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"*(i:.^i: 
 
THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 DEFINITIONS OF ALL RELIGIOUS TERMS} 
 
 A COMPJIEHENSIVE 
 
 VIEW OF EVERY ARTICLE 
 
 IN THE 
 
 SYSTEM OF DIVINITY; 
 
 AN 
 
 IMPARTIAL ACCOUNT 
 
 OF 
 
 ALL THE PRINCIPAL DENOMINATIONS 
 
 which have subsisted in the 
 
 RELIGIOUS WORLD, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE PRESEJ^T DAY. 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 AN ACCURATE STATEMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 The most remarkable Transactions and Events 
 
 Recorded in Ecclesiastical History. 
 
 U 
 
 BY CHARLES BUCK. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES, 
 
 VOL. L 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE SECOND LONDON, EDITION. 
 
 COSiteJall: 
 
 PRINTED FOR W. W. WOODWARD, 
 
 NO. 52, CORNER OF CHESNUT AND SECOND STREETS, PHILADELPHIV, 
 
 1807. 
 
 DICKINSON, raiNTEa. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It was an diservation of one of the wisest of men, " that the soul be 
 wWiout knowledge, it is not good." Knowledge, in a great measure, forms the 
 true dignity and happiness of man : It is that by wliich he holds an honourable 
 rank in the scale of being, and by which he is rendered capable of adding to the 
 felicity of liis fellow-creatures. Every attempt, therefore, to enlarge its bounda- 
 ries, and facilitate its acquisition, must be considered as worthy of our attention 
 and regard. The present Work is designed to promote these valuable and im- 
 portant ends. 
 
 The plan of conveying knowledge by dictionaries has been long estaWisbed, 
 and well received in the republic of letters. A dictionary, however, of a reli- 
 gious and ecclesiastical nature was still a desideratum in the religious world; for 
 although we have had dictionaries which explained scripture terms, yet it is evi- 
 dent these could not embrace the history of the church since the sacred canon wa» 
 concluded, nor explain the many terms which have been used; nor, indeed, 
 point out the various sects and denominations which have subsisted since that 
 time. I do not mean, by these remarks, to depreciate the valuable Works above 
 referred to : 1 am sensible of their excellencies, and I have no wish to undervalue 
 them in order to exalt my own. This Work, however, is of a difierent nature, 
 as the Reader will easily see, if he take the trouble to compare and examine. 
 
 There may, doubtless, be defects m this publication which may have escaped 
 my attention ; but whoever considers the various books that must have been con- 
 sulted ; the discriminations that were necessary to be made ; the patient investi- 
 gation required; and the toil of selecting, transcribing, and composing, must be 
 convinced that it has been attended with no small difficulty. The advancages, 
 however, which my own mind derived from the Work, and the probability of its 
 being useful to others, greatly encouraged me in its prosecution. Besides, to be 
 active, to be useful, to do something for the good of mankind, I have always 
 considered as the honour of an intelligent being. It is not the student wrapt up 
 in metaphysical subtilties; it is not the recluse living in perpetual solitude; it is 
 not the miser who is continually amassing wealth, tliat can be considered as the 
 greatest ornaments or the greatest blessings to human society :-it is rather the 
 useful than the ihining talent that is to be coveted. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 Perhaps it may be said, the Work is tinctured too much with my own senti- 
 ments, and that the theology is too antiquated to please a Uberal, philosophizing, 
 and refined age. In answer to this, I observe, that I could do no other, as an 
 honest man, than communicate what I believed to be the tmth. Itis a false libe- 
 rality to acquiesce with every man's opinion, to fall in with every man's scheme, 
 to trifle with error, or imagine there is no difference between one sentiment and 
 another ; yet, notwithstanding this declaration, I trust the features of bigotry 
 are not easily discernible in this Work ; and that, while I have endeavoured to 
 carry the torch of Truth in my hand, I have not forgotten to walk in the path of 
 Candour, 
 
 It is almost needless here to say, that I have availed myself of all the writings 
 of the best and most eminent authors 1 could obtain. Whatever has struck me 
 as of importance in ecclesiastical history ; whatever good and accurate in defi- 
 nition ; whatever just views of the passions of the human mind ; whatever terms 
 used in the religious world ; and whatever instructive and impressive in the sys- 
 tems of divinity and moral philosophy, I have endeavoured to incorporate in this 
 Work. And in order to prevent its being a dr} detail of terms and of dates, I 
 have given the substance of what has been generaD)'^ advanced on each subject, 
 and occasionally selected some of tlie most interesting and practical passages 
 from our best and celebrated sermons. 1 trust, therefore, it will not only be of 
 use to inform the mind, but impress the heart ; and thus promote the real good of 
 the Reader. I'he Critic,' however, may be disposed to be severe ; and it will, 
 perhaps, be easy for him to obsene miperfections. But be this as it may : I can 
 assure him I feel myself happy in the idea that the Work is not intended to serve 
 a party, to encourage bigotry, or strengthen prejudice, but " for the sendee of 
 Truth, by one who would be glad to attend and grace her triumphs; as her 
 soldier, if he has had the honour to serve successfully under her banner ; or as a 
 captive tied to her chariot-wheels, if he has, though undesignedly, committed 
 any offence against her." After all, however, what a learned author said of an- 
 other work I say of this:—" Jf jt have merit it will go down to posterity ; if it 
 
 have none, the sooner it die* and is forgot the better." 
 
 C.B. 
 
A 
 
 THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 A 
 
 ABB 
 
 ABBA, a Syrlac word, signify- 
 m^Fcither. Itis more particu- 
 larly used in the Syriac, Coptic, and 
 Ethiopic churches, as a title given 
 to the bishops. The bishops them- 
 selves bestowed the title Abbamore 
 eminently on the bishop of Alexan- 
 dria, which occasioned the people 
 to give him the titlie of Baba, or 
 Papa; that is, Grandfather: a title 
 which he bore before the bishop of 
 Rome. It is a Jewish title of 
 honour given to certain Rabbins 
 called Tanaites : it is also used by 
 some writers of the middle age 
 for the superior of a monastery. 
 Saint Mark and Saint Paul use this 
 word in their Greek, Markxiv, 36. 
 Rom. viii, 15. Gal. iv, 6, because 
 it was then commonly known in 
 the synagogues and the primitive 
 assemblies of the christians. It is 
 thought by Selden, Witsius, Dod- 
 dridge, and others, that Saint Paul 
 alluded to a law among the Jews 
 which forbade servants or slaves 
 to call their master Abba, or 
 Father ; and that the apostle meant 
 to convey the idea that those who 
 believed in Christ were no longer 
 slaves to sin; but, being brought 
 Vol. I. B 
 
 ABB 
 
 into a state of holy freedom, 
 might consequently address God 
 as their Father. 
 
 ABBESS, the superiorofan ab- 
 bey or convent of nuns. The abbess 
 has the same rights and authority 
 over her nuns that the abbots re- 
 gular have over their monks. The 
 s«x, indeed, does not allow her to 
 perform the spiritual functions an- 
 nexed to the priesthood, where- 
 with the abbot is usually invested ; 
 but there are instances of some ab- 
 besses who have a right, or rather 
 a privilege, to commission a priest 
 to act for them. They have even 
 a kind of episcopal jurisdiction, 
 as well as some abbots who are 
 exempted from tbe visitation of 
 their diocesan. 
 
 ABBEY, a monastery, govern- 
 ed by a superior under the title of 
 Abbot or Abbess. Monasteries 
 were at first nothing more than re- 
 ligious houses, whither persons re- 
 tired from the bustle of the world 
 to spend their time in solitude and 
 devotion ; but they soon degenerat- 
 ed from their original institution, 
 and procured large privileges, 
 exemptions, and riches. They 
 
ABB 
 
 ABB 
 
 prevailed greatly in Britain before 
 the reformation, particularly in 
 England; and as they increased 
 in riches, so the state became 
 poor, for the lands which these 
 regulars possessed could never 
 re vertto the lords who gave them. 
 These places were wholly abolish- 
 ed by Henry VIII. He first ap- 
 pointed visitors to inspect into the 
 lives of the monks and nuns, which 
 were found in some places very 
 disorderly; upon which the ab- 
 bots, perceiving their dissolution 
 unavoidable, were induced to re- 
 sign their houses to the king, who 
 by that means became invested 
 with the abbey lands : these were 
 afterwards granted to different 
 persons, whose descendants enjoy 
 them at this day : they were then 
 valued at 2,853,000/. per annum ; 
 an immense sum in those days. — 
 Though the suppression of these 
 houses, considered in a religious 
 and political light, was a great 
 benefit to the nation, yet it must 
 be owned, that, at the time they 
 flourished, they were not entirely 
 useless. Abbeys were then the 
 repositories as well as the semina- 
 ries of learning : many valuable 
 books and national records have 
 been pi'eserved in their libraries ; 
 the only places wherein they could 
 have been safely lodged in those 
 turbulent times. Indeed, the his- 
 torians of this country are chiefly 
 beholden to the monks for the 
 knowledge they have of former 
 national events. Thus a kind Pro- 
 vidence overruled even the insti- 
 tutions of superstition for good. 
 See Monastery. 
 
 ABBOT, the chief ruler of a 
 mon8:tery or abbey. At first they 
 
 were laymen, and subject to the 
 bishop and ordinary pastors. 
 Their monasteries being remote 
 fromcities,andbuiltinthefaj'thest 
 solitudes, they had no share in 
 ecclesiastical aff'airs; but, there 
 being among them several persons 
 of learning, they were called out 
 of their deserts by the bishops, 
 and fixed in the suburbs of the ci- 
 ties ; and at length in the cities 
 themselves. From that time they 
 degenerated, and, learning to be 
 ambitious, aspired to be independ- 
 ent of the bishops, which occasion- 
 ed some severe laws to be made 
 against them. At length, how- 
 ever, the abbots carried their 
 point, and obtained the title of 
 lord, with other badges of the 
 episcopate, particularly the mi- 
 tre. Hence arose new distinc- 
 tions among them. Those were 
 termed mitred abbots who were 
 privileged to wear the mitre and 
 exercise episcopal authority with- 
 in their respective precincts, be- 
 ing exempted from the jurisdic- 
 tion of the bishop. Others were 
 called cro5zVre(5^ abbots, from their 
 bearing the crosier^ or pastoral 
 staff". Others were styled cecume- 
 7iical or universal abbots, in imi- 
 tation of the patriarch of Constan- 
 tinople ; while others were term- 
 ed cardi7ial abbots, from their su- 
 periority over all other abbots. 
 At present, in the Roman catho- 
 lic countries, the chief distinc- 
 tions are those of regular and 
 comtnendatory. The former take 
 the vow and wear the habit of 
 their order ; whereas the latter 
 are seculars, though they are ob- 
 liged by their bulls to take orders 
 vv'hen of proper age. 
 
ABL 
 
 3 
 
 ABS 
 
 ABELIANS, or Abelonians, 
 a sect which arose in the diocese 
 ,of Hippoo in Africa, and is sup- 
 posed to have begun in the reign 
 of Arcadius, and ended in that of 
 Theodosius. Indeed, it was not 
 calculated for being of any long 
 continuance. They regulated mar- 
 riage after the example of Abel, 
 who, they pretended, was married, 
 but lived in a state of continence : 
 they therefore allowed each man 
 to marry one woman, but enjoin- 
 ed them to live in the same state. 
 To keep up the sect, when a man 
 and woman entered into this soci- 
 ety, they adopted a boy and a girl, 
 who were to inherit their goods, 
 and to marry upon the same tei^ms 
 of not having children, but of 
 adopting two of different sexes. 
 
 ABESTA, the name of one of 
 the sacred books of the Persian 
 Magi, which they ascribe to their 
 great founder Zoroaster. The 
 Abesta is a commentary on two 
 others of their religious books 
 called Zend sind Pazend ; the three 
 together including the whole sys- 
 tem of the Ignicold, or worship- 
 pers of fire. 
 
 ABILITY. See Inability. 
 
 ABLUTION, a ceremony in 
 use among the ancients, and still 
 practised in several parts of the 
 world. It consisted in washing the 
 body, which was always clone be- 
 fore sacrificing, or even entering 
 their houses. Ablutions appear to 
 be as old as any ceremonies, and 
 external worship itself. Moses en- 
 joined them, the heathens adopted 
 them, and Mahomet and his fol- 
 lowers have continued them. The 
 Egyptians, the Greeks, the Ro- 
 mans, the Jews, all had them. The 
 
 ancient christians had their ablu- 
 tions before commtinion, which 
 the Romish church still retain be- 
 fore their mass, and sometimes af- 
 ter. The Syrians, Copts, &c. have 
 their solemn washings on Good 
 Friday ; the Turks also have their 
 ablutions, their Ghast, their Wo- 
 dou, Aman, &c. 
 
 ABRAHAMITES, an order of - 
 monks exterminated for idolatry 
 by Theophilus, in the ninth cen- 
 tury. Also the name of another 
 sect of heretics who had adopted 
 the errors of Paulus. 'See Pau- 
 
 LICIANS. 
 
 ABSOLUTION signifies ac- 
 quittal. It is taken ul&o for that act 
 whereby the priest declares the sinS 
 of such as are penitent remitted. 
 The Romanists hold absolution a 
 part of the sacrament of penance ; 
 and the council of Trent and that 
 of Florence declare the form or es- 
 sence of the sacrament to lie in 
 the words of absolution. " I ab- 
 solve thee of thy sins." Accord- 
 ing to this, no one can receive ab- 
 solution without the privity, con- 
 sent, and declaration of the priest; 
 except, therefore, the priest be 
 willing, God himself cannot par- 
 don any man. This is a doctrine 
 as blasphemous as it is ridiculous. 
 The chief passage on which they 
 ground their power of absolution 
 is that in John xx, 23 — " Whose- 
 soever sins ye remit, they are re- 
 mitted unto them, and whose- 
 soever sins ye retain, they are re- 
 tained." But this is not to the pur- 
 pose ; since this was a special com- 
 mission to the apostles themselves, 
 and the first preachers of the gos- 
 pel, and most probably referred to 
 the power he gave them of dis- 
 cerning spirits. By virtue of this 
 
AB S 
 
 4 
 
 AB Y 
 
 power, Peter struck Annanias and 
 Sapphira dead, and Paul struck 
 Elimas blind. But, supposing the 
 passage in question to apply to the 
 successors of the apostles, and to 
 ministers in general, it can only 
 import that their office is to preach 
 pardon to the penitent, assuring 
 those who believe that their sins 
 are forgiven through the merits of 
 Jesus Christ ; and that those who 
 remain in unbelief are in a state of 
 condemnation. Any idea of au- 
 thority given to fallible, vminspired 
 men to absolve sinners, different 
 from this, is unscriptural ; nor can 
 I see much utility in the terms 
 ministerial or declarative absolu- 
 tion, as adopted by some divines, 
 since absolution is wholly the pre- 
 rogative of God ; and the terms 
 abovementioned may, to say the 
 least, have no good influence on 
 the minds of the ignorant and su- 
 perstitious. 
 
 ABSTEMII, a name given to 
 such persons as could not partake 
 of the cup of the eucharist, on ac- 
 count of their natural aversion to 
 wine. 
 
 ABSTINENCE, in a general 
 sense, is the act of refraining from 
 something which we have a pro- 
 pension to or find pleasure in. It is 
 more particularly used for fasting 
 -or forbearing of necessary food. 
 Among the Jews, various kinds of 
 abstinence were ordained by their 
 law. Among the primitive christi- 
 ans, some denied themselves the 
 use of such meats as M-ere prohi- 
 bited by that law ; othei's looked up- 
 on this abstinence with contempt; 
 as to which Paul gives his opinion, 
 Romans xiv, 1, 3. The council of 
 Jerusalem, which was held by 
 
 the apostles, enjoined the christian 
 converts to abstain from meat? 
 strangled, from blood, from forni- 
 cation, and from idolatry. Acts xv. 
 The spiritual monarchy of the wes- 
 tern world introduced another 
 sort of abstinence, which may be 
 called ritual^ and consists in ab- 
 staining from particular meats at 
 certain times andseasons, the rules 
 of which are called rogations. If 
 I mistake not, the impropriety of 
 this kind of abstinence is clearly 
 pointed out in 1st Tim. iv, 3. — 
 In England, abstinence from flesh 
 has been enjoined by statute, even 
 since the reformation; particularly 
 on Fridays and Saturdays, on 
 vigils, and on all days commonly 
 called fish days. The like injunc- 
 tions were renewed under queen 
 Elizabeth ; but at the same time 
 it was declared, that this was done 
 not out of motives of religion, as 
 if there were any difference in 
 meats, but in favour of the con- 
 sumption of fish, and to multiply 
 the number of fishermen and ma- 
 riners, as well as to spare the stock 
 of sheep. See Fasting. 
 
 ABSTINENTS, a set of he- 
 retics that appeared in France and 
 Spain about the end of the third 
 century. They are supposed to 
 have borrowed part of their opi- 
 nions from the Gnostics and Ma- 
 nichseans, because they opposed 
 marriage, condemned the use of 
 flesh meat, and placed the Holy 
 Ghost in the class of created beings, 
 
 ABYSS, in a general sense, de- 
 notes something profound ; in its 
 literal sense it signifies without a 
 bottom ; in a more particular sense, 
 it denotes a deep mass or fund of 
 waters. In this last sense the 
 
AB Y 
 
 AC A 
 
 word is used in the Septuagint for 
 the water which God created at 
 the beginning with the earth, which 
 encompassed it round, and which 
 our translators render by deep. 
 Tluis it is that darkness is said to 
 have been on the face of the abyss^ 
 Gen. i, 2. Abyss is also used for 
 an immense cavern in the earth, 
 wherein God is supposed to have 
 collected all those waters on the 
 third day, which in our version is 
 rendered the seas^ and elsewhere 
 the great deep. Abyss is likewise 
 used to denote the grave or com- 
 mon receptacle of the dead, Rom. 
 X, 7; also hell, or the bottomless 
 pit, Luke viii, 31. Rev. ix, 1. Rev. 
 xi, 7. See Deluge. 
 
 ABYSSINIAN CHURCH, 
 that which is established in the 
 empire of Abyssinia. They are a 
 branch of the Copts, with whom 
 they agree in admitting only one 
 nature in Jesus Christ, and re- 
 jecting the council of Chalcedon ; 
 whence they are also called Mo- 
 nophysites and Eutychians, which 
 see. The Abyssinian chmxh is go- 
 verned by a bishop styled abiino. 
 They have canons also, and monks. 
 The emperor has a kind of supre- 
 macy in ecclesiastical matters. The 
 Abyssinians have at divers times 
 expressed an inclination to be re- 
 conciled to the see of Rome ; but 
 rather from interested views than 
 any other motive. They practise 
 circumcision on females as well as 
 males. They eat no meats pi'o- 
 hibited by the law of Moses. They 
 observe both Saturday and Sun- 
 day sabbaths. Women are oblig- 
 ed to the legal purifications. Bro- 
 thers marry their brothers' wives, 
 fee. On the other hand, they ce- 
 
 lebrate the Epiphany with peculiar 
 festivity ; have four Lents ; pray 
 for the dead; and invoke angels. 
 Images in painting they venerate ; 
 but abhor all those in relievo, ex- 
 cept the cross. They admit the 
 apocryphal books and the canons 
 of the apostles, as well as the apos- 
 tolical constitutions, for genuine. 
 They allow of divorce, which is 
 easily granted among them, and 
 by the civil judge; nor do their 
 civil laws prohibit polygamy. — 
 They have, at least, as many mi- 
 racles and legends of saints as the 
 Romish church. They hold that 
 the soul of man is not created ; be- 
 cause, say they, God finished all 
 his works on the sixth day. Thus 
 we see that the doctrines and ri- 
 tual of this sect form a strange com- 
 pound of Judaism and Christianity, 
 ignorance and superstition. Some, 
 indeed, have been at a loss to know 
 whether they are most Christians 
 or Jews : it is to be feared, how-^ 
 ever, that there is little beside the 
 name of Christianity among them. 
 Should the reader be desirous to 
 know more of this sect, he may 
 consult Father Lobe's Voyage to 
 Abyssinia; Bruce' s Travels; Lu- 
 dolpli's Hist, of Ethiopia; and Die?. 
 of Arts and Sciences^ vol. i, p. 15. 
 ACACIANS, a sect of heretics 
 in the fourth century; so named 
 from Acacius, bishop of Csesarea, 
 who denied the Son to be of the 
 same substance with the Father, 
 though some of them allowed that 
 he was of a similar substance. Al- 
 so the name of another sect, named 
 after Acacius, patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, in the fifth century, 
 who favoured the opinions of Eii- 
 tyches. See Eutychians. 
 
AC A 
 
 6 
 
 ACC 
 
 ACADEMICS, a denomina- 
 tion given to the cultivators of a 
 species of philosophy originally 
 derived from Socrates, and after- 
 wards illustrated and enforced by 
 Plato. The contradictory systems 
 which had been successively urged 
 upon the world were become so 
 numerous, that, from a view of 
 the variety and uncertainty of hu- 
 man opinions, many were led to 
 conclude that truth lay beyond the 
 reach of our comprehension. The 
 consequence of this conclusion was 
 absolute scepticism: hence the ex- 
 istence of God, the immortality of 
 the soul, the preferableness of vir- 
 tue to vice, were all held as uncer- 
 tain. This sect, with that of the 
 Epicureans, were the two chief 
 that were in vogue at the time of 
 Christ's appearance, and were em- 
 braced and supported by persons 
 of high rank and wealth. A con- 
 sideration of the principles of these 
 two sects [see Epicureans] will 
 lead us to form an idea of the de- 
 plorable state of the world at the 
 time of Christ's birth; and the ne- 
 cessity there was of some divine 
 teacher to convey to the mind true 
 and certain principles of religion 
 and wisdom. Jesus Christ, there- 
 fore, is with great propriety called 
 the Day Spring from on High, the 
 Sun of Righteousness, that arose 
 upon a benighced world to dispel 
 the clouds of ignorance and error, 
 and discover to lost man the path to 
 happiness and heaven. But, as Ave 
 do not mean to enlarge much upon 
 these and some other sects, which 
 belong rather to philosophy than 
 theology, we shall refer the reader 
 to Budden^s Introduction to the 
 History of Philosophy ; Stanley'' s 
 
 Lives; Brucker^s History of Phi- 
 losophy ; or (which is more mo- 
 dern) Enfeld'^s Abridgment. 
 
 ACCLAMATIONS, ecclesi- 
 astical, were shouts of joy which 
 the people expressed by way of ap- 
 probation of their preachers. It 
 hardly seems credible to us that 
 practices of this kind should ever 
 have found their way into the 
 church, where all ought to be reve- 
 rence and solemnity. Yet so it was 
 in the fourth century. The people 
 were not only permitted, but some- 
 times even exhorted, by the preach- 
 er himself, to approve his talents 
 by clapping of hands, and loud ac- 
 clamations of praise. The usual 
 words they made use of were, 
 " Orthodox," " Tiiird apostle," 
 &c. These acclamations being car- 
 ried to excess, and often misplaced, 
 were frequently proi'ibited by the 
 ancient doctors, and at length abro- 
 gated. Even as late, however, as 
 the seventeenth and eighteenth 
 centuries, vt'e find practices that 
 were not very decorous ; such as 
 loud humming, frequent groaning, 
 strange gestures of the body, &c. 
 See articles Dancers, Shakers. 
 
 ACCOMMODATION of 
 SCRIPTURE is the application 
 of it, not to its literal meaning, but 
 to something analogous to it. Thus 
 a prophecy is said to be fulfilled pro- 
 perly when a thing foretold comes 
 to pass ; and, by way of accommo- 
 dation, when an event happens to 
 any place or people similar to what 
 fell out some time before to ano- 
 ther. Thus the words of Isaiah, 
 spoken to those of his own time, 
 are said to be fulfilled in those 
 who lived in our Saviour's. — " Ye 
 hypocrites, well did Esaias pro- 
 
AGO 
 
 ACT 
 
 phesv, &c. : which same words 
 St. Paul afterwards accommo- 
 dates to the Jews of his time, Is. 
 xxix, 14. Matt, xv, 8. Acts xiii, 
 41. Great care, however, should 
 be taken by preachers who are fond 
 of accommodating texts, that they 
 first clearly state the literal sense 
 of the passage. 
 
 ACCURSED, something that 
 lies under a curse or sentence of 
 excommunication. In the Jewish 
 idiom, accursed 2ind crucified were 
 synonymous: among them, every 
 one was accounted accursed who 
 died on a tree. This serves to ex- 
 plain the difficult passage in Rom. 
 ix, 3. where the apostle wishes 
 himself accursed after the vianner 
 of Christ; i. e. crucified, if hap- 
 pily he might by such a death 
 save his countrymen. The prepo- 
 sition oi'no here made use of is used 
 in the same sense, 2d Tim. i, 3, 
 where it obviously signifies after 
 the manner of. 
 
 ACEPHALI, such bishops as 
 were exempt from the discipline 
 and jurisdiction of their ordinarj^ 
 bishop or patriarch. It was also 
 the denomination of certain sects ; 
 1, of those who, in the affair of the 
 council of Ephesus, refused to fol- 
 low either St. Cyril or John of An- 
 tioch ; 2, of certain heretics in the 
 fifth century, who, at first, follow- 
 ed Peter Mongus, but afterwards 
 abandoned him, upon his subscrib- 
 ing to the council of Chalcedon, 
 they themselves adhering to the 
 Eutychian heresy; and, 3, of the 
 followers of Severus of Antioch, 
 and of all, in general, who held 
 out against the council of Chalce- 
 don. 
 
 ACOEMETiE, or Acoemeti, 
 
 an order of monks at Constantino- 
 ple in the fifth centurj^, whom the 
 writers of that and the following 
 ages called AmiijJloci ; that is. Watch- 
 ers, because they performed divine 
 service day and night without in- 
 termission. They divided them- 
 selves into three classes, who alter- 
 nately succeeded one another, so 
 that they kept up a perpetual course 
 of worship. This practice they 
 founded upon that passage — 
 " Pray without ceasing," 1st 
 Thess. V, 17. 
 
 ACOLYTHI, or Acoluthi, 
 young people who, in the primitive 
 times, aspired to the ministry, and 
 for that purpose continually at- 
 tended the bishop. In the Romish 
 church, Acolythi were of longer 
 continuance; but their functions 
 were different from those of their 
 first institution. Their business 
 was to light the tapers, carry the 
 candlesticks and the incense pot, 
 and prepare the wine and water. 
 At Rome there were three kinds ; 
 
 1, those who waited on the pope; 
 
 2, those who served in the church- 
 es ; 3, and others, who, together 
 with the deacons, officiated in other 
 parts of the city. 
 
 ACT OF FAITH {Auto da 
 Fe\ in the Romish church, is a 
 solemn day held by the Inquisi- 
 tion for the punishmentof heretics, 
 and the absolution of the innocent 
 accused. They usually contrive the 
 Auto to fall on some great festival, 
 that the execution may pass with 
 the more awe; and it is always on 
 \ Sunday. The Auto da Fe maj 
 be called the last act of the Inqui- 
 sitorial tragedy : it is a kind of 
 giol-delivery, appointed as often 
 as a competent number of prison- 
 
ACT 
 
 ACT 
 
 ers in the Inquisition are convict- 
 ed of heresy, either by their own 
 voluntary or extorted confession, 
 or on the evidence of certain wit- 
 nesses. The process is thus : — In 
 the morning they a^e brought in- 
 to a great hall, where they have 
 certain habits put on, which they 
 are to wear in the pi'ocession, and 
 by w^hich they know their doom. 
 The procession is led up by Domi- 
 nican friars ; after which come 
 the penitents, being all in black 
 coats without sleeves, and bare- 
 footed, with a wax candle in their 
 hands. These are followed by 
 the penitents who have narrowly 
 escaped being burnt, who over 
 their black coats have flames 
 painted, with their points turned 
 downwards. Next come the ne- 
 gative and relapsed, w^ho are to 
 be burnt, having flames on their 
 habits pointing upwards. After 
 these come such as profess doc- 
 trines contrary to the faith of 
 Rome, who, besides flames point- 
 ing upwards, have their picture 
 painted on their breasts, with dogs, 
 serpents, and devils, all open- 
 mouthed, about it. Each prison- 
 er is attended with a familiar of 
 the Inquisition ; and those to be 
 burnt have also a Jesuit on each 
 hand, who are continually preach- 
 ing to them to abjoi-e. After the 
 prisoners, comes a troop of fami- 
 liars on horseback j and after them 
 the Inquisitors, and other officers 
 of the com-t, on mules : last of all, 
 the Inquisitor-general on a white 
 horse, led by two men with black 
 hats and green hatbands. A scaf- 
 fold is erected big enough for two 
 or three thousand people ; at one 
 e^d of which are the prisoners, at 
 
 the other the Inquisitors. After 
 a sermon made up of encomiums 
 of the Inquisition, and invectives 
 against heretics, a priest ascends a 
 desk near the scaffold, and, having 
 taken the abjuration of the peni- 
 tents, recites the final sentence of 
 those who are to be put to death, 
 and delivers them to the secular 
 arm, earnestly beseeching at the 
 same time the secular power 720t 
 to touch their bloody or put their 
 lives in danger! ! I The prisoners, 
 being thus in the hands of the ci- 
 vil magistrate, are presently load- 
 ed with chains, and carried first 
 to the secular gaol, and from 
 thence, in an hour or two, brought 
 before the civil judge; who, after 
 asking in what religion they in- 
 tend to die, pronounces sentence 
 on such as declare thev die in the 
 communion of the church of 
 Rome, that they shall be first 
 strangled, and then burnt to ash- 
 es; on such as die in any other 
 faith, that they be burnt alive. 
 Both are immediately carried to 
 the Ribera, the place of execution, 
 where there are as many stakes 
 set up as there are, prisoners to he 
 burnt, with a quantity of dry furze 
 about them. The stakes of the 
 professed, that is, such as persist 
 in the heresv, are about four yards 
 high, having a small board towards 
 the top for the prisoner to be seat- 
 ed on. The negative and relapsed 
 being first sti'angled and burnt, the 
 professed mount their stakes by 
 a ladder; and the Jesuits, after 
 several repeated exhortations to 
 be reconciled to the church, part 
 with them ; telling them that they 
 leave them to the devil, who is 
 standing at their elbow, to receive 
 
ACT 
 
 ADA 
 
 their souls, and carry them with 
 him to the flames of hell. On this 
 a great shout is raised ; and the 
 cry is, " Let the dogs^ beards he 
 made /" which is done by thrusting 
 flaming furzes fastened to long 
 poles against their faces, till their 
 faces are burnt to a coal, which is 
 accompanied with the loudest ac- 
 clamations of joy. At last, fire is 
 set to the furze at the bottom of 
 the stake, over which the profess- 
 ed are chained so high, that the 
 top of the flame seldom reaches 
 higher than the seat they sit on ; 
 so that they rather seem roasted 
 than burnt. There cannot be a 
 more lamentable spectacle: the 
 sufferers continually cry out, while 
 thev are able, " Pity, for the love 
 of God !" Yet it is beheld, by all 
 sexes and ages, with transports of 
 joy and satisfaction. — O, merciful 
 God! is this the benign, humane 
 religion thou hast given to men ? 
 Surely not. If such were the ge- 
 nius of Christianity, then it would 
 be no honour to be a christian. 
 Let us, however, rejoice that the 
 time is coming when the demon 
 of Persecution shall be banished 
 out of this our world, and the 
 true spirit of benevolence and can- 
 dour pervade the universe ; when 
 none shall hurt or destroy, but the 
 €arth be filled with the knowledge 
 of the Lord, as the waters cover 
 the sea ! See Inquisition. 
 
 ACTION FOR THE PUL- 
 PIT. — See Declamation. 
 
 ACTSOFTHE APOSTLES, 
 
 one of the sacred books of the New 
 Testament, containing the history 
 of the infant church during tlie 
 space of twenty-nhie or Wiirty 
 Vol. L C 
 
 years from the ascension of our 
 Lord to the year of Christ 63. It 
 was written by Luke, and address- 
 ed to Theophilus, the person to 
 whom the evangelist had before 
 dedicated his gospel. The style 
 of this work, which was originally 
 composed in Greek, is much purer 
 than that of the other canonical 
 writers. For the contents of this 
 book, we refer the reader to the 
 book itself. 
 
 There have been several acts of 
 the apostles, such as the acts of 
 Abdias, of Peter, of Paul, St. John 
 the Evangelist, St. Andrew, St. 
 Thomas, St Philip, and St. Mat- 
 thias ; but they have been all prov- 
 ed to be spurious. 
 
 ACTS OF PILATE, a rela- 
 tion sent by Pilate to the emperor 
 Tiberius concerning Jesus Christ, 
 his death, resurrection, ascension, 
 and the crimes of Avhich he was 
 convicted before him. Itwas acus- 
 tom among the Romans, that the 
 pro-consuls and governors of pro- 
 vinces should draw up acts or me- 
 moirs of what happened in the 
 course of their government, and 
 send them to the emperor and se- 
 nate. The genuine acts of Pilate 
 were sent by him to Tiberius, wlio 
 reported them to the senate ; but 
 they were rejected bv that assem- 
 bly, because not immediately ad- 
 dressed to them ; as is testified by 
 TertuUian, in his Apol., cap. 5, & 
 20, 21. The heretics forged acts 
 in imitation of them ; but both the 
 genuine and the spurious are now 
 lost. 
 
 ADAMITES, a sectthat sprung 
 up in the second century. Epipiia- 
 nius tells us,^that they were called 
 Adamites from their pretending to 
 
A D M 
 
 iO 
 
 AD O 
 
 be re-established in the state of in- 
 nocence, such as Adam was at the 
 moment of his creation, whence 
 they ought to imitate him in going 
 naked. They detested marriage ; 
 maintaining thatthe conjugal union 
 V7ot\ld never have taken place- up- 
 on earth, had sin been unknown. 
 This obscure and ridiculous sect 
 did not last long. It was, how- 
 ever, revived with additional ab- 
 surdities in the twelfth century. 
 About the beginning of the fif- 
 teenth century, these errors spread 
 in Germany and Bohemia : it 
 found also some partizans in Po- 
 land, Holland, and England. They 
 assembled in the night ; and, it is 
 said, one of the fundamental max- 
 ims of their society was contained 
 in the following v^erse : 
 
 Jura, perjnra, secretutn prodere noli- 
 Swear, forswear, and reveal not the secret. 
 
 ADESSENARIANS,abranch 
 of the Sacramentarians ; so called 
 from the Latin Adesst\ to be pre- 
 sent, because they believed the 
 presence of Christ's body in the 
 euchavist, though in a manner dif- 
 ferent from the Romanists. 
 
 ADIAPHORISTS,aname giv- 
 en in the sixteenth century to the 
 moderate Lutherans who adhered 
 to the sentiments of Melancthon ; 
 and afterwards to those who sub- 
 scribed the interim of Charles V. 
 [See Interim.] The word is of 
 Greek origin (aWipopf®-), and signi- 
 fies indifference or lukevvarmness. 
 
 AD M IR ATIO N is thatpassion 
 of the mind which is excited by the 
 discovery of any great excellence 
 in an object. It has by some v/ri- 
 ters been used as synonymous 
 with surprise aiid wonder ; but it 
 13 evident they are not the same. 
 
 Surprise refers to something un- 
 expected ; wonder, to something 
 great or strange; but admiration 
 includes the idea of high esteem or 
 respect. Thus, we say we admire 
 a man's excellencies ; but we do 
 not say that we are surprised at 
 them. We wonder at an extra- 
 ordinary object or event, but we 
 do not always admire it. 
 
 ADMONITION denotes a 
 hint or advice given to another, 
 whereby we reprove him for his 
 fault, or remind him of his duty. 
 Admonition was a part of the dis- 
 cipline much used in the ancient 
 church : it was the first act or step 
 towards the punishment or expul- 
 sion of delinquents. In case of pri- 
 vate offences, it was performed, 
 according to the evangelical rule, 
 privately; in case of public of- 
 fence, openly before the church. 
 If either of those sufficed for the 
 recovery of the fallen person, all 
 farther proceedings, in a way of 
 censure, ceased ; if they did not, 
 recourse was had to excommuni- 
 cation. — Tit. iii, 10. 1st Thess. v, 
 14. Eph. vi, 4. 
 
 ADONAI, one of the iaames 
 of the Supreme Being in the scrip- 
 tures. The proper meaning of the 
 word is '•'-my Lcrds^'' in the plural 
 number ; as Adoni is my Lord^ in 
 the singular. The Jews, who either 
 014 of respect or superstition do 
 not pronounce the name of Jeho-p 
 vah, read Adonai in the room of 
 it, as often as they meet with Je- 
 hovah in the Hebrew text. But 
 the ancient Jews were not so scru- 
 pulons ; nor is there any law 
 v/hich forbids them to pronounce 
 the name of God. 
 
 ADONISTS, a party amongdi- 
 
ADO 
 
 11 
 
 A D O 
 
 vines and critics, who maintain, 
 
 thai the Hebrew points ordinarily 'to prevent its being divided, or dc 
 
 annexed to the consonants of the 
 word Jehovah are not the natural 
 points belonging to tliat word, nor 
 express the true pronunciation of 
 it ; but are the vowel points be- 
 longing to the words Adonai and 
 Eloliim, applied to the consonants 
 of the ineffable name Jehovah, to 
 warn the readers, that instead of 
 the word Jehovah, which the Jews 
 were forbid to pronounce, and the 
 true pronunciation of which had 
 been long unknown to them, they 
 are always to read Adonai. They 
 are opposed to Jehovists, of whom 
 the principal are Drusius, Capel- 
 lus, Buxtorf, Alting, and Reland. 
 
 ADOPTiANISTS, the follow- 
 ers of Felix of Urgil and Elipand 
 of Toledo, who, towards the end 
 of the eighth century, advanced the 
 notion that Jesus Christ in his hu- 
 man nature is the Son of God, not 
 by nature but by adoption. 
 
 ADOPTION, an act whereby 
 any personreceives another into his 
 family, owns him for. his son, and 
 appoints him his heii-, 2. Spiritual 
 adoption is an act of God's free 
 grace, whereby we are received 
 into the number, and have a right 
 to all the privileges of the sons of 
 C-iod. — 3. Glorious^'is that in which 
 the saints, being raised from the 
 dead, are at the last day solemnly 
 owned to be the children of God, 
 and enter into the full posses.sion 
 of that inheritance provided for 
 them, Rom. vili, 19, 23. Adoption 
 is a word taken from the civil law, 
 and was much in use among the 
 Koaians in the apostles' time; 
 vv'hcn it was a custom for persons 
 who had no children of their own, 
 
 and were possessed of an estate, 
 
 scending to strangers, to make 
 choice of such who were agreea- 
 ble to them, and beloved by them, 
 whom they took into this political 
 relation of children ; obliging them 
 to take their name upon them, 
 and to pay respect to them as 
 though they were their natural pa- 
 rents, and engaging to deal with 
 them as though they had been so ; 
 and accordingly to give them a 
 right to their estates, as an inherit- 
 ance. This new relation, founded 
 in a mutual consent, is a bond of 
 affection ; and the privilege arising 
 from thence is, that he who is in 
 this sense a father, takes -care of 
 and provides for the person Avhom. 
 he adopts, as though he were his 
 son by nature ; and thei-efore civi- 
 lians call it an act of legiti}natio7i^ 
 imitating nature, or supplying the 
 place of it. 
 
 It is easy, then, to conceive the 
 propriety of the term as used by 
 the apostle in reference to this act, 
 though it must be confessed there 
 is some difference between civil 
 and spiritual adoption. Civil adop- 
 tion was allowed of and provided 
 for the relief and comfort of those 
 who had no children ; but hi spi- 
 ritual adoption this reason does 
 not appear. The Almighty was 
 under no obligation to do this ; 
 for he had innuvnerable spirits 
 whom he had created, besides his 
 own Son, wJio had all the perfec- 
 tions of the divine nature, who was 
 the objectof his delight, and who is 
 styled the heir of all things, Heb. i, 
 3. When men adopt, it is on' ac- 
 count of some excellencv in the 
 persons who are adopted ; thus 
 
ADO 
 
 12 
 
 ADO 
 
 Pharaoh's daughter adoptedMoses 
 because he was exceeding fair, 
 Acts vii, 20, 21 ; and Mordecai 
 adopted Esther because she was 
 his uncle's daughter, and exceed- 
 ing fair, Esth. ii, 7: but man has 
 nothing, in him that merits this 
 divine act, Ezek. xvi, 5. In civil 
 adoption, though the name of a 
 son be given, the nature of a son 
 may not : this relation may not ne- 
 cessarily be attended with any 
 change of disposition or temper. 
 But in spiritual adoption we are 
 made partakers of the divine na- 
 ture, and a temper or disposition 
 given us becoming the relation- 
 ship v/e bear, Jer. iii, 19. 
 
 Much has been said as to the 
 time of adoption. Some place it 
 before regeneration, because it is 
 supposed that v\'e must be in the 
 family before we can be partakers 
 of the blessings of it. But it is dif- 
 ficult to conceive of one before 
 the other ; for although adoption 
 may seem to precede regeneration 
 in order of nature, yet not of time ; 
 they may be distinguished, but 
 cannot be separated. " As many 
 as received him, to them gave he 
 power to become the sons of God, 
 even to them that believe on his 
 name," John i, 12. There is no 
 adoption, says the great Charnock, 
 without regeneration. " Adop- 
 tion," says the same author, " is 
 not a mere relation : the privilege 
 and the image of the sons of God 
 go together. A state of adoption 
 is never without a separation from 
 defilement, Cor. ii, 17, 18. The 
 new name in adoption is never 
 given till the new creature be 
 formed. ' As many as are led by 
 the Spirit of God, they are the 
 
 sons of God,' Rom. viii, 14. Ytt 
 these are to be distinguished. Re- 
 generation, as 2i physical act, gives 
 us a likeness to God in our na- 
 ture ; adoption, as a legal act, 
 gives us a right to an inheritance. 
 Regeneration makes us formally 
 his sons, by conveying a principle, 
 Pet. i, 23 ; adoption makes us 
 relatively his sons, by conveying 
 a power, John i, 12. By the one 
 we are instated in the divine affec- 
 tion ; by the other we are partakers 
 of the divine nature." 
 
 The privileges of adoption are 
 every xvay great and extensive. 1 . 
 It implies great honour. They have 
 God's name put upon them, and 
 are described as " his people call- 
 ed by his name," 2d Chron. vii, 
 14. Eph. iii, 15. They are no lon- 
 ger slaves to sin and the world ; 
 but emancipated from its dread- 
 ful bondage, are raised to dignity 
 and honour. Gal. iv, 7. 1st John 
 iii, 1, 2. — 2. Inexhaustible provi- 
 sion and riches. They inherit all 
 things. Rev. xxi, 7. AH the bles- 
 sings of a temporal kind that are 
 for their good shall be given them, 
 Psalm Ixxxiv, 11. All the bles- 
 sings of grace are treasured up in 
 Jesus Christ for them, Eph. i, 3. 
 All the blessings of glory shall be 
 enjoyedbythem, Col. 1,27. "All 
 things areyour's, "says the apos- 
 tle, "whether Paul, or Apollos, or 
 Cephas, or the world,- or life, or 
 death, or things present, or things 
 to come, all are your's," 1st Cor. 
 iii, 22. — 3. Divine protection. " In 
 the fear of the Lord is strong con- 
 fidence, and his children shall have 
 a place of refuge," Prov. xiv, 26. 
 As the master of a family is en- 
 gaged to defend and secure all 
 
ADO 
 
 13 
 
 ADO 
 
 under his roof and committed to 
 his care, so Jesus Christ is engaged 
 to pro^t and defend his people. 
 " They shall dwell in a peaceable 
 habitation, and in sure dwellings, 
 and quiet resting places," Is. xxxii, 
 18. Heb. i, 14. — 4. Unspeakable 
 felicity. They enjoy the most inti- 
 mate communion with the Father, 
 and with his Son Jesus Christ. 
 They have access to his throne at j 
 all times, and under all circum- 
 stances. They see divine wisdom 
 regulating every aifair, and ren- 
 dering every thing subservient to 
 their good, Heb. xii, 6 to 1 1. The 
 laws, the liberty, the privileges, 
 the relations, the provisions, and 
 the security of this family, are all 
 sources of happiness ; but especial- 
 ly the presence, the approbation," 
 and the goodness of God, as the 
 governor thereof, afford joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory, 1st 
 Pet. i, 8. Prov. iii, 17. Heb. iv, 
 16. — 5. Eternal glory. In some 
 cases, civil adoption might be 
 made null and void, as among the 
 Romans, when against the right 
 of the pontifex, and without the 
 decree of the college; but spirit- 
 ual adoption, as it is divine as to 
 its origin, so it is perpetual as to 
 its duration. " The Son abideth in 
 the house for ever," John viii, 2,5. 
 " The inheritance of the saints is 
 incorruptible, undefiled, and never 
 fadeth away," 1st Pet. i, 4. " Now 
 are we the sons of God, and it 
 doth not yet appear what we shall 
 be : but we know that when he 
 shall appear, we shall be like him, 
 for we shall see him as he is," 1st 
 John iii, 2. In the present state 
 we are as children at school ; but 
 in heaven we shall be as children 
 
 at home, where w^e shall always 
 behold the face of our heavenly 
 Father, for ever cel-ebrating his 
 praises, admiring his perfections, 
 and enjoying his presence. " So 
 shall we be ever with the Lord," 
 1st Thess. iv, 17. 
 
 The evidences of adoption are, 
 1. Renunciation of all former de- 
 pendencies. When a child is adopt- 
 ed, he relinquishes the object of 
 his past confidence, and submits 
 himself to the will and pleasure 
 of the adopter; so they who are 
 brought into the family of God, 
 will evidence it, by giving up every 
 other object so far as it interferes 
 with the will and glory of their 
 heavenly Father. " Ephraim shall 
 say, what have I to do any more 
 with idols?" Hos. xiv, 8. " Other 
 lords have had dominion over us ; 
 but by thee only will we make 
 mention of thy name," Is. xxvi, 
 13. Matt, xiii, 45, 46. Phil, iii, 
 8. — 2. Affection. This may not 
 always apply to civil adoption, but 
 it always does to spiritual. The 
 children of God feel a regard for 
 him above every other object. His 
 own excellency, his unspeakable 
 goodness to them, his promises of 
 future blessings, are all grounds of 
 the strongest love. " Whom have 
 I in heaven but thee I and there 
 is none upon earth that I desire 
 besides thee," Psalm Ixxiii, 25. 
 " Thou art my portion, saith my 
 soul, therefore will I hope in 
 thee," Lam. iii, 24. Luke vii, 47- 
 Ps. xviii, 1. — 3. Access to God 
 with a holy boldness. They who 
 are children by adoption are sup- 
 posed to have the same liberty of 
 access as those who are children 
 by nature ; so those who are par- 
 
ADO 
 
 14 
 
 ADO 
 
 takers of the blessings of spiritual 
 adoption will prove it by a reve- 
 rential yet familiar address to the 
 Father of spirits: they will con- 
 fess their unworthlness, ackno-.v- 
 ledge their dependance, and im- 
 plore the mercy and favour of 
 God. ** Because ve are sons, God 
 hath sent forth the SpiHt of his 
 Son into vour hearts, ciying Ab- 
 ba, Father," Gal. iv, 6, " Through 
 Jesus Christ we have access by one 
 Spirit unto the Father," Eph. ii, 
 18. Having such a privilege, they 
 <:ome boldly to the throne of grace, 
 that they may obtain mercy, and 
 find grace to help in time of 
 need, Heb. iv, 16. — i. Obedi- 
 ence. Those who are adopted in- 
 fto a family must obey the laws of 
 that family; so believers prove 
 ■themselves adopted by their obe- 
 <iience to the word and ordinances 
 of God. " Ye are my friends, if 
 ye do whatsoever I command 
 you," John xy. 14. " Whoso keep- 
 ^th his word, in him verily is the 
 love of God perfected: hereby 
 "know we that we are in him. He 
 that saith he abideth in him, ought 
 himself also to walk even as he 
 walked" 1st John ii, 4, 5. — 5. 
 Patient yet joyful expectation of the 
 inheritance. In civil adoption, in- 
 deed, an inheritance is not always 
 certain; but in spiritual adoption 
 it is. " To them who, by patient 
 continuance in well doing, seek 
 forglon,% and honour, and immor- 
 tality, eternal life," Rom. ii, 7. 
 *' We look not at the things which 
 are seen, but at the things which 
 -jire not seen ; for tlie things v/hich 
 are seen are temporal, but the 
 things which are not seen are eter- 
 nal," 2d Cor. iv, 18. Rom. vi,23. 
 
 Heb. xi, 26, 27. From the consi- 
 deration of the whole of this doc- 
 trine, we may learn that adoption 
 is an act of free grace through Je- 
 sus Christ, Eph. i. 5. Applied 
 to believers by the Holy Spirit, ' 
 Gal. iv, 6. Rom. viii, 15, 16. A 
 blessing of the greatest importance, 
 1st John iii, 1, and lays us under 
 an inviolable obligation oi submis- 
 sion^ Heb. xii, 9, imitation., Eph. 
 V, 1, and dependance., Matt, vi, 32. 
 See Ridgleifs and GilPs Body of 
 Dii}.., art. Adoption; Char nock's 
 iVorh, vol. ii, p. 32-72; FlavePs 
 Works., vol. ii, p. 601 ; BroxviUs 
 Sijstem of Nat. and Rev. Religion^ 
 p. 442 ; Witsii Oecon. Foed.., p. 165. 
 
 ADORATION, the act of ren- , 
 dering Divine honours, including 
 in it reverence, esteem, and love: 
 this is called supreme, or absolute. 
 The word is compounded, of ad^ 
 " to," ando5', oris.^ " mouth;" and 
 literally signifies to apply the hand 
 to the mouth, "to kiss the hand;" 
 this being, in the eastern coun- 
 tries, one of the great marks of re- 
 spect and submission. See Job 
 xxxi, 26, 27. The attitude of ado- 
 ration, however, we find, has not 
 been confined to this mode. Stand- 
 ing, kneeling,'uncovering the head, 
 prostration, bowing, lifting up the 
 eyes to heaven, or sometimes fix- 
 ing them upon the earth widi the 
 bodv bending forward ; sitting with 
 the under parts of the thighs rest- 
 ing on the heels, have all been 
 used, as expressive of veneration 
 and esteem. Whatever be the 
 form, however, it must be remem- 
 bered, that adoration, as an act of 
 worship, is due to God alone, IVIatt. 
 iv, 10. Acts X, 25, 26. Rev. xix, 
 10. There is, 2, what may be 
 
ADU 
 
 15 
 
 ADU 
 
 called adoration human^ or paying 
 homage or respect to persons oi 
 great r^ank and dignity. This has 
 been performed by bowing, bend- 
 ing the knee, faihng on the face. 
 The practice of adoration may be 
 said to be still subsisting in Eng- 
 land, in the ceremony of kissing 
 the king's or queen's hand, and in 
 serving them at table, both being 
 performed kneeling on one knee. 
 There is also, 3, adoration rela- 
 tive^ which consists in worship 
 paid to an object as belonging to 
 or representative of another. In 
 this sense the Romanists profess 
 to adore the cross not simply or im- 
 mediately, but in respect of Jesus 
 Christ, whom they suppose to be on 
 it- This is generally, however, con- 
 sidered by Protestr.nts as coming 
 little short of idolatry. See Idola- 
 try. 
 
 ADVERSARY, one who sets 
 himself in opposition to another: 
 one of the nanaes of Satan. See 
 Satan. 
 
 ADVERSITY, a state which 
 is opposite to our wishes, and the 
 cause of sorrow. It stands opposed 
 to prosperity. See Affliction. 
 
 ADULTERY, an unlawful 
 commerce between one married 
 person and another, or between a 
 married and unmarried person. 2. 
 It is also used in scripture for idol- 
 atry, or departing from the true 
 God, Jer. iii, 9. — 3. Also for any 
 speciesof impurity or crime against 
 the virtue of chastity. Matt, v, 28. 
 — 4. Itis also usedin ecclesiastical 
 writers for aperson's invadingorin- 
 \ruding into a bishopric during the 
 former bishop's life. — 5. The word 
 is also used in ancient customs for 
 the punishment or hne imposed for 
 
 that offence, or the privilege of pro- 
 secuting for it. — Although adulte- 
 ry is prohibited by the law of God , 
 yet some have endeavoured to ex- 
 plain away the moral turpitude of 
 it; but it is evident, observes Paley, 
 that, on the part of the man who 
 solicits the chastity of a married 
 Avoman, it certainly include*s the 
 crime of seduction, and is attend- 
 ed with mischief still more exten- 
 sive and complicated: it creates a 
 new sufferer, the injured husband, 
 upon whose affection is inflicted 
 a wound the most painful and in- 
 curable that human nature knows. 
 The infidelity of the zooman is ag- 
 gravated by cruelty to her chil- 
 dren, who are generally involved 
 in their parent's shame, and al- 
 ways made unhappy by their quar- 
 rel The marriage \ow is vrit- 
 nessed before God, and accom- 
 panied with circumstances of. so- 
 lemnity and religion which ap- 
 proach to the nature of an oatho. 
 The married offender, therefore, 
 incurs a crime little short of per- 
 jurv, and the seduction of a mar- 
 ried woman is little less than su- 
 bornation of perjury. But the 
 strongest apology- for adultery is, 
 the prior transgi-ession of the other 
 party ; and so. far, indeed, as the 
 bad effects of adultery are antici- 
 pated by the conduct of the hus- 
 band or wife who offends firot, the 
 guilt of the second offender is 
 extenuated. But this can never 
 amount to a justification, unless 
 it could be shewn that the obliga- 
 tion of the marriage vow depends 
 upon the condition ot reciprocal 
 fidelity; a construction which ap- 
 pears founded neither in expedi- 
 ency, nor in terms of the vo\r. 
 
AER 
 
 16 
 
 AFF 
 
 Bor in the design of the legislature, 
 which prescribed the marriage rite. 
 To consider the offence upon the 
 footing oi provocation^ therefore, 
 can by no means vindicate retalia- 
 tion. "Thoushaltnot commit adul- 
 tery," it must be ever remember- 
 ed, wa»an interdict delivered by 
 God himself. This crime has 
 been punished in almost all ages 
 and nations. By the Jewish law 
 it w^as punished with death in both 
 parties, where either the woman 
 was mamed, or both. Among the 
 Egyptians, adultery in the man 
 was punished by a thousand lashes 
 with rods, and in the woman by 
 the loss of her nose. The Greeks 
 put out the eyes of the adulttrers. 
 Among the Romans, it was punish- 
 ed by banishment, cutting off the 
 ears, noses, and by sewing the 
 adulterers in sacks, and throwing 
 them into the sea; scourging, burn- 
 ing, &c. In Spain and Poland they 
 were almost as severe. The Sax- 
 ons formerly burnt the adulteress, 
 and over her ashes erected a gib- 
 bet, whereon the adulterer was 
 hanged. King Edmund, in this 
 kingdom, ordered adultery to be 
 punished in the same manner as 
 homicide. Canute ordered the 
 man to be banished, and the wo- 
 man to have her nose and ears cut 
 off. Modern punishments, in dif- 
 ferent nations, do not seem to be 
 so severe. In Britain it is reckon- 
 ed a spiritual offence, and is cog- 
 nizable by the spiritual courts, 
 where it is punished by fine and 
 penance. See Palerfs Moral and 
 Political PhUcsophy^ p. 309, vol. i, 
 12th edition. 
 
 AERI ANS, a branch of Arians 
 in the reigia of Constantine, who 
 
 held that there was no difference 
 betw^een bishops and priests ; a 
 doctrine maintained by many mo- 
 dern divines, particularly of the 
 presbyterian and reformed church- 
 es. The sect received its denomi- 
 nation from Aerius, who founded 
 his doctrine on 1st Tim. iv, 14. 
 See Episcopacy. 
 
 AETIANS, those who main- 
 tained that the Son and Holy Ghost 
 were in all things dissimilar to the 
 Father. They received their name 
 from Aetius, one of the most zeal- 
 ous defenders of Arianism, who 
 w^as born in Syria, and flourished 
 about the year 336. Besides the 
 opinions which the Aetians held 
 in common with the Arians, they 
 maintained that faith without works 
 was suifxientto salvation ; and that 
 no sin, however grievous, would 
 be imputed to the faithful. Aetius, 
 moreover, affirmed that what God 
 had concealed from the apostles, 
 he had revealed to him. 
 
 AFFECTION, in a philosophi- 
 cal sense, refers to the manner in 
 which we are affected by any thing 
 for a continuance, whether painful 
 or pleasant J but, in the most com- 
 mon sense, it may be defined to 
 be a settled bent of mind towards 
 a particular being or thing. It 
 holds a middle place between dis- 
 position on the one hand, ^ndi pas- 
 sion on the other. It is distin- 
 guishable from disposition^ which, 
 being a branch of one's nature ori- 
 ginally, must exist before there 
 can be any opportunity to exert 
 it upon anv particular object ; 
 whereas affection can never be ori- 
 ginal, because, having a special 
 relation to a particular object, it 
 cannot exist till the object have 
 
AFF 
 
 17 
 
 AFF 
 
 once, at least, been presented. It 
 is also distinguishable hompass'ton^ 
 which, depending on the real or 
 ideal presence of its object, va- ] 
 nishes with its object; whereas af- 
 fection is a lasting connextion, and, 
 like other connextions, subsist even 
 when we do not think of the ob- 
 ject. [See Disposition and Pas- 
 sion.] The affections, as they res- 
 pect religion, deserve in this place 
 a little attention. They may be 
 defined to be the " vigorous and 
 sensible exercises of the inclina- 
 tion and will of the soul towards 
 religious objects." Whatever ex- 
 tremes stoics or enthusiasts have 
 run into, it is evident that the ex- 
 ercise of the affections is essential 
 to the existence of true religion. 
 It is true, indeed, " that all affec- 
 tionate devotion is not wise and 
 rational ; but it is no less true, 
 that all wise and rational devotion 
 must be affectionate." The affec- 
 tions are the springs of action ; 
 they belong to our nature, so 
 that, with the highest perceptions 
 of truth and religion, we should 
 be inactive without them. They 
 have considerable influence on men 
 in the common concerns of life ; 
 how much more, then, should they 
 operate in those important objects 
 that relate to the Divine Being, 
 the immortality of the soul, and 
 the happiness or misery of a future 
 state ! The religion of the most 
 eminent saints has always consist- 
 ed in the exercise of holy affec- 
 tions. Jesus Christ himself af- 
 fords us an example of the most 
 lively and vigorous affections ; and 
 we have every reason to believe 
 that the employment of heaven 
 consists in the exercise of them. 
 Vol. I. D 
 
 In addition to all which, the scrips 
 tures of truth teach us, that religion 
 is nothing, if it occupy not the af- 
 fections, Deut. vi, 45. Deut. xxx, 
 6. Rom. xii, 11. 1st Cor. xiii, 13. 
 Ps. xxvii, 14. 
 
 A distinction, however, must be 
 made between what may be mere' 
 ly natural^ and what is truly spiri- 
 tual. The affections may be ex- 
 cited in a natural way under ordi- 
 nances by a natural impressiortj 
 Ezek. xxxiii, 32 ; by a natural 
 sympathy^ or by the natural tempe' 
 rament of our constitution. It is 
 no sign that our affections are spi- 
 ritual because they are raised very 
 high ; produce great effects on the 
 body ; excite us to be very zealous 
 in externals ; to be always con- 
 versing about ourselves, &c. These 
 things are often found in those 
 who are only mere professors of 
 religion. Matt, vii, 21, 22. 
 
 Now, in order to ascertain whe- 
 ther our affections are excited in 
 a spiritual manner, we must en- 
 quire whether that which moves 
 our affections be truly spiritual; 
 whether our consciences be alarm- 
 ed, and our hearts impressed ; 
 whether the judgment be enlight- 
 ened, and we have a perception of 
 the moral excellency of divine 
 things ; and, lastly, whether our 
 affections have a holy tendency, 
 and produce the happy effects of 
 obedience to God, humility in our- 
 selves, and justice to our fellow 
 creatures. — As this is a subject 
 worthy of close attention, the rea- 
 der may consult Lord KainCs Ele- 
 ments of Criticism^ v. ii, p. 517 ; 
 Edwards on the Affections ; Pike 
 and Hayxvard^s Cases of Consci- 
 ence ; Watts' s Use and Abuse of the 
 
AFF 
 
 18 
 
 AG A 
 
 Passions; M^ Laii r iri' sJEss ay s^ sect. '\ 
 5 and 6, where this subject is mas- 
 terly handled. 
 
 AFFLICTION, that which 
 causes a sensation of pain. Calami- 
 ty or distress of any kind. The af- 
 flictions of the saints are repre- 
 sented in the scripture disappointed^ 
 1st Thess. iii, 3. Job v, 6, 7; nume- 
 rous^ Ps. xxxiv, 19; transient^ 2d 
 Cor, iv, 17. Heb. X, 2>7 ; and when 
 sanctified, beneficial^ 1st Pet. i^ 6. 
 Ps. cxix, GT, 71. They wean from 
 the world ; wor]^ submission ; pro- 
 duce humility J excite to diligence ; 
 stir up to prayer ; and conform us 
 to tlie Divine image. To bear 
 them with patience, we should con- 
 sider our own unworthiness ; the 
 design of God in sending them ; 
 tlie promises of support under them; 
 and the real good they are pro- 
 ductive of. The afflictions of a 
 good man, says an elegant writer, 
 never befal without a cause, nor 
 are sent but upon a pi'oper errand. 
 These storms are never allowed to 
 rise but in order to dispel some 
 noxious vapours, and to restore sa- 
 lubrity to the moral atmosphere. 
 Who that for the first time beheld 
 the earth in the midst of winter 
 bound up with frost, or drenched 
 in floods of rain, or covered with 
 snow, would have imagined that 
 Nature, in this dreary and torpid 
 state, was working towai'ds its own 
 renovation in the spring? Yet we 
 by experience know that those vi- 
 cissitudes of winter are necessary 
 for fertilizing the "earth ; and that 
 under wintry rains and snows lie 
 concealed the seeds of those roses 
 that aie to blossom in the spring ; 
 of ihose fruits that are to ripen in 
 tlie summer ; and of the corn and 
 
 wine which are in harvest to maker 
 glad the heart of man. It would 
 be more agreeable to us to be al- 
 ways entertained with a fair and 
 clear atmosphere, with cloudless 
 skies, and perpetual sunshine ; yet 
 in such climates as we have most 
 knowledge of, the earth, were it 
 always to remain in such a state, 
 would refuse to yield its fruits j 
 and, in the midst of our imagined 
 scenes of beauty, the starved in- 
 habitants would perish for want of 
 food. Let us, therefore, quietly 
 submit to Providence. Let us 
 conceive this life to be the winter 
 of our existence. Now the rains 
 must fall, and the winds must 
 roar around us ; but, sheltering our- 
 selves under Him, who is the " co- 
 vert from the tempest," let us 
 wait with patience till the storms 
 of life shall terminate in an ever- 
 lasting calm. Blair's Ser.^ vol. v, 
 ser. 5 ; Vincent^ Case^ and Adding^ 
 ton^ on Afiiction ; Willisoi'Cs ojfflict- 
 ed Mai'Hs Companion. 
 
 AGAP^, or Love Feasts 
 (from ccyacw^ " love") , feasts of cha- 
 rity among the ancient christians, 
 when liberal contributions were 
 made by the rich to the poor. St. 
 Chrysostom gives the following 
 account of this feast, which he de- 
 rives from the apostolic practice. 
 He says, — "The first christians 
 had all things in common, as we 
 read in the Acts of the Apostles ,; 
 but when that equality of posses- 
 sions ceased, as it did even in the 
 apostles' time, the Agape or love 
 feast was substituted in the room 
 of it. Upon certain days, after 
 partaking of the Lord's supper, 
 they met at a common feast ; the 
 rich bringing provisions, and the 
 
AGE 
 
 19 
 
 AGN 
 
 poor, who had nothing, being in- 
 vited." It was always attended 
 - with receiving the holy sacrament ; 
 but there is some difference be- 
 tween the ancient and modern in- 
 terpreters as to the circumstance 
 of time ; viz. whether this feast was 
 held before or after the commu- 
 nion. St. Chrysostom is of the 
 latter opinion; the learned Dr. 
 Cave of the former. These love 
 feasts, during the three first cen- 
 turies, were held in the church 
 ■without scandal or offence ; but in 
 after-times the heathens began to 
 tax them with impurity. This gave 
 occasion to a reformation of these 
 Agapes. The kiss of charity, with 
 which the ceremony, used to end, 
 was no longer given between dif- 
 ferent sexes ; and it was expressly 
 forbidden to have any beds or 
 couches for the conveniency of 
 those who should be disposed to 
 eat more at their ease. Notwith- 
 standing these precautions, the 
 abuses committed in them became 
 so notorious, that the holding them 
 (in churches at least) was solemn- 
 ly condemned at the council of 
 Carthage in the year 397". At- 
 tempts have been made, of late 
 years, to revive these feasts ; but 
 in a different manner from the pri- 
 mitive custom, and perhaps, with 
 little edification. They are, how- 
 ever, not very general. 
 
 AGAPET^^, a name given to 
 certain virgins and widows, who in 
 the ancient church associated them- 
 selves with and attended on eccle- 
 siastics, out of a motive of piety 
 and charity. See Deaconesses. 
 
 AGENDA, among divines and 
 philosophers, signifies the duties 
 
 which a man lies under an obliga- 
 tion to perform : thus we meet 
 with the agenda of a christian, or 
 the duties he ought to perform, in 
 opposition to the credenda, or 
 things he is to believe. It is also 
 applied to the service or ofHce of 
 the church, and to church books 
 compiled by public authority, pre- 
 scribing the order to be observed ; 
 and amounts to the same as ritual, 
 formulary, directory, missal, &c. 
 
 AGENT, that which acts : op- 
 posed to patient^ or that which is 
 acted upon. 
 
 AGENTS, moral. See Moral 
 
 Agent. 
 
 AGNOET^ (from uywtu, "to 
 be ignorant of"), a sect which ap- 
 peared about 370. They called in 
 question the omniscience of God j 
 alleging that he knew things past 
 only by memory, and things fu- 
 ture only by an uncertain presci- 
 ence. There arose another sect of 
 the same name in the sixth centu- 
 ry, who followed Themistius, 
 deacon of Alexandria. They main- 
 tained that Christ was ignorant of 
 certain things, and particularly of 
 the time of the day of judgment. 
 It is supposed they built their 
 hypothesis on that passage in Mark 
 xiii, 32 — " Of that day and that 
 hour knoweth no man ; no, not 
 the angels which are in heaven, 
 neither the Son, but the Father." 
 The meaning of which, most pro- 
 bably, i^ that this was not known 
 to the Messiah himself in his hu- 
 man nature, or by virtue of his 
 unction, as any part of the myste- 
 ries he was to reveal ; for, consi- 
 dering him as God, he could not 
 be ignorant of any thing. 
 
ALA 
 
 20 
 
 ALB 
 
 AGNUS DEI, in the church of 
 Borne, a cake of wax, stamped 
 with the figure of a lamb support- 
 ing the banner of the cross. The 
 name literally signifies, "lamb of 
 God." These cakes, being con- 
 secrated by the pope with great so- 
 lemnity, and distributed among 
 the people, are supposed to have 
 great virtues. They cover tbem 
 with a piece of stuff cut in the form 
 of an heart, and carry them very 
 devoutly in their processions. The 
 Po^nish priests and religious de- 
 rive considerable pecuniary advan- 
 tage from selling these agnus dei 
 to some, and presenting them to 
 others. 
 
 AGONISTICI, a name given 
 by Donatus to such of his disciples 
 as he sent to fairs, markets, and 
 ; other public places, to propagate 
 his doctrine. They were called 
 Agonistrci from the Greek ayo» 
 *'• combat," because they were sent, 
 as it were, to fight and subdue the 
 people to their opinions. See Do- 
 
 NATIST. 
 
 AGONYCLITiE, a sect of 
 christians in the seventh century, 
 who prayed always standing, as 
 thinking it unlawful to kneel. 
 
 AGYNIANI, a sect which ap- 
 peared about 694. They condemn- 
 ed all use of flesh and marriage as 
 not instituted by God, but introduc- 
 ed at the instigation of the devil. 
 
 AL ASC ANI, a sect of Anti-lu- 
 therans in the sixteenth century, 
 whose distinguishing tenet, be- 
 sides their denying baptism, is 
 said to have been this, that the 
 words, " This is my body," in the 
 institution of the eucharlst, are not 
 to be understood of the bread, but 
 
 of the whole action or celebration 
 of the supper. 
 
 ALBANENSES, a denomi- 
 nation which commenced about 
 the year 796. They held, with the 
 Gnostics and Manicheans, two 
 principles, the one of good and the 
 other of evil. They denied the di- 
 vinity and even the humanity of 
 Jesus Christ ; asserting that he 
 was not truly man, did not suffer 
 on the cross, die, rise again, nor 
 really ascend into heaven. They 
 rejected the doctrine of the resur- 
 rection, aflSirmed that the general 
 judgment was past, and that htll 
 torments were no other than the 
 evils we feel and suffer in this life. 
 They denied free will, did not ad" 
 mit origmal sin, and never admi- 
 nistered baptism to infants. They 
 held that a man can give the Holy 
 Spirit of himself, and that it is un- 
 lawful for a christian to take an 
 oath. 
 
 This denomination derived their 
 name from the place where their 
 spiritual ruler resided. See Ma- 
 nicheans and Catherist. 
 
 ALBANOIS, a denomination 
 which sprung up in the eighth cen- 
 tury, and renewed the greatest 
 part of the Manlchean principles. 
 They also maintained that the 
 world was from eternity. See 
 Manicheans. 
 
 ALBIGENSES, a party of re- 
 formers about Toulouse and the 
 Albigeois in Languedoc, who 
 sprung up in the twelfth century, 
 and distinguished themselves by 
 their opposition to the church of 
 Rome. They were charged with 
 many errors by the monies of those 
 days ; but from these charges they 
 
ALE 
 
 21 
 
 ALL 
 
 are generally acquitted by the Pro- 
 testants, who consider them only 
 as the inventions of the Romish 
 church to blacken their character. 
 The Albigenses grew so formida- 
 ble, that the Catholics agreed 
 upon a holy league or crusade 
 against them. Pope Innocent III, 
 desirous to put a stop to their pro- 
 gress, stirred up the great men of 
 the kingdom to make war upon 
 them. After suffering from their 
 persecutors, they dwindled by lit- 
 tle and litde, till the time of the 
 reformation ; when such of them 
 as were left fell in with the Vau- 
 dois, and conformed to the doc- 
 trine of Zuinglius, and the disci- 
 ples of Geneva. The Albigenses 
 have been frequently confounded 
 with the Waldenses ; from whom 
 it is said they differ in many re- 
 spects, both as being prior to them 
 in point of time, as having their 
 origin in a different country, and 
 as being charged with divers he- 
 resies, particularly Manicheism, 
 from which the Waldenses were 
 exempt. See Waldenses. 
 
 ALEXANDRIAN MANU- 
 SCRIPT, a famous copy of the 
 scriptures, in four volumes quarto. 
 It contains the whole Bible in 
 Greek, including the Old and New 
 Testament, with the Apocrj'pha, 
 and some smaller pieces, but not 
 quite complete. It is preserved 
 in the British Museum : it was 
 sent as a present to king Charles 
 I. from Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch 
 of Constantinople, by Sir Thomas 
 Rowe, ambassador from England 
 to the Grand Seignior, about the 
 year 1628. Cyrillus brought it 
 with him from Alexandria, where 
 probably it v/as v.rittea. In a 
 
 schedule annexed to it, he gives 
 this account: — That it was writ- 
 ten, as tradition iiformed them, 
 by Thecla, a noble Egyptian lady, 
 about 1300 years ago, not long 
 after the council of Nice. But 
 this high antiquity, and the au- 
 thority of the tradition to which 
 the patriarch refers, have been 
 disputed ; nor are the most accu- 
 rate biblical writers agreed about 
 its age. Grabe thinks that it 
 might have been written before 
 the end of the fourth century; 
 others are of opinion that it was 
 not written till near the end of 
 the fifth century, or somewhat 
 later. See Dr. Woide's edition 
 of it. 
 
 ALKORAN. See Koran. 
 
 ALL-SUFFICIENCY OF 
 GOD, is that power or attribute of 
 his nature whereby he is able to 
 communicate as much blessedness 
 to his creatures as he is pleased to 
 make them capable of receiving. 
 As his self-fiufftciency is that where- 
 by he has enough in himself to de- 
 nominate him completely blessed, 
 as a God of infinite perfection, so 
 his all-siifficiency is that by which 
 he hath enough in himself to sa- 
 tisfy the most enlarged desires of 
 his creatures, and to make them 
 completely blessed. We practical- 
 ly deny this perfection, when we 
 are discontented with our present, 
 condition, and desire more than 
 God has allotted for us. Gen. iii, 
 5. Prov.xix,3. — 2. When we seek 
 blessings of what kind soever in an 
 indirect way, as though God were 
 not able to bestow them upon us 
 in his own way, or in the use of 
 lawful means, Gen. xxvii, ^5. — ■ 
 3. When we use uulav, lul means 
 
A L M 
 
 22 
 
 ALM 
 
 ^vto escape imminent dangers, 1st 
 Sam. xxi, 13. Gen. xx and xxvi. 
 — 4<. When we distrust his provi- 
 dence, though we have had large 
 experience of his appearing for us 
 in various instances, 1 st Sam. xxvii, 
 .1. Ps. Ixxviii, 19. 2d Chron. xvi, 
 S. 2d Chron. xiv, 9, 13. Josh, vii, 
 ^, 9. — 5. When we doubt of the 
 truth or certain accomplishment of 
 the promises. Gen. xviii, 12. Ps. 
 Ixxvii, 74. Is. xlix, 14. — 6. When 
 ,we decline great services, though 
 called to them by God, under a 
 pretence of our unfitness for them, 
 Jer. i, 6, 8. _ 
 
 The consideration of this doc- 
 trine should lead us, 1. To seek 
 happiness in God alone, and not 
 in human things, Jer. ii, 13. — 2. 
 To commit all oi;r wants and trials 
 to him, 1st Sam. xxx, 6. Heb. xi, 
 
 19. 2d Cor. xii, 8, 9 3. To be 
 
 courageous in the midst of danger 
 and opposition, Ps. xxvii, 1. — 4. 
 To be satisfied with his dispensa- 
 tions, Rom. viii, 28. — 5. To per- 
 severe in the path of duty, howe- 
 ver difficult, Gen. xvii, 1. Ridg- 
 
 ■ leifs Bod'j of Div., ques. \7; Sou-] 
 riri's Ser., ser. 5, vol. i; Barrow^s 
 Works, vol. ii, ser. 11. 
 
 ALMARICIANS, a denomi- 
 nation that arose in the thirteenth 
 century. They derived their origin 
 from Almaric, professor of logic 
 and theology at Paris. His adver- 
 saries charged him with having 
 taught that every christian was 
 obliged to believe himself a mem- 
 ber of Jesus Christ, apd that with- 
 out this belief none could be sav- ' 
 
 -ed. His followers asserted that the 
 power of the Father had continued 
 only during the Mosaic dispensa- 
 tion, that of the Son twelve hun- 
 
 dred years after his entrance upon 
 earth; and that in the thirteenth 
 century the age of the Holy Spirit 
 commenced, in which the sacra- . 
 ments and all external worship 
 were to be abolished; and that 
 ever}^ one was to be saved bv the 
 internal operations of the Holy 
 Spirit alone, without any external 
 act of religion. 
 
 ALMONER, a person employ- 
 ed bv another in the distribution of 
 charity. In its primitive sense it 
 denoted an officer in religious 
 houses, to whom belonged the ma- 
 nagement and distribution of the 
 alms of the house. 
 
 ALMS, what is given gratuit- 
 ously for the relief of the poor. 
 Alms, in the early ages of Christi- 
 anity, were divided into four parts ; 
 one of which 'vas allotted to the bi- 
 shops, another to the priests, a 
 third to the deacons and subdea- 
 cons, and the fourth was employed 
 in relieving the poor, and in re- 
 pairing the churches. In giving 
 of alms, the following rules should 
 be observed : first, thev should be 
 given with justice; onlv our own^ 
 to which we have a just rights 
 should be given. — 2. With cheer- 
 fulness^ Deut. XV, 10. 2d Cor. ix, 
 7. — 3. With shnpUcity and since- 
 rity^ Romans xii. Matt, vi, 3. — 4. 
 With compassion and affection., Is. 
 Iviii, 10. 1st John iii, 17. — 5. Sea- 
 sonabhj^ Gal. vi, 10. Prov. iv, 29. 
 — 6. Bountifully., Deut. xviii, 11. 
 1st Tim. vi, 18.- — 7. Prudently., ac- 
 cording to every one's need, 1st 
 Tim. V, 8. Acts iv. 25. See Dr. 
 BarrofJ's admirable Sermon on 
 Bounty to the Poor., -which took him 
 up three hours and a half in preach-' 
 ing; Saurin''s Ser.^ \oI. iv, En^* 
 
AMB 
 
 23 
 
 A ME 
 
 Trans. y ser. 9 ; Paleifs Mor. Phil.^ 
 ch. 5, vol. i. 
 
 ALOGI ANS, a sect of ancient 
 heretics who denied that Jesus 
 Christ was the Logos, and conse- 
 quently rejected the gospel of St. 
 John. The word is compounded 
 of the privative a, and Acy^s ; q. d. 
 xvithout logos^ or word. They made 
 their appearance toward the close 
 of the second century. 
 
 ALTAR, a kind of table or 
 raised place whereon the ancient 
 sacrifices were offered. 2. The ta^ 
 ble, in christian churches, where 
 the Lord's supper is administered. 
 Altars are, doubtless, of great an- 
 tiquity j some suppose they were 
 as early as Adam ; but there is no 
 mention made of them till after the 
 flood, when Noah built one, and 
 offered burnt offerings on it. The 
 Jews had two altars in and about 
 their temple ; 1 , the altar of burnt 
 offerings; 2, the altar of incense ; 
 some also call the table for shew- 
 bread an altar, but improperl)-, 
 Exod. XX, 24, 25. 1st Kings xviii, 
 30. Exod. XXV, xxvii, and xxx. 
 Heb. ix. 
 
 AMAZEMENT, aterm some- 
 times employed to express our 
 wonder; but it is rather to be con- 
 sidered as a medium between won- 
 der and astonishment. It is mani- 
 festly borrowed from the extensive 
 and complicated intricacies of a la- 
 byrinth, in which there are endless 
 mazes, without the discovery of a 
 clue. Hence an idea is conveyed of 
 more than simple wonder ; the mind 
 is lost in wonder. See Wonder. 
 
 AMBITION, a desire of excel- 
 ling, or at least of being thought to 
 excel, our neighbours in any thing. 
 It is generally used in a bad sense 
 
 for an immoderate or illegal pur^ 
 suit of power or honour. See 
 Praise. 
 
 AMEDIANS, a congregation 
 of religious in Italy ; so called from 
 their professing themselves aman- 
 tes Deum, " lovers of God;" or 
 rather amati Deo^ " beloved of 
 God." They wore a grey habit' 
 and wooden shoes, had no breech- 
 es, and girt themselves with a cord. 
 They had twenty-eight convents, 
 and were united by pope Pius \% 
 partly with the Bistercian order, 
 and partly with that of the' Socco- 
 lanti, or wooden shoe wearers. 
 
 AMEN, a Hebrew word, which, 
 when prefixed to an assertion, sig- 
 nifies assuredly^ certainly^ or em- 
 phatically so it is; but when it 
 concludes a prayer, so be it^ or so 
 let it be^ is its manifest import. In 
 the former case it is assertive^ or 
 assures of a truth or a fact ; and 
 is an asseveration, and is, properly 
 translated, verily^ John iii, 3. In 
 the latter case it is petitionarif^ 
 and, as it were, epitomizes all the 
 requests with which it stands con- 
 nected. Numb. V, 22. Rev. xxii, 
 20. This emphatical tei-m was 
 not used among the Hebrews by 
 detached individuals only, but, on 
 certain occasions, by an assembly 
 at large, Deut. xxvii, 14, 26. It 
 was adopted, also, in the public 
 worship of the primitive churches, 
 as appears by that passage, 1st 
 Cor. xiv, 26, and was continued 
 among the christians in following 
 times ; yea, such was the extremfc 
 into which man}' run, that Jerome 
 informs us, in his time, that, at 
 the conclusion of every public 
 prayer, the united amen of the 
 people sounded like the fall of 
 
AMY 
 
 24 
 
 ANA 
 
 water^ or the noise of thunder. 
 Nor is the practice of some pro- 
 fessors in our own time to be com- 
 mended, who, with a low, though 
 audible voice, add their amen to 
 almost every sentence as it pro- 
 ceeds from the lips of him who is 
 praying. As this has a tendency 
 to interrupt the devotion of those 
 that are near them, and may dis- 
 concert the thoughts of him who 
 leads the worship, it would be 
 better omitted, and a mental amen 
 is sufficient. The term, as used 
 at the end of our prayers, suggests 
 that we should pray with under- 
 standing, faith, fervor, and expec- 
 tation. See Mr. Booth} s Amen to 
 social Prayers, 
 
 AMMONIANS. See New 
 Platonics. 
 
 AMSDORFIANS, a sect, in 
 the sixteenth century, who took 
 their name from Amsdorf, their 
 leader. They maintained that good 
 works were not only unprofitable, 
 but were obstacles to salvation. 
 
 AMYRALDISM, a name giv- 
 en by some writers to the doctrine 
 of universal grace, as explained 
 and asserted by Amyraldus or 
 jMoses Amyrault, and others, his 
 follov/ers, among the reformed in 
 France, towards the middle of the 
 seventeenth century. This doc- 
 trine principally consisted of the 
 foUowingparticulars, viz. that God 
 desires the happiness of ail men, 
 and none are excluded by a divine 
 decree ; that none can obtain salva- 
 tion without faith in Christ ; that 
 God refuses to none the power of 
 believing, though he doesnotgrant 
 to all his assistance that they may 
 improve this power to saving pur- 
 
 poses ; and that many perish thro* 
 their own fault. Those who em- 
 braced this doctrine were call'jd 
 Universalists ; though it is evident 
 they rendered grace universal in 
 words, but partial in reality. See 
 Cameronites. 
 
 ANABAPTISTS, those who 
 maintain that baptism ought always 
 to be performed by immersion. 
 The word is compounded of avo, 
 " new," and Hairlnrfis^ " a Baptist ;" 
 signifying that those v/ho have been 
 baptized in their infancy ought to 
 be baptized anew. It is a word 
 which has been indiscriminately 
 applied to christians of very differ- 
 ent principles and practices. The 
 English and Dutch Baptists do not 
 consider the word as at all appli- 
 cable to their sect ; because those 
 persons whom they baptize they 
 consider as never having been bap- 
 tized before, although they have 
 undergone what they term the 
 ceremony of sprinkling in their 
 infancy. 
 
 The Anabaptists of Germany, 
 besides their notions concerning 
 baptism, depended much upon cer- 
 tam ideas which they entertained 
 concerning a perfect church esta- 
 blishment, pure in its members, 
 and free from the institutions of 
 human policy. The most pru- 
 dent part of them considered it 
 possible, by human industry and 
 vigilance, to purify the church; 
 and, seeing the attempts of Luther 
 to be successful, they hoped that 
 the period was arrived in v/hich 
 the church was to be restored to 
 this purity. Others, not satisfied 
 with Luther's plan of reformation, 
 undertook a more perfect plan, or, 
 
N A 
 
 25 
 
 A N A 
 
 more properly, a visionary enter- 
 prise, to found a new church 
 entirely spiritual and divine. 
 
 This sect was soon joined by 
 great nunibers, whose characters 
 and capacities were very different. 
 Their progress was rapid ; for, in 
 a very short space of time, their 
 discourses, visions, and predic- 
 tions, excited great commotions 
 in a great part of Europe. The 
 most pernicious faction of all 
 those which composed this motley 
 multitude, was that which pretend- 
 ed that the founders of this nexv 
 and perfect church were under a 
 divine impulse, and were armed 
 against all opposition by the pow- 
 er of working miracles. It was this 
 faction, that, in the year 1521, be- 
 gan their fanatical work under the 
 guidance of Munzer, Stubner, 
 Storck, &c. These men taught, 
 that, among christians, who had 
 the precepts of the gospel to direct 
 and the Spirit of God to guide 
 tliem, the office of magistracy was 
 not only unnecessary, but an un- 
 lawful encroachment on their spi- 
 ritual liberty ; that the distinctions 
 occasioned by birth, rank, or 
 wealth, should be abolished ; that 
 all christians, throwing their pos- 
 sessions into one stock, should live 
 together in that state of equality 
 which becomes members of the 
 same family ; that, as neither the 
 laws of Nature, nor the precepts 
 of the New Testament, had pro- 
 hibited polygamy, they should use 
 the same liberty as the patriarchs 
 did in this respect. 
 
 They employed, at first, the va- 
 rious arts of persuasion, in order 
 to propagate their doctrines ; and 
 related a number of visions and re- 
 
 VoL. I. E 
 
 velations, with vrhich thevpvetend- 
 ed to have been favoured from 
 above ; but, when they found that 
 this would not avail, and that the 
 ministry of Luther and other re- 
 formers was detrimental to their 
 cause, they then madly attempted 
 to propagate their sentiments by 
 force of arms. Munzer and his 
 associates, in the year 1525, put 
 themselves at the head of a nume- 
 rous army,and declared war against 
 all laws, governments, and magis- 
 trates of every kind, under the chi- 
 merical pretext, thatChristhimself 
 was now to take the reins of all 
 government into his hands ; but 
 this seditious crowd was routed 
 and dispersed by the elector of 
 Saxony and other princes, and 
 Munzer, their leader, put to death. 
 Many of his followers, however, 
 survived, and propagated their 
 opinions through Germany, Swit- 
 zerland, and Holland. In 1533 
 a party of them settled at Mun- 
 ster, under two leaders of the 
 names of Matthias and Bockholdt. 
 Having made themselves masters 
 of the city, they deposed the ma- 
 gistrates, confiscated the estates of 
 such as had escaped, and deposited 
 the wealth in a public treasurv for 
 common use. They made prepa- 
 rations for the defence of the citv ; 
 invited the Anabaptists in the low 
 countries to assemijle at Munster, 
 which they called Mount Sion, 
 that from thence they might re- 
 duce all the nations of the earth 
 under their dominion. Matthias 
 was soon cut off by the bishop of 
 Munster's army, and was succeed- 
 ed by Bcjckholdt, who was pro- 
 claimed, by a special designation 
 of heaven, as the pretended king 
 
ANA 
 
 26 
 
 A N A 
 
 of Sion, and invested with legisla- 
 tive powers like those of Moses. 
 The city of Munster, however, 
 was taken, after a long siege, and 
 Bockholdt punished with death. 
 
 It must be acknowledged that 
 the true rise of the insurrections of 
 this period ought not to be attri- 
 buted to religious opinions. The 
 first insurgents groaned under se- 
 vere oppressions, and took up 
 arms in defence of their civil liber- 
 ties ; and of these commotions the 
 Anabaptists seemed rather to have 
 availed themselves, than to have 
 been the prime movers. That a 
 great part was Anabaptists, seems 
 indisputable ; at the same time it 
 appears from history, that a great 
 part also were Roman catholics, 
 and a still greater part of those 
 who had scarcely any religious 
 principles at all. Indeed, when we 
 read of the vast numbers that were 
 concerned in these insurrections, 
 of whom it is reported that 100,000 
 fell by the sword, it appears rea- 
 sonable to conclude that they were 
 not all Anabaptists. 
 
 It is but justice to observe also, 
 that the Baptists in England and 
 Holland are to be considered in a 
 different light from those above 
 mentioned : they profess an equal 
 aversion to all principles of rebel- 
 lion on the one hand, and to en- 
 thusiasm on the other. See Ro- 
 bertsoii's Hist, of Charles V. ; Enc. 
 Brit., vol. i, p. 644 ; and articles 
 Baptists and Menkonites. 
 
 ANALOGY OF FAITH, is 
 the proportion that the doctrines of 
 the gospel bear ta each other, or 
 the close connexon between the 
 truths of revealed religion, Rom. 
 xii, 6» This is considered as a 
 
 grand rule for understanding the 
 true sense of scripture. It is evi- 
 dent that th,e Almighty doth not 
 act without a design in the system 
 of Christianity any more than he 
 does in the works of Nature. Now 
 this design must be uniform ; for 
 as in the system of the universe 
 every part is proportioned to the 
 whole, and made subservient to it, 
 so in the system of the gospel all 
 the various truths, doctrines,decla- 
 rations, precepts, and promises, 
 must correspond with and tend 
 to the end designed. For instance, 
 supposing the glory of God in the 
 salvation of man by free grace be 
 the grand design ; then whatever 
 doctrine, assertion, or hypothesis, 
 agree not with this, it is to be 
 considered as false. — Great care, 
 however, must be taken, in mak- 
 ing use of this method, that the 
 enquirer previousl)' understand the 
 whole scheme, and that he harbour 
 not a predilection only for a part ; 
 without attention to this, we shall 
 be liable to error. If we come to 
 the scriptures with any precon- 
 ceived opinions, and are more 
 desirous to put that sense upon 
 the text which quadrates with 
 our sentiments rather than the 
 truth, it becomes then the ana- 
 logy of our faith,- rather than 
 that of the whole sVstem. This 
 v/as the source of the error of 
 the Jews, in our Saviour's time. 
 They searched the scriptures ; but, 
 such were their favourite opi- 
 nions, that they could not, or 
 would not, discover that the sa- 
 cred volume testified 'of Christ. 
 And the reason was evident, 
 for their great rule of interpre- 
 tation was v/hat they might call 
 
ANA 
 
 27 
 
 ANG 
 
 the analogy of faith ; u e. the sys- 
 tem of the Pharisean scribes, the 
 doctrine then in vogue, and in the* 
 profound veneration of which they 
 had been educated. Perhaps 
 there is hardly any sect but what 
 has more or less been guilty in 
 this respect. It may, however, 
 be of use to the serious and can- 
 did enquirer ; for, as some texts 
 may seem to contradict each other, 
 and difficulties may present them- 
 selves, by keeping the analogy of 
 faith in view, he will the more ea- 
 sily resolve those difficulties, and 
 collect the true sense of the sa- 
 cred oracles. What " the apho- 
 risms of Hippocrates are to aphy- 
 "sician, the axioms in geometry to 
 a mathematician, the adjudged 
 cases in law to a counsellor, or the 
 maxims of war to a general, such 
 is the analogy of faith to a chris- 
 tian." Of the analogy of religion 
 to the' constitution and course of 
 nature, we must refer our rea- 
 ders to bishop Butler's excellent 
 treatise on that subject. 
 
 ANACHORETS, or Ancho- 
 rites, a sort of monks in the pri- 
 mitive ^hurch, who retired from 
 the society of mankind into some 
 desert with a view to avoid the 
 temptations of the world, and to 
 be more at leisure for prayer, me- 
 ditation, &c. Such were Paul, 
 Anthony, and Hilarion, the first 
 foundei-3 of monastic life in Egypt 
 and Palestine. 
 
 ANAGOGICAL, signifies 
 mysterious, transporting ; and is 
 used to express whatever elevates 
 the mind, not only to the knowledge 
 of divine things, but of divine things 
 in the next lile. The word is sel- 
 dom used, but with regard to the 
 
 different senses of scripture. The 
 anagogical sense is, when the sa- 
 cred text is explained with regard 
 to eternal life, the point which 
 christians should have in view ; for 
 example, the rest of the sabbath, 
 in the anagogical sense, signifies 
 the repose of everlastinghappiness. 
 
 ANATHEMA, imports what- 
 ever is set apart, separated, or di- 
 vided ; but is most usually meant 
 to express the cutting off of a per- 
 son from the communion of 
 the faithful. It was practised in 
 the primitive church against noto- 
 rious offenders. Several councils 
 also have pronounced anathemas 
 against such as they thought cor- 
 rupted the purity of the faith. 
 Anathema Maranatha^ mentioned 
 by Paul (1st Cor. xiv, 22,) imports 
 that he who loves not the Lord Je- 
 sus v/ill be accursed at his coming. 
 ^na^Aema signifies a thing devoted 
 to destruction, and Maranatha is 
 a Syriac word, signifying the Lord 
 comes. It is probable in this pas- 
 sage there is an allusion to the 
 form of the Jews, who, when un- 
 able to inflict so great a punish- 
 ment as the crime deserved, de- 
 voted the culprit to the immediate 
 vindictive retribution of divine 
 vengeance, both in this life and in 
 a future state. 
 
 ANDRONA, a term used for 
 that part in churches which was de- 
 stined for the men. Anciently, it 
 was the custom for the men and 
 women to have separate apart- 
 ments in places of worship, where 
 they performed their devotions 
 asunder, which method is still re- 
 ligiously observed in the Greek 
 church. 
 
 ANGEL, a spiritual intelligent 
 
A N G 
 
 28 
 
 ANG 
 
 substance, the first in rank and dig- 
 nity among created beings. The 
 word angel (a,yyiXos) is Greek, and 
 signifies a messenger. The He- 
 brew word *7 .s'S o signifies'the same. 
 Angels, therefore, in the proper 
 signification of the word, do not 
 import the natm-e of any being, 
 but only the office to which they 
 are appointed, especially by way 
 of message or intercourse between 
 God and his creatures. Hence 
 the word is used difiJcrently in va- 
 rious parts of the scripture, and 
 signifies, 1. Human messengers, or 
 agents for others, 2d Sam. ii, 5. 
 " David sent messengers (Heb. 
 angels) to Jabesh Gilead, Prov. 
 xiii, 17. Mark i, 2. James ii, 25. — 
 2. Officers of the churches, whe- 
 ther prophets or ordinary minis- 
 ters, Hag. i, 13. Rev. i. 20 3. 
 
 Jesus Christ, Mai. iii, 1. Is. Ixiii, 
 9. — 4. Some add the dispensations 
 of God's providence, either bene- 
 ficial or calamitous. Gen. xxiv, 7. 
 Ps. xxxivJ-T. Actsxii, 23. 1st Sam. 
 xvi, 14 ; but 1 must confess, that, 
 though I do not at ail see the im- 
 propriety of considering the pro- 
 vidences oi God as Ins angels or 
 messengers for good or for evil, 
 yet th« passages generally educed 
 under this head do not prove to- 
 me that tlie providences of God 
 are meant in distinction from cre- 
 ated angels. — 5. Created intelli- 
 gences, both good and bad, Keb. 
 i, 14. Jud. vi, the subject of the 
 present article. — As tu the time 
 wheri the angels were created, 
 much has been said by the learned. 
 Some v/onder that- Moses, in his 
 account of the creation, should pass 
 this over in silence. Others suppose 
 that he did this because of the 
 
 proneness of the Gentile world, 
 and even the Jews, to idolatry ; but 
 a better reason has been assigned 
 by others, viz. that this first history 
 was purposely and principally writ- 
 ten for information concerning the 
 visible world ; the invisible, of 
 which we know but in part, being 
 reserved for a better life. Some 
 think that the idea of God's not 
 creating them before this world 
 was made, is very contracted. 
 To suppose, say they, that no 
 creatures whatever, neither angels 
 nor other worlds, had been created 
 previous to the creation of our 
 world, is to suppose that a Being 
 of infinite power, wisdom, and 
 goodness, had remained totally in- 
 active from all eternity, and had 
 permitted the infinity of space to 
 continue a perfect vacuum till 
 within these 6000 years ; that such 
 an idea only tends to discredit re- 
 velation, insteadof serving it. On 
 the other hand it is alleged, that 
 they must have been created with- 
 in the six days ; because it is said, 
 that within this space God made 
 heaven and earth, and all things 
 that are therein. It is, however, 
 a needless speculation, and we 
 dare not indulge a spirit of con- 
 jecture. It is our happiness to 
 know that they are all ministering 
 spirits, sent forth to minister to 
 1 them who are heirs of salvation. 
 
 As to the nature of these beings, 
 we are told that they are spirits ; 
 but whether pure spirits divested 
 of all matter, or united to some 
 thin bodies or corporeal vehicles, 
 has been a controversy of long 
 standing: the more general opinion 
 is, that they are substances entirely 
 spiritual, though they can at any 
 
ANG 
 
 29 
 
 A N G 
 
 lime assume bodies, and appear 
 in human shape, Gen. xviii, and 
 xix. Gen. xxxii. Matt, xxviii. 
 Luke i, &c. The scriptures re- 
 present them as endued with ex- 
 traordinary wisdom and power, 
 2d Sam. xiv, 20. Ps. ciil, 20; holy, 
 and regular in their inclinations ; 
 zealous in their emplo}', and com- 
 pletely happy in their minds. Job 
 xxxviii, 7. Heb. i, 7. Matt, xviii, 
 10. Their number seems to be 
 great, Ps. Ixviii, 17. Heb. xii, 22 ; 
 and perhaps have distinct orders, 
 Col. i, 16, 17. 1st Pet. iii, 22. 1st 
 Thess. iv, 16. Dan. x, 13. They 
 arc delighted with the grand 
 scheme of redemption, and the 
 conversion of sinners to God, 
 Luke ii, 12. 1st Pet. i, 12. Luke 
 XV, 10. They not only worship 
 God, and execute his commands 
 at large, but are attendant on the 
 saints of God while here below, 
 Ps. xci, 11, 12. Heb. i, 13. Luke 
 xvi, 22. Some Conjecture that 
 every good man has his particular 
 guardian angel. Matt, xviii, 10. 
 Acts xii, 15 ; but this is easier to 
 be supposed than to be proved ; 
 nor is it a matter of consequence 
 to know. " What need we dis- 
 pute," says Heniy, *' whether 
 every particular saint has a 
 guardian angel, when we are sure 
 he has a guard of angels about 
 him?" They will gather the elect 
 in the last day, attend the final 
 judgment, Matt, xxv, 31. Rev. 
 xiv, 18. Matt, xiii, 39, and live 
 for ever in the v/orld of glory, 
 Luke XX, 36. 
 
 Although the angels were ori- 
 ginally created perfect, yet they 
 were mutable: soiue of them sin- 
 ned, and kept not their first estate ; 
 and so, of the most bksscd and glo 
 
 rious, became the most vile and 
 miserable of all God's creatures. 
 They were expelled the regions of 
 light, and with heaven lost their 
 heavenly disposition, and fell into 
 a settled rancour against God, and 
 malice against men. What their 
 oifence was, is difficult to detcr- 
 niine, the scripture being silent 
 about it. Some think envy, others 
 unbelief; but most suppose it was 
 pride. As to the time of their 
 fall, v»e are certain it could not be 
 before the sixth day of the creation, 
 because on that day it is said — 
 " God saw every thing that he had 
 made, and behold it was very 
 good;" but that it was not long 
 after, is very probable, as it must 
 have preceded the fall of our first 
 parents. Their number seems to be 
 great, and there appears fron* 
 scripture to be various orders 
 among them, Matt, xii, 24. Eph. 
 ii, 2. Eph. vi, 12. Col. ii, 15. Rev. 
 xii, 7. Their constant employ is 
 not only doing evil themselves, 
 but endeavouring by all arts to se- 
 duce and pervert mankind, 1st Pet. 
 V, 8. Job i, 6. It is supposed they 
 will be restrained during the mil- 
 lennium. Rev. XX, 2, but afterwards 
 again, for a short time, deceive the 
 nations, Rev. xx, 8, and then 
 finally punished, J\Iatt. xxv, 41. 
 The authors who have written ou 
 this subject have been very nume- 
 rous; we shall only refer to a 
 few: Reipwldii's Enqiury into the 
 Slate and Economy of the Angeli- 
 cal JVorld; Doddridge^a Ltct.^ p. 
 10, lect. 210 to 214; Jlilton's Pa- 
 radise Lost; Bp. A'ewto?i's Works^ 
 vol. iii, p. 50,S^ 568 ; Shepherd cf 
 Angels ; Gilpin on Tor.ptation ; 
 Casnianni Angelographia; Gill and 
 RidgL-fii IhJics c/'Dliinili'. 
 
ANG 
 
 30 
 
 ANG 
 
 ANGELICS, an ancient sect, 
 supposed by some to have got this 
 appellation from their excessive 
 veneration of angels, and by others 
 from maintaining that the world 
 was created by angels. 
 
 ANGELITES, a sect in the 
 reign of the emperor Anastasius, 
 about the year 494 ; so called from 
 Angelium, a place in the city of 
 Alexandria where they held their 
 first meetings. They were called 
 likewise Severites^ from Severus, 
 who wa5 the head of their sect ; 
 as also Theodosians^ from one 
 Theodosius, whom they made 
 pope at Alexandria. They held 
 that the persons of the Trinity are 
 not the same ; that none of them 
 exists of himself, and of his own 
 nature ; but that there is a com- 
 mon God or Deity existing in 
 them all, and that each is God 
 by a participation of this Deity. I 
 
 ANGER, a violent passion of i 
 tlie mind, arising upon the receipt, j 
 or supposed i-eceipt, of any injury, ! 
 with a pre'ocnt purpose of revenge. | 
 All anger is by no means sinful; it \ 
 was designed by the Author of! 
 our nature for self defence ; nor is 
 it altogether a selfish passion, since | 
 it is excited by injuries offered to j 
 others as well as ourselves, and j 
 sometimes prompts us to reclaim ' 
 offenders from sin and danger, : 
 Eph. iv, 26 ; but it becomes sinful : 
 when conceived upon trivial occa- ■ 
 sions or inadequate provocations ; ; 
 when it breaks forth int© outrage- i 
 ous actions ; vents itself in revil- j 
 ing language, or is concealed in j 
 our thoughts to the degree of ha- j 
 tred. To suppress this passion, I 
 the followingreilectionsofarchdea- I 
 con Paley may not be unsuitable. — I 
 
 " We should consider the possibi- 
 lity of mistaking the motives from 
 which the conduct that offends us 
 proceeded ; how often our offences 
 have been the effect of inadver- 
 tency, when they were construed 
 into indications of malice ; the in- 
 ducement Avhich prompted our ad- 
 versary to act as he did, and how 
 powerfully the same inducement 
 has, at one time or other, operated 
 upon ourselves ; that he is suffer- 
 ing, perhaps, under a contrition, 
 which he is ashamed, or wants 
 opportunity, to confess ; and how 
 ungenerous it is to triumph by 
 coldness or insult over a spirit 
 already humbled in secret ; that 
 the returns of kindness are sweet, 
 and that there is neither honour, 
 nor virtue, nor use, in resisting 
 them ; for some persons think th em- 
 selves bound to cherish and keep 
 alive their indignation, when they 
 find it dying away of itself. We 
 may remember thst others have 
 their passions, their prejudices, 
 their favourite aims, their fears, 
 their cautions, their interests, their 
 sudden impulses, their varieties of 
 apprehension, as well as we : we 
 may recollect what hath sometimes 
 passed in our own minds, when we 
 have got on the wrong side of a 
 quarrel, and imagine the same to 
 be passing in our adversary's mind 
 now : when we became insensible 
 of our misbehaviour, what pallia- 
 tions we perceived in it, and ex- 
 pected others to perceive ; how we 
 were affected by the kindness, and 
 felt the superiority of a generous 
 reception and ready forgiveness ; 
 how persecution revived our spi- 
 rits with our enmity, and seemed 
 to justify the conduct in ourselves. 
 
ANG 
 
 51 
 
 ANT 
 
 which we before blamed. Add to 
 this, the indecency of extravagant 
 anger ; how it renders us, whilst it 
 lasts, the scorn and sport of all 
 about us, of which it leaves us, 
 when it ceases, sensible and asham- 
 ed; the inconveniences and irre- 
 trievable misconduct into which 
 our irascibility has sometimes be- 
 trayed us ; the friendships it has 
 lost us J the distresses and embar- 
 rassments in which we have been 
 involved by it; and the repent- 
 ance which, on one account or 
 other, it always costs us. 
 
 " But the reflection, calculated 
 above all others to allay that 
 haughtiness of temper which is 
 ever finding out provocations, and 
 which renders anger so impetuous, 
 is, that which the gospel proposes ; 
 namely, that we ourselves are, or 
 shortly sh.all be, suppliants for 
 mercy and pardon at the judg- 
 ment seat of God. Imagine our 
 secret sins all disclosed and brought 
 to light; imagine us thus humbled 
 and exposed ; trembling under the 
 hand of God ; casting ourselves on 
 his compassion ; crying out for 
 mercy ; imagine such a creature 
 to talk of satisfaction and revenge; 
 refusing to be entreated, disdain- 
 ing to forgive ; extreme to mark 
 and to resent what is done amiss ; 
 imagine, I say, this, and you can 
 hardly feign to yourself an in- 
 stance of more impious and unna- 
 'tural arrogance." Paley's Mor. 
 Phil., ch. 7, vol. i ; Fawcett\s ex- 
 cellent Treatise on An^er ; Seed's 
 Posth. Sei-.y ser. 11. 
 
 ANGER OF GOD. See Wrath. 
 
 ANGLO CALVINISTS, 
 a name given by some writers 
 to the members of the church 
 of England, as agreeing with 
 
 the other Calvinists in most 
 points excepting church govern- 
 ment. 
 
 ANNIHILATION, the act 
 of reducing any created being into 
 nothing. The sentiments of man- 
 kind have differed widely as to the 
 possibility and impossibility of an- 
 nihilation. According to some, no- 
 thing is so difficult ; it requires the 
 infinite power of God to effect it : 
 according to others, nothing so 
 easy. Existence, say they, is a state 
 of violence; all things are continu- 
 ally endeavouring to return to their 
 primitive nothing : it requires no 
 power at all; it will do itself; nay, 
 more — it requires an Infinite pow- 
 er to prevent it.. With respect to 
 human beings, it appears probable 
 from reason ; but it is confirmed 
 by scripture that they will not be 
 annihilated, but exist in a future 
 state, Matt, x, 28. Ecc. xii, 7. 
 John v,24. IstThess. v, 10. Matt. 
 xxv, 34, 41. Luke xvi, 22, 28. 
 Luke XX, 37, 38. 1st Cor. xv. See 
 158, &c. vol. i, Massilon's Ser., 
 Eng. Trans.; No. 129, Guardian; 
 B/air^s Ser.y vol. i, p. 461 ; and 
 articles Destructionists, Re- 
 surrection, Soul. 
 
 ANNUNCIATION, the ti- 
 dings brought by the angel Gabri- 
 el to the Virgin Mary of the incar- 
 nation of Christ. It is also used 
 to denote a festival kept by the 
 church on the 25th of March, in 
 commemoration of these tidings. 
 
 ANOMOEANS, the name by 
 which the pure Arians were called 
 in the fourth century, in contra- 
 distinction to the Semi-arians. 
 The word is formed from the 
 Greek avs/xoi.^r, different. See Ari- 
 ans and Semi-arians. 
 
 ANTEDILUVIANS, a gene- 
 
ANT 
 
 A N T 
 
 ral mme for all m-ankind who lived 
 before the flood, including the 
 whole human race from die crea- 
 tion to the dekige. > F®r the his- 
 tory ol.'the Antediluvians, seeBaok 
 of Gcncfiis, IVhJstcns Josephiis, 
 Cockbiirji^s Treatise on Deluge^ and 
 article Deluge. 
 
 ANTHEM, a church song per- 
 formed in cathedral service bv 
 choristers who sung alternately. 
 It was used to denote both psalms 
 imd hvmns, when performed in 
 this manner ; but, at present, an- 
 them is used in a more' confined 
 sense, being applied to certain pas- 
 sages taken out of the scriptures, 
 and adapted to a particular solem- 
 nity. Anthems were first intro- 
 duced- in the reformed service of 
 the EnglisJ^hurch, in the begin- 
 ning of the reign of queen Eliza- 
 beth. 
 
 ANTHROFOMORPHITES, 
 a feet of ancient heretics, who tak- 
 ing ever}- thing spoken of God in 
 scripture in a literal sense, parti- 
 cularly that passage, of Genesis in 
 which it is said — '•' God made 
 man after his own image," main- 
 tained that God had a human 
 shape. - 
 
 ANTHROPOPATHY, a 
 figure, expression, or discourse, 
 whereby some passion is attributed 
 to God ^ which properly belongs 
 only to man. Anthropopathy is fre- 
 quently used pon"«iscuously with 
 anthropology ; yet in strictness they 
 ought to be distinguished, as the 
 genus from the species^ Anthro- 
 pology may be understood of any 
 thing human attrihuted to God, 
 as eyes, hands, &c. ; but anthro- 
 popathy only of human affections 
 aiid passjons, as jny, grief. We 
 
 have frequent instances of the use 
 of these figures in holy scripture. 
 
 ANTIBURGHERS, a nume- 
 rous and respectable body of dis- 
 seqters from the church of Scot- 
 land, who differ from the esta- 
 blished church chiefly in matters of 
 church government; and who dif- 
 fer, also, from the Burgher secc- 
 ders, with whom thev were origi- 
 nally united, 'chiefly, if not solelV, 
 respecting the lawfulness of taking 
 the Burgess oath. For an account 
 of their origin and principles, see 
 Seceders, 
 
 ANTICHRIST, an adversary 
 to Jesus Christ. There have been 
 various opinions concerning the 
 Antichrist mentioned in the scrip- 
 ture, 1st John ii, 18. Some have 
 held that the Jews are to be re- 
 puted as Antichrist ; others Cali- 
 gula ; others Mahomet ; others 
 Simon INIagus ; others infidelity ; 
 and others, that the devil himself 
 is the Antichrist. Most authors 
 agree, however, that it' applies to 
 the church of Rome. Grotius, 
 Hammond, Bossuet, and others, 
 j supposed Rome pagan to be de- 
 j signed; but Rome Christian seems 
 j more evident, for John " saw the 
 j beast rise up out of the sea," Rev. 
 xiii, 1. Now, as heathen Rome 
 j had risen and been established long 
 j before his time, this could not re- 
 ! i'er to the Roman empii-e then sub- 
 ' sisting, but to a form of govern- 
 ment afterwards to arise. As, 
 I therefore, none did arise, after 
 : Rome was broken to pieces by the 
 barbarians, but that of the papal 
 power, it must be considered as 
 applying to that. The descrip- 
 tions, also, of the beast as the 
 great apostacy^ the man ofsw^ the 
 
ANT 
 
 33 
 
 ANT 
 
 mystery of iniquity, and the sow of 
 perdition, will apply only to chris- 
 tian Rome. See Daniel vii. 2d 
 Thess. ii. and Rev. xiii. Besides, 
 the time allowed for the continu- 
 ance of the beast will not apply to 
 heathen Rome ; for power was 
 given to the beast for 1260 years, 
 whereas heathen Rome did not 
 last 400 years after this prophecy 
 was delivered. 
 
 Authors have differed as to the 
 time when Antichrist arose. Some 
 suppose that his reign did not 
 commence till he became a tem- 
 poral prince, in the year 756, 
 when Pepin wrested the exarchate 
 of Ravanna from the Lombards, 
 and made it over to the pope and 
 his successors. Others think that 
 it was in. 727, when Rome and the 
 Roman dukedom came from the 
 Greeks to the Roman pontiff. 
 Mede dates his rise in the year 
 456 ; but others, and I think with 
 the greatest reason, place it in the 
 year 606. Now, it is generally 
 agreed that the reign of Antichrist 
 is 1260 years ; consequently, if 
 his rise is not to be reckoned till 
 he was possessed of secular autho- 
 rity, then his fall must be when 
 this power is taken away. Ac- 
 cording to the first opinion, he 
 must have possessed his temporal 
 power till the year 2016 ; accord- 
 ing to the second, he must have 
 possessed it till the year 1987". If 
 his rise began, according to Mede, 
 In 456, then he must have fallen in 
 1716. Now that these dates were 
 wrong, circumstances have prov- 
 ed; the first and second being too 
 late, and the third too early. As 
 these hypotheses, therefore, must 
 fall to the ground, it remains for 
 
 Vol. L F 
 
 us to consider why the last men- 
 tioned is the more probable. It 
 was about the year 606 that pope 
 Boniface III, by flattering Phocas, 
 the emperor of Constantinople, one 
 of the worst of tyrants, procured 
 for himself the title of Universal 
 Bishop. The bishops of Rome 
 and Constantinople had long been 
 struggling for this honour ; at last, 
 it was decided in favour of the bi- 
 shop of Rome ; and from this time 
 he was raised above all others, and 
 his supremacy established by im- 
 perial authority: it was now, 
 also, that the most profound ig- 
 norance, debauchery, and super- 
 stition, reigned. From this time 
 the popes exerted all their power 
 in promoting the idolatrous wor- 
 ship of images, saints, reliques, 
 and angels. The church was tru- 
 ly deplorable ; all the clergy were 
 given up to the most flagrant and 
 abominable acts of licentiousness. 
 Places of worship resembled the 
 temples of heathens more than the 
 churches of christians ; in fine, no- 
 thing could exceed the avarice, 
 pride, and vanity of all the bishops, 
 presbyters, deacons, and even the 
 cloistered monks ! All this fully 
 answered the description St. Paul 
 gave of Antichrist, 2d Thess. ii. 
 It is necessary also to observe, that 
 this epoch agrees best with the 
 time when, according to prophecy, 
 he was to be revealed. The rise 
 of Antichrist was to be preceded 
 by the dissolution of the Roman 
 empire, theestablishment of a dif- 
 ferent form of government in Italy, 
 and the division of the empire into 
 ten kingdoms ; all theseevents tak- 
 ing place, make it very probable 
 thi*t the year 606 was the time of 
 
ANT 
 
 34 
 
 ANT 
 
 his rise. Nor have the events of 
 the last century made it less pro- 
 bable. The power of the pope 
 was never so much shaken as with- 
 in a fev/ years : " his dominion is, 
 in a great measure, taken from 
 him ;" and every thing seems to 
 be going on gradually to termi- 
 nate his authority ; so that, by the 
 time these 1260 years shall be con- 
 cluded, we may suppose that An- 
 tichrist shall be finally destroyed. 
 
 As to the cruelties of Antichrist, 
 the persecutions that have been 
 carried on, and the miseries to 
 which mankind have been subject, 
 by the power of the beast, the read- 
 er may consult the articles In- 
 quisition and Persecution. 
 In this we have to rejoice, that, 
 however various the opinions of 
 the learned may be as to the time 
 when Antichrist rose, it is evident 
 to all that he is fast declining, and 
 will certainly fall. Rev. xviii, 1, 
 5. What means the Amighty 
 i^jnay farther use, the exact time 
 when, and the manner how, all 
 shall be accomplished, we must 
 leave to him who ordereth all 
 things after the counsel of his own 
 will. See Bp. Newton on the Pro- 
 phecies ; Simpson! s Key to ditto ; 
 Mosely^s Ser. on Fall of Babylon ; 
 WarcPs three Discourses Ofi Pro- 
 phecy, and books under that ar- 
 ticle. 
 
 ANTIDORON, a name given 
 by the Greeks to the consecrated 
 bread ; out of which the middle 
 part, marked with the cross, where- 
 in the consecration resides, being 
 taken away by the priest, the re- 
 mainder is cfistributed after mass 
 to the poor. 
 
 ANTINOMIANS, those who 
 
 maintain that the law is of no use 
 or obligation under the gospel dis- 
 pensation, or who hold doctrines 
 that clearly supersede the neces- 
 sity of good works. The Antino- 
 mians took their origin from John 
 Agricola, about the year 1538, 
 who taught that the law is no way 
 necessary under the gospel ; that 
 good works do not promote our 
 salvation, nor ill ones hinder it ; 
 that repentance is not to be 
 preached from the decalogue, but 
 only from the gospel. This sect 
 sprung up in England during the 
 protectorate of Cromwell, and ex- 
 tended their system of libertinism 
 much farther than Agricola did. 
 Some of them, it is said, maintain- 
 ed, that if they should commit any 
 kind of sin, it would do them 
 no hurt, nor in the least affect 
 their eternal state ; and that it 
 is one of the distinguishing cha- 
 racters of the elect, that they can- 
 not do any thing displeasing to 
 God. It is necessary, however, to 
 observe here, and candour obliges 
 us to confess, that there have been 
 others, who have been styled An^ 
 tinomians, who cannot, strictly 
 speaking, be ranked with these 
 men: nevertheless, the unguarded 
 expressions they have advanced, 
 the bold positions they have laid 
 down, and the double construction 
 which might so easily be put upon 
 many of their sentences, have led 
 some to charge them with Anti- 
 nomian principles. For instance ; 
 when they have asserted justifica- 
 tion to be eternal, without distin- 
 guishing between the secret deter- 
 mination of God in eternity and 
 the execution of it in time ; when 
 they have spoken lightly of good 
 
ANT 
 
 35 
 
 ANT 
 
 works, or asserted that believers 
 have nothing to do with the law 
 of God, without fully explaining 
 what they mean ; when they assert 
 that God is not angry with his 
 people for their sins, nor in any 
 sense punishes them for them, with- 
 out distinguishingbetween fatherly 
 corrections and vindictive punish- 
 ment ; these things, whatever be 
 the private sentiments of those who 
 advance them, have a tendency to 
 injure the minds of many. It has 
 been alleged, that the principal 
 thing they have had in view, was, 
 to counteract those legal doctrines 
 which have so much abounded 
 among the self-righteous i but, 
 granting this to be true, there is 
 no occasion to run from one ex- 
 treme to another. Had many of 
 those writers proceeded with more 
 caution, been less dogmatical, 
 more explicit in the explanation 
 of their sentiments, and possessed 
 more candour towards those who 
 differed from them, they would 
 have been more serviceable to the 
 cause of truth and religion. Some 
 of the chief of those who have 
 been charged as favouring Anti- 
 nominianism, or at least whose 
 works have that tendency, are. 
 Crisps Richardson^ Saltmarsh^ Hus- 
 seify Eaton^ Town., &c. These have 
 been answered by Gataker, Sedg- 
 tuicky Witsiiis^BidX Williams, Ridg- 
 ley, Beart, De Fleury, &c. See 
 also Bellamy's Letters and Dia- 
 ijgues betxveen Theron, Paulinus, 
 and Aspasio ; with his Essay on the 
 Nature and Glory of the Gospel. 
 
 ANTIPATHY, hatred, aver- 
 sion, repugnancy. Hatred \& entei;,- 
 tained against \)tYsoxis, aversion and 
 antipathy against persons or things. 
 
 and repugnancy against actions 
 alone. Hatred is more voluntary 
 than aversion, antipathy, or repug- 
 nancy : these last have greater affi- 
 nity with the animal constitution. 
 The causes of antipathy are less 
 known than those of aversion. Re 
 piignancy is less petTnanent than 
 either one or the other. We hate 
 a vicious character ; we feel aver* 
 sion to its exertions. We are af- 
 fected with antipathy for certain 
 persons at first sight ; there are 
 some affairs which we transact 
 with repugnancy. Hatred calum- 
 niates, aversion keeps us at a dis- 
 tance from certain persons. Anti- 
 pathy makes us detest them ; re- 
 pugnancy hinders us from imitat- 
 ing them. 
 
 ANTIPiEDOBAPTISTS 
 (from aA, " against,'" and itats wai* 
 ^0., " child," and Bxml^,^, " bap- 
 tize,") is a distinguishing denomi- 
 nation given to the those who ob- 
 ject to the baptism of infants. See 
 Baptists, Baptism. 
 
 ANTIQUITIES, a term im- 
 plying all testimonies or authentic 
 accounts that have come down to 
 us of ancient nations. As the stu- 
 dy of antiquities may be useful 
 both to the enquiring christian, as 
 well as to those who are employed 
 in or are candidates for the gos- 
 pel ministry, Ave shall here subjoin 
 a list of those which are esteemed 
 the most valuable. — Fabricii Bibli- 
 ographia Antiquaria; Spencer de 
 Legibus Heb Ritualibus ; GodxvyrHs 
 Moses and Aaron ; Bingham's An- 
 tiquities of the Christian Church; 
 Jennings's Jewish Antiquities ; 
 Potter's and Harwood's Greek, and 
 Kennett's and Adams's Rpman An- 
 tiquities ; Preface to the Prussian 
 
Aisrt 
 
 36 
 
 A.NT 
 
 Testament, published by V Enfant 
 and Becmsobre ; Pr'idmiix and 
 Shuckford'^s Connections ; J ones'' s 
 Asiatic Researches ; and Maurice's 
 Indian Antiquities. 
 
 ANTISABBATARIANS, a 
 modern religious sect,who deny the 
 necessity of observing the Sabbath 
 Day. Their chief arguments are, 
 1. That the Jewish Sabbath was 
 only of ceremonial, not of moral, 
 obligation ; and, consequently, is 
 abolished by the coming of Christ. 
 — 2. That no other Sabbath wajs 
 appointed to be obsyved by Christ 
 or his apostles. — 3. That there is 
 not a word of Sabbath breaking in 
 all the New Testament. — 4. That 
 no command was given to Adam 
 or Noah to keep any Sabbath. — 
 And, 5. That, therefore, although 
 christians are commanded " not 
 to forsake the assembling of them- 
 selves together," they ought not to 
 hold one day more holy than an- 
 other. See article Sabbath. 
 
 ANTITACTtE, a branch of 
 Gnostics, v/ho held that God was 
 good and just, but that a creature 
 had created evil; and, consequent- 
 ly, that it is our duty to oppose 
 this author of evil, in order to 
 avenge God of his adversary. 
 
 ANTITRINITARIANS, those 
 who deny the Trinity, and teach 
 that there are Hot three persons in 
 the Godhead. See Trinity. 
 
 ANTITYPE, a Greek word, 
 properly signifying a type or figure 
 corresponding to some other type. 
 The word antitype occurs twice 
 in the New Testament, viz. in the 
 , Epistle to the Hebrews, chap, ix, 
 v. 24, and in the 1st Epistle of St. 
 Peter, chap, iii, v. 21, where its 
 genuine import has been much 
 
 contro^verted. The former says, 
 that " Christ is not entered into 
 the holy places made with hands, 
 which are xvTiTUTTot, the figures or 
 antitvpes of the true — now to ap- 
 pear in the presence of God*" 
 Now rvTTos signifies the pattern by 
 which another thing is made j 
 and as Moses was obliged to make 
 the tabernacle, and all things in 
 it, according to the pattern shewn 
 him in the Mount, the tabernacle 
 so formed was the antitype of what 
 was shewn to Moses : any thing, 
 therefore, formed according to a 
 model or pattern, is an antitype. 
 In the latter passage, the apostle, 
 speaking of Noah's flood, and the 
 deliverance only of eight persons 
 in the ark from it, says, n x«< rjixact 
 
 acvriTuTrov vwacu^ii ^cctttktixoc ; Baptism 
 
 beiiig an antitype to that, now saves 
 us ; not putting orway the filth of 
 the flesh, but the answer of a good 
 conscience toward God, &c. The 
 meaning is, that righteousness, or 
 the answer of a good conscience 
 towards God, now saves us, by 
 means of the resurrection of Christ, 
 as formerly righteousness saved 
 these eight persons by means of 
 the ark during the flood. The 
 word antitype, therefore, here sig- 
 nifies a general similitude of cir- 
 cumstances ; and the particle fi, 
 whereunto, refers not to the imme- 
 diate antecedent f^aros-, xvater, but 
 to all that precedes. 
 
 ANTOSIANDRIANS, asect 
 of rigid Lutherans who opposed the 
 doctrine of Osiander relating to 
 justification. These are otherwise 
 denominated Osiandromastiges. — 
 The Antosiandrians deny that man 
 is made just, with that justice 
 I wherewith God himself is just j 
 
APO 
 
 37 
 
 APO 
 
 that is, they assert that he is not 
 made essentially but only imputa- 
 tively just ; or that he is not really 
 made just, but only pronounced so. 
 
 APATHY, among the ancient 
 philosophers, implied an utter pri- 
 vation of passion, and an insensi- 
 bility of pain. The word is com- 
 pounded rf a priv and Trafloj, affec- 
 tion. The Stoics affected an en- 
 tire apathy ; they considered it as 
 the highest wisdom to enjoy a per- 
 fect calmness or tranquillity of 
 mind, incapable of being ruffled by 
 either pleasure or pain. In the 
 first ages of the church, the chris- 
 tians adopted the term apathy to 
 express a contempt of all earthly 
 concerns ; a state of mortification 
 such as the gospel prescribes. 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, in parti- 
 cular, brought it exceedingly in 
 vogue, thinking hereby to draw 
 such philosophers to Christianity 
 who aspired after such a sublime 
 pitch of virtue. 
 
 APELLEANS, so called from 
 Apelles, in the second century. 
 They affirmed that Christ, when 
 he came down from heaven, re- 
 ceived a body not from the sub- 
 stance of his mother, but from the 
 four elements, which at his death 
 he rendered back to the world, and 
 so ascended into heaven without 
 a body. 
 
 APHTHARTODOCITES, a 
 denomination in the sixth century ; 
 so called from the Greek «ip9«pToy, 
 incorruptible^ and '^ox.iu^ to judge ; 
 because they held that the body of 
 Jesus Christ was incorruptible, and 
 not subject to death. They were 
 a branchof the Eutychians. 
 
 APOCARITiES, a denomi- 
 nation, in the third century, which 
 
 sprung from the Manicheans. 
 They held that the soul of man was 
 of the substance of God. 
 
 APOCRYPHA, books not ad- 
 mitted into the canon of scripture, 
 being either spurious, or at least 
 not acknowledged as divine. The 
 word is Greek, and derived from 
 asTTo, " from," and x.pvTrroj^ " to hide 
 or conceal." They seem most of 
 them to have been composed by 
 Jews. None of the writers of 
 the NewTestamentmentionthem; 
 neither Philo nor Josephus speak 
 of them. The christian church < 
 was for some ages a stranger to 
 them. Origen, Athanasius, Hi- 
 lary, Cyril of Jerusalem, and all 
 the orthodox writers who h^e 
 given catalogues of the canonical 
 books of scripture, unanimously 
 concur in rejecting these out of 
 the canon. The Protestants ac- 
 knowledge such books of scripture 
 only to be canonical as were es- 
 teemed to be so in the first ages 
 of the church ; such as are cited 
 by the earliest writers among the 
 christians as of divine authoritj^, 
 and after the most diligent enquiry 
 were received and judged to be 
 so by the council of Laodicea. 
 They were written after the daj^s 
 of Malachi, in whom, according 
 to the universal testimony of the 
 Jews, the spirit of prophecy ceas- 
 ed, Mai. iv, 4 to 6. Not one of 
 the writers in direct terms ad- 
 vances a claim to inspiration. 
 They contain fables, lies, and con- 
 tradictions, 1st Mace, vi, 4, 16. 
 2d Mace, i, 13, 16. 2d Mace, ix, 
 28. The apocryphal books are in 
 general believed to be canonical 
 by the church of Rome ; and, 
 even by the sixth _articlc of tlu 
 
APO 
 
 38 
 
 APO 
 
 cliurcb of England, they are or- 
 dered to be read for example of 
 life and instruction of manners, 
 though it doth not apply them to 
 estaiwish any doctrine. Other re- 
 formed churches do not so much 
 as raake even this use of them. 
 See Pr'idemix's Connections^ vol. i, 
 p. 3G-42 : Lee's Dissert, on Es- 
 dras ; Dick on Inspiration^ p. 344. 
 
 APOLLINAKIANS were an- 
 cient heretics, who denied the pro- 
 per humanity of C|;irist, and main- 
 tained that the body which he as- 
 sumed was endovv'ed with a stn- 
 sitive and not a rational soul ; but 
 that the divine nature supplied the 
 place of the intellectual principle 
 in man. This sect derived its 
 name from Apollinaris, bishop of 
 Laodicea. Their doctrine was 
 first condemned by a council at 
 Alexandria in 362, and after- 
 wards in a more formal manner by 
 a council at Rome in 375, and 
 by another council in 378, which 
 deposed Apollinaris from his bi- 
 shopric. This, with other laws 
 enacted against them, reduced 
 them to a very small number ; so 
 that at last they dwindled away. 
 
 A POST AC Y, a forsaking or 
 renouncing our religion, either by 
 an open declaration in words, or 
 a virtual declaration of it by our 
 actions. The primitive christian 
 church distinguished several kinds 
 of apostacy ; the first, of those 
 who went entirely from Christia- 
 nity to Judaism ; the second, of 
 those who complied so far with 
 the Jews, as to communicate with 
 them in manv of their unlawful 
 practices, vvithout making a for- 
 mal profession of their religion ; 
 thirdly^ of those who mingled 
 
 Judaism and Christianity together ; 
 and, fourthly, of those who vo- 
 luntarily relapsed into paganism. 
 Apostacy may be farther consi- 
 dered as, 1, original, in which we 
 have all participated, Rom. iii, 
 23 ; — 2, national, when a king- 
 dom relinquishes the profession of 
 Christianity ; — 3, perso^fal, when 
 an individual backslides from 
 God, Heb. X, 38 ; — 4, final, when 
 men are given up to judicial hard- 
 ness of heart, as Judas. See 
 Backsliding. 
 
 APOSTLE, properly signifies 
 a messenger or person sent by an- 
 other upon some business. It is 
 particularly applied to them whom 
 our Saviour deputed to preach. — 
 2. Apostle, in the Greek liturgy, 
 is used for a book containing the 
 epistles of St. Paul, printed in the 
 order wherein they are to be read 
 in churches through the course of 
 the year. — 3. The appellation was 
 also given to the ordinary travel- 
 ling ministers of the church, Rom. 
 xvi, 7. Phil, ii, 25, though in our 
 translation the last is rendered 
 messenger. — 4. It is likewise giv- 
 en to those persons who first plant- 
 ed the christian faith in any place. 
 Thus Dionysius of Corinth is call- 
 ed the Apostle of France, Xavier 
 the Apostle of the Indies, &c. 
 
 APOSTLES' CREED. See 
 Creed. 
 
 APOSTOLATE, In a general 
 sense, is used for mission ; but it 
 more properly denotes the dignity 
 or office of an apostle of Christ. 
 It is also used in ancient writers 
 for the office of a bishop. But as 
 the title apostoliciis has been ap- 
 propriated to the pope, so that 
 of apostolate became at length 
 
APO 
 
 39 
 
 APO 
 
 restrained to the sole dignity of 
 the popedom. 
 
 : APOSTOLIC, apostolical; 
 something that relates to the apos- 
 tles, or descends from them. Thus 
 we say the apostolical age, apostoli- 
 cal doctrine, apostolical character, 
 constitutions, traditions, &c. 
 
 APOSTOLIC, in the primitive 
 church, was an appellation given 
 to all such churches as were found- 
 ed by the apostles ; and even to 
 the bishops of those churches, as 
 being the reputed successors of the 
 apostles. These were confined to 
 four, viz. Rome, Alexandria, An- 
 tioch, and Jerusalem. In after 
 times, the other churches assumed 
 the same quality, on account, 
 principally, of the conformity of 
 their doctrine with that of the 
 churches which were apostolical 
 by foundation, and because all 
 bishops held themselves successors 
 of the apostles, or acted in their 
 dioceses with the authority of 
 apostles. 
 
 The first time the term aposto- 
 iical is attributed to bishops, as 
 such, is in a letter of Clovis to the 
 council of Orleans, held in 511, 
 though that king does not there 
 expressly denominate them aposto- 
 lical,h\xx.(apostolicasededignissimt) 
 highly worthy of the apostolical 
 see. In 581, Guntram calls the 
 bishops, met at the council of 
 Macon, apostolical pontiffs, apo- 
 stolici pontijices. 
 
 In progress of time, the bishop 
 of Rome growing in power above 
 the rest, and the three patriarchates 
 of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jeru- 
 salem, falling into the hands of the 
 Saracens, the title apostolical v/as 
 restrained to the pope and his 
 
 church alone ; though some of the 
 popes, and St. Gregory the Great, 
 not contented to hold the title by 
 this tenure, began at length to in- 
 sist that it belonged to them hy 
 another and peculiar right, as 
 being the successors of St. Peter. 
 The country of Rheims, in 1049, 
 declared that the pope was the 
 sole apostolical primate of the 
 universal church. And hence 
 a great number of apostolicals ; 
 apostolical see, apostolical nuncio, 
 apostolical notary y apostolical brief^ 
 apostolical chamber, apostolical vi- 
 car, &c. 
 
 APOSTOLICAL CONSTI- 
 TUTIONS, a collection of regu- 
 lations attributed to the apostles, 
 and supposed to have been collect- 
 ed by St. Clement, whose name 
 they likewise bear. It is the gene- 
 ral opinion, however, that they arc 
 spurious, and that St. Clement 
 had no hand in them. They ap- 
 peared first in the fourth century, 
 but have been much changed and 
 corrupted since- There are so 
 many things in them different 
 from and even contrary to the ge- 
 nius and design of the New Testa- 
 nient writers, that no wise man 
 would believe, without the most 
 convincing and irresistible proof, 
 that both could come from the 
 same hand. Grate's Afiszuer t» 
 Wiiiston; Saur ill's Ser., vol. ii, p. 
 185 ; Lardner''s Cred., vol. viii, p. 
 11, cJi. ult.; Doddridge's Lect.^ lee. 
 119. 
 
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS,an 
 appellation usually given to the 
 writers of the first century, who 
 employed their pens in the cause 
 of Christianity. Of these writers, 
 Cotelcrii,is,and after liim Le Clerc, 
 
A PP 
 
 40 
 
 ARA 
 
 have published a collection in two 
 volumes, accompanied both with 
 their own annotations, and the re- 
 marks of other learned men. See 
 also the genuine epistles of the 
 apostolic fathers by abp. Wake. 
 
 APOSTOLICI, or Aposto- 
 Lics, a name assumed by different 
 sects on account of their pretending 
 to imitate the practice of the 
 apostles. 
 
 • APOTACTIT^, an ancient 
 sect, who affected to follow the ex- 
 amples of the apostles, and re- 
 nounced all their effects and pos- 
 sessions. It does not appear that 
 they held any errors at first ; but 
 afterwards they taught that the re- 
 nouncing of all riches was not on- 
 ly a matter of counsel and advice, 
 but of precept and necessity. 
 
 APPLICATION, is used for 
 the act whereby our Saviour trans- 
 fers or makes over to us what he 
 had earned or purchased by his 
 holy life and death. Accordingly 
 it is by this application of the merits 
 of Christ that we are to be justified 
 and entitled to grace and glory. 
 
 Application is also used for that 
 part of a sermon in which the 
 preacher brings home or applies 
 the truth of religion to the consci- 
 ences of his hearers. See Ser- 
 mon. 
 
 APPROBATION, a state or 
 disposition of the mind, wherein 
 we put a value upon, or become 
 pleased with, some person or thing. 
 Moralists are divided on the prin- 
 ciple ofapprobation, or the motive 
 which determines us to approve 
 or disapprove. The Epicureans 
 will have it to be only self-interest : 
 according to them, that which 
 
 determines any agent to approve 
 his own action, is its apparent ten- 
 dency to his private happiness; 
 and even the approbation of ano- 
 ther's action flows from no other 
 cause but an opinion of its tendency 
 to the happiness of the approver, 
 either immediately or remotely. 
 Others resolve approbation into a 
 moral sense, or a principle of be- 
 nevolence, by which we are deter- 
 mined to approve every kind af- 
 fe ction either in ourselves or others, 
 and all publicly useful actions 
 which we imagine to flow from 
 such affections, without any view 
 therein to our own private hap- 
 piness. 
 
 But may we not add, that a true 
 christian's approbation arises from 
 his perception of the will of God? 
 See Obligation. 
 
 APPROPRIATION, the an- 
 nexing a benefice to the proper and 
 perpetual use of some religious 
 house. It is a term also often used 
 in the religious world as referring 
 to that act of the mind by which we 
 apply the blessings of the gospel 
 to ourselves. This appropriation 
 is real when we are enabled to 
 believe in, feel, and obey the truth; 
 but merely nojni^ial and delusive , 
 when there are no fruits of righte- 
 ousness and true holiness. See 
 Assurance. 
 
 AQUARIANS,those who con- 
 secrated water in the eucharist in- 
 stead of wine. Another branch of 
 them approved of wine at the 
 sacrament, when received in the 
 evening ; they likewise mixed 
 water with the wine. 
 
 ARABICI, erroneous chris- 
 tians, in the third centur}', who 
 
ARC 
 
 41 
 
 ARI 
 
 thought that the soul and body 
 died together, and rose again. It 
 is said that Origen convinced them 
 of their error, and that they then 
 abjured it. 
 
 ARCHANGEL, according to 
 some divines, means an angel oc- 
 cupying the eighth rank in the ce- 
 lestial hierarchy ; but others, not 
 without reason, reckon it a title 
 only applicable to our Saviour. 
 Compare Jude ix, with Dan. xii, 
 1. 1st Thess. iv, 16. 
 
 ARCHBISHOP, the chief or 
 metropolitan bishop, who has seve- 
 ral suffragans under him. Arch- 
 bishops were not known in the 
 East till about the year 320 ; and 
 though there were some soon after 
 this who had the title, yet that 
 was only a personal honour, by 
 which the bishops of considerable 
 cities were distinguished. It was 
 not till of late that archbishops 
 became metropolitans, and had 
 suffragans under them. The eccle- 
 siastical government of England 
 is divided into two provinces, viz. 
 Canterbury and York. The first 
 archbishop of Canterbury was 
 Austin, appointed by king Ethel- 
 bert, on his conversion to Chris- 
 tianity, about the year 598. His 
 grace of Canterbury is the first 
 peer of England, and the next to 
 the royal family, having prece- 
 dence of all dukes, and all great 
 officers of the crown. It is his 
 privilege, by custom, to crown the 
 kings and queens of this kingdom. 
 The archbishop of York has pre- 
 cedence of all dukes not of the 
 royal blood, and of all officers of 
 state except the lord high chan- 
 cellor. The first archbishop of 
 York was Paulinus, appointed 
 
 Vol. L ( 
 
 by pope Gregory about the year 
 622. 
 
 ARCHDEACON, a priest in- 
 vested with authority or jurisdic- 
 tion over the clergy and laity, next 
 to the bishop, either through the 
 whole diocese, or only a part of it. 
 There are sixty in England, who 
 visit every two years in three, when 
 they enquire into the reparations 
 and moveables belonging to church- 
 es ; reform abuses ; suspend ; ex- 
 communicate ; in some places 
 prove wills ; and induct all clerks 
 into benefices within their respec- 
 tive jurisdictions. 
 
 ARCHONTICS, a sect about 
 the year 160 or 203. Among 
 many other extravagant notions, 
 they held that the world was cre- 
 ated by archangels ; they also de- 
 nied the resurrection of the body. 
 
 ARCH-PRESBYTER, or 
 Arch-Priest, a priest established 
 in some dioceses with a superiority 
 over the rest. He was anciently 
 chosen out of the college of pres- 
 byters, at the pleasure of the 
 bishop. The arch-presbyters 
 were much of the same nature 
 with our deans in cathedral 
 churches. 
 
 ARRHABONARII, a sect 
 who held that the eucharist is 
 neither the real flesh or blood of 
 Christ, nor yet the sign of them, 
 but only the pledge or earnest 
 thereof. 
 
 ARI ANS, followers of Arius, a 
 presbyter of the church of Alex- 
 andria, about 315, who maintain- 
 ed that the Son of God was totally 
 and essentially distinct from the 
 Father ; that he was the first and 
 noblest of those beings whom God 
 had created — the instrument, by 
 whose svibortlinate operation he 
 
ARI 
 
 42 
 
 ARI 
 
 formed the universe ; and, there- 
 fore, inferior to the Father both 
 in nature and dignity : also, that 
 the Holy Ghost was not God, but 
 created by the power of the Son. 
 The Arians owned that the Son 
 was the Word ; but denied that 
 Word to have been eternal. They 
 held that Christ had nothing of 
 man in him but the flesh, to which 
 the Xoyos^ or word, was joined, 
 which was the same as the soul in 
 us. — The Arians were first con- 
 demned and anathematized by a 
 council at Alexandria, in 320, un- 
 der Alexander, bishop of that city, 
 who accused Arius of impiety, and 
 caused him to be expelled from 
 the communion of the church ; 
 and afterwards by 380 fathers in 
 the general council of Nice, as- 
 sembled by Constantine, in 325. 
 His doctrine, however, was not 
 extinguished ; on the contrary, it 
 became the reigning religion, es- 
 pecially in the East. Arius was 
 recalled from banishment by Con- 
 stantine in two or three years after 
 the council of Nice, and the laws 
 thatrhad been enacted against him 
 were repealed. Notwithstanding 
 this, Athanasius, then bishop of 
 Alexandria, refused to admit him 
 and his followers to communion. 
 This so enraged them, that, by 
 their interest at court, they pro- 
 cured that prelate to be deposed 
 and banished ; but the church of 
 Alexandria still refusing to admit 
 Arius into their communion, the 
 emperor sent for him to Constan- 
 tinople ; where, upon delivering 
 in a fresh confession of his faith in 
 terms les offensive, the emperor 
 commanded him to be received 
 into their c6mm,union ; but that 
 
 very evening, it is said, Arius died 
 as his friends were conducting 
 him in triumph to the great church 
 of Constantinople. Arius, pressed 
 by a natural want, stepped aside, 
 but expired on the spot, his bowels 
 gushing out. The Arian party, 
 however, found a protector in 
 Constantius, who succeeded his 
 father in the East. They under- 
 went various revolutions and per- 
 secutions under succeeding empe- 
 rors ; till, at length, Theodosius 
 the Great exerted every effort to 
 suppress them. Their doctrine 
 was carried, in the fifth century, in- 
 to Africa, under the Vandals ; and 
 into Asia under the Goths. — Italy, 
 Gaul,,and Spain, were also deeply 
 infected with it ; and towards the 
 commencement of the sixth cen- 
 tury, it was triumphant in many 
 parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe : 
 but it sunk, almost at once, when 
 the Vandals were driven out of 
 Africa, and the Goths out of Italy, 
 by the arms of Justinian. How- 
 ever, it revived again in Italy, 
 under the protection of the Lom- 
 bards, in the seventh century, and 
 and was not extinguished till 
 about the end of the eighth. 
 Arianism was again revived in 
 the West by Servetus, in 1531, 
 for which he suffered death. After 
 this the doctrine got footing in 
 Geneva, and in Poland ; but at 
 length degenerated in a great 
 measure into Socinianism. Eras- 
 mus, it is thought, aimed at re- 
 viving it, in his commentaries on 
 the New Testament ; and the 
 learned Grotius seems to lean that 
 way. Mr. Whiston was one of 
 the first divines who revived this 
 controversy in the eighteenth cen- 
 
A RI 
 
 43 
 
 ARK 
 
 tury. He was followed by Dr. 
 Clark, who was chiefly opposed 
 by Dr. Waterland. Those who 
 hold the doctrine which is usually 
 called Loxv Arianism^ say that 
 Christ pre-existed ; but not as the 
 eternal Logos of the Father, or as 
 the Being by whom he made the 
 worlds, and had intercourse with 
 the patriarchs, or as having any 
 certain rank or employment what- 
 ever in the divine dispensations. 
 In modern times, the term Arian 
 is indiscriminately applied to those 
 who consider Jesus simply subor- 
 dinate to the Father. Some of 
 them believe Christ to have been 
 the creator of the world ; but they 
 all maintain that he existed pre- 
 viously to his incarnation, though 
 in his pre-existent state they as- 
 sign him different degrees of dig- 
 nity. Hence the tern^i^s High and 
 Low Arian. See Pre-existence. 
 Some of the more recent vindica- 
 tors of Arianism have been H. 
 Taylor^ in his Apohgy of Ben 
 Mordecai to his Friends for em- 
 bracing Christianity; Dr. Har- 
 zvood, in his Five Dissertations ; 
 Dr. Price^ in his Sermons on the 
 I Christian Doctrine. See also the 
 4th volume of the Theological Re- 
 pository^ p. 153-163, and Cornishes 
 Tract on the Pre-existence of 
 Christ. 
 
 For a refutation ■ of the Arian 
 doctrine, see article Jesus Christ; 
 and Abbadie, Waterland^ Guyse, 
 Hey^ Robinson^ Eveleigh^ Harvker 
 on the Divinity of Christ; — Cala- 
 my^ Taylor^ Gill^ Jones^ Pike^ 
 and Simpson^ on the Trinity^ 
 
 ARISTOTELIANS, the fol- 
 lowers of Aristotle. They believed 
 in the eternity of the world, and 
 
 represented the Deity as somewhat 
 similar to a principle of power 
 giving motion to a machine ; and 
 as happy in the contemplation of 
 himself, but regardless of human 
 affairs. They were uncertain as 
 to the immortality of the soul. — 
 As this was rather a philosophical 
 than religious sect, we shall not 
 enlarge on it. 
 
 ARK, or Noah's Ark, a float- 
 ing vessel built by Noah for the 
 preservation of his family, and the 
 several species of animals, during 
 the deluge. See Gen. vi. 
 
 ARK OF THE COVENANT, 
 a small chest or coffer, three feet 
 nine inches in length, two feet 
 three inches in breadth, and 
 two feet three inches in height, in 
 which were contained the golden 
 pot that had manna, Aaron's rod, 
 and the tables of the covenant. 
 The ark was reposited in the ho- 
 liest place of the tabernacle. It 
 was taken by the Philistines, and 
 detained twenty (some say forty) 
 years at Kirjath-jearim ; but, the 
 people beingafHicted with emerods 
 on account of it, returned it with 
 divers presents. It was afterv/ards 
 placed in the temple. 
 
 The lid or covering of the ark 
 was called the propitiatory^ or 
 mercy-seat ; over which two figures 
 were placed, called cherubims^W\^ 
 expanded wings of a peculiar 
 form. Here the Shechinah rest- 
 ed both in the tabernacle and tem- 
 ple in a visible cloud : hence were 
 issued the Divine oracles by an 
 audible voice ; and the high priest 
 appeared before this m.ercy-seat 
 once every year on the great day 
 of expiation ; and the Jews, where- 
 ever they worshipped, turned their 
 
ARM 
 
 44 
 
 ARM 
 
 faces towards the place where the 
 ark stood. 
 
 In the second teniple there v,'as 
 also an ark, made of the same 
 shape and dimensions with the 
 first, and put in the same place, 
 but without any of its contents 
 and peculiar honours. It was 
 used as a representative of the 
 former on the day of expiation, 
 and a repository of the original 
 copy of the holy scriptures, collect- 
 ed by Ezra and the men of the 
 great synagogue after the captivity; 
 and, in imitation of this, the Jews, 
 to this day, have a kind of ark in 
 their synagogues, wherein their 
 sacred books are kept. 
 
 ARMENIANS, the inhabi- 
 tants of Armenia, whose religion 
 is the christian, of the Eutychian 
 sect ; that is, they hold but one 
 nature in Jesus Christ- See Euty- 
 CHiANS. They assert also the pro- 
 cession of the Holy Ghost from 
 the Father only. They believe 
 that Christ at his descent into hell 
 freed the souls of the damned from 
 thence, and reprieved them to the 
 end of the world, when they shall 
 be remanded to eternal flames. 
 They believe that the spuls of the 
 righteous shall not be admitted 
 to the beatific vision till after 
 the resurrection, notwithstanding 
 which they pray to departed 
 saints, adore their pictures, and 
 burn lamps before them. The 
 Armenian clergy consist of patri- 
 archs, archbishops, doctors, secu- 
 lar priests, and monks. The Ar- 
 menian monks are of the order of 
 St. Basil ; and every Wednesday 
 and Friday they eat neither fish, 
 nor eggs, nor oil, nor any thing 
 made of milk ; and during Lent 
 
 they live upon nothing but roots. 
 They have seven sacraments ; bap- 
 tism, confirmation, penance, the 
 eucharist, extreme unction, orders 
 
 and matrimony. They admit 
 
 infants to the communion at 
 two or three months old. They 
 seem to place the chief part of 
 their religion in fastings and ab- 
 stinences; and, among the clergj% 
 the higher the degree, the lower 
 they must live ; insomuch that 
 it is said the archbishops live on 
 nothing but pulse. They conse- 
 crate holy water but once a year ; 
 at which time every one fills a pot, 
 and carries it home, which brings 
 in a considerable revenue to the 
 church. 
 
 ARMINIANS, persons who 
 follow the doctrines of Arminius, 
 who was pastor at Amsterdam, 
 and afterwards professor of divi- 
 nity at Lej'den. Arminius had 
 been educated in the opinions of 
 Calvin ; but, thinking the doctrine 
 of that great man with regard to 
 free will, predestination, and grace, 
 too severe, he began to express 
 his doubts concerning them in the 
 year 1591 ; and, upon farther 
 inquiry, adopted the sentiments 
 of those whose religious system 
 extends the love of the Supreme 
 Being and the merits of Jesus 
 Christ to all mankind. The Ar- 
 minians are also called Remon- 
 strants, because, in 1611, they 
 presented a remonstrance to the 
 states-general, wherein they state 
 their grievances, and pray for 
 relief. 
 
 The distinguishing tenets of the 
 Arminians may be comprised in 
 the five following articles relative 
 to predestination, universal re- 
 
ARM 
 
 45 
 
 ARM 
 
 demption, the corruption of man, 
 conversion, and perseverance, viz. 
 
 I. That God, from all eternity, 
 determined to bestow salvation on 
 those whom he foresaw would per- 
 severe unro the end; and to in- 
 flict everlasting punishments on 
 those who should continue In their 
 unbelief, and resist his divine suc- 
 cours ; so that election was con- 
 ditional, and reprobation, in like 
 manner, the result of foreseen in- 
 fidelity and persevering wicked- 
 ness. 
 
 II. That Jesus Christ, by his suf- 
 ferings and death, made an atone- 
 ment for the sins of all mankind in 
 general, and of every individual in 
 particular ; that, however, none 
 but those who believe in him can 
 be partakers of divine benefits. 
 
 III. That true faith cannot pro- 
 ceed from the exercise of our na- 
 tural faculties and powers, nor 
 from the force and operation of 
 free will ; since man, in conse- 
 quence of his natural corruption, 
 is incapable either of thinking or 
 doing any good thing; and that, 
 therefore, it is necessary, in order 
 to his conversion and salvation, 
 that he be regenerated and renew- 
 ed by the operation of the Holy 
 Ghost, which is the gift of God 
 through Jesus Christ. 
 
 IV. That this divine grace or 
 energy of the Holy Ghost begins 
 and perfects every thing that can 
 be called good in liian, and, con- 
 sequently, all good works are to 
 be attributed to God alone ; that, 
 nevertheless, this grace is oflTered 
 to all, and does not force men to 
 act against their inclinations, but 
 may be resisted and rendered inef- 
 fectual by the perverse will of the 
 impenitent sinner. Some modern 
 
 Arminians interpret this and the 
 last article with a greater lati- 
 tude. 
 
 V. That God gives to the truly 
 faithful who are regenerated by 
 his grace the means of preser\'Ing 
 themselves in this state. The first 
 Arminians, indeed, had some 
 doubt with respect to the closing 
 part of this article ; but their fol- 
 lowers uniformly maintain *' that 
 the regenerate mav lose true justi- 
 fying faith, fall from a state of 
 grace, and die in their sins." 
 
 After the appointment of Armi- 
 nius to the theological chair at 
 Leyden, he thought it his duty to 
 avow and vindicate the principles 
 which he had embraced ; and the 
 freedom with which he published 
 and defended them, exposed him 
 to the resentment of those that ad- 
 hered to the theological system of 
 Geneva, which then prevailed in 
 Holland; but his principal op- 
 ponent was Gomar, his colleague. 
 The controversy which was thus 
 begun became more general after 
 the death of Arminius in the year 
 1609, and threatened to involve 
 the United Provinces in civil dis- 
 cord. The Arminian tenets gain- 
 ed ground under the mild and fa- 
 vourable treatment of the magis- 
 trates of Holland, and were adopt- 
 ed by several persons of merit and 
 distinction. The Calvinists, or 
 Gomarists, as they were now call- 
 ed, appealed to a national synod ; 
 accordingly the synod of Dort 
 was convened, by order of the 
 states-general, in 1618 ; and was 
 composed of ecclesiastic deputies 
 from the United Provinces, as well 
 as from the reformed churches of 
 England, Hessia, Bremen, Swit- 
 zerland, and the Palatinate. The 
 
ARM 
 
 46 
 
 ART 
 
 prmcipal advocate in favour of 
 the Arminians was Episcopius, 
 ■who at that time was professor of 
 divinity at Leyden. It was first 
 proposed to discuss the principal 
 subjects in dispute, that the Armi- 
 nians should be allowed to state 
 and vittdicate the grounds on 
 which their opinions were found- 
 ed ; but, some diflFerence arising as 
 to the proper mode of conducting 
 the debate, the Arminians were 
 excluded from the assembly, their 
 case was tried in their absence, 
 and they were pronounced guilty 
 of pestilential errors, and con- 
 demned as corruptors of the true 
 religion. A curious account of 
 the proceedings of the above sy- 
 nod maybe seen in a series of let- 
 ters written by Mr. John Hales, 
 who was present on the occasion. 
 
 In consequence of the above- 
 mentioned decision,the Arminians 
 \vere -considered as enemies to 
 their country and its established 
 religion, and were much perse- 
 cuted. They were treated with 
 great severity, and deprived of all 
 their posts and employments ; their 
 ministers were silenced, and their 
 congregations were suppressed. 
 The great Bameveldt was behead- 
 ed on a scaffold ; and the learned 
 Grotius, being condemned to per- 
 petual imprisonment,fled, and took 
 refuge in France. 
 
 After the death of prince Mau- 
 rice, who had been a violent par- 
 tisan in favour of the Gomarists 
 in the year 1625, the Arminian 
 exiles were restored to their for- 
 mer reputation and tranquillit}' ; 
 and, vmder the toleration of the 
 state, they erected churches and 
 founded a collejre at Amsterdam, 
 
 appointing Episcopius the , first 
 theological professor. The Ar- 
 minian system has very much pre- 
 vailed in England since the time 
 of archbishop Laud, and its vota- 
 ries in other countries are very 
 numerous. It is generally sup- 
 posed that a majoritv of the cler- 
 gy in both the established churches 
 of Great Britain favour the Armi- 
 nian system, notwithstanding their 
 articles are strictly Calvinistic. 
 The name of Mr. John Wesley 
 hardly need be mentioned here. 
 Eveiy one knows what an advo- 
 cate he was for the tenets of Ar- 
 minius, and the success he met 
 with. See Methodists. 
 
 Some of the principal writers 
 on the side of the Arminians have 
 been Arminius, Episcopius^ Vor~ 
 sius^Grotius^ CurcelUus^ Limborch^ 
 Le Clerc^ Wetstein^ Goodivin^ Whit- 
 by^ Taylor^ Fletcher^ &c. &c. 
 
 Some of the principal writers 
 on the other side have been Po/- 
 hill in his Book on the Decrees ; 
 John Edwards in his Veritas Re- 
 dux ; Cole in his Sovereignty of 
 God; Edxvards on the Will, and 
 Original Sin; Dr. Owen in his 
 Display of An7imianism, and on 
 particular Redemption ; Gill in his 
 Cause of God and Truth ; and 
 Toplady in almost all his works. 
 
 ARNOLDISTS,the followers 
 of Arnold, of Brescia, in the 
 twelfth century, who was a great 
 declaimer against the wealth and 
 vices of the clergv. He is also 
 charged with preachingagainst bap- 
 tism and the eucharist. He was 
 burnt at Rome in 1155, and his 
 ashes cast into the Tiber. 
 
 ARTEMONTES, a denomi- 
 nation in the second century ; so 
 
ART 
 
 47 
 
 ART 
 
 called from Artemon, who taught 
 that, at the birth of the man Christ, 
 a certain divine energy, or portion 
 of the divine nature, united itself 
 to him. 
 
 ARTICLE OF FAITH is, by 
 
 some, defined a point of christian 
 doctrine, which we are obliged to 
 believe as having been revealed by 
 God himself, and allowed and es- 
 tablished as such by the church. 
 See Confession. 
 
 ARTICLES OF THE 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 See Church qf England. 
 
 ARTICLES LAMBETH. 
 
 The Lambeth articles were so call- 
 ed, because drawn up at Lambeth 
 palace, under the eye and with the 
 assistance of archbishop Whitgift, 
 bishop Bancroft, bishop Vaughan, 
 and other eminent dignitaries of 
 the church. That the reader may 
 judge how Calvinistic the clergy 
 were under the reign of queen Eli- 
 zabeth, we shall here insert them. 
 *' 1. God hath from eternity pre- 
 destinated certain persons to life, 
 and hath reprobated certain per- 
 sons unto death. — 2. The moving 
 or efficient cause of predestination 
 unto life is not the foresight of 
 faith, or of perseverance, or of 
 good works, or of any thing that 
 is in the persons predestinated ; 
 but the alone will of God's good 
 pleasure. — 3. The predestinati are 
 a pre-determined and certain num- 
 be;r, which can neither be lessened 
 nor incr-eased. — 4. Such as are 
 not predestinated to salvation shall 
 inevitably be condemned on ac- 
 count of their sins. — 5. The true, 
 lively, and justifying faith, and the 
 Spirit of God justifying, is not ex- 
 
 tinguished, doth not utterly fail, 
 doth not vanish away, in the elect, 
 either finally or totally. — 6. A 
 true believer, that is, one who is 
 endued with justifying faith, is 
 certified by the full assurance of 
 faith that his sins are forgiven, and 
 that he shall be everlastingly sav- 
 ed by Christ. — 7. Saving grace is 
 not allowed, is not imparted, is 
 not granted to all men, by which 
 they may be saved if they will. — 
 8. No man is able to come to 
 Christ, unless it be given him, and 
 unless the Father draw him ; and 
 all men are not drawn by the Fa- 
 ther, that they may come to his 
 Son. — 9. It is not in the will or 
 power of every man to be saved." 
 What gave occasion to the gam- 
 ing these articles was this : — Some 
 persons had 'distinguished them- 
 selves at the university of Cam- 
 bridge by opposing predestination. 
 Alarmed at the opinions that were 
 vented, the above mentioned arch- 
 bishop, with others, composed 
 these articles, to prevent the belief 
 of a contrary doctrine. These, 
 when completed, were sent down 
 to Cambridge, to which the scho- 
 lars were strictly enjoined to con^ 
 form. 
 
 ARTOTYRITES, a christian 
 sect in the primitive church, who 
 celebrated the eucharist with bread 
 and cheese. The word is derived 
 from «pT©^, " bread," and rvpor^ 
 " cheese." The Artotyrites ad- 
 mitted women to the priesthood 
 and episcopacy ; and Epiphanius 
 tells us that it was a common thing 
 to see seven girls at once enter in- 
 to their church robed in white, 
 and holding a torch in their 
 hand ; where they wept and be- 
 
ASC 
 
 48 
 
 ASS 
 
 wailed the wretchedness of human 
 
 nature, and the miseries of this life. 
 
 ASCENSION OF CHRIST, 
 
 his visible elevation to heaven. 
 The ascension of Jesus Christ was 
 not only presignified by many 
 scripture types, but also by many 
 remarkable scripture prophecies, 
 Ps. xlvii, 5. Ps. ex, 1. Dan. vii, 
 13, 14. Mic. ii, 13. Ps. Ixviii, 18. 
 
 The evidences of his ascension 
 were numerous. The disciples 
 saw him ascend Acts, i, 9, 10. 
 Two angels testified that he did 
 ascend, Acts i, 11. Stephen, Paul, 
 and John, saw him in his ascend- 
 ed state. Acts vii, 55^ 56. Acts ix. 
 Rev. i. The marvellous descent of 
 the Holy Ghost demonstrated it, 
 Johnxvi, 7> 14. Acts ii, 33. The 
 terrible overthrow and dispersion 
 of the Jewish nation is a standing 
 proof of it, John viii, 21. Matt. 
 XXV i, 64. 
 
 The time of his ascension. It 
 was forty days after his resurrec- 
 tion. He continued so many days 
 on earth, that he might give many 
 repeated proofs of his resurrection. 
 Acts i, 3 ; that he might instruct 
 his followers in every thing which 
 pertained to the abolishment of 
 the Jewish ceremonies. Acts i, 3 ; 
 and that he might open to them 
 the scriptures concerning himself, 
 and renew their commission to 
 preach the gospel. Acts i, 5, 6. 
 Mark xvi, 15. 
 
 The manner of his ascension. It 
 was from Mount Olivet to heaven. 
 Acts i, 12 ; not in appearance on- 
 vly, but in reality and truth ; visi- 
 bly and locally ; a real motion of 
 his human nature ; sudden, swift, 
 glorious, and in a triumphant 
 manner. He was parted from his 
 
 disciples while he was solemnly 
 blessing them ; and multitudes of 
 angels attended him with shouts 
 of praise, Ps. Ixviii, 17. Ps. xlvii, 
 5, 6. 
 
 The effects or ends of Chrisfs 
 ascension rvere^ 1. To fulfil the 
 prophecies and types concerning 
 it. — 2. To take upon him more 
 openly the exercise of his kingly 
 office. — 3. To receive gifts for 
 men both ordinary and extraor- 
 dinary, Ps. Ixviii, 18. — 4. To 
 open the way into heaven for his 
 people, Heb. x, 19, 20. — 5. To 
 assure the saints of their ascension 
 also, John xiv, 1, 2. 
 
 ASCETIC, one who retires 
 from the world for the purpose of 
 devotion and mortification. When 
 the monks came in fashion, this 
 title was bestowed upon them, es- 
 pecially such as lived in solitude. 
 It was also the title of several 
 books of spiritual exercises, as the 
 Ascetics or devout exercises of St. 
 Basil, &c. 
 
 ASCODROGITES,a denomi- 
 nation which arose about the year 
 181. They brought into their 
 churches bags or skins filled with 
 new wine, to represent the new 
 bottles filled with new wine men- 
 tioned by Christ. They danced 
 round these bags or skins, and, it 
 is said, intoxicated themselves 
 with the wine. 
 
 ASCOODRUTES, a sect, in 
 the second century, who rejected 
 the use of all symbols and sacra- 
 ments on this principle, that incor- 
 poreal things cannot be communi- 
 cated by things corporeal, nor di- 
 vine mysteries by any thing visible. 
 
 ASSEMBLIES OF THE 
 CLERGY are called convocations, 
 
ASS 
 
 49 
 
 ASS 
 
 nods, councils. The annual meet- 
 ing of the church of Scotland is 
 called a general assembly. In this 
 assembly his majesty is represent- 
 ed by his commissioner, who dis- 
 solves one meeting and calls an- 
 other in the name of the king, 
 v/hile the moderator does the same 
 in the name of Jesus Christ. 
 See Convocation, Presbyteri- 
 ans. 
 
 ASSENT, that act of the mind 
 Avhereby it takes or acknowledges 
 any proposition to be true or false. 
 There are three degrees of assent; 
 — conjecture^ opinion^ and belief. 
 Conjecture is but a slight and 
 weak inclination to assent to the 
 thing proposed, by reason of the 
 weighty objections that lie against 
 it. Opinion is a more steady and 
 fixed assent, when a man is almost 
 certain, though yet with some fear 
 of the contrary remains with him. 
 Belief is a more full and assured 
 assent to the truth. See Belief. 
 
 ASSURANCE is the firm per- 
 suasion we have of the certainty 
 of any thing, or a certain expec- 
 tation of something future. 
 
 Assurance of the Understanding 
 is a well-grounded knowledge of 
 divine things founded on God's 
 word. Col. ii, 2. — Assurance of 
 Faith does not relate to our per- 
 sonal interest in Christ, but con- 
 sists in a firm belief of the revela- 
 tion that God has given us of 
 Christ in his word, with an entire 
 dependanceon him, Heb.x, 22. — 
 Assurance of Hope is a firm ex- 
 pectation that God will grant us 
 the complete enjoyment of what 
 he has promised, Heb. vi, 11. 
 
 The doctrine of assurance has 
 Vol. I. H 
 
 afforded matter for dispute among 
 divines. Some have asserted that 
 it is not to be obtained in the pre- 
 sent state, allowing that persons 
 may be in a hopeful way to salva- 
 tion, but that they can have no 
 real or absolute assurance of it : 
 but this is clearly refuted by fact 
 as well as by scripture. That it 
 is to be obtained is evident, for 
 we have reason to believe many 
 persons have actually obtained it. 
 Job xix, 25. Ps. xvii, 15. 2d Tim. 
 i, 12. The scriptures exhort us to 
 obtain it, 2d Cor. xiii, 5. Heb. 
 vi, 11. IstThess. v,21. The Ho- 
 ly Spirit is said to bear witness of 
 it, Rom. viii. 16. The exercise of 
 the christian graces is considered 
 as a proof of it, 1st John iii, 14. 
 1st John ii, 3. We must, how- 
 ever, guard against presumption ; 
 for a mere persuasion that Christ 
 is our's, is no proof that he is so. 
 We must have evidence before we 
 can have assurance. It is neces- 
 sary to obser\^e also, that it is not 
 a duty imposed upon all mankind, 
 so that every one, in whatsoever 
 state he may be, ought to be fully 
 persuaded of his salvation. " We 
 do not affirm," says Saurin, " that 
 christians of whose sincerity there 
 may be some doubt have a right 
 to assurance ; that backsliders, as 
 such, ought to persuade them- 
 selves that they shall be saved ; nor 
 do we say that christians who have 
 arrived to the highest degree of 
 holiness can be persuaded of the 
 certainty of their salvation in eve- 
 ry period of their lives ; nor, if 
 left to their own efforts, can they 
 enjoy it : but believers supported 
 by the Divine aid, who walk iu all 
 
ASS 
 
 50 
 
 AST 
 
 good conscience before him, these 
 only have ground to expect this 
 privilege. 
 
 Some divines have maintained 
 that assurance is included in the 
 very essence of faith, so that a 
 man cannot have, faith without 
 assurance ; but we must distin- 
 guish between assurance and jus- 
 tifying faith. The apostle. Indeed, 
 speaks of the full assurance of 
 faith ; but then this is a full and 
 firm persuasion of what the gos- 
 pel reveals ; whereas the assurance 
 we are speaking of relates to our 
 personal interest in Christ, and is 
 an effect of this faith, and not faith 
 itself. Faith in Christ certainly 
 includes some idea of assurance ; 
 for, except we be assured that he 
 is the Saviour, we shall never go 
 to or rely upon him as such : but 
 faith in Christ does not imply an 
 aasurance of our interest in him ; 
 for there may be faith long before 
 the assurance of personal interest 
 commences. The confounding of 
 these ideas has been the cause of 
 presumption on the one hand, and 
 despair on the other. When men 
 have been taught that faith con- 
 sisted in believing that (/hrist died 
 for them, and been assured that, 
 if they can only believe so, all is 
 well, and thai then they are im- 
 mediately pardoned and justified, 
 the consequence has been, that 
 the bold and self-conceited have 
 soon wrought themselves up to 
 such a persuasion, without any 
 ground for it, to their own decep- 
 tion ; whilst the dejected, humble, 
 and poor in spirit, not being able 
 to work themselves to such a pitch 
 of confidence, have concluded that 
 
 they have not the faith of God's 
 elect, and must inevitably be lost. 
 
 The means to attain assurance 
 are not those of an extraordinary 
 kind, as some people imagine j 
 such as visions, dreams, voices, 
 &c. J but such as are ordinary — 
 self-examination, humble and con- 
 stant prayer, consulting the sacred 
 bracles, christian communication, 
 attendance on the divine ordinances 
 and perseverance in the path of 
 duty ; without which all our as- 
 surance is but presumption, and 
 our profession but hypocrisy. 
 
 Assurance may be lost for a sea- 
 son through bodily diseases which 
 depress the spirits, unwatchful- 
 ness, falling into sin, manifold 
 temptations, worldly cares, and 
 neglect of private duty. He, there- 
 fore, who would wish to enjoy 
 this privilege, let him cultivate 
 communion with God, exercise a 
 watchful spirit against his spiritual 
 enemies, and give himself unre- 
 servedly to Him whose he is, and 
 whom he professes to serve. See 
 Sauri7i's Ser.^ vol. iii, ser. 10, 
 Eng. ed. ; Case's Sermons^ ser. 13 ; 
 Lambert's Ser. on John ix, 35 j 
 Herveifs Theron and Aspasia^ 
 dialogue 17; Hoxve's Works ^ vol. 
 i, p. 342, 348; Brooks on Assur- 
 ance; Horx SoU^ vol. ii. p. 269. 
 
 ASSURITANS, a branch of 
 the Donatists, who held that the 
 Son was inferior to the Father, 
 and the Holy Ghost to the Son. 
 See Donatists. 
 
 ASTONISHMENT, a kjnd 
 or degree of wonder introduced by. 
 surprise. This emotion always 
 relates to things of the highest im- 
 portance ; to things which appear 
 
ATH 
 
 51 
 
 ATH 
 
 too vast and extensive for the 
 grasp of intellect, rather than to 
 any thing of an intricate nature. 
 The body marks in a striking man- 
 ner the singular state of the mind 
 under this emotion. The eyes are 
 firmly fixed, without being direct- 
 ed to any particular object; the 
 character of countenance, which 
 v/as formed by the habitual influ- 
 ence of some predominant affec- 
 tion, is for a time effaced ; and a 
 suspension of every other expres- 
 sion, a certain vacuity, strongly 
 notes this state of mind. 
 
 ATHANASIANS, those who 
 profess the sentiments held in the 
 Athanasian Creed. See Creed. 
 
 ATHEIST, one who denies 
 the existence of God :^this is cal- 
 led speculative atheism. Profes- 
 sing to believe in God, and yet 
 acting contrary to this belief, is 
 called practical atheism. Absurd 
 and irrational as atheism is, it has 
 had its votaries and martyrs. In 
 the seventeenth century, Spinosa, 
 a foreigner, was its noted defend- 
 er. LucilioVanini, a native of Na- 
 ples, also publicly taught atheism 
 in France; and, being convicted 
 of it at Toulouse, was condemned 
 and executed in 1619. It has 
 been questioned, however, whe- 
 ther any man ever seriously adopt- 
 ed such a principle. The preten- 
 sions to it have been generally 
 founded on pride or affectation. 
 The open avowal of atheism by 
 several of the leading members of 
 the. French convention seems to 
 have been an extraordinary moral 
 phenomenon. This, however, as 
 we have seen, was too vague and 
 uncomfortable a principle to last 
 long. Archbishop Tillotson j ustly 
 
 observes, that speculative atheism 
 is unreasonable upon five accounts. 
 1. Because it gives no tolerable 
 accovint of the existence of the 
 world. — 2. It does not give any 
 reasonable account of the univer- 
 sal consent of mankind in this ap- 
 prehension, that there is a God.—* 
 3. It requires more evidence for 
 things than they are capable of 
 giving. — 4. The Atheist pretends 
 to know that which no man can 
 know. — 5. Atheism contradicts it- 
 self. Under the first of these he 
 thus argues: — " I appeal to any 
 man of reason whether any thing 
 can be more unreasonable than 
 obstinately to impute an effect to 
 chance, which carries in the very 
 face of it all the arguments and 
 characters of a wise design and 
 contrivance. Was ever any con- 
 siderable work, in which there 
 was required a great variety of 
 parts, and a regular and orderly 
 disposition of those parts, done by 
 chance ? Will chance fit means to 
 ends, and that in ten thousand in- 
 stances, and not fail in any one? 
 How often might a man, after he 
 had jumbled a set of letters in a 
 bag, fling them out upon the ground 
 before they would fall into an ex- 
 act poem ; yea, or so much as 
 make a good discourse in prose ? 
 And may not a little book be as 
 easily made by chance as the great 
 volume of the Avorld ? How long 
 might a man be in sprinkling co- 
 lours upon canvass with a careless 
 hand, before they would happen 
 to make the exact picture of a 
 man ? And is a man easier made 
 by chance than his picture ;' How 
 long might twenty thousand blind 
 men, which should be sent out 
 
ATH 
 
 52 
 
 ATO 
 
 from several remote parts of Eng- 
 land, wander up and down before 
 they would all meet upon Salis- 
 bury plain, and fall into rank and 
 file in the exact order of an army? 
 And, yet, this is much more easy 
 to be imagined than how the in- 
 numerable blind parts of matter 
 should rendezvous themselves into 
 a world. A man that sees Henry 
 the Seventh's chapel at Westmin- 
 ster might with as good reason 
 maintain (yea, with much better, 
 considering the vast difference be- 
 twixt that little structure and the 
 huge fabric of the world) that it 
 was never contrived or built by 
 any means, but that the stones did 
 by chance grow into those curious 
 figures into which they seem to 
 have been cut and graven ; and 
 that upon a time (as tales usually 
 begin) the m?iterials of that build- 
 ing, the stone, mortar, timber, 
 iron, lead, and glass, happily met 
 together, and very fortunately 
 ranged themselves into that deli- 
 cate order in which we see them 
 now, so close compacted, that it 
 must be a very great chance that 
 parts them again. What would 
 the world think of a man that 
 should advance such an opinion as 
 this, and v^rite a book for it ? If 
 they would do him right, they 
 ought to look upon him as mad ; 
 but yet with a little more reason 
 than any man can have to say that 
 the world was made by chance, 
 or that the first men grew up out 
 of the earth as plants do now. 
 For, can any thing be more ridi- 
 culous, and against all reason, than 
 to ascribe the production of men 
 to the first fruitfulness of the earth, 
 without so much as one instance 
 
 and experiment, in any age or his- 
 tor}', to countenance so monstrous 
 a supposition? The thing is, at 
 first sight, so gross and palpable, 
 that no discourse about it can 
 make it more apparent. And, 
 yet, these shameful beggars of 
 principles give this precarious ac- 
 count of the original of things ; 
 assume to themselves to be the 
 men of reason, the great wits of 
 the world, the only cautious and 
 wary persons that hate to be im- 
 posed upon, that must have con- 
 vincing evidence for every thing, 
 and can admit of nothing without 
 a clear demonstration for it/' See 
 Existence of God. 
 
 Some of the principal writers on 
 the existence of a Deity have been 
 Nexvton., Boyle^ Cheijne^ Locke, 
 Nieinuentyt^ Derham, Bentley^ 
 Ray^ Cud-worth, Samuel and John 
 Clarke^ Abernethy^ Balguy^ Bax- 
 ter^ Fenelon^ &c. &c. Tillotson's 
 sermon on the subject, as quoted 
 above, has been considered as one 
 of the best in the English language. 
 See ser. 1, vol. i. 
 
 ATONEMENT is the satisfy- 
 ing Divine Justice by Jesus Christ 
 giving himself a ransom for us, 
 undergoing the penalty due to our 
 sins, and thereby releasing us from 
 that punishment which God might 
 justly infiict upon us, Rom. v, 11, 
 The Hebrew word signifies cover- 
 zn^,and intimates that our offences 
 are, by a proper atonement, co- 
 v^ered from the avenging justice 
 of God. In order to understand the 
 manjier wherein Christ becomes 
 an atonement, " we should," says 
 Dr. Watts, " consider the follow- 
 ing propositions, 1. The great C-iod 
 having made man, appointed to 
 
ATO 
 
 53 
 
 AT O 
 
 govern him by a wise and right- 
 eous law, wherein glory and ho- 
 nour, life and immortality, are the 
 designed rewards for perfect obe- 
 dience ; but tribulation and wrath, 
 pain and death, are the appointed 
 recompense to those who violate 
 this law. Gen. iii. Rom. ii, 6, 16. 
 Rom. i, 32.-^2. All mankind have 
 broken this law, Romans iii, 23, 
 Rom. v, 12. — 3. God, in his infi- 
 nite wisdom, did not think fit to 
 pardon sinful man, without some 
 compensation for his broken law ; 
 for, 1. If the great Ruler of the 
 world had pardoned the sins of 
 men without any satisfaction, then 
 his laws might have seemed not 
 worth the vindicating. — 2. Men 
 would have been tempted to per- 
 sist in their rebellion, and to re- 
 peat their old offences. — 3. His 
 forms of government among his 
 creatures might have appeared as 
 a matter ot small importance. — 4. 
 God had a mind to make a very 
 illustrious display both of his jus- 
 tice and of his grace among man- 
 kind ; on these accounts he would 
 not pardon sin without a satisfac- 
 tion. — 5. Man, sinful man, is not 
 able to make any satisfaction to 
 God for his own sins, neither by 
 his labours, nor by his sufferings, 
 Eph. ii, 1, 8, 9. — 6. Though man 
 be incapable to satisfy for his own 
 violation of the law, yet God 
 would not suffer all mankind to 
 perish. — 7. Because God intend- 
 ed to make a full display of the ter- 
 rors of his justice, and his divine 
 resentment for the violation of his 
 law, therefore he appointed his 
 own Son to satisfy for the breach 
 of it, by becoming a proper sacri- 
 fice of expiation or atonement, 
 
 Gal. iii, 10, 13.— 8, The Son of 
 God being immortal, could not 
 sustain .all these penalties of the 
 law which man had broken with- 
 out taking the mortal nature of 
 man upon him, without assuming 
 flesh and blood, Heb. ii, 13, 14. — 
 9. The Divine Being having re- 
 ceived such ample satisfaction for 
 sin by the sufferings of his own 
 Son, can honourably forgive his 
 creature man^ who was the trans- 
 gressor, Rom. iii, 25, 26. Nozu 
 that this doctrine is true, "will ap- 
 pear, if -we consider, 1. That an 
 atonement for sin, or an effectual 
 method to answer the demands of 
 an offended God, is the first great 
 blessing guilty man stood in need 
 of, Mic. vi, 6, 7. — 2. The very 
 first discoveries of grace which 
 were made to man after his fall 
 implied in them something of an 
 atonement for sin, and pointed to 
 the propitiation Christ has now 
 made, Gen. iii, 15. — 3. The train 
 of ceremonies which were appoint- 
 ed by God in the Jewish church 
 are plain significations of such an 
 atonement, 2d Cor. iii. Col. ii, 7, 
 8, 9. Heb. X. — 4. Some of the pro- 
 phecies confirm and explain the 
 first promise, and shew that Christ 
 was to die as an atoning sacrifice 
 for the sins of men, Dan. ix, 24 
 to 26. Is. liii. — 5. Our Saviour 
 himself taught us the doctrine of 
 the atonement for sin by his death, 
 Matt. XX, 28. John vi, 51. Luke 
 xxii, 19. — 6. The terrors of soul,« 
 the consternation and inward ago- 
 nies which our blessed Lord sus- 
 tained a little before his death, 
 were a sufiicient proof that he en- 
 dured punishments in his soul 
 which were due to sin, Mark xiv, 
 
AT O 
 
 54 
 
 ATO 
 
 S3. Heb. V, 7. — 7. This doctrine 
 is declared, and confirmed, and 
 explained at large, by the apostles 
 in their writings, 1st Cor. xv, 3. 
 Eph. i, 7. 1st John ii, 2, &c. &c. 
 — 8. This was the doctrine that 
 was witnessed to the world by the 
 amazing gifts of the Holy Ghost, 
 which attended the gospel. [See 
 the Acts of the Aposdes.] The in- 
 fer ences and uses to be derived from 
 this doctrine are these: 1. How 
 vain are all the labours and pre- 
 tences of mankind to seek or hope 
 for any better religion than that 
 which is contained in the gospel 
 of Christ. It is here alone that 
 we can find the solid and rational 
 principles of reconciliation to an 
 offended God, Heb. iv, 14. — 2. 
 How strange and imreasonable is 
 the doctrine of the Popish church, 
 who, while they profess to believe 
 the religion of Christ, yet intro- 
 duce many other methods of atone- 
 ment for sin, besides the sufferings 
 of the Son of God. [See above.] 
 ■ — ^3. Here is a solid foundation, 
 €Hi which the greatest of sinners 
 may hope for acceptance with God, 
 1st Tim. i, 1 5. — 4. This doctrine 
 should be used as a powerful mo- 
 tive to excite repentance. Acts v, 
 31. — 5. We should use this atone- 
 ment of Christ as our constant 
 way of access to God in all our 
 prayers, Heb. x, 19,22. — 6. Also 
 as a'.divine guard against sin, Rom. 
 vi, 1, 2. 1st Pet. i, 15, 19. — 7. As 
 an argument of prevailing force to 
 be used in prayer, Rom. viii, 32, 
 — 8. As a spring of love to God, 
 and to his Son Jesus Christ, 1st 
 John iv, 10. — 9. As a strong per- 
 suasive to that love and pity which 
 ■vye should shew on all occasions to 
 our fellow creatures, 1st John iv. 
 
 11. — 10. It should excite patience 
 and holy joy under afflictions and 
 earthly sorrows, Rom. v, 1 to 3. 
 — 11. We should consider it as an 
 invitation to the Lord^s supper, 
 where Christ is set forth to us in 
 the memorials of his propitiation 
 — 12. As a most effectual defence 
 against the terrors of dpng, and 
 as our joyful hope of a blessed re- 
 surrection, 1st Cor. XV, 56. — 13. 
 Lastly, as a divine allurement to 
 the upper world." See Watts''s 
 Ser.^ ser. 34, ^5^ 36, 37 ; Evans on 
 the Atonement ; Dr. Ozuen on the 
 Satisfaction of Christ; Wesfs Scrip- 
 ture Doctrine of the Atonemeiit ; 
 Herveifs Theron and Aspasia^dhdA. 
 3 ; Dr. Magee's Discourses on the 
 Atonement; ferrarn^s Letters on 
 ditto. 
 
 ATTRIBUTES OF GOD 
 are the several qualities or perfec- 
 tions of the Divine nature. Some 
 distinguish them into negative, 
 and positive or affirmative. The 
 negative are such as remove from 
 him whatever is imperfect in 
 creatures ; such are infinity, im- 
 mutability, immortality, &c. The 
 positive are such as assert some 
 perfection in God which is in 
 and of himself, and which in the 
 creatures, in any measure, is 
 from him. This distinction is 
 now mostly discarded. Some dis- 
 tinguish them into absolute and 
 relative : absolute ones are such 
 as agree with the essence of God ; 
 as Jehovah, Jah, &c. : relative 
 ones are such as agree with him in 
 time, v/ith some respect to his 
 creatures, as Creator, Governor, 
 Preserver, Redeemer, &c. But 
 the more commonly received 
 distinction of the attributes of 
 God, is into communicable and 
 
A V A 
 
 55 
 
 AUG 
 
 incommunicable ones. The com- 
 municable ones are those of which 
 there is some resemblance in men ; 
 as goodness, holiness, wisdom, &c.: 
 the incommunicable ones are such 
 as there is no appearance or sha- 
 dow of in men ; as independence, 
 immutability, immensity, and eter- 
 nity. See those different articles 
 in this work ; and Bates^ Charnock^ 
 Abernethy^ and Saur'in^ on the Di- 
 vine Perfections. 
 
 ATTRITION. The casuists 
 of the Church of Rome have made 
 a distinction between a perfect and 
 an imperfect contrition. The latter 
 they call attrition; which is the 
 lowest degree of repentance, or a 
 sorrow for sin arising from a sense 
 of shame, or any temporal incon- 
 venience attendingthe commission 
 of it, or merely from fear of the 
 punishment due to it, without anj^ 
 resolution to sin no more ; in con- 
 sequence which doctrine, they 
 teach that, after a wicked and fla- 
 gitious course of life, a man may 
 be reconciled to God, and his sins 
 forgiven on his death-bed, by 
 confessing them to the priest with 
 this imperfect degree of sorrow 
 and repentance. This distinction 
 was settled by the council of Trent. 
 It might, however, be easily shewn 
 that the mere soitow for sin be- 
 cause of its consequences, and not 
 on account of its evil nature, is 
 no more acceptable to God than 
 hypocrisy itself can be. 
 
 AVARICE is an immediate 
 love to and desire after riches, at- 
 tended with extreme diffidence of 
 future events, making a person rob 
 himself of the necessary comforts 
 of life, for fear of diminishing hjs 
 riches. See Covetousness and 
 Miser. 
 
 AVERSION, hatred or dis- 
 like.— Dr. Watts and others op- 
 pose aversion to desire. When 
 we look, say they, upon an object 
 as good, it excites desire ; but when 
 we look upon an object as evil, it 
 awakens what we call aversion or 
 avoidance. But lord Kaims ob- 
 serves, that aversion is opposed to 
 affection and not to desire. We 
 have an affection to one person ; 
 we have an aversion to another: 
 the former disposes us to do good, 
 the latter to do ill. 
 
 AUDIENTES, an order of 
 catechumens in the primitive chris- 
 tian church. They were so called 
 from their being admitted to hear 
 sermons and the scriptures read in 
 the church ; but they were not al- 
 lowed to be present at the prayers. 
 
 AUGSBURGH, or Augus- 
 tan, CONFESSION, a celebrat- 
 ed confession of faith drawn up by 
 Luther and Melancthon on behalf 
 of themselves and other ancient 
 reformers, and presented in 1550 
 to the emperor Charles V, at the 
 diet of Augusta, or Augsburgh, in 
 the name of the evangelic body. 
 This confession contains twenty 
 eight chapters;, of which the great- 
 est part is employed in represent- 
 ing with perspicuity and truth the 
 religious opinions of the Protest- 
 ants, and the rest in pointing out 
 the errors and abuses that occa- 
 sioned their separation from the 
 church of Rome. The leading 
 doctrines of this confession are, 
 the true and essential divinity of 
 the Son of God ; his substitution, 
 and vicarious sacrifice ; and the 
 necessity, freedom, and efficacy of 
 Divine grace. A civil war fol- 
 lowed this diet that lasted upwards 
 of twenty years, but which only 
 
BA C 
 
 56 
 
 B AC 
 
 spread the new opinions, instead 
 of extirpating them. 
 
 AUGUSTINS, a religious or- 
 der, who observed the rule of St. 
 Augustin, prescribed them by 
 pope Alexander IV, in 1256. 
 This rule was, to have all things 
 in common ; the rich who enter 
 among them to sell their posses- 
 sions, and give them to the poor ; 
 to employ the first part of the 
 morning in labouring with their 
 hands, and the rest in reading : 
 when they go abroad, to go always 
 two in company ; never to eat but 
 in their monastery, &c. 
 
 AUSTERITY, a state of rigid 
 
 mortification. It is distinguished 
 from severity and rigour thus. 
 Austerity relates to the mannerof 
 living ; severity to the manner of 
 thinking ; rigour to the manner of 
 punishing. To austerity is oppos- 
 ed eifeminacy ; to severity, relax- 
 ation ; to rigour, clemency. A 
 hermit is austere in his life ; a 
 casuist severe in his application of 
 religion or law ; a judge rigorous 
 in his sentences. 
 
 AUTOCEPHALI BISHOPS. 
 This denomination was given to 
 such bishops in the primitive 
 church as were exempted from 
 the jurisdiction of others. 
 
 B. 
 
 BACKBITING. Se Detrac- 
 tion and Slander. 
 
 BACKSLIDING, the act of 
 turning from the path of duty. It 
 may be considered as partial when 
 applied to true believers, who do 
 not backslide with the whole bent 
 of their will ; as voluntary^ when 
 applied to those who, after pro- 
 fessing to know the truth, wilfully 
 turn from it, and live in the prac- 
 tice of sin ; as^;zr//, when the mind 
 is given up to judicial hardness, 
 as in the case of Judas. Partial 
 backsliding' must be distinguished 
 from hypocrisy^ as the former may 
 exist where there are gracious in- 
 tentions on the whole ; but the 
 latter is a studied profession of ap- 
 pearing to be what v/e are not. 
 
 The causes of backsliding are — 
 the cares of the world ; improper 
 connections ; inattention to secret 
 or closet duties ; self-conceit and 
 dependance ; indolence ; listening 
 
 to and parleying with temptations. 
 A backsliding state is manifested 
 by indifference to prayer and self- 
 examination ; trifling or unprofit- 
 able conversation ; neglect of pub- 
 lic ordinances ; shunning the peo- 
 ple of God ; associating with the 
 world ; thinking lightly of sin ; 
 neglect of the Bible ; and often by 
 gross immorality. The consequen- 
 ces of this awful state are — loss of 
 character ; loss oi comfort ; loss of 
 usefulness ; and, as long as any re- 
 main in this state, a loss of a -well- 
 groundedhope of future happiness. 
 To avoid this state^ or recover 
 from it, we should beware of the 
 first appearance of sin ; be much 
 in prayer ; attend the ordinances ; 
 and unite with the people of God. 
 We should consider the awful in- 
 stances of apostacy,as Saul, Judas, 
 Demas, &c. ; the many warnings 
 Vi^e have of it. Matt, xxiv, 13. 
 Heb. x, 38- Luke ix, 62 ; how.it 
 
BAP 
 
 57 
 
 BAP 
 
 grieves the Holy Spirit ; and how 
 wretched it makes us : above all 
 things, our dependance should be 
 on God, that we may always be 
 directed by his Spirit, and kept 
 by his power. See Apostacy. 
 BANGORIAN CONTRO- 
 VERSY, so called from Bangor, 
 or the bishop thereof. Bishop 
 Hoadley, the bishop of that dio- 
 cese, preaching before George I, 
 asserted the supreme authority of 
 Christ, as king in his own k ingdom ; 
 and that he had not delegated his 
 power, like temporal lawgivers 
 during their absence from their 
 Jiingdom, to any persons, as his vi- 
 cegerents or deputies. In 1 71 7, he 
 also published his Preservative^ in 
 which he advanced some positions 
 contrary to temporal and spiritual 
 tyranny, and in behalf of the civil 
 and religious liberties of mankind : 
 upon which he was violently op- 
 posed, accused, and persecuted, 
 by the advocates for church pow- 
 er : but he was defended and sup- 
 ported by the civil powers, and 
 his abilities and meekness gained 
 him the plaudits of many. 
 
 BAPTISM, the ceremony of 
 washing, or the application of 
 water to a person, in the name of 
 the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Ghost,^ by which he is initiated 
 into the visible church. Baptism 
 exhibits to us the blessings of 
 pardon, salvation through Jesus, 
 Christ, union to and cominunion 
 with him, the out-pouring of the 
 Spirit, regeneration, and sanctifi- 
 cation. From baptism results the 
 obligation of repentance, love to 
 Christ, and perpetual devotedness 
 to his praise. Baptism docs not 
 constitute a visilTie subject, but 
 
 Vol. J. " I 
 
 only recognizes one. Ministers 
 only have a right to administer it ; 
 and have a negative voice in op- 
 position to all claims. It is an or- 
 dinance binding on all who have 
 been given up to God in it ; and 
 to be perpetuated to the end of the 
 world. It is not, however, essen- 
 tial to salvation ; for mere partici- 
 pation of sacraments cannot quali- 
 fy men for heaven : many have 
 real grace, consequently in a sal- 
 vable state, before they were bap- 
 tized : besides, to suppose it essen- 
 tial, is to put it in the place of that 
 which it signifies. 
 
 Baptism has been supposed by 
 many learned persons to have had 
 its origin from the Jewish church ; 
 in which, they maintain, it was 
 the practice, long before Christ's 
 time, to baptize proselytes or con- 
 verts to their faith, as part of the 
 ceremony of their admission. " It 
 is strange to me, says Dr. Dod- 
 dridge, " that any should doubt 
 of this, when it is plain, from ex- 
 press passages in the Jewish law, 
 that no Jew who had lived like a 
 Gentile for one day could be re- 
 stored to the communion of this 
 church without it. Compare Num. 
 xix, 19 and 20, and many other 
 precepts relating to ceremonial 
 pollutions, in which may be seen, 
 that the Jews were rendered in- 
 capal^le of appearing before God 
 in the tabernacle or templa, till 
 they v/ere washed either by bathing 
 or spi'inkling." Others, however, 
 insist, that the Jewish proselyte 
 baptism is not by far so ancient ; 
 and that John the Baptist was the 
 first administrator of baptism a- 
 mong the Jews. 
 
 The baptism of John, and that 
 
BAP 
 
 BAP 
 
 of our Saviour and his apostles, 
 have been supposed to be the 
 same ; because they agree, it is 
 said, in their subjects, form, and 
 end. But it naust be observed, that 
 though there be an agreement in 
 some particulars, yet there is not 
 in all. The immediate in&titutor 
 of John's baptism vv^as God the 
 Father, John i, 33 ; but the im- 
 mediate institutor of the Chris- 
 tian baptism was Christ, Matt, 
 xxviii, 19. John's baptism was a 
 preparatory rite, referring the sub- 
 jects to Christ, who was about to 
 confer on them spiritual blessings, 
 Mat. iii, 11. John's baptism was 
 confined to the Jews ; but the 
 christian was common to Jews 
 and Gentiles, Matt, iii, 5, 7. Matt, 
 xxviii, 19. It does not appear 
 tha.t John had any formula of 
 administration ; but the christian 
 baptism has, viz. " In the name," 
 &c. The baptism of John %vas 
 the concluding scene of the legal 
 dispensation, and, in fact, part of 
 it ; raid to be considered as one of 
 those " divers washings" among 
 the Jews ; for he did not attempt 
 to make any alteration in the Jew- 
 ish religion, nor did the persons 
 he baptized cease to be members 
 of the Jev/ish church on the ac- 
 count of their baptism ; but chris- 
 tian baptism is the regular en- 
 ti-ance into, and is a part of, the 
 evangelical dispensation. Gal. iii, 
 27". It does not appear from the 
 inspired narrative (however pro- 
 bable from inferential reasoning) 
 that any but John himself was 
 engaged as operator in his bap- 
 tism; whereas Christ himself bap- 
 tized none ; but his disciples, by 
 his authority, and in his name, 
 Jcihn iv, 2. 
 
 Baptism has been the subject 
 of long and sharp controversy, 
 both as it respects the subject and 
 the mode. To state all that has 
 been said on both sides, would be 
 impossible in a work of this kind. 
 An abstract, however, of the chief 
 arguments I think it my duty to 
 present to the reader, in order 
 that he may judge for himself. 
 
 As to the subject. 
 
 The ANTIP^DOBAPTISTS 
 
 hold that believing adults only are 
 proper subjects, because Christ's 
 commission to baptize appears to 
 them to restrict this ordinance to 
 such only as are taught, or made 
 disciples ; and that, consequently, 
 infants, who cannot be thus taught, 
 are to be excluded. It does not 
 appear, say they, that the apostles, 
 in executing Christ's commission, 
 ever baptized any but those who 
 were first instructed in the chris* 
 tian faith, and professed their be- 
 lief of it. They contend that in- 
 fants can receive no benefit from 
 it, and are not capable of faith and 
 repentance, which are to be con- 
 sidered as pre-requisites. 
 
 As to the mode. 
 
 They observe that the meaning 
 
 of the word Bacnrhl^u signifies im-*- 
 
 mersion or dipping only ; that 
 
 John baptized in Jordan ; that he 
 
 i chose a place v.'here there was 
 
 ^ rnueh water ; that Jesus came up 
 
 I out of the water ; that Philip and 
 
 I the Eunuch went down both into 
 
 the water. That the terms washing, 
 
 purifying, burying in baptism, so 
 
 often mentioned in scripture, allude 
 
 to this mode ; tKat immersion only 
 
 was the practice of the apostles 
 
B 
 
 BAP 
 
 and the first christians ; and that 
 it was only laid aside from the 
 love of novelty, and the coldness 
 of our climate. These positions, 
 they think, are so clear from scrip- 
 ture, and the history of the 
 church, that they stand in need 
 of but little argument to support 
 them. Farther, they also insist 
 that all positive institutions de- 
 pend entii-ely upon the will and 
 declaration of the institutor, and 
 that, therefore, reasoning by ana- 
 logy, from previous abrogated 
 rites,- is to be rejected, and the 
 express command of Christ res- 
 pecting baptism ought to be our 
 rule. 
 
 PiEDOBAPTISTS. 
 The Paedobaptists, however, are 
 of a different opinion. As to the 
 subject, they believe that qualified 
 ndults who have not been baptized 
 before are certainly proper sub- 
 jects ; but, then, they think also 
 that infants are not to be exclud- 
 ed. They believe that, as the 
 Abrahamic and the christian co- 
 venants ar« the same. Gen. xvii, 7» 
 Heb. viii, 12; that as children 
 were admitted under the former ; 
 and that as baptism is now a 
 seal, sign, or confirmation of this 
 covenant, infants have as great 
 ' a right to it as the children had 
 a right to the seal of circumcision 
 under the law, Acts ii, 39. Rom. 
 iv, 11. That if children are not 
 to be baptized because there is 
 no positive command for it, for 
 the same reason women should 
 not come to the Loi-d's supper ; 
 we should not keep the first day 
 of the week, nor attend public 
 worship, for none of these are 
 expressly commanded ; that if 
 
 infant baptism had been a human 
 invention, how would it have 
 been so universal in the first 300 
 years, and yet no record left 
 when it was introduced, nor any 
 dispute or controversy about it? 
 Some bring it to these two ideas : 
 — 1. That God did constitute in 
 his church the membership of in- 
 fants, and admitted them to it 
 by a religious ordinance. Gen. 
 
 xvii. Gal. iii, 14, 17 2. That 
 
 this right of infants to church 
 membei-ship was never taken away. 
 This being the case,' infants must 
 be received, because God has in- 
 stituted it ; and, since infants 
 must be received, it must be either 
 without baptism or with it ; but 
 none must be received without 
 baptism, therefore infants must of 
 necessity be baptized. Hence it 
 is clear, that, under the gospel, in- 
 fants are still continued exactly in 
 the same relation to God and his 
 church, in which they were origi- 
 nally placed under the former dis- 
 pensation. 
 
 That infants are to be received 
 into the church, and as such bap- 
 tized, is also inferred from the fol- 
 lowing passages of scripture : — 
 Gen. xvii. Is. xliv, 3. Matt, xix, 13. 
 Luke ix, 47, 48. Mark ix, 14. 
 Acts ii, 38, 39. Rom. xi, 17, 21. 
 1st Cor. vii, 14. 
 
 Though there are no express 
 examples in the New Testament of 
 Christ and his apostles baptizing 
 infants, yet this is no proof that 
 they were excluded. Jesus Christ 
 actually blessed little children ; 
 and it would be hard to believe 
 that s»ch rece,ived^his blessing, 
 and yet were not to be members 
 of the gospel church^ If Christ 
 
BAP 
 
 60 
 
 BAP 
 
 received them, and would have 
 us receive them in his name, how 
 can it be reconciled to keep them 
 out of the visible church? Be- 
 sides, if children were not to be 
 baptized, it v/ould have been ex- 
 pressly forbidden. None of the 
 Jews had any apprehension of the 
 rejection of infants, which they 
 must have had, if infants had been 
 rejected. As whole households 
 were baptized, it is probable there 
 were children among them. From 
 the year 400 to 1 1 50, no society 
 of men, in all that period of 750 
 years, ever pretended to say it was 
 imlawful to baptize infants ; and 
 still nearer the time of our Saviour 
 there appears to have been scarce- 
 ly any one that so much as ad- 
 vised the delay of infant baptism. 
 Irenseus, who lived in the second 
 century, and was well acquainted 
 with Polycarp, who was John's 
 disciple, declares expressly that 
 the church learned from the apos- 
 tles to baptize children. Origen, 
 in the third century, affirmed that 
 the custom of baptizing infants 
 was received from Christ and his 
 apostles. Cyprian, and a coun- 
 cil of ministers (held about the 
 vear 254), no less than sixt}'-six in 
 number, unanimously agreed that 
 children might be baptized as 
 soon as they were born. Am- 
 brose, who wrote about 274 years 
 from the apostles, declares that 
 the baptism of infants had been 
 the practice of the apostles them- 
 selves, and of the church, till that 
 time. The catholic church every 
 where declared, says Chrj^sostom, 
 in the fifth century, that infants 
 should be baptized ; and Augus- 
 tin affirmed that he never heard 
 
 or read of any christian, catho- 
 lic, or sectarian, but who always 
 held that infants were to be bap- 
 tized. They farther believe, that 
 there needed no mention in the 
 New Testament of receiving in- 
 fants into the church, as it had 
 been once appointed, and never 
 repealed. The dictates of Nature, 
 also, in parental feelings ; the ver- 
 dict of reason in favour of privi- 
 leges ; the evidence in favour of 
 children being sharers of the seals 
 of grace, in common with their 
 parents, for the space of 4000 
 years ; and especially the lan- 
 guage of prophec}-, in reference 
 to the children of the gospel 
 church, make it very probable 
 that they were not to be rejected. 
 So far from confining it to adults, 
 it must be remembered that there 
 is not a single instance recorded in 
 the New Testament in which the 
 descendants of christian parents 
 were baptized in adult years. 
 
 That infants are not proper 
 subjects for baptism, because they 
 cannot profess faith and repent- 
 ance, they deny. This objection 
 falls with as much weight upon 
 the institution of circumcision as 
 infant baptism ; since they are as 
 capable or are as fit subjects for 
 the one as the other. It is gene- 
 rally acknowledged, that, if in- 
 fants die (and a great part of the 
 human race do die in infancy), 
 they are saved : if this be the case, 
 then, Avhy refuse them the sign in 
 infancy, if they are capable of 
 enjoying the thing signified ? — 
 " Why," says Dr. Owen, " is it 
 the will of God that unbelievers 
 should not be baptized ? It is be- 
 cause, not granting them the grace, 
 
BAP 
 
 61 
 
 BAP 
 
 he will not grant them the sign. 
 If God, therefore, denies the sign 
 to tlie infant seed of beliex^ers, it 
 must be because he denies them 
 the grace of it ; and then all the 
 children of believing parer^ts (up- 
 on these principles) dying in their 
 infancy, must, without hope, be 
 eternally damned. I do not say 
 that all must be so who are not 
 baptized ; but all must be so whom 
 God would not have baptized." 
 Something is said of baptism, it is 
 observed, that cannot agree to in- 
 fants : faith goes before baptism ; 
 and, as none but adults are capa- 
 ble of believing, so no others are 
 capable of baptism ; but it is re- 
 plied, if infants must not be bap- 
 tized because something is said of 
 baptism that does not agree to in- 
 fants, Mark xvi, 16, then infants 
 must not be saved, because some- 
 thing is gaid of salvation which 
 does not agree to infants, Mark 
 xvi, 16. As none but adults are 
 capable of believing, so, by the ar- 
 gument of the Baptists, none but 
 adults are capable of salvation : 
 for he that believeth not shall be 
 damned. But Christ, it is said, 
 set an example of adult baptism. 
 True ; but he was baptized in ho- 
 nour to John's ministry; and to 
 conform himself to what he ap- 
 pointed to his followers ; for which 
 last reason he drank of the sacra- 
 mental cop : but this is rather an 
 argument for the Paedobaptists 
 than against them ; since it plainly 
 shews, as Doddridge observes, that 
 baptism may be administered to 
 those who are not capable of all 
 the purposes for which it was de- 
 signed ; since Jesus Christ, not 
 being a sinner, could not be ca- 
 
 pable of that faith and repentance 
 which are said to be necessary to 
 this ordinance. 
 
 As to the mode. 
 They believe that the woi'd 
 Bocniluj signifies to dip or to plunge ; 
 but that the term Bacrfh^x^ v/hich 
 is only a derivative of Ba-n^w, and 
 consequently must be somewhat 
 less in its signification, should be 
 invariabl}' used in the New Tes- 
 tament to express plunging, is not 
 so clear. It is therefore doubted 
 whether dipping be the only mean- 
 ing, and whether Christ absolutely 
 enjoined immersion, and that it 
 is his positive will that no other 
 should be used. As the word 
 ^x'n\t?u} is used for the various ab- 
 lutions among ihe Jews, such as 
 sprinkling, pourmg,/8ic. Heb. ix, 
 10 ; for the custom of washing be- 
 fore meals, and the washing of 
 household furniiure, pols, &:c. ; it 
 is evident from hence that it does 
 not express the manner of doing, 
 whether by immersion or affusion, 
 but only the thing done ; that 
 is, washing, or the application 
 of water in some form or other. 
 Dr. Owen observes, that it no 
 where signifies to dip^ but as 
 denoting a mode of and in order 
 to washing or cleansing ; and, ac- 
 cording to others, the mode of use 
 is only the ceremonial part of a 
 positive institute ; just as in the 
 supper of the Lord — the time of 
 day, the number and posture of 
 communicants, the quality and 
 quantity of bread and wine, are 
 circumstances not accounted es- 
 sential by any party of Christians. 
 As to the Hebrew word Tabal^ it 
 is considered as a g-eneric term ; 
 that its radical, primary, and 
 
BAP 
 
 62 
 
 BAP 
 
 proper meaning is, to tinge, to 
 dye, to wet, or the like ; which 
 primary design is effected by dif- 
 ferent modes of application. If 
 in baptism also there is an ex- 
 pressive emblem of the descend- 
 ing influence of the Spirit, pouring 
 must be the mode of administra- 
 tion J for that is the scriptural 
 term most commonly and proper- 
 ly used for the communication of 
 divine influences. There is no 
 object whatever in all the New 
 Testament so frequently and so 
 explicitly signified by baptism as 
 these divine influences. Matt, 
 iii, 11. Mark i, 8, 10. Luke 
 iii, 16 to 22. John i, 33. Acts 
 i, 5. Acts ii, 38, 39. Acts viii, 
 
 12, 17. Acts xi, 15, 16 The 
 
 term sprinkling, also, is made use 
 of in reference to the act of purify- 
 ing, Is. Iii, 15. Heb. ix. 13. 14. 
 Ezek. xxxvi,25, and therefore can- 
 not be inapplicable to baptismal 
 purification. But it is observed 
 that John baptized ifi Jordan : to 
 this it is replied, to infer always 
 a plunging of the whole body in 
 water from this word, would, in 
 many instances, be false and ab- 
 surd: the same Greek preposition 
 «v is used when it is said they 
 should be baptized with fire ; 
 which few will assert that they 
 should be plunged into it. The 
 apostle, speaking of Christ, says, 
 he came not (sv) bv water only, but 
 (£") by water and blood. There 
 the same word £» is translated hy^ 
 and with justice and propriety, for 
 we know no good sense in which 
 we could say he came in water. 
 It has been remarked, that fv is 
 more than a hundred times, in the 
 New Testament, rendered " c?;" 
 
 and in a hundred and fifty others 
 it is translated -with. If it be ren- 
 dered so here, " John baptized at 
 Jordan," or with the water of Jor- 
 dan, there is no proof from thence 
 that \ie. plunged his disciples in it. 
 
 It is urged that John's choosing 
 a place were there was much wa- 
 ter is a certain proof of immer- 
 sion. To which it is answered, 
 that as there went out to him 
 Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all 
 the region round about Jordan, 
 that by choosing a place wherfc 
 there were many streams or rivu- 
 lets, it would be much more ex- 
 peditiously performed by pouring; 
 and that it seems in the. nature of 
 things highly improbable that 
 John should have baptized this 
 vast multitude by immersion ; to 
 say nothing of the indecency of 
 both sexes being baptized toge- 
 ther. 
 
 Jesus, it is said, came up out of 
 the water; but this is sai,d to be no 
 proof of his being immersed, as 
 the Greek term «7ro often signifies 
 from; for instance, " Who hath 
 warned you to fieey?"om,not out of 
 the wrath to come," with many 
 others which might be mentioned. 
 
 Again : it is said that Philip and 
 the Eunuch went down both into 
 the water. To this it is answered, 
 that here is no proof of immersion; 
 for if the expression of their going 
 down into the water necessarily 
 includes dipping, then Philip was 
 dipped as v/ell as the Eunuch. The 
 preposition Uis) translated into^ of- 
 ten signifies no more than to or 
 unto. See" Matt, xv, 24. Rom. x, 
 10. Acts xxviii, 14. Matt, xvii, 
 27. Matt, iii, 11. So that, from 
 all these circumstances, it cannot 
 
BAP 
 
 63 
 
 BAP 
 
 be concluded that there was a sin- 
 gle person of all the baptized who 
 went into the water ankle deep. 
 As to the apostle's expression, 
 buried with -him in baptism, 
 *' the}' think it has no force ; and 
 that it does not allude to any cus- 
 tom of dipping, any more than 
 our baptismal crucifixion and 
 death has any such reference. It 
 is not the sign but the thing signi- 
 fied that is here alluded to. As 
 Christ was buried and rose again 
 to a heavenly life, so we by bap- 
 tism signify that we are cut off 
 from the life of sin, that we may 
 rise again to a new life of faith and 
 love." 
 
 To conclude this article, it is 
 obsen'^ed against the mode of im- 
 mersion, that, as it carries with it 
 too much of the appearance of a 
 burdensome rite for the gospel dis- 
 pensation ; that as it is too inde- 
 cent for so solemn an ordinance ; 
 as it has a tendency to agitate the 
 spirits, often rendering the sub- 
 ject unfit for the exercise of pro- 
 per thoughts and affections, and 
 indeed utterly incapable of them : 
 as in many cases the immersion of 
 the body would in all probability 
 be instant death ; as in other si- 
 tuations it would be impracticable 
 for want of water, it cannot be con- 
 sidered as necessary to the ordi- 
 nance of baptism. 
 
 See Gale^ Robinson^ Stennet^ 
 Gill, and Booth, on Ant'ipctdohap- 
 tism ; and Wall, Henry, Bostzuick, 
 Towgood, Add'ington, Williams, 
 Edwards, Miller, Evans, &c. on 
 the other side. 
 
 BAPTISM OF THE DEAD, 
 a custom which anciently prevail- 
 <;d, among some people ia Africa, 
 
 of giving baptism to the dead. The 
 third council of Carthage speaks 
 of it as a thing that ignorant chris- 
 tians were fond of : Gregory Na- 
 zianzen also takes notice of the 
 same superstitious opinion. The 
 practice seems to be grounded on 
 a vain idea, that, when men had 
 neglected to receive baptism in 
 their life-time, some compensa- 
 tion might be made for this default 
 by receiving it after death. 
 
 BAPTISMFORTHE DEAD, 
 a practice formerly in use, when 
 a person dying without baptism, 
 another was baptized in his stead ; 
 thus supposing that God would 
 accept the baptism of the proxy, 
 as thou^ it had been administer- 
 ed to the principal. Chrysostom 
 says, this was practised among the 
 Marcionites with a great deal of 
 ridiculous ceremony, which he 
 thus describes: — After any cate- 
 chumen was dead, they hid a liv-= 
 ing man under the bed of the de- 
 ceased ; then coming to the dead 
 man, they asked him whether he 
 would receive baptism ; and he 
 making no answer, the other an- 
 svv^ered for him, and said he would 
 be baptized in his stead ; and so 
 they baptized the living for the 
 dead. If it can be proved (as some 
 think it can) that this practice was 
 as early as the days of the apos- 
 tle Paul, it might probably form a 
 solutionof those remarkable words 
 in 1st Cor. xv, 29 — " If the 
 dead rise not at all, what shall 
 they do who are baptized for the 
 dead ?" The allusion of the apos- 
 tle to this practice, however, i» 
 rejected by some, and especiajly 
 by Dr. Doddridge, who thinks it 
 too early : he thus paraphrases the 
 
BAP 
 
 64 
 
 BAP 
 
 passage. ** Such are our viev/s 
 and hopes as christians ; else^ if it 
 were not so, what should they do 
 who are baptized in token of their 
 embracing the christian faith, in 
 ths room of the dead^ who are 
 just fallen in the cause of Christ, 
 but are yet supported by a succes- 
 sion of new converts, who imme- 
 diately offer themselves to fill up 
 their places, as ranks of soldiers 
 that advance to the combat in the 
 room of their companions who 
 have just been slain in their 
 &ight r" 
 
 Lay baptism we find to have 
 been permitted by both the com- 
 mon prayer books of king Edward 
 and queen Elizabeth, when an in- 
 fant was in immediate danger of 
 death, and a lawful minister could 
 not be had. This was founded 
 on a mistaken notion of the impos- 
 sibility of salvation without the sa- 
 crament of baptism ; but after- 
 wards, when they came to have 
 clearer notions of the sacraments, 
 it was unanimously resolved, in 
 a convocation held in 1575, that 
 even private baptism in a case of 
 necessity was only to be adminis- 
 tered by a lavi'ful minister. 
 
 BAPTISTS, a denomination 
 of christians who maintain that 
 baptism is to be administered by 
 immersion, and not by sprinkling. 
 See Baptism. 
 
 Although there were sevei-al 
 Baptists among the Albigenses, 
 Waldenses, and the followers of 
 Wicklifie, it does not appear that 
 thev were formed into any stabi- 
 lity until the time of Menno, about 
 the year 1536. See Anabap- 
 tists and Mennonites. About 
 1644. they began to make a con- 
 
 siderable figure in England, and 
 spread themselves into several 
 separate congregations. They se- 
 parated from the Independents 
 about the year 1638, and set up 
 for themselves under the pastoral 
 care of Mr. Jesse ; and, having re- 
 nounced their former baptism, 
 they sent over one of their num- 
 ber to be immersed by one of the 
 Dutch Anabaptists of Amster- 
 dam, that he might be qualified 
 to baptize his friends in England 
 after the same manner. 
 
 The Baptists subsist under two 
 denominations, viz. the particu- 
 lar or Calvinistical^ and the ge- 
 neral or Artninian. Their modes 
 of church government and wor- 
 ship are the same as the inde- 
 pendents; in the exercise of 
 which they are protected, in com- 
 mon with other dissenters, by 
 the act of toleration. Some of 
 both denominations allow of mix- 
 ed communion ; by which it is 
 understood that those who have 
 not been baptized by immersion, 
 on the profession of their faith, 
 may sit down at the Lord's table 
 with those who have been thus 
 baptized. Others, however, dis- 
 allow it, supposing that such 
 have not been actually baptized 
 at all. See Free Communion. 
 
 Some of them observe the se- 
 venth day of the week as the Sab- 
 bath, apprehending the law that 
 enjoined it not to have been re- 
 pealed bv Christ. 
 
 Some of the general Baptists 
 have, it is said, gone into Socini- 
 anism or Arianism ; on account of 
 which several of their ministers 
 and churches who disapprove of 
 these principles have within tht 
 
BAP 
 
 65 
 
 BAR 
 
 last forty years formed themselves 
 into a distinct connexion called 
 the New Association. The church- 
 es in this union keep up a friend- 
 ly acquaintance in some outward 
 things with those from whom 
 they have separated ; but in things 
 more essential disclaim any con- 
 nexion with them, particularly as 
 to changing ministers, and the ad- 
 mission of members. The general 
 Baptists have, in some of their 
 churches, three distinct orders se- 
 parately ordained, viz. — messen- 
 gers, elders, and deacons. Their 
 general assembly is held annually 
 in Worship Street, London, on 
 the Tuesday in the Whitsun week. 
 The Baptists have two exhibi- 
 tions for students to be educafed 
 at one of the universities of Scot- 
 land, given them by Dr. Ward, 
 of Gresham College. There is 
 likewise an academy at Bristol for 
 students, generally known by the 
 name of the Bristol Education So- 
 ciety. The Baptists in America 
 and in the East and West Indies 
 are chiefly Calvinists, and hold 
 occasional fellowship with the par- 
 ticular Baptist churches in Eng- 
 land. Those in Scotland having 
 imbibed a considerable part of the 
 principles of Messrs. Glass and 
 Sandeman, have no communion 
 with the other. They have liberal- 
 ly contributed, however, towards 
 the translation of the scripture into 
 the Bengalee language, which 
 some of the Baptist brethren are 
 now accomplishing in the East. 
 See R'lpponHs Baptist Register, 
 vol. i, p. 772'1 75 ; Adams's View of\ 
 Religions^ article Baptists ; Evanses 
 Sketch of Religious Deyiomiiiations. 
 BAPTISTERY, the place in 
 Vol.. I. K 
 
 which the ceremony of baptism is 
 performed. In the ancient church, 
 it is said, it was generally a build- 
 ing separate and distinct from the 
 church. It consisted of an ante- 
 room, where the adult persons to 
 be baptized made their confession 
 of faith ; and an inner room, 
 where the ceremony of baptism 
 was performed. Thus it conti- 
 nued to the sixth century, when 
 the baptisteries began to be taken 
 into the church. 
 
 BARDESANISTS, a sect so 
 denominated from their leader 
 Bardesanes, a Syrian, of Edessa, 
 in Mesopotamia, who lived in the 
 second century. They believed 
 that the actions of men depended 
 altogether on fate, and that God 
 himself is subject to necessity. — 
 They denied the resurrection of 
 the body, and the incarnation and 
 death of our Saviour. 
 
 BARL AAMITES, the follow- 
 ers of Barlaam, in the fourteenth 
 century, who was a very zealous 
 champion in behalf of the Greek 
 against the Latin church. It is 
 said that he adopted the senti- 
 ments and precepts of the stoics, 
 with respect to the obligations of 
 morality and the duties of life ; 
 and digested them into a work of 
 his, which is known by the title 
 of Ethica ex Stoicis. 
 BARNABAS,EPISTLES OF, 
 an apocr}'phal work ascribed to St. 
 Barnabas. It was first published 
 in Greek, from a copy of father 
 Hugh Menaed, a monk. Vossias 
 published it, in 1656, witK the 
 epistles of Ignatius. — Barnabas's 
 gospel is another apocryphal work 
 ascribed to Barnabas, wherein the 
 history of Jesus Christ is given in 
 
B AS 
 
 66 
 
 B AS 
 
 a different manner from that of the 
 evangelist. 
 
 BARTHOLOMITES, a reli- 
 gious order founded at Geneva in 
 1307 ; but, the monks leading ii-re- 
 gular lives, it was suppressed in 
 1650, and their effects confiscated. 
 In the church of the monastery of 
 this order at Geneva is preserved 
 the image, v/hich, it is pretended, 
 Christ sent to king Abgarus. 
 
 EASILIAN MONKS, religi- 
 ous, of the order of St. Basil, in 
 the fourth centur}', who, having 
 retired into a desert in the province 
 of Pontus, founded a monastery, 
 and drew up rules, to the amount 
 of some hundreds, for his dis- 
 ciples. This new society soon 
 spread all over the East ; nor was 
 "it long before it passed into the 
 West. Some pretend that St. Basil 
 saw himself the spiritual father of 
 more than 90,000 monks in the 
 East only ; but this order, Avhich 
 flourished for more than three cen- 
 turies, was considerably diminish- 
 ed by heresy, schism, and a change 
 of empire. The historians of this 
 order say that it has produced 
 14 popes, 1805 bishops, 3010 
 abbots, and 11,085 martyrs, be- 
 sides an infinite number of con- 
 fessors and virgins. This order 
 likewise boasts of several em- 
 perors, kings, and princes, who 
 have embraced its rule. 
 
 BASILIDIANS, a denomina- 
 tion,in the second century , from Ba- 
 silides, chief of the Egyptian Gnos- 
 tics. He acknowledged the ex- 
 istence of one Supreme God, per- 
 fect in goodness and" wisdom, who 
 produced from his own substance 
 seven beings, or aio?i.<!^ of a most 
 excellent nature. Two of these 
 
 aw7is, called D3^namis and Sophij^ 
 (i. e. power and ivisdoni)^ engen- 
 dered the angels of the highest or- 
 der. These angels formed a heaven 
 for their habitation, and brought 
 forth other angelic beings of a na- 
 ture somewhat inferior to their 
 own. Many other generations of 
 angels followed these. New hea- 
 vens were also created, until the 
 number of angelic orders, and of 
 their respective heavens, amoimt- 
 ed to three hundred and sixty- five, 
 and thus equalled the days of the 
 year. All these are under the em- 
 pire of an omnipotent Lord, whom 
 Basilides called Abraxas. 
 
 The inhabitants of the lowest 
 heavens, which touched upon the 
 borders of the eternal, malignant, 
 and self- animated matter, conceiv- 
 ed the design of forming a world 
 from that confused mass, and of 
 creating an order of beings to peo- 
 ple it. This design was carried 
 into execution, and was approved 
 by the Supreme God, who to the 
 animal life, with which only the 
 inhabitants of this new world were 
 at first endowed, added a reason- 
 able soul, giving at the same time 
 to the angels the empire over 
 them. 
 
 These angelic beings, advanced 
 to the government of the w^orld 
 which they had created, fell by 
 degrees from their original purity, 
 and soon manifested the fatal 
 marks of their depravity and cor- 
 ruption. They not only endea- 
 voured to efface in the minds of 
 men their knowledge of the Su- 
 preme Being, that they might be 
 worshipped in his stead, but also 
 began to war against each other, 
 with an ambitious- view to enlarge 
 
BAT 
 
 67 
 
 B AX 
 
 every one the bounds of his re- 
 spective dominion. The most ar- 
 rogant and turbulent of all these 
 angelic spirits was that which pre- 
 sided over the Jewish nation. — 
 Hence the Supreme God, behold- 
 ing with compassion the miserable 
 state of rational beings, who groan- 
 ed under the contest of these jar- 
 ring powers, sent from heaven his 
 son Nus^ or Christ, the chief of 
 the flio;?*, that, joined in a substan- 
 tial union with the man Jesus, he 
 might restoi-e the knowledge of 
 the Supreme God, destroy the 
 empire of those angelic natures 
 which presided over the world, 
 and particularly that of the arro- 
 gant leader of the Jewish people. 
 The God of the Jews, alarmed at 
 this, sent forth his ministers to 
 seize the man Jesus, and put him 
 to death. They executed his 
 commands : but their cruelty could 
 not extend to Christ, against whom 
 their efforts were vain. Those 
 souls who obey the precepts of 
 the Son of God, shall, after the 
 dissolution of their moi'tal frame, 
 ascend to the Father, while their 
 bodies return to the corrupt mass 
 of matter whence they were form- 
 ed. Disobedient spirits, on the 
 contrary, shall pass successively 
 into other bodies. 
 
 B ATH-KOL (i. e. the daughter 
 of a voice), an oracle among the 
 'Jews, frequently mentioned in 
 their books, especially the Tal- 
 mud. It was a fantastical way of 
 divination invented by the Jews, 
 though called by ^em a revela- 
 tion from God's will, which he 
 made to his chosen people after 
 all verbal prophecies had ceased 
 in Israel. 
 
 BAXTERIANS, so called 
 from the learned and pious Mr. 
 Richard Baxter, who was born in 
 the year 1615. His design was to 
 reconcile Calvin and Arminius; for 
 this purpose he formed a middle 
 scheme between their sjstems. 
 He taught that God had elected 
 some, whom he is determined to 
 save, without any foresight of their 
 good works ; and that others to 
 whom the gospel is preached have 
 common grace, which if they im- 
 prove, they shall obtain saving 
 grace, according to the doctrine of 
 Arminius.Tliis denomination own, 
 with Calvin, that the merits of 
 Christ's death are to be applied to 
 believers only ; but they also as- 
 sert that all men are in a state 
 capable of salvation. 
 
 Mr. Baxter maintains that there 
 may be a certainty of persever- 
 ance here, and yet he cannot tell 
 whether a man may not have so 
 weak a degree of saving grace as 
 to lose it again. 
 
 In order to prove that the death 
 of Christ has put all in a state ca- 
 pable of salvation, the following 
 arguments are alleged by this 
 learned author. 1, It was the na- 
 ture of all mankind which Christ 
 assumed at his incarnation, and 
 the sins of all mankind were the 
 occasion of his suffering. — 2. It 
 was to Adam, as the common fa- 
 ther of lapsed mankind, that God 
 made the- promise (Gen. iii, 15). 
 The conditional new covenant does 
 equally give Christ, pardon, and 
 life, to all mankind, on condition 
 of acceptance. The conditional 
 grant is universal : IVhosoever he- 
 lievtth shall be saved. — 3. It is not 
 to the ekct only, but to all man- 
 
BAX 
 
 68 
 
 BEG 
 
 kind, that Christ has commanded 
 his ministers to proclaim his gos- 
 pel, and offer the benefits of his 
 procuring. 
 
 There are, Mr. Baxter allows, 
 certain fruits of Christ's death 
 which are proper to the elect on- 
 ly: 1. Grace eventually worketh 
 in them true faith, repentance, 
 conversion, and union with Christ, 
 as his living members. — 2. The 
 actual forgiveness of sin as to the 
 spiritual and eternal punishment. 
 — 3. Our reconciliation with God, 
 and adoption and right to the hea- 
 venly inheritance. — 4. The spirit 
 of Christ to dwell in us, ^d sanc- 
 tify us, by a habit of divine love, 
 Rom. viii, 9-13. Gal. v, 6 — 5. 
 Employment in holy, acceptable 
 service, and access in prayer, with 
 a promise of being heard through 
 Christ, Heb. ii, 5, 6. John xiv, 
 13. — 6. Well grounded hopes of 
 salvation, peace of conscience, and 
 spiritual communion with the 
 church mystical in heaven and 
 earth, Rom. v, 12. Heb. xii, 22. 
 — 7. A special interest in Christ, 
 and intercession with the Father, 
 Rom. viii, 32, 33. — 8. Resurrec- 
 tion unto life, and justification in 
 judgment ; glorification of the soul 
 at death, and of the body at the 
 resurrection, Phil, iii, 20, 21. 2d 
 Cor. v, 1, 2, 3. 
 
 Christ has made a conditional 
 deed of gift of these benefits to all 
 mankind; but the elect only ac- 
 cept and possess them. Hence he 
 infers, that though Christ never 
 absolutely intended or decreed 
 that his death should -eventuariy 
 put all men in possession of those 
 benefits, yet he did intend and de- 
 cree that all men should have a 
 
 conditional gift of them by his 
 death. 
 
 Baxter, it is said, wrote 120 
 books, and had 60 written against 
 him. 20,000 of his Call to the 
 Unconverted were sold in one 
 year. He told a friend, thgt six 
 brothers were converted by read- 
 ing that Call. The eminent Mr. 
 Elliott, of New England, translat- 
 ed this tract into the Indian tongue. 
 — A young Indian prince was so 
 taken with it, that he read it with 
 tears, and died with it in his hand. 
 Calamifs Life of Baxter ; Baxter*s 
 Catholic Theology ^^. 51-53; Bax- 
 ter's End of Doctrinal Controver- 
 sies p. 154, 155. 
 
 BEATIFICATION, in the 
 Romish church, the act whereby 
 the pope declares a person happy 
 after death. See Canonization. 
 
 BEATITUDE imports the 
 highest degree of happiness human 
 nature can arrive to: the fruition 
 of God in a future life to all eter- 
 nity. It is also used in speaking 
 of the theses contained in Christ's 
 sermon on the Mount, whereby 
 he pronounces the several charac- 
 ters there mentioned blessed. 
 
 BEGHARDS, or BeGuards, 
 a sect that arose in Germany in 
 the thirteenth century, and took 
 St. Begghe for their patroness. 
 They employed themselves in 
 making linen cloth, each support- 
 ing himself by his labour, and 
 were united only by the bonds of 
 charit}% without having any par- 
 ticular rule ; but when pope 
 Nicholas IV had confirmed that 
 of the third order of St. Francis 
 in 1289, they embraced it the year 
 following. 
 BEGUINES, a congregation of 
 
BEH 
 
 69 
 
 BEH 
 
 Tiuns founded either by St. Beg- 
 ghe or by Lambert le Begue. 
 They were established, first at 
 Liege, and afterwards at Neville, 
 in 1207"; and from this last set- 
 tlement sprang the great number 
 of Beguinages which are spread 
 over all Flanders, and which have 
 passed from Flanders into Ger- 
 many. In the latter country some 
 of them fell into extravagant er- 
 rors persuading themselves that 
 it was possible in the present life 
 to arrive to the highest perfection, 
 even to impeccabilit}'', and a clear 
 view of God ; in short, to so emi- 
 nent a degree of contemplation, 
 that there was no necessity, after 
 this, to submit to the laws of mor- 
 tal men, civil or ecclesiastical. 
 The council of Vienna, in 1113, 
 condemned these errors ; permit- 
 ting, nevertheless, those among 
 them who continued in the true 
 faith to live in chastity and peni- 
 tence, either with or without 
 vows. There still subsists, or at 
 least subsisted till lately, many 
 communities of them in Flanders. 
 What changes the late revolutions 
 may have eflFected upon these nur- 
 series of superstition we have yet 
 to learn. 
 
 BEHMENISTS, a name giv- 
 en to those mystics who adopt the 
 explications of the mysteries of 
 nature and grace, as given by Ja- 
 cob Behmen. This writer was 
 born, in the year 1575, at Old 
 Seidenburg, near Gorlitz, in Up- 
 per Lusatia : he was a shoemaker 
 by trade. He is described as having 
 been thoughtful and religious from 
 his youth up, taking peculiar plea- 
 sure jn frequenting public wor- 
 ship. At length, seriously consi- 
 /clering within himself tjiat speech 
 
 of our Saviour, My Father which 
 is in heaven tvill give the Holy 
 Spirit to them that ask him, he was 
 thereby thoroughly awakened in 
 himself, and set forward to desire 
 that promised Comforter ; and, 
 continuing in that earnestness, he 
 was at last, to use his own expres-r 
 sion, "surrounded with a divine 
 light for seven days, and stood in 
 the highest contemplation and 
 kingdom of joys !" After this, 
 about the year 1600, he was again 
 surrounded by the divine light, 
 and replenished with the heavenly 
 knowledge ; insomuch as, going 
 abroad into the fields, and view- 
 ing the herbs and grass, by his in- 
 ward light he saw into their es- 
 sences, use, and properties, which 
 were discovered to him by their 
 lineaments, figures, and signa- 
 tures. In the year 1610 he had a 
 third special illumination, wherein 
 still farther mysteries were reveal- 
 ed to him. It was not till the year 
 1612 that Behmen committed 
 these revelations to writing. His 
 first treatise is entitled Aurora^ 
 which was seized on and withheld^ 
 from him by the senate of Gorlitz 
 (who persecuted him at the insti- 
 gation of the pi-imate of that place) 
 before it was finished, and he ne- 
 ver afterwards proceeded with it 
 farther than by adding some ex- 
 planatory notes. The next pro- 
 duction of his pen is called The 
 Three Principles, In this work 
 he more fully illustrates the sub- 
 jects treated of in the former, and 
 supplies what is wanting in that 
 work. The contents of these two 
 treatises may be divided as follow : 
 1. Hov/ all things came from a 
 working will of the holy triune in- 
 comprehensible God, manifesting 
 
BEH 
 
 70 
 
 BEH 
 
 himself as Father, Son, and Holy 
 Spirit, through an outward per- 
 ceptible working triune power of 
 fire, light, and spirit, in the 
 kingdom of heaven. — 2. How 
 and what angels and men were 
 in their creation ; that they are in 
 and fpom God, his real offspring ; 
 that their life begun in and from 
 this divine fire which is the Father 
 of Light, generating a birth of 
 light in their souls ; from both 
 which proceeds the Holy Spirit, 
 or breath of divine love in the 
 triune creature, as it does in the 
 triune Creator. — 3. How some 
 ?-ngels, and all men, are fallen 
 from God, and their first state of 
 a divine triune life in him ; what 
 they are in their fallen state, and 
 the difference between the fall of 
 angels and that of man. — 4. How 
 the earth, stars, and elements, 
 were created in consequence of 
 the fall of angels. — 5. Whence 
 there is good and evil in all this 
 temporal world, in all its crea- 
 tures, animate and inanimate ; 
 and what is meant by the Curse 
 that dwells every where in it. — 6. 
 Of the kingdom of Christ ; how it 
 is set in opposition to and fights 
 and strives against the kingdom of 
 hell. — 7. How man, through faith 
 in Christ, is able to overcome the 
 kingdom of hell, and triumph 
 over it in the divine power, and 
 thereby obtain eternal salvation ; 
 also how, through working in the 
 hellish quantity or principle, he 
 casts himself into perdition. — 8. 
 How and why sin and misery, 
 wrath and death, shall only reign 
 for a time, till the love, the wis- 
 dom, and the power of God shall j 
 in a supernatural: way (the mys- ! 
 ter}' of God made man) triumph i 
 
 over sin, misery, and death ; and 
 make fallen man rise to the glory 
 of angels, and this material sys- 
 tem shake off its curse, and enter 
 into an everlasting union with that 
 heaven from whence it fell. 
 
 The year after he wrote his 
 Three Principles^ by which are to 
 be understood — the dark world, 
 or hell, in which the devils live — 
 the light world, or heaven, in 
 which the angels live — the exter- 
 nal and visible world, which has 
 proceeded from the internal and 
 spiritual worlds, in which man, 
 as to his bodily life, lives — Beh- 
 men produced his Threefold Life 
 of Man^ according to the Three 
 Principles. In this work he 
 treats more largely of the state of 
 man in this world: 1. That he 
 has that immortal spark of life 
 which is common to angels and 
 devils. — 2. That divine life of the 
 light and spirit of God, which 
 makes the essential difference be- 
 tween an angel and a devil, the 
 last having extinguished this di- 
 vine life in himself; but that man 
 can only attain unto this heavenly 
 life of the second principle through 
 the new birth in Christ Jesus. — 3. 
 The life of the third principle, or 
 of this external and visible world. 
 Thus the life of the first and third 
 principles is common to all men ; 
 but the life of the second princi- 
 ple only to a true christian, or 
 child of God. 
 
 Behmen wrote several other 
 treatises, besides the three alrea- 
 dy enumerated ; but these three 
 being, as it were, the basis of all 
 his other writings, it was thought 
 proper to notice them particularly. 
 His conceptions are often clothed 
 under allegorical symbols ; and 
 
BEL 
 
 71 
 
 BEN 
 
 in his latter works he has fre- 
 quently adopted chemical and La- 
 tin phrases to express his ideas, 
 which phrases he borrowed from 
 conversation with learned men, 
 the education he had received be- 
 ing too illiterate to furnish him 
 with them : but as to the matter 
 contained in his writings, he dis- 
 claimed having borrowed it either 
 from men or books. He died in 
 the year 1624. His last words 
 were, " Now I go hence into Pa- 
 radise." 
 
 Some of Behmen's principles 
 were adopted by the late ingeni- 
 ous and pious William Law, who 
 has clothed them in a more mo- 
 dem dress, and in a less obscure 
 style. See Behmen^s JVorks ; 
 Okelifs Memoirs of Behmen. 
 
 BELIEF, in its general and 
 natural sense, denotes a persuasion 
 or an assent of the mind to the 
 truth of any proposition. In this 
 sense belief has no relation to any 
 particular kind of means or argu- 
 ments, but may be produced by 
 any means whatever : thus we are 
 said to believe our senses, to be- 
 lieve our reason, to believe a wit- 
 ness. Belief in its more restrain- 
 ed sense, denotes that kind of as- 
 sent which is grounded only on 
 the authority or testimony of some 
 person. In this sense belief stands 
 opposed to knowledge and science. 
 We do not say that we believe 
 snow is white, but we know it to 
 be so. But when a thing is pro- 
 pounded to us, of which we our- 
 selves have no knowledge, but 
 which appears to us to be true 
 from the testimony given to it by 
 another, this is what we call belief. 
 See Faith. 
 
 BELIEVERS, an appellation 
 
 given, toward the close of the first 
 centurv, to those christians who 
 had been admitted into the church 
 by baptism, and instructed in all 
 the mysteries of religion. They 
 were thus called in contradistinc- 
 tion to the catechumens who had 
 not been baptized, and were de- 
 baiTed from those privileges. 
 Among us it is often used syno- 
 nymously with christian. See 
 Christian. 
 
 BENEDICTINES, an order 
 of monks who professed to follow 
 the rules of Sr. Benedict. They 
 were obliged to perform their de- 
 votions seven times in twenty- 
 four hours. They were obliged 
 always to go two and two together. 
 Every day in Lent they fasted till 
 six in the evening, and abated of 
 their usual time in sleeping, eat- 
 ing, &c. — Every monk had two 
 coats, two cowls, a table-book, a 
 knife, aneedle,andahandkerchief; 
 and the, furniture of his bed was a 
 mat, a blanket, a rug, and a pil- 
 low. The time when this order 
 came into England is well known, 
 for to it the English owe their 
 conversion from idolatry. They 
 founded the metropolitan church 
 of Canterbury, and all the cathe- 
 drals that were afterwards erect- 
 ed. The order has produced a 
 vast number of eminent men. — 
 Their Alcuinus founded the uni- 
 versity of Paris ; their Dionysius 
 Exiguus perfected the ecclesiasti- 
 cal computation ; their Guido in- 
 vented the; scale of music ; and 
 their Sylvester the organ. 
 
 BENEFICENCE, the practice 
 of doing good ; active goodness. — 
 Next to justice, the most promi- 
 nent virtue in the system of mo- 
 rality, is beneficence. Power 
 
BEN 
 
 72 
 
 BEN 
 
 makes us to be feared, riches to 
 be flattered, learning to be admir- 
 ed ; but beneficence renders us 
 amiable and useful in the scale of 
 society. Some qualifications are 
 solitary, and centre mostly in our- 
 selves ; but this is social, diffusive, 
 and kind. The objects of our be- 
 neficence are all those who are in 
 the sphere of our influence and ac- 
 tion, without respect to party or 
 sect. Toward superiors, benefi- 
 cence expresseth itself in respect, 
 honour, submission, and service ; 
 toward inferiors, in liberality, con- 
 descension, protection, and sup- 
 port ; toward equals, in all the of- 
 fices of love their cases require, 
 and which they have ability for. 
 It includes all the kind exertions 
 on the behalf of the poor, the sick, 
 the fatherless, the widow, the dis- 
 tressed, &c. and especially those 
 *'- who are of the household of 
 faith," Gal. vi, 10. The means of 
 beneficence are — communication 
 of temporal supplies, Gal. vi, 6 ; 
 prayer, James v, 16; sympathy, 
 Rom. xii, 15; appropriate advice 
 and conversation. Col. iii, 16. — 
 GhRgations to beneficence arise 
 from the law of nature, Actsxvii, 
 26; the law of revelation, Heb. 
 xiii, 16 ; the relations we stand in 
 to each other, Gal. vi, 1,2; the 
 example of Christ and illustrious 
 characters. Acts x, 38; the resem- 
 blance we herein bear to the best 
 of Beings, Acts xiv, 17; and the 
 pleasure we receive and give in so 
 noble an eiTiploy. See Be^tevo- 
 LENCE, Charity, Love. 
 
 benevolence; the love 
 of mankind in general, accompani- 
 ed with a desire to promote their 
 happiness. It is distinguished from 
 
 beneficence^ that being the practice; 
 benevolence the desire of doing 
 good. Benevolence must be uni- 
 versal, reaching to every man 
 without exception ; but benefi- 
 cence cannot be so universal, for 
 it is necessarily confined by seve- 
 ral considerations ; such as our 
 knowledge of objects, and their 
 different circumstances, as well 
 as our own abilities and opportuni- 
 ties of exercising them. Benevo- 
 lence or good will to others does 
 not imply that we are to neglect 
 our own interests. Our salvation, 
 health, prosperity, and reputation, 
 should all be objects of concern: 
 nor will this clash with the affec- 
 tion we may bear to others ; on 
 the contrary, experiencing the im- 
 portance of these blessings our- 
 selves, we shall be anxious for 
 others to possess them also. , The 
 duties of benevolence include those 
 we owe to men purely on the 
 ground of their being of the same 
 species with oui-selves ; such as 
 S3'mpathy, relief, &c. ; those we 
 owe to our country, desiring its 
 honour, safety, prosperity ; those 
 we owe to the church of God, as 
 love, zeal, &c. ; those we owe to 
 families and individuals, as affec- 
 tion, care, provision, justice, for- 
 bearance, &c. Benevolence mani- 
 fests itself by being pleased with 
 the share of good every creature 
 enjoys ; in a disposition to increase 
 it ; in feeling an uneasiness at their 
 sufferings ; and in the abhorrence 
 of cruelty under every disguise or 
 pretext. The desire of doing good 
 unconnected with any idea of ad- 
 vantage to ourselves is called disin- 
 terested benevolence ; though some 
 doubt whether, strictly speaking, 
 
BER 
 
 73 
 
 BER 
 
 there be any such thing ; because 
 benevolence is always attended 
 with apleasure to ourselves, which 
 forms a kind of mental interest. 
 So far, however, as we are able to 
 prefer the good of others to our 
 own, and sacrifice our own com- 
 fort for the welfare of any about 
 us, so far it may be said to be dis- 
 interested. See Hutcheson on the 
 Passions'^ p. 13-26; Doddridge's 
 Lect., 65 ; Beattie^s Elements of 
 Moral Science^ vol. i, p. 244-249 ; 
 Brown^s Second Essay on Shaftes- 
 bury^ S Chai'acteristics ; and articles 
 Love, and Self-love. 
 
 BEREANS,asectofprotestant 
 dissenters from the church of Scot- 
 land, who take their title from and 
 profess to follow the example of 
 the ancient Bereans, in building 
 their system of faith and practice 
 upon the scriptures alone, without 
 regard to any human authority 
 whatever. 
 
 As to the origin of this sect, we 
 find that the Bereans first as- 
 sembled as a separate society of 
 christians, in the city of Edin- 
 burgh, in the autumn of 177'3, and 
 soon after in the parish of Fetter- 
 cairn. The opponents of the Be- 
 rean doctrines allege that this new 
 system of faith would never have 
 been heard of, had not Mr. Bar- 
 clay, the founder of it, been disap- 
 pointed of a settlement in the 
 church of Scotland. But the 
 Bereans in answer to this charge 
 appeal not only to Mr. Barclay's 
 doctrine, uniformly preached in 
 the church of Fettercairn, and 
 many other places in that neigh- 
 bourhood, for fourteen years be- 
 fore that benefice became vacant, 
 but likewise to two different trea- 
 
 VOL. I. L! 
 
 tises, containing the same doc- 
 trines, published by him about ten 
 or twelve years before that period. 
 They admit, indeed, that previous 
 to May 1773, when the general 
 assembly, by sustaining the king's 
 presentation in favour of Mr. 
 Foote, excluded Mr. Barclayfrom 
 succeeding to the church of Fet- 
 tercairn (notwithstanding the al- 
 most unanimous desire of the pa- 
 rishioners), the Bereans had not 
 left the established church, or 
 attempted to erect themselves into 
 a distinct society ; but they add, 
 that this was by no means neces- 
 sary on their part, until by the 
 assembly's decision they were in 
 danger of being not only deprived 
 of his instructions, but of being 
 scattered as sheep without a shep- 
 herd. And they add, that it was 
 Mr. Barclay's open and public 
 avowal, both from the pulpit and 
 the press, of those peculiar sen- 
 timents which now distinguish the 
 Bereans, that was the first and 
 principal, if not the only cause of 
 the opposition set on foot against 
 his settlement in Fettercairn. 
 
 The Bereans agree with the great 
 majority of christians respecting 
 the doctrine of the Trinity, which 
 they hold as a fundamental article ; 
 and they also agree in a great mea- 
 sure with the professed principles 
 of both our established churches 
 respecting predestination and elec- 
 tion, though they allege that these 
 doctrines are not consistently 
 taught in either church. But they 
 differ from the majority of all sects 
 of christians in various other im- 
 portant particulars, such as, 1. Re* 
 specting our knowledge of the 
 Deity. Upon this subject they 
 
BER 
 
 74 
 
 BER 
 
 say, the majority of professed 
 christians stumble at the very 
 threshold of revelation ; and, by 
 admitting the doctrine of natural 
 religion, natural conscience, natu- 
 ral notices, &c. not founded upon 
 revelation, or derived from it by 
 tradition, they give up the cause 
 of Christianity at once to the in- 
 fidels ; who may justly argue, as 
 Mr. Paine in fact does in his Age 
 of Reason, that there is no occa- 
 sion for any revelation or word 
 of God, if man can discover his 
 nature and perfections from his 
 works alone. But this the Bere- 
 ans argue is beyond the natural 
 powers of human reason ; and 
 therefore our knowledge of God 
 is from revelation alone, and that 
 without revelation man would 
 never have entertained an idea of 
 his existence. — 2. With regard to 
 faith in Christ, and assurance of 
 salvation through his merits, they 
 differ from almost all other sects 
 whatsoever. These they reckon 
 inseparable, or rather the same, 
 because (say they) " God hath 
 expressly declared, he that be- 
 lieveth shall be saved ; and there- 
 fore it is not only absurd but im- 
 pious, and in a manner calling God 
 a liar, for a man to say, I believe 
 the gospel, but have doubts, never- 
 theless, ofmy own salvation." With 
 regard to the various distinctions 
 and definitions thathavc been given 
 of different kinds of faith, they ar- 
 gue that there is nothing incompre- 
 hensible or obscure in the meaning 
 of tbis word as used in scripture ; 
 but that as faith, when applied to 
 human testimony, signifies neither 
 more nor less than the mere sim- 
 ple belief of that testimony as 
 
 true, upon the authority of the 
 testifier, so, when applied to the 
 testimony of God, it signifies pre- 
 cisely " the belief of his testi- 
 mony, and resting upon his vera- 
 city alone, without any kind of 
 collateral support from concur- 
 rence of any other evidence or 
 testimony whatever." And they 
 insist that, as this faith is the gift 
 of God alone, so the person to 
 whom it is given is as conscious 
 of possessing it as the being to 
 whom God gives life is of being 
 alive ; and therefore he entertains 
 no doubts either of his faith or 
 his consequent salvation through 
 the merits of Christ, who died and 
 rose again for that purpose. In . 
 a word, they argue that the gospel 
 would not be, what it is held forth 
 to be, glad tidings of great joy, 
 if it did not bring full person- 
 al assurance of eternal salvation 
 to the believer ; which assur- 
 ance, they insist, is the present in- 
 fallible privilege and portion of 
 eveiy individual believer of the 
 gospel. — 3. Consistently with the 
 above definition of faith, they say 
 that the sin against the Holy Ghost, 
 which has alarmed and puzzled so 
 many in all ages, is nothing else but 
 unbelief; and that the expresion — 
 " it shall not be forgiven neither 
 in this world, nor that which is to 
 come," means only that a person 
 dying in infidelity would not be 
 forgiven neither under the former 
 dispensation by Moses (the then 
 present dispensation, kingdom, or 
 government of God), nor under 
 the gospel dispensation, which, in 
 respect of the Mosaic, was a kind 
 of future world or kingdom to 
 come. — 4. The Bereans interpret 
 
BER 
 
 75 
 
 BER 
 
 a great part of the Old Testament 
 prophecies, and in particular the 
 whole of the Psalms, excepting 
 such as are merely historical or 
 laudatory, to be typical or pro- 
 phetical of Jesus Christ, his suf- 
 ferings, atonement, mediation, and 
 kingdom ; and they esteem it a 
 gross perversion of these psalms 
 and prophecies to apply them to 
 the experiences of private chris- 
 tians. In proof of this, they not 
 only urge the words of the apostle, 
 that no prophecy is of any private 
 interpretation, but they insist that 
 the whole of the quotations from 
 the ancient prophecies in the New 
 Testament, and particularly those 
 from the Psalms, are expressly 
 applied to Christ. In this opinion 
 many other classes of protestants 
 agree with them. — 5. Of the ab- 
 solute all-superintending sove- 
 reignty of the Almighty, the Be- 
 reans entertain the highest idea, as 
 well as of the uninterrupted exer- 
 tion thereof over all his works, in 
 heaven, earth, and hell, however 
 unsearchable by his creatures. A 
 God without election, they argue, 
 or choice in all his works, is a 
 God without existence, a mere 
 idol, a non-entity. And to deny 
 God's election, purpose, and ex- 
 press will in all his works, is to 
 make him inferior to ourselves. 
 
 As to their practice and disci- 
 pline^ they consider infant baptism 
 as a divine ordinance, instituted 
 in the room of circuaicision ; and 
 think it absurd to suppose that in- 
 fants, who all agi-ee are admissi- 
 ble to the kingdom of God in 
 heaven, should, nevertheless, be 
 incapable of being admitted into 
 his visible church on earth. They 
 
 commemorate the Lord's supper 
 generally once a month ; but as 
 the words of the institution fix no 
 particular period, they sometimes 
 celebrate it oftener, and some- 
 times at more distant periods, as 
 it may suit their general conveni- 
 ence. They meet every Lord's 
 day for the purpose of preaching, 
 praying, and exhorting to love 
 and good works. With regard to 
 admission and exclusion of mem- 
 bers, their method is very simple : 
 'yhen any person, after hearing the 
 Berean doctrines, professes his be- 
 lief and assurance of the truths of 
 the gospel, and desires to be ad- 
 mitted into their communion, he 
 is cheerfully received upon his 
 profession, whatever may have 
 been his former manner of life. 
 But if such a one should after- 
 wards draw back from his good 
 profession or practice, they first 
 admonish him, and, if that has no 
 eflPect, they leave him to himself. 
 They do not think that they have 
 any power to deliver a backsliding 
 brother to Satan : that text, and 
 other similar passages, such as, 
 " Whatsoever ye shall bind on 
 earth shall be bound in heaven," 
 &c. they consider as restricted to 
 the apostles and to the inspired 
 testimony alone, and not to be ex- 
 tended to any church on earth, or 
 any number of churches or of 
 christians, whether decided by 
 a majority of votes, or by unani- 
 mous voices. Neither do they 
 think themselves authorized, as a 
 christian church, to enquire into 
 each other's political opinions, any 
 more than to examine into each 
 other's notions of philosophy. 
 They both recommend and prac- 
 
BER 
 
 BIB 
 
 tise,as christian duties, submission 
 to lawful authority ; but they do 
 not think that a man by becoming 
 a christian,or joining their society, 
 IS under any obligation by the 
 rules of the gospel to renounce his 
 right of private judgment upon 
 matters of public or private im- 
 portance. Upon all such subjects 
 they allow each other to think and 
 act as each may see it his duty : 
 and they require nothing more of 
 the members than a uniform and 
 steady profession of the apostolic 
 faith, and a suitable walk and con- 
 versation. 
 
 It is said that their doctrine has 
 found converts in various places of 
 Scotland, England, and America : 
 and that they have congregations 
 in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley, 
 Stirling, Crieff, Dundee, Arbroath, 
 Montrose, Fettercairn, Aberdeen, 
 and other towns in Scotland, as 
 well as in London, and various 
 places in England. 
 
 For farther particulars of the 
 doctrines of this sect, see the 
 works of Messrs. Barclay^ Nicol^ 
 Brooksbank^ and M'-Rae. See also 
 Mr. A. M'-Leaji's Treatise on the 
 Commission^ first edition, p. 88, in 
 which Mr. Barclay's notion of as- 
 surance is combated. 
 
 BERENGARIANS, a deno- 
 mination, in the eleventh century, 
 which adhered to the opinions of 
 Berengarius, who asserted that the 
 bread and wine in the Lord's sup- 
 per are not really and essentially, 
 but figuratively changed into the 
 body and blood of Christ. His 
 followers were divided in opinion 
 as to the eucharist. Some allow- 
 ed them to be changed in effect ; 
 others admitted a change in part ; 
 
 and others an entire change, with 
 this restriction, that, to those who 
 communicated unworthily, the 
 elements were changed back 
 again. 
 
 BERYLLIANS, so called from 
 Beryllus, an Arabian, bishop of 
 Bozrah, who flourished in the 
 third century. He taught that 
 Christ did not exist before Maryj 
 but that a spirit issuing from God 
 himself, and therefore superior to 
 all human souls, as being a portion 
 of the divine nature, was united 
 to him at the time of his birth. 
 
 BETHLEHEMITES, a sect 
 called also Star-bearers, because 
 they were distinguished by a red 
 star having five rays, which they 
 wore on their breast, in memory 
 of the star which appeared to the 
 wise men. Several authors have 
 mentioned this order, but none of 
 them have told us their origin, 
 nor where their convents were 
 situated ; if we except Matthew 
 Paris, who says that, in 1257', 
 they obtained a settlement in Eng- 
 land, which was at Cambridge, in 
 Trumpington Street. 
 
 BIBLE, the name applied by 
 christians, by way of eminence, to 
 the collection of sacred writings, 
 or the holy scriptures of the Old 
 and New Testaments. 
 
 I. Bible, ancie?it Divisions and 
 Order of. After the return of the 
 Jews from the Babylonish captivi- 
 ty, Ezra collected as many copies 
 as he could cf the sacred writings, 
 and out of them all prepared a 
 correct edition, arranging the se- 
 veral books in their proper order. 
 These books he divided into three 
 parts. I. The law. ii. The pro- 
 phets. III. The Hagiographia, 
 
X 
 
 BIB 
 
 77 
 
 BIB 
 
 i. e, the holy writings, i. The 
 law, contains — 1 , Genesis ; — 2, 
 Exodus ; — 3, Leviticus ;— 4, Num- 
 bers i — 5, Deuteronomy, ii. The 
 writings of the prophets are — 1, 
 Joshua ; — 2, Judges, with Ruth; — 
 3, Samuel ; — 4, Kings ; — 5, Isai- 
 ah ; — 6, Jeremiah, with his La- 
 mentations ; — 7, Ezekiel ; — 8, Da- 
 niel ; — 9, The twelve minor pro- 
 phets ; — 10, Job ; — 1 1 , Ezra ; — 
 12, Nehemiah ; — 13, Esther, iii. 
 The Hagiographia consists of — 1, 
 The Psalms ; — 2, The Proverbs ; — 
 3, Ecclesiastes ; — 4, The Song of 
 Solomon. This division was made 
 for the sake of reducing the num- 
 ber of the sacred books to the 
 number of the letters in their 
 alphabet, which amount to twenty- 
 two. Afterwards the Jews reckon- 
 ed twenty-four books in their ca- 
 non of scripture j in disposing of 
 which the law stood as in the for- 
 mer division, and the prophets 
 were distributed into former and 
 latter: the former prophets are 
 Joshua, Judges, Sanauel, and 
 Kings ; the latter prophets are 
 Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 
 twelve minor prophets. And the 
 Hagiographia consists of the 
 Psalms, the Proverbs, Job, the 
 Song of Solomon, Ruth, the La- 
 mentations, Ecclesisvstes, Esther, 
 Daniel, Ezra, the Chronicles. 
 Under the name of Ezra they 
 comprehend Nehemiah : this or- 
 der hath not always been observ- 
 ed, but the variations from it are 
 of no moment. The five books 
 of the law are divided into forty- 
 five sections. This division many 
 of the Jews hold to have been ap- 
 pointed by Moses himself; but 
 others, with more probability, as- 
 
 cribe it to Ezra. The design of 
 this division was, that one of these 
 sections might be read in their 
 synagogues every sabbath day : 
 the number was fifty-four, because 
 in their intercalated years, a month 
 being then added, there were fifty- 
 four sabbaths : in other years they 
 reduced them to fifty-two, by 
 twice joining together two short 
 sections. Till the persecution of 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, they read 
 only the law ; but, the reading of 
 it being then prohibited, they sub- 
 stituted in the room of it fifty-four 
 sections out of the prophets ; and 
 when the reading of the law 
 was restored by the Maccabees, 
 the section which was read every 
 sabbath out of the law served for 
 their first lesson, and the section 
 out of the prophets for their 
 second. These sections were di- 
 vided into verses ; of which divi- 
 sion if Ezra was not the author, 
 it was introduced not long after 
 him, and seems to have been de- 
 signed for the use of the Targu- 
 mists, or Chaldee interpreters ; for 
 after the return of the Jews from 
 the Babylonish captivity, when the 
 Hebrew language ceased to be 
 their mother tongue, and the Chal- 
 dee grew into use instead of it, the 
 custom was, that the law should 
 be first read in the original Hebrew, 
 and then interpreted to the people 
 in the Chaldee language ; for 
 which purpose these shorter sec- 
 tions were very convenient. 
 
 IL Bible, History of. It is 
 though that Ezra published the 
 scriptures in the Chaldee charac- 
 ter, for, that language being gene- 
 rally used among the Jews, he 
 thought proper to change the old 
 
BIB 
 
 BIB 
 
 Hebrew character for it, which 
 hath since that time been retain- 
 ed only by the Samaritans, among 
 whom it is preserved to this day. 
 Prideaux is of opinion that Ezra 
 made additions in several parts of 
 the Bible, where any thing ap- 
 peared necessary for illustrating, 
 connecting, or completing the 
 v/ork ; in which he appears to 
 have been assisted by the same 
 spirit in which they were first 
 written. Among such additions 
 are to be reckoned the last chap- 
 ter of Deuteronomy, wherein Mo- 
 ses seems to give an account of 
 his own death and burial, and the 
 succession of Joshua after him. 
 To the same cause, our learned 
 author thinks, are to be attributed 
 many other interpolations in the 
 Bible, which created difficulties 
 and objections to the authenticity 
 of the sacred text, no ways to be 
 solved without allowing them. 
 Ezra changed the names of seve- 
 ral places which were grown ob- 
 solete, and, instead of them, put 
 their new names by which they 
 were then called in the text. Thus 
 it is that Abraham is said to have 
 pursued the kings who carried Lot 
 away captive as far as Dan ; where- 
 as that place in Moses's time was 
 called Laish, the name Dan being 
 unknown till the Danites, long af- 
 ter the death of Moses, possessed 
 themselves of it. The Jewish ca- 
 non of scripture was then settled 
 by Ezra, yet not so but that seve- 
 ral variations have been made in 
 it. Malachi, for instance, could 
 not be put in the Bible by him, 
 since that prophet js allowed to 
 have lived after Ezra ; nor could 
 Nehemiah be there, since that 
 
 book mentions (chap, xii, v. 22) 
 Jaddua as high priest, and Darius 
 Coddamannus as king of Persia, 
 who were at least a hundred years 
 later than Ezra. It may be add- 
 ed, that, in the first book of Chro- 
 nicles, the genealogy of the sons 
 of Zerubbabel is carried down for 
 so many generations as must ne- 
 cessarily bring it to the time of, 
 Alexander ; and consequently this- 
 book, or at least this part of it, 
 could not be in the canon in Ez- 
 ra's days. It is probable the two 
 books of Chronicles, Ezra, Ne- 
 hemiah, Esther, and Malachi, 
 were adopted into the Bible in the 
 time of Simon the Just, the last of 
 the men of the great synagogue. 
 The Jews, at first, were very 
 reserved in communicating their 
 scriptures to strangers ; despising 
 and shunning the Gentiles, they 
 would not disclose to them any 
 of the treasures concealed in the 
 Bible. We may add, that the 
 people bordering on the Jews, as 
 the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Arabs, 
 &c. were not very curious to 
 know the laws or history of a 
 people, whom in their turn they 
 hated and despised. Their first 
 acquaintance with these books 
 was not till after the several cap- 
 tivities of the Jews, when the sin- 
 gularity of the Hebrew laws and 
 ceremonies induced several to 
 desire a more particular know- 
 ledge of them. Josephus seems 
 surprised to find such slight foot- 
 steps of the scripture history in- 
 terspersed in the Egyptian, Chal- 
 dean, Phoenician, and Grecian 
 history ; and accounts for it hence, 
 that the sacred books were not 
 as yet translated into Greek 
 
BIB 
 
 79 
 
 BIB 
 
 or other languages, and conse- 
 quently not known to the writers 
 of those nations. The first ver- 
 sion of the Bible was that of the 
 Septuagint into Greek, by order of 
 that patron of literature, Ptolemy 
 Philadelphus ; though some main- 
 tain that the whole was not then 
 translated, but only the Penta- 
 teuch ; between which and the 
 other books in the Septuagint ver- 
 sion, the critics find a great diver- 
 sity in point of style and expres- 
 sion, as well as of accuracy. 
 
 III. Bible, modern Divisions 
 of. The division of the scriptures 
 into chapters, as we at present 
 have them, is of modern date. 
 Some attribute it to Stephen Lang- 
 ton, archbishop of Canterbury, in 
 the reigns of John and Henry III. 
 But the true author of the inven- 
 tion wa^ Hugo de Sancto Caro, 
 commonly called Hugo Cardinalis, 
 because he was the first Dominican 
 that ever was raised to the degree 
 of cardinal. This Hugo flourish- 
 ed about A. D. 1240: he wrote 
 a comment on the scriptures, and 
 projected the first concordance , 
 which is that of the vulgar Latm 
 
 Bible. The aim of this work 
 ^emg'for the more easy finding 
 out any word or passage in the 
 scriptures, he found it necessary 
 to divide the book into sections, 
 and the sections into subdivisions j 
 for till that time the vulgar Latin 
 
 Bibles were without any division 
 at all. These sections are the" 
 chapters into which the Bible hath 
 ever since been divided ; but the 
 subdivision of the chapters was 
 not then into verses, asjt is n ow. 
 Hugo's method of subdivTdiiig 
 them was by the letters A, B, C, 
 
 D, E, F, G, placed in the mar- 
 gin, at ah equal distance from 
 each other, according to the length 
 of the chapters. The subdivision 
 of the chapters into verses, as they 
 now stand in our Bibles, had its 
 original from a famous Jewish 
 rabbi named Mordecai Nathan, 
 about 1445. This rabbi, in imi- 
 tation of Hugo Cardinalis, drew 
 up a concordance to the Hebrew 
 Bible, for the use of the Jews. 
 But though he followed Hugo in 
 his division of the books into chap- 
 ters, he refined upon his inven- 
 tions as to the subdivision, and 
 contrived that by verses : this be- 
 ing found to be a much more con- 
 venient method, it has been ever 
 since followed. And thus, as the 
 Jews borrowed the division of the 
 books of the holy scriptures into 
 chapters from the christians, in 
 like manner the christians borrow- 
 ed that of the chapters into verses 
 from the Jews. The present order 
 of the several books is almost the 
 same (the Apocrypha excepted) as 
 that made by the council of Trent. 
 IV. Bible, rejected Books of. 
 The apocryphal books of the Old 
 Testament, according to the Ro- 
 manists, are the book of Enoch 
 (see Jude xiv), the third and 
 fourth books of Esdras, the third 
 and fourth books of Maccabees, 
 the prayerof Manasses, the Testa- 
 ment of the twelve Patriarchs, 
 the psa:lter of Solomon, and some 
 other pieces of this nature. The 
 apocryphal books of the New 
 Testament are the epistle of St. 
 Barnabas, the pretended epistle 
 of St. Paul to the Laodiceans, se- 
 veral spurious gospels. Acts of 
 the apostles, and Revelations ; the 
 
BIB 
 
 80 
 
 BIB 
 
 book of Hermas, entitled the 
 Shepherd ; Jesus Christ^s letter to 
 Abgarus ; the epistles of St. Paul 
 to Seneca, and several other pieces 
 of the like nature ; as may be seen 
 in the collection of the apocryphal 
 writings of the New Testament 
 made by Fabricus. Protestants, 
 while they agree with the Roman 
 catholics in rejecting all those as 
 uncanonical, have also justly re- 
 jected the books of Tobit, Judith, 
 Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 
 and 1st and 2d Maccabees. 
 
 V. Bible, Translations of. 
 We have already mentioned the 
 first translation of the Old Testa- 
 ment by the LXX. (§ 2.) Both 
 Old and New Testaments were 
 afterwards translated into Latin by 
 the primitive christians ; and while 
 the Roman empire subsisted in 
 Europe, the reading of the scrip- 
 tures in the Latin tongue, which 
 was the universal language of that 
 empire, prevailed every where ; 
 but since the face of affairs in Eu- 
 rope has been changed, and so 
 many different monarchies erect- 
 ed upon the ruins of the Roman 
 empire, the Latin tongue has 
 by degrees grown into disuse ; 
 whence has arisen a necessity of 
 translating the Bible into the re- 
 spective languages of each people ; 
 and this has produced as many 
 different versions of the scriptures 
 In the modern languages as there 
 are different nations professing the 
 christian religion. Of the princi- 
 pal of these, as well as of some 
 other ancient translations, and the 
 earliest and most elegant printed 
 editions, we shall now take notice 
 in their order. ^ 
 
 1, Viij&j^T.^ Armenian^ There is 
 
 a very ancient Armenian version 
 of the whole Bible done from 
 the Greek of the LXX by some 
 of their doctors, about the time 
 of Chiysostom. This was first 
 printed entire, in 1664, by one 
 of their bishops at Amsterdam, 
 in quarto, with the New Testa- 
 ment in octavo. 
 
 2. Bible, Bohemian, The Bo- 
 hemians have a Bible translated 
 by eight of their doctors, whom 
 they had sent to the schools of 
 Wirtemberg and Basil on pur- 
 pose to study the original lan- 
 guages : it was printed in Mora- 
 via in 1539. 
 
 3. Bible, Croatian. A trans- 
 lation of the New Testament into 
 the Croatian language was pub- 
 lished by Faber Creim, and others, 
 in 1562 and 1563. 
 
 4. Bible, Gaelic. A few years 
 ago, a version of the Bible in the 
 Gaelic or Erse language was pub- 
 lished at Edinburgh, where the 
 gospel is preached regularly in 
 that language in two chapels, for 
 the benefit of the natives of the 
 Highlands. 
 
 5. Bible, Georgian. The in- 
 habitants of Georgia^ in Asia, 
 have long had a translation of the 
 Bible in their ancient language; 
 but that language having now be- 
 come almost obsolete, and the 
 Georgians in general being very 
 ignorant, few of them can either 
 read or understand it. 
 
 6. Bible, Gothic. It is gene- 
 rally said that Ulphilas, a Gothic 
 bishop, who lived in the fourth 
 century, made a version of the 
 whole Bible, except the book of 
 Kings, for the use of his country- 
 men ; that book he onjitted, be- 
 
BIB 
 
 81 
 
 BIB 
 
 cause of the frequent mention of 
 the wars therein, as fearing to in- 
 spire too much of the military 
 genius into that people. We have 
 nothing remaining of this version 
 but the four Evangelists, printed 
 in quarto, at Doit, in 1665, from 
 a very ancient manuscript. 
 
 7. Bible, Grison, A trans- 
 lation of the Bible into the lan- 
 guage of the Grisons, in Italy, was 
 completed by Coir, and published 
 in 1720. 
 
 8. Bible, Icelandic. The inha- 
 bitants of Iceland have a version 
 of the Bible in their language, 
 which was translated by Thorlak, 
 and published in 1584. 
 
 9. Bible, Indian. A transla- 
 tion of the Bible into the North 
 America Indian language, by El- 
 liot, was published in quarto, at 
 Cambridge, in 1685. 
 
 10. Bible, Irish. About the 
 fiiiddle of the sixteenth century. 
 Bedell, bishop of Kilmore, set on 
 foot a translation of the Old 
 Testament into the Irish lan- 
 guage, the New Testament and 
 the Liturgy having been before 
 translated into that language : 
 the bishop appointed one King to 
 execute this work, who, not un- 
 derstanding the oriental languages, 
 was obliged to translate it from the 
 English. This work was received 
 by Bedell, who, after having com- 
 pared the Irish with the English 
 translation, compared the latter 
 with the Hebrew, the LXX, and 
 the Italian version of Diodati. 
 When it was finished, the bishop 
 would have been himself at the 
 charge of the impression ; but his 
 design was stopped, upon advice 
 given to the lord lieutenant and 
 
 Vol. I. M 
 
 the archbishop of Canterbury that 
 it would seem a shameful thing for 
 a nation to publish a Bible trans- 
 lated by such a despicable hand 
 as King: however, the manuscript 
 was not lost, for it went to press 
 in 1685, and was afterwards pub- 
 lished. 
 
 11. Bible, King James's. See 
 No. 24. 
 
 12. Bible, Malabrian. In 
 1711, Messrs. Ziegenbald and 
 Grindler, two Danish missiona- 
 ries, published a translation of the 
 New Testament in the Malabrian 
 language, after which they pro- 
 ceeded to translate the Old Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 13. Bible, Malayan. About 
 1670, Sir Robert Boyle procured 
 a translation of the New Testa- 
 ment into the Malayan language, 
 which he printed, and sent the 
 whole impression to the East In- 
 dies. 
 
 14. Bible, Rhemish. See No. 
 24. 
 
 15. Bible, Samaritan. At the 
 head of the oriental versions of the 
 Bible must be placed the Sama- 
 ritan, as being the most ancient 
 of all (though neither its age 
 nor author have been yet ascer- 
 tained), and admitting no more 
 for the holy scripture but the five 
 books of Moses. This transla- 
 tion is made from the Samaritan 
 Hebrew text, which is a little 
 different from the Hebrew text of 
 the Jews : this version has never 
 been printed alone, nor any where 
 but in the Polyglots of London 
 and Paris. 
 
 16. Bible, Sxvedish. In 1534, 
 Olaus and Laurence published a 
 Swedish Bible from the German 
 
BIB 
 
 82 
 
 BIB 
 
 version of Martin Luther : it was I 
 revised in 1617" by order of king 
 Gustavus Adolphus, and was af- 
 terwards almost universally re- 
 ceived. 
 
 17. Bible, Ayiglo Saxon. — If 
 we enquire into the versions of 
 the Bible of our own country, we 
 shall find that Adelm, bishop of 
 Sherburn, who lived in 709, made 
 an English Saxon version of the 
 Psalms ; and that Edfrid, or 
 Ecbert, bishop of Lindisferne, 
 who lived about 730, translated 
 several of the books of scripture 
 into the same language. It is 
 said,like wise, that venerable Bede, 
 who died in 785, translated the 
 whole Bible into Saxon. — But 
 Cuthbert, Bede's disciple, in the 
 enumeration of his master's works, 
 speaks only of his translation of 
 the gospel, and says nothing of 
 the rest of the Bible, Some say 
 that king Alfred, who lived about 
 890, translated a great part of 
 the scriptures. We find an old 
 version in the Anglo Saxon of 
 several books of the Bible, made 
 by Elfric, abbot of Malmesbury : 
 it was published at Oxford in 
 1699. There is an old Anglo 
 Saxon version of the four gos- 
 pels, published by Matthew Par- 
 ker, archbishop of Canterbury, 
 in 1571, the author whereof is 
 unknown. Mr. Mill observes, 
 that this version Avas made from 
 a Latin copy of the old Vulgate. 
 The whole scripture is said by 
 some to have been translated into 
 the Anglo Saxon by Bede, about 
 701, though others contend he 
 only translated the gospels. We 
 have certain books or parts of the 
 Bible by several other translators ; 
 
 as, first, the Psalms, by Adelm, 
 bishop of Sherburn, cotemporary* 
 with Bede, though by others this 
 version is attributed to king Al- 
 fred, who lived two hundred 
 years later. Another version of 
 the Psalms, in Anglo Saxon, was 
 published by Spelman in 1640. — 
 2. The evangelists, still extant, 
 done from the ancient Vulgate, 
 before it was revised by St. Jerome, 
 by an author unknown, and pub- 
 lished by Matthew Parker in 1571. 
 An old Saxon version of several 
 books of the Bible made by Elfric, 
 abbot of Malmesbury, several 
 fragments of which were publish- 
 ed by Will. Lilly, 1638 ; the ge- 
 nuine copy by Edm. Thwaites, in 
 1699, at Oxford. 
 
 18. Bibles, Arabic. In 1516, 
 Aug. Justinian, bishop of Nebio, 
 printed at Genoa an Arabic ver- 
 sion of the Psalter, with the He- 
 brew text and Chaldee paraphrase, 
 adding Latin interpretations : there 
 are also Arabic versions of the 
 whole scripture in the Polyglots 
 of London and Paris ; and we have 
 an edition of the Old Testament 
 entire, printed at Rome, in 1671, 
 by order of the congregation de 
 propaganda jide ; but it is of little 
 esteem, as having been altered 
 agreeably to the Vulgate edition. 
 The Arabic Bibles among us are 
 not the same with those used with 
 the christians in the: East. Some 
 learned men take the Arabic ver- 
 sion of the Old Testament printed 
 in the Polyglots to be that of 
 Saadias's, who lived about A. D. 
 900: their reason is, that Aben 
 Ezra, a great antagonist of Saa- 
 dias, quotes some passages of his 
 version, which are the same with 
 
BIB 
 
 83 
 
 BI B 
 
 those in the Arabic version of the 
 Polyglots ', yet others are of opi- 
 nion that Saadias's version is not 
 extant. In 1622, Erpenius print- 
 ed an Arabic Pentateuch, called 
 also the Pentateuch of Maurita- 
 nia, as being made by the Jews of 
 Barbary, and for their use. This 
 version is very literal, and es- 
 teemed very exactl The four 
 evangelists have also been pub- 
 lished in Arabic, with a Latin 
 version, at Rome, in 1591, folio. 
 These have been since reprinted 
 in the Polyglots of London and 
 Paris, with some little alteration 
 of Gabriel Sionita. Erpenius pub- 
 lished an Arabic New Testament 
 entire, as he found it in his manu- 
 script copy, at Leyden, 1616. 
 There are some other Arabic ver- 
 sions of later date mentioned by 
 Walton in his Prolegomena, par- 
 ticularly a version of the Psalms, 
 preserved at Sion College, London, 
 and another of the prophets at 
 Oxford J neither of which have 
 been published. Proposals were 
 issued for printing a new edition 
 of the Arabic Bible, by Mr. Car- 
 lylcj chancellor of the diocese of 
 Carlisle, and professor of Arabic 
 in the university of Cambridge ; 
 but I am sorry to add that he has 
 been called away by death, with- 
 out finishing it. 
 
 19. Bibles, Chaldee, are only 
 the glosses or expositions made 
 by the Jews at the time when they 
 spoke the Chaldee tongue : these 
 they call by the name of targu- 
 mim, or paraphrases, as not being 
 any strict version of the scripture. 
 They have been inserted entire in 
 the large Hebrew Bibles of Ve- 
 nice and Basil ; but are read more 
 commodiously in the Polyglots, 
 
 being there attended with a Latin 
 translation. 
 
 20. Bibles, Coptic. There are 
 several manuscript copies of the 
 Coptic Bible in some of the great 
 libraries, especially in that of the 
 late French king. Dr. Wilkins 
 published the Coptic New Testa- 
 ment, in quarto, in 1716 j and 
 the Pentateuch also, in quarto, in 
 1731 ; with Latin translations. 
 He reckons these versions to have 
 been made in the end of the se- 
 cond or the beginning of the third 
 century. 
 
 21. Bibles, Danish. The first 
 Danish Bible was published by Pe- 
 ter Palladus, Olaus Chrysostom, 
 John Synningius, and John Mac- 
 cabseus, in 1550, in which they 
 followed Luther's first German 
 version. There are two other ver- 
 sions, the one by John Paul Re- 
 senius, bishop of Zaeland, in 1605; 
 the other of the New Testament 
 only, by John Michel, in 1524. 
 
 22. Bibles, Dutch. See No. 26. 
 
 23. Bibles, East Indian. See 
 No. 12, 13, 44. 
 
 24. Bibles, English. The first 
 English Bible we read of was that 
 translated .by J. Wickliffe, about 
 the year 1360, but never printed, 
 though there are manuscript co- 
 pies of it in several of the pub- 
 lic libraries. A translation, how- 
 ever, of the New Testament by 
 WickliiFe was printed by Mr. 
 Lewis, about 1731. J. de Tre^ 
 visa, who died about 1398, is al- 
 so said to have translated the 
 whole Bible ; but whether any 
 copies of it are remaining does 
 not appear. The first printed Bible 
 in our language was that translat- 
 ed by W. Tindal, assisted by 
 Miles Coverdale, printed abroad 
 
BIB 
 
 84 
 
 B IB 
 
 in 1526 ; but most of the copies 
 were bought up and burnt by 
 bishop Tunstal and Sir Thomas 
 Moore. It only contained the 
 New Testament, and was revised 
 and republished by the same per- 
 son in 1530. The prologues and 
 prefaces added to it, reflect on the 
 bishops and clergy ; but this edi- 
 tion was also suppressed, and the 
 copies burnt. In 1532, Tindal 
 and his associates finished the 
 whole Bible, except the Apocry- 
 pha, and printed it abroad ; but, 
 while he was afterwards preparing 
 a second edition, he was taken up 
 and burnt for heresy in Flanders. 
 On Tindal's death, his work was 
 carried on by Coverdale, and John 
 Rogers, superintendent of an Eng- 
 lish church in Germany, and the 
 first martyr, in the reign of queen 
 Mary, who translated the Apo- 
 crypha, and revised Tindal's tran- 
 slation, comparing it with the He- 
 brew, Greek, Latin, and German, 
 and adding prefaces and notes 
 from Luther's Bible. He dedi- 
 cated the whole to Henry VIII, in 
 1537, under the borrowed name of 
 Thomas P/Iathews ; whence this 
 has been usually called Mathews's 
 Bible. It was printed at Ham- 
 burg, and licence obtained for 
 publishing it in England, by the 
 favour of arch-bishop Cranmer, 
 and the bishops Latimer and Shax- 
 ton. The first Bible printed by 
 authority in England, and public- 
 ly set up in churches, was the 
 same Tindal's version, i-evised and 
 compared with the Hebrew, and 
 in many places amended by Miles 
 Coverdale, afterwards bishop of 
 Exeter ; and examined after him 
 by aixhbishop Cranmer, who ad- 
 
 ded a preface to it ; whence this 
 was called Cranmer's Bible. It 
 was printed by Grafton, of the 
 largest volume, and published in 
 1540 ; and, by a royal proclama- 
 tion, every parish was obliged to 
 set one of the copies in their 
 church, under the penalty of forty 
 shillings a month ; yet, two years 
 after, the popish bishops obtained'' 
 its suppression by the king. It 
 was restored under Edward VI, 
 suppressed again under queen Ma- 
 ry's reign, and restored again in 
 the first year of queen Elizabeth, 
 and a new edition of it given in 
 1562. Some English exiles at 
 Geneva, in queen Mary's reign, 
 viz. Coverdale, Goodman, Gilbie, 
 Sampson, Cole, Wittingham, and 
 Knox, made a new translation, 
 printed there in 1560, the New 
 Testament having been printed 
 in 1557; hence called the Ge- 
 neva Bible, containing the va- 
 riations of readings, marginal an- 
 notations, &c. on account of whioh 
 it was much valued by the puritan 
 party in that and the following 
 reigns. Abp. Parker resolved on 
 a new translation for the public 
 use of the church ; and engaged 
 the bishops, and other learned 
 men, to take each a share or por- 
 tion : these, being afterwards 
 joined together and printed, with 
 short annotations, in 1568, in 
 large folio, made what was af- 
 terwards called the Great English 
 Bible, and commonly the Bishops, 
 Bible. In 1589, it was also pub- 
 lished in octavo, in a small but 
 fine black letter; and here the 
 chapters were divided into verses, 
 but without any breaks for them, 
 in which the method of the Gene- 
 
BIB 
 
 85 
 
 BIB 
 
 va Bible was followed, which was 
 the first English Bible where any 
 distinction of verses was made. 
 It was afterwards printed in large 
 folio, with corrections, and seve- 
 ral prolegomena, in 1572 : this is 
 called Matthew Parker's Bible. 
 The initial letters of each tran- 
 slator's name were put at the end 
 of his part ; e. g-r. at the end of the 
 Pentateuch, W. E. for William 
 Exon ; that is, William, bishop of 
 Exeter, whose allotment ended 
 there : at the end of Samuel, R. 
 M. for Richard Menevensis ; or 
 bishop of St. David's, to whom 
 the second allotment fell : and the 
 like of the rest. . The archbishop 
 oversaw, directed, examined, and 
 finished the whole. This trans- 
 lation was used in the churches 
 for forty years, though the Ge- 
 neva Bible was more read in pri- 
 vate houses, being printed above 
 twenty times in as many years. 
 King James bore it an inveterate 
 hatred, on account of the notes, 
 which, at the Hampton Court 
 conference, he charged as partial, 
 untrue, seditious, &c. The Bi- 
 shops' Bible, too, had its faults. 
 The king frankly owned that he 
 had seen no good translation of 
 the Bible in English ; but he 
 thought that of Geneva the worst 
 of all. After the translation of 
 the Bible by the bishops, two 
 other private versions had been 
 made of the New Testament; 
 the first by Laurence Thompson, 
 from Beza's Latin edition, with 
 the notes of Beza, published in 
 1582, in quano, and afterwards 
 in 1589, varying very little from 
 the Geneva Bible ; the second by 
 by the Papists at Rheims, in 1584, 
 
 called the Rhemish Bible, or Rhe- 
 mish translation. These, finding 
 it impossible to keep the people 
 from having the scriptures in their 
 vulgar tongue, resolved to give a 
 version of their own, as favour- 
 able to their cause as might be. It 
 was printed on a large paper, with 
 a fair letter and margin : one com- 
 plaint against it was, its retaining 
 a multitude of Hebrew and Greek 
 words untranslated, for want, as 
 the editors express it, of proper 
 and adequate terms in the Eng- 
 lish to render them by ; as the 
 words azymes^ tunike^ holocaust^ 
 prepuce^ pasche, &c. : however, 
 many of the copies were seized by 
 the queen's searchers, and confis- 
 cated; and Thomas Cartwright 
 was solicited by secretary Wal- 
 singham to refute it ; but, after a 
 good progress made therein, arch- 
 bishop Whitgift prohibited his fur- 
 ther proceeding, as judging it im- 
 proper that the doctrine of the 
 church of England should be com- 
 mitted to the defence of a puritan; 
 and appointed Dr. Fulke in his 
 place, who refuted the Rhemists 
 with great spirit and learning. 
 Cartwright's refutation was also 
 afterwards published in 1618, un- 
 der archbishop Abbot. About 
 thirty years after their New Tes- 
 tament, the Roman catholic pub- 
 lished a translation of the Old at 
 Douay, 1609 and 1610, from the 
 Vulgate, with annotations, so that 
 the English Roman catholics have 
 now the whole Bible in their 
 mother tongue ; though, it is to 
 be observed, they are forbid- 
 den to read it without a licence 
 from their superiors. The last 
 English Bible was that which 
 
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 86 
 
 BIB 
 
 proceeded from the Hampton 
 Court conference, in 1603 ; where, 
 many exceptions being made to 
 the Bishops' Bible, king James 
 gave order for a new one ; not, as 
 the preface expresses it, for a 
 translation altogether new, nor yet 
 to make a good one better j or, of 
 many good ones, one best. Fifty- 
 four learned men were appointed 
 to this office by the king, as ap- 
 pears by his letter to the archbi- 
 shop, dated 1604; which being 
 three years before the translation 
 was entered upon, it is probable 
 seven of them were either dead, or 
 had declined the task ; since Ful- 
 ler's list of the translators makes 
 bvxt forty-seven, who, being ranged 
 under six divisions, entered on 
 their province in 1607. It was 
 published in 1613, Avith a dedica- 
 tion to James, and a learned pre- 
 face; and is commonly called king 
 James's Bible. After this, all the 
 other versions dropped, and fell 
 into disuse, except the epistles and 
 gospels in the Common Prayer 
 Book, which were still continued 
 according to the Bishops' transla- 
 tion till the alteration of the li- 
 turgy, in 1661, and the psalms and 
 hymns, which are to this day con- 
 tinued as in the old version. The 
 judicious Selden, in his Table-talk, 
 speaking of the Bible, says, " The 
 English translation of the Bible is 
 the best translation in the world, 
 and renders the sense of the ori- 
 ginal best ; taking in for the Eng- 
 lish translation the Bishops' Bible, 
 as well as king James's. The trans- 
 lators in king James's time took 
 an excellent Avay. That part of 
 the Bible Avas given to him Avho 
 
 was most excellent in such a tongue 
 (as the Apocrypha to AndreAV 
 Downs) : and then they met to- 
 gether, and one read the transla- 
 tion, the rest holding in their hands 
 some Bible, either of the learned 
 tongues, or French, Spanish, or 
 Italian, &c. If they found any 
 fault, they spoke ; if not, he read 
 on." [King James's Bible is that 
 noAv read by authority in all the 
 churches in Britain.] Notwith- 
 standing, hoA^'^ever, the excellency 
 of this translation, it must be ac- 
 knoAvledged that our increasing 
 acquaintance Avith oriental customs 
 and manners, and the changes our 
 language has undergone since king 
 James's time, are very powerful 
 arguments for a ncAv translation, 
 or at least a connection of the old 
 one. There have been various 
 English Bibles with marginal re- 
 ferences by Canne, Hayes, Bar- 
 ker, Scattergood, Field, Tennison, 
 Lloyd, Blayney, Wilson, &:c.; but 
 the best Ave have, perhaps, of this 
 kind, are BroAvn's and Scott's. 
 
 25. Bibles, Ethiopic. The 
 Ethiopians have also translated 
 the Bible into their language. 
 There have been printed separate- 
 ly the Psalms, Canticles, some 
 chapters of Genesis, Ruth, Joel, 
 Jonah, Zephaniah, Malachi, and 
 the New Testament, all Avhich 
 have been since reprinted in the 
 Polyglot of London. As to the 
 Ethiopic NcAV Testament, Avhich 
 was first printed at Rome in 1548, 
 it is a very inaccurate Avork, and 
 is reprinted in the English Poly- 
 glot Avith all its faults. 
 
 26. Bibles, Flemish. The Fle- 
 mish Bibles of the Romanists are 
 
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 87 
 
 BIB 
 
 very numerous, and for the most 
 part have no author's name pre- 
 fixed to them, till that of Nicho- 
 las Vinck, printed at Louvain in 
 1548. The Flemish versions made 
 use of by the Calvinists till 163/ 
 were copied principally from that 
 of Luther. But the synod of Dort 
 having, in 1618, appointed a new 
 translation of the Biblfe into Fle- 
 mish, deputies were named for 
 the work, which was not finished 
 till 163/. 
 
 2/. Bibles, French. The old- 
 est French Bible we hear of is the 
 version of Peter de Vaux, chief 
 of the Waldenses, who lived about 
 the year 1160. Raoul de Presle 
 translated the Bible into French 
 In the reign of king Charles V, of 
 France, about A. D. 1380. Be- 
 sides these, there are several old 
 French translations of particular 
 parts of the scripture. The doc- 
 tors of Louvain published the Bi- 
 ble in French at Louvain, by or- 
 der of the emperor Charles V, in 
 1550. There is aversion by Isaac 
 le Maitre de Sacy, published in 
 16/2, with explanations of the li- 
 teral and spiritual meaning of the 
 text ; which was received with 
 wonderful applause, and has often 
 been reprinted. Of the New Testa- 
 ments in French, which have been 
 printed separately, one of the most 
 remarkable is that of F. Amelotte, 
 of the Oratory, composed by the 
 direction of some French prelates, 
 and printed with annotations in 
 1666, 166/, and 16/0. The au- 
 thor pretends he had searched all 
 the libraries in Europe, and col- 
 lated the oldest manuscripts ; but, 
 in examining his work, it appears 
 that he has produced no consider- 
 
 able various readings which had 
 not before been taken notice of 
 either in the London Polyglot, or 
 elsewhere. The New Testament 
 of Mons, printed in 1665, with 
 the archbishop of Cambray's per- 
 mission, and the king of Spain's 
 licence, made great noise in the 
 world. It was condemned by 
 pope Clement IX, in 1668; by 
 pope Innocent XI, in 1669 ; and 
 in several bishoprics of France at 
 several times. The New Testa- 
 ment, published at Trevoux, in 
 1/02, by M. Simon, with literal 
 and critical annotations upon dif- 
 ficult passages, was condemned by 
 the bishops of Paris and Meaux in 
 1/02. F. Bohours, a Jesuit, with 
 the assistance of F. F. Michael 
 Tellier and Peter Bernier*, Jesuits, 
 likewise published a translation of 
 the New Testament in 169/ ; but 
 this translation is for the most part 
 harsh and obscure, which was ow- 
 ing to the author's adhering too 
 strictly to the Latin text. There 
 are likewise French translations 
 published by Protestant authors: 
 one by Robert Peter Olivetan, 
 printed in 1535, and often reprint- 
 ed with the corrections of John 
 Calvin and others ; another by Se- 
 bastian Castalio, remarkable for 
 particular ways of expression never 
 used by good judges of the lan- 
 guage. John Diodati likewise pub- 
 lished a French Bible at Geneva 
 in 1 644 ; but some find fault with 
 his method, in that he rather pa- 
 raphrases the text than translates 
 it. Faber Stapalensis translated 
 the New Testament into French, 
 which was revised and accommo- 
 dated to the use of the reformed 
 churches in Piedmont, and print- 
 
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 88 
 
 BIB 
 
 ed in 1534. Lastly, John le Clerc 
 published a New Testament in 
 French at Amsterdam, in 1703, 
 with annotations taken chiefly 
 from Grotius and Hammond ; but 
 the use of this version was pro- 
 hibited by order of the states-gene- 
 ral, as tending to revive the errors 
 of Sabellius and Socinus. 
 
 21. Bibles, Gernian. The 
 first and most ancient translation 
 of the Bible in the German lan- 
 guage is that of Ulphilas, bishop 
 of the Goths, in the year 360. 
 An imperfect manuscript of this 
 version was found in the abbey of 
 Verden, near Cologne, written in 
 letters of silver, for which reason 
 it is called Codex Argenteus ; and 
 it was published by Francis Ju- 
 nius in 1665. The oldest German 
 printed Bible extant is that of 
 Nuremburg, in 1447 ; but v/ho 
 was the author of it is uncertain. 
 John Emzer, chaplain to George 
 duke of Saxony, published a ver- 
 sion of the New Testament in op- 
 position to Luther. There is a 
 German Bible of John Ekeus, in 
 1537, with Emzer's New Testa- 
 ment added to it ; and one by 
 Ulemburgius of Westphalia, pro- 
 cured by Ferdinand duke of Ba- 
 varia, and printed in 1630. Mar- 
 tin Luther having employed ele- 
 ven years in translating the Old 
 and New Testaments, published 
 the Pentateuch and the New Tes- 
 tament in 1522, the historical 
 books and the Psalms in 1524, the 
 books of Solomon in 1527, Isaiah 
 in 1529, the Prophets in 1531, and 
 the other books in 1530. The 
 learned agree that his language is 
 pure, and the version clear and 
 free from intricacies. It was re- 
 
 vised by several persons of quali- 
 ty, who were masters of all the 
 delicacies of the German language. 
 The German Bibles which have 
 been printed at Saxony, Switzer- 
 land, and elsewhere, are, for the 
 most part, the same as that of 
 Luther, with little variation. In 
 1604, John Piscator published a 
 version of the Bible in German, 
 taken from that of Junius and 
 Tremellius ; but his turn of ex- 
 pression is purely Latin, and not 
 at all agreeable to the genius of 
 the German language. The Ana- 
 baptists have a German Bible 
 printed at Worms in 1529. John 
 Crellius published his version of 
 the New Testament at Racovia in 
 1630, and Felbinger his at Am- 
 sterdam in 1660. 
 
 29. Bibles, Greek. There is 
 a great number of editions of 
 the Bible in Greek, but they may 
 be all reduced to three or four 
 principal ones ; viz. that of Com- 
 plutum, or Alcala de Henares ; 
 that of Venice, that of Rome, 
 and that of Oxford. The first 
 was published in 1515 by cardi- 
 nal Ximenes, and inserted in the 
 Polyglot Bible, usually called the 
 Complutensian Bible : this edition 
 is not just, the Greek of the LXX 
 being altered in many places ac- 
 cording to the Hebrew text. . It 
 has, however, been reprinted in 
 the Polyglot Bible of Antwerp, in 
 that of Paris, and in the quarto 
 Bible commonly called Vatablus's 
 Bible. The second Greek Bible 
 is that of Venice, printed by Aldus 
 in 1518. Here the Greek text 
 of the Septuagint is reprinted just 
 as it stood in the manuscript, 
 full of faults of the copyists, but 
 
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 89 
 
 BIB 
 
 easily amended. This edition 
 was reprinted at Strasburg in 1526, 
 at Basil in 1545, at Frankfort m 
 1597, and other places, with some 
 alterations, to bring it nearer the 
 Hebrew. The most commodious 
 is that of Frankfort, there being 
 added to this little scholia^ which 
 shew the different interpretations 
 of the old Greek translators. The 
 author of this collection has not 
 added his name, but it is com- 
 monly ascribed to Junius. The 
 third Greek Bible is that of Rome, 
 or the Vatican, in 1587, with 
 Greek scholia^ collected from the 
 manuscripts in the Roman libra- 
 ries by Peter Morin. It was fii'st 
 set on foot by cardinal Montalbo, 
 afterwards pope Sixtus V. This 
 fine edition has been reprinted at 
 Paris in 1628, by J. Morin, priest 
 of the Oratory, who has added the 
 Latin translation, which in the 
 Roman was printed separately 
 with scholia. The Greek edition 
 of Rome has been printed in the 
 Polyglot Bible of London, to 
 which are added at the bottom the 
 various readings of the Alexan- 
 drian manuscript. This has been 
 also reprinted in England, in 4to 
 and 12mo, with some alterations. 
 It was again published at Frane- 
 ker, in 1709, by Bos, who has 
 added all the various readings he 
 could find. The fourth Greek 
 Bible is that done from the Alex- 
 andrian manuscript, begun at Ox- 
 ford by Grabe in 1707. In this 
 the Alexandrian manuscript is not 
 printed such as it is, but such as 
 it was thought it should be^ i. e. 
 it is altered wherever there ap- 
 peared any fault of the copyists, 
 or any word inserted from any 
 Vol. L N 
 
 particular dialect : this some think 
 an excellence, but others a fault, 
 urging that the manuscript should 
 have been given absolutely and 
 entirely of itself, and all conjec- 
 tures as to the readings should 
 have been thrown into the notes.' 
 We have many editions of the 
 Greek Testament by Erasmus, 
 Stephens, Beza ; that in the Com- 
 plutensian Polyglot, the Elzevirs, 
 &c. ; and with various readings by 
 Mill, Bengelius, Wetstein, See. 
 That of Wetstein is thought by 
 some to exceed all the rest. 
 
 30. Bibles, Hebrew^ are either 
 manuscript or printed. The best 
 ffianuscript Bibles are those copied 
 by the Jews of Spain : those copi- 
 ed by the Jews of Germany are 
 less exact, but more common. 
 The two kinds are easily distin- 
 guished from each other ; the for- 
 mer being in beautiful characters, 
 like the Hebrew Bibles of Bom- 
 berg, Stevens, and Plantin ; the 
 latter in characters like those of 
 Munster and Gryphius. F. Si- 
 mon observes, that the oldest 
 manuscript Hebi'ew Bibles are not 
 above six or seven hundred years 
 old ; nor does rabbi Menaham, 
 who quotes a vast number of them, 
 pretend that any one of them ex- 
 ceeds 600 years. Dr. Kennicott, 
 in his Dissertatio Generalis, pre- 
 fixed to his Hebrew Bible, p. 21, 
 observes, that the most ancient 
 manuscripts were written between 
 the years 900 and 1100; but 
 though those that are the most 
 ancient are not more than 800 or 
 900 years old, they were trans- 
 cribed from others of a much 
 more ancient date. The manu- 
 script preserved in the Bodleian 
 
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 90 
 
 BIB 
 
 Library is not less than 800 years 
 old. Another manuscript not less 
 ancient is preserved in the Caesa- 
 rian Library at Vienna. The 
 niost ancient printed Hebrew Bi- 
 bles are those published by the 
 Jewsof Italy, especially of Pesaro 
 and Bresse. Those of Portugal 
 also printed some parts of the Bi- 
 ble at Lisbon before their expul- 
 sion. This may be observed in 
 general, that the best Hebrew Bi- 
 bles are those printed under the 
 inspection of the Jews ; there be- 
 ing so many minutiae to be ob- 
 .served in the Hebrew language, 
 that it is scarcely possible for any 
 other to succeed in it. In the 
 beginning of the 16th century, 
 Dan Bomberg printed several He- 
 brew Bibles in folio and quarto at 
 Venice, most of which were es- 
 teemed both by the Jews and 
 christians: the first in 151 5^, which 
 is the least exact, and generally 
 goes by the name of Felix Praten- 
 sis, the person who revised it : 
 this edition contains the Hebrew 
 text, the Targum, and the com- 
 mentaries of several rabbins. In 
 1528, Bomberg printed the folio 
 Bible of rabbi Benchajim, with 
 his preface, the masoretical divi- 
 sions, a preface of Aben Ezra, a 
 double masora, and several vari- 
 ous readings. The third edition 
 was printed, in 1618, the same 
 with the second, but much more 
 correct. From the former edi- 
 tions, Baxtorf, the father, print- 
 ed his rabbinical Hebrew Bible at 
 Basil, in 1618; which though 
 there are many faults in it, is 
 more correct than any of the for- 
 mer. In 1623, appeared at Venice 
 a new edition of the rabbinical 
 
 Bible, by Leo of Modena, a rab- 
 bin of that city, who pretended to 
 have corrected a great number of 
 faults in the former edition ; bu»t, 
 besides that, it is much inferior to 
 the other Hebrew Bibles of Ve- 
 nice, with regard to paper and 
 print : it has passed through the 
 hands of the inquisitors, who have 
 altered many passages in the com- 
 mentaries of the rabbins. Of He- 
 brew Bibles in quarto, that of R. 
 Stevens is esteemed for the beau- 
 ty of the characters ; but it is very 
 incorrect. Plantin also printed 
 several beautiful Hebrew Bibles 
 at Antwerp ; one in eight columns, 
 with a preface by Arias Monta- 
 nus, in 1571, which far exceeds 
 the Complutensian in paper, print, 
 and contents; this is called the 
 Royal Bible, because it was print- 
 ed at the expence of Philip II, 
 king of Spain : another at Geneva, 
 in 1619, besides many more of 
 different sizes, with and without 
 points. Manasseh Ben Israel, a 
 learned Portuguese Jew, publish- 
 ed two editions of the Hebrew 
 Bible at Amsterdam ; one in 
 quarto, in i635 ; the other in oc- 
 tavo, in 1639: the first has two 
 columns, and for that reason is 
 more commodious for the reader. 
 In 1639, R. Jac. Lombroso pub- 
 lished a new edition in quarto at 
 Venice, with small literal notes 
 at the bottom of each page, where 
 he explains the Hebrew words by 
 Spanish words. This Bible is 
 much esteemed by the Jews at 
 Constantinople : in the text they 
 have distinguished between words 
 where the point comets is to be 
 read with a camets katuphi that is, 
 by 0, and not an a. Of all the 
 
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 91 
 
 BIB 
 
 editions of the Hebrew Bible in 
 octavo, the most beautiful and 
 correct are the two of J. Athias, 
 a Jew, of Amsterdam. The first, 
 of 1661, is the best paper; but 
 that of 1657 is the most exact. 
 That, however, published since at 
 Amsterdam, by Vander Hooght, 
 in 1705, is preferable to both. 
 After Athias, three Hebraizing 
 Protestants engaged in revising 
 and publishing the Hebrew Bible, 
 viz. Clodius, Jablonski, and Opi- 
 tius. Clodius's edition was pub- 
 lished at Frankfort, in 1677, in 
 quarto : at the bottom of the pages 
 it has the various readings of the 
 former editions ; but the author 
 does not appear sufficiently versed 
 in the accenting, especially in the 
 poetical books; besides, as it was 
 not published under his eye, many 
 faults have crept in. That of Ja- 
 blonski, in 1699, in quarto, at 
 Berlin, is very beautiful as to let- 
 ter and print ; but, though the 
 editor pretends he made use of the 
 editions of Athias and Clodius, 
 some critics find it scarcely in any 
 thing different from the quarto 
 edition of Bomberg. That of 
 Opitius is also in quarto, at Keil, 
 in 1709: the character is large 
 and good, but the paper bad : 
 it is done with a great deal of 
 care ; but the editor made use of 
 no manuscripts but those of the 
 German libraries, neglecting the 
 French ones, which is an omission 
 common to all the three. They 
 have this advantage, however, 
 that, besides the divisions used 
 by the Jews, both general and 
 particular, into paraskes and pe- 
 suk'im^ they have also those of 
 the chf istians, or of the Latin Bi- 
 
 bles, into chapters and verses ; 
 the keri ketib^ or various readings, 
 Latin summaries, &c. which made 
 them of considerable use with res- 
 pect to the Latin editions and the 
 concordances. The little Bible 
 of R. Stevens, in 16mo, is veiy 
 much prized for the beauty of the 
 character. Care, however, must 
 be taken, there being another edi- 
 tion of Geneva exceedingly like it, 
 excepting that the print is worse, 
 and the text less correct. To 
 these may be added some other^ 
 Hebrew Bibles without points, in 
 8vo and 24mo, which are much 
 coveted by the Jews ; not that 
 they are more exact, but more 
 portai)le than the rest, and are 
 used in their synagogues and 
 schools. Of these there are two 
 beautiful editions ; the one of 
 Plantin, in 8vo, with two columns, 
 and the other in 24mo, reprinted 
 by Raphalengius, at Leyden, in 
 1610. There is also an edition of 
 them by Laurens, at Amsterdam, 
 in 1631, in a larger character; 
 and another in 12mo, at Frankfoit, 
 in 1694, full of faults, with a pre- 
 face of Mr. Leusden at the head 
 of it. Houbigant published an 
 elegant edition of the Hebrew Bi- 
 ble at Paris, in 1753, in 4 vols, 
 folio : the text is that of Vander 
 Hooght, without points ; to which 
 he has added marginal notes, sup- 
 plying the variations of the Sama- 
 ritan copy. Dr. Kennicott, af- 
 ter almost twenty years' laborious 
 collation of near 600 copies, ma- 
 nuscripts and printed, either of 
 the 'whole or particular parts 
 of the Bible, published the He- 
 brew Bible in 2 volumes, fo- 
 lio ; the text is that of Everard 
 
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 92 
 
 BIB 
 
 Vander Hooght, already mention- 
 ed, difFering from it only in the 
 disposition of the poetical parts, 
 which Dr. Kennicott has printed 
 in hemistichs, into which they 
 jiaturally divide themselves : how- 
 ever, the words follow one ano- 
 ther in the same order as they do 
 in the edition of Vander Hooght. 
 This edition is printed on an ex- 
 cellent type : the Samaritan text, 
 according to the copy in the Lon- 
 don Polyglot, is exhibited in a 
 column parallel with the Hebrew 
 text ; those parts of it only being 
 introduced in which it diifers 
 from the Hebrev/. The nume- 
 rous variations, both of the Sama- 
 ritan manuscript from the printed 
 copy of the Sam^aritan texts, and 
 of the Hebrew manuscripts from 
 the printed text of Vander Hooght, 
 are placed separately at the bot- 
 tom pf the page, and marked with 
 numbers referring to the copies 
 from which they are taken. Four 
 quarto volumes of various read- 
 ings have also been published by 
 De Rossi, of Parma, from more 
 than 400 manuscripts (some of 
 which are said to be of the seventh 
 or eighth century), as well as. from 
 a considerable number of rare and 
 unnoticed editions. An edition of 
 Reineccius's Hebrew Bible, with 
 readings from Kennicott and De 
 Rossi, has been published by Dod~ 
 derlein, and will be found a use- 
 ful work to the Hebrew student. 
 
 31. Bibi.es, Italian. The first 
 Italian Bible published by the 
 Romanists is that of Nicholas 
 Malerme, a Benedictine ntonk, 
 printed at Venice in 1471. It 
 was translated from the -Vulgate. 
 The version of Anthony Brucioli, 
 
 published at Venice in 1532, was 
 prohibited by the council of Trent. 
 The Calvlnists likewise have their 
 Italian Bibles. There is one of 
 John Diodati in 1607 and 1641 ; 
 and another of Maximus Theo- 
 philus, in 1551, dedicated to Fran- 
 cis de Medicis, duke of Tuscany. 
 The Jews of Italy have no entire 
 version of the Bible in Italian ; 
 the inquisition constantly refusing 
 to allow them the liberty of print- 
 ing one. 
 
 32. Bibles, LaUn^ however 
 numerous, may be all reduced to 
 three classes ; the ancient Vulgate, 
 called also Italica, translated from 
 the Greek Septuagint; the modern 
 Vulgate, the greatest part of 
 which is done from the Hebrew 
 text ; and the new Latin transla- 
 tions, done also from the Hebrew 
 text, in the sixteenth century. 
 We have nothing remaining of 
 the ancient Vulgate, used in the 
 primitive times in the western 
 churches, but the Psalms, Wis- 
 dom, and Ecclesiastes. Nobili- 
 us has endeavoured to retrieve 
 it from the works of the ancient 
 Latin fathers ; jaut it was impos- 
 sible to do it exactly, because 
 most of the fathers did not keep 
 close to it in their, citations. As 
 to the modern Vulgate, there are 
 a vast number of editions very 
 different from each other. Car- 
 dinal Ximenes has inserted one 
 in the Bible of Complutum, cor- 
 rected and altered in many places. 
 R. Stevens, and the doctors of 
 Louvain, have taken great pains 
 in correcting the modern Vulgate. 
 The best edition of Stevens's 
 Latin Bible is that of 1540, re- 
 printed 1545, in which are added 
 
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 BIB 
 
 on the margin the various read- 
 ings of several Latin manuscripts 
 which he had consulted. The 
 doctors of Louvain revised the 
 modern Vulgate after R. Stevens, 
 and added the various readings 
 of several Latin manuscripts. 
 The best of the Louvain editions 
 are those in which are added the 
 critical notes of Francis Lucas, 
 of Bruges. All these reforma- 
 tions of the Latin Bible were 
 made before the time of pope Six- 
 tus V and Clement VIII; since 
 which people have not presumed 
 to make any alterations, excepting 
 in comments and separate notes. 
 The correction of Clement VIII 
 in 1592 is now the standard 
 throughout all the Romish church- 
 es', that pontiff made two reforma- 
 tions ; but it is the first of them 
 that is followed. From this the 
 Bibles of Plantin were done, and 
 from those of Plantin all the rest ; 
 so that the common Bibles have 
 none of the after-corrections of 
 the same Clement VIII. It is 
 a heavy charge that lies on- the 
 editions of pope Clement, viz. 
 that they have some new texts 
 added, and many old ones altered, 
 to countenance and confirm what 
 they call the catholic doctrine. 
 There are a great number of 
 Latin Bibles of the third class, 
 comprehending the versions from 
 the originals of the sacred books 
 made within these 200 years. 
 The first is that of Santes Pag- 
 ninus, a Dominican, under the 
 patronage of Leo X, printed at 
 Lyons, in quarto, in 1527, much 
 esteemed by the Jews. This the 
 author improved in a second edi- 
 tion. In 1542 there was a beauti- 
 
 ful edition of the same at Lyons- 
 in folio, with scholia, published 
 under the name of Michael Villa- 
 novanus, i. e. Michael Servetus, 
 author of the scholia. Those of 
 Zurich have likewise published 
 an edition of Pagninus's Bible ih 
 quarto ; and R. Stevens reprinted 
 it in folio, with the Vulgate, in 
 1557, pretejiding to give it more 
 correct than in the former edition^. 
 There is also another edition of 
 1586, in four columns, under the 
 name of Vatablus ; and we find it 
 again, in the Hamburgh edition 
 of the Bible, in four languages. 
 In the number of Latin Bibles 
 is also usually ranked the version 
 of the same Pagninus, corrected, 
 or rather rendered literal, by- 
 Arias Montanus ; whicn correc- 
 tion being approved of by the 
 doctors of Louvain, &c. was in- 
 serted in the Polyglot Bible of 
 Philip II, and since in that of 
 London. There have been vari- 
 ous editions of this in folio, quarto, 
 and- octavo ; to which have been 
 added the Hebrew text of the 
 Old Testament, and the Greek 
 of the New. The best of them 
 all is the first, which is in folio, 
 1571. Since the reformation, 
 there have been several Latin 
 versions of the Bible from the 
 originals by Protestants. The 
 most esteemed are those of Mun- 
 ster, Leo Juda, Castalio, and Tre- 
 mellius ; the three last of which 
 have been reprinted various times. 
 Munster published his version at 
 Basil in 1534, which he afterwards 
 revised : he published a correct 
 edition in 1546. Castalio's fine 
 Latin pleases most people ; but 
 there are some who think it aifect- 
 
B IB 
 
 94 
 
 BIB 
 
 cd ; the best edition is that in 15TS, 
 Leo Juda's version, altered a little 
 by the divines of Salamanca, was 
 added to the ancient Latin edition, 
 as published by R. Stevens, with 
 notes, under the name of Vata- 
 blus's Bible, in 1545. It was con- 
 demned by the Parisian divines, 
 but printed, with some alterations, 
 by the Spanish divines of Sala- 
 manca. Those of Junius, Tremel- 
 lius, and Beza, are considerably 
 exact, and have undergone a great 
 number of editions. We may add 
 a fourth class of Latin Bibles, 
 comprehending the Vulgate edi- 
 tion, corrected from the originals. 
 The Bible of Isidorus Clarus is of 
 this number : that author, not 
 contented with restoring the an- 
 cient Latin copy, has corrected 
 the translator in a great number of 
 places which he thought ill ren- 
 dered. Some protestants have 
 followed the same method : and, 
 among others, Andrew and Luke 
 Osiander, who have each publish- 
 ed a new edition of the Vulgate, 
 corrected from the originals. 
 
 33. BiBLPis, 3Iuscovite. See 
 Nos. 38 and 39. 
 
 34. B ISLES, Oriental. See 
 Nos. 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, 23, Zo, 
 41,42. 
 
 Z5. Bibles, Persian. Some 
 of the fathers seem to say that all 
 the scripture v/as formerly trans- 
 lated into the language of the Per- 
 sians ; but we have nothing now 
 remaining of the ancient version, 
 which was ceitainly done from 
 the Septuaglnt. The Persian Pen- 
 tateuch, printed in the London 
 Polyglot, is vv-lthout doubt the 
 work of rabbi Jacob, a Pei'slan 
 Jevv'. It was published by the 
 
 Jew^s at Constantinople in 1551. 
 In the same Polyglot we have 
 Ukewlse the four evangelists in 
 Persian, with a Latin translation ; 
 but this appears very modern, in- 
 correct, and of little use. Walton 
 says, this X^erslon was written 
 above four hundred years ago. 
 Another version of the gospels was 
 published at Cambridge by Whe- 
 loc, in the seventeenth century. 
 There are also two Persian ver- 
 sions of the Psalms made from 
 the vulgar Latin. 
 
 36. Bibles, Polhh. The first 
 Polish version of the Bible, it is 
 said, was that composed by Hade- 
 wich, wife of Jagellon, Duke of 
 Lithuania, who embraced Chris- 
 tianity In the year 1390. In 1599 
 there was a Polish translation of 
 the Bible published at Cracow, 
 which was the work of several di- 
 vines of that nation, and in which 
 James Wieck, a Jesuit, had a 
 principal share. The Protestants, 
 in 1596, published a Polish Bible 
 from Luther's German version, 
 and dedicated it to Uladislaus, 
 fourth king of Poland. 
 
 2,7. Bibles, Polyglot. See 
 Nos. 29 and 31. 
 
 38. Bibles, Russian; or, 
 
 39. Bibles, Scl'avonian. The 
 Russians or Muscovites published 
 the Bible in their language in 
 1581. It was translated from 
 the Greek by St. Cyril, the apos- 
 tle of the Sclavonians J but this 
 old version being too obscure, 
 Ernest GHIk, who had been carried 
 prisoner to Moscow after the tak- 
 ing of Narva, undertook a new 
 translation of the Bible Into Scla- 
 vonian ; who dying in 1 705, the 
 Czar Peter appointed some par- 
 
BIB 
 
 95 
 
 BIB 
 
 ticufar divines to finish the trans- 
 lation ; but whether it was evef- 
 printed we cannot say. 
 
 40. Bibles, Spanish. The 
 first Spanish Bible that we hear 
 of, is that mentioned by Cyprian 
 de Valera, which he says was 
 published about 1500. The epis- 
 tles and gospels were published in 
 that language by Ambrose de Mon- 
 tesian in 1512 ; the whole Bible by 
 Cassiodore de Revna, a Calvinist, 
 in 1569 ; and the New Testament, 
 dedicated to the emperor Charles 
 V, by Francis Enzina, otherwise 
 called Driander, in 1543. The first 
 Bible which was printed in Spanish 
 for the use of the Jews was that 
 printed at Ferrara in 1 5SZ^ in Go- 
 thic characters, and dedicated to 
 Hercules D'Este, duke of Ferrara. 
 This version is very ancient, and 
 was probably in use among the 
 Jews of Spain before Ferdinand 
 and Isabella expelled them out 
 of their dominions in 1492. Af- 
 ter very violent opposition from 
 the catholic clergy, the court of 
 Spain ordered Spanish Bibles to 
 be printed by royal authority in 
 l/ge, and put into the hands of 
 people of all ranks, as well as to 
 be used in public worship. 
 
 41. Bibles, Syr'iac. There 
 are extant two versions of the 
 Old Testament in the Syriac lan- 
 guage ; one from the Septuagint, 
 which is ancient, and made pro- 
 bably about the time of Constan- 
 tine ; the other called antiqua et 
 simplex., made from the Hebrew, 
 as some suppose, about the time 
 of the apostles. This version is 
 printed in the Polyglots of Lon- 
 don and Paris. In 1562, Wed- 
 manstadius printed the whole New 
 
 Testament in Syriac, at Vienna^ 
 in a beautiful character : and 
 since his time there have been se- 
 veral other editions. Gabriel Sio- 
 nita published a beautiful Syriac 
 edition of the Psalms at Paris in 
 1526, with a Latjn interpretation. 
 Dr. White, it is said, has for some, 
 time been engaged in reprinting 
 the Syriac Old Testament. 
 
 42. Bibles, Turkish, In 1G66 
 a Turkish New Testament was 
 printed in London to be dispersed 
 in the East. In 1721, it is said, 
 the Grand Seignior ordered an 
 impression of Bibles at Constan- 
 tinople, that they might be con- 
 trasted with Mahomet's oracle, 
 the Alcoran. The modern Greeks 
 in Turkey have also a translation 
 of the Bible in their language. 
 
 43. Bibles, Welch. There 
 was a Welch translation of the 
 Bible made from the original in 
 the time of queen Elizabeth, in 
 consequence of a bill brought into 
 the house of commons for this 
 purpose in 1563: it was printed 
 in folio in 1588. Another ver- 
 sion, which is the standard trans- 
 lation for that language, was print- 
 ed in 1620: it is called Parry's 
 Bible. An impression of this was 
 printed in 1690, called Bishop 
 Lloyd'' s Bible : these were In fo- 
 lio. The first octavo impression 
 of the Welch Bible was made in 
 1630. 
 
 44. Bibles, Bengalee. It is 
 with pleasure vrc add to all the 
 above accounts, that a translation 
 of the New Testament into the 
 Bengalee language, by the Baptist 
 missionaries residing in that part, 
 is now finished; we hope also to 
 hear of a complete translation of 
 
BID 
 
 96 
 
 BIG 
 
 ihe whole Bible into that tongue. 
 May it be a lasting blessing to that 
 unenlightened country ! 
 
 See Le Long's Bibliotheca Sacra; 
 Wolfi Bibliotheca Hebraa^ vol. ii, 
 p. 338 ; Johnson! s Historical Ac-, 
 count of English Translations of 
 the Bible; Lezvis''s Hist, of the 
 Translations of the Bible into Eng- 
 lish; Nexvcome'^s Historical View 
 cf English Translations ; BiLtler'^s 
 Horn BibliCiz; darkens Biographi- 
 cal Dictionary ; and the article 
 Bible in the Encyclopedias Bri- 
 tannica and Perthensis. 
 
 BIBLIOMANCY, a kind of 
 divination performed by means of 
 the Bible. It consisted in taking 
 passages of scripture at hazard, and 
 drawing indications thence con- 
 cerning things future. It was much 
 xised at the consecration of bi- 
 shops. F. J. Davidius, a Jesuit, has 
 published a bibliomancv under the 
 borrowed name of Veridicus Chris- 
 tianus. It has been affirmed that 
 some well-meaning people practise 
 a kind of bibliomancy with respect 
 to the future state of their souls ; 
 and, when they have happened to 
 " fix on a text of an awful nature, 
 it has almost driven them to de- 
 •spair. It certainly is not the way 
 to know the mind of God by choos- 
 ing cfetached parts of scripture, or 
 hy drawing a card on which a pas- 
 sage may be written, the sense of 
 which is to be gathered only from 
 the context. 
 
 BiDDELIANS,so called from 
 John Biddle, who in the year 1644 
 formed an independent congrega- 
 tion in London. He taught that 
 Jesus Christ, to the intent that he 
 might be our brother, and have a 
 iellov.'-feelingofourinfirmities,and 
 
 so become the more ready to help 
 us, had no other than a human 
 nature ; and therefore in this very 
 nature is not only a person, since 
 none but a human person can be 
 our brother, but also our Lord 
 and God. 
 
 Biddle, as well as Socinus and 
 other Unitarians before and since, 
 made no scruple of calling Christ 
 God, though he believed him to 
 be a human creature only On ac- 
 count of the divine sovereignty 
 with which he was invested. 
 
 BIDDING PRAYER. It was 
 part of the office of the deacons in 
 the primitive church to be moni- 
 tors and directors of the people in 
 their public devotions in the church. 
 To this end they made use of cer- 
 tain known forms of words, to 
 give notice when each part of the 
 service began. Agreeable to this 
 ancient practice is the form " Let 
 us pray," repeated before several 
 of the prayers in the English li- 
 turgy. Bishop Burnet, in his His- 
 tor}'^ of the Keforniation, vol. ii, 
 p. 20, has preserved the form as it 
 was in use before the reforma- 
 tion, which was this : — After the 
 preacher had named and opened 
 his text, he called on the people 
 to go to their prayers, telling them 
 what they were to pray for : Ye 
 shall pray, says he, for the king, 
 the pope, &c. After which, all 
 the people said their beads in ^ 
 general silence, and the minister 
 kneeled down likewise, and said 
 his : they were to say a pater-nos- 
 ttr^ ave- maria^ &c. and then the 
 sermon proceeded. 
 
 BIGOTRY consists inbeingob- 
 stinately and perversely attached to 
 our own opinions ; or, as some have 
 
BIG 
 
 97 
 
 BIO 
 
 defined it, " a tenacious' adherence 
 to a system adopted without in- 
 vestigation, and defended without 
 argument, accompanied with a 
 malignant intolerant spirit towards 
 all who differ." It must be dis- 
 tinguished from love to truths 
 which influences a man to em- 
 brace it wherever he finds it ; and 
 from true zeal^ which is an ardour 
 of mind exciting its possessor to 
 defend and propagate the prin- 
 ciples he maintains. Bigotry is 
 a kind of prejudice combined 
 with a certain degree of maligni- 
 ty. It is thus exemplified and 
 distinguished by a sensible writer. 
 *' When Jesus preached, prejudice 
 cried, Can any good thing come 
 out of Nazareth ? Crucify him, 
 crucify him, said bigotry. Why ? 
 what evil hath he done ? replied 
 candour." Bigotry is mostly pre- 
 valent with those who are igno- 
 rant ; who have taken up princi- 
 ples without due examination ; 
 and who are naturally of a mo- 
 rose and contracted disposition. 
 It is often manifested more in un- 
 important sentiments, or the cir- 
 cumstantials of religion than the 
 essentials of it. Simple bigotry 
 is the spirit of persecution without 
 the power; persecution is bigotry 
 armed with power, and carrying 
 its will into act. As it is the ef- 
 fect of ignorance, so it is the nurse 
 of it, because it precludes free in- 
 quiry, and is an enemy to truth : it 
 cuts also the very sinews of chari- 
 ty, and destroys moderation and 
 mutual good will. If we consider the 
 different makes of men's minds, 
 our own ignorance, the liberty that 
 all men have to think for them- 
 selves, the admirable example our 
 Vol. I. O 
 
 Lord has set us of a contrary spi- 
 rit, and the baneful effects of this 
 disposition, we must at once be con- 
 vinced of its impropriety. How 
 contradictory it is to sound reason, 
 and how inimical to the peaceful 
 religion we profess to maintain as 
 christians ! See Persecution, and 
 books under that article. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY Religious, or 
 the lives of illustrious and pious 
 men, are well worthy of perusing. 
 The advantages of religious bio- 
 graphy are too well known to 
 need a recital in this place. We 
 shall only, therefore, point out 
 some of the best pieces, which 
 the reader may peruse at his lei- 
 sure. 
 
 Hunter's Sacred Biography ; 
 Robinson'' s Scripture Characters ; 
 Hunter'' s History of Christ; y, 
 Taylor'' s Life of Christ ; Cavers 
 Lives of the Apostles ; Cave's Lives 
 of the Fathers ; Fox's Lives of the 
 Martyrs; Melchior Ackons's Lives; 
 Fuller'' s and Clark's Lives ; Gilpin^ s 
 Lives of Wickliffe^ Cranmer^ Lati- 
 mer^ is'c.; Walton' s Lives by Zoiich ; 
 Baxter's Narrative of the most re- 
 markable Passages of his Life and 
 Times^ by Silvester ; Palmer'' s Non- 
 conformist Memor'ial ; Lives of P. 
 and M. Henry ; Life of Hahjbur- 
 ton ; Orton's Memoirs of Dod- 
 dridge; Gillies' Life ofWhitefeld; 
 Doddridge's Life of Gardner; 
 Life of Wesley by Hampson^ Coke^ 
 More^and Whitehead ; MiddletoiCs 
 Biographia Evangel'ica; Edtvards^s 
 Life of D. Brainerd; Gibbon's Life 
 of Watts; Ry land's Life of Her- 
 vey; Faxvcett's Life of Heywood; 
 Broxvn's Lives in his Student and 
 Pastor ; Burnet's Life of Roches- 
 ter ; Priestley's Chart of Biogra- 
 
BL A 
 
 98 
 
 BLA 
 
 phy^ xuith a Book describing it, 
 i 2mo. ; Haweis's Life ofRomaine; 
 Fuller^s Life of Pearce. 
 
 BISHOP, a prelate consecrated 
 for the spiritual government of a 
 diocese. The word comes from the 
 Saxon bischop, and that from the 
 Greek tiriaMitos^ an overseer, or 
 inspector. It is a long time since 
 bishops have been distinguished 
 from mere priests, or presbyters ; 
 but whether that distinction be of 
 divine or human right ; whether 
 it was settled in the apostolic age, 
 or introduced since, is much con- 
 troverted. Churchmen in general 
 plead for the divine right ; while 
 the Dissenters suppose that the 
 word no where signifies more than 
 a pastor or presbyter ; the very 
 same persons being called bishops 
 and elders, or presbyters, Acts xx, 
 17, 28. 1st Pet. V, 1, 2. Tit. i. 5, 
 7. Phil, i, 1. See Episcopacy. 
 All the bishops of England are 
 peers of the realm, except the 
 bishop of Man ; and as such sit 
 and vote in the house of lords. 
 Besides two archbishops, there are 
 twenty-four bishops in England, 
 exclusive of the bishop of Sodor 
 and Man. The bishops of Lon- 
 don, Durham, and Winchester, 
 take the precedence of the other 
 bishops, who rank after them ac- 
 cording to their seniority of conse- 
 cration. See Episcopacy. 
 
 BLASPHEMY,fromBAaff<p^pt/«, 
 according to Dr. Campbell, pro- 
 perly denotes calumny, detraction, 
 reproachful or abusive language, 
 against whomsoever it be vented. 
 It is in scripture applied to re- 
 proaches not aimed against God 
 only, but man also, Rom. iii, 8. 
 Rom. xiv, 16. 1st Pet. iv, 4. Gr. I 
 
 It is, however, more peculiarly 
 restrained to evil or reproachful 
 words offered to God. Accord- 
 ing to Lindwood, blasphemy is an 
 injury offered to God, by deny- 
 ing that which is due and be- 
 longing to him, or attributing 
 to him what is not agreeable to 
 his nature. '* Three things" says 
 a divine, " are essential to this 
 crime ; 1. God must be the object. 
 — 2. The words spoken or writ- 
 ten, independent of consequences 
 which others may derive from 
 them, must be injurious in their 
 nature. — And, 3. He who commits 
 the crime must do it knowingly. 
 This is real blasphemy ; but there 
 is a relative blasphemy, as when a 
 man may be guilty ignorantly^ 
 by propagating opinions which 
 dishonour God, the tendency of 
 which he does not perceive. A man 
 may be guilty of this constructive- 
 hj ; for if he speak freely against 
 received errors, it will be con- 
 strued into blasphemy." By the 
 English laws, blasphemies of God, 
 as denying his being or provi- 
 dence, and all contumelious re- 
 proaches of Jesus Christ, &c. are 
 offences by the common law, and 
 punishable by fine, imprisonment, 
 and pillory; and by the statute 
 law, he that denies one of the per- 
 sons in the Trinity, or asserts that 
 there are more than one God, or 
 denies Christianity to be true, 
 for the first offence is rendered 
 incapable of any office ; for the 
 second, adjudged incapable of 
 suing, being executor or guar- 
 dian, receiving any gift or legacy, 
 and to be imprisoned for three 
 years. According to the law of 
 Scotland, blasphemy is punished 
 
BOH 
 
 99 
 
 BOR 
 
 with death ; these laws, however, 
 in the present age, are not en- 
 forced; the legislature thinking, 
 perhaps, that spiritual offences 
 should be left to be punished by 
 the Deity rather than by human 
 statutes. CampbeWs Prel. Diss,, 
 vol. i, p. 395; Robinson^s Script. 
 Flea, p. 58. 
 
 BLASPHEMY AGAINST 
 THE HOLY GHOST. See Un- 
 
 PARDONABLE SiN. 
 
 BODY OF DIVINITY. See 
 
 Theology. 
 
 BOGOMILI, or BoGARMiTiE, 
 a sect of heretics which arose 
 about the year 1179. They held 
 that the use of churches, of the 
 sacrament of the Lord's supper, 
 and all prayer except the Lord's 
 prayer, ought to be abolished ; 
 that the baptism of Catholics is 
 imperfect ; that the persons of the 
 Trinity are unequal, and that they 
 often made themselves visible to 
 those of their sect. 
 
 BOHEMIAN BRETHREN, 
 a sect of christian reformers which 
 sprung up in Bohemia in the year 
 1467. They treated the pope and 
 cardinals as antichrist, and the 
 ^:hurch of Rome as the whore 
 spoken of in the Revelations. They 
 rejected the sacraments of the 
 Romish church, and chose laymen 
 for their ministers. They held the 
 scriptures to be the only rule of 
 faith, and rejected the popish cere- 
 monies in the celebration of the 
 mass ; nor did they make use of 
 any ot^er prayer than the Lord's 
 prayer. They consecrated leaven- 
 ed bread. They allowed no adora- 
 tion but of Jesus Christ in the 
 communion. They rebaptized all 
 such as joined themselves to their 
 congregation. They abhorred the 
 
 worship of saints and images, 
 prayers for the dead, celibacies, 
 vows, and fasts ; and kept none 
 of the festivals but Christmas, ' 
 Easter, and Whitsuntide. 
 
 In 1504 they were accused by 
 the Catholics to king Ladislaus II, 
 who published an edict against 
 them, forbidding them to hold 
 any meetings, either privately or 
 publicly. When Luther declared 
 himself against the church of Rome, 
 the Bohemian Brethren endeavour- 
 ed to join his party.. At first, 
 that reformer shewed a great aver- 
 sion to them ; but, the Bohemians 
 sending their deputies to him in 
 1523 with a full account of their 
 doctrines, he acknowledged that 
 they were a society of christians 
 whose doctrine came nearest to 
 the purity of the gospel. This 
 sect published another confession 
 of faith in 1535, in which they re- 
 nounced anabaptism, which they 
 at first practised: upon which a 
 union was concluded with the Lu- 
 therans, and afterwards with the 
 Zuinglians, whose opinions from 
 thenceforth they continued to fol- 
 low. 
 
 BOOK OF SPORTS. See 
 Sports. 
 
 BORRELLISTS, a christ- 
 ian sect in Holland, so named 
 from their founder Borrel, a man 
 of great learning in the Hebrew, 
 Greek, and Latin tongues. They 
 reject the "use of the sacraments, 
 public prayer, and all other external 
 acts of worship. They assert that all 
 the christian churches of the world 
 have degenerated from the pure 
 apostolic doctrines, because they 
 have suffered the word of God, 
 which is infallible, to be expound- 
 ed, or rather corrupted, by doc- 
 
BOU 
 
 100 
 
 BRA 
 
 tors who are fallible. They lead 
 a very austere life, and employ a 
 great part of their goods in alms. 
 BOURIGNONISTS, the fol- 
 lowers of Antoinette Bom-ignon, a 
 lady in France, who pretended to 
 particular inspirations. She was 
 born at Lisle in 1616. At her birth 
 she was so deformed, that it was 
 debated some days in the family 
 ■whether it was not proper to stifle 
 her as a monster ; but, her defor- 
 mity diminishing, she was spared ; 
 and afterwards obtained such a 
 -degree of beauty, that she had her 
 admirers. From her childhood to 
 her old age she had an extraordi- 
 nary turn of mind. She set up for 
 a reformer, and published a great 
 number of books filled with very 
 singular notions; the most remark- 
 able of which are entitled. The 
 Light of the Worlds and The Tes- 
 timony of Truth. In her confession 
 of faith, she professes her belief in 
 the scriptures, the divinity and 
 atonement of Christ. She believed 
 also that man is perfectly free to 
 resist or receive divine grace; that 
 God is ever unchangeable love to- 
 wards all his creatures, and does not 
 inflict any arbitrary punishment ; 
 but that the evils they suffer are 
 the natural consequence of sin ; 
 that religion consists not in out- 
 Ward forms of worship nor systems 
 of faith, l^ut in an entire resigna- 
 tion to the will of God. She held 
 many extravagant notions, among 
 which, it is said, she asserted that 
 Adam, before the fall, possessed 
 the principles of both sexes ; that 
 in an ecstacy, God represented 
 Adam to her mind in his. original 
 state ; as also the beauty of the 
 first world, and how he had drawn 
 
 from it the chaos ; and that every 
 thing was bright, transparent, and 
 darted forth life and ineffable glo- 
 ry, with a number of other wild 
 ideas. She dressed like an hermit, 
 and travelled through France, 
 Holland, England, and Scotland. 
 She died at Faneker, in the pro- 
 vince of Frise, October 30, 1 680. 
 Her works have been printed in 18 
 vols. 8vo. 
 
 BOYLE's LECTURES, a 
 course of eight sermons, preached 
 annually ; set on foot by the ho- 
 nourable R. Boyle, by a codicil 
 annexed to his will, in 1691, 
 whose design, as expressed by the 
 institutor, is to prove the truth 
 of the christian religion against 
 infidels, without descending to 
 any controversies among chris- 
 tians, and to answer new difficul- 
 ties, scruples, &c. For the sup- 
 port of this lecture he assigned the 
 rent of his house in Crooked Lane 
 to some learned divine within the 
 bills of mortality, to be elected 
 for a term not exceeding three 
 years. But, the fund proving 
 precarious, the salary was ill 
 paid ; to remedy which inconveni- 
 ence, archbishop Tennison pro- 
 cured a yearly stipend of 50/. 
 for ever, to be paid quarterly, 
 charged on a farm in the parish 
 of Brill, in the county of Bucks. 
 To this appointment we are in- 
 debted for many excellent de- 
 fences of natural and revealed re- 
 ligion. 
 
 BRANDENBURG, confession 
 of. A formulary or confession of 
 faith, drawn up in the city of Bran- 
 denburg by order of the elector, 
 with a view to reconcile the 
 tenets of Luther with those, of 
 
BRE 
 
 101 
 
 BRO 
 
 Calvin, and to put an end to the 
 disputes occasioned by the con- 
 fession of Augsburgh. See Augs- 
 BURGH Confession. 
 
 BRETHREN AND SIS- 
 TERS OF THE FREE SPI- 
 RIT, an appellation assumed by a 
 sect which sprung up towards the 
 close of the thirteenth century, and 
 gained many adherents in Italy, 
 France, and Germany. They took 
 their denomination from the words 
 of St. Paul, Rom. viii, 2, 14. and 
 maintained that the true children 
 of God were invested with perfect 
 freedom from the jurisdiction of 
 the law. They held that all 
 things flowed by emanation from 
 God ; that rational souls were por- 
 tions of the Deity ; that the uni- 
 verse was God ; and that by the 
 power of contemplation they were 
 united to the Deity, and acquired 
 hereby a glorious and sublime li- 
 berty, both from the sinful lusts 
 and the common instincts of na- 
 ture, with a variety of other en- 
 thusiastic notions. Many edicts 
 were published against them ; but 
 they continued till about the mid- 
 dle of the fifteenth century. 
 BRETHREN AND CLERKS 
 OF THE COMMON LIFE, a 
 denomination assumed by a reli- 
 gious fraternity towards the end of 
 the fifteenth centmy. They lived 
 under the rule of St. Augustin, and 
 were said to be eminently useful 
 in promoting the cause of religion 
 and learning. 
 
 BRETHREN WHITE, were 
 the followers of a priest from the 
 Alps about the beginning of the 
 fifteenth century. They and their 
 leader were arrayed in white gar- 
 ments. Their leader carried about 
 
 a. cross like a standard. His ap- 
 parent sanctity and devotion drew 
 together a number of followers. 
 This deluded enthusiast practised 
 many acts of mortification and 
 penance, and endeavoured to per- 
 suade the Europeans to renew the 
 holy war. Boniface IX ordered 
 him to be apprehended, and com- 
 mitted to the flames ; upon which 
 his followers dispersed. 
 
 BRETHREN UNITED. See 
 Moravians. 
 
 BREVIARY, the book con- 
 taining the daily service of the 
 church of Rome. 
 
 BRIDGETINS, or Brigit- 
 TiNS, an order denominated from 
 St. Bridgit, or Birgit, a Swedish 
 lady, in the fourteenth century. 
 Their rule is nearly that of Augus- 
 tin. The Brigittins profess great 
 mortification, poverty, and self-de- 
 nial ; and they are not to possess 
 any thing they can call their own, 
 not so much as an halfpenny; 
 nor even to touch money on any 
 account. This order spread much 
 through Sweden, Germany, and 
 the Netherlands. In England we 
 read of but one monastery of Bri- 
 gittins, and this built by Henry 
 V, in 1415, opposite to Rich- 
 mond, now called Sion House ; 
 the ancient inhabitants of which, 
 since the dissolution, are settled at 
 Lisbon. 
 
 BRIEFS (apostolical) are let- 
 ters which the pope dispatches to 
 princes and other magistrates con- 
 cerning any pul:)Uc affair. 
 
 BROTHERS, Lay, among the 
 Romanists, are illiterate persons, 
 who devote themselves in some 
 convent to the service of the reli- 
 gious. 
 
.^ 
 
 BRO 
 
 102 
 
 BRO 
 
 BRO WNISTS, a sect that arose 
 among the puritans towards the 
 close of the sixteenth century ; 
 so named from their leader, 
 Robert Brown. He was educated 
 at Cambridge, and was a man of 
 good parts and some learning. 
 He began to inveigh openly against 
 the ceremonies of the church, at 
 Norwich, in 1580; but, being 
 much opposed by the bishops, he 
 with his congregation left England, 
 and settled at Middleburgh, in 
 Zealand,where they obtained leave 
 to worship God in their own way, 
 and form a church according to 
 their own model. They soon, how- 
 ever, began to differ among them- 
 selves ; so that Brown growing 
 weary of his office, returned to 
 England in 1589, renounced his 
 principles of separation, and was 
 preferred to the rectory of a church 
 in Northaniptonshire. He died in 
 prison in 1630. The revolt of 
 Brown was attended with the dis- 
 solution of the church at Middle- 
 burgh ; but the seeds of BroAvnism 
 which he had sown in England 
 were so far from being destroyed, 
 that Sir Walter Raleigh, in a speech 
 in, 1592, computes no less than 
 20,000 of this sect. 
 
 The articles of their faith seem 
 to be nearly the same as those of 
 the church of England. The 
 occasion of their separation was 
 not, therefore, any fault they 
 found with the faith, but only 
 with the discipline and form of 
 government of the churches in 
 England. They equally charged 
 corruption on the episcopal and 
 presbyterian forms ; nor . would 
 they join with any other reformed 
 church, because they were not 
 
 assured of the sanctity and regene- 
 ration of the members that com- 
 posed it. They condemned the 
 solemn celebration of marriages 
 in the church, maintaining that 
 matrimony being a political con- 
 tract, the confirmation thereof 
 ought to come from the civil 
 magistrate ; an opinion in which 
 they are not singular. They would 
 not allow the children of such as 
 were not members of the church 
 to be baptized. ^ They rejected 
 all forms of praj^er, and held that 
 the Lord's prayer was not to be 
 recited as a prayer, being only 
 given for a rule or model whereon 
 all our prayers are to be formed. 
 Their form of church government 
 was nearly as follows. When a 
 church was to be gathered, such 
 as desired to be members of it 
 made a confession of their faith 
 in the presence of each other, 
 and signed a covenant, by which 
 they obliged themselves to walk 
 together in the order of the gospel. 
 The whole power of admitting 
 and excluding members, with the 
 decision of all controversies, was 
 lodged in the brotherhood. Their 
 church officers were chosen from 
 among themselves, and separated 
 to their several offices by fasting, 
 prayer, and imposition of hands. 
 But they did not allow the priest- 
 hood to be any distinct order. As 
 the vote of the brethren made a 
 man a minister, so the same power 
 could discharge him from his 
 office, and reduce him to a mere 
 layman again ; and as they main- 
 tained the bounds of a church to 
 be no greater than what could , 
 meet together in one place, and 
 join in one communion, so the 
 
BRO 
 
 103 
 
 BUR 
 
 pCfWer of these officers was pre- 
 scribed within the same limits. — 
 The minister of one church could 
 not administer the Lord's supper 
 to another, nor baptize the children 
 of any but those of his own soci- 
 ety. Any lay brother was allowed 
 the liberty of giving a word of 
 exhortation to the people ; and it 
 was usual for some of them after 
 sermon to ask questions, and reason 
 upon the doctrines that had been 
 preached. In a word, every church 
 on their model is a body corporate, 
 having full power to do every 
 thing in themselves, without being 
 accountable to any class, synod, 
 convocation, or other jurisdiction 
 whatever. The reader will judge 
 how near the Independent churches 
 are allied to this form of govern- 
 ment. See Independence. — The 
 laws were executed with great 
 severity on the Brownists ; their 
 books were prohibited by queen 
 Elizabeth, their persons impri- 
 soned, and some hanged. Brown 
 himself declared on his death- bed 
 that he had been in thirty-two 
 different prisons, in some of which 
 he could not see his hand at noon- 
 day. They were so much perse- 
 cuted, that they resolved at last 
 to quit the country. Accordingly 
 many retired and settled at Am- 
 sterdam, whei-e they formed a 
 church, and chose Mr. Johnson 
 their pastor, and after him Mr. 
 Ainsworth, author of the learned 
 Commentary on the Pentateuch. 
 Their church floarished *near 100 
 years. Among the Brownists, too, 
 were the famous John Robinson, 
 a part of whose congregation from 
 Leyden, in Holland, made the first 
 permanent settlement in North 
 
 America ; and the laborious Canne, 
 the author of the marginal refer- 
 ences to the Bible. 
 
 BUCHANITES, asect of en- 
 thusiasts who sprung up in the west 
 of Scotland about 1783, and 
 took their name from a Mrs, 
 Buchan, of Glasgow, who gave 
 herself out to be the woman spo- 
 ken of in the Revelations ; and 
 that all who believed in her should 
 be taken up to heaven without 
 tasting death, as the end of the 
 world was near. They never in- 
 creased much ; and the death of 
 their leader within a year or two 
 afterwards, occasioned their dis- 
 persion, by putting an end to their 
 hopes of reaching the New Jeru- 
 salem without death. 
 
 BUDNiEANS, a sect in Po- 
 land, who disclaimed the worship 
 of Christ, and run into many wild 
 hypotheses. Budnseus, the foun- 
 der, was publicly excom^municat- 
 ed in 1584, with all his disciples, 
 but afterwards he was admitted to 
 the communion of the Socinian 
 sect. 
 
 BULLS Popish, are letters 
 called apostolic by the Canonists, 
 strengthened with a leaden seal, 
 and containing in them the de- 
 crees and commandments of the 
 pope. 
 
 BURGHER SECEDERS, a 
 numerous and respectable class of 
 dissenters from the church of 
 Scotland, who were originally 
 connected with the associate pres- 
 bytery ; but, some difference of 
 sentiment arising about the law- 
 fulness of taking the Burgess oath, 
 a separation ensued in 1 739 ; in 
 consequence of which, those who 
 plead for the affirmative obtained 
 
CAB 
 
 104 
 
 CAB 
 
 the appellation of Burgher, and 
 their opponents that of Anti- 
 burgher Seceders. See Sece- 
 
 DERS. 
 
 BURIAL, the interment of a 
 deceased person. The rites of bu- 
 rial have been looked upon in all 
 countries as a debt so sacred, that 
 such as neglected to discharge them 
 were tliought accursed. Among 
 the Jews, the privilege of burial 
 was denied only to self murderers, 
 who were thrown out to putrefy 
 upon the ground. In the christian 
 church, though good men always 
 desired the privilege of inter- 
 ment, yet they were not, like the 
 heathens, so concerned lor their 
 bodies, as to think it any detri- 
 nient to them if either the bar- 
 barity of an enemy, or some other 
 accident, deprived them of this 
 privilege. The primitive church 
 denied the more solemn rites of 
 burial only to unbaptized persons, 
 self-murderers, and excommuni- 
 cated persons, who continued ob- 
 stinate and impenitent in a mani- 
 fest contempt of the churches' cen- 
 sures. The place of burial among 
 the Jews was never particularly 
 determined. We find they had 
 graves in the town and country, 
 upon the highway or gardens, 
 and upon mountains. Among 
 the Greeks, the temples were made 
 
 repositories for the dead, in the 
 primitive ages ; yet, in the latter 
 ages, the Greeks as well as the 
 Romans buried the dead without 
 the cities, and chiefly by the high- 
 ways. Among the primitive chris- 
 tians, burying in cities was not 
 allowed for the first three hundred 
 years, nor in churches for many 
 ages after; the dead bodies being 
 first deposited in the atrium or 
 church-yard, and porches and 
 porticos of the church : heredi- 
 tary burying places were forbid- 
 den till the twelfth century. See 
 Funeral Rites. As to bury- 
 ing in churches, we find a dif- 
 ference of opinion : some have 
 thought it improper that dead 
 bodies should be interred in the 
 church. Sir Matthew Hale used 
 to say, that churches were for 
 the living, and church-yards for 
 jthe dead. In the famous bishop 
 j Hall's will we find this passage : 
 after desiring a private funeral, 
 jhe says, " I do not hold God's 
 j house a meet repository for the 
 i dead bodies of the greatest saints." 
 Mr. Hervey, on the contrary, 
 defends it, and supposes that it 
 tends to render our assemblies 
 more awful ; and that, as the bo- 
 dies of the saints are the Lord's 
 property, they should be reposed 
 in his house. 
 
 C. 
 
 CABBALA, a Hebrew word, 
 signifying tradition : it is used for 
 a mysterious kind of science pre^ 
 tended to have been delivered by 
 revelation to the ancient Jews, 
 
 and transmitted by oral tradition 
 to those of our times ; serving for 
 interpretation of the books both of 
 nature and scripture. 
 CABBALISTSjtheJewishdoc-^ 
 
C AL 
 
 105 
 
 C AL 
 
 tors, who profess the study of the 
 cabbala. They study principally the 
 combination of particular words, 
 letters, and numbers ; and by this, 
 they say, they see clearly into the 
 sense of scripture. In their opinion, 
 there is not a word, letter, num- 
 ber, or accent, in the law, without 
 some mystery in it ; and they 
 even pretend to discover what is 
 future by this vain study. 
 
 CAINITES, a sect who sprung 
 up about the year 130; so called, 
 because they esteemed Cain wor- 
 thy of the greatest honours. They 
 honoured those who carry in scrip- 
 ture the most visible marks of re- 
 probation ; as the inhabitants of 
 Sodom, Esau, Korah, Dathan, 
 and Abiram. They had in par- 
 ticular great veneration for Judas 
 under the pretence that the death 
 of Christ had saved mankind. 
 
 CALIXTINS, a branch of the 
 Hussites in Bohemia and Mora- 
 via, in the fifteenth century. The 
 principal point in which they dif- 
 fered from the church of Rome 
 was the use of the chalice (calix) 
 or communicating in both kinds : 
 Calixtins was also a name given to 
 those among the Lutherans who 
 followed the opinions of George 
 Calixtus, a celebrated divine in 
 the seventeenth century, who en- 
 deavoured to unite the Romish, 
 Lutheran, and Calvinistic church- 
 es, in the bonds of charity and mu- 
 tual benevolence. He maintained, 
 1. That the fundamental doctrines 
 of Christianity, by which he meant 
 those elementary principles whence 
 all its truths flow, were preserved 
 pure in alt three communions, and 
 were contained in that ancient 
 form of doctrine that is \'u)garly 
 
 Vol. I. P 
 
 known by the name of the apostles* 
 creed. — 2. That the tenets and 
 opinions which have been con- 
 stantly received by the ancient 
 doctors, during the first five centu- 
 ries, were to be considered as of 
 equal truth and authority with the 
 express declarations and doctrines 
 of scripture. 
 
 CALL-CALLING, generally 
 denotes God's invitation to man 
 to participate the blessings of sal- 
 vation : it is termed effectual^ to 
 distinguish it from that external 
 or common call of the light of 
 nature, but especially of the gospel, 
 in which men are invited to come 
 to God, but which has no saving 
 effect upon the heart : thus it is 
 said, " Many are called, but few 
 chosen," Matthew xxii, 14. Effec- 
 tual calling has been more parti- 
 cularly defined to be " the work 
 of God's Spirit, whereby, convinc- 
 ing us of our sin and misery, en- 
 lightening our minds with the 
 knowledge of Christ, and renewing 
 our wills, he doth persuade and 
 enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, 
 freely offered to us in the gospel." 
 This may farther be considered as 
 a call from darkness to light, 1st 
 Pet. ii, 9. from bondage to liberty, 
 Gal. ii, 13. from the fellowship of 
 the world to the fellowship of 
 Christ, 1st Cor. i, 9. from misery 
 to happiness, 1st Cor. vii, 15. 
 from sin to holiness, 1st Thess. iv, 
 7. finally, from all created good 
 to the enjoyment of eternal feli- 
 city, 1st Pet. V, 10. It is con- 
 sidered in the scripture as an holy 
 calling., 2d Tim. i, 9. an high call- 
 ings Phil, iii, 14. an heavenly call- 
 ings Heb. iii. 1. and -without repent- 
 ance, as God will never cast off 
 
C AL 
 
 106 
 
 C A L 
 
 any who are once drawn to him, 
 Rom. xi, 29. 
 
 It has been a matter of dispute 
 whether the gospel call should be 
 general^ i. e. preached to all men 
 indiscriminatel}^ Some suppose 
 that, as the elect only will be sav- 
 ed, it is to be preached only to 
 them ; and, therefore, cannot in- 
 vite all to come to Christ. But 
 to this it is answered, that an un- 
 known decree can be no rule of 
 action, Deut. xxix, 29. Prov. ii. 
 13. that, as we know not who are 
 the elect, we cannot tell but he 
 may succeed our endeavours by 
 enabling those who are addressed 
 to comply with the call, and be- 
 lieve ; that it is the christian 
 minister's commission to preach 
 the gospel to every creature, Mark 
 xvi, 1 5. That the inspired writers 
 never confinedthemselves to preach 
 to saints only, but reasoned with 
 and persuaded sinners, 2d Cor. v, 
 11: — and, lastly, that a general 
 address to men's consciences has 
 been greatly successful in promot- 
 ing their conversion. Acts ii, 23, 
 41. But it has been asked, if none 
 but the elect can believe, and no 
 man has any ability in himself to 
 comply with the call, and as the 
 Almighty knows that none but 
 ' those to whom he gives grace can 
 be effectually called, of what use 
 is it to insist on a general and ex- 
 ternal call ? To this it is answered, 
 that, by the external call, gross 
 enormous crimes are often avoid- 
 ed ; habits of vice have been part- 
 ly conquered ; and much moral 
 good at least has been produced. 
 It is also observed, that though 
 a man cannot convert himself, yet 
 he has a pov/er to do some things 
 that are materially good, though 
 
 not good in all those circumstan- 
 ces that accompany or flow from 
 regeneration : such were Ahab's 
 humility, 1st Kings xxi, 29. Nine- 
 veh's repentance, Jer. iii, 5. and 
 Herod's hearing of John, Mark vi, 
 20. On th" whole, the design of 
 God in giving this common call in 
 the gospel is the salvation of his 
 people, the restraining of many 
 from wicked practices, and the 
 setting forth of the glorious work 
 of redemption by Jesus Christ. 
 See Gill and Ridgleifs Body of 
 Div.; Witsius on the Cov. ; and 
 articles Conversion, Exhorta- 
 tion, Faith, Regeneration. 
 
 CALVINISTS, those who 
 embrace the doctrine and senti- 
 ments of Calvin, the celebrated 
 reformer of the christian church 
 from Romish superstition and doc- 
 trinal errors. 
 
 John Calvin was born at Nogen, 
 in Picardy, in the year 1509. He 
 first studied the civil law, and was 
 afterwards made professor of di- 
 vinity at Geneva, in the year 
 1536. His genius, learning, elo- 
 quence, and piety, rendered him 
 respectable even in the eyes of his 
 enemies. 
 
 The name of Calvinists seems 
 to have been given at first to those 
 who embraced not merely the 
 doctrine, but the church govern- 
 ment and discipline established at 
 Geneva, and to distinguish them 
 from the Lutherans. But since 
 die meeting of the synod of Dort, 
 the name has been chiefly appli- 
 ed to those who embrace his lead- 
 ing views of the gospel, to distin- 
 guish them from the Arminians. 
 
 The leading principles taught 
 by Calvin were the same as those 
 of Augustine. The main doctrines 
 
CAL 
 
 107 
 
 CAL 
 
 by which those who are called af- 
 ter his name are distinguished 
 from the Arminians, are reduced 
 to five articles ; and which, from 
 their being the principal points 
 discussed at the synod of Dort, 
 have since been denominated the 
 five points. These are, predesti- 
 nation, particular redemption, total 
 depravity, effectual calling, and the 
 certain perseverance of the saints. 
 
 The following statement is tak- 
 en principally from the writings of 
 Calvin, and the decisions at Dort, 
 compressed in as few Vv^ords as 
 possible. 
 
 1. They maintain that God hath 
 chosen a certain number of the 
 fallen race of Adam in Christ, be- 
 fore the foundation of the world, 
 unto eternal glory, according to his 
 immutable purpose, and of his free 
 grace and love, without the least 
 foresight of faith, good works, or 
 any conditions performed by the 
 creature ; and that the rest of man- 
 kind he was pleased to pass by, 
 and ordain to dishonour and 
 v.^rath, for their sins, to the praise 
 of his vindictive justice. 
 
 In proof of this they allege, 
 among many other scripture pas- 
 sages, the following: "according 
 as he hath chosen us in him before 
 the foundation of the world, that 
 we should be holy, and without 
 blame before him in love. — For he 
 saith to Moses, I will have mercy 
 on whom I will have mercy, and 
 I will have compassion on whom 
 I will have compassion. So, then, 
 it is not of him that willeth, nor of 
 him that runneth, but of God, 
 that sheweth mercy. Thou wilt 
 say, then, why doth he yet find 
 fault J for who hath resisted his 
 
 M'ill ? Nay, but O ! man, who 
 art thou that repliest against God ? 
 Shall the thing formed say to him 
 that formed it. Why hast thou 
 made me thus ? Hath not the pot- 
 ter power over the clay, of the 
 same lump, to make one vessel 
 unto honour, and another to dis- 
 honour? — Hath God cast away 
 his people whom he foreknew P 
 Wot ye not what the scripture 
 saith of Elias? Even so at this 
 present time, also, there is a rem- 
 nant according to the election of 
 grace. And if b}'^ grace, then it 
 is no more of works. What then? 
 Israel hath not obtained that which 
 he seeketh for, but the election 
 hath obtained it^ and the rest are 
 blinded. — Whom he did predesti- 
 nate^ them he also called. — We 
 give thanks to God always for 
 you,brethren,belovedof the Lord, 
 because God hath from the^-fee- 
 ginning chosen you to salvation^ 
 through sanctification of the Spirit 
 and belief of the truth. — As many 
 as were ordained to eternal life, 
 believed." Eph. i, 4. Rom. ix. xi, 
 1-6. viii. 29, 30. 2d Thess. ii, 13. 
 Acts xiii, 48. They think also 
 that the greater part of these pas- 
 sages, being found in the episto- 
 lary writings, after the pouring 
 out of the Holy Spirit, who was 
 promis.ed to guide the apostles in- 
 to all truth, is an argument in fa- 
 vour of the doctrine. 
 
 They do not consider predesti- 
 nation, however, as affecting the 
 agency or accountableness of crea- 
 tures, or as being to them any 
 rule of conduct. On the contrary, 
 they suppose them to act as freely, 
 and to be as much the proper sub- 
 jects of calls, warnings, exhorta- 
 
C AL 
 
 108 
 
 C AL 
 
 tions, promises, and threatenings, 
 as if no decree existed. The con- 
 nexion in %yhich the doctrine is 
 introduced by the divines at Dort, 
 is to account for one sinner's be- 
 lieving and being saved rather 
 than another ; and such, the Cal- 
 vinists say, is the connexion which 
 it occupies in the scriptures. 
 
 With respect to the conditional 
 predestination admitted by the 
 Arminians, they say that an elec- 
 tion upon faith or good works 
 foreseen, is not that of the scrip- 
 tures ; for that election is there 
 made the cause of faith and holi- 
 ness, and cannot, for this reason, 
 be the effect of them. With re- 
 gard to predestination to deaths 
 they say, if the question be, 
 Wherefore did God decree to pu- 
 nish those who are punished ? the 
 answer is, On account of their 
 sins. But if it be. Wherefore did 
 he decree to punish them rather 
 than others ? there is no other 
 reason to be assigned, but that so 
 it seemed good in his sight. Eph. i. 
 3,4. John vi, 37. Rom. viii. 29, 
 30. Acts xiii, 48. 1st Pet. i, 1. 
 Eom. ix, 15, 16. xi, 5, 6. 
 
 2. They maintain that though 
 the death of Christ be a most per- 
 fect sacrifice, and satisfaction for 
 sins, of infinite value, abundantly 
 sufficient to expiate the sins of the 
 >vhole world ; and though on this 
 ground the gospel is to be preach- 
 ed to allmankindindiscriminately ; 
 yet it was the will of God that 
 Christ, by the blood of the cross, 
 should efficaciously redeem all 
 those, and those only,, who were 
 from eternity elected to salvation, 
 and given to him by the Father. 
 Calvin does not appear to 
 
 have written on this subject as 
 a controversy, but his comments 
 on scripture agree M-ith the above 
 statement. The following posi- 
 tions are contained in the resolu- 
 tions of the synod of Dort, under 
 this head of doctrine :— " The 
 death of the Son of God is the 
 only and most perfect sacrifice 
 and satisfaction for sins, of infi- 
 nite value and price, abundantly 
 sufficient to expiate the sins of the 
 whole world. — The promise of the 
 gospel is, that whosoever belie veth 
 in Christ crucified shall not perish, 
 but have everlasting life ; which 
 promise, together with the com- 
 mand to repent and believe, ought 
 promiscuously and indiscriminate- 
 ly to be published and proposed to 
 all people and individuals, to whom 
 God in his good pleasure sends the 
 gospel. — Whereas, many who are 
 called by the gospel do not repent 
 nor believe in Christ, but perish 
 in unbelief; this proceeds not 
 from any defect or insufficiency in 
 the sacrifice of Christ offered on 
 the cross, but from their own 
 fault. — As many as truly believe, 
 and are saved by the death of 
 Christ from their sins, and from 
 destruction, have to ascribe it to 
 the mere favour of God, which he 
 owes to no one, given them in 
 Christ from eternity. — For it 
 was the most free counsel, and 
 gracious xvill and ijitention of 
 God the F'ather, that the quick- 
 ening and saving efficacy of the 
 most precious death of his Son 
 should exert itself in all the 
 elect, to give unto them only 
 justifying faith, and by it to 
 conduct them infallibly to sal- 
 vation; that is, it was the Vi'ill of 
 
C AL 
 
 109 
 
 C AL 
 
 God that Christ, by the blood of 
 the cross, whereby he confirmed 
 the new covenant, should efficaci- 
 ously redeem out of every people, 
 tribe, nation, and language, all 
 those, and those only, who where 
 from eternity elected to salva- 
 tion, and given to him by the Fa- 
 ther." 
 
 i These positions they appear to 
 have considered as not only a de- 
 claration of the truth, but an an- 
 swer to the arguments of the Re- 
 naonstrants. 
 
 In proof the doctrine, they 
 allege among others the following 
 scripture passages : " Thou hast 
 given him power over all flesh, 
 that he should give eternal life to 
 as many as thou hast given him. — 
 The good shepherd giveth his life 
 for the sheep,— —1 lay down my life 
 for the sheep. — He died not for 
 that nation only, but that he might 
 gather together in one the children 
 of God that are scattered abroad, — 
 He gave himself for us, that he 
 might redeem us from all iniquitij^ 
 and purify unto himself a peculiar 
 people^ zealous ofgoodxvorks, — He 
 loved the churchy and gave himself 
 for it^ that he might sanctify and 
 cleanse it, and present it to him- 
 self, &c. — And they sang a new 
 song, saying, Thou art worthy; for 
 thou wast slain, and hast redeemed 
 us to God by thy bloody out of 
 every kindred, and tongue, and 
 people, and nation." John xvii, 
 2. X. 11, 15. xi, 52. Tit. ii, 14. 
 Eph. V, 25. 27. Rev. v, 9. 
 ' 3. They maintain that mankind 
 are totally depraved, in conse- 
 quence of the fall of the first man, 
 who, being their public head, his 
 sin involved the corruption of iill 
 
 his posterity ; and which corrup- 
 tion extends over the whole soul, 
 and renders it unable to turn to 
 God, or to do any thing truly 
 good, and exposes it to his right- 
 eous displeasure, both in this world 
 and that which is to come. 
 
 The explanation of original sin, 
 as given by Calvin, is as follows : 
 ••' Original sin seems to be the in- 
 heritable descending perverseness 
 and corruption of our nature, 
 poured abroad into all the parts 
 of the soul, which first maketh us 
 deserving of God's wrath, and 
 then also bringeth forth those 
 works in us, called, in scripture, 
 the rvorks of the fiesh. These two 
 things are distinctly to be rioted, 
 that is, that, being thus in all parts 
 of our nature corrupted and per- 
 verted, we are now, even for such 
 corruption onlj', holden worthy of 
 damnation, and stand convicted 
 before God, to whom nothing is 
 acceptable but righteousness, in- 
 nocence, and purity. And yet we 
 are not bound in respect of an- 
 other's lault ; for where it is said 
 that by the sin of Adam we are 
 made subject to the judgment of 
 God, Rom. V, 18. it is not so to 
 be taken, as if we, innocent and 
 undeserving, did bear the blame of 
 his fault ; but as, in consequence 
 of his offence, we are ultimately 
 clothed with the curse, therefore 
 it is said that he hath bound us. 
 Nevertheless from him not the pu- 
 nishment only came upon us, but 
 also the infection distilled from 
 him abideth in us, to the which the 
 punishment is justly due." 
 
 The resolutions of the divines 
 at Dort on this head contain the 
 following positions. " Such as 
 
C AL 
 
 110 
 
 C AL 
 
 man was after the fall, such chil- 
 dren did he beget — corruption 
 by the righteous judgment of 
 God being derived from Adam 
 to his posterity — ^not by imitation, 
 but by the propagation of a vitious 
 nature. Wherefore all men are 
 conceived in sin, and are born the 
 children of wrath, unfit for every 
 good connected with salvation, 
 prone to evil, dead in sins, and 
 the servants of sin ; and without 
 the Holy Spirit regenerating them, 
 they neither will nor can return to 
 God, amend their depraved na- 
 tures, nor dispose themselves for 
 its amendment. 
 
 In proof of this doctrine, the 
 Calvinists allege, among other 
 scripture passages, the following: 
 "^ By one man sin entered into 
 the world, and death by sin; and 
 so death passed upon all men, for 
 that all have sinned. — By one 
 man*s disobedience many were 
 made sinners. — I was born in sin, 
 and shapen in iniquity. — God saw 
 that the wickedness of man was 
 great upon the earth, and that 
 every imagination of his heart was 
 only evil continually. — God looked 
 down from heaven upon the chil- 
 dren of men, to see if there were 
 any that did understand, that did 
 seek God. — Every one of them is 
 gone back ; they are altogether be- 
 come filthy ; there is none that doeth 
 good, no not one. — And you hath 
 he quickened who were dead in 
 trespasses and sins. Wherein in 
 time past ye walked according to 
 the course of this world — among 
 whom also rve all had our conver- 
 sation in times past, in the lust of 
 cur fleshy fulfilling the desires of 
 the flesh and of the mind ; and 
 
 v/ere hij nature the children of 
 xvrath^ even as others.'''' Rom. v, 
 12-19. Ps. li, 5. Gen. vi, 5. Ps. 
 liii, 2, 3. Rom. iii. Eph. ii, 1-3. 
 
 4. They maintain that all whom 
 God hath predestinated unto life, 
 he is pleased, in his appointed time, 
 effectually to call by his word and 
 spirit out of that state of sin and 
 death in which they are by nature, 
 to grace and salvation bv Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 They admit that the Holy Spirit, 
 as calling men by the ministry of 
 the gospel, may be resisted ; and 
 that where this is the case, " the 
 fault is not in the gospel, nor in 
 Christ offered by the gospel, nor 
 in God calling by the gospel, and 
 also conferring various gifts upon 
 them ; but in the called them- 
 selves. They contend, however, 
 that where men come at the di- 
 vine call, and are converted, it is' 
 not to be ascribed to themselves, 
 as though by their own free will 
 they made themselves to differ, 
 but merely to him who delivers 
 them from the power of darkness, 
 and translates them into the king- 
 dom of his dear Son, and whose 
 regenerating influence is certain 
 and efficacious." 
 
 In proof of this doctrine the Cal- 
 vinists allege, among others, the fol- 
 lowing scripture passages : "Whom 
 he did predestinate, them he also 
 called; and whom he called, them 
 he also glorified. — That ye may 
 know what is the exceeding great- 
 ness of his power to us-ward who 
 believe, according to the working 
 of his mighty power, which he 
 wrought in Christ when he raised 
 him from the dead. — Not of works, 
 lest any man should boast. For 
 
C AL 
 
 111 
 
 C AL 
 
 we are his workmanships created \n 
 Christ Jesus unto good works. — 
 God, that commanded the light to 
 shine out of darkness, hath shined 
 into our hearts, &c. — I will take 
 away the stony heart out of their 
 flesh, and will give them hearts of 
 flesh." Rom. viii, 29. Eph. i. 19, 
 20. ii, 9, 10. 2d Cor. iv, 6. Ezek. 
 xxxvi, 26. 
 
 5. Lastly : They maintain that 
 those whom God has effectually 
 called, and sanctified by his Spi- 
 rit, shall never finally fall from 
 a state of grace. They admit 
 that true believers may- fall par- 
 tially, and would fall totally and 
 finally but for the mercy and faith- 
 fulness of God, who keepeth the 
 feet of his saints; also, that he 
 who bestoweth the grace of per- 
 severance, bestoweth it by means 
 of reading and hearing the word, 
 meditation, exhortations, threat- 
 enings, and promises ; but that 
 none of these things imply the pos- 
 sibility of a believer's falling from 
 a state of of justification. 
 
 In proof of this doctrine they 
 allege the following among other 
 scripture passages : — " I will put 
 my fear in their hearts, ajid they 
 shall not depart from me. — He that 
 believeth, and is baptized, shall be 
 saved. — The water that I shall 
 give him shall be in him a well of 
 water springing up into everlasting 
 life. — This is the Father's will, 
 that of all xvhich he hath given me 
 I should lose nothing. — This is 
 life eternal^ to know thee, the 
 only true God, and Jesus Christ 
 whom thou hast sent. — Whosoever 
 is born of God doth not commit 
 sin, for his seed remaineth in him ; 
 and he cannot sin, because he is 
 
 born of God* — They went out 
 from us^ but they were not of 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 of us. — Now unto him 
 that is able to keep you from fallings 
 and to present you faidtless before 
 the presence of his glory with ex- 
 ceeding joy, to the only wise God 
 our Saviour, be glory and majesty, 
 dominion and power, both now and 
 ever, amen." Jer. xxxii, 40. Mark 
 xvi, 16. John iv, 14. vi, 40. xvii, 
 3. 1st John iii, 9. ii, 19. Jude 24. 
 25. 
 
 Such were the doctrines of the 
 old Calvinists, and such in sub- 
 stance are those of the present 
 times. In this, however, as in 
 every other denomination,there are 
 considerable shades of difference. 
 
 Some think Calvin, though right 
 in the main, yet carried things too 
 far ; these are commonly known 
 by the name of Mo deraie Calvinists. 
 Others think he did not go far 
 enough ; and these are known by 
 the name of High Calvinists. 
 
 It is proper to add, that the 
 Calvinistic system includes in it 
 the doctrine of three co-ordinate 
 persons in the Godhead, in one na- 
 ture, and of two natures in Jesus 
 Christ, forming one person. Jus- 
 tification by faith alone, or justi- 
 fication by the imputed righteous- 
 ness of Christ, forms also an es- 
 sential part of this system.. They 
 suppose that on the one hand our 
 sins are imputed to Christ, and on 
 the other that we are justified by 
 the imputation of Christ's righte- 
 ousness to us ; that is, Christ, the 
 innocent, was treated by God as 
 
C AL 
 
 112 
 
 C AM 
 
 if he were guilty, that we, the 
 guilty, might, out of regard to 
 what he did and suffered, be treat- 
 ed as if we were innocent and 
 righteous. 
 
 Calvinisnl originally subsisted in 
 its greatest purity in the city of 
 Geneva ; from which place it was 
 first propagated into Germany, 
 France, the United Provinces, and 
 Britain. In France it was abolish- 
 ed by the edict of Nantz, in 1685. 
 It 'has been the prevailing religion 
 in the United Provinces ever since 
 1571. The theological system of 
 Calvin was adopted and made 
 the public rule of faith in Eng- 
 land under the reign of Edward 
 VI. The church of Scotland also 
 was modelled by John Knox, 
 agreeably to the doctrine, rites, 
 and form of ecclesiastical govern- 
 ment established at Geneva. In 
 England, Calvinism had been on 
 the decline from the time of 
 queen Elizabeth until about sixty 
 years ago, when it was again re- 
 vived, and has been on the increase 
 ever since. The major part of the 
 clergy, indeed, are not Calvinists, 
 though the articles of the church 
 of England are Calvinistical. It 
 deserves to be remarked, how- 
 ever, that Calvinism is preached 
 in a considerable number of the 
 churches in London ; in nearly all 
 thedissenting meetings of the Pres- 
 byterians, Baptists, and Independ- 
 ents ; and in all the chapels of 
 Whitfield, Lady Huntingdon, and 
 others of that class. In Scotland it 
 continues also to exist as the esta- 
 blished religion ; and within a few 
 years it has much revived in that 
 country, through the influence of 
 Mr. Ilaldane and others ; but as 
 
 those among whom this revival 
 has taken place are not of the 
 established church, they have been 
 treated with indifference by the 
 clergy, and called Haldanists. 
 
 Calvin considered every church 
 as a separate and independent 
 body, invested with the power 
 of legislation for itself. He pro- 
 posed that it should be governed 
 by presbyteries and synods com- 
 posed of clergy and laity, with- 
 out bishops, or any clerical sub- 
 ordination ; and maintained that 
 the province of the civil magis- 
 trate extended only to its protec- 
 tion and outward accommoda- 
 tion. He acknowledged a real 
 though spiritual presence of Christ 
 in the eucharist ; and he confined 
 the privilege of communion to 
 pious and regenerate believers. 
 These sentiments, however, are 
 not imbibed by all who are called 
 Calvinists. 
 
 See Calvhi's Institutes ; Life of 
 Calvin; Brine'' s Tracts ; fonathan 
 Edwards's Works ; GiWs Cause of 
 God and Truth; Topladf s Historic 
 Proof and Works at large; Assem- 
 bly'' s Catechism ; Fidler'' s Calvinistic 
 and Socinian Systems campared. 
 
 CAMALDOLITES, an order 
 founded by St. Romuald, an Italian 
 fanatic, in the eleventh century. 
 The manner of life he enjoined his 
 disciples to observe was this : — 
 They dwelt in separate cells, and 
 met together only at the time of 
 prayer. Some of them, during 
 the two Lents in the year, observ- 
 ed an inviolable silence, and others 
 for the space of a hundred days. 
 On Sundays and Thursdays they 
 fed on herbs, and the rest of the 
 week only on bread and water. 
 
CAM 
 
 113 
 
 CAN 
 
 CAMBRIDGE MANUSCRIPT, 
 a copy of the gospels and Acts of 
 the Apostles, in Greek and Latin. 
 Beza found it in the monastery of 
 Irenseus, at Lyons, in 1562, and 
 gave it to the university of Cam- 
 bridge in 1582. It is a quarto, 
 and written on vellum : sixty- six 
 leaves of it are much torn and 
 mutilated ; and ten of these are 
 supplied by a later transcriber. 
 From this and the Clermont copy 
 of St. Paul's epistles, Beza publish- 
 ed his larger annotations in 1582. 
 See Dr. Kiplingh edition of it. 
 
 CAMERONIANS, a sect in 
 Scotland, who separated from the 
 Presbyterians in 1666, and con- 
 tinued long to hold their religious 
 assemblies in the fields. They 
 took their name from Richard 
 Cameron, a famous field-preacher, 
 who, refusing to accept the in- 
 dulgence to tender consciences, 
 granted by king Charles XL, 
 thinking such an acceptance an 
 acknowledgment of the king's 
 supremacy, made a defection from 
 his brethren, and even headed a 
 rebellion, in which he was killed. 
 The Cameronians adhere rigidly 
 to the form of government esta- 
 blished in 1648. There are not, 
 it is said, above fourteen or fifteen 
 congregations among them, and 
 these not large. 
 
 CAMERONIANS, or Came- 
 RONITES, the denomination of a 
 party of Calvinists in France, 
 who asserted that the will of man 
 is only determined by the practi- 
 cal judgment of the mind ; that 
 the cause of men's doing good or 
 evil proceeds from the knowledge 
 which God infuses into them ; 
 and that God does not move 
 
 Vol. L Q 
 
 the will physically, but only mo- 
 rally, in virtue of its depend- 
 ence on the judgment. They had 
 this name from John Cameron, 
 who was born at Glasgow in 
 1580, and who was professor 
 there, and afterwards at Bour- 
 deaux, Sedan, and Saumur. The 
 synod of Dort was severe upon 
 them ; yet it seems the only differ- 
 ence was this: — The synod had 
 defined that God not only illu- 
 minates the understanding, but 
 gives motion to the will, by mak- 
 ing an internal change therein. 
 Cameron only admitted the illu- 
 mination whereby the mind is mo- 
 rally moved ; and explained the 
 sentiment of the synod of Dort so 
 as to make the two opinions con- 
 sistent. 
 
 CANDOUR is a disposition to 
 form a fair and impartial judgment 
 on the opinions and actions of 
 others ; or a temper of mind un- 
 soured by envy, unruffled by ma- 
 lice, and unseduced by prejudice ; 
 sweet without weakness, and im- 
 partial without rigour. Candour 
 is a word which, in the present day, 
 is found exceedingly convenient. 
 To the infidel it is a shelter for his 
 skepticism, to the ignorant for his 
 ignorance, to the lukewarm for 
 his indifference, and to the irreli- 
 gious for their error. " True can- 
 dour is different from that guard- 
 ed, inoffensive language, and that 
 studied openness of behaviour, 
 which we so frequently meet with 
 among men of the world. It con- 
 sists not in fairness of speech only, 
 but in fairness of heart. It is not 
 blind attachment, external cour- 
 tesy, or a time-serving principle. 
 Exempt, on the one hand, from 
 
CAN 
 
 114. 
 
 CAN 
 
 the dark jealousy of a suspicious 
 mind, it is no less removed, on the 
 other, from that easy credulity 
 which is imposed on by every spe- 
 cious pretence. Its manners are 
 unaiFected, and its professions sin- 
 cere. , ' It conceals faults, but it 
 does not invent virtues.' In fine, 
 it is the happy medium bet'.yeen 
 undistinguishing credulity and uni- 
 versal suspicion." . See Libera- 
 lity. 
 
 CANON, a word used to denote 
 the authorized catalogue of the sa- 
 cred writings. " The Greek word 
 vMt'xv^ says Dr. Owen, " which 
 gives rise to the term canonical 
 seems to be derived from the He- 
 brew FDp, kaneh, which in general 
 signifies any reed whatever, 1st 
 Kings xiv, 15. Isa. xlii, 3, and par- 
 ticularly a reed made into an in- 
 strument, wherewith they mea- 
 sured their buildings, containing 
 six cubits in length, Ezek. xl, 7. 
 Ezek.xlii, 16, and hence indefinite- 
 ly it is taken for a rule or measure. 
 Besides, it signifies the beam and 
 tongue of a balance, Isa. xlvi, 6. 
 *■ They weighed silver on the cane; 
 that is, saith the Targum^ ' In the 
 balance.' This also is the primary 
 and proper signification of the 
 Greek word. Hence its metapho- 
 rical use, which is most common, 
 wherein it signifies a moral rule. 
 Aristotle calls the law Kavov^c rr,s 
 •TroKiliixs, the rule of the administra- 
 tion ; and hence it is that the writ- 
 ten word of God being in itself 
 absolutely rzght^ and appointed to 
 be the rule of faith and obedience, 
 is eminently called ' canonical.' " 
 
 The ancient canon of the books 
 of the Old Testament, ordinarily 
 attributed to Ezra, was divided 
 
 into the law, the prophets, and 
 the hagiogi-aphia, to which our Sa- 
 viour refers, Luke xxiv, 45. The 
 sa.me division is also mentioned 
 by Josephus. This is the canon 
 allowed to have been followed 
 by the primitive church till the 
 council of Carthage ; and, accord- 
 ing to Jerome, this consisted of 
 no more than twenty-two books, 
 answering to the number of the 
 Hebrew alphabet, though at pre- 
 sent they are classed into twenty- 
 four divisions. Thr^t council en- 
 larged the canon very considera- 
 bly, taking into it the apocryphal 
 books ; which the council of Trent 
 farther enforced, enjoining them 
 to be received as books of holy 
 scripture, upon pain of anathema. 
 The Romanists, in defence of 
 this canon, say, that it is the same 
 with that of the council of Hippo 
 held in 393 ; and with that of the 
 third council of Carthage in 397 ; 
 at which were present forty-six 
 bishops, and among the rest St. 
 Augustine. Their canon of the 
 New Testament, however, perfect- 
 ly agrees v/ith ours. It consists of 
 books that are well known, some 
 of v/hich have been universally 
 acknowledged : such are the four 
 gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, 
 thirteen epistles of St. Paul, first 
 of St. Peter, and first of St. John ; 
 and others, concerning which 
 doubts were entertained, but 
 which were afterwards received 
 as genuine; such are the epistle 
 to the Hebrews, that of James, 
 the second of Peter, the second 
 and thiixl of John, that of Jude, 
 and the Revelation. These books 
 were written at different times; 
 and they are authenticated not 
 
CAN 
 
 115 
 
 CAN 
 
 by the decrees of councils, or in- 
 fallible authority, but by such 
 evidence as is thought sufficient in 
 the case of any other ancient writ- 
 ings. They were extensively dif- 
 fused, and read in every christian 
 society ; they were valued and pre- 
 served with care by the first chris- 
 tians ; they were cited by christian 
 writers of the second, third, and 
 fourth, centuries, as Irenseus, Cle- 
 ment the Alexandrian, Tertul- 
 lian, Origen, Eusebius, &c.; and 
 their genuineness is proved by 
 the testimony of those who were 
 contemporary with the apostles 
 themselves. The four gospels, 
 and most of the other books of 
 the New Testament, were collect- 
 ed either by one of the apostles, 
 or some of their disciples and suc- 
 cessors, before the end of the first 
 century. The catalogue of cano- 
 nical books furnished by the more 
 ancient christian writers, as Origen, 
 about A. D. 210, Eusebius and 
 Athanasius in 315, Epiphanius 
 in 370, Jerome in 382, Austin in 
 394, and many others, agrees with 
 that which is now received among 
 christians. 
 
 See articles Bible, Chris- 
 tianity, Scriptures; Blair's 
 Canon of Scripture ; Jones's Cano- 
 nical Authority of the New Test.; 
 Blichaelis' s Led. on theNexv Test.; 
 Du Fin's Canon of Script.^ v. i ; 
 Prideaux's Connexions, v. \; Dr. 
 Owen on Hebrews^ Introd. 
 
 CANON, a person who pos- 
 sesses a prebend or revenue allot- 
 ted for the performance of divine 
 service in a cathedral or collegiate 
 c!mrch. Canons are of no great an- 
 tiquity. Paschier observes, that the 
 name was iiot kno\Mi before Clrar- 
 
 lemagne ; at least, the first we hear 
 of are in Gregory de Tours, who 
 mentions a college of canons insti- 
 tuted by Baldwin XVI, archbi- 
 shop of that city, in the tinae of 
 Clotharius I. The common opi- 
 nion attributes the institution of 
 this order to Chrodegangus, bishop 
 of Mentz, about the middle of 
 the eighth century. 
 
 CANON, in an ecclesiastical 
 sense, is a rule either of doctrine 
 or discipline, enacted especialiyby 
 a council, and confirmed by the 
 authority of the sovereign. Canons 
 are properly decisions of matters 
 of religion, or regulations of the 
 policy and discipline of a church, 
 made by councils, either general, 
 national, or provincial ; such are 
 the canons of the council of Nice, 
 of Trent, &c. 
 
 CANONICAL HOURS are 
 certain stated times of the day con- 
 signed more especially by the Ro- 
 mish church to the offices of pray- 
 er and devotion ; such are viatiJiSy 
 lauds^ &c. In England, the ca- 
 nonical hours are from eight to 
 twelve in the forenoon ; before or 
 after which marriage cannot be le- 
 gally performed in any church. 
 
 CANONICAL LETTERS,in 
 the ancient church, were testimo- 
 nials of the orthodox faith which 
 the bishops and clergy sent each 
 other to keep up the catholic com- 
 munion, and distinguish orthodox 
 christians from Ijei-etics. 
 
 CANONICAL LlFE,therule 
 of living prescribed by the ancient 
 clergy Vv'ho lived in community. 
 The canonical life was a kind of 
 medium between the monastic and 
 clerical lives. 
 
 CANONICAL OBEDI- 
 
CAN 
 
 116 
 
 CAR 
 
 ENCE, is that submission which, 
 by the ecclesiastical laws, the infe- 
 rior clergy are to pay to their bi- 
 shops, and the religious to their 
 superiors. 
 
 CANONIZATION, a cere- 
 mony in the Romish church, by 
 which persons deceased are ranked 
 in the catalogue of the saints. It 
 succeeds beatification. Before a 
 beatified person is canonized, the 
 qualifications of the candidate are 
 strictly examined into, in some 
 consistories held for that purpose ; 
 after which one of the consistorial 
 advocates, in the presence of the 
 pope and cardinals, makes the 
 panegyric of the person who is to 
 be proclaimed a saint, and gives 
 a particular detail of his life and 
 miracles ; Avhich being done, the 
 holy father decrees his canoniza- 
 tion, and appoints the day. 
 
 On the day of canonization, the 
 pope officiates in white, and their 
 eminences are dressed in the same 
 colour. St. Peter's church is hung 
 with rich tapestry, upon which the 
 arms of the pope, and of the prince 
 or state requiring the canonization, 
 areembroidei"ed in geld and silver. 
 A great number of lights blaze 
 all round the church which is 
 cro\v'ded with pious souls, who 
 wait with devout impatience till 
 the new saint has made his public 
 entry, as it were, into paradise, 
 that they may offer up their peti- 
 tions to him without danger of be- 
 ing rejected. 
 
 The ioHo'.v-ing maxim with re- 
 gard to canonization is now ob- 
 served, though it has not been fol- 
 lowed above a century, viz. not to 
 ijnter into the inquiries prior to 
 
 canonization till fifty years, at 
 least, after the death of the person 
 to be canonized. By the ceremo- 
 ny of canonization it appears that 
 this rite of the modern Romans 
 has something in it verj' like the 
 apotheosis or deification of the an- 
 cient Romans, and in all probabili- 
 ty takes its rise from it ; at least, 
 several ceremonies of the same 
 nature are conspicuous in both. 
 
 CAPUCHINS, religious, of the 
 order of St. Francis. They are 
 clothed with brown or grey ; al- 
 ways bare-footed ; never go in a 
 coach, nor ever shave their beards. 
 CAPUTIATI,a denomination 
 which appeared in the twelfth 
 century, so called from a singular 
 kind of cap which distinguished 
 their party. They wore upon 
 their caps a leaden image of the 
 Virgin Mary, and declared pub- 
 licly that their purpose was to 
 level all distinctions, to abrogate 
 magistracy, and to remove all su- 
 bordination among mankind, and 
 to restore that primitive liberty, 
 that natural equality, which were 
 the inestimable privilege of the 
 first mortals. 
 
 CARAITES, a Jewish sect, 
 which adheres closely to the text 
 I and letter of the scriptures, reject- 
 j ing the rabbinical interpretations 
 j and the cabbala. The Talmud ap- 
 jpearing in the beginning of the 
 I sixth ceritury, those of the best 
 i! sense among the Jews were dis- 
 Ijgusted at the ridiculous fables 
 ;; with which it abounded. But 
 [about the year 750, Anan, a 
 ij Babylonish Jevi', declared openly 
 ji for the written woi'd of God alone, 
 si exclusive of all tradition ; and this 
 
CAR 
 
 117 
 
 CAR 
 
 declaration produced a schism. 
 Those who maintained the Tal- 
 mud being almost all rabbins, were 
 called Rabbinists ; and the others, 
 who rejected traditions, were call- 
 ed Caraites, or Scripturists, from 
 the word cara^ which in the Ba- 
 bylonish language signifies scrip- 
 ture. 
 
 CARDINAL, one of the chief 
 governors of the Romish church, 
 by whom the pope is elected out 
 of their own number, which con- 
 tains six bishops, fifty priests, and 
 fourteen deacons : these constitute 
 the sacred college, and are chosen 
 by the pope. See Pope. 
 
 CARDINAL VIRTUES : jus- 
 tice, prudence, temperance, and 
 fortitude, are called the four cardi- 
 nal virtues, as being the basis of 
 all the rest. See Justice, &c. 
 
 CARE, concern, or anxiety of 
 mind arising from the uncertainty 
 of something future, or the oppres- 
 sion of the present calamity. Cau- 
 tion, attention to a particular sub- 
 ject; regard and support, when ful- 
 lowed with the particle of. Pru- 
 dence signifies wisdom, applied to 
 practice ; discretion is the effect of 
 prudence, and means a knowledge 
 to govern or direct one's self; by 
 care we understand heed in order 
 to preserv^ation : cautioji implies a 
 greater degree of weariness. 
 
 Care is laivfid when it consists 
 in a serious thought and earnest 
 endeavour to please God ; to em- 
 brace his Son, obey his com- 
 mands, submit to his providence, 
 to promote our neighbours' tem- 
 poral or spiritual advantage, and 
 to gain the goods of this life 
 so far as necessary for our health, 
 family, comfort, and usefulness. 
 
 It is sinful when it leads us 
 to immoderate concern about 
 earthly things ; to be discontented 
 with our lot, or to make use of 
 unlawful means to obtain worldly 
 good. 
 
 CARE OF GOD, is his atten- 
 tion to and concern for the promo- 
 tion of the welfare of his creatures, 
 1st Pet. V, 7. 1. That God does 
 manifest this care is evident from 
 the blessings we enjoy, the ordi- 
 nances he has instituted, the pro- 
 mises he has given, and the pro- 
 vision he has made, Ps. Ixxxiv, 
 
 11. Matt, vii, 12 2. This care 
 
 is entirely free and unmerited on 
 our part, Gen. xxxii, 10. Deut. 
 vii, 6. Rom. iii, 23. — 3. It is 
 every way extensive, reaching to 
 all his creatures and to all cases, 
 Ps. cxlv. — 4. It is superior to all 
 human care and attention. He 
 cares for us when others cannot ; 
 when others will not care for us ; 
 or when we cannot or will not 
 care for ourselves, Ps. cxlii, 4. 5. 
 
 Jer. xlix, 11. Ps. xli, 3 5. It is 
 
 not only great, but perpetual. 
 Through all the scenes of life, in 
 death, and for ever, Heb. xiii, 5. 
 John xvii, 9. See Providence. 
 
 CARMELITES, one of the 
 four tribes of mendicants, or beg- 
 ging friars ; so named from Mount 
 Carmel, formerly inhabited by 
 Elias, Elisha, and the children of 
 the prophets ; from Avhom this 
 order pretends to descend in unin- 
 terrupted suctession. Their habit 
 was at first white ; but pope Ho- 
 norius IV, commanded them to 
 change it for that of the Minims. 
 They wear no linen shirts, but, 
 instead of them, linsey-woolsey. 
 
 CARPOCRATIANS,abranch 
 
CAS 
 
 118 
 
 CAS 
 
 of the ancient Gnostics, so called 
 froni (yarpocrates, who in the se- 
 cond century revived and improv- 
 ed upon the errors of Simon Ma- 
 gus, Menender, Saturninus, and 
 other Gnostics. See Gnostics. 
 
 CARTHUSIANS, a rehgious 
 order founded A.D. 1080, by one 
 Brudo ; so called from the desert 
 Chartreiix^ the place of their in- 
 stitution. Their rule is extreme- 
 ly severe. They must not go out 
 of their cells, except to church, 
 without leave of their superior ; 
 nor speak to any person without 
 leave. They must not keep any 
 meat or drink till next day : their 
 beds are of straw covered v/ith 
 a felt J their clothing, two hair 
 cloths, two cowls, two pair of 
 hose, and a cloak ; all coarse. In 
 the refectory they must keep their 
 eyes on the dish, their hands on 
 the table, their attention to the 
 reader, and their hearts fixed on 
 God. Women must not come into 
 their churches. 
 
 CASUALTY, an event that is 
 not foreseen or intended. See Con- 
 tingency. 
 
 CASUIST, on that studies and 
 settles cases of conscience. It is 
 said that Escobar has made a col- 
 lection of the ojiinions of all the 
 casuists before him. IM. Le Feore, 
 preceptor of Louis XIII, called 
 the books of the casuists the art 
 of quibbling with God ; which 
 does not seem far from truth, by 
 reason of the multitude of distinc- 
 tions and subtleties they abound 
 with. Mayer has published a 
 bibliotheca of casuists, containing 
 an account of all the Avriters on 
 cases of conscience, ranged under 
 three heads ; the first coniDreher.d- 
 
 ing the Lutheran, the second the 
 Calvinist, and the third the Ro- 
 mish casuists. 
 
 CASUISTRY, the doctrine and 
 science of conscience and its cases, 
 with the rules and principles of 
 reviving the same j drawn partly 
 from natural reason or equity, 
 and partly from the authority of 
 scripture, the canon laAv, councils, 
 fathers, &c. To casuistry belongs 
 the decision of all difficulties aris- 
 ing about what a man may lawfully 
 do or not do ; what is sin or not sin ; 
 what things a man is obliged to do 
 in order to discharge his duty, and 
 what he may let alone without 
 breach of it. 
 
 Some suppose that all books 
 of casuistry are as useless as they 
 are tiresome. One who is really 
 anxious to do his duty must be 
 very weak, it is said, if he can 
 imagine that he has much occa- 
 sion for them ; and with regard 
 to one who is negligent of it, the 
 st^de of those writings is not such 
 as is likely to awaken him to more 
 attention. The frivolous accu- 
 racy which casuists attempt to in- 
 troduce into subjects which do 
 not admit of it, almost necessarily 
 betray them into dangerous er- 
 rors ; and at the same time render 
 their works dry and disagreeable, 
 abounding in abstruse and meta- 
 physical distinctions, but incapa- 
 ble of exciting in the heart any 
 of those emotions which it is the 
 principal use of books of morality 
 to produce. 
 
 On the other hand,, I think it 
 may be observed, that, though 
 these remarks may apply to some^ 
 they cannot apply to all books of 
 casuistn-. It must be acknow- 
 
CAT 
 
 119 
 
 C A T 
 
 iedged that nice distinctions, me- 
 taphysical reasoning, and abstruse 
 terms, cannot be of much service 
 to the generality, because there 
 are so few who can enter into 
 them ; yet, when we consider how 
 much light is thrown upon a sub- 
 ject by the force of good reason- 
 ing, by viewing a case in all its 
 bearings, by properly considering 
 all the objections that may be 
 made to it, and by examining it in 
 every point of view ; if we con- 
 sider also how little some men are 
 accustomed to think, and yet at 
 the same time possess that ten- 
 derness of conscience which makes 
 them fearful of doing wrong ; we 
 must conclude that such works as 
 these, when properly executed, 
 may certainly be of considerable 
 advantage. The reader may con- 
 sult Arnes^s Pozuer and Cases of 
 Conscience ; Bishop Taylor'' s Duc- 
 tor Diibitantium ; Dr. Saunder- 
 son's De Obligatione Conscie7itice ; 
 Pike and, Hayxvard'*s Cases ; and 
 Saiirin''s Christian Casuistry^ in 
 4th vol. of his Sermons, p. 265, 
 English edition. 
 
 CATECHISING, instructing 
 by asking questions and correcting 
 the answers. Catechising is an 
 excellent mean of informing the 
 mind, engaging the attention, and 
 affecting the heart, and is an im- 
 portant duty incumbent on all 
 who have children under their 
 care. Children should not be suf- 
 fered to grow up without instruc- 
 tion, under the pretence that the 
 choice of religion ought to be 
 perfectly free, and not biassed 
 by the influence and authority of 
 parents, or the power of educa- 
 tion. As they have capacities, 
 
 and ar^? more capable of knov/- 
 ledge by instruction than by the 
 exercise of their own reasoning 
 powers, they should certainly be 
 taught. This agrees both with 
 the voice of nature and the dic- 
 tates of revelation, Deut. vi, 7. 
 Prov. xxii, 6. Eph. vi. 4. The 
 propriety of this being granted, it 
 may next be observed, that, in 
 order to facilitate their know- 
 ledge, short summaries of reli- 
 gion extracted from the Bible, 
 in the v/ay of question, and answer, 
 may be of considerable use. 1. 
 Hereby, says Dr. Watts, the prin- 
 ciples of Christianity are reduced 
 into short sentences, and easier to 
 be understood by children. 2. 
 Hereby these principles are not 
 only thrown into a just and easy 
 method, but every part is natu- 
 rally introduced by a proper ques- 
 tion ; and the rehearsal of the an- 
 sv/er is made far easier to a child 
 than it would be if the child were 
 required to repeat the -whole 
 scheme of religion. — 3. This way 
 of teaching bath something fami- 
 liar and delightful in it, because 
 it looks more like conversation and 
 dialogue. — 4. The very curiosi- 
 ty of the young mind is awaken- 
 ed by the question to know what 
 the answer will be ; and the child 
 will take pleasure in learning the 
 answer by heart, to improve its 
 Qwn knowledge. See next ar- 
 ticle. 
 
 CATECHISM, a form of in- 
 struction .by means of questionsand 
 answers. There have been various 
 catechisms published by different 
 authors, but many of them have 
 been but ill suited to convey in- 
 struction to juvenile minds. Ca- 
 
CAT 
 
 120 
 
 CAT 
 
 techisms for children should be 
 so framed as not to puzzle and 
 confound, but to let the beams 
 of Divine light into their minds by 
 degrees. They should be accom- 
 modated as far as possible to the 
 weakness of their understandings ; 
 for mere learning sentences by 
 rote, without comprehending the 
 meaning, will be but of little use. 
 In this way they will know no- 
 thing but words : it will prove a 
 laborious task, and not a pleasure ; 
 confirm them in a bad habit of 
 dealing in sounds instead of ideas ; 
 and, after all, perhaps create in 
 them an aversion to religion it- 
 self. Dr. Watts advises that 
 different catechisms should be 
 composed for different ages and 
 capacities ; the questions and an- 
 swers should be short, plain, and 
 easy; scholastic terms, and logical 
 distinctions, should be avoided ; 
 the most practial points of reli> 
 gion should be inserted; and one 
 or more well chosen text of scrip- 
 ture should be added to support 
 almost every answer, and to prove 
 the several parts of it. The doc- 
 tor has admirably exemplified his 
 own rules in the catechism he has 
 composed for children at three or 
 four years old ; that for children at 
 seven or eight; his assembly's ca- 
 techism, proper for youth at twelve 
 or fourteen ; his preservative from 
 the sins and follies of childhood ; 
 his catechism of scripture names; 
 and his historical catechism. These 
 are superior to any I knovv^ and 
 which I cannot but ardently re- 
 commend to parents, and all those 
 who have the care and instruction 
 of children. 
 
 C ATE C HIST, one whose 
 
 charge is to instruct by questions, 
 or to question the uninstructed 
 concerning religion. 
 
 The catechists of the ancient 
 churches were usually ministers, 
 and distinct fi-om the bishops and 
 presbyters ; and had their catechu- 
 mena^ or auditories, apart. But 
 they did not constitute any distinct 
 order of the clergy, being chosen 
 out of any order. The bishop 
 himself sometimes performed the 
 office ; at other times, presbyters, 
 readers, or deacons. It was his 
 j business to expose the folly of the 
 'pagan <^''perstition ; to remove 
 [ prejudicts, and answer objections ; 
 I to discourse on behalf of the chris- 
 tian doctrines ; and to give in- 
 struction to those who had not suf- 
 ficient knowledge to qualify them 
 for baptism. 
 
 CATECHUMENS, the low- 
 est order of christians in the pri- 
 mitive church. They had some title 
 to the common name of christians, 
 being a degree above pagans and 
 heretics, though not consummated 
 by baptism. Thev were admit- 
 ted to the state of catechumens 
 by the imposition of hands, and 
 the sign of the cross. The chil- 
 dren of believing parents were ad- 
 mitted catechumens as soon as 
 ever they were capable of instruc- 
 tion ; but at what age those of 
 heathen parents might be admit- 
 ted is not so clear. As to. the 
 time of their continuance in this 
 state, there were no general ruleo 
 fixed about it; but the practice 
 varied according to the difference 
 of times and places, and the i-eadi- 
 ncss and proficiency of the cate- 
 chumens themselves. There were 
 four orders or degrees of cate- 
 
CAT 
 
 121 
 
 CAT 
 
 chumens. The first were those 
 instructed privately witho\it the 
 church, and kept at a distance, for 
 some time, from the privilege of! 
 entering the church, to make 
 them the more eager and desirous 
 of it. The next degree were the 
 audienteSy so called from their be- 
 ing admitted to hear sermons and 
 the scriptures read in the church, 
 but were not allowed to partake 
 of the prayers. The third sort of 
 catechumens were the genujlecten- 
 teSy so called because they receiv- 
 ed imposition of hands kneeling. 
 The fourth order was the compe- 
 tentesetelecti; denoting the imme- 
 diate candidates for baptism, or 
 such as were appointed to be bap- 
 tized the next approaching festival; 
 before which, strict examination 
 was made into their proficiency, 
 under the several stages of cate- 
 chetical exercises. 
 
 After examination, they were 
 exercised for twenty days toge- 
 ther, and were obliged to fastmg 
 and confession. Some days before 
 baptism they went veiled ; and it 
 was customary to touch their ears, 
 saying, Ephatha^ i. e. Be opened; 
 as also to anoint their eyes with 
 clay : both ceremonies being in 
 imitation of our Saviour's practice, 
 and intended to signify to the ca- 
 techumens their condition both be- 
 fore and after their admission into 
 the christian church. 
 
 CATHARISTS, a sect that 
 spread much in the Latin church in 
 the twelfth century. Their reli- 
 gion resembled thu doctrine of the 
 Manichsans and Gnostics [see 
 those articles]. They supposed that 
 matter was the source of evil , that 
 Christ was not clothed with a real 
 
 Vol. I. K 
 
 body ; that baptism and the Lord's 
 supper were useless institutions ; 
 with a variety of other strange no- 
 tions. 
 
 CATHEDRAL, the chief 
 church of a diocese ; a church 
 wherein is a bishop's see. The 
 word comes from v.oS^oix, " chair:'* 
 the name seems to have taken its 
 rise from the manner of sitting in 
 the ancient churches or assemblies 
 of private christians. In these the 
 council, i. e. the elders and priests, 
 were called Presbyterium ; at their 
 head was the bishop, who held the 
 place of chairman, Cathredalis or 
 Cathredaticus ; and the presbyters 
 who sat on either side, also called 
 by the ancient fathers Assessores 
 Episcoporum. The episcopal au- 
 thority did not reside in the bishop 
 alone, but in all the presbyterg, 
 whereof the bishop was president. 
 A cathedral^ therefore, originally 
 was different from what it is now; 
 the christians, till the time of Con- 
 stantine, having no liberty to build 
 any temple. By their churches 
 they only meant assemblies ; and 
 by cathedrals, nothing more than 
 consistories. 
 
 CATHOLIC, denotes anything 
 that is universal or general. The 
 rise of heresies induced the pri- 
 mitive christian church to assume 
 to itself the appellation of catholicy 
 being a characteristic to distinguish 
 itself from all sects, who, though 
 they had party names, sometimes 
 sheltered themselves under the 
 name of christians. The Romish 
 church naw distinguishes itself by 
 catholic, in opposition to all who 
 have separated from her commu- 
 nion, and whom she considers as 
 heretics and schismatics ; and her- 
 
CEL 
 
 122 
 
 CEM 
 
 self only as the true and christian 
 church. In the strict sense of the 
 word, there is no catholic church 
 in being ; that is, no universal 
 christian communion. 
 
 CELESTINS, a religious or- 
 der in the thirteenth century ; so 
 called from their founder, Peter 
 De Meuron, afterwards raised to 
 the pontificate under the name of 
 Celestine V. The Celestins rose 
 two hours after midnight to say 
 matins ; ate no flesh, except when 
 sick ; and often fasted. Their ha- 
 bit consisted of a white gown, a 
 capuche, a black scapulary, and 
 shirts of serge. 
 
 CELIBACY, the state of un- 
 married persons. Celibate, or celi- 
 bacy, is a word chiefly used in 
 speaking of the single life of the 
 popish clergy, or the obligation 
 they are under to abstain from 
 marriage. The church of Rome 
 imposes an universal celibacy on 
 all her clergy, from the pope to 
 the lowest deacon and subdeacon. 
 The advocates for this usage pre- 
 tend that a vow of perpetual celi- 
 bacy was required in the ancient 
 church as a condition of ordination, 
 even from the earliest apostolic 
 ages. But the contrary is evident, 
 from numerous examples of bi- 
 shops and archbishops who lived 
 in a state of matrimony, without 
 any prejudice to their ordination 
 or their function. Neither our 
 Lord nor his apostles laid the 
 least restraint upon the connubial 
 union : on the contrary, the scrip- 
 tures speak of it as honourable in 
 alii without the least restriction as 
 to persons, Heb. xiii, 4. Matt. 
 xix, 10, 12. 1st Cor. vii, 2, 9. St. 
 Paul even assigns forbidding to 
 
 marry as characteristic of the apo- 
 stacy of the latter times, 1st Tim. 
 iv, 3. The fathers, without mak- 
 ing any distinction between clergy 
 and laity, asserted the lawfulness 
 of the marriage of all christians. 
 Marriage was not forbidden to bi- 
 shops in the Eastern church till 
 the close of the seventh century. 
 Celibacy was not imposed on the 
 Western clergy in general till the 
 end of the eleventh century, though 
 attempts had been made long be- 
 fore. Superstitious zeal for a sanc- 
 timonious appearance in the cler- 
 gy seems to have promoted it at 
 fii'st ; and crafty policy armed with 
 power, no doubt, rivetted this clog 
 on the sacerdotal order in later 
 periods of the church. Pope Gre- 
 gory VII appears in this business 
 to have had a view to separate the 
 clergy 'as much as possible from 
 all other interests, and to bring 
 them into a total dependence up- 
 on his authority ; to the end that 
 all temporal power might in a high 
 degree be subjugated to the papal 
 jurisdiction. Forbidding to mar- 
 ry, therefore, has evidently the 
 mark of the beast upon it. See 
 Marriage. 
 
 CEMETERY, a place set apart 
 fortheburialof the dead. Ancient- 
 ly, none were buried in churches 
 or churchyards : it was even un- 
 lawful to i7iter in cities, and the 
 cemeteries were without the walls. 
 Among the primitive christians 
 these were held in great venera- 
 tion. It even appears from Euse- 
 bius and Tertullian, that in the 
 early ages they assembled for di- 
 vine worship in the cemeteries. 
 Valerian seems to have confiscat- 
 ed the cemeteries and other places 
 
CER 
 
 123 
 
 CER 
 
 of divine worship ; but they were 
 restored agaiti by Gallienus. As 
 the martyrs were buried in these 
 places, the christians chose them 
 for building churches on, when 
 Coustantine established their reli- 
 gion ; and hence some derive the 
 rule which still obtains in the 
 church of Rome, never to conse- 
 crate an altar without putting un- 
 der it the relics of some saint. 
 
 CENSURE,the act of judging 
 and blaming others for their faults. 
 Faithfulness in reproving another 
 differs from censoriousness : the for- 
 mer arises from love to truth, and 
 respect for the person ; the latter 
 is a disposition that loves to find 
 fault. However just censure may 
 be where there is blame, yet a cen- 
 sorious spirit, orrash judging, must 
 be avoided. It is usurping the au- 
 thority and judgment of God. It 
 is unjust, uncharitable, mischiev- 
 ous, productive of unhappiness to 
 ourselves, and often the cause of 
 disorder and confusion in society. 
 See Charity. 
 
 CERDONIANS, a sect, in the 
 first century, who espoused most 
 of the opinions of Simon Magus 
 and the Manichseans, They as- 
 serted two principles, good and 
 bad. The first they called the Fa- 
 ther of Jesus Christ ; the latter 
 the Creator of the world. They 
 denied the incarnation and the re- 
 sun-ection, and rejected the books 
 of the Old Testament. 
 
 CEREMONY, an assemblage 
 of several actions, fonns, and cir- 
 cumstances, serving to render a 
 thing magnificent and solemn. Ap- 
 plied to religious services, it signi- 
 fies the external rites and manner 
 wherein the ministers of religion 
 
 perform their sacred functions. In 
 1646, M. Ponce published a his- 
 tory of ancient ceremonies, tracing 
 the rise, growth, and introduction 
 of each rite into the church, and 
 its gradual advancement to super- 
 stition. Many of them were bor- 
 rowed from Judaism, but more 
 from paganism. Dr. Middleton 
 has given a fine discourse on the 
 conformity between the pagan and 
 popish ceremonies, which he ex- 
 emplifies in the use of incense, 
 holy water, lamps and candles be- 
 fore the shrines of saints, yotive 
 gifts round the shrines of the de- 
 ceased, &c. In fact, the altars, 
 images, crosses, processions, mira- 
 cles, and legends, nay, even the 
 very hierarchy, pontificate, reli- 
 gious orders, &c., of the present 
 Romans, he shews, are all copied 
 from their heathen ancestors. An 
 ample and magnificent representa- 
 tion in figures of the religious ce- 
 remonies and customs of all na- 
 tions in the world, designed by 
 Picart, is added, with historical 
 explanations, and many curious 
 dissertations. 
 
 It has been a question, whether 
 we ought to use such rites and ce- 
 remonies which are merely of hu- 
 man appointment. On one side 
 it has been observed that we ought 
 not. Christ alone is King in his 
 church : he hath instituted such 
 ordinances and forms of worship 
 as he hath judged fit and neces- 
 sary ; and to add to them seems, 
 at least, to carry in it an imputa- 
 tion on his wisdom and authority, 
 and hath this unanswerable objec- 
 tion to it, that it opens the door 
 to a thousand innovations (as the 
 history of the church of Rome 
 
C ER 
 
 124 
 
 CER 
 
 iiatli sufficiently she^vn), which 
 are not only indifferent in them- 
 selves, but highly absurd, and ex- 
 tremely detrimental to religion. 
 That the ceremonies were nume- 
 rous under the Old Testament dis- 
 pensation is no argument ; for, 
 say thev, 1. We respect Jewish 
 ceremonies, because they were 
 appointed of God ; and we re- 
 ject human ceremonies, because 
 God hath not appointed them. — 
 2. The Jewish ceremonies were 
 established by the universal consent 
 of the nation ; human ceremonies 
 are not so. — ^3. The former were 
 fit and proper for the purposes for 
 which they were appointed ; but 
 the latter are often the contrary. 
 — 4'. The institutor of the Jewish 
 ceremonies provided for the ex- 
 pence of it J but no provision is 
 made by God to support human 
 ceremonies, or what he has not 
 appointed. 
 
 These arguments seem very pow- 
 erful J but on the other side it has 
 been observed, that the desire of 
 reducing religious worship to the 
 greatest possible simplicity, how- 
 ever rational it may appear in it- 
 self, and abstractedly considered, 
 will be considerably moderated in 
 such as bestow a moment's atten- 
 tion upon the imperfection and in- 
 firmities of human nature in its 
 present state. ]Mankind, general- 
 ly speaking, have too little eleva- 
 tion of mind to be much affected 
 with those forms and methods of 
 worship in which there is nothing 
 striking to the outward senses. 
 The great difficulty here lies in 
 determining the length which it is 
 prudent to go in the accommoda- 
 tion of reiigoius ceremonies to 
 
 human infirmity; and the grand 
 point is, to fix a medium in which 
 a due regard may be shewn to the 
 senses and imagination, without 
 violating the dictates of right rea- 
 son, or tarnishing the purity of 
 true religion. It has been said, 
 that the Romish church has gone 
 too far in its condescension to the 
 infirmities of mankind; and this 
 is what the ablest defenders of its 
 motley worship have alleged in its 
 behalf. But this observation is 
 not just; the church of Rome has 
 not so much accommodated itself 
 to hiunan zvcakness^ as it has abus- 
 ed that weakness^ by taking occa- 
 sion from it to establish an endless 
 variety of ridiculous ceremonies, 
 destructive of true religion, and 
 only adapted to pi-omote the riches 
 and despotism of the clergy, and 
 to keep the multitude still hood- 
 winked in their ignorance and su- 
 perstition. How far a just anti- 
 pathy to the church puppet-shows 
 of the Papists has unjustly driven 
 some Protestant churches into the 
 opposite extreme, is a matter that 
 certamly deserves a serious consi- 
 deration. See Dr. Stenneti's Ser. 
 on Conformitij to the World; jRo- 
 binson''s Sermon on Ceremonies ; 
 Booth's Essay on the Kingdom of 
 Christ; Mosheim^s Ecclesiastical 
 History; xvith Mac Laine's Note, 
 vol. i, p. 203, quarto ^edition. 
 
 CERINTHIANS, ancient he- 
 retics, who denied the deity of Je- 
 sus Christ ; so named from Ce- ' 
 rinthus. They believed that he was 
 a mere man, the son of Joseph and 
 Mary ; but that in his baptism a 
 celestial virtue descended on him 
 in the form of a dove; by means 
 whereof he was consecrated by the 
 
CHA ' 
 
 125 
 
 CHA 
 
 Holy Spirit, made Christ, and 
 wrought so many miracles ; that, 
 as he received it from heaven, it 
 quitted him after his passion, and 
 returned to the place whence it 
 came ; so that Jesus, whom they 
 called 2Lpure 7n«;2, really died, and 
 rose again ; but that Christ, who 
 was distinguished from Jesus, did 
 not suffer at all. It was partly to 
 refute this sfcct that St. John wrote 
 his gospel. They received the gos- 
 pel of St. Matthew, to counte- 
 nance their doctrine of circumci- 
 sion ; but they omitted the genea- 
 logy. They discarded the epistles 
 of St. Paul, because that apostle 
 held circumcision abolished. 
 
 CHALDEE PARAPHRASE, in 
 the rabbinical style, is called Tar- 
 gum. There are three Chaldee 
 paraphrases in Walton's Polyglot ; 
 viz. 1. of Onkelos 5 — 2. of Jona- 
 than, son of Uzziel j — 3. of Jeru- 
 salem. See Bible, sect. 19, and 
 Targum. 
 
 CHALICE, the cup used to 
 administer the wine in the sacra- 
 ment, and by the Roman catholics 
 in the mass. The use of the chalice, 
 or communicating in both kinds, 
 is by the church of Rome denied 
 to the laity, who communicate only 
 in one kind, the clergy alone be- 
 ing allowed the privilege of com- 
 municating in both kinds ; in di- 
 rect opposition to our Saviour's 
 words — " Drink ye all of it." 
 
 CHANCE, a term we apply to 
 events to denote that they happen 
 without any necessary or fore- 
 known cause. When we say a 
 thing happens by chance, we mean 
 no more than that its cause is un- 
 known to us, and not, as some 
 vainly imagine, that chance itself 
 
 can be the cause of anything. "The 
 case of the painter," says Cham- 
 bers, " who, unable to express the 
 foam at the mouth of the horse he 
 had painted, threw his sponge in 
 despair at the piece, and by chance 
 did that which he could not do 
 before by design, is an eminent 
 instance of what is called chance. 
 Yet it is obvious all we here mean 
 by chance, is, that the painter 
 was not aware of the effect, or 
 that he did not throw the sponge 
 with such a view : not but that he 
 actually did every thing necessary 
 to produce the effect ; insomuch 
 that, considering the direction 
 wherein he threw the sponge, to- 
 gether with its form and specific 
 gravity, the colours wherewith it 
 was smeared, and the distance of 
 the hand from the piece, it was 
 impossible, on the present system 
 of things, that the effect should 
 not follow." — The word, as it is 
 often used by the unthinking, is 
 vague and indeterminate — a mere 
 name for nothing. 
 
 CHANCELLOR, a lay officer 
 under a bishop, who is judge of his 
 court. In the first ages of the 
 church the bishops had those of- 
 ficers, who were called church 
 lawyers, and were bred up in 
 the knowledge of the civil and 
 canon law : their business was to 
 assist the bishop in his diocese.— 
 We read of no chancellors till 
 Henry the Second's time ; but that 
 king requiring the attendance of 
 the bishops in his councils, it was 
 thought necessary to substitute 
 chancellors in their room for the 
 dispatch of business- 
 
 CHANT-is used for the vocal 
 music of churches. In church his- 
 
CH A 
 
 126 
 
 CHA 
 
 torywe meet with diverse kinds of 
 these ,• as, 1. Chant Ambrosian, 
 established by St. Ambrose j — 2. 
 Chant Gregorian, introduced by 
 pope Gregory the Great, who esta- 
 blishedschools of chanters, and cor- 
 rected the church music. This, at 
 first, was called the Roman song; 
 afterwards the plain song ; as the 
 choir and people sing in unison. 
 
 CHAOS, the mass of matter 
 supposed to be in confusion before 
 it was divided by the Almighty in- 
 to its proper classes and elements. 
 It does not appear who first assert- 
 ed the notion of a chaos. Moses, 
 the earliest of all writers, derives 
 the origin of this world from a 
 confusion of matter, dark, void, 
 cleep, without form, which he 
 calls TOHU BOHU; which is 
 precisely the chaos of the Greek 
 and barbarian philosophers. Mo- 
 ses goes no farther than the chaos, 
 nor tells us whence it took its ori- 
 gin, or whence its confused state ; 
 and where MOses stops, there pre- 
 cisely do all the rest. 
 
 CHAPEL, a place of worship. 
 There are various kinds of chapels 
 in Britain. 1. Domestic chapels, 
 built by noblemen or gentlemen 
 for private worship in their fami- 
 lies. — 2. Free chapels, such as 
 are founded by kings of England. 
 They are free from all episcopal 
 jurisdiction, and only to be visited 
 by the founder and his successors, 
 which is done by the lord chan- 
 cellor : yet the king may licence 
 any subject to build and endow a 
 chapel, and by letters patent ex- 
 empt it from the visitation of the 
 ordinary. — 3. Chapels in univer- 
 sities, belonging to particular uni- 
 versities. — i. Chapels of ease,built 
 
 for the ease of one or more pa- 
 rishioners that dwell too far from 
 the church, and are served by in- 
 ferior curates, provided for at the 
 charge of the rector, or of such 
 as have benefit by it, as the com- 
 position or custom is. — 5. Paro- 
 chial chapels, which differ from 
 parish churches only in name : 
 they are generally small, and th^ 
 inhabitants within the district few. 
 If there be a presentation ad ec- 
 clesiam instead of capellam, and an 
 admission and institution upon it, 
 it is no longer a chapel, but a 
 church for themselves and fami- 
 lies. — 6. Chapels which adjoin to 
 and are part of the church ; such 
 were formerly built by honoura- 
 ble persons as burying places. — 
 7. The places of worship belong- 
 ing to the Calvinistic and Armi- 
 nian Methodiats are also generally 
 called chapels, though they are 
 licensed in no other way than 
 the meetings of the Protestant Dis- 
 senters. 
 
 CHAPLAIN, a person who 
 performs divine service in a chapel, 
 or is retained in the service of 
 some family to perform divine 
 service. 
 
 As to the origin of chaplains, 
 some say the shrines of relics 
 were anciently covered with a 
 kind of tent, cape, or capella, i. e. 
 little cape ; and that hence the 
 priests who had the care of them 
 were called chaplains. In time, 
 these relics were reposited in a lit- 
 tle church, either contiguous to a 
 larger, or separate from it; and 
 the name capella, which was given 
 to the cover, was also given to the 
 place v/here it was lodged ; and 
 hence the priest who superintend- 
 
CHA 
 
 127 
 
 CHA 
 
 ed it came to be called capellanus, 
 or chaplain. 
 
 According to a statute of Henry 
 VIII, the persons vested with a 
 power of retaining chaplains, to- 
 gether with the number each is al- 
 lowed to qualify, are as follow : 
 an archbishop eight ; a duke or 
 bishop six; marquis or earl five ; 
 viscount four; baron, knight of 
 the garter, or lord chancellor, 
 three ; a dutchess, marchioness, 
 countess, baroness, the treasurer, 
 or comptroller of the king's house, 
 clerk of the closet, the king's se- 
 cretary, dean of the chapel, almo- 
 ner, and master of the rolls, each 
 of them two ; chief justice of the 
 king's bench, and ward of the 
 cinque ports, each one. All these 
 chaplains may purchase a licence 
 or dispensation, and take two be- 
 tiefices, with cure of souls. A 
 chaplain must be retained by let- 
 ters testimonial under hand and 
 seal, for it is not sufficient that he 
 serve as chaplain in the family. 
 
 In England there are forty- 
 eight chaplains to the king, who 
 "wait four each month, preach in 
 the chapel, read the service to the 
 family, and to the king in his pri- 
 vate oratory, and say grace in the 
 absence of the clerk of the closet. 
 While in waiting, they have a 
 table and attendance, but no sala- 
 ry. In Scotland, the king has 
 six chaplains with a salary of 50/. 
 each ; three of them having in ad- 
 dition the deanery of the chapel 
 royal divided between them, mak- 
 ing up above 100/. to each. Their 
 only dut)' at present is to say 
 prayers at the election of peers 
 for Scotland to sit in parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 CHAPLET, a certain instru- 
 ment of piety made use of by the 
 papists. It is a string of beads, 
 by which they measure or count 
 the number of their prayers. 
 
 CHAPTER, a community of- 
 ecclesiastics belonging to a cathe- 
 dral or collegiate church. The 
 chief or head of the chapter is the 
 dean ; the body consists of canons 
 or prebendaries. The chapter 
 has now no longer a place in the 
 administration of the diocese dur* 
 ing the life of the bishop ; but suc- 
 ceeds to the whole episcopal juris- 
 diction during the vacancy of the 
 see. 
 
 CHARGE : 1, a sermon preach- 
 ed by the bishop to his clergy ;— 
 2, Among the Dissenters, it is a 
 sermon preached to a minister at 
 his ordination, generally by some 
 aged or respectable preacher. 
 
 CHARITY, one of the three 
 grand theological graces, consist- 
 ing in the love of God and our 
 neighbour, or the habit or dispo- 
 sition of loving God with all our 
 heart, and our neighbour as our- 
 selves. '■^Charity," says an able 
 writer, " consists not in specula* 
 tive ideas of general benevolence 
 floating in the head, and leaving 
 the heart, as speculations often do, 
 untouched and cold ; neither is it 
 confined to that indolent good na- 
 ture which makes us rest satisfied 
 with being free from inveterate 
 malice, or ill will to our fellow 
 creatures, without prompting us 
 to be of service to any. True cha- 
 rity is an active principle. It is 
 not properly a single virtue ; but a 
 disposition residing in the heart as 
 a fountain ; whence all the-virtues 
 of benignity, candour, forbearance, 
 
CHA 
 
 128 
 
 CHA 
 
 generosity, compassion, and li- 
 berality flow as so many native 
 streams. From general good-will 
 to all, it extends its influence, 
 particularly to those with whom 
 we stand in nearest connexion, 
 and who are directly within the 
 sphere of our good offices. From 
 the country or community to 
 which we belong, it descends to 
 the smaller associations of neigh- 
 bourhood, relations, and friends ; 
 and spreads itself over the whole 
 circle of social and domestic life. 
 I mean not that it imports a pro- 
 miscuous undistinguishing affec- 
 tion which gives every man an 
 equal title to our love. Charity, 
 if we should endeavour to carry it 
 so far, would be rendered an im- 
 practicable virtue, and would re- 
 solve itself into mere words, v/ith- 
 out affecting the heart. True cha- 
 rity attempts not to shut our eyes 
 to the distinction between good 
 and bad men ; nor to warm our 
 hearts equally to those who be- 
 friend and those who injure us. 
 It reserves our esteem for good 
 • men, and our complacency for our 
 friends. Towards our enemies, 
 it inspires forgiveness and huma- 
 nity. It breathes universal can- 
 dour and liberality of sentiment. 
 It forms gentleness of temper, and 
 dictates affability of manners. It 
 prompts coiTesponding sympathies 
 with them who rejoice and them 
 who weep. It teaches us to slight 
 and despise no man. Charity is 
 the comforter of the afflicted, the 
 protector of the oppressed, the re- 
 conciler of differences, the inter- 
 cessor for offenders. It is faith- 
 fulness in the friend, public spirit 
 Ir the magistrate, equity and pa- 
 
 tience in the judge, moderation in 
 the sovereign, and loyalty in the 
 subject. In parents it is care and 
 attention ; in children it is reve- 
 rence and submission. In a word, 
 it is the soul of social life. It is 
 the sun that enlivens and cheers 
 the abodes of men ; not a meteor 
 which occasionally glares, but a 
 luminary, which in its orderly and 
 regular course dispenses a benig- 
 nant influence." See Barroiv'*s 
 Works^ vol. i, ser. 27, 28 ; Blanks 
 Ser.y vol. iv, ser. 2; Scott's Ser.^ 
 ser. 14; Tillotsori's Ser.^ ser. 158; 
 Paley's Mor. Phil.^ vol. i, p. 23 ; 
 and articles Benevolence, Love. 
 
 CHARM, a kind of spell, sup- 
 posed by the ignorant to have an 
 irresistible influence, by means of 
 the concurrence of some infernal 
 power both on the minds, lives, 
 and properties of those whom it 
 has for its object. 
 
 " Certain vain ceremonies," 
 says Dr. Doddridge, " which are 
 commonly called c/2a?-;77.9, and seem 
 to have no efficacy at all for pro- 
 ducing the effects proposed by 
 them, are to be avoided ; seeing if 
 there be indeed any real efficacy in 
 them, it is generally probable they 
 owe it to some bad cause ; for one 
 can hardly imagine that God 
 should permit good angels in any 
 extraordinary manner to interpose, 
 or should immediately exert his 
 own miraculous power on trifling 
 occasions, and upon the perfor- 
 mance of such idle tricks as are 
 generally made the condition of 
 receiving such benefits." 
 
 CHASTITY, purity from flesh- 
 ly lust. In men it is termed conti- 
 nence. See Continence. There 
 is a chastity of speech, behaviour. 
 
CHE 
 
 129 
 
 CHI 
 
 and imagination, as well as of bo- 
 dy. Grove gives us the folloAving 
 i-ules for the conservation of chas- 
 tity, — 1. To keep ourselves fully 
 employed in labours either of the 
 body or the mind : idleness is fre- 
 quently the introduction to sen- 
 suality. — 2. To guard the senses, 
 and avoid every thing which may 
 be an incentive to lust. Does the 
 free use of some meats and drinks 
 make the body ungovernable ? 
 Does reading certain books de- 
 bauch the imagination and in- 
 flame the passions ? Do tempta- 
 tions often enter by the sight ? 
 Have public plays, dancings, 
 effeminate music, idle songs, 
 loose habits, and the like, the 
 same effect? He who resolves 
 upon chastity cannot be ignorant 
 what his duty is in all these and 
 such like cases. — 3. To implore 
 the Divine Spirit, which is a spirit 
 of purity ; and by the utmost re- 
 gard to his presence and opera- 
 tions to endeavour to retain him 
 with us. Grove's Moral Philos.^ 
 p. 2, sec. 6. 
 
 CHAZINZARIANS, a sect 
 which ai'ose in Armenia in the 
 seventh century. They are so 
 called from the Armenian word 
 c/iazus^ which signifies a cross, be- 
 cause they were charged with 
 adoring the cross. 
 
 CHEATS are deceitful practi- 
 ces, in defrauding, or endeavoui'- 
 ing to defraud, another of his 
 known right, by means of some 
 artful device contrary to honesty. 
 See Honesty, Justich. 
 
 CHEERFULNESS, a dispo- 
 sition of mind free from dejection. 
 Opposed to gloominess. If we 
 consider cheerfulness^ savs Addi- 
 
 VOL. I. ' S 
 
 son, in three lights, v.ith regard to 
 ourselves, to those we converse 
 with, and to the Great Author of 
 our being, it will not a little recom- 
 mend itself on each of these ac- 
 counts. The man who is possessed 
 of this excellent frame of mind is 
 not only easy in his thoughts, but 
 a perfect master of all the powers 
 and faculties of his soul j his 
 imagination is always clear, and 
 his judgment undisturbed ; his 
 temper is ^v^en and unruffled, 
 whether in action or in solitude. 
 He comes with a relish to all those 
 goods which Nature has provided 
 for him, tastes all the pleasures of 
 the creation which are poured 
 about him, and does not feel the 
 full weight of those evils which 
 may befal him. See Happiness, 
 Joy. 
 
 CHILDREN, duties of to pa- 
 rents. Dr. Doddridge observes, 
 " 1. That as children have re- 
 ceived important favours from 
 their parents, gratitude, and there- 
 fore virtue, requires that they 
 should love them. — 2. Consider- 
 ing the superiority of age, and 
 the probable superiority of wis- 
 dom, which there is on the side 
 of parents, and also how much 
 the satisfaction and comfort of 
 a parent depend on the respect 
 shewn him by his children, it is 
 fit that children should reverence 
 their parents. — 3. It is fit that, 
 while the parents are living, and 
 the use of their understanding 
 continued, their children should 
 not ordinarily undertake any mat- 
 ter of great importance, without 
 advising with them, or without 
 very cogent reasons pursue it con- 
 trary to their consent. — 4. As 
 
CHR 
 
 130 
 
 CHR 
 
 young people need some guidance 
 and government in their minority, 
 and as there is some peculiar rea- 
 son to trust the prudence, care, 
 and affection of a parent, pre- 
 ferable to any other person, it is 
 reasonable that children, especial- 
 ly -while in their minority, should 
 obey their parents ; "without which 
 neither the order of families nor 
 the happiness of the rising genera- 
 tion could be secured : neverthe- 
 less, still supposing that the com- 
 mands of the parent are not in- 
 consistent with the will of God. — 
 5. Virtue requires that, if parents 
 come to want, children should 
 take care to furnish them with the 
 laecessaries of life, and, so far as 
 their ability will permit, with the 
 conveniences of it." Doddridge's 
 Lectures^ p. 241, vol. i. 
 
 CHOREPISCOPI {rr,s x'^-f^s 
 smcmoTroi^ bishops of the country). 
 In the ancient church, when the 
 diocesses became enlarged by the 
 conversions of pagans in the coun- 
 trj', and villages at a great distance 
 from the city church, the bishops 
 appointed themselves certain as- 
 sistants, whom they called Chcre- 
 piscop'i^ because by their office they 
 were bishops of the countrj-. 
 There have been great disputes 
 ' among the learned concerning this 
 order, some thinking that they 
 were mere presbyters ; others that 
 there were two sorts, some that 
 had received episcopal ordination, 
 and some that were presbyters 
 only ; others think that they were 
 all bishops. 
 
 CHRISM, oil consecrated by 
 the bishop and used in the Romish 
 and Greek churches in the admin- 
 Igtyation of baptism, confirmation, 
 
 ordination, and extreme unction. 
 
 CHRIST, the Lord and Saviour 
 of mankind. He is called Christ, 
 or Messiah, because he is anoint- 
 ed, sent, and furnished by God to 
 execute his mediatorial office. See 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 CHRISTIAN, by Dr. Johnson, 
 is defined, " a professor of the re- 
 li^on of Christ ;" but in reality 
 a christian is more than a profes- 
 sor of Christianity. He is one who 
 imbibes the spirit, participates the 
 grace, and is obedient to the will 
 of Christ. 
 
 The disciples and followers of 
 Christ were first denominated 
 christians at Antioch, A. D. 42, 
 The first christians distinguished 
 themselves, in the most remark- 
 able manner, by their conduct and 
 their virtues. The faithful, whom 
 the preaching of St. Peter had 
 converted, hearkened attentively 
 to the exhortations of the apostles, 
 who failed not carefully to instruct 
 them as persons who were enter- 
 ing upon an entire new life. 
 They attended the temple daih', 
 doing nothing different from the 
 other Jews, because it was yet 
 not time to separate from them. 
 But they made a still greater pro- 
 gress in virtue ; for they sold all 
 that they possessed, and distribut- 
 ed their goods to the wants of 
 their brethren. The primitive 
 christians were not only remarka- 
 ] able for the consistency of their 
 conduct, but were also I'ery emir 
 nently distinguished by the many 
 miraculous gifts and graces be- 
 stowed by God upon them. 
 
 The Jews were the first and the 
 most inveterate enemies the chris- 
 tians had. They put them to 
 
CHR 
 
 131 
 
 CHK 
 
 death as often as they had it in 
 their power ; and when they re- 
 volted against the Romans, in the 
 time of the emperor Adrian, Bar- 
 chochebas, who was at the head of 
 that revolt, employed against the 
 christians the most rigorous pun- 
 ishments to compel them to blas- 
 pheme and renounce Jesus Christ. 
 And we find that even in the third 
 century they endeavoured to get 
 into their hands christian wo- 
 men, in order to scourge and stone 
 them in their synagogues. They 
 cursed the christians three times 
 a day in their synagogues ; and 
 their rabbins would not suffer 
 them to converse with christians 
 upon any occasion ; nor were they 
 contented to hate and detest them, 
 but they dispatched emissaries 
 all over the world to defame the 
 christians, and spread all sorts of 
 calumnies against them. They 
 accused them, among other things, 
 of worshipping the sun, and the 
 head of an ass ; they reproached 
 them with idleness, and being a 
 useless set of people. They charg- 
 ed them with treason, and endea- 
 vouring to erect a new monarchy 
 against that of the Romans. They 
 affirmed, that, in celebrating their 
 mysteries, they used to kill a 
 child, and eat his flesh. They 
 accused them of the most shock- 
 ing incests, and of intemperance 
 in their feasts of charity. But 
 the lives and behaviour of the 
 first christians were sufficient to 
 refute all that was said against 
 them, and evidently demonstrat- 
 ed that these accusations were 
 mere calumny, and the effect of 
 inveterate malice. Pliny the 
 Younger, who was governor of 
 
 Pontus and Bithynia between the 
 years 103 and 105, gives a very 
 particular account of the chris- 
 tians in that province, in a letter 
 which he wrote to the emperor 
 Trajan, of which the following is 
 an extract: " I take the liberty, 
 Sir, to give you an account of 
 every difficulty which arises to me : 
 I have never been present at the 
 examination of the christians ; for 
 which reasons I know not what 
 questions have been put to them, 
 nor in what manner they have 
 been punished. My behaviour to- 
 wards those who have been ac- 
 cused to me has been this : I have 
 interrogated them, in order to 
 know whether they were really 
 christians. When they have con- 
 fessed it, I have repeated the same 
 question two or three times, threat- 
 ening them with death if they 
 did not renounce this religion. 
 Those who have persisted in 
 their confession have been by my 
 order led to punishment. I have 
 even met with some Roman citi- 
 zens guilty of this phrensy, whom, 
 in regard to their quality, I have 
 set apart from the rest, in order 
 to send them to Rome. These 
 persons declare that their whole 
 crime, if they are guilty, con- 
 sists in this : That on certain 
 days they assemble before sun- 
 rise, to sing alternately the praises 
 of Christ, as of God; and to 
 oblige themselves, by the perform- 
 ance of their religious rites, not to 
 be guilty of theft or adulteiy, to 
 observe inviolably their word, and 
 to be true to their trust. This de- 
 position has obliged me to endea- 
 vour to inform myself still farther 
 of this matter, by putting to the 
 
CHR 
 
 132 
 
 CHR 
 
 torture two of their women ser- 
 vants, whom they called deacon- 
 esses : but I could learn nothing 
 more from them than that the 
 superstition of these people is as 
 ridiculous as their attachment to it 
 is astonishing." 
 
 It is easy to discover the cause 
 of the many persecutions to whiqh 
 the christians were exposed during 
 the three first centuries. The pu- 
 rity of the christian morality, di- 
 recdy opposite to the corruption 
 of the pagans, was doubtless one 
 of the most powerful motives of 
 the public aversion. To this may 
 be added the many calumnies 
 unjustly spread about concerning 
 them by their enemies, particu- 
 larly the Jews ; and this occasion- 
 ed so strong a prejudice against 
 them, that the pagans condemned 
 them without enquiring into their 
 doctrine, or permitting them to 
 defend themselves. Besides, their 
 ■worshipping Jesus Christ as God, 
 was contrary to one of the most 
 ancient laws of the Roman em- 
 pire, which expressly forbade the 
 acknowledging of any God which 
 had not been approved of by the 
 senate. But, notwithstanding the 
 violent opposition made to the 
 establishment of the christian re- 
 ligion, it gained ground daily, and 
 very soon made surprising pro- 
 gress in the Roman empire. In the 
 third century there were christians 
 in the senate, in the camp, in the 
 palace ; in short, every where but 
 in the temple and the theatres, 
 they filled the towns, the country, 
 the islands. Men and .women of 
 all ages and conditions, and even 
 those of the first dignities, em- 
 braced the faith ; insomuch that 
 
 the pagans complained that the 
 revenues of their temples were 
 ruined. They were in such great 
 numbers in the empire, that (as 
 Tertullian expresses it), were they 
 to have retired into another coun- 
 tr}^, they would have left the Ro- 
 mans only a frightful solitude. 
 For persecutions of the christians, 
 see article Persecution. 
 
 Christians may be considered as 
 nominal and real. There are vast 
 numbers who are called christians, 
 not because they possess any love 
 for Christ, but because they hap- 
 pen to be born in a christian coun- 
 try, educated by christian parents, 
 and sometimes attend christian 
 worship. There are also many 
 whose minds are well informed 
 respecting the christian system, 
 who prefer it to every other, and 
 who make an open profession of 
 it ; and yet, after all, feel but little 
 of the real power of Christianity, 
 A real christian is one whose 
 understanding is enlightened by 
 the influences of divine grace, 
 who is convinced of the depravity 
 of his nature, who sees his own 
 inability to help himself, who is 
 taught to behold God as the chief 
 good, the Lord Jesus as the only 
 way to obtain felicity, and that 
 the Holy Spirit is the grand agent 
 in applying the blessings of the 
 gospel to his soul. His heart is 
 renovated, and inclined to re- 
 vere, honour, worship, trust in, 
 and live to God. His affections 
 are elevated above the world, and 
 centre in God alone. He em- 
 braces him as his portion, loves 
 him supremely, and is zealous in 
 the defence and support of his 
 cause. His temper u regulated, 
 
CHR 
 
 13: 
 
 CHR 
 
 his powers roused to vigorous ac- 
 tion, his thoughts spiritual, and 
 his general deportment amiable 
 and uniform. In fine, the true 
 christian character exceeds all 
 others as much as the blaze of the 
 meridian sun outshines the feeble 
 light of the glow-worm. 
 
 CHRISTIANS OFST.JOHN, 
 a sect of christians very numerous 
 in Balfara, and the neighbouring 
 towns : they formerly inhabited 
 along the river Jordan, where St. 
 John baptized, and it was from 
 thence they had their name. 
 They hold an anniversary feast of 
 five days, during which they all 
 go to the bishop, who baptizes 
 them with the baptism of St. 
 John. Their baptism is also per- 
 formed in rivers, and that only on 
 Sundays : they have no notion of 
 the third person in the Trinity ; 
 nor have they any canonical book, 
 but abundance full of charms, 
 &c. Their bishoprics descend 
 by inheritance as our estates do, 
 though they have the ceremony of 
 an election. 
 
 CHRISTIANS OF ST.THO- 
 MAS, a sort of christians in a 
 peninsula of India on this side the 
 Gulf; they inhabit chiefly at 
 Cranganor, and the neighbouring 
 country: theseadmitof no images, 
 and receive only the cross, to 
 which they pay a great veneration. 
 They alHrm, that the souls of the 
 saints do not see God till after the 
 day of judgment; they acknow- 
 ledge but three sacraments, viz. 
 baptism, orders, and the eu- 
 charist ; they make no use of holy 
 oils in the administration of bap- 
 tism, but, after the ceremony, 
 anoint the infant with an unction 
 
 composed of oil and walnuts, with- 
 out any benediction. In the eu- 
 charist they consecrate with little 
 cakes made of oil and salt, and 
 instead of wine make use of water 
 in which raisins have been infused. 
 
 In the Asiatic Researches of the 
 Society instituted in Bengal, may 
 be found an enlarged account of 
 the Christians of St. Thomas, 
 which was laid before that society 
 by F. Wrede, esq. See also Month- 
 hj Magazine for 1804, p. 60. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY, the reli- 
 gion of christians. 
 
 I. Christianity, foundation 
 of. Most, if not all christians, 
 whatever their particular tenets 
 may be, acknowledge the scrip- 
 tures of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments as the sole foundation of 
 their faith and practice. But as 
 these books, or at least particular 
 passages in them, have from 
 the ambiguity of language beea 
 variously interpreted by different 
 commentators, these diversities 
 have given birth to a multiplicity 
 of different sects. These, how- 
 ever, or at least the greatest num- 
 ber of them, appeal to the scrip- 
 tures of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments as the ultimate standard, 
 the only infallible rule of faith 
 and manners. If asked by what 
 authority these books claim an 
 absolute right to determine the 
 consciences and understandings of 
 men with regard to what they 
 should believe, and what they 
 should do, they answer, that all 
 scripture, whether for doctrine, 
 correction, or reproof, was given 
 by immediate inspiration from 
 God. If again interrogated how 
 those books which they call scrip- 
 
CHR 
 
 134 
 
 CHR 
 
 tare are authenticated, they re- 
 ply, that the Old and New Testa- 
 ments are proved to be the word 
 of God, by evidences both exter- 
 nal and internal. See § 2, and 
 article Revelation. 
 
 II. Christianity, evidences 
 cf the truth of. The external 
 evidences of the authenticity and 
 divine authority of the scriptures 
 have been divided into direct and 
 collateral. The direct evidences 
 are such as arise from the nature, 
 consistency, and probability of 
 the facts ; and from the simplicity, 
 uniformity, competency, and fide- 
 lity of the testimonies by which 
 they are supported. The collate- 
 ral evidences are either the same 
 occurrences supported by heathen 
 testimonies, or others which con- 
 cur with and corroborate the 
 history of Christianity. Its inter- 
 nal evidences arise either from 
 its exact conformity with the 
 character of God, from its apti- 
 tude to the frame and circumstan- 
 ces of man, or from those super- 
 natural convictions and assistances 
 which are impressed on the mind 
 by the immediate operation of the 
 Divine Spirit. We shall, here 
 chiefly follow Dr. Doddridge, and 
 endeavour to give some of the 
 chief evidences which have been 
 brought forward, and which every 
 unprejudiced mind must confess 
 are unanswerable. 
 
 First. Taking the matter merely 
 in theory, it will appear highly 
 probable that such a system as the 
 gospel should be, indeed, a divine 
 revelation. 
 
 The case of mankind is natural- 
 ly such as to need a divine revela- 
 tion, 1st John V, 19. Rom. i. Eph. 
 
 iv. — 2. There is from the light 
 of nature considerable encourage- 
 ment to hope that God would 
 favour his creatures with so need- 
 ful a blessing as a revelation ap- 
 pears. — 3. We may easily con- 
 clude, that, if a revelation were 
 given, it would be introduced 
 and transmitted in such a manner 
 as Christianity is said to have been. 
 — i. That the main doctrines of 
 the gospel are of such a nature as 
 we might in general suppose those 
 of a divine revelation would be ; 
 rational, practical, and sublime, 
 Heb. xi, 6. Mark xii, 29. 1st Tim. 
 ii, 5. Matt. V, 48. Matt, x, 29, 30. 
 Philippians iv, 8. Romans ii, 6, 
 10. 
 
 Secondly. It is, in fact, cer- 
 tain that Christianity is, indeed, a 
 divine revelation ; for, i. The 
 books of the New Testament^ noiv 
 in our hands, were zvritten by the 
 first preachers and publishers of 
 Christianity. In proof of this, ob- 
 serve, 1. That it is certain that 
 Christianity is not a new religion, 
 but that it was maintained by great 
 multitudes quickly after the time 
 in which Jesus is said to have ap- 
 peared. — 2. That there was cer- 
 tainly such a person as Jesus of 
 Nazareth, who was crucified at 
 Jerusalem, when Pontius Pilate 
 was governor there. — 3. The first 
 publishers of this religion wrote 
 books which contained an account 
 of the life and doctrine of Jesus, 
 their master, and which went by 
 the name of those that now made 
 up our New Testament. — 4* That 
 the books of the New Testament 
 have been preserved, in the main, 
 uncorrupted to the present time, in. 
 the original language in which thej' 
 
CHR 
 
 135 
 
 CHJR 
 
 were written. — 5. Thart the transla- 
 tion of them now in our hands may 
 be depended upon as, in all things 
 most material, agreeable to the 
 original. Now, ii. From allcrw'mg 
 the New Testament to be genuine., 
 according to the above proof., it 
 xvill certamly follow that Chris- 
 tianity is a divine revelation ; for, 
 in the first place, it is exceed- 
 ingly evident that the writers of 
 the New Testament certainly knew 
 whether the facts were true or 
 false, John i, 3. John xix, 27, 35. 
 Acts xxvii, 7, 9. — 2. That the cha- 
 racter of these writers, so far as we 
 can judge by their works, seems 
 to render them worthy of regard, 
 and leaves no room to imagine 
 they intended to deceive us. The 
 manner in which they tell their 
 story is most happily adapted to 
 gain our belief. There is no air 
 of declamation and harangue ; 
 nothing that looks like artifice 
 and design : no apologies, no en- 
 comiums, no characters, no reflec- 
 tions, no digressions ; but the 
 facts are recounted with great 
 simplicit}'^, just as they seem to 
 have happened ; and those facts 
 are left to speak for themselves. 
 — ^Their integrity likewise evi- 
 dently appears in the freedom 
 with which they mention those 
 circumstances which might have 
 exposed their Master and them- 
 selves to the greatest contempt 
 amongst prejudiced and inconsi- 
 derate men, such as they knew 
 they must generally expect to 
 meet with, John i, 45, 46. John 
 vii, 52. Luke ii, 4, 7. Mark vi, 
 3. Matt, viii, 20. John vii, 48. 
 It is certain that there are in 
 their writings the most genuine 
 traces not only of a plain and 
 
 honest, but a most pious and de- 
 vout, a most benevolent and ge- 
 nerous disposition, as every one 
 must acknowledge who reads dielr 
 writings. — 3. The apostles were 
 under no temptation to forge a 
 story of this kind, or to publish 
 it to the world knowing it to be 
 false. — 4. Had they done so, hu- 
 manly speaking, they must quick- 
 ly have perished in it, and their 
 foolish cause must have died with 
 them, without ever gaining any 
 credit in the world. Reflect more 
 particularly on the nature of those 
 grand facts,the death, resurrection, 
 and exaltation of Christ, which 
 formed the great foundation of the 
 christian scheme, as first exhibited 
 by the apostles. The resurrection 
 of a dead man, and his ascension 
 into and abode in the upper 
 world, were such strange things, 
 that a thousand objections would 
 immediately have been raised a- 
 gainst them ; and some extraordi- 
 nary proof would have been justly 
 requiredasabalancetothem. Con- 
 sider the manner in which the apos- 
 tles undertook to prove the truth 
 of their testimony to these facts; 
 and it will evidently appear, that, 
 instead of confirmingtheir scheme, 
 it must have been sufficient utterly 
 to have overthrown it, had it been 
 itself the most probable imposture 
 that the wit of man could ever 
 have contrived. See Acts iii, ix, 
 xiv, xix, &c. They did not mere- 
 ly assert that they had seen mira- 
 cles wrought by Jesus, but that he 
 had endowed them with a variety 
 of miraculous powers ; and these 
 they undertook to display not in 
 such idle anduseless tricks as sleight 
 of hand might perform, but in such 
 solid and important works as ap- 
 
CHR 
 
 136 
 
 CHR 
 
 peared worthy of divine interpo- 
 sition, and entirely superior to 
 human power. Nor were these 
 things undertaken in a corner, in 
 a circle of friends or dependants ; 
 nor were they said to be wrought, 
 as might be suspected, by any 
 confederates in the fraud ; but 
 they were done often in the most 
 public manner. Would impostors 
 have made such pretensions as 
 these ? or, if they had, must they 
 not immediately have been expos- 
 ed and ruined? Now, if the New 
 Testament be genuine, then it is 
 certain that the apostles pretend to 
 have wrought miracles in the 
 very presence of those to whom 
 their writings were addressed ; nay, 
 more, they profess likewise to 
 have conferred those miraculous 
 gifts in some considerable degrees 
 on others, even on the very per- 
 sons to whom they write, and they 
 appeal to their consciences as to 
 the truth of it. And could there 
 possibly be room for delusion here ? 
 — 5. It is likewise certain that the 
 apostles did gain early credit, 
 and succeeded in a most wonder- 
 ful manner. This is abundantly 
 proved by the vast number of 
 churches established in early ages 
 at Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Col- 
 losse, &c. he. 8s:c. — 6. That, 
 admitting the facts which they 
 testified concerning Christ to be 
 true, then it was reasonable for 
 their contemporaries, and is rea- 
 sonable for us, to receive the 
 gospel which they have transmit- 
 ted to us as a divine revelation. 
 The great thing they asserted was, 
 that Jesus was the Christ, and that 
 he was proved to be so by pro- 
 phecies accomplished in him. 
 
 and by miracles wrought by him, 
 and by others in his name. If 
 we attend to these, we shall find 
 them to be no contemptible argu- 
 ments ; but must be forced to 
 acknov/ledge, that, the premises 
 being established, the conclusion 
 most easily andnecessarily follows; 
 and this conclusion, that Jesus is 
 the Christ, taken in all its extent, 
 is an abstract of the gospel reve- 
 lation, and therefore is sometimes 
 put for the whole of it. Acts viii, 
 37. Acts xvll, xviii. See articles 
 Miracle and Ppophecy. — /. 
 The truth of the gospel has also re- 
 ceived farther and very conside- 
 rable confirmation from what has 
 happened in the world since it 
 was first published. And here we 
 must desire every one to consider 
 what God has been doing to con- 
 firm the gospel since its first pub- 
 lication, and he will find it a far- 
 ther evidence of its Divine origi- 
 nal. We might argue at large 
 from its surprising propagation in 
 the world ; from the miraculous 
 powers with which not only 
 the apostles, but succeeding 
 preachers of the gospel, and other 
 converts, were endowed ; from 
 the accomplishmient of prophe- 
 cies recorded in the New Testa- 
 ment ; and from the preserva- 
 tion of the Jews as a distinct 
 people, notM'lthstanding the vari- 
 ous difficulties and persecutions 
 through which they have passed. 
 We must not, however, forget to 
 mention the confirmation it re- 
 ceives from the methods which its 
 enemies have taken to destroy it ; 
 and these have generally been 
 either persecution or falsehood, 
 or tuvilling at some particulars 
 
CHR 
 
 137 
 
 CHR 
 
 In revelation, without entering 
 into the grand argument on which 
 it is built, and fairly debating what 
 is offered in its defence." The 
 cause has gained considerably by 
 the opposition made to it: the more 
 it has been tried, the more it has 
 been approved ; and we are bold 
 to say no honest man, unfettered 
 by prejudice, can examine this 
 system in all its parts without be- 
 ing convinced that its origin is 
 divine. 
 
 ill. Christianity, general 
 doctrines of. " It must be obvious," 
 says an ingenious author, " to 
 every reflecting mind, that, whe- 
 ther we attempt to form the idea 
 of any religion a priori^ or con- 
 template those which have alrea- 
 dy been exhibited, certain facts, 
 principles, or data^ must be pre- 
 established ; from whence will re- 
 sult a particular frame of mind and 
 course of action suitable to the 
 character and dignity of that Be- 
 ing by whom the religion is en- 
 joined, and adapted to the nature 
 and situation of those agents who 
 are commanded to observe it. 
 Hence Christianity may be divid- 
 ed into credenda or doctrines, and 
 agenda or precepts. As the great 
 foundation of his religion, there- 
 fore, the christian believes the 
 existence and government of one 
 eternal and infinite Essence, which 
 for ever retains in itself the cause 
 of its own existence, and inherent- 
 ly possesses all those perfections 
 which are compatible with its na- 
 ture : such are its almighty power, 
 omniscient wisdom, infinite jus- 
 tice, boundless goodness, and uni- 
 versal presence. In this indivisi- 
 ble essence the christian recognises 
 
 Vol. I. T 
 
 three distinct subsistences,yet dis- 
 tinguished in such a manner as 
 not to be incompatible either with 
 essential unity, or simplicity of 
 being, or with their personal dis- 
 tinction ; each of them possesses 
 the same nature and properties to 
 the same extent. This infinite 
 Being was graciously pleased to 
 create an universe replete with 
 intelligences, who might enjoy his 
 glory, participate his happiness, 
 and imitate his perfections. But 
 as these beings were not immuta- 
 ble, but left to the freedom of 
 their own will, degeneracy took 
 place, and that in a rank of in- 
 telligence superior to man. But 
 guilt is never stationary. Im- 
 patient of itself, and cursed with 
 its own feelings, it proceeds from, 
 bad to worse, whilst the poig- 
 nancy of its torments increases 
 with the number of its perpetra- 
 tions. Such was the situation of 
 Satan and his apostate angels. 
 They attempted to transfer their 
 turpitude and misery to man, and 
 were, alas, but too successful ! 
 Hence the heterogeneous and ir- 
 reconcilable principles which ope- 
 rate in his nature ; hence that in- 
 explicable medley of wisdom and 
 folly, of rectitude and error, of 
 benevolence and malignity, of 
 sincerity and fraud, exhibited 
 through his whole conduct ; hence 
 the darkness of his understand- 
 ing, the depravity of his will, 
 the pollution of his heart, the ir- 
 regularity of his affections, and 
 the absolute subversion of his 
 whole internal economy. The 
 seeds of perdition soon ripened in- 
 to overt acts of guilt and horror. 
 All the hostilities of nature were 
 
CHR 
 
 138 
 
 CHR 
 
 confronted, and the whole sub- 
 lunan^ creation became a theatre 
 of disorder and mischief. Here 
 the christian once more appeals 
 to fact and experience. If these 
 things are so ; if man be the ves- 
 sel of guilt, and the victim of mi- 
 sery, he demands how this con- 
 stitution of things can be account- 
 ed for ! how can it be supposed 
 that a being so wicked and unhap- 
 py should be the production of an 
 infinitely good and infinitely per- 
 fect Creator? He therefore insists 
 that human nature must have been 
 dis-arranged and contaminated by 
 some violent shock ; and that, of 
 consequence, without the light 
 diffused over the face of things 
 by Christianity, all nature must 
 remain in inscrutable and inex- 
 plicable myster\\ To redress 
 these evils, to re-establish the 
 empire of rectitude and happi- 
 ness, to restore the nature of man 
 io its primitive dignit)-,. to satisfy 
 the remonstrances of infinite Jus- 
 tice, to purify every original or 
 contracted stain, to expiate the 
 guilt and destroy the power of 
 vice, the eternal Son of God, 
 from whom Christianity takes its 
 name, and to whom it owes its 
 origin, descended from the bo- 
 som of his Father, assumed the 
 human nature, became the repre- 
 sentative of man; endured a se- 
 vere probation in that character ; 
 exhibited a pattern of perfect 
 righteousness, and at last ratifi- 
 ed his doctrine, and fully accom- 
 plished all the ends of his mission, 
 by a cruel, unmerited, and ig- 
 nomitjious death. Before he left 
 the world, he delivered the doc- 
 trines of salvation, and the rules 
 
 of human conduct, to his apos- 
 tles, whom he empowered to in- 
 struct the world in all that con- 
 cerned their eternal felicity, and 
 whom he invested with miracu- 
 lous gifts to ascertain the reality 
 of what they taught. To them 
 he likewise promised another com- 
 fortei', even the Divine Spirit, who 
 should remove the darkness, con- 
 sole the woes, and purify the 
 stains of human nature. Having 
 remained for a part of three days 
 under the power of death, he rose 
 again from the grave ; appeared 
 to his disciples, and many others ; 
 conversed with them for some 
 time, then re-ascended to heaven ; 
 from whence the christian ex- 
 pects him, according to his pro- 
 mise, to appear as the Sovereign 
 Judge of the living and the dead, 
 from whose awards there is no 
 appeal, and by whose sentence the 
 destiny of the righteous and the 
 wicked shall be eternally fixed. 
 Soon after his departure to the 
 right hand of his Father (where in 
 his human nature he sits supreme 
 of all created beings, and invested 
 with the absolute administration 
 of heaven and earth), the Spirit 
 of grace and consolation descend- 
 ed on his apostles with visible sig- 
 natures of Divine power and pre- 
 sence. Nor were his salutary 
 operations confined to them, bvit 
 extended to all who did not by 
 obstinate guilt repel his influences. 
 These, indeed, were less conspicu- 
 ous than at the glorious asra when 
 they were visibly exhibited in the 
 persons of the apostles. But, 
 though his energy be less observa- 
 ble, it is by no means less effec- 
 tual to all the purposes of grace 
 
CHR 
 
 139 
 
 CHR 
 
 and mercy. The christian is con- 
 vinced that there is and shall con- 
 tinue to be a society upon earth, 
 who worship God as revealed in 
 Jesus Christ, who believe his doc- 
 trines, who observe his precepts, 
 and who shall be saved by the 
 merits of his death, in the use of 
 these external means of salvation 
 which he hath appointed. He 
 also believes that the sacraments 
 of baptism and the Lord's supper, 
 the interpretation and application 
 of scripture, the habitual exercise 
 of public and private devotion, are 
 obviously calculated to diffuse and 
 promote the interests of truth and 
 religion, by superinducing the 
 salutary habits of faith, love, 
 and repentance. He is firmly 
 persuaded, that, at the consumma- 
 tion of all things, when the pur- 
 poses of Providence in the various 
 revolutions of progressive nature 
 are accomplished, the whole hu- 
 man race shall once more issue 
 from their graves ; some to im- 
 mortal felicity in the actual per- 
 ception and enjoyment of their 
 Creator's presence, and others to 
 everlasting shame and misery." 
 
 IV. Christianity, morality 
 and superiority of. It has been 
 well observed, "that the two grand 
 principles of action, according to 
 the christian, are the love of God, 
 which is the sovereign passion in 
 every gracious mind; and the love 
 of man, which regulates our ac- 
 tions according to the various re- 
 lations in which we stand, whe- 
 ther to communities or indivi- 
 duals. This sacred connexion 
 ought never to be totally extin- 
 guished by any temporary injury. 
 It ought to subsist in some degree 
 
 even amongst enemies. It re- 
 quires that we should pardon the 
 offences of others, as we expect 
 pardon for our own ; and tliat we 
 should no farther resist evil than 
 is necessary for the preservation 
 of personal rights and social hap- 
 piness. It dictates every relative 
 and reciprocal duty between pa- 
 rents and children, masters and 
 servants, governors and subjects, 
 friends and friends, men and 
 men : nor does it merely enjoin 
 the observation df equity, but 
 likewise inspires the most sublime 
 and extensive charity ; a bound- 
 less and disinterested effusion oT 
 tenderness for the whole species, 
 which feels their distress, and 
 operates for their relief and im- 
 provement." 
 
 " Christianity," it has also been 
 observed (and with the greatest 
 propriety), *' is superior to all 
 other religions. The disciple of 
 Jesus not only contends that no 
 system of religion has ever yet 
 been exhibited so consistent with, 
 itself, so congruous to philosophy ! 
 and the common sense of man- 
 kind, as Christianity : he likewise 
 avers that it is infinitely more pro- 
 ductive of real consolation than all 
 other religious or philosophical 
 tenets which have ever entered into 
 the soul, or been applied to the 
 heart of man. For what is death 
 to that mind v/hich considers eter- 
 nity as the career of its existence ? 
 What are the frowns of men 
 to him who claims an eternal 
 world as his inheritance ? What , 
 is the loss of friends to that heart 
 which feels, with nlore than na- 
 tural conviction, that it shall 
 quickly rejoin them in a more 
 
CHR 
 
 140 
 
 CHR 
 
 tender, intimate, and permanent; 
 intercourse, than any of which i 
 the present life is susceptible ? j 
 "What are the vicissitudes of ex- j 
 ternal things to a mind which 
 strongly and uniformly anticipates jl 
 a state of endless and immutable j 
 felicity ? What are mortifica- j 
 tions, disappointments, and in-'| 
 suits, to a spirit which is conscious I 
 of being the original offspring j 
 and adopted child of God; ivhich 
 knows that its omnipotent Father _ 
 will in proper time effectually 
 assert the dignity and privileges 
 of its nature ? In a word, as this 
 earth is but a speck in the crea- 
 tion, as time is not an instant in 
 proportion to eternit}', such are 
 the hopes and prospects of the 
 christian in comparison of ^very 
 sublunary misfortune or difacul- 
 ty. It is therefore, in his judg- 
 ment, the eternal wonder of an- 
 gels, and indelible opprobrium of 
 man, that a religion so worthy of ■ 
 God, so suitable to the frame and 
 circumstances of our nature, so 
 consonant to all the dictates of 
 reason, so friendly to the dignity 
 and improvement of intelligent 
 beings, so pregnant with genuine 
 comfort and delight, should be re- 
 ■jected and despised by an}' of the 
 human race." 
 
 V. Christianity, propaga- 
 tion and succefis of. Despised as 
 Christianity has been by man}', \tt 
 it has had an extensive progress 
 through the world, and still remains 
 to be professed by great num- 
 bers of mankind ; though it is 
 to be lamented many are unac- 
 quainted with its genuine in- 
 fluence. It Was earlv and ra- 
 pidly propagated through the 
 
 whole Roman empire, which then 
 contained almost the whole known 
 world ; and herein we cannot but 
 admire both the wisdom and the 
 power of God. *' Destitute of 
 all human advantages," says a 
 good writer, " protected by no 
 autiiorit}', assisted by no art ; not 
 recommended by the reputation 
 of its author, not enforced by 
 eloquence in its advocates, the 
 word of God grexv mightily^ and 
 prevailed. Twelve men, poor, 
 artless, and illiterate, we behold 
 triumphing over the fiercest and 
 most determined opposition ; over 
 the tyranny of the magistrate, and 
 the subtleties of the philosopher; 
 over the prejudices of the Gentile 
 and the bigotiy of the Jew. They 
 established a religion which held 
 forth high and venerable mysteries, 
 such as the pride of man v/ould 
 induce him to suspect, because he 
 could not perfectly comprehend 
 them ; Avhich preached doctrines 
 pure and spiritual, such as cor- 
 rupt nature y/as prone to oppose, 
 because it shrunk from the seve- 
 ritv of their discipline ; which re- 
 quired its followers to renounce 
 almost every opinion they had 
 embraced as sacred, and every 
 interest they had pursued as im- 
 portant ; which even exposed 
 them to even^ species of danger 
 and infam}' ; to persecution un- 
 merited and unpitied ; to the 
 gloom of a prison, and to the 
 pangs of death. Hopeless as this 
 prospect might appear to the view 
 of short-sighted man, the gospel 
 yet emerged from the obscurity 
 in which it was likely to be over? 
 v.helmed bv the complicated dis- 
 tresses of its friends, and the un- 
 
CHR 
 
 141 
 
 CHR 
 
 relenting cruelty of its foes. It suc- 
 ceeded in a peculiar degree, and 
 in a peculiar manner ; it derived 
 that success from truth, and obtain- 
 ed it under circumstances where 
 falsehood must have been detected 
 and crashed." 
 
 " Although," says the elegant 
 Porteus, " Christianity has not al- 
 ways been so well understood, or 
 so honestly practised, as it ought 
 to have been; although its spirit 
 has been often mistaken, and its 
 precepts misapplied, yet, under all 
 these disadvantages, it has gradu- 
 ally produced a visible change in 
 those' points which most materi- 
 ally concern the peace and quiet of 
 the world. Its beneficent spirit 
 has spread itself through all the 
 different relations and modifica- 
 tions of life, and communicated its 
 kindly influence to almost every 
 public and private concern of man- 
 kind. It has insensibly worked it- 
 self into the inmost frame and con- 
 stitution of civil states. It has giv- 
 en a tinge to the complexion of 
 their governments, to the temper 
 and administration of their laws. 
 It has restrained the spirit of the 
 prince and the madness of the peo- 
 ple. It has softened the rigour ot 
 despotism, and tamed the inso- 
 lence of conquest. It has in some 
 degree taken away the edge of the 
 sword, and thrown even over the 
 horrors of war a veil of mercy. 
 It has descended into families, has 
 diminished the pressure of private 
 tyranny ; improved ever)^ domes- 
 tic endearment ; givert tenderness 
 to the parent, humanity to the 
 master, respect to superiors, to 
 inferiors ease ; so that mankind 
 
 are, upon the whole, even in a tem- 
 poral view, under infinite obliga- 
 tions to the mild and pacific temper 
 of the gospel, and have reaped 
 from it more substantial worldly 
 benefits than from any other insti- 
 tution upon earth. As one proof 
 of this (among many others), con- 
 sider only the shocking carnage 
 made in the human species by the 
 exposure of infants, the gladiato- 
 rial shows, which sometimes cost 
 Europe twenty or thirty thousand 
 lives in a month ; and the exceed- 
 ingly cruel usage of slaves, alloAved 
 and practised by the ancient pagans. 
 These were not the accidental and 
 temporary excesses of a sudden 
 fury, but were legal znd established., 
 and constant methods of murder- 
 ing and tormenting mankind. Had 
 Christianity done nothing more than 
 brought into disuse (as itconfessed- 
 lyhasdone) thetwo formerof these 
 human customs entirely, and the 
 latter to a very great degree, it 
 had justly merited the title of the 
 benevolent religion : but this is far 
 frombeingall. Throughoutthe more 
 enlightened parts of Christendom 
 there prevails a gentleness of man- 
 ners widely different from the fero- 
 city of the most civilized nations 
 of antiquity ; and that liberality 
 with which every species of dis- 
 tress is relieved, is a virtue pecu- 
 liar to the chijistian name." 
 
 But we may ask farther, what 
 success has it had on the mind of 
 man, as it respects his eternal wel- 
 fare ? How many thousands have 
 felt its power, rejoiced in its be- 
 nign influence, and under its dic- 
 tates been constrained to devote 
 themselves to the glory and praise 
 
CH K 
 
 142 
 
 CHR 
 
 of God? Burdened with guilt, in- 
 capable of finding relief from hu- 
 inan resources, the mind has here 
 found peace unspeakable, in be- 
 holding that sacrifice whicTi alone 
 could atone for transgression. Here 
 the bard and impenitent heart has 
 been softened, the impetuous pas- 
 sions restrained, the ferocious 
 temper subdued, powerful preju- 
 dices conquered, ignorance dispell- 
 ed, and the obstacles to real happi- 
 ness removed. Here the christian, 
 looking round on the glories and 
 ))landishments of this world, has 
 been enabled with a noble contempt 
 to despise all. Here Death it- 
 self, the king of terrors, has lost 
 its sting ; and the soul, with an 
 holy magnanimity, has borne up in 
 the agonies of a dying hour, and 
 sweetly sung itself away to ever- 
 lasting bliss. 
 
 In respect to its future spread, 
 we have reason to believe that all 
 nations shall feel its happy effects. 
 The prophecies are pregnant Avith 
 niatter as to this belief. It seems 
 that not only a nation or a country, 
 but the whole habitable globe, shall 
 become the kingdom of our Lord 
 and of his Christ : and who is 
 there that has ever known the ex- 
 cellency of this system ; who is 
 there that has ever experienced its 
 happy efficacy ; who is there that 
 has ever been convinced of its di- 
 vine origin, its delightful nature, 
 and peaceful tendency, but what 
 must join the benevolent and royal 
 poet in saying, " Let the whole 
 earth be filled v/ith its glory, amen, 
 and amen ?" 
 
 See article Christianity in 
 Enc. Brit. ; Paley's Evidenccc of 
 
 Christianity; Lardner^s and Mac- 
 knight's Credibility of the Gospel 
 History ; Lord Hailes on the Influ- 
 ence of GihborCs five Causes ; Faw- 
 cetfs Evidences of Christianity; 
 Doddridge's ditto ; FelPs and Hun- 
 ters Lectures on ditto; Beattie^s 
 Evidences of the Christian Religion; 
 Soame Jenyns's Evidences of ditto; 
 White's Ser'mons. 
 
 CHRISTMAS, the day on which 
 the nativity of our blessed Saviour 
 is celebrated. 
 
 The first footsteps we find of 
 the observation of this day are 
 in the second century, abovit the 
 time of the emperor Commodus. 
 The decretal epistles, indeed, carry 
 it up a little higher, and say that 
 Telesphorus, ^vho lived in the 
 reign of Antoninus Pius, ordered 
 divine service to be celebrated, 
 and an angelical hymn to be sung 
 the night before the nativity of 
 our Saviour. That it was kept 
 before the time of Constantine 
 we have a melancholy proof; for 
 whilst the persecution raged un- 
 der Dioclesian, who then kept his 
 court at Nicomedia, that tyrant, 
 among other acts of cruelty, find- 
 ing multitudes of christians assem- 
 bled together to celebrate Christ's 
 nativity, commanded the church 
 doors where they were met to be 
 shut, and fire to be put to it, which 
 soon reduced them and the church 
 to ashes. See Holyday. 
 
 CHRONOLOGY, the science of 
 
 computing and adjusting the pe- 
 riods of time, referring each event 
 to the proper year. We have not 
 room here to present the reader 
 with a system of chronology ; but, 
 
CHU 
 
 143 
 
 CHU 
 
 should he be desirous of studying 
 this science, he may consult the 
 systems of Cliiviar^ Calvishis^ Uah- 
 er^ Simson^ Bedford^ Marsham^ 
 Blair ^ and Playfair. 
 
 CHURCH. 1. The Greek 
 word E;«tA£(ri« denotes an assembly 
 met about business, whether lawful 
 or unlawful, Acts xix, S2, 39. — 
 2. It is understood of the collective 
 body of christians, or all those 
 over the face of the earth who 
 profess to believe in Christ, and 
 acknowledge him to be the Sa- 
 viour of mankind : this is called 
 the visible chwYch^ Eph. iii, 21. 1st 
 
 Tim. iii, 15. Eph. iv, 11, 12 3. 
 
 By the word churchy also, we are 
 to understand the whole body of 
 God's chosen people, in every 
 period of time : this is the i?ivisi- 
 ble church. Those on earth are 
 also called the militant, and those 
 in heaven the triumphant church, 
 Heb. xii, 23. Acts xx, 28. Eph. i, 
 22. Matt, xvi, 28 — 4. By a par- 
 ticidar church we understand an 
 assembly of christians united to- 
 gether, and meeting in one place 
 for the solemn worship of God. 
 To this agree the definition given 
 by the compilers of the thirty-nine 
 articles : — " A congregation of 
 faithful men, in which the true 
 word of God is preached, and the 
 sacraments duly administered ac- 
 cording to Christ's ordinances, in 
 all those things that of necessity 
 are requisite to the same," Acts ix, 
 31. Gal. i, 2, 22. 1st Cor. xiv, 34. 
 Acts XX, 17. Col. iv. 15. — 5. The 
 word is now used also to denote 
 any particular denomination of 
 christians distinguished by parti- 
 cular doctrines, ceremonies, S;c. ; 
 
 as the Romish church, Greek 
 church, English church, &c. 
 
 Congregational church is so 
 called from their maintaining that 
 each congregation of christians 
 which meet in one place for reli- 
 gious worship is a complete chui ch, 
 and has sufficient power to act 
 and perform every thing relative 
 to religious government within 
 itself, and is in no respect subject 
 or accountable to any other church. 
 It does not appear, say they, that 
 the primitive churches were na- 
 tional ; they were not even pro- 
 vincial ; for, though there were 
 many believers and professing 
 christians in Judea, in Galilee, 
 in Samaria, in Macedonia, in 
 Galatia, and other provinces, yet 
 we never read of a provincial 
 church in any of those places. 
 The particular societies of chris- 
 tians in these districts are men- 
 tioned in the plural number, 2d 
 Cor. viii, 1. Gal. i, 2. Acts ix, 
 31. According to them, we find 
 no mention made of diocesan 
 churches in the New Testament. 
 In the days of the apostles, bi- 
 shops were so far from presiding 
 over more churches than one, 
 that sometimes a plurality of bi- 
 shops presided over the same 
 church. See Phil, i, 1. Nor 
 do we find any mention made of 
 parochial churches. Some of the 
 inhabitants of a parish may be 
 Infidels, Mahometans, or Jews ; 
 but gospel churches consist of such 
 as make an open profession of 
 their faith in Christ, and sub- 
 jection to the gospel, Rom. i, 7. 
 1st Cor. xiv, 33. It seems plain, 
 then, that the primitive churches of 
 
CHU 
 
 144 
 
 CHU 
 
 Christ were properly congrega- 
 tional. The first church of Jeru- 
 salem met together in one place 
 at the same time, Acts i, 14, 15. 
 The church of Antioch did the 
 same, Acts xiv, 27. The church 
 of Corinth the same, 1st Cor. xiv, 
 23. The same did the church at 
 Troas, Acts xx, 7. There was a 
 church at Cenchrea, a port of 
 Corinth, distinct from the church 
 in that city, Rom. xvi. He that 
 was a member of one church was 
 not a member of another. The 
 apostle Paul, writing to the Co- 
 lossian society, says — " Epaphras, 
 who is one of you, saluteth you," 
 Col. iv, 12. 
 
 Such a church is a body distin- 
 guished from the civil societies 
 of the world by the spiritual na- 
 ture and design of its govern- 
 ment ; for, though Christ v/ould 
 have order kept in his church, 
 yet without any coercive force ; 
 a thing inconsistent with the very 
 nature of such a society, whose 
 end is instruction ; and a practice 
 suitable to it, which can never in 
 the nature of things be accom- 
 plished by penal laws or extenial 
 coercion. Is. xxxiii, 22. Matt. 
 xxiii, 8, 10. John xviii, 36. Ps. ii, 
 6. 2d Cor. X, 4, 5. Zech. iv, 6., 8cc. 
 
 1. Church members are those 
 v»^ho compose or belong to the 
 church. As to the visible churchy 
 it may be observed that real saint- 
 ship is not the distinguishing 
 criterion of the members of it. 
 None, indeed, can without it ho- 
 nestly oifer themselves to church 
 fellowship ; but they , cannot be 
 refused admission for the mere 
 want of it ; for, 1. God alone can 
 judge the heart. Deceivers can 
 
 counterfeit saintship, 1st Sam. xvi, 
 1, 7. — 2. God himself admitted 
 many members of the Jewish 
 church whose hearts were unsanc- 
 tified, Deut. xxix, 3, 4, 13. John 
 vi, 70. — 3. John the Baptist and 
 gthe apostles required no more than 
 outTvard appearances of faith and 
 repentance in order to baptism, 
 Matt, iii, 5, 7. Acts ii, 38. Acts 
 viii, 13, 23. — 4. Many that were 
 admitted members in the churches 
 of Judea, Corinth, Philippi, Lao- 
 dicea, Sardis, &c., were unregene- 
 rated, Acts v, 1, 10. Acts viii, 13, 
 23. 1st Cor. V, 11. Cor. i, 15. 1st 
 Cor. Phil, iii, 18, 19. Rev. iii, 5, 
 15, 17. — 5. Christ compares the 
 gospel church to a floor on which 
 corn and chaff are mingled toge- 
 ther ; to a net in which good and 
 bad are gathered, Sec. See Matt, 
 xiii. 
 
 As to the real church., 1. The 
 true members of it are such as are 
 {I born again. — 2. They come out 
 I from the world, 1st Cor. vi, 17. 
 j! — 3. They openly profess love to 
 Christ, James ii, 14, 26. Mark 
 viii, 34, &c. — 4-. They walk in all 
 the ordinancesof the Lord blame- 
 less. None but such are proper 
 members of the true church ; nor 
 should any be admitted to any 
 particular church without some 
 appearance of these, at least. 
 
 2. Church felloxvship is the com- 
 munion that the members enjoy 
 one with another. 
 
 The end of church fellowship is.^ 
 1. The maintenance and exhibi- 
 tion of a system of sound princi- 
 ples, 2d Tim. i, 13. 1st Tim. vi, 
 3, 4. 1st Cor. viii, 5, 6. Heb. ii, 1. 
 Eph. iv, 21. — 2. The support of 
 the ordinances of gospel worship 
 
CHU 
 
 145 
 
 CHU 
 
 in their purity and simplicity, 
 ©eut. xii, 31, 32. Rom. xv, 6. — 
 5. iOhe impartial exercise of 
 church government and disci- 
 plincL, Heh. xii. 15. Gal. vi, 1. 
 3d Tim. ii, 24, 26. Tit. iii. 10. 
 -1-s.t 'Cor. V. James iii, 17. — 4. 
 The promotion of holiness in all 
 Tnannei- of conversation, Phil, i. 
 
 Phil. 
 
 15, 16. 2d Pet. iii, 
 
 27. fnn. u. 
 11. IPhil. iv, 6. 
 
 T&e more particular duties are^ 
 1^ Earnest study to keep peace 
 and unity, Eph. iv, 3. Phil, ii, 2, 
 •3. Phil, iii, 15, 18 — 2,. Bearing 
 of one another's burthens. Gal. 
 vi, 1, 2. — .3. Earnest endeavours 
 to prevent each other's stumbling, 
 a St Cor..x, 2, 3. Heb. x, 24, 27. 
 itom. xiv, 13.-^4. Steadfast con- 
 tinuance in the faith and worship 
 of the gospel, Acts ii, 42. — 5. 
 Praying for and sympathizing 
 with each other, 1st Sam. xii, 23. 
 Eph. vi, 18. 
 
 The advantages are^ 1. Pecu- 
 liar incitements to holiness, Eccl. 
 iv, 11. — 2. There are some pro- 
 mises applicable to none but those 
 who attend the ordinances of God, 
 and hold communion with the 
 saints, Ps. xcii, 13. Is. xxv. 6. Ps. 
 cxxxii, 13, 16. Ps. xxxvi, 8. Jer. 
 xxxi, 12. — 3. Such are under the 
 watchful eye and care of their 
 Pastor, Heb. xiii, 7. — 4. Subject 
 to the friendly reproof or kind ad- 
 vice of the saints, 1st Cor. xii, 25. 
 — 5. Their zeal and love are ani- 
 mated by reciprocal conversation, 
 Mai. iii, 16. Prov. xxvii, 17. — 
 6. They may restore each other 
 if they fall, Eccl. iv, 10. Gal. vi, 1. 
 — 7. More easily promote the 
 cause, and sprear! the gospel else- 
 where. 
 
 Vol. I." U 
 
 3. Church ordinances are^ 1. 
 Reading of the scriptures, Neh. ix, 
 3. Acts xvii, 11. Neh. viii, 3, 4. 
 X.uke iv, 16. — 2. Preaching and 
 expounding, 1st Tim. iii, 2. 2d 
 Tim. ii, 24. Eph. iv, 8. Rom. x, 
 15. Heb. V, 4. — 3. Hearing, Is. 
 Iv, 1. James i, 21. 1st Pet. ii. 
 
 2. 1st Tim. iv, 13 4. Prayer, Ps. 
 
 V, 1, 2. Ps. xcv, 6. Ps. cxxi, 1. Ps. 
 xxviii, 2. Acts xii, 12. Acts i, 
 14. — 5. Singing of psalms, Ps- 
 xlvii, 1. to 6. Col. iii, 16. 1st Cor. 
 xiv, 15. Eph. V, 19. — 6- Thanks- 
 giving, Ps. 1, 14, Ps. c. James v, 
 13. — 7. The Lord's supper, 1st 
 Cor. xi, 23, &c. Acts xx, 7. 
 
 Baptism is not properly a churcK 
 ordinance, since it ought to be ad- 
 ministered before a person be ad- 
 mitted into the church. See Bap- 
 
 T,1SM. 
 
 4. Church officers are those ap- 
 pointed by Christ for preaching 
 the word, and the superintendence 
 of church affairs : such are bi- 
 shops and deacons, to which some 
 add, elders. See those arti- 
 cles. 
 
 5. As to church order and dis- 
 cipliney it may be observed, that 
 every christian society formed on 
 the congregational plan is strictly 
 independent of all other religious 
 societies. No other church, how- 
 ever numerous or respectable ; no 
 person or persons, however emi- 
 nent for authority, abilities, or in- 
 fluence, have any right to assume 
 arbitrary jurisdicUon over such a 
 society. They have but one mas- 
 ter, who is Christ. See Matt, 
 xviii, 15, 19. Even the officers 
 which Christ has appointed in his 
 
 I church have no power to give new 
 i laws to it ; but only, in conjunc- 
 ' tjon 
 
CHU 
 
 146 
 
 CHU 
 
 fion with the other members of 
 the society, to execute the com- 
 mands of Christ. They have no 
 dominion over any man's faith, 
 nor any compulsive power over the 
 consciences of any. Every par- 
 ticular church has a right to 
 judge of the fitness of those who 
 offer themselves as members, Acts 
 ix, 26. If they are found to be 
 proper persons, they must then 
 be admitted ; and this should al- 
 ways be followed with prayer, 
 and with a solemn exhortation 
 to the persons received. If any 
 member walk disorderly, and con- 
 tinue to do so, the church is em- 
 powered to exclude him, 1st Cor. 
 V, 7. 2d Thess. iii, 6. Rom. xvi, 
 17, which should be done with 
 the greatest tenderness ; but if evi- 
 dent signs of repentance should 
 be discovered, such must be re- 
 ceived again. Gal. vi, 1. This and 
 other church business is generally 
 done on some day preceding the 
 sabbath on which the ordinance is 
 administered. 
 
 See art. Excommunication ; 
 Dr. Ozven on the Nature of a Gos- 
 pel Church and its Government ; 
 Watts's Rational Foundation of a 
 Christian Church ; Turner'^s Com- 
 pendium of Soc, ReL; Faxocetfs 
 Constitution and Order of a Gospel 
 Church ; Watts's Works ^ ser. S2,^ 
 vol. i. 
 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND, 
 is the church established by law in 
 this kingdom. 
 
 When and by whom Christianity 
 Was first introduced into Britain 
 cannot perhaps be exactly ascer- 
 tained. Eusebius, indeecl, positive- 
 ly declares that it was by the apos- 
 tles and their disciples. It is al- 
 so said that numbers of persons 
 
 professed the christian faith here 
 about the year 1 50 ; and accord- 
 ing to Usher, there was in the 
 year 182 a school of learning, 
 to provide the British churches 
 with proper teachers. Popery, 
 however, was established in Eng- 
 land by Austin the monk; and 
 the errors of it we find every where 
 prevalent, until Wickliffe was 
 raised up by Divine Providence 
 to refute them. The church of 
 England remained in subjection to 
 the pope until the time of Henry 
 VIII. Henry, indeed, in early 
 life, and during the former part of 
 his reign, was a bigotted papist : 
 he burnt the famous Tyndal (who 
 made one of the first and best 
 translations of the New-Testa- 
 ment); and wrote in defence of 
 the seven sacraments against Lu- 
 ther, for which the pope gave him 
 the title of " The Defender of the 
 Faith." But, falling out with the 
 pope about his marriage, he took 
 the government of ecclesiastical 
 affairs into his own hand ; and, 
 having reformed many abuses, en- 
 titled himself supreme head of the 
 church. See Reformation. 
 
 The doctrines of the church of 
 England, which are contained in 
 the thirty -nine articles, are cer- 
 tainly Calvinistical, though this 
 has been denied by some modern 
 writers, especially by Dr. Kipling, 
 in a tract entitled " The Articles 
 of the Church of England proved 
 not to be Calvinistic." These ar- 
 ticles were founded, for the most 
 part, upon a body of articles com- 
 piled and published in the reign 
 of Edward VI. They were first 
 passed in the convocation, and 
 confirmed by royal authority in 
 1562. The^' vrere afterwards ra- 
 
CHU 
 
 147 
 
 CHU 
 
 tified anew in the year 1571, and 
 again by Charles I. The law re- 
 quires a subscription to these ar- 
 ticles of all persons Avho are ad- 
 mitted into holy orders. In the 
 course of the last century disputes 
 arose among the clergy respecting 
 the propriety of subscribing to 
 any human formulary of religious 
 sentiments. An application for 
 its removal was made to parlia- 
 ment, in 1772, by the petitioning 
 clergy ; and received the most 
 public discussion in the house of 
 commons, but rejected in the 
 house of lords. 
 
 The government of the church 
 of England is episcopal. The 
 king is the supreme head. There 
 are two archbishops, and twenty- 
 four bishops. The benefices of 
 the bishops were converted by 
 William the Conqueror into tem- 
 poral baronies ; so that every pre- 
 late has a seat and a vote in the 
 house of peers. Dr. Hoadley, 
 however in a sermon preached 
 from this text — " My kingdom is 
 not of this world," insisted that 
 the clergy had no pretensions to 
 temporal jurisdictions ; which gave 
 rise to various publications, term- 
 ed, by way of eminence^the Ban- 
 gorian Controversy, because Hoad- 
 ley was then bishop of Bangor. 
 Dr. Wake, archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, formed a project of peace 
 and union between the English 
 and Gallican churches, founded 
 upon this condition, that each of 
 the two communities should retain 
 the greatest part of their respective 
 and peculiar doctrines ; but this 
 project came to nothing. In the 
 cl^urch of England there are 
 
 deans, archdeacons, rectors, vi- 
 cars, &c. ; for an account of 
 which, see the respective articles. 
 
 The church of England has a 
 public form read, called a Liturgy. 
 It was composed in 1 547, and has 
 undergone several alterations, the 
 last of which was in 1661. Since 
 that time, several attempts have 
 been made to amend the liturgy, 
 articles, and some other things 
 relating to , the internal govern- 
 ment, but without effect. There 
 are many excellencies in the litur- 
 gy; and, in the opinion of the 
 most impartial Grotius (who was 
 no member of this church), " it 
 comes so near the primitive pat- 
 tern, that none of the reformed 
 churches can compare with it.'* 
 See LiTURGV. 
 
 The greatest part of the inha- 
 bitants of England are professedly 
 members of this church ; but, per- 
 haps, very few either of her mi- 
 nisters or members strictly adhere 
 to the articles in their true sense. 
 Those who are called methodistic 
 or evangelical preachers in the 
 establishment are allowed to come 
 the nearest. 
 
 See Mr. Overtones True Church- 
 men ; Bishop jexveVs Apology, for 
 the Church of England ; Tu^er^s 
 ditto; Hooker's Ecclesiastical Po' 
 lity ; Pearson on the Creed ; Burnet 
 on the thirty-nine Articles ; Bishop 
 Prettyman^s Elements of Theology; 
 and 31rs. H. Moore's Hints on 
 forming the Character of a young 
 Princess^ vol. ii, ch. Ott. On the 
 subject of the first introduction of 
 Christianity into Britain, see the 
 1st vol. of Henry^s History of 
 Great Britain, 
 
CHU 
 
 im^ 
 
 CKU 
 
 CHURCH GALLIC AN, de- 
 notes the ci-devant church of 
 France under the government of 
 its respective bishops and pastors. 
 This church always enjoyed cer- 
 tain franchises and immunities, 
 not as grants from popes, but as 
 derived to her from her first origi- 
 nal, and which she took care ne- 
 ver to relinquish. These liberties 
 depended upon two maxims ; the 
 first, that the pope had no right to 
 order any thing in which the 
 temporalities and civil rights of 
 the kingdom were concerned j the 
 second, that, notwithstanding the 
 pope's supremacy v/as admitted 
 in cases purely spiritual, yet in 
 France his power was limited by 
 the decrees of ancient councils re- 
 ceived in that realm. 
 
 In the established church the 
 Jansenists were very numerous. 
 The bishoprics and prebends were 
 entirely in the gift of the king; 
 and no other catholic state, except 
 Italv, had so numerous a clergy 
 as France. There were in this 
 kingdom^ighteen archbishops, one 
 hundred and eleven bishops, one 
 hundred and sixty-six thousand 
 clergymen, and three thousand 
 four hundred convents, contain- 
 ing two thousand persons devoted 
 to a monastic life. 
 
 Since the repeal of the edict of 
 Nantz, the Protestants have suf- 
 fered much from persecution. A 
 solemn law, Avhich did much 
 honour to Lewis XVI, late king 
 of France, gave to his non-Ro- 
 man Catholic subjects, as they 
 were called, all the civil advan- 
 tages and privileges of their Ro- 
 man Catholic brethren. 
 
 The above .statement v/as made 
 
 previously tO;the French- revolu- 
 tion' : great alterations have taken 
 place since that period. And; it 
 maybe interesting to those who 
 have not the means of fuller in- 
 formation, to give a sketch of the 
 causes which gave rise to those 
 important events. 
 
 It has been asserted, that about 
 the middle of the last century a 
 conspiracy was formed to over- 
 throw christianit}', without distinc- 
 tion of worship, whether Protest- 
 ant or Catholic. Voltaire; De 
 Alembert; Frederic II, king of 
 Prussia ; and Diderot, were at the 
 head of this conspiracy. Nu- 
 merous other adepts and seconda- 
 ry agents were induced' to join 
 them. These pretended philoso- 
 phers used every artifice that im- 
 piety could invent, by union and 
 secret correspondence, to attack, to 
 debase, and annihilate Christianity, 
 They not only acted in concert, 
 sparing no political or impious 
 art to effect the destruction of the 
 christian religion, but they were 
 the instigators and conductors of 
 those secondary agents whom they 
 had seduced, and pursued their 
 plan with all the ardour and con- 
 stancy which denotes the most fi- 
 nished conspirators. 
 
 The French clergy amounted 
 to one hundred and thirty thou- 
 sand, the higher orders of whom 
 enjoyed immense revenues; but 
 the cures, or great body of acting 
 clergy, seldom possessed more than 
 twenty-eight pounds sterling a year, 
 and their vicars about half the 
 sum. The clergy as a body, inde- 
 pendent of their titles, possessed 
 a revenue arising from their pro- 
 perty in land, amounting to five 
 
CHU 
 
 145 
 
 cnn 
 
 miUioBS- sterling' annuaHy ; at the 
 same time they were exempt from 
 taxation. Before the levelling sys- 
 tem had taken place, the clergy 
 signified to the commons the in- 
 structions of their constituents, to 
 contribute to the exigencies of 
 the state in equal proportion with 
 the other citizens. Not content- 
 ed with this offer, the tithes and 
 revenues of the clergy were taken 
 away; in lieu of which, it was 
 proposed to grant a certain stipend 
 to the different ministers of reli- 
 gion, to be payable by the nation. 
 The possessions of the church were 
 then considered as national pro- 
 perty by a decree of the consti- 
 tuent assembly. The reiigioiis 
 orders, viz. the communities of 
 monks and nuns, possessed im- 
 mense landed estates ; and, after 
 having abolished the orders, the 
 assembly seized the estates for the 
 use of the nation ; the gates of 
 the cloisters were nov/ thrown 
 opeui The next step of the as- 
 sembly was to establish what is 
 called the civil constitutt07i of the 
 clergy. This, the Roman Catho- 
 lics assert, was in direct opposi- 
 tion to their religion. But though 
 opposed with energetic eloquence, 
 the decree passed, and was soon 
 after followed by another, oblig- 
 ing the clergy to swear to main- 
 tain their civil constitution. Every 
 artifice which cunning, and every 
 menace which cruelty could in- 
 vent, were used to induce them to 
 take the oath ; great numbers, 
 however, refused. One hundred 
 and thirty-eight bishops and arch- 
 bishops, sixty-eight curates or vi- 
 cars, were on this account driven 
 from their sees and parishes. Three 
 
 hundred of the priests we're mss'- 
 sacred in one day in one city* 
 All the other pastors who adhered 
 to their religion were either sa- 
 crificed, or banished from their 
 country, seeking through a thou- 
 sand dangers a refuge among fo- 
 reign nations. A perusal of the 
 horrid massacres of the priests who. 
 refused to take the oaths, and the 
 various forms of persecution em- 
 ployed by tliose who were attached 
 to the Catholic religion, must 
 deeply wound the feelings of hu- 
 manity. Those readers who are 
 desirous of farther information, 
 are referred to Abbe Barruel's 
 History of the Clergy. 
 
 Some think that there was an- 
 other cause of the revolution, and 
 which may be traced as far back 
 at least as the revocation of the 
 edict of Nantz in the seventeenth 
 centurj', when the great body of 
 French Protestants, who were men^ 
 of principle, were either murder- 
 ed or banished, and the rest in a 
 manner silenced. The effect of 
 this sanguinary measure (say they) 
 must needs be the general preva- 
 lence of infidelity. Let the ra- 
 ligious part of any nation be ba- 
 nished, and a general spread of 
 irreligion must necessarily follow : 
 such were the effects in France. 
 Through the whole of the eigh- 
 teenth century infidelity has been 
 the fashion, and that not only 
 among the princes and noblesse, 
 but even among the greater part 
 of the bishops and clergy. And 
 as thev had united their influence 
 in banishing true religion, and 
 cherishing the monster which suc- 
 ceeded it, so have they been united 
 in sustaining the calamitous effects 
 
CHU 
 
 150 
 
 CHU 
 
 which that monster has produced, 
 However unprincipled and cruel 
 the French revolutionists have 
 been, and however much the suf- 
 ferers, as fellow creatures, are 
 entitled to our pity ; yet, consider- 
 ing the event as the just retribu- 
 tion of God, we are constrained 
 to say, *' Thou art righteous, oh ! 
 Lord, who art, and wast, and shall 
 be, because thou hast judged thus ; 
 for they have shed the blood of 
 saints and prophets, and thou hast 
 given them blood to drink ; for 
 they are worthy." 
 
 The Catholic reliffion is now 
 
 O 
 
 again established, but with a tole- 
 ration of the Protestants, under 
 some restrictions. — See the Can- 
 cordat^ or religious establishment 
 of the French Republic, ratified 
 September 10th, 1801. 
 
 CHURCH GREEK orEAST- 
 ERN, comprehends the churches 
 of all the countries anciently sub- 
 ject to the Greek or Eastern em- 
 pire, and through which their lan- 
 guage was carried ; that is, all the 
 space extended from Greece to 
 Mesopotamia and Persia, and 
 thence into Eg}'pt. This church 
 has been divided from the Roman 
 ever since the time of the em- 
 peror Phocas. See article Greek 
 Church. 
 
 CHURCH HIGH. See High 
 Chhrch. 
 
 CHURCH OF IRELAND is 
 the same as the church of England, 
 and is governed by four arch- 
 bishops and eighteen bishops. 
 
 CHURCH LATIN or WEST- 
 ERN, comprehends all the church- 
 es of Italy, Portugal, Spain, Africa, 
 the north, and all other countries 
 whither the Roi-nans carried their 
 language. Great Britain, part of 
 
 the Netherlands, of Germany, and 
 of the north of Europe, have been 
 separated from it almost ever since 
 the reformation. 
 
 CHURCH REFORMED, com- 
 prehends the whole Protestant 
 churches in Europe and America, 
 whether Lutheran, Calvinistic, In- 
 dependent, Quaker, Baptist, or of 
 any other denomination who dis- 
 sent from the church of Rome. 
 
 CHURCH ROMAN CA- 
 THOLIC, claims the title of be- 
 ing the mother church, and is un- 
 doubtedly the most ancient of all 
 the established churches in Chris- 
 tendom, if antiquity be held as a 
 proof of primitive purity. See 
 Popery. 
 
 CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, 
 established by the law in that king- 
 dom, is presbyterian,\vhich has ex- 
 isted (with some interruptions dur- 
 ing the reign of the Stewarts) ever 
 since the time of John Knox, when 
 the voice of the people prevailed 
 against the influence of the crown 
 in getting it established. Its doc- 
 trines are Calvinistic. See article 
 Ppesbyterians. 
 
 CHURCHWARDENS, offi- 
 cers chosen yearly, either by the 
 consent of the minister, or of the 
 parishioners, or of both. Their bu- 
 siness is to look to the church, 
 church-yard, and to observe the 
 behaviour of the parishioners : to 
 level a shilling forfeiture on all 
 such as do not go to church on 
 Sundays, and to keep persons or- 
 derly in church-time, &c. 
 
 CHURCH-YARD, a piece of 
 ground adjoining to the church, 
 set apart for the interment of the 
 dead. In the church of Rome 
 church-yards are consecrated with 
 great solemnity. If a church-yard 
 
CIR 
 
 15i 
 
 CIR 
 
 which has been thus consecrated 
 shall afterwards be polluted by 
 any indecent action, or profaned 
 by the burial of an infidel, an 
 heretic, an excommunicated or 
 unbaptized person, it must be re- 
 coticiled ; and the ceremony of the 
 reconciliation is performed with 
 the same solemnity as that of the 
 consecration ! See Consecra- 
 tion. 
 
 CIRCONCELLIONES,aspe- 
 cies of fanatics ; so called because 
 they were continually ■ rambling 
 round the houses in the country. 
 They took their rise among the 
 Donatists, in the reign of the em- 
 peror Constantine. It is incredible 
 what ravages and cruelties they 
 committed in Africa, through a 
 long series of years. They were 
 illiterate savage peasants, who 
 understood only the Punic lan- 
 guage. Intoxicated with a bar- 
 barous zeal, they renounced agri- 
 culture, professed continence, and 
 assumed the title of " Vindica- 
 tors of Justice, and protectors of 
 the oppressed." To accomplish 
 their mission, they enfranchized 
 slaves, scoured the roads, forced 
 masters to alight from their cha- 
 riots, and run before their slaves, 
 whom they obliged to mount in 
 their place ; and discharged debt- 
 ors, killing the creditors if they 
 refused to cancel their bonds. 
 But the chief objects of their 
 cruelty were the Catholics, and 
 especially those who had renounc- 
 ed Donatism. At first they used 
 no swords, because Glod had for- 
 bidden the Use of one to Peter : 
 but they were armed with clubs, 
 which they called the clubs of 
 Israel, and which they handled 
 
 in such a manner as to break a 
 man's bones v/ithout killing him 
 immediately, so that he languished 
 a long time, and then died. When 
 they took away a man's life at 
 once, they looked upon it as a 
 favour. They became less scru- 
 pulous afterwards, and made use 
 of all sorts of arms. Their shout 
 was. Praise be to God. These 
 words in their mouths were the 
 signal of slaughter, more ter- 
 rible than the roaring of a lion. 
 They had invented an unheard-of 
 punishment, which was to cover 
 with lime, diluted with vinegar, 
 the eyes of those unhappy wretch- 
 es whom they had crushed with 
 blows and covered with wounds, 
 and to abandon them in that con- 
 dition. Never was a stronger 
 proof what horrors superstition 
 can beget in minds destitute of 
 knowledge and humanity. These 
 brutes, v/ho had made a vow of 
 chastity, gave themselves up to 
 wine, and all sorts of impurities ; 
 running about with women and 
 young girls, as drunk as them- 
 selves, whom they called sacred 
 virgins^ and who often carried 
 proofs of their incontinence. Their 
 chief took the name of chief of 
 the saints. After having glut- 
 ted themselves with blood, they 
 turned their rage upon themselves, 
 and sought death with the same 
 fury with which they gave it to 
 others. Some scrambled up to 
 the tops of rocks, and cast them- 
 selves down headlong in multi- 
 tudes ; others burned themselves, 
 or threw themselves into the sea. 
 Those who proposed to acquire 
 the title of martyrs published it 
 long before; upon which they 
 
CIS 
 
 152 
 
 C L E 
 
 were feasted and fattened like 
 oxen for the slaughter ; afterthese 
 preparations they sat out to be 
 destroyed. Sometimes they gave 
 jnoney to those whom they met, 
 and threatened to murder them 
 if they did not make them mar- 
 tyrs. Theodorat ^ives an account 
 of a stout young man, who, meet- 
 ing with a troop of these fanatics, 
 consented to kill them, provided 
 he might bind them first; and hav- 
 ing by this means put it out of 
 their power to defend themselv^es, 
 v/hipped them as long as he was 
 able, and then left them tied in 
 that manner. Their bishops pre- 
 tended to blame them, but in rea- 
 lity made use of them to intimi- 
 date such as might be tempted to 
 forsake their sect ; they even ho- 
 noured them as saints. They were 
 not, however, able to govern those 
 furious monsters ; and more than 
 once found themselves under a 
 necessity of abandoning them, and 
 even of imploring the assistance of 
 the secular power against them. 
 The counts Ursacius and Tau- 
 rinus were employed to quell 
 them : they destroyed a great 
 number of them, of whom the 
 Donatists made as many martyrs. 
 Ursacius, who was a Catholic, 
 and a religious man, having lost 
 his life in an engagement with the 
 barbarians, the Donatists did not 
 fall to triumph in his death, as an 
 effect of the vengeance of heaven. 
 Africa was the theatre of these 
 bloody scenes during a great a part 
 ©f Constantine's life. 
 
 CISTERTIANS, a religious 
 order founded by St. Robert, a Be- 
 nedictine, in the eleventh century. 
 They became so powerful, that 
 
 they governed almost all Europe 
 both in spirituals and tem.porals. 
 Cardinal de Vitri, describing their 
 observances, says, they aeither 
 wore skins nor shirts, nor ever 
 ate flesh, except in sickness; and 
 abstained from fish, eggs, milk^, 
 and cheese : they lay upon -straw- 
 beds in tunics and cowls.; they 
 rose at midnight to prayers ,; they 
 spent the day in labour, reading, 
 and prayer ; and in all their exer- 
 cises observed a continual silence. 
 
 CLEMENCY denotes much 
 the same as mercy. It is most ge- 
 nerally used in speaking of the 
 forgiveness exercised by princes. 
 It is the result, indeed, of a dis- 
 position which ought to be cultivat- 
 ed by all ranks, though its effects 
 cannot be equally conspicuous. 
 
 Cleinency is not only the privi- 
 lege, the honour, and the duty of 
 a prince, but it is also his secu- 
 rity, and better than all his garri- 
 sons, forts, and guards, to pre- 
 serve himself and his dominions in 
 safety. That prince is truly royal 
 who masters himself, looks upon 
 all injuries as below him, and go- 
 verns by equity and reason, not 
 by pkssion or caprice. David, 
 king of Israel, appears in no in- 
 stance greater or more amiable 
 than in sparing the life of his per-' 
 secutor Saul when it was in his 
 power, 
 
 CLERGY (from the Greek word 
 yM^os^ heritage), in the general 
 sense of the word, as used by us, 
 signifies the body of ecclesiastics 
 of the christian church, in contra- 
 diction to the laity; but strict- 
 ly speaking, and according to 
 scripture, it means the church. — 
 " When Joshua," as one cb^ervas, 
 
CLE 
 
 153 
 
 CLE 
 
 ** divided the Holy Land by lot 
 among the Israelites, it pleased 
 God to provide for a thirteenth 
 part of them, called Levites, by 
 assigning them a personal estate 
 equivalent to that provision made 
 by real estate which was allotted 
 to each of the other tv, elve parts. 
 In conformity to the style of the 
 transaction, the Levites were call- 
 ed God's lot^ inheritance^ or clergy. 
 This style, however, is not alvvays 
 used by the Old Testament writers. 
 Sometimes they call a/l the nation 
 God's /(??, Deut. xxxii, 9. Ps. 
 Ixxviii, 71. Ps. xxviii, 9, &c. The 
 New Testament writers adopt this 
 term, and apply it to the whole 
 christian church, Jst Pet. v, 3. 
 Thus it is the church distinguished 
 from the world, and not one part 
 of the church as distinguished 
 from another part." The word 
 clergy, however, among us, al- 
 ways refers to ecclesiastics. 
 
 The clergy originally consisted 
 of bishops, priests, and deacons ; 
 but in the third century many in- 
 ferior orders were appointed; such 
 as sub-deacons, acoluthists, read- 
 ers, &c. The clergy of the church 
 of Rome are divided into regular 
 and secular. The regular consists 
 of those monks or religious who 
 have taken upon them holy orders 
 of the priesthood in their respec- 
 tive monasteries. The secular 
 clergy are those who are not of 
 any religious order, and have the 
 care and direction of parishes. 
 The Protestant clergy arc all se- 
 cular. For archbishops, bishops, 
 deans, &c. &c., see those arti- 
 cles. 
 
 The clergy have large privileges 
 allowed them bv our municipal 
 
 Vol. L ' Xi 
 
 laws, and had foraierly muck 
 greater, which were abridged at 
 the reformation, on account of 
 the ill use which the popish clergy 
 had endeavoured to make of them ; 
 for the laws having exempted 
 them from almost every personal 
 duty, they attempted a total ex- 
 ethption from every secular tie. 
 The personal exemptions, indeed, 
 for the most part, continue. A 
 clergyman cannot be compelled 
 to serve on a jury, nor to appear 
 at a court leet, which airaost 
 every other person is obliged to 
 do ; but if a layman be summoned 
 on a jury, and before the trial 
 takes orders, he shall notwith- 
 standing appear, and be sworn. 
 Neither can he be chosen to any 
 temporal office ; as bailiff, reeve, 
 constable, or the like, in regard of 
 his own continual attendance on 
 the sacred function. During his 
 attendance on divine sei"vice, he is 
 privileged from arrests in civil 
 suits. In cases of felony also, a 
 clerk in orders shall have the be- 
 nefit of clergy without beingbrand- 
 ed in the hand, and may likewise 
 have it more than once ; in both 
 which cases he is distinguished 
 from a layman. 
 
 Benefit of Clergy was a privilege 
 whereby a clergyman claimed 
 to be delivered to his ordinary 
 to purge himself of felony, and 
 v/hich anciently was allowed only 
 to those who were in orders ; but, 
 by the statute of 18th Eliz., every 
 man to whom the benefit of clergy 
 is granted, though not in orders, 
 is put to read at the bar, after he 
 is found guilty, and convicted of 
 felony, and so burnt in the hand ; 
 and .set free for the first time, if 
 
coc 
 
 154 
 
 COC 
 
 die ordinary or deputy standing 
 by do say, Legit ut clericus ; 
 otherwise he shall suiFer death. 
 As the clergy have their privi- 
 leges, so they have also their dis- 
 abilities, on account of their 
 spiritual avocations. Clergymen 
 are incapable of sitting in the 
 house of commons ; and by sta- 
 tute 21 Henry VIII, c 13, are 
 not in general allowed to take 
 any lands or tenements to farm, 
 vipon pain of 10/. per month, and 
 total avoidance of the lease ; nor 
 upon like pain to keep any tap- 
 house or brewhouse ; nor engage 
 in any trade, nor sell any mer- 
 chandise, under forfeiture of the 
 treble value ;. which prohibition 
 is consonant to the canon law. 
 
 The number of clergy in Eng- 
 land and Wales amount, accord- 
 ing to the best calculation, to 
 about 18,000. The revenues of 
 the clergy were formerly con- 
 siderable, but since the reforma- 
 tion they arc comparatively small, 
 at least those of tb^ inferior cler- 
 gy. See the Bishop of Landaff"'s 
 Valuation of the Church and Uni- 
 versity Revenues ; or. Cove on the 
 Revenues of the Churchy 1797, 2d 
 edition ; Burnetfs Hist, of his oxvn 
 Times^ conclusion. See article 
 Minister. 
 
 CLERK : 1. A word originally 
 used to denote a learned man, or 
 man of letters; but now is the 
 common appellation by which cler- 
 gymen distinguish themselves in 
 signing any deed or instrument. — 
 2. Also the person who reads the 
 responses of the congregation in 
 the church, or gives out- the hymns 
 at a meeting. 
 
 COCCEIANS, a denomination 
 
 which arose in the seventeenth 
 century ; so called from John 
 Cocceius, professor of divinity 
 in the university of Leyden. He 
 represented the whole history of 
 the Old Testament as a mirror, 
 which held forth an accurate 
 view of the transactions and events 
 that were to happen in the 
 church under the dispensation of 
 the New Testament and unto the 
 end of the world. He maintain- 
 ed that by far the greatest part 
 of the ancient prophecies foretold 
 Christ's ministry and mediation, 
 and the rise, progress, and revolu- 
 tions of the church, not only un- 
 der the figure of persons and 
 transactions, but in a literal man- 
 ner, and by the very sense of the 
 words used in these predictions,;, 
 and laid it down as a fundamental 
 rule of interpretation, that the 
 words and phrases of scripture 
 are to be understood in every 
 sense of which they are suscepti- 
 ble, or, in other words, that they 
 signify in effect every thing that 
 they can possibly signify. 
 
 Cocceius also taught, that the 
 covenant made between God and 
 the Jewish nation, by the ministry 
 of Moses, was of the same nature 
 as the new covenant, obtained by 
 the mediation, of Jesus Christ. In 
 consequence of this general prin- 
 ciple, he maintained that the ten 
 commandments were promulgated 
 by Moses, not as a rule of obcr 
 dience, but as a representation of 
 the covenant of grace — that when 
 the Jews had provoked the Deity 
 by their various transgressions^ 
 particularly by the worship of the 
 I golden calf, the severe and servile 
 I yoke of the ceremonial law was^ 
 
C CE N 
 
 155 
 
 COL 
 
 added to the decalogue, as a pu- 
 nishment inflicted on them by the 
 Suprr;me Being in his righteous 
 'displeasure — that this yoke, which 
 was painful in itself, became 
 doubly so on account of its ty- 
 pical signification j since it ad- 
 monished the Israelites from day 
 to day of the imperfection and 
 uncertainty of their state, filled 
 them with anxiety, and was a 
 perpetual proof that they had 
 merited the righteous displeasure 
 of God, and could not expect 
 before the coming of the Messiah 
 the entire remission of their ini- 
 quities — that indeed good men, 
 even under the Mosaic dispensa- 
 tion, were immediately after death 
 made partakers of everlasting glo- 
 ry ; but that they were nevertheless, 
 during the whole course of their 
 lives, far removed from that firm 
 hope and assurance of salvation, 
 which rejoices the faithful under 
 the dispensation of the gospel — 
 and that their anxiety flowed 
 naturally from this consideration, 
 that their sins, though they remain 
 unpunished, were not pardoned ; 
 because Christ had not as yet of- 
 fered himself up a sacrifice to the 
 Father, to make an entire atone- 
 m.ent for them. 
 
 CCENOBITE, one who lives 
 in a convent, or in community, 
 under a certain rule ; in oppo- 
 sition to a hermit, who lives in 
 solitude. Cassian makes this dif- 
 fei*ence between a convent and 
 a monasteru^ that the latter may 
 be applied to the residence of a 
 single religious or recluse ; where- 
 as the convent implies coenobites, 
 or numbers of religious living in 
 common. Fleury speaks of three 
 
 kinds of monks in Egypt ; anci" 
 chorets^ who live in solitude ; ca?- 
 nobites^ who continue to live in 
 community ; and sarahaites^ who 
 are a kind of monks-errant, that 
 stroll from place to place. He re>- 
 fers the institution of coenobites 
 to the time qf the apostles, and 
 makes it a kind of imitation o£ 
 the ordinary lives of the faithful 
 at Jerusalem \ though St. Pacho- 
 mius is ordinarily owned to be 
 the institutor of the coenobite life, 
 as being the first who gave a rule 
 to any community. 
 
 COLLECT, a short prayer. 
 In the liturgy ef the church of 
 England, and the mass of the Ro- 
 manists, it denotes a prayer ac- 
 commodated to any particular 
 day, occasion, or the like. In 
 general, all the prayers in each 
 office are called collects^ either 
 because the priest speaks in the 
 name of the whole assembly^ 
 whose sentiments and desires he 
 sums up by the word " Oremus,'* 
 " Let us pray," or because those 
 prayers ar€ offered when the peo- 
 ple are assembled together. The 
 popes Gelasius and Gregory are 
 said to have been the first who 
 established collects. Dr. De- 
 spence, of Paris, wrote a treatise 
 on collects, their origin, antiqui- 
 ty, &c. 
 
 COLLEGIANS, or Colt.egi- 
 ANTS, a sect formed among the 
 Arminians and Anabaptists in 
 Holland, about the beginning of 
 the seventeenth century : so call- 
 ed because of their colleges or 
 meetings twice ever}^ week, where 
 every one, females excepted, has 
 the same liberty of expounding 
 the scripture, praying, &c. They 
 
COL 
 
 156 
 
 c Dm 
 
 are said to be all either Arians 
 or Socinians : they never com- 
 municate in the college, but meet 
 twice a year, from all parts of 
 Holiaiid, at Rhinsbergh (whence 
 they are also cdL'lo.^ Rh'insberghers) ^ 
 a village two miles from Levden, 
 where they communicate togirther ; 
 admitting every one that presents 
 himself, professing his faitli in 
 the divinity of the holy scriptures, 
 and resolution to live suitably to 
 their precepts and doctrines, Avith- 
 out regard to his sect or opinion. 
 They have no particular minis- 
 ters, but each oiiiciates as he 
 is disposed. They baptize by im- 
 mersion. 
 
 COLLEGIATE CHURCH 
 was such as was built at a conve- 
 nient distance from the cathedral 
 church, v.'herein a number of 
 presbyters were settled, and lived 
 together in one congregation. Such 
 churches have no bishop's see,}'et 
 have the ancient retinue of the 
 bishops, the canons, and prebends. 
 Such are Westminster, Rippon, 
 Windsor, &c., governed by deans 
 and chapters. 
 
 COLLUTHIANS, a sect which 
 rose about the beginning of the 
 fourth century, on occasion of 
 the indulgence shewn to Arius by 
 Alexander, patriarch of Alex- 
 andria. Several people were of- 
 fended at so much condescension, 
 and among the rest CoUuthus, a 
 priest of the same city ; who took 
 occasion from hence to hold sepa- 
 rate assemblies, and by degrees 
 proceeded to the ordination of; 
 priests, as if he had been-a bishop ; ; 
 declaring that tlvere was a neces- I 
 siiy ior this authority, in order to 
 Oppose Arius. He was condemn- I 
 
 ed by a council held at Alex- 
 andria, by Arius, in the year 330. 
 
 COLLYRIDIANS, a sect of 
 the fourth century ; so denominat- 
 ed from a little cake, called by the 
 Greeks colhjridia^ v.hich they of- 
 fei-ed to the Virgin Mary. This 
 sect, it seems, consisted chiefly of 
 Arabian women, who, cut of an 
 extravagant veneration for the 
 Virgin, rnet on a certain day in 
 the vear to celebrate a solemn 
 feast, and to render divine ho- 
 nours to Mary as to a goddess, 
 eating the cake, which they of- 
 fered in her name. 
 
 COMMENTARY, an exposi- 
 tion ; book of annotations or re- 
 marks. There are some people so 
 wise in their own conceit, and think 
 human helps of so little worth, that 
 they despise commentaries on the 
 scriptures altogether ; but every 
 student or preacher whose business 
 is to explain the sacred oracles, to 
 make known the mind of God to 
 others, to settle cases of consci- 
 ence, to oppose the sophistry c^f 
 sceptics, and to confound the argu- 
 ments of infidels, would do weU 
 to avail himself of the most judi- 
 cious, clear, copious, critical, and 
 sound commentaries on the Bible. 
 Nor can I suppose that commenta- 
 ries can be useless to the common 
 people ; for though a spirit of seri- 
 ous enquiry, with a little good 
 sense, will go a great v/ay in under- 
 standing the Bible, yet as the lan- 
 guage is often figurative, as allu- 
 sions are made to ancient customs, 
 and some parts require more inves- 
 tigation than many common chris- 
 tians have time for, a plain exposi- 
 tion certainly mustbe useful. Ex- 
 positions of the Bible, however, 
 
COM 
 
 157 
 
 COM 
 
 may be made a bad use of. He 
 who takes the ipse dixit of a com- 
 mentator, without ever examin- 
 ing whether the meaning given 
 comport with the text ; he who 
 gives himself no trouble to inves- 
 tigate the scripture for himself, 
 but takes occasion to be indolent 
 because others have laboured for 
 him, surely does wrong. Nor 
 can it be said that those preachers 
 use them properly, who, in mak- 
 ing their sermons, form their plans 
 from the commentator before they 
 have thought upon the text. Per- 
 haps the best way is to follow our 
 own talents; first by prayer, study, 
 and attention to form our scheme, 
 and then to examine the opinions 
 of others concerning it. We will 
 here present the reader with a view 
 of some of those commentaries 
 which are the most generally ap- 
 proved. And, 1. in my opinion, 
 Henry takes the lead for com- 
 mon utility. The sprightly notes, 
 the just inferences, the original 
 thoughts, and the warm applica- 
 tions to the conscience, make this 
 work justly admired. It is true 
 that there are some expressions 
 which do not agree with the evan- 
 gelic system ; but as the late Mr. 
 Kyland observes, " 'tis impossi- 
 ble for a person of piety and taste 
 to read him without wishing to be 
 shut out from all the world to read 
 him through without one moment's 
 interruption.^'' Mr. Henry did not 
 live to complete this work. He 
 went as far as the end of Acts. 
 Romans was done by Dr. Evans ; 
 the 1st Corinthians, Sam. Brown ; 
 2d Corinthians, Dr. Mayo ; Gala- 
 tians, Mr. Bayes ; Ephesians, Mr. 
 Bosvvcll: Philippians, Mr. Harris; 
 
 Colossi ans, Mr. Harris ; 1st an3 
 2d Thesst-ilonians, Mr. Mayo; 1st 
 and 2d Timothy, Mr. Atkinson ; 
 Titus, Jer. Smith; Philemon, Mr. ' 
 Mottershead; Hebrews, Mr.Tong; 
 James, Mr. Wright ; 1st Peter, 
 Mr. Hill ; 2d Peter, Mr. Morril ; 
 1st, 2d, and 3d John, Mr. Rey- 
 nolds ; Jude, Mr. Billingsley; and 
 Revelations by Mr. Tong. 
 
 2. Pooli Synopsis Criticorum, 
 5 folio volumes. This is a valuable 
 work, and ought to be in the pos- 
 session of every student : it is much 
 esteemed abroad, three editions of 
 it having been published on the 
 continent. 
 
 3. Poole's Annotations, a rich 
 and useful v/ork. These were 
 printed at London in 1685, in two 
 volumes, folio. Poole did not 
 complete this work himself. Mr. 
 Jackson, of Moulsey, is the au- 
 thor of the annotations on the 
 59th and 60th chap, of Isaiah. 
 Dr. CoUings drew up the notes on 
 the rest of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and 
 Lamentations, as also those on the 
 four Evangelists, the two epistles 
 to the Corinthians, and that to 
 the Galatians. Those to Timothy, 
 Titus, Philemon, and the Revela- 
 tions, Ezekiel, and the Minor 
 Prophets, were done by Mr. 
 Hurst. Daniel by Mr. Cooper; 
 the Acts by Mr. Vinke ; the 
 epistle to the Romans by Mr, 
 Mayo ; the Ephesians, Mr, Veale ; 
 the Philippians and Colossians, 
 Mr. Aclams ; the Hebrews, Mr. 
 Obadiah Hughes ; the epistle of 
 St. James, the two of St. Peter, 
 and that of Jude, by Mr. Veale j 
 the three epistles of St. John by 
 Mr. Howe. 
 
 4. Dr. CTill's, in 9 vol. folio, is 
 
COM 
 
 158 
 
 CO 
 
 an immense work ; and though it 
 contain a good deal of repetition 
 and extraneous matter, there is 
 certainly a vast fund of informa- 
 tion together with evangelical sen- 
 timent. 
 
 5. BrowTi's Self-interpreting Bi- 
 ble is an admirable book, either for 
 ministers or families. Its chief 
 excellencies are the marginal re- 
 ferences, which are exceedingly 
 useful to preachers ; and the close, 
 plain, and practical improvement 
 to each chapter. 
 
 6. Scott's Exposition abounds 
 with practical remarks. The im- 
 provements are a kind of sermons, 
 and will be found very useful for 
 faniilies. 
 
 On the New Testament. 
 
 1. Burkitt contains many in- 
 genious observations, fine turns, 
 natural plans, and pungent ad- 
 dresses to the conscience. There 
 ai'e some legal expi'essions, how- 
 ever, that grate upon the ear of the 
 evangelical christian. 
 
 2. Guyse's Paraphrase is de- 
 servedly held in high estimation 
 for sound doctrine, fair explica- 
 tion, and just sentiment. 
 
 3. Doddridge's Family Expo- 
 sitor. The criticisms in this work 
 render it valuable ; and if some 
 of them be dry, it must be owned 
 that the doctor laboured to come 
 as near as possible to the true sense 
 of the text. 
 
 4. Bezse Annotationes, in qui- 
 bus ratio interpretationis i-edditur ; 
 accessit etiam J. Camerarii in no- 
 vum Icedus commentarius, fol. 
 Cantab, i-842, contains, besides 
 the old Latin version, Beza's own 
 version ; and in the side margin 
 
 is given a summary of the pas- 
 sage, and in the argumentative 
 parts the connexion. 
 
 5. Wolfii Curse Philologies, & 
 Criticae, in Omnes Libros, Nov. 
 Test. 5 vol. 4to. 1^39, Hamb. 
 Basil, 1741. This is in a great 
 measure a compilation after the 
 manner of Poole's Synopsis, but 
 interspersed with his own critical 
 animadversions. 
 
 6. Bengelii Gnomon Nov. Test. 
 4to. Tubingse, 1759, & Ulmse, 
 1 763) contains an instructive pre- 
 face, a perspicuous analysis of 
 each book, with short notes. It 
 is a perfect contrast to that of 
 Wolfius. 
 
 7. Raphelii Annotationes in S. 
 Scripturam, &c., is an attempt 
 to illustrate the holy scriptures 
 from the classical Greek historians, 
 Xenophon, Polybius, Arrian, and 
 Herodotus. 
 
 8. Hammond's Paraphrase and 
 Annotations upon all the books of 
 the New Testament, folio. 
 
 9. Whitby's Paraphrase and 
 Com. on New Test. 2 fol. vol. 
 
 10. Wesley's Explanatory Notesi 
 4to, or 3 vol. 12mo. Of different 
 translations, see'article Bible. 
 
 Commentators on Select Parts, 
 
 1. Ainsworth on Pentateuch, 
 Psalms, and Song of Solomon. 
 
 2. Patrick's Commentaries on 
 the Historical Parts of the Holy 
 Scriptures, 3 vol. 
 
 3. Lightfoot's Works, 2 vol. fol., 
 contain a chronicle of the times, 
 and the order of the text of the 
 Old Testament. The harmony, 
 chronicle, and order of the New 
 Testament J the harmony of the 
 
COM 
 
 159 
 
 COM 
 
 four Evangelists ; a commentary 
 on the Acts ; Horae Hebraicse, Sec; 
 on the four Evangelists, Acts, and 
 1st Corinthians. 
 
 4. Chrysostomi Opera, 8 vol. 
 folio, contain expositions of vari- 
 ous parts. 
 
 5. Calvini Opera Omnia, 9 vol., 
 contain commentaries on Penta- 
 teuch, Joshua, homilies onSamuel, 
 sermons on Job, commentaries on 
 Psalms, Isaiah, Evangelists, Acts, 
 Paul's epistles, and the other ca- 
 tholic epistles ; and prselectiones 
 on Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and 
 the Minor Prophets. 
 
 6. Lowth on the Prophets. 
 
 7. Pocock on some of the Minor 
 Prophets. 
 
 8. Locke on Paul's epistles. 
 
 9. Kutcheson on the Smaller 
 Prophets. 
 
 10. Newcome on Ezekiel and 
 Minor Prophets. 
 
 11. Macknight's Harmony of 
 the Gospel, and Literal Trans- 
 lation of all the Apostolical Epis- 
 tles, with Commentary and Notes, 
 3 vol. 4to. 
 
 12. CampbelFs Translation of 
 the Gospels, with Notes and Dis- 
 sertations. 
 
 On Select Books. 
 
 On Ruth: Macgowan, Law- 
 son. 
 
 On Job: 1. Caryll, 2 vol. fol. 
 — 2. Hutchinson, 1669, fol. — 3. 
 Peters's Critical Dissertation on 
 Book of Job. 
 
 On the Psalms: 1. Molleri Enarr, 
 
 Psalm, fol. 1619 2. Hammond^s 
 
 Paraphrase.; — 3. AmesiiLectiones 
 in Omnes Psalmos, oct. 1636 — 4. 
 Dickson. — 5. Home's Commen- 
 tary .. — On Select Psalms: 1. Hil- 
 
 dersham's 152 Lectures onPsalnt 
 li. — 2. Decoetlogon's Serm. on, 
 Psalm li. — 3. Greenham on Psaln* 
 cxix. — 4. Manton on Psalm cxix^ 
 —5. Owen on Psalm cxxx. — 6. 
 Romaine on Psalm cvii. 
 
 On Proverbs : Dr. Mayer, Tay- 
 lor, lo. Trapp. 
 
 Ecclesiastes : Broughton, Jer- 
 myn. 
 
 Canticles : Bp. Foliot, Mercier, 
 Sanchez, Bossuet, Cocceius, Dr. 
 James, Ainsworth, Durham, bi- 
 shop Hall, bishop Patrick, Dove, 
 Trapp, Jackson, Dr. CoUings, Dr- 
 Gill, Dr. Percy, Harmer, Dr. 
 Durell ; but the most recent, and 
 perhaps the best, is Williams's new 
 translation, with commentary, &c., 
 where the reader will find a list 
 of other names, who have trans- 
 lated and written on parts of this 
 book. 
 
 Isaiah : Vitringa, Lowth. 
 
 Jeremiah : Blayney. 
 
 Ezekiel: Greenhill, Newcome. 
 
 Daniel: Willet's Hexapla, fol. 
 Sir Isaac Newton on Prophecies 
 of Daniel. 
 
 Hosea: Burroughs. Bishop Hors- 
 ley's translation, with explanatory 
 notes. 
 
 Of the other Minor Prophets, 
 see Commentaries on Select Parts. 
 
 Gospels : See above, and article 
 Harmony. Also Hildersham oa 
 John iv, foL Burgess on Joha 
 xvii. Manton on John xv'i'w 
 
 Acts: Mayer, Trapp. 
 
 Romans :- Wilson, Parr. 
 
 Galatians : Luther, Ferguson, 
 Perkins. 
 
 Ephesians: Ferguson, Good- 
 win. 
 
 Colossians : Byfield, Daven^it, 
 Elton. 
 
COIN 
 
 160 
 
 COM 
 
 Titus : Dr. Thomas Taylor. 
 
 Hebrews : Dr. Owen. 
 • "James : Manton. 
 
 Peter : Leighton. 
 
 jfoh?! : Hardy on 1st Epistle. 
 
 Jude : Jenkins, Manton. 
 
 Revelation: Mede, D?.ubuz, 
 Brightman, Peganius, Waple, Ro- 
 bertson, Vitringa, Pyle, Lowman, 
 Sir Isaac Newton, Durham, Cra- 
 dock, Dr. H. Moore, bp. New- 
 ton, Dr. Bryce Johnston. 
 
 . As this article may be consulted 
 for the purpose of obtaining infor- 
 mation as to the best helps for 
 understanding the scriptures, we 
 may add to the above : — Jacobi 
 Eisner, Ol-servat. Sacrse ; Alberti 
 Observ. Philolog. ; Lamherti Bos, 
 Exercitat. Phiiolog. ; Lamherti 
 Bos, Animadverso ; Lvmiberti Bos, 
 Observat. MiscelL Fortuita Sa- 1! 
 -era. These, together with Wol- jj 
 fjus and Raphelius, before men- i 
 tioned, says Dr. Doddridge, are 
 books which I cannot but recom- 
 mend to my young friends, as 
 proper not only to ascertain the 
 sense of a variety of v/^rds and 
 phrases which occur in the apos- 
 tolic writings, but also to form 
 them to the most useful method 
 of studying the Greek classics ; 
 those great masters of solid sense, 
 elegant expression, just and lively 
 painting, and masculine eloquence, 
 to the neglect of which I cannot 
 but ascribe that enervate, dissolute, 
 and puerile manner of writing 
 which is growing so much on the 
 present age, and will probably con- 
 sign so many of its productions 
 to speedy oblivion. See Bible, 
 Scriptures. 
 
 . COM MiNATION, an office in 
 the church of England appointed 
 
 to be read on Ash Wednesday. 
 It is substituted in the room of 
 that godly discipline hi the primi' 
 tive churchy by which (as the in- 
 troductibn to the office expresses 
 it) " such persons as stood con- 
 victed of notorious sins were put 
 to open penance, and punished in 
 this world, that their souls might 
 be saved in the day of the Lord ; 
 and that others, admonished by 
 their example, might be the more 
 afraid to offend." This discipline, 
 in atter ages, degenerated in the 
 church of Rome into a formal 
 confession of sins upon Ash Wed- 
 nesday, and the empty ceremony 
 of sprinkling ashes upon the heads 
 of the people. Our reformers 
 wisely r:;jected this ceremony as 
 mere shadow and show ; and sub- 
 stituted this office in its room, 
 which is A denunciation of God^s 
 anger and judgment against sin- 
 ners ; that the people, being ap- 
 prised of God's wrath and indig- 
 nation against their sins, might 
 not, through want of discipline in 
 the church, be encouraged to fol- 
 low and pursue them. 
 
 COMMISSARY, an officer of 
 the bishop, who exercises spiritual 
 jurisdiction in places of a diocess 
 so far from the episcopal see, that 
 the chancellor cannot call the peo- 
 ple to the bishop's principal con- 
 sistory court without great incon- 
 venience. 
 
 COMMUNICATING, a term 
 made use of to denote the act of re- 
 ceiving the Lord's supper. Those 
 of the reformed and of the Greek 
 church communicate under both 
 kinds ; those of the Romish only 
 under one. The oriental com- 
 municants receive tlie species of 
 
COM 
 
 161 
 
 COM 
 
 wine by a spoon; and anciently 
 they sucked it through a pipe, as 
 has been observed by Beat Rhea- 
 nUs bn TfertuUian. 
 
 COMMUNION, in its strict 
 iand proper sense, signifies holding 
 something in common with anoth- 
 er, Acts ii, 42 — 2. In a more ge- 
 neral sense, it denotes conformity 
 or agreement, 2d Cor. vi, 14. Eph. 
 V, il.— 3. It signifies co?iverse, or 
 friendly intercourse, wherein men 
 contrive or consult together about 
 matters of common concern, Luke 
 vi, 11. Ps. iv, 4. — 4.. Communion 
 is also used for the Lord's supper, 
 because we herein make a public 
 profession of our conformity to 
 Christ and his laws ; and of our 
 agreement with other christians 
 in the spirit and faith of the gos- 
 pel. See Lord's Supper. 
 
 The fourth council of Latefan 
 decrees, that every believer shall 
 receive the communion, at least, 
 at Easter ; which seems to import 
 a tacit desire that they should do 
 it oftener as in effect they did it 
 much oftener in the primitive 
 days. Gratian, and the master of 
 the sentences, prescribe it as a rule 
 for the laity to communicate three 
 times a year ; at Easter, Whitsun- 
 tide, and Christmas : but in the 
 thirteenth century the practice 
 prevailed of never approaching the 
 eucharist at Easter ; and the coun- 
 cil thought fit to enjoin it then by 
 a law, lest their coldness and re- 
 missness should go farther still : 
 and the council of Trent renewed 
 the same injunction, and re- 
 commended frequent communion, 
 without enforcing it by an ex- 
 press decree. In the ninth cen- 
 kiry the communion was still re- 
 
 VoL. I. Y 
 
 ceived by the laity in both kinds. 
 or rather the species of bread was 
 dipped in the wine, as is owned 
 by the Romanists themselves. M. 
 de Marca observes, that they re- 
 ceived it at first in their hands ; 
 and believes the communion un- 
 der one kind alone to have had 
 its rise in the West, under pope 
 Urban II, in 1096, at the time of 
 the conquest of the Holy Land. 
 It was more solemnly enjoined by 
 the council of Constance, in 1414^ 
 The twenty-eighth canon of the 
 council of Clermont enjoins, the 
 communion to be received under 
 both kinds distinctly; adding, how- 
 ever, two exceptions, — the one of 
 necessity, the other of caution ; 
 the first in favour of the sick, and 
 the second of the abstemious, or 
 those who had an aversion for 
 wine. It v/as formerly a kind of 
 canonical punishment for clerks 
 guilty of any crime to be reduced 
 to lay communion ; i. e. only to 
 receive it as the laity did, viz. 
 under one kind. They had another 
 punishment of the same nature, 
 though under a different name, 
 caMedJbrei^?! commu?iion^io which 
 the canons frequently condemned 
 their bishop's and other clerks. 
 This punishment was not any ex- 
 commvmication or deposition, but. 
 a kind of suspension from the func- 
 tion of the order, and a degrada- 
 tion from the ranjk they held in the 
 church. It had its name because 
 the communion was only grant- 
 ed to the criminal on the foot 
 of a foreign clerk ; i. e. being 
 reduced to the lowest of his order, 
 he took his place after all those 
 of his rank, as all clerks, &(c., did 
 n the churches K) which they did 
 
COM 
 
 162 
 
 COM 
 
 loot belong. The second council 
 of Agda orders every clerk that 
 absents himself from the church 
 to be reduced to foreign commu- 
 nion. 
 
 Church communion is fellowship 
 with any particular church. See 
 CuuRcir Fexlowship. It is 
 sometimes applied to different 
 churches united in doctrine and 
 discipline. The three grand com- 
 munions into which the christian 
 church is divided is that of the 
 church of Rome, the Greek church 
 and the Protestant church ; but 
 originally all christians were in 
 communion ^vrith each other, hav- 
 ing one common faith and disci- 
 pline. ■ 
 
 Free co77imiimou, a term made 
 use of in relation to the Lord's 
 supper, by which it is understood 
 that all those who have been bap- 
 tized, whether in infancy or adult 
 age, may, on profession of their 
 faith, sit do^nl at the Lord's table 
 with others of different denomina- 
 tions. Some of the Baptists ob- 
 ject to free or mixed communion, 
 and do not allow of persons who 
 have been baptized in their infan- 
 cy to join in the celebration of the 
 Lord's supper >vith them ; be- 
 cause they look upon such as not 
 having been baptized at all, and 
 consequently cannot be admitted 
 to the tible. Others, however, 
 suppose that this ought to be no 
 objection J and tliat such who be- 
 lieve themselves t6 bs reall}- bap- 
 tized (though in infancy), are par- 
 takers of grace, belong to the true 
 church of Christ, and are truly 
 devoted to God, ought .not to be 
 rejected en account of a different 
 ■opinion about a mere ordinance. 
 
 Mr. Killingworth and Mr. Booth 
 have written against free commu- 
 nion ; John Bunyan, Dr. Foster, 
 Mr. Bulkely, Mr. Wiche, and 
 Mr. Robinson, for it. 
 
 COMMUNION, spiritual or 
 divine^ is that delightful fellowship 
 and intercourse which a believer 
 enjoys with God. It is founded 
 upon union with him, and consists 
 in a communication of divine 
 graces from him, and a return of 
 devout affections to him. The be- 
 liever holds communion with God 
 in his works, in his word, and in 
 his ordinances. There can be no 
 communion without likeness, nor 
 withovit Christ as the mediator. 
 Some distinguish communion with 
 God from the sense and feeling of 
 it ; that, is, that we may hold com- 
 munion with him without raptures 
 of joy ; and that a saint, even un- 
 der desertion, may have commu- 
 nion with God as really^ though not 
 ^o feelingly^ as at any other time. 
 This communion cannot be inter- 
 rupted by any local mutations : it 
 is far superior to all outward ser- 
 vices and ordinances whatsoever ; 
 it concerns the whole soul, all the 
 affections, faculties, and motions of 
 it, being under its influence : it is 
 only imperfect in this life, and will 
 be unspeakably enlarged in a bet- 
 ter world. — In order to keep up 
 communion with God, v/e should 
 inform ourselves of his will, Jo. v, 
 39. be often in prayer, Luke xviii, 
 1 . embrace opportunities of retire- 
 ment, Ps. iv, 4. contemplate on 
 the divine perfections, provi- 
 dences, and promises, Ps. civ, 34. 
 watch against a vain, trifling, and 
 volatile spirit, Epb. ir, 30. and be 
 found in the use of all the mean*. 
 
C OM 
 
 163 
 
 CON 
 
 of grace, Ps. xxvii,4. The advan- 
 tages of communion with God are, 
 deadness to the world, Phil, iii, 8. 
 patience under trouble. Job i, 22. 
 fortitude in danger, Ps. xxvii, 1 . 
 gratitude for mercies received, 
 Ps. ciii, 1. direction under diffi- 
 culties, Prov. iii, 5, 6. peace and 
 joy in opposition, Ps. xvi, 22. hap- 
 piness in death, Ps. xxiii, 4. and 
 an earnest desire for heaven and 
 glory, 2d Tim. iv, 7, 8. See Shawns 
 Immanuel ; Owen and Henry on 
 Communion; and article Fellow- 
 
 2HIP. 
 
 COMPASSION is that species 
 
 of affection which is excited either 
 by the actual distress of its object, 
 or by some impending calamity 
 which appears inevitable. It is a 
 benevolent sorrow for the suffer- 
 ings or approaching misery of an- 
 other. The etymology of the 
 ■ word expresses this idea with strict 
 propriety, as it signifies suffering 
 ■with the object, Hobbs makes this 
 a mere selfish passion, and defines 
 it as *' being fear for ourselves." 
 Hutchinson resolves it into in- 
 stinct J but Dr. Butler much more 
 properly considers it as an original 
 distinct particular affection in hu- 
 man nature. It may be consider- 
 ed as a generic name, compre- 
 hending several other affections ; as 
 mercy ^ commiseration^ pity. This 
 affection (as well as every other of 
 our nature), no doubt, was wisely 
 given us by our Creator. " Ideas 
 pf fitness" as Saurin observes, 
 " seldom make much impression 
 on the bulk of mankind ; it was 
 was necessary therefore to make 
 sensibility supply the want of 
 reflection ; and by a counter-blow 
 with which the miseries of a neigh- 
 
 bour strike our feelings, to pro- 
 duce a disposition in us to relieve 
 him." 
 
 COMPASSION OF GOD is 
 the infinite greatness of his mercy 
 and love, whereby he relieves the 
 miseries of his people. This per- 
 fection of Jehovah is conspicuously 
 displayed in the gift of his Son, 
 Jo, iii. 16. the revelation of his 
 will, Hos. viii, 12. the bounties of 
 his providence, Ps. cxlv, 9- the 
 exercise of his patience, Rom. ii, 4. 
 the promise of his mercy, Ps. 
 lxxviii,38. the manifestation of his 
 presence, Matt, xviii, 20. and the 
 provision of eternal glory, 1st Pet, 
 i, 4. See Mercy. 
 
 COMPLUTENSIAN BI^ 
 BLE. See Bible, No. 29. 
 
 COMPREHENSION,inEng- 
 lish church history, denotes a 
 scheme proposed by Sir Orlando 
 Bridgman, in 1667-8, for relaxing 
 the terms of conformity on behalf 
 of the Protestant Dissenters, and 
 admitting them into the commu- 
 nion of the church. A bill for 
 this purpose was drawn up by 
 Judge Hale, but disallowed. The 
 attempt v/as renewed by Tillotson 
 and Stillingfleet, in 1674, and the 
 terms were settled to the siitisfac- 
 tion of the non-conformists ; but 
 the bishops refused their assent. 
 The scheme was likewise revived 
 again immediately after the revo- 
 lution. The king and queen ex- 
 pressed their desire of an union; 
 however, the design failed, after 
 two attempts, and the act of to- 
 leration was obtained. 
 
 CONCEPTIONOFCHRIST, 
 the supernatural and miraculous 
 formation of the human nature of 
 Jesus Christ. " It were not dif- 
 
CON 
 
 164 
 
 CON 
 
 ^cult to shew," says a divine, " that 
 the miraculous conception, once 
 admitted, naturally brings up after 
 it the great doctrines of the atone- 
 ment and the incarnation. The 
 miraculous conception of our Lord 
 evidently implies some higher 
 purpose -of his coming than the 
 mere business of a teacher. The 
 business of a teacher might have 
 been performed by a mere man, 
 enlightened by the prophetic spirit. 
 For whatever instruction men have 
 the capacity to receive, a man 
 Tnight have been made the instru-. 
 ment to convey. Had teaching, 
 therefore, been the sole purpose of 
 our Saviour's coming, a mere man 
 might have done the whole busi- 
 ness, and the supernatural con- 
 ception had been an unnecessary 
 miracle. He, therefore, who came 
 in this miraculous way, came upon 
 isome higher business, to which a 
 mere man was unequal. He came 
 to be made a sin-ofiering for us, 
 that we might be made the rights 
 eousness of God in him." See 
 bp. Horsley's Tracts, and article 
 Humanity of Christ. 
 
 CONCEPTION IMMACU- 
 LATE of the Holy Virgin^ is a 
 popish festival established in Iiot 
 hour of the Virgin Mary, on the 
 supposition of hei' having been 
 conceived, and born immaculate, 
 4. e. v/ithout original sin : held on 
 the 8th of December, The im.ma- 
 culate conception is the great head 
 of controversy between the Scotists 
 and Thomists ; the former main- 
 ■ taining and the latter impugning it. 
 Peter d' Alva has published48huge 
 folio volumes on the mysteries of 
 the conception. 
 
 CONCLAVE, the assembly or 
 
 meeting of the cardinals shut up 
 for the election of a pope. Con- 
 clave also signifies the place in 
 which the cardinals of the Romish 
 chuixh meet for the above-men- 
 tioned purpose. The conclave 
 is a range of small cells, ten feet 
 square, made of wainscot : these 
 are numbered, and drawn by lot. 
 They stand in a line along the gal- 
 leries and hall of the Vatican, with 
 a small space between each. Eve- 
 ry cell has the arms of the cardi- 
 nal over it. The conclave is not 
 fixed to any one determinate place, 
 for the constitutions of the church 
 allow the cardinals to make choice 
 of such a place for the conclave 
 as they think most convenient : 
 yet it is generally held in the 
 Vatican- — The conclave is very 
 strictly guarded by troops : neither 
 the cardinals, nor any person shut 
 up in the conclave, are spoken to, 
 but at the hours allowed of, and 
 then in Italian or Latin : even 
 the provisions for the conclave 
 are examined, that no letters 
 be conveyed by that means from 
 the ministei's of foreign powers, 
 or other persons, who may have 
 an interest in the election of the 
 pontiff. 
 
 CONCORD, /cjrm 0/— Form 
 of concord, in ecclesiastical histo- 
 ry, a standard-book among the Lu- 
 therans, composed at Torgaw in 
 1576, and thence called the book 
 of Torgaw, and reviewed at Berg 
 by six Lutheran doctors of Ger- 
 many, the principal of whom was 
 James Andrese. This book con- 
 tains, in two parts, a system of 
 doctrine, the subscription of which 
 was a condition of communion, 
 and a formal and very severe 
 
COK 
 
 165 
 
 CON 
 
 condemnation of all who differed 
 from the compilers of it ; particu- 
 larly with respect to the majesty 
 and omnipresence of Christ's body, 
 and the real manducation of his 
 flesh and blood in the eucharist. 
 It ^as first imposed upon the 
 Saxons by Augustus, and occa- 
 sioned great opposition and dis- 
 turbance. The dispute about it 
 was revived in Switzerland in 
 1718, when the magistrates of 
 Bern published an order for adopt- 
 ing it as the rule of faith ; the 
 consequence of which was a con- 
 test that reduced its credit and 
 authority. 
 
 CONCORDANCE, a diction- 
 ary or index to the Bible, wherein 
 all the leading words are rang- 
 ed alphabetically, and the books, 
 chapters, and verses wherein they 
 occur referred to, to assist in find- 
 ing out passages, and comparing 
 with the several significations of 
 the same word. Cardinal Hugo 
 de St. Charo seems to have been 
 the first who compiled a con- 
 cordance to the holy scriptures ; 
 and for carrying on thig work, it 
 is said, he employed 500 monks 
 to assist him. Rabbi Mordecai 
 Nathan published a Hebrew con- 
 cordance, printed at Venice in 
 1523, containing all the Hebrew 
 roots, branched into their various 
 significations, and under each sig- 
 nification all the places in scrip- 
 ture wherein it occurs ; but the 
 best and most useful Hebrew con- 
 cordance is that of Buxtorf, print- 
 ed at Basil in 1632. Calasius, 
 an Italian cordelier, has given 
 us concordances of the Hebrew, 
 Latin, and Greek, in two columns : 
 the first, which is Hebrew, is that 
 
 of rabbi Mordecai Nathan ver- 
 batim, and according to the order 
 of the books and chapters : in the 
 other column is a Latin interpre- 
 tation of each passage of scripture 
 quoted by R. Mordecai : this in- 
 terpretation is Calasius'sown; but 
 in the margin he adds that of the 
 LXX and the Vulgate, when dif- 
 ferent from his. The work is in 
 4 vol. folio, printed at Rome in 
 1621. A new edition of this 
 work was published by subscrip- 
 tion in London, in 1747', 8, 9, br 
 Mr. Romaine, to which he ob- 
 tained the signature of every 
 crowned head in Europe, his 
 Holiness not excepted. Dr. Tay- 
 lor published, in 1 754, a Hebrew 
 concordance, in 2 vol. folio, adapt- 
 ed to the English Bible, and dis- 
 posed after the same manner as 
 Buxtorf. This is perhaps the best 
 for English readers. 
 
 The Greek concordances are 
 only for the New Testament, ex- 
 cept one by Conrad Kircher on 
 on the Old, containing all the He- 
 brew words in alphabetical or- 
 der ; and underneath, all the in- 
 terpretations of them in the LXX, 
 and in each interpretation all the 
 places where they occur in that 
 version. In 171i8, Trommius 
 published his Greek concordance 
 for the LXX, at Amsterdam, in 
 2 vol. folio ; and Schmidius, im- ' 
 proving on a similar work of H. 
 Stephen, has given an excellent 
 Greek concordance for the New 
 Testament, the best edition of 
 which is that of Leipsic, anno 
 1717. Williams's concordance 
 to the Greek Testament gives the 
 English vei"sion to each word, and 
 points out the principal Hebrew 
 
CON 
 
 166 
 
 CON 
 
 roots corresponding to the Greek 
 words of the Septuagint, 4to, 
 176/. We have several concord- 
 ances in English, as Fisher's, But- 
 terworth's, Newman's, Brown's j 
 but the best esteemed is that in 
 4to, by Alexander Cruden, which 
 no minister or student should 
 be without, except he have such 
 a prodigious memory as to su- 
 persede the necessity of it. Crutt- 
 well's Concordance of Parallels 
 ^may also be consulted with pro- 
 fit : Talbot's complete Analysis, 
 and new Arrangement of the 
 Bible ; Dodd and Locke's Com- 
 mon-place Books ; with Clark on 
 the Promises, and Gastrin's In- 
 stitutes, may also be useful to 
 preachers. 
 
 CONCUBINAGE, the act of 
 living with a woman to whom the 
 man is not legally married. It is 
 also used for a marriage with a 
 Woman of inferior condition (per- 
 formed with less solemnity than 
 the formal marriage), and to whom 
 the husband does not convey his 
 rank. As polygamy was some- 
 times practised by the patriarchs, 
 it was a common thing to see one, 
 two, or many v/ives in a family, 
 and besides these several concu- 
 bines, 2d Sam. iii. 3, &c. 1st Kings 
 xi, 3. 2d Chron. xi, 21 ; but ever 
 since the abrogation of polygamy 
 by Jesus Christ, and the reduction 
 of marriage to its primitive insti- 
 tution, concubinage has been for- 
 bidden and condemned among 
 christians. 
 
 CONDESCENSION is that 
 species of benevolence w'hich de- 
 signedly waves the supposed ad- 
 vantages of birth, title, or station, 
 in order to accommodate ourselves 
 
 to the state of an inferior, and di= 
 minish that restraint which the ap- 
 parent distance is calculated to pro- 
 duce in him. It is enjoined on the • 
 christian, and is peculiarly orna- 
 mental to the christian character, 
 Rom. xii, 16. The condescension 
 of God appears every way great, 
 when we consider his infinite per- 
 fection, hio absolute independence 
 of his creatures, his purposes of 
 mercy toward them, and his con- 
 tinual care over them. 
 
 CONDITION, atermof a bar- 
 gain to be performed. It has been 
 debated whether faith should be 
 called the cow^iitzonof our salvation.. 
 If by it we mean a valuable equi- 
 valeiit for the benefit received, or 
 something to be performed in our 
 own strength, or that will be meri- 
 torious, it is certainly inapplica- 
 ble ; but if by it be meant, that 
 it is only a mean, without which 
 we cannot be saved, in that sense 
 it is not improper. Yet as the 
 term is often made use of impro- 
 perly by those who are mere le- 
 galists, perhaps it would be as well 
 to decline the use of it. 
 
 CONFERENCE, the act of 
 discoursing with another in order 
 to treat upon some subject, or to 
 settle some point of dispute. C'o7i- 
 ference Meetings^ in a religious 
 sense, are meetings assembled for 
 the purpose of relating experience, 
 discoursing on some religious sub- 
 ject, or for transacting religious 
 business. " Religious conference," 
 says a divine, " is one way of 
 teaching religion. We alt have 
 leisure time, and it is well spent 
 when it is employed in set con- 
 ferences on religion. There the 
 doubting man may open all his 
 
CON 
 
 167 
 
 COK 
 
 suspicions, and confirmed chris- 
 tians will strengthen his belief; 
 there the fearful may learn to be 
 valiant for the truth ; there the 
 liberal may learn to devise liberal 
 things ; there the tongue of the 
 stammerer may learn to speak 
 plainly ; there Paul may withstand 
 Peter to the face, because he de- 
 serves to be blamed ; there the 
 gospel may be communicated se- 
 verally to them of reputation ; 
 there, in one word, ye may ail 
 prophesy one by one, that all 
 may learn, and all may be com- 
 forted. One hour in a week spent 
 thus will contribute much to our 
 edification, provided we abstain 
 from the disorders that have often 
 disgraced, and sometimes destroy- 
 ed, this excellent christian prac- 
 tice. Time should be kept, order 
 should be preserved, no idle ques- 
 tions should be asked ; freedom of 
 inquiry should be nourished ; im- 
 modest forwardness should be re- 
 strained ; practical, experimental, 
 and substantial subjects should be 
 examined ; Charity with all its 
 gentle train should be there, for 
 she openeth her mouth with wis- 
 dom, and in her tongue is the law 
 of kindness." See Experience 
 Meetings. 
 
 CONFESSION, the verbal ac- 
 knowledgment which a christian 
 makes of his sins. Among the 
 Jews, it was the custom, on the 
 annual feast of expiation, for the 
 high priest to make confession of 
 sins to God, in the name of the 
 whole people : besides this general 
 confession,theJev/s were enjoined, 
 if their sins were a breach of the 
 first table of the law, to make 
 confession of them to God : but 
 
 violations of the second table were 
 to be acknowledged to their 
 brethren. Confession, according 
 to Dr. Watts, is the third part of 
 prayer, and includes, !.• A con- 
 fession of the meanness of our 
 original, our distance from God, 
 our subjection to him, and con- 
 stant depaiidance on him. — 2. A 
 confession of our sins, both original 
 and actual, in thought, life, omis- 
 sion, and commission. — 3. A con- 
 fession of our desert of punish- 
 ment, and our unworthiness of 
 mercy. — 4. A confession or hum- 
 ble representation of our wants 
 and sorrows of every kind. Con- 
 fession also may be considered as 
 a relative duty, or the acknow- 
 ledgment of any offence we have 
 been guilty of against a fellow- 
 creature. The Romish church 
 requires confession not only as a 
 duty, but has advanced it to the 
 dignity of a sacrament. These con- 
 fessions are made to the priest, and 
 are private and auricular ; and the 
 priest is not to reveal them under 
 pain of the highest punishment. 
 This, however, is both unneces- 
 sary and unscriptural ; for, in the 
 first place, there is no proof that 
 the power of remitting and re- 
 taining sins (the pretended ground 
 of sacramental confession) was 
 imparted to any but the apostles, 
 or at the most to those to whom 
 a discernment of spirits was com- 
 municated. — 2. If our Saviour 
 had designed this to have been a 
 duty, he would most probably 
 have delivered us an express com- 
 mand to this purpose — 3. This 
 authority of pardoning sins im- 
 mediately in. relation to God (the 
 foundation of the pretended duty 
 
CON 
 
 168 
 
 CON 
 
 of secret confession), without any 
 reference to church censures, was 
 never claimed for many ages after 
 Christ. 
 
 Notwifhstauding, however, pri- 
 vate auricular confession is not of 
 divine authority, yet, as one ob- 
 serves, " there are many cases 
 wherein men under the guilt and 
 trouble of their sins can neither 
 appease their own minds, nor suf- 
 ficiently direct themselves with- 
 ©ut recourse, to some pious and 
 prudent guide : in these cases men 
 certainly do very well, and many 
 times prevent a great deal of 
 urouble and perplexity to them- 
 selves by a timely discovery of 
 their condition to some faithful 
 minister ; and to tliis purpose a 
 general confession is for the most 
 part sumcient ; and where there 
 is occasion for a more particular 
 discovery, there is no need of rak- 
 ing into the particular circum- 
 stances of men's sins to give that 
 advice which is necessary for the 
 ease and comfort of the penitent." 
 See Absolution; Watts on Pray- 
 er ; Tillotsoii's Ser,^ ser. 160, 
 161/ Simtli^s Errors of the Church 
 of Rome, 
 
 CONFESSION OF FAITH, 
 a list of the several articles of the 
 belief of any church. Objections 
 have been formed against all 
 creeds or confessions of faith, as 
 it is said they infringe christian 
 liberty, supersede the scriptures, 
 exclude such as ought not to 
 be excluded, and admit such 
 as ought not to be admitted ; 
 are often too particular, and long ; 
 i:rc liable to be abused ; tempt 
 men to hypocrisy ; preclude im- 
 j^-ovcnient ; and bdvc been em- 
 
 ployed as means of persecii-* 
 tion. On the other hand, the 
 advocates for them observe, that 
 all arts and sciences have been 
 reduced to a system ; and why 
 should not the truths of reli- 
 gion, which are of greater im- 
 portance ? That a compendious 
 vicAV of the chief and most neces- 
 sary points of the christian reli- 
 gion, whicli lie scattered up and 
 down in the scripture, must be 
 useful to inform the mind, as well 
 also to hold forth to the world 
 what are in general the sentiments 
 of such a particular church or 
 churches ; they tend to discover 
 the common friends of the same 
 faith to one another, and to unite 
 them ; that the scriptures seem to 
 authorize and countenance them ; 
 such as the moral law, the Lord's 
 prayer, the form of doctrine men- 
 tioned by Paul, Rom. vi, 17 ; and 
 again, " the form of sound words," 
 in 2d Tim. i, 13, Sec. ; that their 
 becoming the occasion of hypo- 
 crisy is no fault of the articles, 
 but of those who subscribe them ; 
 that persecution has been rais- 
 ed more by the turbulent tem- 
 pers of men than from the nature 
 of confessions. Some think that 
 all articles and confessions of 
 faith should be expressed in the 
 bare words of scripture ; but it is 
 replied, that this would destroy all 
 exposition and interpretation of 
 scripture ; that it would have a 
 tendency to make the ministry of 
 the word useless ; in a great mea- 
 sure cramp all religious conver- 
 sation ; and that the sentiments of 
 one man could not be distinguish- 
 ed from another in some points 
 of importance.- Some of thenvost 
 
CON 
 
 169 
 
 CON 
 
 noted confessions are, the 39 ar- 
 ticles^ and the constitutions and 
 canons of the church of England; 
 the Westmijister Assembly's Con- 
 fession of Faith ; the Savoy Con- 
 fession^ or a declaration of the faith 
 and order owned and practised i7i 
 the congregational churches in 
 England, See also Corpus et Syn- 
 tagma confessionum fdei^ qU(Z in 
 diversis regnis et nationibus eccle- 
 siariim nomine^ fuerunt autheJitice 
 edit>t\y which exhibits a body of 
 numerous confessions. See like- 
 wise, An Harmony of the Confes- 
 sions of Faith of the Christian and 
 Reformed Churches; Watts' s Ra- 
 tional Foundation of a Christian 
 Churchy qu. 8 ; Graham on Esta- 
 blishments^ p. 265, &c. 
 
 CONFESSOR,a christian who 
 has made a solemn and resolute 
 profession of the faith, and has en- 
 dured torments in its defence. 
 A mere saint is called a confessor, 
 to distinguish him from the roll of 
 dignified saints, such as apostles, 
 martyrs, &c. In ecclesiastical his- 
 tory, the word confessor is some- 
 times used for martyr; in after 
 times it was confined to those 
 who, after having been tormented 
 by the tyrants, were permitted to 
 live and die in peace ; and at last 
 it was also used for those who, 
 after having lived a good life, died 
 under an opinion of sanctity. Ac- 
 cording to St. Cyprian, he who 
 presented himself to torture, or 
 even to martyrdom, without be- 
 ing called to it, was not called 
 a confessor^ but &. professsor ; and 
 if any out of want of courage aban- 
 doned his countiy, and became 
 a voluntary exile for the sake of 
 the faith, he was called ex terris. 
 
 Vol. I. Z 
 
 Confessor is also a priest in the 
 Romish church, who has a pov/er 
 to hear sinners in the sacrament 
 of penance, and to give them ab- 
 solution. The confessors of the 
 kings of France, from the time of 
 Henry IV, have been constantly 
 Jesuits ; before him, the Domini- 
 cans and Cordeliers shared the 
 office between them. The con- 
 fessors of the house of Austria 
 have also ordinarily been Domini- 
 cans and Cordeliers, but the latter 
 emperors have all taken Jesuits. 
 
 CONFIRMATION, the act 
 of establishing any thing or per- 
 son. — 1. Divine confirmation is a 
 work of the Spirit of God, strength- 
 ening, comforting, and establish- 
 ing believers in faith and obedi- 
 ence, 1st Pet. V, 10. 1st Cor. i, 
 8. — 2. Ecclesiastical confirmation 
 is a rite whereby a person, arrived 
 to years of discretion, under- 
 takes the performance of every 
 part of the baptismal vow made for 
 him by his godfathers and godmo- 
 thers. 
 
 In the primitive church it was 
 done immediately after baptism, if 
 the bishop happened to be pre- 
 sent at the solemnity. Throughout 
 the East it still accompanies bap- 
 tism ; but the Romanists make it 
 a distinct independent sacrament. 
 Seven years is the stated time for 
 confirmation; however, they are 
 sometimes confirmed before and 
 sometimes after that age. The per- 
 son to be confirmed has a godfather 
 and godmother appointed him, as 
 in baptism. In the church of Eng- 
 land, the age of the persons to be 
 confirmed is not fixed. Clarke'' s Es- 
 say on Confirmation ; Wood on dit- 
 to; Howe'^s Episcopacy^ p. 167, l/'4. 
 
CON 
 
 170 
 
 CON 
 
 CONFLAGRATION GE- 
 NERAL, a term used to de- 
 note that grand period or catas- 
 trophe of our world, when the 
 face of nature is to be chang- 
 ed by fil-e, a§ formerly it was by 
 water. 
 
 1. Scripture assures us in the 
 general, that this earth in its pre- 
 sent form Vv'^ill not be perpetual, 
 but shall come to an end. — 2. It 
 farther tells us, that this dissolu- 
 tion of the world shall be by a ge- 
 neral conflagration, in which all 
 things upon the face of the earth 
 shall be destroyed, by which the 
 atmosphere shall also be sensibly 
 affected, as in such a case it ne- 
 cessarily must be, 2d Pet. iii, 5-7^ 
 10, 12. where, from the connexion 
 of the Avords, the opposition be- 
 tween the conflagration and the 
 deluge, as well as the most lite- 
 ral and apparent import of the 
 phrases themselves, it is plain they 
 cannot, as Dr. Hammond strange- 
 ly supposes, refer to the desola- 
 tion brought on Judea v/hen de- 
 stroyed by the Ilomans, but must 
 refer to the dissolution of the whole 
 earth. 3. The scripture repre- 
 sents this great burning as a cir- 
 cumstance nearly connected with 
 the day of judgment, 2d Pet. iii. 
 
 7, compared with 2d Thess. i. 7, 
 
 8. Heb. X, 27. 1 Cor. iii. 12, 13 ; 
 and it is probable there may be an 
 allusion to this in several passages 
 of the Old Testament, such as Ps. 
 xi, 6. JPs, 1, 3. Ps. xcvii, 3. Isa. 
 xxxiy, 4. 8-ip. Isa. Ixvi, 15. Dan. 
 vii, 9, 10. Mal. iv. 1. Zeph- iii, 
 g. Deut. xxxii. 22, to which many 
 parallel expressions might be ad- 
 ded, from the canonical and apo- 
 gryphal books.— -4.lt is not express- 
 
 ly declared how this burning shall 
 be kindled, nor how it shall end ; 
 which has given occasion to vari- 
 ous conjectures about it, which see 
 below. 
 
 The ancient Pythagoreans, Pla- 
 tonists. Epicureans, and Stoics, 
 appear to have had a notion of the 
 conflagration ; though whence they 
 should derive it, unless from the 
 sacred books, is difficult to con- 
 ceive ; except, perhaps, from the 
 Phcenicians, who themselves had 
 it from the Jews. Mention of the 
 conflagration is made in the books 
 of the Sibyls, Sophocles, Hystas- 
 pes, Ovid, Lucan, &c. Dr. Burnet, 
 after J. T^^chard and others, re- 
 lates that the Siamese believe that 
 the earth will at last bp parched up 
 with heat J the mountains melted 
 down, the earth's whole surface 
 reduced to a level, and then con- 
 sumed with fire. And the Bramins 
 of Siam do not only hold that the 
 world shall be destroyed by fire, 
 but also that a new earth shall be 
 made out of the cinders of the 
 old. 
 
 Divmes ordinarily account for 
 the conflagration metaphysically, 
 and will have it take its rise from 
 a miracle, as a fire from heaven. 
 Philosophers contend for its be- 
 ing produced from natural causes, 
 and will have it effected accord- 
 ing to the laws of mechanics. 
 Some think an eruption of the 
 central fire sufficient for the pur- 
 pose ; and add, that this may be 
 occasioned several ways, viz. ei- 
 ther by having its intension in- 
 creased, which again may be ef- 
 fected either by being driven in- 
 to less space by the encroachments 
 of the superficial cold, or by an in- 
 
CON 
 
 171 
 
 CON 
 
 crease of the inflammability of the 
 fuel whereon it is fed ; or by hav- 
 ing the resistance of the imprison- 
 ing earth weakened, which may 
 happen either from the diminution 
 of its matter, by the consumption 
 of its central parts, or by weaken- 
 ing the cohesion of the constitu- 
 ent parts of the mass by the excess 
 of the defect of moisture. Others 
 look for the cause of the con- 
 flaigration in the atmosphere, and 
 suppose that some of the meteors 
 there engendered in unusual quan- 
 tities, and exploded with unusual 
 Vehemence, from the concurrence 
 of various circumstances naay ef- 
 fect it without seeking any far- 
 ther. — Lastly, others have re- 
 course to a still more effectual 
 and flaming machine, and con- 
 clude the world is to undergo its 
 conflagration from the near ap- 
 proach of a comet in its return 
 from the sun. 
 
 Various opinions also are en- 
 tertained as to the renovation of 
 the earth after the conflagration.—- 
 1. Some suppose that the earth 
 will not be entirely consumed, but 
 that the matter of which it consists 
 will be fixed, purified, and refined, 
 which they say will be the natural 
 consequence of the action, of fire 
 upon it ; though it is hard to 
 say what such a purification can 
 do towards fitting it for its in- 
 tended purpose, for it is certain a 
 mass of crystal or glass Vi^ould very 
 ill answer the following parts 
 of this hypothesis. — 2. They 
 suppose that from these mate- 
 rials thus refined, as from a se- 
 cond chaos, there will by the 
 power of God arise a new crea- 
 tion : and then the face of the 
 
 earth, and likewise the atmos- 
 phere, will then be so restored, 
 as to resemble what it originally 
 was in the paradisaical state ; and 
 consequently to render it a more 
 desirable abode for hurhari cf-ea- 
 tures than it at present is : and 
 they urge for this purpose the fol- 
 lowing texts, viz. 2d Pet. iii, 13. 
 (compare Is. Ixv, 17. Ixvi, 22.) 
 Matt, xix, 28, 29. (compare 
 Mark x, 29, 30. Luke xviii, 29, 
 30.) Ps. cii, 25, 26. Acts iii, 21. 
 1st Cor. vii, 31. Rom. viii, 21. — 
 
 3. They agree in supposing, that 
 in this nev/ state of things there 
 will be no sea. Rev. xxi, 1^—4. 
 They suppose that the earth, thus 
 beautified and improved, shall be 
 inhabited by those who shall in- 
 herit the first resurrection, and 
 shall here enjoy a very consider- 
 able degree of happiness, though 
 not equal to that which is to suc- 
 ceed the gehefal judgment ; which 
 judgment shall, according to them, 
 open when those thousand years 
 are expired, mentioned in Rev, xx, 
 
 4, &c. IstThess. iv, 17, compare 
 ver. 15, which passage is thought 
 by some to contain an insinuation, 
 that Paul expected to be alive at 
 the appearance of Christ, which 
 must imply an expectation of being 
 thus raised from the dead be- 
 fore it : but it is answered that 
 the expression rue that are alive 
 may only signify, " that of us that 
 are so," speaking of all christians 
 as one body, 1st Cor. xv, 49-52. 
 Dr. Hartley declared it as his 
 opinion, that the millennium will 
 consist of a thousand prophetical 
 years vdiere each day is a year, 
 i. e. 360000 ; pleading that this is 
 the language used in olher pj^rts 
 
CON 
 
 172 
 
 CON 
 
 of the Revelation. But it seems 
 an invincible objection against this 
 hypothesis, which places the mil- 
 lennium after the conflagration, 
 that the saints inhabiting the earth 
 after the first resurrection are re- 
 presented as distressed by the in- 
 vasion of some wicked enemies, 
 Rev. XX, 7-9. Ezekiel xxxviii, 
 xxxix. See Millennium. 
 
 After all, little can be said with 
 certainty as to this subject. It is 
 probable that the earth will sur- 
 vive its fiery trial, and become the 
 everlasting abode of righteousness, 
 as part of the holy empire of God ; 
 but, seeing the language used in 
 scripture, and especially in the 
 book of Revelation, is often to 
 be considered as figurative ra- 
 ther than literal, it becomes us to 
 be cautious in our conclusions. 
 Burnet's Theory of the Earth; 
 Whitby on the Mil/ennium ; Hartley 
 on Man^ vol. ii, p. 400 ; Flerning 
 on the first Resurrection ; Rafs 
 three Discourses ; Whistor^s Theory 
 of the Earth ; and article Disso- 
 LtJTjON in this Work. 
 
 CONFUSION OF TONGUES, 
 a memorable event which hap- 
 pened in the one hundred and 
 first year, according to the He- 
 brew chronology, and the four 
 hundred and first year by the Sa- 
 maritan, after the flood, at the 
 overthrow of Babel, Gen. xi. 
 Until this period there had been 
 but one common language, v/hich 
 formed a bond of union that pre- 
 vented the separation of mankind 
 into distinct nations. Writers 
 have differed much as to the nature 
 of this confusion, and the manner 
 in which it was effected. Some 
 think that no new languages v/ere 
 
 formed ; but that this event was 
 accomplished by creating a mis- 
 understanding and variance among 
 the builders, without any imme- 
 diate influence on their language ; 
 and that a distinction is to be 
 made between confounding a lan- 
 guage and forming new ones. 
 Others account for this event by 
 the privation of all language, and 
 by supposing that mankind were 
 under a necessity of associating 
 together, and of imposing new 
 names on things by common con- 
 sent. Some, again, ascribe the 
 confusion to such an indistinct re- 
 membrance of the original lan- 
 guage which they spoke before, as 
 made them speak it verj' different- 
 ly : but the most common opinion 
 is, that God caused the builders 
 actually to forget their former 
 language, and each family to 
 speak a new tongue ; whence ori- 
 ginated the various languages at 
 present in the world. It is, how- 
 ever, but of little consequence to 
 know precisely how this was ef- 
 fected, as the scriptures are si- 
 lent as to the manner of it ; and 
 after all that can be said, it is but 
 conjecture still. There are some 
 truths, however, we may learn 
 from this part of sacred writ. — 
 1. It teaches us God's sovereig^n- 
 ty and power, by which he can 
 easily blast the greatest attempts 
 of men to aggrandize themselves, 
 Gen. xi, f, 8. — 2. God's justice 
 in punishing of those who, in 
 idolizing their own fame, forget 
 him to whom praise is due, 4 ver. 
 — 3. God's wisdom in overruling 
 evil for good ; for by this confu- 
 sion he facilitated the dispersion 
 of m.ankind, in order to execute 
 
CON 
 
 173 
 
 CON 
 
 his own purposes, 8, 9, ver. See 
 Henry and Gill hi loc. ; Stilling'' 
 jleei's Grig, Sac.^ 1. iii, c. v, § 2-4 ; 
 ShiickforcPs Con.^ vol. i. p. 124- 
 140; Vitringd*s Obs.^ vol. i, diss. 
 1, c. ix ; Le Clerc's Diss., No. vi ; 
 Hutchinson on the Confusion of 
 Tongues ; Bishop Lazv's Theory of 
 Religion, p. 66. 
 
 CONGREGATION, an as- 
 sembly of people met together for 
 religious worship. The term has 
 been also used for assemblies of 
 cardinals appointed by the pope 
 for the discharge of certain func- 
 tions, after the manner of our 
 offices and courts : such as the 
 congregation of the inquisition, the 
 congregation of rites, of alms, &c. 
 &c. — It also signifies a company 
 or society of religious persons can- 
 toned out of this or that order, 
 and making an inferior order, &c. 
 Such are the congregations of the 
 Oratory ; those of Cluny, &c. 
 among the Benedictines. 
 
 CONGREGATIONALISTS, 
 a denomination of Protestants who 
 reject all church government, ex- 
 cept that of a single congregation 
 under the direction of one pastor, 
 with their elders, assistants, or ma- 
 nagers. See Church. 
 
 CONONITES, a denomination 
 which appeared in the sixth cen- 
 tuiy. They derived their name 
 from Conon, bishop of Tarsus. He 
 trught that the body never lost 
 its form ; that its matter alone 
 was subject to corruption and de- 
 cay, and was to be restored when 
 this mortal shall put on immor- 
 tality. 
 
 CONSCIENCE signifies know- 
 ledge in conjunction ; that is, in 
 conjunction with the fact to which 
 
 it is a witness, as the eye is to the 
 action done before it ; or, as South 
 observes, it is a double or joint 
 knowledge, namely, one of a di- 
 vine law or rule, and the other 
 of a man's own action. It may be 
 defined to be the judgment which 
 a man passes on the morality of 
 his actions as to their purity or 
 turpitude ; or the secret testimony 
 of the soul, whereby it approves 
 things that are good, and con- 
 demns those that are evil. Some 
 object to its being called an act, ha- 
 bit, or faculty. An act, say they, 
 would be represented as an agent, 
 whereas conscience is a testimony. 
 To say it is a habit, is to speak of 
 it as a disposition acting, v/hich is 
 scarce more accurate than ascrib- 
 ing one act to another; and, be- 
 sides, it would be strange language 
 to say that conscience itself is a 
 habit. Against defining it by the 
 name of a power or faculty, it 
 is objected, that it occasions a 
 false notion of it, as a distinct 
 power from reason. 
 
 The rules of conscience. We must 
 distinguish between a rule that of 
 itself and immediately binds the 
 conscience, and a rule that is oc- 
 casionally of use to direct and sa- 
 tisfy the conscience. Now in the 
 first sense the will of God is the 
 only rule immediately binding the 
 conscience. No one has autho- 
 rity over the conscience but God. 
 All penal laws, thei^efore, in mat- 
 ters of mere conscience, or things 
 that do not evidently affect the ci- 
 vil state, are certainly unlawful ; 
 yet, secondly, the commands of 
 superiors, not only natui'al as pa- 
 rents, but civil as magistrates or 
 masters, and every man's pri- 
 
CON 
 
 174 
 
 COl^ 
 
 Irate engagements, are rules of 
 conscience in things indifferent. 
 —3. The examples of wise 
 and good men jnay become 
 rules of conscience ; but here it 
 must be observed, that no ex- 
 ample or judgment is of any au- 
 thority against law : where the 
 law is doubtful, and even where 
 there is no doubt, the side of ex- 
 ample cannot be taken till enqui- 
 ry has been first made concerning 
 what the law directs. 
 
 Conscience has been considered 
 as, 1. natural^ or that common 
 principle which instructs men of 
 all countries and religions in the 
 duties to which they are all alike 
 obliged. There seems to be some- 
 •thing of this in the minds of all 
 men. Even in the darkest re- 
 gions of the earth, and among the 
 rudest tribes of men, a distinction 
 has ever been made between just 
 and unjust, a dutv and a crime. 
 
 2. A right conscience is that 
 which decides aright, or, accord- 
 ing to the onlv rule of rectitude, 
 the law of God. This is also 
 called a zvell-informed conscience^ 
 which in all its decisions proceeds 
 upon the most evident principles 
 of truth. 
 
 5. K probable conscience is that 
 which, in cases which admit of 
 the brightest and fullest light, con- 
 tents itself with bare probabilities. 
 The consciences of many are of 
 no higher character; and though 
 we must not say a man cannot be 
 saved with such a conscience, yet 
 such a conscience is not so perfect 
 as it might be. 
 
 4. An ignorant conscience is 
 that v^'hich may declare right, but, 
 
 as it were, by chance, and with-* 
 out any just ground to build on. 
 
 5. An erroneous conscience is a 
 conscience mistaken in its deci- 
 sions about the nature of actions. 
 
 6. A doubting conscience is a 
 conscience unresolved about the 
 nature of actions ; on account of 
 the equal or nearly equal probabi- 
 lities which appear for and against 
 each side of the question. 
 
 7. Of an evil conscience there 
 are several kinds. Conscience, in 
 regard to actions in general, is 
 evil when it has lost more or less 
 the sense it ought to have of the 
 natural distinctions of moral good 
 and evil : this is a polluted or 
 defiled conscience. Conscience 
 is evil in itself when it gives ei- 
 ther none or a false testimony as 
 to past actions : when reflecting 
 upon wickedness it feels no pains, 
 it is evil, and said to be feared, or 
 hardened, 1st Tim. iv, 2. It is 
 also evil when during the commis- 
 sion of sin it lies quiet. In regard 
 to future actions, conscience is evil 
 if it does not startle at the propo- 
 sal of sin, or connives at the com- 
 mission of it. 
 
 For the right management of 
 conscience, v/e should, 1. Endea- 
 vour to obtain acquaintance with 
 the law of God, and with our own 
 tempers and lives, and frequently 
 compare them together. 
 
 3. Furnish conscience with ge- 
 neral principles of the most ex- 
 tensive nature and strongest in- 
 fluence ; such as the supreme love 
 of God ; love to our neighbours 
 as ourselves ; and that the care 
 of our souls is of the greatest im- 
 portance. 
 
CON 
 
 175 
 
 CON 
 
 3. Preserve the purity of con- 
 science. 
 
 4. Maintain the freedom of con- 
 •Bcience, particularly against inte- 
 rest, passion, temper, example, and 
 the authority of great names. 
 
 5. We should accustom our- 
 selves to cool reflections on our 
 past actions. See Grove's and 
 Paleif^s Moral Philosophy ; South'' s 
 Sermons^ vol. ii, ser- 12 ; and books 
 under Casuistry. 
 
 CONSCIOUSNESS, the per- 
 ception of what passes in a man's 
 own mind. We must not con- 
 found the terms consciousness and 
 conscience ; for though the Latin\ 
 be ignorant of any such distinc- 
 tion, including both in the word 
 conscientia^ yet there is a great 
 deal of difference between them 
 in our language. Consciousness 
 is confined to the actions of the 
 mind, being nothing else but that 
 knowledge of itself which is in- 
 separable from every thought and 
 voluntary motion of the soul. 
 Conscience extends to all human 
 actions, bodily as well as mental. 
 Consciousness is the knowledge of 
 the existence ; conscience of the 
 moral nature of actions. Conscious- 
 ness is a province of metaphysics ; 
 conscience of morality. 
 
 CONSECRATION, a rite or 
 ceremony of dedicating things or 
 persons to the sei'vice of God. It 
 is used for the benediction of the 
 elements at the eucharist : the or- 
 dination of bishops is also called 
 consecration. 
 
 The Mosaicallaw ordained that 
 all the first born, both of man and 
 beast, should be sanctified or con- 
 secrated to God. We find also, 
 
 that Joshua consecrated the Gi^ 
 beonites, as David and Solomon 
 did the Nethinims, to the service 
 of the temple ; and that the He- 
 brews sometimes consecrated their 
 fields and cattle to the Lord, after 
 which they were^no longer in their 
 power. Among the ancient chris- 
 tians, the consecration of churches 
 was performed with a great deal of 
 pious solemnity. In what manner 
 it was done for the three first ages 
 is uncertain, the authentic ac- 
 counts reaching no higher than 
 the fourth century, when, in the 
 peaceable reign of Constantine, 
 churches were every where built 
 and dedicated with great solemni- 
 ty. The Romanists have a great 
 deal of foppery in the ceremonies 
 of consecration, which they bestow 
 on almost every thing; as bells, 
 candles, books, water, oil, ashes, 
 palms, swords, banners, pictures, 
 crosses, agnus deis, roses, &c. 
 In England, churches have been 
 always consecrated with particu- 
 lar ceremonies, the form of which 
 was left to the discretion of the 
 bishop. That observed by abp. 
 Laud, in consecrating Saint Ca- 
 therine Cree church, in London, 
 gave great offence, and well it 
 might. It was enough, as one 
 observes, to have made even a 
 popish cardinal blush, and which 
 no Protesant can read but with 
 indignant concern. " The bishop 
 came attended with several of the 
 high commission, and some civi- 
 lians. At his approach to the 
 west door of the church, which 
 was shut, and guarded by halber- 
 deers, some that were appointed 
 for that purpose cried with a 
 
CON 
 
 176 
 
 CON 
 
 loud %-oice — Open^ open, ye ever- 
 lasting doors, that the King of 
 Glory may come in! Presently 
 the doors were opened, and the 
 bishop, with some doctors and 
 principal men, entered. As soon 
 as they were within the place, 
 liis lordship fell down upon his 
 inees j and, with eyes lifted up, 
 and his arms spread abroad, said. 
 This place is holy ; the ground is 
 hohf : in the name of the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, I pronounce 
 it' holy. Then, walking up the 
 middle aisle towards the chan- 
 cel, he took up some of the dust, 
 and threw it into the air several 
 times. When he approached 
 near the rail of the communion- 
 table, he bowed towards it five 
 or six times ; and, returning, went 
 round the church, with his at- 
 tendants in procession ; saying first 
 the hundredth and then the nine- 
 teenth Psalm, as prescribed in 
 the Roman PontificaL He then 
 read several collects, in one of 
 which he prays God to accept of 
 that beautiful building, and con- 
 eludes thus: — V/e consecrate this 
 church, and separate it unto thee 
 us Holy Ground, not to be pro- 
 phaned any more to commoii use. 
 In another he prays — That ALL 
 who should hereafter be buried 
 within the circuit of this holy and 
 ■sacred place, may rest in their se- 
 jmlchres in peace, till Christ's 
 coming to judgment, and may then 
 rise to eternal life and happiness. 
 -Then the bishop, sitting under a 
 -cloth of state in the aisle of the 
 chancel, near the communion- 
 table, took a written bo6k in his 
 liand, and pronounced curses n^on 
 those who should hereafter pro~ 
 
 phane that holy place by musters 
 of soldiers, or keeping prophane 
 law courts, or carrying burdens 
 through it : and at the end of 
 every curse he bowed to the east, 
 and said. Let all the people say. 
 Amen. When the curses were 
 ended, which were about twbnty, 
 he pronounced a like number of 
 blessings upon ALL that had any 
 hand in framing and building that 
 sacred and beautiful church ; and 
 on those that had given, or should 
 hereafter give, any chalices, plate, 
 ornaments, or other utensils ; and, 
 at the end of every blessing, he 
 bowed to the east, and said. Let 
 all the people say. Amen. After 
 this came the sermon, then the 
 sacrament, which the bishop con- 
 secrated and administered in the 
 following manner : — As he ap- 
 proached the altar, he made five 
 or six low bows j and coming up 
 to the side of it, where the bread 
 and wi7ie were covered, he bowed 
 seven times. Then, after reading 
 many prayers, he came near the 
 bread, and, gently lifting up the 
 corner of the napkin, beheld it ; 
 and immediately letting fall the 
 napkin, he retreated hastily a step 
 or tv/o, and made three low 
 obeisances : his lordship then ad- 
 vanced, and, having uncovered 
 the bread, bowed three times as 
 before. Then he laid his hand 
 on the cup, which was full of 
 wine, with a cover upon it ; which 
 having let go, he stepped back, 
 and bowed three times towards it; 
 then he camd near again, and, 
 lifting up the cover of the cup, 
 looked in it ; and seeing the wine, 
 let fall the cover again, retired 
 back, and bowed as before. Then 
 
CON 
 
 177 
 
 CON 
 
 ihe elements were consecrated ; 
 and the bishops having first re- 
 ceived, gave it to some principal 
 men in their surplices, hoods, and 
 tippets ; after which, many prayers 
 being said, the solemnity of the 
 consecration ended." 
 
 CONSISTENTES, a kind of 
 penitents, who were allowed to 
 assist at prayers, but who could 
 not be admitted to receive the 
 sacrament. 
 
 CONSISTORY, a word com- 
 monly used for a council-house of 
 ecclesiastical persons, or place of 
 justice in the spiritual court: a ses- 
 sion or assembly of prelates. Eve- 
 ry arch-bishop and bishop of every 
 diocese hath a consistory court, 
 held before his chancellor or com- 
 missary, in his cathedral church, 
 or other convenient place of his 
 diocese, for ecclesiastical causes. 
 The bishop's chancellor is the judge 
 of this court, supposed to be skill- 
 ed in the civil and canon law ; and 
 in places of the diocese far re- 
 mote from the bishop's consistory, 
 the bishop appoints a commissary 
 to judge in all causes within a 
 certain district, and a register to 
 enter his decrees, &c. Consistory 
 at Rome, denotes the college of 
 cardinals, or the pope's senate 
 and council, before whom judi- 
 ciary causes are pleaded. Con- 
 sistory is also used among the re- 
 formed for a council or assembly 
 of ministers and elders to regu- 
 late their affairs, discipline, &c. 
 
 CONSTANCY, in a general 
 sense, denotes immutability, or in- 
 variableness. When applied to the 
 human mind, it is a steady adher- 
 ence to those schemes and reso- ! 
 lutions which have been maturely 
 
 Vol. h A' a 
 
 formed ; the effect of which is^ 
 that a man never drops a good 
 design out of fear, and is con- 
 sistent with himself in all his words 
 and actions. 
 
 Constancy is more particularly 
 required of us, I. In our devo* 
 tions, Luke xviii, 1. IstThess. v, 
 17, 18. — 2. Under our sufferings^ 
 Matt, v, 12, 13. 1st Pet. iv, 12, 13. 
 — 3. In our profession and cha- 
 racter, Heb. X, 23. — 4. In our 
 beneficence. Gal. vi, 9. — 5. In 
 our friendships, Prov. xxvii, 10. 
 
 CONSUBSTANTIAL, aterm 
 of like import with co-essential, 
 denoting something of the same 
 substance with another. Thus we 
 say, that Christ is consubstantial 
 with the Father. The term 
 o(j.oiiarioi^ cOnsubstantial, was first 
 adopted by t*he fathers of the 
 councils of Antioch and Nice, to 
 express the orthodox doctrine the 
 more precisely, and to serve as a 
 barrier and precaution against the 
 errors and subtleties of the Ari- 
 ans, tvho owned every thing ex- 
 cept the consubstantiality. The 
 Arians allowed that the word was 
 God, as having been made God ; 
 but they denied that he was the 
 same God, and of the same sub- 
 stance with the Father : accord- 
 ingly they exerted themselves to 
 the utmost to abolish the use of 
 the word. The emperor Constan- 
 tine used all his authority' with 
 the bishops to have it expunged 
 out of the symbols ; but it Avas re- 
 tained, and is at this day, as it 
 was then, the distinguishing cri- 
 terion between an Athanasian and 
 an Avian. See articles Arians, 
 land Tesus Christ. 
 i CONSUBSTANTIATION, 
 
CON 
 
 /o 
 
 CON 
 
 a tenet of the Lutheran churchj 
 with regard to the manner of the 
 change made in the bread and wine 
 in the eucharist. The divines of 
 that profession maintain that, after 
 consecration, the body and blood 
 of our Saviour are substantially 
 present, together with the sub- 
 stance of the bread and wine, 
 which is called consubstantiation, 
 or impanation. See Transub- 
 
 STANTIATIOxV. 
 
 CONTEMPLATION, studi- 
 ous thought on any subject ; con- 
 tinued attention. " Monks and 
 mystics consider contemplation as 
 the highest degree of moral excel- 
 lence -y and with them a silent 
 spectator is a divine man :" but 
 it is evident we are not placed 
 here only to think. There is 
 something to be done as well as to 
 contemplate. There are duties 
 to be performed, offices to be dis- 
 charged ; and, if we wish to be 
 happy in ourselves and useful to 
 others, we must be active as well 
 as thoui^htfuL 
 
 CONTENTMENT is a dis- 
 position of mind in which our de- 
 sires are confined to what we en- 
 joy, V, itliout murmuring at our lot, 
 or wishing ardendy for more. It 
 stands opjjcsed to envy, James iii, 
 16. to avarice, Heb. xiii, 5. to 
 pride and ambition, Prov. xiii, 10. 
 to anxiety of .mind, Matt, vi, 25, 
 34. to murmurings and repinings, 
 1st Cor. X, 10. Contentment 
 does not imply unconcern about 
 our welfare, or that Vv"e should 
 not have a sense of any thing 
 uneasy or distressing ; nor does 
 it give any countenance to idle- 
 ness, or prevent diligent endea- 
 vours to inipro\-e our circi'ra- 
 
 st-ances. It implies, however, that 
 our desires of woi'ldly good be 
 moderate ; that we do not in- 
 dulge unnecessary care, or use un- 
 lawful efforts to better ourselves ; 
 but that we acquiesce with and 
 make the best of our condition, 
 whatever it be. Contentment 
 arises not from a man's outward 
 condition, but from his inward 
 disposition, and is the genuine off- 
 spring of humility, attended with 
 a fixed habitual sense of God's 
 particular providence, the re- 
 collection of past mercies, and a 
 just estimate of the true nature of 
 all earthly things. Motives to 
 contentment arise from the con- 
 sideration of the rectitude of the 
 Divine government, Ps. xcvii, 1, 
 2. the benignity of the Divine pro- 
 vidence, Ps. cxlr. the greatness of 
 the Divine promises, 2d Pet. i, 4. 
 our ov/n unv/orthiness. Gen. xxxii, 
 10. the punishments we deserve, 
 Lam. iii, 39, 40. the reward 
 which contentment itself brings 
 with it, 1st Tim. vi, 6. the speedy 
 termination of all our troubles 
 here, and the prospect of eternal 
 felicity in a future state, Rom. v, 
 2. Barroxo's Worh^ vol. iii. ser. 
 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ; Bwrovghs on Con- 
 tentment ; JVatson^s Art oj' ditto; 
 Nak^s Cont.^ p. 59; Mason's Chris- 
 tian Morals^ vol. i, ser. 2. 
 
 CONTINENCY is that moral 
 virtue by which we restrain con- 
 cupiscence. There is this dis- 
 tinction between chastity and con- 
 tinence : — Chastity requires no ef- 
 fort, because it may result from 
 constitution j v/hereas continency 
 appears to be tlie consequence of 
 a victory gained over ourselves. 
 The ten» is most usually applied 
 
CON 
 
 179 
 
 CON 
 
 to men ; as chastity is to women. 
 See Chastity. 
 
 CONTINGENT, any thing 
 that happens without a fore-known 
 cause ; commonly called acci- 
 dental. An event not come to 
 pass is said to be contingent, 
 which cither may or may not be : 
 what is already done, is said to 
 have been contingent, if it might 
 or might not have been. What is 
 contingent or casual to us is not so 
 with God. As effects stand relat- 
 ed to a second cause, they are 
 many times cordingent; but as 
 they stand related to the first cause, 
 they are acts of God's counsel, 
 and directed by his wisdom. 
 
 CONTRITE : this word sig- 
 nifies beaten or bruised, as with 
 hard blows, or an heavy burden ; 
 and so in scripture language im- 
 ports one whose heart is broken 
 and wounded for sin, in oppo- 
 sition to the heart -of stone, 
 Is. Ixvi, 2. Ps. li, 17. Ps. Ivii, 
 15. 
 
 The evidences of a broken and 
 contrite spirit are, 1. Deep con- 
 viction of the evil of sin^ — 2. Hu- 
 miliation under a sense of it, Job 
 xlii, 5, 6.-3. Pungent sorrow for 
 it. Zee. xii, 10. — i. Ingenuous 
 confession of it, 1st John, i, 9. — 
 5. Prayer for deliverance from it, 
 Ps. li, 10. Luke xviii, 13. — 6. 
 Susceptibility of good impressions, 
 Ezek. xi 19. 
 
 CONTROVERSIAL DIVI- 
 NITY. See Disputation. 
 CONVENT. See Abbey, 
 
 MONASTARY, MoNK. 
 
 CONVENTICLE, a diminu- 
 tive of convent, denoting properly 
 a cabal, or secret assembly of a 
 part of the monks of a convent, to 
 
 make a party in the election of 
 an abbot. The term conventicle 
 is said by some to have been first 
 applied in England to the schools 
 of Wickliffe, and has been since 
 used in a way of reproach for those 
 assemblies which dissent fi-cm the 
 established church. 
 
 By 22 Car. II, cap. 1, it is en- 
 acted. That if any persons of the 
 age of sixteen years, subjects of 
 this kingdom, shall be present at 
 any conventicle Vv'here there are 
 five or more assembled, they shall 
 be fined five shillings for the first 
 offence, and ten shillings for th€ 
 second: and persons preaching, 
 incur a penalty of twenty pounds. 
 Also suffering a meeting to be 
 held in a house is twenty pounds 
 penalty : justices of peace have 
 power to enter such houses, and 
 seize persons assembled ; and if 
 they neglect their duty, they for- 
 feit 100/. And if any constable, 
 &c. know of such proceedings, 
 and do not inform a justice of 
 peace or chief magistrate, he 
 shall forfeit 5/. But the 1st of 
 William and Mary, cap. 1 8, or- 
 dains that Protestant Dissen- 
 ters shall be exempted from 
 these penalties ; though if they 
 meet in a house with the doors 
 locked, barred, or bolted, such . 
 Dissenters shall have no benefit^fT 
 from the 1st of William and Mary. 
 Officers of the government, &c., 
 present at any conventicle at 
 which there shail be ten persons, 
 if the royal family be not prayed 
 for in express words, shall forfeit 
 40/., and be disabled, Stat, 10. 
 Anne, cap. 2. 
 
 C0NVI;KSATI0N, or dis- 
 course, signifies an interlocution be- 
 
CON 
 
 180 
 
 CON 
 
 ^ween two or more persons, with 
 this distinction, that conversation is 
 used for any general intercourse 
 of sentiments whatever, whereas a 
 discourse means a conversation 
 limitted to some particular sub- 
 ject. 
 
 To render conversation at all 
 times agreeable, the following 
 rules have been laid down, 1. The 
 parties should meet together w^ith 
 a determined resolution to please 
 and to be pleased. — 2. No one 
 should be eager to interrupt others, 
 or be uneasy at being interrupted. 
 — 3. All should have leave to 
 speak in turn. — 4. Inattention 
 should be carefully avoided. — 5. 
 Private concerns should never be 
 mentioned, unless particularly en- 
 quired into, and even then as 
 briefly as possible. — 6. Each per- 
 son should, as far as propriety 
 will admit, be afforded an oppor- 
 tunity of discoursing on the sub-r 
 ject with which he is best ac- 
 quainted. — 7. Stories should be 
 avoided, unless short, pointed, 
 and quite a propos. — 8. Each per- 
 son should speak often, but not 
 long. Haranguing in private com- 
 pany is insupportable. — 9. If the 
 majority of the company be natu- 
 rally silent or reserved, the con- 
 versation will flag, unless it be of- 
 ten renev/ed by one who can start 
 new subjects. — 10. It is improper 
 to laugh at one's own wit and hu- 
 mour; this should be left to the 
 company.-^— 11. When the conver- 
 sation is flowing in a serious and 
 useful channel, never interrupt it 
 by an ill-timed jest.-^12r It is at 
 ^11 times extremely Indelicate to 
 whisper to one's next neighbour : 
 jl^is is in some degree a fraud, con- 
 
 versation being a kind of commcB 
 property. — 13. In speaking of 
 absent people, the infallible rule is, 
 to say no more than we should say 
 if they were present. " I resolve," 
 said bishop Beveridge, " never to 
 speak of a man's virtues to his 
 face, nor of his faults behind his 
 back." A golden rule ! the ob- 
 servation of which would at once 
 banish flattery and defamation 
 from the world. 
 
 CONVERSION, a change 
 from one state to another. Con- 
 version may be, 1. Merely exter- 
 nal^ or that which consists only in 
 an outward reformation. — 2. Doo- 
 trinal, or a change of sentiments. 
 -—3. Savings which consists in the 
 renovation of the heart and life, or 
 a turning- from the power of sin 
 and Satan unto God, Acts xxvi, 
 18. and is produced by the influ- 
 ence of Divine grace on the soul. 
 -^4. Sometimes it is put for res- 
 toration^ a§ in the case of Peter, 
 Luke xxii, 32. The instrumental 
 cause of conversion is usually 
 the. ministry of the word ; though 
 sometimes it is produced by read- 
 ing, by serious and appropriate 
 conversation, sanctified afflictions, 
 &c. Conversion, says the great 
 Charnock, is to be distinguished 
 from regeneration thus. — " Re- 
 generation is a spiritual change ; 
 conversion is a spiritual motion : 
 in regeneration there is a pow- 
 er conferred ; conversion is the 
 exercise of this power: in re- 
 generation there is given us a 
 principle to turn j conversion is 
 our actual turning. In the co- 
 venant, God's putting his Spirit 
 into us is distinguislied from our 
 v/alking in his statutes from tho 
 
CON 
 
 181 
 
 CON 
 
 first step we take in the way" of 
 God, and is set down as the cause 
 of our motion, Ezek. xxxvi, 27. In 
 renewing us, God gives us a pow- 
 er; in converting us, he excites that 
 power. Men are naturally dead, 
 and have a stone upon them : re- 
 generation is a rolling away the 
 stone from the heart, and a raising' 
 to newness of life ; and then con- 
 version is as natural to a regene- 
 rate man as motion is to a lively 
 body. A principle of activity 
 •will produce action. In regenera- 
 tion, man is wholly passive ; in 
 conversion, he is active. The 
 first reviving us is wholly the act 
 of God, without any concurrence 
 of the creature ; but after we are 
 revived we do actively and volun- 
 tarily live in his sight. Regenera- 
 tion is the motion of God in the 
 creature ; conversion is the mo- 
 tion of the creature to God, by 
 virtue of that first principle : from 
 this principle all the acts of 
 believing, repenting, mortifying, 
 quickening, do spring. In all 
 these a man is active ; in the other 
 he is merely passive." Conver- 
 sion evidences itself by ardent 
 love to God, Ps. Ixxiii, 25. delight 
 in his people, John xiii, 33. at- 
 tendance on his ordinances, Ps. 
 xxvii, 4. confidence in his pro- 
 mises, Ps. ix, 10. abhorrence of 
 self, and renunciation of the 
 world, Job xlii, 5. Jas. iv, 4. sub- 
 mission to his authority, and uni- 
 form obedience to his word, Matt, 
 vii, 20. See Calling, Rege- 
 neration. 
 
 CONVERT, a person who is 
 converted. In a, monastic sense, 
 converts are lay friars, or brothers 
 admitted for the service of the 
 
 house, without orders, and not al- 
 lowed to sing in the choir. 
 
 CONVICTION, in general, is ' 
 the assurance of the truth of any 
 proposition. In a religious sense, 
 it is the first degree of repentance, 
 and implies an affecting sense that 
 we are guilty before God ; that we 
 can do nothing of ourselves to 
 gain his forfeited favour ; that we 
 deserve and are exposed to the 
 wrath of God ; that sin is very odi- 
 ous and hateful, yea, the greatest 
 of evils. There is a natural con- 
 viction which arises from natural 
 conscience, fear of punishment, 
 moral suasion, or alarming pro- 
 vidences, but which is not of a 
 permanent nature. Saving- con- 
 viction is the work of the Spirit, 
 as the cause; though the law, the 
 conscience, the gospel, or afflic- 
 tion, may be the means, John xvi, 
 8, 9. Convictions of sin differ 
 very much in their degree in dif- 
 ferent persons. It has been ob- 
 served that those who suffer the 
 most agonizing sensations are such 
 as never before enjoyed the ex- 
 ternal call of the gospel, or were 
 not favoured with the tuition of 
 religious parents, but have neg- 
 lected or notoriously abused the 
 means of grace. To these, con- 
 viction is often sudden, and pro- 
 duces that horror and shame 
 which are not soon overcome ; 
 whereas those who have sat un- 
 der the gospel from their infancy 
 have not had such alarming con- 
 victions, because they have al- 
 ready some notion of these things, 
 and have so much acquaintance 
 with the gospel as administers 
 immediate comfort. As it is 
 not, therefore, the constant mc- 
 
CON 
 
 182 
 
 CON 
 
 fehocl of the Spirit to convince in 
 one way, it is improper for any 
 to distress theniselves because 
 they are not, or have not been 
 tormented almost to despair : they 
 should be rather thankful that the 
 Spirit of God has dealt tenderly 
 with them, and opened to them 
 the source of consolation. It is 
 necessary however to observe, that, 
 in order to repentance and con- 
 version to God, there must be 
 real and lasting conviction, which, 
 though it may not be the same 
 in degree, is the same in nature. 
 Evangelical conviction differs from 
 legal conviction thus : legal arises 
 fi-ora a consideration of God's 
 justice, pov/er, or omniscience ; 
 evangelical from God's goodness 
 and holiness, and from a disaffec- 
 tion to sin : legal conviction still 
 conceits there is some remaining 
 good ; but evangelical is sensible 
 there is no good at all j legal 
 wishes freedom from pain ; evan- 
 gelical from sin : legal hardens 
 the heart ; evangelical softens it : 
 legal is only temporaiy ; evange- 
 lical lasting. 
 
 CONVOCATION, an assem- 
 bly of persons for the worship of 
 God, Lev. xxiii. Numb, xxviii. 
 Exod. xii, 16. An assembly of 
 the . clergy for consultation upon 
 matters ecclesiastical. 
 
 As the parliament consists of 
 two distinct houses, so does this 
 convocation. The one called the 
 ypper house, where the archbishops 
 and bishops sit severally by them- 
 selves ; the other the lov.-er house, 
 where all the rest of -the clergy 
 are represented by their deputies. 
 — The inferior clergy are repre- 
 
 sented by their proctors ; consist- 
 ing of all the deans and archdea- 
 cons ; of one proctor for every 
 chapter, and two for the clergy, 
 of every diocese — in all, one hun- 
 dted and forty-three divines, viz. 
 twenty-tv/o deans, fifty-three arch- 
 deacons, twenty-four prebendaries, 
 and forty- four proctors of the dio- 
 cesan clergy. The lower house 
 chooses its prolocutor, who is to 
 take care that the members at- 
 tend, to collect their debates and 
 votes, and to carry their resolu- 
 tions to the upper house. The 
 convocation is summoned by the 
 king's writ, directed to the arch- 
 bishop of each province, requiring 
 him to summon all bishops, deans, 
 aixhdeacons, &c. The power of 
 the convocation is limited by a sta- 
 tute of Henry VIII. They are not 
 to make any canons, or eccle- 
 siastical laws, without the king's 
 licence ; nor, when permitted, 
 can they put them in execution 
 but under several restrictions. — 
 They have the examining and 
 censuring all heretical and chis- 
 matical books and persons, &c. ; 
 but there lies an appeal to the 
 king in chancery, or to his dele- 
 gates. The clergy in convoca- 
 tion, and their servants, have the 
 same privileges as members of 
 parliament. In 1665, the con- 
 vocation of the clei'gy gave up the 
 privilege of taxing themselves to 
 the house of commons, in con- 
 sideration of their being allowed to 
 vote at the election of members 
 for that house. Since that period 
 they have been seldom allowed to 
 do any business ; and are general- 
 ly prorogued from time to time till 
 
COP 
 
 183 
 
 COR 
 
 dissolved, a new convocation be- 
 ing generally called along with a 
 new parliament. 
 
 COPHTI, CoPHT, or Copti, a 
 name given to the christians of 
 Egypt who are of the sect of the 
 Jacobites. See Jacobites. The 
 Cophts have a patriarch, who re- 
 sides at Cairo ; but he takes his 
 title from Alexandria. He has 
 no archbishop under him, but 
 eleven or twelve bishops. The 
 rest of the clergy, whether secular 
 or regular, are composed of the 
 orders of St. Anthony, St. Paul, 
 and St. Macarius, who have each 
 their monasteries. Besides the 
 orders of priests, deacons, and 
 sub-deacons, the Cophts have, 
 likewise archimandrites, or ab- 
 bots J the dignity whereof they 
 confer with all the prayers and 
 ceremonies of a strict ordination. 
 By a custom of six hundred years 
 standing, if a priest elected bishop 
 be not already archimandrite, that 
 dignity must be conferred on him 
 before episcopal ordination. The 
 second person among the clergy 
 after the patriarch is the titular 
 patriarch of Jerusalem, v/ho also 
 resides at Cairo. To him belongs 
 the government of the Cophtic 
 church during the vacancy of the 
 patriarchal see. To be elected 
 patriarch, it is necessary tlie per- 
 son have lived all his life in con- 
 tinence. To be elected bishop, 
 the person must be in the celibate ; 
 or If he- have been married, it must 
 not be above once. The priests 
 and inferior ministers are allowed 
 'to be married before ordination ; 
 but not forced to it, as some have 
 observed. They have a great num- 
 ber of deacons, and even confer the 
 
 dignity frequently on their clilldren. 
 None but the lowest rank among 
 the people commence ecclesiastics ; 
 whence arises that excessive igno- 
 rance found among them : yet the 
 respect of the laity towards the 
 clergy is very extraordinary. This 
 monastic life is in gi'eat esteem 
 among them: to be admitted into 
 it, there is always required the 
 consent of the bishop. The reli- 
 gious Cophts, it is said, make a 
 vow of perpetual chastity ; re- 
 nounce the world, and live with 
 great austerity in -deserts : they 
 are obliged to sleep in their clothes 
 and their girdle, on a mat stretch- 
 ed on the ground; and to prostrate 
 themselves every evening one hun- 
 dred and fifty times with their face 
 and breast on the ground. They 
 are all, both men and Avomen, of 
 the lowest class of the people, and 
 live on alms. The nunneries arc 
 properly hospitals, and few enter 
 but widows reduced to beggary. 
 
 CORBAN, in Jewish antiqui- 
 ty, were those offerings v/hich had 
 life ; in opposition to the minchab^ 
 or those which had not. It is 
 derived from the word karab^ 
 which signifies "to approach;" 
 because the victims were brought 
 to the rioor of the tabernacle. 
 The corban were always leaked 
 upon as the most sacred offerings. 
 The Jews, are reproached with 
 defeating, by means of the corban, 
 the precept of the fifdi command- 
 ment, which enjoins the respect 
 due to parents ; for, when a child 
 had no mind to relieve the wants 
 of his father or mother, he would 
 say to them — " It is a gift (cor- 
 ban) by whatsoever thou mightest 
 be profited by me ;" i. e. " I 
 
CO V 
 
 184 
 
 CO V 
 
 have devoted that to God which 
 you ask of me, and it is no longer 
 mine to give." Mark vii, 11. 
 
 CORDELIER, a Franciscan, 
 or rehgious of the order of St. 
 Francis. The denomination cor- 
 delier is said to have been given 
 in the war of St. Lewis against the 
 infidels, wherein ihefi'iars minor, 
 having repulsed the barbarians, and 
 that king having enquired their 
 name, it was answered, they were 
 people cor^(f/ie2," tied with ropes ;" 
 alluding to the girdle of rope, or 
 cord, tied with three knots, which 
 they wore as part of their ha- 
 bit. 
 
 CORNARISTS, the disciples 
 of Theodore Cornhert, an enthusi- 
 astic secretary of the states of Hol- 
 land. He wrote, at the same 
 time, against the Catholics, Lu- 
 therans, and Calvinists. He main- 
 tained that every religious com- 
 munion needed reformation ; but 
 he added, that no person had a 
 right to engage in accomplishing 
 it without a mission supported by 
 miracles. He was also of opinion, 
 that a person might be a good 
 christian without being a member 
 of any visible church. 
 
 COVENANT, a contract, or 
 agreement, between two or more 
 parties on certain terms. The term s 
 made use of in the scriptures f .r 
 covenant are DH^ andS/aSi^y.jj. The 
 {ormev sjgmfieschoosing, or friend- 
 ly parting ; as in covenants each 
 party, in a friendly manner, con- 
 sented, and so boAnd himself to the 
 chosen terms ; the latter signifies 
 testame?ity as all the blessings of 
 the covenant are freely disposed to 
 us. The v/ord covenant is also 
 used for aii immutable ordi- 
 
 nance, Jer. xxxiil, 20. a promise^ 
 Exod. xxxiv, 10. Is. lix, 21. and 
 also for a precept, Jer. xxxiv, 13, 
 14. In scripture we read of va- 
 rious covenants ; such as those 
 made with Noah, Abraham, and 
 the Hebrews at large. Anciently 
 covenants were made and ratified 
 with great solemnity. The scrip- 
 tures allude to the cutting of ani- 
 mals asunder ; denoting that, in 
 the same manner, the perjured and 
 covenant breaker should be cut 
 asunder by the vengeance of God, 
 Jer. xxxiv, 18. 
 
 The covenants which more es- 
 pecially relate to the human race 
 are generally called the cove- 
 nant of works and the covenant 
 of grace. 
 
 The covenant of -works is that 
 whereby God requires perfect 
 obedience from his creatures, in 
 such a manner as to make no ex- 
 press provision for the pardon of 
 offences committed against the 
 precepts of it on the repentance of 
 such offenders, but pronounces a 
 sentence of death upon them, Gen. 
 ii. Gal. iv, 24. Ps. Ixxxix, 3, 4. 
 T["he covenant of grace is generally 
 defined to be that which was made 
 with Christ, as the second Adam, 
 and in him with all the elect as 
 his seed, Is. xlii, 1 to 6. 1st Pet. 
 i, 20. Is. lii, 13. 
 
 I. The covenant of works was 
 made with Adam ; the condition 
 of which was, his perseverance 
 during the whole time of his pro- 
 bation : the reward annexed to 
 this obedience was the continu- 
 ance of him and his posterity in 
 such perfect holiness and felicity 
 he then had while upon earth, and 
 everlastinglife with God hereafter= 
 
CO V 
 
 18^ 
 
 GOV 
 
 The penalty threatened for the 
 breach of the command was con- 
 demnation ; terminating in death 
 temporal, spiritual, and eternal. 
 The seals of this covenant were, 
 the ti-ee of knowledge and the 
 tree of life ; and, perhaps, the 
 Sabbath and Paradise, Gen. ii. 
 Gal. iii. Gal.ii, 24. Rom. v, 13, 19. 
 This covenant was broken by 
 Adam's eating of the forbidden 
 fruit, whereby he and his posterity 
 were all subject to ruin. Gen. iii. 
 Rom. V, 12, 19 ; and without the 
 intervention of the Divine grace 
 and mercy, would have been lost for 
 ever, Rom. iii, 23. The Divine 
 Being, foreseeing this, in infinite 
 wisdom and unspeakable compas- 
 sion planned the covenant of grace ; 
 by virtue of which his people are 
 reinstated in the blessings of pu- 
 rity, knowledge, and felicity, and 
 that without a possibility of any | 
 farther defalcation. 
 
 II. Yht covenant of grace. Some 
 divines make a distinction between 
 the covenant of redemption and 
 that of grace : the former, they 
 say, was made with Christ in eter- 
 nity J the latter with believers in 
 time. Others object to this, and 
 suppose it a needless distinction ; 
 for there is but one covenant of 
 grace, and not two, in which the 
 head and members are concerned; 
 and, besides, the covenant of 
 grace, properly speaking, could 
 not be made between God and 
 man ; for what can man restipu- 
 late with God, which is in his 
 power to do or give him, and 
 which God has not a prior right 
 unto ? Fallen man has neither 
 inclination to yield obediepcc, 
 nor power to pei'form it. The 
 parties^ therefore^ in this cove- 
 VoL. I. B b 
 
 nant are generally said to be the 
 Father and the Son ; but Dr. 
 Gill supposes that the Holy Ghost 
 should not be excluded, since 
 he is promised in it, and, in con- 
 sequence of it, is sent down into 
 the hearts of believers ; and which 
 must be by agreement, and with 
 his consent. If we believe, there- 
 fore, in a Trinity, it is more 
 proper to suppose that they were 
 all engaged in this plan of the 
 covenant, than to suppose that 
 the Father and Son were en- 
 gaged exclusive of the Holy Spi- 
 rit, 1 St John V, 6, 7. As to the 
 work of the Son, it was the will 
 and appointment of the Father 
 that he should take the charge 
 and care of his people, John vi, 
 39. Heb. ii, 13. redeem them by 
 his blood, John xvii. Heb. x. 
 obey the law in their room, Rom. 
 X, 4. justify them by his righte- 
 ousness, Dan. ix, 24, &c. and, 
 finally, preserve them to ^lory, 
 Isa. xl, 11. Jesus Christ, accord- 
 ing to the divine purpose, became 
 the representative and covenant 
 head of his people, Eph. i, 22, 23. 
 Col. i, 18. They were all con- 
 sidered in him, and represented 
 by him, Eph. i, 4. promises cf 
 grace and glor}'^ made to them in 
 him, Tit. i, 2. 1st Cor. i, 20. he 
 suffered in their stead, 2d Cor. v, 
 
 21. He is also to be considered 
 as the mediator of the covenant 
 by whom justice is satisfied, and 
 man reconciled to God. See art. 
 Mediator. He is also the 
 surety of this covenant, Heb. vii, 
 
 22, as he took the whole debt 
 upon him, freed his people from 
 the charge, obeyed the huv, and 
 engaged to bring his people to 
 glory, Heb, ii, 13: Isa. xlix, 5, 6. 
 
GOV 
 
 186- 
 
 GOV 
 
 He. is called the testator of the 
 covenant, which is denominated a 
 Testament, Heb. vii, 22. Heb. ix, 
 15. He disposes of his blessings 
 according to his will or testament, 
 which is unalterable, signed by 
 his hand, and sealed by l^s blood. 
 In this covenant, as we before 
 observed, the Holy Spirit also is 
 engaged. His assent is given to 
 every part thereof: he brings his 
 people into the enjoyment of its 
 blessings, 1st Pet. i, 2. 2d Thess. 
 ii, 13. He was concerned in 
 the incarnation of Christ, Matt, i, 
 18. and assisted his human nature, 
 Heb. ix, 14. He takes of the 
 things of Christ, and shews them 
 unto us ; cleanses, enlightens, sanc- 
 tifies, establishes, and comforts his 
 people, according to the plan of 
 the covenant, Rom. viii, 15, 16. 
 See Holy Ghost. 
 
 in. The properties of this cove- 
 nant are such as these : 1. It is 
 eternal, being made before time, 
 Eph. i, 3, 4. 2d Tim. i, 9 — 2. 
 Divine as to its origin, springing 
 entirely from free grace, Rom. xi, 
 5, 6. Ps. Ixxxix, 2, 3, 28. — 3. It 
 is absolute and unconditional, 
 Eph. ii, 8, 9. — 4. It is perfect and 
 complete, wanting nothing, 2d 
 Sam. xxiii, 5. — 5. It is sure and 
 Immoveable, Isa. iivj 10. Isa. Iv, 3. 
 — 6. Called new in opposition to 
 the old, and as its blessings will 
 be always new, Heb. viii, 6, 3. 
 
 IV. These Ivoo covenanis ahove- 
 vient'ioned agree in some things^ in 
 others they differ. 1. "In both," 
 says Witsius, *' the parties con- 
 cerned are God and man. — -2. In 
 both, the same promise of eternal 
 life. — 3. The condition of both is 
 the same perfect obedience to the 
 
 law prescribed ; for it is not wor- 
 thy of God to admit man to a 
 blessed communion with him but 
 in the way of holiness. — -4. In 
 both is the same end, the glory 
 of God. But they differ in the 
 foliovv'ing respects : 1. In the co- 
 venant of works, the character or 
 relation of God is that of a su- 
 preme lawgiver, and the chief 
 good rejoicing to communicate 
 happiness to his creatures. In 
 the covenant of grace he appears 
 as infinitely merciful, adjudging 
 life to the elect sinner, agreeably 
 to his wisdom and justice. — 2. In 
 the covenant of works there was 
 no mediator : the covenant of 
 grace has a mediator, Christ. — 
 3. In the covenant of works, 
 the condition of perfect obedi- 
 ence was required to be perform- 
 ed hj man himself in covenant. 
 In the covenant of grace the 
 same condition is proposed, but 
 to be performed by a mediator. 
 — 4. In the covenant of works 
 man Is considered as working, and 
 tlie reward, as to be given of debt. 
 In the covenant of grace the man 
 in covenant is considered as be- 
 lieving ; eternal life being given as 
 the merit of the mediator, out of 
 free grace, which excludes all 
 boasting. — 5. In the covenant of 
 works something is required as a 
 condition, which, being perform- 
 ed, entitles to reward. The co- 
 venant of grace consists not of 
 conditions, but of promises : the 
 life to be obtained; faith, by which 
 we are made partakers of Christ ; 
 perseverance, and, in a word, the 
 whole of salvation, are absolutely 
 promised. — G. The special end of 
 thdl-covcnant of works was the 
 
GOV 
 
 187 
 
 GOV 
 
 manifestation of the holiness, good- 
 ness, and justice of God ; but 
 the special end of the covenant of 
 grace is the praise of the glory of 
 his .grace, and the revelation of 
 his unsearchable and manifold 
 wisdom." — 7. The covenant of 
 works was only for a time, but 
 the covenant of grace stands sure 
 for ever. 
 
 V. The administration of the 
 covenant of grace. — The covenant 
 of grace, under the Old Testa- 
 ment, was exhibited by promises, 
 sacrifices, types, ordinances, and 
 prophecies. Under the New, it 
 is administered in the preaching 
 of the gospel, baptism, and the 
 Lord's supper ; in which grace 
 and salvation are held forth in 
 more fulness, evidence, and effi- 
 cacy to all nations, 2d Cor. iii, 6 
 to 18. Heb. viii. Matt, xxviii, 19, 
 20. But in both periods, the me- 
 diator, the whole substance, bless- 
 ings, and manner of obtaining an 
 interest therein by faith, are the 
 very same, without any difference, 
 Heb. xi, 6. Gal. iii, 7, 14. The 
 reader who may wish to have a 
 more enlarged view of this subject 
 may peruse Witsius^ Strongs or 
 Boston on the Covenants^ in the 
 former of which especially he will 
 find the subject masterly handled. 
 
 Covenant, in ecclesiastical his- 
 tory, denotes a contract or con- 
 vention agreed to by the Scotch, 
 in the year 1638, for maintaining 
 their religion free from innova- 
 tion. In 1581, the general as- 
 sembly of Scotland drew up a 
 confession of faith, or national 
 covenant, condemning episcopal 
 government, under the nam^ of 
 hierarchxj^ which was signed by 
 
 James I, and which he enjoined 
 on all his subjects. It was again 
 subscribed in 1590 and 1596. 
 The subscription was renewed in 
 1638, and the subscribers engaged 
 by oath to maintain religion in 
 the same state as it was in 1580, 
 and to reject all innovations in- 
 troduced since that time. This 
 oath, annexed to the confession of 
 faith, received the name of the 
 Covenant^ as those who subscribed 
 it were called Covenanters. 
 
 Solemn league and covenant, was 
 established in the year 1643, and 
 formed a bond of union between 
 Scotland and England. It was 
 sworn to and subscribed by many 
 in both nations ; who hereby so- 
 lemnly abjured popery and pre- 
 lacy, and combined together for 
 their mutual defence. It was ap- 
 proved by the parliament and as- 
 sembly at Westminster, and rati- 
 fied by the general assembly of 
 Scotland in 1645. King Charles I 
 disapproved of it when he sur- 
 rendered himself to the Scots 
 army in 1646; but, in 1650, 
 Charles II declared his approba- 
 tion both of this and the national 
 covenant by a solemn oath ; and, 
 in August of the same year, made 
 a farther declaration at Dunferm- 
 line to the same purpose, which 
 was also renewed on occasion of 
 his coronation at Scone, in 1651. 
 The covenant v/as ratified by par- 
 liament in this year ; and the 
 subscription of it was required by 
 every member, without which 
 the constitution of the parliament 
 was declared null and void. It 
 produced a series of distractions 
 in tlie subsequent history of that 
 country, and was voted illegal by 
 
GOV 
 
 188 
 
 cou 
 
 parliament, and provision made 
 against It. Stat. 14 Car. II, c. 4. 
 COVETOUS NESS, an unrea- 
 sonable desire after that we have 
 not, with a dissatisfaction with 
 what we have. It may farther be 
 considered as consisting in, 1. An 
 anxious carlcing care about the 
 things of this world.' — 2. A rapa- 
 city in getting. — 3. Too frequent- 
 ly includes sinister and illegal ways 
 of obtaining wealth. — 4. A tena- 
 ciousness in keeping. It is a vice 
 which marvellously prevails upon 
 and insinuates into the heart of 
 man, and for these reasons : it of- 
 ten bears a near resemblance to 
 virtue ; brings with it many plau- 
 sible reasons ; and raises a man to 
 a state of reputation on account of 
 Ills riches. " There cannot be," as 
 one observes, " a more unreason- 
 able sin than this.. It is unjust ; 
 only to covet, is to wish to be un- 
 just. It is cruel; the covetous 
 must harden themselves against a 
 thousand plaintive voices. It is 
 ungrateful ; such forget their for- 
 mer obligations and their present 
 supporters. It. is foolish ; it des- 
 troys reputation, breaks the rest, 
 unfits for the performance of duty, 
 and is a contempt of God himself : 
 it is unprecedented in ail our exam- 
 ples of virtue mentioned in the 
 scripture. One, indeed, spoke un- 
 advisedly with his lips ; another 
 cursed and svvroi-e ; a third was in a 
 passion ; and a fourth committed 
 adultery; but which of the saints 
 ever lived in a habit of covetous- 
 ness ? Lastly, it is idolatry^ Col. 
 iii, 5. the idolatry of the heart; 
 where, as in a temple, th'e misera- 
 ble wretch excludes God, sets up 
 gold instead of him, and places that 
 
 confidence in it which belongs td 
 the Great Supreme alone." Let 
 those who live in the habitual prac- 
 tice of it consider the judgments 
 that have been inflicted on such 
 characters, Josh, vii, 21. Acts v. 
 the misery with which.it is attend- 
 ed ; the curse such persons are to 
 society ; the denunciations and 
 cautions respecting it in the holy 
 scripture ; and how effectually it 
 bars naen from God, from happi- 
 ness, and from heaven. South*s 
 Serin. ^ vol. iv, ser. 10 ; Robinson^ s 
 Mor, Exercises., ex. iv ; Saurin's 
 Sernu, vol. v,'ser. 12, Engl. Trans. 
 COUNCIL, an assembly of per- 
 sons met together for the purpose 
 of consultation; an assembly of de- 
 puties or commissioners sent from 
 several churches, associated by 
 certain bonds in a general body, 
 Acts i. Acts vi. Acts xv. Acts xxi. 
 Council, Ecumenical or Gene- 
 ral, is an assembly which represent* 
 the whole body of the christian 
 church. The Romanists reckon 
 eighteen of them, Bullingersix,Dr. 
 Prideaux seven, and bishop Beve- 
 ridge eight ; which he says are all 
 the general councils which have 
 ever been held since the time of 
 the first christian emperor. They 
 are as follow : — 1. The council 
 of Nice, held in the reign of 
 Constantine the Great, on ac- 
 count of the heresy of Arius* 
 — 2. The council of Constanti- 
 nople, called under the reign and 
 by the command of Theodosius 
 the Great, for much the same 
 end that the former council was 
 summoned. — 3. The council of 
 Ephesus, convened by Theodosius 
 the Younger, at the suit of Nes- 
 torius. — 4. The council at Chal- 
 
cou 
 
 189 
 
 COU 
 
 eedon, held in the reign of Mar- 
 tianus, which approved of the 
 Eutychian heresy. — 5. The se- 
 cond council of Constantinople, 
 assembled by the emperor Jus- 
 tinian, condemned the three chap- 
 ters taken out of the book of Theo- 
 dorus, of Mopsuestia, having first 
 decided that it was lawful to ana- 
 thematize the dead. Some authors 
 tell us that they liker/ise con- 
 demned the several errors of Ori- 
 gen about the Trinity, the plurali- 
 ty of worlds, and pre-existence of 
 souls. — 6. The thiid council of 
 Constantinople, held by the com- 
 mand of Constantius Pogonatus, 
 the emperor, in which they re- 
 ceived the definitions of the five 
 first general councils, and parti- 
 cularly that against Origen, and 
 Theodorus, of Mopsuestia. — 7. 
 The second Nicene council. — 8. 
 The fourth council of Constan- 
 tinople, assembled when Louis II 
 was emperor of the West. Their 
 regulations are contained in twen- 
 ty-seven canons, the heads of 
 which the reader may find in 
 Dupin. Whatever may be said 
 in favour of general councils, their 
 utility has been doubted by some 
 of the wisest of men. Dr. Jortin 
 says, " they have been too much 
 extolled by Papists, and by some 
 Protestants. They were a col- 
 lection of men who were frail and 
 fallible. Some of those councils 
 were not assemblies of pious and 
 learned divines, but cabals, the 
 majority of which were quarrel- 
 some, fanatical, domineering, dis- 
 honest prelates, who wanted to 
 compel men to approve all their 
 opinions, of which they themselves 
 had no clear conceptions, and to 
 
 anathematize and oppress thoss 
 who would not implicitly submit 
 to their determinations." yortin!% 
 Works, vol. vii, charge 2 ;\B rough- 
 ton's Diet. ; Mosheini's EccL H'lst,^ 
 Index. 
 
 Councils, Provincial or Occa- 
 sional, have been numerous. At 
 Aix la Chapelle, A. D. S16, a 
 council was held for regulating 
 the canons of cathedral churches. 
 The council of Savonnieries, in 
 859, was the first v/hich gave the 
 title of Most Christian Xing to the 
 king of France; but it did not 
 become the peculiar appellation 
 of that sovereign till 1469. Of 
 Troves, in 887, to decide the 
 disputes about the imperial dig- 
 nity. The second council of 
 Troyes, llO/, restrains the clergy 
 from marrying. The council of 
 Clermont, in 1095. The first cru- 
 sade was determined in this coun- 
 cil. The Bishops had yet the pre- 
 cedency of cardinals. In this as- 
 sennbly the name of Pope was for 
 the first time given to the head of 
 the church, exclusively of the 
 bishops, who used to assume that 
 title. Here, also, Hugh, arch- 
 bishop of Lyons, obtained of the 
 pope a confirmation of the prima- 
 cy of his see over that of Sens. 
 The councilpfRheims, summon- 
 ed by Eugenius III, in 1148, call- 
 ed an assembly of Cisastrian Gaul, 
 in which advowses, or patrons of 
 churches, are prohibited taking 
 more than ancient fees, upon pain 
 of deprivation and ecclesiastical 
 burial. Bishops, deacons, sub- 
 deacons, monks, and nuns, are 
 restrained from marrying. In 
 this council the doctrine of the 
 Trinity was decided ; but upon 
 
cou 
 
 190 
 
 CRE 
 
 separation the pope called a con- 
 gregation, in which the cardinals 
 pretended they had no right to 
 judge of doctrinal points ; that 
 this was the privilege peculiar to 
 the pope. The council of Sut- 
 rium, in 1046, wherein three 
 popes who had assumed the chair 
 v/ere deposed. The council of 
 Clarendon in England, against 
 Becket, held in 1164. The coun- 
 cil of Lombez, in the country of j 
 Albigeois, in 1200, occasioned by 
 some disturbances on account of 
 the Albigenses : a crusade was 
 formed on this account, and an 
 crmy sent to extirpate them. 
 Innocent III spirited up this bar- 
 barous war, Dominic was the 
 apostle, the count of Toulouse the 
 victim, and Simon, count of Mont- 
 fort, the conductor or chief. The 
 council of Paris in 1210, in which 
 Aristotle's metaphysics were con- 
 demned to the flames, lest the 
 refinements of that philosopher 
 should have a bad tendency on 
 men's minds, by applying those 
 subjects to religion. The council 
 of Pisa, begun March the 2d, 
 1409, in which Benedict XIII and 
 Gregory XII were deposed. An- 
 other council, sometimes called 
 general, held at Pisa in 1505. 
 Lev/is Xil, of France, assembled 
 a national council at Tours (being 
 highly disgusted with the pope), 
 1510, where was present the cardi- 
 nal De Gurce, . eputed by the em- 
 peror; and it was then agreed to 
 convene a general council at Pisa. 
 Mnrraifs History of Religion. 
 
 Council of Trent. See Trent. 
 
 COURAGE is that quality of 
 the mind that enables men to en- 
 
 counter difficulties, and dangers. 
 Natural courage is that which 
 arises chiefly from constitution ; 
 moral or spiritual is that which ie 
 produced from principle, or a 
 sense of duty. Courage and for- 
 titude are often used as synony- 
 mous, but they may be distin- 
 guished thus : fortitude is firmness 
 of mind that supports pain ; cou- 
 rage is active fortitude, that meets 
 dangers, and attempts to repel 
 them. See Fortitude. Courage, 
 says Addison, that grows from con- 
 stitution, very often forsakes a 
 man when he has occasion for it ; 
 and when it is only a kind of in- 
 stinct in the soul, it breaks out on 
 all occasions, without judgment or 
 discretion ; but that courage which 
 arises fi'om a sense of duty, and 
 from a fear of offending Him that 
 made us, always acts in an uniform 
 manner, and according to the dic- 
 tates of right reason. 
 
 CREATION, in its primary 
 import, signifies the bringing into 
 being something which did not 
 before exist. The term is there- 
 fore most generally applied to the 
 original production of the mate- 
 rials whereof the visible world is 
 com.posed. It is also used in a 
 secondary or subordinate sense to 
 denote those subsequent operations 
 of the Deity upon the matter so 
 produced, by v/hich the whole 
 system of Nature, and all the pri- 
 mitive genera of things, receive 
 their form, qualities, and laws. 
 
 There is no subject concerning 
 which learned men have differed 
 in their conjectures more than in 
 this of creation. " It is certain," 
 as a good writer obsen/es, " that 
 
CRE 
 
 191 
 
 CRE 
 
 none of the ancient philosophers 
 had the smallest idea of its being 
 possible to produce a substance 
 out of nothing, or that even the 
 power of the Deity himself could 
 work without any materials to 
 ■\Vork upon. Hence some of 
 them, among M^hom vfas Aristotle, 
 asserted that the world was eter- 
 nal, both as to its matter and 
 form. Others, though they be- 
 lieved that the gods had given the 
 world its form, yet imagined the 
 materials v/hereof it is compos- 
 ed to have been eternal. Indeed, 
 the opinions of the ancients, who 
 had not the benefit of revelation, 
 were on this head so confused and 
 contradictory, that nothing of any 
 consequence can be deduced from 
 them. The freethinkers of our 
 own and of former ages have deni- 
 ed the possibility of creation, as be- 
 ing a contradiction to reason ; 
 and of consequence have taken 
 the opportunity from thence to 
 discredit revelation. On the 
 other hand, many defenders of 
 the sacred writings have asserted 
 that creation out of nothing, so 
 far from being a contradiction to 
 reason, is not only probable, but 
 demonstrably certain. Nay, some 
 have gone so far as to say, that, 
 from the very inspection of the 
 visible system of Nature, we are 
 able to infer that it was once in 
 a state of non-existence." It is 
 impossible, however, to enter into 
 the multiplicity of the arguments 
 on both sides ; it is enough for us 
 to know what God has been 
 pleased to reveal, both concern- 
 ing himself and the works of his 
 hands. " Men, and other ani- 
 mals that inhabit the earth and 1 
 
 the seas; all the immense' varieties 
 of herbs and plants of which the 
 vegetable kingdom consists ; the 
 globe of the earth, and the ex- 
 panse of the ocean-; these vv^e 
 know to have been produced by 
 his power. Besides the terrestrial 
 world, which we inhabit, we see 
 many other material bodies dis- 
 posed around it in the wide ex- 
 tent of space. The moofi, which 
 is in a particular manner con- 
 nected with our earth, and even 
 dependent upon it ; the sun, and 
 the other planets, with their sa- 
 tellites, which like the earth cir- 
 culate round the sun, and appear 
 to derive from him light and 
 heat ; those bodies which we call 
 fixed stars, and consider as illu- 
 minating and cherishing v/ith heat 
 each its peculiar system of planets; 
 and the comets which at certain 
 periods surprise us with their ap- 
 pearance, and the nature of whose 
 connexion wdth the general sys- 
 tem of Nature, or with any parti- 
 cular system of planets, we cannot 
 pretend to have fully discovered ; 
 these are so many more of the 
 Deity's works, from the contem- 
 plation of which we cannot but 
 conceive the most awful ideas of 
 his creative power. 
 
 " Matter, however, whatever the 
 varieties of form under which it is 
 made to appear, the relative dis- 
 position of its parts, or the mo- 
 tions communicated to it, is but 
 an inferior part of the works of 
 creation. We believe ourselves to 
 be animated with a much higher 
 principle than brute matter : in 
 viewing the manners and oeconomy 
 of the lower animals, we can scarce 
 avoid acknowledging even them to 
 
E 
 
 192 
 
 CRE 
 
 consist of something more than va- 
 rious modifications of matter and 
 motion. The other planetary bo- 
 dies, which seem to be in circum- 
 stances nearly analogous to those 
 of our earth, are surely, as well 
 as it, destined for the habitations 
 of rational intelligent beings. The 
 existence of intelligences of an 
 higher order than man, though in- 
 finitely below the Deity, appears 
 extremely probable. Of these spi- 
 ritual beings, called angels^vreh^ye 
 express intimation in scripture 
 (see the article Angel). But the 
 limits of the creation we must not 
 pretend to define. How far the re- 
 gions of space extend, or how they 
 are filled, we know not. How the 
 planetary worlds, the sun, and the 
 fixed stars are occupied, we do not 
 pretend to have ascertained. We 
 are even ignorant how wide a 
 diversity of forms, what an infi- 
 nity of living animated beings may 
 inhabit our own globe. So con- 
 fined is our knowledge of creation, 
 yet so grand, so awful, that part 
 which our narrow understandings 
 can comprehend ! 
 
 " Concerning the periods of time 
 at which the Deity executed his 
 several works, it cannot be pre- 
 tended that mankind have had op- 
 portunities of receiving very par- 
 ticular information. Many have 
 been the conjectures, and curious 
 the fancies of learned men, re- 
 specting it ; but, after all, we must 
 be indebted to the sacred writings 
 for the best information. Dif- 
 ferent copies, indeed, give dif- 
 ferent dates. The Hebrew copy 
 of the Bible, which w^e' christians, 
 for good reasons, consider as the 
 most authentic, dates the crea- 
 
 tion of the world 3944 years be- 
 fore the christian era. The Sa- 
 maritan Bible, again, fixes the 
 era of the creation 4305 years be- 
 fore the birth of Christ. And the 
 Greek translation, known by the 
 name of the Septuagint version of 
 the Bible, gives 5270 as the num- 
 ber of the years which intervened 
 between those two periods. By 
 comparing the various dates in the 
 sacred writings, examining how 
 these have come to disagree, and 
 to be diversified in different copies ; 
 endeavouring to reconcile the most 
 authentic profane with sacred 
 chronology, some ingenious men 
 have formed schemes of chrono- 
 logy ; plausible, indeed, but not 
 supported by sufficient authori- 
 ties, which they would gladly per- 
 suade us to receive in preference 
 to any of those above mentioned. 
 Usher makes out from the He- 
 brew Bible 4004 years as the 
 term between the creation and the 
 birth of Christ. Josephus, ac- 
 cording to Dr. Wills and Mr. 
 Whiston, makes it 4658 years ; 
 and M. Pezron, with the help 
 of the Septuagint, extends it 
 to 5872 years. Usher's system 
 is the most generally received. 
 But though these different systems 
 of chronology are so inconsistent, 
 and so slenderly supported, yet the 
 differences among them are so in- 
 considerable, in comparison with 
 those which arise before us when 
 we contemplate the chronology of 
 the Chinese, the Chaldeans, and 
 the Egyptians, and they agree so 
 well with the general information 
 of authentic history, and with the 
 appearances of nature and of so- 
 ciety, that they may be considered 
 
cSe 
 
 193 
 
 C R E 
 
 afe' nearly fixing the true period 
 of the creation of the earth." Un- 
 certain, however, as we may be 
 as to the exact time of the crea- 
 tion, we may profitably apply our- 
 selves to the contemplation of 
 this immense fabric. Indeed, the 
 beautiful and multiform works 
 around us must strike the mind of 
 every beholder with wonder and 
 admiration, unless he be enve- 
 loped in ignorance, and chained 
 down to the earth with sensuality. 
 These works every way proclaim 
 the wisdom, the power, and the 
 goodness of the Creator. Crea- 
 tion is a book which the nicest 
 philosopher may study with the 
 deepest attention. Unlike the 
 works of art, the more it is examin- 
 ed, the more it opens to us sources 
 of admiration of its great Avithor; 
 the more it calls for our inspec- 
 tion, and the more it demands 
 our praise. Here every thing is 
 adjusted in the exactest order; all 
 answering the wisest ends, and act- 
 ing according to the appointed 
 laws of Deity. Here the christian 
 ii^ led into the most delightful 
 field of contemplation. To him 
 every pebble becomes a preacher, 
 and every atom a step by which 
 he ascends to his Creator. Placed 
 in this beautiful temple, and look- 
 ing around on all its various parts, 
 he cannot help joining with the 
 Psalmist in saying, " O Lord, how 
 manifold are thy works ; in wis- 
 dom hast thou made them all !" 
 
 See Ray and Blachnore on 
 Creation ; art. Creation, Enc. 
 Brit. ; Derhani's Astro andPhysico- 
 theology ; Hervcy^s Meditations; 
 La Pluche's Nature dispiaijed ; 
 
 Vol. I. *Cc 
 
 Sturm^s Reflections on the tVorlks 
 of God. 
 
 CREDULITY, the belief of 
 any proposition without sufficient 
 evidence of its truth. 
 
 CREP2D, a form of words in; 
 which the articles of faith are com- 
 prehended. See Confession. 
 
 The most ancient form of creeds 
 is that which goes under the name 
 of the Apostles' Creed (see be- 
 low) ; besides this, there are se- 
 veral other ancient forms and 
 scattered remains of creeds to be 
 met with in the primitive record^ 
 of the church ; as, 1 . TTie forni 
 of apostolical doctrine collected by 
 Origen.— 2. A fragment of a creed 
 preserved by TertuUian. — 3. A 
 remnant of a creed in the works 
 of Cyprian.— 4. A creed com-r 
 posed by Gregory Thaumaturgus 
 for the use of his own church. — 5. 
 The creed of Lucian, the martyr. 
 — 6. The creed of the apostolical 
 constitutions. Besides these scat- 
 tered remains of the ancient creeds, 
 there are extant some perfect 
 forms, as those of Jerusalem, Ce- 
 sarea, Antioch, &c. 
 
 CREED, APOSTLES', is a 
 formula or summary of the chris- 
 tian faith, drawn up, according 
 to Ruffinus, by the apostles them- 
 selves ; who, during their stay at 
 Jerusalem, soon after our Lord's 
 ascension, agreed upon this creed 
 as a rule of faith. Baronius and 
 others conjecture that they did 
 not compose it till the second year 
 of Claudius, a little before their 
 dispersion ; but there are many 
 reasons which induce us to ques- 
 tion whether the apostles com- 
 posed any such creed. For, 1. 
 
CRE 
 
 1?4 
 
 CRE 
 
 Neither St. Luke, nor any other 
 writer before the fifth century, 
 make any mention of an ass,embly 
 of the apostles for composing a 
 creed. — 2i The fathers of the three 
 first centuries, in disputing against 
 the heretics, endeavour to prove 
 that the doctrine contained in this 
 creed was the same which the 
 apostles taught ; but they never 
 pretend that the apostles com- 
 posed it. — 3. If the apostles had 
 made this creed, it would have 
 fceen the same in all churches and 
 in all ages ; and all authors would 
 have cited it after the same man- 
 ner. But the case is quite other- 
 wise. In the second and third 
 ages of the church there were as 
 many creeds as authors ; and the 
 same author sets down the creed 
 after a difl^erent manner in several 
 places of his works ; which is an 
 evidence that there was not, at 
 that time, any creed reputed to 
 be the apostles. In the fourth 
 century, Ruffinus compares to- 
 gether the three ancient creeds of 
 the churches of Aquileia, Rome, 
 and the East, which differ very 
 considerably. Besides, these creeds 
 aiifered not only in the terms and 
 expressions, but even in the arti- 
 cles, some of which were omitted 
 in one or other of them, such as 
 those of the descent hito heiU the 
 communion of the saints^ and the 
 life everlasting. From all which it 
 may be gathered, that, though this 
 creed may he said to be that of 
 the apostles, in regard to the 
 doctrines contained therein, yet it 
 cannot be referred to them as the 
 authors of it. Its great antiquity, 
 however, may be inferred from 
 hence, that the whole form, as 
 
 it now stands in the English li- 
 turgy, is to be found in the works 
 of St. Ambrose and Rufiinus ; the 
 former of v/hom flourished in the 
 third and the latter in the fourth 
 century. The primitive chris- 
 tians did not publicly recite the 
 creed, except at baptisms, which, 
 unless in cases of necessity, were 
 only at Easter and Whitsuntide. 
 The constant repeating of it was 
 not introduced into the church till 
 the end of the fifth century; about 
 which time Peter Gnaphius, bishop 
 of Antioch, prescribed the recital 
 of it every time divine service was 
 performed. Sed King's History of 
 the Apostles^ Creed; and BarroixPs 
 Exposition of it in his JVoris^ vol. ii. 
 CREED, ATHANASIAN, a 
 formulary or confession of faith, 
 long supposed to have been drawn 
 up by Athanasius, bishop of Alex- 
 andria, in the fourth century, to 
 justify himself against the calum- 
 nies of his Arian enenaies ; but it 
 is now generally allowed not to 
 have been his. Dr. Waterland 
 ascribes it to Hilary, bishop of 
 Aries. This creed obtained in 
 France about A. D. 850, and was 
 received in Spain and Germany 
 about 180 years later. As to our 
 own country, we have clear proofs 
 of its being sung alternately in 
 oui' churches in the tenth century. 
 It was in common use in some 
 parts of Italy in 960, and was re- 
 ceived at Rome about 1014. As to 
 the Greek and Oriental churches, 
 it has been questioned whether they 
 have ever received it, though some 
 writers are of a contrary persua- 
 sion. The episcopal churches of 
 America have rejected it. As to 
 the matter of it, it is given as a 
 
CRO 
 
 195 
 
 CRO 
 
 Nummary of the true orthodox 
 faith. Unhappily, however, it has 
 proved a fruitful source of unpro- 
 fitable controversy. See Dr. Wa- 
 terlan(Ps Critical History of it. 
 
 CREED, NICE NE, a formu- 
 lary of christian faith ; so called, 
 because it is a paraphrase of that 
 creed which was made at the first 
 general council of Nice. This 
 latter was drawn up by the second 
 general council of Constantinople, 
 A. D. 381; and therefore might be 
 more properly styled the Constan- 
 tinopolitan creed. The creed was 
 carried by a majority, and ad- 
 mitted into the church as a bar- 
 rier against Arius and his fol- 
 lowers. 
 
 The three creeds above-men- 
 tioned are used in the public of- 
 fices of the church of England ; 
 and svibscription to thena is re- 
 quired of all the established clergy. 
 Subscription to these was also re- 
 quired of the dissenting teachers 
 by the toleration act, but from 
 which they are now relieved by 
 19 Geo. III. 
 
 CRIME, a voluntary breach of 
 any known law. Faults result 
 from human weakness, being 
 transgressions of the rules of duty. 
 Crimes proceed from the wicked- 
 ness of the heart, being actions 
 against the rules of nature. See 
 Punishment and Sin. 
 
 CROISADE, or Crusade, 
 may be applied to any war under- 
 taken on pretence of defending the 
 cause of religion, but has been 
 chiefly used for the expeditions of 
 the christians against the infidels 
 for the conquest of Palestine. 
 
 These expeditions commenced 
 A. D. 1096. The foundation of 
 
 them was a superstitious venera- 
 tion for those places where our 
 Saviour performed his miracles, 
 and accomplished the work of 
 man's redemption. Jerusalem had 
 been taken and Palestine con- 
 quered by Omar. This proved a 
 considerable interruption to the 
 pilgrims, who flocked from all 
 quarters to perform their devo- 
 tions at the holy sepulchre. They 
 had, however, still been allowed 
 this liberty, on paying a small 
 tribute to the Saracen caliphs, 
 who v/ere not much inclined to 
 molest them. But, in 1065, this 
 city changed its masters. The 
 Turks took it froni the Saracens ; 
 and being much more fierce and 
 barbarous, the pilgrims now found 
 they could no longer perform their 
 devotions with the same safety. 
 An opinion was about this time 
 also prevalent in Europe, which 
 made these pilgrimages much more 
 frequent than formerly : it was 
 imagined, that the 1000 years 
 mentioned in Revel, xx. were ful- 
 filled ; that Christ was soon to 
 make his appearance in Palestine 
 to judge the world ; and conse- 
 quently that journeys to that 
 country were in the highest degree 
 meritorious, and even absolutely 
 necessary. The multitudes of pil- 
 grims who now flocked to Pa- 
 lestine meeting with a very rough 
 reception from the Turks, filled 
 all Europe with complaints against 
 those infidels, who profaned the 
 holy city, and derided the sacred 
 mysteries of Christianity even in 
 the place where they were fulfilled. 
 Pope Gregory VII had formed a 
 design of uniting all the princes 
 of Christendom against the Mahe • 
 
CRO 
 
 196 
 
 CRO 
 
 metans ; but his exorbitant en- 
 croachments upon the civil power 
 of princes had created him so 
 jnany enemies, and rendered his 
 schemes so suspicious, that he was 
 riot able to make great progress in 
 jhis undertaking. The work was 
 reserved for a meaner instrument. 
 Peter, commonly called the Her- 
 mit, a native of Amiens in Pi- 
 cardy, had made the pilgrimage 
 to Jerusalem ; and being deeply 
 affected with the dangers to which 
 that act of piety now exposed the 
 pilgrims, as well as widi the op- 
 pression under which the eastern 
 christians now laboured, formed 
 the bold, and, in all appearance, 
 impracticable design of leading 
 into Asia, from the farthest extre- 
 mities of the West, armies suffi- 
 cient to subdue those potent and 
 warlike nations that now held the' 
 hfOly land in slavery. He pro- 
 posed his scheme to pope Martin 
 JI, who, prudently resolving not 
 t9 interpose his authority till he 
 saw a probability of success, sum- 
 moned, at Placentia, a council 
 of 4000 ecclesiastics and 30,000 
 seculars. As no hall could be 
 found large enough to contain 
 such a multitude, the assembly 
 \yas held in a plain. Here the 
 pope himself, as well as Peter, 
 harangued the people, represent- 
 ing the dismal situation of their 
 brethren in the East, and the in- 
 dignity offered to the christian 
 name in allowing the holy city to 
 remain in the hands of the infidels. 
 These speeches were so agreeable 
 to those who heard them, that the 
 whole multitude suddenly and vio- 
 lently declared for the war, and 
 gplcmnly devoted themselves to 
 
 perform this service, which they 
 believed to be meritorious in the 
 sight of God. Bvit though Italy 
 seemed to have embraced the de- 
 sign with ardour, Martin thought 
 it necessary, in order to ensure 
 perfect success, to engage the 
 greater and more warlike nations 
 in the same enterprise. Having, 
 therefore, exhorted Peter to visit 
 the chief cities and sovereigns of 
 Christendom, he summoned an- 
 other council at Clermont in Au- 
 vergne. The fame of this great and' 
 pious design being now universally 
 diffused, procured the attendance 
 of the greatest prelates, nobles, 
 and princes ; and when the pope 
 and the hermit renewed their pa- 
 thetic exhortations, the whole as- 
 sembly, as if impelled by imme- 
 diate inspiration, exclaimed with 
 one voice, " It is the will of 
 God !" These words were deemed 
 so much the effect of a divine im- 
 pulse, that they were employed 
 as the signal of rendezvous and 
 battle in all future exploits of 
 these adventurers. Men of all 
 ranks now flew to arms with the 
 utmost ardour, and a cross was 
 affixed to their right shorlder by 
 all who enlisted in this holy enter- 
 prise. At this time Europe was 
 sunk in the most profound igno- 
 rance and superstition. The eccle- 
 siastics had gained the greatest 
 ascendant over the human mind ; 
 and the people, who committed 
 the most horrid crimes and disor- 
 ders, knew of no other expiation^ 
 than the observances imposed on 
 them by their spiritual pastors. 
 But amidst the abject superstition 
 which now prevailed, the military 
 spirit had also uniyersally diffused 
 
GRO 
 
 197 
 
 CRO 
 
 itself ; find, though not supported 
 by art or discipline, was become 
 the general passion of the nations 
 governed by the fpudal law. All 
 the great lords possessed the right 
 of peaee and war. They were 
 engaged in continual hostilities 
 with oneanotlier: the open country 
 was become a scene of outrage 
 and disord[er: the cities, still mean 
 and poor, "^ver^ neither guarded 
 by wal^s nor protected by privi- 
 legC;?. !pvery naau was obliged to 
 depend for safety on his own force, 
 or his private alliances ; and va- 
 lour was the only excellence Avhich 
 was held in esteem, or gave one 
 naan the pre-eminence above an- 
 other. When all the particular 
 superstitions, therefore, were here 
 united in one great object, the ar- 
 dour for private hostilities took 
 the same direction ; "and all Eu- 
 rope," as the princess Anna Com- 
 nena expresses it, " torn from its 
 foundations, seemed ready to pre- 
 cipitate itself in one united body 
 upon Asia." 
 
 All ranks of men now deeming 
 the croisades the only road to 
 heaven, were impatient to open 
 the way with their swords to the 
 holy city. Nobles, artisans, pea- 
 sants, even priests, enrolled their 
 names ; and to decline this ser- 
 vice was branded with the re- 
 proach of impiety or cowardice. 
 The nobles were moved, by the 
 romantic spirit of the age, to hope 
 for opulent establishments in the 
 East, the chief scat of arts and 
 commerce at that time. In pur- 
 suit of these chimerical projects, 
 they sold at low prices their 
 ancient castles and inheritances, 
 which had now lost all value in 
 
 their eyes. The infirm and aged 
 contributed to the expedition by 
 presents and money, and many 
 of them attended it in person j 
 being determined, if possible, to 
 breathe their last in sight of that 
 city where their Saviour died for 
 them.. Even women, concealing 
 their sex under the disguise of ar- 
 mour, attended the camp ; and 
 often forgot their duty still more, 
 by prostituting themselves to the 
 army. The greatest criminals were 
 forward in a service .which they 
 considered as an expiation for all 
 crimes ; and the most enormous 
 disorders were, during the course 
 of these expeditions, committed 
 by men inured to wickedness, eur 
 couraged by example, and im- 
 pelled by necessity. The adven- 
 turers were at last so numerous, 
 that their sagacious leaders be- 
 came appi'ehensive lest the great- 
 ness of the armament would be 
 the cause of its owji disappoint- 
 ment. For this reason- they per- 
 mitted an undisciplined multitude, 
 computed at 300,000 men, to go 
 before them under the command 
 of Peter the hermit, and Gautier 
 or Walter, surnamedthe money less^ 
 from his being a soldier of fortune. 
 These took the road towards Con- 
 stantinople through Hungary and 
 Bulgaria ; and trusting that hea- 
 ven, by supernatural assistance, 
 would supply all their necessitieis, 
 thev made no provision for sub- 
 sistence in their march. They soon 
 found themselves obliged to ob- 
 tain by plunder what they vainly 
 expected from miracles ; and the 
 enraged inhabitants of the coun- 
 tries through which they passed 
 attacked the disorderly multitude, 
 
CRO 
 
 198 
 
 CRO 
 
 and slaughtered them without re- 
 sistance. The more disciplined ar- 
 mies followed after ; and, passing 
 the straits of Constantinople, were 
 mustered in the plains of Asia, 
 and amounted in the whole to 
 700,000 men. The princes en- 
 gaged in this first croisade were, 
 Hugo, count of Vermandois, bro- 
 ther to Philip I, king of France ; 
 Robert, duke of Normandy ; Ro- 
 bert, earl of Flanders ; Raimond, 
 earl of Toulouse and St. Giles ; 
 the celebrated Godfrey of Bou- 
 illon, duke of Lorrain, with his 
 brothers Baldwin and Eustace ; 
 Stephen, earl of .Charters and 
 Blois ; Hugo, count of St. Paul; 
 with many other lords. The ge- 
 neral rendezvous was at Constan- 
 tinople. In this expedition, God- 
 frey besieged and took the city of 
 Nice. Jerusalem was taken by 
 the confederated army, and God- 
 frey chosen king. The Christians 
 gained the famous battle of As- 
 calon against the sultan of Egypt, 
 which put an end to the first croi- 
 sade, but not to the spirit of croi- 
 sading. The rage continued for 
 near two centuries. The second 
 croisade, in 1 144, was headed by 
 the emperor Conrad HI, and Louis 
 VII, king of France. The em- 
 peror's army was either destroyed 
 by the enemy, or perished through 
 the treachery of Manuel, the Greek 
 emperor ; and the second army, 
 through the unfaithfulness of the 
 christians of Svria, was forced to 
 break up the siege of Damascus. 
 The third croisade, in 1188, im- 
 mediately followed the -taking of 
 Jerusalem b)' Saladin, the sultan 
 of ^gypt. The princes engaged 
 kn this expedition %icre, the em- 
 
 peror Frederic Barbarossa ; Fre- 
 deric, duke of Suabia, his second 
 son ; Leopold, duke of Austria ; 
 Berthold, duke of Moravia ; Her- 
 man, marquis of Baden ; the counts 
 of Nassau, Thuringia, Missen, and 
 Holland ; and above sixty other 
 princes of the empire ; with the 
 bishops of Besan^on, Cambray, 
 Munster, Osnaburg, Missen, Pas- 
 sau, Visburg, and several others. 
 In this expedition the emperor 
 Frederic defeated the Sultan of 
 Iconium : his son Frederic, joined 
 by Guy Lusignon, king of Jeru- 
 salem, in vain endeavoured to 
 take Acre or Ptolemais. During 
 thesetransactions Philip Augustus, 
 king of France, and Richard II, 
 king of England, joined the croi- 
 sade ; by which means the chris- 
 tian army consisted of 300,000 
 fighting men : but great disputes 
 happening between the kings of 
 France and England, the former 
 quitted the holy land, and Richard 
 concluded a peace with Saladin. 
 The fourth croisade was under- 
 taken, in 1195, by the emperor 
 Henry VI, after Saladin's death. 
 -In this -expedition the christians 
 gained several battles against the 
 infidels, took a great many towns, 
 and were in the way of success, 
 when the death of the emperor 
 obliged them to quit the holy 
 land, and return into Germany,_^ 
 The fifth croisade was published 
 by pope Innocent III, in 1198. 
 Those engaged in it made fruitless 
 efforts for the recovery of the holy 
 land : for, though John de Neule, 
 who commanded the fleet equip- 
 ped in Flanders, arrived at Ptole- 
 mais a litde after Simon of Mont- 
 fort, Renard -of Dampierre. and 
 
CRO 
 
 19D 
 
 CRO 
 
 others, yet the plague destroying 
 many of them, and the rest either 
 returning or engaging in the petty 
 quarrels of the christian princes, 
 there was nothing done ; so that 
 the sultan of Aleppo easily de- 
 feated their troops in 1204. The 
 sixth croisade began in 1228; in 
 which the christians took the town 
 of Damietta, but were forced to 
 surrender it again. In 1229, the 
 emperor Frederic made peace 
 with the sultan for ten years. 
 About 1 240, Richard, earl of Corn- 
 wall, brother to Henry III, king 
 of England, arrived in Palestine, 
 at the head of the English croisade; 
 but finding it naost advantageous 
 to conclude a peace, he re-em- 
 barked, and steered towards Italy. 
 In 1244, the Karasmians being 
 driven out of Persia by the Tartars, 
 broke into Palestine, and gave the 
 christians a general defeat near 
 Gaza. The seventh croisade was 
 headed, in 1249, by St. Lewis, 
 who took the town of Damietta : 
 but a sickness happening in the 
 christian army, the king endea- 
 voured a retreat ; in which, being- 
 pursued by the infidels, most of 
 his army were miserably butcher- 
 ed, and himself and the nobility 
 taken prisoners. A truce was 
 agreed upon for ten years, and the 
 king and lords set at liberty. The 
 eighth croisade, in 1270, v/as 
 headed by the same prince, who 
 made himself master of the port 
 and castle of Carthage in Africa ; 
 but dying a short time after, he 
 left his army in a very ill con- 
 dition. Soon after, the king of 
 Sicil}' coming up with a good fleet, 
 and joining Philip the Bold, son 
 »nd successor of Lewis, king of 
 
 Tunis, after several engagements 
 with the christians, in which he 
 was Jilways worsted, desired peace, 
 which was granted upon condi- 
 tions advantageous to the chris- 
 tians : after which both princes 
 embarked for their own kingdoms. 
 Prince Edward, of England, who 
 arrived at Tunis at the time of 
 this treaty, sailed towards Ptole- 
 mais, where he landed a small 
 body of 300 English and French, 
 and hindered Bendochar from lay- 
 ing siege to Ptolemais : but being 
 obliged to return to take posses- 
 sion of the crown of England, this 
 croisade ended without contribut- 
 ing any thing to the recovery of 
 the holy land. In 1291, the town 
 of Acre, or Ptolemais, was taken 
 and plundered by the sultan of 
 Egypt, and the christians quite 
 driven cut of Syria. There has 
 been no croisade since that period, 
 though several popes have at- 
 tempted to stir up the christians 
 to such an undertaking; particu- 
 larly Nicholas IV, in 1292, and 
 Clement V, in 1311. 
 
 Though these croisades were 
 effects of the most absurd super- 
 stition, they tended greatly to pro- 
 mote the good of Europe. Mul- 
 titudes, indeed, were destroyed. 
 M. Voltaire computes the people 
 who perished in the diflferent ex- 
 peditions at upwards of two mil- 
 lions. Many there were, however, 
 whore'^n'ned; and these having 
 conversed so long with people who 
 lived in a much more magnificent 
 way than themselves, began to en- 
 tertain some taste for a refined 
 and polished way of life. Thus 
 the barbarism in which Europe 
 had been so long immersed began 
 
CRO 
 
 200 
 
 GRO 
 
 to wear off soon after. The princes 
 also who remained at home found 
 means to avail themselves of the 
 frenzy of the people. By the ab- 
 sence of such numbers of restless 
 ?i'nd martial adventurers, peace 
 ■was established in their dominions. 
 They also took the opportunity of 
 annexing to their crowns many 
 considerable fiefs, either by pur- 
 chase, or the extinction of the 
 heirs; and thus the mischiefs which' 
 rjiust always attend feudal govern- 
 rttents were considerably lessened. 
 With regard to the bad success of 
 the croisaders, it was scarce pos- 
 sible that any other thing couid 
 happen to them. The emperors 
 of Constantinople, instead of as- 
 sisting, did all in their power to 
 disconcert their schemes : they 
 were jealous, and not without rea- 
 son, of such an inundation of barba- 
 rians. Yet, had they considered 
 their true interest, they Avould ra- 
 ther have assisted them, or at least 
 stood neuter, than entered into al- 
 liances with the Turks. They fol- 
 io v»'ed the latter method, however, 
 aiid v/ere often of very great dis- 
 service to the western adventurers, 
 wiiich at last occasioned the loss of 
 th<^ir city. But the worst enemies 
 the croisaders had v/ere their own 
 infernal feuds and dissensions. 
 They neither could agree "vvhile 
 ih arching together in armies with a 
 view to conquest, nor could they 
 unite their conquests undt one go- 
 vernment after they had made 
 them. They set up three small 
 states, one at Jerusalem, another at 
 Antioch, and another at Edessa, 
 These states, instead of assisting, 
 made war upon each other, and on 
 thci Greek emperors ; and thus be- 
 
 cairie M eagy p'Tey to'the coffimoft 
 enemy. The horrid cruelties they 
 committed, too, must have inspired 
 the Turks v/ith the most invincible 
 hatred against them, and made 
 them resist with the greatest obsti- 
 nacy. They were such as could 
 have been committed only by bar- 
 barians inflamed with the most bi- 
 gotted enthusiasm. When Jeru- 
 salem was takeii', hot only the 
 numerous garrison were put to 
 the svv^ord, but the inhabitants 
 were massaicred without mercy and 
 without distinction. No 'age or sex 
 was spared, not even sucking 
 children. According to Voltaire, 
 some christians, w^ho hiid been 
 suffered by the Turks to live in 
 that city, led the conquerors into 
 the most private caves, where v/o- 
 men had concealed themselves 
 with their children, and not one 
 of them Avias suffered to escape. 
 Vv'hat eminently shews the enthu- 
 siasm by which these conquerors 
 were animated, is, their behaviour 
 after this terrible slaughter. They 
 marched over heaps of dead bo- 
 dies towards the holy sepulchre ; 
 and while their hands were pol- 
 luted with the blood of so many 
 innocent persons, sung anthems to 
 the common Saviour of Mankind ! 
 Nay, so far did their religious en- 
 thusiasm overcome their fury, that 
 these ferocious conquerors now 
 burst into tears. If the absurdity 
 and wickedness of this conduct 
 can be exceeded by any thing, it 
 must be by what follows. In 1204, 
 the frenzy of croisading seized the 
 children, who are ever read)^ to 
 imitate what they see their parents 
 engaged in. Their childish folly 
 vfas encouraged bv the monks and 
 
CRO 
 
 201 
 
 CRO 
 
 schoolmasters; and thousands of 
 those innocents were conducted 
 from the houses of their parents 
 on the superstitious interpreta- 
 tion of these words : " Out of the 
 mouths of babes and sucklings hast 
 thou perfected praise." Their 
 base conductors sold a part of 
 them to the Turks, and the rest 
 perished miserably. Hume's Hist, 
 of Englahd, vol. i, p. 292, &c. ; 
 and vol. ii, p. 280 : Enc. Brit. ; 
 and Moshehn\'i Ecc. Hist. 
 
 CROiSIERS,a religious order, 
 founded in honour of the inven- 
 tion or discovery of the cross by 
 the empress Helena. They were, 
 till of late, dispersed in several parts 
 of Europe, particularly in the Low 
 Countries, France, and Bohemia ; 
 those in Italy were suppressed even 
 before the late revolutions. These 
 religious follow the rule of St. 
 Augustine. They had in England 
 the name o{ Crouched Friars. 
 
 CROSIER, or Crozier, a shep- 
 herd's crook ; a symbol of pasto- 
 ral authority, consisting of a gold 
 or silver staff", crooked at the top, 
 carried occasionally before bishops 
 and abbots, and held in the hand 
 when they give the solemn bene- 
 dictions. 
 
 CROSS, in scripture language, 
 means the sufferings of Christ, Gal. 
 vi, 14. The sufferings, trials, or 
 persecutions of his people are also 
 called a cross. Matt, xvi, 24. Cross 
 signifies also a gibbet, made with 
 two pieces of wood, placed cross- 
 wise, whither they cross with right 
 angles at the top like a T, or in 
 the middle of their length like an 
 X. The cross to which our Sa- 
 viour was fastened, and on which 
 he died, was of the former kind ; 
 
 Vol. I. D d 
 
 being thus represented by old mo- 
 numents, coins, and crosses. The 
 death of the cross was the most 
 dreadful of all others, both for 
 the shame and pain of itj and so 
 scandalous, that it was inflicted 
 as the last mark of detestation 
 upon the vilest of people. It was 
 the punishment of robbers and 
 murderers, provided that they were 
 slaves, too ; but otherwise, if they 
 were free, and had the privilege of 
 the city of Rome, this was then 
 thought a prostitution of that ho- 
 nour, and too infamous a pu- 
 nishment for such a one, let his 
 crimes be what they would. The 
 from of a cross being such as has 
 been already described, the body 
 of the criminal was fastened to 
 the upright piece by nailing the 
 feet to it, and on the other trans- 
 verse piece generally by nailing 
 the hands on each side. Now, 
 because these parts of the body, 
 being the instruments of action 
 and motion, are provided by Na- 
 ture with a much greater quantity 
 of nerves than others have occa- 
 sion for; and because all sensation 
 is performed by the spirit contain- 
 ed in these nerves ; it will follow, 
 as Stanhope observes, that where- 
 ever they abound, the sense of pain 
 must needs in proportion be more 
 quick and tender. The Jews con- 
 fess, indeed, that they crucified 
 people in their nation, but deny 
 that they inflicted this punishment 
 upon any one alive. They, first 
 put them to death, and then fas- 
 tened them to the cross, either by 
 the hands or neck. But there are 
 indisputable proofs of their cruci- 
 fying men frequently alive. The 
 worshippers of Baal-peor and the 
 
CRO 
 
 202 
 
 CRO 
 
 king of Ai were hung up alive ; as 
 were also the descendants of Saul, 
 who were put into the hands of 
 the Gibeonites, 2d Sam. xxi, 9. 
 
 Before crucifixion, the criminal 
 was generally scourged with cords ; 
 sometimes little bones, or pieces 
 of bones, were tied to these 
 scourges, so that the condemned 
 person might suffer more severely. 
 It was also a custom, that he who 
 was to be crucified should bear 
 his own cross to the place of exe- 
 cution. After this manner, we 
 find Christ was compelled to bear 
 his cross ; and as he sunk under 
 the burden, Simon the Cyrenian 
 Vfns constrained to bear it after 
 him and with him. But whereas 
 it is generally supposed that our 
 Lord bore the whole cross, i. e. 
 the long and transverse part both, 
 this seems to be a thing impos- 
 sible ; and thei'efore Lipsius (in his 
 treatise De Siipplido Crucis) lias 
 set the matter in a true light, when 
 he tells us that Jesus only car- 
 ried the transverse beam ; because 
 the long beam, or the body of the 
 cross, was either fixed in the 
 ground before, or made ready to 
 be set up as soon as the prisoner 
 came : and from hence he ob- 
 serves, that painters are very much 
 mistaken in the description of our 
 Saviour carrying the whole cross. 
 There were several ways of cruci- 
 fying; sometimes the criminal v/as 
 fastened wifn cords to atree, some- 
 times he was crucified with his 
 head downwards. This way, it 
 is said, Peter chosen out of re- 
 spect to his master, Jesus Christ, 
 not thinking himself worthy to be 
 crucified like him ; though the 
 common Vt^ay of crucifying v/as by 
 
 fastening the criminal with nails, 
 one thi-ough each hand, and one 
 through both feet, or one through 
 each of them : for this was not 
 always performed in the same 
 manner; the ancients sometimes 
 represent Jesus Christ crucified 
 with four nails, and sometimes 
 with three. The criminal was 
 fixed to the cross quite naked ; 
 and, in all probability, the Saviour 
 of sinners was not used with any 
 greater tenderness than others 
 upon whom this punishment was 
 inflicted. The text of the gospel 
 shevv's clearly that Jesus Christ 
 was fastened to the cross with nails ; 
 and the Psalmist (Ps.xxii, 16) had 
 foretold long before, that they 
 should pierce his hands and his 
 feet : but there are great disputes 
 concerning the number of these 
 nails. The Greeks represent our 
 Saviour as fastened to the cross 
 with four nails ; in which parti- 
 cular Gregory of Tours agrees 
 with them, one at each hand and 
 foot. But several are of opinion 
 that our Saviour's hands and feet 
 were pierced with three nails only, 
 viz. one at each hand, and one 
 through both his feet: and the 
 custom of the Latins is rather for 
 this last opinion ; for the general- 
 ity of the old crucifixes made in 
 the Latin church have only three 
 nails. Nonnus thinks that, our 
 Saviour's arms werebcsidesbound 
 fast to the cross with chains ; and 
 St. Hilar}^ speaks of the cords 
 wherewith he vras tied to it. 
 Sometimes they who were fastened 
 upon the cross lived a good while 
 in that condition. St. Andrew^ is 
 believed to have continued three 
 days alive upon it. Eusebius 
 
CRO 
 
 203 
 
 CRO 
 
 speaks of certain martyrs in Egypt 
 who were kept upon the cross till 
 they were starved to death. Pi- 
 late was amazed at Jesus Christ's 
 dying so soon, because naturally 
 he must have lived longer if it had 
 not been in his po\yer to have laid 
 down his life, and to take it up 
 again. The thighs of the two 
 thieves, who were crucified with 
 our Saviour, were broken, in order 
 to hasten their death, that their 
 bodies might not remain upon the 
 cross on the sabbath day, John 
 xix, 31, 33 ; and to comply with 
 the law of Moses, which forbids 
 the bodies to be left there after 
 sun-set. But, among other na- 
 tions, they were suffered to re- 
 main upon the cross a long time. 
 Sometimes they v/ere devoured 
 alive by birds and beasts of prey. 
 Guards were appointed to observe 
 that none of their friends or rela- 
 tions should take them down and 
 bury them. The Roman soldiers, 
 who had crucified Jesus Christ and 
 the two thieves, continued near the 
 crosses till the bodies were taken 
 down and buried. 
 
 Invention of the Cross, an an- 
 cient feast solemnized on the 3d of 
 May, in memory of St. Helena's 
 (the mother of Constantine) find- 
 ing the true cross of Christ deep in 
 the ground on Mount Calvary, 
 where she erected a church for the 
 preservation of part of it ; the rest 
 being brought to Rome, and de- 
 posited in the church of the Holy 
 Cross of Jerusalem. 
 
 Exaltation of the Cross, an an- 
 cient feast held on the 14th of 
 September, in memory of this, 
 that Heraclitus restored to Mount 
 Calvary the true cross, in 1G42, 
 
 which had been carried off four- 
 teen years before by Cosroes, king 
 of Persia, upon his taking Jeru- 
 salem from the emperor Phocas. 
 
 The Adoration of the Cross seems 
 to have been practised in the an- 
 cient church, inasmuch as the 
 heathens, particularly Julian, re- 
 proached the primitive christians 
 with it ; and we do not find that 
 their apologists disclaimed the 
 charge. Mornay, indeed, asserted 
 that this had been done by St. 
 Cyril, but could not support his 
 allegation at the conference of 
 Fountain-bleau. St. Helena is 
 said to have reduced the adoration 
 of the cross to its just principle, 
 since she adored Christ in the wood, 
 not the wood itself. With such 
 modifications some Protestants 
 have been induced to admit the 
 adoration of the cross. John 
 Huss allowed of the phrase, pro- 
 vided it were expressly added, that 
 the adoration was relative to the 
 person of Christ. But, however 
 Roman catholics may seem to tri- 
 umph by virtue of such distinction 
 and mitigations, it is well known 
 they have no great place in their 
 own practice. Imbert, the pri- 
 or of Gascony, was severely pro- 
 secuted in 1683 for telling the 
 people, that, in the ceremony of 
 adoring the cross, practised in that 
 church on Good Friday, they were 
 not to adore the wood, but Christj 
 who was crucified on it. The cu- 
 rate of the parish told them the 
 contrary. It v/as the wood ; the 
 wood they Vt^ere to adore ! Imbert 
 replied, it was Christ, not the 
 wood : for which he was cited 
 before the ?rchbishop of Bour- 
 deaux, suspended from his func- 
 
CUR 
 
 194 
 
 CUR 
 
 tions, and even threatened with 
 chains and perpetual prisonment. 
 It little availed him to cite the 
 bishop of Meaux's distinction : it 
 was answered, that the church al- 
 lowed it not. 
 
 CROSS-BEARER, in the Ro- 
 mish church, the chaplain of an 
 archbishop, who bears a cross be- 
 fore him on solemn occasions. 
 Cross-bearers also denote certain 
 officers in the Inquisition, who 
 niake avow before the inquisitors, 
 or their vicars, to defend the ca- 
 tholic faith, though with the loss 
 of fortune and life. Their busi- 
 ness is also to provide the inquisi- 
 tors with necessaries. 
 
 CRUCIFIX, a cross, upon 
 which the body of Christ is fas- 
 tened in effigy, used by the Roman 
 catholics, to excite in their minds 
 a strong idea of our Saviour's pas- 
 sion. 
 
 CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST. 
 See Cross. 
 
 CRUSADE. See Croisade. 
 
 CURATE, the lowest degree 
 in the church of England ; he who 
 represents the incumbent of a 
 church, parson, or vicar, and offi- 
 ciates in his stead : he is to be li- 
 censed and admitted by the bishop 
 of the diocese, or by an ordinury 
 having episcopal jurisdiction ; and 
 when a curate hath the approbation 
 of the bishop, he usually appoints 
 the salary too ; and, in such case, 
 if he be not paid, the curate hath 
 a proper remedy in the ecclesiasti- 
 cal court, by a sequestration of the 
 profits of the benefice ; but if the 
 curate be not licensed by the bi- 
 shop, he is put to his remedy at 
 cornnion law, where he must prove 
 the agi-eement, etc. A curate. 
 
 having no fixed estate in his cura- 
 cy, not being instituted and induct- 
 ed, may be removed at pleasure by 
 the bishop, or incumbent. But 
 there are perpetual curates as well 
 as temporary, who are appointed 
 where tithes are impropriate, and 
 no vicarage endowed : these are 
 not re moveable, and the impropri- 
 ators are obliged to find them ; 
 some whereof have certain por- 
 tions of the tithes setded on them. 
 Curates must subscribe the decla- 
 ration according to the act of uni- 
 formity, or are liable to impri- 
 sonment. Though the condition 
 of curates be somewhat meliorat- 
 ed by a late act, it must be con- 
 fessed that they are still, in many 
 respects, exposed to hardships : 
 their salaries are not equal to 
 many of the Dissenters, who have 
 nothing to depend on but the 
 liberality of their people. Can 
 there be a greater reproach to the 
 dignified ecclesiastics of this coun- 
 try than the comparatively miser- 
 able pittance allowed the curates, 
 who do all the labour? Surely 
 they must be a set of useless be- 
 ings, to reap so little wages ; or 
 else they are unjustly treated ! ! ! 
 
 CURIOSITY, a propensity or 
 disposition of the soul which in- 
 clines it to enquire after ne\v ob- 
 jects, and to delight in viewing 
 them. Curiosity is proper, when it 
 springs from a desire to know our 
 duty, to mature our judgments, to 
 enlarge our minds, and to regulate 
 our conduct ; but improper when 
 it Vv'ishes to know more of God, or 
 the nature of things, than are re- 
 vealed. Curiosity also concern- 
 ing the affairs of others is exceed- 
 ingly reprehensible. " It inter- 
 
CUR 
 
 205 
 
 CUR 
 
 rupts," says an elegant writer, 
 " the order, and bi-eaks the peace 
 of society. Persons of this dis- 
 J)Osition are dangerous troublers 
 of the world. While they con- 
 ceive themselves to be inoffensive, 
 they are sowing dissension and 
 feuds. Crossing the lines in which 
 others move, they create confu- 
 sion, and awaken resentment. 
 Hence, many a friendship has 
 been broken ; the peace of many 
 a family has been overthrown ; 
 and much bitter and lasting dis- 
 cord has been propagated through 
 society. This disposition not only 
 injures the peace of others, but 
 it also produces, among indivi- 
 duals who are addicted to it, a 
 multitude of bad passions. Its 
 most frequent source is mere idle- 
 ness, which, in itself a vice, never 
 fails to engender many vices more. 
 The mind of man cannot be long 
 without some food to nourish the 
 activity of its thoughts. The idle, 
 who have no nourishment of this 
 sort within themselves, feed their 
 thoughts with enquiries into the 
 conduct of their neighbours. The 
 inquisitive and curious are always 
 talkative. A tale which the ma- 
 licious have invented, and the 
 credulous have propagated ; a ru- 
 mour which, arising from among 
 the multitude, and transmitted by 
 one to another has, in every step 
 of its progress, gained fresh ad- 
 ditions, becomes in the end the 
 foundation of confident assertion, 
 and of rash and severe judgment. 
 Such a disposition is entirely the 
 reverse of that amiable spirit of 
 charity our Lord inculcates. Cha- 
 rity, like the sun, brightens every 
 object on which it shines : a cen- 
 
 sorious disposition casts every cha- 
 racter into the darkest shade it will 
 bear. It is to be farther observed, 
 that all impertinent curiosity about 
 the affairs of others tends greatly 
 to obstruct personal reformation. 
 They who are so officiously occu- 
 pied about their neighbours, have 
 little leisure, and less inclination, 
 to observe their own defects, or to 
 mind their own duty. From their 
 inquisitive researches, they find, or 
 imagine they find, in the behavi- 
 our of others, an apolog}^ for their 
 own failings; and the favourite 
 result of their enquiries generally 
 is, to rest satisfied with themselves. 
 We should consider, also, that 
 every excursion of vain curiosity 
 about others is a subtraction from 
 that time and thought which are 
 due to ourselves, and to God. In 
 the great circle of human affairs, 
 there is room for every one to be 
 busy, and well employed in his 
 own province, without encroaching 
 upon that of others. It is the pro- 
 vince of superiors to direct ; of in- 
 feriors to obey ; of the learned to 
 be instructive ; of the ignorant to 
 be docile ; of the old to be com- 
 municative ; of the young to be 
 adviseable and diligent. In all 
 the various relations which subsist 
 among us in life, as husband and 
 wife, master and sei"vants, parents 
 and children, relations and friends, 
 rulers and subjects, innumerable 
 duties stand ready to be perform- 
 ed ; innumerable calls to activity 
 present themselves on every hand, 
 sufficient to fill up with advantage 
 and honour the whole time of 
 man." Bknr^n Senn.^ vol. iv, ser. 
 8 ; Clarke's Serm.^ ser. on Deut. 
 x-^VLy'H^; Seed's Posth, Serm, ^ser. 7, 
 
c us 
 
 206 
 
 C YN 
 
 CURSE, the action of wishing 
 any tremendous evil to another. 
 In scripture language it signifies 
 the just and awful sentence of 
 God's law, condemning sinners to 
 suffer the full punishment of their 
 sin, Gal. iii, 10. 
 
 CURSINGand Swearing. See 
 
 SwEA.RING. 
 
 CUSTOM, a very comprehen- 
 sive term, denoting the manners, 
 ceremonies, and fashions of a peo- 
 ple, which having turned into ha- 
 bit, and passed into use, obtain the 
 force of laws. Custom and habit 
 are often confounded. By custom^ 
 we mean a frequent reiteration of 
 the same act ; and by habit, the ef- 
 fect that custom has on the mind 
 or the body. See Habit. 
 
 " Viewing man," says Lord 
 Karnes, " as a sensitive being, and 
 perceiving the influence of novelty 
 upon him-, would one suspect that 
 custom has an equal influence ? and 
 yet our nature is equally suscep- 
 tible of both; not only in different 
 objects, but frequently in the 
 same. When an object is new, it 
 is enchanting; familiarity renders 
 it indifl'erent ; and custpm, after a 
 longer familiarity, makes it again 
 desirable. Human nature, diver- 
 sified with many and various { 
 aprings of action, is wonderful, 
 and, indulging the expression, in- 
 tricately constructed. Custom hath 
 such influence upon many of our 
 feelings, by warping and varying 
 them, that we must attend to its 
 operations, if we would be ac- 
 quainted with human nature. A 
 walk upon the quarter-deck, 
 though intolerably confined, be- 
 comes, hov/ever, so agreeable by 
 custom, that a sailor, in his walk 
 
 on shore, confines himself com- 
 monly within the same bounds. 
 I knew a man who had relin- 
 quished the sea for a country life : 
 in the corner of his garden he 
 reared an artificial mount, with a 
 level summit, resembling, most ac- 
 curately, a quarter-deck, not only 
 in shape, but in size ; and here 
 was his choice walk." Such we 
 find is often the power of custom. 
 CYNICS, a sect of ancient phi- 
 losophers, who valued themselves 
 upon their contempt of riches and 
 state, arts and sciences, and every 
 thing in short, except virtue and 
 morality. They owe their origin 
 and institution to Antisthenes of 
 Athens, a disciple of Socrates ; ■ 
 who, being asked of what use his 
 philosophy had been to him, re- 
 plied, " It enables me to live with 
 myself." Diogenes was the most 
 famous of his disciples, in whose 
 life the system of this philosophy 
 appears in its greatest perfection. 
 He led a most whimsical life, de- 
 spising every kind of convenience ; 
 a tub serving him for a lodging, 
 which he rolled before him v/here- 
 ever he went ; yet he was not. the 
 more humble on account of his 
 ragged cloak, bag, and tub. One 
 day, entering Plato's house at a 
 time when there was a splendid 
 entertainment, for several persons 
 of distinction, he jumped, in 
 all his dirt, upon a very rich 
 couch, saying, " I trample on the 
 pride of Plato!" "Yes," replied 
 Plato, "but with still greater 
 pride, Diogenes !" He had the 
 utmost contempt for all the human 
 race ; for he walked the streets of 
 Athens at noon day, with a lighted 
 lantern in his hand, telling the 
 
V JEM 
 
 207 
 
 DiEM 
 
 people " he was in search of an 11 maxims of morality, he held sorfte 
 honest man." But with all his H very pernicious opinions. 
 
 D. 
 
 DAMIANISTS, a denomina- 
 tion in the sixth century, so called 
 from Damian, bishop of Alexan- 
 dria. Their opinions were the same 
 as the Angelites, which see. 
 
 DEMONS, a name given by 
 the ancients to certain spirits or 
 genii, which, they say, appeared tt 
 men, either to do them service, or 
 to hurt them. 
 
 Several of the heathen philoso- 
 ^ihers held that there were different 
 kinds of dsemons ; that some ot 
 them were spiritual substances, of 
 a more noble origin than the hu- 
 man race, and that others had 
 once been men. 
 
 But those daemons who were 
 the more immediate objects of the 
 established worship among the an- 
 cient nations were human spirits, 
 such as were believed to become 
 daemons, or deities, after their de- 
 parture from their bodies. > 
 
 It has been generally thought, 
 that by ^<emc>;2* we are to understand 
 devils, in the Septuagint version of 
 the Old Testament. Others think 
 the word is in that version certainl}' 
 applied to the ghosts of such dead 
 men as the heathens deified, in 
 Deut. xxxii, 17. Ps. cvi, 37. That 
 dmion often bears the same mean- 
 ing in the New Testament, and 
 particularly in Acts xvii, 18. 1st 
 Cor. X, 21. IstTim. iv, 1. Rev. ix, 
 13. is shewn at large by Mr. Jo- 
 seph Mede (see Works, p. 623, et 
 seq.). That the word is applied 
 always to human spirits in the 
 
 New Testament, Mr. Farmer has 
 attempted to shew in his Essay on 
 Dsemoniacs, p. 208, et seq. As 
 to the meaningof the word daemon, 
 in the fathers of the christian 
 church, it is used by them in the 
 same sense as it v/as by the hea- 
 then philosophers, especially the 
 latter Platonists ; that is, some- 
 times for departed human spirits, 
 and at other times for such spirits 
 as had never inhabited human bo- 
 dies. In the fathers, indeed, the 
 word is more commonly taken in 
 an evil sense than in the ancient 
 philosophers. 
 
 DiEMONIAC, a human being 
 whose volition and other mental 
 faculties are overpowered and re- 
 strained, and his body possessed 
 and actuated by some created 
 spiritual being of superior power. 
 Such seems to be the determinate 
 sense of the word ; but it is dis- 
 puted whether any of mankind 
 ever were in this unfortunate con- 
 dition. That the reader may form 
 some judgment, we shall lay be- 
 fore him the arguments on both, 
 sides. 
 
 I. Da:?noniacs, arguments against 
 the existence of. Those who arc 
 unwilling to allow that angels or 
 devils have ever intermeddled with 
 the concerns of human life, urge 
 a number of specious arguments. 
 The Greeks and Romans of old, 
 say they,- did believe in the reality 
 of daemoniacal possession. They 
 supposed that spiritual beings did 
 
DiEM 
 
 208 
 
 D^M 
 
 at times enter into the sons or 
 daughters of men, and distinguish 
 themselves in that situation by ca- 
 pricious freaks, deeds of wanton 
 mischief, or prophetic enuncia- 
 tions. Butin the instances in which 
 they supposed this to happen, it is 
 evident no such thing took place. 
 Their accounts of the state and 
 conduct of those persons whom 
 they believed to be possessed in 
 this supernatural manner, shey/ 
 plainly that what they ascribed to 
 the influence of daemons were 
 merely the effect of natural dis- 
 eases. Whatever they relate con- 
 cerning the larvati, the ce}-riti, and 
 the lymphatic^ shews that these 
 were merely people disordered in 
 mind, in the same unfortunate si- 
 tuation with those madmen, idiots, 
 and melancholy persons, whom 
 we have among ourselves. Fes- 
 tus describes the larvati as being 
 furiosi et mente 7noti. Lucian de- 
 scribes claemoniacs as lunatic, and 
 as staring with their eyes, foam- 
 ingatthemouth,andbeingspeech- 
 less. It appears still more evident 
 that all the persons spoken of as 
 possessed with devils in the New 
 Testament, were either mad or 
 epileptic, and precisely in the same 
 condition with the madmen and 
 epileptics of modern times. The 
 Jews, among other reproaches 
 which they threw out against our 
 Saviour, said, He hath a devil^ 
 and is mad; why hear ye him P The 
 expressions he hath a devil^ and is 
 mad, were certainly used on this 
 occasion as synonymous. With 
 all their virulence, they would not 
 surely ascribe to him at once two 
 things that were inconsistent and 
 contradictor}'. Those who thought 
 
 more favourably of the character 
 of Jesus, asserted concerning his 
 discourses, in reply to his adver- 
 saries, These are not the words of 
 him that hath a dtemon ; meaning, 
 no doubt, that he spoke in a more 
 rational manner than a madman 
 could be expected to speak. The 
 Jews appear to have ascribed to 
 the influence of daemons, not 
 only that species of madness in 
 I which the patient is raving and 
 furious, but also melancholy mad- 
 ness. Of John, who secluded him- 
 self from intercourse with the 
 world, and was distinguished for 
 abstinence and acts of mortifica- 
 tion, they said. He hath a damon. 
 The youth, whose father applied 
 to Jesus to free him from an evil 
 i spirit, describing his unhappy con- 
 dition in these words, Have mercy 
 on ray son for he is lunatic, and sore 
 vexed -with a dxmon : for oft times 
 hefalleth into the fire, and oft into 
 the water, was plainly epileptic. 
 Every thing, indeed, that is related 
 in the New Testament concerning 
 dasmoniacs, proves that they wejre 
 people affected wiih such natural 
 diseases as are far from being un- 
 common among mankind in the 
 present age. When the symptoms 
 of the disorders cured by our Sa- 
 viour and his apostles as cases of 
 daemoniacal possession correspond 
 so exactly with those of diseases 
 well known as natural in the pre- 
 sent age, it would be absurd to im- 
 pute them to a supernatural cause. 
 It is much more consistent with 
 common sense and sound philoso- 
 phy to suppose that our Saviour and 
 his apostles wisely, and v/ith that 
 condescension to the weakness and 
 prejudices of those with whom 
 
B JEM 
 
 209 
 
 D JEM 
 
 they conversed, which so emi- 
 nently distinguished the character 
 of the Author of our holy reli- 
 gion, and must always be a pro- 
 minent feature in the character of 
 the true christian, adopted the 
 vulgar language in speaking of 
 those unfortunate persons who 
 were groundlessly imagined to be 
 possessed with daemons, though 
 they well knew the notions which 
 had given rise to such modes of 
 expression to be ill founded, than 
 to imagine that diseases which 
 arise at present from natural 
 causes were produced in days of 
 old by the intervention of demons, 
 or that evil spirits still continue to 
 enter into mankind in all cases 
 of madness, melancholy, or epi- 
 lepsy. Besides, it is by no means 
 a sufficient reason for receiving 
 any doctrine as true, that it has 
 been generallv received through 
 the world. Error, like an epi- 
 demical disease, is communicated 
 from one to another. In certain 
 circumstances, too, the influence 
 of imagination predominates, and 
 restrains the exertions of reason. 
 Many false opinions have extend- 
 ed their influence through a very 
 wide circle, and maintained it 
 long. On every such occasion 
 as the present, therefore, it be- 
 comes us to enquire not so much 
 how generally any opinion has 
 been received, or how long it has 
 prevailed, as from what cause it 
 has originated, and on what evi- 
 dence it rests. When we contem- 
 plate the frame of Nature, we be- 
 hold a. grand and beautiful simpli- 
 city prevailing through the whole: 
 notwithstanding its immense ex- 
 tent, and though it contains such 
 Vol. i. E e 
 
 numberless diversities of being, 
 yet the simplest machine construct- 
 ed by human art does not display 
 greater simplicity, or an happier 
 connexion of parts. We may, 
 therefore, infer by analogy, from 
 what is observable of the order 
 of Nature in general to the pre- 
 sent case, that to permit evil spi- 
 rits to intermeddle with the con- 
 cerns of human life, would be to 
 break through that order which 
 the Deity appears to have esta- 
 blished through his Works ; it 
 would be to introduce a degree of 
 confusion unworthy of the wisdom 
 of Divine Providence. 
 
 II. Damoniacs^ argiime^its for 
 the existence of. In opposition to 
 these arguments, the following are 
 urged by the Dsemonianists. In 
 the days of our Saviour it would 
 appear that dsemoniacal possession 
 was very frequent among the Jews 
 and the neighbouring nations. 
 Many were the evil spirits Vv^hom 
 Jesus is related in the gospels to 
 have ejected from patients that 
 were brought unto him as possess- 
 ed and tormented by those male- 
 volent daemons. His apostles, too, 
 and the first christians, who were 
 most active and successful in the 
 propagation of christianit}', appear 
 to have often exerted the miracu- 
 lous powers with which they were 
 endowed on similar occasions. The 
 ddemons displayed a degree of 
 knowledge and malevolence which 
 sufficiently distinguished them 
 from human beings : and the lan- 
 guage in which the daemoniacs are 
 mentioned, and the actions and sen- 
 timents ascribed to them in the 
 New Testament, shew that our 
 Saviour and his apostles did not 
 
D JEM 
 
 210 
 
 DiEM 
 
 eonsider the idea of dsemoniacal 
 possession as being merely a vul- 
 gar erfbr concerning the origin of 
 a disease or diseases produced by 
 natural causes. The more en- 
 lightened cannot always avoid the 
 use of metaphorical modes of ex- 
 pression J which though founded 
 upon error, yet have been so esta- 
 blished in language by the influ- 
 ence of custom, that they cannot 
 be suddenly dismissed. But in de- 
 scriptions of characters, in the 
 narration of facts, and in the lay- 
 ing down of systems of doctrine, 
 we require different rules to be 
 observed. Should any person, in 
 compliance with popular opinions, 
 talk in serious language of the ex- 
 istence, dispositions, declarations, 
 and actions of a race of beings 
 whom, he knew to be absolutely 
 fabulous, we surely could not 
 praise him for integrity : we must 
 suppose him to be either exulting 
 in irony over the weak credulity 
 of those around him, or taking ad- 
 vantage of their weakness, with 
 the dishonesty and selfish views of 
 an impostor. And if he himself 
 should pretend to any connexion 
 with this imaginary system of be- 
 - ings ; and should claim, in conse- 
 quence of his connexion with 
 • them, particular honours from his 
 contemporaries ; whatever might 
 be the dignity of his character in 
 all other respects, nobody could 
 hesitate to brand him as an im- 
 postor. In this light must we re- 
 gard the conduct of our Saviour 
 and his apostles, if the idea of 
 dsemoniacal possession were to be 
 considered merely as a vulgar er- 
 ror. They talked and acted as if 
 tlT«y believed that evil spirits had 
 
 actually entered into those who 
 were brought to them as possessed 
 with devils, and as if those spirits 
 had been actually expelled by 
 their authority out of the unhappy 
 persons whom they had possessed. 
 They demanded, too, to have their 
 possessions and declarations be- 
 lieved, in consequence of their 
 performing such mighty works, 
 and having thus triumphed over 
 the powers of hell. The reality 
 of daemoniacal possession stands 
 upon the same evidence with the 
 gospel system in general. Nor is 
 there any thing unreasonable in 
 this doctrine. It does not appear 
 to contradict those ideas, which 
 the general appearances of Nature 
 and the series of events suggest, 
 concerning the benevolence and 
 wisdom of the Deity, by which 
 he regulates the affairs of the uni- 
 verse. We often fancy ourselves 
 able to comprehend things to 
 which our understanding is wholly 
 inadequate; we persuade our- 
 selves, at times, that the whole 
 extent of the works of the Deity 
 must be well known to us, and 
 that his designs must always be 
 such as we can fathom. We are 
 then ready, whenever any difficul- 
 ty arises to us in considering the 
 conduct of Providence, to model 
 things according to our own ideas ; 
 to deny that the Deity can pos- 
 sibly be the author of thing's which 
 we cannot reconcile; and to as- 
 sert, that he must act on every oc- 
 casion in a manner consistent with 
 our narrow views. This is the 
 pride of reason ; and it seems to 
 have suggested the strongest ob- 
 jections that have been at any time 
 urged against the reality of daenio- 
 
D JEM 
 
 211 
 
 DAN 
 
 Hiacal possession. But the Deity 
 may surely connect one order of 
 his creatures with another. We 
 perceive mutual relations and a 
 beautiful connexion to prevail 
 through all that part of Nature 
 which falls within the sphere of 
 our observation. The inferior 
 animals are connected with man- 
 kind, and subjected to their au- 
 thority, not only in instances in 
 which it is exerted for their ad- 
 vantage, but even where it is ty- 
 rannically abused to their destruc- 
 tion. Among the evils to which 
 mankind have been subjected, why 
 might not thi-ir being liable to dse- 
 m-^niacal possessionbe one? While 
 the Supreme Being retains the so- 
 vereignty of the universe, he may 
 employ whatever agents he thinks 
 proper in the execution of his pur- 
 poses ; he may either commission 
 an angtl, or let loose a devil; 
 as well as bend the human 
 win, or communicate any parti- 
 cular impulse to matter. All that 
 revelation makes known, all that 
 human reason can conjecture, 
 concerning the existence of va- 
 rious orders of spiritual beings, 
 good and bad, is perfectly con- 
 sistent with, and even favourable 
 to, the doctrine of dsemoniacal 
 possession. It is mentioned in the 
 New Testament in such language, 
 and such narratives are related 
 concerning it, that the gospels 
 cannot well be regarded in any 
 other light than as pieces of im- 
 posture, and Jesus Christ must be 
 considered as a man who took ad- 
 vantage of the weakness and igno- 
 rance of his contemporaries, if 
 this doctrine be nothing but a 
 Tulgar error: it teaches nothing 
 
 inconsistent with the general con- 
 duct of Providence ; in short, it 
 is not the caution of philosophy, 
 but the pride of reason, that sug- 
 gests objections against this doc- 
 trine. See the essays of 7'oungy 
 Farmer^ Worthington^ Dr. Lard- 
 ner^ Macknight^ Fell^ Burgh, &c. 
 071 Demoniacs; and article Demo- 
 niac in Enc. Brit. 
 
 DAMNATION, condemna- 
 tion. This word is used to denote 
 the final loss of the soul ; but it 
 is not to be always understood in 
 this sense in the sacred scripture. 
 Thus it is said in Rom. xiii, 2. 
 " They that resist shall receive to 
 themselves damnation." i. e. con- 
 demnation, "from the rulers, who 
 are not a terror to good works, 
 but to the evil." Again, in 1st 
 Cor. xi, 29. " He that eateth and 
 drinketh unworthily, eateth and 
 drinketh damnation to himself;" 
 i. e. condemnation ; exposes him- 
 self to severe temporal judgments 
 from God, and to the judgment 
 and censure of the wise and good. 
 Again, Rom. xiv, 23. " He that 
 doubteth is damned if he eat;" i. e. 
 is condemned both by his own 
 conscience and the word of God, 
 because he is far from being satis- 
 fied that he is right in so doing. 
 
 DANCERS, a sect which sprung 
 up about 1373 in Flanders, and 
 places about. It was their custom 
 all of a sudden to fall a dancing, 
 and, holding each other's hands, 
 to continue thereat, till, being suf- 
 focated with the extraordinary 
 violence, they fell down breath- 
 less together. During these inter- 
 vals of vehement agitation they 
 pretended to be favoured with 
 wonderful visions. Like the Whip- 
 
D AR 
 
 212 
 
 D AR 
 
 pers, they roved from place to 
 place, begging their victuals, hold- 
 ing their secret assemblies, and 
 treating the priesthood and worship 
 of the church with the utmost con- 
 tempt. Thus we find, as Dr. Hav/eis 
 observes, that the French Convul- 
 sionists and the Welch Jumpers 
 have had predecessors of the same 
 stamp. There is nothing new un- 
 der the sun. Hawms and Mo~ 
 shehrCs Ch. Hist.^ Cent. 14. 
 
 DARKNESS, the absence, pri- 
 vation, or want of natural light. In 
 scripture language it also signifies 
 sin, John iii, 19. trouble. Is. viii, 22. 
 obscurity, privacy, Matt, x, 27. 
 forgetfulness, contempt, Ec. vi, 4. 
 
 Darkness, says Piloses, was upon 
 the face of the deep. Gen. i, 2. 
 that is to say, the chaos was plung- 
 ed in thick darkness, because hi- 
 therto the light was not created. 
 Moses, at the command of God, 
 brought darkness upon Egypt, as 
 a plague to the inhabitants of 
 it. The Septuagint, our transla- 
 tion of the Bible, and indeed most 
 others, in explaining Moses's ac- 
 count of this darkness, render it 
 *' a darkness v/hich may be felt ;" 
 and the Vulgate '\\z.i it, " palpable 
 darkness;" that is, a darkness con- 
 sisting of black vapours and exha- 
 lations, so condensed that they 
 ijiight be perceived by the organs 
 of feeling or seeing ; but some 
 commentators think that this is 
 carrying the sense too far, since, in 
 such a medium as this, mankind 
 could not live an hour, much less 
 for the space of three days, as the 
 Egyptians are said to have done, 
 during the time this darkness last- 
 ed ; and, therefore, they imagine 
 that instead of a darkness that 
 
 may be felt, the Hebrew phrase 
 may signify a darkness wherein 
 men Vv^ent groping and feeling 
 about for every thing they wanted. 
 Let this, however, be as it may, 
 it Vv'as an awful judgment on the 
 Egyptians ; and v/e maj^ natu- 
 rally conclude that it must have 
 also spread darkness and distress 
 over their rninds as well as their 
 persons. The tradition of the Jews 
 is, that in this darkness they were 
 terrified by the apparitions of evil 
 spirits, or rather by dreadful 
 sounds and murmurs which they 
 made. What made it still worse,^ 
 was the length of time it continu- 
 ed. Three days, or, as bishop 
 Hall expresses it, six nights in 
 one. 
 
 During the last three hours that 
 our Saviour hung upon the cross, 
 a darkness covered the face of the 
 earth, to the great terror and 
 amazement of the people present 
 at his execution. This extraordi- 
 nary alteration in the face of Na- 
 ture, says Dr. Macknight, in his 
 Harmony of the Gospels^ was pe- 
 culiarly proper, whilst the Sun 
 of Righteousness was withdrawing 
 his beains from the land of Israel, 
 and from the world ; not only be- 
 cause it was a miraculous testi- 
 mony borne by God himself to 
 his innocence, but also because it 
 was a fit emblem of his departure 
 and its effects, at least till his light 
 shone out anew with additional 
 splendour in the ministry of his 
 apostles. The darkness which now 
 covered Judea, and the neighbour- 
 ing countries, beginning about 
 noon, and continuing till Jesus 
 expired, was not the effect of an 
 ordinary eclipse of the sun, for 
 
D AV 
 
 213 
 
 DE A 
 
 that can never happen but at the 
 new moon, whereas now it was 
 full moon J not to mention that 
 the total darkness occasioned by 
 eclipses of the sun never continues 
 above twelve or fifteen minutes ; 
 wherefore it must have been pro- 
 duced by the Divine power, in a 
 manner we are not able to explain. 
 Accordingly Luke (chap, xxiii, 
 44, 45), after relating that there 
 was darkness over all the earth, 
 adds, " and the sun was darken- 
 ed;" which perhaps may imply 
 that the darkness of the sun did 
 not occasion, but proceeded from, 
 the darkness that was over all the 
 land. Farther, the christian writ- 
 ers, in their most ancient apolo- 
 gies to the heathens, affirm that 
 as it was full moon at the passover 
 when Christ was crucified, no such 
 eclipse coixld happen by the course 
 of Nature. They observe, also, 
 that it was taken notice of as a 
 prodigy by the heathens them- 
 selves. 
 
 DAVIDISTS, the adherents 
 of David George, a native of 
 Delft, who, in 1525, began to 
 preach a new doctrine, publishing 
 himself to be the true Messiah ; 
 and that he was sent of God to fill 
 heaven, which was quite empty 
 for want of people to deserve it. 
 He is likewise said to have^denied 
 the existence of angels," good and 
 evil, and to have disbelieved the 
 doctrine of a future judgment. He 
 rejected marriage with the Adam- 
 ites; held, with Manes, that the 
 soul was not defiled by sin ; and 
 laughed at the self-denial so much 
 recommended by Jesus Christ. 
 Such were his principal errors. 
 He mad€ his escape from Delft, 
 
 and retired first into Friesland,and 
 then to Basil, v.'here he changed 
 his name, assuming that of John 
 Bruck, and died in 1556. He 
 left some disciples behind him, to 
 whom be promised that he would 
 rise again at the end of three 
 years. Nor was he altogether a 
 false prophet herein ; for the ma- 
 gistrates of that city being infonn- 
 ed, at the three years' end, of what 
 he had taught, ordered him to be 
 dug up and, burnt, together with 
 his writings, by the common hang- 
 man. 
 
 DEACON, ^lootovos, a servant, 
 a minister. 
 
 i. In ecclesiastical polity, a dea- 
 con is one of the lowest of the 
 three orders of the clerg)'. He is 
 rather a novitiate, or in a state of 
 probation for one year, after which 
 he is admitted into full orders, or 
 ordained a priest. 
 
 2. In the New Testament the 
 word is used for any one that mi- 
 nisters in the service of God : 
 bishops and presbyters are also 
 styled deacons ; but more parti- 
 cularly and generally it is under- 
 stood of the lowest order of mi- 
 nistering servants in the . church, 
 1st Cor. iii, 5. Col. i, 23, 25, Phil, 
 i, 1. 1st Tim. iii. 
 
 The office of deacons originally 
 was' to serve tables, the Lord's 
 table, the minister's table, and 
 the poor's table. They took care 
 of the secular affairs of the church, 
 received and disbursed monies, 
 kept the church's accounts, and 
 provided every thing necessary for 
 its temporal good. Thus, while the 
 bishop attended to the souls, the 
 deacons attended to the bodies of 
 the people. The pastor to the 
 
DE A 
 
 214 
 
 DE A 
 
 spiritual, and the deacons the| 
 temporal interests of the church, 
 Acts vi. 
 
 DEACONESS, a female dea- 
 con. It is generally allowed, that 
 in the primitive church there were 
 deaconesses^ i. e. pious women, 
 whose particular business it was 
 to assist in the entertainment and 
 eare of the itinerant preachers, 
 risit the sick and imprisoned, in- 
 struct female catechumens, and 
 assist at their baptism ; then more 
 pai'ticularly necessary, from the 
 peculiar customs of those coun- 
 tries, the persecuted state of the 
 church, and the speedier spread- 
 ing of the gospel. Such a one it 
 is reasonable to think Phebe was, 
 Rom. xvi, 1. who is expressly 
 called ^ixxovov, a deaconess, or 
 stated servant, as Doddridge ren- 
 ders it. They were usually wi- 
 dows, and, to prevent scandal, 
 generally in years, 1st Tim. v, 9. 
 See also Spanheim, Hist. Christ. 
 Seoul. 1, p. 554. The apostolic 
 constitutions, as they are called, 
 mention the ordination of a dea- 
 coness, and the form of prayer 
 used on that occasion (lib. VIII, 
 ch. 19, 20). Pliny, also, in his cele- 
 brated epistle to Trajan (XCVII), 
 is thought to refer to them, when, 
 speaking of two female christians 
 whom he put to the torture, he 
 says, quae ministrse dicebantur, i. e. 
 who were called deaconesses. — 
 But as the primitive christians 
 seem to be led to this practice from 
 the peculiarity of their circum- 
 stances, and the scripture is en- 
 tirely silent as to any appointment 
 to this supposed office, or any 
 rules about it, it is very justly 
 laid aside, at least as an office. 
 
 DEAN, an ecclesiastical dig^ 
 nitary, next under the bishop in 
 cathedral churches, and head of 
 the chapter. The Latin word is 
 decanus^ derived from the Greek 
 Asjta, ten, because, the dean pre- 
 sides over at least ten canons, or 
 prebendaries. A dean and chap- 
 ter are the bishop's council, to as- 
 sist him in the affairs of religion. 
 
 DEATH is generally defined 
 to be the separation of the soul 
 from the body. It is styled, in 
 scripture language, a departure 
 out of this world to another, 2d 
 Tim.iv,7. a dissolving of the earth- 
 ly house of this tabernacle, 2d Cor. 
 V, 1. a going the way of all the 
 earth, Jos. xxiii. 14. a returning to 
 the dust, Ecc. xii, 7. a sleep, John 
 xi, 11. Death may be considered 
 as the effect of sin, Rom. v, 12. 
 yet, as our existence is from God, 
 no man has a right to take away 
 his own life, or the life of another, 
 Gen. ix. 6. Satan is said to have 
 Xh^ power of dea:h^ Heb. ii, 14; 
 not that he can at his pleasure in- 
 flict death on mankind, but as he 
 was the instrument of first bring- 
 ing death into the world, John 
 viii. 44 ; and as he may be the 
 executioner of God's wrath on 
 impenitent sinners, when God 
 permits him. Death is but once^ 
 Heb. ix, 27. certain^ Job xiv, 1, 
 2. powerful 2ind terrifc, called the 
 kingof teriTjrs, Job xviii, 14. uncer- 
 tain as to the time, Prov. xxvii, 1. 
 universal^ Gen. v. necessary., that 
 God's justice may be displayed, 
 and his mercy manifested ; desir- 
 able to the righteous Luke ii, 
 28 to 30. The fear of death is a 
 source of uneasiness to the gene- 
 rality, and to a guilty conscience 
 
DE A 
 
 lis 
 
 DE A 
 
 It may indeed he terrible ; but to 
 a good man it should be obviated 
 by the consideration that death is 
 the termination of every trouble ; 
 that it puts him beyond the reach 
 of sin and temptation ; that God 
 has promised to be with the 
 righteous, even to the end, Heb. 
 xiii, 5. that Jesus Christ has taken 
 away the sting, 1st Cor. xv, 54. 
 and that it introduces him to a 
 state of endless felicity, 2d Cor. v, 
 8. Bates's Four last Things ; Hop- 
 iinSy Drelincourt, Sherlock^ and 
 Fellowes, on Death ; Bp. Porteiis's 
 Poem on Death ; Grovels admira- 
 ble Sermon on Fear of Death. 
 
 Spiritual Death is that awful 
 state of ignorance, insensibility, 
 and disobedience, which mankind 
 are in by nature, and which ex- 
 clude them from the favour and 
 enjoyment of God, Luke i, 79. 
 See Sin. 
 
 Brothers of Death ^ a denomina- 
 tion usually given to the religious 
 of the order of St. Paul, the first 
 hermit. They are called brothers 
 @f death y on account of the figure 
 of a death's head which they were 
 always to have with them, in order 
 to keep perpetually before them 
 the thoughts of death. The order 
 was probably suppressed by pope 
 Urban VIII. 
 
 Death of Christ. The circum- 
 stances attendant on the death of 
 Christ are so well known, that they 
 need not be inserted here. As the 
 subject, however, of all others, is 
 the niost important to the chris- 
 tian, a brief abstract of what has 
 been said on it, from a sermon al- 
 lowedly one of the best in the Eng- 
 lish language, shall here be given. 
 « The hour of Christ's death," 
 
 says Blair (vol. i, ser. 5.) " was the 
 most critical, the most pregnant 
 with great events, since hours 
 had begun to be numbered, 
 since time had begun to run. It 
 was the hour in -which Christ was 
 glorified by his sufferings, Throu^ 
 the cloud of his humiliation his 
 native lustre often broke forth, but 
 never did it shine so bright as 
 now. It was indeed the hour of 
 distress, and of blood. It is distress 
 which ennobles every great cha- 
 racter, and distress was to glorify 
 the Son of God. He was now to 
 teach all mankind, by his exam- 
 ple, how to suffer, and how to die. 
 What magnanimity in all his 
 words and actions on this great 
 occasion ! No upbraiding, no 
 complaining expression escaped 
 from his lips. He betrayed no 
 symptom of a weak, a discompos- 
 ed, or impatient mind. With all 
 the dignity of a sovereign, he con- 
 ferred pardon on a penitent feilow- 
 sufferer : with a greatness of mind 
 beyond example, he spent his last 
 moments in apologies and prayers 
 for those who were shedding his 
 blood. This zuas the hour in which 
 Christ atoned for the sins of man- 
 kind^ and accomplished our eternal 
 redemption. It was the hour when 
 that great sacrifice was offered up, 
 the efficacy of which reaches back 
 to the first transgression of man, 
 and extends forward to the end of 
 time J the hour, when, from the 
 cross, as from an high altar, the 
 blood was flowing which washed 
 away the guilt of the nations. In 
 this hour the long series of prophe- 
 cies^ visions^ types, andfgurcs was 
 accomplished. This was the centre 
 in which they all met. You behold 
 
DE A 
 
 ^16 
 
 DEA 
 
 the law and the prophets standing, 
 if we may speak so, at the foot of 
 the cross, and doing homage. You 
 behold Moses and Aaron bearing 
 the ark of the povenant ; David and 
 Elijah presenting the oracle of tes- 
 timony. You behold all the priests 
 and sacrifices, all the rites and 
 ordinances, all the types and sym- 
 bols assembled together to receive 
 their consummation. This was 
 the hour of the abolition of the laxu^ 
 ■and the introductio7i of the gospel; 
 the hour of terminating the old and 
 beginning the new dispensation^ — 
 It is finished. When he uttered 
 these words, he changed the state 
 of the universe. This was the ever- 
 memorable point of time which se- 
 parated the old and the new world 
 =from each other. On one side of 
 the point of separation you behold 
 the law, with its priests, its sacri- 
 -fices, and its rites, retiring from 
 sight. On the other side, you be- 
 hold the gospel, Avith its simple 
 and venerable institutions, coming 
 forward into view. Significantly 
 • was the veil of the temple rent in 
 twain ; for the glory then depart- 
 -ed from between the cherubims. 
 -The legal high priest delivered up 
 his '^^Urim and Thummim, his 
 breast-plate, his robes, and his in- 
 tense ; and Christ stood foith as 
 the great high priest of all suc- 
 ceeding generations. Altars on 
 which' the fire had blazed for ages 
 were now to smoke no more. Now 
 it M'-as also that he threw down the 
 wall of partition which had so long 
 I divided the Gentile from the Jew ; 
 I aad gathered into one all the faith- 
 iful, out of every kindred and peo- 
 ple. This was the hour of Christ's 
 \trmmph over all the poxvers of dark- 
 
 Ties'^ ; the hour in which he over- 
 threw dominions and thrones, led 
 captivity captive, and gave gifts un- 
 to men: thenitwasthatthe founda- 
 tion of every pagan temple shook; 
 the statue of every false god tot- 
 tered on its base ; the priegt fled 
 from his falling shrine, and the 
 heathen oracles became durab for 
 ever ! — 7 ^his was the hour when our 
 Lord erected that spiritual kingdom 
 which is never to end. His enemies 
 imagined that in this hour they had 
 successfully accomplished their 
 plan for his destruction j but how 
 little did they know that the Al- 
 mighty was at that moment setting 
 him as a king on the hill of Sion*! 
 How little did they know that 
 ther badges of mock royalty were 
 at that moment converted into 
 the signals of absolute dominion, 
 and the instruments of irresistible 
 power ! The reed which they put 
 into his hands became a rod of 
 iron, with which he was- to breajc 
 in pieces his enemies ; a sceptre 
 with which he was to rule the uni- 
 verse in righteousness. The cross, 
 which they thought was to stig- 
 matize him with infamy, became 
 the ensign of his renown. Instead 
 of being the reproach of his fol- 
 lowers, it was to be their boast, 
 and their glory. The cross was 
 to shine on palaces and churches 
 throughout the earth. It was to 
 be assumed as the distinction of the 
 most powerful monarchs, and to 
 wave in the banner of victorious 
 armies, when the memory of 
 Herod and Pilate should be ac- 
 cursed; when Jerusalem should 
 be reduced to ashes, and the Je%vs 
 be vagabonds over all the world." 
 See Atonejmxnt ; Pearson and 
 
DEC 
 
 S17 
 
 DEC 
 
 Barrow on the Creed; OxverCs 
 Death of Death in the Death of 
 Christ ; Charnock's Works, vol. ii, 
 on the Necessity^ Voluntariness^ 
 ^c, of the Death of Christ. 
 
 DECALOGUE, the ten com- 
 mandments given by God toMoses. 
 
 The ten commandments were 
 engraved by God on two tables 
 of stone. The Jews, by way of 
 eminence, call these command- 
 ments the ten words, from Avhence 
 they had afterwards the name of 
 decalogue ; but they joined the first 
 and second into one, and divided 
 the last into two. They understand 
 that against stealing to relate to 
 the stealing of men, or kidnap- 
 ping ; alleging, that the stealing 
 one another's goods or property 
 is forbidden in the last command- 
 ment. The church of Rome has 
 struck the second commandment 
 quite out of the decalogue ; and, to 
 make their number complete, has 
 split the tenth into two. The rea- 
 son is obvious. 
 
 DECLAMATION, a speech 
 made in public in the tone and man- 
 ner of an oration, uniting the expres- 
 sion of action to the propriety of 
 pronunciation, in order to give the 
 sentiment its full impression on 
 the mind. It is used also in a 
 .derogatory sense j as when it is 
 said, such a speech was mere de- 
 clamation, it implies that it was 
 deficient in point of reasoning, or 
 had more sound than sense. 
 
 Declamation of the Pul- 
 pit. ** The dignity and sanc- 
 tity of the place, and the import- 
 ance of the subject, require the 
 preacher to exert the utmost pow- 
 ers of his voice to produce a pro- 
 nunciation that is perfectly distinct 
 
 Vol. I. F f 
 
 and harmonious, and that he ob- 
 serve a deportment and action 
 which is expressive and graceful. 
 The preacher should not roar like 
 a common crier, and rend the ear 
 with a voice like thunder ; for 
 such kind of declamation is not 
 only without meaning and without 
 persuasion, but highly incongruous 
 with the meek and gentle spirit of 
 the gospel. He should likewise 
 take particular care to avoid a 
 monotony ; his voice should rise 
 from the beginning, as it were, by 
 degrees, and its greatest strength 
 should be exerted in the appli- 
 cation. Each inflexion of. the 
 voice should be adapted to the 
 phrase and to the meaning of the 
 words ; and each remarkable ex- 
 pression should have its peculiar 
 inflexion. The dogmatic requires 
 a plain uniform tone of voice only, 
 and the menaces of God's word 
 demand a greater foixe than its 
 promises and rewards ; but the 
 latter should not be pronounced 
 in the soft tone of a flute, nor the 
 former with the loud sound of a 
 trumpet. The voice should still 
 retain its natural tone in all its 
 various inflexions. Happy is that 
 preacher who has a voice that is 
 at once strong, flexible, and har- 
 monious. An air of complacency 
 and benevolence, as well as de- 
 votion, should be constantly vi- 
 sible in the countenance of the 
 preacher ; but every appearance 
 of affectation must be carefully 
 avoided ; for nothing is so disgust- 
 ful to an audience as even the sem- 
 blance of dissimulation. Eyes con- 
 stantly rolling, turned towards 
 heaven, and streaming with tears, 
 rather denote a hypocrite than a 
 
DEC 
 
 218 
 
 EC 
 
 man possessed of the real spirit of 
 religion, and who feels the true 
 import of what he preaches. An 
 air of affected devotion infallibly 
 destroys the efficacy of all that the 
 preacher can say, however just and 
 important it may be. On the other 
 hand^ he must avoid every appear- 
 ance of mirth or raillery, or of 
 that cold unfeeling manner vfhich 
 is so apt to freeze the heart of his 
 hearers. The body should in ge- 
 n-eral be erect, and in a natural 
 and easy attitude. The perpetual 
 movem.ent or contortion of the 
 body has a ridiculous effect in the 
 pulpit, and makes the figure of a 
 preacher ' and a harlequin too 
 similar : on the other hand, he 
 ought not to remain constantly 
 upright and motionless like a 
 speaking statue. The motions of 
 the hands give a strong expression 
 to a. discourse ; but they should 
 be decent, grave, noble, and ex- 
 pressive. The preacher who is in- 
 cessandy in action, vviio is perpe- 
 tually clasping his hands, or who 
 menaces with a clenched fist, or 
 counts his arguments on his fin- 
 gers, v/ill only excite mirth among 
 his auditor}'. In a v/ord, decla- 
 mation is s.n art that the sacred 
 orator should study v/ith assiduity. 
 The design of a sermon is to con- 
 vince, to affect, and to persuade. 
 The voice, the countenance, and 
 the action, which are to produce 
 the triple effect, are therefore ob- 
 jects to which the preacher should 
 particularly apply himstlf." See 
 Sermon. 
 
 DECREES OF GOD are his 
 settled purposes, whereby he fore- 
 ordains whatsoever comes to pass, 
 Dan. iv, 24. Acts xv, 18. Eph. i. 
 
 1 1 . This doctrine is the subject 
 
 of one of the most perplexing con.- 
 troversies that has occurred among 
 mankind ; it is not, however, as 
 some think, a novel doctrine. The 
 opinion, that whatever occurs in 
 the world at large, or in the lot 
 of private individuals, is the re- 
 sult of a previous and unalter- 
 able arrangement by that supreme 
 Power which presides over Na- 
 ture, has always been held by 
 many of the vulgar, and has 
 been believed by speculative men. 
 The ancient stoics, Zeno and 
 Chrysippus, whom the Jewish Es- 
 senes seem to have followed, as- 
 serted the existence of a Deity, 
 that, acting wisely but necessarily, 
 contrived the general system of the- 
 world ; horn, which, by a series of 
 causes, whatever is now done in 
 it unavoidably results. Mahonaet 
 introduced into his Koran the 
 doctrine of absolute predestination 
 of the course of human affairs. 
 He represented life, and death, 
 prosperity and adversity, and every 
 event that befalls a man in this 
 world, as the result of a previous 
 determination of the one God who 
 rules over all. Augustine and the 
 whole of the earliest reformers, 
 but especially Calvin, favoured this 
 doctrine. It was generally asserted, 
 and publicly owned, in mostof the 
 confessions of faith of the reformed 
 churches, and particularly in the 
 church of England ; and to this, 
 we may add, that it was main- 
 tained by a great number of di- 
 vines in the two last centuries. 
 
 As to the nature, of these de- 
 crees, it must be observed that 
 they are not the result of delibe- 
 ration, or the Almighty's debating 
 
DEC 
 
 219 
 
 DEC 
 
 matters within himself, reasoning 
 in his own mind about the expe- 
 diency or inexpediency of things, 
 as creatures do ; nor are they 
 merely ideas of things future, but 
 settled determinations founded on 
 his sovereign will and pleasure, 
 Is. xl, 14. They are to be con- 
 sidered as eternal: this is evident; 
 for if God be eternal, consequently 
 his purposes must be of equal du- 
 ration with himself: to suppose 
 otherwise, would be to suppose 
 that there was a time when he 
 was undetermined and mutable ; 
 v/hereas no new determinations 
 or after thoughts can arise In his 
 mind. Job xxiii, 13, 14. — 2. They 
 areyree, without any compulsion, 
 and not excited by any motive 
 out of himself, Rom. ix, 15. — 3. 
 They are mjimtelywise^ displaying 
 his glory, and promoting the ge- 
 neral good, Rom. xi, 33. — 4. They 
 are immutable^ for this is the result 
 of his being infinitely perfect; for 
 if there were the least change in 
 God's understanding, it would be 
 an instance of imperfection, Mai. 
 iii, 6. — 5. They are extensive or 
 universal^ relating to all creatures 
 and things in heaven, earth, and 
 hell, Eph. i, 11. Prov. xvi, 4. 
 — 6. They are secret^ or at least 
 cannot be known till he be pleas- 
 ed to discover them. It is there- 
 fore presumption for any to at- 
 tempt to enter into or judge of 
 his secret purpose, or to decide 
 tipon what he has not revealed, 
 Deut. xxix, 29. Nor is an un- 
 known or supposed decree at any 
 time to be the rule of our conduct. 
 His revealed will alone must be 
 considered as the rule by v/hich 
 we are to judge of the event of! 
 
 things, as well as of our conduct 
 at large, Rom. xi, 34. — 7. Lastly, 
 they are effectual ; for as he is in- 
 finitely wise to plan, so he is in- 
 finitely powerful to perform : his 
 council shall stand, and ht tvill do 
 all his pleasure. Is. xlvi, 10. 
 
 This doctrine should teach us, 
 1. Admiration. " He is the rock, 
 his work is perfect, for all his ways 
 are judgment ; a God of ti'uth, 
 and without iniquitj'- ; just and 
 i-ight is he," Deut. xxxii, 4. — 2. 
 Reverence. " Who would not fear 
 thee, O King of nations? for. to 
 thee doth it appertain," Jer. x, 7» 
 — 3. Humility. " O the depth of 
 the riches, both of the wisdom 
 and knowledge of God ! — ^how un- 
 searchable are his judgments, and 
 his ways past finding out !" Rom. 
 xi, So. — 4. Submission. " For he 
 doeth according to his will in the 
 armies of heaven, and among the 
 inhabitants of the earth ; and none 
 can stay his hand, or say unto him, 
 What doest thou V Dan. iv, 35. — 
 5. Desire for heaven. " What I do, 
 thou knowest not now ; but thou 
 shaltknow hereafter," John xiii, f. 
 
 SeeNECESSITY,PREDESTINATION. 
 
 Decrees of Councils are the 
 laws made by them to regulate the 
 doctrine and policy of the church. 
 Thus the acts of the christian 
 council at Jerusalem are called, 
 Acts xvi, 4. 
 
 DECRETAL,aletterofapope, 
 determining some point or qiiestion 
 in the ecclesiastical law. ^The de- 
 cretals compose the second part 
 of the canon law. The first ge- 
 nuine one, acknowledged by all 
 the learned as such, is a letter of 
 Pope Siricius, written in the year 
 385, to Himerus, bishop of Tar- 
 
DEF 
 
 220 
 
 DE I 
 
 ragona, in Spain, concerning some 
 disorders which had crept into the 
 chuixhes of Spain. Gratian pub- 
 lished a collection of decretals, 
 containing all the ordinances made 
 by the popes till the year 1150. 
 Gregory IX, in 1227, following 
 the example of Theodosius and 
 Justinian, formed a constitution 
 of his own, collecting into one 
 body all the decisions and all the 
 causes which served to advance 
 the papal power ; which collection 
 of decretals was called the Penta- 
 teuch, because it contained five 
 books. 
 
 DEDICATION, a religious 
 ceremony, wherebv any person, or 
 thing, is solemnly consecrated, or 
 set apart to the service of God 
 and the purposes of religion. 
 
 The use of dedications is very 
 ancient, both among the wor- 
 shippers of the true ■ God, and 
 among the heathens. In the scrip- 
 ture we meet vrith dedications of 
 the tabernacle, altars, &c. Un- 
 der Christianity dedication is only 
 applied to a church, and is pro- 
 perly the consecration thereof. 
 See Consecration. 
 
 DEFENCE. See Self-de- 
 fence. 
 
 DEFENDER OF THE FAITH, 
 (Fidei Defensoi-)^ a peculiar title 
 belonging to the king of England ; | 
 as Catholicus to the king of Spain, 
 and Christianisshnits to the king of 
 France. These titles were given 
 by the popes of Rome. That of 
 Fidei Defensor Avas first conferred 
 by Leo X on king Henry VIII, 
 for writing against Martin Luther ; 
 and the bull, for it bears date 
 qvinto idus^ October 1521. It was 
 afterwards confirmed by Clement 
 
 VII. But the pope, on Henry's 
 suppressing the houses of religion, 
 at the time of the reformation, not 
 only deprived him of his title, but 
 deposed him from his crown also ; 
 though, in the 35th year of his 
 reign, his title. Sec, was confirmed 
 by parliament, and has continued 
 to be used by all his successors. 
 Chamberlayne says, the tide be- 
 longed to the kings of England be- 
 fore that time, and for proof hereof 
 appeals to several charters granted 
 to the University of Oxford : so 
 that pope Leo's bull was only a re- 
 novation of an ancient right. 
 
 DEGRADATION Ecclesias- 
 tical, is the deprivation of a 
 priest of his dignity. We have 
 an instance of it in the eighth 
 century at Constantinople, in the 
 person of the patriarch Constan- 
 tine, who was made to go out of 
 the church backwards, stripped 
 of his pallium, and anathematized. 
 In our own country, Cranmer was 
 degraded by order of the bloody 
 queen Mary. They dressed him 
 in episcopal robes, made only of 
 canvass j put the mitre on his head, 
 and the pastoral staff in his hand, 
 and in this attire shewed him to 
 the people, and then stripped him 
 piece by piece. 
 
 DEISTS, a class of people whose 
 distinguishing character it is, not 
 to profess any particular form or 
 system of religion j but only to 
 acknowledge the existence of a 
 God, and to follow the light and 
 law of Nature, rejecting revela- 
 tion and opposing Christianity. The 
 name of deists seems to have been 
 first assumed, as the denomination 
 of a party, about the middle of 
 the 16th century, by some geur 
 
DEI 
 
 221 
 
 D EI 
 
 tlemen in France tind Italy, who 
 were desirous of thus disguising 
 their opposition to Christianity by 
 a more honourable appellation 
 than that of atheists. Viret, an 
 eminent reformer, mentions cer- 
 tain persons, in his epistle dedica- 
 tory, prefixed to the 2d volume of 
 his Instruction Chretien7ie, publish- 
 ed in 1653, who called themselves 
 by a new name, that of deists. 
 These, he tells us, professed to be- 
 lieve in God, but shewed no re- 
 gard to Jesus Christ, and consider- 
 ed the doctrine of the apostles and 
 evangelists as fables and dreams. 
 He adds, that they laughed at all 
 religion, though they outwardly 
 conformed to the religion of those 
 with whom they lived, or whom 
 they wished to please, or feared to 
 offend. Some, he observed, pro- 
 fessed to believe the immortality 
 of the soul ; others denied both 
 this doctrine and that of provi- 
 dence. Many of them were con- 
 sidered as persons of acute and 
 subtile genius, and took pains in 
 disseminating their notions. The 
 deists hold, that, considering the 
 multiplicity of religions, the nu- 
 merous pretences to revelation, 
 and the precarious arguments ge- 
 nerally advanced in proof thereof, 
 the best and surest way is to re- 
 turn to the simplicity of Nature, 
 and the belief of one God ; which 
 is the only truth agreed to by all 
 nations. They complain, that 
 the freedom of thinking and rea- 
 soning is oppressed under the yoke 
 of religion : and that the minds 
 of men are tyrannized over, by 
 the necessity imposed on them of 
 believing inconceivable mysteries : 
 and contend, that nothing should 
 
 be required to be assented to or 
 believed but what their reasou 
 clearly conceives. The distin- 
 guishing character of modern deists 
 is, that they discard all pretences 
 to revelation as the effects of im- 
 posture or enthusiasm. They pro- 
 fess a regard for natural religion, 
 though they are far from being 
 agreed in their notions concerning 
 it. 
 
 They are classed by some of 
 their own writers into mortal and 
 immortal deists j the latter ac- 
 knowledging a future state ; and 
 the former denying it, or repre- 
 senting it as very uncertain. Dr. 
 Clarke distinguishes four sorts of 
 deists. 1. Those who pretend to 
 believe the existence of an eternal, 
 infinite, independent, intelligent 
 Being, who made the world, with- 
 out concerning himself in the go- 
 vernment of it. — 2. Those who 
 believe the being and naturalpro- 
 vidence of God, but deny the dif- 
 ference of actions as morally good 
 or evil, resolving it into the arbi- 
 trary constitution of human laws ; 
 and therefore they suppose that 
 God takes no notice of them. 
 With respect to both these classes, 
 he observes that their opinions 
 can consistently terminate in no- 
 thing but downright atheism. — 3. 
 Those who, having right appre- 
 hensions concerning the nature, 
 attributes, and all-governing pro- 
 vidence of God, seem also to have 
 some notion of his moral perfec- 
 tions ; though they consider them 
 as transcendent, and such in na- 
 ture and degree, that we can form 
 no true judgment, nor argue with 
 any certainty concerning them : 
 but they deny the immortality of 
 
DEI 
 
 222 
 
 DEI 
 
 liuman souls ; alleging that men 
 perish at death, and that the pre- 
 ^sent life is the whole of human ex- 
 istence. — 4. Those who believe the 
 existence, perfections, and provi- 
 dence of God, the obligations of 
 Tsatural religion, and a state of 
 future retribution, on the evidence 
 of the light of Nature, without a 
 divine revelation ; such as these, 
 he says, are the only true deists ; 
 but their principles, he appre- 
 hends, should lead them to eni- 
 lirace Christianity ; and therefore 
 he concludes that there is now no 
 consistent scheme of deism in the 
 world. The first deistical writer 
 of any note that appeared in this 
 country was Herbert, baron of 
 Cherbury. He lived and wrote 
 iQ the seventeenth century. His 
 book De Verhate was first pub- 
 lished at Paris in 1624. This, 
 tOTrether with his book De Causis 
 Erronmiy and his treatise De Re- 
 Ugione Lately were afterwards pub- 
 lished in London. His celebrated 
 work De Relig'vone Gentilium was 
 published at Amsterdam in 1663 
 iti 4to, and in 1700 in 8vo ; and 
 an English translatioii of it was 
 pirfilished at London in 1705. As 
 he was one of the iirst that formed 
 deism into a system, and asserted 
 the sufficiency, universality, and 
 absolute perfection of natural re- 
 ligion, with a viev/ to cliscai'd all 
 extraordinary revelation as useless 
 and needless, we shall subjoin the 
 :&ve fundamental articles of this 
 universal religion. They are tliese : 
 1. That there is one supreme 
 God. — 2. That he is chiefly to be 
 worshipped. — 3. That piety and 
 Tirtue are the principal part of his 
 worship, — 4. That we must repent 
 of our sins j and if we do so, God 
 
 will pardon them. — 5. That there 
 are rewards for good men and pu- 
 nishments for bad men, both here 
 and hereafter. Our own age has 
 produced a number of ^advo- 
 cates in the same cause ; and how- 
 ever they may have differed among 
 themselves, they have been agreed 
 in their attempts of invalidating 
 the evidence and authority of di- 
 vine revelation. We might men- 
 tion Hobbes, Blount, Toland, Col- 
 lins, Woolston, Tindal, Morgan, 
 Chubb, lord Bolingbroke, Hume, 
 Gibbon, Paine, and some add 
 lord Shaftesbury to the number. 
 Among foreigners, Voltaire, Rous- 
 seau, Condorcet, and many other 
 celebrated French authors, have 
 rendered themselves conspicuous 
 l)y their deistical writings. " But," 
 as one observes, " the friends of 
 Christianity have no reason to re- 
 gret the free and unreserved dis- 
 cussion which their religion has 
 undergone. Objections have been 
 stated and urged in their full 
 force, and as fully ansAvered ; ar- 
 guments and raillery have been 
 repelled ; and the controversy be- 
 tween christians and deists has 
 called forth a great number of 
 excellent writers, who have illus- 
 trated both the doctrines and evi- 
 dences of Christianity in a man- 
 ner that will ever reflect honour 
 on their names, and be of lasting 
 service to the cause of genuine re- 
 ligion, and the best interests of 
 mankind." See articles Chris- 
 tianity, Infidelity, Inspira- 
 tion, and Scripture, in this 
 work. Leland'^s Fiezv of Deistical 
 Writers ; Sermons at Boyle's Lec- 
 ture ; Halijbwton's Natural Reli- 
 giordnsiifficiint ; Leslie's Short Me- 
 thod xvit/i the Deists; Bishop Wat- 
 
DEL 
 
 223 
 
 DEL 
 
 ssQTi^s Apology for the Bible ; Ful- 
 ler's Gospel of Christ its own Wit- 
 ness; BishopPorteus'*sCharge to the 
 Clergy^ for 1 794 ; and his Summary 
 of the Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 DEITY OF CHRIST. See 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 DELUGE, the flood which 
 overflowed and destroyed the 
 earth. This flood makes one of 
 the most considerable epochas in 
 chronology. Its history is given 
 by Moses, Gen. vi, and vii. Its 
 time is fixed by the best chrono- 
 logers to the year from the cre- 
 ation 1656, answering to the year 
 before Christ 2293. From this 
 flood, the state of the world is di- 
 vided into diluvian and antedilu- 
 vian* 
 
 Men, who have not paid that 
 regard to sacred history as it de- 
 serves, have cavilled at the ac- 
 count given of an universal de- 
 luge. Their objections princi- 
 pally turn upon three points ; 
 I. The want of any direct history 
 of that event by the profane writers 
 of antiquity. — 2. The apparent 
 impossibility of accounting for the 
 quantity of water necessary to 
 overflow the whole earth to such 
 a depth as it is said to have been. 
 — And, 3. There appearing no ne- 
 cessity for an universal deluge, as 
 the same end might have been ac- 
 complished by a partial one. 
 
 To the above arguments we 
 oppose the plain declarations of 
 scripture. God declared to Noah 
 that he was resolved to destroy 
 every thing that had bi-eath under 
 heaven, or had life on the earth, 
 by a flood of waters ; such was 
 the threatening, such was the ex- 
 ecution. The waters, Moses as- 
 
 sures us, covered the whole earth, 
 buried all the mountains ; every 
 thing perished therein that had life, 
 excepting Noah and those v/idi 
 him in the ark. Can an universal 
 deluge be more clearly expressed? 
 If the deluge had only been par- 
 tial, there had been no necessity 
 to spend an hundred years in the 
 building of an ark, and shutting 
 up all the sorts of animals therein, 
 in order to re-stock the world ; 
 they had been easily and readily 
 brought from those parts of the 
 world not overflowed into those 
 that were ; at least, all the birds 
 never would have been destroyed, 
 as Moses says they v/ere, so long 
 as they had wings to bear theim to 
 those parts where the flood did 
 not reach. If the waters had omly 
 overflowed the neighbourhood of 
 the Euphrates and the Tigris, they 
 could not be fifteen cubits above 
 the highest mountains : there was 
 no rising that height but they must 
 spread themselves, by the lav/s of 
 gravity, over the rest of the earth ; 
 vmless, perhaps, they had been 
 retained there by a miracle : in 
 that case, Moses, no doubt, would 
 have related the miracle, as he 
 did that of the waters of the Red 
 Sea, &c. It may also be observed, 
 that in regions far remote from the 
 Euphrates and Tigris, viz. Italy 
 France, Switzerland, Germany, 
 England, &c., there are frequently 
 found in places many scores of 
 leagues from the sea, and even in 
 the tops of high mountains, v/hole 
 trees sunk deep under ground, as 
 also teeth and bones of animals, 
 fishes entire, sea shells, cars of corn, 
 &c., petrified, which the best na- 
 turalists are a<?;reed could never 
 
DEL 
 
 224 
 
 DES 
 
 have come there but by the deluge. 
 That the Greeks and western na- 
 tions had some knowledge of the 
 flood, has never been denied ; and 
 the Mussulmen,Chlnese,and Ame- 
 ricans have traditions of the de- 
 luge. The ingenious Mr. Bryant, 
 in his Mythology, has pretty clear- 
 ly proved that the deluge, so far 
 from being unknown to the hea- 
 then world at large, is in reality 
 conspicuous throughout everv one 
 of their acts of religious worship. 
 In India, also, Sir William Jones 
 has discovered, that, in the oldest 
 mythological books of that coun- 
 try, there is such an account of 
 the deluge as corresponds suffi^^ 
 ciently with that of Moses. 
 
 Various have been the conjec- 
 tures of learned men as to the na- 
 tural causes of the deluge. Some 
 have supposed that a quantity of 
 water was created on purpose, and 
 at a proper time annihilated by Di- 
 vine power. Dr. Burnet supposes 
 the primitive earth to have been 
 no more than a crust investing the 
 water contained in the ocean ; and 
 in the central abyss which he and 
 others suppose to exist in the bow- 
 els of the earth at the time of the 
 flood, this outward crust broke in 
 u thousand pieces, and sunk down 
 among the water, which thus 
 spouted up in vast cataracts, and 
 overflowed the whole surface. 
 Others, supposing a sufficient fund 
 of water in the sea or abyss, think 
 that the shifting of the earth's 
 centre of gravity drev/ after it tlie 
 water out of the channel, and over- 
 whelmed the several parts of the 
 earth successively. Others ascribe 
 it to the shock of a comet, and Mr. 
 King supposes it to arise from sub- 
 
 terraneous fires bursting forthwith 
 great violence under the sea. But 
 are not most, if not all, these hy- 
 potheses quite arbitraiy, and with- 
 out foundation ffom the words of 
 Moses ? It is, perhaps, in vain to 
 attempt accounting for this event 
 by natural causes, it being alto- 
 gether miraculous and supernatu- 
 ral, as a punishment to men for 
 the corruption then in the world. 
 Let us be satisfied with the sources 
 which Moses gives us, namely, 
 the fountains of the great deep 
 broken up, and the windows of 
 heaven opened ; that is, the v/a- 
 ters rushed out from the hidden 
 abyss of the bowels of the earth, 
 and the clouds poured down their 
 rain incessantly. Let it suffice us 
 to know, that all the elements 
 are under God's power ; and he 
 can do with them as he pleases, 
 and frequently in ways we are ig- 
 norant of, in order to accomplish 
 his own purposes. 
 
 The principal writers on this 
 subject have been JVoodi/ard^ Cock- 
 burn^ Bryant^ Burnet^ Whiston^ 
 Stillingfieet^ King^ Catcott^ and 
 Tytler. 
 
 DEPRAVITY, corruption ; a 
 change from perfection to imper- 
 fection. See Fall, Sin. 
 
 DEPRECATORY, a term ap- 
 plied to the manner of performing 
 some ceremonies in the form of 
 prayer. The form of absolution in 
 the Greek church is deprecative, 
 thus expressed — May God absolve 
 you; whereas in the Latin church 
 it is declarative — I absolve you. 
 
 DESCENT of Christ into Hell. 
 See Hell. 
 
 DESERTION,aterm made use 
 of to denote an unhappy state of 
 
DES 
 
 225 
 
 DES 
 
 mind, occasioned by the sensible 
 influences of the Divine favour 
 being withdrawn. - Some of, the 
 best men in all ages have suffered 
 a temporary suspension of Divine 
 enjoyments. Job xxix, 2. Ps. li. 
 Isa. xlix, 14. Lam. iii, 1. Isa. 1, 10. 
 The causes of this must not be at- 
 tributed to the Almif^hty, since he 
 is always the same, but must arise 
 from ourselves. Neglect of duty, 
 improper views of Providence, 
 self-confidence, a worldly spirit, 
 luke-warmness of mind, inatten- 
 tion to the means of grace, or open 
 transgression, may be considered 
 as leading to this state. As all 
 things, hov/ever, are under the 
 Divrne control, so even desertion., 
 or, as it is sometimes expressed 
 in scripture, " the hidings of 
 God's face," may be useful to ex- 
 cite humility, exercise faith and 
 patience, detach us from the world, 
 prompt to more vigorous action, 
 bring us to look more to God as 
 the fountain of happiness, conform 
 us to his word, and increase our 
 desires for that state of blessedness 
 which is to cOme. Hervey^s Tlier. 
 and Asp., dial, xix ; Wattes Medit. 
 on Job xxiii, 3 ; Lambert's Serm., 
 vol. i, ser, 16; Flavefs Works, 
 vol. i, p. 167, folio. 
 
 Desire is an eagerness to obtain 
 or enjoy an object which we sup- 
 pose to be good. Those desires, 
 says Dr. Watts, that arise without 
 any express ideas of the goodness 
 or agreeableness of their object to 
 the mind beforehand, such as 
 hunger, thirst, &c., are called 
 appetites. Those which arise from 
 our perception or opinion of an 
 object as good or agreeable, are 
 most properly called passions. 
 
 Vol. I. G g 
 
 Sometimes both these are united. 
 If our desire to do or receive 
 good be not violent, it is called a 
 simple inclination or propensity. 
 When it rises high, it is termed 
 longing : when our desires set our 
 active powers at work to obtain 
 the very same good, or the same 
 sort of good, which another de- 
 sires, it is called emulation. De- 
 sire of pleasures of sense, is called 
 sensuality ; of honour, is called 
 ambition ; of riches, covetousness. 
 The objects of a good man's de- 
 sires are, thatGodmay be glorified, 
 his sins forgiven and subdued, his 
 affections enlivened and placed on 
 God as the supreme object of 
 love, his afflictions sanctified, and 
 his life devoted to the service of 
 God, Prov. xi, 23. Ps, cv, 19. 
 
 DESPAIR, loss of hope; that 
 state of mind in which a person 
 loses his confidence in the Divin"e 
 mercy. 
 
 Some of the best antidotes 
 against despair, says one, may 
 be taken from the consideration, 
 1. Of the nature of God, his 
 goodness, mercy, &c. — 2. The 
 testimony of God : he hath said, 
 he desireth not the death of the 
 sinner. — 3. From the works of 
 God : he hath given his Son to die. 
 — 4. From his promises, Heb. xiii, 
 5. — 5. From his command ; he 
 hath commanded us to confide in 
 mercy. — 6. From his expostula- 
 tions, &c. Baxter on Religious 
 Melancholy ; Claude's Essays, p. 
 388, Robinson's edit. ; Gisborne*s 
 Sermon on Religious Despondency, 
 
 DESTRUCTIONISTS, those 
 who believe that the final punish- 
 ment threatened in the gospel to the 
 wicked and impenitent consists not 
 
DE S 
 
 226 
 
 DES 
 
 in an eternal preservation inmisery 
 and torment, but in a total extinc- 
 tion of being ; and that the sen- 
 tence of annihilation shall be exe- 
 cuted with more or less torment, 
 preceding or attending the final 
 period, in proportion to the greater 
 or less guilt of the criminal. 
 
 The name assumed by this de- 
 nomination, like those of many 
 others, takes for granted the ques- 
 tion in dispute ; viz., that the scrip- 
 tm-e word destruction means anni- 
 hilation : in strict propriety of 
 speech, they should be called ^■^nnz- 
 hilationlsts. The doctrine is large- 
 ly maintained in the sermons of 
 T^r. Samuel Bourn, of Birming- 
 ham ; it was held also by Mr. J. N. 
 Scott ; Mr. John Taylor, of Nor- 
 wich ; Mr. Marsom ; and many 
 others. 
 
 In defence of the system, Mr. 
 Bourn argues as follows : There 
 are many passages of scripture in 
 which the ultimate punishment to 
 which wicked men shall be adjudg- 
 ed is defined, in the most precise 
 and intelligible terms, to be an 
 everlasting destruction from the 
 power of God, which is equally 
 able to destroy as to preserve. So 
 v/hen our Saviour is fortifying the 
 minds of his disciples against the 
 power of men, by an awe of the 
 far greater power of God, and the 
 punishment of his justice, he ex- 
 presses himself thus : i^ear wc? i^em 
 that kill the body^ and after that 
 have no more that they can do; fear 
 him "who is able to destroy both soul 
 and body in hell. Here he plainly 
 proposes the destruction of the 
 soul (not its endless pain and mi- 
 sery) as the ultimate object of the 
 iirine displeasure, and greatest ob- 
 
 ject of our fear. And when he 
 says. These shall go azvayintoeve?-- 
 lasting punishment, but therighte- 
 ous into life eternal, it appears evi- 
 dent that hyih2Lt eternal punishment 
 which is set in opposition to eternal 
 life, is not meant any kind of life, 
 however miserable, but the same 
 which the apostle expresses by 
 everlasting destruction from the 
 presence and power of the Lord. 
 The very term, death, is most fre- 
 quently made use of to signify the 
 end of wicked men in another 
 world, or the final effect of divine 
 justice in their punishment. The 
 zvages of sin (saith the apostle) is 
 death ; but eternal life is the gift of 
 God, through fesus Christ our 
 Lord. See also Rom. viii, 6. 
 
 To imagine that by the term 
 death is meant an eternal life, 
 though in a condition of extreme 
 misery, seems, according to him, 
 to be confounding all propriety 
 and meaning of words. Death, 
 when applied to the end of wicked 
 men in a future state, he says, pro- 
 perly denotes a total extinction of 
 life and being. It may contribute, 
 he acids, to fix this meaning, if we 
 observe that the state to which 
 temporal death reduces men is 
 usually termed by our Saviour and 
 his apostles, sleep ; because from 
 this death the soul shall be raised 
 to life again : but from the other, 
 which is fully and properly death, 
 and of which the former is but an 
 image or shadow, there is no re- 
 covery ; it is an eternal death, an 
 everlasting destruction from the 
 presence of the Lord, and the glory 
 of his power. 
 
 He next proceeds to the figures 
 by which the eternal punishment 
 
DES 
 
 227 
 
 DES 
 
 of wicked men is described, and 
 finds them perfectly agreeing to 
 establish the same doctrine. One 
 figure or comparison, often used, 
 is that of combustible materials 
 thrown into a fire, which will con- 
 sequently be entirely consumed, if 
 the fire be not quenched. Depart 
 from mcj ye cursed.^ into everlast- 
 ing fire^ prepared for the devil 
 and his angels. The meaning is, 
 a total, irrevocable destruction : 
 ybr, as the tree that bringeth not 
 forth good fruit is hewn down^ and 
 cast into the fre^ and is destroyed ; 
 as the useless chaff, when separat- 
 ed from the good grain, is set on 
 fire, and, if the fire be not quench- 
 ed, is consumed ; so, he thinks^ it 
 plainly appears, that the image of 
 unquenchable or everlasting fire is 
 not intended to signify the degree 
 or duration of torment, but the 
 absolute certainty of destruction, 
 beyond allpossibility of a recovery. 
 So the cities of Sodom and Go- 
 morrah are said to have suffered 
 the vengeance of an eternal f re ; 
 that is, they were so effectually 
 consumed, or destroyed, that they 
 could never be rebuilt j the phrase, 
 eternal fre^ signifying the irrevo- 
 cable destruction of those cities, 
 not the degree or duration of the 
 misery of the inhabitants who pe- 
 rished. 
 
 The images of the worm that 
 dieth not^ and the fre that is 
 not quenched^ used in Mark ix, 
 43, are set in opposition to en- 
 tei-ing into life, and intended to 
 denote a period of life and ex- 
 istence. 
 
 Our Saviour expressly assigns 
 different degrees of future misery, 
 in proportion to men's respective 
 degrees of guilt, I-uke xii, 47. 48. 
 
 But if all wicked men shall suffer 
 torments without end, how can 
 any of them be said to suffer but 
 a few stripes ? All degrees and 
 distinctions of punishment seem 
 swallowed up in the notion of 
 never-ending or infinite misery. 
 
 Finally, death and eternal de- 
 struction, or annihilation, is pro- 
 perly styled in the New Testa- 
 ment an everlasting punishment, 
 as it is irrevocable and unalterable 
 for ever ; and it is most strictly 
 and literally styled, an everlasting 
 destruction from the presence of 
 the Lord., and from the glory of his 
 power. 
 
 Dr. Edwards, in his answer to 
 Dr. Chauncy, on the salvation of 
 all men., says that this scheme 
 was provisionally retained by Dr. 
 C. ; i. e. in case the scheme of 
 universal salvation should fail him: 
 and therefore Dr. E., in his exa- 
 mination of that work, appropri- 
 ates a chapter to the consideration 
 of it. Among other reasonings 
 against it are the following: 
 
 1. The different degrees of pu- 
 nishment which the wicked will 
 suflfer according to their works 
 proves that it does not consist in 
 annihilation, which admits of no 
 degrees. 
 
 2. If it be said that the punish- 
 ment of the v/icked, though it will 
 end in annihilation, yet shall be 
 preceded by torment, and that 
 this will be of different degrees 
 according to the degrees of sin ; 
 it may be replied, this is mak' 
 ing it to be compounded partly 
 of torment, and partly of annihi- 
 lation. I'iie latter also appears to 
 be but a small part of future pu- 
 nishment, for that alone will be 
 inflicted on the least sinner, and 
 
DES 
 
 228 
 
 DES 
 
 on account of the least sin; and 
 all that punishment which will be 
 inflicted on any person above that 
 which is due to the least sin, is to 
 consist in tornaent. Nay, if we 
 can form any idea in the present 
 state of what would be dreadful or 
 desirable in another, instead of its 
 being any punishment to be anni- 
 hilated after a long series of tor- 
 ment, it must be a deliverance, to 
 which the sinner would look for- 
 ward with anxious desire. And 
 is it credible that it was this termi- 
 nation of torment that our Lord 
 held up to his disciples as an object 
 of dread? Can this be the de- 
 struction of body and soul in hell ? 
 Is it credible that everlasting de- 
 struction from the presence of the 
 Lord, and from the glory of his 
 power, should constitute only a 
 part, and a small part, of future 
 punishment; and such, too, as 
 after a series of torment, must 
 next to being made happy, be the 
 most acceptable thing that could 
 befal them ? Can this be the ob- 
 ject threatened by such language, 
 as recompensing tribulation^ and 
 taking vengeance in flaming fire I 
 2d Thess. i. Is it possible that 
 God should threaten them with 
 putting an end to their miseries? 
 Moreover, this destruction is not 
 described as the conclusion of a 
 succession of torments, but as tak- 
 ing place immediately after the 
 last judgment. When Christ shall 
 come to be glorified in his 
 saints, then shall the wicked be 
 destroyed. 
 
 3. Everlasting destruction from 
 the presence of the Lord^ and from 
 the glory of his powers cannot 
 mean annihilation, for that vrould 
 
 ht no exertion of divine power, 
 but merely the suspension of it : 
 let but the upholding power of 
 God be withheld for one moment, 
 and the whole creation would sink 
 into nothing. 
 
 4. The punishment of wicked 
 men will be the same as that of 
 wicked angels, Matt, xxv, 41. 
 Depart, ye cursed, into everlast- 
 ing fire, prepared for the devil and 
 his angels. But the punishment 
 of wicked angels consists not in 
 annihilation, but torment. Such 
 is their present punishment in a 
 degree, and such in a greater degree 
 will be their punishment hereafter. 
 They are "-cast down to hell;'* 
 they "believe and tremble ;" they 
 are reserved in chains under dark- 
 ness, to the judgment of the great 
 day; they cried, saying. What hav« 
 we to do with thee ? Art thou come 
 to toriuent us before our time ?" 
 Could the devils but persuade 
 themselves that they should be an- 
 nihilated, they would believe and 
 be at ease rather than tremble. 
 
 5. The scriptures explain their 
 own meaning in the use of such 
 terms as death, destruction, &c. 
 The second death is expressly said 
 to consist in being cast into the lake 
 of fire and brimstone, and as hav- 
 ing a part in that lake. Rev. xx, 
 14. xxi, 8 ; which does not describe 
 annihilation, nor can it be made to 
 consist with it. The phrase cut 
 him asunder. Matt, xxiv, 51, is as 
 strong as those ai death, or destruc- 
 tion ; yet that is made to con- 
 sist of having their portion rvith 
 hypocrites, -where shall be xveep- 
 ing and gnashing of teeth. 
 
 6. The happiness of the righteous 
 does not consist in eternal beings 
 
D ET 
 
 229 
 
 DE V 
 
 but eternal xvell-being ; and as the 
 punishment of the wicked stands 
 every where opposed to it, it must 
 consist not in the loss of being, but 
 U xvell-being^ and in suffering the 
 contrary." 
 
 The great Dr. Watts may be 
 considered, in some measure, a 
 destructionist ; since it was his 
 opinion that the children of un- 
 godly parents who die in infancy 
 are annihilated. See Annihila- 
 tion, Hell ; Bourn's Serraons ; 
 Dr. Edwards on the Salvation of 
 all Men strictly exa7nined; Adams's 
 Viexv of Religions. 
 
 DETRACTION, inthenative 
 importance of the word, signifies 
 the withdrawing or taking oif from 
 a thing; and as it is applied to the 
 reputation, it denotes the impair- 
 ing or lessening a man in point of 
 fame, rendering him less valued 
 and esteemed by others. Dr. 
 Barrow observes (Works, vol. i, 
 ser. 19), that it differs from 
 dander^ .which involves an imputa- 
 tion of falsehood ; from reviling 
 which includes bitter and foul 
 language ; and from censuring^ 
 which is of a more general pur- 
 port, extending indifferendy to 
 all kinds of persons, quahties, and 
 actions ; but detraction especially 
 respects worthy persons, good qua- 
 lities, and laudable actions, the 
 reputation of which it aimeth to 
 destroy. It is a fault opposed to 
 candour. 
 
 Nothing can be more incon- 
 gruous with the spirit of the gos- 
 pel, the example of Christ, the 
 command of God, and the love of 
 mankind, than a spirit of detrac- 
 tion ; and yet there are many who 
 . never seem happy but when they 
 are employed in this work : they 
 
 feed and live upon the supposed in- 
 firmities of others ; they allow eX' 
 cellence to none ; they depreciate 
 every thing that is praise-worthy; 
 and, possessed of no good them- 
 selves, they think all others are 
 like them. " O ! my soul, come 
 thou not into their secret ; unto 
 their assembly, mine honour be 
 not thou united." 
 
 DEVIL, A/aCox®-, calumniator, 
 or slanderer ; a fallen angel, espe- 
 cially the chief of them. He is 
 called Abaddon in Hebrew, Apol- 
 lyon in Greek, that is, destroyer. 
 — Angel of the bottomless pit, 
 Rev. ix, 11. — Prince of the world, 
 John xii, 31. — Prince of darkness, 
 Eph. vi, 12. — A roaring lion, and 
 an adversary, 1st Pet. v, 8. — A 
 sinner from the beginning, 1 st John 
 iii, 8. — Beelzebub, Matt, xii, 24, 
 — Accuser, Rev. xii, 10. — Belial, 
 2d Cor. vi, 15. — Deceiver, Rev. 
 XX, 10. — Dragon, Rev. xii, 3. — 
 Liar, John viii, 44 — Leviathan, 
 Isa. xxvii, 1. — Lucifer, Isa. xiv, 
 12. — Murderer, John viii, 4t. — 
 Serpent, Isa. xxvii, 1. — Satan, 
 Job ii, G. — Tormentor, Matt. 
 xViii, 34. — The god of this world, 
 2d Cor. iv, 4. See Satan. 
 
 DEVOTEE, in the primary 
 sense of the word, means a person 
 wholly given up to acts of piety and 
 devotion ; but it is usually under- 
 stood, in a bad sense, to denote a 
 bigot, or superstitious person. 
 
 DEVOTION, a religious and 
 fervent exercise of some public act 
 of religion, or a temper and dis- 
 position of the mind rightly af- 
 fected with such exercises. It is 
 also taken for certain religious 
 practices which a person makes 
 it a rule to discharge regularly. 
 ' " Wherever the vital and unadulte- 
 
DEU 
 
 230 
 
 DEU 
 
 rated spirit of christian devotion 
 prevails, its immediate objects will 
 be to adore the perfections of God; 
 to entertain with reverence and 
 complacence the various intima- 
 tions of his pleasure, especially 
 those contained in holy writ ; to 
 acknowledge our absolute depend- 
 ence on and infinite obligations to 
 him ; to confess and lament the 
 disorders of our nature, and the 
 transgressions of our lives ; to im- 
 plore his grace and mercy through 
 Jesus Christ ; to intercede for our 
 brethren of mankind ; to pray for 
 the propagation and establishment 
 of truth, righteousness, and peace, 
 on earth ; in fine, to long for a 
 more entire conformity to the 
 will of God, and to breathe after 
 the everlasting enjoyment of his 
 friendship. The effects of such a 
 spirit habitually cherished, and 
 feelingly expressed before him, 
 must surely be important and hap- 
 py. Among these may be reckon- 
 ed a profound humility in the sight 
 of God, a high veneration for his 
 presence and attributes, an ardent 
 zeal for his worship and honour, 
 a constant imitation of our Sa- 
 viour's divine example, a diffusive 
 charity for men of all denomina- 
 tions, a generous and unwearied 
 self-denial, a total resignation to 
 Providence, an increasing esteem 
 for the gospel, with clearer and 
 firmer hopes of that immortal life 
 which it has brought to light." 
 
 DEUTEROCANONICAL, 
 in the school of theology, an ap- 
 pellation given to certain books of 
 holy scripture, which were added 
 to the canon after the rest, either 
 by reason they were not wrote 
 till after the compilation of the 
 
 canon, or by reason of some dis- 
 pute as to their canonicity. The 
 word is Greek, being compounded 
 of ^svTc^os, second; and xavoixxoi, ca- 
 nonicaL 
 
 The Jews, it is certain, acknow- 
 ledged several books in their ca- 
 non, which were put there later 
 than the rest. They say that, un- 
 der Esdras, a great assembly of 
 their doctors, which they call, by 
 way of eminence, the great syyia- 
 gogue^ made the collection of the 
 sacred books which we now have 
 in the Hebrew Old Testament ; 
 and they agree that they put 
 books therein which had not been 
 so before the Babylonish captivity; 
 such are those of Daniel, Ezekiel, 
 Haggai, &c. ; and those of Esdras 
 and Nehemiah. And the Romish 
 church has since added others to 
 the canon, that were not, and 
 could not be, in the canon of the 
 Jews, by reason some of them were 
 not composed till after. Such is 
 the book of Ecclesiasticus, with 
 several of the apocryphal bopks, 
 as the Maccabees, Wisdom, &c. 
 Others were added still later, by 
 reason their canonicity had not 
 been yet examined ; and till such 
 examen and judgnlent they might 
 be set aside at pleasure. But 
 since that church has pronounced 
 as to the canonicity of these books, 
 there is no more room now for 
 her members to doubt of them, 
 than there was for the Jews to 
 doubt of those of the canon of 
 Esdras. Andthe deuterocanonical 
 books are with them as canonical 
 as the proto-canonical ; the only 
 difference between them consisting 
 in this, that the canonicity of the 
 one was not generally known, ex- 
 
DIE 
 
 DIE 
 
 amined, and setded, so soon as 
 that of the others. The deutero- 
 canonical books in the modem 
 canon are, the book of Esther, 
 either the whole or at least the 
 seven last chapters thereof; the 
 epistle to the Hebrews ; that of 
 James, and that of Jude ; the se- 
 cond of St. Peter, the second and 
 third of St. John, and the Re- 
 velation. The deuterocanonical 
 parts of books are, the hymn of the 
 three children ; the prayer of Aza- 
 riah ; the histories of Susannah, 
 of Bel and the Dragon ; the last 
 chapter of St. Mark ; the bloody 
 sweat ; and the appearance of the 
 angel related in St. Luke, chap, 
 xxii, and the history of the adul- 
 terous woman in St. John, chap, 
 viii. See Canon. 
 
 DIET, an assembly of the states 
 of Germany. We shall only take 
 notice, in this place, of the more 
 remarkable of' those which have 
 been held on the affairs of reli- 
 gion. 1. The diet of Augsburgh, 
 in the year 1530, was assembled to 
 re-unite the princes of the empire 
 in relation to some religious mat- 
 ters. The emperor himself pre- 
 sided in this assembly with the 
 greatest magnificence imaginable. 
 The elector of Saxony, followed 
 by several princes, presented the 
 confession of faith, called the 
 confession of Augsburgh. The 
 emperor ended the diet with a de- 
 cree that no alteration should be 
 made in the doctrine and cere- 
 monies of the Romish church till 
 a council should order it other- 
 wise. — 2. The diet of Augsburgh, 
 in 1547, was held on account of 
 the electors being divided concern- 
 
 ing the decisions of the council of 
 Trent. The emperor demanded 
 that the management of that affair 
 should be referred to him ; and it 
 was resolved, that every one should 
 conform to the decisions of the 
 council. — 3. The diet of Augs- 
 burgh, in 1548, was assembled to 
 examine some memorials relating 
 to the confession of faith ; but, the 
 commissioners not agreeing to- 
 gether, the emperor named three 
 divines, who drew the design of 
 that famous interim, so well 
 known in Germany and elsewhere. 
 See Interim. — 4. The diet of 
 Augsburgh, in 1550. In this as- 
 sembly the emperor complained 
 that the interim was not observed, 
 and demanded that all should sub- 
 mit to the council, which they 
 were going to renew at Trent ; 
 which submission was resolved 
 upon by a plurality of votes. — 5. 
 The diet of Nuremburgh, in 1523. 
 Here pope Adrian Vlth's nuncio 
 demanded the execution of Leo 
 Xth's bull, and Charles the Vth's 
 edict against Luther. But the iis- 
 sembly drew up a list of grievan- 
 ces, which were reduced to an 
 hundred articles, some whereof 
 aimed at the destruction of the 
 pope's authority, and the discipline 
 of the Romish church ; however, 
 they consented that the Lutherans 
 should be commanded not to write 
 against the Roman Catholics. — 6. 
 The diet of Nuremburgh, in 1524. 
 In this assembly, the Lutherans 
 having the advantage, it was de- 
 creed that the pope should call a 
 council in Germany ; but that, in 
 the mean time, an assembly should 
 be held at Spire, to determine what 
 
DIE 
 
 232 
 
 DIL 
 
 was to be believed and practised ; 
 feut Charles V prohibited the hold- 
 ing this assembly. — 7. The diet of 
 Ratisbon, in 1541, was held for 
 re-uniting the protestants with the 
 Roman Catholics. The emperor 
 named three Roman Catholics and 
 three Protestant divines, to agree 
 upon articles. The Roman ca- 
 tholics were, Julius Phlug, John 
 Gropper, and John Eckius ; the 
 Protestants were Philip Melanc- 
 thon, Martin Bucer, and John 
 Pistorius ; but, after a whole 
 month's consultation, they could 
 agree upon no more than five or 
 six articles ; which the emperor 
 consented the Protestants should 
 retain, forbidding them to solicit 
 any body to change the ancient 
 religion. — 8. The diet of Ratisbon, 
 in 1546, decreed that the council 
 of Trent was to be followed, 
 which was opposed by the Protest- 
 ant deputies ; and this caused a 
 war against them. — 9.The diet of 
 Ratisbon, in 1557, demanded a 
 conference between some famous 
 doctors of both parties ; which 
 conference was held at Worms, in 
 September, between twelve Ro- 
 man Catholic and twelve Lutheran 
 divines ; but was soon dissolved 
 by the Lutherans being divided 
 among themselves. — 10. The diet 
 of Spire, in 1526. In this as- 
 senibly{whereinpresidedthe arch- 
 duke Ferdinand) the duke of 
 Saxony, and the landgrave of 
 Hesse, demanded the free exer- 
 cise of the Lutheran religion : 
 upon which it was decreed, that 
 the emperor should be desired to 
 call a general, or national, council 
 in Germany within a year, and 
 that, in the mean time, every 
 
 one should have liberty of con- 
 science.— 11. The diet of Spire, in 
 1529, decreed, that in the coun- 
 tries which had embraced the new 
 religion, it should be lawful to 
 continue in it till the next council ; 
 but that no Roman Catholic should 
 be allowed to turn Lutheran. 
 Against this decree six Lutheran 
 princes, viz. the elector of Saxony, 
 the marquis of Brandenbourg, the 
 two dukes of Lunenbourg, the 
 landgrave of Hesse, and the prince 
 of Anhalt, with the deputies of 
 fourteen imperial towns, protested 
 in writing ; from which solemn 
 protestation came the famous 
 name of Protestants, which the 
 Lutherans presently after took.— 
 12. The diet of Worms, in 1521. 
 In this assembly, Luther being 
 charged by the pope's nuncio with 
 heresy, and refusing to recant, the 
 emperor, by his edict of May 26, 
 before all the princes of Germany, 
 publicly outlawed him. 
 
 DIFFIDENCE, distrust, want 
 of confidence in ourselves. Diffi- 
 dence, says Dr. Johnson, may 
 check resolution and obstruct per- 
 formance, but compensates its 
 embarrassment by more important 
 advantages ; it conciliates the 
 proud, and softens the severe ; 
 averts envy from excellence, and 
 censure from miscarriage. 
 
 DIGGERS, a denomination 
 which sprung up in Germany, in 
 the fifteenth century ; so called be- 
 cause they dug their assemblies 
 under ground in caves and forests. 
 They derided the church, its 
 ministers' and sacraments. 
 
 DILIGENCE, christian, is con- 
 stancy in the performance of all 
 those duties enjoined us in God's 
 
DIR 
 
 ^55 
 
 £)IR 
 
 sJicfed word. ' It includes activity 
 and vigour — watchfulness against 
 intruding objects — firmness and 
 resolution — patience and perse- 
 verance. The shortness of our 
 time ; the importance of our work ; 
 the pleasure which arises from dis- 
 charging duty ; the uncertainty of 
 the time of our dissolution ; the 
 consciousness we do not labour in 
 vain ; together with the example 
 of Christ and all good men, should 
 excite us to the most unwearied 
 diligence in the cause of God, of 
 truth, and our own souls. 
 
 DIMISSORY LETTER, a 
 letter given by a bishop to a candi- 
 date for holy orderfe, having a title 
 ih his diocese, directed to some 
 other bishop, and giving leave for 
 the bearer to be ordained by him. 
 
 DIOCESE, the circuit of every 
 bishop's jurisdiction. It is formed 
 from the Greek ^lotKifia-is, govern- 
 ment. 
 
 DIRECTORY, a kind of regu- 
 lation for the performance of reli- 
 gious worship, drawn up by the 
 assembly of divines in England, at 
 the instance of the parliament, in 
 1644. It was designed to supply 
 the place of the Liturgy, or Book 
 of Common Prayer, the use of 
 which they had abolished. It con- 
 sisted of some generalheads, which 
 were to be managed and filled up 
 at discretion ; for it prescribed no 
 form of prayer, or circumstances 
 of external worship, nor obliged 
 the people to any responses, ex- 
 cepting Amen. The substance of 
 it is as follows : — It forbids all sa- 
 lutations and civil cereinony in 
 the churches ; — the I'eading the 
 scriptures in the congregation is 
 declared to be part of the pastoral 
 
 Vol. I. lih 
 
 oifKce ; — all the canonical bd6k§ 
 of the Old and New Testaments 
 (but not of the Apocrypha) are 
 to be publicly read in the vulgar 
 tongue : how large a portion is 
 to be read at once, is left to the 
 minister, who has likewise the 
 liberty of expounding, when he 
 judges it necessary. It prescribes 
 heads for the prayer before ser- 
 mon ; it delivers rules for preach- 
 ing the word ; the introduction to 
 the text must be short and clear, 
 drawn from the words or context, 
 or some parallel place of scripture. 
 In dividing the text, the minister 
 is to regard the order of the 
 matter more than that of the 
 words : he is not to burden the 
 memory of his audience with too 
 many divisions, nor perplex their 
 understandings with logical phrases 
 and terms of arts; he is not to 
 start unnecessary objections ; and 
 he is to be very sparing in cita- 
 tions from ecclesiastical or other 
 human writers, ancient or mo- 
 dern, &c. The Directory recom- 
 mends the use of the Lord's 
 Prayer, as the most perfect model 
 of devotion ; it forbids private or 
 lay persons to administer baptism, 
 and enjoins it to be performed in 
 the face of the congregation ; it 
 orders the communion-table at 
 the Lord's Supper to be so placed, 
 that the communicants may sit 
 about it. It also orders, that the 
 sabbath be kept with the greatest 
 strictness, both publicly and pri- 
 vately ; that marriage be solem- 
 nized by a lawful minister of the 
 word, who is to give counsel to, 
 and pray for the parties ; that 
 the sick be visited by the minister 
 under whose charge they are ; the 
 
DIS 
 
 234 
 
 DIS 
 
 dead to be buried witbout any 
 prayers or religious ceremonies; 
 that days of fasting are to be ob- 
 served when the judgments of 
 God are abroad, or when some 
 important blessings are desired ; 
 that days of thanksgiving for mer- 
 cies received be also observed ; 
 and, lastly, that singing of psalms 
 together in the congregation is the 
 duty of christians. In an ap- 
 pendix to this Directory it is 
 Ordered, that all festivals, vul- 
 garly called holy days, are to be 
 abolished ; that no day is to be 
 kept but the Lord's day; and that 
 as no place is capable of any ho- 
 liness under pretence of consecra- 
 tion, so neither is it subject to 
 pollution by any superstition for- 
 merly used ; and therefore it is 
 held requisite, that the places of 
 public worship now used should 
 still be continued and employed. 
 Should the reader be desii^ous of 
 perusing this Directory at large, 
 he may find it at the end of NeaPs 
 History of the Puritans. 
 
 DISCIPLINE, Church, con- 
 sists in putting church laws in ex- 
 ecution, and inflicting the penalties 
 enjoined. See Church. 
 
 "discipline. Book of, in the 
 history of the church of Scotland, 
 is a common order drawn up by 
 the assembly of ministers in 1 650, 
 for the refonnationand uniformity 
 to be observed in the discipline and 
 policy of the church. In this 
 book the government of the church 
 by prelates is set aside ; kirk ses- 
 sions are established ; the super- 
 stitious observation of fast days 
 jlnd saint days is condemned, and 
 other regulations for the govern- 
 ment of the church are deter- 
 mined. This book was approved 
 
 by the privy council, and is called 
 the first book of discipline. 
 
 DISCONTENT, uneasiness at 
 our present state. 
 
 Man never appears in a worse 
 light than when he gives way to 
 this disposition. It is at once the 
 strongest proof of his pride, ig- 
 norance, unbelief, and rebellion 
 against God. Let such remember, 
 that discontent is a reflection on 
 God's government ; that it cannot 
 alter the state of things, or make 
 them better ; that it is the source 
 of the greatest misery ; that it is 
 an absolute violation of God's 
 law, Heb. xiii, 5 ; and that God 
 has often punished it with the 
 most signal judgments. Numb, xi, 
 Ps. cvii. See Contentment. 
 
 DISCRETION, prudent be- 
 haviour, arising from a knowledge 
 of and acting agreeable to the dif- 
 ference of things. " There are,'* 
 says Addison, No. 225 Spect., 
 " many more shining qualitie* 
 in the mind of man, but there is 
 none so useful as discretion : it i$ 
 this, indeed, which gives a va- 
 lue to all the rest; which sets 
 them at work in their proper 
 times and places, and turns them 
 to the advantage of the person 
 who is possessed of them. Without 
 it, learning is pedantry, and wit 
 impertinence ; virtue itself looks 
 like weakness : the best parts only 
 qualify a man to be more sprightly 
 in errors, and active to his own 
 prejudice. 
 
 " Discretion is a very different 
 thing from cunning ; cunning is 
 only an accomplishment of little, 
 mean, ungenerous minds. Discre-* 
 tion points out the noblest ends 
 to us, and pursues the most pro- 
 per and laudable methods of at- 
 
DIS 
 
 235 
 
 DIS 
 
 taining them ; cunning has only 
 private selfish aims, and sticks at 
 nothing which may make them 
 succeed. Discretion has large and 
 extended views, and, like a well 
 formed eye, commands a whole 
 horizon ; cunning is a kind of 
 short-sightedness that discovers 
 the minutest objects which are 
 near at hand, but is not able to dis- 
 cern things at a distance. Dis- 
 cretion, the more it is discovered, 
 gives a great authority to the per- 
 son who possesses it ; cunning, 
 when it is once detected, loses its 
 force, and makes a man incapable 
 of bringing about even those events 
 which he might have done, had he 
 passed only for a plain man. Dis- 
 cretion is the perfection of reason, 
 and a guide to us in all the duties 
 of life; cunning is a kind of in- 
 stinct, that only looks out after 
 our immediate interest and wel- 
 fare. Discretion is only found in 
 men of strong sense and good un- 
 derstandings ; cunning is often to 
 be met with in brutes themselves, 
 and in persons who are but the 
 fewest removes from them. In 
 short, cunning is only the mimic 
 of discretion, and may pass upon 
 weak men, in the same manner 
 as vivacity is often mistaken for 
 wit, and gravity for wisdom." See 
 Prudence. 
 
 DISDAIN, contempt, as un- 
 worthy of one's choice. It is dis- 
 tinguished from haughtiness thus : 
 Haughtiness is founded on the 
 high opinion we have of ourselves ; 
 disdain on the low opinion we 
 have of others. 
 
 DISINTERESTED LOVE. 
 See Self-love. 
 
 DISPENSATION, the act of 
 
 dealing out any thing. The two 
 different methods of revealing the 
 truths of the gospel before and 
 after Christ's death are called the 
 Old and New Testaments dispen- 
 sations. The dealing of God 
 with his creatures in his provi- 
 dence is called a dispensation. 
 The state of supernatural or re- 
 vealed theology maj^ also be di- 
 vided into six dispensations. 1. 
 From the fall of Adam to the 
 flood. — 2. From Noah to the giv- 
 ing the law. — 3. From that time 
 to the time of David and the pro- 
 phets. — 4. From David to the 
 Babylonish captivity.— 5, The pe- 
 riod from that, to the time of 
 Christ, finishes the Old Testament 
 dispensation. — 6. From Christ to 
 the end of time, the gospel dispen- 
 sation. The superiority of this 
 last dispensation, as Dr. Watts ob- 
 serves, appears, if we consider that 
 it contains the fairest and fullest 
 representation of the moral law ; 
 and which is more particularly 
 explained here than in any of the 
 former dispensations. — 2. In this 
 dispensation the gospel or cove- 
 nant of grace is revealed more 
 perfectly and plainly than ever be- 
 fore ; not in obscure expressions, 
 in types and carnal metaphors, but 
 in its own proper form and lan- 
 guage. — 3. The rites and ceremo- 
 nies under this dispensation are 
 preferable to those in former times, 
 and that in three respects : they are 
 fewer, clearer, and much more ea- 
 sy. — 4. The Son of God, who was 
 the real mediator through all for- 
 mer dispensations, has condescend- 
 ed to become the visible mediator 
 of this dispensation. — 5. This dis- 
 pensation is not confined to one 
 
DIS 
 
 236 
 
 DIS 
 
 family, or to one nation, or to a 
 few ages of men, but it spreads 
 through all the nations of the 
 earth, and reaches to the end of 
 time. — 6.The encouragements and 
 persuasive helps which Christianity 
 gives us to fulfil the duties of the 
 covenant are much superior to 
 those which were enjoyed under 
 any of the former dispensations. 
 Watts's Works^ vol. i, ser. 47, oct. : 
 GilPs Body of Div.^ Introd. ; Ro- 
 binson^ s Sermons^ p. Xf4; Ridg- 
 leifs Div.^ qu. 35. 
 
 DISPERSION of Mankind 
 was occasioned by the confusion 
 of tongues at the overthrow of Ba- 
 bel, Gen. xi, 9. As to the manner 
 of the dispersion of the posterity 
 of Noah from the plain of Shinar, 
 it was undoubtedly conducted with 
 the utmost regularity and order. 
 The sacred historian informs us 
 that they were divided in their 
 lands ; every one according to his 
 tongue, according to his family, 
 and according to his nation. Gen. 
 X, 5, 20, 31. The ends of this 
 dispersion were to populate the 
 earth, to prevent idolatry, and to 
 display the divine wisdom and 
 power. See Confusion or 
 Tongues. 
 
 DISPOSITION, that temper of 
 mind which any person possesses. 
 
 In every man, says lord Kames, 
 there is something original that 
 serves to distinguish him from 
 others, that tends to form a cha- 
 racter, and to make him meek 
 or fiery, candid or deceitful, re- 
 solute or timorous, cheerful or 
 morose. This original bent, term- 
 ed dispositionymust be distinguish- 
 ed from a principle: the latter sig- 
 nifying a law of human nature, 
 
 makes part of the common nature 
 of man ; the former makes part of 
 the nature of this or that man. 
 
 DISPUTATION, Religious, 
 is the agitation of any religious 
 question, in order to obtain clear 
 and adequate ideas of it. The pro^ 
 priety of religious disputation or 
 controversial divinity has been a 
 matter of doubt with many. Some 
 artfully decry it, in order to destroy 
 free enquiry. Some hate it, be- 
 cause they do not like to be con- 
 tradicted. Others declaim against 
 it, to save themselves the disgrace 
 of exposing their ignorance, or the 
 labour of examining and defend- 
 ing their own theses. There are 
 others who avoid ij, not because 
 they are convinced of the im- 
 propriety of the thing itself, but 
 because of the evil temper with 
 which it is generally conducted. 
 
 The propriety of it, however, 
 will appear, if we consider that 
 every article of religion is denied 
 by some, and cannot well be be- 
 lieved, without exa"mination, by 
 any. Religion empowers us to 
 investigate, debate, and contro- 
 vert each article, in order to as- 
 certain the evidence of its truth. 
 The divine writings,many of them, 
 are controversial ; the book of 
 Tob, and Paul's epistles, especially. 
 The ministry of our Lord was a 
 perpetual controversy, and the 
 apostles came at truth by much 
 disputing, Acts xv, 7. Acts xvii, 
 17. Acts xix, 8. To attend, how- 
 ever, to religious controversy with 
 advantage, the following rules 
 should be observed. 1. The ques- 
 tion should be cleared from all 
 doubtful terms and needless ad- 
 ditions. — 2. The precise point of 
 
DIS 
 
 237 
 
 DI V 
 
 enquiry should be fixed. — 3. See 
 that the object aimed at be truth, 
 and not the mere love of victory. 
 — -4. Beware of a dogmatical spi- 
 rit, and a supposition that you are 
 always right. — 5. Let a strict rein 
 be kept on the passions when you 
 are hard pushed. Vide Robinson's 
 Claude^ p. 245, vol. ii, Watts on 
 the Mind^ chap. 10; Beattie on 
 Truth^ 347, &c. ; Locke on Under- 
 standings chap. 10, vol. ii. 
 
 DISSENTERS, those who se- 
 parate from the established church. 
 The number of Dissenters in this 
 kingdom is very considerable. 
 They are divided into several par- 
 ties ; the chief of which are the 
 Presbyterians, Independents, Bap- 
 tists, Quakers, and Methodists. 
 See those articles, as also Non- 
 conformists and Puritans. 
 
 DISSIDENTS, adenomination 
 applied in Poland to those of the 
 Lutheran, Calvinistic, and Greek 
 profession. The king of Poland 
 engages by the pacta conventa to 
 tolerate them in the free exercise 
 of their religion, but they have 
 often had reason to complain of 
 the violation of these promises. 
 
 DISSIMULATION, the act 
 of dissembling. It has been distin- 
 goiished from simulation thus : Si- 
 viidatioii is making a thing appear 
 which does not exist; dissimulation 
 is keeping that which exists from 
 appearing. Moralists have observ- 
 ed, that all dissimulation is not hy- 
 pocrisy. A vicious man, who en- 
 deavours to throw a veil over his 
 bad conduct, that he may escape 
 the notice of men, is not in the 
 strictest sense of the word a hy- 
 pocrite, since a man is no more 
 obliged to proclaim his secret vices 
 
 than any other of his secrets. The 
 hypocrite is one who dissembles 
 for a bad end, and hides the snare, 
 that he may be more sure of his 
 prey ; and, not content with a 
 negative virtue, or not appearing 
 the ill man he is, makes a show 
 of positive virtue, and appears 
 the man he is not. See Hypo- 
 crisy. 
 
 DISSOLUTION, death, or the 
 separation of the body and soul. 
 The dissolution of the xuorld is an 
 awful event, which we have reason 
 to believe, both from the Old Testa- 
 ment and the New, will certainly 
 take place. 1. It is not an incre- 
 dible thing, since nothing of a 
 material nature is formed for per- 
 petual duration 2. It will doubt- 
 less be under the direction of the 
 Supreme Being, as its creation was,. 
 — o. The soul of man will remain 
 unhurt amidst this general desola- 
 tion. — 4. It will be an introduction 
 to a greater and nobler system in 
 the government of God, 2d Pet. iii, 
 13. — 5. The consideration of it 
 ought to have a great influence on 
 us while in the present state, 2d 
 Pet., iii, 11, 12. See Confla- 
 gration. 
 
 DIVERSION, something that 
 unbends the mind, by turning it oif 
 from care. It seems to be some- 
 thing lighter than amusement, 
 and less forcible than pleasure. 
 It is an old simile, and a veiy 
 just one, that a bow kept always 
 bent will grow feeble, and lose 
 its force. The alternate succes- 
 sion of business and diversion pre- 
 serve the body and soul in the 
 happiest temper. Diversions must, 
 however, be lawful and good. 
 The playhouse? the gaming-table, 
 
DIV 
 
 238 
 
 DIV 
 
 the masquerade, midnight assem- 
 blies, must be considered as ini- 
 mical to the morals and true hap- 
 piness of man. The most rational 
 diversions are conversation, read- 
 ing, singing, music, riding, &c. 
 They must be moderate as to the 
 time spent in them, and expense 
 of them. Seasonable, when we 
 have (as Cicero observes) dispatch- 
 ed our serious and important af- 
 fairs. See Grove's Regulation of 
 Diversions ; JVatts^s Lnprovement 
 of the Mind^ vol. ii, sec. 9; Blair'* s 
 Sermons, vol. ii, p. 1 7 ; Burder''s 
 Sermon on Amusements ; Frend^s 
 Evening Ardusements. 
 
 DIVINATION, is a conjec- 
 ture or surmise formed concerning 
 some future event from something 
 which -is supposed to be a presage 
 of it ; but between which there is 
 no real connexion, only what the 
 imagination of the diviner is pleas- 
 ed to assign in order to deceive. 
 
 Divination of all kinds being the 
 offspring of credulity, nursed by 
 imposture, and strengthened by 
 superstition, was necessarily an 
 occult science, retained in the 
 hands of the priests and priestesses, 
 the magi, the soothsayers, the 
 augurs, the visionaries, the priests 
 of the oracles, the false prophets, 
 and other like professors, till the 
 coming of Jesus Christ, when the 
 light of the gospel dissipatedmuch 
 of this darkness. The vogue for 
 these pretended sciences and arts 
 is nearly past, at least in the en- 
 lightened parts of the world. There 
 are nine different kinds of divina- 
 tion mentioned in scripture. These 
 are, 1. Those whom Moses calls 
 Meonen of Anan, a cloud, Deut. 
 jtviii, 10.- — 2. Those whom the 
 
 prophet calls, in the same place, 
 Menacheseh., which the Vulgate 
 and generality of interpreters ren- 
 der Augur. — 3. Those who in the 
 same place are called Mecascheph^ 
 which the Septuagint and Vulgate 
 translate " a man given to ill prac- 
 tices." — 4. Those whom in the 
 same chapter, ver. 11, he calls 
 Hhoher. — 5. Those who consult 
 the spirits, called Python. — 6. 
 Witches, or magicians, called Ju- 
 deoni. — 7. Necromancers, who con- 
 sult the dead. — 8. Such as consult 
 staves, Hosea iv. 12 ; called by- 
 some Rhahdomancy. — 9. Hepatos- 
 copy, or the consideration of the 
 liver. 
 
 Different kinds of divination, 
 which have passed for sciences, we 
 have had : 1. Aeromancy, divin- 
 ing by the air. — 2. Astrology by 
 the heavens. — 3. Augury by the 
 flight and singing of birds, &:c. — 
 4. Chiromancy, by inspecting the 
 hand. — 5. Geomancy, by observ- 
 ing of cracks or clefts in the earth* 
 — 6. Haruspicy, by inspecting the 
 bowels of animals. — 7. Horo- 
 scopy, a branch of astrology^ 
 marking the position of the heavens 
 when a mian is born. — 8. Hydro- 
 mancy, by water.- — 9. Physiogno- 
 my, by the countenance. (This, 
 however, is considered by some as 
 of a different nature, and worthy 
 of being rescued from the rubbish 
 of superstition, and placed among 
 the useful sciences. Lavater has 
 written a celebrated treatise on it.) 
 — 10. Pyromancy, a divination 
 made by fire. Thus we see what 
 arts have been practised to deceive, 
 and how designing menhave made 
 use of all the four elements to im- 
 pose upon weak minds. 
 
DI V 
 
 239 
 
 DOC 
 
 DIVINE, something relating 
 to God. The word is also used 
 - figuratively for any thing that is 
 excellent, extraordinary, and that 
 seems to go beyond the power of 
 nature and the capacity of man. 
 It also signifies a minister, or cler- 
 gyman. See Minister. 
 
 DIVINITY, the science of 
 theology. See Theology. 
 
 DIVORCE, is the dissolution 
 of marriage, or separation of man 
 and wife. Divorce a mensa et 
 thoro^ i. e. from bed and board. 
 In this case, the wife has a suit- 
 able maintenance allowed her out 
 of her husband's effects. Divorce 
 a vinculo matrimonii^ i. e. from 
 the bonds of matrimony, is strictly 
 and properly divorce. This hap- 
 pens either in consequence of 
 criminality, as in the case of adul- 
 tery, or through some essential 
 impediment ; as consanguinity, or 
 affinity within the degrees forbid- 
 den, pre-contract, impotency, &c. 
 of which impediments the canon 
 law allows no less than 14. In 
 these cases the woman receives 
 again only what she brought. 
 Sentences which release the par- 
 ties a vinculo matrimonii^ on ac- 
 count of impuberty, frigidity, con- 
 sanguinity within the prohibited 
 degrees, prior marriage, or want 
 of the requisite consent of parents 
 or guardians, are not properly 
 dissolutions of the man^iage con- 
 tract, but judicial declarations 
 that there never was any marriage; 
 such impediment subsisting at the 
 time as rendered the celebration 
 of the marriage rite a mere nul- 
 lity. And the rite itself contains 
 an exception of these impedi- 
 menta. 
 
 The law of Moses, says Mr» 
 Paley, for reasons of local expe- 
 diency, permitted the Jewish hus- 
 band to put away his wife ; but 
 whether for every cause, or for 
 what cause, appears to have been 
 controverted amongst the inter- 
 preters of those times. Christ, 
 the precepts of whose religion were 
 calculated for more general use 
 and observation, revokes, his per- 
 mission as given to the Jev/s for 
 their hardness of heart, and pro- 
 mulges a law which was thence- 
 forward to confine divorces to the 
 single causeof adulterjanthe wife. 
 Matt, xix, 9. Inferior causes may 
 justify the separation of husband 
 and wife, although they will not 
 authorize such a dissolution of the 
 marriage contract as would leave 
 either at liberty to marry again ; 
 for it is that liberty in which the 
 danger and mischief of divorces 
 principally consist. The law of 
 this country, in conformity to our 
 Saviour's injunction, confines the 
 dissolution of the marriage contract 
 to the single case of adultery in 
 the wife ; and a divorce even in 
 that case can only be brought 
 about by an act of parliament, 
 founded upon a previous senti- 
 ment in the spiritual court, and a 
 verdict against the adulterer at 
 common lav/ ; which proceedings, 
 taken together, compose as com- 
 plete an investigation of the com- 
 plaint as a cause can receive. See 
 Paletfs Mor. and Pol. Philosophy^ 
 p. 273 ; Doddridge's Lectures^ lect. 
 
 DOCETiE, the followers of Ju- 
 lius Cassianus, one of the Valenti- 
 nian sect, towards the close of the 
 second century. They believed 
 
DOC 
 
 240 
 
 DOM 
 
 said taught that the actions and suf- 
 ferings of Jesus Christ were not in 
 reality, but only in appearance. 
 
 DOCTRINE, the principles or 
 positions of any sect or master. As 
 the doctrines of the Bible are the 
 first principles, and the foundation 
 of religion, they should be care- 
 fully examined, and well under- 
 stood. The scriptures present us 
 with a copious fund of evangelic 
 truth, which, though it has not 
 the form of a regular system, yet its 
 parts are such, that, when united, 
 make the most complete body of 
 doctrine that we can possibly have. 
 Every christian, but divines espe- 
 cially, ^lould make this their stu- 
 dy, because all the various doc- 
 trines should be insisted on in pub- 
 lic, and explained to the people. 
 It is not, hoWever, as some sup- 
 pose, to fill up every part of a 
 minister's sermon, but considered 
 as the basis upon which the prac- 
 tical part is to be built. Some of 
 the divines in the last century 
 overcharged their discourses with 
 doctrine, especially Dr. Owen 
 and Dr. Goodwin. It was com- 
 mon in that day to make thirty or 
 forty remarks before the imme- 
 diate considei-ation of the text, 
 each of which was just introduced, 
 and which, if enlarged on, would 
 have afforded matter enough for a 
 whole sermon. A wise preacher 
 will join doctrine and practice to- 
 
 gether. 
 
 Doctrines, though abused by 
 some, yet, properly considered, will 
 influence the heart and life. Thus 
 the idea of God's sovereignty ex- 
 cites submission ; his power and 
 justice promote fear ; his 'iKjliTtess, 
 humility and purity ; his good- 
 
 ness, a ground df hope ; his love 
 excites joy ; the obscurity df his 
 providence requires patience ; his 
 faithfulness, confidence, &c. 
 
 DOMINICANS, a religious 
 order J in some places called Jaco- 
 bins^ and in others Predicants^ or 
 preaching friarS. The Domini- 
 cans take their name from their 
 founder, Dominic de Guzman, a 
 Spaniard, bom in 1 1 70, at Calaroga, 
 in Old Castile : he was first canon 
 and archdeacon of Ossuna; and af- 
 terwards preached with great zeal 
 and vehemence against the Albi- 
 genses in Languedoc, where h6 
 laid the first foundation df his ot- 
 der. It was approved of in 1215 
 by Innocent III, and confirmed 
 in 1216, by a bull of Honorius 
 III, under the title of St. Angus- 
 tin; to which Dominic added se- 
 veral austere precepts and obser- 
 vances, obliging the brethren to 
 take a vow of absdlute poverty, and 
 to abandon entirely all their reve- 
 nues and possessions, and also the 
 title of preaching friars, because 
 public instruction was the main 
 end of their institution. The first 
 convent was founded at Thou- 
 louse, by the bishop thereof, and 
 Simon de Montfort. Tavo yeai's 
 afterwards they had another at 
 Paris, near the bishop's house ; 
 and sometime after, a third in 
 the Rue St. Jaques (St. James's- 
 street), whence the denomination 
 of Jacobins. Just before his death, 
 Dominic sent Gilbert de Fresney, 
 with twelve of the brethren, into 
 England, where they founded their 
 first monastery at Oxford, in the 
 year 1221, and soon after another 
 at London. In the year 1276, 
 the maA^or and aldermen of the 
 
DOM 
 
 241 
 
 DOM 
 
 city of London gave them two 
 whole streets, by the river Thames, 
 where they erected a very commo- 
 dious convent ; whence that place 
 is still called Blackfriars^ from the 
 name by which the Dominicans 
 were called in England. St. Do- 
 minic at first only took the habit 
 of the regular canons ; that is, a 
 black cassock and rochet: but 
 this he quitted, in 1219, for that 
 which they have ever since worn, 
 which, it is pretended, was shewn 
 by the Blessed Virgin hei-self to the 
 beatified Renaud d'Orleans. This 
 order has been diffused through- 
 out the whole known world. They 
 reckon .three popes of this order, 
 above sixty cardinals, several pa- 
 triarchs, a hundred and fifty arch- 
 bishops, and about eight hundred 
 bishops, beside masters of the sa- 
 cred palace, whose office has been 
 constantly discharged by a reli- 
 gious of this order ever since St. 
 Dominic, who held it under Ho- 
 norious III, in 1218. 
 
 Of all the monastic orders, 
 BQne enjoyed a higher degree of 
 power and authority than the Do- 
 minican friars, whose credit was 
 great, 'and their influence univer- 
 sal. But the measures they used 
 in order to maintain and extend 
 their authority were so perfidious 
 and cruel, that their influence 
 began to decline towards the be- 
 ginning of the sixteenth century. 
 The tragic story of Jetzer, con- 
 ducted at Bern, in 1509, for de- 
 termining an uninteresting dispute 
 between them and the Franciscans, 
 relating to the iwmacu/ate concep- 
 tion, will reflect indelible infamy 
 on this order. In order to give 
 the reader a view of the impious 
 
 Vol. I. I i 
 
 frauds whichhave sometimes been 
 carried on in the church of Rome, 
 we shall here insert an account of 
 this stratagem. 
 
 The Franciscans maintained that 
 the Virgin Mary was born with- 
 out the blemish of original sin ; 
 the Dominicans asserted the con- 
 trary. 
 
 The doctrine of the Franciscans, 
 in an age of darkness and super- 
 stition, could not but be popular ; 
 and hence the Dominicans lost 
 ground from da}^ to day. To sup- 
 port the credit of their order, they 
 resolved, at a chapter held at 
 Vimpsen, in the year 1504, to 
 have recourse to fictitious visions 
 and dreams, in which the people 
 at that time had an easy faith ; 
 andthey determined to make Bern 
 the scene of their operations. A 
 person named Jetzer, who was ex- 
 tremely simple, and much inclined 
 to austerities, and who had taken 
 their habit as a lay-brother, was 
 chosen as the instrument of the 
 delusions they were contriving. 
 One of the four Dominicans, who 
 had undertaken the management 
 of this plot, conveyed himself se- 
 cretly into Jetzer's cell, and about 
 midnight appeared to him in a 
 horrid figure, surroimded with 
 howling dogs, and seeming to blow 
 fire from his nostrils, by the means 
 of a box of combustibles which he 
 held near his mouth. In this 
 frightful form he approached Jet- 
 zer's bed, told him that he was 
 the ghost of a Dominican, who 
 had been killed at Paris, as a 
 judgment of heaven for laying 
 aside his monastic habit ; that he 
 Avas condemned to purgatory ' for 
 tliis crime ; adding, at the same 
 
DOM 
 
 242 
 
 DOM 
 
 time, that by his means he might 
 be rescued from his misery, which 
 was beyond expression. This story, 
 accompanied with horrible cries 
 and bowlings, frighted poor Jetzer 
 out of the little wits he had, and 
 engaged him to promise to do all 
 that was in his power to deliver 
 the Dominican from his torment. 
 Upon this the impostor told him, 
 that nothing but the most extra- 
 ordinary mortifications, such as 
 the. discipline of thexvhip perform- 
 ed during eight days by the whole 
 monastery, and Jetzer's lying pros- 
 trate in the form of one crucified 
 in the chapel during mass, could 
 contribute to his deliverance. He 
 added, that the performance of 
 these mortifications would draw 
 down upon Jetzer the peculiar 
 protection of the Blessed Virgin ; 
 and concluded by saying,, that he 
 would appear to him again, ac- 
 companied with two other spirits. 
 Morning was no sooner come, than 
 Jetzer gave an account 'of this 
 apparition to the rest of the con- 
 vent, who all unanimously advised 
 him to undergo the discipline that 
 was enjoined him, and every one 
 consented to bear his share of the 
 task imposed. The deluded sim- 
 pleton obeyed, and was admired 
 as a saint by the multitudes that 
 crowded about the convent j while 
 the four friars that managed the 
 imposture magnified, in the most 
 pompous manner, the miracle of 
 this apparition in their sermons, 
 and in their discourses. The night 
 after, the apparition was renewed 
 with the addition of two impos- 
 tors, dressed like devils, tmd Jet- 
 zer's faith was augmented by liear- 
 ing from the spectre all the secrets 
 
 of his life and thoughts, which the 
 impostors had learned from his 
 confessor. In this and some sub- 
 sequentscenes (thedetail of whose 
 enormities, for the sake of brevity, 
 we shall here omit) the impostor 
 talked much to Jetzer of the Do-' 
 minican order, which he said was 
 peculiarly dear to the Blessed Vir- 
 gin : he added, that the Virgin 
 knew herself to be conceived in 
 original sin ; that the doctors who 
 taught the contrary were in pur- 
 gatory ; and the Blessed Virgin 
 abhorred the Franciscans for mak- 
 ing her equal with her son ; and 
 that the town of Bern would be 
 destroyed for harbouring such 
 plagues within her walls. In one 
 of these apparitions Jetzer ima- 
 gined that the voice of the spectre 
 resembled that of the prior of the 
 convent, and he was not mistaken; 
 but, not suspecting a fraud, he 
 gave little attention to this. The 
 prior appeared in various forms, 
 sometimes in that of St. Barbara, 
 at others in that of St. Bernard : 
 at length he assumed that of the 
 Virgin Mar}-, and for that pur- 
 pose, clothed himself in the ha- 
 bits that were employed to adorn 
 the statue of the Virgin in the 
 great festivals. The little images, 
 that on these days are set on the 
 altars, were made use or for an- 
 gels, which, being tied to a cord 
 that passed through a pulley over 
 Jetzer's head, rose up and down, 
 and danced about the pretended 
 Virgin to increase the delusion. 
 The Virgin, thus equipped, ad- 
 dressed a long discourse to Jetzer, 
 in which, among other things, 
 she told him that she was con- 
 ceived in original sin, though she 
 
DOM 
 
 243 
 
 DOM 
 
 had remained but a short time 
 under that blemish. She gave him, 
 as a miraculous proof of her pre- 
 sence, a host^ or consecrated wafer, 
 which turned from white to red 
 in a moment; and after various 
 visits, in which the greatest enor- 
 mities were transacted, the Virgin- 
 prior told Jetzer that she would 
 give him the most affecting and 
 undoubted marks of her son's 
 love, by imprinting on him the 
 Jive wounds that pierced Jesus on 
 the cross, as she had done before 
 to St. Lucia and St. Catharine. 
 Accordingly she took his hand by 
 force, and struck a large nail 
 through it, which threw the poor 
 dupe into the greatest torment. 
 The next night this masculine 
 virgin brought, as he pretended, 
 some of the linen in which Christ 
 had been buried, to soften the 
 wound ; and gave Jetzer a soporific 
 draught, which had in it the blood 
 of an unbaptized child, some grains 
 of incense and of consecrated salt, 
 some quicksilver, the hairs of the 
 eye-brows of a child ; all which, 
 with some stupifying and poisonous 
 ingredients, were mingled together 
 by the prior with magic ceremo- 
 nies, and a solemn dedication of 
 himself to the devil in hope of his 
 succour. This draught threw the 
 poor wretch into a sort of lethargy, 
 during which the monks imprinted 
 on his body the other four wounds 
 of Christ in such a manner that 
 he felt no pain. When he awak- 
 ened, he found, to his unspeakable 
 joy, these impressions on his body, 
 and came at last to fancy himself 
 a representative of Christ in the 
 various parts of his passion. He 
 was, in this state, exposed to the 
 
 admiring multitude on the prin- 
 cipal altar of the convent, to the 
 great mortification of the Francis- 
 cans. The Dominicans gave hinx 
 some other draughts, that threw 
 him into convulsions ; which were 
 followed by a voice conveyed 
 through a pipe into the mouths 
 of two images, one of Mary, and 
 another of the child Jesus, the 
 former of which had tears painted 
 upon its cheeks in a lively man- 
 ner. The little Jesus asked his 
 mother, by means of this voice 
 (which was that of the prior's), 
 why she wept ? and she answered, 
 that her tears were owing to the 
 impious manner in which the 
 Franciscans attributed to her the 
 honour that was due to him, in 
 saying that she was conceived and 
 born without siui 
 
 The apparitions, false prodigies, 
 and abominable stratagems of these 
 Dominicans were repeated every 
 night; andthe matter was at length 
 so grossly over-acted, that, simple 
 as Jetzer was, he at last discovered 
 it, and had almost killed the prior, 
 who appeared to him one night 
 in the form of the Virgin with a 
 crown on her head. The Domi- 
 nicans fearing, by this discovery, 
 to lose the fruits of their impos- 
 ture, thought the best method 
 would be to own the whole matter 
 to Jetzer, and to engage him, by 
 the most seducing promises of opu- 
 lence and glory, to carry on the 
 cheat. Jetzer was persuaded, or 
 at least appeared to be so. But 
 the Dominicans suspecting that he 
 was not entirely gained over, re- 
 solved to poison him ; but his con- 
 stitution was so vigorous, that, , 
 though they gave him poison five 
 
DO-M 
 
 244 
 
 DON 
 
 several timeshe was not destroyed 
 by it. One day they sent him a 
 loaf prepared with some spices, 
 •which, growing gi-een in a day or 
 two, he threw a piece of it to a 
 wolf's whelps that were in the mo- 
 hastery, and it killed them imme- 
 diately. At another time they 
 poisoned the host, or consecrated j 
 Avafer ; but, as he vomited it up 
 soon after he had swallowed it, he 
 escaped once more. In short, there 
 were no means of securing him, 
 which the most detestable impiet>' 
 and barbarity could invent, that' 
 they did not put in practice ; till 
 finding, at last, an opportunity of 
 getting out of the convent, he 
 threw himself into the hands of 
 the magistrates, to whom he made 
 a full discovery of this infernal 
 plot. The affair being brought 
 to Rome, commissaries were sent 
 from thence to examine the matter ; 
 and the whole cheat being fully 
 proved, the four friars were solemn- 
 ly degraded from their priesthood, 
 and were burnt alive on the last day 
 of May, 1509. Jetzer died some 
 time after at Constance, having 
 poisoned himself, as was believed 
 by some. Had his life been taken 
 away before he had found an op- 
 portunity of making the discovery 
 already mentioned, this execrable 
 and horrid plot, which in many of 
 its circumstances was conducted 
 with art, would have been handed 
 down to posterity as a stupendous 
 miracle. 
 
 The Dominicans were perpe- 
 tually employed in stigmatizing 
 with the name of heresy num- 
 bers of learned and pious men ; 
 in encroaching upon the rights 
 and properties of others, to aug- 
 
 ment their possessions ; and in 
 laying the most iniquitous snares 
 and stratagems for the destruction 
 of their adversaries. They were 
 the principal counsellors by whose 
 instigation and advice Leo X was 
 determined to the public condem- 
 nation of Luther. The papal see 
 never had more active and useful 
 abettors than this order and that 
 of the Jesuits. 
 
 DOMINION OF GOD, is his 
 absolute right to, and authority 
 over, all his creatures, to do with 
 them as he pleases. It is distin- 
 guished from his power thus : his 
 dominion is a right of making what 
 he pleases, of possessing what he 
 makes, and of disposing what he 
 doth possess ; whereas his power is 
 an ability to make what he hath a 
 right to create, to hold what he doth 
 possess, and to execute what he 
 has purposed or resolved. 
 
 DONATISTS, ancient schis- 
 matics, in Africa, so denominated 
 from their leader, Donatus. They 
 had their origin in the year 311, 
 v.'hen, in the room of Mensurius, 
 who died in that year, on his re- 
 turn to Rome, Csecilian was elect- 
 ed bishop of Carthage, and conse- 
 crated, without the concurrence of 
 the Numidian bishops, by those of 
 Africa alone, whom the people 
 refused to acknowledge, and to 
 whom they opposed Majorinus, 
 who accordingly was ordained by 
 Donatus bishop of Casse Nigrse. 
 They were condemned, in a coun- 
 cil held at Rome, two years after 
 their separation and afterwards 
 in another at Aries, the year fol- 
 lowing , and again at P/lilan, be- 
 fore Constantine the Great, in 
 316, who deprived them of their 
 
DON 
 
 24t 
 
 DOR 
 
 churches, and sent their seditious 
 bishops into banishment, and pu- 
 nished some of them with death. 
 Their cause was espoused by an- 
 other Donatus, called the Great, 
 the principal bishop of that sect, 
 who, with numbers of his fol- 
 lowers, was exiled by order of 
 Constans. Many of them v/ere 
 punished with great severity. — 
 See CiRcuMCELLioNES. How- 
 ever, after the accession of Julian 
 to the throne in 362, they were 
 permitted to return, and restored 
 to their former liberty. Gratian 
 published several edicts against 
 them, and in 377 deprived them 
 of their churches, and prohibited 
 all their assemblies. But, notwith- 
 standing the severities they suffer- 
 ed, it appears that they had a very 
 considerable number of churches 
 towards the close of this century ; 
 but at this time they began to de- 
 cline, on account of a schism 
 among themselves, occasioned by 
 the election of two bishops, in the 
 room" of Parmenian, the succes- 
 sor of Donatus : one party elected 
 Primian, and were called Primi- 
 anists ; and another Maximian, 
 and were called Maximianists. 
 Their decline was also precipi- 
 tated by the zealous opposition of 
 St. Augustine, and by the violent 
 measures which were pursued 
 against them by order of the em- 
 peror Honorius, at the solicitation 
 of two councils held at Carthage, 
 the one in 404, and the other in 
 411. Many of them were fined, 
 their bishops were banished, and 
 some put to death. This sect re- 
 vived and multiplied under the 
 protection of the Vamlals, who 
 invaded Africa in 427, and took 
 
 possession of this province : but 
 it sunk again under new severities, 
 when their empire was overturned, 
 in 534. Nevertheless, they re- 
 mained in a separate body till 
 the close of this centur}^, when 
 Gregory, the Roman pontiff^ used 
 various methods for suppressing 
 them : his zeal succeeded, and 
 there are few traces to be found 
 of the Donatists after this period. 
 They were distinguished by other 
 appellations, as CircumcellioneSj 
 Montenses or Mountaineers^ Cam- 
 petes, Rupites, &c. They held 
 three councils, that of Cita in 
 Numidia, and two at Carthage. 
 
 The Donatists, it is said, held 
 that baptism conferred out of the 
 church, that is, out of their sect, 
 was null ; and accordingly they re- 
 baptized those who joined their 
 party from other churches : they 
 also re-ordained their ministers. 
 Donatus seems likewise to have 
 embraced the doctrine of the 
 Arians ; though St. Augustine 
 affirms that the Donatists in this 
 point kept clear of the errors of 
 their leader. 
 
 , DORT, Synod of; a national 
 synod, summoned by authority of 
 the states-general, the provinces of 
 Holland, Utrecht, and Overyssel 
 excepted, and held at Dort, 
 1618. The most eminent divines 
 of the United Provinces, and de- 
 puties from the churches of Eng- 
 land, Scotland, Switzerland, Bre- 
 men, Hessia,. and the Palatinate, 
 assembled on this occasion, in or- 
 der to decide the controversy be- 
 tween the Calvinists and Armini- 
 ans. The synod had hardly com- 
 menced its deliberations before a 
 dispute on the mode of proceeding 
 
DOS 
 
 246 
 
 DOX 
 
 dvj^ve the Arminian party from the 
 assembly. The Armhiians insisted 
 upon beginning with a refutation 
 of the Calvinistic doctrines, espe- 
 cially that of reprobation ; whilst 
 the synod determined, that, as the 
 remonstrants were accused of de- 
 parting from the reformed faith, 
 they ought first to justify them- 
 selves by scriptural proof of their 
 own opinions. All means to per- 
 suade the Arminians to submit to 
 .this procedure having failed, they 
 were banished the synod for their 
 refusal. The synod, however, pro- 
 ceeded in their examination of 
 the Arminian tenets, condemned 
 their opinions, and excommunicat- 
 ed their persons : whether justly 
 or unjustly, let the reader deter- 
 mine. Surely no one can be 
 an advocate for the persecution 
 which followed, and which drove 
 these men from their churches 
 and country into exile and po- 
 verty. The authority of this synod 
 was far from being universally 
 acknowledged, either in Holland 
 or in England. The provinces 
 of Friesland, Zealand, Utrecht, 
 Guelderland, and Groningen, 
 could not be persuaded to adopt 
 their decisions ; and they were op- 
 posed by king James I, and arch- 
 bishop Laud, in England. 
 
 DOSITHEANS, an ancient 
 sect among the Samaritans, in the 
 first century of the christian asra ; 
 so called from Dositheus, who en- 
 deavoured to persuade the Sa- 
 maritans that he was the Messiah 
 foretold by Moses. He had many 
 followers, and his sect was still 
 subsisting at Alexandria in the 
 time of the patriarch Eulogius, as 
 appears from a decree of that pa- 
 
 triarch published by Photius. In 
 that decree, Eulogius accuses Do- 
 sitheus of injuriously treating the 
 ancient patriarchs and prophets, 
 and attributing to himself the spi- 
 rit of prophecy. He makes him 
 contemporary with Simon Ma- 
 gus ; and accuses him of corrupt- 
 ing the Pentateuch, and of com- 
 posing several books directly con- 
 trary to the law of God. 
 
 DOUBTS and Fears, are terms 
 frequently used to denote the un- 
 certainty of mind we are in respect- 
 ing our interest in the Divine fa- 
 vour. While some are continually 
 harassed with doubts and fears, 
 there are others who tell us they 
 know not Avhat it is to doubt ; yea, 
 who think it a sin to doubt: so prone 
 are men to run to extremes, as if 
 there were no medium between 
 constant full assurance and perpe- 
 tual doubt. The true christian, 
 perhaps, steers between the two. 
 He is not always doubting, nor is 
 he always living in the full exercise 
 of faith. It is not unlawful at cer- 
 tain seasons to doubt. " It is a 
 sin," says one, *' for a believer to 
 live so as not to have his evidences 
 clear ; but it is no sin for him to 
 be so honest and impartial as to 
 doubt, when in fact his evidences 
 are not clear." Let the humble 
 christian, however, beware of an 
 extreme. Prayer, conversation 
 with experienced christians, read- 
 ing the promises, and considera- 
 tion of the Divine goodness, will 
 have a tendency to remove unne- 
 cessary doubts. 
 
 DOXOLOGY, a hymn used in 
 praise of the Almighty ,distinguish- 
 ed by the titles of the Greater and 
 the Less. Both the Doxologies 
 
DRU 
 
 247 
 
 DRU 
 
 are used in the church of Eng- 
 land ; the former being repeated 
 after every psalm, and the latter 
 used in the communion service. 
 Doxology the Greater^ or the ange- 
 lic hymn, was of great note in the 
 ancient church. It began with the 
 words the angels sung at the birth 
 of Christ, " Glory to God," &c. 
 Doxology the Less was anciently 
 only a single sentence, without a 
 response, running in these words : 
 ** Glory be to the Father, and to 
 the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, 
 world without end, amen." Part 
 of the latter clause, " as it was 
 in the beginning, is now and ever 
 shall be," &c. was inserted some 
 time after the first composition. 
 
 DRAGOONING, one of the 
 methods used by papists after the 
 revocation of the edict of Nantz, 
 under Lewis XIV, for converting 
 refractory heretics, and bringing 
 them within the pale of their 
 church. If the reader's feelings 
 will suffer him to peruse the ac- 
 count of these barbarities, he will 
 find it under the article Persecu- 
 tion in this work. 
 
 DREAD, is a degree of perma- 
 nent fear, an habitual and pain- 
 ful apprehension of some tremen- 
 dous event. It keeps the mind in 
 a perpetual alarm, in an eager 
 watchfulness of every circum- 
 stance that bears any relation to 
 the evil apprehended. 
 
 DRUIDS, the priests or min- 
 isters of religion among the an- 
 cient Gauls, Britons, and Ger- 
 mans. They were chosen out of 
 the best families ; and the honours 
 of their birth, joined with those of 
 theii- function, procured them the 
 highest veneration among the peo- 
 ple. They were versed in astrology, 
 
 geometry, natural philosophy, po- 
 litics, and geography ; they were 
 the interpreters of religion, and 
 the judges of all affairs indifferent- 
 ly. Whoever refused obedience 
 to them was declared impious and 
 accursed. We know but little as 
 to their peculiar doctrines, only 
 that they believed the immorta- 
 lity of the soul, and, as is gene- 
 rally also supposed, the transmi- 
 gration of it to other bodies j 
 though a late author makes it ap- 
 pear highly probable they did not 
 believe this last, at least not in the 
 sense of the Pythagoreans. The 
 chief settlement of the druids in 
 Britain was in the isle of Angle- 
 sey, the ancient Mona^ which they 
 might choose for this purpose, 
 as it is well stored v/ith spacious 
 groves of their favourite oak. They 
 were divided into several classes 
 or branches, such as the priests^ 
 the poets., the augurs., the civir 
 judges^ and instructors of youth, 
 Strabo, however, does not com- 
 prehend all these different orders 
 under the denomination of druids ; 
 he only distinguishes three kinds : 
 bardt^ poets ; the vates^ priests and 
 naturalists ; and the druids^ who, 
 besides the study of Nature, appli- 
 ed themselves likewise to morali- 
 ty. Their garments were remark- 
 ably long ; and, when employed in 
 religious ceremonies, they always 
 wore a white surplice. They ge- 
 nerally carried a wand in their 
 hands, and wore a kind of orna- 
 ment, enchased in gold, about 
 their necks, called the druid's egg. 
 They had one chief, or arch-druid, 
 in every nation, v/ho acted as high 
 priest, OY pontifcx 7naximus. He 
 had absolute authority over the 
 rest, and commanded, decreed, 
 
DRU 
 
 248 
 
 DRU 
 
 and punished at pleasure. They 
 worshipped the supreme Being 
 under the name of Esus^ or Hesiis^ 
 and the symbol of the oak ; and 
 had no other temple than a wood 
 or a grove, where all their reli- 
 gious rites were performed. Nor 
 was any person permitted to en- 
 ter that sacred recess unless he 
 carried with him a chain in 
 token of his absolute depend- 
 ence on the Deity. Indeed, their 
 whole religion originally consist- 
 ed in acknowledgiiig that the 
 Supreme Being, v/ho made his 
 abode in these sacred groves, 
 governed the universe ; and that 
 every creature ought to obey his 
 laws, and pay him divine hoinage. 
 They considered the oak as the 
 emblem, or rather the peculiar 
 residence, of the AlmJghty ; and 
 accordingly chaplets of it were 
 worn, both by the druids and 
 people, in their religious cere- 
 monies : the altars were strewed 
 with its leaves, and encircled 
 with its branches. The fruit of 
 it, especially the misletoe, was 
 thought to contain a divine virtue, 
 and to be the peculiar gift of hea- 
 ven. It was, therefore, sought 
 for on the sixth day of the moon 
 with the greatest earnestness and 
 anxiety ; and when found, Avas 
 hailed with such raptures of joy, 
 as almost exceeds imagination to 
 conceive. As soon as the druids 
 were informed of the fortunate dis- 
 covery, they prepared every thing 
 ready forthesarifice under the oak, 
 to which they fastened two white 
 bulls by the horns ; then the arch- 
 <iruid, attended by a pi-odigious 
 number of people, ascended the 
 tree, dressed in white ; and, with a 
 
 consecrated golden knife, or prun- 
 ing hook, cropped the misletoe^ 
 which he received in his robe, 
 amidst the rapturous exclamations 
 of the people. Having secured 
 this sacred plant, he descended the 
 tree ; the buUs were sacrificed ; 
 and the Deity invoked to bless his 
 own gift, and render it efficacious 
 in those distempers in which it 
 should be administered. 
 
 DRUNKENNESS, intoxica- 
 tion with strong liquor. It is ei- 
 ther actual or habitual ; just as it 
 is one thing to be drunk, and an- 
 other to be a drunkard. The evil 
 of drunkenness appears in the fol- 
 lowing bad effects : 1. It betrays 
 most constitutions either to extra- 
 vagance of anger, or sins of lewd- 
 ness. — 2. It disqualifies men for 
 the duties of their station, both 
 by the temporary disorder of their 
 faculties, and at length by a con- 
 stant incapacity and stupefaction. 
 — 3. It is attended with expence, 
 which can often be ill spared. — 
 
 4. It is sure to occasion uneasiness 
 to the family of the drunkard. — 
 
 5. It shortens life. — 6. It is a 
 most pernicious awful example to 
 others. — 7. It is haidly ever cur-, 
 ed. — 8. It is a violation of God's 
 word, Prov. xx, 1. Eph. v, 18. 
 Isa. v, 11. Rom. xiii, 13. " The 
 appetite for intoxicating liquors 
 appears to rrfe," saj's Paley, " to 
 be almost always acquired. One 
 proof of which is, that it is apt to 
 return only at particular times 
 
 j and places ; as after dinner, in 
 the evening, on the market-day, 
 in such a company, at such a ta- 
 vern." How careful, then, should 
 v/e be, lest wc form habits of this 
 kind, or choose company who 
 
DUN 
 
 249 
 
 DUN 
 
 are addicted to it ; how cautious 
 and circumspect should we act, 
 that we be not found guilty of a 
 sin which degrades human nature, 
 banishes reason, insults God, and 
 exposes us to the greatest evils ! 
 Paleifs Mor. Ph'il^ vol. ii, ch. 2; 
 FlavePs Works^ vol. ii, p. 349 ; 
 BucWs Anecdotes^ vol. i, p. 82, 
 3d edition. 
 
 DUIXINISTS, the followers 
 of Dulcinus, a layman of Novara 
 in Lombardy, about the beginning 
 of the fourteenth century. He 
 taught that the law of the Father, 
 which had continued till Moses, 
 was a law of grace and wisdom ; 
 but that the law of the Holy 
 Ghost, which began with himself 
 in 1307, was a law entirely of love, 
 which would last to the end of the 
 world. 
 
 DUNKERS, a denomination 
 which took its rise in the year 1724. 
 It was founded by a German, who, 
 weary of the world, retired to an 
 agreeable solitude within fifty miles 
 of Philadelphia, for the more free 
 exercise of religious contempla- 
 tion. Curiosity attracted follow- 
 ers, and his simple and engaging 
 manners made them proselytes. 
 They soon settled a little colony, 
 called Euphrate, in allusion to the 
 Hebrews, who used to sing psalms 
 on the borders of the river Eu- 
 phrates. This denomination seem 
 to have obtained their name from 
 their baptizing their new converts 
 by plunging. They are also call- 
 ed Tumblers, from the manner in 
 which they performed baptism, 
 which is by putting the person, 
 while kneeling, head first under wa- 
 ter, so as to resemble the motion 
 of the body in the action of tum- 
 
 VoL. I. K k 
 
 bling. They use the triune im- 
 mersion, with laying on the hands 
 and prayer, even when the person 
 baptized is in the water. 
 
 Their habit seems to be peculiar 
 to themselves, consisting of a long 
 tunic, or coat, reaching down to 
 their heels, with a sash or girdle 
 round the waist, and a cap, or 
 hood, hanging from the shoulders, 
 like the dress of the Dominican 
 friars. The men do not shave the 
 head or beard. The men and wo- 
 men have separate habitations and 
 distinct governments. For these 
 purposes they have erected two 
 large wooden buildings, one of 
 which is occupied by the brethren, 
 the other by the sisters of the socie- 
 ty ; and in each of them there is a 
 banquetting room, and an apart- 
 ment for public worship'; for the 
 brethren and sisters do not meet to- 
 gether, even at their devotions. 
 They live chiefly upon roots and 
 other vegetables, the rules of their 
 society not allowing them flesh, ex- 
 cept on particular occasions, when 
 they hold what they call a love- 
 feast : at which time the brethren 
 and sisters dine together in a large 
 apartment, and eat mutton ; but 
 no other meat. In each of their 
 little cells they have a bench fixed, 
 to serve the purpose of a bed, and 
 a small block of wood for a pillow. 
 The Bunkers allow of no inter- 
 course between the brethren and 
 sisters, not even by marriage. The 
 principal tenets of the Dunkers 
 appear to be these : that future 
 happiness is only to be attained 
 by penance and outward morti- 
 fication in this life; and that, as 
 Jesus Christ by his meritorious 
 suft'erings, became the Redeemer 
 
E AS 
 
 250 
 
 E AS 
 
 of mankind in general, so each in- 
 dividual of the human race, by 
 a life of abstinence and restraint, 
 may work out his own salvation. 
 Nay, they go so far as to admit 
 of works of supererogation, and 
 declare that a man may do much 
 more than he is injustice or equity 
 obliged to do, and that his super- 
 abundant works may therefore be 
 applied to the salvation of others. 
 This denomination deny the eter- 
 nity of futui'e punishments, and 
 believe that the dead have the 
 gospel preached to them by our 
 Saviour, and that the souls of the 
 just are employed to preach the 
 gospel to those who have had no 
 revelation in this life. They sup- 
 pose the Jewish sabbath, sabbatical 
 year, and year of jubilee, are ty- 
 pical of certain periods, after the 
 general judgment, in which the 
 souls of those who are not then 
 admitted into happiness are puri- 
 fied from their corruption. If any 
 within those smaller periods are 
 so far humbled as to acknowledge 
 the perfections of God, and to own 
 Christ as thei^ only Saviour, they 
 "are received to felicity ; while 
 
 those who continue obstinate are 
 reserved in torments until the 
 grand period typified by the ju- 
 bilee arrives, in which all shall be 
 made happy in the endless fruition 
 of the Deity. They also deny the 
 imputation of Adam's sm to his 
 posterity. They disclaim violence 
 even in cases of self-defence, and 
 suffer themselves to be defrauded 
 or wronged rather than go to law. 
 
 Their church government and 
 discipline are the same with the 
 English Baptists, except that every 
 brother is allowed to speak in the 
 congregation ; and their best speak- 
 er is usually ordained to be the 
 minister. The)^ have deacons and 
 deaconesses from among their an- 
 cient widows and exhorters, who 
 are all licensed to use their gifts 
 statedly. 
 
 DUTY, any action, or course 
 of actions, which flow from the re- 
 lations we stand in to God or 
 man ; that which a man is bound 
 to perform by any natural or le- 
 gal obligation. The various mo- 
 ral, relative, and spiritual duties^ 
 are considered in their places in 
 this work. 
 
 E. 
 
 EASTER, the day on which 
 the christian church commemo- 
 rates our Saviour's resurrection. It 
 is called by the Greeks Pasga ; and 
 by the Latins Pascha^ a Hebrew 
 Vv-ord signifying passage, applied 
 to the Jewish feast at the passover. 
 It is called Easter in English, from 
 the Saxon goddess Eostre, whose 
 festival was held in April. The 
 Asiatic churches kept their Easter 
 
 upon the very same day that the 
 Jews observed their passover ^ and 
 others on the first Sunday after 
 the first full moon in the new 
 year. This controversy was deter- 
 mined in the council of Nice, 
 when it was ordained that Easter 
 should be kept upon one and the 
 same day, which should ahvays be 
 Sunday, in all christian churches 
 in the world. 
 
EBI 
 
 251 
 
 ECC 
 
 EBIONITES,ancientheretlcs, [ 
 who rose in the church in the very 
 first age thereof, and formed them- 
 selves into a sect in the second 
 century, denying the divinity of 
 Jesus Christ. Origen takes them 
 to have been so called from the 
 Hebrew word ebion^ which in that 
 language signifies poor ; because, 
 says he, they were poor in sense, 
 and wanting understanding. Eu- 
 sebius, with a view to the same 
 etymology, is of opinion they 
 were thus called, as having poor 
 thoughts of Jesus Christ, taking 
 him for no more than a mere man. 
 It is more probable the Jews gave 
 this appellation to the christians 
 in general out of contempt; be- 
 cause, in the first times, there were 
 few but poor people that embraced 
 the christian religion. The Ebi- 
 onites were little else than a branch 
 of the Nazarenes ; only that they 
 altered and corrupted, in many 
 things, the purity of the faith 
 held among the first adherents to 
 Christianity. For this reason, Ori- 
 gen distinguishestvvokindsof Ebi- 
 onites in his answer to Cclsus ; the 
 one believed that Jesus Christ was 
 born of a virgin ; and the other, 
 that he was born after the man- 
 ner of other men. The first were 
 orthodox in every thing, except 
 that to the christian doctrine they 
 joined the ceremonies of the 
 Jewish law, with the Jews, Sama- 
 ritans, and Nazarenes ; together 
 with the traditions of the Phari- 
 sees. They differed from the Na- 
 zarenes, however,in several things, 
 chiefly as to what regards the au- 
 thority of the sacred writings ; for 
 the Nazarenes received all for 
 scripture contained in the Jewish 
 
 canon ; whereas the Ebionites 
 rejected all the prophets, and 
 held the very names of David, 
 Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and 
 Ezekiel, in abhorrence. They also 
 rejected all St. Paul's epistles, 
 whom they treated with the ut- 
 most disrespect. They received 
 nothing of the Old Testament but 
 the Pentateuch. They agreed with 
 the Nazarenes in using the He- 
 brew gospel of St. Matthew, other- 
 wise called the gospel of the twelve 
 apostles ; but they corrupted their 
 copy in abundance of places ; and 
 particularly had left out the ge- 
 nealogy of our Saviour, which 
 was preserved entire in that of the 
 Nazarenes, and even in those used 
 by the Cerinthians. Besides the 
 Hebrew gospel of St. Matthew, 
 the Ebionites had adopted several 
 other books under the names of 
 St. James, John, and the other 
 apostles : they also made use of 
 the travels of St. Peter, which are 
 supposed to have been written by 
 St. Clement ; but had altered them 
 so, that there was scarce any thing 
 of truth left in them. They &vcn 
 made that saint tell a number of 
 falsehoods, the better to authorize 
 their own practices. 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL, an ap- 
 pellation given to whatever belongs 
 to the church ; thus we say eccle- 
 siastical polity, jurisdiction, his- 
 tory, &c. 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HIS- 
 TORY, a narration of the trans- 
 actions, revolutions, and events, 
 that relate to the church. As to 
 the utility of church history. Dr. 
 Jortin, who was an acute writer on 
 this subject, shall here speak for us: 
 he observes, 1. That it will shew 
 
ECC 
 
 252 
 
 ECL 
 
 us the amazing progress of Chris- 
 tianity through the Roman empire, 
 through the East and West, al- 
 though the powers of the world 
 cruelly opposed it. — 2. Connected 
 with Jewish and Pagan history, it 
 ■will shew us the total destruction 
 of Jerusalem, the overthrow of 
 the Jewish church and state ; 
 and the continuance of that un- 
 happy nation for 1700 years, 
 though dispersed over the face of 
 the earth, and oppressed at dif- 
 ferent times by Pagans, Christians, 
 and Mahometans. — 3. It shews us 
 that the increase of Christianity 
 produced in the countries where 
 it was received, the overthrow 
 and extinction of paganism, which, 
 after a feeble resistance, perished 
 about the sixth century. — 4. It 
 shews us how Christianity hath 
 been continued and delivered down 
 from the apostolical to the present 
 age. — 5. It shews us the various 
 opinions which prevailed at dif- 
 ferent times amongst the fathers 
 and other christians, and how they 
 departed more or less from the 
 simplicity of the gospel. — 6. It 
 will enable us to form a true judg- 
 ment of the merit of the fathers, 
 and of the use which is to be made 
 of them. — 7. It will shew us the 
 evrl of imposing unreasonable 
 terms of communion, and requir- 
 ing christians to profess doctrines 
 notpropounded in scriptural words, 
 but inferred as consequences from 
 passages of scripture, which one 
 may call systems of consequential 
 
 divinitij 8. It will shew us the 
 
 origin and progress of popery ; 
 and,lastly, it will shew us,-^9. The 
 origin and progress of the refor- 
 mation. See Dr. Jorthi's Charge 
 
 on the Use and Importance of Ec-^ 
 clesiastical History^ in his Works^ 
 vol. vii, ch. 2. 
 
 For ecclesiastical historians, see 
 Eusebius''s Eccl. Hist, with Vale- 
 sius'^s Jiotes; Baronii Annales Eccl.; 
 Spondani Annales Sacri ; Parei 
 Universalis Hist. Ecc; Lampe, 
 Dupin, Spanheim, and Mosheim^s 
 Eccl. Hist.; Jortin^s Remarks on 
 EccL Hist.; Millar'' s Propagation 
 of Christianity ; Gillies' s Historical 
 Collections ; Dr. Erskine^s Sketches.^ 
 and Rohinsor^s Researches. The 
 most recent are. Dr. CampbeWs^ 
 Gregorifs^ Milner^s^ and Dr* 
 Haxveis's ; all which have their 
 excellencies. For the history of 
 the church under the Old Testa- 
 ment, the reader may consult Mil- 
 ler'' s History of the Church ; Pri- 
 deaux and Shuckford''s Connexions ; 
 Dr. Watts'' s Scripture History; and 
 Fleurfs History of the Israelites. 
 
 ECLECTICS, a name given to 
 some ancient philosophers, who, 
 without attaching themselves to 
 any particular sect, took v^hat they 
 judged good and solid from each. 
 One Potamon, of Alexandria, who 
 lived under Augustus and Tiberi- 
 us, and who, v/eary of doubting 
 of all things, with the Sceptics and 
 Pyrrhonians, was the person who 
 formed this sect. 
 
 ECLECTICS, or modem Pla- 
 tonics, a sect which arose in the 
 christian church towards the close 
 of the second century. They pro- 
 fessed to make truth the only ob- 
 ject of their enquiry, and to be 
 ready to adopt from all the dif- 
 ferent systems and sects such te- 
 nets as they thought agreeable to 
 it. The}' preferred Plato to the 
 other philosophers, and looked 
 
EDI 
 
 253 
 
 ELD 
 
 upon his opinions concerning God, 
 the human soul, and things invi- 
 sible, as conformable to the spirit 
 and genius of the christian doc- 
 trine. One of the principal pa- 
 trons of this system was Ammo- 
 nius Saccas, who at this time 
 laid the foundation of that sect, 
 afterwards distinguished by the 
 name of the liezv Platonics in the 
 Alexandrian school. 
 
 ECSTACY, or Extasy, a 
 transport of the mind, which sus- 
 pends the functions of the senses 
 by the intense contemplation of 
 some extraordinary object. 
 
 ECTHESIS, a confession of 
 faith, in the form of an edict, pub- 
 lished in the year 639 by the em- 
 peror Heraclius, with a view to pa- 
 cify the troubles occasioned by the 
 EutjT^chian heresy in the eastern 
 church. However, the same prince 
 revoked it, on being informed that 
 pope Severinus had condemned it, 
 as favouring the M onoth elite s ; 
 declaring, at the same time, that 
 Sergius, patriarch of Constantino- 
 ple, was the author of it. See 
 
 EUTYCHIANS. 
 
 EDIFICATION: this word 
 signifies a building up. Hence we 
 call a building an edifice. Applied 
 to spiritual things, it signifies the 
 improving, adorning, and comfort- 
 ing the mind ; and a christian may 
 be said to be edified when he is 
 encouraged and animated in the 
 ways and works of the Lord. The 
 means to promote our own edifica- 
 tion are, prayer, self-examination, 
 reading the scriptures, hearing the 
 gospel, meditation, attendance on 
 all appointed ordinances. To 
 v^ify others, there should be love, 
 ■spiritual conversation, forbear- 
 
 ance, faithfulness, benevolent exer-» 
 tions, and uniformity of conduct. 
 
 EFFRONTES, a sect of he- 
 retics, in 1534, who scraped their 
 forehead with a knife till it bled, 
 and then poured oil into the wound. 
 This ceremony served them instead 
 of baptism. They are likewise 
 said to have denied the divinity of 
 the Holy Spirit. 
 
 EICETtE, a denomination in 
 the )7ear 680, who affirmed that, in 
 order to make prayer acceptable 
 to God, it should be performed 
 dancing. 
 
 EJACULATION, a short 
 prayer, in which the mind is di- 
 rected to God on any emergency. 
 See PrayePv. 
 
 ELCESAITES, ancient here- 
 tics, who made their appearance in 
 the reign of the emperor Trajan, 
 and took their name from their 
 leader, Elcesai. They kept a mean 
 between the Jews, Christians, and 
 Pagans ; they worshipped but one- 
 God, observed the Jewish sabbath, 
 circumcision, and the other cere- 
 monies of the law ; yet they re- 
 jected the Pentateuch and the 
 prophets ; nor had they any more 
 respect for the writings of the 
 apostles. 
 
 ELDER (j;T^stj!^vT£p@-^j an over- 
 seer, ruler, leader. 
 
 Elders, or seniors, in ancient 
 Jewish polity, were persons the 
 most considerable for age, expe- 
 rience, and wisdom. Of this sort 
 were the 70 men whom Moses 
 associated with himself in the go- 
 vernment ; such likewise after- 
 wards were those who held the 
 first mark in the svniagogue as pre- 
 sidents. — Elders, in church his- 
 torj'^, were origiufilly those who 
 
ELD 
 
 254 
 
 ELE 
 
 held the first place in the assem- 
 blies of the primitive christians. 
 The word presbyter is often used 
 in the New Testament in this sig- 
 nification : hence the first coun- 
 cils of christians were called Pres- 
 byteria, or councils of elders. — 
 Elders, in the presbyterian disci- 
 pline, are officers who, in conjunc- 
 tion with the ministers and dea- 
 cons, compose the kirk sessions, 
 who formerly used to inspect and 
 regulate matters of religion and 
 discipline j but whose principal 
 . business now is to take care of the 
 poor's funds. They are chosen 
 from among the people, and are 
 received publicly with some de- 
 gree of ceremony. In Scotland 
 there is an indefinite number of 
 elders in each parish, generally 
 about twelve. See Presbyte- 
 rians. 
 
 it has long been a matter of 
 dispute whether there are any 
 such officers as lay-elders men- 
 tioned in scripture. On the one 
 side it is observed, that these of- 
 ficers are no where mentioned as 
 being alone or single, but always 
 as being many in every congre- 
 gation. They are also mentioned 
 separately from the brethren. 
 Their office, more than once, is 
 described as being distinct from 
 that of preaching, not only in 
 jRom. xii, v/here he that ruleth 
 is expressly distinguished from him 
 that exhorteih or teacheth, but 
 also in that passage, 1st Tim. v, IT. 
 On the other side it is said, that, 
 from the above-mentioned pas- 
 sages, nothing canbe collected with 
 certainty to establish this opinion ; 
 neither can it be inferred from 
 any other passage that churches 
 
 should be furnished with such of* 
 ficers, though perhaps prudence, 
 in some circumstances, may make 
 them expedient. " I incline to 
 think," says Dr. Guise, on the pas- 
 sage 1st Tim. v, 17, " that the 
 apostle intends orAy preaching el- 
 ders^ when he directs double ho- 
 nour to be paid to the elders that 
 rule well, especially those who la- 
 bour in the word and doctrine ; and 
 that the distinction lies not in the 
 order of officers, but in the degree 
 of their diligence, faithfulness, and 
 eminence in laboriously fulfilling 
 their ministerial work ; and so the 
 emphasis is to be laid on the word 
 labour in the word and doctrine, 
 which has an especially annexed 
 to it." 
 
 ELECTION. This word has 
 different meanings. 1. It signifies 
 God's taking a whole nation, com- 
 munity, or body of men, into ex- 
 ternal covenant with himself, by 
 giving them the advantage of reve- 
 lation as the rule of their belief 
 and practice, when other nations 
 are without it, Deut. vii, 6. — 2. A 
 temporary designation of some per- 
 son or persons to the filling up 
 some particular station in the vi- 
 sible church, or office in civil life, 
 John vi, 70. 1st Sam. x, 24. — 
 
 3. That gracious and almighty 
 act of the Divine Spirit, whereby 
 God actually and visibly separates 
 his people from the world by ef- 
 fectual calling, John xv, 19. — 
 
 4. That eternal, sovereign, uncon- 
 ditional, particular, and immuta- 
 ble act of God, whereby he select- 
 ed some from among all mankind, 
 and of every nation under heaven, 
 to be redeemed and everlastingly 
 saved by Christ, Eph, i, 4. 2d 
 
EMU 
 
 255 
 
 ENT 
 
 Thess. ii, 13. See Decree, and 
 
 PPEDESTI NATION. 
 
 ELOQUENCE Pulpit. " The 
 chief characteristics of the elo- 
 quence suited to the pulpit are 
 these two, — gravity and warmth. 
 The serious nature of the subjects 
 belonging to the pulpit requires 
 gravity ; their importance to man- 
 kind requires warmth. It is far 
 from being either easv or com- 
 mon to unite these characters of 
 eloquence. The grave ^ when it is 
 predominant, is apt to run into a 
 dull, uniform sokmnity. The 
 rvarm^ when it wants gravity, bor- 
 ders on the theatrical and light. 
 The union of the two must be 
 studied by all preachers, as of the 
 utmost consequence both in the 
 composition of their discourses, 
 and in their manner of delivery. 
 Gravity and warmth united, form 
 that character of preaching which 
 the French call onction; the affect- 
 ing, penetrating, interesting man- 
 ner, flowing from a strong sensi- 
 bility of heart in the preacher, the 
 importance of those truths which 
 he delivers, and an earnest de- 
 sire that they may make full im- 
 pression on the hearts of his 
 hearers." See Declamation, 
 Sermons. 
 
 EMULATION, a generous 
 ardour kindled by the praise wor- 
 thy examples of others, which im- 
 pels us to imitate, to rival, and, if 
 possible, to excel them. This pas- 
 sion involves in it esteem of the 
 person whose attainments or con- 
 duct we emulate, of the qualities 
 and actions in which we emulate 
 him, and a desire of resemblance, 
 together with a joy springing from 
 the hope of success. The word 
 
 comes originally from the Greek 
 cxixiKKx^ contest ; whence the La- 
 tin a?mulus, and thence our 
 emulation. Plato makes emula- 
 tion the daughter of envy : if so, 
 there is a great difference between 
 the mother and the offspring ; the 
 one being a virtue, and the other 
 a vice. Emulation admires great 
 actions, and strives to imitate 
 them ; envy recuses them the 
 praises that are their due: emu- 
 lation is generous, and only thinks 
 of equalling or surpassing a rival ; 
 envy is low, and only seeks to 
 lessen him. It would, therefore, 
 be more proper to suppose emu- 
 lation the daughter of admira- 
 tion ; admiration being a princi- 
 pal ingredient in the composition 
 of it. 
 
 ENCRATITES, a sect, in the 
 second century, who abstained 
 from marriage, wine, and animals. 
 ENERGICI, a denomination 
 in the sixteenth century ; so called 
 because they held that the eucha- 
 rist was the energy and virtue of 
 Jesus Christ ; not his body, nor a 
 representation thereof. 
 
 ENERGUMENS, persons sup- 
 posed to be possessed with the 
 devil, concerning whom there were 
 many regulations among the pri- 
 mitive christians. They were 
 denied baptism and the eucharist, 
 at least this was the practice of 
 some churches ; and though they 
 were under the care of exorcists, 
 yet it was thought a becoming act 
 of charity to let them have the 
 public prayers of the church, at 
 which they were permitted to be 
 present. 
 
 ENTHUSIASM. To obtain 
 just definitions of words which are 
 
ENT 
 
 256 
 
 EN V 
 
 promiscuously used, it must be 
 confessed, is no smiall difficulty. 
 This word, it seems is used both 
 in a good and a bad sense. In its 
 best sense it signifies a divine affla- 
 tus, or inspiration. It is also taken 
 for that noble ardour of mind 
 which leads us to imagine anything 
 sublime, grand, or surprising. In 
 its worse sense it signifies any im- 
 pression on the fancy, or agitation 
 of the passions, of which a man 
 can give no rational account. It 
 is generally applied to religious 
 characters, and is said to be de- 
 rived (aiTro T.vv tvQuaix's ij.xi]ioiji.vj'jjv) 
 from the wild gestures and speeches 
 of ancient religionists, pretending 
 to more than oi'dinary and more 
 than true communications with the 
 gods, and particularly ''bv^-jtims, in 
 the act or at the time of sacri- 
 ficing. In this sense, then, it 
 signifies that impulse of the mind 
 which leads a man to suppose he 
 has some remarkable intercourse 
 v/ith the Deity, while at the same 
 time it is nothing more than the 
 effects of a heated imagination, or 
 a sanguine constitution. 
 
 That the Divine Being permits 
 his people to enjoy fellowship with 
 him, and that he can work upon 
 the minds of his creatures when 
 and how he pleases, cannot be 
 denied. But, then, what is the cri- 
 terion by which we are to judge, 
 in order to distinguish it from en- 
 thusiasm? It is necessary there 
 should be some rule, for without it 
 the greatest extravagancies would 
 be committed, the most notorious 
 impostors countenanced', and the 
 most enormous evils ensue. Now 
 this criterion is the word of God ; 
 from whk:h vre learn that we are 
 
 to expect no new revelations, no 
 extraordinaiy gifts, as in the apos- 
 tles' time : that whatever opinions, 
 feelings, views, or impressions we 
 may have, if they are inconsistent 
 with reason, if they do not tend to 
 humble u§, if they do not influence 
 our temper, regulate our lives, 
 and make us just, pious, honest, 
 and uniform, they cannot come 
 from God, but are evidently the 
 effusions of an enthusiastic brain. 
 On the other hand, if the mind be 
 enlightened, if the will which was 
 perverse be renovated, detached 
 from evil, and inclined to good ; 
 if the powers be roused to exertion 
 for the promotion of the Divine 
 glory, and the good of men ; if 
 
 i the natural corruptions of the 
 heart be suppressed ; if peace and 
 joy arise from a viev/ of the good- 
 ness of God, attended with a spi- 
 ritual frame of mind, a heart de- 
 voted to God, and a holy, useful 
 life ; however this may be branded 
 v/ith the name of enthusiasm, it 
 certainly is from God, because 
 bare human efforts, unassisted by 
 him, could never produce such ef- 
 fects as these. Theol. 3Iisc.^ vol. 
 ii, p. 43 ; Locke on Underst.^ vol. 
 ii, ch. 19; Spect.^ No. 201, vol. 
 iii ; Wesley'' s Ser. on Enthusiasm ; 
 Mrs. Hj. Moore''s Hints toxvards 
 
 forming the character of a young 
 Princess^ vol. ii, p. 246. 
 
 ENVY, a sensation of uneasiness 
 and disquiet, arising from the ad- 
 vantages which others are supposed 
 to possess above us, accompanied 
 with malignity towards those who 
 possess them. " This," says a 
 good writer, " is universally ad- 
 mitted to be one of the blackest 
 passions in the human heart. Na. 
 
EON 
 
 257 
 
 EPI 
 
 ©ne, indeed, is to be condemned 
 for defendinghis rights, and shew- 
 ing displeasure against a malicious 
 enemy ; but to conceive ill will 
 at one who has attacked none of 
 our rights, nor done us any in- 
 jury, solely because he is more 
 prosperous than we are, is a 
 disposition altogether unnatural. 
 Hence the character of an envious 
 man is universally odious. All 
 disclaim it; and they who feel 
 themselves under the influence of 
 this passion, carefully conceal it. 
 The chief grounds of envy may 
 be reduced to three : accomplish- 
 ments of mind ; advantages of 
 birth, rank, and fortune ; and su- 
 perior success in worldly pursuits. 
 To subdue this odious disposition, 
 let us consider its sinful and crimi- 
 nal nature; the mischiefs it oc- 
 casions to the world ; the unhap- 
 piness it produces to him who pos- 
 sesses it ; the evil causes that nou- 
 rish it, such as pride and indolence : 
 let us, moreover, bring often into 
 view those religious considerations 
 which regard us as christians; how 
 unwortliy we are in the sight of 
 God ; how much the blessings 
 which we enjoy are above what we 
 deserve. I-et us learn reverence 
 and submission to that Divine 
 government which has appointed 
 to every one such a condition as 
 Is fittest for him to possess ; let us 
 consider how opposite the chris- 
 tian spirit is to envy ; above all, 
 let us offer up our prayers to the 
 Almighty, that he would purify 
 our hearts from a passion which is 
 so base and so criminal." 
 
 EONIANS, the followers of 
 Eon, a wild fanatic, of the province 
 of Bretagne, in the twelfth century : 
 
 Vol. I. L 1 
 
 he concluded from the resem- 
 blance between ewm, in the form for 
 exorcising malignant spirits, viz. 
 " per eum, qui venturus est ju- 
 dicare vivos et mortuos," and his 
 own name Eon, thathe was the son 
 of God, and ordained to judge the 
 quick and dead. Eon was, how- 
 ever, solemnly condemned by the 
 council at Rheims, in 1148, and 
 ended his days in a priscm. He 
 left behind him a number of fol- 
 lowers, whom persecution and 
 death so weakly and cruelly em- 
 ployed could not persuade to 
 abandon his cause, or to renounce 
 an absurdity which, says Mosheim, 
 one would think, could never have 
 gained credit but in such a place 
 as Bedlam. 
 
 EOQUINIANS, a denomina- 
 tion in the sixteenth century; so cal- 
 led from one Eoquinus, their mas- 
 ter, who taught that Christ did not 
 die for the wicked, but for the faith- 
 ful onlv. 
 
 EPICUREANS, the disciples 
 of Epicurus, who flourished about 
 A.M. 3700. This sect maintained 
 that the world was formed not by 
 God, nor with any design, but by 
 the fortuitous concourse of atoms. 
 They denied that God governs 
 the world, or in the least conde- 
 scends to interfere with creatures 
 below ; they denied the immor- 
 tality of the soul, and the exist- 
 ence of angels; they maintained 
 that happiness consisted in plea- 
 sure; but some of them placed 
 this pleasure inthc tranquillity and 
 joy of the mind arising from the 
 practice of moral virtue, and 
 which is thought by some to have 
 been the true principle of Epicu- 
 rus ; others understood him in the 
 
EPI 
 
 258 
 
 EPI 
 
 gfoss sense, and placed all their 
 happiness in corporeal pleasure. 
 When Paul was at Athens, he 
 had conferences with the Epicu- 
 rean philosophers, Acts xvii, 18. 
 The word Epicurean is used, at 
 present, for an indolent, effeminate, 
 and voluptuous person, who only 
 consults his private and particular 
 pleasure. See Academics. 
 
 EPIPKANY, a christian fes- 
 tival, otherwise called the mani- 
 festation of Christ to the Gentiles, 
 observed on the 6th of January, in 
 honour of the appearance of our 
 Saviour to the three magi, or wise 
 men, who came to adore him and 
 bring him presents. 
 
 EPISCOPACY, that form of 
 church government in which dioce- 
 san bishops are established as dis- 
 tinct from and superior to priests 
 •or presbyters. 
 
 The controversy respecting 
 episcopacy commenced soon after 
 the reformation ; and has been agi- 
 tated with great warmth, between 
 the Episcopalians on the one side, 
 and the Presbyterians and Inde- 
 pendents on the other. Among 
 the Protestant churches abroad, 
 those which were reformed by 
 Luther and his associates are in 
 general episcopal ; whilst such as 
 follow the doctrines of Calvin 
 have for the most part thrown off 
 the order of bishops as one of the 
 corruptions of popery. In Eng- 
 land, however, the controversy 
 has been considered as of greater 
 importance than on the continent. 
 It has been strenuously maintain- 
 ed by one patr}', that the episcopal 
 order is essential to the constitution 
 of the church ; and by others, that 
 it is a pernicious encroachment 
 
 on the rights of men, for which 
 there is no authority in scripture. 
 We will just briefly state their ar- 
 guments. 
 
 I. Episcopacy^ arguments for. 1 * 
 Some argue that the nature of the 
 office which the apostles bore was 
 such, that the edification of the 
 church would require they should 
 have some successors in those mi- 
 nistrations which are not common 
 to gospel ministers. — 2. That Ti- 
 mothy and Titus were bishops of 
 Ephesus andCrete,v/hose business 
 it was to exercise such extraor- 
 dinary acts of jurisdiction as are 
 now claimed for diocesan bishops, 
 1st Tim. i, 3. Tim. iii, 19, 22. 
 2d Tim. ii, 2. Tit. i, 5, &c. 
 
 Tit. iii, 10 3. Some have argued 
 
 from the mention of angels, i. e. 
 as they understand it, of diocesan 
 bishops, in the seven churches of 
 Asia, particularly the angel of 
 Ephesus, though there were many 
 ministers employed in it long be- 
 fore the date of that epistle. Acts 
 XX, 17, 18. — 4. It is urged that 
 some of the churches which were 
 formed in large cities during the 
 lives of the apostles, and especially 
 that at Jerusalem, consisted of 
 such vast numbers as could not 
 possibly assemble at one place. — • 
 5. That in the writers who suc- 
 ceeded the inspired penmen there 
 is a multiplied and concurring 
 evidence to prove the apostolic 
 institution of episcopacy. 
 
 II. Episcopacij^ arguments a- 
 gainst. 1. To the above it is an- 
 swered, that, as the office of the 
 apostles was such as to require ex- 
 traordinary and miraculous endow- 
 ments for the discharge of many 
 parts of it, it is impossible that they 
 
EPI 
 
 259 
 
 EPI 
 
 can have any successors in those 
 services who are not empowered 
 for the execution of them as the 
 apostles themselves were ; and it 
 is maintained, that so far as ordi- 
 nation, confirmation, and excom- 
 munication, may be performed 
 without miraculous gifts, there 
 is nothing in them but what 
 seems to suit the pastoral office in 
 general. 
 
 2. That Timothy and Titus had 
 not a stated residence in these 
 churches, but only visited them for 
 a time, 2d Tim. iv, 9, 13. Tit. iii, 
 12. It also appears, from other 
 places in which the journeys of Ti- 
 mothy and Titus are mentioned, 
 that they were a kind of itinerant 
 officers, called evangelists, who 
 were assistants to the apostles j for 
 there is great reason to believe the 
 first epistle to Timothy was written 
 prior to those from Rome in the 
 time of Paul's imprisonment, as 
 some think the second was also. 
 To which we may add, that it 
 seems probable, at least, that they 
 had very extraordinary gifts to 
 furnish them for their superior of- 
 fices, 1 st Tim. iv, 14. Eph. iv, 11. 
 2d Tim. iv, 5. And though Timothy 
 was with Paul when he took his 
 leave of the elders of Ephesus (Acts 
 xx), the apostle gives not the least 
 hint of any extraordinary power 
 with which he was invested, nor 
 says one word to engage their obe- 
 dience to him ; which is a very 
 strong presumption that no such 
 relation did subsist, or was to take 
 place. 
 
 3. As to the angels of the seven 
 churches in Asia, it is. certain that, 
 for any thing which appears in our 
 Lord's epistles to them (Rev. ii 
 
 and iii), they might be no more 
 than the pastors of single congre- 
 gations with their proper assistants. 
 
 4. To the fourth argument it is 
 answered, 1. That the v/ord (y.vfia.'^ts 
 may only signify great numbers, 
 and may not be intended to express 
 that there were several times ten 
 thousand, in an exact and literal 
 sense: compare Luke, ch. xii, ver. 
 1. (Greek). — 2. That no sufficient 
 proof is brought from scripture of 
 there being such numbers of peo- 
 ple in any particular place as this 
 supposes ; for the myriads of be- 
 lieving Jews spoken of in the pre- 
 ceding text, as well as the num- 
 bers mentioned, Acts ii, 41. Acts 
 iv, 4, might very probably be 
 those who were gathered together 
 at those great feasts from distant 
 places, of which few might have 
 their stated residence in that city. 
 See Acts, ch. viii, ver. 1. — 3. If 
 the number were so great as the 
 objection supposes, there might 
 be, for any thing which appears 
 in scripture, several bishops in the 
 same city, as there are, among 
 those who do not allow of dio- 
 cesan episcopacy, several co-or- 
 dinate pastors, overseers, or bi- 
 shops : and though Eusebius does 
 indeed pretend to give us a cata- 
 logue of the bishops of Jerusalem, 
 it is to be remembered how the 
 christians had been dispersed from 
 thence for a considerable time, at 
 and after the Roman war, and 
 removed into other parts, which 
 must necessarily very much in- 
 crease the uncertainty wliich Eu- 
 sebius himself ov/ns there was, as 
 to the succession of bishops in 
 most of the ancient sees. 
 
 5. As to the ancient writers, it is 
 
EPI 
 
 260 
 
 EPI 
 
 observed, that though Clemens Ro- 
 manus recommends to the Corin- 
 thians the example of the Jewish 
 church, where the high-priest, or- 
 dinary priest, and Levites, knew 
 and observed their respective offi- 
 ces, yet he never mentions presby- 
 ters and bishops as distinct, nor re- 
 fers the contending Corinthians to 
 any one ecclesiastical head as the 
 centre of unity, which he would 
 probably have done if there had 
 been any diocesan bishops among 
 them J nay, he seems evidently to 
 speak of pi'esbyters as exercising 
 the episcopal office. See 39th sect, 
 of his epistle. — 2. As for Irenseiis, 
 it docs not appear that he made any 
 distinction between bishops and 
 presbyters. He does indeed men- 
 tion the succession of bishops from 
 the apostles, which is reconcileable 
 with the supposition of their being 
 parochial, nor altogether irrecon- 
 cileable with the supposition of 
 joint pastors in those churches. — 
 3. It is allowed that Ignatius in 
 ■many places distinguishes between 
 bishops and presbyters, and re- 
 quires obedience to bishops from 
 the whole church; but as he often 
 supposes each of the churches to 
 which he wrote to meet in one 
 place, and represents them as 
 breaking one loaf, and surround- 
 ing one altar, and charges the 
 bishop to know all his flock by 
 name, it is most evident that he 
 must speak of a parochial and not 
 a diocesan bishop. — 4. Polycarp 
 exhorts the christians at Philippi 
 to be subject to the presbyters and 
 deacons, but says not 'one word 
 about any bishop. — 5. Justin Mar- 
 tyr speaks of the president^ but 
 
 then he represents him as being 
 present at every administration of 
 the eucharist, which he also men- 
 tions as always making a part of 
 their public worship ; so that the 
 bishop here must have only been 
 the pastor of one congregation. — 
 6. Tertullian speaks of approved 
 elders ; but there is nothing said 
 of them that proves a diocesan, 
 since all he says might be applied 
 to a parochial bishop. — 7. Though 
 Clemens Alexandrinus speaks of 
 bishops, priests, and deacons, yet 
 it cannot be inferred from hence 
 that the bishops of whom he speaks 
 were any thing more than paro- 
 chial. — 8. Origen speaks distinctly 
 of bishops and pi'esbyters, but 
 unites them both, as it seems, un- 
 der the common name of priests, 
 saying nothing of the power of 
 bishops as extending beyond one 
 congregation, and rather insinu- 
 ates the contrary, when he speaks 
 of oifenders as brought before the 
 whole church to be judged by it. 
 — 9. The apostolic constitutions 
 frequently distinguish between bi- 
 shops and presbyters ; but these 
 constitutions cannot be depended 
 on, as they are supposed to be a 
 forgery of the fourth century. — 
 10. It is allovfed that in succeed- 
 ing ages the difference between 
 bishops and presbyters came to be 
 more and more magnified, and 
 various churches came under the 
 care of the same bishop : never- 
 theless, Jerom does expressly speak 
 of bishops and presbyters as of the 
 same order ; and Gregory Nazi- 
 anzen speaks of the great and af- 
 fecting distinction made bet\veen 
 ministers in prerogative of place, 
 
EPI 
 
 261 
 
 EQU 
 
 and other tyrannical privileges (as 
 he calls them), as a lamentable 
 knd destructive thing. 
 
 III. Episcopacy^ how introduced. 
 — It is easy to apprehend how 
 episcopacy, as it was in the primi- 
 tive church, with those alterations 
 which it afterwards received, 
 might be gradually introduced. 
 The apostles seem to have taught 
 chiefly in large cities ; they settled 
 ministers there, who, preaching in 
 country villages, or smaller towns, 
 increased the number of converts : 
 it would have been most reason- 
 able that those new converts, which 
 lay at a considerable distance from 
 the large towns, should, when they 
 grewnumerous,have formed them- 
 selves into distinct churches, un- 
 der the care of their proper pas- 
 tors or bishops, independendy on 
 any of their neighbours ; but the 
 reverence which would naturallv 
 be paid to men who had conversed 
 with the apostles, and perhaps some 
 desire of influence and dominion, 
 from which the hearts of very good 
 men might not be entirely free, and 
 which early began to work (John 
 iii, 9. 2d Thess. ii, 7), might easily 
 lay a foundation for such a subor- 
 dination in the ministers of neiv 
 erected churches, to those which 
 were more ancient; and much 
 more easily might the superiority 
 of a pastor to his assistant presby- 
 ters increase, till it at length came 
 to that great difference which we 
 own was early made, and probably 
 soon carried to an excess. And if 
 there were that degree of dege- 
 neracy in the church, and defec- 
 tion from the purity and vigour of 
 religion, which the learned Vitrin- 
 
 ga supposes to have happened be- 
 tween the time of Nero and Tra- 
 jan, it would be less surprising that 
 those evil principles, which occa- 
 sioned episcopal, and at length the 
 papal usurpation, should before 
 that time exert some considerable 
 influence. 
 
 IV. Episcopacy reduced., plan of. 
 Archbishop Usher projected apian 
 for the reduction of episcopacy, 
 by which he would have mode- 
 rated it in such a manner as to 
 have brought it very near the Pres- 
 byterian government of the Scotch 
 church ; the weekly parochial ves- 
 try answering to their church ses- 
 sion ; the monthly synod to be held 
 by the Chorepiscopi answering to 
 their presbyteries ; the diocesan 
 synod to their provincial, and the 
 national to their general assembly. 
 The meeting of the dean and chap- 
 ter, practised in the church of 
 England, is but a faint shadow of 
 the second, the ecclesiastical court 
 of the third, and the convocation of 
 the fourth. Binghani's Origines 
 Ecclesiastics ; Stilling jleet' s Ori- 
 gines Sacra ; Boyse and Howe on 
 Epis. ; Benson^ s Dissertation con- 
 cerning- thefrst Set. of the Chris- 
 tian Church; King^s Const, of the 
 Church ; Doddridge's Lectures., 
 lee. 196; Clarhon and Dr. Mau- 
 rice on Episcopacy ; Eiic. Brit. 
 
 EPISCOPALIAN, one who 
 prefers the episcopal government 
 and discipline to all others. See 
 last article. 
 
 EPISTLES OF BARNA- 
 BAS. See Barnabas. 
 
 EQUANIMITY is an even 
 uniform state of mind amidst all 
 the vicissitudes of time, and chan- 
 
EQU 
 
 262 
 
 ERA 
 
 gss of circumstances., to which we 
 are subject in the present state. 
 One of this disposition is not de- 
 jected v/hen under adversity, or 
 elated when in the height of pros- 
 perity : he is equally affable to 
 ethers, and contented in himself. 
 The excellency of this disposition 
 is beyond all praise. It may be 
 considered as the grand remedy 
 for all the diseases and miseries of 
 life, and the only way by which 
 we can preserve the dignity of our 
 character as men and as chris- 
 tians. 
 
 EQUITY is that exact rule of 
 righteousness or justice which is to 
 beobservedbetweenman and man. 
 Our Lord beautifully and com- 
 prehensively expresses it in these 
 words : " All things whatsoever 
 ye would that men should do unto 
 you, do ye even so to them, for 
 this is the law and the prophets," 
 Matt, vii, 12. This golden rule, 
 says Dr. Watts, has many excel- 
 lent properties in it. 1. It is a 
 rule that is easy to be understood, 
 and as easy to be applied by the 
 meanest and weakest understand- 
 ing, Isa. XXXV, 8. — 2. It is a very 
 short rule, and easy to be remem- 
 bered : the weakest memory can 
 retain it ; and the meanest of man- 
 kind may carry this about with 
 them, and have it ready upon all 
 occasions. — 3. This excellent pre- 
 cept carries greater evidence to 
 the conscience, and a stronger de- 
 gree of conviction in it, than any 
 other rule of moral virtue. — 4. It is 
 particularly fitted for practice, be- 
 cause it includes in it a powerful 
 motive to stir us up to do what it 
 enjoins.- — 5. It is such a rule as, 
 if well applied, will almost always 
 
 secure our neighbour from injury, 
 and secure us from guilt if we 
 should chance to hurt him. — 6. It 
 is a rule as much fitted to awaken 
 us to sincere repentance, upon the 
 transgression of it, as it is to direct 
 us to our present duty. — 7. It is 
 a most extensive rule, with regard 
 to all the stations, ranks, and cha- 
 racters of mankind, for it is per- 
 fectly suited to them all. — 8. It is 
 a most comprehensive rule with 
 regard to all the actions and du- 
 ties that concern our neighbours. 
 It teaches us to regulate our tem- 
 per and behaviour, and promote 
 tenderness, beneficence, gentle- 
 ness, &c. — 9. It is also a rule of 
 the highest prudence with regard 
 to ourselves, and promotes our 
 own interest in the best manner. — 
 10. This rule is fitted to make 
 the whole world as happy as the 
 present state of things will admit. 
 See Watts's Sermons^ ser. 33, v. i ; 
 Evans's Ser.^str. 28 ; Morning' Ex- 
 ercises at Cripplegate^ ser. 10. 
 
 E QUI VOCATION, the using 
 aterm or expression that has a dou- 
 ble meaning. Equivocations are 
 said to be expedients to save tell- 
 ing the truth, and yet without 
 telling a falsity ; but if an inten- 
 tion to deceive constitute the es- 
 sence of a lie, which in generalj^it 
 does, I cannot conceive how it 
 can be done without incurring 
 guilt, as it is certainly an intention 
 to deceive. 
 
 ERASTIANS, so called from 
 Erastus, a German divine of the 
 16th century. The pastoral office, 
 according to him, was only persua- 
 sive, like a professor of science 
 over his students, without any 
 power of the keys annexed. Tlie 
 
ESS 
 
 263 
 
 ST 
 
 Lord's supper and other ordinan- 
 ces of the gospel were to be free 
 aihd open to all. The minister 
 might dissuade the vicious and un- 
 qualified from the communion; but 
 might not refuse it, or inflict any 
 kind of censure ; the punishment 
 of all offences, either of a civil or 
 religious nature, being referred to 
 the civil magistrate. 
 
 ERROR, a mistake of our judg- 
 ment, giving assent to that which 
 is not true. Mr. Locke reduces 
 the causes of error to four. 1. 
 Want of proofs. — 2. Want of abi- 
 lity to use them. — 3. Want of 
 will to use them. — 4. Wrong mea- 
 sures of probability. In a moral 
 and scriptural sense it signifies sin. 
 See Sin. 
 
 ESSENES, a very ancient sect 
 that was spread abroad through 
 Syria, Egypt, and the neighbour- 
 ing countries. They maintained 
 that religion consisted wholly in 
 contemplation and silence. Some 
 of them passed their lives in a state 
 of celibacy ; others embraced the 
 state of matrimony, which they 
 considered as lawful, when entered 
 into with the sole design of pro- 
 pagating the species, and not to sa- 
 tisfy the demand of lust. Some 
 of them held the possibility of ap- 
 peasing the Deity by sacrifices, 
 though different from that of 
 the Jews ; and others maintained 
 that no offering was acceptable 
 to God but that of a serene and 
 composed mind, addicted to the 
 contemplation of divine things. 
 They looked upon the law of 
 Moses as an allegorical system of 
 spiritual and mysterious truths ; 
 and renounced, iu its explications, 
 all regard to the outward letter. 
 
 ESTABLISHMENTS Religi- 
 ous. By a religious establishment 
 is generally understood such an 
 intimate connexion between reli- 
 gion and civil government as is 
 supposed to secure the best inter- 
 ests and great end of both. This 
 article, like many others, has af- 
 forded matter of considerable dis- 
 pute. In order that the reader 
 may judge for himself, v/e shall 
 take a view of both sides of the 
 question. 
 
 The partisans for religious es- 
 tablishments observe, that they 
 have prevailed universally in every 
 age and nation. The ancient pa- 
 triarchs formed no extensive nor 
 permanent associations but such 
 as arose from the relationships or 
 Nature. Every father governed 
 his own family, and their offspring 
 submitted to his jurisdiction. He 
 presided in tlieir education and 
 discipline, in their religious wor- 
 ship, and in their general govern- 
 ment. His knowledge and ex- 
 perience handed down to them 
 their laws and their customs, 
 both civil and religious ; and his 
 authority enforced them. The 
 offices of prophet, priest, and 
 king, were thus united in the same 
 patriarch, Gen. xviii, 1 9. Gen. xvii, 
 and sxi. Gen. xiv, 18. The Jews 
 enjoyed a religious establishment 
 dictated and ordained by God. In 
 turning our attention to the hea- 
 then nations we shall find tlie 
 same incorporation of religious 
 with civil government, Gen. xlvii, 
 22. 2d Kings xvii, 27, 29. Eveiy 
 one who is at all acquainted with 
 the history of Greece and Rome, 
 knows that religion was altogetber 
 blended with the policy of the 
 
EST 
 
 264 
 
 EST 
 
 state. The Koran may be consi- 
 dered as the religious creed and 
 civil code of all the Mahometan 
 tribes. Among the Celtes, or the 
 original inhabitants of Europe, the 
 druids were both their priests and 
 their judges, and their judgment 
 was final. Among the Hindoos, 
 the priests and sovereigns are of 
 different tribes or casts, but the 
 priests are superior in rank ; and 
 in China, the emperor is sovereign 
 pontiff, and presides in all public 
 acts of religion. 
 
 Again ; it is said, that, al- 
 though there is no form of church 
 government absolutely prescribed 
 in the New Testament, yet from 
 the associating law, on which 
 the gospel lays so much stress, 
 by the respect for civil govern- 
 ment it so earnestly enjoins, and 
 by the practice which followed, 
 and finally prevailed, christians 
 cannot be said to disapprove, but 
 to favour religious establishments. 
 
 Religious establishments, also, 
 it is observed, are founded in the 
 nature of man, and interwoven 
 with all the constituent principles 
 of human society : the knowledge 
 and profession of Christianity can- 
 not be upheld without a clergy ; 
 a clergy cannot be supported 
 v/ithout a legal provision ; and a 
 legal provision for the clergy can- 
 not be constituted without the 
 preference of one sect of christians 
 to the rest. An established church 
 is most likely to maintain clerical 
 respectability and usefulness, by 
 holding out a suitable encourage- 
 ment to young men to devote 
 themselves early to the service of 
 the church ; and likewise enables 
 them to obtain such knowledge as 
 
 shall qualify them for the import- 
 ant work. 
 
 They who reason on the con- 
 trary side observe, that the pa- 
 triarchs sustaining civil as well as 
 religious offices, is no proof at all 
 that religion was incorporated 
 with the civil government,' in the 
 sense above referred to ; nor is 
 there the least hint of it in the 
 sacred scriptures. That the case 
 of the Jews can never be consider- 
 ed in point, as they were under a 
 theocracy, and a ceremonial dis- 
 pensation that was to pass away, 1 
 and consequently not designed to 
 be a model for christian nations. 
 That whatever was the practice 
 of heathens in this respect, this 
 forms no argument in favour of 
 that system which is the very op- 
 posite to paganism. The church 
 of Christ is of a spiritual nature, 
 and ought not, yea cannot, in 
 fact, be incorporated with the state 
 without sustaining material injury. 
 In the three first and purest ages 
 of Christianity, the church was a 
 stranger to any alliance with tem- 
 poral powers ; and, so far from 
 needing their aid, religion never 
 flourished so much as while they 
 were combined to suppress it. As 
 to the support which Christianity, 
 when united to civil government, 
 yields to the peace and good order 
 of society, it is observed, that this 
 benefit will be derived from it, at 
 least, in as great a degree without 
 an establishment as with it. Re- 
 ligion, if it have any power, ope- 
 rates on the conscience of men ; 
 and, resting solely on the belief of 
 invisible realities, it can derive no 
 weight or solemnity from human 
 sanctions. Human establishments, 
 
EST 
 
 26i 
 
 EST 
 
 it is said, have been, and are, pro- 
 ductive of the greatest evils ; for in 
 this case it is requisite to give the 
 preference to some particular sys- 
 tem ; and as the magistrate is no 
 better judge of religion than others, 
 the chances are as great of his 
 lending his sanction to the false 
 as the true. The thousands that 
 have been persecuted and suffered 
 in consequence of establishments, 
 will always form an argument a- 
 gainstthem. Under establishments 
 also, it is said, corruption can- 
 not be avoided. Emolument must 
 be attached to the national church, 
 which may be a strong induce- 
 ment to its ministers to defend it, 
 be it ever so remote from the 
 truth. Thus, also, error becomes 
 permanent ; and that set of opi- 
 nions which happens to prevail 
 when the establishment is form- 
 ed, continues, in spite of supe- 
 rior light and improvement, to be 
 handed down, without alteration, 
 from age to age. Hence the disa- 
 greement between the public creed 
 of the church and the private 
 sentiments of its ministers. As to 
 the provision made for the clergy, 
 this may be done without an esta- 
 blishment, as matter of fact shews 
 in hundreds of instances. Dis- 
 senting ministers, or those who do 
 not hold in establishments, it is 
 observed, are not without means 
 of obtaining knowledge ; but, on 
 the contrary, many of them are 
 equal to their brethren in the esta- 
 blishment for erudition and sound 
 learning. It is not to be dissembled 
 neither, that, among those who, 
 in general, cannot agree with hu- 
 man establishments, they are as 
 pious and as useful members of 
 Vol. I. Mm 
 
 society as others. Finally, though 
 all christians should pay respect to 
 civil magistrates as such, and all 
 magistrates ought to encourage the 
 church, yet no civil magistrates 
 have any power to establish any 
 particular form of religion bind- 
 ing upon the consciences of the 
 subject ; nor are magistrates even 
 represented in scripture as officers 
 or rulers of the church. Should 
 the reader be desirous of prosecut- 
 ing this subject farther, he laay 
 consult Warburton^it Alliance be- 
 trveen Church and State ; Christie's 
 Essay on Establishments ; Palerfs 
 Mor. Phil., V. ii, c. 10; Bishop 
 Laxv's Theory of Religion; Watts' s 
 Civil Power in Things sacred^third 
 volume of his rvorks ; HaWs Liberty 
 of the Press, sec. 5 ; Mrs. He 
 Moore's Hints on forming the Cha- 
 racter of a young Princess, vol. ii, 
 p. 350 ; but especially Ranken and 
 Graham's pieces on the subject ; 
 the former for, and the latter 
 against establishments. 
 
 ESTEEM is that high and ex- 
 alted thought of, and value for any 
 thing, which arises from a sense of 
 its own intrinsic worth and excel- 
 lency. Esteem is higher than 
 simple approbation, which is a de- 
 cision of the judgment ; it is the 
 commencement of affection ; it is 
 a degree of love for others-^ on ac- 
 count of their pleasing qualities, 
 though they should not immedi- 
 ately interest oiu'selves ; by which 
 it is distinguished from gratitude. 
 Our esteem of God manifests it- 
 self in never mentioning his name 
 without reverence ; in bowing the 
 knee ; in prayer and praise ; in all 
 the several forms of outward de- 
 votion, and in quick resentment of 
 
/ 
 
 ETE 
 
 266 
 
 ETE 
 
 any dishonour done to hiui. Our 
 high esteem or veneration of any 
 man appeal's in a humble respect- 
 ful behaviour toward him, speak- 
 ing his praises, imitating his ex- 
 cellencies, and resenting his dis- 
 honour. 
 
 ETERNITY, with respect to 
 God, is a duration without begin- 
 ning or end. As it is the attribute 
 of human nature, it is a duration 
 that has a beginning, but will never 
 ha,ve an end. " It is a duration," 
 says a lively writer, " that ex- 
 cludes all number and computa- 
 tion : days, and months, and years, 
 yea, and ages, are lost in it, like 
 drops in the ocean ! Millions of 
 millions of years, as many years 
 as there are sands on the sea-shore, 
 or particles of dust in the globe of 
 the earth, and these multiplied to 
 the highest reach of number, all 
 these are nothing to eternity. They 
 do not bear the least imaginable 
 proportion to it, for these will 
 come to an end, as certainly as a 
 day ; but eternity will never, ne- 
 ver, never, come to an end ! It is 
 a line without end ! it is an ocean 
 without a shore ! Alas ! what shall 
 I say of it ? it is an infinite, un- 
 known something, that neither 
 human thought can grasp, nor hu- 
 man language describe !" Orton on 
 Eternity; Shoxver on ditto; Davis's 
 Sermons^ ser. 1 1 ; SaurirHs Ser- 
 mons^ vol. iii, p. 370. 
 
 ETERNITY OF GOD is the 
 perpetual continuance of his being, 
 without beginning, end, or suc- 
 cession. That he is xvithout be- 
 ginnings says Dr. Gill, may be 
 proved from, 1. His necessary self- 
 existence, Exod. iii, 14-. — 2. From 
 his attributes, several of which are 
 
 said to be eternal, Rom. i, 20. 
 Acts XV, 18. Psal. ciii, 17. Jer. 
 xxxi, 3 — 3. From his purposes, 
 which are also said to be from 
 eternity, Isa. xxv, 1. Eph. iii, 11. 
 Rom. ix, 11. Eph. i, 4. — 4. From 
 the covenant of grace, which is 
 eternal, 2d Sam. xxiii, 5. Mic. v, 2. 
 
 That he is without end^ may be 
 proved from, 1. His spirituality 
 and simplicity, Rom. i, 23. — 2. 
 From his independency, Rom. ix, 
 5. — 3. From his immutability, 2d 
 Pet. i, 24, 25. Mai. iii, 6. Psal. 
 cii, 26, 27. — 4. From his domi- 
 nion and government, said never 
 to end, Jer. x, 10. Psal. x, 16. 
 Dan. iv, 3. 
 
 That he is xvithout succession., or 
 any distinctions of time succeeding 
 one to another, as moments, mi- 
 nutes, &c. may be proved from, 
 1. His existence before such were 
 in being, Isa. xliii, 13. — 2. The 
 distinctions and differences of time 
 are together ascribed to him, and 
 not as succeeding one another : he 
 is the same yesterday, to-day, and 
 for ever, Heb. xiii, 8. Rev. i, 4. 
 — 3. If his duration were succes- 
 sive, or proceeded by moments, 
 days, and years, then there must 
 have been some first moment, 
 day, and year, when he began 
 to exist, which is incompatible 
 with the idea of his eternity ; and, 
 besides, one day would be but 
 one day with him, and not a 
 thousand, contrary to the ex- 
 press language of scripture, 2d 
 Pet. iii, 8. — 4. He would not be 
 immense, immutable, and perfect, 
 if this were the case ; for he would 
 be older one minute than he was 
 before, which -cannot be said of 
 him. — 5. His knowledge proves 
 
ETE 
 
 267 
 
 EVA 
 
 him without successive duration, 
 for he knows all things past, pre- 
 sent, and to come : " he sees 
 the present without a medium, the 
 past without recollection, and the 
 future without foresight. To him 
 all truths are but one idea, all 
 places but one point, and all times 
 but one moment." GiWs Body of 
 Divinity ; Paley''s Nat. Theol.^ p. 
 430 ; Charnock on the Divine Per- 
 fections ; Clarke on ditto ; Watts' s 
 Ontology^ chap. iv. 
 
 ETERNITY OF THE WORLD. 
 It was the opinion of Aristotle and 
 others that the world was eternal. 
 But that the present system of 
 things had a beginning, seems 
 evident, if we consider the follow- 
 ing things. 1. We may not only 
 conceive of many possible altera- 
 tions which might be made in the 
 form of it, but we see it incessantly 
 changing; whereas an eternal be- 
 ing, for as much as it is self-ex- 
 istent, is always the same. — 2. We 
 have no credible history of trans- 
 actions more re mote than six thou- 
 sand years from the present time ; 
 for as to the pretence that some 
 nations have made to histories of 
 greater antiquity, as the Egypt- 
 ians^ Chaldeans^ Phxmcians^ Chi- 
 nese^ &c. they are evidently con- 
 victed of falsehood in the works 
 referred to at the bottom of this 
 article. — 3. We can trace the 
 invention of the most useful arts 
 and sciences ; which had proba- 
 bly been carried farther, and in- 
 vented sooner, had the world 
 been eternal. — 4. The origin of 
 the most considerable nations of 
 the earth may be traced, i. e. the 
 time when they first inhabited the 
 countries where they now dwell; 
 and it appears that most of the 
 
 western nations came from the 
 east. — 5. If the world be eternal, 
 it is hard to account for the tra- 
 dition of its beginning, which has 
 almost every where prevailed, 
 though under different forms, 
 among both polite and barbarous 
 nations. — 6. We have a most an- 
 cient and credible history of the 
 begmning of the world ; I mean 
 the history of Moses, with which 
 no book in the world, in point of 
 antiquity, can contend. Stilling- 
 feefs Orig. Sacra^ p. 15, 106; 
 Winder'* s Hist, of Knoxvledge, vol. 
 ii, passim ; Pearson on the Creeds p. 
 58; Doddridge^s L€Ctures,lec. 24; 
 Tillotson's Sermons^ ser. 1 ; Clarke 
 at Boyle's Lectures^ p. 22, 23. 
 
 lilTHICS, the doctrine of man- 
 ners, or the science of moral philo- 
 sophy. The v/ord is formed from 
 *)^®-, mores, " manners," by rea- 
 son the scope or object thereof 
 is to form the manners. See 
 
 IVIoRALS. 
 
 ETHNOPHRONES, asectof 
 
 heretics in the seventh century, 
 who made a profession of Christi- 
 anity, but joined thereto all the ce- 
 remonies and follies of Paganism, 
 as judicial astrology, sortileges, 
 auguries, and other divinations. 
 
 EVANGELIST, one who pub- 
 lishes glad tidings : a messenger, 
 or preacher of goods news. The 
 persons denominated evangelists 
 were next in order to the ayiostles, 
 and were sent by them not to 
 settle in any particular place, 
 but to travel among the infant 
 chmxhes, and ordain ordinary 
 oilicers, and finish what the apos- 
 tles had begun. Of this kind were 
 Pliillp tiie deacon, Mark, Silas, 
 Sec. Acts xxi, 8. The title of 
 evangelist is more particularly 
 
EtJC 
 
 268 
 
 EUC 
 
 gpven to the four inspired writers 
 of our Saviour's life. 
 
 EVANGELICAL, agreeable 
 to the doctrines' of Christianity. 
 The term is frequently applied to 
 those who do not rely upon moral 
 duties as to their acceptance with 
 God ; but are influenced to ac- 
 tion from a sense of the love of 
 God, and depend upon the merits 
 of Christ for their everlasting sal- 
 vation. 
 
 EUCHARIST, the sacrament 
 of the Lord's supper. The word 
 properly signifies giving thanks. 
 As to the manner of celebrating the 
 eucharist among the ancient chris- 
 tians, after the customary obla- 
 tions were made, the deacon 
 brought water to the bishops and 
 presbyters standing round the ta- 
 ble to wash their hands ; accord- 
 ing to that passage of the psalmist, 
 *' I will wash my hands in inno- 
 cency, and so will I compass thy 
 altar, O Lord." Then the dea- 
 con cried out aloud, " Mutually 
 embrace and kiss each other j" 
 which being done, the whole con- 
 gregation prayed for the universal 
 peace and welfare of the church, 
 for the tranquillity and repose of 
 the world, for the prosperity of 
 the age, for wholesome weather, 
 and for all ranks and degrees of 
 men. After this followed mutual 
 salutations of the minister and peo- 
 ple; and then the bishop or pres- 
 byter, having sanctified the ele- 
 ments by a solemn benediction, 
 broke the bread, and delivered it 
 to the deacon, who distributed it 
 to the cominunicants," and after 
 that the cup. Their sacramental 
 wine was usually diluted or mixed 
 with water. During the time of 
 
 administration they sang hymns 
 and psalms ; and having concluded 
 with prayer and thanksgiving, the 
 people saluted each other with a 
 kiss of peace, and so the assembly 
 broke up. 
 
 EUCHITES, or Euchit^, a 
 sect of ancient heretics, who were 
 first formed into a religious body 
 towards the end of the fourth cen- 
 tury, though their doctrine and 
 discipline subsisted in Syria,Egypt, 
 and other eastern countries, before 
 the birth of Christ : they were 
 thus called, because they prayed 
 without ceasing, imagining that 
 prayer alone was sufficient to save 
 them. They were a sort of mystics, 
 who imagined, according to the 
 oriental notion, that two souls re- 
 sided in man, the one good, and 
 the other «evil ; and vv'ho were zea- 
 lous in expelling the evil soul or 
 demon, and hastening the return 
 of the good spirit of God by con- 
 templation, prayeV, and singing 
 of hymns. They also embraced 
 opinions neai-ly resembling the 
 Manichean doctrine, and which 
 they derived from the tenets- of 
 the oriental philosophy. The same 
 denomination was used in the 
 twelfth century to denote certain 
 fanatics who infested the Greek 
 and eastern churches, and who 
 were charged with believing a 
 double trinity, rejecting wedlock, 
 abstaining from flesh, treating with 
 contempt the sacraments of bap- 
 tism and the Lord's supper, and 
 the various branches of external 
 worship, and placing the essence 
 of religion solely in external pray- 
 er; and maintaining the efficacy of 
 perpetual supplications to the 
 Supreme JBeing for expelling an 
 
E VI 
 
 269 
 
 EVI 
 
 evil being or genius, which dwelt 
 in the breast of every mortal. This 
 sect is said to have been founded 
 by a person called Lucopetrus^ 
 whose chief disciple was named 
 Tychicus, By degrees it became 
 a general and invidious appella- 
 tion for persons of eminent piety 
 and zeal for genuine Christianity, 
 who opposed the vicious practices 
 and insolent tyranny of the priest- 
 hood, much in the same manner 
 as the Latins comprehended all the 
 adversaries of the Roman pontiff 
 under the general terms of Albi- 
 genses and Waldenses. 
 
 EUDOXIANS, a sect in the 
 fourth century ; so called from 
 their leader Eudoxius, patriarch of 
 Antioch and Constantinople, a 
 great defender of the Arian doc- 
 trine. The Eudoxiansbelieved that 
 the Son was created out of no- 
 thing ; that he had a will distinct 
 and different from that of the Fa- 
 ther, &c. They held many otherte- 
 nets of the Arians andEunomians. 
 
 EVIDENCE is that perception 
 of truth which arises either from 
 the testimony of the senses, or 
 from an induction of reason. The 
 evidences of revelation are divided 
 into internal and external. That 
 is called internal evidence which 
 is drawn from the consideration 
 of those declarations and doctrines 
 which are contained in it ; and 
 that is called external^ which arises 
 from some other circumstances re- 
 ferring to it, such as predictions 
 concerning it, miracles wrought 
 by those who teach it, its success 
 in. the Avorld, Jkc. See £vidmces 
 of Christ.^ art. Christianity. 
 
 Moral evidence is that v.'hich, 
 though it does not exclude a mere 
 
 abstract possibility of things being 
 otherwise, yet shuts out every 
 reasonable ground of suspecting' 
 that they are so. 
 
 Evidences of Grace are those dis-' 
 positions and acts Avhich prove a 
 person to be in a converted state ; 
 such as an enlightened under-" 
 standing ; love to God and his 
 people ; a delight in God's word ; 
 worship of and dependance cft 
 him; spirituality of mind; devot- 
 ednessof life to the service of God^ 
 &c. Seed'^s Post. Ser.^ ser. 2 ; 
 Ditton on the Resurrection ; Bel- 
 lamy on Religion^ p. 1 84. 
 
 EVIL is distinguished into na- 
 tural and moral. Natural evil is 
 whatever destroys or any ways 
 disturb the perfection of natural 
 beings ; such as blindness,diseases, 
 death, &c. Moral evil is the disa- 
 greement between the actions of a 
 moral agent, and the rule of those 
 actions, whatever it is. Applied to 
 a choice, or acting contrary to the 
 moral or revealed laws of the 
 Deity, it is termed wickedness or 
 sin. Applied to acting contrary 
 to the mere rule of fitness, o. fault. 
 See article Sin. 
 
 EVIL SPEAKING, the using 
 langhage either reproachful or unr 
 true respecting others, and thereby 
 injuring them. It is an express 
 command of scripture, '' To speak 
 evil of no man," Titus iii, 2. 
 James iv, 1 1. By which, however, 
 we are not to understand that 
 there are no occasions on which 
 ^ye are at liberty to speak of others 
 that which may be considered as 
 evil. 1. Persons in the adminis- 
 tration of justice may speak words 
 which in private intercourse would 
 be reproachful. — 2. God's minis- 
 
E VI 
 
 270 
 
 EUL 
 
 ters may Inveigh against vice with 
 sharpness and seventy, both pri- 
 vately and pubhcly, Is. Iviii, 1. 
 Tit. i, 13. — 3. Private persons 
 may reprove others when they 
 commit sin, Lev. xix, 17. — 4. 
 Some vehemency of speech may 
 be used in defence of truth, and 
 impugning errors of bad conse- 
 quence, Jude 3. — 5. It may be ne- 
 cessary, upon some emergent oc- 
 casions, with some heat of lan- 
 guage to express disapprobation 
 of notorious vfickedness, Acts viii, 
 23. Yet in all these the greatest 
 equity, moderation, and candour, 
 should be used ; and we should 
 take care, 1. Never to speak in 
 severe terms without reasonable 
 warrant or apparent just cause ; — 
 2. Nor beyond measure ; — 3. Nor 
 out of bad principles or wrong 
 'ends ; from ill will, contempt, re- 
 venge, envy, to compass our own 
 ends ; from wantonness or negli- 
 gence, but from pure charity for 
 the good of those to whom or of 
 whom we speak. 
 
 This is an evil, however, which 
 greatly abounds, and which is not 
 sufficiently watched against ; for 
 it is not v/hen we openly speak 
 evil of others only that we are 
 guilty, but even in speaking what 
 is true we are in danger of speak- 
 ing evil of others. There is some- 
 times a malignant pleasure mani- 
 fested ; a studious recollection of 
 every thing that can be brought 
 forward ; a delight in hearing any 
 thing spoken against others ; a 
 secret rejoicing in knov/ing that 
 another's fall will be an occasion of 
 our rise. All this is base to an 
 extreme. 
 
 The improprtety and sinfulness \ 
 
 of evil speaking will appear, if we 
 consider, 1. That it is entirely 
 opposite to the whole tenour of the 
 christian rehgion. — 2. Expressly 
 condemned and prohibited as evil, 
 Ps. Ixiv, 3. James iv, 11. — 3. No 
 practice hath more severe punish- 
 ments denounced against it, 1st 
 
 Cor. v, 1 1, 1 St Cor. vi, 10 4. It is 
 
 an evidence of a weak and distem- 
 pered mind. — 5. It is even indica- 
 tive of ill breeding and bad man- 
 ners. — 6. It is the abhorrence of all 
 wise and good men, Ps. xv, 3. — 7. 
 It is exceedingly injurious tosocie- 
 t}', and inconsistent with the rela- 
 tion we bear to each other as chris- 
 tians, James iii, 6. — 8. It is brand- 
 ed with the epithet of folly, Prov. 
 xviii, 6, 7. — 9. It is perverting the 
 design of speech. — 10. Tt is op- 
 posite to the example of Christ 
 whom we profess to follow. See 
 Slander ; Barroxv^s Works^ vol. 
 i, ser. 16 ; Tillotson^s Ser.^ ser. 42 j 
 'Jacks\- Ser. on Evil Speaking. 
 
 EULOGY, (?^^/o^^a, atermmade 
 use of in reference to the conse- 
 crated bread. When the Greeks 
 have cut a loaf or piece of bread 
 to consecrate it, they break the 
 rest into little bits, and distribute 
 it among the persons who have 
 not yet communicated, or send it 
 to persons that are absent : and 
 these pieces of bread are what^they 
 call eulogies. The word is Greek, 
 tvXoyix, formed of s-j, bene, " well," 
 and Asyi.', dico, " I say, speak ;" 
 q. d. benedictum, " blessed." 
 
 The Latin church has had some- 
 thing like eulogies for a great many 
 ages ; and thence arose the use of 
 their holy bread. The name eu- 
 logy v/as likewise given to loaves 
 or cakes brought to church by 
 
EUN 
 
 271 
 
 EUS 
 
 the faithful to have them blessed. 
 Lastly, the use of the term pass- 
 ed hence to mere presents made 
 to a person without any benedic- 
 tion. 
 
 EUNOMIANS, a sect in the 
 fourth century. They were a branch 
 of Arians, and took their name 
 from Eunomius, bishop of Cyzicus. 
 Cave, inhisHistoriaLiteraria,vol. 
 i, p. 223, gives the following ac- 
 count of their faith. " There 
 is one God, uncreated and with- 
 out beginning ; who has nothing 
 existing before him, for nothing 
 can exist before what is uncreated ; 
 nor ^ith him, for what is uncre- 
 ated must be one ; nor in him, for 
 God is a simple and uncom- 
 pounded being. This one simple 
 and eternal being is God, the cre- 
 ator and ordainer of all things ; 
 first, indeed, and principally of his 
 only begotten Son ; and then 
 through him of all other things. 
 For God begot, created, and made 
 the Son only by his direct opera- 
 tion and power, before all things, 
 and every other creature ; not 
 producing, however, any being 
 like himself, or imparting any of 
 his own proper substance to the 
 Son : for God is immortal, uni- 
 form, indivisible ; and therefore 
 cannot communicate any part of 
 his own proper substance to an- 
 other. He alone is unbegotton ; 
 and it is impossible that any other 
 being should be formed of an un- 
 begotten substance. He did not 
 use his own substance in begetting 
 the Son, but his will only ; nor 
 did he beget him in the likeness 
 of his substance, but according to 
 his own good pleasure: he then 
 created the Holy Spirit, the first 
 
 and greatest of all' spirits, by his 
 own power, in deed and opera- 
 tion mediateh'- ; yet by the im-? ' 
 mediate power and operation of 
 the Son. After the Holy Spirit, 
 he created all other things, in 
 heaven and in earth, visible and in- 
 visible, corpoi-eal and incorporeal, 
 mediately by himself, by the power 
 and operation of the Son, &c." 
 The reader will evidently see how 
 near these tenets are to those of 
 Arianism. See Arians. 
 
 EUSEBIANS, a denomination 
 given to the Arians, on account of 
 the favour and countenance which 
 Eusebius, bishop of C^esarea, 
 shewed and procured for them at 
 their first rise. 
 
 EUSTATHIANS, a name 
 given to the Catholics of Antioch, 
 in the fourth centurj', on occasion i 
 of their refusing to acknowledge 
 any other bishop beside St. Eusta- 
 thius, deposed by the Arians. 
 
 EUSTATHIANS, a sect in 
 the fourth century ; so denominat- 
 ed from their founder, Eustathius, 
 a monk so foolishly fond of his 
 own profession, that he condemn- 
 ed all other conditions of life. 
 Whether this Eustathius were the 
 same with the bishop of Sebastia, 
 and chief of the Semi-arians, is not 
 easy to determine. He excluded 
 married people from salvation ; 
 prohibited his followers from pray- 
 ing in their houses, and obliged 
 them to quit all they had, as in- 
 compatible with the hopes of 
 heaven. He drew them out of the 
 other assemblies of christians, to 
 hold secret ones with him, and 
 made them wear a particular habit : 
 he appointed them to fast on Sun- 
 days} and taught them that the 
 
E U T 
 
 272 
 
 EX A 
 
 ordinary fasts of the church were 
 needless after they had attained 
 to a certain degree of purity which 
 he pretended to. He shewed great 
 horror for chapels built in honour 
 of martyrs, and the assemblies 
 held therein. He was condemned 
 at the council of Gangra, in Pa- 
 phlagonia, held between the years 
 326 and 341. 
 
 EUTUCHiTES, a denomina- 
 tion in the third century ; so called 
 irom the Greek s-jtv^hv^ which 
 signifies to live without pain, or 
 in pleasure. Among other senti- 
 ments, they held that our souls are 
 piaeed in our bodies only to ho- 
 nour the angels who created them ; 
 snd that we ought to rejoice 
 ^:q.U9lly' in all events, because to 
 gi-ieve would be to dishonour the 
 angels, their creators. 
 
 EUXy CHIANS, ancient here- 
 ties J who denied the duplicity of na- 
 tures, in Christ ; thus denominated 
 fifom_ Eutyches, the archimandrite, 
 or- abbot of a monastery, at Con- 
 afe^ntinople,, who began to propa- 
 gaite his opinion a,bout A. D. 448. 
 He diid not, however,, seem quite 
 steady and consistent in his senti- 
 ®!ents;i for he appeared to allow 
 of two natures^, even before the 
 union, which was apparently a 
 consequence he drew from the 
 principles of the Platonic philoso- 
 phy, wHch supposes a pre-exist- 
 ence of souls : accordingly he be- 
 lieved that the soul of Jiesus Christ 
 had been united to the Divinity 
 before the incarnation ; but then 
 he allowed no distinction of na- 
 tures in Jesus Christ since his in- 
 carnation. This heresy was first 
 condemned, in a synod held at 
 Constantinople, by Flavian,in 448 j. 
 
 approved by the council of Ephe- 
 sus, called conventus latronum^ in 
 449 ; and re-examined and ful- 
 minated in the general council of 
 Chalcedon, in 451. The Euty- 
 chians were divided into several 
 branches, as the Agnoetts^ Theo- 
 dosiansy Severia7is^ &c. &c. &c. 
 Eutychians Avas also the name of 
 a sect, half Arian and half Euno- 
 mian, which arose at Constanti- 
 nople in the fourth century. 
 EXALTATION OF CHRIST. 
 See Ascension. 
 
 EXAMINATION Self. See 
 Self-Ex AMiNATioN. 
 
 EXAMPLE, a copy or pattern. 
 In a moral sense, is either taken 
 for a type, instance, or precedent 
 for our admonition, that we may 
 be cautioned against the faults or 
 crimes which others have com- 
 mitted, by the bad consequences 
 which have ensued from them; 
 or exantple is taken for a pattern 
 for our imitatioii, or a model for 
 us to copy after. 
 
 That good examples have a pe- 
 culiar power above naked precepts 
 to dispose us to the practice of vir- 
 tue and holiness, mav appear by 
 considering, " 1. That they most 
 clearly express to us the nature 
 of our duties in their subjects and 
 sensible effects. General precepts 
 form, abstract ideas of virtue ; 
 but in examples, virtues are most 
 visible in all their circumstances. 
 — 2. Precepts instruct us in what 
 things are our dut)^, but exam- 
 ples assure us that they are pos- 
 sible. — 3. Examples, by secret and 
 lively incentive, urge us to imita- 
 tion. We are touched in another 
 manner by the visible practice 
 of good men, which reproaches 
 
E X A 
 
 273 
 
 EXC 
 
 our defects, and obliges us to the 
 same zeal, which laws^ though 
 wise and good, will not effect." 
 
 The life of Jesus Christ forms 
 the most beautiful example the 
 christian can imitate. Unlike 
 all others, it was absolutely per- 
 fect and uniform, and every way 
 accommodated to our present 
 state. In him we behold all light 
 without a shade, all beauty with- 
 out a spot, all the purity of the 
 law, and the excellency of the 
 gospel. Here we see piety with- 
 out superstition, and morality with- 
 out ostentation ; humility without 
 meanness, and fortitude without 
 temerity ; patience without apa- 
 thy, and compassion without weak- 
 ness ; zeal without rashness, and 
 beneficence without ostentation. 
 The obligation we are under to 
 imitate this example arises from 
 duty, relationship, engagement, 
 interest, and gratitude. See ar- 
 ticle Jesus Christ. 
 
 Those who set had examples 
 should consider, 1. That they are 
 the ministers of the devil's designs 
 to destroy souls. — 2. That they 
 are acting in direct opposition to 
 Christ, who came to save, and not 
 to destroy. — 3. That they are add- 
 ing to the misery and calamities 
 which are already in the world. — 
 4. That the effects of their exam- 
 ple may be incalculable on so- 
 ciety to the end of time, and per- 
 haps in eternity ; for who can tell 
 what may be the consequence of 
 one sin, on a family, a nation, or 
 posterity ? — -5. They are acting con- 
 trary to the divine command, and 
 thus exposing themselves to final 
 ruin. Massilons Ser,^ vol. ii, ser. 
 0, Eng. Tran. ; C/arke^s Lookhi^ 
 
 You I, N n 
 
 Glass ^ ch. 48; Tillctsori^s Ser., ser* 
 189, 190, 191 ; Barroxv's Works ^ 
 vol. iii, ser. 2 and 3 : FlavePs 
 Works, vol. i, p. 29, 30. 
 
 EXARCH, an officer in the 
 Greek church, whose business it is 
 to visit the provinces allotted to 
 him, in order to inform himself of 
 the lives and manners of the cler- 
 gy ; take cognizance of ecclesiasti- 
 cal causes ; the manner of celebra- 
 ting divine service ; the administra- 
 tion of the sacraments, particularly 
 confession ; the observance of the 
 canons ; monastic discipline ; af- 
 fairs of marriages, divorces, &c. ; 
 but, above all, to take an account 
 of the several revenues which the 
 patriarch receives from several 
 churches, and particularly as to 
 what regards collecting the same. 
 The exarch, after having enrich- 
 ed himself in his post, frequently 
 rises to the patriarchate himself. 
 Exarch is also used, in the Eastern 
 church antiquity, for a general or 
 superior over several monasteries, 
 the same that we call archiman-. 
 drite ; being exempted by the 
 patriarch of Constantinople from 
 the jurisdiction of the bishop. 
 
 EXCISION, the cutting off a 
 person from fellowship with the 
 community to which he belongs, 
 by way of punishment for some sin 
 committed. The Jews, Sclden in- 
 forms us, reckon up thirty-six 
 crimes, to which they pretend this 
 punishment is due. The rabbins 
 reckon three kinds of excision ; 
 one, which destroys only the body ; 
 another, which destroys the soul 
 onlv ; and a third, which destroys 
 both body and soul. The first 
 kind of excision they pretend is 
 untimelv death ; the second is sn 
 
EXC 
 
 274 
 
 EXC 
 
 utter extinction of the soul ; and 
 the third a compound of the two 
 former : thus making the soul 
 mortal or immortal, says Selden, 
 according to the degree of mis- 
 behaviour and wickedness of the 
 people. See next article. 
 
 EXCOMMUNICATION, a| 
 penalty, or censure, whereby per- 
 sons who are guilty of any no- 
 torious crime or offence are se- 
 parated from the communion of 
 the church, and deprived of all 
 spiritual advantages. 
 
 Excommunication is founded 
 upon a natural right which all 
 societies have of excluding out 
 of their body such as violate 
 the laws thereof, and it was ori- 
 ginally instituted forpreservingthe 
 purity of the church ; but am- 
 bitious ecclesiastics converted it 
 by degrees into an engine for pro- 
 moting their own power, and in- 
 flicted it' on the most frivolous 
 occasions. 
 
 In the ancient church the power 
 of excommunication was lodged 
 in the hands of the clerg}", who 
 distinguished it into the greater 
 and less. The less consisted in 
 excluding persons from the parti- 
 cipation of the eucharist, and the 
 prayers of the faithful ; but they 
 were not expelled the church. 
 The greater excommunication con- 
 sisted in absolute and entire se- 
 clusion from the church, and the 
 participation of all its rights ; no- 
 tice of which was given by circu- 
 lar letters to the most eminent 
 churches ail over the world, that 
 they might all confirm 'this act of 
 discipline, by refusing to admit the 
 delinquent to their communion. 
 The consequences were very ter- 
 
 rible. The person so excommuni- 
 cated was avoided in ail civil com- 
 merce and outward conversation. 
 No one was to receive him into 
 his house, nor eat at the same 
 table with him ; and, when dead, 
 he was denied the solemn rites of 
 burial. 
 
 The Jev/s expelled from their 
 synagogue such as had committed 
 any grievous crime. See John ix, 
 22. John xii, 42. John xvi, 2. and 
 Joseph. Antiq. Jud. lib. 9, cap. 
 22. and lib. 16, cap. 2. God- 
 wyn, in his JMoses and Aaron, 
 distinguishes three degrees or 
 kinds of excommimication among 
 the Jews. The first he finds inti- 
 mated in John ix, 22. the second 
 in 1st Cor. v, 5. and the third in 
 1st Cor. xvi, 22. 
 
 The Romish pontifical takes no- 
 tice of three kinds of excommu- 
 nication. 1. The minor, incurred 
 by those who have any correspond- 
 ence with an excommunicated 
 person. — 2. The major, which falls 
 upon those who disobey the com- 
 mands of the holy see, or refuse 
 to submit to certain points of dis- 
 cipline ; in consequence of which 
 they are excluded from the 
 church militant and triumphant, 
 and delivered over to the devil 
 and his angels. — 3. Anathema, 
 which is properly that pronounc- 
 ed by the pope against heretical 
 princes and countries. In for- 
 mer ages, these papal fulminations 
 were most terrible things ; but 
 latterly they were formidable to 
 none but a few petty states of 
 Italy. 
 
 Excommunication in the Greek 
 church cuts off the offender from 
 all communion with the three bun- 
 
EXC 
 
 275 
 
 EXC 
 
 dred and eighteen fathers of the 
 first council of Nice, and with the 
 saints ; consigns him over to the 
 devil and the traitor Judas, and 
 condemns his body to remain after 
 death as hard as a flint or piece 
 of steel, unless he humble himself, 
 and make atonement for his sins 
 by a sincere repentance. The form 
 abounds with dreadful impreca- 
 tions ; and the Greeks assert, that, 
 if a person dies excommunicated, 
 the devil enters into the lifeless 
 corpse ; and, therefore, in order to 
 prevent it, the relations of the de- 
 ceased cut his body in pieces, and 
 boil them in wine. It is a custom 
 for the patriarch of Jerusalem an- 
 nually to excommunicate the pope 
 and the church of Rome ; on 
 which occasion, together with a 
 great deal of idle ceremony, he 
 drives a nail into the ground with 
 a hammer, as a mark of maledic- 
 tion. 
 
 The form of excomm^inication 
 in the church of England ancient- 
 ly ran thus : " By the authority 
 of God the Father Almighty, the 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, and of Mary 
 the blessed mother of God, we ex- 
 communicate, anathematize, and 
 sequester from the holy mother 
 church," &c. The causes of ex- 
 communication in England are, 
 contempt of the bishops' court, 
 heresy, neglect of public worship 
 and the sacraments, incontinency, 
 adultery, simony, &c. It is de- 
 scribed to be twofold ; the less is 
 an ecclesiastical censure, exclud- 
 ing the party from the participa- 
 tion of the sacrament : the greater 
 proceeds farther, and excludes 
 him not only from these, but from 
 the company of all christians j 
 
 but if the judge of any spiritual 
 court excommunicates a man for 
 a cause of which he hath not the 
 legal cognizance, the party may 
 have an action against him at com- 
 mon law, and he is also liable to 
 be indicted at the suit of the king. 
 Excommunication in the church 
 of Scotland consists only in an 
 exclusion of openly profane and 
 immoral persons from baptism 
 and the Lord's supper ; but is 
 seldom publicly denounced, as, 
 indeed, such persons generally ex- 
 clude themselves from the latter 
 ordinance at least ; but it is at- 
 tended with no civil incapacity 
 whatever. 
 
 Among the Independents and 
 Baptists, the persons who are or 
 j should be excommunicated, are 
 such as are quarrelsome ainHitigi- 
 ous. Gal. v, 12. such as desert their 
 privileges, withdraw themselves 
 from the ordinances of God, and 
 forsake his people, Jude 19; such 
 as are irregular and immoral in 
 their lives, railers, drunkards, ex- 
 tortioners, fornicators, and co- 
 vetous, Eph. v, 5. 1st Cor. V, 11, 
 *' The exclusion of a person from 
 any christian church does not af- 
 fect his temporal estate and civil 
 affairs ; it does not subject him to 
 fines or imprisonments ; it inter- 
 feres not with the business of a 
 civil magistrate ; it makes no 
 change in the natural and civil 
 relations between husbands and 
 wives, parents and children, mas- 
 ters and servants ; neither does it 
 deprive a man of the liberty of 
 attending public worship ; it re- 
 moves him, however, from the 
 communion of the church, and 
 the privileges dependent on it : 
 
KXH 
 
 EX H 
 
 this is done that he may be asham- 
 ed of his sin, and be brought to 
 repentance, that the honour of 
 Christ mavbe vindicated, and that 
 stumbling blocks may be removed 
 out of the wa}'." 
 
 Though the act of exclusion be 
 not performed exactly in the same 
 manner in every church, yet the 
 power of excision lies in the 
 church itself. The officers take 
 the sense of the members assem- 
 Bled together ; and after the mat- 
 ter has been properly investigated, 
 and all necessary steps taken to re- 
 claim the offender, the church 
 proceeds to the actual exclusion of 
 the person from among them, by 
 signifying their judgment or opi- 
 nion that the person is unv.-orthy 
 of a place in God's house. In the 
 conclusion of this article, however, 
 we must add, that too great cau- 
 tion cannot be observed in proce- 
 dures of this kind ; every thing 
 should be done v/ith the greatest 
 meekness, deliberation, prayer, 
 and a deep sense of our own un- 
 Vv'orthiness; with a compassion for 
 the offender, and a fixed design of 
 embracing every opportunity of 
 doing him good, by reproving, in- 
 structing, and, if possible, restoring 
 him to the enjoyment of the pri- 
 vileges he has forfeited by his con- 
 duct. See Church. 
 
 EXCUSATi, a term formerly 
 used to denote slaves, who, flying 
 to any church for sanctuary, were 
 excused and pardoned by their 
 masters. 
 
 EXHORTATION, the act of 
 laying such motives before a person 
 as may excite him to the perform- 
 ance of any duty. It differs only 
 from suasion in that the latter 
 
 principally endeavours to con- 
 vince the understanding, and the 
 former to work on the affections. 
 It is considered as a great branch 
 of preaching, though not confined 
 to that, as a man may exhort, 
 though he do not preach ; tliough 
 a man can hardly be said to preach 
 if he do not exhort. It seems, 
 however, that there are some, who, 
 believing the inability of man to 
 do any thing good, cannot recon- 
 cile the idea of exhorting" men to 
 duty, being, as they suppose, a con- 
 tradiction to address men who 
 have no power to act of them- 
 selves. But they forget, 1. That 
 the Great Author of our being 
 has appointed this as a mean for 
 inclining the will to himself, Is. Iv. 
 6, 7. Luke xiv, 17, 23.-— 2. That 
 they Vi'ho thus address do not sup- 
 pose that there is any virtue in 
 the exhortation itself, but that its 
 energy depends on God alone, 1st 
 Cor. XV, 10. — 3. That the scrip- 
 ture enjoins ministers to exhort 
 m.en, that is, to rouse them to duty, 
 by proposing suitable motives, Is. 
 Iviii, 1. 1st Tim. vi, 2. Heb, iii, 
 13. Rom. xii, 8. — 4. That it was 
 the constant practice of prophets, 
 apostles, and Christ himself, Is. i, 
 If. Jer. iv, 14. Ezek. xxxvii. 
 Luke xiii, 3. Luke iii, 18. Acts xi, 
 23. " The express words," says 
 a good divine, " of scriptural invi- 
 tations, exhortations, and promises, 
 prove more effectual to encourage 
 those v/ho are ready to give up 
 their hopes, than all the consola- 
 tory topics that can possibly be 
 substituted in their place. It is, 
 therefore, much to be lamented 
 that pious men, by adhering to a 
 supposed systematical exactness of 
 
EXI 
 
 277 
 
 EXI 
 
 expression should clog their ad- 
 dresses to sinners with exceptions 
 and limitations, which the Spirit 
 of God did not see good to insert. 
 They will not say that the omission 
 Avas an oversight in the inspired 
 Avriters ; or admit the thought for 
 a moment, that they can improve 
 on their plan : why then cannot 
 they be satisfied to * speak accord- 
 ing to the oracles of God,' with- 
 out affecting a more entire consist- 
 ency ? Great mischief has thus 
 been done by verv different de- 
 scriptions of m^en, who undesign- 
 edly concur in giving Satan an 
 occasion of suggesting to the 
 trembling enquirer that perhaps 
 he may persevere in asking, seek- 
 ing, and knocking, with the great- 
 est earnestness and importunity, 
 and yet finally be a cast-away." 
 
 EXISTENCE OF GOD. The 
 methods usually followed in prov- 
 ing the existence of God are two ; 
 the first called argumentum a pri- 
 ori^ which beginning with the 
 cause descends to the effect ; the 
 other argumtntum a posteriori^ 
 which, from a consideration of the 
 eflect, ascends to the cause. The 
 former of these hath been particu- 
 larly laboured by Dr. Sam. Clarke; 
 but after all he has said, the pos- 
 sibility of any one's being con- 
 vinced by it hath been questioned. 
 The most general proofs are the 
 following: " 1. All nations. Hea- 
 thens, Jews, Mahometans, and 
 Christians, harmoniously consent 
 that there is a God who created, 
 preserves, and governs all things. 
 To this it has been objected, that 
 there has been, at different times 
 and countries, men who were 
 atheists, and deniers of a God. 
 
 But these have been so few, and 
 by their opinions have shewn that 
 they rather denied the particular 
 providence than the existence of 
 God, that it can hardly be said 
 to be an exception to the argu- 
 ment stated. And even if men 
 were bold enough to assert it, it 
 v/ould be no absolute proof that 
 they really believed what they 
 said, since it might proceed from 
 a -wish that there were no God to 
 whom they must be accountable 
 for their sin, rather than a belief 
 of it, Ps. xiv, 1. It has also been 
 objected, that whole nations have 
 been found in Africa and America 
 who have no notion of a Deity: 
 but this is what has never been 
 proved ; on the contrary, upon 
 accurate inspection, even the niost 
 stupid Hottentots, Saldanians, 
 Greenlanders, Kamtschatkans,and 
 savage Americans, are found to 
 have some idea of a God. 
 
 " 2. It is argued from the law 
 and light of Nature, or from the 
 general impression of Deity on the 
 mind of every man, i. e. an in- 
 distinct idea of a Being oi injinite 
 perfection^ and a readiness to ac- 
 quiesce in the truth of his exist- 
 ence, v/henever they understand 
 the terms in which it is expressed. 
 Whence could this proceed, even 
 in the minds of such whose affec- 
 tions and carnal interests dispose 
 them to believe the contrary, if 
 there were no impression naturally 
 in their hearts ? It has been ob- 
 served by some writers, that there 
 are no innate ideas in the minds 
 of men, and particularly con- 
 cerning God ; but this is not so 
 easily proved, since an inspired 
 apostle assures us that even the 
 
EX I 
 
 ^/, 
 
 EXI 
 
 Gentiles, destitute of the law of 
 Moses, have the ' work of the 
 law written in their hearts,' Rom. 
 ii, 15. 
 
 " 3. The works of creation plain- 
 ly demonstrate the existence of a 
 liod. The innumerable^ altera- 
 tions and manifest dependance, 
 ever}'- where observable in the 
 world, prove that the things 
 v^-hich exist in it neither are nor 
 could be from eternity. It is self- 
 evident that they never could form 
 themselves out of nothing, or in 
 any of their respective forms ; and 
 that chance^ being nothing but the 
 want of design, never did nor 
 could form or put into order any 
 thing ; far less such a mai'vellous 
 and well connected S3'stem as our 
 world is. Though we should ab- 
 surdly fancy matter to be eternal, 
 yet it could not change its own 
 form, or produce. life or reason. 
 Moreover, when we consider the 
 diversified and wonderful forms 
 of creatures in the v/orld, and hov/ 
 exactly those forms and stations 
 correspond with their respective 
 ends and uses ; when we consider 
 the marvellous and exact machi- 
 nery, form, and motions of our 
 own bodies ; and especially v/hen 
 we consider the powers of our 
 soul, its desires after an infinite 
 good, and its close union with, 
 and incomprehensible operations 
 on our bodies, we are obliged to 
 admit a Creator of infinite wis- 
 dom, pov/er, and goodness. 
 
 ''■4. It Is argued from the sup- 
 port and government of the world. 
 Who can consider the piotions of 
 the heavenly luminaries, exactly 
 calculated for the greatest advan- 
 tage to cur earth, and its inhabit- 
 
 ants ; the exact balancing and 
 regulating of the meteors, M'inds, 
 rain, snow, hail, vapour, thunder, 
 and the like ; the regular and ne> 
 ver failing returns of summer and 
 winter, seed time and harvest, day 
 and night ; the astonishing and di- 
 versified formation of vegetables ; 
 the propagation of herbs, almost 
 every where, that are most effec- 
 tual to heal the distempers of ani- 
 mal bodies in that place; the almost 
 infinite diversification of animals 
 and vegetables,and their pertinents, 
 that, notwithstanding an amazing 
 similarity, not any two are exactly 
 alike, but every form, member, 
 or even feather or hair of animals, 
 and every pile of grass, stalk of 
 corn, herb, leaf, tree, berry, or 
 other fruit, hath something pecu- 
 liar to itself ; the making of ani- 
 mals so sagaciously to prepare 
 their lodgings, defend themselves, 
 provide for their health, produce, 
 and protect, and procure food for 
 their young ; the direction of fishes 
 and fowls to and in such mar- 
 vellous and long ]>eregrinations at 
 such seasons, and to such places, 
 as best correspond with their own 
 j preservation and the benefit of 
 I mankind ; the stationing of brute 
 J animals by sea or land, at less or 
 greater distances, as are most 
 suited to the safety, subsistence, 
 or comfort of mankind, and pre- 
 venting the increase of prolific 
 j animals, and making the less fruit- 
 I ful ones, vv'hich are used, exceed- 
 ! ingly to abound ; the so diversi- 
 I fying the countenances, voices,. 
 } and hand- writings of men, as best 
 I secures and promotes their social 
 { advantages ; the holding of so 
 \ equal a balance between males 
 
EXI 
 
 279 
 
 EX I 
 
 and females, while the number of 
 males, whose lives are peculiarly 
 endangered in war, navigation, 
 Sec, are generally greatest j the 
 prolonging of men's lives, when 
 the world needed to be peopled, 
 and now shortening them, when 
 that necessity hath ceased to exist ; 
 the almost universal provision of 
 food, raiment, medicine, fuel, &c., 
 answerable to the nature of parti- 
 cular places, cold or hot, moist or 
 dry ; the management of human 
 affairs relative to societies, govern- 
 ment, peace, war, trade, &c., in 
 a manner different from and con- 
 trary to the carnal policy of those 
 concerned ; and especially the 
 strangely similar but diversified 
 erection, preservation, and govern- 
 ment of the Jewish and Christian 
 churches : who, I say, can consider 
 all these things, and not acknow- 
 ledge the existence of a wise, mer- 
 ciful, and good God, who governs 
 the world, and every thing in it ? 
 " 5. It is proved from the mira- 
 culous events which have hap- 
 pened in the world j such as the 
 overflowing of the earth by a 
 flood ; the confusion of languages ; 
 the burning of Sodom and the ci- 
 ties about by fire from heaven ; 
 the plagues of Egj^t ; the divid- 
 ing of the Red Sea; raining manna 
 from heaven, and bringing streams 
 of water from flinty rocks ; the 
 stopping of the course of the sun, 
 he. &c. 
 
 " 6. His existence no less clearly 
 appears from the exact fulfilment 
 of so many and so particularly cir- 
 cumstantiated predictions, pub- 
 lished long before the event took 
 place. It is impossible that these 
 predictions, which were so exactly 
 
 fulfilled in their respective periods, 
 and of the fulfilment of wliich 
 there are at present thousands of 
 demonstrative and sensible docu- 
 ments in the world, could proceed 
 from any but an all-seeing and 
 infinitelv wise God. 
 
 " 7. The existence of God far- 
 ther appears from the fearful pu- 
 nishments which have been inflict- 
 ed upon persons, and especially up- 
 on nations, when their immorali- 
 ties became excessive, and that by 
 very unexpected means and instru- 
 ments ; as in the drowning of the 
 old world ; destruction of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah ; plagues of Pha- 
 raoh and his servants ; overthrow 
 of Sennacherib and his army ; 
 miseries and ruin of the Canaan- 
 ites, Jews, Syrians, Assyrians, 
 Chaldeans, Persians, Egyptians, 
 Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Tar- 
 tars, and others. 
 
 " 8. Lastly, The existence of 
 God may be argued from the terror 
 and dread which wound the con- 
 sciences of men, when guilty of 
 crimes which other men do not 
 knov/, or are not able to punish or 
 restrain; as in the case of Caligula, 
 Nero, and Domitian, the Roman 
 emperors ; and this while they 
 earnestly labour to persuade them- 
 selves or others that there is no 
 God. Hence t*ieir being afraid 
 of thunder^ or to be left alone in 
 the dark, S.-c." 
 
 As to the modus of the Divine 
 existence, it would be presumption 
 to attempt to explain. That he 
 exists, is clear from the foregoing 
 arguments ; but the manner of 
 that existence is not for us to 
 know. Many good men have ut- 
 tered great absurdities in endea- 
 
EXO 
 
 280 
 
 EXP 
 
 vouring to explain it, and after all 
 none of them have succeeded. 
 The wiset of men never made the 
 attempt. Moses began his writ- 
 ings by supposing the being of a 
 God ; he did not attempt to ex- 
 plain it. Although many of the 
 inspired v/riters asserted his exist- 
 ence, and, to discountenance idol- 
 atry, pleaded for his perfections, 
 yet no one of them ever pretended 
 ■to explain the manner of his be- 
 ing. Our duty is clear. We are 
 not commanded or expected to 
 understand it. All that is re- 
 quired is this : " He that cometh 
 to God must believe that he is, 
 and that he is a rewarder of them 
 that diligently seek him," Heb. xi, 
 6. See GilPs Body of Div.^ b. 1-; 
 CharnocJi's TVorAs^vol. i ; Ridgleifs 
 D'lv.^ ques., 2 ; BroxvrCs System of 
 Div.^ Pieere's Studies of Nature ; 
 Sturm's Reflections; Sped, de la 
 Nat. ; Bonnet's Philosophical Re- 
 searches ; and writers enumerated 
 under the article Atheism. 
 
 EXORCISM, the expelling of 
 devils from persons possessed, by 
 means of conjurations and prayers. 
 The Jews made great pretences to 
 this power.' Josephus tells several 
 wonderfultalesof the great success 
 of several exorcists. One Eleazer, 
 a Jew, cured manv dsemoniacs, he 
 says, by means of a root set in a 
 ring. This root, with the ring, was 
 held under the patient's nose, and 
 the devil was forthwith evacuated. 
 The most part of conjurors of this 
 class were impostors, each pre- 
 tending to a secret nostrum or 
 charm which was an overmatch 
 for the devil. Our Saviour com- 
 municated to his disciples a real 
 power over daemons, or at least 
 
 over the diseases said to be occa= 
 sioned by dsemons. See Demo- 
 niac. 
 
 Exorcism makes a considerable 
 part of the superstition of the 
 church of Rome, the rituals of 
 which forbid the exorcising any 
 person without the bishop's leave. 
 The ceremony is performed at the 
 loAver end of the church, towards 
 the door. The exorcist first signs 
 the possessed person with the sign 
 of the cross, makes him kneel, and 
 sprinkles him with holy water. 
 Then follow the litanies, psalms, 
 and prayer ; after which the ex- 
 orcist asks the devil his name, and 
 adjures him by the mysteries of 
 the christian religion not to afflict 
 the person any more ; then, laying 
 his right hand on the dcemoniac's 
 head, he repeats the form of exor- 
 cism, which is this ; " I exorcise 
 thee, unclean spirit, in the name 
 of Jesus Christ: tremble, O Satan ! 
 thou enemy of the faith, thou foe 
 of mankind, who hast brought 
 death into the world ; who hast 
 deprived men of life, and hast re- 
 belled against justice ; thou se- 
 ducer of mankind, thou root of 
 all evil, thou source of avarice, 
 discord, and envy." The Roman- 
 ists likewise exorcise houses and 
 other places supposed to be haunt- 
 ed by unclean spirits ; and the 
 ceremony is much the same with 
 that for a person possessed. 
 
 EXORDIUM. See Sermon. 
 
 EXPERIENCE, knowledge 
 acquired by long use without a 
 teacher. It consists in the ideas of 
 things we have seen or read, which 
 the judgment has reflected on, to 
 form for itself a rule or method. 
 
 Christian experience is that re- 
 
EXP 
 
 281 
 
 EXP 
 
 ligious knowledge which is ac- 
 quired by any exercises, enjoy- 
 ments, or sufferings, either of body 
 or mind. Nothing is more com- 
 mon than to ridicule and despise 
 what is called religious experience 
 as mere enthusiasm. But if reli- 
 gion consist in feeling, we would 
 ask, how it can possibly exist with- 
 out experience ? We are convinced 
 of, and admit the propriety of 
 the term, when applied to those 
 branches of science which are not 
 founded on speculation or con- 
 jecture, but on sensible trial. Why, 
 then, should it be rejected when 
 applied to religion ? It is evident 
 that, however beautiful religion 
 may be in name^ its excellency 
 and energy are only truly known 
 and displayed as experienced. A 
 system believed, or a mind merely 
 informed, will produ.ce little good, 
 except the heart be affected, and 
 we feel its influence. To expe- 
 rience, then, the religion of Christ, 
 we must not only be acquainted 
 with its theory, but enjoy its 
 power ; subduing our corruptions, 
 animating our affections, and ex- 
 citing us to duty. Hence the scrip- 
 ture calls experience tastings Ps. 
 xxxiv, S. feelings &c. 1st Thes. ii, 
 13. &c. That our experience is al- 
 ways absolutely pure in the pre- 
 sent state cannot be be expected. 
 " The best experiences," says a 
 good writer, " may be mixed v/ith 
 natural affections and passions, im- 
 pressions on the imagination, self- 
 righteousness, or spiritual pride ;" 
 but this is no reason that all expe- 
 rience is to be rejected, for upon 
 this ground nothing could be re- 
 ceived, since nothing is absolutely 
 perfect. It is, however, to be la- 
 VoL. I. O o 
 
 mehted, that while the best of men 
 have a mixture in their expe-- 
 rience, there are others whose ex- 
 perience (so called) is entirely 
 counterfeit. " They have been 
 alarmed, have changed the ground 
 of their confidence, have had their 
 Imaginations heated and delighted 
 by impressions and visionary re- 
 presentations ; they have recol- 
 lected the promises of the gospel, 
 as if spoken to them with peculiar 
 appropriation, to certify them that 
 their sins were forgiven ; and hav- 
 ing seen and heard such w^onder- 
 ful things, they think they must 
 doubt no more of their adoption 
 into the family of God. They have 
 also frequently heard all expe- 
 rience profanely ridiculed as en- 
 thusiasm ; and this betrays them 
 into the opposite extreme, so that 
 they are emboldened to despise 
 every caution as the result of en- 
 mity to internal religion, and to 
 act as if there were no delusive or 
 counterfeit experience. But the 
 event too plainly shews their aw- 
 ful mistake, and that they ground- 
 ed their expectations upon the ac- 
 count given of the extraordinary 
 operations of the Hcjiy Spirit on 
 the minds of prophets, rather than 
 on the promises of his renewing 
 influences In the hearts of believers. 
 When, therefore, they lose the im- 
 pressions with which they once 
 Were elated, they relapse nearly 
 into their old course of life, their 
 creed and confidence alone ex- 
 cepted." 
 
 Christian "experience may be 
 considered as genuine, 1, When 
 it accords widi the revelation of. 
 God's mind :ind v/ill, or what he 
 has revealed in his word. Anv 
 
EXP 
 
 282 
 
 EXP 
 
 thing contrary to this, however 
 pleasing, cannot be found, or pro- 
 duced by Divine agency.-2. When 
 its tendency is to promote humi- 
 lity in us : that experience, by 
 which we learn our own weakness, 
 and subdues pride, must be good. 
 — 3. When it teaches us to bear 
 with others, and to do them good. 
 — 4. When it operates so as to 
 excite us to be ardent in our devo- 
 tion, and sincere in our regard to 
 God. A powerful experience of 
 the Divine favour will lead us to 
 acknowledge the same, and to ma- 
 nifest our gratitude both by con- 
 stant praise and genuine piety. 
 
 Christian experience, however, 
 may be abused. There are some 
 good people who certainly have 
 felt and enjoyed the power of 
 religion, and yet have not always 
 acted with prudence as to their 
 experience. 1. Some boast of 
 their experiences, or talk of them 
 as if they were very extraor- 
 dinary ; whereas, were they ac- 
 quainted with others, they would 
 find it not so. That a man may 
 naake mention of his experience, 
 is no way improper, but often use- 
 ful ; but to hear persons always 
 talking of themselves, seems to in- 
 dicate a spirit of pride, and that 
 their experience cannot be very 
 deep. — 2. Another abuse of expe- 
 rience, is, dependence on it. We 
 ought certainly to take encourage- 
 ment frorn past circumstances, if 
 we can ; but if we are so depend- 
 ent on past experience as to pre- 
 clude present exertions, or always 
 expect to have exactly the same 
 assistance in every state, trial, 
 or ordinance, we shall be disap- 
 pointed. God has wisely ordered 
 
 it, that, though he never will leave 
 his people, yet he will suspend or 
 bestow comfort in his own time ; 
 for this very reason, that we may 
 rely on him, and not on the cir- 
 cumstance or ordinance. — 3. It i» 
 an abuse of experience, when in- 
 troduced at improper times, and 
 before improper persons. It is 
 true, we ought never to be asham- 
 ed of our profession ; but to be al- 
 ways talking to irreligious people 
 respecting experience, which they 
 know nothing of, is, as our Saviour 
 says, casting pearls before swine. 
 Bunyan^s Pilgrim! s Progress ; 
 BucPs Treatise on Experience; 
 GurnaWs Christian Armour ; Dr. 
 Ozuen 071 Psalm cxxx ; Edwards on 
 the Affections^ and his thoughts on 
 the Revival of Religion in New En- 
 gland ; Dorneij^s Contemplations. 
 ' EXPERIENCE MEETINGS, 
 are assemblies of religious per- 
 sons, who meet for the purpose of 
 relating their experience to each 
 other. It has been doubted by 
 some whether these meetings are of 
 any great utility ; and whether they 
 do not in some measure force peo- 
 ple to say more than is true, and 
 puff up those with pride who are 
 able to communicate their ideas 
 vfith facility ; but to this it may 
 be answered, 1. That the abuse of 
 a thing is no proof of the evil of 
 {it. — 2. That the most eminent 
 I saints of old did not neglect this 
 practice, Ps. Isvi, 16. Mai. iii, 16. 
 — 3. That, by a wise and prudent 
 relation of experience, the chris- 
 tian is led to see that others have 
 participated of the same joys and 
 sorrows with himself; he is excit- 
 ed to love and serve God; and 
 animated to a perseverance in 
 
F AI 
 
 283 
 
 F AI 
 
 duty, by finding that others, of 
 like passions with himself, are zea- 
 lous, active, and dihgent. — 4. That 
 the scriptures seem to enjoin the 
 frequent intercourse of christians, 
 for the purpose of strengtliening 
 each other in religious services, 
 Heb. X, 24, 25. Col. iii, 16. Matt, 
 xviii, 20. See Conference. 
 
 EXPIATION, a religious act, 
 by which satisfaction or atonement 
 is made for some crime, the guilt 
 
 removed, and the obligation to 
 punishment cancelled, Lev. xvi. 
 See Propitiation. 
 
 EXPOSITIONS. See Com- 
 mentaries. 
 
 EXTREME UNCTION, one 
 of the sacraments of the Romish 
 church ; the fifth in order, ad- 
 ministered to people dangerously 
 sick, by anointing them with holy 
 oil, and praying over them. 
 
 F. 
 
 FAITH is that assent which we 
 give to a proposition advanced by 
 another, the truth of which we do 
 not immediately perceive from 
 olir own reason and experience ; 
 or it is a judgment or assent of 
 the mind, the motive whereof is 
 not any intrinsic evidence, but 
 the authority or testimony of some 
 other Avho reveals or relates it. 
 The Greek word Uccms^ translated 
 faith, comes from the verb na/dw, to 
 persuade ; the nature of faith be- 
 ing a persuasion and assent of the 
 mind, arising from testimony or 
 evidence. 
 
 1. Divine Jaith, is that founded 
 on the authority of God, or it is 
 that assent which we give to what 
 is revealed by God. The objects 
 of this, therefore, are matters of 
 revelation. 
 
 2. Human Jaith, is that where- 
 by we believe what is told us by 
 men. The objects hereof are 
 matters of human testimony or 
 evidence. 
 
 3. Historicalfaithy is that where- 
 by we assent to the truths of reve- 
 lation as a kind of certain and in- 
 
 fallible record, James ii, 17. or 
 to any fact recorded in histoiy. 
 
 4. The faith of miracles^ is the 
 persuasion a person has of his be- 
 ing able, by the Divine power, to 
 effect a miracle on another, Mat. 
 xvii, 20. 1st Cor. xiii, 2. or an- 
 other on himself. Acts xiv, 9. This 
 obtained chiefly in the time of 
 Christ and his apostles. 
 
 5. A temporary faith^ is an as- 
 sent to evangelical truths, as both 
 interesting iind desirable, but not 
 farther than they are accompanied 
 with ^temporal advantages; and 
 which is lost when such advantages 
 diminish or are removed. Mat. xi, 
 24. Luke viii, 13. 
 
 6. Faith in respect to futurity, is 
 a moral principle, implying such 
 a conviction of the reality and 
 importance of a future state, as is 
 sufficient to regulate the temper 
 and conduct. 
 
 7. Faith in Christ, or saving 
 faith, is that principle wrought in 
 the heart by the Divine Spirit, 
 whereby wc are persuaded that 
 Christ is the Messiah ; and possess 
 such a desire and ex|)ectation of 
 
F AI 
 
 284 
 
 FAI 
 
 the blessirtgs he has promised in 
 his gospel, as engages the mind to 
 fix its dependence on him, and 
 subject itself to him in all the 
 ways of holy obedience, and re- 
 lying solely On his grace for ever- 
 lasting life; These are the ideas 
 which are generally annexed to the 
 definition of saving faith ; but, 
 accurately speaking, faith is an 
 act of the understanding, giving 
 credit to the testimony of the gos- 
 .pel ; and desire, expectation, con- 
 fidence, Sec, are rather the effects 
 of it, than faith itself, though 
 inseparably connected with it. 
 Much has been said as to the 
 order or place in which faith 
 stands in the christian system, 
 some placing it before, others 
 after repentance. Perhaps the 
 following remarks on the subject 
 may be considered as consistent 
 v/ith truth and scripture : 1. Re- 
 generation is the work of God 
 enhghtening the mind, and chang- 
 ing the heart, and in order of 
 time precedes faith. — 2. Faith is 
 the consequence of regeneration, 
 and implies the perception of an 
 object. It discerns the evil of sin, 
 the holiness of God, gives eredence 
 to the testimony of God in his 
 \vord, and seems to precede re- 
 pentance, since we cannot re- 
 pent of that of which we have no 
 clear perception of, or no concern 
 about. — 3. Repentance is an after 
 thought, or sorrowing for sin, the 
 evil nature of v/hich faith per- 
 ceives, and which immediately 
 follows faith. — 4. Conversion is a 
 turning from sin, v/hich faith sees, 
 and rcpentsnce sorrows for, and 
 seems to follow, and to be the end 
 of all the rest. 
 
 As to the properties or adjuncts 
 of faith ^ we may observe, 1. That 
 it is the first and principal grace ; it 
 stands first in order, and takes the 
 precedence of other graces, Mark 
 xvi, 16. Heb. xi. 6. — 2. It is every 
 way pixcious and valuable, 1st Pet. 
 ii. 1. — 3. It is called in scripture 
 one faith; for though there are 
 several sorts of faith, there is but 
 one specialor saving faith, Eph. iv, 
 5. — 4. It is also denominated 
 common faith ; common to all the 
 regenerate, Tit. i, 4. — 5. It is true, 
 real, and unfeigned. Acts viii, 37. 
 Rom. X, 10. — 6. It cannot be 
 finally lost as to the gi'ace of it, 
 Phil, i, 6. Luke xxii, 32. — 7. It is 
 progressive, Luke xvii, 5. 2d 
 Thess. i, 3.^ — 8. It appropriates 
 and realizes, or, as the apostle 
 says, is the substance of things 
 hoped for, and the evidence of 
 things not seen, Heb. xi, 1. 
 
 The evidences or effects offaith^ 
 are, 1. Love to Christ, 1st Pet. i, 
 8. Gal. V, 6. — 2. Confidence, Eph. 
 iil, 12 — 3. Joy, Rom. v, 11. Phil. 
 
 i, 25 4. Prayer, Heb. iv, 16. 
 
 — 5. Attention to his ordinances, 
 and profit by them, Heb. iv, 2. 
 — 6. Zeal in the promotion of his 
 glory, 1st Cor. XV, 58. Gal. vi, 9. 
 — 7. Holiness of heart and life, 
 Matt, vii, 20. 1st John, ii, 3. Acts 
 XV, 9. James ii, 18, 20, 22. See 
 articles Assurance and Justi- 
 fication, in this work j and Pol- 
 hill on Precious Faith; Lumber fs 
 Sermons^ ser. 13, 14, &c. ; Scott's 
 Nature and Warrajit of Faith ; 
 Roniaine\<i Life, Walk, and Tri^ 
 imiph, of Faith ; Eotherharii's Ess, 
 on Faith; Dare's Letters on Faith; 
 A. Hall on the Faith and Jnfiuence: 
 of the GospeL 
 
F AI 
 
 285 
 
 F A L 
 
 FAITH, ARTICLE OF. See 
 
 Article. 
 
 FAITH, CONFESSION OF. 
 See Confession. 
 
 FAITH, IMPLICIT. See Im- 
 plicit Faith. 
 
 FAITHFULNESS OF GOD, 
 is that perfection of his nature 
 whereby he infallibly fulfils his de- 
 signs, or performs his word. It ap- 
 pears, says Dr. Gill, in the per- 
 formance of what he has said with 
 respect to the world in general 
 that it shall not be destroyed by a 
 flood, as it once was, and for a 
 token of it has set his bow in the 
 cloud ; that the ordinances of 
 heaven should keep their due 
 course, which they have done for 
 almost 6000 years, exactly and 
 punctually ; that all his creatures 
 should be supported and provided 
 for, and the elements all made 
 subservient to that end, which we 
 find do so according to his sove- 
 reign pleasure, Gen. ix. Isa. liv, 
 9. Ps. cxlv. Deut. xi, 14, 15. 2d 
 Pet. iii. 
 
 2. It appears in the fulfilment 
 of what he has said with respect 
 to Christ. Whoever will take the 
 pains to compare the predictions 
 of the birth, poverty, life, suffer- 
 ings, death, resurrection, and as- 
 cension of Christ, with the accom- 
 plishment of the same, will find a 
 striking demonstration of the faith- 
 fulness of God. 
 
 3. It appears in the perform- 
 ance of the promises which he 
 has made to his people. In res- 
 pect to temporal blessings, 1st Tim. 
 iv, 8. Psal. Ixxxiv, 11. Is. xxxiii, 
 16, — 2. To spiritual, 1st Cor. i, 9. 
 In supporting them in temptation, 
 1st Corinth- x, 1.3. Encouraging 
 
 them under persecution, 1st Pet. 
 iv, 12, 13. Isa. xh, 10. Sanctif}-- 
 ing afflictions, Heb. xii, 4 to 12. 
 Directing them in difficulties, 1st 
 Thess. V, 24. Enabling them to 
 persevere, Jer. xxxi, 40. Bring- 
 ing them to glory, 1st John ii, 25. 
 4. It appears in the fulfilling of 
 his threatenings. The curse came 
 upon Adam according as it was 
 threatened. He fulfilled his 
 threatening to the old world in 
 destroying it. He declared that 
 the Israelites should be subject 
 to his awful displeasure, if they 
 walked not in his ways : it was ac- 
 cordingly fulfilled, Deut. xxviii. 
 See Immutability. 
 
 FALL OF MAN, the loss of 
 those perfections and that happi- 
 ness which his Maker bestowed 
 on him at his creation, through 
 transgression of a positive com- 
 mand, given for the trial of man's 
 obedience, and as a token of his 
 holding every thing of God, as 
 lord paramount of the creation, 
 with the use of ev€iy thing in it, 
 exclusive of the fruit of one tree. 
 This positive law he broke by eat- 
 ing the forbidden fruit ; first the 
 v/oman, then the man : and thu* 
 the condition or law of the cove- 
 nant being broken, the covenant 
 itself was broken. The woman 
 was enticed by an evil genius, 
 under the semblance of a serpent, 
 as appears from its reasoning the 
 woman into the transgression of 
 the law, of which a brute beast is 
 incapable. Hence this evil genius 
 is called a murderer and a liar 
 from the beginning, John viii, 44. 
 j Kom. V, 12. the old serpent. Rev. 
 xii, 9. XX, 2. Moses relates this 
 history, from what appeared ex- 
 
F AL 
 
 286 
 
 F AL 
 
 ternally to sense ; both, therefore, 
 are to be conjoined, the serpent 
 as the instrument, and the devil 
 as the primary cause. Man suf- 
 fered himself to be seduced by 
 perverse and confused notions of 
 good and evil, prompted by a de- 
 sire of a greater degree of perfec- 
 tion, and swayed by his sensual 
 appetite, in contradiction to his 
 reason, Gen. iii, 6. And thus it 
 appears possible, how, notwith- 
 standing the divine image with 
 which man is adorned, he might 
 fall ; for, though including in it 
 knowledge, it did not exclude 
 from it confused notions, which 
 are those arising from sense and 
 imagination, especially when off 
 our guard and inattentive, blindly 
 following the present impression. 
 From this one sin arose another, 
 and then another from the con- 
 nexion of causes and effects, till 
 this repetition brought on a habit 
 of sin, consequently a state of 
 moral slavery ; called by divines 
 a death in sin, a spiritual death, a 
 defect of power to act according 
 to the law, and from the motive 
 of the divine perfections, as death 
 in general is such a defect of power 
 of action ; and this defect or ina- 
 bilit}', with all its consequences, 
 man entailed on his posterity, re- 
 maining upon them, till one great- 
 er man remove this, and reinstate 
 them in all they forfeited in 
 Adam. 
 
 In the fall of man we may ob- 
 serve, 1 . The greatest infidelity. — 
 2. Prodigious pride. — 3. Horrid 
 ingratitude. — 4. Visible contempt 
 ot God's majesty and justice. — 5. 
 Unaccountable foUj-r — G. A cru- 
 elty to himself and to all his pos- 
 
 terity. Infidels, however, have 
 treated the account of the fall, 
 and its effects, with contempt, and 
 considered the whole as absurd % 
 but their objections to the manner 
 have been ably answered by a va- 
 riety of authors ; and as to the 
 effects^ one would hardly think any 
 body could deny. For^ that man 
 is a fallen creature^ is evident, if 
 we consider his misery as an inha- 
 bitant of the natural world ; the 
 disorders of the globe we inhabit, 
 and the dreadful scourges with 
 which it is visited ; the deplorable 
 and shocking circumstances of our 
 birth ; the painful and dangerous 
 travail of women ; our natural un- 
 cleanliness,helplessness,ignorance, 
 and nakedness ; the gross dark- 
 ness in which we naturally are, 
 both with respect to God and a 
 future state ; the general rebellion 
 of the brute creation against us ; 
 the various poisons that lurk in 
 the animal, vegetable, and mineral 
 world, ready to destroy us ; the 
 heavy curse of toil and sweat to 
 which we are liable ; the innume- 
 rable calamities of life, and the 
 pangs of death. Again, it is evi- 
 dent, if M^e consider him as a citi- 
 zen of the moral world ; his com- 
 mission of sin ; his omission of du- 
 ty; the triumph of sensual appetites 
 over his intellectual faculties ; the 
 corruption of the powers that con- 
 stitute a good head, the under- 
 standing, imagination, memory, 
 and reason ; the depravity of the 
 powers which form a good heart, 
 the will, conscience, and affec- 
 tions ; his manifest alienation 
 from God ; his amazing disregard 
 even of his nearest relatives ; his 
 1 unaccountable unconcern about 
 
F AM 
 
 287 
 
 F AN 
 
 himself ; his detestable tempers ; 
 the general out-breaking of human 
 corruption in all individuals ; the 
 universal overflowing of it in all 
 nations. Some striking proofs of 
 this depravity may be seen in the 
 general propensity of mankind to 
 vain, irrational, or cruel diversions ; 
 in the universality of the most ridi- 
 culous, impious, inhuman, and dia- 
 bolical sins ; in the aggravating cir- 
 cumstances, attending the display 
 of this corruption ; in the many in- 
 effectual endeavours to stem its 
 torrent ; in the obstinate resistance 
 it makes to divine grace in the 
 unconverted; the amazing strug- 
 gles of good men with it; the tes- 
 timony of the heathens concern- 
 ing it ; and the preposterous con- 
 ceit which the unconverted have 
 of their own goodness. Diet, of 
 the Bible ; Fletcher's Appeal to 
 Matters of Fact; Berry Street 
 Lectures^ vol. i, 1 80, 189; South' s 
 Sermons^ vol.1, 124, 150 ; Bates^s 
 Harmony of Div. Att., p. 98 ; Bos- 
 tori's Fourfold State, part 1st. 
 
 FALSEHOOD, untruth, de- 
 ceit. See Lying. 
 • FALSE CHRISTS. See Messiah. 
 FAMILIARS OF THE IN- 
 QUISITION, persons who assist 
 in apprehending such as are accu- 
 sed, and carrying them to prison. 
 They are assistants to the inquisi- 
 tor, and called familiarSy because 
 they belong to his family. In some 
 provinces of Italy they are called 
 cross bearers; and in others the 
 scholars of St. Peter the martyr ; 
 and wear a cross before them on 
 the outside garment. They are 
 properly bailiffs of the inquisition ; 
 and the vile office is esteemed so 
 hqnourable, that noblemen in the 
 
 kingdom of Portugal have been 
 ambitious of belonging to it. Nor 
 is this surprising, when it is con- 
 sidered that Innocent III granted 
 very large indulgences and privi- 
 leges to these familiars ; and that 
 the same plenarj'- indulgence is 
 granted by the pope to every single 
 exercise of this office, as was 
 granted by the Lateran council to 
 those who succoured the Holy 
 Land. When several persons are 
 to be taken up at the same time, 
 these familiars are commanded to 
 order matters that they may know 
 nothing of one another's being 
 apprehended ; and it is related, 
 that a father and his three sons 
 and three daughters, who lived 
 together in the same house, were 
 carried prisoners to the inquisi- 
 tion without knowing any thing 
 of one another's being there till 
 seven years afterwards, when they 
 that were alive were released by 
 an act of faith. See art. Act op 
 Faith. 
 
 FAMILYPRAYER.SeePRAYER. 
 
 FAMILY OF LOVE, or Fa- 
 MiLisTs. See Love. 
 
 FANATICS, wild enthusiasts, 
 visionary persons, who pretend to 
 revelation and inspiration. The 
 ancients called those fanatici Avha 
 passed their time in temples 
 (fana); and being often seized 
 with a kind of enthusiasm, as if in- 
 spired by the Divinity, shewed wild 
 and antic gestures, cutting and 
 slashing their arms with knives, 
 shaking the head, &c. Hence the 
 word was applied among us to the 
 Anabaptists, Quakers, &c., at their 
 first rise, and is now an epithet 
 given to modern prophets, enthusi- 
 asts, &c. ; and we believe unjustly 
 
FAS 
 
 288 
 
 FAS 
 
 to those who possess a consider- 
 able degree of zeal and fervency 
 of devotion. 
 
 F ARNOVIANS, a sect of So- 
 cinians, so called from Stanislaus 
 Famovius, who separated from 
 The other Unitarians in the year 
 1568. He asserted that Christ 
 had been engendered or produced 
 out of nothing by the Supreme 
 Being, before the creation of this 
 terrestrial globe, and warned his 
 disciples against paying religious 
 worship to the Divine Spirit. 
 This sect did not last long ; for 
 having lost their chief, who died 
 in 1G15, it was scattered, and re- 
 duced to nothing. 
 
 FASTING, abstinence from 
 /ood, more particularly that absti- 
 nence which is used on a religious 
 account. 
 
 The Jews had every year a 
 stated and solemn fast on the 10th 
 day of the month Tisri^ which ge- 
 nerally answered to the close of 
 our September. This solemnity 
 was a day of strict rest and fasting 
 to the Israelites. Many of them 
 spent the daj' before in prayei*, and 
 such like penitential exercises. On 
 the'day itself, at least in later times, 
 they made a tenfold confession of 
 their sins, and were careful to end 
 all their mutual broils. See Lev. 
 xvi. Numb, xxix, 7, 12. Lev. 
 xxiii, 23, 32. Individuals also 
 fasted on any extraordinary dis- 
 tress. Thus David fasted during 
 thesickness of his adulterous child, 
 2d Sam. xii, 21. Ahab, when he 
 was threatened v/ith ruin, 1 st Kings 
 xii, 27. Daniel, when he under- 
 stood that the Jev.'ish captivity 
 drew to an end, 9th and 10th 
 
 chapters of Nehemiah, Joshua, 
 Sec. 
 
 However light some think of re- 
 ligious fasting, it seems it has been 
 practised by most nations from the 
 remotest antiquity. The Egyp- 
 tians, Phoenicians, and Assyrians, 
 had their fasts as well as the Jews. 
 Porphyry affirms that the Egj'p- 
 tians, before their stated sacrifices, 
 always fasted a great many days ; 
 sometimes for six weeks. The 
 Greeks observed their fasts much 
 in the same manner. At Rome, 
 kings and emperors fasted them- 
 selves. Numa Pompilius, Julius 
 Ceesar, Augustus, Vespasian, and 
 others, we are told, had their 
 stated fast days ; and Julian the 
 apostate was so exact in this ob- 
 servation, thathe outdid the priests 
 themselves. The Pythagoreans 
 frequently fasted rigidly for a 
 long time ; and Pythagorus, their 
 master, continued his fast, it is 
 said, for forty days together. The 
 Brachmans, also, and the Chinese, 
 have also their stated fasts. 
 
 Every one knows how much 
 fasting has been considered as an 
 important rite in the church of 
 Rome, and the extremes they 
 have run into in this respect. 
 See article Abstinence. The 
 church of England also has par- 
 ticular seasons for fasting, especi- 
 ally that of Lent, which is to be 
 observed as a time of humilia- 
 tion before Easter, the general 
 festival of our Saviour's resurrec- 
 tion. Fast days are also appoint- 
 ed by the legislature upon any ex- 
 traordinary occasions of calamity, 
 war, &c. See art. Rogation, 
 Lext. 
 
FAS 
 
 289 
 
 FAT 
 
 Religious fasting consists, 1. " In 
 abstinence from every animal in- 
 dulgence, and from food, as far as 
 health and circumstances Avill ad- 
 mit. — 2. In the humble confession 
 of our sins to God, with contrition 
 or sorrow for them. — 3. An ear- 
 nest deprecation of God's displea- 
 sure, and humble supplication that 
 he would avert his judgments. — 
 4. An intercession with God for 
 such spiritual and temporal bles- 
 sings upon ourselves and others 
 which are needful." It does not 
 appear that our Saviour instituted 
 any particular fast, but left it op- 
 tional. Any state of calamity and 
 sorrow, however, naturally sug- 
 gests this. How far or how long 
 a person should abstaih from food, 
 depends on circumstances. The 
 great end to be kept in view is, hu- 
 miliation fo)- and abstinenceyroOT 
 sin. " If," says Marshall, " ab- 
 stinence divert our minds, by rea- 
 son of a gnawing appetite, then 
 you had better eat sparingly, 
 as Daniel in his greatest fast," 
 Dan. X, 2, 3. They, however, 
 who in times of public distress, 
 when the judgments of God are 
 in the earth, and when his pro- 
 vidence seems to call for humi- 
 liation, will not relinquish any of 
 their sensual enjoyments, nor deny 
 themselves in the least, cannot be 
 justified ; since good men in ail 
 ages, more or less, have luimblcd 
 themselves on such occasions ; and 
 reason as well as scripture evi- 
 denlly prove it to he- our duty. 
 Matt, ix, 15. 1st Cor. vii, 5. Ben- 
 neit\H Clirint. Orat.^ vol. ii, p. 18, 
 25 ; TUlofsori's Scnnoiis^ ser. 39 ; 
 Slmpsoii's Essaij on Fast'ing; 3'Iar- 
 shail on Scnic., p. J-iTS, 2r4. 
 Vol. I. ■ P p 
 
 FATE (fatum) denotes an in- 
 evitable necessity depending upon 
 a superior cause. The word is 
 formed afando^ "from speaking," 
 and primarily implies the same 
 with effatum^ viz. a word or de- 
 cree pronounced by God, or a fix- 
 ed sentence whereby the Deity has 
 prescribed the order of things, and 
 allotted to every person what shall 
 befal him. The Greeks called it 
 iiij.3Lf(/.ivt^ as it were a chain or ne- 
 cessary series of things indissolu- 
 bly linked together. It also used 
 to express a certain unavoidable 
 designation of things, by which all 
 agents, both necessary and volun- 
 tary, are sv/ayed and directed to 
 their ends. Fate is divided into 
 physical and divine. 1 . Physical 
 fate is an order and series of na- 
 tural causes, appropriated to their 
 effects ; as, that fire warms ; bo- 
 dies communicate motion to each 
 other, &c.; and the effects of it 
 are all the events and phenomena 
 of nature. — 2. Divine fate is 
 what is more usually called pro- 
 vidence. See Providence, Ne- 
 cessity. 
 
 FATHERS, a term applied to 
 ancient authors who have pre- 
 served in their writings traditions 
 of the church. Thus St. Chry- 
 sostom, St. Basil, &c., are called 
 Greek fathers, and St. Augustine 
 and St. Ambrose, Latin fathers. 
 No author who wrote later than 
 the twelfth century is dignified 
 with the title of fatiier. 
 
 Some suppose that the study of 
 tlie fathers is barren and unim- 
 proving ; that though there are 
 some excellent things interspersed 
 in tiicir writings, y^t the instruc- 
 ii(;n to be derived from them will 
 
FAU 
 
 290 
 
 FE A 
 
 hardly repay the toil of breaking 
 up the ground; that a lifetime 
 would hardly suffice to read them 
 with care, and digest them com- 
 pletely. Others have such an high 
 opinion of the fathers, as to be 
 almost afraid of interpreting scrip- 
 ture against their decision. They 
 suppose, that as some of them were 
 companions, disciples, or succes- 
 sively followers of the apostles, it 
 is highly probable that they must 
 have been well informed, that 
 their sentiments must be strongly 
 illustrative of the doctrines of the 
 New Testament ; and that as con- 
 troversies have increased, and 
 dogmas received since their time, 
 they xnust be much less entangled 
 with decisions naerely human than 
 miore recent commentators. Per- 
 haps it is best to steer between 
 these two opinions. If a person 
 have ability, inclination, and op- 
 portunity to wade through them, 
 let him ; but if not, referring to 
 thein occasionally naay suffice. 
 One caution, however, is neces- 
 sary, which is this ; that though 
 the judgment of antiquity in some 
 disputable points certainly may 
 be useful, yet we ought never to 
 put them on the same footing as 
 the scriptures. In many cases they 
 may be considered as competent 
 witnesses ; but we must not con- 
 fide in their verdict as judges. 
 yort'vi's Works^ vol. vii, chap. 
 2 ; Keifs Serin, at Bampton Lec.^ 
 ser. 1 ; Wat-burton's Julian; Simp- 
 son^s Strictures on Religious Opi- 
 nions^ latter end ; Daille''s Use of 
 the Fathers^ p.l67 ; Laiv's Theory. 
 FAULT, a slight defect or 
 crime v/hich subjects a person to 
 blame, but not to punishment ; a I 
 
 deviation from, or transgression of 
 a rule in some trifling circum- 
 stances. 
 
 FAVOUR OF GOD. See 
 
 Grace. 
 
 FEAR is that uneasiness of 
 mind which arises from an ap- 
 prehension of danger, attended 
 with a desire of avoiding it." 
 Fear," says Dr. Watts, " shews 
 itself by paleness of the cheek, 
 sinking of the spirits, trembling of 
 the limbs, hurry and confusion of 
 the mind and thoughts, agonies of 
 nature, and fainting. Many a per- 
 son has died with fear. Sometimes 
 it rouses all nature to exert itself in 
 speedy flight, or other methods to 
 avoid the approaching evil; sudden 
 terror has performed some almost 
 incredibles of this kind." 
 
 Fear is of different kinds: 1. 
 There is an idolatrous and su- 
 perstitious fear^ which is called 
 ^sia-i^xiixovioiy a fear of daemons, 
 which the city of Athens was 
 greatly addicted to. " I perceive," 
 says the apostle Paul, " that in 
 all things ye are too supersti- 
 tious," or given to the fear and 
 worship of false deities. — 2. There 
 is an extertial fear of God, an 
 outward shew and profession of it, 
 which is taught by the precepts of 
 men ; as in the men of Samaria, 
 v/ho pretended to fear the Lord, 
 as the priest instructed them, and 
 yet served their own gods ; and 
 such an external fear of God, Job's 
 friends supposed was all that he 
 had, and that even he had cast 
 that ofi^. — 3. There is an hypocri- 
 tical fear^ when men make a pro- 
 fession of religion ; but only serve 
 him for some sinister end and 
 selfish view, which Satan insi- 
 
FE A 
 
 291 
 
 FE A 
 
 auated was Job's case. " Doth 
 Job fear God for nought ?" Job i, 
 9. — 4. There is a servile fear^ 
 which they possess who serve God 
 from fear of punishment, and not 
 from love to him. — 5. There is a 
 filial fear, such as that of a son to 
 his father. See next article. 
 
 FEAR OF GOD, is that holy 
 disposition or gracious habit form- 
 ed in the soul by the Holy Spirit, 
 whereby we are inclined to obey 
 all God's commands, and eviden- 
 ces itself, 1. By a dread of his dis- 
 pleasure. — 2. Desire of his fa- 
 vour. — 3. Regard for his excel- 
 lencies. — 4. Submission to his will. 
 — 5. Gratitude for his benefits. — 
 6. Sincerity in his worship. — 7. 
 Conscientious obedience to his 
 commands, Frov. viii, 13. Job 
 xxviii, 28. Bates's Works, page 
 913 ; GilPs Body of Divinity, vol. 
 iii, book 1. 
 
 FEAR OF DEATH. See 
 Death. 
 
 FEARS. See Doubts. 
 
 FEAST, in a religious sense, is 
 a ceremony of feasting and thanks- 
 giving. 
 
 The prittcipal feasts of the Jews 
 were the feasts of trumpets, of ex- 
 piation, of tabernacles, of the de- 
 dication, of the passover, of pen- 
 tecost, and that of purification. 
 Feasts, and the ceremonies there- 
 of, have made great part of the 
 religion of almost all nations and 
 sects ; hence the Greeks, the Ro- 
 mans, Mahometans, and Christ- 
 ians, have not been without them. 
 
 Feasts, among us, are either 
 innmoveable or moveable. Im- 
 moveable feasts are those constant- 
 ly celebrated on the same day of 
 the year. The principal of these 
 
 are Christmas-day, Circumcision, 
 Epiphany, Candlemas or Purifica- 
 tion ; Lady-day, or the annuncia- 
 tion, called also the incarnation 
 and conception ; All Saints and All 
 Souls ; besides the days of the se- 
 veral apostles, as St. Thomas, St. 
 Paul. Moveable feasts are those 
 which are not confined to the same 
 day of the year. Of these the 
 principal is Easter, which gives law 
 to all tlie rest, all of them follow- 
 ing and keeping their proper dis- 
 tances from it. Such are Palm Sun- 
 day, Good Friday, Ash- Wednes- 
 day, Sexagesima, Ascension-day, 
 Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday. 
 
 Besides these feasts, which are 
 general, and enjoined by the 
 church, there are others local 
 and occasional, enjoined by the 
 magistrate, or voluntarily set on 
 foot by the people : such are the 
 days of thanksgiving for d^eliverj' 
 from war, plagues, &c. ; such also 
 are the vigils or wakes in com- 
 memoration of the dedication of 
 particular churches. 
 
 The prodigious increase offcast- 
 days in the christian church 
 commenced towards the close of 
 the fourth century, occasioned 
 by the discovery that was made 
 of the remains of martyrs, and 
 other holy men, for the com- 
 memoration of whom they were 
 established. These, instead of be- 
 ing set apart for pious exercises, 
 were abused in indolence, vo- 
 luptuousness, and criminal prac- 
 tices. Many of them were insti- 
 tuted on a pagan model, and per- 
 verted to similar purposes. See 
 Hoi.Y Day. 
 
 FEAST OF ASSES. This 
 was afestival in the Romish church, 
 
EE 
 
 292 
 
 FIF 
 
 and was celebrated at Beauvais. 
 They chose a young woman the 
 handsomest in the town ; made her 
 ride on^n ass richly harnessed, and 
 placed in her arms a pretty infant. 
 In this state, followed by the bish- 
 op and clergy, she marched in 
 procession from the cathedral to 
 the church of St. Stephen; enter- 
 ed into the sanctuary, placed her- 
 self near the altar, and then cele- 
 brated mass ; not forgetting to ex- 
 plain the fine qualities of the ani- 
 mal, and exhorting him to make 
 a devout genuflection, with a va- 
 riety of other fooleries. 
 
 FEELINGS RELIGIOUS, 
 are those sensations or emotions 
 of the mind produced by the views 
 we have of religion. VVhile some 
 enthusiasts boast of, depend on, 
 and talk much of tlieir feelings, 
 there are others who are led to 
 discard the term, and almost to 
 abandon the idea of religious feel- 
 ing ; but it is evident, that how- 
 ever many have been misguided 
 and deceived by tht'n\ feelings^ 
 yet there is no such thing as 
 religion without this. For in- 
 stance ; religion consists in con- 
 trition, repentance, and devotion : 
 now, Vi'hat is contrition but a feel- 
 ing- of sorrow for sin ? what is re- 
 
 o 
 
 pentance but a feeling of hatred 
 to it, with a relinquishing of it? 
 what is devotion but a feeling of 
 love to God and his ways ? Who 
 can separate the idea of feeling 
 from. any of these acts,? The fact 
 is this ; religious feelings, like 
 every thing else, have been abused; 
 and men to avoid the imputation 
 of fanaticism, have run into the 
 opposite evil of lukewarmness,- 
 
 and been content with a system 
 v/ithout feeling its energy. See 
 Affection, Enthusiasm, Expe- 
 rience. 
 
 FELLOWSHIP, joint interest, 
 or the having one common stock. 
 The fellowship of the saints is tM'o- 
 fold: 1. With God, 1st John i, 3. 
 1st Cor. i, 9. 1st Cor. xiii, 14. — 
 2, With one another, 1st John i, 7. 
 
 Fellowship xvith God^ consists in 
 knowledge of his will, Job xxii, 
 21. John xvii, 3. Agreement, 
 Amos iii, 2. Strength of affection, 
 Rom. viii, 38, 39. Enjoyment of 
 his presence, Ps. iv, 6. Confor- 
 mity to his image, l^t John ii, 6. 
 1st John i, 6. 
 
 Felloxvsliip of the ,$■«?"«?*, may be 
 considered as a fellov/ship of du- 
 ties, Rom. xii, 6. 1st Cor. xii, 1. 
 IstThess. V, 17, 18. James v, 16. 
 Of ordinances, Heb. x, 24. Acts 
 ii, 46. Of graces, love, joy, &c. 
 Heb. X, 24. Mai. iii, 16. 2d Cor. 
 viii, 4. Of interest spiritual, and 
 sometimes temporal, Rom. xii, 4. 
 13. Heb. xiii, 16. Of sufferings, 
 Rom. XV, 1, 2. Gal. vi, 1, 2. Rom. 
 xii, 15. Of eternal glory, Rev. 
 vii, 9. See Communion. 
 
 FjLDELITY, faitfulness, or the 
 conscientious discharge of those 
 duties of a religious, personal, and 
 relative nature, which we are 
 bound to perform. See an ex- 
 cellent sermon on the subject in 
 Dr. Erskine's Sermons^ vol. ii, p. 
 304. 
 
 FIFTH MONARCHY MEN, 
 were a set of enthusiasts, in the 
 time of Cromwell, who expected 
 the sudden appearance of Christ 
 to establish on earth a new mon- 
 archy or kingdom. In consequence 
 
FIR 
 
 <50'1 
 
 F L A 
 
 of this illusion, some of them 
 aimed at the subversion of all 
 hviman government. In ancient 
 history we read of four great 
 aiionarchies, the Assyrian, Persian, 
 Grecian, and the Roman ; and 
 these men, believing that this new 
 spiritual kingdom of Christ was 
 to be the fifth, came, to bear the 
 name by which they were called. 
 
 FILIAL PIETY, is the affec- 
 tionate attachment of children to 
 their parents, including in it love, 
 reverence, obedience, and relief. 
 Justly has it been observed, that 
 these great duties are prompted 
 equally b^v nature and by gratitude, 
 independent of the injunctions of 
 religion ; for where shall we find 
 the person v«'ho hath received from 
 any one benefits so great, or so 
 many, as children from their pa- 
 rents ? And it may be truly said, 
 that if persons are undutiful to 
 their parents, they seldom prove 
 good to any other relation. See 
 article Children, 
 
 FILIATION OF THE SON 
 OF GOD. See Son of God. 
 
 FIRE PHILOSOPHERS. See 
 Theosophists. 
 
 FIRST FRUITS, among the 
 Hebrews, were oblations of part of 
 the fruits of the harvest, offered to 
 God as an acknowledgment of 
 his sovereign dominion. There 
 was another sort of first fruits 
 which was paid to God. When 
 bread was kneaded in a family, a 
 portion of it was set apart, and 
 given to the priest or Levite who 
 dwelt in the place. If there were 
 no priest or Levite there, it was 
 cast into the oven and consumed 
 by the Ixi-e. These offerings made 
 a considerable part of the revenues 
 
 of the priesthood, Lev. xxiii. 
 Exod. xxii, 29. Chron. xxiii, 19. 
 Numb. XV, 19, 20. 
 
 Thajirst fruits of the Spirit are 
 such communications of his grace 
 on earth as fully assure us of the 
 full erijoyment of God in hea- 
 ven, Rom. viii, 23. Christ is called 
 the first fruits of them that slept ; 
 for as the first fruits were earnests 
 to the Jews of the succeeding har- 
 vest, so Christ is the first fruits of 
 the resurrection, or the earnest of 
 a future resurrection ; that as he 
 rose, so shall believers also rise to 
 happiness and life, 1st Cor, xv. 20. 
 
 First fruits are mentioned in 
 ancient writers as one part of the 
 church revenue. 
 
 First fruits^ in the church of 
 England, are the profits of every 
 spiritual benefice for the first year, 
 according to the valuation thereof 
 in the king's book. 
 
 FIVE POINTS, are the five 
 doctrines controverted between 
 the Arminians and Calvinists. 
 See Calvinists. 
 
 FLACIANS, the followers of 
 Matthias Flacias Illyricus, who 
 flourished in the sixteenth century. 
 He taught that original sin is the 
 very substance of human nature j 
 and that the fall of man was an 
 event which extin-guished in the 
 human mind every virtuous ten- 
 dency, every noble faculty, and 
 left nothing behind it but universal 
 darkness and corruption. 
 
 FLAGELLANTES. See 
 Whippers. 
 
 FLATTERY, a servile and 
 fawning behaviour, attended with 
 servile compliances and obseqvii^- 
 ousness, in order to gain a per- 
 son's favour. 
 
FOO 
 
 294 
 
 FOR 
 
 FLEMINGIANS, or Flan- 
 DRiANS, a sect of rigid Anabap- 
 tists, who acquired this name, in 
 the sixteenth century, because 
 most of them were natives of 
 Flanders, by way of distinction 
 from the Waterlandians. See 
 Waterlandians. 
 
 FOLLY, according to Mr. 
 Locke, consists in the drawing of 
 false. conclusions from just princi- 
 ples, by which it is distinguished 
 from madness, which draws just 
 conclusions from false principles. 
 But this seems too confined a de- 
 finition. Folly, in its most general 
 acceptation, denotes a weakness of 
 intellect or apprehension, or some 
 partial absurdity in sentiment or 
 conduct. See Evil, Sijst. 
 
 FOOL, one who has not the 
 use of reason or judgment. In 
 scripture, wicked persons are often 
 called fools, or foolish, because 
 such act contrary to reason, trust 
 to their own hearts, violate the 
 laws of God, and prefer things vile, 
 trifling, and temporal, to such as 
 are important, divine, and eternal. 
 
 FOOLISH SPEAKING, such 
 kind of conversation as includes 
 folly, and can no ways be profitable 
 and interesting, Eph. v, 4. Face- 
 tioitsiiessj indeed, is allowable, 
 when it ministers to harmless di- 
 vertisement and delight to con- 
 versation ; when it is used for the 
 purpose of exposi'ng things v/hich 
 are base and vile ; when it has 
 for its aim the reformation of 
 others ; when used by way of de- 
 fence under unjust reproach. But 
 all such kind of speaking as in- 
 cludes profane jesting, loose, wan- 
 ton scurrilous, injurious', unseason- 
 able, vain-glorious talk, is strictly 
 forbidden. See Barrow's excellent 
 
 Sermon on this subject in his 
 Works, vol. i, ser. 14. 
 
 FORBEARANCE, is the act 
 of patiently enduring provocation 
 or offence. The following may be 
 considered as the most powerful 
 incentives to the exercise of this 
 disposition: 1. The consideration 
 that we ourselves often stand in 
 need of it from others, Gal. vi. 1. 
 — 2. The express command of 
 scripture, Eph. iv, 2. Col. iii, 13. 
 — 3. The felicity of this disposi- 
 tion. It is sure to bring happi- 
 ness at last, while resentment only 
 increases our own misery. — 4. 
 That it is one of the strongest evi- 
 dences we can give of the reality 
 of our religion, John xiii, S5. — 5. 
 The beautiful example of Christ, 
 Heb. xii, 3. 1st Pet. ii, 21 to 23. 
 
 FORBEARANCE OF GOD. 
 See Patience of G®d. 
 
 FOREKNOWLEDGE OF 
 GO D, is his foresight or knowledge 
 of every thing that is to come to 
 pass, Acts ii, 23. This foreknow- 
 ledge, says Charnock, was from 
 eternity. Seeing he knows things 
 possible in his power, and things 
 future in his will, if his power and 
 resolves were from eternity, his 
 knowledge must be so too ; or else 
 we must make him ignorant of his 
 own power, and ignorant of his 
 own will from eternity, and con- 
 sequently not from eternity blessed 
 and perfect. His knowledge of 
 possi])le things must run parallel 
 with his power, and his know- 
 ledge of future things run parallel 
 with his will. If he willed from 
 eternit;/, he knew from eternit). 
 what he willed; but that he did 
 v/ilS from eternity we must grant, 
 unless we vrould render him 
 changeable, and conceive him ts 
 
FOR 
 
 295 
 
 FOR 
 
 be made in time of not willing ; 
 willing. The knowledge God hath 
 in time was always one and the 
 same, because his understanding 
 is his proper essence, as perfect 
 as his essence, and of an immuta- 
 ble nature. 
 
 To deny this is, says Saurin, 
 to degradq the Almighty ; for 
 what, pray,, is a God who created 
 beings, and who could not foresee 
 what would result from their exist- 
 ence ? A God, who formed spirits 
 united to bodies by certain laws, 
 and who did not know how to 
 combine these lav/s so as to fore- 
 see the effects they would pro- 
 duce ? A God forced to suspend 
 his judgment? A God who every 
 day learns something new, and 
 who doth not know to-day what 
 will happen to-morrow ? A God 
 who cannot tell whether peace 
 will be concluded, or war con- 
 tinue to ravage the world ; whe- 
 ther religion will be received in 
 a certain kingdom, or whether it 
 will be banished ; whether the right 
 heir will succeed to the crown, 
 or whether the crown v/ill be set 
 on the head of an usurper ? For 
 according to the different deter- 
 minations of the wills of men, of 
 king, or people, the prince will 
 make peace, or declare war ; re- 
 ligion will be banished or admitted ; 
 the tyrant or the lawful king will 
 occupy the throne : for if God 
 cannot foresee how the volitions 
 of men will be determined, he 
 cannot foresee any of these events. 
 What is this but to degrade God 
 from his Deity, and to make the 
 most perfect of all intelligences 
 a being involved in dajkness and 
 
 uncertainty like ourselves ?" See 
 Omniscience. 
 
 FORGIVENESS, the pardon of 
 any offence committed against us. 
 This is a virtue which our Lord 
 expressly inculcates, not as ex- 
 tending to our friends only, but to 
 our enemies. " Ye have heard," 
 saith he, " Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour, and hate thine enemy ; 
 but I say unto you, love your 
 enemies," &c. " This," says an in- 
 genious writer, " was a lesson so 
 new, and so utterly unknown, till 
 taught by his doctrines and en- 
 forced by his example, that the 
 wisest moralist of the wisest na- 
 tions and ages represented the de- 
 sire of revenge as a mark of a 
 noble mind ; but how much moi^e 
 magnanimous, how much more be- 
 neficial to mankind, is forgiveness ! 
 It is more magnanimous, because 
 every generous and exalted dispo- 
 sition of the human mind is re- 
 quisite to the practice of it; and it 
 is the most beneficial, because it 
 puts an end to an eternal succession 
 of injuries and retaliations." Let 
 us, therefore, learn to cherish this 
 noble disposition ; let the bitterest 
 enemy we have be softened by its 
 effects ; let us consider also how 
 friendly it is to our own happiness, 
 and how much it prevents the un- 
 happiness of others. " The feuds 
 and animosities in families, and be- 
 tween neighbours, which disturb 
 the intercourse of huijian life, and 
 collectively compose half the mi- 
 sery of it, have their foundation 
 in the want of a forgiving temper, 
 and can never cease but by the 
 exercise of this virtue on one side, 
 I or on both." Paley^s Mor. Plnl^ 
 
FOR 
 
 296 
 
 FOR 
 
 vol. i, p. 2n ; Soame Jenyns^s Int. 
 Emd.^ p. 67, 68; Clarke's Ser.^ ser. 
 2, vol. x; TiUotsoJi's Ser., vol, viii, 
 p. 254. 
 
 FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 
 See Pardon, Mercy. 
 
 FORMALIST, one v/ho places 
 too much dependance on outward 
 ceremonies of religion, or who is 
 more tenacious of the form of i-e- 
 ligion than the power of it. 
 
 FORMS OF PRAYER. See 
 Prayer. 
 
 ' FORNICATION, whoredom, 
 or the act of incontinency between 
 single persons ; for if either of the 
 parties be married, it is adultery. 
 While the scriptures give no sanc- 
 tion to those austerities which have 
 been imposed on men under the 
 idea of religion, so, on the other 
 hand, they give no liberty for the 
 indulgence of any propensity that 
 would either militate against our 
 own interest or that of others. It 
 is in vain to argue the innocency 
 of fornication from the natural pas- 
 sions implanted in us, since " malr- 
 riage is honourable in ail," and 
 wisely appointed for the prevention 
 of those evils which would other- 
 wise ensue; and, besides, the exist- 
 ence of any natural propensity in us, 
 is Ro proof that it is to be gratified 
 without any restriction. That forni- 
 cation is both unlawful and unrea- 
 sonable, may be easily inferred, if 
 we consider, 1. That our Saviour 
 expressly declares this to be a crime, 
 Mark vii, 21 to 23.-2. That 
 the scriptures declare that forni- 
 cr.tQi-si cannot inherit the kingdom 
 of God, 1st Cor. vi, 9. Heb. xii, 
 10. Gal. V, 19 to 22.' — 3. For- 
 nication sinks into a mere brutal 
 commerce, a gratification which 
 
 was designed to be the cement of 
 a sacred, generous, and tender 
 friendship. — 4. It leaves the main- 
 tenance and education of chil- 
 dren, as to the father at kast, ut- 
 terly unsecured. — 5. It strongly 
 tempts the guilty mother to guard 
 herself from infamy by nvethods 
 of procuring abortion, v/hich not 
 only destroy the child, but often 
 the mother. — 6. It disqualifies the 
 deluded creatures to be either 
 good wives, or mothers, in any 
 future marriage, ruining that mo- 
 desty which is the guardian of nup- 
 tial happiness. — 7. It absolutely 
 disqualifies the man for the best 
 satisfactions ; those of truth, vir- 
 tue, innocent gratifications, tender 
 and generous friendship. — 8. It 
 often perpetuates a disease which 
 may be accounted one of the 
 sorest maladies of human nature, 
 and the effects of which are said 
 to visit the constitution of even 
 distant generations. 
 
 FORTITUDE is a virtue or 
 quality of the mind generally con- 
 sidered the same with courage ; 
 though, in a more accurate sense, 
 they seem to be distinguishable. 
 Courage resists danger, fortitude 
 supports pain. , Courage may 
 be a virtue or vice, according to 
 the circumstances ; fortitude is 
 always a virtue : we speak of 
 desperate courage, but not of des- 
 perate fortitude. A contempt or 
 neglect of dangers may be called 
 courage ; but fortitude is the vir- 
 tue of a rational and considerate 
 mind, and is founded in a sense of 
 honour, and regard to duty. 
 
 Christian fortitude may be de- 
 fined that state of mind which 
 arises from trust and confidence in 
 
FOR 
 
 297 
 
 FRA 
 
 God ; enables us to stand collected 
 and undisturbed in the time of 
 difficulty and danger; and is at 
 an equal distance from rashness on 
 the one hand, and pusillanimity on 
 the other. Fortitude takes differ- 
 ent names, according as it acts 
 in opposition to different evils ; 
 but some of those names are ap- 
 plied with considerable latitude. 
 With respect to danger in general, 
 fortitude has been called intre- 
 pidity ; with respect to the dan- 
 gers of war, valour; with respect to 
 pain of body, or distress of mind, 
 patience; with respect to labour, 
 activity; with respect to injury, 
 forbearance ; with respect to our 
 condition in general, magnani- 
 mity. 
 
 Christian fortitude is necessary 
 to vigilance, patience, self-denial, 
 and perseverance. The noble cause 
 in which the christian is engaged ; 
 the glorious Master whom he 
 serves ; the provision that is made 
 for his security ; the illustrious 
 examples set before him; the ap- 
 probation of a good conscience ; 
 and the grand prospect he has in 
 view, are all powerful motives to 
 the exercise of this grace. WattiPs 
 Ser,^ ser. 31 ; Evans's Ser.^ ser. 
 19, vol. i ; Steele'' s Christian Hero. 
 
 FORTUNE, a name which, a- 
 mong the ancients, seemed to have 
 denoted a principle of fortuity, 
 whereby things came to pass v/ith- 
 out being necessitated thereto ; 
 but what and whence that principle 
 is they do not seem to have ever 
 precisely thought. It does not 
 appear that the antiquity of the 
 word is very high. It is acknow- 
 ledged, on all hands, that '^'■Jx^^y 
 
 Vol, I. Q q 
 
 from whence the Romans took 
 their fortuna, was a term invented 
 long after the times of Hesiod and 
 Homer, in whose writings it no 
 where occurs. The philosophical 
 sense of the word coincides with 
 what is vulgarly called chance. 
 It is difficult to ascertain what it 
 denotes in the minds of those who 
 now use the word. It has been 
 justly observed, that they who 
 would substitute the name of pro- 
 vidence in lieu of that of fortune^ 
 cannot give any toleralile sense to 
 half the phrases wherein the word 
 occurs. 
 
 FRAME. This word is usedto 
 denote any state of mind a man 
 may be in ; and, in a religious 
 sense, is often connected with the 
 word feeling, or used synony- 
 mously with it. See Feeling. 
 
 " If our frames are comfort- 
 able," says one, " we may make 
 them the matter of our praise, 
 but not of our pride ; we may 
 make them our pleasure, but not 
 our portion ; we may make them 
 the matter of our encouragement, 
 but not the ground of our securi- 
 ty. Are our frames dark and un- 
 comfortable ? they should humble 
 us, but not discourage us ; they 
 should quicken us, but not obstruct 
 us in our application for necessary 
 and suitable grace ; they should 
 make us see our own emptiness, 
 but not make us suspect the ful- 
 ness of Christ; the\' should make 
 us see our own unwcJrthiness, but 
 not make us suspect the willing- 
 ness oi" Christ ; thej' should make 
 us see our own weakness, but not 
 cause us to suspect the strength of 
 Christ ; thev should make us sus- 
 
FRA 
 
 298 
 
 FRA 
 
 , pect our own hearts, but not the 
 firmness and freeness of the pro- 
 mises." 
 
 FRANCISCANS, a religious 
 order founded by St. Francis in the 
 year 1209. Francis was the son of 
 a merchant of Assisi, in the pro- 
 vince of Umbria, who, having led 
 a dissolute life, was reclaimed by 
 a fit of sickness, and afterwards 
 fell into an extravagant devotion 
 that looked less like religion than 
 alienation of mind. Soon after 
 this, viz. in the year 1208, hear- 
 ing the passage repeated in which 
 Christ addresses his apostles, Pro- 
 vide neither gold nor silver^ &c.. 
 Matt. X, 9, 10. he was led to 
 consider a voluntary and absolute 
 poverty as the essence of the gos- 
 pel, and to prescribe this poverty 
 ns a sacred rule both to himself 
 and to the few that followed him. 
 This new society, which appeared 
 to Innocent III extremely adapted 
 to the present state of the church, 
 and proper to restore its declining- 
 credit, was solemnly approved and 
 confirmed by Honorius III, in 
 1223, and had made a considerable 
 progress before the death of its 
 founder in 1226. Francis through 
 an excessive humility, would not 
 cufFer the monks of his order to be 
 called fratres^ i. e. brethren or 
 
 friars; hnt fraterculiy i. 
 
 e. 
 
 litth 
 
 brethren, or friars minor, by 
 wliich denomination they have 
 been generally since distinguished. 
 The Franciscans and Dominicans 
 were zealous and active friends to 
 the papal hierarchy, and in return 
 were distingulslied by peculiar pri- 
 vileges and honourable employ- 
 ments. The Franciscans, in par- 
 ticular, were invested with the 
 
 treasure of ample and extensive 
 indulgencies, the distribution of 
 which was committed to them by 
 the popes as a mean of subsistence, 
 and a rich indemnification for 
 their voluntary poverty. In con- 
 sequence of this grant, the rule of 
 the founder, which absolutely pro- 
 hibited both personal and collec- 
 tive property, so that neither the 
 individual nor the community 
 were to possess either fund, reve- 
 nue, or any worldly goods, was 
 considered as too strict and severe, 
 and dispensed with soon after his 
 death. In 1231, Gregory IX pifb- 
 lished an interpretation of this rule, 
 mitigating its rigour j which was 
 farther confii"med by Innocent IV 
 in 1245, and by Alexander IV 
 in 1247". These milder operations 
 were zealously opposed by a branch 
 of the Franciscans, called the spi- 
 ritual ; and their complaints were 
 regarded by Nicholas III, who, in - 
 1279, published a famous consti- 
 tution, confirming the rule of St. 
 Francis, and containing an ela- 
 borate explication of the maxims 
 it recommended, and the duties 
 it prescribed. In 1287, Matthew, 
 of Aqua Sparta, being elected ge- 
 neral of the order, discouraged the 
 ancient discipline of the Francis- 
 cans, and indulged his monks in 
 abandoning even the appearance 
 of poverty ; and this conduct in- 
 flamed the indignation of the spi- 
 ritual or austere Franciscans ; so 
 that, from the year 1290, seditions 
 and schisms arose in an order that 
 had been so famous for its pre- 
 tended disinterestedness and hu- 
 millt}'. Such was the enthusiastic 
 frenzy of the Franciscans, that 
 they impiously maintained that the 
 
FR A 
 
 299 
 
 FR A 
 
 founder of their order was a second 
 Christ, in all respects similar to the 
 first, and that their institution and 
 discipline were the true gospel of 
 Jesus. Accordingly Albizi, a Fran- 
 ciscan, of Pisa, published a book 
 in 1383, with the applause of his 
 order, entitled the Book of the 
 Conformities of St. Francis with 
 Jesus Christ. In the beginning of 
 this century the whole Francis- 
 can order Avas divided into two 
 parties : the one embracing the 
 severe discipline and absolute po- 
 verty of St. Francis, and were 
 called spirituals; and the other, 
 who insisted on mitigating the aus- 
 tere injunctions of their founder, 
 were denominated brethren of the 
 community. These wore long, loose, 
 and good habits, with large hoods ; 
 the former were clad in a strait, 
 coarse, and short dress, pretending 
 that this dress was enjoined by St. 
 Francis, and that no power on 
 earth had a right to alter it. Nei- 
 ther the moderation of Clement 
 V, nor the violence of John XXII, 
 could appease the tumult occa- 
 sioned by these two parties j how- 
 ever, their rage subsided from the 
 year 1329. In 1368 these two 
 parties were formed into two large 
 bodies, comprehending the whole 
 Franciscan order, viz. the conven- 
 tual brethren^ and the brethren of 
 the observance^ or observation^ixdva 
 whom sprang the Capuchins and 
 Recollects. The general opinion 
 is, that the Franciscans came into 
 England in the year 1224, and 
 liad their first house at Canterbury, 
 and their secpnd at London ; but 
 there is no certain account of their 
 being here till king Henry VII 
 
 built two or three houses for them. 
 At the dissolution of the monas- 
 teries, the conventual Franciscans 
 had about fifty-five houses, w-hich 
 were under seven custodies or war- 
 denships, viz;, those of London, 
 Worcester, York, Cambridge, 
 Bristol, Newcastle, and Oxford. 
 
 FRATERNITY, in the Roman 
 Catholic countries, signifies a socie- 
 ty for the improvement of devotion. 
 Of these there are several sorts, as, 
 1. The fraternity of the Rosary, 
 founded by St. Dominic. It is 
 divided into two branches, called 
 the common rosary^ and the perpe- 
 tual rosary ; the former of whom 
 are obliged to confess and commu- 
 nicate every first Sunday in the 
 month, and the latter to repeat 
 the rosary continually. — 2. The 
 fraternity of the Scapulary, whom 
 it is pretended, according to the 
 sabbatine bull of pope John XXII, 
 the Blessed Virgin has promised 
 to deliver out of hell the first Sun- 
 day after their death. — 3. The 
 fraternity of St. Francis's girdle 
 are clothed with a sack of a grey 
 colour, which they tie with a cord ; 
 and in processions walk bare- 
 footed, carrying in their hands 
 a wooden cross. — 4. That of St. 
 Austin's leathern girdle compre- 
 hends a great many devotees. 
 Italy, Spain, and Portugal, are the 
 countries where are seen the great- 
 est number of these fraternities, 
 some of which assume the name of 
 arch fraternity . Pope Clement 
 VII instituted the arch-fraternity 
 of charity, which distributes bread 
 every Sunday among the poor, and 
 gives portions to forty poor girls on 
 the feast of St. Jerome, their pa-^ 
 
FR A 
 
 300 
 
 FR A 
 
 tron. The fraternity of death 
 buries such dead as are aban- 
 'doned by their relations, and 
 causes masses to be celebrated for 
 them. 
 
 FRATRICELLI, an enthu- 
 siastic sect of Franciscans, which 
 rose in Italy, and particularly in the 
 marquisate of Ancona, about the 
 year 1294. The word is an Italian 
 diminutive, signifying f rater culi^ 
 or "little brothers," and was here 
 used as a term of derision, as they 
 were most of them apostate monks, 
 whom the Italians call frateUi^ or 
 fratricelli. For this reason the 
 term fratricelli^ as a nick-name, 
 was given to many other sects, as 
 theCatharists, the V/aldenses,&c., 
 however different in their opinions 
 and their conduct. But this de- 
 nomination, applied to the austere 
 part of the Franciscans, was con- 
 sidered as honourable. See Fran- 
 ciscans. 
 
 The founders of this sect were 
 p. Maurato and P. de Fossom- 
 broni, who, having obtained of 
 pope Celestin V a permission to 
 live in solitude after the manner of 
 hermits, and to observe the rule 
 of St. Francis in all its rigour, se- 
 veral idle vagabond monks joined 
 them, who, living after their own 
 fancies, and making all perfection 
 to consist in, povert}^, were soon 
 condemned by pope Boniface 
 VIII and his successor, and the 
 inquisitors ordered to proceed 
 against them as heretics ; which 
 commission they executed Vv-ith 
 their usUal barbarity. Upon this, 
 retiring into Sicily, Peter John 
 Oliva de Serignan had no sooner 
 published his comment on the 
 Apocalypse, than they adopted his 
 
 tenets. They held the Romish 
 church to be Babylon, and pro- 
 posed to establish another far 
 more perfect one : they maintain- 
 ed that the rule of St. Francis was 
 the evangelical rule observed by 
 Jesus Christ and his apostles. They 
 foretold the reformation of the 
 church, and the restoration of the 
 true gospel of Christ by the genuine 
 followers of St. Francis ; and de- 
 clared their assent to almost all 
 the doctrines which were pub- 
 lished under the name of the ab- 
 bot Joachim, in the " Introduc- 
 tion to the Everlasting Gospel," a 
 book published in 1250, and ex- 
 plained by one of the spiritual 
 friars, whose name was Gerhard. 
 Among other errors inculcated in 
 this book, it is pretended that St. 
 Francis was the angel mentioned 
 in Rev. xiv, 6. and had promul- 
 gated to the world the true and 
 everlasting gospel ; that the gospel 
 of Christ was to be abrogated in 
 1260, and to give place to this new 
 and everlasting gospel, which was 
 to be substituted in its room ; and 
 that the ministers of this great re- 
 formation were to be humble and 
 bare-footed friars, destitute of all 
 worldly employments. Some say, 
 they even elected a pope of their 
 church ; at least they appointed a 
 general with superiors, and built 
 monasteries, Sec. Besides the opi- 
 nions of Oliva, they held that the 
 sacraments of the church were in- 
 valid, because those who admi- 
 nistered them had no longer any 
 power or jurisdiction. They were 
 condemned again by pope John 
 XXII, in consequence of whose 
 cruelty they regarded him as the 
 true antichrist ; but several of 
 
FRE 
 
 301 
 
 F R E 
 
 them, returning into Germany, 
 were sheltered by Lewis duke of 
 Bavaria, the emperor. 
 
 There are authentic records, 
 from which it appears, that no 
 less than 2000 persons were burnt 
 by the inquisition, from the year 
 1318 to the time of Innocent VI, 
 for their inflexible attachment to 
 the order of St. Francis. The se- 
 verities against them were again 
 revived, towards the close of the 
 fifteenth centur}', by pope Nicho- 
 las V and his successors. How- 
 ever, all the persecutions which 
 this sect endured were not suffi- 
 cient to extinguish it j for it sub- 
 sisted until the times of the refor- 
 mation in Germany, when its re- 
 maining votaries adopted the cause 
 and embraced the doctrine and 
 discipline of Luther. 
 
 FREE AGENCY is the power 
 of following one's inclination, or 
 whatever the soul does, with the 
 full bent of preference and desire. 
 Many and long have been the 
 disputes on this subject; not that 
 man has been denied to be a free 
 agent ; but the dispute has been 
 in what it consists. See articles 
 Liberty and Will. A distinc- 
 tion is made by writers between 
 free agency, and what is called the 
 Arminian notion of free will. The 
 one consists merely in the power 
 of following our prevailing incli- 
 nation ; the other in a supposed 
 pov/er of acting contrary to it, or 
 at least of changing it. The one 
 predicates freedom of the man ; 
 the other, of a faculty in man ; 
 which Mr. Locke, though an anti- 
 necessarian, explodes as an ab- 
 surdity. The one goes merely to 
 render us accountable beings ; the 
 
 other arrogantly claims a part, 
 yea, the very turning point of sal- 
 vation. According to the latter, 
 we need only certain helps or assist- 
 ances, granted to men in common, 
 to enable us to choose the path of 
 life ; but, according to the former, 
 our hearts being by nature wholly 
 depraved, we need an almighty and 
 invincible Power to renew them. 
 See Necessity. 
 
 FREE THINKER, an appel- 
 lation given to those persons who 
 deny revelation or the christian re- 
 ligion. One of the most admira- 
 ble and pointed addresses to free- 
 thinkers any where to be met with, 
 may be found in the dedication 
 to Warburton's Divine Legation 
 of Moses, where these gentlemen 
 are combated with abilities worthy 
 of that great and acute author. 
 See also an admirable paper in 
 the Guardian, No. 70 ; and article 
 Deists. 
 
 FRENCH CHURCH. See 
 Church Gallican. 
 
 FRENCH PROPHETS. They 
 first appeared in Dauphiny and Vi- 
 varais. In the year 1688, five or six 
 hundred Protestants of both sexes 
 gave themselves out to be prophets, 
 and inspired of the Holy Ghost. 
 They soon became so numerous, 
 that there were many thousands of 
 them inspired. They were people 
 of all ages and sexes without dis- 
 tinction, though the greatest part 
 of them were boys and girls from 
 six or seven to twenty-five years of 
 age. They had strange fits, which 
 came upon them with tremblings 
 and faintings as in a swoon, which 
 made them stretch out their arms 
 and legs, and stagger several times 
 before they dropped down. They 
 
F R E 
 
 302 
 
 FRE 
 
 struck tli«-m3elves with their hands, 
 they fell on their backs, shut their 
 eyes, and heaved with their breasts. 
 They remained awhile in trances, 
 and, coming out of them with 
 twitchings, uttered all which came 
 intp their mouths. They said they 
 sav/tlie heavens open, the angels, 
 paradise, and hell. Those who were 
 just on the point of receiving the 
 spirit of prophecy dropped down 
 not only in the assemblies, crying 
 out mercy ^ but in the fields, and in 
 their ov/n houses. The leastof their 
 assemblies made up four or five 
 hundred, and some of them 
 amounted to even three or four 
 thousand persons. When the pro- 
 phets had for a while been under 
 agitations of body, they began to 
 prophesy. The burden of their 
 prophecies was, Amend your lives; 
 repent ye : the end of all things 
 draws nigh I The hills rebounded 
 with their loud cries for ftiercy, 
 and imprecations against the 
 priests, the church, the pope, and 
 against the anti-christian domi- 
 nion, with predictions of the ap- 
 proaching fall of popery. All they 
 said at these times was htard and 
 received with reverence and awe. 
 In the year 1706, three or four 
 of these prophets came over into 
 England, and brought their pro- 
 phetic spirit along v/ith them, 
 which discovered itself in the same 
 ways and manners, by ecstacies 
 and agitations, and inspirations 
 under them, as it had done in 
 France ; and they propagated the 
 like spirit to others, so that before 
 the year was out there were two or 
 three hundred of these prgphets in 
 and about London, of both sexes, 
 of all ages J men, women, and chil- 
 
 dren : and they had delivered 
 under inspiration four or five hun- 
 dred prophetic v/arnings. 
 
 The great things they pretended 
 by their spirit was, to give warning 
 of the near approach of the kingdom 
 of God^ the happy times of the 
 churchy the millennium state. Their 
 message was (and they were to 
 proclaim it as heralds to the Jews, 
 and every nation under heaven, 
 beginning at England), that the 
 grand jubilee, the acceptable year 
 of the Lord, the accomplishment of 
 those numerous scriptures con- 
 cerning the new heaven and the nezv 
 earthy the kingdom of the Messiah^ 
 the marriage of the Lamb^ th.^ first 
 resurrection^ or the new Jerusalem 
 descending from above^ were now 
 even at the door ; that this great 
 operation v/as to be wrought on the 
 part of man by spiritual arms only, 
 proceeding from the mouths of 
 those who should by inspiration, 
 or the mighty gift of the Spirit, be 
 sent forth in great numbers to 
 labour in the vineyard ; that this 
 mission of his servants should be 
 witnessed to by signs and wonders 
 from heaven, by a deluge of judg- 
 ments on the wicked universally 
 throughout the world, as famine, 
 pestilence, earthquakes, &c. ; that 
 the exterminating angels shall root 
 out the tares, and there shall re- 
 main upon earth only good corn ; 
 and the woi'ks of men being thrown 
 down, there shall be but one Lord, 
 one faith, one heart, and one voice 
 among mankind. They declared 
 that all the great things they spoke 
 of would be manifest over the 
 v/hole earth within the term of 
 three years. 
 
 These prophets also pretended 
 
FRI 
 
 ]0S 
 
 F 
 
 u 
 
 to the gift of languages, of discern- 
 ing the secrets of the heart, the 
 gift of ministration of the same 
 spirit to others by the laying 
 on of the hands, and the gift of 
 healing. To prove they were re- 
 ally inspired by the Holy Ghost, 
 they alleged the complete joy and 
 satisfaction they experienced, the 
 spirit of prayer which was poured 
 forth upon them, and the answer 
 of their prayer by God. 
 
 FRIAR (brother), a term com- 
 mon to the monks of all orders. 
 In a moi'e peculiar sense, it is re- 
 strained to such monks as are not 
 priests ; for those in orders are usu- 
 ally dignified with the appellation 
 of father. 
 
 FRIENDSHIP, a mutual at- 
 tachment subsisting between two 
 persons, and arising not merely 
 from the general principle of be- 
 nevolence, from emotions of gra- 
 titude for favours received, from 
 views of interest, nor from in- 
 stinctive affection or animal pas- 
 sion ; but from an opinion enter- 
 tained by each of them that the 
 other is adorned with some amia- 
 ble or respectable qualities. Vari- 
 ous have been the opinions resppct- 
 ing friendship. Some have asserted 
 that there is no such thing in the 
 M'orld ; others have excluded it 
 from the list of christian virtues ; 
 while others, believing the possi- 
 Ij^ility of its existence, suppose that 
 it is very rare. To the two former 
 Remarks we may reply, that there is 
 every reason to believe that there 
 has been, and is such a thing as 
 friendship. The scriptures pre- 
 sent us both with examples of, and 
 precepts concerning it. David and 
 Jonathan, Paul and l^imoth}-, our 
 Lord and Lazarus, as well as John, 
 
 are striking instances of friend- 
 ship. Solomon exhorts us in lan- 
 guage so energetic, as at once 
 shews it to be our duty to cultivate 
 it. " Thine own friend and thy f?t- 
 ther's friend forsake not." " Make 
 sure of thy friend, for faithful are 
 the v/ounds of a friend," &c. The 
 genius and injunctions of the chris- 
 tian religion seem also to inculcate 
 this virtue j for it not only com- 
 mands universal benevolence to 
 men, but promotes the strongest 
 love and friendship between those 
 whose minds are enlightened by 
 Divine grace, and who behold in 
 each other the image of their Di- 
 vine Master. As friendship, how- 
 ever, is not enjoyed by every one,. 
 and as the want of it arises often 
 from ourselves, we shall here sub- 
 join, from an eminent writer, a 
 few remarks by way of advice re- 
 specting it. 1. We must not ex- 
 pect perfection in any with whom 
 we contract fellowship. — 2. We 
 must not be hurt by differences of 
 opinion arising in intercourse with 
 our friends. — 3. It is material to 
 the preservation of friendship, that 
 openness of temper and obliging 
 manners on both hands be culti- 
 vated. — 4. We must not listen 
 rashly to evil reports against our 
 friends. — 5. We must not desert 
 our frie,nds in danger or distress. 
 Blair'^s Ser.^ ser. 17, vol. ivj Bp. 
 Porteus's Ser.^ vol. i, ser. 15 ; W. 
 MelmotWs Translation of Cicero's 
 LxUus., in a. Note. 
 
 FRUGALITY, is the keeping 
 due bounds in expences ; it is the 
 happy mean between parsimony 
 on the one hand, and prodigality 
 on the other. The example of 
 Christ, John ri, 12. the injunc- 
 tions of God's word, Luke xvi, 1. 
 
FUN 
 
 304 
 
 FUN 
 
 Prov. xviil, 9. the evil effects of 
 inattention to it, Luke xv, 13. 
 the peace and comfort which arise 
 from it, together with the good 
 which it enables us to do to others, 
 should operate as motives to ex- 
 cite us to the practice of it. Wood^s 
 Ser. on Frugality^ 1795 ; Robin- 
 soiUs Mor. Ex.^ ex. 3 ; Ridgley's 
 £ddy of Div.^ 54S, 3d edition. 
 
 FUNERAL RITES, cere- 
 monies accompanying the inter- 
 ment or burial of any person. 
 
 The first people who seemed to 
 have paid any attention to their 
 dead were the Egyptians. They 
 took great care in embalming their 
 bodies, and building proper repo- 
 sitories for them. This gave birth 
 to those wonders of the world, the 
 Egyptian pyramids. On the death 
 of any person among theni, the 
 parents and friendship put on 
 mournful habits, and abstained 
 from all banquets and entertain- 
 ments. This mourning lasted from 
 fortyto seventy days, during which 
 time they embalmed the body. 
 Before the dead were allowed to be 
 deposited in the tomb, they under- 
 went a solemn judgment. If any 
 one stepped forth, accused them, 
 and proved that the deceased had 
 led an evil life, the judges pro- 
 nounced sentence, and the body 
 was precluded from burial. Even 
 their sovereigns underwent this 
 judicature ; and Diodorus Siculus 
 asserts, that many kings had been 
 deprived of the honours of burial, 
 and that the terrors of such a fate 
 had a salutary influence on the vir- 
 tue of their kings. 
 
 The funeral rites among the 
 Hebrews v/ere solemn and mag- 
 nificent. The relations and friends 
 
 rent their clothes ; and it was usual 
 to bend the dead person's thumb 
 into the hand, and fasten it in tha:t 
 posture with a string, because the 
 thumb then having the figure of 
 the name of God, they thought 
 the devil would not approach it. 
 They made a funeral oration iat 
 the grave, after which they prayed ; 
 then, turning the face of the de- 
 ceased towards heaven, they Said 
 " Go in peace." 
 
 The Greeks used to put a piece 
 of money into the mouth of the 
 deceased, which was thought to 
 be the fare over the infernal ri- 
 ver : they abstained from ban- 
 quets ; tore, cut, or shaved their 
 hair, sometimes throwing them- 
 selves on the ground, and rolling 
 in the dust ; beating their breasts, 
 and even tearing their flesh with 
 their nails. 
 
 The funeral rites among the 
 Romans were very numerous. 
 They kept the deceased seven 
 days, and washed him every day 
 with hot water,and sometimes with 
 oil, if possible he might be revived, 
 in case he were only in a slumber ; 
 and every now and then his friends, 
 meeting, made a horrible shout 
 with the same view ; but if they 
 found he did not revive, he was 
 dressed and embalmed M'ith a per- 
 formance of a variety of singular 
 ceremonies, and at last brought 
 to the funeral pile, and burnt ; 
 after which his ashes were gather- 
 ed, inclosed in an urn, and depo- 
 sited in the sepulchre or tomb. 
 
 The ancient christians testified 
 their abhorrence of the joagan cus- 
 tom of burning their dead ; and 
 always deposited the body entire 
 in the ground; and it was usual to 
 
FUN 
 
 305 
 
 FUT 
 
 bestow the honour of embalming 
 upon the martyrs, at least, if not 
 upon others. They prepared tlie 
 body for burial by washing it 
 with water, and dressing it in a fu- 
 neral attire. This was performed 
 By near relations, or persons of 
 such dignity as the circumstances 
 of the deceased required. Psalm- 
 ody, or singing of psalms, was the 
 great ceremony used in all funeral 
 processions among the ancient 
 christians. 
 
 In the Romish church, when 
 a person is dead, they wash the 
 body, and put a crucifix in his 
 hand. At the feet stands a ves- 
 sel of holy water, and a sprinkler, 
 that they who come in may 
 sprinkle both themselves and the 
 deceased. In the mean time some 
 priest stands by the corpse, and 
 prays for the deceased till it is 
 laid in the earth. In the funeral 
 procession the exorcist walks first, 
 carrying the holy water ; next 
 the cross bearer ; afterwards the 
 rest of the clergy ; and, last of all, 
 the officiating priest. They all 
 sing the jniserere^ and some other 
 psalms ; and at the end of each 
 psalm a requiem. It is said, that 
 the faces of deceased laymen must 
 be turned towards the altar when 
 they are placed in the church, and 
 those of the clergy towards the 
 people. The corpse is placed in 
 the church, surrounded with light- 
 ed tapers. After the office for 
 the dead, mass is said ; then 
 the officiating priest sprinkles the 
 corpse thrice with holy water, and 
 as often throws incense on it. The 
 body being laid in the grave, the 
 friends and the relations of the 
 
 Vol. r. Rr 
 
 deceased sprinkle the grave with 
 holy water. 
 
 The funeral ceremonies of the 
 Greek church are much the same 
 with those of the Latin. It needs 
 only to be observed, that, after the 
 funeral service, they kiss the cru- 
 cifix, and salute the mouth and 
 forehead of the deceased ; after 
 which, each of the company eats 
 a bit of bread, and drinks a glass 
 of wine in the church, wishing the 
 sold a good repose, and the afliict- 
 ed famil}'' all consolation. Bing^ 
 Hani's Antiq.^ b. 2 ; Enc. Brit. ; 
 Buxtorfs Sijuag.^ p. 502. 
 
 FUTURE STATE, a term 
 made use of in relation to the ex^ 
 istence of the soul after death. 
 That there is such a state of ex- 
 istence we have every reason to 
 believe ; *' for if we suppose," says 
 a good writer, " the events of this 
 life tohave no reference to another, 
 the whole state of man becomes 
 not only inexplicable, but contra^ 
 dictory and inconsistent. The 
 powers of the inferior animals are 
 perfectly suited to their station. 
 They knov/ nothing higher than 
 their' present condition. In gra- 
 tifying their appetites, they fulfil 
 their destiny, and pass away. Man, 
 alone, comes forth to act a part 
 which carries no meaning, and 
 tends to no end. Endowed with 
 capacities which extend far be- 
 yond his present sphere, fitted by 
 his rational nature for running 
 the race of immortality, he is 
 stopped short in the very entrance 
 of his course. He squanders his 
 activity on pursuits which he dis- 
 cerns to be vain. He languishes 
 for knowledge which is placed bf- 
 
FUT 
 
 S06 
 
 FUT 
 
 yjond his reach. He thirsts after 
 a happiness which he is doomed 
 never to enjoy. He sees and 
 laments the disasters of his state, 
 and yet, upon this supposition, can 
 find nothing to remedy them. Has 
 the eternal God any pleasure in 
 sporting himself with such a scene 
 of misery and folly as this life 
 (if it had no connexion with an- 
 other) must exhibit to his eye ? Did 
 he call into existence this magni- 
 ficent universe, adorn it with so 
 much beauty and splendour, and 
 surround it with those glorious 
 luminaries vfhich we behold in the 
 heavens, only that some genera- 
 tions of mortal men might arise 
 to behold these vi'onders, and then 
 disappear for ever ? How un- 
 suitable in this case were the ha- 
 bitation to the wretched inhabi- 
 tant ! Hov/ inconsistent the com- 
 mencement of his being, and the 
 mighty preparation of his powers 
 and faculties, with his despicable 
 end ! How contradictory, in fine, 
 were every thing which concerns 
 the state of man, to the wisdom 
 and perfection of his Maker ! 
 
 But that there is such a state is 
 clear from many passages of the 
 New Testament, John v, 24. Acts 
 vii, 9. Rom. viii, 10, 11. 2d Cor. 
 V, 1, 2. Phil, i, 21. 1st Thess. iv, 
 14. Istl^hes. V, 10, Luke xvi, 22. 
 Sec. But though these texts prove 
 the point, yet some have doubted 
 whether there be any where in the 
 Old Testament any reference to a 
 future state at all. The case, it is 
 said, appears to be this : the Mo- 
 saic covenant contained no pro- 
 mises directly relating, to a future 
 state : probabiy, as Dr. V/arbur- 
 
 ton asserts, and argues at large, 
 because Moses was secure of an 
 eyiial providence^ and therefore 
 needed not subsidiary sanctions ta* 
 ken from a future state, without 
 the belief of which the doctrine of 
 an universal providence cannot or- 
 dinarily be vindicated, nor the ge- 
 neral sanctions of religion secured^ 
 But, in opposition to this senti- 
 ment, as Doddridge observes, " it 
 is evident that good men, even be- 
 fore Moses, were animated by 
 views of a future state, Heb. xi, 
 13, 16. as he himself plainly was, 
 24 to 26 verse j and that the pro- 
 mises of heavenly felicity were 
 contained even in the covenant 
 made with Abraham, which the 
 Mosaic could not disannul. Sucr 
 ceeding providences also confirm- 
 ed the natural arguments in its 
 favour, as every remarkable in- 
 terposition would do ; and when 
 general promises were made to 
 the obedient, and an equal pro- 
 vidence relating to the nation esta- 
 blished on national conformity to 
 the Mosaic institution, and not 
 merely to the general precepts of 
 virtue ; as such an equal providence 
 would necessarily involve man^y of 
 the best men in national ruin, at 
 a time when, by preserving their 
 integrity in the midst of general 
 apostacy, their virtue was most 
 conspicuous ; such good men, in 
 such a state, would have vast ad- 
 ditional reasons for expecting fu- 
 ture rewards, beyond what could 
 arise from principles common to 
 jthe rest of mankind; so that we 
 cannot wonder that we find in the 
 writings of the prophets many 
 i strong expressions of such an ex- 
 
GAL 
 
 507 
 
 GEN 
 
 pcctation, particularly Gen. xlix, 
 18. Ps. xvi, 9 to 11. Ps. xvii, last 
 ver. Ps. Ixxiii, 17, 27. Eccl. iii, 15, 
 16. &c. Eccl. vii^ 12, 15. Is. iii, 
 10, 11. Ezek. xviii, 19, 21. Job 
 xix, 23, 37. Dan. xii, 2. Is. xxxv, 
 8. Is. xxvi, 19. The same thing 
 may be also inferred from the par- 
 ticular promises made to Daniel, 
 Dan. xii, 13. to Zerubbabel, Hag* 
 ii, 23. and to Joshua, the high 
 priest, Zech. iii, 7. as well as from 
 those historical facts recorded in 
 the Old Testament of the murder 
 of Abel, the translation of Enoch 
 and Elijah, the death of Moses, 
 
 and the story of the witch of Eh- 
 dor, and from what is said of the 
 appearance of angels to, and their 
 converse with good men." See 
 articles Intermediate State, 
 Resurrection, and Soul ; also 
 Doddridge's Lectures^ lee. 216 ; 
 WarburtorCs Divine Legation of 
 Moses^ vol. ii, p. 553-568 ; Dr. 
 AddingtorHs Dissertations on the 
 Religious Knowledge of the ancient 
 Jews and Patriarchs ; containing 
 an enquiry into the evidences of their 
 beliej and expectation of a future 
 state ; BlaiPs Ser,y ser. 15, vol. i ; 
 Robinson's Claude^ vol. i, p. 132; 
 
 G. 
 
 GAIANITiE, a denomination 
 which derived its name from Gaian, 
 abishop of Alexandria, in the sixth 
 century, who denied that Jesus 
 Christ, after the hypostatical union, 
 was subject to any of the infirmi- 
 ties of human nature. 
 
 GALILEANS, a sect of the 
 Jews which arose in Judea some 
 years after the birth of our Saviour. 
 They sprang from one Judas, a 
 native of Gaulam, in Upper Gali- 
 lee, upon the occasion of Augustus 
 appointing the people to be mus- 
 tered, which they looked upon as 
 an instance of servitude which all 
 true Israelites ought to oppose. 
 They pretended that God alone 
 should be owned as master and 
 lord, and in other respects were 
 of the opinion of the Pharisees ; 
 but as they judged it unlawful to 
 pray for infidel princes, they se- 
 parated themselves from the rest; 
 of the Jews, and performed their j 
 sacrifices apart. As our Saviour ! 
 
 and his apostles were of Galilee, 
 they were suspected to be of the 
 sect of the Galileans ; and it was 
 on this principle, as St. Jerome 
 observes, tiiat the Pharisees laid a 
 snare for him, asking. Whether it 
 were lawful to give tribute to 
 C^ssar ? that in case he denied it, 
 they might have occasion of ac- 
 cusing him. 
 
 GAZARES, a denomination 
 which appeared about 1197 at Ga- 
 zare, a town of Dalmatia. They 
 held almost the same opinions with 
 the Albigenses; but their distin- 
 guishing tenet was, that no human 
 power had a right to sentence men 
 to death for any crime whatever. 
 
 GEMARi\. See Talmud. 
 
 GENERAL CALL. See 
 Call-Calling. 
 GENERATION ETERNAL 
 is a term used as descriptive of the 
 Father's communicating the Di- 
 vine Nature to the Son. The 
 Father is snid hv some divines to 
 
508 
 
 GEN 
 
 have produced the V/ord, or Son, 
 from all eternity, by v/ay of 
 generation ; on which occasion 
 the word ge?ieration raises a pecu- 
 liar idea: that procession which 
 is really affected in the way of 
 under standing is called gene- 
 ration, because, in virtue thereof, 
 the Word becomes like to Him 
 from Avhom he takes the original ; 
 or, as St. Paul expresses it, the 
 figure or image of his substance ; 
 i. e. of his being and nature. 
 And hence it is, they say, that 
 the second person is called the 
 Son ; and that in such a way and 
 manner as never any other was, is, 
 or can be, because of his own Di- 
 vine natuiT, he being the true, 
 proper, and natural Son of God, 
 begotten by him before all worlds. 
 Thus, he is called his ovjn Son^ 
 Rom. viii, 3. his onhj begotten SoJi^ 
 John iii, 16. Many have at- 
 tempted to explain the manner 
 of this generation by different si- 
 militude's ; but- as they throw lit- 
 tle or no light upon the subject, 
 v,-e shall not trouble the reader 
 with them. Some, however, sup- 
 pose that the term Son of God 
 refers to Christ as mediator ; and 
 that his sonship does not lie in 
 his divine or human nature, sepa- 
 rately considered, but in the union 
 of both in one person. See Luke 
 i, 35. Matt, iv, 3. John i, 49. 
 ]Matt. xvi, 16. Acts ix, 20, 22. 
 Rom. i, 4. It is observed, that it 
 is impossible that a nature pro- 
 perb/ divine should be begotten^ 
 smce beeettino;, Avhatever idea is 
 annexed to it, inust signify some 
 kind of production, .derivation, 
 andinferioj-ityj consequently, that 
 M hatcver is produced must have a 
 
 beginning, and whatever had a- 
 beginning was not from eternity, 
 as Christ is said to be, Is. ix, 6. 
 Col. i. 1&, 17. That the sonship 
 of Christ respects him as mediator 
 will be evident, if we compare 
 John X, 30. with John xiv, 28. In 
 the former it is said, " I and my 
 Father are one." In the latter, 
 " My Father is greater than I." 
 These declarations, however op- 
 posite they seem, equally respect 
 him, as he is the Son ; but if his 
 sonship primarily and properly 
 signify the generation of his Di- 
 vine nature, it will be difficult, 
 if not impossible, according to 
 that scheme, to make them har- 
 monize. Considered as a distinct 
 person in the Godhead, without 
 respect to his office as mediator, 
 it is impossible, that, in the same 
 view, he should be both equal and 
 inferior to his Father. iTLgain ; he 
 expressly tells us himself, that 
 " the Son can do nothing of him- 
 self ; that the Father sheweth him 
 all things that he doeth ; and that 
 he giveth him to have life in him- 
 self," John V, 19, 20, 26. Which 
 expressions, if applied to him as 
 God, not as mediator, will reduce 
 us to the disagreeable necessity of 
 subscribing either to the creed of 
 Arius, and maintain him to be 
 God of an inferior nature, and 
 thus a plurality of Gods, or to 
 embrace the doctrine of Socinus, 
 who allov/s hi^m only to be a God 
 by office. But if this title belong 
 to him as mediator, every diffi- 
 culty is removed. And, lastly, 
 it is observed, that though Jesus 
 be God, and the attributes of eter- 
 nal existence ascribed to him, yet 
 J the tv'o attributes, eternal and son.. 
 
GEN 
 
 309 
 
 G E ^ 
 
 are not once expressed in the same 
 text as referring to eternal gene- 
 ration. See article Son of God ; 
 Owen on the Person of Christ ; 
 Pearson on the Creed ; Ridgely^s 
 Body of Divinity^ p. 73, 76, 3d 
 edition ; GiWs Divinity^ p. 205, 
 vol. i, 8vo edition ; Lambert'' s Ser- 
 mons^ ser. 13, text John xi, ^5 ; 
 Hodson's Essay on the Eternal Fi- 
 liation of the Son of God ; Watts''s 
 Works^ vol. V, p. 77. 
 
 GENEROSITY, the disposi- 
 tion which prompts us to bestow 
 favours which are not the purchase 
 of any particular merit. It is dif- 
 ferent from humanity. Humanity 
 is an exquisite feeling we possess 
 in relation to others, so as to 
 grieve for their sufferings, resent 
 tbeir injuries, or to rejoice at their 
 prosperity ; and as it arises from 
 sympathy, it requires no great self- 
 denial, or self command ; but ge- 
 nerosity is that by which we are 
 led to prefer some other person 
 *o ourselves and to sacrifice any 
 interest of our own to the interest 
 of another. 
 
 GENIUS, a good or evil spirit, 
 or daemon, whom the ancients sup- 
 posed was set over each person to 
 direct his birth, accompany him 
 in his life, and to be his guard. 
 
 Genius signifies that aptitude 
 Vv'^hich a man naturally possesses to 
 perform well and easily that which 
 others can do but indifferently, and 
 with a great deal of pain. 
 
 GENTILE, in matters of reli- 
 gion, a Pagan, or worshipper of 
 false gods. The origin of this 
 word is deduced from the Jews, 
 who called all those who were not 
 of their name □''"13 gojim, i. e. 
 gentt'S-y which in the Greek trans- 
 
 lations of the Old Testament is 
 rendered rx oPv«, in which sense it 
 frequently occurs in the New Tes- 
 tament; as in Matth. vi, 32, " All 
 these things the nations or Gentiles 
 seek." Whence the Latin church 
 also nstd-gentes^ in the same sense 
 as our Gentiles, especially in the 
 New Testament. But the word 
 gentes soon got another significa- 
 tion, and no longer meant all such 
 as were not Jews, but those only 
 who were neither Jews nor Chris- 
 tians, butfoUowed the superstitions 
 of the Greeks and Romans, &c. In 
 this sense it continued among the 
 christian writers, till their manner 
 of speech, together with their reli- 
 gion, was publicly, and by autho- 
 rity, received in the empire, when 
 gentile^^ from gentes^ came into 
 use ; and then both words had 
 two significations, viz. in treatises 
 or laws concerning religion, they 
 signified Pagans, neither Jews nor 
 
 1 Christians ; and in civil affairs 
 they were used for all such as 
 were »ot Romans. See Hea- 
 then. 
 
 GENTLENESS, softness or 
 mildness of disposition and beha- 
 viour. Little as this disposition is 
 thought of by many, we find it 
 considered in scripture as a cha- 
 racteristic of the true christian. 
 "The wisdom that is from above," 
 saith St. James, " is gentle," ch. 
 iii, 17. "This gentleness, indeed, 
 is to be distinguished from passive 
 tameness of spirit,' and from unli- 
 mited compliance with the manners 
 of others. That passive tameness, 
 Vt'hich submits without struggle to 
 every encroachment of the violent 
 and assuming, forms no part of 
 
 |, christian duty, but, on the contra- 
 
GEN 
 
 SIO 
 
 GIF 
 
 ry, is destructive of general hap- 
 piness and order. That unlimit- 
 ed complaisance, which on every 
 occasion falls in with the opinions 
 and manners of others, is so far 
 from being a virtue, that it is 
 itself a vice, and the parent of 
 many vices. It overthrows all 
 steadiness of principle, and pro- 
 duces that sinful conformity with 
 the world which taints the v»hole 
 character. In the present corrupt- 
 ed state of hum.an manners, ahvays 
 to assent and to comply, is the 
 very "•.vorst maxim we can adopt. 
 True gentleness, therefore, is to 
 be carefully distinguish'^d from the 
 mean spirit of cowards and the 
 fav/ning assent of sycophants. It 
 renounces no just right from fear; 
 it gives up no important truth from 
 flattery ; it is, indeed, not only 
 consistent with a firm mind, but 
 it necessarily requires a manly 
 spirit and a fixed principle, in or- 
 der to give it any real value. It 
 stands opposed to harshness and 
 severity, to pride and arrogance, 
 to violence and oppression ; it is 
 properly that pnrt of charity which 
 makes us unwilling to give pain to 
 any of our brethren. Compassion 
 prompts us to relieve their wants; 
 forbearance prevents us from re- 
 taliating their injuries ; meekness 
 restrains cur angry passions ; can- 
 dour our severe judgments ; but 
 gentleness corrects v.hatever is of- 
 fensive in our manners, and, by a 
 constant train of humane atten- 
 tions, studies to alleviate the bur- 
 den of common misery." 
 
 GENUFLECTION, the act of 
 bov/ing or bending the knee, or 
 rather of kneeling down.' The 
 Jesuit Piosweyd, in his Onomas- 
 
 ticon, shews that genuflecrton, 6r 
 kneeling, has been a very ancient 
 custom in the church, and even 
 under the Old Testament dispen^ 
 sation ; and that this practice was 
 observed throughout all the year, 
 excepting on Sundays, and during 
 the time from Easter to Whit- 
 suntide, when kneeling was forbid- 
 den by the council of Nice. Others 
 have shewn, that the custom of 
 not kneeling on Sundays had ob- 
 tained from the time of the apos- 
 tles, as appears from St. Irenseus 
 and Tertuliian ; and the Ethiopia 
 church, scrupulously attached to 
 the ancient ceremonies, still retains 
 that of not kneeling at divine ser* 
 vice. The Russians esteem it an 
 indecent posture to worship God 
 on the knees. The Jews usually 
 prayed standing. Baronius is of 
 opinion that genuflection was not 
 established in the year of Christ 
 58, from that passage in Acts xx, 
 36. where St. Paul is expressly 
 mentioned to kneel down at pray- 
 er ; but Saurin shews that nothing 
 can be thence concluded. The same 
 author remarks, also, that the pri- 
 mitive christians carried the prac- 
 tice of genuflection so far, that 
 some of them had worn cavities 
 in the floor where they prayed: 
 and St. Jerome relates of St. 
 James, that he had contracted a 
 hardness on his knees equal to that 
 of camels. 
 
 GHOST HOLY. See Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 GIFT OF TONGUES, an abi- 
 lity given to the aposdes of readily 
 and intelligibly speaking a variety 
 of languages which they had never 
 learnt. This was a most glorious 
 and important attestation of tlie 
 
GLO 
 
 311 
 
 GNO 
 
 gospel, as well as a suitable, and 
 indeed in their circumstances, a 
 necessary furniture for the mission 
 for which the apostles and their 
 assistants were designed. Nor is 
 there any reason, with Dr. Middle- 
 ton, to understand it as merely an 
 occasional gift, so that a person 
 might speak a language most flu- 
 ently one hour, and be entirely ig- 
 norant of it the next ; which nei- 
 ther agrees with what is said of 
 the abuse of it, nor would have 
 been sufficient to answer the end 
 proposed. See Acts ii. See Gill 
 and Henry in hoc. ; yortin^s Re- 
 marks^ vol. i, p. 15-21 ; Essay on 
 the Gift of Tongues ; MiddletorHs 
 Miscel. JVorks, vol. ii, p. 379 ; 
 Doddridge's Lect.^ lee. 141. 
 
 GILBERTINES, a religious 
 •order ; thus called from St. Gilbert, 
 of Sempringham, in the county of 
 Lincoln, who founded the same 
 about the year 1148; the monks 
 of which observed the rule of St. 
 Augustine, and were accounted 
 canons, and the nuns that of St. 
 Benedict. The founder of this 
 order erected a double monastery, 
 or rather two different ones, con- 
 tiguous to each other, the one for 
 men, the other for women, but 
 parted by a very high wall. St. 
 Gilbert himself founded thirteen 
 monasteries of this order, viz. 
 four for men alone, and nine for 
 men and women together, which 
 had in them 700 brethren, and 
 1500 sisters. At the dissolution, 
 there were about twenty-five hous- 
 es of this order in England and 
 Wales. 
 
 GLASSITES. See Sande- 
 
 MANIANS. 
 
 GLOJ^Y, praise, or honour, at- 
 
 tributed to God, in ador>ation or 
 worship. The state of felicity 
 prepared for the righteous. See 
 Heaven. 
 
 The glory of God is the mani- 
 festation of the Divine perfec- 
 tions in creation, providence, and 
 grace. We may be said to give 
 glory to God when we confc- ss our 
 sins, when we love him supreme- 
 ly, when we comn^it ourselves to 
 him, are zealous in his service, 
 improve our talents, walk humbly, 
 thankfully, and cheerfully before 
 him, and recommend, proclaim, 
 or set forth his excellt^ncies, to 
 others, Jos. vii, 19. Gal. ii, 20. 
 John XV, 8. Ps. 1, 23. Mat. v, 16. 
 
 GNOSIMACHI,aname which 
 distinguished those in the seventh 
 century who were professed ene- 
 mies to the Gnosis, i. e. the 
 studied knowledge or science of 
 Christianity, which they rested 
 wholly on good works ; calling it 
 a useless labour to seek for know- 
 ledge in the scripture. In short, 
 they contended for the practice of 
 morality in all simplicity, and 
 blamed those who aimed at im- 
 proving and perfecting it by a 
 deeper knovvrledge and insight into 
 the doctrines and mysteries of re- 
 ligion. The Gnosimachi were the 
 very reverse of the Gnostics. 
 
 GNOSTICS (from r.a»^/)coj, 
 knowing), ancit-nt heretics, famous 
 from the first rise of christianit\', 
 principally in the east. It appears 
 from several passages of scripture, 
 particularly 1st John ii, 18. 1st 
 Tim. vi, 20. Col. ii, 8. that many 
 persons were infected with the 
 Gnostic heresy in the first centu- 
 ry ; though the sect did not ren- 
 der itself conspicuous, either for 
 
GNO 
 
 312 
 
 GNO 
 
 numbers or reputation, before the 
 time of Adrian, when some writers 
 erroneously date its rise. The 
 name was adopted by this sect, on 
 the presumption that they were 
 the only persons who had the true 
 knowledge of Christianity. Ac- 
 cordingly they looked on all other 
 christians as simple, ignorant, and 
 barbarous persons, who explained 
 and interpreted the sacred writings 
 in a low, literal, and unedifying 
 signification. At first, the Gnos- 
 tics were the only philosophers 
 and wits of those times, who form- 
 ed for thei^iselves a peculiar system 
 of theology, agreeable to the phi- 
 losophy of Pythagoras and Plato , 
 to which they accommodated all 
 their interpretations of scripture. 
 But Gnostics afterwards became 
 a generical name, comprehend- 
 ing divers sects and parties of 
 heretics, who rose in the first cen- 
 turies ; and who, though they 
 differed among themselves as to 
 circumstances, yet all agreed in 
 some common principles. They 
 corrupted the doctrine of the gos- 
 pel by a profane mixture of the 
 tenets of the oriental philosophy, 
 concerning the origin of evil and 
 the creation of the world, with its 
 divine truths. Such were the 
 Valentinians, Simonians, Carpo- 
 x:ratians, Nicolaitans, &c. 
 
 Gnostics sometimes also occurs 
 in a good sense, in the ancient 
 ecclesiastical writers, particularly 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, who, in 
 the person of his Gnostic, de- 
 scribes the characters and qualities 
 of a perfect christian. This point 
 he labours in the seventh book of 
 his Stromata^ where he shews that 
 iioiie but the Gnostic, or learned! 
 
 person, has any true religion. He 
 afnrms, that, were it possible for 
 the knowledge of God to be se- 
 parated from eternal salvation, 
 the Gnostic would make no scruple 
 to choose the knowledge ; and 
 that if God would promise him 
 impunity in doing of any thing he 
 has once spoken against, or offer 
 him heaven on those terms, he 
 would never alter a whit of his 
 measures. In this sense the father 
 uses Gnostics, in opposition to the 
 heretics of the same name ; af- 
 firming, that the true Gnostic is 
 grown old in the study of the holy 
 scripture, and that he preserves 
 the orthodox doctrine of the apos- 
 tles, and of the church ; whereas 
 the false Gnostic abandons all 
 the apostolical traditions, as ima- 
 gining himself wiser than the apos- 
 tles. 
 
 Gnostics was sometimes also 
 more particularly used for the 
 successors of the Nicolaitans and 
 Carpocratians, in the second cen- 
 tury, upon their laying aside the 
 names of the first authors. Such 
 as would be thoroughly acquainted 
 with all tiieir doctrines, reveries, 
 and visions, may consult St. Ire- 
 nauSj Tertullian^ Clemens .Alexan- 
 drinus^ Origen^ and St. Ep'ipha- 
 nius ; particularly the first of these 
 writers, who relates their senti- 
 ments at large, and confutes them. 
 Indeed, he dwells more on the 
 Valentinians than any other sect 
 of Gnostics ; but he shews the ge- 
 neral principles whereon all their 
 mistaken opinions were founded, 
 and the method they followed in 
 explaining scripture. He accuses 
 them of introducing into religion 
 certain vain and ridici^sous ge- 
 
GNO 
 
 313 
 
 GNO 
 
 healogies, i. e. a kind of divine 
 processions or emanations, which 
 had no other foundation but 
 in their own wild imagination. 
 The Gnostics confessed, that these 
 seons, or emanations, were no 
 where expressly delivered in the 
 sacred writings ; but insisted that 
 Jesus Christ had intimated them in 
 parables to such as could under- 
 stand them. They built their 
 theology not only on the gospels 
 and the epistles of St. Paul, but 
 also on the law of Moses and the 
 prophets. These last were pecu- 
 liarly serviceable to them, on 
 account of the allegories and al- 
 lusions with which they abound, 
 which are capable of different in- 
 terpretations ; though their doc- 
 trine concerning the creation of 
 the world by one or more inferior 
 beings of an evil or imperfect na- 
 ture led them to deny the Divine 
 authority of the books of the Old 
 Testament, which contradictedthis 
 idle fiction, and filled them with an 
 abhorrence of Moses and the reli- 
 gion he taught ; alleging, that he 
 was actuated by the malignant au- 
 thor of this world, who consulted 
 his own glory and authority, and 
 not the real advantage of men. 
 Their persuasion that evil resided 
 in matter, as its centre and source, 
 made them treat the body with 
 contempt, discourage marriage, 
 and reject the doctrine of the re- 
 surrection of the body, and its 
 reunion with the immortal spirit. 
 Their notion, that malevolent ge- 
 nii presided in nature, and occa- 
 sioned diseases and calamities, 
 wars and desolations, induced 
 them to apply themselves to the 
 study of magic, in order to weaken 
 Vol.. 1. ■ S s 
 
 the powers or suspend the influ- 
 ence of their malignant agents. 
 The Gnostics considered Jesus 
 Christ as the Son of God, and in- 
 ferior to the Father, who came 
 into the world for the rescue and 
 happiness of miserable mortals, 
 oppressed by matter and evil be- 
 ings; but they rejected our Lord's 
 humanity, on the principle that 
 every thing corporeal is essentially 
 and intrinsically evil ; and there- 
 fore the greatest part of them de- 
 nied the reality of his sufferings. 
 They set a great value on the be- 
 ginning of the gospel of St. John, 
 where they fancied they saw a 
 great deal of their seons, or ema- 
 nations, under the terms, theruordy 
 the life, the light, &c. They di- 
 vided all nature into three kinds 
 of beings, viz. hylicy or material ; 
 psychic, or animal ; and pneumatic^ 
 or spiritual. On the like princi- 
 ple they also distinguished three 
 sorts of men ; material, animal, 
 and spiritual. The first, who were 
 material, and incapable of know- 
 ledge, inevitably perished, both 
 soul and body ; the third, such as 
 the Gnostics themselves pretended 
 to be, were all certainly saved; 
 the psychic, or animal, who were 
 the middle betv/een the other two, 
 were capable either of being saved 
 or damned, accoi-ding to their 
 good or evil actions. With re- 
 gard to their moral doctrines and 
 conduct, tlr-y were much divided. 
 The greatest part of this sect 
 adopted very austere rules of life, 
 recommended rigorous abstinence, 
 and prescribed severe bodily mor- 
 tifications, with a view of purify- 
 ing and exalting the mind. How- 
 ever, some maintained that there 
 
GOD 
 
 314 
 
 GOD 
 
 was no moral difFerence in human 
 actions ; and thus, confounding 
 right with w^rong, they gave a 
 loose rein to all the passions, 
 and Asserted the innocence of fol- 
 lowing blindly all their motions, 
 and of living by their tumultuous 
 dictates. They supported their 
 opinions and practice by various 
 authorities : some referred to fic- 
 titious and apocryphal writings 
 of Adam, Abraham, Zoroaster, 
 Christ, and his apostles; others 
 boasted that they had deduced their 
 sentiments from secret doctrines of 
 Christ, concealed from the vulgar ; 
 others affirmed that they arrived 
 at superior degrees of wisdom by 
 an innate vigour of mind ; and 
 others asserted that they were in- 
 structed in these mysterious parts 
 of theological science byTheudas, 
 a disciple of St. Paul, and by 
 Matthias, one of the friends of 
 our Lord. The tenets of the 
 ancient Gnostics were revived in 
 Spain, in the fourth century, by a 
 sect called the Priscillianists. At 
 length the name Gnostic^ which 
 originally was glorious, became 
 infamous, by the idle opinions 
 and dissolute lives of the persons 
 who bore it. 
 
 GOD, the self-existent, infinite- 
 ly perfect, and infinitely good be- 
 ing who created and preserves all 
 things that have existence. As 
 the Divine Being possesses a na- 
 ture far beyond the comprehen- 
 sion of any of his creatures, of 
 course, that nature is inexplica- 
 ble. '"'• All our knowledge of 
 invisible objects is obtained by 
 analogy ; that is, by the resem- 
 blance which they bear to visible 
 obiects ; but as thei'e is in nature 
 
 no exact resemblance of the na- 
 ture of God, an attempt to 
 explain the Divine nature is 
 absurd and impracticable. All 
 similitudes, therefore, which are 
 used in attempting to explain it 
 must be rejected." Yet, though 
 we cannot fully understand his 
 nature, there is something of him 
 we may know. He hath been 
 pleased to discover his perfections, 
 in a measure, by the works of crea- 
 tion and the scriptures of truth ; 
 these, therefore, we ought to study, 
 in order that we may obtain the 
 most becoming thoughts of him. 
 For an accouiit of the various at- 
 tributes or perfections of God, the 
 reader is referred to those articles 
 in this work. 
 
 There are various names given 
 to the Almighty in the scriptures, 
 though, properly speaking, he can 
 have no name ; for as he is incom- 
 prehensible, he is not nominable j 
 and being but one, he has no need 
 of a name to distinguish him j 
 nevertheless, as names are given 
 him in the scripture, to assist our 
 ideas of his greatness and per- 
 fection, they are worthy of our 
 consideration. These names are, 
 £/, which denotes him the strong 
 and powerful God, Gen. xvii. 1. 
 Eloah^ which represents him as 
 the only proper object of wor- 
 ship, Psal. xlv, 6, 7. ShaddoT., 
 which denotes him to be all-suffi- 
 cient and all-mighty, Exod. vi, 3. 
 Hhkeljon^ which represents his in- 
 comparable excellency, absolute 
 supremacy over all, and his pe- 
 culiar residence in the highest 
 heavens. Psalm 1, 11. Adon, 
 which makes him the great con- 
 nector, supporter, lord, and jnclge. 
 
GOD 
 
 31- 
 
 GOO 
 
 of all creatures, Psal. ex, I. Jah^ 
 which may denote his self-exist- 
 ence, and giving of being to his 
 creatures, or his infinite comeli- 
 ness, and answerableness to him- 
 self, and to the happiness of his 
 creatures, Exod. xv, 2. Ehjeh^ I 
 <7m, or / will be^ denotes his self- 
 existence, absolute independency, 
 immutable eternity, and all-suffici- 
 ency, to his people, Exod. iii, 14. 
 Jehovah^ which denotes his self- 
 existence, absolute independency, 
 unsuccessive eternity, and his ef- 
 fectual and marvellous giving of 
 being toliis creatures, and fulfill- 
 ing his promises. Gen. ii, 4, &c. 
 
 In the New Testament, God is 
 called Kurios, or Lord, which de- 
 notes his self-existence, and his 
 establishment of, and authority 
 over all things ; and Theos^ which 
 represents him as the maker, per- 
 vader, and governing observer of 
 the miiversc. 
 
 GODFATHERS AND GOD- 
 MOTHERS, persons who, at the 
 baptism of infants, answer for their 
 future conduct, and solemnly pro- 
 mise that they will renounce the de- 
 vil and all his works, and follow a 
 lifeof piety and virtue : and by these 
 means lay themselves under an in- 
 dispensable obligation to instruct 
 them,and watch over their conduct. 
 GODLINESS, strictly taken, 
 is right worship or devotion j but 
 in general it imports the whole of 
 practical religion, 1st Tim. iv, 8. 
 2d Pet. i, 6. It is difficult, as 
 Saurin observes, to include an ade- 
 quate idea of it in what is called a 
 definition. It supposes knowledge, 
 veneration, affection, dependance, 
 submission, gratitude, and obedi- 
 jcnce ; or it may be reduced to 
 
 these four ideas : " knoxi'ledpt in 
 the mmd, by which it is distin- 
 guished from the visions of the su- 
 perstitious ; rectitude in the con- 
 science, that distinguishes it from 
 hypocrisy ; sacrifice in the life, or 
 renunciation of the world, by which 
 it is distinguished from the un- 
 meaning obedience of him who 
 goes as a happy constitution leads 
 him ; and, lastly, zecd in the heart, 
 which differs from the languish- 
 ing emotions of the lukewarm." 
 The advantages of this disposition 
 are honour, peace, safety, useful- 
 ness, support in death, and pro- 
 spect of glory ; or, as the apostle 
 sums up all in a few words, " it 
 is profitable unto all things^ hav- 
 ing the promise of the life that 
 now is, and of that which is to 
 come." 1st Tim. iv, 8. SaiirirCs 
 Serm.^ vol. v, ser. 3, Eng. trans.; 
 Barroiu's Works^ vol. i, p. 9 ; Scott^s 
 Christian Life; ScoiigaPs Life of 
 God in the Soul of Man. 
 
 GOOD, in general, is whatever 
 increases pleasure, or diminishes 
 pain in us ; or, which amounts to 
 the same, whatever is able to pro- 
 cure or. preserve to us the posses- 
 sion of agreeable sensations, and 
 remove those of an opposite na- 
 ture. iWbrrt/^oot/ denotes the right 
 conduct of the several senses and 
 passions, or their just proportion 
 and accommodation to -their re- 
 spective objects and relations. 
 
 Physical good IS that which has - 
 either generally, or for any parti- 
 cular end, such qualities as are 
 expected or desired. 
 
 GOOD FRIDAY, a fast of the 
 christian! church, in memory of 
 the suiferings and death of Jesus 
 Christ. It is observed on the Fricbv 
 
/ 
 
 GOO 
 
 -^16 
 
 COS 
 
 in Passion Week, and it is called, 
 by way of eminence, good', be- 
 cause of the good effects of our 
 Saviour's sufferings. Among the 
 Saxons it was called Long Friday, 
 but for what reason does not ap- 
 pear, except on account of the 
 long fasting and long offices then 
 used. See Holy Days. 
 
 GOODNESS, the fitness of a 
 fhingto produce any particular end. 
 Perfection, kindness, benevolence. 
 GOODNESS OF GOD, relates 
 to the absolute perfection of his 
 own nature, and his kindness 
 manifested to his creatures. Good- 
 ness, says Dr. Gill, is essential to 
 God, without which he would not 
 be God, Exod. xxxiii, 19. Exod. 
 xxxiv, 6, 7. Goodness only be- 
 longs to God ; he is solely good, 
 Matt, xix, 17. and all the good- 
 ness found in creatures are only 
 emanations of the divine good- 
 ness. Ke is the chief good ; the 
 sum and substance of all felicity, 
 Ps. cxliv, 12, 15. Ps. Ixxiii, 25. 
 Ps. iv, G, 7. There is nothing but 
 goodness in God, and nothing but 
 goodness comes from him, 1st 
 John, i, 5. James i, 13, 14. He is 
 infinitely good ; finite minds can- 
 not comprehend his goodness, 
 Rom. xi, 2>5^ 2,Q. He is imrtiutably 
 and unchangeably good, Zeph. iii, 
 17. The goodness of God is com- 
 municative and diffusive, Ps, cxix, 
 68. Ps. xxxiii, 5. With respect to 
 the objects of it, it maybe consid- 
 ered as general and special. His 
 general goodness is seen in all his 
 creatures ; yea, in the inanimate 
 creation, the sun, the earth, and 
 all his works ; and in the govern- 
 ment, support, and protection of 
 ^he world at large, Ps. xxxvi, 6. 
 
 Ps. cxlv. His special goodness 
 relates to angels and saints. To 
 angels, in creating, confirming, 
 and making them what they are. 
 To saints, in election, calling, jus- 
 tification, adoption, sanctification, 
 perseverance, and eternal glorifi- 
 cation. GilPs Body of Div.^ v. i, 
 p. 133, Oct. ed. ; Charnoclis Works, 
 V. i, p. 574 ; Paley^s Nat. Theol.^ 
 ch. 26 ; S'oid/i's admirable Sermon 
 on this Subject^ vol. viii, ser. 3 ; 
 Tillotson's Serm.^ s^r. 143, 144, 
 145, 146 ; Abernethy'' s Serm.^ vol. 
 ii, No. 2. 
 
 GOSPEL, the revelation of the 
 grace of God to fallen man through 
 a mediator. It is taken also for 
 the history of the life, actions, 
 death, resurrection, ascension, and 
 doctrine of Jesus Christ. The word 
 is Saxon and of the same import 
 with the Latin evangelitim, which 
 signifies glad-tidings orgoodnews. 
 It is called the gospel of his graccy 
 because it flows from his free love, 
 Acts XX, 24. The gospel of the 
 kingdom^ ns it treats of the king- 
 doms of grace and glory. The 
 gospel of Christy because he is the 
 author and subject of it, Rom. 1, 
 16. "^rht gospel of peace and sal- 
 vation^ as it pi'omotes our present 
 comfort, and leads to eternal 
 glory, Eph. i, 13. Eph. vi, 15. 
 The glorious gospel^ as in it the 
 glorious perfections of Jehovah 
 are displayed, 2d Cor. iv, 4. The 
 everlasting gospel, as it was de- 
 signed from eternity, is permanent 
 in time, and the effects of it eter- 
 nal. Rev. xiv, 6. There are about 
 thirty or forty apocryphal gos- 
 pels ; as the gospel of St. Peter, 
 of St. Andrew, of St. Barnabas, 
 tlie eternal go-^peJ, &c. Src. hc.\ 
 
GO S 
 
 317 
 
 GRA 
 
 but they were never received by 
 the christian chut-ch, being evi- 
 dently fabulous and trifling. See 
 Christianity. 
 
 GOSPEL CALL. See Calling. 
 
 GOSPEL A LAW. It has 
 been disputed whether the gospel 
 .consists merely of promises, or 
 whether it can in any sense be call- 
 ed a law. The answer plainly de- 
 pends upon adjusting the meaning 
 of the words gospel ?lx\6. lazv: if the 
 gospel be taken for the declaration 
 God has made to men by Christ, 
 concerning the manner in which he 
 will treat them, and the conduct 
 he expects from them, it is plain 
 that this includes commands, and 
 even threatenings, as well as pro- 
 mises ; but to define the gospel so, 
 as only to express the favourable 
 part of that declaration, is Indeed 
 taking the question for granted, 
 and confining the word to a sense 
 much less extensive than it often 
 has in scripture : compare Rom. ii, 
 16. 2d Thess. i, 8. 1st Tim. i, 10, 
 Hi and it is certain, that, if the 
 gospel be put for all the parts of 
 the dispensation taken in connex- 
 ion one with another, it may well 
 be called, on the whole, a good 
 message. In like manner the ques- 
 tion, whether the gospel be a law 
 or not, is to be determined by the 
 definition of a law and of the gos- 
 pel, as above. If law signifies, as 
 it generally does, the discovery of 
 the will of a superior, teaching 
 what he requires of those under 
 his government, with the intima- 
 tion of his intention of dispensing 
 rewards and punishments, as this 
 rule of their conduct is observed 
 or neglected; in this latitude of 
 expression, it is plain, from the 
 
 proposition, that the gospel, takea 
 for the declaration made to men 
 by Christ, is a law^ as in scripture 
 it is sometimes called, James i, 
 25. Rom. iv. 15. Rom. viii, 2; 
 but if law be taken, in the greatest 
 rigour of the expression, for such 
 a discovery of the will of God, 
 and our duty, as contains in it no 
 intimation of our obtaining the 
 Divine favour otherwise than by a 
 perfect and universal conformity 
 to it, in that sense the gospel is 
 not a law. See NeonomiAns. 
 Witsius on Cov.^ voh iii, ch. 1 ; 
 Doddridge's Lectures^ lect. 172; 
 Watts^s Orthodoxy and Charityy 
 essav 2. 
 
 GOVERNMENT OF GOD, 
 is the disposal of his creatures, and 
 all events relative to them, ac- 
 cording to his infinite justice, 
 power, and wisdom. His moral 
 government is his rendering to 
 every man according to his actions,- 
 considered as good or evil. See 
 Dominion and Sovereignty. 
 
 GRACE. There are various 
 senses in which this word is u§ed 
 in scripture ; but the general idea 
 of it, as it relates to God, is his free 
 favour and love. As it respects 
 men, it Implies the happy state of 
 reconciliation and favour with God 
 wherein the}'^ stand, and the holy 
 endowments, qualities, or habits 
 of faith, hope, love, &c., which 
 they possess. Divines have distin- 
 guished grace into common or ge- 
 neral^ special or particular. Com- 
 mon grace^ if it may be so called, 
 is what all men have ; as the light 
 of nature and reason, convictions 
 of conscience, &c., Rom. ii. 4. 1st 
 Tim. iv, 10. Special grace^ is that 
 which is peculiar to some people 
 
GRA 
 
 318 
 
 GRA 
 
 only; such as^decting, redeeming, 
 justifying,pardoning, adopting, es- 
 tablishing, and sanctifying grace, 
 Horn, viii, 30. This special grace is 
 by some distinguished into imput- 
 ed and inherent ; imputed grace 
 consists in the holiness, obedience, 
 and righteousness of Christ, impu- 
 ted to us for our justification ; inhe- 
 rent grace is what is wrought in the 
 heart by the Spirit of God in re- 
 generation. Grace is also said to 
 be irresistible.^ ejicacious^ and vic- 
 torious ; not but what there are in 
 human nature, in the first moments 
 of conviction, some struggles, op- 
 position, or conflict ; but by these 
 terms we are to understand, that, 
 in the end, victory declares fbr the 
 grace of the gospel. There have 
 been many other distinctions of 
 grace ; but as they are of too fri- 
 volous a nature, and are now 
 obsolete, they need not a place 
 here. Gro'wth in grace is the 
 progress we make in the divine 
 life. It discovers itself by an in- 
 crease of spiritual light and know- 
 ledge ; by our renouncing self, and 
 depending more upon Christ ; by 
 growing more spiritual in duties ; 
 by being more humble, submissive, 
 and thankful ; by rising superior to 
 the corruptions of our nature, and 
 finding the power of sin more 
 weakened in us ; by being less at- 
 tached to the world, and possess- 
 ing more of a heavenly disposi- 
 tion. M^Laurin's Essai/s^ essay o; 
 Giirs Body ofDiv.., vol. i, p. 118; 
 Doddridge's Lect.y part viii, prop. 
 1 39 ; JPiJke and Jlayward^^ Cases of 
 Conscience ; Saurin on 1st Cor. ix, 
 26, 27, vol. iv ; Booths Reign of 
 Grace. 
 GRACE AT MEALS, a short'' 
 
 prayer, imploring the Divine bles- 
 sing on our food, and expressive 
 of gratitude to God for supplying 
 our necessities. The propriety of 
 this act is evident from the Divine 
 command, 1st Thes. v, 18. 1st Cor. 
 X, 31. 1st Tim. iv, 5. From the 
 conduct of Christ, Mark viii, 6, 7. 
 From reason itself; not to mention 
 that it is a custom practised by 
 most nations, and even not neg- 
 lected by heathens themselves. 
 The English, however, seem to be 
 very deficient in this duty. 
 
 As to the manner in which it 
 ought to be performed, as Dr. 
 Watts observes, we ought to have 
 a due regard to the occasion, and 
 the persons present ; the neglect of 
 which hath been attended with in'- 
 decencies and indiscretions. Some 
 have used themselves to mutter a 
 few words with so low a voice, as 
 though by some secret charm they 
 were to consecrate the food alone, 
 and there was no need of the rest 
 to join with them in the petitions. 
 Others have broke out into so vio- 
 lent a sound, as though they were 
 bound to make a thousand people 
 hear them. Some perform this 
 part of worship with so slight and 
 familiar an air, as though tliey 
 had no sense of the great God to 
 whom they speak : others have 
 put on an unnatural solemnity, 
 and changed their natural voice 
 into so different and awkard a 
 tone, not without some distortions 
 of countenance, that haVe templed 
 strangers to ridicule. 
 
 It is the custom of some to 
 hurryov^era single sentence or two, 
 and they have done, before half 
 the company are prepared to lift 
 up a thought to heaven. And some 
 
GRA 
 
 519 
 
 GRE 
 
 have been just heard to bespeak a 
 blessing on the church and the 
 king, but seem to have forgot they 
 Were asking God to bless their 
 food, or giving thanks for the food 
 they have received. Others, again, 
 have given themselves a loose into 
 a long prayer, and, among a multi- 
 tude of other petitions, have not 
 had one that related to the table 
 before them. 
 
 The general rules of prudence, 
 together with a due observation of 
 the custom of the place where 
 we live, would correct all these 
 disorders, and teach us that a few 
 sentences suited to the occasion, 
 spoken with an audible and pro- 
 per voice, are sufficient for this 
 purpose, especially if any stran- 
 gers are present. Watts' s Works^ 
 Oct. ed., vol. iv, p. 160 ; Law's 
 Serious Call^ p. 60 ; Seed's Post, 
 Ser., p. 174. 
 
 GRATITUDE, is that pleasant 
 affection of the mind which arises 
 from a sense of favours received, 
 and by which the possessor is ex- 
 cited to make all the returns of 
 love and service in his power. 
 *' Gratitude," says Mr. Cogan (in 
 his Treatise on the Passions), " is 
 the powerful re-action of a well- 
 disposed mind, vipon whom bene- 
 volence has connected some im- 
 portant good. It is mostly con- 
 nected with an impressive sense of 
 the amiable disposition of the per- 
 son by whom the benefit is con- 
 ferred, and it immediately pro- 
 duces a personal affection towards 
 him. We shall not wonder at the 
 peculiar strength and energy of 
 this affection, when we consider 
 that it is compounded of love 
 placed upon the good commu- 
 
 nicated, affection for the donor, 
 and Joi/ at the reception. Thus it 
 has goodness for its object, and 
 the most pleasing, perhaps unex-, 
 pectedy exertions of goodness for 
 its immediate cause. Thankfulness 
 refers to verbal expressions of gra- 
 titude." See Thankfulness. 
 
 GRAVITY, is that seriousnest 
 of mind, united with dignity of 
 behavioui*, that commands vene- 
 ration and respect. Sec Dr. Watts'* 
 admirable Sermon on Gravity, ser. 
 23, vol. i. 
 
 GREATNESS OF GOD, is 
 the infinite glory and excellency of 
 all his perfections. His greatness 
 appears by the attributes he pos- 
 sesses, Deut. xxxii, 3,4. the works 
 he hath made, Ps. xix, 1. by the 
 awful and benign providences ha 
 displays, Ps, xcvii, 1, 2. the grekt 
 effects he produces by his word^ 
 Gen. i. the constant energy he 
 manifests in the existence and sup- 
 port of all his creatures, Ps. cxlv. 
 and the everlasting provision of 
 glory made for his people, 1st 
 Thess. iv, 17. This greatness is of 
 himsei^f, and not derived, Ps. xxi, 
 13. it is infinite, Ps. cxlv, 3. not 
 diminished by exertion, but will 
 always remain the same, Mai. iii, 
 
 6. The considerations of his great- 
 ness should excite veneration, Ps. 
 Ixxxix, 7. admiration, Jer. ix, 6, 
 
 7. humility. Job xlii, 5, 6. depend- 
 ance. Is. xxvi, 4. submission. Job 
 i, 22. obedience, Deut. iv, 39, 
 40. See Attributes, and books 
 under that article. 
 
 GREEK CHURCH, compre- 
 hends in its bosom a considerable 
 part of Greece, the Grecian Isles, 
 Wallachia, Moldavia, Egypt, A- 
 byssinia, Nubia, Lybia, Arabia^ 
 
GRE 
 
 320 
 
 GRE 
 
 Mesopotamia, Syria, Cilicia, and 
 Palestine, which are all under the 
 jurisdiction of the patriarchs of 
 Constantinople, Alexandria, An- 
 tioch, and Jerusalem. If to these 
 we add the whole of the Russian 
 empire in Europe, great part of 
 Siberia in Asia, Astracan, Casan, 
 and Georgia, it will be evident 
 that the Greek church has a wider 
 extent of territory than the Latin, 
 with all the l^ranches which have 
 sprung from it; aid that it is 
 with great impropriety that the 
 church of Rome is called by her 
 members the catholic or universal 
 church. That in these widely dis- 
 tant countries the professors of 
 Christianity are agreed in every 
 minute article of belief, it would 
 be rash to assert; but there is cer- 
 tainly such an agreement among 
 them, with respect both to faith 
 and to discipline, that they mu- 
 tually hold communion with each 
 other, and are, in fact, but one 
 church. It is called th€ Greek 
 church, in contradistinction to the 
 Latin or Romish church ; as also 
 the Eastern, in distinction from 
 the Western church. We shall 
 here present the reader with a view 
 of its rise, tenets, and discipline. 
 I. Greek churchy rise and sepa- 
 ration of. The Greek church is 
 considered as a separation from the 
 Latin. In the middle of the ninth 
 century, the controversy relating 
 to the procession of the Holy 
 Ghost (which had been started in 
 the sixth century) became a point 
 of great importance, on account of 
 the jealousy and ambition which 
 at that time were blended with it. 
 Photius, the patriarch of Jerusa- 
 lem, having been advanced to 
 
 that see in the room of Igna* 
 tius, whom he procured to be de- 
 posed, was solemnly excommu- 
 nicated by pope Nicholas, in a 
 council held at Rome, and his 
 ordination declared null and void. 
 The Greek emperor resented this 
 conduct of the pope, who defend- 
 ed himself with great spirit and 
 resolution. Photius, in his turn, 
 convened what he called an oecu- 
 menical council, in which he pro- 
 nounced sentence of excommu- 
 nication and deposition against 
 the pope, and got it subscrib- 
 ed by twenty-one bishops and 
 others, amounting in number to 
 a thousand. This occasioned a 
 wide breach between the sees of 
 Rome and Constantinople. How- 
 ever, the death of the emperor 
 Michael, and the deposition of 
 Photius, subsequent thereupon, 
 seem to have restored peace ; for 
 the emperor Basil held a council 
 at Constantinople, in the year 
 869, in which entire satisfaction 
 was given to pope Adrian ; but 
 the schism was only smothered 
 and suppressed for a while. The 
 Greek church had several com- 
 plaints against the Latin; parti- 
 cularly it was thought a great 
 hardship for the Greeks to sub- 
 scribe to the definition of a coun- 
 cil according to the Roman form, 
 prescribed by the pope, since it 
 made the church of Constanti- 
 nople dependant on that of Rome, 
 and set the pope above an oecu- 
 menical council ; but, above all, 
 the pride and haughtiness of the 
 Roman court gave the Greeks a 
 great distate ; and as their de- 
 portment seemed to insult his Im- 
 perial majesty, it entii-ely aiienut- 
 
GRE 
 
 521 
 
 GRE 
 
 ed the affections of the emperor 
 Basil. Towards the middle of the 
 eleventh century, Michael Cerula- 
 rius, patriarch of Constantinople, 
 opposed the Latins, with respect to 
 their making use of unleavened 
 bread in the eucharist, their obser- 
 vation of the sabbath, and fasting 
 on Saturdays, charging them with 
 living in communion with the Jews. 
 To this pope Leo IX replied ; 
 and, in his apology for the Latins, 
 declaimed very warmly against 
 the false doctrine of the Greeks, 
 and interposed, at the same time, 
 the authority of his see. He 
 likewise, by his legates, excom- 
 municated the patriarch in the 
 church of Santa Sophia, which 
 gave the last shock to the recon- 
 ciliation attempted a long time 
 after, but to no purpose ; for from 
 that time the hatred of the Greeks 
 to the Latins, and of the Latins to 
 the Greeks, became insuperable, 
 insomuch that they have continu- 
 ed ever since separated from each 
 other's cominunion. 
 
 II. Greek churchy tenets of. The 
 following are some of the chief te- 
 nets held by the Greek church : — 
 They disown the authority of the 
 pope, and deny that the church 
 of Rome is the true catholic 
 church. They do not baptize 
 their children till they are three, 
 four, five, six, ten, nay sometimes 
 eighteen years of age : baptism 
 is performed by trilne immersion. 
 They insist that the sacrament of 
 the Lord's supper ought to be ad- 
 ministered in both kinds, and they 
 give the sacrament to children 
 immediately after i^aptism. They 
 grant no indulgences, nor do they 
 lav any claim to the characterof in- 
 'Voi.. L Tt 
 
 fallibility, like the church of Rome. 
 They deny that there is any such 
 place as purgatory; notwithstand- 
 ing they pray for the dead, that 
 God would have mercy on them 
 at the general judgment. They 
 practise the invocation of saints ; 
 though, they say, they do not in- 
 voke them as deities, but as in- 
 tercessors with God. They ex- 
 clude confirmation, extreme unc- 
 tion, and matrimony, out of the 
 seven sacraments. They deny 
 auricular confession to be a di- 
 vine precept, and say it is only a 
 positive injunction of the church. 
 They pay no religious homage to 
 the eucharist. They administer 
 the communion in both kinds to 
 the laity, both in sickness and in 
 health, though they have never 
 applied themselves to their con- 
 fessors; because they are persuad- 
 ed that a lively faith is all which 
 is requisite for the worthy re- 
 ceiving of the Lord's supper. They 
 maintain that the Holy Ghost pro- 
 ceeds only from the Father, and 
 not from the Son. They believe 
 in predestination. They admit of 
 no images in relief or embossed 
 Vv'ork, but use paintings and sculp- 
 tures in copper or siivei% They 
 approve of the marriage of priests, 
 provided they enter into that state 
 before their admission into holy 
 orders. They condemn all fourth 
 marriages. They observe a num- 
 ber of holy days,*andkeep four fasts 
 in the year more solemn than the 
 rest, of which the fast in Lent, be- 
 fore Easter, is tiie chief. They be- 
 lieve the doctrine of consubstan- 
 tia'.ion, or the union of the body of 
 Christ with the sacramental bread. 
 tiL Greek churchy state and dis 
 
GRE 
 
 322 
 
 GU A 
 
 cipline of* Since the Greeks be- 
 came subject to the Turkish yoke, 
 they have sunk into the most 
 deplorable ignorance, in conse- 
 quence of the slavery and thral- 
 dom under which the groan ; 
 and their religion is now greatly 
 corrupted. It is, indeed, little 
 better than a heap of ridiculous 
 ceremonies and absurdities. The 
 head of the Greek church is the 
 patriarch of Constantinople, who 
 is chosen by the neighbouring 
 archbishops and metropolitans, 
 and confirmed by the emperor or 
 grand vizier. He is a person of 
 great dignity, being the head and 
 director of the Eastern church. 
 The other patriarchs are those of 
 Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alex- 
 andria. Mr. Tournefort tells us, 
 that the patriarchates are now 
 generally set to sale, and bestowed 
 upon those who are the highest 
 bidders. The patriarchs, metro- 
 politans, archbishops, and bishops, 
 are always chosen from among 
 the caloycrs, or Greek monks. 
 The next person to a bishop, 
 among the clergy, is an archiman- 
 drite, who is the director of one 
 or more convents, which are call- 
 ed mandren ; then come the ab- 
 bot, the arch-priest, the priest, the 
 deacon, the under-deacon, the 
 chanter, and the lecturer. The 
 secular clergy are subject to no 
 rules, and never rise higher than 
 high priest. The Greeks have few 
 nunneries, but a great many con- 
 vents of monks, who are all 
 priests ; and (students excepted) 
 obliged to follow some handicraft 
 employment, and lead a very aus- 
 tere lilt. 
 
 The iUissians adhere to the doc- 
 
 trine and ceremonies of the Greek 
 church, though they are now in- 
 dependent on the patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople. The Russian church, 
 indeed, may be reckoned the 
 first, as to extent of empire ; yet 
 there is very little of the power 
 of vital religion among them. The 
 Roskolniki^ or, as they now call 
 themselves, \}i\(t Starovertzi^ were 
 a sect that separated from the 
 church of Russia about 1666: 
 they aifected extraordinary piety 
 and devotion, a veneration for the 
 letter of the holy scriptures, and 
 would not allow a priest to admi- 
 nister baptism who had that day 
 tasted brandy. They harbour- 
 ed many follies and superstitions, 
 and have been greatly persecut- 
 ed ; but, perhaps, there will be 
 found among them *' some that 
 shall be counted to the Lord for a 
 generation." Several settlements 
 of German Protestants have been 
 established in the Wolga. The 
 Moravians, also, have done good 
 in Livonia, and the adjacent isles 
 in the Baltic under the Russian 
 government. See Mosheim^ Gre- 
 gory^and Haweis's Church Histo ry; 
 King's Rites and Ceremonies of the 
 Greek Church in Russia ; The Rus- 
 sian Catecnism ; Secret Memoirs of 
 the Court of Petersburg ; Tooke^s 
 History of Russia ; Ricaufs State 
 of the Greek Church; Enc. Brit. 
 
 GKOWTH IN GRACE. Sec 
 Grace. 
 
 GUARDIAN ANGEL, 
 " Some," says Dr. Doddridge, 
 " have thought, that not only eve- 
 ry region but e\'ery man has some 
 particular angel assigned him as 
 a guardian^ whose business it is 
 generally to vratcb over that coun- 
 
HAB 
 
 323 
 
 HtER 
 
 try or person ; for this opinion 
 they urge Matt, xviii, 10. Acts 
 xii, 15. but the argument from 
 both these places is evidently pre- 
 carious ; and it seems difficult to 
 reconcile the supposition of such 
 a continued attendance with what 
 is said of the stated residence ot 
 these angels in heaven, and with 
 Hcb. i, 14. where all the angels 
 are represented as ministering to 
 the heirs of salvation : though, 
 as there is great reason to believe 
 the number of heavenly spirits is 
 vastly superior to that of men up- 
 on earth, it is not improbable that 
 they may, as it were, relieve each 
 
 other, and in their turns perform 
 these condescending services to 
 those whom the Lord of Angels 
 has been pleased to redeem with 
 his own blood ; but we must con- 
 fess that our knowledge of the 
 laws and orders of those celestial 
 beings is very limited, and conse- 
 quently that it is the part of hu- 
 mility to avoid dogmatical deter- 
 minations on such heads as these." 
 See Angel ; and Doddridge's Lec- 
 tures^ lee. 212. 
 
 GUILT, the state of a person 
 justly charged with a crime ; a 
 consciousness of having done a- 
 miss. See Sin. 
 
 H. 
 
 HABIT, a power and ability of 
 doing any thing, acquired by fre- 
 quent repetition of the same ac- 
 tion. It is distinguished from cus- 
 tom. Custom respects the action; 
 habit the actor. By custom we 
 mean a frequent reiteration of the 
 same act ; and by habit the effect 
 that custom has on the mind or 
 body. " Man," as one observes, 
 " is a bundle of habits. There 
 are habits of industry, attention, 
 vigilance, advertency ; of a prompt 
 obedience to the judgment occur- 
 ring, or of yielding to the first im- 
 pulse of passion ; of apprehend- 
 ing, methodising, reasoning; of 
 vanity, melancholy, fretfulness, 
 suspicion, covetousness, &c. In a 
 v/ord, there is not a quality or 
 function, either of body or mind, 
 w^hich does not feel the influence 
 of this great law of animated na- 
 ture." To cure evil habits, we 
 should be as earlv as we can in 
 
 our application, principtis ohsta ; 
 to cross and mortify the inclina- 
 tion by a frequent and obstinate 
 practice of the contrary virtue. 
 To form good habits, we should 
 get our minds well stored with 
 knowledge ; associate with the 
 wisest and best men ; reflect much 
 on the pleasure good habits are 
 productive of ; and, above all, sup- 
 plicate the Divine Being for direc- 
 tion and assistance. Kaim^s El. of 
 Crit.f ch xiv, vol. 1 ; Grovels Mor. 
 Phil.^ vol. i, p. 143 ; Paleifs Mor. 
 Phil., vol. i, p. 46 ; Jortin on Bad 
 Habits, ser. 1, vol. iii ; Reid on the 
 Active Powers, p. 117; Cogan on 
 the Passions, p. 235. 
 
 H^RETICO COMBUREN- 
 DO, a writ which anciently lay a- 
 gainst an heritic, who, having once 
 been convicted of heresy by his 
 bishop, and having abjured it, 
 afterwards falling into it again, or 
 into some other, is thereupon 
 
HiER 
 
 324 
 
 HAP 
 
 committed to the secular power. 1 
 This writ is thought by some to 
 be as ancient as the common iav/ 
 itself ; however, the conviction of 
 heresy by the common law was 
 not in any petty ecclesiastical 
 court, but before the archbishop 
 himself, in a provincial synod, 
 and the delinquent was delivered 
 up to the king, to dowidi him as 
 he pleased; so that the crown had 
 a control over the spiritual pow- 
 er ; but by 2 Henry IV, cap. 15, 
 the diocesan alone, without the in- 
 tervention of a synod, might con- 
 vict of heretical tenets ; and unless 
 the convict abjured his opinions, 
 or if after abjuration he^i'elapsed, 
 the sheriff v^-as bound ex officio^ if 
 required by the bishop, to commit 
 the unhappy victim to the flames, 
 without v/aiting for the consent of 
 the ci^wn. Xhis writ remained 
 in force, and was actually execut- 
 ed on two Anabaptists, in the se- 
 venth of Elizabeth, and on t^vo 
 Arians in the nmth of James I. 
 Sir Edward Colce v*as of opinion 
 that this writ did not lie in his 
 time ; but it is now formally 
 taken away by statute 29 Car. II, 
 cap. 9. But this statute does not 
 extend to take away or abridge 
 the jurisdiction of Protestant arch- 
 bishops, or bishops, or any other 
 judges of any ecclesiastical courts, 
 in cases of atheism, blasphemy, he- 
 resy, or schism ; but they may 
 prove and punish the same, ac- 
 cording to his majesty's ecclesias- 
 tical laws, by excomm.unication, 
 deprivation, degradation, and other 
 ecclesiastical ctnsures, not extend- 
 ing to death, in such sort, and no 
 other, as they might have done 
 before the making of this act. 
 
 HAGIOGRAPHIA, a name 
 given to part of the books of the 
 scriptures, called by the Jews ce- 
 tuvim. See article Bible, sec. 1. 
 
 HAMPTON COURT CON- 
 FERENCE, a conference ap- 
 pointed by James I, at Hampton, 
 Court, in 1603, in order to settle 
 the disputes between the church 
 and the Puritans. Nine bishops, 
 and as many dignitaries of the 
 church, appeared on one side, and 
 fourPuritan ministers on the other. 
 It lasted for three days. Neal calls 
 it a niock conference, because all 
 things were previously concluded 
 between the king and the bishops ; 
 and the Puritans borne down not 
 with calm reason and argument, 
 but with the royal authority, the 
 king being both judge and party. 
 The proposals and remonstrances 
 of the Puritans may be seen in 
 NeaPs History of the Puritans^ 
 ch. 1, part ii. 
 
 EIAPPINESS, absolutely taken, 
 denotes the durable possession of 
 perfect good, without any mixture 
 of evil ; or the enjoyment of pure 
 pleasure unalloyed with pain, or 
 a state in which all our v/ishes are 
 satisfied ; in which senses, happi- 
 ness is only known by name on 
 this earth. The vv^ord happy, 
 when applied to any state or con- 
 dition of human life, will admit 
 of no positive definition, but is 
 I merely a relative term ; that is, 
 when we call a man happy, we 
 mean that he is happier than some 
 others with whom we compare 
 I him ; than the generality of others ; 
 or than he himself was in some 
 other situation. Moralists justly 
 observe, that happiness does not 
 consist in the pleasures of sense j 
 
H AR 
 
 \25 
 
 H A T 
 
 as eating, drinking, music, paint- 
 ing, theatric exhibitions, &c. &c., 
 for these pleasures continue but 
 a little while, by repetition lose 
 their relish, and by high expec- 
 tation often bring disappoint- 
 ment. Nor does happiness consist 
 in an exemption from labour, 
 care, business, &c. ; such a state 
 being usually attended with de- 
 pression of spirits, imaginary anx- 
 ieties, and the whole train of hy- 
 pochondriacal affections. Nor is it 
 to be found in greatness, rank, or 
 elevated stations, as matter of 
 fact abundantly testifies ; but hap- 
 piness consists in the enjoyment 
 of the Divine favour, a good 
 conscience, and uniform conduct. 
 In subordination to these, human 
 happiness may be greatly promot- 
 ed by the exercise of the social 
 aifections ; the pursuit of some 
 engaging end ; the prudent consti- 
 tution of the habits ; and the en- 
 joyment of our health. Bolton 
 and Lucas on Happiness ; Henri fs 
 Pleasantness of a Religious Life ; 
 Gro'oeandPaleifsMor. Phil.; Bar- 
 row's Ser.^ ser. 1 ; Toung's Cen- 
 taur^ 41 to 160; Wollastoii's Re- 
 ligion of Nature^ sec. 2. 
 
 HARMONY OF THE GOS- 
 PELS, a term made use of to de- 
 note the concurrence or agreement 
 of the writings of the four evange- 
 lists; or the history of the four evan- 
 gelists digested into one continued 
 series. By this means each storj^ 
 or discourse is exhibited with all 
 its concurrent circumstances ; fre- 
 quent repetitions are prevented, 
 and a multitude of seeming oppo- 
 sitions reconciled. Among some 
 of the most valuable harmonies, 
 are those of Cradock^ Le Clcrc^ 
 
 Doddridge^ Macknigkt^ and New- 
 combe. The term harmony is also 
 used in reference to the agreement 
 which the gospel bears to natural 
 religion, the Old Testament, the 
 history of other nations, and the 
 works of God at large. 
 
 HASSIDEANS, or Assi- 
 DEANs, those Jews who resorted 
 to Mattathias, to fight for the laws 
 of God and the liberties of their 
 country. They were men of great 
 volour and zeal, havingvoluntarily 
 devoted themselves to a more strict 
 observation of the law than other 
 men. For, after the return of the 
 Jews from the Babylonish capti- 
 vity, there were two sorts of men 
 in their church ; those who con- 
 tented themselves with that obe- 
 dience only which was prescribed 
 by the law of Moses, and who 
 were called Zadikim^ i. e. the 
 righteous; and those who, over 
 and above the laws, superadded 
 the constitutions and traditions of 
 the elders, and other rigorous 
 observances : these latter were 
 called the Chasidim^ i. e. the pious. 
 From the former sprang the Sa- 
 maritans, Sadducees, and Caraites ; 
 from the latter, the Pharisees and 
 the Essenes ; which see. 
 
 HATRED is the aversion of 
 the will to any object considered by 
 us as evil, or to any person or thing 
 we suppose can do us harm. Sec 
 Antipathy. Hatred is ascrib- 
 ed to God, but is not to be 
 considered as a passion in him as 
 in man ; nor can he hate any of 
 the creatures he has made as his 
 creatures. Yet he is said to hate 
 the wicked, Ps. v. 5 ; and indig- 
 nation and wrath, tribulation and 
 anguish, will be upon every sovil of 
 
11 A 
 
 326 
 
 li E A 
 
 Fnaa tliat does evil. See Wrath- 
 or God. 
 
 HATTE MISTS, in ecclesias- 
 tical history, the name of a modern. 
 Dutch sect ; so called from Pon- 
 tian Van Hattem, a minister in 
 the province of Zealand, towards 
 the close of the last century, who, 
 being addicted to the sentiments 
 of Spinosa, was on that account 
 degraded from his pastoral office. 
 The Verschorists and Hattemists 
 resemble each other in their re- 
 ligiou,s. systems, though they ne- 
 ver so entirely agreed as to form 
 one communion. The founders 
 of these sects deduced from the 
 dpctrine of jjbsolute decrees a 
 syst.em of fatal, and uncontrollable 
 necessity ; they denied the differ- 
 ence between moral good and 
 eyii, and the corruption of human 
 nature ; from hence they farther 
 concluded, that mankind were 
 under no sort of obligation to 
 correct their manners, to improve 
 their rninds, or to obey the Di- 
 vine laws ; that, the v^hole of re- 
 ligion corisisted not in acting, but 
 in suffering; and that all the 
 precepts of Jesus Christ are re- 
 ducible to this one, that we. bear 
 "With cheerfulness and patience the 
 events that happen to us through 
 the Divine will^ and make it our 
 constant and 07ily study to maintaiji 
 a permanent tranquiliity of mind. 
 Thus far they agreed : but the 
 Hattemists fardier affirmed, that 
 Christ made no expiation for the 
 sins of men by his deadi j but had 
 only suggestecl to us, by his media- 
 tion, that there was nothing in us 
 that could offend the Deity. : this, 
 they say, was Christ's manner of 
 justifying his servants, and pre- 
 
 senting them blameless before the 
 tribunal of God. It was one of 
 their distinguished tenets, that 
 God does not punish men for 
 their sins, but by their sins. 
 These two sects, says Mosheim, 
 still subsist, though they no longer 
 bear the names of their founders. 
 
 HEARING THE WOKD OF 
 GOD, is an ordinance of Divine 
 appointment. Rom. x, 17. Prov. 
 viii, 4, 5. Mark iv, 24. 
 
 Public reading of the scriptures 
 was a part of synagogue worship, 
 Acts xiii, 15. Acts xv, 21. and 
 was the practice of the christians 
 in primitive times. Under the for- 
 mer dispensation there was a pub- 
 lic hearing of the law at stated 
 seasons, Deut. xxxii, 10, 13. Neh. 
 viii, 2, 3. It seems, therefore, that 
 it is a duty incumbent on us to 
 hear, and, if sensible of our ignQ^- 
 ranee, we shall also consider it our 
 privilege. As to the manner of 
 heajnng, it should be constantly, 
 Prov. viii, 34. Jam. i, 24, 25. 
 Attentively^ Luke xxi, 38. Acts 
 X, 53. Luke iv, 20, 22". With 
 reverence^ Ps. Ixxxix, 7. With 
 faith^ Heb. iv,,2. With an endea- 
 vour to retain what we hear, Heb, 
 ii, 1. Ps. cxix, 11. With a hum- 
 ble docile disposition^ Luke x, 42. 
 With prayer, Luke xviii. The 
 advantages of hearing are, inr 
 formation, 2d Tim. iii, I6i. Con- 
 viction^ 1st Cor. xiv, 24^ 25. Acts 
 ii. Conversion, Ps, xix, 7. Acts 
 iv, 4. Confrraation, Acts xiv, 22. 
 Acts xvi, 5. Consolation, Phil, i, 
 25.. Isa. xl, 1,. 2. Isa. xxxv, 3. 
 4. Stennefs Parable of the Soxver ; 
 Massilon's, Ser., vol. ii, p. 131, 
 Eng. trans. ; GilPs Body of Div., 
 vol iii, p. 340, oct. ed- 
 
HE A 
 
 327 
 
 H K A 
 
 HEART is used for the soul, 
 and all the powers thereof ; as the 
 understanding, conscience, will, 
 affections, and memory. The heart 
 of man is naturally, constantly, 
 universally, inexpressibly, openly, 
 and evidently depraved, and in- 
 clined to evil, Jer. xvii, 9. It re- 
 quires a Divine power to renovate 
 it, and render it susceptible of right 
 impressions, Jer. xxlv, 7. When 
 thus renovated, the effects will be 
 seen in the temper, conversation, 
 and conduct at large. See Faith, 
 Hope, &c. Hardness of heart is 
 that state in which a sinner is in- 
 clined to, and actually goes on in 
 rebellion against God. This state 
 evidences itself by light views of 
 the evil of sin; partial acknow- 
 ledgment and confession of it; 
 frequent commission of it ; pride 
 and conceit ; ingratitude ; un- 
 concern about the word and ordi- 
 nances of God ; inattention to Di- 
 vine providences ; stifling con- 
 victions of conscience; shunning 
 reproof; presumption, and general 
 ignorance of Divine things. We 
 mustdistingLiish,however,between 
 that hardness of heart which even 
 a good man complains of, and 
 that of a judicial nature. 1. Judi- 
 cial hardness is very seldom per- 
 ceived, and never lamented ; a 
 broken and a contrite heart is the 
 least thing such desire : but it is 
 otherwise with believers, for the 
 hardness they feel is always a 
 matter of grief to thern, Rom. vii, 
 24. — 2. Judicial hardness is per- 
 petual ; or, if ever there be any 
 I'emorse or relenting, it is only 
 at such times when the sinner is 
 under some outward afHictions, or 
 filled with the dread of the wrath 
 
 of God ; but as this wears 6ff or 
 abates, his stupidity returns as 
 much or more than ever, Exbd, 
 ix, 27 ; but true believers, when 
 no adverse dispensations trouble 
 them, are often distressed because 
 their hearts are ro more affected in 
 holy duties, or infiamed v/ith love 
 to God, Rom. vii, 15. — 3. Judi- 
 cial hardness is attended with a 
 total neglect of duties, especially 
 those that are secret ; but that 
 hardness of heart which a believer 
 complains of, though it occasions 
 his going uncomfortably in duty, 
 yet does not keep him from it, Job 
 xxiii, 2, 3. — 4. V/hen a person is 
 judicially hardened, he makes use 
 of indirect and unv/arrantable me- 
 thods to maintain that fals? peace 
 which he thinks himself happy in 
 the enjoyment of; but a believer, 
 when complaining of the hardness 
 of his heart, cannot be satisfied 
 with any thing short of Christ, Ps. 
 ci, 2. — 5. Judicial hardness ge- 
 nerally opposes the interest of 
 truth and godliness ; but a good 
 man considers this as a cause 
 nearest his heart ; and although 
 he have to lament his lukewarm- 
 ness, yet he constantly desires to 
 promote it, Ps. Ixxii, 19. 
 
 Kcephig the hearty is a duty 
 enjoined in the sacred scriptures^ 
 It consists, says Mr. Flavel, 
 in the diligent and constant use 
 and improvement of all holy means 
 and duties to preserve the soul 
 from sin, and maintain commu- 
 nion with God ; and this, he pro- 
 perly observes, supposes a pre- 
 vious workof sanctification, which 
 hath set the heart right by giving 
 it a new bent and inclination. 
 1. It includes frequent obseiTrttiori 
 
HE A 
 
 323 
 
 HE A 
 
 of the frame of the heart, Ps. 
 Ixxvii, 6. — 2. Deep humiliatloR 
 for heart evils and disorders, 2d 
 Chron. xxxii,26. — 3. Earnest sup- 
 plication for heart purifying and 
 rectifi)iiBg grace, Ps. xix, 12. — 4. 
 A constant holy jealousy over our 
 hearts, Pro v. xxvii, 14. — 5. It 
 includes the realizingof God's pre- 
 sence with us, and setting him be- 
 fore us, Ps. xvi, 8. Gen. xvii, 1. 
 This is, 1. The hardest work; 
 heart v/ork is hard work, indeed. 
 — r2. Constant work, Exod. xvii, 
 12. — 3. The most important 
 work, Prov. xxiii, 26. This is a 
 dutij wkich should be attended to^ 
 if -we consider it in connexion -with^ 
 1. The honour of God, is. Ixvi, 
 3. — 2. The sincerity of our pro- 
 fession, 2d Kings, x, 31. Ezek. 
 xxxiii, 31, 32. — 3. The beauty of 
 our conversation, Prov. xii, 26. 
 Ps. xlv, 1. — 4. The comfort of our 
 souls, 2d Cor. xiii, 5. — 5. The 
 improvement of our graces, Ps. 
 ixiii, 5, 6. — 6- The stability of 
 our souls in the hour of temp- 
 tation, 1st Cor. Xvi, 13. The sea- 
 sons in xvhich xve should more par- 
 ticularly keep our hearts are^ 1. 
 The time of prosperity, Deut. vi, 
 10,12. — 2. Under afflictions, Heb. 
 xii, 5, 6. — 3. The time of Sion's 
 troubles, Ps. xlvi, 1, 4. — 4. In the 
 time of great and threatening clan- 
 gers. Is. xxvi, 20, 21. — 5, Under 
 great wants, Phil, iv, 6, 7. — 6. In 
 the time of duty. Lev. x, 3. — 7. 
 Under injuries received, Rom. xii, 
 1 7, &c — 8. In the critical hour of 
 temptation, Matt, xxvi, 41. — 9. 
 Under dark and doubting seasons, 
 Heb. xii. 8. Is. 1, 10.— :ia In 
 time of opposition and suffering, 
 1st Pet. iv, 12, 13 — 11. The time 
 
 of sickness and death, Jer. xlix. 
 11. The means to be made use of 
 to keep our hearts are, 1. Watchful- 
 ness, Mark xiii, 37. — 2. Exami- 
 nation, Prov. iv, 26. — 3. Prayer, 
 Luke xviii, 1. — 4. Reading God's 
 word, John v, 39. — 5. Depend- 
 ance on Divine grace, Ps. Ixxxvi, 
 11. See Flavel on Keeping the 
 Heart; famiesorCs Sermons on the 
 Heart ; Ridgleifs Div.^ qu. 29. 
 
 HEATHEN, pagans who wor- 
 ship false gods, and are not ac- 
 quainted either with the doctrines 
 of the Old Testament or the chris- 
 tian dispensation. For many ages 
 before Christ, the nations at large 
 were destitute of the true religion, 
 and gave themselves up to the 
 grossest ignorance, the most ab- 
 surd idolatry, and the greatest 
 crimes. Even the most learned 
 men among the heathens were in 
 general inconsistent, and complied 
 with or promoted the vain cus- 
 toms they found among their 
 countrymen. It was, however, di- 
 vinely foretold, that in Abraham's 
 seed all nations should be blessed j 
 that the heathens should be gather- 
 ed to the Saviour, and become his 
 people. Gen. xxii. 18. Gen. xlix, 
 10. Ps. ii, 8. Isa. - xiii, 6, 7. Ps. 
 ixxii. Isaiah Ix. In order that 
 these promises might be accom- 
 plished, vast numbers of the Jews, 
 after the Chaldean captivity, were 
 left scattered among the heathen. 
 The Old Testament was translat- 
 ed into Greek, the most common 
 language of the heathen ; and a 
 rumour of the Saviour's appearance 
 in the flesh was spread far and wide 
 among them. When Christ came, 
 he preached chiefly in Galilee, 
 where there v/ere multitudes of 
 
HE A 
 
 329 
 
 HE A 
 
 Gentiles. He assured the Greeks 
 that vast numbers of the heathen 
 should be brought into the church, 
 Matt, iv, 23. John xii, 20, 24. 
 For 1 TOO years past the Jews have 
 been generally rejected, and the 
 church of God has been composed 
 of the Gentiles. Upwards of 480 
 millions (nearly half the globe), 
 however, are supposed to be yet 
 in pagan darkness. Considerable 
 attempts have been made of late 
 5'-ears for the enlightening of the 
 heathen ; and there is every rea- 
 son to believe good has been done. 
 From the aspect .of scripture pro- 
 phecy, we are led \to expect that 
 the kingdoms of the heathen at 
 large shall be brought to the light 
 of the gospel. Matt, xxiv, 14. Isa. 
 Ix. Ps. xxii, 28, 29. Ps. ii, 7, 8. 
 It has been much disputed whe- 
 ther it be possible thrjt the heathen 
 should be saved without the know- 
 ledge of the gospel : some have 
 absolutely denied it upon the au- 
 thority of those texts which uni- 
 versally require faith in Christ ; 
 but to this it is ansv/ered, that 
 those texts regard only such to 
 whom the gospel comes, and are 
 capable of understanding the con- 
 tents of it. The truth, says Dr. 
 Doddridge, seems to be this ; that 
 none of the heathens will be con- 
 demned for not believing the gos- 
 pel, but they^re« liable' to con-- 
 demnation for the breach of God's 
 natural law : nevertheless, if there 
 be any of them in whom there is 
 a prevailing love to the Divine Be- 
 ing, there seems reason to believe 
 that, for the sakeo? Christ, though 
 to them unknown, they may be ac- 
 cepted by God ; and so much the 
 rather, as the ancient Jews,and even 
 Vol. I. U u 
 
 the apostles, during the time of our 
 Saviour's abode on earth, seem to 
 have had but little notion of those 
 doctrines, which those who deny 
 the salvabillty of the heathens are 
 most apt to imagine, iWm. ii, 10 
 to 26. Acts X, 34, 2>5. Matt, viii', 
 11, 12. Mr. Grove, Dr. Watts, 
 Saurin, and Mr. Newton, favour 
 the same opinion ; the latter of 
 whom thus obsejjyes : " If we sup- 
 pose a heathen brought to a seiiSe 
 of his misery ; to a conviction that 
 he cannof be happy without the 
 favour -of the great Lord of the 
 world; to a feeling of guilty' and 
 desire of mercy, and that, though , 
 he has no explicit knowledge of' a 
 Saviour, he directs the cry of 'hiis 
 heart to the unknown Supreme, 
 to have mercy upon him ; who 
 will prove that such views and de- 
 sires can arise in the heart of a 
 sinner, without the energy of that 
 spirit which Jesus is exalted to be- 
 stow ? Who will take upon him to 
 say, that his blood has not suffi- 
 cient efficacy to redeem to God a 
 sinner who is thus disposed,though 
 he have never heard of his name ? 
 Or who has a warrant to affirm, 
 that the supposition I have made 
 is in the nature of things impos- 
 sible to be realized?" NeiX)torCs 
 Messiah; Dr. Watts'^s Strength and 
 Weakness of Human Reason^ •^. 
 106 ; Saur'in's Sermons^ vol. ii, p. 
 314; Grove's Moral Philosophy^ 
 vol. i, p. 128; Turret Zoci; vol. 
 i, qua; St. 4, § 1, 2, \7 ; Dbdd- 
 r'ldge's Lectures, lee. ^bO^'voU -ii, \~! 
 Svoedit. ; BellaTtuJs Religion De- i 
 lineated, p. 105 ; Ridgleij's Body 
 of Divinitij, qu. 60 ; Gale's Court 
 of the Gentiles, 
 
 HEAVEN is considered as a 
 
HE A 
 
 330 
 
 HE A 
 
 place in some remote part of infi- 
 nite space, in which the omnipre- 
 sent Deity is said to afford a nearer 
 and more immediate view of liim- 
 self, and a more sensible manifes- 
 tation of his glory, than in the oth- 
 er parts of the universe. 
 
 That there is a state of future 
 happiness^ both reason and scrip- 
 ture indicate : a general notion of 
 happiness after death has obtained 
 among the wiser sort of heathens, 
 who have only had the light of na- 
 .ture to guide them. If we exa- 
 mine the human mind, it is also 
 evident that there is a natural de- 
 sire after happiness in all men ; 
 and, whicFi is equally evident, is 
 not attained in this life. It is no 
 less observable, that in the present 
 state there is an unequal distribu- 
 tion of things, which makes the 
 providences of God very intricate, 
 and which cannot be solved with- 
 out supposing a future state. Re- 
 velation, however, puts it beyond 
 all doubt. The Divine Being hath 
 promised it, 1st John ii, 25. 1st 
 John v, 11. James i, 12. hath 
 given us some intimation of its 
 glory, 1st Peter i, 4. Rev. xxii, 
 3, .4. declares Christ hath taken 
 possession of it for us, Jolm xiv, 2, 
 S. and informs us of some already 
 there, both as to their bodies and 
 souls. Gen. v, 24. 2d Kings ii. 
 
 Heaven is to be considered as a 
 place ^ as xuell as a state: it is ex- 
 pressly so termed in scripture, 
 John xiv, 2, 3 : and the existence 
 of the body of Christ, and those of 
 Enoch and Elijah, is a farther proof 
 of it. Yea, if it be not a place, where 
 can these bodies be ? and where 
 will the bodies of the saints exist 
 after the resurrection ? Where this 
 
 place \Sy however, cannot be deter- 
 mined. Some have thought it to 
 be beyond the starry firmament ; 
 and some of the ancients imagined 
 that their dwelling would be in the 
 sun. Others suppose the air to 
 be the seat of the blessed. Others 
 think that the saints will dwell 
 upon earth when it shall be re- 
 stored to its paradisaical state ; but 
 these suppositions are more curi- 
 ous than edifying, and it becomes 
 us to be silent where Divine reve- 
 lation is so. 
 
 Heaven^ hoxvever^ we arc assur- 
 ed is a place of i)]expressible felici- 
 ty. The names given to it are 
 proofs of this : it is c?X\ed paradise^ 
 Luke xxiii, 43. Light, Rev. xxi, 
 23. A building- and 7nansion of God, 
 2d Cor. v, 1 . John xiv, 2. A city, 
 Heb. xi, 10, 16. A better country ^ 
 Heb. xi, 16. An inheritance. Acts 
 XX, 32. A kingdom. Matt, xxv, 
 34. Acroxvn, 2d Tim. iv, 8. Glory, 
 Ps. Ixxxiv, 11. 2d Cor. iv, iV. 
 Peace, rest, and joy of the Lord, 
 Isa. Ivii, 2. Heb. iv, 9. Matt, xxv, 
 21, 23. The felicity of heaven will 
 consist in freedom from all evil, 
 both of soul and body, Rev. vii, 
 last ; in the enjoyment of God as 
 the chief good ; in the company of 
 angels and saints ; in perfect holi- 
 ness, and extensive knowledge. 
 
 It has been disputed -whether 
 there are degrees of glory in heaven. 
 The arguments against degrees are, 
 that all the people of God are lov- 
 ed by him with the same love, all 
 i chosen together in Christ, equally 
 I interested in the same covenant gf 
 I grace, equally redeemed with thfe 
 I same price, and all predestinated 
 i to the same adoption of children ; 
 J to suppose the contrary, it is said, 
 
HE A 
 
 331 
 
 HE A 
 
 is to eclipse the glory of Divine 
 grace, and carries with it the legal 
 idea of being rewarded for our 
 works. On the other side it is 
 observed, that if the above reason- 
 ing prove any thing, it would 
 prove too much, viz. that we 
 should all be upon an equality in 
 the present world as well as that 
 which is to come ; for we are now 
 as much the objects of the same 
 love, purchased by the same blood, 
 &c., as we shall be hereafter. 
 That rewards contain nothing in- 
 consistent with the doctrine of 
 grace, because those very works 
 which it pleaseth God to honour 
 are the effects of his own opera- 
 tion. That all rewards to a guilty 
 creature have respect to the me- 
 diation of Christ. That God's 
 graciously connecting blessings 
 with the obedience of his people, 
 serves to shew not only his love to 
 Christ and to them, but his regard 
 to righteousness. That the scrip- 
 tures expressly declare for degrees, 
 Dan. xii, 3. Matt, x, 41, 42. Matt. 
 xix, 28, 29. Luke xix, 16, 19. 
 Rom. ir, 6. 1st Cor. iii, 8. 1st 
 Cor. XV, 41, 42. 2d Cor. v, 10. 
 Gal. vi, 9. 
 
 Another question has sometimes 
 been proposed, viz. Whether the 
 uiints shall know one another in 
 heaven P 
 
 " The arguments," says Dr. 
 Rldgley, " which are generjilly 
 brought in defence of it, are taken 
 from those instances recorded in 
 scripture, in which persons, who 
 have never seen one another before, 
 have immediately known each 
 other in tliis world, by a special Im- 
 mediate divine revelation given to 
 them, in like manner as Adam 
 
 knew that Eve was taken out of 
 him ; and therefore says, This is 
 now bone of my bone^ andjlesh of 
 my fesh : she shall be called wontan^ 
 because she xvas taken out of maUj 
 Gen. ii, 23. He was cast into a 
 deep sleepy when God took one of 
 his ribs, and so formed the xvoman^ 
 as we read in the foregoing words j 
 yet the knoAvledge hereof was 
 communicated to him by God. 
 Moreover, we read that Peter, 
 James, and John, knew Moses and 
 Elias, Matt, xvii, as appears from 
 Peter's making a particular men- 
 tion of them : Let us make three 
 tabernacles; one for thee, one for 
 Moses, and one for Elias, 4th ver. 
 though he had never seen theia 
 before. Again ; our Saviour, in 
 the parable, represents the rich 
 man as seeing Abraham afar off^ 
 and Lazarus in his bosom, Luke xvi, 
 23. and speaks of him as address- 
 ing his discourse to him. From 
 such like arguments, some con- 
 clude that it may be inferred 
 that the saints shall know one an- 
 other in heaven, when joined to- 
 gether in the same assembly. 
 
 " Moreover, some think that this 
 may be proved from the apostle's 
 words, in 1st Thess. ii, 19, 20. 
 What is our hope or joy, or crown 
 of rejoicing f Are not even ye hi 
 the presence of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ at his coining f for ye are 
 our glorij and joy ; v.'hich seems to 
 argue, that he apprehended their 
 happiness in heaven should con- 
 tribute, or be an addition to his, 
 as he was made an instrument to 
 bring them thither ; even so, by a 
 parity of reason, every one who 
 has been insiTumental in the con- 
 version end building up others in 
 
HE A 
 
 332 
 
 HE A 
 
 their holy faith, as the apostle 
 Paul was with respect to them, 
 theae shall tend to enhance their 
 pl-aise, and give them occasion 
 to glorify God on their behalf. 
 Therefore it follows that they 
 shall know one another ; and con- 
 sequently they who haVe walked 
 together in the ways of God, and 
 have been useful to one another as 
 relations and intimate friends, in 
 wjhat respects more especially their 
 spiritual concerns, these shall bless 
 God for the mutual advantages 
 which they have received, and 
 consequently shall know one ano- 
 ther. Again; some prove this from 
 that expression of our Saviour in 
 Luke xvi, 9. Make to yourselves 
 friends of the mammon of unright- 
 eousness^ that^ xvhen ye fad-, they 
 may receive you into everlasting 
 habitations ; especially if by these 
 everlasting habitations be meant 
 heaven, as many suppose it is; and 
 then the meaning is, that they 
 whona you have relieved, and 
 shewn kindness to in this world, 
 shall express a particular joy up- 
 on your being admitted into hea- 
 ven ; and consequently they shall 
 know you, and bless God for your 
 having been so useful and benefi- 
 cial to them. 
 
 " To this it is objected, that if 
 the saints shall know one another 
 in heaven, they shall know that 
 several of those who were their 
 intimate friends here on earth, 
 whom they loved with a very great 
 affection, are not there ; and this 
 will have a tendency to give them 
 some uneasiness, and be a diminu- 
 tion of their joy and happiness. 
 
 " To this it may be replied, that 
 if it be allowed' that the saints 
 
 shall knov/ that some whom the)^ 
 loved on earth are not in hea- 
 ven, this will give them no un- 
 easiness ; since that affection which 
 took its rise principally from the 
 relation which we stood in to per- 
 sons on earth, or the intimacy that 
 we have contracted with them, will 
 cease in another v/orld, or rather 
 run in another channel, and be 
 excitedby superior motives ; name- 
 ly, their relation to Christ ; that 
 perfect holiness which they are 
 adorned with ; their being joined 
 in the same blessed society, and 
 engaged in the same employpaent: 
 together with their former useful- 
 ness one to another in promoting 
 their spiritual welfare, as made 
 subservient to the happiness they 
 enjoy there. And as for others, 
 who are excluded from their soci- 
 ety, they will think themselves 
 obliged, out of a due regard to 
 the justice and holiness of God, to 
 acquiesce in his righteous judg- 
 ments. Thus, the inhabitants of 
 heaven are represented as ador- 
 ing the Divine perfections, when 
 the vials of God's wrath were 
 poured out upon his enemies, and 
 saying. Thou art righteous^ 
 Lord^ because thou hast judged 
 thus; true and righteous -are thy 
 judgments^ Rev. xvi, 5, 7. 
 
 " Another question has been 
 sometimes asked, viz. Whether 
 there shall be a diversity of lan- 
 guages in heaven, as there is on 
 earth? This we cannot pretend to 
 determine. Some think that there 
 shall ; and that, as persons of all 
 nations and tongues shall make up 
 that blessed society, so they shall 
 praise God in the same language 
 which thev before used when on 
 
HE A 
 
 33; 
 
 HE A 
 
 earth ; and that this worship may 
 be performed with the greatest 
 harmony, and to mutual edifica- 
 tion, all the saints shall, by the 
 immediate power, and providence 
 of God, be able to understand 
 and make use of every one of 
 those different languages, as well 
 as their own. This they found on 
 the apostle's words, in v/hich he 
 says, That at the tiame pf Jesus 
 every knee should, bow, and that 
 every t07igue should confess that 
 Jesus Christ is Lord; which they 
 suppose has a respect to the hea- 
 venly state, because it is said to 
 be done both by those that are 
 in heaven, and those that are on 
 earth, Phil, ii, 10, 11. But though 
 the apostle speaks by a metonymy 
 of different tongues, that is, per- 
 sons who speak different languages 
 being subject to Christ, he, proba- 
 bly means thereby persons of dif- 
 ferent nations, whether they shall 
 praise him in their own language 
 in heaven, or no. Therefore 
 some conjecrare that the diversity 
 of languages shall then cease, in- 
 asmuch as it took its first rise from 
 God's judicial hand, when he 
 confounded the speech of those 
 who presumptuously attempted to 
 build the city and tower of Babel ; 
 and this has been ever since at- 
 tended with many inconveniences. 
 And, indeed, the apostle seems ex- 
 pressly to intimate as much, when 
 he says, speaking concerning the 
 heavenly state, that tongues shall 
 cease, 1st Cor. xiii, 8. that is, the 
 present variety of languages.— 
 Moreover, since the gift of tongues 
 v/as bestowed on the apostles for 
 the gathering and building up the 
 church in the first age thereof. 
 
 which end, when it was ansv/er- 
 ed, this extraordinary dispensation 
 ceased ; in like manner it is pro- 
 bable that hereafter the diversity 
 of languages shall cease." 
 
 " I am sensible," says Dr. Ridg- 
 ley, " there are some who object 
 to this, that the saints' understand- 
 ing all languages will be an addi- 
 tion to their honour, glory, and 
 happiness. But to this it may be 
 answered, that though it is, in- 
 deed, an accomplishment, in this 
 world, for a person to understand 
 several languages, that, arises from 
 the subserviency thereof to those 
 valuable ends that are answered 
 thereby ; but this would be entire- 
 ly removed, if the diversity of lan- 
 guages be taken away in heaven, 
 as some suppose it will." 
 
 " There are some, v/ho, it may 
 be, give too much scope to a vain 
 curiosity, when they pretend to 
 enquire v/hat this language shall 
 be, or determine, as the Jews do, 
 and with them some of the fathers, 
 that it shall be Hebrew, since their 
 arguments for it are not sufficiently 
 conclusive, which are principally 
 these, viz., That .this was the lan- 
 guage with which God inspired 
 man at first in paradise, and that 
 which the saints and patriarchs 
 spake, and the church generally 
 made use of in all ages till our 
 Saviour's time ;" and that it was 
 this language which he h.imself 
 spake while here on earth ; and 
 since his ascension into heaven, 
 he spake unto Paul in the Hebretv 
 tongme. Acts xxvi, 14. And when 
 the inhabitants of heaven are de- 
 scribed in the Revelations as prais- 
 ing Gocl, there is one word used 
 by which their praise is expressed. 
 
HEL 
 
 134 
 
 HEL 
 
 namely, Hallelujah, which is He- 
 brew ; the meaning whereof is, 
 Praise ye the Lord. Bat all these 
 arguments are not sufficiently con- 
 vincing-, and therefore we must 
 reckon it no more than a conjec- 
 ture." 
 
 However undecided we mav be 
 iiB to this and some other circum- 
 stances, this we maybe assured of, 
 that the happiness of heaven xuill be 
 eternal. Whether it will be pro- 
 gressive or not, and that the saints 
 shall always be increasing in their 
 knowledge, joy, &c., is not so 
 clear. Some suppose that this in- 
 dicates an imperfection in the fe- 
 licity of the saints for any addi- 
 tion to be made; but others think 
 it quite analogous to the dealings 
 of God with us here ; and that, 
 from the nature of the mind it- 
 self, it may be concluded. But 
 however this be, it is certain that 
 our happiness will be complete, 
 1st Pet. V, 10. 1st Pet. v, 4. Heb. 
 xi, JO. JVatts\9 Death and Hea- 
 ven; GiWs Body of Divinity^ vol. 
 ii, p. 495 ; Saiirvi*s Ser., vol. 
 iii, p. 321 ; Toplady\s Works ^ vol. 
 iii, p. 471 ; Bates's Works ; Ridg- 
 ley^s Body of Divinity^ quest. 90. 
 
 HEBREWS. See Jews. 
 
 HELL, the place of Divine pu- 
 nishment after death. As all reli- 
 gions have supposed a future state 
 of existence after this life, so all 
 have their hell, orplaceof toi-mcnt, 
 in which the wicked are to be pu- 
 nished. Even the Heathens had 
 t\\€\r tartara ; and the Mahome- 
 tans, Vv^e find, believe the eternity 
 of rewards and punishments : it 
 is not, therefore, a sentiment pecu- 
 liar to Christianity. 
 
 There have beexi many curious 
 
 arid useless conjectures respecting 
 the place of the damned ; the an- 
 cients generally supposed it was a 
 region of fire near the centre of 
 the earth. Mr. Swinden endea- 
 voured to prove that il is seated 
 in the sun. Mr. Whiston advanc- 
 ed a new and strange hypothesis; 
 according to him, the comets are 
 so many hells, appointed in their 
 orbits alternately to carry the 
 damned to the confines of the sun, 
 there to be scorched by its violent 
 heat ; and then to return with 
 them beyond the orb of Saturn, 
 there to starve them in those cold 
 and dismal regions. But, as Dr. 
 Doddridge observes, we must here 
 confess our ignorance ; and shall 
 be much better employed in study- 
 ing how we may avoid this place 
 of horror, than in labouring to 
 discover where it is. 
 
 Of the nature cf this punishment 
 we may form some idea from the 
 expressions made use of in scrip- 
 ture. It is called a place of tor- 
 ment, Luke xvi, 28. the bottom- 
 less pit, Rev. XX, 3 to 6. a prison, 
 1st Pet. iii, 19. darkness. Matt. 
 viii, 12. Jud. 13. fire, Matt, xiii, 
 42, 50. a Tv^orm that never dies, 
 Mark ix, 44, 48. the second 
 death, Rev. xxi, 8. the wrath of 
 God, Rom. ii, 5. It has been de- 
 bated, whether there will be ma- 
 terial fire in hell ? On the affirma- 
 tive side it is observed, that fire 
 and brimstone ai'e represented as 
 the ingredients of the torment of 
 the wicked. Rev. xiv, 10, 11. Rev. 
 XX, 10. That as the body is to be 
 raised, and the whole man to be 
 condemned, it is reasonable to be- 
 lieve there will be some corporeal 
 punishment provided, and there- 
 
HEL 
 
 335 
 
 HE 
 
 fore probably material fire. On 1 
 the negative side it is alleged, that 
 the terras above-mentioned are 
 metaphorical, and signify no more 
 than raging desire or acute pain ; 
 and that the Divine Being can 
 sufficiently punish the wicked, by 
 immediately acting on their minds, 
 or rather leaving them to the guilt 
 and stings of their own conscience. 
 According to several passages, it 
 seems there will be different de- 
 grees of punishment m hell, Luke 
 xii, 47. Rom. ii, 12. Matt, x, 20, 
 21. Matt, xii, 25, 32. Heb. x, 
 28, 29. 
 
 As to its duration, it has been 
 obsei'ved that it cannot be eter- 
 nal, because there is no propor- 
 tion between temporary crimes 
 and eternal punishments ; that the 
 word everlasting is not to be taken 
 in its utmost extent ; and that it 
 signifies no more than a long time, 
 or a time whose precise boundary 
 is unknown. But in answer to this 
 it is alleged, that the same word 
 is used, and that sometimes in the 
 very same place, to express the 
 eternity of the happiness of the 
 righteous, and the eternity of the 
 misery of the wicked ; and that 
 there is no reason to believe that 
 the words express two such differ- 
 ent ideas, as standing in the same 
 connexion. Besides, it is not 
 true, it is observed, that temporary 
 crimes do not deserve eternal pu- 
 nishments, because the infinite 
 majesty of an offended God adds 
 a kind of infinite evil to sin, and 
 therefore exposes the sinner to in- 
 finite punishment ; and that here- 
 by God vindicates his injured ma- 
 jesty, and glorifies his justice. See 
 articles Destuuctionists and 
 
 Univeb-salists. Berry St. Lee, 
 vol. ii, p. 559, 562 ; Daives on 
 Hell., ser. x; Whist on on ditto; 
 Svjinden^ Drexelit^s^ and Edwards . 
 on ditto. A late popular writer 
 has observed, that in the 35th ser- 
 mon of Tillotson every thing is 
 said upon the eternity of hell tor- 
 ments that can be known with any 
 certainty. 
 
 HELL, Chrisfs descent into. 
 That Christ locally descended into 
 hell, is a doctrine believed not only 
 by the Papists, butby many among 
 the reformed. 1. The'text chiefly 
 brought forward in support of this 
 doctrine is the 1st Peter iii, 19. 
 " By which he went and preached 
 to the spirits in prison ;" but it 
 evidently appears that the " spi- 
 rit" there mentioned was not 
 Christ's human soul, but a divine 
 nature, or rather the Holy Spirit 
 (by which he was quickened, and 
 raised from the dead); and by the 
 inspiration of which, granted to 
 Noah, he preached to those noto- 
 rious sinners who are now in the 
 prison of hell for their disobedi- 
 ence. 
 
 2, Christ, when on the cross, 
 promised the penitent thief his 
 presence that day in paradise ; and 
 accordingly, when he died, he 
 committed his soul into his hea- 
 venly Father's hand : in heaven 
 therefore, and not in hell, we are 
 to seek the separate spirit of our 
 Redeemer in this period, Luke 
 xxiii, 43, 46. 
 
 3. Had our Lord descended to 
 preach to the damned, there is no 
 supposable reason why the unbe- 
 lievers in Noah's time only should 
 be mentioned rather than those of 
 Sodom, and the unhappy multi- 
 
HEL 
 
 )36 
 
 HEM 
 
 tude that died in sin. But it may 
 be said, do not both the Old and 
 New Testaments intimate this ? 
 Ps. xvi, iO. Acts ii, 34. Bat it 
 may be answered, that the words 
 " thou wiit not leave my soul in 
 hell," may be explained (as is 
 the manner of the Hebrew poets) 
 in the following vt^ords : " Neither 
 wilt thou suffer thine holy one to 
 see corruption." So the same 
 words are used Ps. Ixxxix, 48. — - 
 *' What man is he that liveth, and 
 shall not see death ? shall he deli- 
 ver. his soul from the hand of the 
 grave ?" In the Hebrew ("jixcf), 
 the word coinmonly rendered hell 
 properly si^gnifics " the invisible 
 state," as our word hell origi- 
 nally did ; -and the other v/ord 
 (iS7£!j) signifies not always the im- 
 mortal soul, but the animal frame 
 in general, cither living or dead. 
 Bishop Pearson and Dr. Barrow 
 on the Creed ; Edxvards' s Hist, of 
 Redemption^ notes p. 351, o77 ; 
 Ridgleifs Body of Div., p. 308, 
 3d edit.; Doddridge and Guise on 
 1st V&X. iii, 19. 
 
 HELLENISTS, a term occur- 
 ring in the Greek text of the Nevv^ 
 Testament, and which in the Eng- 
 lish version is rendered Grecians, 
 Actsyi, 1. The critics are divided 
 as to the signification of the word. 
 3ome observe, that it is not to be 
 understood as signifying those of 
 the religion of the Greeks, but 
 those who spoke Greek, The au- 
 thors of the Vulgate version ren- 
 der it like our Gr^cz/ but Mes- 
 sieurs Du Port Royal, more ac- 
 curately, yuifs Grecs^ Greek or 
 (jrecian Jews ; it being, the Jews 
 who spoke Greek that are here 
 treated of, and who are hereby 
 
 distinguished from the Jews called 
 Hebrews^ that is, who spoke the 
 Hebrew tongue of that time. 
 
 The Hellenists, or Grecian Jews, 
 were those who lived in Egypt, 
 and other parts where the Greek 
 tongue prevailed : it is to them we 
 owe the Greek version of the Old 
 Testament, commonly called the 
 Septuagint^ or that of the Se- 
 venty. 
 
 Salmasius and Vossius are of a 
 different sentiment with regard to 
 the Hellenists ; the latter will 
 only hav« them to be those who 
 adhered to the Grecian interests. 
 Scaliger is represented in the Sca- 
 ligerana as asserting the Hellenists, 
 to be the Jev^^s who lived in Greece 
 and other places, and who read 
 the Greek Bible in their syna- 
 gogue, and used the Greek lan- 
 guage in sacris ; and thus they 
 were opposed to the Hebrew Jews, 
 who performed their public wor- 
 ship in the Hebrew tongue ; and 
 in this sense St. Paul speaks of 
 himself as a Hebrew of the" He- 
 brews, Phil, iii, 5, 6.— 2. A He- 
 brevv' both by nation and language. 
 The Hellenists are thus properly 
 distinguished h'om the Hellenes, or 
 Greeks, mentioned John xii, 20. 
 who Avere Greeks by birth and 
 nation, and yet proselytes to the 
 Jewish religion. 
 
 HEMEROBAPTISTS,asect 
 among the ancient Jews, thus call- 
 ed from their washing and bathing 
 every day, in all seasons ; and 
 performing this custom vvith the 
 I greatest solemnity, as a religious 
 rite necessary to salvation. 
 
 Epiphanius, who mentions this 
 as the fourth heresy among the 
 Jev/3, observes, that in other 
 
HEN 
 
 337 
 
 HER 
 
 points these heretics had much the 
 same opinion as the Scribes and 
 Pharisees ; only that they denied 
 the resurrection of the dead, in 
 common with the Sadducees, and 
 retained a few other of the im- 
 proprieties of these last. 
 
 The sect who pass in the East 
 under the denomination of Sa- 
 bians, calling themselves Mendai 
 liahi^ or the disciples of St. John, 
 and whom the Europeans entitle 
 the christians of St. John, because 
 they yet retain some knowledge of 
 the gospel, is probably of Jewish 
 origin, and seems to have been de- 
 rived from the ancient Hemero- 
 baptists ; at least it is certain that 
 John, whom they consider as 
 the founder of their sect, bears no 
 sort of similitude to John the 
 Baptist, but rather resembles the 
 person of that name whom the 
 ancient writers present as the 
 chief of the Jewish Hemerobap- 
 tists. These ambiguous christians 
 dwell in Persia and Arabia, and 
 principally at Bassora ; and their 
 religion consists in bodily wash- 
 ings, perfonned frequently, and 
 with great solemnity, and attend- 
 ed with certain ceremonies which 
 the priests mingle with this super- 
 stitious service. 
 
 HENOTICON, a famous edict 
 of the emperor Zeno, published 
 A. D. 482, and intended to recon- 
 cile and re-unite the Eutychians 
 with the Catholics. It was procu- 
 red of the emperor by means of 
 Acacius, patriarch of Constanti- 
 nople, with the assistance of the 
 friends of Peter Mongus and Peter 
 TruUo. The sting of this edict lies 
 here ; that it repeats and » con- 
 firms all that had been enacted in 
 
 Vol. I. X X 
 
 the councils of Nice, Constanti- 
 nople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, 
 against the Arians, Nestorians, 
 and Eutychians, without making 
 any particular mention of the 
 council of Chalcedon. It is in 
 the form of a letter, addressed by 
 Zeno to the bishops, priests., 
 monks, and people of Egj^pt and 
 Lybia. It was opposed by the 
 Catholics, and condemned in form 
 by pope Felix II. 
 
 HENRICIANS, a sect so call- 
 ed from Henry, its founder, who, 
 though a monk and hermit, un- 
 dertook to reform the superstition 
 and vices of the clergy. For this 
 purpose he left Lausanne, in Swit- 
 zerland, and, removing from dif- 
 ferent places, at length settled at 
 Thoulouse, in the year 1 147, and 
 there exercised his ministerial 
 function ; till being overcome by 
 the opposition of Bernard, abbot 
 of Clairval, and condemned by 
 pope Eugenius III, at a council 
 assembled at Rheims, he was com- 
 mitted to a close prison in 1148, 
 where he soon ended his days. 
 This reformer rejected the bap- 
 tism of infants, sevex*ely censtij^ed 
 the corrupt manners of the cler- 
 gy, treated the festivals and cere- 
 monies of the church with the 
 utmost contempt, and held pri- 
 vate assemblies for inculcating his 
 peculiar doctrines. 
 
 HERACLEONITES, a sect of 
 christians, the followers of Hera- 
 cleon, who refined upon the Gnos- 
 tic divinity, and maintained that 
 the v/orld was not the immediate 
 production of the Son of God, but 
 that he was only the occasiona!! 
 cause of its being created by the 
 dcmiurgus. The Heracleonitesdc- 
 
HER 
 
 338 
 
 HER 
 
 iiied tlie authority of the prophe- 
 cies of the Old Testament ; main- 
 tained that they were mere ran- 
 dom sounds in the air ; and that 
 St. John the Baptist was the only 
 true voice th^X directed to the 
 Messiah. 
 
 HERESIARCH, an arch here- 
 tic, the founder or inventor of an 
 heresy-; or a chief of a sect of her- 
 etics. 
 
 HERESY. This word signi- 
 fies sect or choice : it was not in 
 . its earliest acceptation conceived 
 to convey any reproach, since it 
 was indifferently used either of a 
 party approved, or of one disap- 
 proved by the writer. See Acts v, 
 17. Acts XV, 3. Afterwards it was 
 generally used to signify some fun- 
 damental error adhered to with ob- 
 stinacy, 2d Pet. ii, 1. Gal. v, 20. 
 
 According to the law of this 
 kingdom, heresy consists in a de- 
 nial of some of the essential cjoc- 
 trines of Christianity publicly and 
 obstinately avowed. It must be 
 acknowledged, hov?ever, that par- 
 ticular modes of belief or unbe- 
 lief, not tending to overturn 
 Christianity, or to sap the founda- 
 tions of morality, are by no means 
 the object of coercion by the civil 
 magistrate. What doctrines shall 
 therefore be adjudged heresy, was 
 left by our old constitution to the 
 determination of the ecclesiastical 
 judge, who had herein a most ar- 
 bitrary latitude allowed him ; for 
 the general definition of an here- 
 tic, given by Lyndev/ode, extends 
 to the smallest deviations from the 
 doctrines of the holy church : 
 ^' Hereticus est qui diibitat de fide 
 catholica^ et qui negligit scrvare ea, 
 qiict Romana ccclesiastatuitf seuser- 
 
 vare decreverat .•" or, as the sta- 
 tute, 2 Hen. IV, cap. 15, expres- 
 ses it in English, " teachers of er- 
 roneous opinions, contrary to the 
 faith and blessed determinations of 
 the holy church." Very contrary 
 this to the usage of the first gene- 
 ral councils, which defined all he- 
 retical doctrines with the utmost 
 precision and exactness ; and 
 what ought to have alleviated the 
 punishment, the uncertainty of 
 the crime, seems to have enhanc- 
 ed it in those days of blind zeal 
 and pious cruelty. The sanctimo- 
 nious hypocrisy of the Canonists, 
 indeed, went, at first, no farther 
 than enjoiningpenance, excommu- 
 nication, and ecclesiastical depriva- 
 tion, for heresy ; but afterwards 
 they proceeded boldly to imprison- 
 ment bythe ordinary, andcpnfisca- 
 tion of goods \n pios iisiis. But in 
 the mean time they had prevailed 
 upon the weakness of bigoted 
 princes to make the civil power 
 subservient to their purposes, by 
 making heresy not only a tempo- 
 ral but even a capital oflFence j 
 the Romish ecclesiastics deter- 
 mining, without appeal, whatever 
 they pleased to be heresy, and 
 shifting off to the secular arm the 
 odium and drudgery of execu- 
 tions, with which they pretended 
 to be too tender and delicate to 
 intermeddle. Nay, they affected 
 to intercede on behalf of the con- 
 victed heretic, well knowing that 
 at the same time they were deliv- 
 ering the unhappy victim to cer- 
 tain death. See Act of Faith. 
 Hence the capital punishments in- 
 flicted on the ancient Donatists 
 and Manichseans by the emperors 
 Theodosius and Justinian ; hence, 
 
HER 
 
 339 
 
 HER 
 
 also, the constitution of the em- 
 peror Frederic mentioned by Lyn- 
 dewode, adjudging all persons, 
 without distinction, to be burnt 
 with fire, who were convicted of 
 heresy by the ecclesiastical judge. 
 The same emperor, in another 
 constitution, ordained, that if any 
 temporal lord, when admonished 
 by the church, should neglect to 
 clear his territories of heretics 
 within a year, it should be lawful 
 for good Catholics to seize and oc- 
 cupy the lands, and utterly to ex- 
 terminate the heretical possessors. 
 And upon this foundation was 
 built that arbitrary power, so long 
 claimed, and so fatally exerted by 
 the pope, of disposing even of the 
 kingdoms of refractory princes to 
 more dutiful sons of the church. 
 The immediate event of this con- 
 stitution serves to illustrate at once 
 the gratitude of the holy see, and 
 the just punishment of the royal 
 bigot ; for, upon the authority of 
 this very Constitution, the pope 
 afterward-s expelled this very em- 
 peror Frederic from his kingdom 
 of Sicily, and gave it to Charles 
 of Anjou. Christianity being thus 
 deformed by the daemon of perse- 
 cution upon the continent, our 
 own island could not esCape its 
 scourge. Accordingly we find a 
 writ de haretico comburendo^ i. e. of 
 burning the heretic. See that 
 article. But the king might par- 
 don the convict by issuing no 
 process against him ; the writ de 
 h(eretico co7nbiirendo being not a 
 writ of course;, but issuing only by 
 the special direction of the king 
 in counciL In the reign of 
 Henry IV, when the eyes of the 
 christian world began to open, and 
 
 the seeds of the Protestant reli- 
 gion (under the opprobrious name 
 of LollardyJ took root in this 
 kingdom, the clergy taking advan- 
 tage from the king's dubious title 
 to demand an increase of their 
 own power, obtained an act of 
 parliament, which sharpened the 
 edge of persecution to its ut- 
 most keenness. See H^retico 
 CoMBURENDO. By Statute 2, 
 Henry V, c. /, Lollardy was 
 also made a temporal offence, and 
 indictable in the king's courts ; 
 which did not thereby gain an 
 exclusive, but only a concur- 
 rent jurisdiction with the bi- 
 shop's consistory. Afterwards, 
 when the reformation began to 
 advance, the power of the ecclesi- 
 astics was somewhat moderated ; 
 for though what heresy is was not 
 then precisely defined, yet we are 
 told in some points what it is not ; 
 the statute 25, Hen. VIII, c. 14, 
 declaring that offences against 
 the see of Rome are not heresy ; 
 and the ordinary being thereby 
 restrained from proceeding in any 
 case upon mere suspicion ; i.i e. 
 unless the party be accused by 
 two credible witnesses, or an in- 
 dictment of heresy be first previ- 
 ously found in the king's courts 
 of common law. And yet the spi- 
 rit of persecution was not abated, 
 but only diverted into a lay chan- 
 nel ; for in six years afterwards, 
 by Stat. 31, Hen. VIII, c. 14, the 
 bloody law of the six articles was 
 made, which were " determined 
 and resolved by the most godly 
 study, pain, and travail of his 
 majesty; for which his most hum- 
 ble and obedient subjects, the 
 J lords spiritual and temporal, and 
 
HE 
 
 340 
 
 HER 
 
 the commons in parliament us- 
 sembled, did render and give mito 
 his highness their most high and 
 hearty thanks !" The same statute 
 established a mixed jurisdiction 
 of clergy and laity for the trial 
 and conviction of heretics ; Henry 
 being equally intent on destroying 
 the supremacy of the bishops ot 
 Rome, and establishing all their 
 other corruptions of the christian 
 religion. Without recapitulating 
 the various repeals and revivals 
 of these sanguinary laws in the two 
 succeeding reigns, we proceed to 
 the reign of Q. Elizabeth, when 
 the reformation was finally esta- 
 blished with temper and de- 
 cency, unsullied with party ran- 
 cour or personal resentment. — 
 By Stat. 1 Eliz., c. 1, all former 
 statutes relating to heresy are re- 
 pealed ; which leaves the juris- 
 diction of heresy as it stood at 
 common law, viz. as to the inflic- 
 tion of common censures in the 
 ecclesiastical courts ; and in case 
 of burning the heretic, in the pro- 
 vincial synod only. Sir Matthevv' 
 Hale is, indeed, of a different opi- 
 nion, and holds that such power 
 resided in the diocesan also ; 
 though he agrees that in either 
 case the writ de haretico comburen- 
 do was not demandable of common 
 right, but grantable or otherwise 
 merely at the king's discretion. 
 But the principal point now gained 
 was-, that by this statute a boundary 
 was for the first time set to' what 
 should be accounted heresy ; no- 
 thing for the future being to be so 
 determined, but only such tenets 
 which have been heretofore so de- 
 clared, — I. by the ^vords of the 
 canor.ical scriptures ; — 2. bv the 
 
 first four general councils, or such 
 others as have only used the words 
 of the holy scriptures ; or, — 3. 
 which shall hereafter be so declar- 
 ed by the parliament, with the as- 
 sent of the clergy in convocation. 
 Thus was heresy reduced to a 
 greater certainty than before, 
 though it might not have been the 
 worse to have defined it in terms 
 still more precise and particular ; 
 as a man continued still liable to 
 be burnt for what, perhaps, he did 
 not understand to be heresy, till 
 the ecclesiastical judge so inter- 
 preted the words of the canonical 
 scriptures. For the writ de htzre- 
 t'lco comhurendo remained still in 
 force, till it was totally abolished, 
 and heresy again subjected only to 
 ecclesiastical correction,'/'?'© salute 
 anima^ by stat. 29, Car. II, c. 9 ; 
 when, in one and the same reign, 
 our lands were delivered from the 
 slavery of military tenures ; our 
 bodies from arbitrary imprison- 
 ment by the habeas corpus act ; 
 and our minds from the tyranny 
 or superstitious bigotry, by de- 
 molishing this large badge of 
 persecution in the English law. 
 Every thing is now less exception- 
 able, with respect to the spiri- 
 tual cognizance and spiritual pu- 
 nishment of heresy ; unless, per- 
 haps, that the crime ought to be 
 more strictly defined, and no pro- 
 secution permitted, even in the 
 ecclesiastical courts, till the tenets 
 in question are by proper autho- 
 rity previously declared to be he- 
 retical. Under these restrictions, 
 some think it necessary, for the 
 support of the national religion, 
 that the officers of the church 
 should have power to censure he- 
 
HER 
 
 341 
 
 HER 
 
 retics ; yet not to harass them 
 with temporal penalties, much 
 less to exterminate or destroy 
 them. The legislature has, indeed, 
 thought it proper that the civil 
 magistrate should interpose with 
 regard to one species of heresy, 
 very prevalent in modern times ; 
 for by Stat. 9 and 10, W. Ill, c. 
 32, if any person, educated in the 
 christian religion, or professing the 
 same, shall, by writing, printing, 
 teaching, or advised speaking, deny 
 any one of the persons in the 
 Holy Trinity to be God, or main- 
 tain that there are more Gods than 
 one, he shall undergo the same 
 penalties and incapacities which 
 were inflicted on apostacy by the 
 same statute, Enc. Brit.; Dr. Fos- 
 ter and Stebbing on Heresy ; Hal- 
 let fs Discourses^ vol. iii. No. 9, p. 
 358, 408; Dr. CampbeWs Prel. 
 Dis. to the Gospels. 
 
 HERETIC, a general name for 
 all such persons under any reli- 
 gion, but especially the christian, 
 as profess or teach opinions con- 
 trary to the established faith, or 
 to what is made the standard of 
 orthodoxy. See last article, and 
 Lardner^s History of the Heretics 
 of the two first Centuries. 
 
 HERMIANI, a sect in the se- 
 cond century ; so called from their 
 leader Hermias. One of their dis- 
 tinguishing tenets was, that God 
 is corporeal ; another, that Jesus 
 Christ did not ascend into heaven 
 with his body, but left it in the sun. 
 HERMIT, a person who retires 
 into solitude for the purpose of 
 devotion. Who were the first her- 
 mits cannot easil)'' be known ; 
 though Paul, surnamcd the her- 
 mit, is generally reckoned the first. 
 
 The persecutions of Dccius and 
 Valerian have supposed to have 
 occasioned their first rise. 
 
 HERMOGENIANS, a sect 
 of ancient heretics ; denominated 
 from their leader Hermogenes, 
 who lived towards the close of the 
 second century. Hermogenes es- 
 tablished matter as his first prin- 
 ciple; and regarding matter as 
 the fountain of all evil, he main- 
 tained that the v/orld, and every 
 thing contained in it, as also the 
 souls of men and other spirits, 
 were formed by the Deity from an 
 uncreated and eternal mass of cor- 
 rupt matter. The opinions of 
 Hermogenes with regard to the 
 origin of the world, and the na- 
 ture of the soul, were warmly op- 
 posed by Tertullian. 
 
 HE RNH UTTERS. See Mo- 
 ravians. 
 
 HERODIANS, a sect among 
 the Jews, at the time of our Sa- 
 viour, Matt, xxii, 16. Mark iii, 6. 
 The critics and commentators are 
 very much divided with regard to 
 the Herodians. St. Jerome, in his 
 dialogue against the Luciferians, 
 takes the name to have been given 
 to such as owned Herod for the 
 Messiah; and Tertullian and 
 Epiphanius are of the same opi- 
 nion. But the same Jerome, in 
 his comment on St. Matthew, 
 treats this opinion as ridiculous ; 
 and maintains that the Pharisees 
 gave this appellation, by way of 
 ridicule, to Herod's soldiers, who 
 paid tribute to the Romans ; agree- 
 able to which the Syrian interpre- 
 ters render the word by the domes- 
 tics of Herody i. e. " his cour- 
 tiers." M. Simon, in his notes on 
 the 22d chapter of Ivlatthew, ad- 
 
HEX 
 
 H EX 
 
 vances a more probable opinion : 
 the name Herodian he imagines to 
 have been given to such as adher- 
 ed to Herod's party and interest, 
 and were for preserving the go- 
 vernment in his family, about 
 which were great divisions among 
 the Jews. F. Hardouin will have 
 the Herodians and Sadducees to 
 have been the same. Dr. Pri- 
 deaux is of opinion that they de- 
 rived their name from Herod the 
 Great ; and that they were distin- 
 guished from the other Jews by 
 their concurrence with Herod's 
 scheme of subjecting himself and 
 his dominions to the Romans, and 
 likev/ise by complying with many 
 of their heathen usages and cus- 
 toms. This symbolizing with 
 idolatry upon views of interest and 
 worldly policy was probably that 
 leaven of Herod, against which 
 our Saviour cautioned his disci- 
 ples. It is farther probable that 
 they were chiefly of the sect of the 
 Sadducees; because the leaven of 
 Herod is also denominated the 
 leaven of the Sadducees. 
 
 HETERODOX, something 
 that is contraiy to the faith or doc- 
 trine established in the true church. 
 See Op.thodox. 
 
 HEXAPLA, a Bible disposed 
 in six columns, containing the text 
 and divers versions thereof, com- 
 piled and published by Origen, 
 with a view of securing the sacred 
 text from future corruptions, and 
 to correct those that had been al- 
 ready introduced. Eusebius re- 
 lates, that Origen, after his return 
 from Rome under Caracalla, appli- 
 ed himself to learn Hebrew, and 
 be^p to coliectthesevei'al versions 
 that "had been made of the sacred 
 
 writings, and of these to compose 
 his Tetrapla and Hexapla ; others, 
 however, will not allow him to 
 have begun till the time of Alex- 
 ander, after he had retired into 
 Palestine, about the year 231. 
 To conceive what this Hexapla 
 was, it must be observed, that, be- 
 sides the translation of the sacred 
 writings, called the Septuagint, 
 made under Ptolemy Philadel- 
 phus, above 280 years before 
 Christ, the scripture had been since 
 translated into Greek by other in- 
 terpreters. The first of those 
 versions, or (reckoning the Sep- 
 tuagint) the second, was that of 
 Aquila, a proselyte Jew, the first 
 edition of which he published in 
 the 12th year of the emperor 
 Adrian, or about the year of 
 Christ 128 ; the third was that of 
 Symmachus, published, as is com- 
 monly supposed, under Maixus 
 Aurelius, but, as some say, under 
 Septimus Severus, about the year 
 200 ; the fourth was that of 
 Theodotion, prior to that of Sym- 
 machus, under Commodus, or 
 about the year 1 75. These Greek 
 versions, says Dr. Kennicott, were 
 made by the Jews from their cor- 
 rupted copies of the Hebrew, and 
 were designed to stand in the place 
 of the Seventy, against v/hich they 
 were prejudiced, because it seem- 
 ed to favour the christians. The 
 fifth was found at Jericho, in the 
 reign of Caracalla, about the year 
 217 ; and the sixth was discovered 
 at Nicopolis, in the reign of Alex- 
 ander Severus, about the year 
 228 ; lastly, Origen himself re- 
 covered part of a seventh, contain- 
 ing only the Psalms. Now Ori- 
 gen, who had held frequent dispu- 
 
HEX 
 
 343 
 
 HIG 
 
 tations with the Jews in Egypt 
 and Palestine, observing that they 
 always objected to those passages 
 of scripture quoted against them, 
 and appealed to the Hebrew text, 
 the better to vindicate those pas- 
 sages, and confound the Jews, by 
 shewingthatthe Seventy had given 
 the sense of the Hebrew ; or ra- 
 ther to shew, by a number of dif- 
 ferent versions, what the real sense 
 of the Hebrew was, undertook to 
 reduce all these several versions 
 into a body, along with the He- 
 brew text, so as they might be ea- 
 silv confronted, and afford a mu- 
 tual light to each other. He made 
 the Hebrew text his standard ; and 
 allowing that corruptions might 
 have happened, and that the old 
 Hebrew copies ntvight and did 
 read differently, he contented him- 
 self with marking such words or 
 sentences as were not in his He- 
 brew text, nor the later Greek 
 versions, and adding such words 
 or sentences as were omitted in the 
 Seventy, prefixing an asterisk to 
 the additions, and an obelisk to the 
 others. In order to this, he made 
 choice of eight columns ; in the 
 first he gave the Hebrew text, in 
 Hebrew characters ; in the se- 
 cond, the same text in Greek 
 characters ; the rest were filled 
 with the several versions above- 
 mentioned ; all the columns an- 
 swering verse for verse, and phrase 
 for phrase ; and in the Psalms 
 there was a ninth column for the 
 seventh version. This work Origen 
 called 'E|'X'n'^«, Hexapla^ q. d. sex- 
 tuple^ or work of six columns, as 
 only regarding the first six Greek 
 versions. St. Epiphanius, taking 
 in likewise the two columns of the 
 text, calls the work Octapla^ as 
 
 consisting of eight columns. This 
 celebrated work, which Montfau- 
 con imagines consisted of sixty 
 large volumes, perished long ago ; 
 probably with the library at Cse- 
 sarea, where it was preserved in 
 the year 653 ; though several of 
 the ancient writers have preserved 
 us pieces thereof, particularly St. 
 Chrysostom on the Psalms, Phi- 
 leponus in his Hexameron, &c. 
 Some modern writers have earn- 
 estly endeavoured to collect frag- 
 ments of the Hexapla, particular- 
 ly Flaminius, Nobilius, Drusius, 
 and F. Montfaucon, in two folio 
 volumes printed at Paris in 
 1713. 
 
 HIE RACITES, heretics in the 
 third century ; so called from their 
 leader Hierax, a philosopher, of 
 Egypt, who taught that Melchi- 
 sedec was the Holy Ghost, de- 
 nied the resuiTection, and con- 
 demned marriage. 
 
 HIERARCHY, an ecclesiasti- 
 cal establishment. The word is al- 
 so used in reference to the subor- 
 dination some suppose there is 
 among the angels : but whether 
 they are to be considered as having 
 a government or hierarchy among 
 themselves so that one is superior 
 in office and dignity to others ; or 
 whether they have a kind of domi- 
 nion over one another; or whether 
 some are mere partakers of privi- 
 leges others are deprived of, can- 
 not be determined, since scripture 
 is silent as to this matter. 
 
 HIGH CHURCHMEN, a 
 term first given to the non-jurors, 
 who refused to acknowledge Wil- 
 liam III as their lawful king, and 
 who had very proud notions of 
 church power ; but it is now com- 
 monly used in a more extensive 
 
HOL 
 
 344 
 
 HOL 
 
 signification, and is applied to all 
 those v/ho, though far from being 
 non-jurors, yet form pompous and 
 ambitious conceptions of the au- 
 thority and jurisdiction of the 
 church. 
 
 HISTORY ECCLESIASTI- 
 CAL. 
 
 SeeEccLESiAsTicAL History. 
 
 HOFFMANISTS, those who 
 espoused the sentiments of Daniel 
 Hoffman, professor in the univer- 
 sity of Helmstadt, who in the year 
 1598 taught that the light of rea- 
 son, even as it appears in the writ- 
 ings of Plato and Aristotle, is ad- 
 verse to religion ; and that the 
 more the human understanding is 
 cultivated by philosophical study, 
 the more perfectly is the enemy 
 supplied with weapons of defence. 
 
 HOLINESS, freedomfrom sin, 
 or the conformity of the heart to 
 God. It does not consist in know- 
 ledge, talents, or outward cere- 
 monies of religion, but hath its 
 seat in the heart, and is the effect 
 of a principle of grace implanted 
 by the Holy Spirit, Eph. ii, 8, 10. 
 John iii, 5. Rom. vi, 22. It is the 
 essence of happiness and the basis 
 of true dignity, Prov. iii, 17. Prov. 
 iv, 8. It will manifest itself by the 
 propriety of our conversation, re- 
 gularity of our temper, and uni- 
 formity of our lives. It is a prin- 
 ciple progressive in its operation, 
 Prov. iv, 18. and absolutely essen- 
 tial to the enjoyment of God here 
 and hereafter, Heb. xii, 14. See 
 Sanctitication. 
 
 HOLINESS OF GOD, is the 
 purity and rectitude of his nature. 
 It is an essential attribute of God, 
 and what is the glory, lUstre, and 
 harmony of all his other perfec- 
 tions., Ps. xxvii, 4. Exod. xv,ll. 
 
 j He could not be God without it, 
 I Deut. xxxii, 4. It is infinite and 
 unbounded ; it cannot be increased 
 or diminished. Immutable and 
 invariable, Mai. iii, 6. God is ori- 
 ginally holy ; he is so of and in 
 himself, ^.nd Jihe author and pro- 
 moter of all holiness among his 
 ! creatures. The holiness of God 
 is visible by his works ; he made 
 all things holy, Gen. i, 31. By 
 ] his providences, all which are to 
 promote holiness in the end, Heb. 
 xii, 10. By his grace, which in- 
 fluences the subjects of it to be 
 holy, Tit. ii, 10, 12. By his 
 word, which commands it, Pet. i, 
 15. By his ordinances, which he 
 hath appointed for that end, Jer. 
 xliv, 4, 5. By the punishment of 
 sin in the death of Christ, Is. liii. 
 and by the eternal punishment of 
 it in wicked men, Matt, xxv, last 
 verse. See Attributes. 
 
 HOLOCAUST, formed from 
 oAof, " whole," and y.'j.rjj^ " I con- 
 sume with fire ;" a kind of sacrifice 
 wherein the whole burnt-offering 
 is burnt or consumed by fire, as an 
 acknowledgment that God, the 
 Creator, Preserver, and Lord of all , 
 was Vv'orthy of all honour and wor- 
 ship, and as a token of men's giv- 
 ing themselves entirely up to him. 
 It is called in scripture a burnt- 
 offering. Sacrifices of this sort are 
 often mentioned by the Heathens 
 \ as v/ell as Jews. They appear to 
 have been in use long before the 
 institution of the other Jev/ish sa- 
 crifices by the law of Moses, Job 
 i, 5. Job xlii, 8. Gen. xxii, 13. 
 Gen. viii, 20. On this account, 
 the Jews, who v.ould not allow 
 the Gentiles to offer on their altar 
 any other sacrifices peculiarly en- 
 joined by the lav/ of ]Moses, ad- 
 
HOL 
 
 345 
 
 HOL 
 
 mitted them by the Jewish priests 
 to offer holocausts, because these 
 were a sort of sacrifices prior to 
 the law, and common to all na- 
 tions. During their subjection to 
 the Romans, it was no uncommon 
 thing for those Gentiles to offer 
 sacrifices to the God of Israel at 
 Jerusalem. Holocausts were deem- 
 ed by the Jews the most excellent 
 of all their sacrifices. See Sa- 
 crifice. 
 
 HOLY DAY, a day set apart 
 by the church for the commemora- 
 tion of some saint, or some re- 
 markable particular in the life of 
 Christ. It has been a question 
 agitated by divines, whether it be 
 proper to appoint or keep any holy 
 days (the Sabbath excepted). The 
 advocates for holy days suppose 
 that they have a tendency to fm- 
 press the minds of the people with 
 a greater sense of religion ; that if 
 the acquisitions and victories of 
 men be celebrated with the highest 
 joy, how much more those events 
 which relate to the salvation of 
 man ; such as the birth, death, and 
 resurrection of Christ, &c. On the 
 other side it is observed, that if 
 holy clays had been necessary un- 
 der the present dispensation, Jesus 
 Christ would have observed some- 
 thing respecting them, whereas he 
 was silent about them ; that it is 
 bringing us again into that bond- 
 age to ceremonial laws from 
 which Christ freed us ; that it is a 
 tacit reflection on the Head of the 
 chui'ch in not appointing them ; 
 that such days, on the whole, are 
 more pernicious than useful to so- 
 cietv, as they open a door for in- 
 dolence and profaneness ; yea, that 
 scripture speaks against such days, 
 
 Vol. I. Yv 
 
 Gal. iv, 9 to 11. Caves Prhm 
 Christ. ; Nelson's Fasts and Feasts; 
 RohinsorCs History and Mystery 
 of Good Friday., and Lectures on 
 Non-conformity ; A country Vicar''s 
 Sermon on Christmas-day., 1753 i 
 Brown^s Nat. and Rev. Rel.., p. 
 535 ; Neafs Hist, of the Puritans., 
 vol. ii, p. 116, qu. 
 
 HOLY GHOST, the third per- 
 son in the Trinity. 
 
 I. The Holy Ghost is a real and 
 distinct person in the Godhead. 1. 
 Personal powers of rational un- 
 derstanding and will are ascribed 
 to him, 1st Cor. ii, 10, 11. 1st Cor. 
 xii, 11. Eph. iv,- 3. — 2. He is 
 joined with the other two Divine 
 persons, as the object of worship 
 and fountain of blessings. Matt, 
 xxviii, 19. 2d Cor. xiii, 14. 1st 
 John V, 7. — 3. In the Greek, a 
 masculine article or epithet is 
 joined to his name, Pneuma^ 
 which is naturally of the neuter 
 gender, John xiv, 26. John xv, 
 26. John xvi, 13. Eph. i, 13. 
 — 4. He appeared under the em- 
 blem of a dove, and of cloven 
 tongues of fire, Matt. iii. Acts ii. 
 — 5. Personal offices of an inter- 
 cessor belong to him, Rom. viii, 
 26. — 6. He is represented as per- 
 forming a multitude of personal 
 acts ; as teaching, speaking, wit- 
 nessing, &c. Mark xiii, 11. Acts 
 XX, 23. Rom. viii, 15, 16. 1st 
 Cor. vi, 19. Acts xv, 28. Acts 
 xvi, 6, 7", &c. &c. &c. 
 
 II. // is no less evident that the 
 Holy Ghost is a Divine Person., 
 equal in po~vcr and glory xvith the 
 Father and Son. 1. Names pro- 
 per only to the Most High God 
 are ascpibed to him ; as Jehovah, 
 Acts xxviii, 25. with Is. vi, 9. 
 
HOM 
 
 346 
 
 HOM 
 
 and Heb. iii, 7, 9. with Exod. 
 xvii, 7. Jer. xxxi, 31, 34. Heb. x, 
 
 15, 16. God^ Acts V, 3, 4. Lord^ 2d 
 Cor. iii, 17, IS. "The Lord, the 
 Spirit." — 2. Attributes proper only 
 to the Most High God are ascrib- 
 ed, to him; as Omniscience, 1st 
 Cor.ii, 10, 11. Is. xl, 13, 14, Om- 
 nipresence, Ps. cxxxix, 7. Eph, ii, 
 17, 18. Ronj. viii, 26, 27. Omni- 
 potence, Luke i, o5. Eternity, 
 Heb. ix, 14. — 3. Divine works are 
 evidently ascribed to him, Gen. i> 
 2; Job xxvi, 13. Ps. xxxiii, 6. 
 Ps. civ, 30. — 4. Worship, proper 
 only to God, is required and 
 ascribed to hirn. Is. vi, 3. Acts 
 xxviii, 25. Rom. ix, 1. Rev. i, 
 4. 2d Cor. xiii, 14. Jvlatt. xxviii, 19. 
 III. The agency or xyork of the 
 Holy Ghost IS more part'icidarly d'ls 
 
 in the church took these denomi- 
 nations, to intimate that they were 
 not harangues, or matters of osten- 
 tation and flourish, like those of 
 profane orators, but familiar and 
 useful discourses, as of a master to 
 his disciples or a father to his 
 children. All the homilies of the 
 Greek and Latin fathers are com- 
 posed by bishops. We have none 
 of Tertullian, Clemens Alexan- 
 drinus, and many other learned 
 persons, because in the first ages 
 none but bishops were admitted to 
 preach. The privilege was not 
 ordinarily allowed to priests till 
 toward the fifth centurj\ St. 
 Chrysostom was the first presbyter 
 that preached statedly. Origen 
 and St. Augustine also preached, 
 but it was by a peculiar licence 
 
 playedin^ I. Co)ivictzon of sin, John j or privilege 
 
 xvi, 8, 9. — 2. Conversio?!^ 1st. Cor. \\ Photius distinguishes homily 
 
 xii. Eph. i, 17, 18. 1st Cor. ii, 10, 
 12. John iii, 5, 6. — 3. Sanctijica- 
 tion, 2d Thess. ii, 13. 1st Cor. 
 vi, 11. Rom. XV, 16. — 4. Conso- 
 lation^ John xiv, 16, 26. — 5. Di- 
 rection^ John xiv, 16, 17. Rom. 
 viii, 14.-^6. Confirmation^ Rom. 
 viii, 16. 1st John iii, 24. Eph. 
 i, T3, 14. See Trinity. Haxv- 
 ker''s Sermons on the Holy Ghost ; 
 Pearson on the Greedy 8 article ; 
 
 from sermoji^ in that the homily 
 j was performed in a more familiar 
 [manner; the prelate interrogating 
 I and talking to the people, and the;^' 
 I in their turn answering and inter- 
 'rogating him, so that it was pro- 
 perly a conversation ; whereas the 
 sermon was delivered with more 
 form, and in the pulpit, after the 
 manner of the orators. The prac- 
 tice of coip.piling homilies which 
 
 Dr. Oxven on the Spirit; ZTi^r- I were to be committed to memory. 
 
 rion^s 16 Sermons on the Spirit. 
 
 HOLY GHOST PROCES- 
 SION OF. See Procession. 
 
 HOMILY, a sermon or dis- 
 course upon some point of religion 
 delivered in a plain manner, so as 
 to be easily understood by the 
 
 and recited by ignorant or indolent 
 priests, commenced towards the 
 close of the eighth centurj^ ; when 
 Charlemagne ordered Paul, Dea- 
 con, and Alcuin, to form homilies 
 or discourses upon the gospels and 
 i epistles from the ancient doctors 
 
 common people. The Greek ho- 'of the church. This gave rise to 
 mily, says M. Fleun,', signifies a i] that famous collection entitled the 
 familiar'discourse, like the Latin J! Homiliarium of Charlemagne; and 
 sermo, and discourses delivered i' which being followed as a model 
 
HON 
 
 347 
 
 HON 
 
 by many productions of the same 
 kind, composed by private per- 
 sons, from a principle of pious 
 zeal, contributed much (says Mo- 
 sheim) to nourish the indolence 
 and to perpetuate the ignoi-ance of 
 a worthless clergy. There are still 
 extant several fine homilies com- 
 posed by the ancient fathers, parti- 
 cularly Sc. ChrysostomandSt.Gre- 
 ^ory.— The Clementine Homilies 
 are nineteen homilies in Greek, 
 published by Cotelerius, with two 
 letters prefixed ; one of them writ- 
 ten in the name of Peter, the other 
 in the name of Clement, to James, 
 bishop of Jerusalem ; in which 
 last letter they are entitled Cle- 
 ment's Epitome of the Preaching 
 and Travels of Peter. According 
 to Le Clerc, these homilies were 
 composed by an Ebionite, in the 
 second century; but Montfaucon 
 supposes that they were forged 
 long after the age of St. Athana- 
 sius. Dr. Lardner apprehends that 
 the Clementine homilies were the 
 original, or first edition of the Re- 
 cognitions ; and that they are the 
 same with the work censured by 
 Eusebius under the title of Dia- 
 logues of Peter and Appion. — Ho- 
 milies of the Church of England v,rt 
 those which were composed at the 
 reformation to be read in churches, 
 in order to supply the defect of 
 sermons. See the quarto edition 
 of the Homilies, v/ith notes, by a 
 divine of the church of England. 
 
 HONESTY is that principle 
 which -makes a person prefer his 
 promise or duty to his passion or 
 interest. See Justice. 
 
 HONOUR, a testimony of es- 
 teem or submission, expressed by 
 words and an exterior behaviour, by 
 
 which we make knovvm the vene- 
 ration and respect we entertain for 
 any one, on account of his dignity 
 or merit. The word is also used in 
 general for the esteem due to vir- 
 tue, glory, reputation, and pro- 
 bity ; as also for an exactness in 
 performing whatever we have pro- 
 mised ; and in this last sense we 
 use the term, a man of honour. It 
 is also applied to two different 
 kinds of virtue ; bravery in men, 
 and chastity in women. In every 
 situation of life, religion only forms 
 the true honour and happiness of 
 man. " It cannot," as one ob- 
 serves, "arise from riches, dignity 
 of rank or office, nor from v^'^hat 
 are often called splendid actions 
 of heroes, or civil accomplish- 
 ments ; these may be found among 
 men of no i-eal integrity, and may 
 create considerable fame ; but n 
 distinction must be made between 
 fame and true honour. The far- 
 mer is a loud and noisy applause ; 
 the latter a more silent and inter- 
 nal homage. Fame floats o;i the 
 breath of the inultitude ; honour 
 rests on the judgment of the 
 thinking. In order, then, to discern 
 where true honour lies, we must 
 not look to any adventitious cir- 
 cumstance, not to any single spark- 
 ling quality, but to the whole of 
 what forms a man ; in a word, we 
 must look to the soul. It will dis- 
 cover itself by a mind superior to 
 fear, to selfish interest, and cor- 
 ruption ; by an ardent love to the 
 Supreme Being, and by a prin- 
 ciple of uniform rectitude. It will 
 make us neither afraid nor ashamed 
 to discharge our duty, as it relates 
 both to God and man. It will in- 
 fluence ur] to be magnanimous 
 
HOP 
 
 548 
 
 HOP 
 
 without being proud ; humble 
 without being mean ; just without 
 being harsh ; simple in our man- 
 ners, but manly in our feelings. 
 This honour, thus formed by re- 
 ligion, or the love of God, is more 
 independent, and more complete, 
 than what can be acquired by any 
 other means. It is productive of 
 higher felicity, and will be com- 
 mensurate with eternity itself; 
 while that honour, so called, 
 which arises froin any other prin- 
 ciple, will resemble the feeble and 
 twinkling flame of a taper, which 
 is often clouded by the smoke it 
 sends forth, but is always wasting, 
 and soon dies totally away." Bar- 
 rorv's Works^ vol. i, ser. 4 ; Blair's 
 Sermons^ vol. iii, ser. 1 ; TVatts^s 
 Sermons^' str. 30, vol. ii; Rijlancfs 
 Cont,^ vol. i, p. 343 ; J or tin'' s 
 Sermons^ vol. iii, ser. 6. 
 
 HOPE is the desire of some 
 good, attended with the possibility, 
 at least, of obtaining it ; and is en- 
 livened with joy greater or less, 
 according to the probability there 
 is of possessing the object of our 
 hope. Scarce an}' passion seems to 
 be more natural to man than hope; 
 and, considering the many troubles 
 he is encompassed with, none is 
 more necessary; for life, void of 
 all hope, would be a heavy and 
 spiritless thing, very little desir- 
 able, perhaps hardly to be borne ; 
 whereas hope infuses strength 
 into the mind, and by so doing 
 lessens the burdens of life. If 
 our condition be not the best in 
 the world, yet we hope it will be 
 better, and this helps us to sup- 
 port it with patience. The hope 
 of the ciiristian is an expectation 
 
 of all necessary good both in time 
 and eternity, founded on the pro- 
 mises, relations, and perfections of 
 God, and on the offices, righteous- 
 ness, and intercession of Christ It 
 is a compound of desire, expecta- 
 tion, patience, and joy, Rom. viii, 
 24, 25. It may be considered, 1. 
 As pure^ 1st John iii, 2, 3. as it is 
 resident in that heart which is 
 cleansed from sin. — 2. As good^ 
 2d Thess. ii, 16. (in distinction 
 from the hope of the hypocrite) 
 as deriving its origin from God, 
 and centering in him.— 3. It is 
 ca.lled lively., 1st Pet. i, 3. as it 
 proceeds from spiritual life, and 
 renders one active and lively in 
 good works. — 4. It is courageous .^ 
 Rom. V, 5. 1st Thess. v, 8. be- 
 cause it excites fortitude in all the 
 troubles of life, and yields support 
 in the hour of death, Prov. xiv, 
 32. — 5. Sure^ Heb. vi, 19. be- 
 cause it will not disappoint us, and 
 is fixed on a sure foundation. — 6. 
 Joyful^ Rom. v, 2. as it produces 
 the greatest felicity in the antici- 
 pation of complete deliverance 
 from all evil. C'canpbeWs Plea- 
 sures of Hope; Grovels Moral 
 Phil., vol. i, p. 381 ; GilPs Body 
 of Div.j p. 82, voh iii ; No. 471, 
 Spect. 
 
 PIOPKINSIANS, so called 
 froni the Rev. Samuel Plopkins, 
 D. D. an American Divine, who 
 in his sermons and tracts has made 
 several additions to the sentiments 
 first advanced bv the celebrated 
 Jonathan Edwards, late president 
 of New Jersey College. 
 
 The follov^ing is a summary of 
 the distinguishing tenets of the 
 Hopkinsians, together with a few 
 
HOP 
 
 349 
 
 HOP 
 
 of the reasons they bring for- 
 ward - in support of their senti- 
 ments. 
 
 I. That all true virtue, or real 
 holiness, consists in disinterested 
 benevolence. The object of bene- 
 volence is universal being, includ- 
 ing God and all intelligent crea- 
 tures. It wishes and seeks the good 
 of every individual, so far as is 
 consistent with the greatest good 
 of the whole, which is comprised in 
 the glory of God and the perfec- 
 tion and happiness of his king- 
 dom. The law of God is the 
 standard of all moral rectitude or 
 holiness. Thisis reduced into love 
 to God, and our neighbour as our- 
 selves ; and universal good-will 
 comprehends all the love to God, 
 our neighbour, and ourselves, re- 
 quired in the divine law, and 
 therefore must be the whole of 
 holy obedience. Let any serious 
 person think what are the particu- 
 lar branches of true piety ; when 
 he has viewed each one by itself, 
 he will find that disinterested 
 friendly affections, is its distin- 
 guishing characteristic. For in- 
 stance, all the holiness in pious 
 fear, which distinguishes it from 
 the fear of the wicked, consists in 
 love. Again; holy gratitude is no- 
 thing but good-will to God and our 
 neighbour, in which we ourselves 
 are included ; and correspondent 
 affection, excited by a view of the 
 good-will and kindness of God. 
 Universal good-v/ill also implies 
 the whole of the duty we owe to 
 our neighbour, for justice, truth, 
 and faithfulness, are comprised in 
 universal benevolence j so are 
 temperance and chastity. For an 
 undue indulgence of our appetites 
 
 and passions is contrary to bene- 
 volence, as tending to hurt our- 
 selves or others ; and so opposite 
 to the general good, and the di- 
 vine command, in which all the 
 crime of such indulgence consists. 
 In short, all virtue is nothing but 
 benevolence acted out in its pro- 
 per nature and perfection ; or love 
 to God and our neighbour, made 
 perfect in all its genuine exercises 
 and expressions. 
 
 II. That all sin consists in self- 
 ishness. By this is meant an in^ 
 terested, selfish affection, by which 
 a person sets himself up as su- 
 preme, and the only object of re- 
 gard ; and nothing is good or 
 lovely in his view, unless suited to 
 promote his own private inte- 
 rest. This self-love is in its 
 whole nature, and every degree of 
 it enmity against God : it is not 
 subject to the law of God, and is 
 the only affection that can oppose 
 it. It is the foundation of all 
 spiritual blindness, and therefore 
 the source of all the open idolatry 
 in the heathen world, and false re- 
 ligion under the light of the gos- 
 pel ; all this is agreeable to that 
 self-love which opposes God's 
 true character. Under the influ- 
 ence of this principle, men depart 
 from truth ; it being itself the 
 greatest practical lie in nature, as 
 it sets up that which is compara- 
 tively nothing above universal ex- 
 istence. Self-love is the source of 
 all profaneness and impiety in the 
 world, and of all pride and ambition 
 among men, which is nothing but 
 selfishness, acted out in this parti- 
 cular way. This is the foundation 
 of all covetousness and sensuality, 
 as it blinds people's eyes, contracts 
 
HOP 
 
 350 
 
 HOP 
 
 the'rr hearts, and sinks them down, 
 so that they look upon earthly 
 enjoyments as the greatest go^. 
 This is the source of all false- 
 hood, injustice, and oppression, as 
 it excites mankind by undue me- 
 th(?-ds to invade the property of 
 others. Self-love produces all tiie 
 violent passions ; envy, wrath, cla- 
 mour, and evil speaking: and eve- 
 ry thing contrary to the divine 
 law is briefly comprehended in 
 this fruitful source of all iniquity, 
 self-love. 
 
 III. That there are no promises 
 of regenerating grace made to the 
 doings of the unregenerate. For 
 as far as men act from self-love, 
 they act from a bad end: for those 
 who have no true love to God, 
 really do no duty when they attend 
 on the externals of religion. And 
 as the unregenerate act from a 
 selfish principle, they do nothing 
 which is commanded : their im- 
 penitent doings are wholly opposed 
 to repentance and conversion ; 
 therefore not implied in the com- 
 mand to repent, he. : so far from 
 this, they are altogether disobedi- 
 ent to the command. Hence it 
 appears that there are no pro- 
 mises of salvation to the doings 
 of the unregenerate. 
 
 IV. That the impotency of sin- 
 ners, with respect to believing in 
 Christ, is not natural, but moral ; 
 for it is a plain dictate of common 
 sense, that natural impossibility ex- 
 cludes all blame. But an unwil- 
 ling mind is universally consider- 
 ed as a crime, and not as an ex- 
 cuse, and is the very thing where- 
 in our Mickedness consists. That 
 the impotence of the sinner is ow- 
 ing to a disaffection of heart, is 
 
 evident from the promises of the 
 gospel. When any object of good 
 is proposed and promised to us 
 upon asking, it clearly evinces 
 that there can be no impotence in 
 us with respect to obtaining it, 
 beside the disapprobation of the 
 will ; and that inability which 
 consists in disinclination, never 
 renders any thing improperly the 
 subject of precept or command. 
 
 V. That, in order to faith in 
 Christ, a sinner must approve in 
 his heart of the divine conduct, 
 even though God should cast him 
 off for ever; which, however, nei- 
 ther implies love to misery, nor 
 hatred of happiness. For if the 
 law is good, death is due to those 
 who have broken it. The Judge of 
 all the earth cannot but do right. 
 It would bring everlasting reproach 
 upon his government to spare us, 
 considered merely as in ourselves. 
 When this is felt in our hearts, 
 and not till then, we shall'be pre- 
 pared to look to the free grace 
 of God, through the redemption 
 which is in Christ, and to exercise 
 faith in his blood, zuho is set forth 
 to he a propitiation to declare God''s 
 righteousness^ that he might he just^ 
 and yet he the justifier of him xvho 
 helieveth in fesiis. 
 
 VI. That the infinitely wise and 
 holy God has exerted his omni- 
 potent power in such a manner as 
 he purposed should be followed 
 with the existence and entrance 
 of moral evil into the system. 
 For it must be admitted on all 
 hands, that God has a perfect 
 knovv'iedge, foresight, and view of 
 all possible existences and events. 
 If that system and scene of opera- 
 tion, in which moral evil should 
 
HOP 
 
 ;i 
 
 n o p 
 
 never have existed, was actually 
 preferred in the Divine mind, cer- 
 tainly the Deity is infinitely disap- 
 pointed in the issue of his own 
 operations. Nothing can be more 
 dishonourable to God than to 
 imagine that the system which is 
 actually formed by the divine hand, 
 and which was made for his plea- 
 sure and glory, is yet not the 
 fruit of wise contrivance and 
 design. 
 
 VII. That the introduction of 
 sin is, upon the whole, for the ge- 
 neral good. For the wisdom and 
 power of the Deity are displayed 
 in carrying on designs of the great- 
 est good; and the existence of 
 moral evil has undoubtedly occasi- 
 oned a more full, perfect, and glo- 
 rious discovery of the infinite per- 
 fections of the Divine nature, than 
 could otherwise have been made 
 to the view of creatures. If the 
 extensive manifestations of the 
 pure and holy nature of God and 
 his infinite aversion to sin, and all 
 his inherent perfections, in their 
 genuine fruits and effects, is either 
 itself the greatest good, or neces- 
 sarily contains it, it must neces- 
 sarily follow that the introduction 
 of sin is for the greatest good. 
 
 VIII. That repentance is be- 
 fore faith in Christ. — By this is not 
 intended that repentance is before 
 a speculative belief of the being 
 and perfections of God, and of the 
 person and character of Christ, 
 but only that true repentance is 
 previous to a saving faith in Christ, 
 in which the believer is united to 
 Christ, and entitled to the benefits 
 of his mediation and atonement. 
 That repentance is before faith in 
 this sense, appears from several 
 
 considerations. 1. As repentance 
 and faith respect different objects, 
 so they are distinct exercises of the 
 heart ; and therefore one not on- 
 ly may, but must be prior to 
 the other. — 2. There may be ge- 
 nuine repentance of sin without 
 faith in Christ, but there cannot be 
 true faith in Christ without re- 
 pentance of sin ; and since repent- 
 ance is necessary in order to faith 
 in Christ, it must necessarih^ be 
 prior to faith in Christ — '3. John 
 the Baptist, Christ and his apos- 
 tles, taught that repentance is be- 
 fore faith. John cried. Repent^ for 
 the kingdom of heaven is at hand; 
 intimating that true repentance 
 was necessary in order to embrace 
 the gospel of the kingdom. Christ 
 commanded, Repent ye^ and be- 
 lieve the gospel. And Paul preach- 
 ed repentance toxvard Gody arid 
 faith toxvard our Lord jesiis Christ. 
 IX. That though men became 
 sinners by Adam, according to a 
 divine constitution, yet they have 
 and are accountable for no sins but 
 personal; for, 1. Adam's act, in 
 eating the forbidden fruit, was not 
 the act of his posterity ; therefore 
 they did not sin at the same time 
 he did. — 2. The sinfulness of that 
 act could not be transferred to 
 them afterwards, because the sin- 
 fulness of an act can no more be 
 transferred from one person to 
 another than an act itself. — 3. 
 Therefore Adam's act, in eating 
 the forbidden fruit, was not the 
 cause., but only the occasion of his 
 posterity's being sinners. God 
 was pleased to make a constitution, 
 that, if Adam remained holy 
 through his state of trial, his pos- 
 terity should in Gonsequence be 
 
HOP 
 
 S5^ 
 
 HOS 
 
 holy also ; but if he sinned, his 
 posterity should in consequence be 
 sinners likewise. Adam sinned, 
 and now God brings his posterity' 
 into the world sinners. 5?/ Adam's 
 sin we are become sinners, not for 
 it ; his sin being only the occasion^ 
 not the causeo^our committingsins. 
 
 X. That though believers are 
 justified through Christ's righte- 
 ousness, yet his righteousness is 
 not transferred to them. For, 1. 
 Personal righteousness can no 
 more be transferred from one per- 
 son to another, than personal sin. 
 — 2. If Christ's personal righte- 
 ousness were . transferred to be- 
 lievers, they would be as perfectly 
 holy as Christ ; and so stand in no 
 need of forgiveness.- — 3. But be- 
 lievers are not conscious of having 
 Christ's personal righteousness, 
 but feel and bewail much indwel- 
 ling sin and corruption. — 4. The 
 scripture represents believers as 
 receiving only the benejits of 
 Christ's righteousness in justifica- 
 tion, or their being pardoned and 
 accepted for Christ's righteous- 
 ness' sake : and this is the proper 
 scripture notion of imputation. Jo- 
 nathan's righteousness was imput- 
 ed to Mephibosheth when David 
 shewed kindness to him for his 
 father Jonathan's sake. 
 
 The Hopkinsians warmly con- 
 tend for the doctrine of the di- 
 vine decrees, that of particular 
 election, total depravity, the spe- 
 cial influences of the Spirit of God 
 in regeneration, justification by 
 faith alone, the final persever- 
 ance of the saints, "iipd the con- 
 sistency between entire freedom 
 and absolute dependence ; aind 
 therefore claim it as their just 
 due, since the v/orld will make 
 
 distinctions, to be called Hopkin-* 
 sian Calvinists. Adams's Viexv of 
 Religions; Hopkins on Holiness; 
 Edwards on the Will, p. 234, 289 ; 
 Edwards on Virtue; West's Es- 
 say on Moral Agency^ p. 170, 
 181 ; Spring's Nature of Duty ^ p. 
 23 ; Moral Disquisitions^ p. 40. 
 
 HORROR, a passion excited 
 by an object which causes a high 
 degree of fear and detestation. It 
 is a compoundof wonder and fear* 
 Sometimes it has a mixture of 
 pleasure from which, if predomi- 
 nant, it is denominated a /^/ecr.yin^ 
 horror. Such a horror seizes us 
 at the view of vast and hanging 
 precipices, a tempestuous ocean, 
 or wild and solitary places. This 
 passion is the original of supersti- 
 tion, as a wise and v/ell tempered 
 awe is of religion. Horror and 
 terror seem almost to be syno- 
 nymous ; but the former, I think, 
 refers more to what disgusts ; the 
 latter to that which alarms us. 
 
 HOSANNA, in the Hebrew 
 ceremonies, a prayer which they 
 rehearsed on the several days of 
 the feast of tabernacles. It signi- 
 fies, " save us now ;" or " save us, 
 we pray." There are divers of 
 these hosannas; the Jews call them 
 hoschannoth, i. e. hosannahs. 
 Some are rehearsed on the first 
 day, others on the second, &c., 
 which they call hosanna of the 
 first day, hosanna of the second 
 day, &c. Hosanna Rabha^ or Grand 
 Hosanna^ is a name they give to 
 their feast of ' tabernacles, which 
 lasts eight days ; because, during 
 the course thereof, they are fre- 
 quently calling for the assistance 
 of God, the forgiveness of their 
 sins, and his blessing on the new- 
 year; and to that purpose they 
 
HO S 
 
 HOS 
 
 make great use of the prayers [ 
 above-mentioned. The Jews also 
 apply the terms hosanna rabba in 
 a more peculiar manner to the se- 
 venth day of the feast of taberna- 
 cles, because they apply them- 
 selves more immediately on that 
 day to invoke the Divine blessing, 
 &c. 
 
 HOSPITALITY, kindness 
 exercised in the entertainment of 
 strangers. This virtue, we find, 
 is explicitly commanded by, and 
 makes a part of the morality of the 
 New Testament. Indeed, that 
 religion which breathes nothing 
 but charity, and whose tendency is 
 to expand the heart, and call forth 
 the benevolent exertions of man- 
 kind one to another, must evident- 
 ly embrace this practice. If it be 
 asked, of whom is this required ? it 
 •is answered, that the principle is 
 required of all, though the duty it- 
 self can only be practised by those 
 whose circumstances will admit of 
 it. Dr. Stennet, in 'his discourse 
 on this subject (^Domestic Duties^ 
 sei\ 10), justly observes, " that 
 hospitality is a species of charity 
 to which every one is not compe- 
 tent. But the temper from which 
 it proceeds, I mean a humane, be- 
 nevolent, generous temper, that 
 ought to prevail in every breast. 
 Some are miserably poor, and it is 
 not to be expected that their doors 
 should be thrown open to entertain 
 strangers ; yet the cottage of a pea- 
 sant may exhibit •noble specimens 
 of hospitality. Here distress has 
 often met with pity, and the per- 
 secuted an asylum . Nor is there 
 a man who has a house to sleep in, 
 but may be benevolent to strangers. 
 But there are persons of certain 
 Vol. I. Z z 
 
 characters and stations, who are 
 more especially obliged to it ; as 
 particularly magistrates and others 
 in civil offices, who would forfeit 
 the esteem of the public, and great- 
 ly injure their usefulness, were 
 they not to observe the rites of hos- 
 pitalit}^ Ministers, also, and such 
 christians as are qualified by their 
 particular offices in the church, 
 and their affluent circumstances, 
 may be eminently useful in this 
 way. The . two grand virtues 
 which ought to be studied by every 
 one, in order that he may have it 
 in his power to be hospitable, are, 
 industry and -economy. But it 
 may be asked again, to xvhom is 
 this duty to be practised ? The an- 
 swer is, to strangers : hut here it is 
 necessary to observe, that the term 
 strangers hath two acceptations. 
 It is to be understood of travellers, 
 or persons who come from a dis- 
 tance, and with whom we have 
 little or no acquaintance ; and 
 more generally of all who are not 
 of our house — strangers, as op- 
 posed to domestics. Hospitality 
 is especially to be practised to the 
 poor ; they who have no holises of 
 their own, or possess few of the 
 conveniences of life, should occa- 
 sionally be invited to our houses, 
 and refreshed at our tabJes, Luke 
 xiv, 13, 14. Hospitality aiso may 
 be practised to those who are of 
 the same character and of the same 
 community with ourselves. As to 
 the various offices of hospitality, 
 and the manner in which they 
 should be rendered, it must be ob- 
 served, that the entertainments 
 should he plentiful^ frugal^ andcor- 
 dial^ Gen. xviii, 6, 8. John xii, 3. 
 Luke XV, 17. The oblit^atiom to 
 
HOS 
 
 354 
 
 HUG 
 
 this duty arise from the Jltness and 
 reasonableness of it j it brings its 
 own reward, Acts xx, 35. It is ex- 
 pressly commanded by God, Lev. 
 XXV, S§, 38. Luke xvi, 19. Luke 
 xiv, 13, 14. Rom. xii. Heb. xiii, 1, 
 2. 1st Pet. iv, 9. We have many 
 striking examples of hospitality on 
 divine record : Abraham, Gen. 
 xviii, 1, 8. Lot, Gen. xix, 1, 3. Job 
 xxxi, 17, 22. Shunamite, 2d Kings 
 iv, 8, 10. The hospitable man men- 
 tioned in Judges xix, 16, 21. Da- 
 vid, 2d Sam. vi, 19. Obadiah, 1st 
 Kings xviii, 4. Nehemiah, Neh. 
 V, 17, 18. Martha, Luke x, 38. 
 Mary, Matt, xxvi, 6, 13. The pri- 
 mitive christians. Acts ii, 45, 46. 
 Priscilla and Aquila, Acts xviii, 
 26. Lydia, Acts xvi, 15, &c. &c.' 
 Lastly, .what should have a power- 
 ful effect on our minds, is the con- 
 sideration of Divine hospitality. 
 God is good to all, and his tender 
 mercies are over all his works. 
 His sunshines and his rain falls on 
 -the evil as well as the good. His 
 very enemies share of his bounty. 
 He gives liberally to all men, and 
 upbraids not ; but especially we 
 should remember the exceeding 
 riches of his gTace,in his kindness 
 towards us through Christ Jesus. 
 Let us lay all thtjse considerations 
 together, and then as'k ourselves 
 whether we can find it in our hearts 
 to be selfish, parsimonious, -and in- 
 hospitable ?" 
 
 HOST, in the church of Rome, 
 a name given to the elements used 
 in the eucharist, or rather to the 
 consecrated wafer, which they pre- 
 -tend to offer up every day, as a new 
 host or sacrifice for the sins of 
 mankind. They pay adoration to 
 the host upon a false presumption 
 
 that the elements are no longer 
 bread and wine, but transubstan- 
 tiated into the real body and blood 
 of Christ. SeeTRANSUBSTANTiA- 
 TioN. — Pope Gregory IX first de- 
 creed a bell to be rung, as the sig- 
 nal for the people to betake them- 
 selves to the adoration of the host. 
 The vessel wherein the hosts are 
 kept is called the cibory^ being a 
 large kind of covered chalice. 
 
 HUGUENOTS, an appellation 
 given by way of contempt to the re- 
 formed or protestant Calvinists of 
 France. The name had its rise in 
 1560, but authors are not agreed 
 as to the origin and occasion there- 
 of. Some derive it from the fol- 
 lowing circumstance : — One of the 
 gates of the city of Tours is called 
 the gate Fourgon, by corruption 
 from Jell, Heugon^ i. e. the late Hu- 
 gon. This Hugon was once count 
 of Tours, according to Eginhard us, 
 in his life of Charles the Great, and 
 to some other historians. He was, 
 it seems, a very wicked man, who 
 bj^ his fierce and cruel temper made 
 himself dreadful ; so that after his 
 death he was supposed to walk 
 about in the night time, beating all 
 those he met with : this tradition 
 the judicious Thuanus has not 
 scrupled to mention in his history. 
 Davila and other historians pre- 
 tend that the nickname of Hugue- 
 nots was first given to the French 
 Protestants, because they used to 
 meet in the night time in subter- 
 raneous vaults near this gate of 
 Hugon ; and what seems to coun- 
 tenance this opinion is, that they 
 were first called by the name of 
 Huguenots at this city of Tours. 
 Others assign a more illus- 
 trious origin to this name, and 
 
HUG 
 
 355 
 
 H U M 
 
 say that the leaguers gave it to the 
 reformed, because they were for 
 keeping the crown upon the head 
 of the present hne descended from 
 Hugh Caput ; whereas they were 
 for giving it to the house of Guise, 
 as descended from Chai-les the 
 Great. Others again derive it froni, 
 a French and faulty pronunciation 
 of the German word edignossen^ 
 signifying confederates ; and ori- 
 ginally applied to that valiant part 
 of the city of Geneva, which enter- 
 ed into an alliance with the Swiss 
 cantons, in order to maintain their 
 liberties against the tyranical at- 
 tempts of Charles III, duke of Sa- 
 voy. These confederates were cal- 
 led Eignots ; whence Huguenots. 
 The persecutions which they have 
 undergone has scarce its parallel in 
 the history of religion. D uring the 
 reign of Charles IX, and on the 
 24th of August, 1 572, happened the 
 massacre of Bartholomew, when 
 seventy thousand of them through- 
 out France were butchered with 
 circumstances of aggravated cruel- 
 ty. See Persecution. In 1598, 
 Henry IV passed the famous edict 
 of Nantz, which secured to the 
 Protestants the free exercise of 
 their religion. This edict was 
 revoked by Lewis XIV : their 
 churches were then erased to the 
 ground, their persons insulted by 
 the soldiery, and, after the loss of 
 innumerable lives, fifty thousand 
 valuable members of society were 
 driven into exile. In Holland they 
 built several places ox worship, and 
 had amongst them some distin- 
 guished preachers. Among others 
 wereSuperville, Dumont, Dubosc, 
 and the eloquent Saurin ; the latter 
 ©f whom, in one of his sermons (3er. 
 
 9, vol. v), makes the following fine 
 apostrophe to that tyrant Lewis 
 XIV, by whom they were driven 
 into exile. '' And thou, dreadful 
 prince, whom I once honoured as 
 my king, and whom I yet respect 
 as a scourge in the hand of Al- 
 mighty God, thou also shalt have a 
 part in my good wishes ! These pro- 
 vinces, which thouthreatenest, but 
 which the arm of the Lord pro- 
 tects ; this country, which thou fil- 
 lestwithrefugees, but fugitives ani- 
 mated with love ; these walls, which 
 contain a thousand martyrs of thy 
 making, but whom religion renders 
 victorious, all theseyetresound be- 
 nedictions in thy favour. God grant 
 the fatal bandage that hides the 
 truth from thine eyes may fall off! 
 May God forget the rivers of blood 
 with which thou hast deluged the 
 earth, and which thy reign hath 
 caused to be shed ! May God blot 
 out of his book th . injuries which 
 thou hast done us ; and while he 
 rewards the sufferers, may he par- 
 don those who exposed us to suffer ! 
 O, may God, who hath made thee 
 to us, and to the whole church, a 
 minister of his judgments, make 
 thee a dispenser of his favours — 
 an administrator of his mcixy !' 
 
 HUMANITY, tlic exercise of 
 the social and benevolent virtues j 
 a fellow-feeling for the distresses of 
 another. It is properly called hu- 
 manity, because there is little or 
 nothing of it in brutes. The social 
 affections are conceived by all to be 
 more re fined than the sellisli. Sym- 
 pathy and humanity are universally 
 esteemcdthefinesttemperofmind; 
 and for that reason the prevalence 
 of the social affections in the pro- 
 grpss of society is held to be a I'c- 
 
HUM 
 
 35G 
 
 HUM 
 
 finement in our nature. Karnes's 
 El of Crit., p. 104, vol. 1 ; Ro- 
 h'lnsorHs Sermon on Christianity^ a 
 System of Humanity ; Pmtt^s Po- 
 em on Humanity. 
 
 HUMANITY OF CHRIST, 
 is his possessing atrue human body, 
 and a true human soul, and which 
 he assumed for the purpose of ren- 
 dering his mediation effectual to 
 our salvation. See Jesus Christ. 
 HUMILIATION OF CHiUST, 
 is that state of meanness and dis- 
 tress to which he voluntarily de- 
 scended, for the purpose of execu- 
 ting his mediatorial work. This 
 appears, 1. In his birth. He was 
 born of a xvoman — a sinflil woman ; 
 though he was without sin, Gal. iv, 
 4. A poor woman, Luke ii, 7, 24. 
 In a poor country village, John i, 
 46. In a stable, an abject place. 
 Of a nature subject to infirmities, 
 Heb. ii, 9. hunger, thirst, weari- 
 ness, pain, &c. — 2. In his circum- 
 stances^ laid in a manger when he 
 was bom ; lived in obscurity for a 
 long time ; probably worked at the 
 trade of a carpenter ; had not a 
 place where to lay his head ; and 
 was oppressed with poverty while 
 he went about preaching the gospel. 
 — 3. It appeared in his reputation: 
 he was loaded with the most abu- 
 sive railingand calumny. Is. liii. the 
 most false accusations, Matt.xxvi, 
 59, 67. and the most ignominious 
 ridicule, PsaU xxii, 6. Matt, xxii, 
 68. John vii, 35. — 4. In his soul 
 he was often tempted. Matt, iv, 1. 
 &c. Heb. ii, 17, 18. Heb. iv, 15. 
 grieved with the reproaches caston 
 himself, and with the sins and mi- 
 series of others, Heb. xii, 3. Matt. 
 xi, 19. John xi, oS. was burden- 
 ed with the hidings of his Father's 
 
 face, and the fears and impressions 
 of his wrath, Psal. xxii, 1. Luke 
 xxii, 43. Heb. v, 7. — 5. In his 
 deathy scourged, crowned with 
 thorns, received gall and vinegar 
 to drink, and was crucified between 
 two thieves, Luke xxiii. John xix. 
 Mark xv, 24, 25. — 6. In his buri- 
 al: not only was he born in another 
 man's house, but he was buried in 
 another man's tomb ; for he had no 
 tomb of his own, or family vault to 
 be interred in, Is. liii, 10. &c. Matt. 
 xiii, 46. The humiliation of Christ 
 was necessarv, 1. To execute the 
 purpose of God and covenant en- 
 gagements of Christ, Acts ii, 23, 
 
 24. Psal. xl, 6, 7, 8 2. To fulfil 
 
 the manifold types and predictions 
 of the Old Testament. — 3. To sa- 
 tisfy the broken law of God, and 
 purchase eternal i-edemption for us, 
 Isa. liii, Heb. ix, 12, 15. — 4. To 
 leave us an unspotted pattern of 
 holiness and patience under suffer- 
 ing. GiWs Body of Div.y p. 66, 
 vol.ii; Brown^s Nat. and Rev. 
 Religion^ p. 2>57 ; Ridgley'^s Body 
 of Div.y qu. 48. 
 
 HUMILITY, a disposition of 
 mind wherein a person has a low 
 opinion of himself and his advanta- 
 ges. It is a branch of internal wor- 
 ship,orofexperimental religion and 
 godliness. It is the effect of divine 
 grace operating on the soul, andal- 
 v/ays characterizes the true chris- 
 tian. The heathen philosophers 
 were so little acquainted with this 
 virtue, that they had no name for 
 it : what they meant by the word 
 we use, was meanness and base- 
 ness of mind. To consider this 
 grace a litde more particularly, 
 it may be observ-ecl, 1. That hu- 
 mility docs liot oblige a man to 
 
HUM 
 
 357 
 
 HUS 
 
 wrong the truth, or himself, by 
 entertaining a meaner or worse 
 opinion of himself than he de- 
 serves. — 2. Nor does it oblige a 
 man, right or wrong, to give eve- 
 ry body else the preference to 
 himself. A wise man cannot be- 
 lieve himself inferior to the igno- 
 rant multitude ; nor the virtuous 
 man that he is not so good as 
 those whose lives are vitious. — 3. 
 Nor does it oblige a man to treat 
 himself with contempt in his 
 words or actions : it looks more 
 like affection than humility, when 
 a man says such things in his own 
 dispraise as others know, or he 
 himself believes to be false : and it 
 is plain, also, that this is often done 
 merely as a ^ai^ to catch the praises 
 of others. Humility consists, 1. In 
 not attributing to ourselves any ex- 
 cellence or good which we have 
 not. — 2. In not over-rating any 
 thing we do — 3. In not taking an 
 immoderate delight in ourselves.— 
 4. In not assuming more of the 
 praise of a quality or action than 
 belongs to us. — 5. In an inward 
 sense of our many imperfections 
 and sins. — 6. In ascribing all we 
 have and are to the grace of God. 
 True humility will express itself^ 1. 
 By the modesty of our appearance. 
 The humble man will consider his 
 age, abilities, character, function, 
 &c., and act accordingly. — 2. By 
 the modesty of our pursuits. We 
 shall not aim at any thing above 
 our strength, but prefer a good to a 
 great, name. — 3. It v/ill express 
 itself by the modesty of our conver- 
 sation and behaviour: we shall not 
 be loquacious, obstinate, forward, 
 envious, discontented, or ambiti- 
 ous. The advantages of humility are 
 
 numerous : 1. It is well pleasing to 
 God, 1st Pet. iii, 4. — 2. It has 
 great influence on us in the per- 
 formance of all other duties, pray- 
 ing, hearing, converse, &c. — 3. It 
 indicates that more grace shall be 
 given, James iv, 6. Ps. xxv, 9. — 4. 
 It preserves the soul in great tran- 
 quillity and contentment, Ps. Ixix, 
 32, 33. — 5. It makes us patient 
 and resigned under afflictions, Job 
 i, 22. — 6. It enables us to exercise 
 moderation in every thing. To ob- 
 tain this excellent spirit we should 
 remember^ 1. The example of 
 Christ, Phil, ii, 6, r, 8 — 2. That 
 heaven is a place of humility. Rev. 
 V, 8.- — 3. That our sins are nume- 
 rous, and deserve the greatest pu- 
 nishment, Lam. iii, 39. — %. That 
 humility is the way to honour, Prov, 
 xvi, 18. — 5. That the greatest pro- 
 i^jises of good are made to the hum- 
 ble. Is, Ivii, 15. Is. Ixvi, 2. 1st Pet. 
 V, 5. Ps. cxlvii, 6. Matt, v, 5. Grove's 
 Mor. Phil.^vol. ii,p. 286; Evans's 
 Christiayi Temper, vol. i, ser. 1 ; 
 Watts on Humility ; Hale''s Cont., 
 p. 1 10 ; GilPs Body of Div.^ p. ,151, 
 vol. iii; Walker'' s Ser.^ vol. iv, 
 ser. 3. 
 
 HUSBAND, duties of. See 
 Marriage State. 
 
 HUSSITES, a party of reform- 
 ers, the followers of John Huss. — 
 John Huss, from whom the Hus- 
 sites take their name, was born in 
 a little village in Bohemia, called 
 Huss, and lived at Prague in the 
 highest reputation, both on account 
 of the sanctity of his manners and 
 the purity of his doctrine. He was 
 distinguished by his uncommon 
 erudition and eloquence ; and per- 
 formed at the same time the func- 
 tion:! of professor of divinity in the 
 
158 
 
 HUS 
 
 university, and of ordinary pastor 
 in the church of that city. He 
 adoptedthe sentiments of Wickliife 
 andthe Waldenses ; and, in the year 
 1407, began openly to oppose and 
 preach against divers eri'ors in doc- 
 trine, as well as corruptions in point 
 of discipline, then reigning in the 
 qhurcli. Huss likewise endeavour- 
 ed to the utmost of his power to 
 withdraw the University of Prague 
 from the jurisdiction of Gregory 
 XII, \\'hom the king of Bohemia 
 had hitherto acknowledged as the 
 true and lawful head of the church. 
 This occasioned a violent quarrel 
 between the incensed archbishop 
 of Prague andthe zealous reform- 
 er, Avhich the latter inflamed and 
 augmented from day to day, by 
 his pathetic exclamations against 
 the court of Rome, and the cor- 
 ruptions that prevailed among tl^ 
 sacerdotal order. 
 
 There were other circumstances 
 that contributed to inflame the re- 
 sentment of the clergy against him. 
 He adopted the philosophical opi- 
 nions of the Realists, and vehe- 
 mently opposed and even persecu- 
 ted the Nominalists, whose num- 
 ber and influence were considerable 
 in the University of Prague. He 
 also multiplied the number of his 
 enemies in the year 1408, by pro- 
 curing, through his great credit, a 
 sentence in favour of the Bohemi- 
 ans,who disputed with theGermans 
 concerning the number of suffrages 
 which their respective nations were 
 entitled to in all matters that were 
 carried by election in this, universi- 
 ty. In consequence of a decree ob- 
 tained in favour of the former, 
 which restored them to their con- 
 stitutional right of three suffrages 
 
 usurped by the latter, the Germans 
 withdrew froni Prague, and in the 
 year 1409 founded a new academy 
 at Leipsic. This event no sooner 
 happened, than Huss began to in- 
 veigh, with greater freedom than 
 he had done before, against the vi- 
 ces and corruptions of the clergy j 
 and to recommend in a public man- 
 ner the writings and opinions of 
 Wicklifie, as far as they related to 
 the papal hierarchy, the despotism 
 of the court of Rome, and the cor- 
 ruption of the clergy. Hence an ac- 
 cusation was brought against him 
 in the year 1410, before the tribu- 
 nal of John XXIII, by whom he 
 was solemnly expellecl from the 
 communion of the church. Not- 
 withstanding this sentence of ex- 
 communication, he proceeded to 
 expose the Romish church with a 
 fortitude and zeal that were al- 
 most universally applauded. 
 
 This eminent man, whose piety 
 v/as equally sincere and fervent, 
 though his zeal was perhaps too 
 violent, and his prudence not aU 
 wa3^s circumspect, was summoned 
 to appear before the council of Con- 
 stance. Secured, as he thought, 
 from the rage of his enemies, by 
 the safe conduct granted him by 
 the emperor Sigismund for his 
 journey to Constance, hisresidence 
 in that place, and his return to his 
 own country, John Ku7s obeyed 
 the order of the council, and ap- 
 peared before it to demonstrate his 
 innocence, and to prove that the 
 charge of his having deserted the 
 church of Rome was entirely 
 groundless. However, his enemies 
 so far prevailed, that, by the most 
 scandalous breach of pubhc faith, 
 he was cast into prison, declared a 
 
HUS 
 
 359 
 
 HUS 
 
 heretic, because he refused to 
 plead guilty against the dictates of 
 his conscience, in obedience to the 
 council, and burnt alive in 1415 ; a 
 punishmentwhich he endured with 
 unparalleled magnanimity and re- 
 solution. When he came to the 
 place of execution he fell on his 
 knees, sang portions of psalms, 
 looked steadfastly towards heaven, 
 and repeated these words : " Into 
 thy hands, O Lord, do I commit 
 my spirit ; thou hast redeemed me, 
 
 most good and faithful God. 
 Lord Jesus Christ, assist and help 
 me, that with a firm and patient 
 mind, by thy most powerful grace. 
 
 1 may undergo this most cruel and 
 ignominious death, to which I am 
 condemned for preaching the truth 
 of thy most holy gospel." When 
 the chain was put about him at the 
 stake, he said, with a smiling coun- 
 tenance, " My Lord Jesus Christ 
 was bound with a harder chain than 
 this for my sake, and wiiy should 
 Ibe ashamed of this old rusty one ?" 
 When the faggots were piled up to 
 his very neck, the duke of Bavaria 
 was officious enough to desire him 
 to abjure. " No," says Huss, " I 
 never preached any doctrine of an 
 evil tendency ; and what 1 taught 
 with my lips, I now seal with my 
 blood." He said to the execution- 
 er, " Are you going to burn a. 
 goose ? In one century wou will 
 have a sxvan you can neither roast 
 nor boil." If he were prophetic, 
 he must have meant Luther, who 
 had a swan for his arms. The fire 
 was then applied to the faggots ; 
 when the martyr sang a hymn with 
 so loud and cheerful a voice, that 
 
 •he was heard through all the crack- 
 lings of the combustibles and the 
 
 noise of the multitude. At last 
 his voice was cut short, after he had 
 uttered "Jesus Christ, thou Son of 
 the living God, have mercy upon 
 me," and he v/as consumed in a 
 most miserable manner. The duke 
 of Bavaria ordered the executioner 
 to throw all the martyr's clothes 
 into the flames : after which his 
 ashes were carefully collected, and 
 cast into the Rhine. 
 
 But the cause in which this emi- 
 nent man was engaged did not dib 
 with him. His disciples adhered 
 to their master's doctrines after 
 his death, which broke out into an 
 open war. John Ziska, a Bohe- 
 mian knight, in 1420,' put himself 
 at the head of the Hussites, who 
 were now become a very consider- 
 able party, and threw off the despot- 
 ic yoke of Sigismund,who had treat- 
 ed their brethren in the most barba- 
 rous manner. Ziska was succeeded 
 byProcopiusintheyearl424. Acts 
 of barbai-ity were committed on 
 both sides ; for notwithstanding the 
 irreconcileable opposition between 
 the religious semiments of the con- 
 tending parties, they both agreed in 
 this one horrible principle, that it 
 was innocent and lawful to perse- 
 cute and extirpate with fire and 
 sword the enemies of the true reli- 
 gion; and such they Teciprocally 
 appeared to each other. These 
 commotions in a great measure 
 subsided by the interference of the 
 council of Basil, in the year 1433. 
 
 The Hussites, who were divided 
 into two parties, viz. the Calixtines 
 and the Taborites, spread over all 
 Bohemia and Hungary, and even 
 Silesia and Poland; and there are, 
 it is said, some remains of them 
 still subsisting in all those pares. 
 
HUT 
 
 160 
 
 HUT 
 
 Broughton^s Diet. ; MiddletorCs 
 Evang. Biog.^ vol. i; Moshehn^s 
 Eccles. Hist. 
 
 HUTCHINSONIANS, the 
 followers of John Hutchinson, who 
 was born in Yorkshire in 1674. 
 In the early part of his life he serv- 
 ed the duke of Somerset in the ca- 
 pacity of steward ; and in the course 
 of his travels from place to place 
 employed himself in collecting fos- 
 sils. We are told that the large 
 and noble collection bequeathed by 
 Dr. Woodward to the University 
 of Cambridge v/as actually made 
 by him, and even unfairly obtained 
 from hira. In 172-i he published 
 the first paft of his curious book, 
 called Moses's Principia^ in which 
 he ridiculed Dr. Woodward's Na- 
 tural History of the ^arth, and ex- 
 ploded the doctrine of gravitation 
 established in Newton's Principia. 
 In 1 727", he published a second part 
 of Moses's Principia, containing 
 the principles of the scripture phi- 
 losophy. From this time to his 
 death he published a volume every 
 year or two, v/hich, with the ma- 
 nuscripts he left behind, were pub- 
 lished in 1748, in 12 volumes, 8vo. 
 On the Monday before his death. 
 Dr. Mead urged him to be bled ; 
 saying, pleasantly, " I will soon 
 send you to Moses," meaning his 
 studies; but Mr. Hutchinson tak- 
 ing it in the literal sense, ansv/er- 
 ed, in a muttering tone, " I believe, 
 doctor, you will ;" and was so dis- 
 pleased, that he dismissed him for 
 another physician ; but he died in 
 a few days after, August 28, 
 1737. 
 
 It appears to be a leading senti- 
 isient ot this denomination, that all 
 our ideas of divinity are formed 
 from" the ideas in nature,— that na- 
 
 ture is a standard picture, and scrip- 
 ture an application of the several 
 parts of that picture, to draw out 
 to, as the great things of God, in 
 oi'der to reform our mental con^ 
 ceptions. To prove this point they 
 allege, that the scriptures declare 
 the invisible things of God from the 
 formation of the -world are clearly 
 seen^ being understood bij the things 
 which are made ; even his eternal 
 poxver and Godhead^ (Rom. i, 20.) 
 The heavens must declare God^s 
 righteousness and truth in the con- 
 gregation of the saints^ (Ps. Ixxxix, 
 5.) And in short the whole system 
 of nature, in one \'oice of analogy, 
 declares and gives us ideas of his 
 glory, and shews us his handy-work. 
 We cannot have any ideas of invi- 
 sible things till they are pointed 
 out to us by revelation : and as we 
 cannot know them immediately, 
 such as they are in themselves, af- 
 ter the manner in which we know 
 sensible objects, they must be com- 
 municated to us by the mediation 
 of such things as we already com- 
 prehend. For this reason the scrip- 
 ture is found to have a language of 
 its own, which does not consist of 
 words, but of signs or figures taken 
 from visible things: inconsequence 
 of which the world which we now 
 see becomes a sort of commentary 
 on the mind of God, and explains 
 the Vk'orld in which we believe. 
 The doctrines of the christian 
 faith are attested by the whole na- 
 tural world : they are recorded in 
 a language "which has never been 
 confounded ; they are written in 
 a text which shall never be cor- 
 rupted. 
 
 TlieHutchinsonians maintain that 
 the great mystery of the trinity is 
 conveyed to our understandings by 
 
HUT 
 
 361 
 
 HUT 
 
 ideas of sense ; and that the cre- 
 ated substance of the air, or hea- 
 ven, in its three-fold agency of 
 fire, light, and spirit, is the enigma 
 of the one essence, or one Jehovah 
 in three persons. The unity of 
 essence is exhibited by its unity of 
 substance ; the trinity of condi- 
 tions, fire, light, and spirit. Thus 
 the one substance of the air, or 
 heaven, in its three conditions, 
 shews the unity in trinity ; and its 
 three conditions in or of one sub- 
 stance, the trinity in unity. For 
 (says this denomination) if we 
 consult the writings of the Old and 
 New Testaments, we shall find the 
 persons of the Deity represented 
 under the names and characters 
 of the three material agents, fire, 
 light, and spirit, and their actions 
 expressed by the actions of these 
 their emblems. The Father is 
 called a consuming fire ; and his 
 judicial proceedings are spoken of 
 in words which denote the several 
 actions of fire. Jehovah is a con- 
 suming fire — Our Ged is a consum- 
 ing firey Deut. iv, 24. Heb. xii, 
 29. The Son has the name of 
 light, and his purifying actions and 
 offices are described by words 
 which denote the actions and offi- 
 ces of light. He is the true light, 
 tvhich lighteth every man that cometh 
 into the luorlcl, John i, 9. Mai. iv, 2. 
 The Comforter has the name of 
 Spirit ; and his animating and sus- 
 taining offices are described by 
 words, for the actions and offices 
 of the material spirit. His actions 
 in the spiritual economy are agree- 
 able to his type in the natural 
 economy ; such as inspiring, im- 
 pelling, driving, leading. Matt. ii. 
 1. The philosophic system of the 
 Vol. I. 3 A 
 
 Hutchinsonians is derived from the 
 Hebrew scriptures. The truth of 
 it rests on these suppositions. 1. 
 That the Hebrew language was 
 formed under divine inspiration, 
 either all at once, or at different 
 times, as occasion required ; and 
 that the Divine being had a view- 
 in constructing it to the various 
 revelations which he in all suc- 
 ceeding times should make in that 
 language : consequently that its 
 ^words must be the most proper 
 and determinate to convey such 
 truths as the Deity, during the Old 
 Testament dispensation, thought 
 fit to make known to the sons of 
 men. Farther than this : that the 
 inspired penmen of those ages at 
 least were under the guidance of 
 heaven in the choice of words for 
 recording what was revealed to 
 them J therefore that the Old Tes- 
 tament, if the language be rightly 
 understood, is the most determi- 
 nate in its meaning of any other 
 
 book under heaven. 2. That 
 
 whatever is recorded in the Old 
 Testament is strictly and literally 
 true, allowing only for a few com- 
 mon figures of rhetoric : that no- 
 thing contrary to truth is accom- 
 modated to vulgar apprehensions. 
 In proof of this the Hutchinso- 
 nians argue in this manner. The 
 primary and ultimate design of 
 revelation is indeed to teach men 
 divinity ; but in subserviency to 
 that, geography, history, and chro- 
 nology, are occasionally introdu- 
 ced ; all which are allowed to be 
 just and authentic. There are 
 also innumerable references to 
 things of nature, and descriptions 
 of them. If, then, the former arc 
 just, and to be depended on, for 
 
HUT 
 
 362 
 
 HYM 
 
 the same reason the latter ought to 
 be esteemed philosophically true. 
 Farther : they think it not unwor- 
 thy of God, that he should make 
 it a secondary end of his revela- 
 tion to unfold the secrets of his 
 v/orks 5 as the primary was to make 
 known, the mysteries of his nature, 
 and the designs of his grace, that 
 men might thereby be led to ad- 
 mire and adore the wisdom and 
 goodness which the great Author 
 of the universe has displayed 
 throughout all his works. And as 
 our minds are often referred to 
 natural things for ideas of spirit- 
 ual truths, it is of great import- 
 ance, in order to conceive aright 
 of divine matters, that our ideas 
 of the natural things referred to 
 be strictly just and true. 
 
 Mr. Hutchinson found that the 
 Hebrew scriptures had some capi- 
 tal words, which he thought had 
 not been duly considered and un- 
 derstood ; and Vv^hich, he has en- 
 deavoured to prove, contain in 
 their radical meaning the greatest 
 and most comfortable truths. The 
 cherubim he explains to be a hie- 
 roglyphic of divine construction, 
 or a sacred image, to describe, as 
 far as figures could go, the hu- 
 manity united to Deity : and so 
 he treats of several other words of 
 similar import. From all which 
 he concluded, that the rites and ce- 
 remonies of the Jewish dispensa- 
 tion were so many delineations of 
 Christ, in what he was to be, to do, 
 and to suiFer ; that the early Jews 
 knew them to be types of his ac- 
 tions and sufferings ; and by per- 
 forming them as such, \vere so far 
 Christians both in faith and prac- 
 tice. 
 
 The Hutchinsonians have, for 
 the most part, been men of devout 
 minds, zealous in the cause of 
 Christianity, and untainted v/ith 
 heterodox opinions, M^hich have 
 so often divided the church of 
 Christ. The names of Romaine, 
 bishop Home, Parkhurst, and 
 others of this denomination, will 
 be long esteemed, both for the 
 piety they possessed, and the good 
 they have been the instruments of 
 promoting amongst mankind. — 
 Should the reader wish to know 
 more of the philosophical and the- 
 ological opinions of Mr. Hutch- 
 inson, he may consult a work, en- 
 titled « An Abstract of the Works 
 of John Hutchinson, Esq. Edin- 
 burgh, 1753." See also Jones's 
 Life of Bishop Home, 2d edit. ; 
 Jones's Works ; Spear)7ia?i' s Inquiry y 
 p. 260-273. 
 
 HYMN, a song or ode in ho- 
 nour of the Divine Being. St, Hi- 
 lary, bishop of Poictiers, is said to 
 have been the first who composed 
 hymns to be sung in churches, and 
 was followed by St. Ambrose. — 
 Most of those in the Roman bre- 
 viary v/ere composed by Pruden- 
 tius. The hymns or odes of the 
 aneients generally consisted of three 
 sorts of stanzas, one of which vi^as 
 sung by the band as they walked 
 from east to west ; another was 
 performed as they returned from 
 west to east j the third part was 
 sung before the altar. The Jewish 
 hymns were accompanied with 
 trumpets, drums, and cymbals, to 
 assist the voices of the Levites and 
 the people. We have had a con- 
 siderable number of hymns com- 
 posed in our own country. The 
 most esteemed are those of Watts, 
 
HYP 
 
 S63 
 
 HYP 
 
 Doddridge, Newton, and Hart. — 
 As to selections, few are superior 
 to Dr. Rippon's and Dr. Wil- 
 liams's. See Psalmody. 
 
 HYPOCRISY is a seeming or 
 professing to be what in truth and 
 reality we are not. It consists in 
 assuming a character which we are 
 conscious does not belong to us, 
 and by which we intentionally im- 
 pose upon the judgment and opin- 
 ion of mankind concerning us. — 
 The name is borrowed from the 
 Greek tongue, in which it prima- 
 rily signifies the profession of a 
 stage player, which is to express 
 in speech, habit, and action, not 
 his own person and manners, but 
 his whom he undertakes to repre- 
 sent. And so it is, for the very 
 essence of hypocrisy lies in apt 
 imitation and deceit ; in acting the 
 part of a member of Christ with- 
 out any saving grace. The hypo- 
 crite is a double person ; he has one 
 person, which is natural ; another, 
 which is artificial : the first he 
 keeps to himself ; the other he puts 
 on as he doth his cloaths, to make 
 his appearance in before men. — 
 It was ingeniously said by Basil, 
 *' that the hypocrite has not put 
 off the old man, but put on the 
 new upon it." Hypocrites have 
 been divided into four sorts. 1. 
 The worldly hypocrite, who makes 
 a profession of religion, and pre- 
 tends to be religious, merely from 
 worldly considerations. Matt, xxiii, 
 5. — 2. I'he legal hypocrite, who 
 relinquishes his vicious practices, 
 in order thereby to merit heaven, 
 while at the same time he has no 
 real love to God, Rom. x, 3. — 
 3. The evn/igelical hypocritSf whose 
 lelision is nothinsr more than a 
 
 bare conviction of sin j who re- 
 joices under the idea that Christ 
 died for him, and yet has no de- 
 sire to live a holy life, Matt, xiii, 
 20. 2d Pet. ii, 20. — 4. The enthu- 
 siastic hypocrite, who has an ima- 
 ginary sight of his sin, and of 
 Christ ; talks of remarkable impul- 
 ses and high feelings ; and thinks 
 himself very wise and good while 
 he lives in the most scandalous 
 practices. Matt, xiii, 39. 2d Cor, 
 xi, 14. Crook on Hypocrisy ; Decoet- 
 logoiis Sermon on Vs. li, 6 ; Grove's 
 Mor. PhiLy vol. ii, p. 253 ; South's 
 Ser. on Job viii, 13, vol. 10; Bel- 
 lamfs Relig. Del.^ p. 166. 
 
 HYPOSTASIS, a term literally 
 signifying substance or subsistence, 
 or that which is put and stands 
 under another thing, and supports 
 It, being its base, ground, or foun- 
 dation. Thus faith is the sub- 
 stantial foundation of things hoped 
 for, Heb. xi, 1. The word is 
 Greek vnoa-roio-isj compounded of 
 yTTo, sub^ under ; and la-r/ii^i^ <« sto" I 
 stand, I exist, q. d. " subsistentla." 
 It likewise signifies confidence, 
 stability, firmness, 2d Cor. ix, 4. 
 It Is also used for /i^rjo«, Heb. i, 3. 
 Thus we hold that there is but one 
 nature or essence in God, but 
 three hypostases, or persons. The 
 word has occasioned great dissen- 
 sions in the ancient church, first 
 among the Greeks, and afterwards 
 among the Latins ; but an end was 
 put to them by a synod held at 
 Alexandria about the year 362, at 
 which St. Athanaslus assisced •, 
 from which time the Latins made 
 no great scruple of saying three hy- 
 postasesy nor the Greeks of three 
 persons. The hypostatical union is 
 the union of the human nature of 
 
JAN 
 
 364 
 
 JAN 
 
 Christ with the divine ; consti- 
 tuting two natures in one person, 
 and not two persons in one nature, 
 as the Nestorians believe. See 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 HYPSISTARII (formed from 
 v^itrros^ *<' highest"), a sect of here- 
 tics in the fourth century ; thus 
 called from the profession they 
 made of worshipping the Most 
 High God. 
 
 The doctrine of the Hypsistari- 
 
 ans was an assemblage of Pagan- 
 ism, Judaism, and Christianity.-— 
 They adored the most High God 
 with the Christians ; but they also 
 revered fire and lamps with the 
 Heathens, and observed the sab- 
 bath, and the distinctioji of clean 
 and unclean things, with the Jews. 
 The Hypsistarii bore a near re- 
 semblance to the Euchites, or Mes- 
 salians. 
 
 I and J. 
 
 JACOBITES, a sect of Chris- 
 tians in Syria and Mesopotamia ; 
 so called, either from Jacob, a Sy- 
 rian, who lived in the reign of the 
 emperor Mauritius, or from one 
 Jacob, a monk, who flourished in 
 the year 550. 
 
 The Jacobites arc of two sects, 
 some following the rites of the La- 
 tin church, and others continuing 
 separated from the church of 
 Rome. There is also a division 
 among the latter, who have two 
 rival patriarchs. As to their be- 
 lief, they hold but one nature in 
 Jesus Christ : with respect to pur- 
 gatory, and prayers for the dead, 
 they are of the same opinion with 
 the Greeks, and other eastern 
 Christians. They consecrate un- 
 leavened bread at the eucharist, 
 and are against confession, believ- 
 ing that it is not of divine institu- 
 tion. 
 
 JANSENISTS, a sect of the 
 Roman Catholics in France who 
 followed the opinions of Jansenius 
 (bishop of Ypres, and doctor of 
 divinity of the universities of Lou- 
 
 vain and Douay), in relation to 
 grace and predestination. 
 
 In the year 1640, the two uni- 
 versities just mentioned, and par- 
 ticularly father Molina and fa- 
 ther Leonard Celsus, thought fit 
 to condemn the opinions of the 
 Jesuits on grace and free will.— 
 This having set the controversy on 
 foot, Jansenius opposed to the 
 doctrine of the Jesuits the senti- 
 ments of St. Augustine, and wrote 
 a treatise on grace which he en- 
 titled Augustinus. This treatise 
 was attacked by the Jesuits, who 
 accused Jansenius of maintaining 
 dangerous and heretical opinions ; 
 and afterwards, in 1642, obtained 
 of pope Urban VIII a formal con- 
 demnation of the treatise wrote 
 by Jansenius ; when the partizans 
 of Jansenius gave out that this 
 bull was spurious, and composed 
 by a person entirely devoted to the 
 Jesuits. After the death of Ur- 
 ban VIII, the affair of Jansenism 
 began to be more warmly contro- 
 verted, and gave birth to a great 
 number of polemical writings con- 
 
JAN 
 
 365 
 
 JAN 
 
 cerning grace ; and what occa- 
 sioned some mirth, were the titles 
 which each party gave to their 
 writings : one writer pubUshed the 
 Torch of St. Augustine ; another 
 found Snuffers for St. Augustine's 
 Torch ; and father Veron formed 
 A Gag for the Jansenists^ &c. In 
 the year 1650, sixty-eight bishops 
 of France subscribed a letter to 
 pope Innocent X, to obtain an in- 
 quiry into and condemnation of 
 the five following propositions, 
 extracted from Jansenius' Augus- 
 tinus : 1. Some of God's com- 
 mandments are impossible to be 
 observed by the righteous, even 
 though they endeavour with all 
 their power to accomplish them. — 
 2. In the state of corrupted na- 
 ture, we are incapable of resisting 
 inward grace. — 3. Merit and de- 
 merit, in a state of corrupted na- 
 ture, do not depend on a liberty 
 which excludes necessity, but on a 
 liberty which excludes constraint. 
 — 4. The Semi-pelagians admitted 
 the necessity of an inward pre- 
 venting grace for the performance 
 of each particular act, even for the 
 beginning of faith ; but they were 
 heretics in maintaining that this 
 grace was of such a nature that 
 the will of man was able either to 
 resist or obey it. — 5. It is Semi- 
 pelagianism to say, that Jesus 
 Christ died, or shed his blood, for 
 all mankind in general. 
 
 In the year 1G52, the pope ap- 
 pointed a congregation for ex- 
 amining into the dispute relative 
 to grace. In this congregation 
 Jansenius was condemned ; and 
 the bull of condemnation published 
 in May, 1653, filled all the pulpits 
 in Paris with violent ontcries and 
 
 alarms against the Jansenists. la 
 the year 1656, pope Alexander 
 VII issued out another bull, in 
 which he condemned the five pro- 
 positions of Jansenius. However^ 
 the Jansenists afiirmed that these 
 propositions were not to be found 
 in this book ; but that some of his 
 enemies having caused them to 
 be printed on a sheet, inserted 
 them in the book, and thereby de- 
 ceived the pope. At last Clement 
 XI put an end to the dispute by 
 his constitution of July 17, 1705, 
 in which, after having recited the 
 constitutions of his predecessors 
 in relation to this affair, he de- 
 clared, " That, in ordipr to pay 
 a proper obedience to the papal 
 constitutions concerning the pre- 
 sent question, it is necessary to re- 
 ceive them with a respectful si- 
 lence." The clergy of Paris, the 
 same year, approved and accepted 
 this bull, and none dared to op- 
 pose it. This is the famous bull 
 Unigenitus^ so called from its be- 
 ginning with the words Uriigenitus 
 Dei Filius^ &c., which has occa- 
 sioned so much confusion in. 
 France. 
 
 It was not only on account of 
 their embracing the doctrines of 
 Augustine, that the Jesuits were 
 so embittered against them ; but 
 that which offended the Jesuits, 
 and the^other creatures of the Ro- 
 man pontiff, was, their strict piety, 
 and severe moral discipline. The 
 Jansenists cried out against the 
 corruptions of the church of Rome, 
 and complained that neither its 
 doctrines nor morals retained any 
 traces of their former purity- — 
 They reproached the clergy with 
 an universal depravation of senti- 
 
JAN 
 
 :66 
 
 ICO 
 
 ments and manners, and an entire 
 forgetfulness of the dignity of 
 their character and the duties of 
 their vocation ; they censured the 
 hcentiousness of the monastic or- 
 ders, and insisted upon the neces- 
 sity of reforming their discipline 
 according to the rules of sanctity, 
 abstinence, and self-denial, that 
 were originally prescribed by their 
 respective founders. They main- 
 tained, also, that the people ought 
 to be carefully instructed in all the 
 dotrines and precepts of Christian- 
 ity ; and that, for this purpose, 
 the holy scriptures and public lit- 
 urgies should be otTered to their 
 perusal in their mother tongue ; 
 and, finally, they looked upon it 
 as a matter of the highest moment 
 to persuade all Christians that true 
 piety did not consist in the observ- 
 ance of pompous rites, or in the 
 performance of external acts of de- 
 votion, but in inward holiness and 
 divine love. 
 
 Notwithstanding the above- 
 mentioned sentiments, the Jansen- 
 ists have been accused of supersti- 
 tion and fanaticism j and, on ac- 
 count of their severe discipline 
 and practice, have been denomi- 
 nated Rigourists. It is said, that 
 they made repentance consist 
 chiefly in those voluntary suffer- 
 ings which the transgressor inflict- 
 ed upon himself, in proportion to 
 the nature of his crimes and the 
 degree of his guiit. They tor- 
 tured and macerated their bodies 
 by painful labour, excessive absti- 
 nence, continual prayer, and con- 
 templation : nay, they carried these 
 austerities, it is said, to so high a 
 pitch, as to place merit in them, 
 
 and to consider those as the sacred 
 njictims of repentance who had gra- 
 dually put an end to their days by 
 their excessive abstinence and la- 
 bour. Dr. Haweis, however, in 
 his Church History (vol. iii, p. 46), 
 seems to form a more favourable 
 opinion of them, " I do not," 
 says he, " readily receive the ac- 
 cusations that Papists or Protes- 
 tants have objected to them, as over 
 rigorous and fanatic in their devo- 
 tion J but I will admit many things 
 might be blameable : a tincture of 
 popery might drive them to push 
 monkish austerities too far, and 
 secretly to place some merit in 
 mortification, which they in gene- 
 ral disclaimed ; yet, with all that 
 can be said, surely the root of the 
 matter was in them. When I read 
 Jansenius, or his disciples Pascal 
 or Quesnel, I bow before such 
 distinguished excellencies, and con- 
 fess them my brethren ; shall I say 
 my fathers .'' Their principles are 
 pure and evangelical ; their morals 
 formed upon the apostles and pro- 
 phets j and their zeal to amend 
 and convert, blessed with eminent 
 success." 
 
 IBERIANS, a denomination of 
 eastern Christians, which derive 
 their name from Iberia, a province 
 of Asia now called Georgia : hence 
 they are also called Georgians. 
 Their tenets are said to be the same 
 with those of the Greek church, 
 which see. 
 
 ICONOCLASTES, or Icono- 
 clasts, breakers of images ; a 
 name which the church of Rome 
 gives to all who reject the use of 
 mages in religious matters. The 
 vvcrd is Greek, formed from swav, 
 
iC o 
 
 bOi 
 
 ICO 
 
 imago f and xKoccrTnv, rumpere, " to 
 break." In this sense not only 
 the reformed, but some of the 
 eastern churches are called icom- 
 c/asUs, and esteemed by them he- 
 retics, as opposing the worship of 
 the images of God and the saints, 
 and breaking their figures and re- 
 presentations in churches. 
 
 The opposition to images began 
 in Greece, under the reign of Bar- 
 danes, who. was created emperor 
 of the Greeks a little after the 
 commencement of the eighth cen- 
 tury, when the worship of them 
 became common. See Image. 
 But the tumults occasioned by it 
 were quelled by a revolution, 
 which, in ri3, deprived Bardanes 
 of the Imperial throne. The dis- 
 pute, however, broke out with 
 redoubled fury under Leo the 
 Isaurian, who issued out an edict 
 in the year 726, abrogating, as 
 some say, the worship of images ; 
 and ordering all the images, except 
 that of Christ's crucifixion, to be 
 removed out of the churches ; but, 
 according to others, this edict only 
 prohibited the paying to them any 
 kind of adoration or worship. — 
 This edict occasioned a civil war, 
 which broke out in the islands of 
 the Archipelago, and, by the sug- 
 gestions of the priests and monks, 
 ravaged a part of Asia, and after- 
 wards reached Italy. The civil 
 commotions and insurrections in 
 Italy were chiefly promoted by the 
 Roman pontiffs, Gregory I and 
 II. Leo was excommunicated ; 
 and his subjects in the Italian pro- 
 vinces violated their allegiance, 
 and, rising in arms, either massa- 
 cred or banished all the emperor's 
 deputies and officers. In conse- 
 
 quence of these proceedings, Le© 
 assembled a council at Constan- 
 tinople in 730, which degraded 
 German us, bishop of that city, 
 who was a patron of images ; and 
 he ordered all the images to be 
 publicly burnt, and inflicted a va- 
 riety of severe punishments upoa 
 such as were attached to that idol- 
 atrous worship. Hence arose two 
 factions, one of which adopted the 
 adoration and worship of images, 
 and on that, account were called 
 icor.odulij or iconolatra ; and the 
 other maintained that such wor- 
 ship was unlawful, and that no- 
 thing was more worthy the zeal 
 of Christians than to demolish and 
 destroy those statues and pictures 
 which were the occasion of this 
 gross idolatry ; and hence they 
 were distinguished by the titles of 
 icono-7nachi (from zdioov^ image, and 
 ;.>.%-Xj^'f I contend) and iconoclastiE. — 
 The zeal of Gregory II in favour 
 of image worship was not only 
 irritated, but even surpassed, by 
 his successor Gregory III ; in con- 
 sequence of which the Italian pro- 
 vinces were torn from the Grecian 
 empire. Constantine, called Co- 
 pronimus, in 754, convened a 
 council at Constantinople, regard- 
 ed by the Greeks as the seventh 
 oecumenical council, which so- 
 lemnly CO': iemned the worship and 
 use of images. Those who, not- 
 withstanding this decree of the 
 council, raised commotions in the 
 state, were severely punished, and 
 new laws were enacted to set 
 bounds to the violence of monas- 
 tic rage. Leo IV, who was de- 
 clared emperor in 775, pursued 
 the same measures, and had re- 
 course to the coercive influence 
 
ICO 
 
 368 
 
 ICO 
 
 of penal laws, in order to extir- 
 pate idolatry out of the christian 
 church. Irene, the wife of Leo, 
 poisoned her husband in 780 ; as- 
 sumed the reins of the empire 
 during the minority of her son 
 Constantine ; and in 7So sum- 
 ftioned a council at Nice, in Bithy- 
 nia, known by the name of the 
 Second Nicene Council^ which abro- 
 gated the laws and decrees against 
 the new idolatry, restored the 
 worship of images and of the 
 cross, and denounced severe pu- 
 nishments against those who main- 
 tained that God "was the only ob- 
 ject of religious adoration. In 
 this contest the Britons, Germans, 
 and Gauls, were of opinion that 
 images might be lawfully conti- 
 nued in churches ; but they con- 
 sidered the worship of them as 
 highly injurious and offensive to 
 the Supreme Being. Charlemagne 
 distinguished himself as a medi- 
 ator in this controversy : he or- 
 dered four books concerning ima- 
 ges to be composed, refuting the 
 reasons urged by the Nicene bi- 
 shops to justify the worship of 
 images, which he sent to Adrian, 
 the Roman pontiff, in 790, in or- 
 der to engage him to withdraw his 
 approbation of the decrees of the 
 last council of Nice. Adrian wrote 
 an answer ; and in 79,4^ a council 
 of 300 bishops, assembled by 
 Charlemagne, at Francfort, on 
 the Maine, confirmed the opinion 
 contained in the four books, and 
 solemnly condemned the worship 
 of images. 
 
 In the Greek church, after the 
 Banishment of Irene, the contro- 
 versy concerning images broke out 
 anew, and was carried on by the 
 
 contending parties, during the half 
 of the ninth century, with various 
 and uncertain success. The em- 
 peror Nicephorus appears, upon 
 the whole, to have been an enemy 
 to this idolatrous worship. His 
 successor, Michael Curopalates, 
 surnamed. Rhangabcy patronized 
 and encouraged it. But the scene 
 changed on the accession of Leo, 
 the Armenian, to the empire, who 
 assembled a council at Constanti- 
 nople, in 814, that abolished the 
 decrees of the Nicene council. 
 His successor, Michael, surnamed 
 BalbuSi disapproved of the worship 
 of images, and his son Theophilus 
 treated them with great severity. 
 However, the empress Theodora, 
 after his death, and during the 
 minority of her son, assembled a 
 council at Constantinople in 842, 
 which re-instated the decrees of 
 the second Nicene council, and 
 encouraged image worship by a 
 law. The council held at the 
 same place under Photius, in 879, 
 and reckoned by the Greeks the 
 eighth general council, confirmed 
 and renewed the Nicene decrees. 
 In commemoration of this council, 
 a festival was instituted by the 
 superstitious Greeks, called the 
 Feast of Orthodoxy. The Latins 
 were generally of opinion that 
 images might be suffered, as the 
 means of aiding the memory of 
 the faithful, and of calling to their 
 remembrance the pious exploits 
 and virtuous actions of the persons 
 whom they represented j but they 
 detested all thoughts of paying 
 them the least marks of religious 
 homage or adoration. The coun- 
 cil of Paris, assembled in 824 by 
 Louis the Meek, resolved to allow 
 
ICO 
 
 369 
 
 IDL 
 
 the use of images in the churches, 
 but severely prohibited rendering 
 them religious worship : never- 
 theless, tov/ards the conclusion of 
 this century, the Gallican clergy 
 began to pay a kind of religious 
 homage to the images of saints, 
 and their example was followed by 
 the Germans, and other nations. 
 However, the Iconoclastes still had 
 their adherents among the Latins j 
 the most eminent of whom was 
 Claudius, bishop of Turin, who, 
 in 823, ordered all images, and 
 even the cross, to be cast out of 
 the churches, and committed to 
 the flames ; and he wrote a trea- 
 tise, in which he declared both 
 against the use and v/orship of 
 them. He condemned relics, pil- 
 grimages to the Holy Land, and 
 all voyages to the tombs of saints ; 
 and to his writing and labours it 
 was owing, that the city of Turin, 
 and the adjacent country, was, for 
 a long time after his death, much 
 less infected with superstition than 
 the other parts of Europe. The 
 controversy concerning the sanctity 
 of images was again revived by Leo, 
 bishop of Chalcedon, in the 11th 
 century, on occasion of the emperor 
 Alexius's converting the figures of 
 silver that adorned the portals of 
 the churches into money, in or- 
 der to supply the exigencies of the 
 state. Thcbishop obstinately main- 
 tained that he had been guilty of 
 sacrilege; and published a treatise, 
 in which he afErmed, that in 
 these images there resided an in- 
 herent sanctity, and that the ado- 
 ration of Christians ought not to 
 be confined to the persons repre- 
 sented by these images, but ex- 
 tend to the images themselves. 
 Vol.. L .SB 
 
 i| The emperor assembled a council 
 ' at Constantinople, which defer- 
 ij mined that the images of Christ 
 i! and of the saints were to be ho- 
 i! noured only with a relative wor- 
 ship J and that the invocation and 
 worship were to be addressed to 
 the saints only, as the servants of 
 Christ, and on account of their 
 relation to him as their masterl 
 Leo, dissatisfied with these absurd 
 and superstitious decisions, was 
 sent into banishment. In the 
 western church the worship of 
 images was disapproved, and op- 
 posed by several considerable par- 
 ties, as the Petrobrussians, Albi- 
 genses, Waldenses, &c. ; till at 
 length this idolatrous practice was 
 abolished in many parts of the 
 christian world by the reforma- 
 tion. See Image. 
 
 ICONOLATR^, or Iconola- 
 TERS, those who worship images ; 
 a name which the Iconoclastes give 
 to those of the Romish commu- 
 nion, on account of their adoring 
 images, and of rendering to them 
 the worship only due to God. The 
 word is formed from BtuMVy image, 
 and AixTfEu^.', I worship. See last 
 article, and article Image. 
 
 IDLENESS, a reluctancy to be 
 employed in any kind of work. 
 The idle man is in every view both 
 foolish and criminal. *' He neither 
 lives to God, to the world, nor to 
 himself. He does not live to God, 
 for he answers not the end for 
 which he was brought into being. 
 Existence is a sacred trust ; but 
 he who misemploys and squanders 
 it away thus becomes treacherous 
 to its Author. Those powers which 
 should be employed in his service, 
 and for the promotion of his glory. 
 
IDL 
 
 370 
 
 ID O 
 
 lie dormant. The time which 
 should be sacred to Jehovah is 
 lost ; and thus he enjoys no fel- 
 lowship with God, nor any way 
 devotes himself to his praise. He 
 lives not to the world, nor for the 
 benefit of his fellow-creatures a- 
 round him. While all creation 
 is full of life and activity, and 
 nothing stands still in the universe, 
 he remains idle, forgetting that 
 mankind are connected by various 
 relations and mutual dependances, 
 and that the order of the world 
 cannot be maintained without per- 
 petual circulation of active duties. 
 He lives vot to himself. Though j 
 he imagines that he leaves to others 
 the drudgery of life, and betakes 
 himself to enjoyment and ease, 
 yet, in fact, he has no true pleasure. 
 While he is a blank in society, he 
 is no less a torment to himself; 
 for he who knows not what it is 
 to labour, knows not what it is to 
 enjoy. He shuts the door against 
 improvement of every kind, whe- 
 ther of mind, body, or fortune. 
 Sloth enfeebles equally the bodily 
 ■and the mental powers. His cha- ] 
 racter falls into contempt. Dis- '■', 
 order, confusion, and embarrass- ' 
 ment, mark his whole situation, jj 
 Idleness is the inlet to a variety of ■ 
 other vices. It undermines every 
 virtue in the soul. Violent pas- ; 
 sions, like rapid torrents, run their 
 course; but after having overflowed 
 their banks, their impetuosity sub- : 
 sides : but sloth, especially when 
 it is habitual, is like the slowly- , 
 flowing putrid stream, which stag- 
 nates in the marsh, breeds veno- 
 mous animals and poisonous plants, 
 arid infects with pestilential va-f 
 pours the whole country round it. II 
 
 Having once tainted the soul, it 
 leaves no part of it sound ; and 
 at the same time gives not those 
 alarms to conscience which the 
 eruptions of bolder and fiercer emo- 
 tions often occasion." Logan's Set-' 
 monsy vol. i, ser. 4 ; Blair's Ser- 
 monSf vol.iii, ser. 4; Idler, vol. i, 
 p. 5j 171, 172; Ccu'per's PoemSf 
 228, vol. i, duod. ; Johnson's Ram- 
 Mery vol. ii, p. 162, 163. 
 
 IDOLATRY, the worship of 
 idols,or the act of ascribing to things 
 and persons, properties which are 
 peculiar to God alone. The prin- 
 cipal sources of idolatry seem to 
 be the extravagant veneration for 
 creatures and beings from which 
 benefits accrued to men. Dr. Jor- 
 tin says, that " idolatry had four 
 privileges to boast of. The first was 
 a venerable antiquity, more ancient 
 than the Jewish religion; and idola- 
 ters might have said to the Israel- 
 ites, Where was your religion be- 
 fore Moses and Abraham ? Go, 
 and inquire in Chaldea, and there 
 you will find that your fathers 
 served other gods. — 2. It was wi- 
 der spread than the Jewish reli- 
 gion. It was the religion of the 
 greatest, the wisest, and the politest 
 nations of the Chaldeans, Egypti- 
 ans, and Phoenicians, the parents 
 of civil government, and of arts 
 and sciences. — .3. It was more a- 
 dapted to the bent which men have 
 tov/ards visible and sensible ob- 
 jects. Men want gods who shall 
 go before them, and be among 
 them.. God, who is every where in 
 povv-er,and no where in appearance, 
 is hard to be conceived. — 4. It fa- 
 voured human passions; it requir- 
 ed no morality ; its religious ri- 
 tual consisted of splendid ceremo- 
 
IDO 
 
 371 
 
 IDO 
 
 nies, revelling, dancing, nocturnal 
 assemblies, impure and scandalous 
 mysteries, debauched priests, and 
 gods, who were both slaves and 
 patrons to all sorts of vices. 
 
 " All the more remarkable false 
 religions that have been, or are in 
 the world, recommend themselves 
 by one of other of these four pri- 
 vileges and characters." 
 
 The first objects of idolatrous wor- 
 ship are thought to have been the 
 sun, moon, and stars. Others think 
 that angels were first worshipped. 
 Soon after the flood we find idola- 
 try greatly prevailing in the world. 
 Abraham's father's family served 
 other gods beyond the river Eu- 
 phrates ; and Laban had idols 
 which Rachael brought along with 
 her. In process of time, noted pa- 
 rents, or kings deceased, animals 
 of various kinds, plants, stones, 
 and, in fine, whatever people took 
 a fancy to, they idolized. The 
 Egyptians, though high pretenders 
 to wisdom, worshipped pied bulls, 
 snipes, leeks, onions, &c. The 
 Greeks had about 30,000 gods. 
 The Gomerians deified their ancient 
 kings ; nor were the Chaldeans, 
 Romans, Chinese, &c., a whit less 
 absurd. Some violated the most 
 natural affections by murdering 
 multitudes «)f their neighbours and 
 children, under pretence of sacri- 
 ficing them to their god. Some 
 nations of Germany, Scandinavia, 
 and Tartary, imagined that vio- 
 lent death in war, or by self-mur- 
 der, was the proper method of ac- 
 cess to the future enjoyment of 
 their gods. In far later times, 
 about 64,080 persons were sacri- 
 ficed at the dedication of one ido- 
 latrous temple in the space of four 
 
 days in America. The Hebrews 
 never had any idols of their own, 
 but they adopted those of the 
 nations around. The veneration 
 which the Papists pay to the Vir- 
 gin Mary, and other saints and 
 angels, and to the bread in the sa- 
 crament, the cross, relics, and 
 images, lays a foundation for the 
 Protestants to charge them with 
 idolatry, though they deny the 
 charge. It is evident that they 
 worship them, and that they jus- 
 tify the worship, but deny the 
 idolatry of it, by distinguishing 
 subordinate from supreme worship: 
 the one they call latriuy the other 
 didia ; but this distinction is 
 thought by many of the Protest- 
 ants to be vain, futile, and nuga- 
 tory. 
 
 Idolatry has been divided into 
 metaphorical and proper. By meta- 
 phorical idolatry is meant that in- 
 ordinate love of riches, honours, 
 and bodily pleasures, whereby the 
 passions and appetites of men are 
 made superior to the will of God ; 
 man, by so doing, making a god. 
 of himself and his sensual temper. 
 Proper idolatry is giving the divine 
 honour to another. The object* 
 or idols of that honour which arc 
 given are either personal, i. e. the 
 idolatrous themselves, who become 
 their bwn statues ; or internal., as 
 false ideas, which are set up in the 
 fancy instead of God, such as fan- 
 cying God to be a light, flame, 
 matter, &c. ; only here, the scene 
 being internal, the scandal of the 
 sin is thereby abated ; or external^ 
 as worshipping angels, the sun, 
 stars, animals, &c. Tenison on IdoU 
 airy ; A. Young oit Idolatrous 
 Corruptions; Ridgleys Body of 
 
JE S 
 
 oi-J. 
 
 JES 
 
 D'iv.<^ qu. 106 •, FeWs Idolatry I 
 of Greece and Rome ; Stilling- \ 
 Jleefs . Idolatry of the Church of 
 Rome ; Jortins Ser., vol. vi, ser. 
 18. 
 
 JEALOUSY is that particular 
 uneasiness which arises from the 
 fear that some rival may rob us of 
 the affection of one whom we 
 greatly love, or suspicion that he 
 hasa Iready done it. The fiast sort of 
 jealousy is inseparable from love, 
 before it is in possession of its ob- 
 ject ; the latter is unjust, generally 
 mischievous, and always trouble- 
 some. 
 
 JEHOVAH, one of the scrip- 
 ture names of God, and peculiar 
 to him, signifying the Being who 
 is self-existent, and gives existence 
 to others. The name is also given 
 to Christ, Is. xl, 3. and is a proof 
 of his godhead. Matt, iii, 3. Is. vi. 
 John xii, 41. The Jews had so 
 great a veneration for this namcj 
 that they left off the custom of 
 pronouncing it, whereby its true 
 pronunciation was forgotten. They 
 believe that whosoever knows the 
 true pronunciation of it cannot 
 fail to be heard of God. 
 
 JESUITS, or the society offestis; 
 a famous religious order of the 
 Romish church, founded by Ig- 
 natius Loyola, a Spanish knight, 
 in the sixteenth century. The plan 
 which this fanatic formed of its 
 constitution and laws was sug- 
 gested, as he gave out, by the 
 immediate inspiration of heaven. 
 But, notwithstanding this high 
 pretension, his design met at first 
 with violent opposition. The pope, 
 to whom Loyola had applied for' 
 the sanction of his authority to 
 confirm the institution, referred 
 
 his petition to a committee of car- 
 dinals. They represented the esta- 
 blishment to be unnecessary as 
 well as dangerous, and Paul re- 
 fused to grant his approbation of 
 it. At last, Loyola removed all his 
 scruples, by an offer which it was 
 impossible for any pope to resist. 
 He proposed, that besides the three 
 vows of poverty, of chastity, and 
 of monastic obedience, vi'^hich are 
 common to all the orders of regu- 
 lars, the members of his society 
 should take a fourth vow of obe- 
 dience to the pope, binding them- 
 selves to go withersoever he should 
 command for the service of reli- 
 gion, and without requiring any 
 thing from the holy see for their 
 support. At a time v/hen the 
 papal authority had received such 
 a shock by the revolt of so many 
 nations from the R.omish church, 
 at a time when every part of the 
 popish system was attacked with 
 so much violence and success, the 
 acquisition of a body of men, thus 
 peculiarly devoted to the see of 
 Rome, and whom it might set in 
 opposition to all its enemies, was 
 an object of the highest conse- 
 quence. Paul, instantly perceiving 
 this, confirmed the institution of 
 the Jesuits by his bull \ granted 
 the most ample privileges to the 
 members of the society, and ap- 
 pointed Loyola to be the first ge- 
 neral of the order. The event 
 fully justified Paul's discernment 
 in expecting such beneficial con- 
 sequences to the see of Rome from 
 this institution. In less than half a 
 century the society obtained esta- 
 blishments in every country that 
 adhered to the Roman Catholic 
 church ; its power and wealth in- 
 
JE S 
 
 JE S 
 
 creased amazingly ; the number of 
 its members became great ; their 
 character as well as accomplish- 
 ments were still greater ; and the 
 Jesuits were celebrated by the 
 friends and dreaded by the enemies 
 of the Romish faith, as the most 
 able and enterprising order in the 
 church. 
 
 2. Jesuits^ object of the order of. 
 — The primary object of almost 
 all the monastic orders is to sepa- 
 rate men from the world, and from 
 any concern in its affairs. In the 
 solitude and silence of the cloister, 
 the monk is called to work out 
 his salvation by extraordinary acts 
 of mortification and piety. He is 
 dead to the world, and ought not 
 to minsrle in its transactions. He 
 can be of no benefit to mankind 
 but by his example and by his 
 prayers. On the contrary, the 
 Jesuits are taught to consider 
 themselves as formed for action. 
 They are chosen soldiers, bound 
 to exert themselves continually in 
 the service of God, and of the 
 pope, his vicar on earth. What- 
 ever tends to instruct the ignorant, 
 whatever can be of use to reclaim 
 or oppose the enemies of the holy 
 see, is their proper object. That 
 they may have full leisure for this 
 active service, they are totally ex- 
 empted from those functions, the 
 performance of which is the chief 
 business of other monks. They ap- 
 pear in no processions j they prac- 
 tise no rigorous austerities ; they 
 do not consume one half of their 
 time in the repetition of tedious 
 offices ; but they are required to 
 attend to all the transactions of 
 the world on account of the in- 
 fluence which these may have upon 
 
 religion : they are directed to study 
 the dispositions of persons in high 
 rank, and to cultivate their friend- 
 ship*, and, by the very constitution 
 and genius of the order, a spirit of 
 action and intrigue is infused into 
 all its members. 
 
 3. Jesuits., peculiarities of their 
 policy and government. — Other or- 
 ders are to be considered as vo- 
 luntary associations, in which, 
 whatever affects the whole body, 
 is regulated by the common suf- 
 frage of all its members. But 
 Loyola, full of the ideas of im- 
 plicit obedience, which he had de- 
 rived from his military profession, 
 appointed that the government of 
 his order should be purely monar- 
 chical. A general chosen for life, 
 by deputies from the several pro- 
 vinces, possessed power that v/as 
 supreme and independent, extend- 
 ing to every person and to every 
 case. To his commands they were 
 required to yield not only outw^ard 
 obedience, but to resign up to him 
 the inclinations of their own wills, 
 and the sentiments of their own 
 understandings. Such a singular 
 form of policy could not fail to 
 impress its character on all the 
 members of the order, and to give 
 a peculiar force to all its opera- 
 tions. There has not been, perhaps, 
 in the annals of mankind any ex- 
 ample of such a perfect despotism 
 exercised not over monks shut up 
 in the cells of a convent, but over 
 men dispersed among all the na- 
 tions of the earth. As the consti- 
 tutions of the order vest in the 
 general such absolute dominion 
 over all its members, they care- 
 fully provide for his being per- 
 fectly informed with respect to the 
 
r F^' ^ 
 
 JES 
 
 character and abilities of his sub- 
 jects. Every novice who offers 
 himself as a candidate for enter- 
 ing into the order is obliged to 
 manifest his conscience to the su- 
 perioTj or a person appointed by 
 him ; and is required to confess 
 not only his sins and defects, but 
 to discover the inclinations, the 
 -passions, and the bent of his soul. 
 This manifestation must be renew- 
 ed every six months. Each mem- 
 ber is directed to observe the words 
 gnd actions of the novices, and 
 are bound to disclose every thing of 
 importance concerning them to the 
 superior. In order that this scru- 
 tiny into their character may be 
 as com.plete as possible, a long no- 
 vitiate must expire, during which 
 they pass through the several gra- 
 dations of rank in the society ; 
 and they must have attained the 
 full age of thirty-three years be- 
 fore they can be admitted to take 
 the final vows by which they be- 
 come professed members. By these 
 various methods, the superiors un- 
 der whose imm.ediate inspection 
 the novices are placed, acquire a 
 thorough knowledge of their dis- 
 positions and talents ; and the ge- 
 neral, by examining the registers 
 kept for this purpose, is enabled to 
 choose the instruments v/hich his 
 absolute power can employ in any 
 service for which he thinks meet 
 to destine them. 
 
 4. Jesuits, progress of the poiu- 
 jr and hijiuence of. — As it was the 
 professed intention of this order to 
 -labour with unwearied zeal in 
 promoting the salvation of men, 
 this engaged them, of .course, in 
 many active functions. From 
 jheir first institution_, they consi- 
 
 dered the education of youth as 
 their peculiar province : they aim- 
 ed at being spiritual guides and 
 confessors ; they preached fre- 
 quently, in order to instruct the 
 people; they set out as missiona- 
 ries to convert unbelieving nati- 
 ons. Before the expiration of the 
 sixteenth century, they had ob- 
 tained the chief direction of the 
 education of youth in every Ca- 
 tholic country in Europe. They- 
 had become the confessors of al- 
 most all its monarchs ; a function 
 of no small importance in any 
 reign, but, under a weak prince, 
 superior to that of minister. They 
 were the spiritual guides of almost 
 every person eminent for rank or 
 power j they possessed the highest 
 degree of confidence and interest 
 with the papal court, as the most 
 zealous and able champions for 
 its authority; they possessed, at dif- 
 ferent periods, the direction of the 
 most considerable courts in Eu- 
 rope ; they mingled in all aiFairs, 
 and took part in every intrigue 
 and revolution. But while they 
 thus advanced in power, they in- 
 creased also in wealth : various 
 expedients were devised for elud- 
 ing the obligation of the vow of 
 poverty. Besides the sources of 
 wealth common to all the regular 
 clergy, the Jesuits possessed one 
 which was peculiar to themselves. 
 Under the pretext of promoting 
 the success of their missions, and 
 of facilitating the support of their 
 missionaries, they obtained a spe- 
 cial licence from the court of 
 Rome to trade with the nations 
 which they laboured to convert : 
 in consequence of this, they en- 
 gaged in an extensive and lucra- 
 
JES 
 
 375 
 
 tive commerce, both in the East 
 and West Indies ; they opened 
 warehouses in different parts of 
 Europe, in which they vended their 
 commodities. Not satisfiea with 
 trade alone, they imitated the ex- 
 ample of other commercial socie- 
 ties, and aimed at obtaining set- 
 tlements. They acquired posses- 
 sion, accordingly, of the large and 
 fertile province of Paraguay, which 
 stretches across the southern con- 
 tinent of America, from the bot- 
 tom of the mountains of Potosi to 
 the confines of the Spanish and 
 Portuguese settlements on the 
 banks of the river De la Plata. 
 Here, indeed, it must be confessed, 
 they were of service : they found 
 the inhabitants in a state little dif- 
 ferent from that which takes place 
 among men when they first begin 
 to unite together ; strangers to the 
 arts ; subsisting precariously by 
 hunting or fishing ; and hardly ac- 
 quainted with the first principles 
 of subordination and government. 
 The Jesuits set themselves to in- 
 struct and civilize these savages : 
 they taught them to cultivate the 
 ground, build houses, and brought 
 them to live together in villages, 
 &c. They made them taste the 
 SM'eets of society, and trained 
 them to arts and manufactures. 
 Such was their power over them, 
 that a few Jesuits presided over 
 some hundred thousand Indians. 
 But even in this meritorious effort 
 of the Jesuits for the good of man- 
 kind, the genius and spirit of their 
 order are discernible : they plainly 
 aimed at establishing in Paraguay 
 an independent empire, subject to 
 the society alone, and which, by 
 the superior excellence of its con- 
 
 stitution and police, could scarce- 
 ly have failed to extend its domi- 
 nion over all the southern conti- 
 nent of America. With this view, 
 in order to prevent the Spaniards 
 or Portuguese in the adjacent set- 
 tlements from acquiring any dan- 
 gerous influence over the people 
 within the limits of the province 
 subject to the society, the Jes»its 
 endeavoured to inspire the Indians 
 with hatred and contempt of these 
 nations : they cut oiF all inter- 
 course between their subjects and 
 the Spanish or Portuguese settle- 
 ments. When they v/ere obliged 
 to admit any person in a public 
 character from the neighbouring 
 governments, they did not permit 
 him to have any conversation with 
 their subjects ; and no Indian was 
 allowed even to enter the house 
 where these strangers resided, un- 
 less in the presence of a Jesuit. 
 In order to render any communi- 
 cation between them as difficult 
 as possible, they industriously 
 avoided giving the Indians any 
 knowledge of the Spanish or of 
 any other European language ; 
 but encouraged the different tribes 
 which they had civilized to ac- 
 quire a certain dialect of the In- 
 i dian tongue, and laboured to 
 make that the universal language 
 throughout their dominions. As 
 all these precautions, without mi- 
 litary force, would have been in- 
 sufiicient to have rendered their 
 empire secure and permanent, 
 they instructed their subjects in 
 the European art of war, and 
 formed them into bodies com- 
 pletely armed, and well disci- 
 plined. 
 
 3. jestiifSi perr.'c'ious cfferi of 
 
JES 
 
 76 
 
 JES 
 
 this order in civil society. — Though 
 it must be confessed that the Jesu- 
 its cultivated the study of ancient 
 literature, and contributed much 
 towards the progress of polite 
 learning j though they have pro- 
 duced eminent masters in every 
 branch of science, and can boast 
 of a number of ingenious authors ; 
 yet, unhappily 'for mankind, their 
 vast influence has been often ex- 
 erted v/ith the most fatal effects. 
 Such >vas the tendency of that 
 discipline observed by the society 
 in forming its members, and such 
 the fundamental maxims in its 
 constitution, that every Jesuit was 
 taught to regard the interest of the 
 order as the capital object to which 
 every consideration was to be sa- 
 crificed. As the prosperity of the 
 order was intimately connected 
 with the preservation of the papal 
 authority, the Jesuits, influenced 
 by the same principle of attach- 
 ment to the interest of their soci- 
 ety, have been the most zealous 
 patrons of those doctrines which 
 tend to exalt ecclesiastical power 
 on the ruins of civil government. 
 They have attributed to the court 
 of Rome a jurisdiction as extensive 
 and absolute as was claimed by 
 the mo-t presumptuous pontiffs in 
 the dark ages. They have con- 
 tended for the entire independence 
 of ecclesiastics on the civil magis- 
 trates. They have published such 
 tenets concerning the duty of op- 
 posing princes who were enemies 
 of the Catholic faith, as counte- 
 nanced the most atrocious crimes, 
 and tended to dissolve all the ties 
 which connect subjects with their 
 rulers. As the order derived both 
 reputation and authority from the 
 
 zeal with which it stood forth In 
 defence of the Romish church 
 against the attacks of the reform- 
 ers, its members, proud of this dis- 
 tinction, have considered it as their 
 peculiar function to combat the 
 opinions, and to check the progress 
 of the Protestants. They have 
 made use of every art, and have 
 employed every weapon against 
 them. They have set themselves 
 .in opposition to every gentle or 
 1 tolerating measure in their favour. 
 They have incessantly stirred up 
 against them all the rage of eccle- 
 siastical and civil persecution. 
 Whoever recollects the events 
 which have happened in Europe 
 during two centuries, will find 
 that the Jesuits may justly be con- 
 sidered as responsible for most of 
 the pernicious effects arising from 
 that corrupt and dangerous casu- 
 istry, from those extravagant te- 
 nets concerning ecclesiastical pow- 
 er, and from that intolerant spirit, 
 which have been the disgrace of 
 the church of Rome throughout 
 that period, and which have 
 brought so many calamities upon 
 society. 
 
 6. Jesuits^ donvtifall of in Eti" 
 rope. — Such were the laws, the 
 policy, and the genius of this 
 formidable order ; of v/hich, how- 
 ever, a perfect knowledge has only 
 been attainable of late. Europe 
 had observed, for two centuries, 
 the ambition and power of the or- 
 der \ but while it felt many fatal 
 effects of these, it could not fully 
 discern the causes to which they 
 were to be imputed. . It was un- 
 acquainted with many of the sin- 
 gular regulations in the political 
 constitution or government of the 
 
JES 
 
 377 
 
 JES 
 
 Jesuits, which formed the enter- 
 prising spirit of intrigue that dis- 
 tinguished its members, and ele- 
 vated the body itself to such a 
 height of power. It was a funda- 
 mental maxim with the Jesuits, 
 from their first institution, not to 
 publish the rules of their order : 
 these they kept concealed as an 
 impenetrable mystery. They never 
 communicated them to strangers, 
 nor even to the greater part of 
 their own members : they refused 
 to produce them when required 
 by courts of justice ; and, by a 
 strange solecism in policy, the civil 
 power in different countries au- 
 thorized or connived at the esta- 
 blishment of an order of men, 
 whose constitution and laws were 
 concealed with a solicitude which 
 alone was a good reason for hav- 
 ing excluded them. During the 
 prosecutions that have been car- 
 ried on against them in Portugal 
 and France, the Jesuits have been 
 so inconsiderate as to produce the 
 myterious volumes of their insti- 
 tute. By the aid of these authen- 
 tic records, the principles of their 
 government may be delineated, and 
 the sources of their power inves- 
 tigated with a degree of certainty 
 and precision, which, previous 
 to that event, it was impossible to 
 attain. 
 
 The pernicious effects of the 
 spirit and constitution of this or- 
 der rendered it early obnoxious 
 to some of the principal powers 
 in Europe, and gradually brought 
 on its downfa!. There is a re- 
 markable passage in a sermon 
 preached at Dublin by arch- 
 bishop Brown, so long ago as the 
 year 1551, and M'hich may be 
 
 Vol. T. 3 C 
 
 considered almost as prophetic. 
 It is as follows : ** But there are 
 " a new fraternity of late sprung 
 " up, who call themselves Jesu- 
 ** its, which will deceive many, 
 " much after the Scribes and 
 " Pharisees' manner. Amongst 
 " the Jews they shall strive to 
 " abolish the truth, and shall com© 
 " very near to do it. For these 
 " sorts will turn themselves into 
 *' several forms ; with the hea- 
 " thens, a heathenist j with the 
 " atheists, an atheist ; with the 
 " Jews, a Jew ; with the reform- 
 " ers, a reformade purposely to 
 " know your intentions, your 
 " minds, your hearts, and your 
 " inclinations, and thereby bring 
 " you, at last, to be like the fool 
 " that said in his heart there was 
 " no God. These shall be spread 
 " over the whole world, shall be 
 " admitted into the councils of 
 " princes, and they never the 
 " wiser ; charming of them, yea, 
 " making your princes reveal 
 " their hearts, and the secrets 
 " therein, and yet they not pcr- 
 " ceive it ; which will happen 
 " from falling from the law of 
 " God, by neglect of fulfilling the 
 <* law of God, and by winking at 
 " their sins ; yet, in the end, God, 
 " to justify his law, shall sudden- 
 " ly cut off this society, even by 
 " the hands of those who have 
 " most succoured them, and made 
 " use of them ; so that at the end 
 " they shall become odious to all 
 " nations. They shall be worse 
 " than Jews, having no resting- 
 " place upon earth ; and thcnshal*. 
 " a Jew have more favour than a 
 " Jesuit." This singular passage 
 seems to be accomplished The 
 
JES 
 
 378 
 
 JES 
 
 €mperor Charles V saw it expedi- 
 ent to check their progress in his 
 dominions : they were expelled 
 England by proclamation 2 James 
 I, in 1004; Venice in 1606 j Por- 
 tugal in 1759; France in 1764; 
 Spain and Sicily in 1 767 ; and to- 
 tally suppressed and abolished by 
 pope Clement XIV, in 1 77o. Enc. 
 Brit. ; Moskeitn's Ecc. Hist. ; Har- 
 leian Misc^ vol. v, p. 566 ; 
 Brcii^hton's Diet. 
 
 JESUS CHRIST, the Lord and 
 Saviour of mankind. He is call- 
 ed Christ (anointed), because he 
 is anointed, furnished, and sent by 
 God to execute his mediatorial 
 office ; and Jesus (Saviour), be- 
 cause he came to save his people 
 from their sins. For an account 
 of his nativity, offices, death, re- 
 surrection, &c., the reader is re- 
 ferred to those articles in this vpork. 
 We. shall here more particularly 
 consider his divinity, humanity, 
 and character. The divinitM .of 
 Jesus Christ seems "evident, if we 
 consider, 1. The language of the 
 New Testament^ and compare it 
 luith the state of the Pagan tvorld 
 at the time of its publication. If 
 Jesus Christ were not God, the 
 writers of the New Testament dis- 
 covered great injudiciousness in 
 the choice of their words, and 
 adopted a very incautious and dan- 
 gerous style. The whole world, ex- 
 cept the small kingdom of Judea, 
 worshipped idols at the time ofj 
 Jesus Christ's appearance. Jesus \ 
 Christ ; the evangelists, Vi^ho wrote i 
 his history ; and the apostles, who j 
 wrote epistles to vaiious classes ofj 
 men, proposed to destroy idolatry, | 
 and to establish the worship of one i 
 only living and true God. To ef- i 
 
 feet this purpose, it was absolutely 
 necessary for these founders of 
 Christianity to avoid confusion and 
 obscurity of language, and to ex- 
 press their ideas in a cool and 
 cautious style. The least expression 
 that would tend to deify a crea- 
 ture, or countenance idolatry, 
 would have been a source of the 
 greatest error. Hence Paul and 
 Barnabas rent their clothes at the 
 very idea of the multitude's coti- 
 founding the creature with the 
 Creator, Acts xiv. The writers of 
 the New Testament knew that in 
 speaking of Jesus Christ extraor- 
 dinary caution was necessary ; yet, 
 when we take up the New Tes- 
 tament, we find such expressions 
 as these : " The word was God, 
 John i, 1. God w^as manifest In 
 the flesh, 1st Tim. iii, 16. God with 
 us, Matt, i, 23. The Jews cru- 
 cified the Lord of glory, 1st Cor. 
 ii, 8. Jesus Christ is Lord of all, 
 Acts X, 36. Christ is over all ; 
 God blessed for ever, Rom. ix, 5." 
 These are a few of many propo- 
 sitions, which the New Testament 
 writers lay down relative to Jesus 
 Christ. If the writers intended to 
 affirm the divinity of Jesus Christ, 
 these are words of truth and so- 
 berness ; if not, the language is 
 incautious and unwarrantable ; and 
 to address it to men prone to idol- 
 atry, for the purpose of destroy- 
 ing idolatry, is a strong presump- 
 tion against their inspiration. It 
 is remarkable, also, that the richest 
 words in the Greek language are 
 made use of to describe Jesus 
 Christ. This language, which is 
 very copious, would have afforded 
 lower terms to express an inferior 
 nature; but it could have afforded 
 
JE 
 
 379 
 
 JES 
 
 none higher to express the nature 
 of the S uprerae God. It is worthy 
 of observation, too, that these wri- 
 ters addressed their writings not to 
 philosophers and scholars, but to 
 the common people, and conse- 
 quently used words in their plain 
 popular signification. The com- 
 mon people, it seems, understood 
 the words in our sense of them ; 
 for in the Dioclesian persecution, 
 when the Roman soldiers burnt a 
 Phrygian city inhabited by Chris- 
 tians, men, women, and children, 
 submitted to their fate, calling up- 
 on Christy THE GOD OVER ALT.. 
 
 — 2. Compare the style of the Neiv 
 Testamenixviththe state of they exvs 
 at the time of its publication. In 
 the time of Jesus Christ, the Jews 
 were z,eaIous defenders of the unity 
 of God, and of that idea of his 
 perfections which their scriptures 
 excited. Jesus Christ and his 
 apostles professed the highest re- 
 gard for the Jewish scriptures ; 
 yet the writers of the New Testa- 
 ment described Jesus Christ by the 
 very names and titles by which 
 the writers of the Old Testament 
 had described the Supreme God. 
 Compare Exod. iii, 14, with Johni 
 viii, 58. Is. xliv, 6, with Rev. i, 
 11. ir. Deut. X, 17, with Rev. | 
 xvii, 14. Ps. xxiv, 10, with lst| 
 Cor. ii, 8. Hos. i, 7, with Luke ii, ] 
 11. Dan. v, 23, with 1st Cor. xv, 
 47. 1st Chron. xxix, 11, with Col. 
 ii, 10. If they who described Je- 
 sus Christ to the Jews by these 
 sacred names and titles intended 
 to convey an idea of his deity, the 
 description is just and the applica- 
 tion safe •, but if they intended to 
 describe a mere man, they were 
 surely of all men the most pre- 
 
 posterous. They chose a method 
 of recommending Jesus to the 
 Jews the most likely to alarm 
 and enrage them. Whatever they 
 meant, the Jews understood them 
 in our sense, and took Jesus for a 
 blasphemer, John x, S2. — 3. Com- 
 pare the perfections which are as- 
 crihedto Jesus Christ in the scrip- 
 tures, zuith those xuhich are ascribed 
 to God. Jesus Christ declares, «' All 
 things that tlie Father hath are 
 mine," John xvi, 15 : a very danger- 
 ous proposition, if he were not God. 
 The writers of Revelation ascribe 
 to him the same perfections which 
 they ascribe to God, Compare Jer. 
 X, 10, with Is. ix, 6. Exod. xv, 
 18, with Heb. i, 8. Jer. xxxii, 19, 
 with Is. ix, 6. Ps. cii, 24, 27, with 
 Heb. xiii, 8. Jer. xxiii, 24, with 
 Eph. i, 20, 23. 1st Sam. ii, 5, 
 with John xiv, 30. If Jesus 
 Christ be God, the ascription of 
 the perfections of God to him is 
 proper ; if he be not, the apostles 
 are chargeable with weakness or 
 wickedness, and either would de- 
 stroy their claim of inspiration. — 
 4. Consider the -works that are 
 ascribed to fesus Christy and com,- 
 pare them -with the claims of fe- 
 hovah. Is creation a work of God ? 
 " By Jesus Christ were all things 
 created," Col. i, 16. Is preser- 
 vation a work of God ? " Jesus 
 Christ upholds all things by the 
 word of his power," Heb. i, 3. Is 
 the mission of the prophets a work 
 of God ? Jesus Christ is the Lord 
 God of the holy prophets ; and it 
 was the Spirit of Christ which 
 testified to them beforehand the 
 sufferings of Christ, and the glory 
 that should follow, Neh. ix, 3C. 
 Rev. xxii, 6, 16. 1st Pet. i, 11. 
 
JES 
 
 380 
 
 JES 
 
 is the salvation of sinners a work \\ 
 of God ? Christ is the Saviour of li 
 all that believe, John iv, 42. Heb. 
 y. 9. Is the forgiveness of sin a 
 work of God ? The Son of Man 
 hath power to forgive sins, Matt. 
 ix, 6. The same might be said 
 of the illumination of the mind ; 
 the sanctification of the heart ; the 
 resurrection of the dead j the judg- 
 ing of the world ; the glorification 
 of the righteous ; the eternal pu- 
 nishment of the wicked ; all which 
 works, in one part of scripture, are 
 ascribed to God -, and all which, in 
 another part of scripture, are 
 ascribed to Jesus Christ. Now, if 
 Jesus Christ be not God, into what 
 contradictions thege writers must 
 fall ! They contradict one ano- 
 ther; thev contradict themselves. 
 Either Jesus Christ is God, or their 
 conduct is unaccountable. — 5. Cofi- 
 sider that divine worship ivhich the 
 scriptures claim for Jesus Christ. 
 It is a command of God, " Thou 
 shalt worship the Lord thy God, 
 and him only shalt thou serve," 
 Matt, iv, 20. Yet the scriptures 
 command " all the angels of God 
 to worship Christ," Heb. i, 6. 
 Twenty times, in the New Testa- 
 ment, grace, mercy, and peace, are 
 implored of Christ, together with 
 the Father. Baptism is an act of 
 worship performed in his name. 
 Matt, xxviii. 19. Swearing is an 
 act of worship ; a solemn appeal 
 in important cases to the omnisci- 
 ent Gcd J and this appeal is made 
 to Christ, Rom. ix, 1. The com- 
 mitting of the soul to God at death 
 is a sacred act of worship : in the 
 performance of this act. Stephen 
 died, saying, Lord Jesus, receive 
 my spirit, Actsvii, 59. The Vvhole 
 
 host of heaven worship him that 
 sitteth upon the throne, and the 
 lamb, for ever and ever. Rev. v, 
 13, 14. — 6. Observe the application 
 of Old Testament passages zvhich 
 belong to fehovah.^ to Jesus in the 
 Nexv Testainerit^ and try whether 
 you can acquit the xvriters of the 
 Nexu Testament of nnsreprese7ita- 
 tion., on supposition that fesus is 
 not God. St. Paul says, " We shall 
 all stand before the judgment seat 
 of Christ." That we shall all be 
 judged, we allow ; but how do 
 you prove that Christ shall be our 
 Judge ? Because, adds the apostle, 
 it is written, " As I live, saith the 
 Lord, every knee shall bow to me, 
 and every tongue shall confess to 
 God," Rom. xiv, 10, 11, with Is. 
 xlv, 20, &c. What sort of rea- 
 soning is this ? How does this ap- 
 ply to Christ, if Christ be not God ? 
 And how dare a man quote one of 
 the most guarded passages in the 
 Old Testament for such a purpose ? 
 John the Baptist is he who was 
 spoken of by the prophet Esaias, 
 saying, prepare ye the way. Matt, 
 iii, 1, 3. Isaiah saith. Prepare 
 ye the way of the lord j make 
 straight a highway for our god. 
 Is. xl, 3, &c. But what has John 
 the Baptist to do with all this 
 description if Jesus Christ be only 
 a m.essenger of Jehovah, and not 
 Jehovah himself .? for Isaiah saith. 
 Prepare ye the way of Jehovah. 
 Compare also Zech. xii, 10, with 
 John xix, 34, 37. Is. vi, with John 
 xii, 39. Is. viii, 13, 14, with 1st 
 Pet. ii, 8. Allow Jesus Christ to 
 be God, and all these applications 
 are proper. If we deny it, the 
 New Testament, v/e must own, is 
 one of the most unaccountable 
 
J E S 
 
 ' O 1 
 >6L 
 
 J !■: s 
 
 compositions in the world, calcu- 
 lated to make easy things hard to 
 be understood. — 7. Examine ivhe- 
 ther events have justified that no- 
 tion of christia/iity ivhich the pro- 
 phets gave their countrymen of it, 
 if Jesu?> Christ be not God. The j 
 calling of the Gentiles from thei 
 worship of idols to the worship of 
 the one living and true God, isi 
 one event, which, the prophets said, j 
 the coming of the Messiah should 
 bring to pass. If Jesus Christ be 
 God, the event answers the pro- 
 phecy ; if not, the event is not 
 come to pass, for Christians in ge- 
 neral worship Jesus, which is idol- 
 atry, if he be not God, ii, iii, and 
 iv, of Isaiah. Zeph. ii, 11. Zech. 
 xiv, 9. The primitive Christians 
 certainly worshipped Him as God. j 
 Pliny, who was appointed go- 
 vernor of the province of Bythynia 
 by the emperor Trajan, in the 
 year 103, examined and punished 
 several Christians for their non- 
 conformity to the established reli- 
 gion of the empire. In a letter to 
 the emperor, giving an account of 
 his conduct, he declares, " they 
 affirmed the whole of their guilt, 
 or their error, was, that they met 
 on a certain stated day, before it 
 was light, and addressed them- 
 selves in a form of prayer to Christ 
 as to some God." Thus Pliny 
 meant to infoi-m the emperor that 
 Christians ivorshipped Christ. Justin 
 Martyr, who lived about 150 
 years after Christ, asserts, that the 
 Christians worshipped the Father, 
 the Son, and the Spirit. Besides 
 his testimony, there are number- 
 less passages in the fathers that 
 attest the truth in question ; espe- 
 cially in Tcrtiillian, Hyppolitus, 
 
 Felix, &c. Mahomet, who lived 
 in the sixth century, considers 
 Christians in the light of infidels 
 and idolaters throughout the Ko- 
 ran ; and, indeed, had not Chris- 
 tians worshipped Christ, he could 
 have had no shadow of a pretence to 
 reform their religion, and to bring 
 them back to the worship of one 
 God. That the far greater part of 
 CIiri.-itians have continued to wor- 
 ship Jesus, will not be doubted \ 
 now, if Christ be not God, then 
 the Christians have been guilty of 
 idolatry j and if they have been 
 guilty of idolatry, then it must ap- 
 pear remarkable that the apostles, 
 who foretold the corruptions of 
 Christianity, 2d Tim. iii, should 
 never have foreseen or warned 
 us against worshipping Christ. In 
 no part of the scripture is there 
 the least intimation of Christians 
 falling into idolatry in this respect. 
 Surely if this had been an error 
 which was so universally to pre- 
 vail, those scriptures which are 
 able to make us wise unto salva- 
 tion would have left us warning 
 on so important a topic. Lastly, 
 consider what fiumberless passages 
 of scripture have no sense^ or a very 
 absurd one^ if Jesus Christ be a mere 
 man. See Rom. i, 3. 1st Tim. iii, 
 16. John xiv, 9. John xvii, 5. 
 Phil, ii, 6. Ps. ex. 1, 4. 1st Tim. 
 i, 2. Acts xxii, 12. and Acts ix, 17. 
 But though Jesus Christ be God, 
 yet for our sakes, and for our sal- 
 vation, he took upon him human 
 nature ; this is therefore called his 
 humanity. Marcion, Appelles, Va~ 
 lentinus, and many other heretics, 
 denied Christ's humanity, as some 
 have done since. But that Christ 
 had a true human body, and net 
 
JE S 
 
 !82 
 
 JES 
 
 a mere human shape, or a body 
 that was not real flesh, is very evi- 
 dent from the sacred scriptures. Is. 
 vii, 12. Lujce xxiv, 39. Heb. ii, 
 14. Luke i, 42. Phil, ii, 7, 8. John 
 i, 14. Besides, he ate, drank, slept, 
 walked, worked, and was weary. 
 He groaned, bled, and died upon 
 the cross. It was necessary that 
 
 ject for meditation, exhibits to us 
 an example of the most perfect 
 and delightful kind. 
 
 *' Here," as an elegant writer 
 observes, " every grace that can 
 recommend' religion, and every 
 virtue that can adorn humanity, 
 are so blended, as to excite our 
 admiration, and engage our lovcj 
 
 he should thus be human, in order i| In abstaining from licentious plea- 
 to fulfil the Divine designs and j sures, he was equally free from 
 prophecies respecting the shedding | ostentatious singularity and churl- 
 of his blood for our salvation, Ij ish sullenne^s. When he com- 
 which could not have been done, [ plied with the established ceremo- 
 had he not possessed a real body. ; nies of his countrymen, that com- 
 It is also as evident that he as- i; pliance was not accompanied by 
 sumed our whole nature, soul as | any marks of bigotry or super- 
 well as body. If he had not, he |j stition : when he opposed their 
 
 could not have been capable of 
 that sore amazement and sorrow 
 unto death, and all those other 
 acts of grieving, feeling, rejoicing, 
 &c., ascribed to him. It was not, 
 however, our sinful nature he as- 
 sumed, but the likeness of it, Rom. 
 viii, 2. for he was without sin, 
 and did no iniquity. His human 
 nature must not be confounded 
 with his divine ; for though there 
 be an union of natures in Christ, 
 yet there is not a mixture or con- 
 fusion of them or their properties. 
 His humanity is not changed into 
 his deity, nor his deity into hu- 
 manity ; but the two natures are 
 distinct in one person. Kov/ this 
 union exists is above our compre- 
 hension ; and, indeed, if we can- 
 not explain how cur own bodies 
 and souls are united, it: is not to be 
 supposed we can explain this asto- 
 nishing mystery of God manifest 
 in the flesh. See Mediator. 
 
 We now proceed to" the charac- 
 ter of Jesus Christ, v/hich, v/hile 
 it aitords us the most pleasing sub- 
 
 rooted prepossessions, his opposi- 
 tion was perfectly exempt from 
 the captious petulance of a con- 
 troversialist, and the undistinguish- 
 ing zeal of an innovator. His 
 courage was active in encounter- 
 ing the dangers to which he was 
 exposed, and passive under the 
 aggravated calamities which the 
 malice of his foes heaped upon 
 him : his fortitude was remote 
 from every appearance of rashness, 
 and his patience was equally ex- 
 empt from abject pusillanimity : 
 he was firm ^vithout obstinacy, 
 and humble without meanness. — 
 Though possessed of the most un- 
 bounded power, we behold him 
 living continually in a state of vo- 
 luntary humiliation and poverty ; 
 ! we see him daily exposed to al- 
 most every species of want and 
 distress \ afflicted without a com- 
 forter, persecuted without a pro- 
 tector ; and wandering about, ac- 
 cording to his own pathetic com- 
 plaint, because he had not nvhere 
 to lay his head. Though regard- 
 
JES 
 
 iS3 
 
 JES 
 
 less of the pleasures and some- 
 times destitute of the comforts of 
 life, he never provokes our disgust 
 by the sourness of the misanthrope, 
 .or our contempt by the inactivity 
 of the recluse. His attention to 
 the welfare of mankind was evi- 
 denced not only by his salutary in- 
 junctions, but by his readiness to 
 embrace every opportunity of re- 
 lieving their distress, and adminis- 
 tering to their wants. In every 
 period and circumstance of his 
 life, we behold dignity and ele- 
 vation blended with love and pity ; 
 something, which, though it awa- 
 kens our admiration, yet attracts 
 our confidence. We see pov/er ; 
 but it is a power which is rather 
 our security than our dread ; a 
 power softened with tenderness, 
 and soothing while it awes. With 
 all 'the gentleness of a meek and 
 lowly mind, we behold an heroic 
 firmness, which no terrors could 
 shake, and no opposition could re- 
 strain. In the private scenes of 
 life, and in the public occupa- 
 tions of his ministry ; whether the 
 object of admiration or ridicule 
 of love, or of persecution ; whe- 
 ther welcomed with hosannas, or 
 insulted with anathemas, we still 
 see him pursuing with unwearied 
 constancy the same end, and pre- 
 serving the same integrity of life 
 and manners." White s Sermons, 
 ser. 5. 
 
 ** He sets an example," says 
 bishop Newcome, '= of the most 
 perfect piety to God, and of the 
 most extensive benevolence and 
 the most tender compassion to 
 men. He does not merely exhibit 
 a life of strict justice, but of over- 
 flowing benignity. His temper- 
 
 ance has not the dark shades of 
 austerity ; his meekness does not 
 degenerate into apathy ; his hu- 
 mility is signal, amidst a splen- 
 dour of qualities more than hu- 
 man J his fortitude Is eminent and 
 exemplary in enduring the most 
 formidable external evils, and the 
 sharpest actual suiFerlngs. His pa- 
 tience is invincible ; his resiraa- 
 tlon entire and absolute. Truth 
 and sincerity shine throughout his 
 whole conduct. Though of hea- 
 venly descent, he shev/s obedience 
 and affection to his earthly pa- 
 rents •, he approves, loves, and 
 attaches himself to amiable quali- 
 ties in the human race ; he re- 
 spects authority, religious and. ci- 
 vil J and he evidences regard for 
 his country, by promoting Its 
 most essential good in a painful 
 ministry dedicated to Its service, 
 by deploring its calamities, and by 
 laying down his life for its bene- 
 fit. Every one of his eminent vir- 
 tues Is regulated by consummate 
 prudence ; and he both wins the 
 love of his friends, and extorts the 
 ap'probation and wonder of his 
 enemies. Never v/as a character at 
 the same time so commanding and 
 natural, so resplendent and pleas- 
 ing, so amiable and venerable. 
 There is a peculiar contrast in It 
 between an awful greatness, dig- 
 nity, and majesty, and the most 
 conciliating loveliness, tenderness, 
 and softness. He now converses 
 with prophets, lav/-glvers, and 
 angels ; and the next Instant he 
 meekly endures the dulness of his 
 disciples, and the blasphemies and 
 rage of the multitude. He now 
 calls himself greater than Solo- 
 mon ; one who can command le- 
 
JE S 
 
 584 
 
 J E W 
 
 glons of angels ; the giver of life 
 to whomsoever he pleaseth ; the 
 Son of God, w^ho shall sit on his 
 glorious throne to judge the world. 
 At other times we find him em- 
 bra<rlng young children ; not lift- 
 ing up his voice in the streets, not 
 breaking the bruised reed, nor 
 quqnching the smoaking flax ; cal- 
 ling his disciples not servants, 
 but; friends and brethren, and 
 comforting them v/ith an exube- 
 rant and parental affection. Let 
 lis pause an instant, and fill our 
 minds with the idea of one who 
 knew all things^ heavenly and 
 earthly ; searched and laid open 
 the inmost recesses of the heart ; 
 rectified every prejudice, and re- 
 moved every mistake of a moral 
 znd religious kind j by a word 
 exercised a sovereignty over all 
 r.ature, penetrated the hidden 
 events of futurity, gave promises 
 of admission into a happy immor- 
 tality, had "che keys of life and 
 <ieaih, claimed an union with the 
 Father ; and yet was pious, mild, 
 gentle, humble, affable, social, 
 benevolent, friendly, and affec- 
 tionate. Such a character is fair- 
 er than the morning star. Each 
 separate virtue is made stronger by 
 opposition and contrast : and the 
 union of so many virtues forms a 
 brightness which fitly represents 
 the glory of that God ' who in- 
 habiteth light inaccessible."* See 
 Robinso?}'s Plea for the Divinity of 
 Christy from which many of the 
 above remarks are taken ; Bishop 
 B/ill's ^Judgment of the Catholic 
 Church ; Abhaciie^ TVaterJand^ Haw- 
 ker, and Hej!f on the Divinity of 
 Christ ; Dr. jfamiesou's Vieiv of the 
 Ijocirine of ^-cri-p^.tire^ and th,: Pri- 
 
 mitive Faith concerning the Deity 
 of Christ ; Owen on tJ?e Glory of 
 Christ's Person ,• Hurrion's Christ 
 Crucified; and Bishop Newcom^s 
 Observations on our Lord's Con- 
 duct. 
 
 JEWS, a name derived from the 
 patriarch Judah, and given to the 
 descendants of Abraham by his 
 eldest son Isaac. We shall here 
 present the reader with as com- 
 prehensive a view of this singular 
 people as we can, 
 
 1. Jews, history of the. — The Air 
 mighty promised Abraham that he 
 would render his seed extremely 
 numerous : this promise began to 
 be fulfilled in Jacob's twelve sons. 
 In about tv/o hundred and fifteen 
 years they increased in Egypt from 
 seventy to between two and three 
 millions, men, women, and chil- 
 dren. While Joseph lived, they 
 were kindly used by the Egyptian 
 monarchs ; but soon after, from a 
 I suspicion that they would become 
 too strong for the natives, they 
 were condemned to slavery ; but 
 the more they were oppressed, the 
 more they grew. The midwives, 
 and others, were therefore ordered 
 to murder every male infant at 
 the time of its birth ; but they 
 shifting the horrible task, every 
 body was then ordered to destroy 
 the male children wherever they 
 found them. After they had been 
 thus oppressed for about one hun- 
 dred years, and on the very day 
 that finished the four hundred and 
 thirtieth year from God's first pro- 
 mise of a seed to Abraham, and 
 about four hundred years after 
 the birth of Isaac, God,- by terri- 
 ble plagues on the Egyptians, 
 obliged them to. liberate tlie He- . 
 
E W 
 
 385 
 
 JEW 
 
 brews under the direction of Mo- 
 ses and Aaron. Pharaoh pursued 
 them with a mighty army; but 
 the Lord opened a passage for them 
 through the Red Sea ; and the 
 Egyptians, in attempting to follow 
 them, were drowned. After this, 
 we find them in a dry and barren 
 desert, without any provision for 
 their journey ; but God supplied 
 them with water from a rock, 
 and manna and quails from hea- 
 ven. A little after they routed 
 the Amalekites, who fell on their 
 rear. In the wilderness God de- 
 livered to them the law, and con- 
 firmed the authority of Moses. 
 Three thousand of them were cut 
 off for worshipping the golden calf; 
 and for loathing the manna, they 
 were punished with a month's 
 eating of flesh, till a plague brake 
 out among them ; and for their 
 rash belief of the ten wicked spies, 
 and their contempt of the pro- 
 mised land, God had entirely de- 
 stroyed them, had not Moses's 
 prayers prevented. They were 
 condemned, however, to wander 
 in the desert till the end of forty 
 years, till that whole generation, 
 except Caleb and Joshua, should 
 be cut off by death. Here they 
 were often punished for their re- 
 bellion, idolatry, whoredom, &c. 
 God's marvellous favours, how- 
 ever, were still continued in con- 
 ducting and supplying them with 
 meat ; and the streams issuing 
 from the rock of Meribah, fol- 
 lowed their camp about thirty-nine 
 years, and their clothes never 
 waxed old. On their entrance 
 -into Canaan, God ordered them 
 to cut ofF every idolatrous Ca- 
 naanite ; but tlaey spared vast num- 
 VoL. I. 3 D 
 
 bers of them, who enticed them 
 to wickedness, and were soiTie- 
 times God's rod to punish them. 
 For many ages they had enjoyed 
 little prosperity, and often relapsed 
 into awful idolatry, worshipping 
 Baalim, Ashtaroth. Micha and 
 the Danites introduced it not long 
 after Joshua's death. About this 
 time the lewdness of the men of 
 Gibeah occasioned a war of the 
 eleven tribes against their brethren 
 of Benjamin : they were twice 
 routed by the Benjamites, and 
 forty thousand of them. were slain. 
 In the third, however, all the 
 Benjamites were slain, except six 
 hundred. Vexed for the loss of 
 a tribe, the other Hebrews pro- 
 vided wives for these six hundred, 
 at the expense of slaying most of 
 the inhabitants of Jaljesh Gilead. 
 Their relapses into idolatry also 
 brought on them repeated turn's 
 of slavery from the heathen among 
 or around them. See books of 
 Judges and Samuel. Having been 
 governed by Judges for about 
 three hundred and forty years, af- 
 ter the death of Joshua they took 
 a fancy to have a king. Saul was 
 their first sovereign, under whose 
 reign they had perpetual struggles 
 with the Ammonites, Moabites, 
 and Philistines. After about seven 
 years^ struggling between the 
 eleven tribes that clave to Ish- 
 bosheth, the son of Saul, and the 
 tribe of Judah, which erected 
 themselves into a kingdom under 
 David, David became sole mo- 
 narch. Under him they subdued 
 their neighbours, the Philistines, 
 Edomites, and others ; and took 
 possession of the whole dominion 
 which had bsen promised them, 
 
JEW 
 
 386 
 
 J E \V 
 
 from the border of Egypt to the 
 banks of the Euphrates. Under 
 Solomon they had little war : 
 when he died, ten of the Hebrevv' 
 tribes formed a kingdom of Israel, 
 or Ephraim for themselves, under 
 Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, in 
 opposition to the kingdom of Ju- 
 dah and Benjamin, ruled by the 
 family of David. The kingdom of 
 Israel, Ephraim, or the ten tribes, 
 had never so much as one pious 
 king : idolatry was always their 
 established religion. The kingdom 
 of Judah had pious and wicked 
 sovereigns by turns, though they 
 often relapsed into idolatry, which 
 brought great distress upon them. 
 See books of Samuel, Kings, and 
 Chronicles. Not only the kingdom 
 of Israel, but that of Judah, was 
 brought to the very brink of ruin 
 after the death of Jehosophat. 
 After various changes, sometimes 
 for the better, and sometimes for 
 the worse, the kingdom of Israel 
 was ruined, two hundred and fifty- 
 four years after its erection, by So, 
 king of Egypt, and Halmanaser, 
 king of Assyria, who invaded it, 
 3nd destroyed most of the people. 
 Judah was invaded by Sennache- 
 rib ; but Hezekiah's piety, and Isai- 
 ah's prayer, were the means of their 
 preservation : but under Mannas- 
 seh, the Jews abandoned themselves 
 to horrid impiety ; for which they 
 were punished by Esarhaddon, king 
 of Assyria, who invaded and re- 
 duced the kingdom, and carried 
 Mannasseh prisoner to Babylon, 
 ^lannasseh repented, and the Lord 
 brought him back to his kingdom, 
 where he promoted the reforma- 
 tion ; but his son Amon defaced 
 
 all. Josiah hovvxver again pro- 
 moted it, and carried it to a hiph- 
 er pitch than in the reigns of Da- 
 vid and Solomon. After Josiah 
 was slain by Pharaoh Necho, king 
 of Egypt, the people returned to 
 idolatry, and God gave them up 
 to servitude to the Egyptians and 
 the Chaldeans. The fate of their 
 kings Jehoaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoia- 
 chin, and Zedekiah, was unhappy. 
 Provoked by Zecekiah's treachery, 
 Nebuchadnezzar invaded the king- 
 dom, murdered vast numbers and 
 reduced them to captivity. Thus 
 the kingdom of Judah was ruined, 
 A. M. 341 C, about three hundred 
 and eighty-eight years after its 
 division from that of the ten tribes. 
 In the seventieth year from the 
 begun captivity, the Jews, accord- 
 ing to the edict of Cyrus, king 
 of Persia, who had overturned the 
 empire of Chaldea, returned to 
 their own country. See Nehemiah, 
 Ezra. Vast numbers of them, who 
 had agreeable settlements, remain- 
 ed in Babylon. After their return 
 they rebuilt the temple and city of 
 Jerusalem, put away their strange 
 wives, and renewed their covenant 
 with God. 
 
 About 34£0, or 3546, they es- 
 caped the ruin designed them by 
 Haman. About 3653, Darius 
 Ochus, king of Persia, ravaged 
 part of Judea, and carried off a 
 great m.any prisoners. When Alex- 
 ander was in Canaan, about 3670, 
 he confirmed to them all their 
 privileges ; and, having built Alex- 
 andria, he settled vast numbers 
 of them there. About fourteen 
 years after, Ptolemy Lagus, the 
 Greek king of Egypt, ravaged 
 
JEW 
 
 387 
 
 JEW 
 
 Judea, and carried one hundred 
 thousand prisoners to Egypt, but 
 used them kindly, and assigned 
 them many places of trust. About 
 eight years after, he transported 
 another multitude of Jews to E- 
 gypt, and gave them considerable 
 privdeges. About the same time, 
 Seleucus Nicator, having built 
 about thirty nev*'- cities in A^ia, 
 settled in them as many Jews as 
 he could; and Ptolemy Philadel- 
 phus, of Egypt, about 3720, 
 bought the freedom of all the Jew- 
 ish slaves in Egypt. Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, about 3834, enraged 
 with them for rejoicing at the re- 
 port of his death, and for the pe- 
 culiar form of their worship, in 
 his return from Egypt, forced his 
 way into Jerusalem, and murder- 
 ed forty thousand of them ; and 
 about two years after he ordered 
 his troops to pillage the cities of 
 Judea, and murder the men, and sell 
 the women and children for slaves. 
 Multitudes were killed, and ten 
 thousand prisoners carried off: the 
 temple was dedicated to Olym- 
 pius, an idol of Greece, and the 
 Jews exposed to the basest treat- 
 ment. Mattathias, the priest, with 
 his sons, chiefly Judas, Jonathan, 
 and Simon, who were called Mac- 
 cabees, bravely fought for their 
 religion and liberties. Judas, who 
 succeeded his father about 3840, 
 gave Nicanor and the king's troops 
 a terrible defeat, regained the tem- 
 ple, and dedicated it anew, restored 
 the daily worship, and repaired Je- 
 rusalem, which was almost in a 
 ruinous heap. After his death, 
 Jonathan and Simon, -hh brethren, 
 successively succeeded him ; and 
 both wisely and bravely promoted 
 the welfare of the church and sta^c. 
 
 Simon was succeeded by his soil 
 Hircanus, who subdued Idumea, 
 and reduced the Samaritans. In 
 3899 he was succeeded by his 
 son Janneus who reduced the 
 Philistines, the country of Moab, 
 Ammon, Gilead, and part of Ara- 
 bia. Under these three reigns 
 alone the Jevvish nation was inde- 
 pendent after the captivity. After 
 the death of the widow of Janneus-, 
 who governed nine year?, the 
 nation was almost ruined with ci- 
 vil broils, in 3939, Aristobulus 
 invited the Rornans to. assist him 
 against .Hircanus, his elder bro- 
 ther. The country was quickly- 
 reduced, and Jerusalem took by 
 force ; and Pompey, and a num- 
 ber of his officers, pushed thsir 
 way into the Sanctuary, if not 
 into the Holy of Holies, to view 
 the furniture thereof. Nine years 
 after, Crassus, the Roman gene- 
 ral pillaged the temple of its va- 
 luables. After Judea had for 
 more than thirty years been a 
 scene of ravage and blood, and 
 twenty-four of which had been 
 oppressed by Herod the Great, 
 Herod got himself installed in the 
 kingdom. About twenty years be- 
 fore our Saviour's birth, he, 
 with the Jews' consent, began to 
 build the temple. About this 
 time the Jews had hopes of the 
 Messiah ; and about A. M. 4000 
 Christ actually came, whom Herod 
 (instigated by fear of losing his 
 throne) sought to murder. The 
 Jews, however, a few -excepted, 
 rejected the Messiah, and put him 
 to death. The sceptre was now 
 v/holly departed from Judah ; and 
 Judea, about twenty-seven years 
 before, reduced to a province. The 
 jQ'x?, since that time, h-ave been 
 
JEW 
 
 
 JEW 
 
 stattered, contemned, persecuted, 
 and enslaved among all nations, not 
 mixed v/ith any in the common 
 manner, but have remained as a 
 body distinct by themselves. 
 
 2. Jeius' sentiments of. The 
 Jews commonly reckoned but thir- 
 teen articles of their faith. Mai- 
 monides, a famous Jewish rabbi, 
 reduced them to this number when 
 he' drew up their confession about 
 the end of the eleventh century, 
 and it was generally received. All 
 the Jews are obliged to live and 
 4ie in the profession of these thir- 
 teen articles, which are as fol- 
 low : — I . That God is the creator 
 of all things j that he guides and 
 supports all creatures ; that he 
 has done every thing 5 and that he 
 still acts, and shall act during the 
 whole eternity. — 2. That God is 
 one : there is no unity like his. He 
 alone hath been, is, and shall be 
 eternally our God. — 3. That God 
 is incorporeal, and cannot have 
 any material properties ; and no 
 corporeal essence can be com- 
 pared with him. 4. That God is 
 the beginning and end of all 
 things, and shall eternally s.vlfesist, 
 — 5. That God alone ought to be 
 worshipped, and none beside him 
 is to be adored. — 6. That what- 
 ever has been taught by the pro- 
 phets is true. — 7. That Moses is 
 the head and father of all contem- 
 porary doctors, of those who lived 
 before or shall live after him. — 8. 
 That the law was given by Moses. 
 — -9. That the law shall never 
 be altered, and that God will give 
 no other. — 10. That God knows 
 all the thoughts and actions of 
 men. — 11. Ihat Gcd \v;ill regard 
 the works of all thote v/ho have 
 
 performed what he commands, 
 and punish those who have trans- 
 gressed his laws. — 12. That the 
 Messiah is to come, though he 
 tarry a long time.— 13. That 
 there shall be a resurrection of the 
 dead when God shall think fit. 
 
 The modern Jews adhere still as 
 closely to the Mosaic dispensation, 
 as their dispersed and despised 
 condition will permit them. Their 
 service consists chiefly in read- 
 ing the law in their synagogues, 
 together with a variety of pray- 
 ers. They use no sacrifices since 
 the destruction of the temple. 
 They repeat blessings and par- 
 ticular praises to God, not only 
 in their prayers, but on all acci- 
 dental occasions, and in almost all 
 their actions. They go to pray- 
 ers three times a day in their 
 synagogues. Their sermons are 
 not made in Hebrew, which few 
 of them now perfectly understand, 
 but in the language of the country 
 where they reside. They are for- 
 bidden all vain swearing, and pro- 
 nouncing any of the names of God 
 without necessity. They abstain 
 from meats prohibited by the Le- 
 vitical law j for which reason, 
 whatever they eat must be dressed 
 by Jews, and after a manner pe- 
 culiar to themselves. As soon as 
 a child can speak, they teach him 
 I to read and translate the Bible into 
 the language of the country where 
 they live. In general they observe 
 the same ceremonies which were 
 practised by their ancestors in the 
 celebration of the passover. They 
 'acknowledge a two-fold law of 
 God, a written and an unwritten 
 one ; the former is contained in 
 the Pentateuch, or five books of 
 
J E W 
 
 589 
 
 J E W 
 
 Moses ; the latter, they pretend, 
 was delivered by God to Moses, 
 and handed down from him by 
 oral tradition, and now to be re- 
 ceived as of equal authority with 
 the former. They assert the per- 
 petuity of their law, together with 
 its perfection. They deny the 
 accomplishment of the prophecies 
 rn the person of Christ ; alleging 
 that the Messiah is not yet come, 
 and that he will make his appear- 
 ance with the greatest worldly 
 pomp and grandeur, subduing all 
 nations before him, and subjecting 
 them to the house of Judah. 
 Since the prophets have predicted 
 his mean condition and sufferings, 
 they confidently talk of two Mes- 
 siahs ; one Ben-Ephraim,, whom 
 they grant to be a person of a 
 mean and afflicted condition in 
 this world ; and the other, Ben- 
 David, who shall be a victorious 
 and powerful prince. 
 
 The Jews pray for the souls of 
 the dead, because they suppose 
 there is a paradise for the souls of 
 good men, where they enjoy glory 
 in the presence of God. They be- 
 lieve that the souls of the wicked 
 are tormented in hell with fire and 
 other punishments ; that some are 
 condemned to be punished in this 
 manner for ever, while others con- 
 tinue only for a limited time ; and 
 this they call purgatory., which is 
 not different from hell in respect 
 of the place, but of the duration. 
 They suppose no Jew, unless guilty 
 of heresy, or certain crimes spe- 
 cified by the rabbins, shall con- 
 tinue in purgatory above a twelve- 
 month ; anil, that there are but 
 few who suffer eternal punish- 
 ment. 
 
 Almost all the modern Jews are 
 pharisees, and are as much at- 
 tached to tradition as their ances- 
 tors were; and assert that whoever 
 rejects the oral law deserves death. 
 Hence they entertain an implaca- 
 ble hatred to the Caraites, who 
 adhere to the text of Moses, re- 
 jecting the rabbinistical interpre- 
 tation. See Caraites. 
 
 There are still some of the sad- 
 ducees in Africa, and in several 
 other places ; but they are few in 
 number : at . least there are but 
 very few who declare openly for 
 these opinions. 
 
 There are to this day some re- 
 mains of the ancient sect of the 
 Samaritans, who are zealous for 
 the law of Moses, but are despised 
 by the Jews, because they receive 
 only the Pentateuch, and observe 
 different ceremonies from theirs. 
 They declare they are no saddu- 
 cees, but acknowledge the spiritu- 
 ality and immortality of the "soul. 
 There are numbers of this sect at 
 Gaza, Damascus, Grand Cairo, 
 and in some other places of the 
 east -, but especially at Sichem, 
 nowcalled Napalouse, whichis risen 
 out of the ruins of the ancient 
 Samaria, where they sacrificed not 
 many years ago, having a place 
 for this purpose on Mount Gen- 
 zim. 
 
 David Levi, a learned Jew, who 
 in 1796, published "Dissertations 
 on the Prophecies of the Old Tes- 
 tament," observes in that work, 
 that deism and infidelity have 
 mude such l.irge strides in the 
 world, that they have at length 
 reached even to the Jewish nation; 
 many of whom r.re at this time so 
 i greatly infected with scepticism, by 
 
JEW 
 
 190 
 
 J E \V 
 
 reading Bolingbroke, Hume, Vol- 
 taire, &c., that they scarcely be- 
 lieve in a revelation 5 much less 
 have they any hope in their future 
 restoration. 
 
 3. Jews.) calamities of. — All his- 
 tory cannot furnish us with a 
 parallel to the calamities and 
 miseries of the Jews ; rapine and 
 murder, famine and pestilence, 
 within ; fire and sword, and all 
 the terrors of war, without. Our 
 Saviour wept at the foresight of 
 these calamities ; and it is almost 
 impossible for persons of any hu- 
 manity to read the account without 
 being affected. The predictions 
 concerning them were remarkable, 
 and the calamities that came upon 
 them were the greatest the world 
 ever saw, Deut. xxviii. Deut. 
 xxix. Matt. xxiv. Now, what 
 heinous sin was it that could be 
 the cause of such heavy judg- 
 ments ? Can any other be assigned 
 than what the scripture assigns ? 
 1st Thess. ii, 15, i6. « They both 
 killed the Lord Jesus and their 
 own prophets, "and persecuted the 
 apostles ;" and so filled up their 
 sins, and wrath came upon them 
 to the uttermost. It is hardly 
 possible to consider the nature and 
 extent of their suirerings, and not 
 conclude the Jew's own impreca- 
 tion to be singularly fulfilled upon 
 them, Matt, xxvii, 25. " His 
 blood be on us and our children." 
 At Cesarea tv/enty thousand of the 
 Jews were killed by the Syrians in 
 their mutual broils. At Damas- 
 cus ten thousand unarmed Jews 
 vv'ere killed ; and at Bethshan the 
 Heathen inhabitants caused their 
 Jewish neighbours to assist them 
 against their brethren, and then 
 
 murdered thirteen thousand of 
 these inhabitants. At Alexandria 
 the Jews murdered multitudes of 
 the Heathen, and were murdered 
 in their turn to about fifty thou- 
 sand. The Romans under Ves- 
 pasian invaded the country, and 
 took the cities of Galilee, Cho- 
 razen, Bethsaida, Capernaum, &c., 
 where Christ had been espe- 
 cially rejected, and murdered 
 numbers of the inhabitants. At 
 Jerusalem the scene was most 
 wretched of all. At the passover, 
 when there might be two or three 
 millions of people in the city, the 
 Romans surrounded it with troops, 
 trenches, and walls, that none 
 might escape. The three different 
 factions within murdered one an- 
 other. Titus, one of the most mer- 
 ciful generals that ever breathed, 
 did all in his power to persuade 
 them to an advantageous surren- 
 der, but they scorned every pro- 
 posal. The multitudes of unbn- 
 ried carcasses corrupted the air, 
 and produced a pestilence. The 
 people fed on one another; and 
 even ladies, it is said, broiled their 
 sucking infants, and ate them. 
 After a siege of six months, the city 
 was taken. They murdered al- 
 most every Jew they met with. 
 Titus v/as bent to save the temple, 
 but could not : there were six thou- 
 sand Jews V, ho had taken shelter in 
 it, all burnt or murdered ! The 
 outcries of the Jews, when they 
 saw it, was most dreadful : the 
 whole city, except three towers 
 and a small part of the wall, was 
 razed to the ground, and the foun- 
 dations of the temple and other 
 places were ploughed up. Scon 
 ;.fter the forts of Herodian and 
 
JEW 
 
 391 
 
 JEW 
 
 Macheron were taken, the garri- 
 son of Massada murdered them- 
 selves rather than surrender. At 
 Jerusalem alone, it is said, one 
 million one hundred thousand 
 perished by sword, famine, and 
 pestilence. In other places we 
 hear of two hundred and fifty 
 thousand that were cut off, besides 
 vast numbers sent into Egypt to 
 labour as slaves. About fifty years 
 after, the Jews murdered about 
 five hundred thousand of the Ro- 
 man subjects, for which they were 
 severely punished by Trajan. A- 
 bout 130, one Barocaba pretended 
 that he was the Messiah, and rais- 
 ed a Jewish army of two hundred 
 thousand, who murdered all the 
 Heathens and Christians who came 
 in their way ; but he was defeated 
 by Adrian's forces. In this war, 
 it is said, about sixty thousand 
 Jews were slain, and perished. 
 Adrian built a city on Mount Cal- 
 vary, and erected a marble statue 
 of swine over the gate that led to 
 Bethlehem. No Jew was allowed 
 to enter the city, or to look to it 
 at a distance, under pain of death. 
 In 360 they began to rebuild their 
 city and temple ; but a terrible 
 earthquake and flames of fire 
 issuing from the earth, killed the 
 workmen, and scattered their ma- 
 terials. Nor till the seventh cen- 
 tury durst they so much as creep 
 over the rubbish to bewail it, 
 without bribing the guards. In 
 the third, fourth, and fifth cen- 
 turies they were many of them fu- 
 riously harassed and murdered. 
 In the sixth century twenty thou- 
 sand of them were slain, and as 
 many taken and sold for slaves.. 
 In 602 they were severely punish- 
 
 ed for their horrible massacre of 
 the Christians at Antioch. In. 
 Spain, in 700, they were ordered to 
 be enslaved. In the eighth and 
 ninth centuries they were greatly 
 derided and abused : in some places 
 they were made to wear leathern 
 girdles, and ride without stirrups 
 on asses and mules. In France and 
 Spain they were much insulted. 
 In the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth 
 centuries, their miseries rather in- 
 creased : they were greatly per- 
 secuted in Egypt. Besides what 
 they .suffered in the East by thc; 
 Turkish and sacred war, it isj' 
 shocking to think what multi-* 
 tudes of them the eight croisades 
 murdered in Germany, Hungary, 
 Lesser Asia, and elsewhere. In 
 France multitudes were burnt. 
 In England, in 1020, they were 
 banished ; and at the coronation 
 of Richard I, the mob fell upon 
 them, and murdered a great many 
 of them. About one thousand 
 five hundred of them were burnt 
 in the palace in the city of York, 
 which they set fire to, themselves,^ 
 after killing their wives and chil- 
 dren. In the thirteenth and four- 
 teenth centuries their condition 
 was no better. In Egypt,' Canaan, 
 and Syria, the croisaders still ha- 
 rassed them. Provoked with their 
 mad running after pretended Mes- 
 siahs, Califf Nasser scarce left any 
 of them alive in his dominions of 
 Mesopotamia. In Persia, the Tar- 
 tars murdered them in multitudes. 
 In Spain, Ferdinand persecuted 
 them furiously. About 1349, the 
 terrible massacre of them at Tole- 
 do forced many of them to murder 
 themselves, or change their religion. 
 About 1253 many were murderedj^ 
 
JE W 
 
 392 
 
 J E W 
 
 and others banished from France, 
 buf in 1275 recalled. In 1320 
 and 1330 the croisades of the fa- 
 natic shepherds, who wasted the 
 south of France, massacred them ; 
 besides fifteen hundred that were 
 murdered on another occasion. In 
 1358 they were finally banished 
 from France, since which few of 
 them have entered that country. 
 In 1291 king Edward expelled 
 them from England, to the num- 
 ber of one hundred and sixty thou- 
 sand. In the fifteenth, sixteenth, 
 and seventeenth centuries their 
 misery continued. In Persia they 
 have been terribly used : from 1663 
 to 1666, the murder of them was 
 so universal, that but a few escap- 
 ed to Turkey. In Portugal and 
 Spain they have been miserably 
 handled. About 1492, six or eight 
 hundred thousand were banished 
 from Spain. Some were drowned 
 in their passage to Africa •, some by 
 hard usage ; and many of their 
 carcasses lay in the fields till the 
 wild beasts devoured them. In 
 Germany they have endured many 
 hardships. They have been ba- 
 nished from Bohemia, Bavaria, 
 Cologne, Nuremberg, Augsburg, 
 and Vienna ; they have been ter- 
 ribly massacred in Moravia, and 
 plundered in Bonn and Bamberg. 
 Except in Portugal and Spain, 
 their present condition is generally 
 tolerable. In Holland, Poland, 
 2nd at Frankfort and Hamburgh, 
 they have their liberty. They 
 have repeatedly, but in vain, at- 
 tempted to obtain a naturalization 
 in England, and other nations a- 
 mong Vv'hom they are scattered. 
 4. JeicSj preservaticn of. — "The 
 
 preservation of the Jews," says 
 Basnage, " in the midst of the 
 miseries which they have under- 
 gone during 1700 years, is the 
 greatest prodigy that can be ima- 
 gined. Religions depend on tem- 
 poral prosperity : they triumph 
 under the protection of a con- 
 queror -, they languish and sink 
 with sinking monarchies. Pagan- 
 ism, which once covered the 
 earth, is extinct. The Chris- 
 tian church, glorious in its mar- 
 tyrs, yet was considerably dimi- 
 nished by the persecutions to 
 which it was exposed ; nor was it 
 easy to repair the breaches in it 
 made by those acts of violence. 
 But here we behold a church hated 
 and persecuted for 1700 ages, 
 and yet sustaining itself, and wide- 
 ly extended. Kings have often em- 
 ployed the severity of edicts and 
 the hand of executioners to ruin 
 it. The seditious multitudes, by 
 murders and massacres, have com- 
 mitted outrages against it still 
 more-violent and tragical. Princes 
 and people. Pagans, Mahometans, 
 Christians, disagreeing in so many 
 things, have united in the design 
 of exterminating it, and have not 
 been able to succeed. The Bush 
 of Moses, surrounded with flames, 
 ever burns, and is never consumed. 
 The Jews have been expelled, in 
 different times, from every part 
 of the world, which hath- only 
 served to spread them in all re- 
 gions. From age to age they have 
 been exposed to misery and per- 
 secution ; yet still they subsist, in 
 spite of the ignominy and the 
 hatred which hath pursued them 
 in all places, whilst the greatest 
 
JEW 
 
 m 
 
 JEW 
 
 Iftoiiarchies are fallen, and no-| 
 thing remains of them besides ^ 
 the name. ^ | 
 
 " The judgments which God has • 
 exercised upon this people are ; 
 terrible, extending to the men,' 
 the religion, and the very land in ^ 
 which they dwelt. The ceremo- 
 nies essential to their religion can ' 
 no more be observed : the ritual 
 law, which cast a splendour on the ' 
 national worship, and struck the: 
 Pagans so much that they sent, 
 their presents and their victims to ; 
 Jerusalem, is absolutely fallen, for | 
 they have no temple, no altar, 
 no sacrifices. Their land itself 
 seems to lie under a never-ceas- 
 ing curse. Pagans, Christians, 
 Mohammedans, in a word, almost 
 all nations, have by turns seized; 
 and held Jerusalem. To the Jew \ 
 only hath God refused the pos- j 
 session of this small tract of 
 ground, so supremely necessary 
 for him, since he ought to wor- 
 ship on this mountain. A Jewish 
 writer hath afhrmed, that it is long 
 gince any Jew has been seen set- 
 tled near Jerusalem: scarcely can 
 they purchase their six feet of land 
 for a burying-place. 
 
 " In all this there is no exagge- 
 ration : I am only pointing out 
 known facts •, and, far from hav- 
 ing the least design to raise an 
 odium against the nation from its 
 miseries, I conclude that it ought 
 to be looked upon as one of those 
 prodigies which we admire with- 
 out comprehending ; since, in spite 
 of evils so durable, and a patience 
 so long exercised, it is preserved 
 by a particular Providence. The 
 Jew ought to be weary of expect- 
 incj a Messiah who so unkindly dis- 
 
 VoL. I. 3 E 
 
 appoints his vain hopes ; and the 
 Christian ought to have his atten- 
 tion and his regard excited to- 
 wards men whom God preserves, 
 for so great a length of time, un- 
 der calamities which would have 
 been the total ruin of any other 
 people." 
 
 5. JewSy number and dispersion ef. 
 —They are looked upon to be as 
 numerous at present as they were 
 formerly in the land of Canaan. 
 Some have rated them at three 
 millions, and others more than 
 double that number. Their dis- 
 persion is a remarkable particular 
 in this people. They swarm all 
 over the east, and are settled, it is 
 said, in the remotest parts of 
 China. The Turkish empire 
 abounds with them. There are 
 more of them at Constantinople 
 and Salonichi than in any other 
 ; place : they are spread through 
 most of the nations of Europe and 
 Africa, and many families of them 
 are established in the West Indies , 
 not to mention whole nations bor- 
 dering on Prester John's country, 
 and some discovered in the inner 
 parts of America, if we may give 
 any credit to their own writers. 
 Their being always in rebellions 
 (as Addison observes) while they 
 had the Holy Temple in vievi^, has 
 excited most nations to banish 
 them. Besides, the whole people 
 are now a race of such merchants 
 as are wanderers by profession j 
 and at the same time are in most 
 if not all places incapable of either 
 lands or offices, that might engage 
 them to make any part of the 
 world their home. In addition to 
 this, we may consider what provi- 
 dential reasons may be assigned 
 
J E W 
 
 394 
 
 J E W 
 
 for their numbers and dispersion. 
 Their firm adherence to their re- 
 ligion, and being dispersed all over 
 the earth has furnished every age 
 and every nation with the strong- 
 est arguments for the Christian 
 faith; not only as these very par- 
 ticulars are foretold , of them, but 
 as they themselves are the deposi- 
 taries of these and all other pro- 
 phecies which tend to their own 
 eonfusion and the establishment of 
 Christianity. Their number fur- 
 nishes us with a sufficient cloud of 
 witnesses that attest the truth of 
 the Bible, and their dispersion 
 spreads these witnesses through all 
 parts of the world. 
 
 6. jfeivs^ restoration of. — From 
 
 the declarations of scripture we 
 
 have reason to suppose the Jews 
 
 shall be called to a participation 
 
 of the blessings of the gospel, Rom. 
 
 xi. 2d Cor. iii, IG.Hos. i, 11.. and 
 
 some suppose shall return to their 
 
 own land, Hos. iii, 5. Is. Ixv, 17, 
 
 &c. Ezek. xxxvl. As to the time, 
 
 some think about 1866 or 2016; 
 
 but this, perhaps, is not so easy to 
 
 determine altogether, though it is 
 
 probable it will not be before the 
 
 fall of Antichrist and the Ottoman 
 
 empire. Let us, however, avoid 
 
 putting stumbling-blocks in their 
 
 way. If we attempt any thing 
 
 for. their conversion, let it be with 
 
 peace and love. Let us, says 
 
 one, propose Christianity to them, 
 
 as Christ proposed it to them. 
 
 Let us lay before them their own 
 
 prophecies. Let us shew them 
 
 their accomplishment in Jesus. 
 
 Let us applaud their hatred of 
 
 idolatry. Let us shew them the 
 
 morality of Jesus in oiir lives and 
 
 tempers. Let us never abridge 
 
 their civil liberty, nor ever try to 
 force their consciences. Josephus^s 
 Hist, of the Jeivs; Spect.y No. 495, 
 vol. iv ; Levis Ceremonies of the 
 Jewish Religion ,• Buxtorf de Sy- 
 nagoga Judaica ,- Spencer de Legi- 
 bus Heb. Rit. ; Newton on Propk. ; 
 . Warhurtoi^ s Address to the Jews, 
 in the Dedication of the 2d vol. of 
 his Legation ; Sermons preached 
 to the Jews at Berry Street^ by Dr. 
 Haiueis and others ; Basnage's and 
 Orckley's Hist, of the Jews ; Shaw's 
 Philosophy of Judaism ; Hartley on 
 Man^ vol. ii, prop. 8, vol. iii, p. 
 455, 487; Bicheno^ s Restoration of 
 the Jews ; Jortin's Rem. on Ecc. 
 Hist.y vol. iii, p. 427, 447; Dr. 
 H. Jackson's Works y vol. i, p. 153; 
 Neale's Hist, of the JeiVs ; Pirie's 
 Posth. Works, vol. i. 
 
 IGNOPvANCE, the want of 
 knov/ledge or instruction. It is of- 
 ten used to denote illiteracy. Mr. 
 Locke observes, that the causes of 
 ignorance are chiefly three. — 1. 
 Want of ideas. — 2. Want of a 
 discoverable connexion between 
 the ideas we have. — 3. Want of 
 tracing and examining our ideas. 
 As it respects religion, ignorance 
 has been distinguished into three 
 sorts : 1 . An invincible ignorance, 
 in which the will has no part. It 
 is an insult upon justice to suppose 
 it Vi/^ill punish men because they 
 were ignorant of things which 
 they were physically incapa- 
 ble of knowing. — 2. There is 
 a wilful and obstinate ignorance ; 
 such an ignorance, far from ex- 
 culpating, aggravates a man's 
 crimes. — 3. A sort of ignorance 
 which is neither entirely wilful, 
 nor entirely invincible ; as when 
 a man has the m.eans of know- 
 
iL 
 
 ILL 
 
 kdge, and does not use them. See 
 Knowledge ; and Locke on the 
 Und.f vol. ii, p. 1 78 ; Grove's 
 Mor. Phil. vol. ii, p. 26, 29, 64 ; 
 Watts on the Mind. 
 
 ILLUMINATI, a term ancient- 
 ly applied to such as had received 
 baptism. The name was occa- 
 sioned by a ceremony in the bap- 
 tism of adults, vi^hich consisted in 
 putting a lighted taper in the 
 hand of the person baptized, as 
 a symbol of the faith and grace he 
 had received in the sacrament. 
 
 ILLUMINATI was also the 
 name of a sect which appeared in 
 Spain about the year 1575. They 
 were charged with maintaining that 
 mental prayer and contemplation 
 had so intimately united them to 
 God, that they were arrived to 
 such a state of perfection, as to 
 stand in no need of good works or 
 the sacraments of the church, and 
 that they might commit the gross- 
 est crimes without sin. 
 
 After the suppression of the II- 
 luminati in Spain, there appeared 
 a denomination in France which 
 took the same name. They main- 
 tained that one Anthony Buckuet 
 had a system of belief and practice 
 revealed to him which exceeded 
 every thing Christianity had yet 
 been acquainted with : that by this 
 method persons might in a short 
 time arrive at the same degrees of 
 perfection and glory to which 
 the saints and the Blessed Virgin 
 have attained j and this improve- 
 ment might be carried on till our 
 actions became divine, and our 
 minds wholly given up to the in- 
 fluence of the Almighty. They 
 laid further, that none of the doc- 
 
 j tors of the church knew any thing 
 
 I of religion ; that Paul and Peter 
 
 j were well-meaning meUj but knew 
 
 i nothing of devotion ; that the 
 
 I whole church lay in darkness and 
 
 ! unbelief i that every one was at 
 
 1 liberty to follow the suggestions of 
 
 I his conscience ; that God regarded 
 
 I nothing but himself ; and that 
 
 within ten years their doctrine 
 
 would be received all over the 
 
 world; then there would be no 
 
 more occasion for priests, monks, 
 
 and other such religious distinc-, 
 
 tions. 
 
 ILLUMINATI, a name assumed 
 by a secret society, founded on the 
 1st of May, 1776, by Dr. Adam 
 Weishaupt, professor of canon law. 
 in the university of Ingoldstadt. 
 The avowed object of this order 
 was, " to diffuse from secret socie- 
 ties, as from so many centres, the 
 light of science over the world ; to 
 propagate the purest principles of 
 virtue ; and to reinstate mankind in 
 the happiness which they enjoyed 
 during the golden age fabled by 
 the poets." Such a philanthropic 
 object was doubtless well adapted 
 to make a deep impression on the 
 minds of ingenuous young men j 
 and to such alone did Dr. Weish- 
 aupt at first address himself. But 
 *' the real object," we are assured 
 byprofessorRobison and Abbe Bar- 
 ruel, " was, by clandestine arts, to 
 overturn every government and eve- 
 ry religion ; to bring the sciences of 
 civil life into contempt ; and to re- 
 duce mankind to that imaginary 
 state of nature, when they lived in- 
 dependent of each other on the spon^ 
 taneous productions of the earth." 
 Free Masonry being in high repu. 
 
ILL 
 
 596 
 
 ILL 
 
 tation all over Europe when Wei- 
 shaupt first formed the plan of his 
 society, he availed himself of its se- 
 crecy, to introduce his new order ; 
 of which, he constituted himself 
 general) after initiating some of his 
 pupils, whom he styled Areopa- 
 gites, in its mysteries. And when 
 report spread the news throughout 
 Germany of the institution of the 
 Order of Illuminees, it was gene- 
 rally considered as a mere college 
 lodge, which could interest the 
 students no longer than during the 
 period of their studies. Weish- 
 aupt's character, too, which at this 
 time was respectable for morality 
 as well as erudition, prevented all 
 suspicion of his harbouring any 
 such dark designs as have since 
 corne to light. But it would far ex- 
 ceed the limits to which this work 
 is restricted, to give even an outline 
 of the nature and constitution of 
 this extraordinary society, of its se- 
 crets and mysteries ; of the deep 
 dissimulation, consummate hypo- 
 crisy, and shocking impiety of its 
 founder and his associates ; of their 
 Jesuitical art in concealing their real 
 objects, and their incredible indus- 
 try and astonishing exertions in 
 making converts ; of the absolute 
 despo'tisnv and complete system of 
 espionnage established throughout 
 the order ; of its different degrees 
 of Novices y Miner'ualsy Alinor and 
 Major Illuraiiiees ; Epopts^oxFriests, 
 Regents, Magiy and Man-kifigs ; of 
 the Recruiters or Insinuators, v/ith 
 their various subtle methods of 
 insinuating into all characters and 
 companies ; of the blind obedience 
 exacted of the Novices, and the 
 absolute p;nver of life and death 
 
 assumed by the order, and conced- 
 ed by the Novices ; of the dictiona- 
 ry, geography, kalendar,and cypher 
 of the order of the new names as- 
 sumed by the members, such as 
 Spartacus by Weishaupt, because he 
 pretended to wage war against op- 
 pressors •, Cuto by Zw ck -, Ajax 
 by Massenhausen, 8cc. ; of the Mi- 
 neral Academy and Library ; of tha 
 questions proposed to the candi- 
 dates for degrees, and the various 
 ceremonies of admission to each; 
 and of the pretended morality, real 
 blasphemies, and absolute atheism, 
 of the founder and his tried friends. 
 Such of our readers as wish to be 
 fully informed of these matters, 
 we mubt refer to the Abbe Barru- 
 el's works, and to Prof. Robison's 
 Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the 
 Religions and Governments of Eu" 
 rope. But while credit maybe given 
 to the general facts related in these 
 works, some doubts respecting the 
 ultimate object of Dr. Weishaupt 
 and his associates in this conspi- 
 racy may be expressed, as : That 
 men of their principles should se- 
 cretly conspire to overthrow all the 
 religions and governments at pre- 
 sent in Europe, is by no means 
 incredible : that they should even 
 prevail on many well-meaning 
 philanthropists, who are no ene- 
 mies to rational religion or good 
 government, to join them, is also 
 very credible. But that a set 
 of men of learning and abilities, 
 such as Weishaupt and his asso- 
 ciates are allowed to be, should 
 form a conspiracy to overturn, 
 and with more than Gothic rage 
 utterly abolish the arts and 
 sciences, and to restore the sifp- 
 
ILL 
 
 397 
 
 IMA 
 
 posed original savage state of man, 
 appears to us a phenomenon in 
 the history of the human heart to- 
 tally unaccountable. That " the 
 heart of man is deceitful above all 
 things, and desperately wicked," is 
 a melancholy truth, which not 
 scripture alone, but the history of 
 mankind in all ages and nations, 
 affords full proof of, as well as 
 the shocking history of the lUumi- 
 nati ; but while pride and vanity 
 have a place in the human heart, 
 to say nothing of our other pas- 
 sions, which are more or less in- 
 terested in the preservation of the 
 discoveries and improvements in 
 arts, sciences, and their inseparable 
 concomitant luxury, we are per- 
 suaded no man, or body of men, 
 who have enjoyed the sweets of 
 civilized life, ever formed a serious 
 wish for the total abolition of the 
 arts and sciences. In the fury and 
 rage of war, Goths, Vandals, and 
 Turks, may burn and destroy 
 monuments of art and reposito- 
 ries of science ; but when the 
 wars are over, instead of return- 
 ing to the savage state, the barba- 
 rous conquerors mix and amalga- 
 mate with the conquered, and be- 
 come themselves more or less ci- 
 vilized. Dr. Weishaupt is allow- 
 ed to be influenced by a high de- 
 gree of vanity ; as an evidence of 
 which he communicates as the last 
 secret to his most favoured adepts, 
 that the mysteries of Illuminism, 
 which, in going through the infe- 
 rior degrees, had been successive- 
 ly attributed to the most ancient 
 patriarchs and philosophers, and 
 even to Christ himself, owed its 
 origin to no other than Adam 
 Weishaupt, known in the order by 
 
 the name of Spartacus. The same 
 vanity which leads the doctor to 
 take this traditional method, while 
 secresy is deemed necessary, of se- 
 curing to himself the honour of 
 havi.'^ founded the society, would 
 lead him, were the Illuminati ac- 
 tually victorious over all religions 
 and governments, to wish to have 
 his memory recorded in a more 
 durable manner by writing or 
 printing. But if these and all 
 the other arts were to perish in a 
 mass, then the memory of the doc- 
 tor, and the important services he 
 had done to the order and to 
 savagism, must, within a century 
 at the utmost, perish along with 
 them. But if, in fact, the total 
 annihilation of the arts and 
 sciences, as well as of all religion 
 and government, be really the ob- 
 ject of Weishaupt and his lUumi- 
 nees, then we may agree with the 
 celebrated Mandeville, that "hu- 
 man nature is the true Lybian de- 
 sert, daily producing new monsters^ 
 and that of these monsters the 
 doctor and his associates are be- 
 yond a doubt the most extraordi- 
 nary. Professor Robison informs 
 us, that " the order of Illuminati 
 was abolished in 1786 by the 
 elector of Bavaria, but revived 
 immediately after, under another 
 name, and in a different form, all 
 over Germany. It was again de- 
 tected, and seemingly broken up ; 
 but it had by this time taken so 
 deep root, that it still subsists with- 
 out being detected, and has spread, 
 we are told, into all the countries 
 of Europe. 
 
 IMAGE, in a religious sense, 
 is an artificial representation of some 
 person or thing used as an object 
 
1 U A 
 
 !98 
 
 IMA 
 
 of adoration ; in which sense it is 
 used synonymously with idol. The 
 use and adoration of images have 
 been long controverted. It is plain, 
 from the practice of the. primi- 
 tive church, recorded by the ear- 
 lier fathers, that Christians, dur- 
 ing the first three centuries, 
 and the greater part of the fourth, 
 neither worshipped images, nor 
 used them in their v/orship. How- 
 ever, the generality of the po- 
 pish divines maintain that the use 
 and worship of images are as an- 
 cient as the Christian religion it- 
 self : to prove this, they allege a 
 decree, said to have been made in 
 a council held by the apostles at 
 Antioch, commanding the faith- 
 ful, that they may not err about 
 the object of their worship, to 
 make images of Ciirist, and wor- 
 ship them. Baron, ad ann. 102. 
 But no notice is taken of this de- 
 cree till seven hundred years after 
 the apostolic times, after the dis- 
 pute about images had commenced. 
 The first instance that occurs, 
 in any credible author, of images 
 among Christians, is that record- 
 ed by TertuUian de Pudicit. c. 
 10, of certain cups or chalices, as 
 Bellarmine pretends, on which 
 v/as i"eprescnted the parable of the 
 good shepherd carrying the lost 
 sheep on his shoulders : but this 
 instance only proves that the 
 church, at that time, did not think, 
 emblematical figures unlavi'ful or- 
 tiaments of chalices. Another in- 
 stance is taken from Eusebius 
 fHisLEccI.,]ih.\ii, cap. 18), who 
 says, that in his time there were to 
 be seen two brass statues in the 
 city of Paneas, or Cresarea Plii- 
 IiDpi i the one of a woman on her 
 
 knees, with her arm stretched out ; 
 the other of a man over against 
 her, with his hand extended to re- 
 ceive her : these statues were said 
 to be the images of our Saviour, 
 and the woman whom he cured of 
 an issue of blood. From the foot 
 of the statue representing our Sa- 
 viour, says the historian, sprung, 
 up an exotic plant, which, as soon 
 as it grew to touch the border of his 
 garment, was said to cure all sorts 
 of distempers. Eusebius, how- 
 ever, vouches none of these things; 
 nay, he supposes that the woman 
 who erected this statue of our Sa- 
 viour was a pagan, and ascribes 
 it to a pagan custom. Philos- 
 torgius (Eccl. Hist., lib. vii, c 3) 
 expressly says, that this statue 
 was carefully preserved by the 
 Christians, but that they paid no 
 kind of worship to it, because it is 
 not lawful for Christians to wor- 
 ship brass, or any other matter. 
 The primitive Christians abstained 
 from the worship of images, not, 
 as the Papists pretend from ten- 
 derness to heathen idolaters, but 
 because they thought it unlawful 
 in itself to make any images of the 
 Deity. TertuUian, Clemens Alex- 
 andrinus, and Origen, were of 
 opinion, that, by the second com- 
 mandment, painting and engraving 
 were unlawful to a Christian, styl- 
 ing them evil and wicked arts. 
 Tert. de Idol. cap. 3. Clem. Alex. 
 Admon. ad Gent. p. 41. Origen. 
 contra Celsum, lib. vi, p. 182. 
 The use of images in churches, as 
 ornaments, was first introduced by 
 som.e Christians in Spain, in the 
 beginning of the fourth century; 
 but the practice was condemned 
 as a dangerous innovation, in a 
 
IMA 
 
 199 
 
 
 council held at Eliberis in 305. 
 Epiphanius, in a letter preserved by 
 Jerom, torn, ii, ep. 6, bears a strong 
 testimony against images ; and he 
 may be considered as one of the 
 first iconoclasts. The custom of ad- 
 mitting pictures of saints and mar- 
 tyrs into churches (for this was the 
 first source of image worship) was 
 rare in the end of the fourth cen- 
 tury, but became common in the 
 fifth. But they were still consider- 
 ed only as ornaments, and, even in 
 this view, they met with very con- 
 siderable opposition. In the fol- 
 lowing century the custom of thus 
 adorning churches became almost 
 universal, both in the East and 
 West. Petavius expressly says fde 
 Jficar.j lib. xv, cap. 14), that no 
 statues were yet allowed in the 
 churches, because they bore too 
 pear a resemblance to the idols of 
 the Gentiles. Towards the close 
 of the fourth, or beginning of the 
 fifth century, images, which were 
 introduced by way of ornament, 
 and then used as an aid to devo- 
 tion, began to be actually worship- 
 ped. However, it continued to be 
 the doctrine of the church in the 
 sixth, and in the beginning of the 
 seventh century, that images were 
 to be used only as helps to devotion, 
 and not as objects of worship. The 
 worship of them was condemned In 
 the strongest terms by Gregory the 
 Great, as appears by two of his 
 letters written in 601. From this 
 time to the beginning of the eighth 
 century, there occurs no instance of 
 any worship given, or allowed to 
 be given, to images, by any council 
 or assembly of bishops whatever. 
 But they were commonly worship- 
 ped by the monks and populace in 
 
 the beginning of the eighth century^ 
 insomuch, that in 726, when Leo 
 published his famous edict, it had 
 already spread into all the provinces 
 subject to the empire. The Lu- 
 therans condemn the Calvinists for 
 breaking the images in the churches 
 of the Catholics, looking on it as a 
 kind of sacrilege ; and yet they 
 condemn the Romanists (who are 
 professed image-ivorshippers ) as 
 idolaters : nor can these last keep 
 pace with the Greeks, who go far 
 beyond then) in this point, which 
 has occasioned abundance of dis- 
 putes among them. SeelcoNOCLAs- 
 TEs. The Jews absolutely con- 
 demn all images, and do not so 
 much as suffer any statues or figures 
 in their houses, much less in their 
 synagogues, or places of worship. 
 The Mahometans have an equal 
 aversion to images ; which led them 
 to destroy most of the beautiful mo- 
 numents of antiquity, both sacred 
 and profane, at Constantinople. — 
 Bingham'' s Orig. EccL^ b. viii, c. 8 ^ 
 3IiddletorCs Letters from Rome^ p. 
 21 ; Burnet on the Art.^ p. ^09> 
 219; Doddridge's Lect.^ lect. 193 \ 
 Tennrson on Idolatry^ p. 2G9, 275 j 
 R'ld'^kij's Body of Div.^ qu. 110. 
 
 IMAGE OF GOD in the soul, 
 is distinguished into natural and 
 moral. By natural is meant the 
 understanding, reason, will, and 
 other intellectual faculties. By 
 the moral image, the right use of 
 those faculties, or what we term 
 holiness. 
 
 IMAGINATION is a power or 
 faculty of the mind, whereby it 
 conceives and forms ideas of things 
 communicated to it by the out- 
 ward organs of sense ; or it is the 
 power of recollecting and assem- 
 
I M 
 
 iVl 
 
 400 
 
 I MM 
 
 biing images, and of painting for- 
 cibly those images on our minds, or 
 on the minds of others. The cause 
 of the pleasures of the imagination 
 in whatever is great, uncommon, or 
 beautiful, is this ;, that God has an- 
 nexed a secret pleasure to the idea 
 of any thing that is new or rare, 
 that he might encourage and stimu- 
 late us in the eager and keen pur- 
 suits after knowledge, and inflame 
 our best passions to search into the 
 wonders of creation and revelation ; 
 for every new idea brings such a 
 pleasure along with it, as rewards 
 any pains ue have taken in its ac- 
 quisition, and consequently serves 
 as a strikingand powerful motive to 
 put us upon fresh discoveries in 
 learning and science, as well as in 
 the word and works of God. See 
 Rijlancfs Contemplation^ vol. i. p. 
 C4 -J Akenside^s Pleasures of Imagi- 
 nation ; Addison! s beautiful Papers 
 en the Imagination^ 6 vol. Spect. 
 p. 64, &c. ; Grove'' s Mor, Phil.^ 
 p. 354, 355, 410, vol. i. 
 
 IMMATERIALISM, the belief 
 fhat the soul is a spiritual substance 
 distinct from the body. See Ma- 
 terialism and Soul. 
 
 IMMENSITY, unbounded orin- 
 tomprehensible greatness ; and un- 
 Fimited extension, which no finite 
 and determinate space, repeated 
 ever so often, can equal. See 
 Bnfintty of God. 
 
 IMMORALITY, an action in- 
 consistent with our duty towards 
 men, and consequently a sin against 
 God, who hath commanded us to 
 ^o ju-tly, and love mercy. See Mo- 
 rality. 
 
 IMMORTALITY, a state which 
 has no end -, the impossibility of 
 dying. It is applied to God, who 
 
 is absolutely immortal, 1st Ti«i. i, 
 17. and to the human soul, which 
 is only hypothetically immortal ; 
 as God, who at first gave it, can, if 
 he pleases, deprive it of existence. 
 See Soul. 
 
 IMMUTABILITY OF GOD, 
 is his unchangeableness. He is im- 
 mutable in his essence^ James i, \T. 
 In his attributes^ Ps. cii, if. In 
 h\s purposes, Isa. xxv, 1. Ps. xxxiii, 
 11. In his promises, Mai. iii, 6. 
 2d Tim. ii, 12. And in his threat- 
 enifigy, Matt, xxv, 41. " This is it 
 perfection," says Dr. Blair, "which, 
 perhaps, more than any other dis- 
 tinguishes the divine nature from 
 the human, gives complete energy 
 to all its attributes, and entitles it 
 to the highest adoration. For 
 hence are derived the regular or- 
 der of nature, and the steadfast- 
 ness of the universe. Hence flow* 
 the unchanging tenor of those laws 
 which from age to age regulate the 
 conduct of mankind. Hence the 
 uniformity of that government, and 
 the certainty of those promises, 
 which are the ground of our trust 
 and security. An objection, how- 
 ever, may be raised against this 
 doctrine, from the commands given 
 us to prayer, and other religious 
 exercises. To what purpose, it may 
 be urged, is homage addressed to a 
 Being whose plan is unalterably 
 fixed ? This objection would have 
 weight if our religious addresses 
 were designed to work any alter- 
 ation on God, either by giving him 
 information of what he did not 
 know, or by exciting affections 
 which he did not possess ; or by in- 
 ducing him to change measures 
 vv^hich he had previously formed : 
 but they are only crude arid imper- 
 
IMP 
 
 401 
 
 IMP 
 
 feet notions of religion which can 
 suggest such ideas. The change 
 which our devotions are intended 
 to make are upon ourselves, not 
 upon the Almighty. By pouring 
 out our sentiments and desires be- 
 fore God, by adoring his perfec- 
 tions, and confessing our unwor- 
 thiness ; by expressing our depend- 
 ence on his aid, our gratitude for 
 his past favours, our submission to 
 his present will, and our trust in 
 his future mercy, we cultivate such 
 affections as suit our place and sta- 
 tion in the universe, and are to be 
 exercised by us as men and as 
 Christians. The contemplation of 
 this divine perfection should raise 
 in our minds admiration ; should 
 teach us to imitate, as far as our 
 frailty will permit, that constancy 
 and steadfastness which we adore, 
 2d Cor. iii, 18. And, lastly, should 
 excite trust and confidence in the 
 Divine Being, amidst all the revolu- 
 tions of this uncertain world." 
 Blai/s Sermons, ser. 4, vol. ii; 
 CharnocFs Worhs^ vol. i, p. 203 ; 
 Gill's Body of Div.y vol. i, p. 50 •, 
 Lamberfs SerTno?is, ser. on Mai. iii, 6. 
 
 IMPANATION, a term used 
 by divines to signify the opinion of 
 the Lutherans with regard to the 
 eucharist, who believe that the 
 species of bread and wine remain 
 together with the body of our Sa- 
 viour after consecration. 
 
 IMPECCABILES, a name giv- 
 en to those heretics who boasted 
 that they were impeccable, and 
 that there was no need of repen- 
 tance ; such were the Gnostics, 
 Priscillianists, &c. 
 
 IMPECCABILITY, the state of 
 a person who cannot sin ; or a 
 grace, privilege, or principle, which 
 
 Vol. r. 3 F 
 
 puts him out of a possibility of sin- 
 ning. Divines have distinguished 
 several kinds of impeccability : that 
 of God belongs to him by nature ; 
 that of Jesus Christ, considered a$ 
 man, belongs to him by the hypos- 
 tatical union ; that of the blessed, 
 in consequence of their condi- 
 tion, &c. 
 
 IMPLICIT FAITH, is that by 
 which we take up any system or 
 opinion of another without exami- 
 nation. This has been one of the 
 chief sources of ignorance and er- 
 ror in the church of Rome. The 
 divines of that community teach, 
 " That we are to observe not how 
 the church proves any thing, but 
 what she says. That the will of 
 God is, that we should believe and 
 confide in his ministers in the same 
 manner as himself." Cardinal To- 
 letus, in his instructions for priests, 
 asserts, " That if a rustic believes 
 his bishop proposing an heretical te- 
 net for an article of faith, such be- 
 lief is meritorious." Cardinal Cu- 
 sanus tells us, " That irrational 
 obedience is the most consummate 
 and pei-fect obedience, when we 
 obey without attending to reason, 
 as a beast obeys his driver." In an 
 epistle to the Bohemians he has 
 these words : " I assert, that there 
 are no precepts of Christ but those 
 which are received as such by the 
 church (meaning the church of 
 Rome). When the church changes 
 her judgment, God changes his 
 judgment likewise." What mad- 
 ness ! what blasphemy ! For a 
 church to demand belief of what 
 she teaches, and a submission to 
 what she enjoins, merely upon her 
 assumed authority, must appear to 
 unprejudiced minds the height of 
 
IMP 
 
 40i 
 
 IMP 
 
 tinreasonableness and spiritual des- 
 potism. We could wish this doc- 
 trine had been confined to this 
 church j but, alas ! it has been too 
 prevalent in other communities. 
 A theological system, says Dr. Jor- 
 tin, is too often no more than a 
 temple consecrated to implicit faith -, 
 and he who enters in there to wor- 
 ship, instead of leaving his shoes, 
 after the eastern manner, must 
 leave his understanding at the door; 
 and it will be well if he find it when 
 he comes out again. 
 
 IMPOSITION OF HANDS, 
 an ecclesiastical action, by which a 
 bishop lays his hand on the head of 
 a person in ordination, confirma- 
 tion, or in uttering a blessing. 
 This practice is also frequently ob- 
 served by the Dissenters at the or- 
 dination of their preachers ; when 
 the ministers present place their 
 hands on the head of him whom 
 they are ordaining, while one of 
 ftiem prays for a blessing on him 
 and on his future labours. They 
 are not agreed, however, as to the 
 propriety of this ceremony. Some 
 suppose it to be confined to those 
 who received extraordinary gifts in 
 the primitive times : others think it 
 ought to be retained, as it was an an- 
 cient practice used where no extra- 
 ordinary gifts were conveyed, Gen. 
 xlviii, 14. Matt, xix, 15. They do 
 not suppose it to be of such an im- 
 portant and essential nature, that the 
 validity and usefulness of a man's 
 future ministry depend upon it in 
 any degree. Imposition of hands 
 was a Jewish ceremony, introduced 
 not by any divine authority, but by 
 custom; it being the practice among 
 those people, whenever fhey prayed 
 to God for any person to lay their 
 hands on his head. Our Saviour 
 
 observed the same custom, both 
 when he conferred his blessing on 
 children, and when he heal^ed the 
 sick, adding prayer to the ceremo- 
 ny. The apostles, likewise, laid 
 hands on those upon whom they 
 bestowed the Holy Ghost. The 
 priests observed the same custom 
 when any one was received into 
 their body. And the apostles 
 themselves underwent the imposi- 
 tion of hands afresh every time they 
 entered upon any new design. In 
 the ancient church, imposition of 
 hands was even practised on persons 
 when they married, which custom 
 the Abyssinians still observe. Mo~ 
 rices DiaL on Soc. Relig.^ p. 163, 
 1 68 ; Watts'* s Rational Foundation 
 of a Christian Ch.^ p, 31 ; Turner 
 onChurch Gov..^!^. TO; King^s Pri- 
 mitive Christ. C/i.,p. 49. 
 
 IMPOSTORS RELIGIOUS, 
 are such as pretend to an extraor- 
 dinary commission from heaven, 
 and who terrify the people with 
 false denunciations of judgments. 
 Too many of these have abounded 
 in almost all ag'es. They are 
 'punishable in the temporal courts 
 with fine, imprisonment, and cor- 
 poral punishment. See False 
 Messiahs. 
 
 IMPOTENCY, or Impotence, 
 is considered as natural and moral. 
 Natural is the want of some physi- 
 cal principle necessary to an action, 
 or where a being is absolutely defec- 
 tive, or not free and at liberty to act. 
 Moral im potency imports a great 
 difliculty ; as a strong habit to the 
 contrary ; a violent passion ; or the 
 like. 
 
 IMPURITY, want of that regard 
 to decency, chastity, or holiness, 
 vv^hich our duty requires. Impurity, 
 in the law of Moses, is any legal de- 
 
IMP 
 
 403 
 
 I M V 
 
 filemeiit. Of these there were se- 
 veral sorts: some were voluntary, as 
 the touching a dead body, or any 
 animal that died of itself ; or any 
 creature that was esteemed unclean ; 
 or the touching things holy by one 
 who was not clean, or was not a 
 priest ; the touching one who had a 
 leprosy, one who had a gonorrhoea, 
 or who was polluted by a dead car- 
 cass, &c. Sometimes these impu- 
 rities were involuntary ; as when 
 anj one inadvertently touched 
 bones, or a sepulchre, or any thing 
 polluted j or fell into such diseases 
 as pollute, as the leprosy, &c. 
 
 The beds, clothes, and moveables 
 which had touched any thing un- 
 clean, contracted also a kind of im- 
 purity, and in some cases communi- 
 cated it to others. 
 
 These legal pollutions were gene- 
 rally removed by bathing, and last- 
 ed no longer than the evening. The 
 person polluted plunged over head 
 in the water ; and either had his 
 clothes on when he did so, or wash- 
 ed himself and his clothes separate- 
 ly. Other pollutions continued se- 
 ven days ; as, that which was con- 
 tracted by touching a dead body. 
 Someimpuritieslasted forty or fifty 
 days ; as, that of women who were 
 lately delivered, who were unclean 
 forty days after the birth of a boy, 
 and fifty after the birth of a girl. 
 Others, again, lasted till the person 
 was cured. 
 
 Many of these pollutions were 
 expiated by sacrifices, and others 
 by a certain water or lye made with 
 the ashes of a red heifer, sacrificed 
 on the great day of expiation. When 
 the leper was cured, he went to the 
 temple, and offered a sacrifice of 
 two birds, one of which was killed, 
 
 and the other set at liberty. He 
 who had touched a dead body, or 
 had been present at a funeral, was 
 to be purified with the water of ex- 
 piation, and this upon pain of death. 
 The women who had been deliver- 
 ed offered a turtle and a lamb for 
 her expiation •, or if she was poor, 
 two turtles, or two young pigeons. 
 
 These impurities, which the law 
 of Moses has expressed with the 
 greatest accuracy and care, were 
 only figures of other more import- 
 ant impurities, such as the sins and 
 iniquities committed against God, 
 or faults committed against our 
 neighbour. The saints and pro- 
 phets of the Old Testament were 
 sensible of this ; and ourSaviour, in 
 the gospel, has strongly inculcated, 
 — that they are not outward and 
 corporeal pollutions which render 
 us unacceptable to God, but such 
 inward pollutions as infect the soul, 
 and are violations of justice, truth, 
 and charity. 
 
 IMPUTATION is the attribut- 
 ing any matter, quality, or charac- 
 ter, whether good or evil, to any 
 person as his own. It may refer to 
 what was originally his, antecedent- 
 ly to such imputation ; or to what 
 was not antecedently his, but be- 
 comes so by virtue of such imputa- 
 tion only, 2d Sam. xix, 19. Ps. cvi, 
 31. The imputation that respects 
 our justification before God is of the 
 latter kind, and may be defined thus: 
 it is God's gracious donation of the 
 righteousness of Christ to believers, 
 and his acceptance of their persons 
 as righteous on the account thereof. 
 Their sinsbeing imputed tohim, and 
 his obedience being imputed to 
 them, they are, in virtue hereof, 
 both acquitted from guilt, and ac^ 
 
I N A 
 
 404 
 
 INC 
 
 cepted as righteous before God, 
 Rom. iv, 6, 7. Rom. v, 18, 19. 2d 
 Cor. V, 21. See Righteousness, 
 Sin ; Dickinson' s Letters^ p. 156 ; 
 Herveys I'heron and Aspasio, vol. ii, 
 p. 43 ; Doddridge's Works, vol. iv, 
 p. 552 5 Watts's Works, vol. iii, p. 
 532. 
 
 INABILITY, want of power suf- 
 ficient for the performance of any- 
 particular action or design. It has 
 been divided into natural and moral. 
 We are said to be naturally unable 
 to do a thing when w^e cannot do it 
 if we wish, because of some imped- 
 ing defect or obstacle that is extrin- 
 sic to the will, either in the under- 
 standing, constitution of body, or 
 external objects. Moral inability 
 consists not in any of these things, 
 but either in the want cf inclina- 
 tion, or the strength of a contrary 
 inclination ; or the want of sufficient 
 motives in view to induce and excite 
 the act of the will, or the strength 
 of apparent motives to the contrary. 
 For the sake of illustration, we will 
 here present the reader with a few 
 examples of both. 
 
 isfciii'.ral. 
 Cain could net have 
 killed Abel, if Cain 
 had been the weakcsf, 
 and Abel aware of 
 him. 
 
 Jacob could iT>t re- 
 joice in Joseph's exal- 
 tation before he heard 
 of it. 
 
 The woman men- 
 tioned in id ivings, 
 vi, 29. could not kill 
 her n£Jijhj>rtir's son 
 and eat him, when 
 he was hid and she 
 could not find him. 
 
 Hazael could not 
 have saiothcred Bcn- 
 
 Tiloral. 
 Cain could not have 
 killed Abel, if Cain 
 had feared God, and 
 loved his brother, 
 
 Potiphar's wife could 
 not rejoice in it, if 
 she continued under 
 it. 
 
 Had that woman 
 been a very affection- 
 ate mother, she could 
 not have killed her 
 own son in a time of 
 plenty, as she did in a 
 time of famine. 
 
 If a dutiful affec- 
 tionate son had been 
 
 NafiiraL Moral. 
 
 hadad, if he had not waiting on Benhadad 
 been suffered to enter in Hazael's stead, he 
 his chamber. , could not have smoth- 
 
 ered him as Hazael 
 did. 
 
 These are a few instances from 
 which we may clearly learn the 
 distinction of natural and moral in- 
 ability. It must not, however, be 
 forgotten, that moral inability or 
 disinclination is no excuse for our 
 omission of duty, though want of 
 natural faculties or necessary means 
 would. That God may command, 
 though man hath not a present mo- 
 ral ability to perform, is evident. If 
 we consider, 1. That man once 
 had a power to do whatsoever God 
 would command him, he had a 
 power to cleave to God. — 2. That 
 God did not deprive man of his 
 ability. — 3. Therefore God's right 
 of commanding, and man's obli- 
 gation of returning and cleaving to 
 God, remains firm. See Liberty; 
 and Theol. Alisc, vol. ii, p. 488; 
 Ed-ivards on the Will ; ChnrnocFs 
 , Works, vol. ii, p. 187; Watts on 
 i Liberty^ p. 4. 
 
 I INCARNATION, the act 
 ^ whereby the Son of God assumed 
 \ the human nature ; or the mystery- 
 fey which Jesus Christ, the Eternal 
 Word, was made man, in order to 
 accomplish the work of our salva- 
 tion. See Nativity. 
 
 INCEST, the crime of criminal 
 and unnatural commerce with a per- 
 son within the degrees forbidden by 
 the law. By the rules of the church, 
 incest was formerly very absurdly 
 extended even to the seventh de- 
 gree ; but it is now restricted to the 
 third or fourth. Most nations look 
 on incest with horror ; Persia and 
 
INC 
 
 405 
 
 INC 
 
 Egypt excepted. In the history of I 
 the ancient kings of those countries 
 we meet vnth instances of brothers j 
 marrying their own sisters, because i 
 they thought it too mean to join in i 
 alHance with their own subjects, 
 and still mbre so to marry into any 
 foreign family. Vortigern, king of 
 South Britain, equalled, or rather 
 excelled, them in wickedness, by 
 marrying his own daughter. The 
 queen of Portugal was married 
 to her uncle ; and the prince, of 
 Brazil, the son of that Incestuous 
 marriage, is wedded to his aunt. 
 But they had dispensations for these 
 unnatural marriages from his holi- 
 ness. *' In order," says one, ** to 
 preserve chastity in families, and 
 between persons of different sexes 
 brought up and living together in a 
 state of unreserved intimacy, it Is 
 necessary, by every method possible, 
 to inculcate an abhorrence of inces- 
 tuous conjunctions -, which abhor- 
 rence can only be upheld by the 
 absolute reprobation of ^//commerce 
 of the sexes between near relations. 
 Upon this principle the marriage^ 
 as well as other cohabitation of bro- 
 thers and sisters of lineal kindred, 
 and of all who usually live in the 
 same family, may be said to be for- 
 bidden by the law of nature. Re- 
 strictions which extend to remoter 
 degrees of kindred than what this 
 reason makes it neces'^ary to prohi- 
 bit from Intermarriage, are founded 
 in the authority of the positive law 
 which ordains them, and can only 
 be justified by their tendency to dif- 
 fuse wealth, to connect families, or 
 to promote somepolitical advantage. 
 <' The Levitical law, which is 
 received in this country, and from 
 wWch the rule of the Roman law 
 
 differs very little, prohibits marriage 
 between relations within three de- 
 gress of kindred ; computing the 
 generations not from, but through 
 the common ancestor, and account- 
 ing affinity the same as consangui- 
 nity. The issue, however, of such 
 marriages are not bastardized, un- 
 less the parents be divorced during 
 their lifetime." Palefs Mor. Phil.y 
 p. 316, vol. i. 
 
 INCEST SPIRITUAL, an Ideal 
 crime, committed between two per- 
 sons who have a spiritual alliance, 
 by means of baptism or confirma- 
 tion. This ridiculous fancy was 
 made use of as an Instrument of 
 great tyranny in times when the 
 power of the pope was unlimited, 
 even queens being sometimes di- 
 vorced upon this pretence. Incest 
 Spiritual is also understood of a 
 vicar, or other beneficiary, who en- 
 joys both the mother and the 
 daughter ; that Is, holds two bene- 
 fices, one whereof depends upon 
 the collation of the other. Such spi- 
 ritual incest renders both the one 
 and the other of these benefices 
 vacant. 
 
 INCLINATION Is the disposi- 
 tion or propensity of the mind to 
 any particular object or action ; or 
 a kind of bias upon nature, by the 
 force of which It Is carried towards 
 certain actions previously to the 
 exercise of thought and reasoning 
 about the nature and consequences 
 of them. Inclinations are of two 
 kinds, natural or acquired. 1. Na- 
 tural are such as we often see In 
 children, who from their earliest 
 years differ in their tempers and 
 dispositions. In one you see the 
 dawnings of a liberal diffusive soul ; 
 another gives us cause to fear he will 
 
INC 
 
 406 
 
 INC 
 
 be altogether as narrow and sordid. 
 Of one we may say he is naturally 
 revengeful ; of another, that he is 
 patient and forgiving. — 2. Acquired 
 inclinations are such as are superin- 
 duced by custom, which are called 
 habits ; and these are either good 
 or evil. See Habit. 
 
 INCOMPRF.HENSII^ILITY OF 
 GOD, This is ^ relative term, 
 and indicates a relation between 
 an object and a faculty -, between 
 God and a created understanding, 
 .so that the meaning of it is this, 
 that no created understanding can 
 comprehend God ; that is, have a 
 perfect and exact knowledge of him, 
 «uch a knowledge as is adequate to , 
 the perfection of the object. Job 
 xi, 7. Is. xl. God is incomprehen- 
 sible, 1. As to the natm"e of his es- 
 sence. 2. The excellency of his 
 attributes. 3. The depth of his 
 counsels. 4. The works of his 
 providence. 5. The dispensation of 
 his grace, Eph, iii, 8. Job xxxvii, 
 25. Rom. xi. The incomprehen- 
 sibility of God follows, I . From his 
 being a spirit endued with perfec- 
 tions greatly superior to our own, 
 — 2. There may be {for any thing 
 we certainly know) attributes and 
 perfections in God of v/hich we 
 have not the least idea. — 3. In 
 those perfections of the Divine na- 
 ture of which we have some idea, 
 there are many things to us inex- 
 plicable, and with which, the more 
 deeply and attentively we think of 
 them, the more we find our thoughts 
 swallowed up ; such as his self-ex- 
 istence, eternity, omnipresence, &c. 
 This should learn us, therefore, 1. 
 To admire and reverexice the Di- 
 vine Being, Zech. ix, 17. Neh. ix, 
 o. — 2. To be humble and modest, 
 
 Ps. viii, 1, 4. Eccl. V, 2, 3. Job 
 xxxvii, 19. — ^3. To be serious in 
 our addressess, and sincere in our 
 behaviour towards him. Caryl on 
 Job xxvii, 25 ; Tillotsori's Sermons^ 
 sermon 156; Ahernethfs Sermons, 
 vol. ii, No. 6, 7; Doddridge's Led., 
 lee. 59. 
 
 INCONTINENC Y, not abstain- 
 ing from unlawful desires. See 
 
 CoNTINENCY. 
 
 INCORPOREALITYOF GOD, 
 is his being without a body. That 
 God is incorporeal is evident ; for, 
 1. Materiality is incompatible with 
 self-existence, and God being self- 
 exigtent, must be incorporeal. — 2. 
 If God v/ere corporeal, he could 
 not be present in any part of the 
 v/orld where body is -, yet his pre- 
 sence is necessary for the support 
 arid motion of body. — 3. A body 
 cannot be in two places at the same 
 time ; yet he is every where, and 
 fills heaven and earth. — 4. A body 
 is to be seen and felt, but God is 
 invisible and impalpable, John i, 18. 
 ChnrnocFs Works, vol. i, p. 117; 
 Doddridge' s Led., lee. 47 ; GilPs 
 Body of Div., vol. i, p. 45. oct. 
 
 INCORRUPTIBLES, or In- 
 coRRUPTiBiLEs, the name of a sect 
 which sprang out of the Euty- 
 chains. Their distinguishing tenet 
 was, that the body of Jesus Christ 
 was incorruptible ; by which they 
 meant, that, after and from the time 
 v/herein he was formed in the 
 womb of his mother, he was not 
 susceptible of any change or altera- 
 tion ; not even of any natural or in- 
 nocent passion, as of hunger, thirst, 
 &c. •, so that he ate without occar 
 sion before hfs death, as well as 
 after his resurrection. 
 
 INCREDULITY, the withhold- 
 
IND 
 
 407 
 
 IND 
 
 jng our assent to any proposition, 
 notwithstanding argun\ents suffi- 
 cient to demand assent. See Dun- 
 can Forbes's piece entitled, Reflec- 
 tions on the Sources of Iticredulity 
 with regard to Religion. 
 
 INDEPENDENCY OF GOD 
 is his existence in and of himself, 
 without depending on any other. 
 " His being and perfections," as 
 Dr. Ridgley observes (Body of 
 Div., q. 7) " are underived, and not 
 communicated to him, as all finite 
 perfections are by him to the crea- 
 ture. This attribute of indepen- 
 dency belongs to all his perfections. 
 1. He is independent as to his 
 knowledge. He doth not receive 
 ideas from any object ouc of him- 
 self, as intelligent creatures do. 
 This is elegantly described by the 
 prophet. Is. xl, 13, 14. — 2. He is 
 independent in power. As he re- 
 ceives strength from no one, so he 
 doth not act dependently on the 
 will of the creature. Job xxxvi, 23. 
 — 3. He is independent as to his 
 holiness, hating sin necessarily and 
 not barely depending on some rea- 
 sons out of himself inducing him 
 thereto ; for it is essential to the Di- 
 vine nature to be infinitely oppo- 
 site to sin, and therefore to be inde- 
 pendently holy. — 4. He is indepen- 
 dent as to his bounty and goodness. 
 He communicates blessings not by 
 constraint, but according to his so- 
 vereign will. Thus he gave being 
 to the world, and all things therein, 
 which was the first instance of boun- 
 ty and goodness ; and. this not by 
 constraint, but by his free will •» 
 ' for his pleasure they are and were 
 created.' In like manner, what- 
 ever instances of mercy he extends 
 to miserable creatures, he acts inde- 
 
 pendently, and not by force. He 
 shews mercy because it is his plea- 
 sure to do 80, Rom. ix, 1 8. That 
 God is independent, let it farther 
 be considered, 1. That all things 
 depend on his power v/hich brought 
 them into and preserves them in be- 
 ing. If, therefore, all things depend 
 on God, then it would be absurdity 
 to say that God depends on any 
 thing, for this would be to suppose 
 the cause and the effect to be mu- 
 tually dependent on and derived 
 from each other, which infers a con- 
 tradiction. — 2. If God be infinitely 
 above the highest creatures, he can- 
 not depend on any of them, for de- 
 pendence argues inferiority. Is. xl. 
 15, 17. — 3. If God depend on any 
 creature, he does not exist necessa- 
 rily ; and if so, then he m^ght not 
 have been : for the same will by 
 which he is supposed to exist might 
 have determined that he should not 
 have existed, which is altogether 
 inconsistent with the idea of a God. 
 From God's being independent, we 
 infer, 1. That We ought to conclude 
 that the creature cannot lay any 
 obligation on him, or do any thing 
 that may tend to make him more 
 happy than he is in himself, Rom. 
 xi, 35. Job xxii, 2, 3. — 2. If in- 
 dependency be a divine perfection, 
 then let it not in any instance, or by 
 any consequence, be attributed to 
 the creature ; let us conclude that 
 all our springs are in himj and that 
 all we enjoy and hope for is from 
 him, who is the author and finisher 
 of our faith, and the fountain of all 
 our blessedness." 
 
 INDEPENDENTS, a sect of 
 
 Protestants, so called from their 
 
 maintaining that each congregation 
 
 I of Christians which meets in one 
 
IND 
 
 408 
 
 IND 
 
 house for public worship is a com- 
 plete church ', has sufficient power 
 to act and perform every thing re- 
 latingtoreligiousgovernment within 
 itself ; and is in no respect subject 
 or accountable to other churches. 
 
 Though the Episcopalians con- 
 tend that there is not a shadow of 
 the independent discipline to be 
 found either in the Bible or the 
 primitive church, the independents, 
 on the contrary, believe that it is 
 most clearly to be deduced from the 
 practice of the apostles in planting 
 the first churches. See Church 
 Congregational, and Episco- 
 pacy. The Independents, how- 
 ever, were not distinguished as a 
 body till the time of queen Eliza- 
 beth. The hierarchy established by 
 that princess in the churches of her 
 dominions, the vestments worn by 
 the clergy in the celebration of di- 
 vine worship, the book of Common 
 Prayer, and, above all, the sign of 
 the cross used in the administration 
 of baptism, were very offensive to 
 many of her subjects, who, during 
 the persecutions of the former reign, 
 had taken refuge among the Pro- 
 testants of Germany and Geneva. 
 These men thought that the church 
 of England resembled in too many 
 particulars the anti-christian church 
 of Rome : they therefore called 
 pei'petually for a more thorough re- 
 formation, and a purer worship. 
 From this circumstance they were 
 stigmatised with the general name 
 of Puntansy as the followers of 
 Novatian had been in the ancient 
 church. See Novatians. Eliza- 
 beth M'-as not disposed to comply 
 with their demands j and it is diffi- 
 cult to say what miglit' have been 
 the issue of the contest, had the Pu- 
 
 ritans been untted among themselves 
 in sentiments, views, and measures. 
 But the case was quite otherwise : 
 that large body, composed of persons 
 of different ranks, characters, opini- 
 ons, and intentions, and unanimous 
 in nothing but their antipathy to the 
 established church, was all of a sud- 
 den divided into a variety of sects. 
 Of these, the most famous was that 
 which was formed about the year 
 1581, by Robert Brown, a man in- 
 sinuating in his manners, but un- 
 steady and inconsistent in his views 
 and notions of men and things. 
 Brown was for dividing the whole 
 body of the faithful into separate 
 societies, or congregations ; and 
 maintained, that such a number of 
 persons as could be contained in an 
 ordinary place of worship ought to 
 be considered as a churchy and enjoy 
 all the rights and privileges that are 
 competent to an ecclesiastical com- 
 munity. These small societies he 
 pronounced independent^ jure divi- 
 KOy and entirely exempt from the 
 jurisdiction of the bishop, in whose 
 hands the court had placed the reins 
 of spiritual government ; and also 
 from that of presbyteries and synods, 
 which the Puritans regarded as the 
 supreme visible sources of ecclesi- 
 astical authority. But as we have 
 given an account of the general 
 opinions and discipline of the 
 Brownists, we need not enumerate 
 them here, but, must beg the reader 
 to refer to that article. The zeal 
 with which Brown and his associates 
 maintained and propagated his no- 
 tions, was, in a high degree, in- 
 temperate and extravagant. He 
 affirmed that all communion was to 
 be broken off with those religious 
 societies that were founded uoon a 
 
IN D 
 
 409 
 
 IND 
 
 different plan from his j and treat- 
 ed more especially the church of 
 England as a spurious church, 
 whose ministers were unlawfully 
 ordained; whose discipline was po- 
 pish and anti-christian ; and whose 
 sacraments and institutions were 
 destitute of all efficacy and virtue. 
 His followers not being able to" 
 endure the severe treatment which 
 they met with from an administra- 
 tion that was not distinguished for 
 its mildness and indulgence, re- 
 tired into the Netherlands, and 
 founded churches at Middlebourg, 
 Amsterdam, and- Leyden. Their 
 founder, however, returned into 
 England, renounced his principles 
 of separation, and took orders in 
 the established church. The Pu- 
 ritan exiles whom he thus aban- 
 doned disagreed among themselves, 
 were split into parties, and their 
 affairs declined from day to day. 
 This engaged the wiser part of 
 them to mitigate the severity of 
 their founder's plan, and to soften 
 the rigour of his uncharitable de- 
 cisions. 
 
 The person who had the chief 
 merit of bringing about this re- 
 formation was one of their pas- 
 tors, of the name of Robinson ; a 
 man who had much of the solemn 
 piety of the times, and no inconsi- 
 derable portion of learning. This 
 well-meaning reformer, perceiving 
 the defects that reigned in the 
 discipline of Brown, and in the 
 spirit and temper of his followers, 
 employed his zeal and diligence in 
 correcting them, and in new mo- 
 delling the society in such a man- 
 ner as to render it less odious to 
 his adversaries, and less liable to 
 the just censure of those true 
 
 Vol. I. SG 
 
 Christians who look upon charity 
 as the end of the commandments. 
 Hitherto the sect had been called 
 Brownists ; but Robinson having 
 in his apology affirmed that all 
 Christian congregations were so 
 many independent religious socie- 
 ties, that had a right to be go- 
 verned by their own laws, inde- 
 pendent of any farther or foreign 
 jurisdiction, the sect was hence- 
 forth called Independents, of which 
 the apologist was considered as the 
 founder. 
 
 The first independent or con- 
 gregational church in England was 
 established by a Mr. Jacob, in the 
 year 1616. Mr. Jacob, who had 
 fled from the persecution of bishop 
 Bancroft, going to Holland, and 
 conversing with Mr.Robinson, em- 
 braced his sentiments respecting 
 church discipline. Some time af- 
 ter, returning to England, and 
 having imparted his design of set- 
 1 ting up a separate congregation, 
 like those in Holland, to the most 
 learned Puritans of those times, it 
 was not condemned as unlawful, 
 considering there was no prospect 
 of a national reformation. « Mr. 
 Jacob, therefore, having summon- 
 ed several of his friends together, 
 and having obtained their consent 
 to unite in church fellowship for 
 enjoying the ordinances of Christ 
 in the purest manner, they laid 
 the foundation of the first inde- 
 pendent church in England in the 
 following way. Having observed 
 a day of solemn fasting and prayer 
 for a blessing upon their undertak- 
 ing, towards the close of the so- 
 lemnity, each of them made an 
 open confession of their faith in 
 Christ J and then, standing togc- 
 
IND 
 
 410 
 
 IND 
 
 ther, they joined hands, and so- 
 lemnly covenanted with each other, 
 in the presence of Almighty God, 
 to walk together in all God's ways 
 and ordinances, according as he 
 had already revealed, or should 
 farther make known to them. Mr. 
 Jacob was then chosen pastor by 
 the suffrage of the brotherhood ; 
 and others were appointed to the 
 office of deacons, with fasting and 
 prayer, and imposition of hands. 
 
 The Independents were much 
 more commendable than the 
 Brownists : they surpassed them, 
 both in the moderation of their 
 sentiments and in the order of 
 their discipline. They did not, 
 like Brown, pour forth bitter and 
 uncharitable invectives against the 
 churches which were governed 
 by rules entirely different from 
 their's, nor pronounce them, on 
 that account, unworthy of the 
 christian name. On the contrary, 
 though they considered their own 
 form of ecclesiastical government 
 as of divine institution, and as 
 originally introduced by the au- 
 thority of the apostles, nay, by 
 the apostles themselves, they had 
 yet candour and charity enough 
 to acknowledge, that true religion 
 and solid piety miglit flourish in 
 those communities which were 
 under the jurisdiction of bishops, 
 or the government of synods and 
 presbyteries. They were also 
 much more attentive than the 
 Brownists in keeping on foot a 
 reguiar ministry in their commu- 
 nities ; for, vrhile the latter allow- 
 ed promiscuously all ranks and or- 
 ders of men to teach in public, 
 the Independents had,- and still 
 have, a certain number of mini&r 
 
 ters chosen respectively by the con- 
 gregations where they are fixed j 
 nor is it common for any person 
 among them to speak in public 
 before he has submitted to a pro- 
 per examination of his capacity 
 and talents, and been approved 
 of by the heads of the congre- 
 gation. 
 
 From 1642, the Independents 
 are very frequently mentioned in 
 the English annals. The charge 
 alleged against them by Rapin (in 
 his History of England, vol. ii. 
 p. 514, fol. ed.), that they could 
 not so much as endure ordinary 
 ministers in the church, &c. is 
 groundless. He was led into this 
 mistake by confounding the In- 
 dependents with the Brownists. 
 Other charges, no less unjustifia- 
 ble, have been urged against the 
 Independents by this celebrated 
 historian and others. Rapin says, 
 that they abhorred monarchy, and 
 approved of a republican govern- 
 ment : this might have been true 
 with regard to many persons among 
 them, in common with other sects; 
 but it does not appear, from any 
 of their public writings, that re- 
 publican principles formed their 
 distinguishing characteristic ; on 
 the contrary, in a public memori- 
 al drawn up by them in 1 647, they 
 declare, that they do not disapprove 
 of any form of civil government, 
 but do freely acknowledge that a 
 kingly government, bounded by 
 just and wholesome laws, is al- 
 lowed by God, and also a good 
 accommodation unto men. The 
 Independents, however, have been 
 generally ranked among the re- 
 gicides, and charged with the 
 death of Charles I. Whether this 
 
IND 
 
 411 
 
 IND 
 
 fact be admitted or denied, no 
 conclusion can be fairly drawn 
 from the greater prevalence of re- 
 publican principles, or from violent 
 proceedings at that period, that 
 can affect the distinguishing te- 
 nets and conduct of the Independ- 
 ents in our times. It is certain 
 that the present Independents 
 are steady friends to a limited 
 nT,onarchy. Rapin is farther mis- 
 taken vi'hen he represents the re- 
 ligious principles of the English 
 Independents as contrary to those 
 of all the rest of the world. It 
 appears from two confessions of 
 faith, one composed by Robinson 
 in behalf of the English Inde- 
 pendents in Holland, and pub- 
 lished at Leyden in 1619, en- 
 titled. Apologia pro Exulibius An- 
 glis^ qui Brow nisi a vulgo appellan- 
 tur ; and another drawn up in 
 London in 1658, by the principal 
 members of this community in 
 England, entitled, " A Declara- 
 tion of the Faith and Order own- 
 ed and practised by the Congre- 
 gational Churches in England, 
 agreed upon and consented unto 
 by their Elders and Messengers, 
 in their Meeting at the Savoy, Oct. 
 12, 1658," as well as from other 
 writings of the Independents, that 
 they differed from the rest of the 
 reformed in no single point of any 
 consequence, except that of eccle- 
 siastical government ; and their 
 religious doctrines were almost 
 entirely the same with those 
 adopted by the church of Geneva. 
 During the administration of 
 Cromwell, the Independents ac- 
 quired very considerable reputa- 
 tion and influence ; and he made 
 u=?e of them as a check to the 
 
 1 ambition of the Presbyterians, 
 who aimed at a very high de- 
 gree of ecclesiastical power, and 
 who had succeeded, soon after the 
 elevation of Cromwell, in obtain- 
 ing a parliamentary establishment 
 of their own church government. 
 But after the restoration, their 
 cause decJined; and in 1691 they 
 entered into an association with 
 the Presbyterians residing in and 
 about London, comprised in nine 
 articles, that tended to the main- 
 tenance of their respective institu- 
 tions. These may be, found in 
 the second volume of "Whiston's 
 Memoirs, and the substance of 
 them in Mosheim. At this time 
 the Independents and Presbyte- 
 rians, called from this association 
 the United Brethren^ were agreed 
 with regard to doctrines, being ge- 
 nerally Calvinists, and differed 
 only with respect to ecclesiastical 
 discipline. But at present, though 
 the English Independents and 
 Presbyterians form two distinct 
 parties of Protestant Dissenters, 
 they are distinguished by very tri- 
 fling differences with regard to 
 church government, and the de- 
 nominations are more arbitrarily 
 used to comprehend those who 
 differ in theological opinions. 
 The Independents are generally 
 more attached to Calvinism than 
 the Presbyterians- Independent- 
 ism is peculiar to Great Britain, 
 the United States, and the Bata- 
 vian Republic. It was carried 
 first to the American colonies in 
 1G20, and by successive Puritan 
 emigrants, in 1629 and 1633, 
 from England. One Morel, in 
 the sixteenth century, endeavour- 
 ed to .introduce it into France ; 
 
D 
 
 412 
 
 IND 
 
 but it was condemned at the Synod 
 of Rochelle, where Bez a presided; 
 and again at the synod of Ro- 
 chelle, in 1644. 
 
 Many of the Independents reject 
 the use of all creeds and confes- 
 sions drawn up by fallible men, 
 though they require of their 
 teachers a declaration of their be- 
 lief in the gospel and its various 
 doctrines, and their adherence to 
 the scriptures as the sole standard 
 of faith and practice. They at- 
 tribute no virtue whatever to the 
 rite of ordination, upon which 
 some other churches lay so much 
 stress. According to them, the 
 qualifications which constitute a 
 regular minister of the New Tes- 
 tament are, a firm belief in the 
 gospel, a principle of sincere and 
 unaffected piety, a competent 
 stock of knowledge, a capacity 
 for leading devotion and commu- 
 nicating instruction, a serious in- 
 clination to engage in the import- 
 ant em.ployment of promoting 
 the everlasting salvation of man- 
 kind, and ordinarily an invitation 
 to the pastoral office from some 
 particular society of Christians. 
 Where these things concur, they 
 consider a person as fitted and 
 authorized for the discharge of 
 every duty which belongs to the 
 ministerial function ; and they be- 
 lieve that the imposition of hands 
 of bishops or presbyters would 
 convey to him no powers or pre- 
 rogatives of which he was not be- 
 fore possessed. But though they 
 attribute no virtue to ordination, 
 as conveying any new powers, yet 
 they hold v/ith and practise it. 
 Many of them, indeed, suppose 
 that the essence of ordination does 
 
 not lie in the act of the ministers 
 who assist, but in the choice and 
 call of the people, and the candi- 
 date's acceptance of that [call j so 
 j that their ordination may be con- 
 sidered only as a public decla- 
 ration of that agreement. See 
 Qrdination. They consider it 
 as their right to choose their own 
 ministers and deacons. They own 
 no man as head of the church. 
 They disallow of parochial and 
 provincial subordination ; but 
 though they do not think it nc-~" 
 cessary to assemble synods, yet, if 
 any be held, they look upon their 
 resolutions as prudential counsels, 
 but not as decisions to which they 
 are obliged to conform. They 
 consider the scriptures as the only 
 criterion of truth. Their worship 
 is conducted in a decent, plain, and 
 simple manner, without the osten- 
 tation of form and the vain pomp 
 of ceremony. 
 
 The congregations of the Inde- 
 pendents are very numerous, both 
 in England and America, and 
 some of them very respectable. 
 This denomination has produced 
 many characters as eminent for 
 learning and piety as any church 
 in Christendom j whose works, no 
 doubt, will reflect lasting honour 
 on their characters and abilities. 
 See Church Congregational ; 
 Nonconformists, and books un- 
 der those articles. 
 
 INDEX EXPUR GATOR Y, a 
 catalogue of prohibited books in the 
 church of Rome. The first cata- 
 logues of this kind were made by 
 the inquisitors, -and these were 
 afterwards approved of by the 
 i council of Trent, -after some al- 
 ! teration was made in them by way 
 
IND 
 
 413 
 
 T "NT T^ 
 
 of retrenchment or addition. Thus 
 an index of heretical books being 
 formed, it was confirmed by a 
 bull of Clement VIII, in 1595, 
 and printed with several introduc- 
 tory rules ; by the fourth of which, 
 the use of the scriptures in the 
 vulgar tongue is forbidden to all 
 persons without a particular li- 
 cence ; and by the tenth rule it is 
 ordained, that no book shall be 
 printed at Rome without the ap- 
 probation of the pope's vicar, or 
 some person delegated by the 
 pope ; nor in any other places, 
 unless allowed by the bishop of 
 the diocese, or some person de- 
 puted by him, or by the inquisi- 
 tor of heretical pravity. The 
 Trent index being thus published, 
 Philip II of Spain ordered another 
 to be printed at Antwerp in 1571, 
 with , considerable enlargements. 
 Another index was published in 
 Spain in 1584, a copy of which 
 was snatched out of the fire when 
 the English plundered Cadiz. Af- 
 terwards there were several e"x- 
 purgatory indexes printed at Rome 
 and Naples, and particularly in 
 Spain. 
 
 INDIGNATION, a strong dis- 
 approbation of mind, excited by 
 something flagitious in the con- 
 duct of another. It does not, 
 as Mr. Cogan observes, always 
 suppose that excess of depravity 
 which alone is capable of com- 
 mitting deeds of horror. Indig- 
 nation always refers to culpabi- 
 lity of conduct, and cannot, like 
 the passion of horror, be extend- 
 ed to distress either of |?ody or 
 mind. It is. produced by acts of 
 treachery, abuse of conndsncc, 
 base ingratitude, &c,, which we 
 
 cannot contemplate without being 
 provoked to anger, and feeling a 
 generous resentment. 
 
 INDULGENCES, in the Ro- 
 mish church, are a remission of the 
 punishment due to sin, granted by 
 the church, and supposed to save 
 the sinner from purgatory. 
 
 According to the doctrine of 
 the Romish church, all the good 
 works of the saints, over and 
 above those which were necessary 
 towards their own justification, 
 are deposited, together with the 
 infinite merits of Jesus Christ, in 
 one inexhaustible treasury. The 
 keys of this v/erc committed to 
 St. Peter, and to his successors, 
 the popes, who may open it at 
 pleasure ; and, by transferring a 
 portion of this superabundant 
 merit to any particular person 
 for a sum of money, may convey 
 to him either the pardon of his 
 own sins, or a release for any one 
 in whom he is interested from the 
 pains of purgatory. Such indul- 
 gences were first invented in the 
 eleventh century, by Urban II, 
 as a recompence for those v/ho 
 went in person upon the glorious 
 enterprise of conquering the Holy 
 Land. They were afterwards 
 granted to those who hired a 
 soldier for that purpose ; and in 
 process of time were bestowed on 
 such as gave money for accom- 
 plishing any pious work enjoined 
 by the pope. The power of 
 granting indulgences has been 
 greatly abused in the church of 
 Rome. Pope Leo X, in order 
 to carry on the magnificent struc- 
 ture of St. Peter's, at Rome, pub- 
 lished indulgences, and a plenary 
 remission to all such as -'^/^uM 
 
414 
 
 IND 
 
 contribute money towards it. ,, 
 Finding the project take, he grant- i 
 ed to Albert, elector of Mentz, I 
 and archbishop of Magdeburg, ii 
 the benefit of the indulgences of 
 Saxony, and the neighbouring 
 parts, and farmed out those of 
 other countries to the highest bid- 
 ders -, who, to make the best of 
 their bargain, procured the ablest 
 preachers to cry up the value 
 of the ware. The form of these 
 indulgences was as follows : — 
 " May our Lord Jesus Christ 
 have mercy upon thee, and ab- 
 solve thee by the merits of his 
 most holy passion. And I, by his 
 authority, that of his blessed apos- 
 tles, Peter and Paul, and of the 
 most holy pope, granted and com- 
 mitted to me in these parts, do 
 absolve thee, first from all ecclesi- 
 astical censures, in whatever man- 
 ner they have been incurred ; then 
 from all thy sins, transgressions, 
 and excesses, how enormous so- 
 ever they may be ; even from such 
 as are reserved for the cognizance 
 of the holy see, and as far as the 
 keys of the holy church extend, 
 I remit to you all punishment 
 which you deserve in purgatory 
 on their account ; and I restore 
 you to the holy sacraments of ths 
 church, to the unity of the faithful, 
 and to that innocence and purity 
 which you possessed at baptism : 
 so that when you die, the gates 
 of punishment shall be shut, and 
 the gates of the paradise of de- 
 light shall be opened ; and if 
 you shall not die at present, this 
 grace shall remain in full force \ 
 when you are at the point of 
 death. In the name of the Fa- 
 ther, the Son, and the Holy 
 Ghost," According to a book, 
 
 called the Tax of the sacred Ro- 
 man Chancery, in which are con- 
 tained the exact sums to be levied 
 for the pardon of each particular 
 sin, we find some of the fees to 
 be thus : 
 
 s. d. 
 For procuring abortion . . , 7 6 
 
 For simony 10 6 
 
 For sacrilege 10 6 
 
 For taking a false oath in a 
 
 criminal case 9 
 
 For robbing 12 
 
 For burning a neighbour's 
 
 house 12 O 
 
 For defiling a virgin .... 9 O 
 For lying with a mother, 
 
 sister, &c 7 6 
 
 For murdering a layman . . 7 6 
 For keeping a concubine .10 6 
 For laying violent hands on 
 
 a clergyman ...... 10 6 
 
 And so on. 
 
 The terms in which the retailers 
 of indulgences described their 
 benefits, and the necessity of 
 purchasing them, were so extra- 
 vagant, that they appear almost 
 incredible. If any man, said they, 
 purchase letters of indulgence, 
 his soul may rest secure with re- 
 spect to its salvation. The souls 
 confined in purgatory, for whose 
 redemption indulgences are pur- 
 chased, as soon as the money 
 tinkles in the chest, instantly 
 escape from that place of torment, 
 and ascend into heaven. That 
 the efficacy of indulgences was so 
 great, that the most heinous sins, 
 even if one should violate (which 
 was impossible) theMotherof God, 
 would be remitted and expiated 
 by them, and the person be freed 
 both from punishment and guilt. 
 That this was the unspeakable gift 
 of God, in order to reconcile man 
 
IND 
 
 415 
 
 Il^F 
 
 to himself. [That the cross erected 
 by the preachers of indulgences 
 was equally efBcacIous with the 
 cross of Christ itself. " Lo," said 
 they, " the heavens are open : if 
 you enter not now, M'hen will 
 you enter ? For twelvepence you 
 may redeem the soul of your fa- 
 ther out of purgatory ; and are 
 you so ungrateful that you will 
 not rescue the soul of your parent 
 from torment ? If you had but one 
 coat, you ought to strip yourself 
 instantly, and sell it, in order to 
 purchase such benefit," &c. It 
 was this great abuse of indulgences 
 that contributed not a little to the 
 reformation of religion in Ger- 
 many, where Martin Luther be- 
 gan first to declaim against the 
 preachers of indulgences, and af- 
 terwards against indulgences them- 
 selves : since that time the popes 
 have been more sparing in the ex- 
 ercise of this power •, although It is 
 said they still carry on a great 
 trade with them to the Indies, 
 where they are purchased at two 
 rials a piece, and sometimes more. 
 We are told also that a gentleman 
 not long since being at Naples, In 
 order that he might be fully as- 
 certained respecting Indulgences, 
 went to the office, and for two se- 
 quins purchased a plenary remis- 
 sion of all sins for himself and any 
 two other persons of his friends or 
 relations, whose names he was em- 
 powered to Insert. Haweis's Church 
 HisLyVol. HI, p. 147; Smiths Errors 
 of the Church of Rome ; Watson's 
 Theol. Tracts^ vol. v, p. 274 ; Mo- 
 sheim's Ecc. Hist., vol. I, p. 594, 
 quarto. 
 
 INDUSTRY, diligence, con- 
 stant application of the mind, or ex- 
 
 ercise of tlie body. See Dili- 
 gence, and Idleness. 
 
 INDWELLING SCHEME, a 
 scheme which derives its name 
 from that passage In Col. li, 9, 
 " In him dwelleth all the fulness 
 of the Godhead bodily," which, ac- 
 cording to some, asserts the doc- 
 trine of Christ's consisting of two 
 beings; one the self-existent Crea- 
 tor, and the other a creature made 
 into one person by an ineffable 
 union and i72divelling, which ren- 
 ders the same attributes and ho- 
 nours equally applicable to b^ttTT""'*'^ ' 
 See Pre-existence. Dr. X)w- 
 erCs Glory of Christy p. 36 S, 569, 
 London ed., 1679; a Sermon en- 
 titled " The True Christ of God 
 above the false Christ of Men." Ip- 
 swich, 1799; Watts' s Glory of 
 Christ, p. 6-203 ; Adams'' s Vieiv of 
 Religions, p. 267. 
 
 INFALLIBILITY, the quality 
 of not being subject to be deceived 
 or mistaken. 
 
 The InfaUihility of the church of 
 Rome has been one of the great 
 controversies between the Pro- 
 testants and Papists. By this in- 
 fallibility, it Is understood that 
 she cannot at any time cease to be . 
 orthodox in her doctrine, or fall 
 into any pernicious errors ; but 
 that she is constituted, by divine 
 authority, the judge of all contro- 
 versies of religion, and that all 
 Christians are obliged to acquiesce 
 In her decisions. This Is the chain 
 which keeps Its members fast bound 
 to its communion ; the charm 
 which retains them within its 
 magic circle ; the opiate which 
 lays asleep all their doubts and 
 difficulties : It is likewise the mag- 
 net which attracts the desultory 
 
INF 
 
 416 
 
 INF 
 
 and unstable in other persuasions 
 within the sphere of poperty, the 
 foundation of its whole super- 
 structure, the cement of all its 
 parts, and its fence and fortress 
 ap-ainst all inroads and attacks. 
 
 O 
 
 Under the idea of this infalli- 
 biliti}^ the church of Rome claims, 
 1. To determine what books are 
 and v>7hat are not canonical, and 
 to oblige all Christians to receive 
 or reject them accordingly. — 2. To 
 communicate authority to the 
 scripture ; or, in other words, that 
 the scripture (quoad nos), as to us, 
 rec'iives its authority from her. — 
 3. To assign and fix the sense of 
 scripture, which all Christians are 
 submissively to receive. — 4. To 
 decree as necessary to salvation 
 whatever she judges so, although 
 not contained in scripture. — 5. To 
 decide all controversies respecting 
 matters of faith. These are the 
 claims to which the church of 
 Rome pretends, but which we 
 shall not here attempt to refute, 
 because any man, v/ith the Bible in 
 his hand, and a little common 
 sense, will easily see that they are 
 all founded upon ignorance, su- 
 perstition, and error. It is not 
 a little remarkable, however, that 
 the Roman Catholics themselves 
 are much divided as to the seat of 
 this infallibility, and which, in- 
 deed, may be considered as a satis- 
 factory proof that no such privilege 
 exists in the church. For is it 
 consistent with reason to think that 
 God would have imparted so ex- 
 traordinary a gift to prevent er- 
 rors and dissensions in the church, 
 and yet have left aa additional 
 cause of error and dissension, viz. 
 the uncertainty of the place of 
 
 its abode ? No, surely. — -Some 
 place this infallibility in the pope 
 or bishop of Rome ; some in a ge- 
 neral council ; others in neither 
 pope nor council separately, but 
 in both conjointly ; whilst others 
 are said to place it in the church dif- 
 fusive, or in all churches through- 
 out the world. But that it could 
 not be deposited in the pope is 
 evident, for many popes have led 
 the most enormously wicked and 
 abandoned lives : some have been 
 heretics, and on that account cen- 
 sured and deposed, and therefore 
 could not have been infallible. 
 That it could not be placed in a 
 general council is as evident ; for 
 general councils have actually 
 erred. Neither could it be placed 
 in the pope and council conjointly ; 
 for two fallibles could not make 
 one infallible any more than two 
 ciphers conld make an integer. 
 To say that it is lodged in the 
 church universal or diffusive, is 
 equally as erroneous; for this 
 would be useless and insignificant, 
 because it could never be exer- 
 cised. The whole church could 
 not meet to make decrees, or to 
 choose representatives, or to de- 
 liver their sentiments on any ques- 
 tion started ; and, less than all, 
 would not be the whole church, 
 and so could not claim that pri- 
 vilege. 
 
 The most general opinion, how- 
 ever, it is said, is that of its being 
 seated in a pope and general coun- 
 cil. The advocates for this opi- 
 nion consider the pope as the 
 vicar of Christ, head of the church, 
 and centre of unity; and there- 
 fore conclude that his concur- 
 rence with and approbation of 
 
INF 
 
 417 
 
 INF 
 
 the decrees of a general council are 
 necessary, and sufficient to aiFord 
 it an indispensable sanction and 
 plenary authority. A general coun- 
 cil they regard as the church re- 
 presentative, and suppose that 
 nothing can be wanting to ascer- 
 tain the truth of any controversial 
 point, when the pretended head 
 of the church and its members, as- 
 sembled in their supposed repre- 
 sentatives, mutually concur and 
 coincide in judicial definitions and 
 decrees, but that infallibility at- 
 tends their coalition and conjunc- 
 tion in all their determinations. 
 
 Every impartial person, who 
 considers this subject with the 
 least degree of attention, must 
 clearly perceive that neither any 
 individual or body of Christians 
 have any ground from reason or 
 scripture for pretending to infal- 
 libility. It is evidently the attri- 
 bute, of the Supreme Being alone, 
 which we have all the foundation 
 imaginable to conclude he has 
 not communicated to any mortal, 
 or associations of mortals. The 
 human being who challenges in- 
 fallibility seems to imitate the 
 pride and presumption of Lucifer, 
 when he said, — I will ascend, an<l 
 will be like the Most High. A 
 claim to it was unheard of in the 
 primitive and purest ages of the 
 church ; but became, after that 
 period, the arrogant pretension of 
 papal ambition. History plainly 
 informs us, that the bishops of 
 Home, on the declension of the 
 western Roman empire, began to 
 put in their claim of being the su- 
 preme and infallible heads of the 
 Christian church ; which they at 
 length established by their deep 
 
 Vol. I. 5 H 
 
 policy and unremitting efForts j by 
 the concurrence of fortunate cir- 
 cumstances j by the advantages 
 which they reaped from the ne- 
 cessities of some princes, and the 
 superstition of others ; and by the 
 general and excessive credulity of 
 the people. However, when they 
 had grossly abused this absurd 
 pretension, and comrnitted various 
 acts of injustice, tyranny, and cru- 
 elty; when the blind veneration 
 for the papal dignity had been 
 greatly diminished by the long and 
 scandalous schism occasioned by 
 contending popes ; when these had 
 been for a considerable time roam- 
 ing about Europe, fawning on 
 princes, squeezing their adherents, 
 and cursing their rivals , and when 
 the councils of Constance and Ba- 
 sil had challenged and exercised 
 the right of deposing and electing 
 the bishops of Rome, then their 
 pretensions to infallibility were 
 called in question, and the world 
 discovered that councils were a 
 jurisdiction superior to that of the 
 towering pontiffs. Then it was 
 that this infallibility was transfer- 
 red by many divines from popes 
 to general councils, and the opi- 
 nion of the soiperior authority o£ 
 a council above that of a pope 
 spread vastly, especially under the 
 profligate pontificate of Alexander 
 VI, and the martial one of Julius 
 II. The popes were thought by 
 numbers to be too unworthy pos- 
 sessors of so rich a jewel ; at the 
 same time it appeared to be of too 
 great a value, and of too extensive 
 consequence to be parted with en- 
 tirely. It was, therefore, by the 
 major part of the Roman church, 
 deposited with, or made the pro- 
 
INF 
 
 418 
 
 INF 
 
 perty of general councils, either |1 
 solely or conjointly with the pope, j 
 See Smith's Errors of the Church of 
 Rome detected ; and list of writers 
 under article Popery. 
 
 INFANT COMMUNION, the 
 admission of infants to the ordinance 
 of the Lord's supper. It has been 
 debated by some, whether or no |j 
 infants should be admitted to^tKisll 
 ordinance. One of the greatest' 
 advocates for this practice was 
 Mr. Peirce. He pleads the use 
 of it even unto this day among the 
 Greeks, and in the Bohemian 
 churches till near the time of the 
 reformation ; but especially from 
 the custom of the ancient churches, 
 as it appears from many passages 
 in Photius, Augustin, and Cyprian. 
 But Dr. Doddridge observes, that 
 Mr. Peirce's proof from the more 
 ancient fathers is very defective. His 
 arguments from scripture chiefly 
 depend upon this general medium ; 
 that Christian, succeeding to the 
 Jews as God's people, and being 
 grafted upon that stock, their in- 
 fants have a right to all the pri- 
 vileges of which they are capable, 
 till forfeited by some immoralities; 
 and consequently have a right to 
 partake of this ordinance, as the 
 Jewish children had to eat of the 
 passover and other sacrifices : be- 
 sides this, he pleads those texts 
 which speak of the Lord's supper 
 as received by all Christians. 
 
 The most obvious answer to all 
 this, is that which is taken from 
 the incapacity of infants to ex- 
 amine themselves, and discern the 
 Lord's body ; but he answers that 
 this precept is only given to per- 
 sons capable of undei"Standing and 
 gpjpplying with ic^ as those which 
 
 require faith in order to baptism 
 are interpreted by the Psedo-bap- 
 tists. As for his argument from 
 the Jewish children eating the sa- 
 crifice, it is to be considered that 
 this was not required as circum- 
 cision was : the males were not 
 necessarily brought to the temple 
 till they were twelve years old, 
 Luke ii, 42. and the sacrifices 
 they ate of were chiefly peace offer- 
 ingSy which became the common 
 food to all that were clean in the 
 family, and were not looked upon 
 as acts of devotion to such a de- 
 gree as our eucharist is *, though, 
 indeed, they were a token of their 
 acknowledging the divinity of that 
 God to whom they had been of- 
 fered, 1st Cor. X, 18. and even the 
 passover was a commemoration of 
 a temporal deliverance ; nor is 
 there any reason to believe that its 
 reference to the Messiah was gene- 
 rally understood by the Jews. 
 
 On the whole it is certain there 
 would be more danger of a con- 
 tempt arising to the Lord's supper 
 from the admission of infants, and 
 of confusion and trouble to other 
 communicants; so that not being 
 required in scripture, it is much 
 best to omit it. When children 
 are grown up to a capacity of be- 
 having decently, they may soon 
 be instructed in the nature and 
 design of the ordinance ; and if 
 they appear to understand it, and 
 behave for some competent time 
 of trial in a manner suitable to 
 that profession, it would probably 
 be ad"Visable to admit them to com- 
 munion though very young ; which, 
 by the way might be a good se- 
 curity against many of the snares 
 to which youth are exposed.—^ 
 
INF 
 
 419 
 
 INF 
 
 iDoddridge's Lectures^ lect. 207; 
 Peirce's Essay on the Hucharist^ 
 p. 76, &c. ; Witsius on Cov.y b. 4, 
 C. 17, § 30, 32; J.Frid. Mayor 
 Diss, de Euchari.tia Infantum; Zor- 
 mu.j' Hist. Eucharist. Infantum, p. 
 1 8 ; TheoL and Bib. Mag. Jan. and 
 April 1806. 
 
 INFANTS, Salvation of. "Va- 
 rious opinions," says an acute wri- 
 ter, "concerning the future state of 
 infants have been adopted. Some 
 think, all dying in infancy are an- 
 nihilated ; for, say they, infants, 
 being incapable of moral good or 
 evil, are not proper objects of re- 
 ward or punishment. Others think 
 that they share a fate similar to 
 adults ; a part saved, and a part 
 perish. Others affirm all are saved, 
 because all are immortal, and all 
 are innocent. Others, perplexed 
 with these diverse sentiments, think 
 best to leave the subject untouch- 
 ed. Cold comfort to parents who 
 bury their families in infancy ! 
 The most probable opinion seems 
 to be, that they are all saved, 
 through the merits of the Medi- 
 ator, with an everlasting salvation. 
 This has nothing in it contrary to 
 the perfections of God, or to any 
 declaration of the holy scriptures ; 
 and it is highly agreeable to all 
 those passages which affirm where 
 sin hath abounded, grace hath 
 much more abounded. On these 
 principles, the death of Christ saves 
 more than the fall of Adam lost." 
 If the reader be desirous of exa- 
 mining the subject, we refer him to 
 p. 415, V. ii, Robinson's Cdw.ul<s ; 
 GUlard's and Williams's Essays on 
 Infant Salvation; Jin attempt to 
 elucidate Rom, v. 12, by an ano- 
 nymous writer ; P/af-ti'-s Ruin ajid 
 
 Recovery^ p. 324, 327; Edwards ori 
 Original Sin, ip. 431, 434; Dod- 
 dridge's Lect.., lee. 168 ; Ridgelfs 
 Body of Div., V. i, p. 330, to 336. 
 INFIDELITY, want of faith in 
 God, or the disbelief of the truths 
 of revelation, and the great prin- 
 ciples of religion. If we enquire 
 into the rise of infidelity, we shall 
 find it does not take its origin from 
 the result of sober enquiry, close 
 investigation, or full conviction; 
 but it is rather, as one observes^ 
 " The slow production of a care- 
 less and irreligious life, operating 
 together with prejudices and erro-r 
 neous conceptions concerning the 
 nature of the leading doctrines of 
 Christianity. It may, therefore, be 
 laid down as an axiom, that inji~ 
 delity is^ in general, a disease of the 
 heart more than of the understand- 
 ing ; for we always find that infi- 
 delity increases in proportion as 
 the general morals decline. If we 
 consider the nature and effect of 
 this principle, we shall find that it 
 subverts the whole foundation of 
 morals ; it tends directly to the 
 destruction of a taste for moral 
 excellence, and promotes the 
 growth of those vices which are the 
 most hostile to social happiness, 
 especially vanity, ferocity, and 
 unbridled sensuality. As to the 
 progress of It, it is certain that, of 
 late years, it has made rapid 
 strides. Lord Herbert did not, 
 indeed, so much impugn the doc- 
 trine or the morality of the scrip- 
 tures as attempt to supersede their 
 necessity, by endeavouring to shew 
 that the great principles of the 
 unity of God, a moral government, 
 and a future wovld, are taught 
 with sufficient clearness by the 
 
INF 
 
 420 
 
 INF 
 
 light of nature. Bo/ingbroh, and 
 others of his successors, advanced 
 much farther, and attempted to 
 invalidate the proofs of the moral 
 character of the Deity, and con- 
 sequently all expectations of re- 
 wards and punishments, leaving 
 tiie Supreme Being no other per- 
 fections than those which belong 
 toa first cause, or Almighty con- 
 triver. After him, at a consider- 
 able distance, followed Hume, the 
 most aubtle of all, who boldly 
 aimed to introduce an universal 
 scepticism, and to pour a more 
 than Egyptian darkness into the 
 whole region of morals. Since 
 his time, sceptical writers have 
 sprung up in abundance, and infi- 
 delity has allured multitudes to its 
 standard ; the young and super- 
 ficial, by its dexterous sophistry ; 
 the vain, by the literary fame of its 
 champion ; and the profligate, by 
 the licentiousness of its principles." 
 But let us ask. What will be its 
 £mi? Is there any thing in the ge- 
 nius of this principle that will 
 lead us so suppose it will reign tri- 
 umphant ? So far from it, we have 
 reason to believe that it will be 
 banished from the earth. Its in- 
 consistency with reason •, its incon- 
 gruity with the nature of man ; 
 its cloudy and obscure prospects ; 
 its unsatisfying nature ; its oppo- 
 sition to the dictates of conscience •, 
 its pernicious tendency to eradi- 
 cate every just principle from the 
 breast of man, and to lead the 
 way for every species of vice and 
 immorality, shew us that it can- 
 not flourish, but must finally fall. 
 And, as Mr. Hall justly observes, 
 ** We have nothing to fear ; for, 
 to an attentive observer of the 
 
 signs of the times, it will appear 
 one of the most extraordinary 
 phsenomena of this eventful cri- 
 sis, that, amidst the ravages of 
 atheism and infidelity, real reli- 
 gion is on the increase ; for while 
 infidelity is marking its progress 
 by devastation and ruin, by the 
 prostration of thrones and concus- 
 sion of kingdoms, thus appalling 
 the inhabitants of the world, and 
 compelling them to take refuge 
 in the church of God ; the true 
 sanctuary, the stream of divine 
 knowledge, unobserved, is flow- 
 ing in new channels ; winding 
 its cour-:e among humble val- 
 lies, refreshing thirsty deserts, 
 and enriching, with far other 
 and higher blessings than those 
 of commerce, the most distant 
 climes and nations ^ until, agree- 
 ably to the prediction of prophe- 
 cy, the knowledge of the Lord 
 shall fill and cover the whole 
 earth." See Hallos admirable Ser. 
 en Infidelity ,• Fuller's Gospel of 
 Christ its own Witness ; Bishop Wat- 
 son's Apology for the Bible ; Wilber- 
 force's Practical VieiVy § 3. ch. 7 ;. 
 and books under article De- 
 ism. 
 
 INFIRMITY, applied to the 
 mind, denotes frailty, weakness. It 
 has been a question what may pro- 
 perly be denominated sins of in- 
 firmity. 
 
 1. Nothing, it is said, can be 
 excused under that name which 
 at the time of its commission is 
 knoiun to be a sin. — 2. Nothing can. 
 be called a sin of infirmity M'hich 
 is contrary to the express letter 
 of any of the commandments. — 
 3. Nothing will admit of a just 
 and sufficient excuse upon the 
 
INF 
 
 421 
 
 INF 
 
 account of infirmity which a man 
 beforehand considers and delibe- 
 rates with himself whether it be a 
 sin or no. A sin of infirmity is, 
 1. Such a failing as proceeds from 
 excuseable ignorance. — 2. Or un- 
 avoidable surprise. — 3. Or want 
 of courage and strength, Rom. 
 XVj 1. 
 
 By infirmity also we understand 
 the corruptions that are still left in 
 the heart (notwithstanding a per- 
 son may be sanctified in part), and 
 which sometimes break out. These 
 may be permitted to humble us ; 
 to animate our vigilance ; perhaps 
 that newly convinced sinners might 
 not be discouraged by a sight of 
 such perfection they might despair 
 of ever attaining to; to keep us 
 prayerful and dependent; to pre- 
 vent those honours which some 
 would be ready to give to human 
 nature rather than to God ; and, 
 lastly, to excite in us a continu- 
 al desire for heaven. Let us be 
 cautions and watchful, however, 
 against sin in all its forms : for 
 it argues a deplorable state of mind 
 when men love to practise sin, and 
 then lay it upon constitution, the 
 infirmity of nature, the decree of 
 God, the influence of Satan, and 
 thus attempt to excuse themselves 
 by saying they could not avoid it. 
 Clark's Senn.y ser. 12, vol. ix j 
 Massi/ott's Serm., vol. ii, p. 213, 
 Eng. trans. 
 
 INFINITY. Infinity is taken 
 in two senses entirely different, i. e. 
 in a positive and a negative one. 
 Positive infinity is a quality of being 
 perfect in itself, or capable of re- 
 ceiving no addition. Negative is 
 the quality of being boundless, un- 
 limited, or endless^ That God is 
 
 infinite isevident; for, as Doddridge 
 observes, 1. If he be limited, it 
 must either be by himself, or by 
 another ; but no wise being would 
 abridge himself, and there could be 
 no other being to limit God. — 2. 
 Infinity follows from self-existence; 
 for a necessity that is not universal 
 must depend on some external cause, 
 which a self-existent Being doe^ 
 not. — 3. Creation is so great art 
 act of power, that we can imagine 
 nothing impossible to that Being 
 who has performed it, but must 
 therefore ascribe to him infinite 
 power. — 4. It is more honourable 
 to the Divine Being to conceive of 
 him as infinite, than finite. — 5. 
 The scriptures represent all his at- 
 tributes as infinite. His under- 
 standing is infinite. Psal. cxlvli, 5. 
 His knowledge and wisdom, Rom. 
 xi, 33. His power, Rom, i. 20. 
 Heb. xi, 3. His goodness, Psal. xvi, 
 2. His purity, holiness, and jus- 
 tice. Job iv. 17. 18. Isa. vi, 2, 3. 
 — 6. His omnipresence and eter- 
 nity prove his infinity ; for were 
 he not infinite, he v/ould be bound- 
 ed by space and by time, which he 
 is not. Doddridge's Lect.y lee. 49 ; 
 W alts' s Ontology^ ch. 17 ; Locke on 
 Under St. ^ vol. i, ch. 17'; Howe's 
 Works i vol. i, p. 63, 64, 67. 
 
 INFLUENCES DIVINE, a 
 term made use of to denote the ope- 
 rations of the Divine Being upon 
 the mind. This doctrine of Divine 
 Influences has been much called 
 in question of late; but we may 
 ask, 1. What Doctrine can be more 
 reasonabk? "The operations which 
 the power of God carries on in the 
 natural world are no less mysteri- 
 ous than those which the Spirit 
 performs in the moral world, I£ 
 
ING 
 
 422 
 
 INJ 
 
 Kien, by their councils atid sug- 
 gestions, can influence the minds 
 of one another, must not Divine 
 suggestion produce a much greater 
 efFect ? Surely the Father of Spi- 
 rits, by a thousand ways, has ac- 
 cess to the spirits he has made, so 
 as to give them what determina- 
 tion, or impart to them what assist- 
 ance he thinks proper, without 
 injuring their frame or disturbing 
 their rational powers." 
 
 "We may observe, 2. Nothing 
 can be more scriptural. Eminent 
 -men from the patriarchal age 
 down to St. John, the latest wri- 
 ter, believed in this doctrine, and 
 ascribed their religious feelings to 
 this source. Our Lord strongly 
 and repeatedly inculcated this 
 truth ; and that he did not mean 
 miraculous, but moral influences 
 of the Spirit, is evident, John iii, 
 3. Matt, vii, 22, 23. John vi, 44, 
 46, See, also, John xii, 32, 40, 
 Rom. viii, 9. 1st Cor. ii, 14. — 3. 
 And we may add, nothing can 
 be more necessary^ if we consi- 
 der the natural depravity of the 
 heart, and the insufhciency of all 
 hum>an means to render ourselves 
 either holy or happy without a 
 supernatural power. See Wil- 
 liams's Historic Defence of Expe- 
 rimental Religion ; WiUiams's An- 
 szver to Belsham^\ti. 13; Hurrion^s 
 Sermons on the Spirit; Ozven on 
 the Spirit. 
 
 ■ INGRATITUDE, the vice of 
 being insensible to favours receiv- 
 ed, without any endeavour to ac- 
 knowledge and repay them. It is 
 sometimes applied to the act of 
 returning evil for good. Ingrati- 
 tude, it is said, is no passion ; for 
 the God of nature has appointed 
 
 no motion of the spirits where-* 
 by it might be excited ; it is, 
 therefore, a mere vice, arising 
 from pride, stupidity, or narrow- 
 ness of soul. 
 
 INIQUITY. See Sin. 
 
 INJURY, a violation of the 
 rights of another. Some, says 
 Grove, distinguish between injus- 
 titia and injuria. Injustice is op- 
 posed to justice in general, whe- 
 ther negative or positive ; an inju- 
 ry to negative justice alone. See 
 Justice. An injury is, wilfully 
 doing to another what ought not 
 to be done. This is injustice, too, 
 but not the whole idea of it •, for it 
 is injustice, also, to refuse or neg- 
 lect doing what ought to be done. 
 An injury must be wilfully com- 
 mitted ; whereas it is enough to 
 make a thing unjust, that it happens 
 through a culpable negligence. 1. 
 We may injure a person in his soul^ 
 by misleading his judgment; by 
 corrupting the imagination ; per- 
 verting the will ; and wounding 
 the soul with grief. Persecutors 
 who succeed in their compulsive 
 measures, though they cannot alter 
 the real sentiments by external 
 violence, yet sometimes injure the 
 soul by making the man a hypo- 
 crite. — 2. We may injure another 
 in his bodyy by homicide, murder, 
 preventing life, dismembering the 
 body by wounds, blows, slavery, 
 and imprisonment, or any unjust 
 restraint upon its liberty •, by rob- 
 bing it of its chastity, or prejudicr 
 ing its health. — 3. We may injure 
 another in his name and character y 
 by our own false and rash judg- 
 ments of him ;■ by false witness ; 
 by, charging a man to his face with 
 a crime which either we ourselves 
 
IN J 
 
 423 
 
 INO 
 
 have forged, or which we know to 
 have been forged by some other per- 
 son; by detraction or backbiting; 
 by reproach, or exposing another 
 for some natural infeUcity either in 
 body or mind ; or for some ca- 
 lamity into which he is fallen, or 
 some miscarriage of which he has 
 been guilty ; by Inuendos, or in- 
 direct accusations that are not 
 true. Now if we consider the va'ue 
 of character ; the resentment which 
 the injurious person has of such 
 treatment when it comes to his 
 own turn to suffer it ; the conse- 
 quence of a man's losing his good 
 name ; and, finally, the d-fficultij 
 of making reparation, we must at 
 once see the injustice of lessening 
 another's good character. There 
 are these two considerations which 
 should sometimes restrain us from 
 speaking the whole truth of our 
 neighbour, when it is to his dis- 
 advantage. 1. That he may pos- 
 sibly live to see his folly, and re- 
 pent and grow better. — 2. Ad- 
 mitting that we speak the truth, 
 yet it is a thousand to one but, when 
 it is handed about for some time, 
 it will contract a deal of false- 
 hood. — 3. We ^vay injure a person 
 in his relations and dependencies. 
 In his servants, by corrupting them; 
 in his children, by drawing them 
 into evil courses ; in his wife, by 
 sowing strife, attempting to alie- 
 nate her affections. — 4. We may be 
 cruiltij of injuring another in his 
 ivorldly goods or possessions. 1 . By 
 doing him a mischief, without any 
 advantage to ourselves, through 
 envy and malice.-— 2. By taking 
 what is another's, which is theft. 
 See Grove's Mor. Phil.y eh. 8, 
 p. 2 ; Watts' s Sermons ^ vol. ii, 
 
 ser. 
 
 42. 
 
 '3 ; Tillotsons Serm., serra; 
 
 INJURIES, Forgiveness of. Sec 
 Forgiveness. 
 
 INJUSTICE. See Injury. 
 INNOCENCE, acting in perfect 
 consonance to the law, without in- 
 curring guilt or consequent punish- 
 ment. See M N. 
 
 INQUISITION, in the church, 
 of Rome, a tribunal, in several Ro- 
 man Catholic countries, erected 
 by the popes for the examination 
 and punishment of heretics. This 
 court was founded in the twelfth 
 century, under the patronage of 
 pope Innocent, who issued out 
 orders to excite the Catholie 
 princes and people to extirpate 
 
 \ heretics, to search into their num- 
 
 iber and quality, and to transmit 
 a faithful account thereof to 
 
 j Rome. Hence they were called 
 inquisitors, and gave birth to this 
 
 [ formidable tribunal called the In- 
 quisition. That nothing might be 
 wanting to render this spiritual 
 court formidable and tremendous, 
 the Roman pontiffs persuaded the 
 European princes, and more es- 
 pecially the emperor Frederick 
 II, and Lewis IX, king of 
 France, not only to enact the 
 most barbarous laws against here- 
 tics, and to commit to the flames, 
 by the ministry of public justiccj 
 those who were pronounced such 
 by the inquisitors, but also to 
 maintain the inquisitors in their 
 office, and grant them their pro- 
 tection in the most open and so- 
 lemn manner. The edicts to this 
 purpose issued out by Frederick 
 II are well known ; edicts suf- 
 ficient to have excited the greatest 
 horror, and which rendered the 
 

 424 
 
 INQ 
 
 most Illustrious piety and virtue 
 incapable of saving from the 
 cruellest death such as had the 
 misfortune to be disagreeable to 
 the inquisitors. These abomina- 
 ble lav^s were not, however, suffi- 
 cient to restrain the just indigna- 
 tion of the people against those 
 inhuman judges, whose barbarity 
 was accompanied with supersti- 
 tion and arrogance, with a spirit 
 df suspicion and perfidy ; nay even 
 with temerity and imprudence. 
 Accordingly, they were insulted by 
 the multitude in many places, were 
 driven in an ignominious manner 
 put of some cities, and were put to 
 death in others ; and Conrad, of 
 Marpurg, the first German inqui- 
 sitor who derived his commission 
 from Gregory IX, was one of the 
 many victims that were sacrificed 
 pn this occasion to the vengeance of 
 the public, which his incredible 
 barbarities had raised to a dreadful 
 degree of vehemence and fury. 
 
 This diabolical tribunal takes 
 ^;ognizance of heresy, Judaism, ma- 
 hpmetanism, sodomy, and polyga- 
 rny; and the people stand in so 
 jnuch fear of it, that parents deliver 
 ]4p their children, husbands their 
 ■^ives, and masters their servants, 
 to its officers, without daring in the 
 least to murmur. The prisoners 
 are kept for a long time, till they 
 themselves turn their own accusers, 
 and declare the cause of their im- 
 prisonment, for which they are nei- 
 ther told their crime, nor confront- 
 ed with witnesses. As soon as they 
 are imprisoned, their friends go into 
 mourning, and speak of them as 
 dead, not daring to solicit their par- 
 don, lest they sliould be brought in 
 
 as accomplices. When there is no 
 shadow of proof against the pre- 
 tended criminal, he is discharged, 
 after suffering the most cruel tor- 
 tures, a tedious and dreadful im- 
 prisonment, and the loss of the 
 greatest part of his effects. The 
 sentence against prisoners is pro- 
 nounced publicly, and with extra- 
 ordinary solemnity. In Portugal 
 they erect a theatre capable of hold- 
 ing three thousand persons, in 
 which they place a rich altar, and 
 raise seats on each side, in the form 
 of an amphitheatre. There the 
 prisoners are placed, and over a- 
 gainst them is a high chair, whi- 
 ther they are called one by one to 
 hear their doom from one of their 
 inquisitors. These unhappy per- 
 sons know what they are to suffer 
 by the clothes they wear that day : 
 those who appear in their own 
 clothes are discharged on pay- 
 ing a fine ; those who have a ianto 
 benitOy or strait yellow coat with- 
 out sleeves, charged with St. An- 
 drew's cross, have their lives, but 
 forfeit all their effects ; those who 
 have the resemblance of flames 
 made of red serge sewed upon 
 their santo benito, without any 
 cross, are pardoned, but threat- 
 ened to be burnt if ever they re- 
 lapse *, but those who, besides 
 these flames, have on their santo 
 benito their own picture surround- 
 ed with devils, are condemned to 
 expire in the flames. The inqui- 
 sitors, who are ecclesiastics, do 
 not pronounce the sentence of 
 death, but form and read an act, 
 in which they say, that the crimi- 
 nal, being convicted of such a 
 crime by his own confession, U^ 
 
INS 
 
 4^5 
 
 INS 
 
 with much reluctance, delivered 
 to the secular power, to be pu- 
 nished according to his demerits ; 
 and this writing they give to the 
 seven judges, who attend at the 
 right side of the altar, and im- 
 mediately pass sentence. For the 
 conclusion of this horrid scene, 
 see Act of Faith. We rejoice 
 however, to hear, that, in many 
 Roman Catholic countries, the 
 inquisition is now shut. May the 
 God of mercy and love prevent 
 its ever being employed again ! 
 See Baker's History of ihe Inqui- 
 sition ; and LimhorcU s History of 
 ihe Inquisition^ translated by Chand- 
 ler. 
 
 INSPIRATION, the conveying 
 of certain extraordinary and super- 
 natural notices or motions into 
 the soul ; or it denotes any super- 
 natural influence of God upon 
 the mind of a rational creature, 
 whereby he is formed to any de- 
 gree of intellectual improvement, 
 to which he could not, or would 
 not, in fact, have attained in his pre- 
 sent circumstances in a natural 
 way. Thus the prophets are said 
 to have spoken by divine inspira- 
 tion. Theological writers have enu- 
 merated several kinds of inspira- 
 tion. 1. An inspiration of siiperin-\ 
 tendency^ in which God does so in- I 
 fluence and direct the mind of any : 
 person as to keep him more secure j 
 from error in some various and 
 complex discourse, than he would i 
 have been merely by the use of 
 his natural faculties. — 2. Plenary 
 super ■7Jtende?it inspiration, which ex- 
 cludes any mixture of error at all 
 from the performance so superin- 
 tended. — 3. Inspiration of eleva- 
 tion^ where the faculties act in a 
 
 Vol. 3 I 
 
 regular, and, as it seems, in a com- 
 mon manner, yet arc raised to an 
 extraordinary degree, so that the 
 composure shall, upon the whole, 
 have more of the true sublime 
 or pathetic than natural genius 
 could have given. — 4. Inspiration 
 of suggestion, where the use of 
 the faculties is superseded, and 
 God does, as it were, speak di- 
 rectly to the mind, making such 
 discoveries to it as it could not 
 otherwise have obtained, and dic- 
 tating the very words in which 
 such discoveries are to be commu- 
 nicated, if they are designed as a 
 message to others. It is generally 
 allowed that the scriptures were 
 written by divijie inspiration. The 
 matter of them, the spirituality 
 and elevation of their design, the 
 majesty and simplicity of their 
 Style, the agreement of their va- 
 rious parts, their wonderful effi- 
 cacy on mankind ; the candour, 
 disinterestedness, and uprightness 
 of the penmen ; their astonishing 
 preservation ; the multitude of 
 miracles wrought in confirmation 
 of the doctrines they contain, and 
 the exact fulfilment of their pre- 
 dictions, prove this. It has been 
 disputed, hov/ever, whether this in- 
 spiration is in the most absolute 
 sense plenary. As this is a sub- 
 ject of importance, and ought to 
 be carefully studied by every chris- 
 tian, in order that he may ren- 
 der a reason of the hope that is 
 in him, I shall here subjoin the ' 
 remarks of an able writer, who 
 though he may differ from some 
 others as to the terms made use of 
 above, yet I am persuaded his 
 arguments will be found weighty 
 and powerful. " There are many 
 
INS 
 
 426 
 
 IN S 
 
 things in the' scriptures," says Mr. 
 Dick, " which the writers might 
 have known, and probably did 
 know, by ordinary means. As 
 persons possessed of memory, judg- 
 ment, and the other intellectual 
 faculties which are common to 
 men, they were able to relate cer- 
 tain events in which they had been 
 personally concerned, and to make 
 such occasional reflections as were 
 suggested by particular subjects 
 and occurrences. In these cases 
 «o supernatural influence w^s ne- 
 cessary to invigorate their minds ; 
 it was only necessary that they 
 should be infallibly preserved from 
 error. It is with respect to such 
 passages of scripture alone, as did 
 not exceed the natural ability of 
 the writers to compose, that I 
 "Would admit the notion of super- 
 intendence, if it should be admitted 
 at all. Perhaps this word, though 
 of established use and almost un- 
 disputed authority, should be en- 
 tirely laid aside, as insuihcient to 
 express even the lowest degree of 
 inspiration. In the passages of 
 scripture which we are now con- 
 sidering, I conceive the writers to 
 have been not merely superin- 
 tended, that they might commit 
 no error, but likewise to have 
 been moved or excited by the 
 Holy Ghost to record particular 
 events, and set down particular 
 observations. The passages writ- 
 ten in consequence of the di- 
 rection and under the care of the 
 Divine Spirit, may be said, in an 
 inferior sense, to be inspired ; 
 whereas if the men had written 
 them at the suggestion -of their 
 own spirit, they would not have 
 possessed any more authority, ! 
 
 though they had been free from: 
 error, than those parts of pro- 
 fane writings which are agreeable 
 to truth. 
 
 2. " There are other parts of 
 the scriptures in which the faculties 
 of the writers were supernaturally 
 invigorated and elevated. It is 
 impossible for us, and perhaps it 
 was not possible for the inspired 
 person himself, to determine where 
 nature ended and inspiration be- 
 gan. It is enough to know, that 
 there are many parts of scripture 
 in which, though the unassisted 
 mind might have proceeded some 
 steps, a Divine impulse was neces- 
 sary to enable it to advance. I 
 think, for example, that the evan- 
 gelists could not have written the 
 history of Christ if they had not 
 enjoyed miraculous aid. Two of 
 them, Matthew and John, accom- 
 panied our Saviour during' the 
 space of three years and a halfi 
 At the close of this period, or ra- 
 ther several years after it, when 
 they wrote their gospels, we may 
 be certain that they had forgot- 
 ten many of his discourses and 
 miracles; that they recollected 
 others indistinctly ; and that they 
 would have been in danger of pro- 
 ducing an inaccurate and unfair 
 account, by confounding one thing 
 with another. Besides, from sa 
 large a mass of particulars, men 
 of uncultivated minds, who were 
 not in the habit of distinguishing 
 and classifying, could not have 
 made a proper selection; nor 
 would persons unskilled in the art 
 of composition have been able to 
 express themselves in such terms 
 as should ensure a faithful repre- 
 sentation of doctrines and facts, 
 
INS 
 
 427 
 
 INS 
 
 Snd with such dignity as the na- 
 ture of the subject required. A 
 divine influence, therefore, must 
 have been exerted on their minds, 
 by which their memories and 
 judgments were strengthened, and 
 they were enabled to relate the 
 doctrines and miracles of their 
 Master in a manner the best fit- 
 ted to impress the readers of their 
 histories. The promise of the 
 Holy Ghost to bring to their re- 
 membrance all things whatsoever 
 Christ had said to them, proves, 
 that, in writing their histories, 
 their mental powers were endow- 
 ed, by his agency, with more than 
 usual vigour. 
 
 ** Farther ; it must be allowed 
 ihat in several passages of scrip- 
 ture there is found such elevation 
 of thought and of style, as clear- 
 ly shews that the powers of the 
 writers were raised above their 
 ordinary pitch. If a person of 
 moderate talents should give as 
 elevated a description of the ma- 
 jesty and attributes of God, or 
 reason as profoundly on the mys- 
 terious doctrines of religion, as a 
 man of the most exalted genius 
 and extensive learning, we could 
 not fail to be convinced that he 
 was supernaturally assisted \ and 
 the conviction would be still 
 stronger, if his composition should 
 far transcend the highest efforts 
 of the human mind. Some of 
 the sacred writers were taken from 
 the lowest ranks of life ; and yet 
 sentiments so dignified, and re- 
 presentations of divine things so 
 grand and majestic, occur in their 
 writings, that the noblest flights of 
 human genius, when compared 
 
 with them, appear cold and in- 
 sipid. 
 
 3. " It is manifest, with respect 
 to many passages of scripture, 
 that the subjects of which they 
 treat must have been directly re- 
 vealed to the writers. They 
 could not have been known by 
 any natural means, nor was the 
 knowledge of them attainable by 
 a simple elevation of the faculties. 
 With the faculties of an angel 
 we could not discover the pur- 
 poses of the Divine mind. This 
 degree of inpsiration we attribute 
 to those who were enipowered to 
 reveal heavenly mysteries, * which 
 eye had not seen, and ear had 
 not heard,' to those who were 
 sent with particular messages 
 from God to his people, and to 
 those who were employed to pre- 
 dict future events. The plan of 
 redemption being an effect of the 
 sovereign councils of heaven, it 
 could not have been known but 
 by a communication from the 
 Father of lights. 
 
 " This kind of inspiration has 
 been called the inspiration of sug~ 
 gestmi. It is needless to dispute 
 about a word ; but suggestion 
 seeming to express an operation 
 on the mind, by which ideas are 
 excited In it, is of too limited sig- 
 nification to denote the various 
 modes In which the prophets and 
 apostles were made acquainted 
 with supernatural truths. God 
 revealed himself to them not only 
 by suggestion, but by dreams, vi- 
 sions, voices, and the ministry 
 of angels. This degree of inspi- 
 ration, in strict propriety of speech, 
 should be called revelation ; a word 
 
IN S, 
 
 428 
 
 INS 
 
 preferable to suggestion, because 
 it is expressive of all the ways 
 in which God communicated new- 
 ideas to the minds of his ser- 
 •i'ants. It is a word, too, chosen 
 by the Holy Ghost himself, to 
 signify the discovery of truths for- 
 merly unknown to the apostles. 
 The last book of the New Testa- 
 ment, which is a collection of 
 prophecies, is called the Revela- 
 tion of Jesus Christ. Paul says, 
 that he received the gospel by re- 
 'udation ; that * by revelation the 
 rhystery was made known to him, 
 which in other ages was not made 
 known unto the sons of men, as 
 it was then revealed unto his holy 
 apostles and prophets by the 
 Spirit j' and in another place, 
 having observed that * eye had 
 not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
 had entered into the heart of man 
 the things which God had pre- 
 pared for them that love him,' he 
 adds, *But God hath revealed ihem 
 unto us by his Spirit,' Rev. i, 1. 
 Gal. i, 12. Eph. ii, 5. 1st Cor. ii, 
 9, 10. 
 
 " I have not names to designate 
 the other two kinds of inspiration. 
 The names used by Doddridge, 
 and others. Superintendence, Ele- 
 vation, and Suggestion, do not con- 
 vey the ideas stated in the three 
 preceding particulars, and are li- 
 able to other objections, besides 
 those which have been mentioned. 
 This account of the inspiration of 
 the scriptures has, I think, these 
 two recommendations ; that there 
 is no part of scripture which does 
 not fall under one or other of the 
 foregoing heads j and that the dif- 
 ferent degrees of the agency of 
 the Divine Spirit on the minds of 
 
 the different writers are carefully 
 discriminated. 
 
 " Some men have adopted very 
 strange and dangerous notions 
 respecting the inspiration of the 
 scriptures. Dr. Priestley denies 
 that they were written by a par- 
 ticular Divine inspiration ; and 
 asserts that the writers, though 
 men of the greatest probity, were 
 fallible, and have actually com- 
 mitted mistakes in their narra- 
 tions and their reasonings. But 
 this man and his followers find it 
 their interest to weaken and set 
 aside the authority of the scrip- 
 tures, as they have adopted a sys- 
 tem of religion from which all 
 the distinguishing doctrines of re- 
 velation are excluded. Others 
 consider the scriptures as inspired 
 in those places where they profess 
 to deliver the word of God j but 
 in other places, especially in the 
 historical parts, they ascribe to 
 them only the same authority 
 which is due to the writings of 
 well informed and upright men. 
 But as this distinction is perfectly 
 arbitrary, having no foundation 
 in any thing said by the sacred 
 writers themselves, so it is liable 
 to very material objections. It 
 represents our Lord and his apos- 
 tles, when they spoke of the Old 
 Testament, as having attested, 
 without any exception or limita- 
 tion, a number of books as di- 
 vinely inspired, while some of 
 them were partly, and some were 
 almost entirely, human compo- 
 sitions : it supposes the writers of 
 both Testaments to have profane- 
 ly mixed their own productions 
 with the dictates of the Spirit, and 
 to have passed the unhallowed 
 
INS 
 
 429 
 
 INS 
 
 compound on the world as genu- 
 ine. In fact, by denying that 
 they were constantly under in- 
 fallible guidance, it leaves us ut- 
 terly at a loss to know when we 
 should or should not believe 
 them. If they could blend their 
 own stories with the revelations 
 made to them, how can I be cer- 
 tain that they have not, on some 
 occasions, published, in the name 
 of God, sentiments of their own, 
 to which they were desirous to 
 gain credit and authority ? Who 
 will assure me of their perfect 
 fidelity in drawing a line of dis- 
 tinction between the divine and 
 the human parts of their writings ? 
 The denial of the plenary inspi- 
 ration of the scriptures tends to 
 unsettle the foundations of our 
 faith, involves us in doubt and per- 
 plexity, and leaves us no other 
 method of ascertaining how much 
 we should believe, but an appeal 
 to reason. But when reason is 
 invested with the authority of a 
 judge, not only is revelation dis- 
 honoured, and its author insulted, 
 but the end for which it was given 
 is completely defeated. 
 
 " A question of very great 
 importance demands our atten- 
 tion, while we are endeavouring 
 to settle, with precision, the no- 
 tion of the inspiration of the 
 scriptures : it relates to the words 
 in which the sacred writers have 
 expressed their ideas. Some think, 
 that in the choice of words they 
 were left to their own discretion, 
 and that the language is human, 
 though the matter be divine ; 
 while others believe, that in their 
 expressions, as well as in their 
 sentiments, they were under the 
 
 infallible direction of the Spirit. 
 It is the last opinion which 
 appears to be most conformable 
 to truth, and it may be sup- 
 ported by the following reason- 
 ing. 
 
 " Every man, who hath attend- 
 ed to the operations of his own 
 mind, knows that we think in 
 words, or that, when we form a 
 train or combination of ideas, we 
 clothe them with words •, and that 
 the ideas which are not thus 
 clothed are indistinct and con- 
 fused. Let a man try to think 
 upon any subject, moral or re- 
 ligious, without the aid of lan- 
 guage, and he will either experi- 
 ence a total cessation of thought, 
 or, as this seems impossible, at 
 least while we are awake, he will 
 feel himself constrained, notwith- 
 standing his utmost endeavours, to 
 have recourse to words as the in- 
 strument of his mental operations. 
 As a great part of the scriptures 
 was suggested or revealed to the 
 writers ; as the thoughts or sen- 
 timents, which were perfectly new 
 to them, were conveyed into their 
 minds by the Spirit, it is plain 
 that they must have been accom- 
 panied with words proper to ex- 
 press them ; and, consequently, 
 that the words were dictated by 
 the same influences on the mind 
 which communicated the ideas. 
 The ideas could not have come 
 without the words, because with- 
 out them they could not have 
 been conceived. A notion of the 
 form and qualities of a material 
 object may be produced by sub- 
 jecting it to our senses j but there 
 is no conceivable method of mak- 
 ing us acquainted with new ab- 
 
1 N S 
 
 430 
 
 INS 
 
 stract truths, or with things which 
 do not He within the sphere of 
 sensation, but by conveying to 
 die mind, in some way or other, 
 the words significant of them. 
 In all those passages of scripture, 
 therefore, which were written by 
 revelation, it is manifest that the 
 words were inspired ; and this is 
 still more evident with respect to 
 those passages which the writers 
 themselves did not understand. 
 No man could write an intelli- 
 gible discourse on a subject which 
 he does not understand, unless he 
 were furnished with the words as 
 well as the sentiments -, and that 
 the penmen of the scriptures 
 did not always understand what 
 they wrote, might be safely 
 inferred from the comparative 
 darkness of the dispensation under 
 which some of them lived ; and 
 is intimated by Peter, when he 
 says, that the prophets * enquired 
 and searched diligently what, and 
 what manner of time the spirit of 
 Christ which was in them did sig- 
 nify, when it testified beforehand 
 the sufferings of Christ, and the 
 glory that should follow,' 1st Pet. 
 i, 10, 11. 
 
 <' In other passages of scrip- 
 ture, those not excepted in which 
 the writers relate such things as 
 had fallen v/ithin the compass of 
 their own knowledge, we will be 
 disposed to believe that the words 
 are inspired, if we calmly and 
 seriously weigh the following con- 
 siderations. If Christ promised 
 to his disciples, that, when they 
 were brought before kings and 
 governors for his sake, * it should 
 be given them in that same hour 
 what they should speak, and that 
 
 the Spirit of their Father should 
 speak in them,' Matt, x, 19, 20. 
 Luke xii, 11, 12. a promise which 
 cannot be reasonably understood 
 to signify less than that both 
 words and sentiment should be 
 dictated to them, it is fully as 
 credible that they would be as- 
 sisted in the same manner when 
 they wrote, especially as the re- 
 cord was to last through all ages, 
 and to be a rule of faith to all 
 the nations of the earth. Paul 
 affirms, that he and the other 
 apostles spoke * not in the words 
 which man's wisdom teacheth, 
 but which the Holy Ghost 
 taught,' 1st Cor. ii, 13. and this 
 general assertion may be applied 
 to their writings as well as to 
 their sermons. Besides, every 
 person who hath reflected upon' 
 the subject is aware of the im- 
 portance of a proper selection of 
 words in expressing our senti- 
 ments ; and knows how easy it is 
 for a heedless or unskilful person 
 not only to injure the beauty and 
 weaken the efficacy of a discourse 
 by the impropriety of his lan- 
 guage, but, by substituting one 
 word for another, to which it 
 seems to be equivalent, to alter 
 the meaning, and perhaps render 
 it totally different. If, then, the 
 sacred writers had not been di- 
 rected in the choice of words, 
 how could we have been assured 
 that those which they have cho- 
 sen were the most proper .'* Is it 
 not possible, nay, is it not certain, 
 that they would have sometimes 
 expressed themselves inaccurately, 
 as many of them were illiterate 5 
 and by consequence would have 
 obscured and misrepresented the 
 
INS 
 
 431 
 
 INS 
 
 truth ? Iti this case, how could 
 our faith have securely rested on 
 their testimony ? Would not the 
 suspicion of error in their writings 
 have rendered it necessary, before 
 we received them, to try them by 
 the standard of reason ? and would 
 not the authority and the design 
 of revelation have thus been over- 
 thrown ? We must conclude, 
 therefore, that the words of scrip- 
 ture are from God, as well as the 
 matter ; or we shall charge him 
 with a want of wisdom in trans- 
 mitting his truths through a chan- 
 nel by which they might have 
 been, and most probably have been, 
 polluted. 
 
 ** To the inspiration of the 
 words, the difference in the style 
 of the sacred writers seems to be 
 an objection ; because, if the Ho- 
 ly Ghost were the author of the 
 words, the style might be expected 
 to be uniformly the same. But 
 in ansv/er to this objection it may 
 be observed, that the Divine Spi- 
 rit, whose operations are various, 
 might act differently on different 
 persons, according to the natural 
 turn of their minds. He might 
 enable one man, for instance, to 
 write more sublimely than an- 
 other, because he was naturally of 
 a more exalted genius than the 
 other, and the subject assigned to 
 him demanded more elevated lan- 
 guage -, or he might produce a 
 difference in the style of the same 
 man, by raising, at one time, his 
 faculties above their ordinary state ; 
 arid by leaving them, at another, 
 to act according to their native 
 energy under his Inspection and 
 control. We should not suppose [ 
 
 that inspiration, even in its higher 
 degrees, deprived those who were 
 the subjects of it of the use of 
 their faculties. They vtrere, in- 
 deed, the organs of the Spirit ; 
 but they were conscious, intelli- 
 gent organs. They were depend- 
 ent, but distinct agents ; and the 
 operation of their mental powers, 
 though elevated and directed by 
 superior influence, was analogous 
 to their ordinary mode of pro- 
 cedure. It is easy, therefore, to 
 conceive that the style of the 
 writers of the scriptures should 
 differ, just as it would have dif- 
 fered if they had not been in- 
 spired. A perfect uniformity of 
 style could not have taken place, 
 unless they had all been inspired 
 in the same degree, and by inspi- 
 ration their faculties had been 
 completely suspended •, so that di- 
 vine truths were conveyed by 
 them in the same passive manner 
 In which a pipe affords a passage 
 to water, or a trumpet to the 
 breath." See DicFs Essa'^ on the 
 Inspiration of the Scriptures ; 
 Haiuker on Plenary Inspiration ; 
 Appendix /o 3d vol. of Doddridge's 
 Expositor ; Calamy and Bennett on 
 Inspiration ; Dr. Stetinett on the- 
 Authority and Use of Scripture; 
 Parry s Enquiry into the Nattere and 
 Extent of the Inspiration of the 
 Apostles ; Bro'wn's Nat. and Rev. 
 Relig., p. 78 ; and art. Chris- 
 tianity and Scripture, in this 
 work. 
 
 INSTINCT, that power which 
 acts on and impels any creature to 
 any particular manner of conduct, 
 not by a view of the beneficial con- 
 sequences, but merely from a strong 
 
INT 
 
 432 
 
 INT 
 
 impulse supposed necessary in its 
 effects, and to be given them to 
 supply the place of reason. 
 
 INSTITUTE, INSTITUTION, 
 an established custom or law ; a 
 precept, maxim, or principle. In- 
 stitutions may be considered as po- 
 sitive, moral, and human. 1. Those 
 are called positive institutions or 
 precepts which are not founded 
 upon any reasons known to those 
 to whom they are given, or disco- 
 verable by them, but which are 
 .observed merely because some su- 
 perior has commanded them. — 2. 
 Moral are those, the reasons of 
 which we see, and the duties of 
 which arise out of the nature 
 of the case itself, prior to ex- 
 ternal command. Z. i/?/?»a«, 
 
 are generally applied to those 
 inventions of men, or means of 
 honouring God, which are not 
 appointed by him, and which are 
 numerous in the church of Rome, 
 and too many of them in Pro- 
 testant churches. Butler's Analogy, 
 p. 214 ; Doddridge's Lec.y lee. 158 ; 
 Robinson'' s Claude-^ 217 j vol i, and 
 258, vol. ii ; Burrough' s two Dis. 
 on Positive Institiitiors ; Bp. Hood- 
 ley's Plain Account y p. 3. 
 
 INTEGRITY, purity of mind, 
 free from any undue bias or prin- 
 ciple, Prov. xi, 3. Many hold, that 
 a certain artful sagacity, founded 
 upon knowledge of the world, is 
 the best conductor of every one 
 who would be a successful adven- 
 turer in life, and that a strict at- 
 tention to integrity would lead 
 them into danger and distress ; but, 
 in answer to this, it is justly ob- 
 served, 1. That the guidance of 
 integrity is the safest under which 
 we can be placed ; that the road 
 
 in which it leads us is, upon the 
 whole, the freest from damgers, 
 Prov. iii, 21, &c. — 2. It is un- 
 questionably the most honourable ; 
 for integrity is the foundation of 
 all that is high in character among 
 mankind, Prov. iv, 8.-3. It is the 
 most conducive to felicity, Phil, iv, 
 6, 7. Prov. iii, 17. — 4. Such a cha- 
 racter can look forward to eternity _ 
 without dismav, Rom. ii, 7. 
 
 INTEMPERANCE, excess in 
 eating or drinking. This is the 
 general idea of it ; but we may 
 observe, that whatever indulgence 
 undermines the health, impairs 
 the senses, inflames the passions, 
 clouds and sullies the reason, per- 
 verts the judgment, enslaves the 
 will, or in any way disorders or 
 debilitates the faculties, may be 
 ranked under this vice. See article 
 Temperance. 
 
 INTERCESSION OF CHRIST 
 is his interposing for sinners by vir- 
 tue of the satisfaction he made to 
 Divine justice. 1. As to the fact it- 
 selfy it is evident, from many places 
 of scripture, that Christ pleads 
 with God in favour of his people, 
 Rom. viii, 34. Heb. vii, 25. 1st 
 John ii, 1. — 2. As to the manner of 
 it : the appearance of the high- 
 priest among the Jews, in the pre- 
 sence of God, on the day of atone- 
 ment, when he offered before him 
 the blood of the sin-offering, is at 
 large referred to by St. Paul,. as il- 
 lustrating theintercession of Christ, 
 Heb. ix, 11, 14, 22, 26. Heb. x, 
 19,21. Christ appears before God 
 with his own body , but whether 
 he intercedes vocally or not, can- 
 not be known ; though it is most 
 probable, I think, that he does not : 
 howeA'er, it is certain that he does 
 
INT 
 
 433 
 
 I 
 
 tloes not intercede in like manner 
 as when on earth, with prostra- 
 tion of body, cries, and tears, 
 which would be quite inconsistent 
 with his state of exaltation and 
 glory ; nor as supplicating an angry 
 judge, for peace is made by the 
 blood of the cross ; nor as litigat- 
 ing a point in a court of judica- 
 ture ; but his intercession is car- 
 ried on by she\v\ng himself ^s hav- 
 ing done, as their surety, all that 
 law and justice could require, by 
 representing his blood and sacrifice 
 as the ground of his people's ac- 
 ceptance with the Father, Rev. v, 
 6. John xvii, 24. — 3. The end of 
 Christ's intercession is not to re- 
 mind the Divine Being of afiy 
 thing which he would otherwise 
 forget, nor to persuade him to any 
 thing which he is not disposed to 
 do ; but it may serve to illustrate 
 the holiness and majesty of the 
 Father, and the wisdom and grace 
 of the Son ; not to say that it may 
 have other unknown uses with res- 
 pect to the inhabitants of the invi- 
 sible world. He is represented, 
 also, as offering up the prayers and 
 praises of his people, which be- 
 come acceptable to God through 
 "him, Rev. viii, 3,4. Heb. xiii, 15. 
 1st Pet. ii, 5. He there pleads 
 for the conversion of his uncon- 
 verted ones ; and for the consola- 
 tion, preservation, and glorification 
 of his people, John xvii. 1st John 
 ii, 1, 2. — 4. Of the properties oj 
 Christ's intercession we may ob- 
 serve, 1. That it is authoritative. 
 He intercedes not without right, 
 John xvii, 24. Ps. ii, 8. — 2. Wise: 
 he understands the nature of his 
 work, and the wants of his people, 
 John ii, 25. — 3. Righteous j for it 
 Vol. I. 3 K 
 
 is founded upon justice and truth, 
 1st John iii, 5. Heb. vii, 26. — 4. 
 Compassionate, Heb. ii, 17. Heb. 
 V, 8. Is. Ixiii, 9. — 5. He is the sole 
 advocate, 1st Tim. ii, 5. — 6. It is 
 perpetual, Heb. vii, 25. — 7. Effi- 
 cacious, 1st John ii, 1, 2. — 5. The 
 w^ewe should make of Christ's in- 
 tercession is this: 1. We may 
 leam the wonderful love of God 
 to man, Rom. v, 10.— 2. The du- 
 rability iand safety of the chmxh, 
 Luke xxii, 31, 32. Is. xvii, 24. — 
 
 3. The ground we have for com- 
 fort, Heb. ix, 24. Rorii. viii, 34. 
 — 4. It should excite us to offer up 
 prayers to God, as they are ac- 
 ceptable through him. Rev. viii, 3, 
 
 4. See Charnock^s Works^ vol. ii, 
 p. 11 09-; FlaveVs JVorks^ vol. i, p. 
 72 ; Doddridge'' s Lec.^ vol. ii, p. 
 294, 8vo,- GiWs Body of Div.^ 
 vol.' ii, p. 126, 8vo. edit.; 348 
 Brown^s Nat. and Rev. Rel. ; Ber- 
 ry Street Lec.^ No. 18 / Ridgley'^s 
 Body of Div. ^qnes, 55. 
 
 INTERDICT,an ecclesiastical 
 censure, by which the church of 
 Rome forbids the performance of 
 divine service in a kingdom, pro- 
 vince, town, &c. This censure 
 has been frequently executed in 
 France, Italy, and Germany ; and 
 in the year 1 1 70, pope Alexander 
 III put all England under an in- 
 terdict, forbidding the clergy to 
 perform any part of divine service, 
 except baptizing infants, taking 
 confessions, and giving absolution 
 to dying penitents ; but this cen- 
 sure being liable to ill conse- 
 quences, of promoting libertinism 
 and a neglect of religion, the su 
 ceeding popes have very seldom 
 made use of it. There was also 
 an interdict of persons, who wert; 
 
INT 
 
 434 
 
 IN 
 
 deprived of the benefit of attend' 
 ing on divine service. Particular 
 persons were also anciently inter- 
 dicted of fire and water, which 
 signifies a banishment for some 
 particular offence: by this cen- 
 sure no person Avas permitted to 
 receive them, or allovt^ them fire 
 or water ; and, being thus wholly 
 deprived of the twonecessaiy ele- 
 ments of life, they were, doubt- 
 less, under a kind of civil death. 
 
 INTEREST IN CHRIST, a 
 term often made use of im the reli- 
 gious v/orld ; and implies our hav- 
 ing a right to claim him as our me- 
 diator, surety, advocate^ and savi- 
 our, and with him all those spiri- 
 tual bl-essings which are purchased 
 and applied by him to those whom 
 he has redeemed. The term, 
 *' hav'mg a right to claim him^'' 
 perhaps, is preierable to that often 
 used, " being enabled to claim him^'' 
 as many have an interest in Christ 
 who are destitute of that assurance 
 ■which gives them a comfortable 
 sense thereof. Ridgley's Div.^ 228, 
 3d edit. ; Pike'^sCases of Conscience^ 
 p. 130. 
 
 INTERIM, the name of a for- 
 mulary, or confession of faith, ob- 
 truded upon the Protestants, after 
 the death of Luther, by the em- 
 peror Charles V, when he had de- 
 feated their forces. It was so 
 called, because it was only to take 
 place in the interim^ till a general 
 council should decide all the 
 paints in question between the 
 Protestants and Catholics. The 
 occasion of it was this : The em- 
 peror had made choice of three 
 divines, vi2. Julius Phlug, bishop 
 of Naumberg; Michael Helding, 
 titular bishop, of Sidon : ar.d John 
 
 Agricola, preacher to the elector 
 of Brandenburgh ; who drew up a 
 project, consisting of 26 articles, 
 concerning the points of religion 
 in dispute between the Catholics 
 and Protestants. Tne controvert- 
 ed points v»rere, the state of Adam 
 before and after his fall; the 
 redemption of mankind by^ Je- 
 sus Christ ; the justification of sin- 
 ners ; charity and good works j 
 the confidence we ought to have in 
 God ; that our sins are remitted j 
 the church and its true marks, its 
 power, its authority, and minis-^ 
 ters ; the pope and bishops ; the 
 sacraments ; the mass ; the com- 
 memoration of saints ; their in- 
 tercession ; and prayers for the 
 dead. 
 
 The emperor sent this project 
 to the pope for his approbation, 
 which he refused; whereupon 
 Charles V published the imperial 
 constitution, called the Interim, 
 wherein he declared, that " it 
 was his will, that all his Catholic 
 dominions should, for the future, 
 inviolably observe the customs, 
 statutes, and ordinances of the 
 universal church ; and that those 
 who had separated themselves 
 from it should either reunite them- 
 selves to it, or, at least, conform to 
 this constitution ; and that all 
 should quietly accept the decisions 
 of the general council.'"' This or- 
 dinance was published in the diet 
 of Augsburg, May \5^ 1548; but 
 this device neither pleased the pope 
 nor the Protestants : the Lutheran 
 preachers openly declared they 
 would not receive it, alleging 
 that it re-established popery: some 
 chose rather to quit their chairs 
 and livings than to subscribe it ; 
 
INT 
 
 435 
 
 INT 
 
 nor would the duke of Saxony 
 receive it. Calvin, and several 
 others, wrote against it. On the 
 other side, the emperor was soi se- 
 vere against those who refused to 
 accept it, that he disfranchised the 
 cities of Magdeburg and Con- 
 statxce for their opposition. 
 
 INTERMEDIATE STATE, 
 a term made use of to denote the 
 state of the soul between death 
 and the resurrection. From the 
 scriptures speaking frequently of 
 the dead as sleeping in their graves, 
 many have supposed that the soul 
 sleeps till the resurrection, i. e. is 
 in a state of entire insensibility. 
 But against this opinion, and that 
 the soul, after death, enters im- 
 mediately into a state of reward 
 or punishment, the following pas- 
 sages seem to be conclusive. Matt. 
 xviij 3* Luke xxiii, 42. 2d Cor. 
 V, 6. Phil, i, 2 I.Luke xvi, 22,23. 
 Rev. vi, 9. See articles Resur- 
 rection, Soul, and Future 
 State; Bishop Laxv's Appendix 
 to his Theory of Religion ; Seardi's 
 Light of Nature pursued; Bemiefs 
 Olam Haneshamoth^ or View of the 
 Intermediate State ; Archdeacon 
 Blackhurne' s Historical Viexv of the 
 Controversy concerning an Inter- 
 mediate State^ and the separate Ex- 
 istence of the Soul betxoeen Death 
 and the general Resurrection ; in 
 which last the- reader will find a 
 large account of the writings on 
 this subject, from the beginning of 
 the re formation to almost the pre- 
 sent time. See, also, Doddridge'' s 
 Lectures^ lect. 219. 
 
 INTERPRETING OF 
 TO N G U E S, a gift bestowed on 
 the apostles and primitive chris- 
 tians, so thnt in a mixt ussemblv 
 
 consisting of perisons of different 
 nations, if one spoke iii a language 
 understood bf one part, another 
 could repeat and translate what he 
 said into differentlanguages under- 
 stood by others, 1st Cor. xii, 10. 
 1st Cor. xiv, 5, 6, 13. 
 
 INTOLERANCE is a word 
 chiefly used in reference to those 
 pers jns, churches, or societies, who 
 do not allow men to think forthem- 
 selves, but impose on them articles, 
 creeds, ceremonies. Sec, of their 
 own devising. See Toleration. 
 Nothing is more abhorrent frona 
 the genius of the christian religion 
 than an intolerant spirit, or an in- 
 tolerant church. " It has inspir- 
 ed its votaries with a savage fero- 
 city ; has plunged the fatal dagger 
 into innocent blood ; depopulated 
 towns and kingdoms ; overthrown 
 states and empires, and brought 
 down the righteous vengeance of 
 heaven upon a guilty world. The 
 pretence of superior knowledge, 
 sanctity, and authority for its sup- 
 port, is the disgi-ace of reason, the 
 grief of wisdom, and the pai^nxysni 
 of folly. To fetter the conscience, 
 is injustice; to ensnare it, is an 
 act of sacrilege ; but to torture it, 
 by an attempt to force its feelings, 
 is horrible intolerance ; it is the 
 most abandoned violation of all 
 the maxims of religion and mora- 
 lity. Jesus Christ formed a king- 
 dom purely spiritual ; the apostles 
 , exercised only a spiritual authority 
 underthe directionof Jesus Christ; 
 particular churches were united 
 only by faith and love ; in all civil 
 affairs they submitted to civil 
 magistracy ; axid in religious coi:\- 
 cerns they were governed by the 
 reasoning, advice, and exhortations 
 
IN V 
 
 '-^36 
 
 JO A 
 
 of their own officers: their cen- 
 sures were only honest reproofs ; 
 and their excommunications were 
 only declarations that such of- 
 fenders, being incorrigible, were 
 no longer accounted meftibers of 
 their communities." Let it ever 
 be remembered, therefore, that no 
 man or men have any authority 
 whatever from- Christ to domineer 
 over the consciences or persecute 
 the persons of any whose religious 
 principles agree not with their 
 own. See LoxuelPs Sermons^ ser. 6 ; 
 Robinson's Claude^ vol. ii, p. 227, 
 299; Sauriri's Ser.^ 3d vol., p. 30, 
 preface ; Locke on Government and 
 Toleration, 
 
 INTREPIDITY, a disposition 
 of mind unaffected with fear at the 
 approach of danger. Resolution 
 either banishes fear or surmounts 
 it, and is firm on all occasions. 
 Courage is impatient to attack, 
 undertakes boldly, and is not les- 
 sened by difficulty. Valour acts 
 with vigour gives no way to re- 
 sistance, but pursues an enterprise 
 in spite of opposition. Bravery 
 knows no fear ; it runs nobly into 
 danger, and prefers honour to life 
 itself. Intrepidity encounters the 
 greatest p^oints with the utmost 
 coolness, and dares even present 
 death. See Courage, Forti- 
 tude. 
 
 INyESTITURE in ecclesias- 
 tical policy, is the act of confer- 
 ring any benefice on another. It 
 was customary for princes to make 
 investiture of ecclesiastical bene- 
 fices, by delivering to the person 
 they had chosen a pastoral staff and 
 a ring. The account of this cere- 
 mony may be seen at large in 
 
 MosheinCs EcdesiasticalHist.^ cent, 
 xi, part ii, chap. ii. 
 
 INVISIBLES, a name of dis- 
 tinction given to the disciples of 
 Osiander,Flacius,Illyricus,Swenk- 
 feld, &c. because they denied the 
 perpetual visibility of the church, 
 
 INVOCATION, a calling up- 
 on God in prayer. It is generally 
 considered as the first part of that 
 necessary duty, and includes, 1. 
 A making mention of one or more 
 of the names or titles of God, in- 
 dicative of the object to whom we 
 pray. — 2. A declaration of our 
 desire and design to worship him. 
 — And, 3. A desire of his assist- 
 ance and acceptance, under a sense 
 of our own unworthiness. In the 
 church of Rome, invocation also 
 signifies adoration of and prayers 
 to the saints. The council of 
 Trent expressly teaches, that the 
 saints who reign with Jesus Christ 
 offer up their prayers to God for 
 men, and condemn those who 
 maintain the contrary doctrine. 
 The Protestants censure and reject 
 this opinion, as contrary to scrip- 
 ture ; deny the truth of the fact ; 
 and think it highly unreasonable 
 to suppose that a limited, finite 
 Being should be in a ntianner om- 
 nipresent, and, at one and the 
 same time, hear and attend to the 
 prayers that are offered up to him 
 in England, China, and Peru ; 
 and from hence infer, that, if the 
 saints cannot hear their request, 
 it is inconsistent with common 
 sense to address any kind of pray- 
 er to thcrn. 
 
 JOACHIMITES,the disciples 
 of Joachim, abbot of Flora, in Ca- 
 labria. Joachim was a Cistertian 
 
JO A 
 
 437 
 
 J O Y 
 
 monk, and a greater pretender to 
 inspiration. He relates of him- 
 self, that, being very young, he 
 went to Jerusalem in the dress of 
 a hermit to visit the holy places ; 
 and that, while he was in prayer to 
 God in the church of that city, 
 God communicated to him, by in- 
 fusion, the knowledge of divine 
 mysteries, and of the holy scrip- 
 tures. He wrote against Lom- 
 bard, the master of the sentences, 
 who had maintained that there 
 was but one essence in God, though 
 there were three persons ; and he 
 pretended, that, since there were 
 three persons, there must be three 
 essences. This dispute v/as in the 
 year 1195. Joachim's writings 
 were condemned by the fourth 
 Lateran council. 
 
 His followers, the Joachimites, 
 were particularly fond of certain 
 ternaries. The Father, they said, 
 operated from the beginning un- 
 til the coming of the Son ; the 
 Son from that time to their's, viz. 
 the year 1260; and the Holy 
 Spirit then took it up, and was to 
 operate in his turn. They like- 
 wise divided every thing relating 
 to men, doctrine, and manner of 
 living, into three classes, according 
 to the three persons of the Trinity. 
 The Jirst ternary was that of 
 men ; of whom, the first class was 
 that of married men, which had 
 lasted during the whole period of 
 the Father ; the second was that 
 of clerks, which lasted during the 
 time of the Son ; and the last was 
 that of Monks, wherein was to be 
 an uncommon effusion of grace by 
 the Holv Spirit.The second ternary 
 v/as that of doctrine, viz. the Old 
 Testament, the New, and the ever- 
 lasting Gospel : the first they 
 
 ascribed to the Father, the se- 
 cond to the Son, and the third to 
 the Holy Spirit. A third ternary 
 consisted in the manner of living, 
 viz. under the Father, men lived 
 according to the flesh ; under the 
 Son, they lived according to the 
 flesh and the spirit ; and under the 
 Holy Ghost, they were to live ac- 
 cording to the spirit only. 
 
 JOHN, ST. Christians of. See 
 Christians. 
 
 JO Y, a delight of the mind aris- 
 ing from the consideration of a 
 present or assured approaching 
 possession of a future good. 
 When it is moderate, it is called 
 gladness ; \Nh.QnY3d%e.d on a sud- 
 den to the highest degree, it is 
 then exultation or transport ; when 
 we limit our desires by our pos- 
 sessions, it is contentment ; when 
 our desires are raised high, and 
 yet accomplished, this is called sa- 
 tisfaction; when our joy is derived 
 from some comical occasion or 
 amusement, it is mirth; if it 
 arise from considerable opposition 
 that is vanquished in the pursuit 
 of the good we desire, it is then 
 called triumph ; when joy has so 
 long possessed the mind that it is 
 settled into a temper, we call it 
 cheerfuhiess ; when we rejoice up- 
 on the account of any good which 
 others obtain, it may be called 
 sympathy or congratulation. This 
 is natural joy ; but there _ is, — 2j 
 A moral joy^ which is a self-ap- 
 probation, or that which arises 
 from the performance of any good 
 actions ; this is called peace, or 
 serenity of conscience : if the 
 action be honourable, and the joy 
 rise high, it may be called glory. 
 — 3. There is also tx. spiritual joy ^ 
 which the scripture calls a " fruit 
 
I SB 
 
 438 
 
 ITI 
 
 of the Spirit," Gal. v, 22. "then 
 joy of faith," Phil, i, 25- and " the || 
 rejoicing of hope," Heb. iii, 6. |j 
 The objects of it are ^ 1. God him- 
 self, Ps. xliii, 4. Is. Ixvi, 10.— 2. 
 Christ, Phil, iii, 3. 1st Pet. i, 8. — 
 
 3. The promises, Ps. cxix, 162. — 
 
 4. The administration of the gos- 
 pel, ahd gospel ordinances, Ps. 
 Ixxxix, 15. — 5. The prosperity of 
 the interest of Christ, Acts xv, 3. 
 Rev. xl, 15, 17. — 6. The happi- 
 ness of a future state, Rom. v, 2. 
 Matt. XXV. The nature and pro- 
 perties of this joy : 1. It is or 
 should be constant, Phil, iv, 4. — 
 2. It is unknown to the men of j 
 the world, 1st Cor. ii, 14. — 3. It is 
 unspeakable, 1st Pet. i, 8. — 4. It 
 is permanent, John xvi, 22. Watts \ 
 on Pass., sect. 11; GiWs Body of} 
 i)iu., p. Ill, 3d vol., 8vo. edit.; 
 Grove'*s Mor. Phil. vol. i, p. 356. I 
 
 JOY OF GOD relates, 1. To; 
 the delight and complacency he ; 
 has in himself, his own nature, and ' 
 perfections. — 2. He rejoices in his [ 
 own works, Ps. civ, 31. — 3. In his i 
 Son Christ Jesus, Matt, iii, 17. j 
 - — 4. In the work of redemption, \ 
 John iii, 15. — -5. In the subjects | 
 of his grace, Ps. cxlvii, 11. Zeph. 
 iii, 17. Ps. cxlix, 4. 
 
 IRRESISTIBLE GRACE. 
 See Grace. j 
 
 ISBRANIKI, a denomination! 
 Mdiich appeared in Russia about! 
 the year 1666, and asstmied this j 
 name, which signifies the multi-| 
 tude of the elect. But they were j| 
 called by tlieir adversaries Rol- 1 
 skolsnika, or the seditious faction. 
 They professed a rigorous zeal for 
 the letter of the holv -scriptures. 
 They maintained that there is no 
 subordination of rank among the 
 faithful, and that a Christian may 
 
 kill himself for the love of Christ. 
 ISRAELITES, the descendants 
 of Israel, v/ho were at first called 
 Hebrews, by reason of Abraham, 
 who came from the other side of 
 the Euphrates; and afterwai"ds 
 Israelites, from Israel, the father 
 of the tw^elve patriarchs ; and, 
 lastly, Jews, particularly after 
 their return from the captivity of 
 Babylon, because the tribe of Judah 
 was then much stronger and more 
 numerous than the other tribes, 
 and foreigners had scarce any 
 knowledge of this tribe. For the 
 history of this people, see article 
 Jews. 
 
 ITINERANT PREACH- 
 ERS, those who are not settled 
 over any particular congregation, 
 but go from place to place for the 
 purpose of preaching to and in- 
 structing the ignorant. A great 
 deal has been said against persons 
 of this description ; and, it must 
 be acknowledged, that there would 
 not be so much necessity for them, 
 were every minister of his parish 
 to do his duty. But the sad de- 
 clension of morals in many places; 
 the awful ignorance that prevails 
 as to God and real religion ; the 
 little or no exertion of those who 
 are the guides of the people; 
 "• villages made up of a train of 
 idle, profligate, and miserable 
 poor, and where the barbarous 
 rhymes in their church-yards in- 
 form us that they are all either 
 gone or going to heaven ;" these 
 things, with a varietv of others, 
 form a sufficient reason for every 
 able and benevolent person to s,tep 
 forward, and to do all that lie can 
 to enlighten the minds, lessen the 
 miseries, and promote the Vv'elfare 
 of his fellow-creatures. A cler- 
 
JUB 
 
 439 
 
 JUB 
 
 gv man of the church of England, 
 of respectable talents, very ju- 
 diciously observes, that, " Not- 
 Avithstapding the prejudices of 
 mankind, and the indiscretions of 
 some individuals, an itinerant 
 teacher is one of the most honour- 
 able and useful characters that 
 can be foUnd upon earth; and 
 there needs no other proof than 
 the experience of the church in 
 all ages, that, when this work is 
 done properly and with persever- 
 ance, it forms the grand method 
 of spreading wide and rendering 
 efficacious religious knowledge, 
 for great reformations and reviv- 
 als of religion have uniformly been 
 thus effected ; and it is especially 
 sanctioned by the example of 
 Christandhis aposjJes, and recom- 
 mended as the divine method of 
 spreading the gospel through the 
 nations of the earth ; itinerant 
 preaching having almost always 
 preceded and made way for the so- 
 lid ministry of regular pastors. 
 But it is a work which requires pe- 
 culiar talents and dispositions, and 
 a peculiar call in God's providence ; 
 and is not rashly and hastily to be 
 ventured uponby every novice who 
 has learned to speak about the gos- 
 pel, and has more zeal than know- 
 ledge, prudence, humility, or ex- 
 perience. An unblemished cha- 
 racter, a disinterested spirit, an 
 exemplary deadness to the world, 
 unaffected humility, deep ac- 
 c^uaintance with the human heart, 
 and preparation for enduring the 
 cross not only with boldness, but 
 with meekness, patience, and 
 sweetness of temper, are indispen- 
 sably necessary for such a service." 
 JUBILEE, a public festivity. 
 Among the Jews it was held every 
 
 49th or 50th year. It was pro- 
 ! claimed with the sound of ram's 
 horns : no servile work was done 
 on it ; the land lay untilled; what 
 grew of itself belonged to the poor 
 and needy : v.hatev'^er debts the 
 Hebrev/s owed to one another 
 were wholly remitted; hired as 
 well as bond servants of the He- 
 brew race obtained their liberty ; 
 inheritances reverted to their ori- 
 ginal proprietors. See 25th chap. 
 Leviticus. Jubilee, in a more 
 modern sense, denotes a grand 
 church solemnity or cerejnony ce- 
 lebrated at Rome, wherein the 
 pope gi"ants a plenary indulgence 
 to all sinners ; at least to as many 
 as visit the churches of St. Peter 
 and St. Paul, at Rome. The ju- 
 bilee was first established by Boni- 
 face VII, in 1300, whic^ was 
 only to return every hundred 
 years; but the first celebration 
 brought in such store of wealth, 
 that Clement VI, in 1343, re- 
 duced it to the period of fifty 
 years. Urban VI, in 1389, ap- 
 pointed it to be held every thirty- 
 five years, that being the age of 
 our Saviour; and Paul II, and 
 Sixtus IV, in 1475, brought \t 
 down to every twenty-five, that 
 every person might have the bene- 
 fit of it once in his life. Boni- 
 face IX granted the privilege of 
 holding jubilees to several princes 
 and monasteries ; for instance, to 
 monks of Canterbury, who had a 
 jubilee every fifty years, when 
 people flecked from all parts to 
 visit the tomb of Thomas-a-Beck- 
 et. — Afterwards jubilees became 
 more frequent : there is generally 
 one at the inauguration of a new 
 pope ; and the pope grants them 
 as often as the church or himself 
 
JU D 
 
 440 
 
 JUD 
 
 have occasion for them. To be 
 entitled to the privileges of the ju- 
 bilee, the bull enjoins fasting, alms, 
 and prajers. It gives the priests 
 a full power to absolve in all 
 cases, even those otherwise re- 
 served to the pope ; to make com- 
 mutations of vows, &c., in which 
 it differs from a plenary indul- 
 gence. During the time of jubi- 
 lee, all other indulgences are sus- 
 pended. One of our kings, viz. 
 Edward III, caused his birth-day 
 to be observed in the manner of a 
 jubilee, when he became fifty 
 years of age, in 1362, but never 
 before nor after. This he did by 
 releasing prisoners, pardoning all 
 offences except treason, making 
 good laws, and granting many 
 privileges to the people. In 1640, 
 the Jesuits celebrated a solemn 
 jubilee at Rome, that being the 
 c^entenary, or hundredth year 
 from their institution; and the 
 same ceremony* was observed in 
 all their houses throughout the 
 world. 
 JUDAISING CHRISTIANS: 
 the first rise of this denomination 
 is placed under the reign of Adri- 
 an. For when this emperor had 
 at length razed Jerusalem, entirely 
 destroyed its very foundations, and 
 enacted laws of the severest kind 
 against the whole body of the 
 Jewish people, the greatest part 
 of the Christians who lived in Pa- 
 lestine, to prevent their being con- 
 founded with the Jews, abandon- 
 ed entirely the Mosaic rites, and 
 chose a bishop, namely Mark, a 
 foreigner by nation, and an alien 
 "from the commonwealth of Israel. 
 Those who were sfi'ongly attached 
 to the Mosaic rites separated from 
 
 their brethren, and founded at 
 Pera, a country of Palestine, and 
 in the neighbouring parts, parti- 
 cular assemblies, in which the law 
 of Moses maintained its primitive 
 dignity, authority, and lustre. 
 The body of Judaising Christians, 
 which set Moses and Christ upon 
 an equal footing in point of autho- 
 rity, were afterwards divided in- 
 to two sects, extremely different 
 both in their rites and opinions, 
 and distinguished by the names 
 of Nazarenes and Ebionites, 
 which see. 
 
 JUDAISM, the religious doc- 
 trines and rites of the Jews, the 
 descendants of Abraham. Judaism 
 was but a temporary dispensation^ 
 and was to give way, at least the 
 ceremonial part of it, at the 
 coming of the Messiah. The prin- 
 cipal sects among the Jews were 
 the Pharisees, who placed reli- 
 gion in external ceremory ; the 
 Sadducees, who were remarkable 
 for their incredulity ; and the Es- 
 senes, who were distinguished ■ 
 for their austere sanctity. At 
 present, the Jews have two sects ; 
 the Cardites^ who admit no rule 
 of religion but the law of Moses ; 
 and the Rabbimsts^ who add to the 
 law the traditions of the Talmud. 
 See those articles, and books re- 
 commended under article Jews, 
 in this work. 
 
 JUDGING RASH, the act of 
 carelessly, precipitately, wantonly, 
 or maliciousl}^ censuring others. 
 This is an evil which abounds too 
 much among almost all classes of 
 men. " Not contented, with being 
 in the right ourselves, we must 
 find all others in the wrong. We 
 cham an exclusive possession of 
 
JUD 
 
 441 
 
 JUD 
 
 goodness and wisdom ; and from 
 approving warmly of those who 
 join us, we proceed to condemn, 
 with much acrimony, not only the 
 principles, but the characters of 
 those from whom we differ. We 
 rashly extend to every individual 
 the severe opinion which we have 
 unwarrantably conceived of a 
 whole body. This man is of a 
 party whose principles we reckon 
 slavish ; and therefore his whole 
 sentiments are corrupted. That 
 man belongs to a religious sect, 
 which we are accustomed to deem 
 bigoted ; and therefore he is inca- 
 pable of any generous and libe- 
 ral thought. Another is connect- 
 ed with a sect, which we have been 
 taught to account relaxed ; and 
 therefore he can have no sanctity. 
 We should do well to consider, 
 
 1. That this practice of rash judg- 
 ing is absolutely forbidden in the 
 sacred scriptures, Matt, vii, 1. — 
 
 2. We thereby authorize others to 
 requite us in the same kind. — 3. 
 It often evidences our pride, envy, 
 and bigotry. — i. It argues a want 
 of charity, the distinguishing fea- 
 ture of the Christian religion. — 5. 
 They who are most forward in 
 censuring others are often most 
 defective themselves. Barrozv's 
 Works^ vol. i, ser. 20; Blair''s Ser., 
 ser. 10, vol. ii ; Sauriii's Ser.^ ser. 
 4, vol. V. 
 
 JUDGMENT is that act of the 
 mind whereby one thing is affirm- 
 ed or denied of another ; or that 
 power of the soul which passes 
 sentence on things proposed to its 
 examination, and determines what 
 is right or wrong; and thus it ap- 
 jnoves or disapproves of an action, 
 or an object considered as true 
 
 Vol, I. 3 L 
 
 or false, or utifit, good or evil. 
 Dr. Watts gives tis the following 
 directions to assist us in judging 
 right. 1. We should examine all 
 our old opinions afresh, and en- 
 quire what was the ground of 
 them, and whether our assent 
 were built on just evidence ; and 
 then we should cast off all those 
 judgments which were formed 
 heretofore without due exami- 
 nation. — 2. All our ideas of ob- 
 jects, concerning which we pass 
 judgment, should be clear, distinct, 
 complete, comprehensive, exten- 
 sive, and orderly. — 3. When we 
 have obtained as clear ideas as 
 we can, both of the subject and 
 predicate of a proposition, then 
 we must compare those ideas of 
 the subject and predicate together 
 with the utmost attention, and 
 observe how far they agree, and 
 wherein they differ. — 4. We must 
 search for evidence of truth with 
 diligence and honesty, and be 
 heartily ready to receive evidence, ' 
 whether for the agreement or dis- 
 agreement of ideas. — 5. We must 
 suspend our judgment, and nei- 
 ther affirm or deny until this evi- 
 dence appear. — 6. We must judge 
 ! of every proposition by those pro- 
 per and peculiar means or medi- 
 ums whereby the evidence of it is 
 to be obtained, whether it be sense, 
 consciousness, intelligence, reason, 
 or testimony. — 7. It is very useful 
 to have some general principles of 
 truth settled in the mind, whose 
 evidence is great and obvious, that 
 the)' may be always ready at 
 hand to assist us in judging of the 
 great varietv of things which oc- 
 cur. — 8. Let the degrees of our 
 assent to every proposition bear an 
 
JUD 
 
 442 
 
 JUD 
 
 exact proportion to the clJfFcrent 
 
 degrees of evidence. 9. We 
 
 should keep our minds always 
 open to receive truth, and never 
 set limits to our own improve- 
 ments» Watts^s Logic^ ch. 4, p. 
 231 ; Locke on the Understandings 
 p. 2^% 256, vol. i ; p. 271, 278, 
 vol. ii ; Duncan'' s Logic^ p. 145 ; 
 Reid on the Intellectual Ponvers^ p. 
 
 . JUDGMENT LAST, the sen- 
 tence that will be passed on our ac- 
 tions at the last day. 
 
 I. The proofs of a general judg- 
 ment t^x^ these : 1. The justice of 
 God requires it ; for it is evident 
 that this attribute is not clearly 
 displayed in the dispensation of 
 things in the present state. 2d 
 Thess. i, 6, 7. Luke xiv, 26. — 2. 
 The accusations of natural con- 
 science are te.'ytimonies in favour 
 of this belief, Rom. ii, 15. Dan. v, 
 5, 6. Acts xxiv, 25. — 3. It may 
 be concluded from the relation 
 men stand in to God, as creatures 
 to a creator. He has a right to 
 give them a law, and to make 
 them accountable for the breach 
 of rf, Rom. xiv, 12. — 4. The re- 
 surrection of Christ is a certain 
 proof of it. See Acts xvii, 31. 
 Rom. xiv, 9. — 5. The scripture, 
 in u vai'ietv oi places, sets it be- 
 yond all doubt, Jude xiv, 15. 2d 
 Cor, v, 10. Matt. xxv. Rom. xiv^ 
 id, H. 2d Thess. i, 7, 10. 1st 
 Thess. iv, 16, 17. 
 
 \\^ As to the Judge: the 
 Bible declares that God will 
 judge the world by Jesus Christ, 
 Acts xviii, 31. The triune God 
 ■will be the Judge, as to original 
 authorit}^, power, and right of 
 judgment ; but, according to the 
 
 ceconomy settled between the 
 three Divine persons, the work 
 is assigned to the Son. Ro- 
 mans xiv, 9 and 10, Avho will ap- 
 pear in his human nature, John v, 
 27. Acts xvii, 31. with great- 
 power and glory, 1st Thess. iv, 16^ 
 17. visible to every eye, Rev» i, 7. 
 penetrating every htart, 1st Cor. 
 iv, 5. Rom. ii, 16. with full au- 
 thority over all, Matt, xxviii, 18. 
 and acting with strict justice, 2d 
 Tim. iv, 8. As for the concern 
 of others in the judgment j angels 
 will be no otherwise concerned 
 than as attendants, gathering the 
 elect, raising the dead, &c., but 
 not as advising or judging. Saints 
 are said to judge tht world; not 
 as co-judges with Christ, but as 
 approvers of his sentence, and as 
 their holy lives and conversations 
 will rise up in judgment against 
 their wicked neighbf)urs. 
 
 III. As to the persons that xvUt 
 be judged : these will be men and 
 devils. The righteous, probably, 
 w;li be tried first, as represented in 
 Matt. xxv. They will be raised 
 first, though perhaps not a thou- 
 sand years before the rest, as Dr. 
 Gill supposes ; since the resurrec- 
 tion of all the bodies of the saints 
 is spoken of as in a moment, in the 
 twinkling of an eye, at the last 
 trump, in order to their meeting 
 the Lord in the air, and being with 
 him not on earth, but for ever in 
 heaven^ 1st Cor. xv, 52. 1st Thess. 
 iv, 16, 17. 
 
 Here we may take notice of a 
 difficult question which is pro- 
 posed by some, namely. Whether 
 the sins of God^s people shall be 
 published in the great day^ though 
 it is certain they shall not be al- 
 
JUD 
 
 44! 
 
 JUD 
 
 leged against them to their con- 
 demnation ? " This," says Dr. 
 Ridglev, " is one of the secret 
 things which belong to God, which 
 he has not so fully or clearly re- 
 vealed to us in his word ; and 
 therefore we can say little more 
 than what is matter of conjecture 
 about it. Some have thought that 
 the sins of the godly, though for- 
 given, shall be made manifest, that 
 so the glory of that grace which 
 has pardoned them may appear 
 more illustrious, and their obliga- 
 tion to God for this farther enhan- 
 ced. They also think, that the jus- 
 tice of the proceedings of that day 
 requires it, since it is presumed 
 and known by the whole world that 
 they were prone to sin, as well as 
 others ; and, before conversion, as 
 great sinners as any, and after it 
 their sins had a peculiar aggrava- 
 tion. Therefore, why should not 
 they be made public, as a glory 
 due to the justice and holiness 
 of God, whose nature is oppo- 
 site to all sin ? And this they far- 
 ther suppose to be necessar}'^, that 
 so the impartiality of Divine Jus- 
 tice may appear. Moreover, 
 since God, by recording the sins 
 of his saints in scripture, has per- 
 petuated the knowledge thereof; 
 and if it is to their honour that 
 the sins there mentioned were re- 
 pented of, as well as forgiven, 
 why may it not be supposed that 
 the sins of believers shall be made 
 known in the great day ? And, 
 besides, this seems agreeable to 
 those expressions of every word, 
 and every action, as being to be 
 brought into judgment, whether 
 it be good, or whether it be bad. 
 *' But it is supposed by others, 
 
 that though the making kno^i n oi 
 sin that is subdued and forgiven, 
 tends to the advancement of Di- 
 vine grace, yet it is sufficient to 
 answer this end, as far as God 
 designs it shall be answered, that 
 the sins which have been subdued 
 and forgiven should be known to 
 themselves, and thus forgiveness 
 afford matter of praise to God. 
 Again ; the expressions of scrip- 
 ture, whereby forgiveness of sin 
 is set forth, are such as seem to 
 argue that those sins which were 
 forgiven shall not be made mani- 
 fest ^ thus they are said to be 
 blotted out, Isa. xliii, 25. covered^ 
 Ps. xxxii, 1. suhdiied, and cast into 
 the depths of the sea, Micah vii, 19. 
 and remembered no more, &c. Jer. 
 xxxi, 34. Besides, Christ's being a 
 judge, doth not divest him of the 
 character of an advocate, whose 
 part is rather to conceal the 
 crimes of those whose cause he 
 pleads, than to divulge them : and 
 to this we may add, that the law 
 which requires duty, and forbids 
 the contrary sins, is not the rule 
 by W'hich they who are in Christ 
 are to be proceeded against, for 
 then they could not stand in judg- 
 ment ; but they are dealt with ac- 
 cording to the tenor of the gos- 
 pel, which forgives and covers 
 all sin. And, farther, it is ar- 
 gued that the public declaring of 
 all their sins before the whole 
 world, notwithstanding their in- 
 terest in. forgiving grace, would 
 fill them with such shame as is 
 hardly consistent with a state of 
 perfect blessedness. And, last- 
 ly, the principal argument in- 
 sisted on is, that our Saviour, in 
 Matt. XXV, in which he gives a 
 
JUD 
 
 444 
 
 JUD 
 
 particular account of the pro- 
 ceedings of that day, makes no 
 mention of the sins, but only com- 
 mends the graces of his saints." 
 
 As to the wicked, they shall 
 be judged, and all their thoughts, 
 words, and deeds, be brought into 
 judgment, Ecc. xii, 14. The fall- 
 en angels, also, are said to be re- 
 served unto the judgment of the 
 great day, Jude 6. They shall re- 
 ceive their final sentence, and be 
 shut up in the prison of hell, Rev. 
 xi, 10. Matt, viii, 29. 
 
 IV. As to the rule of judgment : 
 we are informed the books will be 
 opened. Rev. xx, 12. — 1. The 
 book of divine omniscience, Mai. 
 iii, 5. or remembrance, INIal. iii, 
 16. — 2. The book of conscience. 
 Rom. i, 15. — 3. The book of Pro- 
 vidence, Rom. ii, 4, 5. — 4. The 
 book of the scriptures, law, and 
 gospel, John xii, 48. Rom, ii, 16. 
 Rom. ii, 12. — 5. The book of life, 
 Luke X, 20. Rev. iii, 5. Rev. xx, 
 12,15. 
 
 V. As to the time of judg^tnent : 
 the soul will be either happy or 
 iniserable immediately afterdeath, 
 but the general judgment will not 
 be till after the resurrection, Heb. 
 ix, 27. There is a day appointed. 
 Acts xvii, 31. but it is unknown 
 to men. 
 
 VI. As to the place: this also 
 is uncertain. Some suppose it 
 will be in the air, because the 
 Judge will come in the clouds of 
 heaven, and the living saints will 
 then be changed, and the dead 
 saints raised, and both be caught 
 up to meet the Lord in the air, 1st 
 Thess. iv, 16, 17". Others think 
 it will be on the earth, on the 
 new earth, on which they will de- 
 
 scend from the air with Christ. 
 The place where ^ however, is of 
 no consequence, when compared 
 with the state in ruhich we shall 
 appear. And as the scriptures re- 
 present it as certain^ Eccl. xi, 9. ' 
 imiversal^ 2d Cor. v, 11. righteous^ 
 Rom. ii, 5. decisive^ 1st Cor. xv, 
 52. and eternal as to its conse- 
 quences, Heb. vi, 2. let us be 
 concerned for the welfare of our 
 immortal interests, flee to the re- 
 fuge set before us, improve our 
 precious time, depend on the me- 
 rits of the Redeemer, and adhere 
 to the dictates of the Divine word, 
 that we ma}' be found of him in 
 peace. Bates\s Works^ p. 449 ; Bi- 
 shop Hopkins and Stoddard on the 
 Lastfudgment ; GilVs Body of Di- 
 vinity^ 467, vol. ii, 8vo. ; BostorCs 
 Fourfold State ; Herveijs Works^ 
 new edition, p. 72, 75^ vol. i ; 156, 
 vol. iv ; 82, 233, vol. iii. 
 
 JUDGMENTS OF GOD, are 
 the punishments inflicted by him 
 for particular crimes. The scrip- 
 tures give us many awful in- 
 stances of the. display of Divine 
 Justice in the punishment of na- 
 tions, families, and individuals, for 
 their iniquities. See Gen. vii. 
 Gen. xix, 25. Exod. xv. Judges i, 
 6, 7. Acts xii, 23i Esther v, 14, 
 with ch. vii, 10. 2d Kings xi. 
 Lev. X, 1, 2. Acts V, 1 to 10. Is. 
 jjxxx, 1 to 5. 1st Sam. xv, 9. 1st 
 Kings xii, 25, oo. It becomes us, 
 however, to be exceedingly cau- 
 tious how we interpret the severe 
 and afflictive dispensations of Pro- 
 vidence. Dr. Jortin justly ob- 
 serves, that there is usually much 
 rashness and presumption in pro- 
 nouncing that the calamities of sin- 
 ners are particular judgments of 
 
JUD 
 
 445 
 
 JUD 
 
 God ; yet, saith he, if from sacred 
 and profane, from ancient and 
 modern historians, a collection 
 were made of all the cruel perse- 
 cuting tyrants who delighted in 
 tormenting their fellow creatures, 
 and who died not the common 
 death of all men, nor were 
 visited after the visitation of all 
 men, but whose plagues were hor- 
 rible and strange,, even a sceptic 
 would be moved at the evidence, 
 and would be apt to suspect that 
 it was Se'oy rij that the hand of 
 God was in it. As Dr. Jortin 
 was no enthusisiast, and one who 
 would not overstrain the point, 
 we shall here principally follow 
 him in his enumeration of some 
 of the most remarkable instances. 
 Herod the Great was the first 
 persecutor of Christianity. He 
 attempted to destroy Jesus Christ 
 himself, while he was yet but a 
 child, and for that wicked pur- 
 pose slew all the male children 
 that were in and about Beth- 
 lehem. What was the conse- 
 quence ? Josephus hath told us : 
 he had long and grievous suf- 
 ferings, a burning fever, a vo- 
 racious appetite, a difficulty of 
 breathing, swellings in his limbs, 
 loathsome ulcers within and with- 
 out, breeding vermin, violent tor- 
 ments and convulsions, so that he 
 endeavoured to kill himself, but 
 was restrained by his friends. 
 The Jews thought these evils to be 
 Divine judgments upon him for 
 his wickedness. And what is 
 still more remarkable in his case 
 is, he left a numerous family 
 of children and grand-children, 
 though he had put some to death, 
 and yet in about the space of 
 
 one hundred years the whole fa- 
 mily was extinct»^ 
 
 Herod Antipas, who beheaded 
 John the Baptist, and treated 
 Christ contemptuously when he 
 was brought before him, was de- 
 feated by Aretas, an Arabian 
 king, and afterwards had his do- 
 minions taken from him, and was 
 sent into banishment along with 
 his infamous wife Herodias, by 
 the emperor Caius. 
 
 Herod Agrippa killed James the 
 brother of John, and put Peter in 
 prison. The angel of the Lord 
 soon after smote him, and he 
 was eaten of worms, and gave 
 up the ghost. 
 
 Judas, that betrayed our Lord, 
 died, by his own hands, the most 
 ignominious of all deaths. 
 
 Pontius Pilate, who condemn- 
 ed our blessed Saviour to death, 
 was not long afterwards deposed 
 from his office, banished from his 
 country, and died by his own 
 hands, the Divine vengeance 
 overtaking him soon after his 
 crime. 
 
 The high priest, Caiaphas, was 
 deposed by Vitellius, three vears 
 after the death of Christ. Thus 
 this wicked man, who condemned 
 Christ for fear of disobliging the 
 Romans, was.ignominiously turn- 
 ed out of his office by the Roman 
 governor, whom he had sought to 
 oblige. 
 
 Ananias, the high priest, per- 
 secuted St. Paul, and insolently 
 ordered the by-standars to smite 
 him on the mouth. Upon which 
 the apostle said, God .shall smite 
 t/iec, thou ru/iited wall. Whether he 
 spake this prophetically or not, 
 may be difficult to say ; but cer- 
 
JUD 
 
 446 
 
 JUD 
 
 •iain it is, that some time after he 
 was slain, together with his bro- 
 ther, by his own son. 
 
 Ananus, the high priest, slew 
 St. James the Less ; for which and 
 other outrages he was deposed by 
 king Agn'ppa the younger, and 
 probably perished in the last de- 
 struction of Jerusalem. 
 
 Nero, in the year sixty-four, 
 turned his rage upon the Chris- 
 tians, and put to death Peter and 
 Paul, with many others. Four 
 years after, in his great distress, 
 he attempted to kill himself; but 
 being as mean-spirited and das- 
 tardly as he was wicked and 
 cruel, he had not the resolution to 
 do that piece of justice to the 
 world, and was forced to beg as- 
 sistance. 
 
 Domitian persecuted the Chris- 
 tians also. It is said he threw St. 
 John into a caldron of boiling oil, 
 and afterwards banished him into 
 the isle of Patmos. In the fol- 
 lowing year this monster of wick- 
 edness was murdered by his o\m 
 people. 
 
 The Jewish nation persecuted, 
 rejected, and crucified the Lord of 
 glory. Within a few years after, 
 their nation was destroyed, and 
 the Lord made their plagues won- 
 derful. 
 
 Flaccus was governor of Egypt, 
 near the time of our Saviour's 
 death, and a violent persecutor of 
 the Jews. The wrath of God, 
 however, ere long overtook him, 
 and he died by the hands of 
 violence. 
 
 Catullus was governor of Lybia 
 about the year seventy-three. He 
 was also a cruel persecutor of the 
 Tews, and he died miserably. For 
 
 though he was only turned out of 
 his office by the Romans, yet he 
 fell into a complicated and incu- 
 rable disease, being sorely tor- 
 mented both in body and mind. 
 He was dreadfully terrified, and 
 continually crj'ing out that he 
 was haunted by the ghosts of those 
 whom he had murdered ; and, not 
 being able to contain himself, he 
 leaped out of his bed, as if he 
 were tortured with fire and put 
 to the rack. His distemper in- 
 creased till his entrails were. all 
 corrupted, and came out of his 
 body ; and thus he perished, as 
 signal an example ias ever was 
 known of the Divine justice ren- 
 dering to the wicked according to 
 their deeds. 
 
 Caius, the Roman emperor, was 
 a great persecutor of the Jews and 
 Christians, and a blasphemer of 
 the God of heaven. Soon after 
 his atrocities, however, he was 
 murdered by one of his own 
 people. 
 
 Severus, emperor of Rome, was 
 a violent and cruel persecutor of 
 the followers of Christ. He, also, 
 and all his family, perished miser- 
 ably, about the year two hundred 
 after our Saviour. 
 
 About the same time, Satur- 
 ninus, governor of Afric, perse- 
 cuted the Christians, and put se- 
 veral of them to death. Soon 
 after, he went blind. 
 
 Heliogabalus, the emperor, 
 brought a new god to Rome, and 
 would needs compel all his sub- 
 jects to worship him. This was 
 sure to have ended in a persecu- 
 tion of the Christians. But, soon 
 after, this vile monster was slain 
 by his own soldiers, about the 
 
JUD 
 
 447 
 
 JUD 
 
 year two hundred and twenty- 
 two. 
 
 Claudius Herminianus was a 
 cruel persecutor of the Christians 
 in the second century ; and he was 
 eafen of worms while he lived. 
 
 Decius persecuted the church 
 about the year two hundred and 
 fifty : he was soon after killed in 
 battle. 
 
 Gullus succeeded, and continued 
 the persecution. He, too, was kill- 
 ed the year following. 
 
 Valerian, the emperor,had many 
 good qualities ; but yet he was an 
 implacable enemy to the Lord Je- 
 sus Christ and his gospel. Some 
 time after he came to the throne, 
 he was taken prisoner by Sapor, 
 king of Persia, and used like a 
 slave and a dog ; for the Persian 
 monarch, from time to time, ob- 
 liged this unhiippy emperor to bow 
 himself down, and offer him his 
 back, on which to set his foot, in 
 order to mount his chariot or his 
 horse. He died in this miserable 
 state of captivity. 
 
 iEmilian, governor of Egypt, 
 about two hundred and sixty-three, 
 was a virulent persecutor of the 
 church of Christ. He was soon 
 after strangled by order of the em- 
 peror. 
 
 Aurelian, the emperor, just in- 
 tending to begin a persecution 
 against the followers of Christ, was 
 killed in the year two hundred and 
 seventy-four. 
 
 Maximinus was a persecutor of 
 the church. He reigned only three 
 years, and then fell under the hands 
 of violence. 
 
 About the year three hundred 
 was the greatest possible contest 
 between Christ and the Koman em- 
 
 perors, which should have the do* 
 minion. These illustrious wretch- 
 es seemed determined to blot out 
 the Christian race and name from 
 under heaven. The persecution 
 was far more fierce and brutal than 
 it had ever been. It was time, 
 therefore, for the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the greathead of the church, 
 to arise and plead his own cause s^ 
 and so, indeed, he did. The ex- 
 amples we have mentioned ar6 
 dreadful : these that follow are not 
 less astonishing, and they are all 
 delivered upon the best authorities. 
 
 Dioclesiam persecuted the church 
 in three hundred and three. After 
 this nothing ever prospered with 
 him. He underwent many trou- 
 bles : his senses became impaired j 
 and he quitted the empire. 
 
 Severus, anotherpersecutingem- 
 peror, was overthrown and put 
 to death in the yearth^ee hundred 
 and seven. 
 
 About the safne time, Urbanus, 
 governor of Palestine, who had 
 signalized himself by tormenting 
 and destroying the disciples of Je- 
 sus, met with his due reward ; for 
 almost immediately after the cru- 
 elties Goinniitted, the Divine ven- 
 geance overtook him. He was un- 
 expectedly degraded and deprived 
 of all his honours ; and dejected, 
 dispirited, and meanly begging for 
 mercy, was put to death by the 
 same hand that raised him. 
 
 Firmilianus, another persecuting 
 governor, met with the same fate. 
 
 Maximianus Herculius, another 
 of the wretched persecuting empe- 
 rors, was compelled to hang him- 
 self, in the year three hundred and 
 ten. 
 
 Maximianus Gelerius, of all the 
 
JU D 
 
 448 
 
 JUD 
 
 tyrants of his time the most cruel, 
 was seized with a grievous and 
 horrible disease, and tormented 
 with ulcers and worms to such a 
 degree, that they who were order- 
 ed to attend him could not bear the 
 stench. Worms proceeded from 
 his body in a fearful manner ; and 
 several of his physicians were put 
 to death because they could not en- 
 dure the smell, and others because 
 they could not cure him. This 
 happened in the year of our Lord 
 three hundred and eleven. 
 
 Maxentius, another of the in- 
 human monsters, was overthrown 
 in battle by Constantine ; and in 
 his flight he fell into the Tiber, 
 and was drowned in the year three 
 hundred and twelve. 
 
 Maximinus put out the eyes of 
 many thousands of Christians. 
 Soon after the commission of his 
 cruelties, a disease arose among 
 his own people, which greatly af- 
 fected their eyes, and took away 
 their sight. He himself died mise- 
 rably, and upon the rack, his eyes 
 start-jng out of his head through the 
 violence of his distemper, in the 
 year three hundred and thirteen. 
 All his family likewise were de- 
 stroyed, his wife and children put 
 to death, together with most of his 
 friends and dependants, who had 
 been the instruments of his crueltv. 
 
 A Roman officer, to oblige this 
 Maximinus, greatly oppressed the 
 church at Damascus : not long af' 
 ter, he destroj'ed himself. 
 
 Licinius, the last of these perse- 
 cuting emperors before Constan- 
 tine, was conquered and put to 
 death in the year three ' hundred 
 and twenty-three. Hft Av^as equal- 
 ly an enemy to religion, liberty, 
 and learning. 
 
 Cyril, the Deacon, was mur- 
 dered by some Pagans, at Helio- 
 polis, for his opposition to their 
 images. They ripped open his 
 belly, and ate his liver : the Divine 
 vengeance, however, pursued all 
 those who had been guilty of this 
 crime? their teeth came out, their 
 tongues rotted, and they lost their 
 sight. 
 
 Valens was made emperor in 
 364; and though a Christian him- 
 self, he is said to have caused 
 fourscore Presbyters, who differed 
 from him in opinion, to be put to 
 sea, and burnt alive in the ship. 
 Afterwards, in a battle with the 
 Goths, he was defeated and wound- 
 ed, and fled to a cottage, v/here he 
 was burnt alive, as most histo- 
 rians relate : all agree that he pe- 
 rished. 
 
 The last Pagan prince, who was 
 a formidable enemy to christianitv, 
 was Radagaisus, a king of the 
 Goths. He invaded the Roman 
 empire with an army of 400,000 
 men, about the year 405, and vow- 
 ed to sacrifice all the Romans to 
 his gods. The Romans, however, 
 fought him, and obtained a com- 
 plete victory, taking him and his 
 sons pi"isoners, whom they put to 
 death. 
 
 Hunneric, the Vandal, though 
 a Christian, was a most cruel per- 
 secutor of those who differed from 
 him in opinion, about the year of 
 our Lord 484. He spared not 
 even those of his own persuasion, 
 I neither his friends nor his kindred. 
 iHe reigned, however, not quite 
 j eight years, and died with all the 
 i marks of Divine indignation upon 
 jhim. 
 
 Julian the apostate greatly op- 
 
JUD 
 
 449 
 
 JU D 
 
 pressed the Christians; and he pe- 
 rished soon after, in his rash expe- 
 dition against the Persians. 
 
 Several of those who were em- 
 ployed or permitted b}'^ JuUan to 
 persecute the Christians, are said 
 to have perished miserably and re- 
 markably. I will here relate the 
 fate of a few of these unhappy 
 •wretches in the words of Tille- 
 mont, who faithfully collected the 
 account from the ancients. We 
 have observed, says this learned 
 man, that count Julian, with Felix, 
 superintendant of the finances, and 
 Elpidius, treasurer to the emperor, 
 apostates all three, had received or- 
 ders to go and seize the effects of 
 the church of Antioch, and cany 
 them to the treasury. They did 
 it on the day of the martyrdom 
 of St. Theodoret, and drew up an 
 account of what they had seized. 
 But count Julian was not content 
 with taking away the sacred vessels 
 of the church, and profaning them 
 by his impure hands : carrying to 
 greater lengths the outrage he was 
 doing to Jesus Christ, he overturn- 
 ed and flung them down on the 
 ground, and sat upon them in a 
 most criminal manner; adding to 
 this all the banters and blasphemies 
 that he could devise against Christ, 
 antl against the Christians, who, 
 he said, were abandoned of God. 
 
 Felix, the superintendant, signa- 
 lized himself also by another im- 
 piety ; for as he was viewing the 
 rich and magnificent vessels which 
 the emperors Consiantine andCon- 
 stantius had given to the church, 
 " Behold," said he, " with what 
 plate the son of Mary is served !" It 
 is said, too, that count Julian and 
 he made it the subject of banter, 
 Vol: I. 3 M 
 
 that God should let them thus pro- 
 fane his temple, without interpo- 
 sing by visible miracles. 
 
 Butthese impieties remained not 
 long unpunished, and Julian had no 
 sooner profaned the sacred utensils, 
 than he felt the effect of Divine ven- 
 geance. He fell into a grievous 
 and unknov/n disease ; and his in- 
 ward parts being corrupted, he cast 
 out his liver and his excrements, 
 not from the ordinary passages, but 
 from his miserable mouth, which 
 had uttered so many blasphemies. 
 His secret parts, and all the flesh 
 round about them, corrupted also, 
 and bred worms ; and to shew that 
 it was a Divine punishment, all the 
 art of physicians could give him no 
 relief. In this condition he conti- 
 nued forty days, without speech or 
 sense, preyed on by worms. At 
 length he came to himself again. 
 The imposthumes, however, all 
 over his body, and the worms 
 which gnawed him continually, re- 
 duced him to the utmost extremi- 
 ty. He threw them up, without 
 ceasing, the last three days of his 
 life, with a stench which he him- 
 self could not bear. 
 
 The disease with which God vi- 
 sited Felix was not so long. He 
 burst suddenly in the middle of his 
 body, and died of an effusion of 
 blood in the course of one da}'. 
 
 Elpidius was sti-ipped of his ef- 
 fects in 366, and shut up in prison, 
 where, after having continued for 
 some time, he died without reputa- 
 tion and honour, cursed of all the 
 world, and surnamed the apostate. 
 
 To these instances many more 
 might be added nearfer our own 
 times, did our room permit. These, 
 however, as sufficient to shew u!i 
 
JUM 
 
 50 
 
 JU s 
 
 what a fearful thing it is to fall into 
 the hands of the living God, and 
 how fruitless and awful it is to op- 
 pose his designs, and to attempt to 
 stop the progress of his gospel. 
 ^' Why do the heathen rage, and 
 the people imagine a vain thing r 
 He that sitteth in the heavens shall 
 laugh; the Lord shall have them in 
 derision. Thou shalt break them 
 with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash 
 them to pieces as a potter's vessel. 
 Be wise no w, therefore, O ye kings ; 
 be instructed, ye judges of the 
 earth. Serve the Lord with fear, 
 and rejoice with trembling," Psa. 
 ii. y orthi^s Remarks on Ecclesiasti- 
 cal History^ vol. iii, p. 246, &c. ; 
 Simpson^s Key to the Prophecies^ 
 § 29 ; Newton on the Prophecies^ 
 dis. 24; Bryant's Observations on 
 the Plagues of Egypt ; Tillemo7it 
 Histoire des Emp. 
 
 JUDICIUM DEI, or Judgment 
 of God, was a term anciently ap- 
 plied to all extraordinary trials of 
 secret crimes ; as those by arms 
 and single combat ; and the or- 
 deals, or those by ftre, or red hot 
 plough-shares, by plunging the 
 arm in boiling water, or the whole 
 body in cold water, in hopes God 
 would work a miracle, rather than 
 suffer truth and innocence to pe- 
 rish. These customs were a long 
 time kept up even among Chris- 
 tians, and they are still in use in 
 some nations. Trials of this sort 
 were usually held in churches, in 
 the presence of the bishop, priest, 
 and secular judges, after three days 
 fasting,confession,communion,and 
 many adjurations and ceremonies, 
 described at large by l)u Cange. 
 
 JUMPERS, persons so called 
 from the practice of jumping du- 
 ring the time allotted for religious 
 
 worship. This singular practice 
 began, it is said, in the western part 
 of Wales, about the year 1 760. It 
 Avas soon after defended by Mr. 
 William Williams (the Welch po- 
 et, as he is sometime called) in a 
 pamphlet, which was patronized by 
 the abettors of jumping in religious 
 assemblies. Several of the more 
 zealous itinerant preachers encou- 
 raged the people to ciy out go- 
 goniant (the Welch word for glo- 
 ry), amen, &c. &c. ; to put them- 
 selves in violent agitations ; and, 
 finally, to jump until they were 
 quite exhausted, so as often to be 
 obliged to fall down on the floor 
 or the field where th!s kind of wor- 
 ship was held. These scenes con- 
 tinue sometimes for two or three 
 hours, and sometimes during half 
 the night, after having produced 
 the greatest confusion, and too of- 
 ten turned the solemnities of reli- 
 gion into the most extravagant 
 clamours and gestures. 
 
 Though the Jumpers have not, 
 it is said, passed the boundaries of 
 V/ales, we find there have been 
 others notless frantic in other parts. 
 See articles Dancers and Shak- 
 ers. We are happy to find, how- 
 ever, that the practice of jumping 
 is on the decline ; and we hope 
 that these people and their leaders, 
 whom we believe are many of them 
 not only sincere, but pious too, 
 Vvall consider that such disorderly 
 scenes are not compatible with the 
 service of that God, who is a God 
 of order ; not the author of con- 
 fusion, but of peace. 
 
 JUSTICE consists in an exact 
 and scrupulous regard to the rights 
 of others, with a deliberate purpose 
 to preserve' them on all occasions 
 sacred and inviolate. It is often 
 
JUS 
 
 451 
 
 JUS 
 
 divided into commutative and dis- 
 tributative justice. The former 
 consists in an equal exchange of be- 
 nefits ; the latter in an equal dis- 
 tribution of rewards and punish- 
 ments. Dr. Watts gives the fol- 
 lowing rules respecting justice. — 
 '•• 1. It is just that we honour, re- 
 verence, and respect those who are 
 superiors in any kind, Eph. vi, 1, 
 3. 1st Pet ii, 17. 1st Tim. v, 17. 
 — 2. That we shew particular 
 kindness to near relations, Prov. 
 xvii, 1 7. — 3. That we love those 
 who love us, and shew gratitude 
 to those who have done us good, 
 Gal. iv, 15. — 4. That we pay the 
 full due to those whom we bargain 
 or deal with, Rom. xiii. Deut. 
 xxiv, 14. — 5. That we help our 
 fellow-creatures in cases of great | 
 necessity, Ex. xxiii, 4. — 6. Repa- 1 
 ration to those whom we have i 
 wilfully injured." Watts^s Serm,^ \ 
 ser. 24, 25, vol. ii ; Berry Street 
 Lect.^ ser. 4 ; Grove's Mor. Phil,^ 
 p. 332, vol. ii ; IVoUastoJi's Relig. 
 of Nature^ p. 137, 141 ; Joy's Ser.^ 
 vol. ii, p. 131. 
 
 JUSTICE OF GOD is that per- 
 fection v/hereby he is infinitely 
 righteous and just, both in him- 
 self and in all his proceedings with 
 his creatures. Mr. Ryland defines 
 it thus : " The ardent inclination 
 of his will to prescribe equal lav/s 
 as the supreme governor, and to 
 dispense equal rewards and punish- 
 ments as the supreme judge," 
 Rev. xvi, 5. Psal. cxlv, 7. Psal. 
 xcvii, 1. — 2. It is distinguished 
 into remunerative and punitive 
 justice. R.emurierative justice is a 
 distribution of rewards, the rule, of 
 which is not the merit of the crea- 
 ture, but his own gracious pro- 
 mise, Jas. i, 12. 2d Tim. iv, 8. 
 
 Punitive^ or vindictive justice, is 
 the infliction of punishment for any 
 sin committed by men, 2d Thess. 
 i, 6. That God will not let sin go 
 unpunished is evident, 1. From 
 the word of God, Ex. xxxiv, 6, 7. 
 Numb, xiv, 18. Neh. i, 3. — "2. 
 From the nature- of God, Isa. 
 i, 13, 14. Psal. V, 5, 6. Heb. xii, 
 29. — -3. Fi'om sin being punished 
 in Christ, the surety of his people, 
 1st Pet. iii, 18. — 4. From all the 
 various natural evils which men 
 bear in the present state. The use 
 we should make of this doctrine is 
 this: 1. We should learn the 
 dreadful nature of sin, and the in- 
 evitable ruin of impenitent sinners, 
 Psalm ix, 17 — 2. We should 
 highly appreciate the Lord Jesus 
 Christ in vvhom justice is satisfied, 
 1st Pet. iii, 18. — 3. We should 
 imitate the justice of God, by 
 cherishing an ardent regard to the 
 rights of God, and to the rights 
 of mankind. — 4. We should ab- 
 hor all sin, as it strikes directly 
 at the justice of God. — 5. We 
 should derive comfort from the 
 consideration that the judge of all 
 the earth will do right as it re- 
 spects ourselves, the church, and 
 the world at large, Psal. xcvii, I , 
 2. Rif land's Co72ts.y vol. ii, p. 
 439; JVitsius''s Economy, Vih. 11^ 
 ch. 8, § 11 ; Dr. Owen on the 
 Justice of God J GilPs Body of Di- 
 vinity^ p. 155, vol. i, 8vo. ; Elisha 
 Cole on the Righteousness of God. 
 JUSTIFICATION, a forensic 
 term, and signifies the declaring or 
 the pronouncing a person righteous 
 according to law. It stands op- 
 posed to condemnation ; and this 
 is the idea of the word whenever 
 it is used in an evangelical sense, 
 Rom. V, 18. Deut. xxv, 1. Prov. 
 
JUS 
 
 452 
 
 JUS 
 
 xvii, 15. Matt, xii, 37. It does 
 not signify to make men holy, but 
 the holding and declaring them 
 so. It is defined by the assembly 
 thus :" An act of God's free 
 grace, in which he pardoneth all 
 our sins, and accepteth us as 
 righteous in his sight only, for the 
 righteousness of Christ imputed to 
 us, and received by faith alone-" 
 
 The doctrine of justification, 
 says Mr. Booth, makes a very 
 distinguished figure in that reli- 
 gi'on which is from above, and is 
 a capital article of that faith 
 which was once delivered to the 
 saints. Far from being a merely 
 speculative point, it spreads its 
 influence through the whole bo- 
 dy of divinity, runs through all 
 Christian experience and operates 
 in every part of practical godli- 
 ness. Such is its grand import- 
 ance, that a mistake about it has 
 a malignant efficacy, and is at- 
 tended with a long train of dan- 
 gerous consequences. Nor can 
 this appear strange when it is con- 
 sidered that the doctrine of j usti- 
 fication is no other than the ivay 
 of a smrter''s acceptance with God. 
 Being of such peculiar moment, 
 it is inseparably connected with 
 many other evangelical truths, the 
 harmony and beauty of Avhich we 
 cannot behold while this is misun- 
 dtirstood. It is, if any thing may 
 1)6 so called, an essential article, 
 and certainly requires our most 
 serious consideration. 
 
 Justification, in a theological 
 sense, is either legal ox evangelical. 
 If any person could be found that 
 had never broken the Divine lav/, 
 he might be justified by it in a 
 manner strictly legal. But in this 
 way none of the human race can 
 
 be justified, or stand acquitted be- 
 fore God. For all have sinned ; 
 there is none righteous ; no, not 
 one, Rom. iii. As sinners, they 
 are under the sentence of death by 
 his righteous law, and excluded 
 from all hope and mercy. That 
 justification, therefore, about 
 which the scriptures principally 
 treat, and which reaches the case 
 of a sinner, is not by a personal, 
 but an imputed righteousness; a 
 righteousness without the law, 
 Rom. iii, 21, provided by grace, 
 and revealed in the gospel ; for 
 which reason, that obedience 
 by which a sinner is justified, and 
 his justification itself, are called 
 evangelical. In this affair there 
 is the most wonderful display of 
 Divine justice and boundless grace. 
 Of Di'Oine justice^ if we regard the 
 meritorious cause and ground on 
 which the Justifier proceeds inab- 
 j solving the condemned sinner, and 
 in pronouncing him righteous. 
 Of boundless grace^ if we consider 
 the state and character of those ' 
 persons to whom the blessing is 
 granted. Justification may be 
 farther distinguished as being 
 either at the bar of God, and in 
 the court of conscience; or in 
 the sight of the world, and before 
 our feliovv-creatures. The for- 
 mer is by mere grace through 
 faith ; and the latter is by works. 
 To justify is evidently a Divine 
 prerogative. It is God that justi' 
 Jieth^ Rom. viii, 33. That sove- 
 reign Being, against- whom we 
 have so greatly offended, whose 
 law we have broken by ten thou- 
 sand acts of rebellion against him, 
 has, in the way of his own ap- 
 pointment, the sole right of ac- 
 quitting the guilty, and of pro- 
 
JUS 
 
 453 
 
 JUS 
 
 nouncing them righteous. He ap- 
 points the way, provides the means, 
 and imputes the righteousness ; 
 and all in perfect agreement with 
 the demands of his violated law, 
 and the rights of his offended jus- j 
 tice. But although this act is in | 
 some places of the infallible word 
 inore particularly appropriated per- 
 sonally to the Father, yet it is ma- 
 nifest that all the Three Persons 
 are concei-ned in this grand affair, 
 and each performs a distinct part 
 in this particular, as also in the 
 whole ceconomy of salvation. The 
 eternal Father is represented as 
 appointing the way, and as giving 
 his own Son to perform the con- 
 ditions of our acceptance before 
 him, Rom. viii, 32, The divine 
 Son as engaged to sustain the 
 curse, and make the atonement ; 
 to fulfil the terms, and provide 
 the righteousness by which we are 
 justified. Tit. ii, 14. And the 
 Holy Spirit as revealing to sinners 
 the perfection, suitableness, and 
 freeness of the Saviour's work, 
 enabling them to receive it as ex- 
 hibited in the gospel of sovereign 
 grace ; and testifying to their con- 
 sciences complete justification by 
 it in the court of heaven, John 
 xvi, 8, 14. 
 
 As to the objects of justification, 
 the scripture says, the)- are sinners^ 
 and ungodly. For thus runs the 
 Divine declaration : To him that 
 Tvorketh is the rexvard of justifica- 
 tion, and of eternal life as con- 
 nected with it ; not reckoned of 
 grace, but of debt. But to him 
 that worketh not, but believcth on 
 Him that justijieth^r-v/hom ? the 
 righteous ? the holy ? the emi- 
 nently pious? Nay, verily, but 
 the zmg-od/i/ ; his faith, or th.it in 
 
 which he believes, is counted unt9 
 him for righteousness, Rom. iv, 4, 
 5. Gal. ii, 17. Here, then, we 
 learn, that the subjects of justifi- 
 cation, considered in themselves, 
 are not only destitute of a perfect 
 righteousness, but have performed 
 no good works at all. They are 
 denominated and considered as the 
 ungodly, when the blessing is be- 
 stowed upon them. Not that we 
 are to vmderstand that such remain 
 ungodly. " All," saj^s Dr. Owen, 
 " that are justified, were before 
 ungodly ; but all that are justified, 
 are, at the same instant, made 
 godl)^." That the mere sinner, 
 however, is the subject of justifi- 
 cation, appears from hence. The 
 Spirit of God, speaking in the 
 scripture, repeatedly declares that 
 we are justified by grace. But 
 grace stands in direct opposition to 
 works. Whoever, therefore, is 
 justified by grace, is considered as 
 absolutely unworthy in that verr 
 instant when the blessing is vouch- 
 safed to him, Rom. iii, 24. The 
 person, therefore, that is justified, 
 is accepted without any cause in 
 himself. Hence it appears, that, 
 if we regard the persons who are 
 justified, and their state prior to 
 the enjoyment of the immensely 
 glorious privilege. Divine grace 
 appears, and reigns in all its glory. 
 As to the xvay and manner in 
 which sinners are justified, it may 
 be observed that the Divine Be- 
 ing can acquit none without a 
 complt^te righteousness. Justifi- 
 cation, as before observed, is evi- 
 dently a forensic term, and the 
 thing intended by it a judicial act. 
 So that, were a person to be justi- 
 fied without a righteousness, the 
 judgment would not be according 
 
J us 
 
 454 
 
 JUS 
 
 to truth : it would be a false and 
 unrighteous sentence. That right- 
 eousness by which we are justified 
 must be equal to the demands of 
 that law according to which the 
 Sovereign Judge proceeds in our 
 justification. Many persons talk 
 of conditions of justification (see 
 article Condition) ; but the only 
 condition is that of perfect righte- 
 ousness: this the law requires, nor 
 does the gospel substitute another. 
 But where shall we find or how 
 shall we obtain a justifying righte- 
 ousness ? Shall we fiee to the law 
 for relief? Shall we apply with di- 
 ligence and zeal to the perform- 
 ance of dut)^, in order to attain 
 the desired end ? The apostle po- 
 sitively affirms, that there is no ac- 
 ceptance with God by the -works of 
 the laxv ; and the reasons are evi- 
 dent. Our righteousness is im- 
 perfect, and consequently cannot 
 justify. If justification were by 
 the works of men, it could not 
 ■be by grace : it would not be 
 a righteousness without works. — 
 There would be no need of the 
 righteousness of Christ ; and, last- 
 ly, if justification v/ere by the 
 •law, then boasting would be en- 
 couraged ; whereas God^s design, 
 in the whole scheme of salvation, 
 is to exclude it, Rom. iii, 27. Eph. 
 .ii, 8, 9. Nor is faith itself our 
 righteousness, or that for the sake 
 of which we are justified : for, 
 though believers" are said to be 
 justified by faith, yet not for faith : 
 faith can only be considered as 
 the instrument, and not the cause. 
 That faith is not our righteous- 
 ness, is evident from the following 
 considerations : No maiVs faith 
 is perfect; and, if it were, it 
 would not be equal to the de- 
 
 mands of the Divine law. It 
 could not, therefore, without an 
 error in judgment, be accounted 
 a complete righteousness. But 
 the judgment of God, as before 
 proved, is according to truth, and 
 according to the rights of his law. 
 That obedience by which a sinner 
 is justified is called the- righteous- 
 ness offaith^ righteousness byfaith^ 
 and is represented as revealed to 
 faith ; consequently it cannot be 
 faith itself. Faith, in the business 
 of justification, stands opposed to 
 all works ; to him that ivorketh not^ 
 but believeth. Now, if it were our 
 justifying righteousness, to consi- 
 der it in such alight would be high- 
 ly improper. For in such a con- 
 nexion it falls under the conside- 
 ration of a zvork ; a condition, on 
 the performance of which our ac- 
 ceptance with God is manifestly 
 suspended. If faith itself be that 
 on account of which we are ac- 
 cepted, then some believers are 
 justified by a more, and some by 
 a less perfect righteousness, in ex- 
 act proportion to the strength or 
 weakness of their faith. That 
 which is the end of the law is our 
 righteousness, which certainly is 
 not faith, but the obedience of 
 our exalted substitute, Rom. x, 
 4. Were faith itself our justify- 
 ing righteousness, we might de- 
 pend upon it before God, and re- 
 joice in it. So that, according to 
 this hypothesis, not Christ, but 
 faith, is the capital thing ; the ob- 
 ject to v/hich we must look, which 
 is absurd. When the apostle says, 
 " faith was imputed to him for 
 righteousness," his main design 
 was to prove that the etenial Sove- 
 reign justifies freely^ v/ithout any 
 cause in the creature. 
 
JUS 
 
 45i 
 
 JU s 
 
 Nor is man's obedience to the 
 gospel as to a new and milder law 
 the matter of his justification be- 
 fore God. It was a notion that 
 some years ago obtained, that a 
 relaxation of the law, and the se- 
 verities of it, has been obtained by 
 Christ ; and a new law, a remedial 
 law, a law of milder terms, has 
 been introduced by him, which is 
 the gospel ; the terms of which 
 are faith, repentance, and obe- 
 cience ; and though these are im- 
 perfect, yet, being sincere, they 
 are accepted of by God in the 
 room of a perfect righteousness. 
 But every part of this scheme is 
 wrong, for the law is not relaxed, 
 nor any of its severities abated ; 
 there is no alteration made in it 
 either with respect to its precepts 
 or penalty : besides, the scheme is 
 absurd, for it supposes that the 
 law which a man is now under 
 requires only an hnperfect obe- 
 dience : but an imperfect righte- 
 ousness cannot answer its de- 
 mands ; for every law requires 
 perfect obedience to its own pre- 
 cepts and prohibitions. 
 
 Nor is a profession of religion, 
 or sincerity, or good works, at all 
 the ground of our acceptance with 
 God, for all our righteousness is 
 imperfect, and must therefore be 
 entirely excluded. By grace^ saith 
 the apostle, ye are saved^ not of 
 xvorkSy lest any vian should boast^ 
 Eph. ii, 8, 9. Besides, the works of 
 sanctification and justification are 
 two distinct things : the one is a 
 work of grace within men ; the 
 other an act of grace for or towards 
 men : the one is imperfect, the 
 other complete ; the one carried 
 on gradually, the other done at 
 once. See Sangtificatiox. 
 
 If, then, we cannot possibly be 
 justified by any of our own per- 
 formances, nor by faith itself, nor 
 even by the graces of the Holy 
 Spirit, where then shall we find 
 a righteousness by which we can 
 be justified ? The scripture fur- 
 nishes us with an answ-cr — " By 
 Jesus Christ all that believe are 
 justified ixo-m. all things from which 
 they could not be justified by the 
 law of Moses," Acts xiii, 38, 39. 
 "He was delivered for our of- 
 fences, and raised again for our 
 justification^'' Rom. iv, 25. " Being 
 justified by his blood, we shall be 
 saved from wrath tlirougli him," 
 Rom. V, 9. The spotless obedience, 
 therefore, the bitter sufferings, 
 and the accursed death of our hea- 
 venly Surety, constitute that very 
 righteousness by which sinners are 
 justified before God. That this 
 righteousness is imputed to us, and 
 that we are not justified by a per- 
 sonal righteousness, appears from 
 the scripture with superior evi- 
 dence. " By the obedience of one 
 shall many be made righteous," 
 Rom. V, 19. " He hath made him 
 to be sin for us, who knew no sin, 
 that we might be made the righte- 
 ousness of God in him," 2cl Cor. 
 V, 21. "And be found in him, 
 not having mine own righteousness 
 which is of the law, but that which 
 is through the faith of Christ: the 
 righteousness which is of God by 
 faith," Phil, iii, 8. See also 
 Jer. xxiii, 6. Dan. ix, 24. the 
 whole of the ivth th. Romans, 
 and the ii ch. of Galatians. Sec- 
 articles Reco.nxiliation, Right- 
 eousness. 
 
 As to the properties of justifi- 
 cation : 1 . It is an act of God's 
 free grace, without any merit 
 
JUS 
 
 456 
 
 JUS 
 
 wliatever in the creature, Rom. iii, 
 24. — 2. It is an act of justice as 
 well as grace : the law being per- 
 fectly fulfilled in Christ, and Di- 
 vine justice satisfied, Rom. iii, 25. 
 Ps. Ixxxv, 10 — 3. It is an indivi- 
 dual and instantaneous act done at 
 once, admitting of no degrees, 
 John xix, 30. — 4. It is irrever- 
 sible, and an unalterable act, Mai. 
 iii, 6. 
 
 As to the time of justification, 
 divines are not agreed. Some have 
 distinguisheditinto decretive, vir- 
 tual, and actual. 1. Decretive, is 
 God's eternal purpose to justify 
 sinners in time by Jesus Christ. — 
 2. Virtual justification has a refer- 
 ence to the satisfaction made by 
 Christ. — 3. Actual, is when we are 
 enabled to believe in Christ, and by 
 faith are united to him. Others say 
 it is eternal, because his purpose 
 respecting it was from everlasting ; 
 and that, as the Almighty viewed 
 his people in Christ, they were, of 
 consequence, justified in his sight. 
 But it appears to me, that the 
 principle on which the advocates 
 for this doctrine have proceeded is 
 wrong. They have confounded 
 the design with the execution ; 
 for if this distinction be not kept 
 up, thei utmost perplexity will fol- 
 low the consideration of every sub- 
 ject which relates to the decrees 
 of God ; nor shall we be able to 
 form any clear ideas of his moral 
 government whatevei*. To say, as 
 one does, that the eternal will of 
 God to justify men is the justifi- 
 cation of them, is not to the pur- 
 pose ; for, upon the same ground, 
 we might as •.veil say -that the 
 eternal will of God to convert and 
 glorify his people is the real con- 
 
 version and glorification of theni« 
 That it v/as eternally determined 
 that there should be a people who 
 should believe in Christ, and that 
 his rigiiteousness should be im- 
 puted to them, is not to be dis- 
 puted ; but to say that these 
 things were really done from eter- 
 nity (which we must say if we be- 
 lieve eternal justification), this 
 would be absurd. It is more con- 
 sistent to believe, that God from 
 eternity laid the plan of justifica- 
 tion ; that this plan was executed 
 bythe life and death of Christ; and 
 that the blessing is only manifested, 
 received, and enjoyed, when we 
 are regenerated ; so that no man 
 can say, or has any reason to con- 
 clude, he is justified until he be- 
 lieves in Christ, Rom. v, 1. 
 
 The effects or blessings of justi- 
 fication are, 1. An entire freedom 
 from all penal evils in this life, 
 and that which is to come, 1st 
 Cor. iii, 22 — 2. Peace with God, 
 
 Rom. v, 1. 3. Access to God 
 
 through Christ, Eph. iii, 12. — 4. 
 Acceptance with God, Eph. v, 27. 
 — 5. Holy confidence and securi- 
 ty under all the difficulties and 
 troubles of the present state, 2d 
 Tim. i, 12. — -6. Finally, eternal 
 salv ation,Rom. viii, 30.Rom. v, 1 8. 
 
 Thus we have given as com- 
 prehensive a view of the doctrine 
 of justification as the nature of 
 this work will admit ; a doctrine 
 which is founded upon the sacred 
 scriptures ; and which so far from 
 leading to licentiousness, as some 
 suppose, is of all others the most 
 replete with motives to love, de- 
 pendance, and obedience, Rom. 
 vi, 1,2. A doctrine which the 
 primitive Christians held as con- 
 
KEY 
 
 4 
 
 J i 
 
 K I R 
 
 stituting the very essence of their 
 system ; which our reformers con- 
 sidered as the most important 
 point ; which our venerable mar- 
 tyrs gloried in, and sealed with 
 their blood ; and which, as the 
 church of England observes, is a 
 ** very wholesome doctrine, and 
 full of comfort." See Dr. Ozuen on 
 yustification ; Raiulim on Justifica- 
 
 tion ; Edwards's Sermons on ditto; 
 Lime Street Lect.y p. 350 j Hervefs 
 Theron and Aspasio^ and Eleven 
 Letters; Witherspoon's Connexion be- 
 tween justification and Holiness ; 
 Gill and Ridgleys Div. ; but espe- 
 cially BootFs Reign of Grace, to 
 which I am indebted for great part 
 of the above article. 
 
 K. 
 
 KEITHI ANS, a party which se- 
 parated from the (Quakers in Penn- 
 sylvania in the year 1691. They 
 were headed by the famous George 
 Keith, from whom they derived 
 their name. Those who persisted 
 in their separation, after their 
 leader deserted them, practised 
 baptism, and received the Lord's 
 supper. This party were also 
 called Quaker Baptists, because 
 they retained the language, dress, 
 and manner of the Quakers. 
 
 K.EYS, poiuer of the, a term made 
 use of in reference to ecclesiastical 
 jurisdiction, denoting the power 
 of excommunicating and absolv- 
 ing. The Romanists say that the 
 pope has the power of the keys, 
 and can open and shut paradise as 
 he pleases; grounding their opi- 
 nion on that expression of Jesus 
 Christ to Peter — " I will give thee 
 the keys of the kingdom of hea- 
 ven," Matt, xvi, 19. But every 
 one must see that this is an abso- 
 lute perversion of scripture ; for 
 the keys of the kingdom of hea- 
 ven most probably refer to the 
 gospel dispensation, and denotes 
 the power and authority of every 
 faithful minister to preach the 
 gospel, administer the sacraments, 
 Vol. I. 5 N 
 
 and exercise government, that 
 men may be admitted to or ex- 
 cluded from the church, as is pro- 
 per. See Absolution. 
 
 In St. Gregory we read, that It 
 was the custom for the popes to 
 send a golden key to princes, 
 wherein they inclosed a little of 
 the filings of St. Peter's chain, 
 kept with such devotion at Rome ; 
 and that these keys were worn in 
 the bosom, as being supposed to 
 contain some wonderful virtues ! 
 Such has been the superstition of 
 past ages ! ! 
 
 KIRK SESSIONS, the name of 
 a petty ecclesiastical judicatory in 
 Scotland. Each parish, according 
 to Its extent, Is divided into seve- 
 ral particular districts, every one 
 of which has Its own elder and 
 deacon to oversee it. A consist- 
 ory of the ministers, elders, and 
 deacons of a parish form a kirk 
 scpslon. These meet once a week, 
 the minister being their moderator, 
 but without a negative voice. It 
 regulates matters relative to public 
 worship, elections, catechising, vi- 
 sitations, Sec. It judges in matters 
 of less scandal ; but greater, as 
 adultery, are left to the presby- 
 tery, and In all cases an appeal 
 
KNO 
 
 458 
 
 KNO 
 
 lies from it to the presbytery. — 
 Kirk sessions have Hkewise the 
 care of the poor, and poor's funds. 
 See Presbyterians. 
 
 KINDNESS, civil behaviour, fa- 
 vourable treatment, or a constant 
 and habitual practice of friendly 
 offices and benevolent actions. See 
 Charity, Gentleness. 
 
 KNIPPERDOLINGS, a deno- 
 mination in the 16th century ; 'so 
 calledfromBertrandKnipperdoling, 
 who taught that the righteous be- 
 fore the day of judgment shall have 
 a monarchy on earth, and the wick- 
 ed be destroyed j that men are not 
 justified by their faith in Christ Je- 
 sus ; that there is no original 
 sin J that infants ought not to be 
 baptized, and that immersion is 
 the only mode of baptism ; that 
 every one has authority to preach 
 and administer the sacraments ; 
 that men are not obliged to pay 
 respect to magistrates -, that all 
 things ought to be in common, and 
 that it is lawful to marry many 
 wives. 
 
 KNOWLEDGE is defined by 
 Mr. Locke to be the perception of 
 the connexion and agreement, or dis- 
 agreement and repugnancy of our i 
 ideas. It also denotes learnings I 
 or the improvement of our facul- 
 ties by reading ; experience^ or the 
 acquiring new ideas or truths, by 
 seeing a variety of objects, and 
 making observations upon them in 
 our own minds. No man, says 
 the admirable Dr. Watts, is oblig- 
 ed to learn and know every thing •, 
 this can neither be sought nor re- 
 quired, for it is utterly impossible : 
 yet ail persons are under some 
 obligation to improve their own 
 undeistanding, otherwise it will be 
 
 a barren desert, or a forest over- 
 grown with weeds and brambles. 
 Universal ignorance, or infinite 
 error, will overspread the mind 
 which is utterly neglected and 
 lies without any cultivation. The 
 following rules, therefore, should 
 be attended to, for the improve- 
 ment of knowledge. 1. Deeply 
 possess youg- mind with the vast im- 
 portance of a good judgment, and 
 the rich and inestimable advantage 
 of right reasoning. — 2. Consider 
 the weaknesses, failings, and mis- 
 takes of human nature in general. 
 — 3. Be not satisfied with a slight 
 view of things, but take a wide 
 survey now and then of the vast 
 and unlimited regions of learning, 
 the variety of questions and diffi- 
 culties belonging to every science. 
 — 4. Presume not too much upon 
 a bright genius, a ready wit, and 
 good parts ; for this, without 
 study, will never make a man of 
 knowledge, — 5. Do not imagine 
 that large and laborious reading, 
 and a strong memory, can deno- 
 minate you truly wise, without 
 meditation and studious thought. 
 — 6. Be not so weak as to imagine 
 that a life of learning is a life of 
 laziness. — 7. Let the hope of new 
 discoveries, as well as the satis- 
 faction and pleasure of known 
 truths, animate your daily indus- 
 try. — 8. Do not hover always on 
 the surface of things, tior take up 
 suddenly with mere appearances. 
 — 9. Once a day, especially in the 
 early years of life and study, call 
 yourselves to an account what new 
 ideas vou have gained.-r-lO. Main- 
 tain a constant watch, at all times> 
 against a dogmatical spirit. — 11. 
 Be humble and courageous enough 
 
NO 
 
 459 
 
 KNO 
 
 to retract any mistake, and con- 
 fess an error. — 12. Beware of 
 a fanciful temper of mind, and 
 a humorous conduct. — 13. Have 
 a care of trifling with things 
 important and momentous, or 
 of sporting with things awful 
 and sacred. — 14. Ever maintain a 
 virtuous and pious frame of spi- 
 rit. — 15. Watch againet the pride 
 of your own reason, and a vain 
 conceit of your own intellectual 
 powers, with the neglect of Divine 
 aid and blessing. — 16. Offer up, 
 therefore, your daily requests to 
 God, the Father of Lights, chat he 
 would bless all your attempts and 
 labours in reading, study, and 
 conversation. Watts on the Mind^ 
 chap, i; Dr. John Edxuards^s Un- 
 certointy^ Deficiency^ and Corrup- 
 tions of Human Knoxuledge ; RticPs 
 Intellectual Powers of Man ; Sten- 
 7iett''s Sermon on Acts xxvi, 24, 25. 
 KNOWLEDGE OF GOD is 
 often taken for the fear of God and 
 the whole of religion. There is, 
 indeed, a apeculatl'vc knowledge, 
 which consists only in the belief of 
 his existence, and the acknow- 
 ledgment of his perfections, but 
 has no influence on the heart and 
 conduct. A spiritual saving know- 
 ledge consists in veneration for the 
 Divine Being, Psal. Ixxxix, 7. 
 love to him as an object of beauty 
 and goodness, Zech. ix, 17. hum- 
 ble confidence in his mercy and 
 promise, Psal. ix, 10. and sincere, 
 uniform, and persevering obedience 
 to his word, 1st John ii, 3. It 
 may farther be considered as a 
 knowledge of God, the Father ; of 
 his love, faithfulness, power, &c. 
 Of the Son, as it relates to the dig- 
 nity of his nature, 1 st John v, 20. 
 
 the suitability of his offices, Keb^ 
 ix. the perfection of his work. 
 Psalm Ixviii, 18. the bright- 
 ness of his example. Acts x, 38. 
 and the prevalency of his inter- 
 cession, Heb. vii, 25. Of the Holy 
 Ghost, as equal M'ith the Father 
 and the Son; of his agency as en- 
 li^htener and comforter ; as also 
 in his work of witnessing, sanc- 
 tifying, and directing his people, 
 John XV, xvi. 2d Cor. iii, IT, 18. 
 John iii, .5, 6. Rom. viii, 16. 
 This knowledge may be considered 
 as experimental, 2d' Tim. i, 12. 
 fiducial. Job xiii, 15, 16. affection- 
 ate, 1st John iii, 19. influential, 
 Ps. ix, 10. Matt. V, 16. humiliat- 
 ing, Isa. vi. Job xlii, 5, 6. satisfy^ 
 ing, Psal. xxxvi, 7. Prov. iii, 17. 
 and superior to all other know~ 
 ledge, Phil, iii, 8. The advan- 
 tages of religious knowledge are 
 every way great. It forms the 
 basis of true honour and felicity. 
 *« Not all the lustre of a noble 
 birth, not all the affluence of 
 wealth, not all the pomp of titles, 
 not all the splendor of power, 
 can give dignity to a soul that 
 is destitute of inward improve- 
 ment. By this we are allied to 
 angels, and are capable of ris- 
 ing for ever in the scale of 
 being. • Such is Its inherent 
 worth, that it hath always been 
 represented under the most pleas- 
 ing images. In particular, it hath 
 been compared to light, the most 
 valuable and reviving part of Na- 
 ture's works, and to that glorious 
 luminary which is the most beau- 
 tiful and transporting object our 
 eyes behold. If we entertain any 
 doubts concerning the intrinsic va- 
 lue of religious knowledge, let us 
 
KNO 
 
 460 
 
 KNO 
 
 look around us, and we shall be 
 fully convinced how desirable it is 
 to be acquainted with God, with 
 spiritual, with eternal things. Ob- 
 serve the difference between a cul- 
 tivated and a barren country. 
 While the former is a lovely, 
 cheerful, and delightful sight, the 
 other administers a spectacle of 
 horror. There is an equal dif- 
 ference between the nations among 
 whom the principles of piety pre- 
 vail, and the nations that are over- 
 run with idolatry, superstition, and 
 error. Knowledge, also, is of 
 great importance to our personal 
 and private felicity : it furnishes a 
 pleasure that cannot be met with 
 in the possession of inferior enjoy- 
 ments j a fine entertainment, 
 which adds a relish to prosperity, 
 and alleviates the hour of distress. 
 It throws a lustre on greatness, and 
 reflects an honour upon poverty. 
 Knowledge Vv^ill likewise instruct 
 us how to apply our several talents 
 for the benefit of mankind. It 
 will make us capable of advising 
 and regulating others. Hence we 
 may become the lights of the 
 world, and may diffuse those be- 
 neficent beams around us, which 
 shall shine on benighted travellers, 
 and discover the path of rectitude 
 and bliss. This knowledge, also, 
 tends to destroy bigotry and en- 
 thusiasm. To this we are indebt- 
 ed for the important change which 
 hath been made since the begin- 
 ning of the reformation. To this 
 we are indebted for the general 
 cultivation and refinement of the 
 understandings of men. It is owing 
 to this that even arbitrary govern- 
 ments seem to have lost something 
 ©f their original ferocity, and th.>' 
 
 there is a source of improvement 
 in Europe which will, we hope, in 
 future times, shed the most de- 
 lightful influences on society, and 
 unite its members in harmony, 
 peace, and love. But the advan- 
 tages of knowledge are still great- 
 er, for it points out to us an eter- 
 nal felicity. The several branches 
 of human science are intended on- 
 ly to bless and adorn our present 
 existence ; but religious know- 
 ledge bids us provide for an im- 
 mortal being, sets the path of sal- 
 vation before us, and is our insepa- 
 rable companion in the road to 
 glory. As it instructs in the way 
 to endless bliss, so it will survive 
 that mighty day when all worldly 
 literature and accomplishments shall 
 for ever cease. At that solemn 
 period, in which the records and 
 registers of men shall be destroy- 
 ed, the systems of human policy be 
 dissolved, and the grandest works 
 of genius die, the wisdom which 
 is spiritual and heavenly shall not 
 only subsist, but be increased to 
 an extent that human nature can- 
 not in this life admit. Our views 
 of things, at present, are obscure, 
 imperfect, partial, and liable " to 
 error ; but when we arrive to the 
 realms of everlasting light, the 
 clouds that shadowed our under- 
 standing will be removed ; we shall 
 behold with amazing clearness the 
 attributes, ways, and works of 
 God ; shall perceive more distinct- 
 ly the design of his dispensations ; 
 shall trace with rapture the won- 
 ders of nature and grace, and be- 
 come acquainted with a thousand 
 glorious objects, of which the ima- 
 
 gmation can as 
 ceptioii." 
 
 ret have no con- 
 
KOR 
 
 461 
 
 KOR 
 
 In order to increase in the 
 knowledge of God, there must be 
 dependance on Him from whom 
 all light proceeds, James i, 6. 
 attention to his revealed will, John 
 V, 39. a watchful spirit against 
 corrupt affect ions, Luke xxi, 34. 
 a humble frame of mind, Ps. xxv, 
 9. frequent meditation, Ps. civ, 
 34. a persevering desire for con- 
 formity to the Divine image, Hos. 
 vi, 3. CharnocH's Works^ vol. ii, p. 
 381 ; Saurin's Serm., vol. i, ser. 1 j 
 GilPs Body ofDiv.y vol. iii, p. 12, 
 Oct.; TillotsoJi's Serm.y ser. 113 j 
 WattfPs Workf!y vol. i, ser, 45. 
 
 KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. See 
 Omniscience. 
 
 KORAN, or Alcoran, the 
 scripture or bible of the Mahome- 
 tans, containing the revelations 
 and doctrines of their pretended 
 prophet. 
 
 1. Korariy divisions of the. The 
 Koran is divided into one hundred 
 and fourteen larger portions of 
 very unequal length, which, we 
 call chaptersy but the Arabians 
 Soxvm-y -in the singular Sura; a 
 word rarely used on any other 
 occasion, and properly signifying 
 a row, or a regular series ; as a 
 course of bricks in building, or a 
 rank of soldiers in an army, and is 
 the same in use and import with 
 the Sura, or Tora, of the Jews ; 
 who also call the fifty-three sec- 
 tions of the Pentateuch Sedarimy 
 a word of the same signification. 
 These chapters are not, in the 
 manuscript copies, distinguished by 
 their numerical order, but by par- 
 ticular titles which arc taken 
 sometimes from a peculiar subject 
 treated of, or person mentioned 
 therein; usually from the first 
 
 word of note, exactly in the same 
 manner as the Jews have named 
 their Sedarim ; though the word 
 from which some chapters are de- 
 nominated be very distant to- 
 wards the middle, or perhaps the 
 end, of the chapter ; which seems 
 ridiculous. But the occasion of 
 this appears to have been, that 
 the verse or passage wherein such 
 word occurs, was, in point of time, 
 revealed and committed to writing 
 before the other verses of the same 
 chapter which precede it in order ; 
 and the title being given to the 
 chapter before it v/as completed, 
 or the passages reduced to their 
 present order, the verse from 
 whence such title was taken did 
 not always happen to begin the 
 chapter. Some chapters have two 
 or more titles, occasioned by the 
 difference of the copies. Some of 
 them being pretended to have been 
 revealed at Mecca, and others at 
 Medina, the noting this difference 
 makes a part of the title. Every 
 chapter is divided into smaller por- 
 tions, of very unequal length also, 
 which we customarily call verses ; 
 but the Arabic word is Ayaty the 
 same with the Hebrew Otothy and 
 signifies signs or rvonders : such as 
 the secrets of God, his attributes, 
 works, judgments, and ordinances 
 delivered in those verses ; many of 
 which have their particular titles, 
 also, imposed in the same manner 
 as those of the chapters. Besides 
 these unequal divisions, the Ma- 
 hometans have also divided their 
 Koran into sixty equal portions, 
 which they call Ahzaby in the 
 singular Bi-zby each subdivided in- 
 to four equal parts ; which \i 
 likewise an imitation of the Jews, 
 
OR 
 
 462 
 
 KOR 
 
 who have an ancient division of 
 their Mishrta into sixty portions, 
 called Massictoth. But the Koran 
 is more usually divided into thirty 
 sections only, named Ajaza, from 
 the singular Joz, each of twice the 
 length of the former, and in like 
 manner subdivided into four parts. 
 These divisions are for the use of 
 the readers of the Koran in the 
 royal temples, or in the adjoining 
 chapels u'here the emperors and 
 gr^at men are interred ; of whom 
 there are thirty belonging to every 
 chapel, and each reads his section 
 every day; so that the v/hole 
 Koran is read over once a day. 
 Next after the title, at the name 
 of every chapter except only the 
 ninth, is prefixed the following so- 
 lemn form, by the Mahometans 
 called theBismallah. — "In the name li 
 of the most merciful God ;" which i' 
 form they constantly place at the | 
 beginning of all their books and 11 
 ■viTitings in general, as a peculiar { 
 mark or distinguishing character- li 
 istic of their religion, it being] 
 counted a sort of impiety to omit 
 it. The Jews, and eastern Chris- 
 tians, for the same purpose, make 
 use of similar forms. But Mahomet 
 probably took this form from the 
 Persian Magi, who began their 
 books in these words, Benmn Tez- 
 dam bak^haishgher dadar ; that is, 
 In the natne of the most merciful 
 just God. There are twenty-nine 
 chapters of the Koran, which have 
 this peculiarity, that they begin 
 with certain letters of the alphabet, 
 som.e with a single one, others with 
 more. These letters the Maho- 
 metans believe to be the pecu- 
 liar mark of the Koran, and to 
 conceal several profound mysteries \ 
 
 the certain understanding of which, 
 the more intelligent confess, has 
 not been communicated to any 
 mortal, their prophet only ex- 
 cepted : notwithstanding which, 
 some take the liberty of guessing 
 at their meaning by that species of 
 cabala called by the Jews Nota- 
 r'lkon. 
 
 2. Koran^ general design of the. 
 The general design of the Koran 
 was to unite the professors of the 
 three different religions, then fol- 
 lowed in the populous country of 
 Arabia (who, for the most part, 
 wandered without guides, the far 
 greater number being idolaters, 
 and the rest Jews and Christians, 
 mostly of erroneous opinions), in 
 the knowledge and worship of one 
 God, under the sanction of cer- 
 tain laws and ceremonies, partly 
 of ancient, and partly of novel in- 
 stitution, enforced by the conside- 
 ration of rewards and punishments 
 both temporal and eternal ; and to 
 bring them all to the obedience of 
 Mahomet, as the prophet and em- 
 bassador of God -, who, after the 
 repeated admonitions, promises, 
 and threats, of former ages, was 
 sent at last to establish and pro- 
 pagate God's religion on earth ; 
 and to be acknowledged chief 
 pontifFin spiritual matters, as well 
 as supreme prince in temporal. 
 The great doctrine, then, of the 
 Koran is the unity of God ; to 
 restore which, Mahomet pretend- 
 ed, was the chief end of his mis- 
 sion ; it being laid down by him 
 as a fundamental truth, That there 
 never was, nor ever can be, more 
 than one true orthodox religion ; 
 that, though the particular law* 
 or ceremonies are only temporary 
 
KOR 
 
 463 
 
 KOR 
 
 and subject to alteration, accord- 
 ing to the Divine direction ; yet 
 the -substance of it, being eternal 
 truth, is not liable to change, but 
 continues immutably the same : 
 and that, whenever this religion 
 became neglected or corrupted 
 in essentials, God had the good- 
 ness to re-inform and re-admonish 
 mankind thereof by several pro- 
 phets, of whom Moses and Jesus 
 were the most distinguished, till 
 the appearance of Mahomet, who 
 is their seal, and no other to be 
 expected after him. The more 
 effectually to engage people to 
 hearken to him, great part of the 
 Koran is employed in relating ex- 
 amples of dreadful punishments 
 formerly inflicted by God on those 
 who rejected and abused his mes- 
 sengers •, several of which stories, 
 or some circumstances of them, 
 "are taken from the Old and New 
 Testaments, but many more from 
 the apocryphal books and tradi- 
 tions of the Jews and Christians of 
 those ages, set up in the Koran 
 as truths, in opposition to the 
 scriptures, which the Jews and 
 Christians are charged with hav- 
 ing altered : and, indeed, few or 
 none of the relations of circum- 
 stances in the Koran were invented 
 by Mahomet, as is generally sup- 
 posed ; it being easy to trace the 
 greatest part of them much higher, 
 as the rest might be, were more of 
 those books extant, and were it 
 worth while to make the inquiry. 
 The rest of the Alcoran is taken 
 up in prescribing necessary laws 
 and directions, frequent admo- 
 nitions to moral and Divine vir- 
 tues, the worship and reverence of 
 the Supreme Being, and resig- 
 
 nation to his will. One of their 
 most learned commentators distin- 
 guishes the contents of the Al- 
 coran into allegorical and literal : 
 under the former are comprehend- 
 ed all the obscure, parabolical, and 
 enigmatical passages, with such 
 laws as are repealed or abrogated ; 
 the latter, such as are clear, and 
 in full force. The most excellent 
 moral in the whole Alcoran, inter- 
 preters say, is that in the chapter 
 Al Alrafy viz. " Shew mercy, do 
 good to all, and dispute not with 
 the ignorant ;" or, as Mr. Sale 
 renders it. Use indulgence, com- 
 mand that which is just, and with- 
 draw far from the ignorant. Ma- 
 homet, according to the authors 
 of the Kescloaft having begged of 
 the angel Gabriel a more ample 
 explication of this passage, receiv- 
 ed it in the following terms : 
 "Seek him who turns thee out, 
 give to him who takes from thee, 
 pardon him who injures thee -, for 
 God will have you plant in your 
 souls the roots of his chief per- 
 fections." It is easy to see that 
 this Commentary is borrowed from 
 the gospel. In reality, the neces- 
 sity of forgiving enemies, though 
 frequently Inculcated in the Al- 
 coran, is of a later date among the 
 Mahometans than among the 
 Christians;' among those later than 
 among the heathens ; and to be 
 traced originally among the Jews. 
 (See Exodus xxxiil, 4, 5). But it 
 matters not so much who had it 
 first as who observes it best. The 
 caliph Hassan, son of Hall, being 
 at table, a slave let fall a dish of 
 meat reeking hot, which scalded 
 him severely. The slave fell on his 
 knees reheitrsing these words of 
 
KO R 
 
 464 
 
 KOR 
 
 the Alcoran, "Paradise is for those 
 who restrain their anger." " I am 
 not angry with thee," answered 
 the caliph. "And for those who 
 forgive offences against them," 
 continues the slave. " I forgive 
 thee thine," replies the caliph. 
 " But, above all, for those who re- 
 turn good for evil," adds the slave. 
 " I set thee at liberty," rejoined 
 the caliph ; " and I give thee ten 
 dinars." There are also a great 
 number of occasional passages in 
 the Alcoran relating only to par- 
 ticular emergencies. For this ad- 
 vantage Mahomet had, by his 
 piecemeal method of receiving and 
 delivering his revelations, that, 
 whenever he happened to be per- 
 plexed with any thing, he had a 
 certain resource in some new mor- 
 sel of revelation. It was an ad- 
 mirable contrivance to bring down 
 the whole Alcoran only to the 
 lowest heaven, not to earth ; since, 
 had the whole been published at 
 once, innumerable oljjections would 
 have been made, which it would 
 have been impossible for him to 
 have solved -, but as he received it 
 by parcels, as God saw fit they 
 should be published for the con- 
 version and instruction of the peo- 
 ple, he had a sure way to ansvrer 
 all emergencies, and to extricate 
 himself with honour from any dif- 
 ficulty which might occur. 
 
 3. Koran-^ history cf the. It is the 
 common opinion, that Mahomet, 
 assisted by one Scrgius, a monk, 
 composed this book ; but the Mus- 
 sulmen believe it as an article of 
 their faiih, that the prophet, who, 
 they say,' was an illiterate man, 
 had no concern in inditing it ; but 
 that it was given him by God, 
 
 who, to that end, made use of the 
 ministry of the angel Gabriel; 
 that, however, it was communi- 
 cated to him by little and little, 
 a verse at a time, and in different 
 places during the course of 23 
 years. — " And hence," say they, 
 "proceed that disorder and con- 
 fusion visible in the work ;" which, 
 in truth, are so great, that all 
 their doctors have never been able 
 to adjust them j for Mahomet, or 
 rather his copyist, having put all 
 the loose verses promiscuously in 
 a book together, it was impossible 
 ever to retrieve the order wherein 
 they were delivered. Those 23 
 years, which the angel employed 
 in conveying the Alcoran to Ma- 
 homet, are of wonderful service to 
 his followers ; inasmuch as they 
 furnish them with an answer to 
 such as tax them with those glar- 
 ing contradictions of -which the 
 book is full, and which they pi- 
 ously father upon God himself ; 
 alleging that, in the course of so 
 long a time, he repealed and al- 
 tered several doctrines and pre- 
 cepts which the prophet had be- 
 fore received of him. M. D'Herbe- 
 lot thinks it probable, that when 
 the heresies of the Nestorians, Eu- 
 tychians, &c., had been con- 
 demned by oecumenical councils, 
 many bishops, priests, monks, &c., 
 being driven into the deserts of 
 Arabia and Egypt, furnished the 
 impostor with passages, and crude 
 ill-conceived doctrines, out of the 
 scriptures ; and that it was hence 
 that the Alcoran became so full 
 of the wild and erroneous opinions 
 of those heretics. The Jews also, 
 who were very numerous in Ara- 
 bia, furnished materials for the 
 
KOR 
 
 465 
 
 KOR 
 
 Alcoran ; nor is it without some 
 reason that they boast twel-ve of 
 their chief doctors to have been 
 the authors of this work. The 
 Alcoran, while Mahomet lived, 
 was only kept in loose sheets : his 
 successor, Abubeker, first collected 
 theni into a volume, and commit- 
 ted the keeping of it to Haphsa, 
 the widow of Mahomet, in order 
 to be consulted as an original ; 
 and there being a good deal of 
 diversity between the several co- 
 pies already dispersed throughout 
 the provinces, Ottoman, successor 
 of Abubeker, procured a great 
 number of copies to be taken from 
 that of Haphsa, at the same 
 time suppressing all the others not 
 conformable to the original. The 
 chief differences in the present 
 copies of this book consist in the 
 points, which were not in use in 
 the time of Mahomet and his im- 
 mediate successors ; but were add- 
 ed since, to ascertain the read- 
 ing, after the example of the Mas- 
 soretes, who added the like 
 points to the Hebrew texts of 
 scripture. There are seven prin- 
 cipal editions of the Alcoran ; two 
 at Medina, one at Mecca, one at 
 Cufa, one at Bassora, one in Syria, 
 and the common, or Vulgate edi- 
 tion. The first contains 6000 
 verses, the others surpassing this 
 number by 200 or 236 verses j 
 but the number of words and let- 
 ters is the same in all ; viz. 77,639 
 words, and 323,015 letters. The 
 number of commentaries on the 
 Alcoran is so large, that the bare 
 titles would make a huge volume. 
 Ben Oschair has v/ritten the his- 
 tory of them, entitled, Tarikh Ben 
 Gsckair. The principal among 
 Vol. I. 3 C) 
 
 them are, Reidhaori, Thaalebi, 
 Zamalchschari, and Bacai. The 
 Mahometans have a positive theo- 
 logy built on the Alcoran and 
 tradition, as well as a scholastical 
 one built on reason. They have 
 likewise their casuists, and a kind 
 of canon law, wherein they dis- 
 tinguish between what is of divine 
 and what of positive right. They 
 have their beneficiaries, too, chap>- 
 lains, almoners, and canons, who 
 read a chapter every day out of 
 the Alcoran in the mosques, and 
 have prebends annexed to their 
 ofnce. The hatib of the mosque 
 is what we call the parson of the 
 parish ; and the scheics are the 
 preachers, who take their texts 
 out of the Alcoran. 
 
 4. Koran^ Mahometan faith cori' 
 cerning: It is the general belief 
 among the Mahometans that the 
 Koran is of divine original ; nay, 
 that it is eternal and uncreated ; 
 remaining, as some express it, in 
 the very essence of God : that the 
 first transcript has been from ever- 
 lasting, by God's throne, written 
 on a table of vast bigness, called 
 the preserved table^ in which ai"e 
 also recorded the Divine decrees, 
 past and future ; that a copy from 
 this table, in one volume on pa- 
 per, was by the ministry of the 
 angel Gabriel sent down to the 
 lowest heaven in the month of 
 Ramadan, on the night of poxver^ 
 from whence Gabriel revealed it 
 to ^lahomet by parcels, some 
 at Mecca, and some at Medina, 
 at different times, during the 
 space of twenty-three years, as 
 the exigency of affairs required; 
 giving him, however, the conso- 
 j i-.uion to shew him the whole 
 
KOR 
 
 466 
 
 KOR 
 
 (which they tell us was bound in 
 silk, and adorned with gold and 
 precious stones of paradise) once 
 a year ; but in the last year of his 
 life he had the favour to see it 
 twice. The\' say, that only ten 
 chapters were delivered entire, the 
 rest being revealed piecemeal, and 
 written down from time to time 
 by the prophet's amanuensis, in 
 such a part of such and such a 
 chapter, till they were completed, 
 according to the directions of the 
 angel. The first parcel that was 
 revealed is generally agreed to 
 have been the five first verses of the 
 ninety-sixth-chapter. In fiae, the 
 book of tlie Alcoran is held in 
 the highest esteem and reverence 
 among the Mussulmans. Thev 
 dare not so much as touch the 
 Alcoran without being first wash- 
 ed, or legally purified : to pre- 
 vent Vv'hich j^ inscription is put 
 on the cover or label, — '-Let none 
 touch but they who are clean. It 
 is read v/ith great care and re- 
 spect, being never held below the 
 girdle. They swear by it ; take 
 omens from it on all weighty oc- 
 casions ; carry it with them to 
 war ; write sentences of it on their 
 banners ; adorn it with gold and 
 precious stones ; and knowingly 
 suffer it not to be in the possession 
 of any of a different religion. 
 Some savthat it is punishable even 
 with death, in a Christian, to 
 touch it; others, that the venera- 
 tion of the Mussulmans leads them 
 to condemn the translating it into 
 any other language, as a prolana- 
 uo;i : but these seem to be exag- 
 gerations. The Mahometans have 
 taken care to have their scripture 
 (vanslaled into the Persian, the 
 
 Javan, tTie Malayan, and other 
 languages ; though, out of re- 
 spect to the original, these ver- 
 sions are generally, if not always, 
 interlineated. 
 
 5. Koran^ success of the^ account- 
 ed for. The author of the '* View 
 of Christianity and Mahometan- 
 ism" observes, that, " by the ad- 
 vocates of Mahometanism, the 
 Koran has always been held forth 
 as the greatest of miracles, and 
 equally stupendous with the act 
 of raising the dead. The miracles 
 of Moses and Jesus, they say, were 
 transient and temporary ; but that 
 of the Koran is permanent and 
 perpetual, and therefore far sur- 
 passes all the miraculous events of 
 preceding ages. \¥e will not de- 
 tract from the real merit of the 
 Koran ; we allow it to be gene- 
 rally elegant, and often sublime ; 
 but at the same time we reject 
 with disdain its arrogant pretence 
 to any thing supernatural, all the 
 real excellence of the work being 
 easily referable to natural and 
 visible causes. In the language 
 of Arabia, a language extremely 
 loved, and diligently cultivated by 
 the people to wh,om it was verna- 
 cular, Mahomet found advanta- 
 ges which were never enjoved by 
 any former or succeeding impos- 
 tor. It requires not the eye of a 
 •philosopher to discover in every 
 soil and country a principle of na- 
 tional pride : and if we look back 
 for many ages on the history of the 
 Arabians, we shall easily perceive 
 that pride among them invariably 
 to have consisted in the knowledge 
 and improvement of their native 
 language. The Arabic, which 
 has been justly esteemed the most 
 
KO R 
 
 467 
 
 KOR 
 
 copious of the eastern tongues, 
 which had existed from the re- 
 motest antiquity, which had been 
 embellished by numberless poets, 
 and refined by the constant exer- 
 cise of the natives, was the most 
 successful instrument which Ma- 
 homet employed in planting his 
 new religion among them. Ad- 
 mirably adapted by its unrivalled 
 harmony, and by its endless vari- 
 ety, to add painting to expression, 
 and to pursue the imagination in 
 its unbounded flight, it became in 
 the hands of Mahomet an irre- 
 sistible charm to blind the judg- 
 ment and to captivate the fancy 
 of his followers. Of that descrip- 
 tion of men who first composed 
 the adherents of Mahomet, and 
 to whom the Koran was addressed, 
 few, probably, were able to pass 
 a very accurate judgment on the 
 propriety of the sentiments, or on 
 the beauty of the diction : but all 
 could judge of the military abili- 
 ties of their leader; and in the 
 midst of their admiration it is not 
 difficult to conceive that they 
 would ascribe to his compositions 
 every imaginary beauty of in- 
 spired language. The shepherd 
 and the soldier, though awake to 
 the charms of those wild but 
 beautiful compositions in which 
 were celebrated their favourite 
 occupations of love or war, were 
 yet little able to ci'iticise any other 
 works than those which were ad- 
 dressed to their imagination or their 
 heart. To abstract reasonings on 
 the attributes and the dispensa- 
 tions of the Deity, to the compa- 
 rative excellencies of rival reli- 
 gions, to the consistency of any 
 one religious system in all its parts, 
 
 and to the force of its various 
 proofs, they were quite inatten- 
 tive. In such a situation, the ap- 
 pearance of a work which pos- 
 sessed something like wisdom and 
 consistence ; which prescribed the 
 rules and illustrated the duties of 
 life ; and which contained the 
 principles of a new and compa- 
 ratively sublime theology, inde- 
 pendently of its real and perma- 
 nent merit, was likely to excite 
 their astonishment, and to become 
 the standard of fut,ure composi- 
 tion. In the first periods of the 
 literature of every country, some- 
 thing of this kind has happened. 
 The father of Grecian poetry very 
 obviously influenced the taste and 
 imitation of his country. The 
 modern nations of Eui'ope all 
 possess some original author, who, 
 rising from the darkness of former 
 ages, has begun the career of 
 composition, and tinctured with 
 the character of his own imagina- 
 tion the stream which has flowed 
 through his posterity. But the 
 prophet of Arabia had in this re- 
 spect advantages peculiar to him- 
 self. His compositions were not 
 to his followers the works of man, 
 but the genuine language of hea- 
 ven which had sent him. They 
 were not 'confined, therefore, to 
 that admiration which is so libe- 
 rally bestowed on the earliest pro- 
 ductions of genius, or to that fond 
 attachment with which men every 
 where regard the original compo- 
 sitions of their country ; but 
 with their admiration they blend- 
 ed their piety. To know and to 
 feel the beauties of the Koran, 
 was in some respect to share in the 
 temper of heaven ; and he who 
 
iOR 
 
 468 
 
 KOR 
 
 was most affected with admiration 
 in the perusal of its beauties, 
 seemed fitly the object of that 
 mercy which had given it to igno- 
 rant man. The Koran, therefore, 
 became naturally and necessarily 
 the standard of taste. With a 
 language thus hallov/cd in their 
 imaginations, they were too well 
 satisfied either to dispute its ele- 
 gance, or improve its structure. 
 In succeeding ages, the additional 
 sanction of antiquity, or prescrip- 
 tion, was given to these composi- 
 tions which their fathers had ad- 
 mired ; and while the belief of its 
 divine original continues, that ad- 
 mirfeition which has thus become 
 the test and the duty of the faith- 
 ful, can neither be altered nor di- 
 minished. When, therefore, we 
 consider these peculiar advantages 
 of the Koran, we have no reason 
 to be surprised at the admiration 
 in which it is held. But if, de- 
 scending to a more minute in- 
 vestigation of it, we consider its 
 perpetual inconsistence and ab- 
 surdity, we sliaii indeed have cause 
 for astonishment at that weakness 
 of humanity, v.'hich could ever 
 have received such compositions 
 as the work of the Deity." 
 
 6. Kora'ii^ the style and merits 
 ofthe^ examined. "The first praise 
 of all the productions of genius 
 (continues this author) is inven- 
 tion ; that quality of the mind, 
 which, by the extent and quick- 
 ness of its views, is capable of the 
 largest conceptions, and of form- 
 ing iiew combinations of objects 
 the most (Jistant and unusual. But 
 the Koran bears little impression 
 of this transcendent character. 
 Its mv!.terials are v/hoilv borrowed 
 
 from the Jewish and Christian 
 scriptures, from the Talmudical 
 legends and apocryphal gospels 
 then current in the east, and from 
 the traditions and fables which 
 abounded in Arabia. The mate- 
 rials collected from these several 
 sources are here heaped together 
 with perpetual and needless repe- 
 titions, without any settled princi- 
 ple or visible connexion. When 
 a great part of the life of Maho- 
 met had been spent in prepara- 
 tory meditation on the system he 
 was about to establi-oh, its chap- 
 ters were dealt out slowly and se- 
 parately during the long period of 
 twenty-three years. Yet, thus de- 
 fective in its structure, ai?d no 
 less exceptionable in its doctrines, 
 was the work which Mahomet de- 
 livered to his followers as the ora- 
 cles of God. The most promi- 
 nent feature of the Koran, that 
 point of excellence in which the 
 partiality of its admirers has ever 
 delighted to view it, is the sub- 
 lime notion it generall)^ impresses 
 of the nature and attributes of 
 God. If its author had really 
 derived these just conceptions from 
 the Inspiration of that Being whom 
 they attempt to describe, they 
 would not have been surrounded, 
 as they now are on every side, 
 with error and absurdity. But it 
 might be easily proved, that what- 
 ever it justly defines of the Divine 
 attributes was borrowed Irom our 
 holy scripture ; which even from 
 its first promulgation, but especi- 
 ally from the completion of the 
 Nev/ Testament, has extended 
 the views and enlightened the un- 
 deTstandings of mankind; and thus 
 furnished them with arms v.hich 
 
KOR 
 
 469 
 
 KOR 
 
 have too often been ineffectually 
 turned against itself by its unge- 
 nerous enemies. In this instance, 
 particularly, the copy is far below 
 tlie great original, both in the 
 propriety of its images and the 
 force of its descriptions." 
 
 7. Koran, the sublimity of the^ 
 contrasted. " Our holy scriptures 
 are the only compositions that 
 can enable the dim sight of mor- 
 tality to penetrate into the invisi- 
 ble world, and to behold a glimpse 
 of the Divine perfections. Ac- 
 cordingly, when they would repre- 
 sent to us the happiness of heaven, 
 they describe it, not by any thing 
 minute and particular, but by 
 something general and great ; 
 something that, without descend- 
 ing to any determinate object, 
 may at once by its beauty and im- 
 mensity excite our wishes, and 
 elevate our affections. Though in 
 the prophetical and evangelical 
 writings the joys that shall at- 
 tend us in a future state are of- 
 ten mentioned with ardent admi- 
 ration, they are expressed rather 
 by allusion than by similitude ; ra- 
 ther by indefinite and figurative 
 terms, than by any thing fixed 
 and determinate. '■ Eye hath not 
 seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
 entered into the heart of man 
 the things which God hath pre- 
 pared for them that love him,' 1st 
 Cor. ii, 9. What a reverence and 
 astonishment does this passage ex- 
 cite in every hearer of taste and 
 piety ! What energy, and at the 
 same time what simplicity, in the 
 expression! How sublime, and at 
 the same time how obscure, is the 
 imagery ! Different was the con- 
 duct of Mahomet in his descrip- 
 
 tions of heaven and pai-adise. Un- 
 assisted by the necessary influence 
 of virtuous intentions and Divine 
 inspiration, he was neither desi- 
 rous, nor indeed able, to exalt 
 the minds of men to sublime con- 
 ceptions, or to rational expecta- 
 tions. By attempting to explain 
 what is inconceivable, to describe 
 what is ineffable, and to mate- 
 rialize what in itself is spiritual, 
 he absurdly and impiously aimed 
 to sensualize the purity of the Di- 
 vine essence. Thus he fabricated 
 a system of incoherence, a religion 
 of depravity, totally repugnant to 
 the nature of that Being, who, as 
 he pretended, was its object ; but 
 therefore more likely to accord 
 with the appetites and conceptions 
 of a corrupt and sensual age. 
 That we may not appear to exalt 
 our scriptures thus far above the 
 Koran by an unreasonable prefer- 
 ence, we shall produce a part of 
 the second chapter of the latter, 
 which is deservedly admired by the 
 Mahometans, who wear it engrav- 
 ed on their ornaments, and recite 
 it in their prayers. ' God ! there 
 is no God but he ; the living, the 
 self-subsisting; neither slumber nor 
 sleep seizeth him: to him belong- 
 eth whatsoever is in heaven, and 
 on earth. Who is he that can in- 
 tercede with him but through his 
 good pleasure ? He knoweth that 
 which is past, and that which is 
 to come. His throne is extended 
 over heaven and earth, and the 
 preservation of both is to him no 
 burden. He is the high, the 
 mighty.' Sale's Koran, v. ii, p. 30. 
 To this description who can refuse 
 the praise of magnificence ? Part 
 of that magnificence, however, is 
 
KOR 
 
 470 
 
 KTI 
 
 to be referred to that verse of the 
 psalmist whence it was borrowed: 
 * He that keepeth Israel shall nei- 
 ther slumber nor sleep,' Psal. cxxi, 
 4. But if we compare it with that 
 other passage of the inspired 
 psalmist (Psal. cii, 24-2r), all its 
 boasted grandeur is at once ob- 
 scured, and lost in the blaze of a 
 greater light. ' O my God, take 
 me not away in the midst of my 
 days ; thy years are throughout 
 all generations. Of old hast thou 
 laid the foundation of the earth ; 
 and the heavens are the work of 
 thy hands. They shall perish, but 
 thou shalt endure ; yea, all of 
 them shall wax old like a gar- 
 ment ; as a vesture shalt thou 
 change /them, and they shall be 
 changed. But thou art the same, 
 and thy years shall have no end.' 
 The Koran, therefore, upon a fair 
 
 examination, far from supporting 
 its arrogant claim to a supernatu- 
 ral work, sinks below the level of 
 many compositions confessedly of 
 human original ; and still lower 
 does it fall in our estimation, when 
 compared with that pure and per- 
 fect pattera which we justly ad- 
 mire in the scriptures of ti'uth. 
 It is, therefore, abundantly appa- 
 rent, that no miracle either was 
 externally performed for the sup- 
 port, or is internally involved in 
 the composition of the Maho- 
 metan revelation." See Sale's Ko- 
 ran ; Prideaux's Life of Mahomet ; 
 White's Sermons at Bampton Lec- 
 tures ; and article Mahometan- 
 ism. 
 
 KTISTOL ATRiE, a branch of 
 the Monophysites which maintain- 
 ed that the body of Christ before 
 his resuri'ection was corruptible. 
 
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 gious instruction in country villages. By the Rev. George Burder, of London. 
 
 LETTERS 
 ON the Study and Use of Ancient and Modern History. Containing observations 
 and reflections on the causes and consequences of those events which have produced 
 conspicvious chan.ges in the aspect of the world, and the g-eneral state of human 
 affairs. By John Bigland, author of " Reflections on the resurrection and ascension." 
 Printed in one 8vo volume of about 540 pAges, fine paper, neatly bound, for 2 dolls. 
 
 JUST PUBLISHED, THE FIRST VOLUME OF 
 
 A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE HOLY BIBLE, 
 AS contained in the Old and New Testaments, including also the occurrences of 
 400 years, from the last of the prophets to the birth of Christ and tlie life of our 
 blessed Saviour and his apostles, &c. with copious notes, critical and explanatory, 
 practical and devotional. — From the text of the P^ev. Lawrence Howell, A. M. witlt 
 considerable additions and improvements, by the Rev. George Burder, author of 
 the Village Sermons, Notes to Pilgrim's Progress, &c. 
 
 PROPOSALS ARE ISSUED, 
 
 For publishing the following exceedingly scarce and valuable work, 
 
 EXPOSITION OF THE OLD AND NEW TES lAMENTS. 
 
 Critical, Docfrijial, and Practical, 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN GILL, D. D. 
 
 The European edition is nearly out of print, and cannot be imported and sold in 
 
 America under two hundred dollars. An American edition, much superior, can be 
 
 printed by subscription for sixty dollars. Recommendations are, strong and very 
 
 rcepectable. 
 
 W. W. Woodward has purchased of Mr. S. C. Eustic, the whole of his late much 
 improved^ and enlarged copy-right edition of Rippon's Hymns, and has on hand 
 a constant supi^ly, -wholesale and retail — price 6 dolls, per doz. and 62 1-2 cents re- 
 tail. — Also, the whole editions of Mrs. Cist, of Fuller's Go-spel i.\ccEPTATioK, 
 
 1 dollar, and Gospel its own Witness, 1 dollar He has just received, 
 
 BuNYAN'i [..Aw AND GuACE, 1 dollar, Miller's Letters, on the ConsUtution 
 and Order of the Christian Ministry, 1 dollar 12 1-2 cents. — ^Baldwin on Bap- 
 tism, price 1 del. 12 1-2 cents. — Domestic Cookery, 1 dollar; — and a handosme 
 Assortment of Collins's and Pekkin's Quarto Bibles. — He has on hand an 
 extensive assortment of Books. — Catalogues gratis. 
 
 PROPOSAIiS ARE OUT FOR PRINTING 
 
 BUCICS MISCELLANIES, 
 To contain Anecdotes, religious, moral, and entertaining, alphabetically arranged, 
 and intersiOersed with a variety of useful information ; — Religious Experience"; — 
 Advice to Young Christians, ike. 3 vols, price 3 dollars. 
 
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