ANCIENT WORSHIP OF JEWS AND CHRISTIANS. 479
had the villain given it unto his picture; for neither he nor any man else knows what it should mean. He knew well enough what Ononychites sig^ified, and laughed at it. It is but Asinungulus; which, it may be, comes nearer their vmderstanding. I confess some would read it Onochoerites, as if it were compounded of hog and ;^o7/3o?, because of these words of Epiphanius concerning the Gnostics, <I>a(r/ di Tov 'S.aZauO, o'l /xb ovov /jjop(priv s%£'v, o'l oh ^oipov' — " Some say their Sabaoth had the form of an ass, some of a hog." But Tertullian, in the description of the picture, mentions no part of a hog, nor rejects the abomination of the Gnostics, as was the manner of the Christians when charged with their silliness and folly, as may be seen abun- dantly in Origen against Celsus. But who or what your Onochoetes should be, no man knows. But see your farther unhappiness. You prove not by your quotation that which no man denies, namely, that the Christians also were charged with the worship of an ass's head; which, if you had l)ut looked into Tertullian himself, you must have found him expressly affirming it in the beginning of that chapter from whence your story is taken. Much less do you prove any thing of the Christians placing the head and half-portraiture of our Saviour upon their altars before or in the days of Constantino ; which was that alone that was incumbent on you to have done. And now, to give a brief view of that whole portraiture that you have drawn of your- self in your epistle, I shall only mind you that those words of mine, " That your assertions were notoriously false, and that you could not produce so much as one testimony of any such thing," were not by me used at all in reference unto the Pagans' charge upon the Chris- tians for worshipping an ass's head, but unto what you said about the use of the picture of Christ on the altars of Christians, with the rise of the charge mentioned from thence. This you know to be so, for my words must needs lie before you in your attempt for a reply unto them; and finding them to be true, and that you were not able to " produce one testimony, no not one," in the confirmation of what you had written, you pretend them now to be spoken in reference unto that whereunto you know they did not at all relate, the thing itself bemg acknowledged by me. This dealing becomes not any man pretending to ingenuity or professing Christianity.
What remains of your epistle is j^ersonal. Men are busy, and not so far concerned, I am sure, in me, nor (I am almost persuaded) in you, as to trouble themselves with the perusal of what belongs unto us personally. For my part, I know it is my duty in all tilings, especially in those that are of such near concernment unto his glory as are all his truths and worship, to commend my conscience unto God, and to be conversant in them in simplicity and godly sincerity, and not in fieshly wisdom, not con^upting the word of truth, nor
480 A VINDICATION OF THE ANIMADVEESIONS ON FIAT LUX.
lying in wait with any subtle sleights to deceive. And this, through his grace, I shall attend unto, whatever reward I may meet withal in this world; for "I know in whom I have believed, who is able to keep that which I desire to commit unto him." And for your part, I desire your prosperity as my own, I rejoice in your quiet, and shall never envy you your liberty, and do pray that you may receive grace, truth, and peace from Him who alone is able to bestow them on you.
THE
cnuRcn OF rome no safe guide:
OB,
REASONS TO PROVE THAT NO RATIONAL MAN, WHO TAKES DUE CARE OF HTS OWN
ETERNAL SALVATION, CAN GIVE HIMSELE UP UNTO THE CONDUCT
OE THAT CHURCH IN MATTERS OF EELIGION.
Trust ye not m lying words, snyine, The temple of the Lokd, The temple of the Lobd, The temple of the L.t. n are these, -WiU ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal and walk.atter other gods whom ye know not , and come and stand before me in this house, which is called bv mv name ?"— Jer. vii. 4. 9. 10.
Imprimatur,
March 5, 1679.
VOL. XIV. 32
PEEFATOHY NOTE.
"VViiEN Dr Owen published the three following pamphlets, the nation was in a state of great alarm lest Popery should be re-established in Britain. Parliament had become suspicious, so early as 1673, that some project of this nature was entertained; and ac- cordingly it passed the Test Act, condemned the marriage of the Duke of York with the Princess of Modena, and resolved to grant no supplies till security was obtained against the restoi-ation of Popery. The same jealous mood continued till the Popish plot of 1678 produced an outburst of excitement and horror throughout the country. The House of Commons, having joassed a resolution affirming that such a plot had been contrived by Popish recusants for the subversion of the government, and the destrviction of the Protestant religion as by law established, adopted stringent measures in defence of the threatened liberties of the nation. The Pioman Catholic Lords were excluded from Parliament; a Seci'etaiy of State was imprisoned for commissioning gentlemen whose Protestantism was suspected; the Duke of York was expelled from the Piivy Council ; and the Lord Treasurer Danby was impeached of high treason. In the midst of these proceedings, the House of Commons was suddenly dissolved. The fears of the nation were increased ; a Parliament was returned even more zealous for the interests of Protestantism ; and as soon as it met, the bill to exclude the Duke of York from succes- sion to the crown was proposed.