should increase & come to the height of glory & power. And neither the conquered nations nor the good laws constitution & government of the Empire, nor to be & to be called king of kings, nor any thing else in which the happiness of men is placed nor any thing whatsoever rejoiced him so much as that we by him & he by us might flourish with God & men & enjoy a firm & stable power to all ages. — Who if he gave us any trouble, he did it not owt of contempt of us, nor to reproach us, nor to favour others before us, but that we might all unite & become of one mind & not be divided & separated by schisms. Thus far Gregory tho an enemy to this Emperor in point of religion. It was with this designe therefore that Constantius supprest the proceedings of the Bishop of Rome & his adherents for gaining the universal Bishopric & caused the western clergy to acknowledge the independent & supreme authority of the eastern Councils in judicial matters over her own members, & banished those who refused to acknowledg it as disturbers of the peace of the Church of Christ It was therefore out of love to the Christian religion & with a designe to put a stop to the growing schisms & to restore the peace of the churches & reduce them to a flourishing condition, that Constantius supprest the proceedings of the Bishop of Rome & his adherents for compassing the universal bishopric & caused the western Clergy. And that he acted out of affection to the Christian religion is further manifest from the mischief which he did to the religion of the heathen For Libanius the Orator a heathen thus complains of him: It is Constantiu{s} & his reign which having received the sparks of the wil from his father carried on the work to a great fire. For he spoiled the Gods of their wealth but this Emperor threw down their Temples to the grownd, & abrogating all the sacred laws gave himself to whom we know.

The controversy about the universal bishopric being thus composed & the & the peace & discipline of the Church catholick restored: things continued in this state till the year 357, & then a new controversy brake out between the eastern & western churches about the language of the sons {being}, μιᾶς οὐσίας & μίας ὑποστάσεως of one usia & one hypostasis with the father. For this not being the language of the Council of Nice but tending to Montanism & Sabellianism: the Greeks for putting a stop to the growth of those errors thought it necessary to abrogate it. And because it had its rise from the language of ὁμόούσιος & that language was not in scripture nor received by tradition nor understood by the people but had been used by Paul of Samosat & some other hereticks & rejected by the Council of Antioch in the third century: the Greeks & those of their opinion in the west rejected the use of the word usia with its compounds in several Councils as was said above, & did it with an universal success. For, saith Greg. <7v> Nazianzen, if you except a very few who either by reason of the obscurity of their name were sleighted, or by their vertue resisted (who were requite to be left to Israel as a seed & root that by the influences of the Spirit she might flourish again & be restored to life) all complied with the time. This was the only difference between them that some fell into that fraud sooner & others later, & some were captains & leaders in the impiety & others were placed in the second order: being either struck with fear or overcome with gain & advantage or ensnared with flatteries or lastly circumvented by ignorance, which is the least of the offences. Greg. Naz. Orat. 21. p. 387.

This was the state of things in the end of the reign of Constantius. And in this state the Church continued till the reign of Iovian excepting the persecution that she suffered in the reign of Iulian the apostate. Iovian reigned but seven months & his successors Valentinian & Valens in the beginning of their reign communicated the one with Auxentius at Millain & the other with Eudoxius at Constantinople. But the excommunicated Bishops Athanasius in Egypt & Hilary & Eusebius Vercellensis in Gallia & Italy drew off many of the bishops to their party pretending that the Ch. Cath. was Arian for abolishing the use of the word usia with it comp. & the Bishop of Rome for recovering his pretences to the universal bishopric favoured their proceedings & joyned with them in communion. For he had no other way to gain the Ecclesiastical supremacy then by condemning that Church as erronous & heretical which in the late Councils of Biters Millain & Aquileia had condemned & baffled his pretences to that dominion And the emperor Valentinian went over to this party. The Macedonians also in the east joyned in communion with the Church of Rome for reestablishing the Nicene decree that the Son was consubstantial to the father. as hath been explained But Athanasius having gone a step further & declared that the holy Ghost was consubstantial to th{em}{em} both & that this doctrine was included in the Nicene faith & to deny it was Arrianism: the bishop of Rome & the western Churches, A. C. 373 declared for the opinion of Athanasius, & wrote to the Macedonians to come over to this opinion, & in the years 378 & 379 upon the death of the Emperor Valens it began to be preached openly in all the east as was mentioned above & [established the next year by an Imperial Edict & the year following by the authority of the Council of Constantinople usually called the second general Council] & about a year & six months after the death of Valens the new Emperor Theodosius by the following Edict dated Feb 28 commanded all — – – . . . . as old as this law.

The Macedonians also joyned in communion with the Church of Rome for restoring the language of ὁμοούσιος with relation to the Son, but Athanasius having gone . . . . . . . . . . . . of Rome & the western Churches at length declared for the opinion of Athanasius & the Emperor Valentinian commanded that the consubstantial & coequal Trinity should be preached in all his Empire & his son & successor Gratian after the death of the Eastern Emperor Valens encouraged preaching it in the east, & about a year & six months after the death of Valens the new eastern Emperor Theodosius by the following Edict dated Feb 28 commanded all.

— taken from the Church which had lasted from the days of the Apostles by an uninterrupted succession throughout all the Empire till the reign of Valentinian & Valens, & given to a defection which the Bishop of Rome for gaining the universal bishopric made by supporting against her the bishops which she had excommunicated, Athanasius, Hilary Eusebius of Vercellæ & Macedonius & their parties. And whilst all those of this new. These are the men who set up the worship of the saints And seing they were by this law of the Roman Empire called catholick Christians & taught in their Creed to believe this holy Catholick Church & were baptized into this faith: we may be allowed to reccon the Roman Catholick Church as old as this Law.

But this law being not sufficient to influence the minds of the people without the authority of a Council: the Emperor Theodosius called a general Council to meet at Constantinople the next year.

come with all power & signes & lying wonders & all deceivableness of unrighteousness: & the Fals Prophet set up the worship of the Beast & his Image by fals miracles by which he deceived them that dwell on the earth & the Whore of Babylon deceived all nations by her sorceries. The Man of sin reigned till Christ destroyed him with the breath of his mouth (represented by a two edged sword) & with the brightness of his coming: & so did the Beast & fals Prophet. The man of sin opposeth & exalteth himself above all that is called God, & from his opposing is called Antichrist that is the adversary of Christ: & the Dragon & Beast & Whore & False Prophet do all agree in persecuting the saints, & particularly the Beast & kings of the earth & their army are at length gathered together to make war against the Word of God & his army. The character of Antichrist is that he should deny the father & the son: & in the reign of the Beast all men whose names are not written in the book of life wonder after him & receive his mark & instead of worshipping God & Christ worship the Beast & his Image: & to worship a false god is in the language of the scripture to forsake & deny the true one Iosh. 24.15, 16, 27. Iob. 31.26, 27, 28.

When the Apostle Iohn wrote thus to the Churches: Little Children it is the last time, & as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come , even now there are many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us but they were not off us: for if they had been of us they would have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all off us. the meaning is that many hereticks then separated from the Church & should continue to separate untill a specious & general heresy should arise & make a great separation & by its numbers prevail over the Church. For all schismaticks being enemies to the Church, the Apostle Iohn & the primitive Christians called them Antichrists that is enemies to Christ especially if they erred in their opinions or practises with relation to God or Christ: & by the great Antichrist they understood nothing else then a general heresy which by its plausible appearance should deceive & draw away the greatest part of Christians & make a separation so great as by its numbers to overcome the true Church of God. For Cyprian Bishop of Carthage speaking of the baptism of such hereticks as had not yet been baptised into the true Church; saith, Hæreticos secundum Evangelicam & Apostolicam constitutionem adversarios Christi Antichristos appellatos, quando ad Ecclesiam venerint, unico Ecclesiæ baptismate baptisandos esse ut possint fieri de adversarijs amici et de Antichristis Christiani. And in another place describing the time & manner of the coming of the great Antichrist whose coming was then expected he saith. Cavenda sunt autem non solum – – – – – – – – make them err & fall away & under the name of Christians become the great Antichrist. While the Roman Empire continued heathen there were many Antichrists that is many schisms made by hereticks but the true church being far more numerous prevailed against them all. And in these Antichrists the mystery of iniquity began to work in the days of the Apostles & was to work untill there should come a falling away or great Apostacy called the Man of sin & the Antichrist, & the Churches should no longer endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts should heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, & turn away their ears from the truth & be turned unto fables But this man of sin was not to appear till that which letted should be taken out of the way. And that which letted was the Roman Empire according to the tradition of the primitive Christians, or, as Cyprian explains, the heathen Roman Empire. When the Christian religion should prevail over the heathen & the Devill should see his idols cast down & temples demolished then (according to Cyprian) he should insinuate himself into the Christian Churches corrupt the truth & divide the unity of the Church by making a schism{.} This was the expectation of the primitive Christians & it came to pass exactly. For when the Christian religion by the victories of Constantine the great prevailed over the <9r> heathen, the Christian Churches by the flowing in of hy{pocri}tical heathens became in a short time exceeding vicious, idolized the signe of the Cross & things consecra{ted} & reliques & invoked the daed composing a religion mixed of the christian & the heathen {illeg} as has been shewed above. And if the placing of supernatural{-} vertue in words & figuers & ceremonies & things consecrated & reliques & images & invocations of dead men be abominable actions of the same kind with charms & magic & sorcery & idolatry & if Christian sorcerers & Christian idolaters be the worst of hereticks: then the Roman Empire before the end of the fourth century became very erroneus & heretical, that is, in the language of Cyprian & the primitive Christians, it became very antichristian.

And at the same time that a great part of the Church became vicious erroneus & idolatrous, it became also schismatical For in the reign of Valentinian & Valens the Churches of the Latine Empire separated from the Churches of the Greek Empire. The Council of Antioch convened against Paul of Samosat A. C. 270 decreed that the son ought not to be called ὁμοούσιος to the father & their decrees were communicated to all the Churches & particularly to the Churches of Rome & Alexandria & received without any dispute. About 55 years after, the Council of Nice by the influence of Constantine the great, then present, decreed that the son was ὁμοούσιος to the father. About 34 years after the Councils of Ariminum & Seleu{c}{e}ia repealed the use of the word & five or six years {~} after the Western churches flew off from those councils resumed the use of that word adhered to the Council of Nice & separated from the greek Church which adhered to the Councils of Antioch Ariminum & Seleucia. Thus the union of the Church was dissolved & one half of the Church catholick certainly became schismatical. The Arians affirmed that the son was made out of nothing & that there was a time when he was not, the Latine Church that he was ὁμοούσίος consubstantial to the father, the Greek Church opposed the language of both the others as novel, not received by tradition not to be met with in scripture, & tending to vex & disturb the Churches with endless disputes & broiles. This Church imposed no new article of faith but only opposed innovations & for this the Bishop of Rome & soon after the Bishops of Alexandria & Antioch separated from . To the father & son the separatists added the Holy ghost & by the word ὁμοούσιος understood that the Father son & holy Ghost were three substances of one kind; or that God Almighty consisted of three homogeneal intelligent substances like Peter Iames & Iohn as D^r Cudworth in his intellectual system & Curcelleius in his Th        have proved beyond dispute: & certainly if this opinion be erroneous & the worshipping of three such substances be polytheism, the Greek Church had great reason to oppose it. But the Churches of Rome Alexandria & Antioch by the decree of that speaking Oracle the Council of Constantinople prevailed & in a short time ejected the Greeks & set up the worship of this strange God together with the invocation of saints in all the Empire using the magical signe of the cross in nomine Pa✝tris & Fi✝lij & Spi✝ritus sancti as the badge symbol & mark of their religion, & teaching to adore the humane authority of the Church & Councils which in this prophesy is called worshipping the Beast & his Image. For

NB All hereticks innovate in language & couch their heresy in such language as has not been derived from the Prophets & Apostles by tradition nor is to be met with in scripture & innovation in language is an argument of heresy For he that cannot declare his opinion in the language of the scripture is of an opinion not declared in the scripture.

The Council of Eliberis in Spain celebrated in the 3^d year of Dioclesians persecution A. C. 305 has this Canon. Placuit prohiberi ne fæminæ in Coemeterio pervigilent, eò quod sæpe sub obtentu oratoinis scelera latenter committant. Presently after the ten years of that persecution suppose about the year 314, the Council of Laodicea in Phrygia which then met for restoring the lapsed discipline of the church. has the following Canons. Can. 9. Those of the Church are not allowed to go into the cœmeteries or Martyries (as they are called) of hereticks for the sake of prayer or recovery of health: but such as go, if they be of the faithful, shal be excommunicated for a time. Can. 34 A Christian must not leave the martyrs of Christ & go to fals martyrs that is to the martyrs of hereticks. For these are alien from God. And therefore let those be anathema who go to them. Can 51. The birth days of the Martyrs shall not be celebrated in Lent, but their commemoration shall be made on the sabbath days & lords days. The Council of Gangra in Paphlagonia celebrated in the year 324 made this Canon: If any man being arrogant abominates the congregations of the Martyrs, or the Liturgies performed therein or the memories of the martyrs, let him be anathema. By all which its manifest that the Christians in the time of Dioclesians persecution used to pray in the Cœmeteries or burying places of the dead for avoyding the danger of the persecution, & after the persecution was over continued that practise in honour to the Martyrs & affected it as advantageous to devotion & for recovering the <10v> health of those that were sick, & that in these burying places they commemorated the Martyrs yearly on their birth days, & accounted all these practises pious & religious & anathematize those men as arrogant who opposed them, or who prayed in the Martyries of hereticks. And hence came the custome of translating the bodies of the saints & martyrs into the Churches which were new built after this Persecution [of which there are divers instances in the reign of Constantius] & of dedicating these new Churches to the saints buried in them: all which gave occasion to the Emperor Iulian (as Cyrill relates) to accuse the Christians in this manner. You have filled all places, saith he, with sepulchres & monuments although you are no where bidden to prostrate your selves to sepulchres & to respect them officiously. And a little after: Since Iesus said that sepulchres are full of filthiness how do you invoke God upon them. And again: To that ancient dead man [videlicet Iesus] you have added new dead men. And in another place he saith that If Christians had adhered to the precepts of the Hebrews, they would have worshipped one God instead of many & not a man or rather not many unhappy men. In Egypt this superstition towards the dead seems to have advanced faster then in other places. For Antony the Monk who died in the year 358, complained that it was then grown customary among the Egyptians – – – – – – private families. ^{[Editorial Note 5]} You have heard above how some Christians went to the Cœmeteries for the advantag of devotion & health presently after Dioclesian's persecution, & it seems this opinion workt among Christians till it gained a general belief & made a very great noise. For Hilary in his book against Constantius written in the fift year of his banishment A. C. 361 makes this mention of what was then done in the east. Sine martyrio – – – – – – This was about the year 384. In the year 388 Palladius – - - - - - - - - that is before the year 381. And since the Egyptians preserved the bodies of the Saints & Martyrs & kept them not only in their Temples but even in their private houses upon beds above ground & abounding with more then sufficed them for their own uses sent them into all the world & Alexandria became eminent above all other cities for dispersing these miracle-working reliques of the martyrs, so as on this account to aquire glory with all men & manifest her self to be the Metropolis of the world; we may reccon that these miracles were cryed up as early in Egypt as in Syria & were propagated into all the Empire from Egypt & Syria & chiefly from Ægypt.

Gregory of Nyssen tells us that after the Persecution of Decius, Gregory bishop of Neocæsarea in Pontus instituted, amongst all people as an addition & corrollary of devotion towards God, that festival days & assemblies should be celebrated to them who had contended for the faith, that is, to the Martyrs. And adds this reason for the institution. When he observed that the simple & unskilfull multitude, by reason of corporal delights remained in the error of idols; that the principal thing might be corrected among them, namely that instead of their vain worship & superstition they might turn their eys upon God: he permitted that at the memories of the holy Martyrs they might make merry & delight themselves & be resolved into joy. In the same persecution of Decius Cyprian ordered the passions of the Martyrs in Afric to be registered in order to celebrate their memoirs annually with oblations & sacrifices And Felix Bishop of Rome a little after, as Platina relates Martyrum gloriæ consulens constituit ut quotannis sacrificia eorum nomine celebrarentur. Platina in Felice. By this means the Christians increased much in number & decreased as much in vertue untill they were purged & made white by the Persecution of Dioclesian. And this was the first step made in the Christian religion towards the veneration of the Martyrs [& tho it did not yet amount to an unlawfull worship, yet it disposed the Christians towards such a further veneration of the dead as in a short time ended in the invocation of saints{.}

The next step was the affecting to pray at the sepulchres of the Martyrs & the bringing {of} their bodies into the Oratories or Churches of the Christians.

Christians at first signed themselves with a cross in times of persecution only to signify that they were Christians. Then Constantine the great in his war Maxentius had a vision of a Cross appearing in the Clouds with this inscription In hoc signo vinces, which gave occasion to weak Christians to attribute some vertue to the signe of the cross & more especially to the wood of the cross it self which at that time being found in Iudea they distributed over all the Empire. And these supertitions towards the cross & towards the bodies of martyrs got ground among Christians all the reign of Constantine & his sons

It would require a large discourse also to shew how the Empire after it became Christian became in a short time very superstitious. I shall content my self with noting that in the fourth Century came in the custome of going on pilgramage to visit sacred places & particularly Ierusalem. For this City at that time became frequented with great crouds of people from all nations as Ierome an eye witness represents in some of his Epistles. [Also corporal pennances instead of repentance came in about the same time as I perceive by this Edict of the Emperor Theodosius: Sacratis – – – 389] At the same time came in Monkery the fountain of all superstitions: For in the reign of Constantine the great & his sons, Antony in Egypt & Hilarion in Syria laid the foundation of this sect & filled the wildernesses of Egypt & of Syria with Monks which in the reign Valentinian & Valens began to creept into towns & under the Archbishopricks of Alexandria & Antioch became the main body of the two horned Beast. Concerning whom it may be observed that upon their first going into the wilderness they were more tempted by unchast desires (as they themselves complained) then before. Their idle life made their thoughts wander & the forc{e}able restrant of their desires made them more vehement whereas Christians should endeavour to avoid temptation. At the same time came in also the Cælibacy of the Clergy, as I perceive by Ieromes Epistle against Vigilantius where he saith Quid facient Orientis Ecclesiæ? quid Ægypti et sedis Apostolicæ: quæ aut Virgines Clericos accipiunt, aut continentes, aut si uxores habuerint mariti esse desistunt? ^{[Editorial Note 6]} ② At the same time came in also a greater load – – – – subjiciuntur. ^① At the same time came in also the custome of writing fabulous Legends such as were the life of Antony writ by Athanasius. the lives of Paul & Hilarion writ by Ierom, the life of Martin writ by Sulpicius Severus, The ridiculous story of the hand of Arsenius in a Bagg the Historia Lausiaca writ by Theodoret, the books of miracles done at the shrines of Saints & written to be read in churches for the instruction of the people as Austin Bishop of Hippo relates; & the lives & miracles of the Roman Saints written in all following ages to this day. And {illeg} ² At the same time came in also a greater load – – – subjiciuntur.

But that which is most to the present purpose is the falling away of the Christian Empire to Idolatry; this being the apostasy chiefly meant by the Devil's coming down amongst the inhabitants of the earth & sea with great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time & by the woman's flying into the wilderness where she commits spiritual fornication with the kings of the earth & makes the nations drunk with the wine of her fornication. By her whoredome she turns the nations into a spiritually d{esol}ate <11v> wildernes & therefore her apostasy is by Iohn called flying into the wilderness & her whoredome is by Daniel called the abomination which maketh desolate.

Gregory Nyssen

Afterwards, the Emperor Aurelian refused to eject Paul of Samosat at the instance of the eastern Bishops without the approbation of the Bishop of Rome.

[Rome being the Metropolis of the Roman Empire, the Bishop of this city attempted very early to act with an authority above that of other bishops & to oppose the proceedings of other Bishops for extending her jurisdiction over them & were therein favoured by the Emperors So in the days of Tertullian when the Churches of Asia had excommunicated the Cataphrygians, he wrote Letters of peace to those hereticks & excommunicated the Churches of Asia for solemnizing the resurrection on the 14^th day of the Month Nisan. In the days of Cyprian Pope Stephen excommunicated the churches of Afric & Asia as if they had been under his jurisdiction. The Popes Melchiades & Silvester supported Cæcilian against the sentence of a Council of the African Churches & thereby subverted the ancient Church of Afric which rejected the Baptism of hereticks & set upon a party which favoured it. Pope Iulius the successor of Silvester A. C. 441 received the appeals of Athanasius Paul Marcellus & Asclepas from the Councils of the Greeks, absolved them from the sentences of those Councils & summoned the Greeks to appear before them in a Council at Rome the next year & give an account of their proceedings, & the western part of the Council of Serdica A. C. 347, decreed appeals from all the Churches to the Bishop of Rome & thereby set up his jurisdiction over all the western Churches, & attempted to do it over the eastern. But the eastern Emperor Constantius soon after conquering the West, caused his authority to be abrogated & that of the Greek Councils over their own members to be restored by the Councils of Millain Arles Biters & Aquileia A. C. 355 & 356. But] In the winter between the years 378 & 379 at the request of a Council of Italian Bishops convened in autumn under Pope Damasus, the Emperors Gratian & Valentinian restored to the Bishop of Rome the universal Bishopric over all the Western Churches: & to gain the same authority over the eastern, Pope Damasus A. C. 381 in favour of Paulinus opposed the Council of Constantinople usually called the second General Council, & summoned the eastern Bishops to a Council at Rome the next year, but they came not. Afterwards in the reign of the Greek Emperor Iustinian & again in the reign of the Greek Emperor Phocas, the Bishop of Rome obteined some dominion over the Greek Churches but of no long continuance. His standing jurisdiction was only over the homousian Churches of the Western Empire: & this jurisdiction was set up by the following Edict of the Emperors Gratian & Valentinian [in the winter between the death of Valens & the reign of Theodosius.]

The Edict was in these words. — Volumus ut quicunque &c

The Cainites were a branch of the Nicolaitans. They had abominable {actions} & held that the way to be saved was to try & satisfy their lusts with a{bominable} actions. They gave barbarous names to many Angels which they feigned to {them}selves & invoked. Echard p 432.

Carpocrates a Platonic philosopher & father of the Gnosticks p 4{illeg}

Basilides died A. C. 133

Valentinus an Egyptian Platonist.

The Ophites were a sect of the Nicholaitans & held strange opinions, {&} worshipped a serpent &c

The synodicon takes notice of a Council held at Hierapolis by Apoll{o}naris bishop of that city who with 26 other bishops condemned & exclud{ed} from the Church Montanus Maximilla & Theodotus. This was the first council {of} Bishops & met A. C. 181 or not long after:

The Council of Iconium called about the time of Origens retirement from Alexandria which was A. C. 231.

A. C. 260 Gallienus lost Dacia entirely to the Quadi & Sarmatans. The Goths & Scythians ravaged all Pontus & a great part of the lesser Asia & in Europe all Greece & Macedonia, & carried away many Christians.

it, & by doing so they put a stop to sabellianism & propagated an opinion into all the Empire that the father & Son were two distinct & complete substance{s}, the son being totus ex toto patre & perfectus ex perfecto.