the genuine principles of the christian religion. And by the events of past ages we are encouraged to trust in Providence, and do our best to serve the cause and interests of truth and liberty.

6. It is not unlikely that differences of opinion, and the disputes they occasion, are some way of use for advancing the interest of truth. The great Augustine was plainly of this opinion. He says that objections against scripture, and false interpretations, excite our zeal and industry, and induce to study, until we have learned the right sense. Augustine has upon several occasions spoken of the advantage which the catholic interest receives from hercsies.

7. The Manichees have not weakened but confirmed the evidence of the christian religion. They agree with other christians in acknowledging the dignity of Christ's person, his high authority, and the authority of his apostles, and other things which were formerly insisted on by us, and need not to be repeated here. And they received all, or well nigh all, the same books of the New Testament which were received by other christians. They said, indeed, that those scriptures had been interpolated in some time past: but they never corrupted or interpolated them, nor attempted it. Nor could they or any others corrupt them, if they would, as Augustine observes. And the controversy with them has occasioned the writing of many books, containing

Sed ideo divina providentia multos diversi erroris hæreticos esse permittit, ut, cum insultant nobis, et interrogant nos ea quæ nescimus, vel sic excutiamus pigritiam, et divinas scripturas nôsse cupiamus. Propterca et apostolus dicit : Oportet hæreses esse, ut probati manifesti fiant inter vos. Illi enim Deo probati sunt, qui bene possunt docere. Sed manifesti hominibus esse non possunt, nisi eum docent: docere autem nolunt, nisi eos qui doceri quærunt. Sed multi ad quærendum pigri sunt, nisi per molestias et insultationes hæreticorum quasi de somno excitentur, et de illâ imperitiâ suâ periclitari se sentiant. Qui omines, si bonæ sint fidei, non cedunt hæreticis, sed, quid eis respondeant, diligentius inquirunt. Nec eos deserit Deus, ut petentes accipiant, et quærentes inveniant, et pulsantibus aperiatur. Aug. de Genesi contr. Manich. 1. i. c. i. n. 2. Didicimus enim, singulas quasque hæreses intulisse ecclesiæ proprias quæstiones, contra quas diligentius defenderetur scriptura divina, quam si nulla necessitas cogeret. Id. de Dono Persever. c. 20. n. 23. Tom. 10.

Utitur enim [ecclesia catholica] gentibus ad materiam operationis suæ, hæreticis ad probationem doctrinæ suæ. De Verâ Relig. cap. 6. n. 10. Tom. i. Sed quoniam verissime dictum est, oportet multas hæreses esse,-utamur etiam isto divinæ providentiæ beneficio. Ex his enim hominibus hæretici fiunt, qui, etiamsi essent in ecclesiâ, nihilominus errarent. Cum autem foris sunt, plurimum prosunt, non verum docendo, quod nesciunt, sed ad verum quærendum carnales, et ad verum aperiendum spiritales catholicos excitando.

-Quapropter multi, ut diem Dei videant et gaudeant, per hæreticos de somno excitantur. Ib. cap. 8. n. 18.

* Quâ igitur causâ a vobis corrumpi non possent, hac de causâ a nemine potuerunt. Contr. Faust. 1. 32. c. 16.

numerous quotations of the scriptures, and excellent vindications of their genuineness and integrity.

8. We are very much indebted to Augustine, and many other learned christians of former times, who asserted and maintained the authority of the Old, and the genuineness and integrity of the New Testament; and gave a better account of the creation of the world, of human liberty, and the nature and origin of evil, than was taught by these people.

9. We may hence learn to exercise moderation toward men of different sentiments, and to keep our temper in disputing with them. In all probability we shall never meet with any men, christians at least, who differ more from us than the Manichees did from the catholics. Those unreasonable men rejected all the scriptures of the Old Testament in the lump. They asserted that the books of the New Testament had been long ago interpolated, and that they were not all written by those whose names they bear. They held_two eternal principles, and denied the humanity of Christ and the resurrection of the body. And yet Augustine professeth much mildness and moderation toward them. And, entering into an argument with them, he offers to God a fervent prayer that he may be enabled to govern his passions, and seek their conversion, not their destruction. Possibly he did not always fully observe the rules, which in the time of sedate judgment he prescribed to himself as just and reasonable. But the passage, which I chiefly refer to, is so

* Ετι μεν εν ἡ κακια ανέσιος, και ανυπόςατος" πραξις μαλλον η εσία εσα, Kαι жρаžiç εK πроaipeσews ovμßaiveσα. κ. λ. Serap. contr. Manich. p. 44. fin.

"Peccatorum originem non libero arbitrio voluntatis, sed substantiæ tribuunt gentis adversa; quam dogmatizantes esse hominibus mixtam, omnem carnem non Dei, sed malæ mentis perhibent esse opificium, quæ a contrario principio Deo coæterna est. De Hær. cap. 46. sub fin.

Quam concupiscentiam, quod sæpe inculcandum est, non vitium substantiæ bonæ, sed malam vult esse substantiam. Op. Imp. 1. 3. c. 106.

Vos autem asseritis quandam naturam atque substantiam malum esse. M. Manich. cap. 2. n. 2.

De

Veritas autem dicit, omnia ista quæ videmus, et quæ non videmus, quæ naturaliter subsistunt, a Deo facta esse; in quibus rationalem creaturam, etiam ipsam factam, sive in angelis, sive in hominibus, accipisse liberum arbitrium; quo libero arbitrio si Deo servire vellet secundum voluntatem ac legem Dei, haberet apud eum æternam felicitatem.-Ecce autem liberum arbitrium, atque inde peccare quemque si velit, non peccare si nolit, &c. Aug. ap. Act. cum Felic. 1. 2. c. 3.

▾ Unum verum Deum omnipotentem-et rogavi, et rogo, ut in refellenda et revincendâ hæresi vestrâ, Manichæi, cui et vos fortasse imprudentius quam malitiosius adhæsistis, det mihi mentem pacatam atque tranquillam, et magis de vestrâ correctione, quam de subversione cogitantem. Contr. Ep. Fund cap. i. in.

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beautiful and emphatical, that I have transcribed it largely at the bottom of the page. And I would translate it too, but that I am not able to reach the energy of his expressions. In the general he says: Let them be severe against you, 'who know not with what labour truth is discovered, and 'how difficultly error is avoided. Let them be severe against 'you, who know not how hardly the diseases of the mind are cured, and the eye of the understanding strengthened to bear the light. Let them be severe against you, who 6 are insensible how little we can know of God after our best ' endeavours to understand his perfections. Let them treat you with rigour, who never were entangled in a like error. As for me, I can by no means treat you in that manner; but must exercise toward you that patience and long'suffering which I once wanted, and which my friends 'showed me, when with a blind and furious zeal I not only maintained, but propagated to the utmost of my power, the principle in which you are still engaged.'

It will be one good use of all this long history, if we learn to form charitable sentiments of other men, and to practise moderation toward them; no longer debating with those who differ from us, as if we were infallible, but as inquirers after truth, even as we desire they should do: which also is particularly recommended by the same renowned writer.

Illi in vos sæviant, qui nesciunt cum quo labore verum inveniatur, et quam difficile caveantur errores. Illi in vos sæviant, qui nesciunt quam rarum et arduum sit carnalia phantasmata piæ mentis serenitate superare. Illi in vos sæviant, qui nesciunt cum quantâ difficultate sanetur oculus interioris hominis.

-Illi in vos sæviant, qui nesciunt quibus suspiriis et gemitibus fiat, ut ex quantulâcumque parte possit intelligi Deus. Postremo in vos sæviant, qui nunquam tali errore decepti sunt, quali vos deceptos vident. Ego autem, qui, diu multumque jactatus, tandem respicere potui, -qui denique illa figmenta, quæ vos diuturnâ consuetudine implicatos et constrictos tenent, et quæsivi curiose, et attente audivi, et temere credidi, et instanter, quibus potui, persuasi, -sævire in vos non possum, quos, sicut ine ipsum illo tempore, ita nunc debeo sustinere, et tantâ patientiâ vobiscum agere, quantà mecum egere proximi mei, cum in vestro dogmate rabiosus et cœcus errarem. ibid. cap. 2. n. 2, 3.

-illud quovis judice impetrare me a vobis oportet, ut in utrâque parte omnis arrogantia deponatur. Nemo nostrûm dicat, se jam invenisse veritatem. Sic eam quæramus, quasi ab utrisque nesciatur. Ita enim diligenter et concorditer quæri poterit, si nullâ temerariâ præsumtione inventa et cognita esse credatur. Id. ib. n. 4.

SECT. IX.

THE PAULICIANS.

I. Their history. II. Their testimony to the scriptures.

I. I TAKE this opportunity to give a brief account of the Paulicians, who were mentioned before, and are usually reckoned a branch of the Manichees. But Beausobre says that though they are sometimes confounded with the Manichees, they agreed but little with them. And indeed Peter of Sicily intimates that they did not own themselves to be Manichees.

They are generally supposed to have first appeared in the seventh century, in the country of Armenia, and to have been so called from Paul, son of Callinice, a Manichæan woman, who had another son named John, who also was a zealous preacher of this doctrine, called revived Manichæism.

e

Photius says they hold two principles, as the Manichees do; he calls Mani their master: he continually considers their sects as a branch of Manichæism.

h

I formerly mentioned a particularity of theirs. Photius likewise says that they did not choose to have their ministers called priests, but scribes or secretaries, or "companions in travel," the word used in Acts xix. 29; and 2 Cor. viii. 19.

II. I now proceed to observe their testimony to the scrip

Qui tametsi se a Manichæorum impuritatibus alienos dictitant, sunt tamen dogmatum ipsorum vigilantissimi custodes et propugnatores. Pet. Sic. ap. Bib. P. P. Max. T. 16. p. 754. B.

4 Εν ταυτῇ γυνη τις, ονόματι Καλλινικη-δυο τίκτει παιδας,—Εκ πατερε τοινυν των ειρημένων, ὅτῳ Παυλος ην ονομα-Παυλικιανων κλησιν οἱ της arosarias pasaι μereλažavтo. Ph. contr. Manich. 1. i. c. 2. p. 4, 5. Vid. et Petr. Sic. ib. p. 759. A.

• Δυο μεν αρχας ομολογεσιν, ὡς οἱ Μανχαιοι Phot. ib. l. i. c. 6. mn.

4 Και τοιγε το διδασκαλε αυτων Μανεντος, κ. λ. ib. c. 8. p. 24.

Ai T8 Maveνtos tapuqvades' ib. 1. 4. c. 1. in. et passim.

↳ See p. 294.

1 Τες μεντοι παρ' αυτοις ἱερέων ταξιν επέχοντας

εκ ερεις, αλλα συνέκδημος και νοταριες επονομαζεσι. 1. i. c. 9. p. 31. Conf.

c. 25. p. 134. et Wolf. not. in. loc.

1. Photius says they reject the holy prophets and all the Old Testament, and the ancient saints in general, calling them thieves and robbers.

2. As for the scriptures of the New Testament,' Photius says, they receive the gospel, and the apostle, [meaning • the gospels, and the epistles of the apostle Paul at least,] which the christian church receives and honours, and has delivered to them. These they receive without altering or corrupting them in any material things, as Valentinus and some others have done. But they pervert them from their true meaning to support their apostasy.'

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3. Afterwards, having quoted 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16, and having applied to them what St. Peter says of some who wrested the scriptures to their own destruction, he says: As for the oracles of the Lord and the apostles and the ⚫ other scriptures, (by which last I mean the Acts of the Apostles, and the epistles called catholic,) excepting those of the chief apostle, they receive them: for those ' ascribed to him they do not receive at all. And concerning the Acts of the Apostles, and the catholic epistles, they are not all of the same opinion: for some reject them, whilst others join them with the other scriptures received 'by all.'

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4. Photius does also elsewhere expressly say they rejected Peter, because he denied his Lord and Master. Mr. Wolff therefore says, that perhaps these are the only christians that ever rejected both of St. Peter's epistles.

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5. In another place, theyr admit, as the rule of their

* Αλλα γαρ και τις ἱερες προφητας, και πασαν την παλαιαν γραφην, και τις άλλες αποτρεφονται ἁγιες, λητας και κλεπτας αποκαλύντες. ib. I. i. c. 8. p. 23. Το μεντοι ευαγγελιον, και τον αποςολον, ἃ και το Θείον των χρισιανων περιπτυσσεται και τιμα συνταγμα, εγγράφως τέτοις παρέθετο, τοις ρημασι μεν και ονομασιν εδεν μεγα παραλλάττων τε λόγε το σχημα, κ. λ. Ι. 1. c. 3. p. 9. Vid. et p. 10, 11.

1 Οἱ αυτά τε τα κυριακα λογια, και τα αποτολικα, και τας αλλας γραφας, φημι δη τας τε Πράξεις των Αποςόλων, και τας καθολικας λεγομενας, πλην των αναφερομένων εις τον κορυφαίον, εκείνας γαρ εδε τοις ρημασιν παραδέχονται. Και τας Πράξεις δε των Αποςόλων, και τας καθολικας 8 παντες αυτών συναρμόζεσι τοις άλλοις, εισι δε οἱ και συνταττεσι. Id. l. i. c. 8. p. 27.

-μαλιτα δε τον κορυφαιον των αποτόλων Πέτρον δυσφημεσιν, ότι γεγονεν εξαρνος, φασι, της εις τον διδασκαλον και Χρισον πίσεως. ib. c. 8. p. 24. Hi igitur forte soli ex omni christianorum antiquitate utramque Petri epistolam adversati sunt, cum Eusebius, lib. iii. c. 3. H. E. testetur priorem ab omnibus, posteriorem ab antiquioribus non receptam fuisse. At hi quidem id fecerunt, oborta, an Petri ea sit, dubitatione ; illi vero, ex temerario quodam in Petrum odio. Wolf. ib. p. 27.

• Εν οἷς τατε κυριακα αναγεγραπται λογια, και το μεγαλο αποτολε Πανλε αἱ επιτολαι, και παρ' ενίοις των Αποτολων αἱ Πράξεις, και των καθολικών όσαι παρα τας το κορυφαίς τυγχάνεσιν. ib. l. i. c. 13. p. 56, 57.