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Show A Treatife of Oaths: 1675. deny'd the Charge: We fuppofe none will attempt tO'()rove they did: Tho' ~one of ou( .Adverfaries joins with theirs, traducing them for Pqjurers, fob: ~ddt; and with them abufes that worthy and learned Man Bp. P/her, who de~~~~; 1[;d" fends ther:n from that improh~ble and ~ontradiflory Afperfion, of Lying anti Wddtn{tl. Forfwearmg, and yet of Denymg to_Swear i. who faJS, tbpt tbey u:ere at far Jtt:in~r, ~ub. from Lying and Forfwearing, tU rbe1r Enemres wtre from lJ1odtfiy und Trurb, Cap1t:an· which did appear in that they were charg'd by them, 1\ot to fwear at all: ~- ~dfo'1• Perufe that Part of his Boo,k de Suael]ione, where he treats of them i and voff. hilio~.' where alfo you may read of their Succeffion, how that the Syrians and Ar .. l'tlal.l· S· mtnians came out of the Eaft into Tbrocia,. thence in ProcefS of Time into t 1 • ,n, Bulgaria and Sc/avonia, thence into Italy and Lumbardy, and were called sf~~tr, de by feveral Na~es, of feveral ~eople, ?I at fever_at Tim~. as Manic_b~e~, lVa!denfn, Albrngenfer, Catb11r1 or Purztan.r, Patnns, P11bbcans, lfum!lratt, &c. who mere tbarged with de11[ing Swearing; And how that feverat of the better Sort of the Clergy, and oj the nobler Lclity (who refufed the prefent 0 Ufe of Bttptijm :lnd the Lmf.r Supptr) were burnt under the Name of .Jlla• ti~ 1!~~~~~~: nicbeu. Suarez alfo reckons up the Catbarifi.r, .Alba, Bagnal~, and others which Prareo/ru and Caflro relate, the Wa!denfes, the ilnabaptifls, &c. And which ]anfeniJu alfo out of .Auguflin, Epilt. 89. the Pelagitrn.r out of llilazy Syracuflrmn, Epift. 88. Bernard, Homil. 69. on Cant. The Fatber.r, fays he, Jccm to favour this Opinion, efpcciol/y Bafil, Hom. in Pfol. 14. Chry· fofiom, Hom. 19. 78. nd popul. and 17. on Mat. Jind Theophylal.t 'n .illot. 5· Origen TTNll 35· M•t. Tertullian Je ldololnt. Clem. Rom./. 6. Conf/itut, Jipojl. Maldona< on Mot. 5· l4·foitb, the Anabaptifts, the Wicklitlills, Jome Syracufans, a kind o/Pelagians, denied Swearing, and that Origen wa.s nor for off that Opinirm, Here the Heretitlu, as accounted; and the FatberJ are reckoned up together, as holding the fame Opinions: Sure in this they were not Hererick.r; for tb:lt the F11thers fhould be condemned with them, and called Huetic!u roo, as well as they; or elfe thefe ~en are partial and contradiC\:ory. Jiuguflin, on Jam. 5· of the Words of the Aponte, thus, Scrm.Jo.' Per' haps tt is meet for the Lord, 11/one to fwear, who cannot forfwe:u. And fo .. he goes on to {hew how hard iris for Men to avoid Perjury. In Serm. 3· ad compctcntes : ' Let them not only abfi:ain f~om Perjury, ' bUt from Swearing; becaufe he doth not lye who faith, .A ftlpn fu:cori•g ' much, fhall 1101 depart from Iniquity1 and the Plague foal/ not deport fro111 ' bi.r HouJe, Ecclef. 23. But if it were an Jiugujl All of the Worfhip of God, he would on the contrar)' have exhorted at leaft, if not commanded them to fwear, which we never read any Command for, but in Oppofition to Idols, even in the Time of the Old Teftament Writings, as the Tefiimonies before alledged declare, and in. the Time of the New, no Command at all ; but on rhe contrary, a Prohibition by the Lord himfelf, and another by his Apofile, nor any Example; for that of Paufs was but an Afrever:nion, as by the Teftimonies already produced, and ro be allcdged, appears : For belides thofe of the Fathers and other Dollors, of late Bp. Ro. Sondtrfon in his Oxford LeElurc.r, fhows, tbU is fometime.r ufed in the For111 of an Oarb rebicb u no 0dlb 1 and fo he defendeth Jofepb from breaking Gqd's Command, that is, not to have fworn fo; and therefore not to have finned, but to have ufed an Afi'everation, as if he had faid, tU fure tU Pharaoh:/iyctb je ore Spies : So may Paul be defended again(! the breaking Chrifl'o Com· mand, as if he had faid, m jure m Je, or as fame Greek. Copies have it, Il'e rcjoyce in Chrifl ]efus: For,., which they rranflate, 1 proreft bj_, hath 1bmetimes the' fame Signification that Nl,yea, hath, as "may be feen in Sc.apula; For he fays, ,~ (tranfiated, J protejl by) is a Particle, fometimes of granting and affirming; fometimes it is put for verily, indud ; and be 1nterprets ,b by the fame Word, which is tranfiatedyea, which $upul4 faith, is alfo fometimei ufe!l in Swearing, and ches .Arijlophanes and Xen_ofbon for it : And that ,J is ufed alfo in Compofition, for affirming:, as i.d. ,;%•1@-, profufus, lavi!bing; which cannot fignify Swearing. * Vo~..r. .A Treatire o/Oat~s; And ho~ eafilr tnight t~~ ~ranf~riber~ thto' that common Ure, alter 3 Lert~r~ bewg o~ the fame Srsmfic:won, feeing in that l'ery Verfe-, i"n fom 167>· ~op1es, ther~ 1s not only m anot~er 'Vord an· Alteration of a Lettere, ~ "fll1~f4t' ~ u,J/tf41, ou~·:1n~ your, but tn anothe~ Word five Letters, C7f>9,t~.;, & «.-ro6?11nt1'7•~· refen.rng If to the Verfe befor~ i yea, a )Vholo Word of fe. ven Letters added, ~t.~.,..l. And of :~ho~t Thirty Greek Copies there are !lOt two of t~em that agree, but they Interfere, fomt in one Pbce- fom~ 1n .:mother; mfomuch .that there Jr~ Thoufiinds o( various Re;din 5 winch m~ny of the. anctent ~athers d1~erfly f?llow, fome 01,1e, forne a;o~ ther~ See the (vanous Lefhons) V.rnt LeOJonu Gr.ec _l\Ov Tcp · B fV,IftM's l'o!yglot, Vol. 6: al.fo. the Prefirct and &::a's Epi}lte rherei~ ~11 Arfci c~nll'der how h_ard a Thing It ts to coofhue, limit, and Jay rhe Inter reta· non of the SJy~ngs of Chrilt and his Apol\ics, and the Wei ht-of f DoEhu: e, and that JS 1:fen. wou.ld avoid Penalties too, upmt a letter (which yec alters not the; Srgntficanon) upon Credit of the Tranfcribets· efi · ally in Paul's Epiilles, wherein Pr:ter fays, m,zny Things t~re barJ 1~ hfu~: clerjloo_d, tmd wr~J!ecl by tbr UnltarneJ, which he mufl: needa.intcud in ('uch; Le11rnllf,! as he ht~_felf had, Jnd rhal was nor. of wo~l~ly Academie.r; bJ,4~ f~om the Holy Spmt. And thefe \Vords, whrch are JOtned with that Partt_ cle,_ ar~ not fuch \Vords as M_en ute iry S•\"Clring, but for a Ground of Ius Ftd~hty, a_nd.a Reme.dy agamft the1r Incredulity, and queftioning of the Werghr of hJs Affcnro~s, amonglt whom other Teachen were prefer-rf? d, and who com.pe!led Jum to f~ak ttl a Fool, he fays, even to com8end bp1ffelf. So that .a IS not ltran~e, Jf to them, and not to other ChurchCS: ~~~ Qfed fucb forqble Affever:won• from the Teftimorw that thef h~d of lurn, of the T(uth a_nd Work o.f Chrift in him, Jnd th~ 'ftecord there If upon las Soul, an~ hiS Joy tl)erer~, thar he fpoke theTryth to them: ana dtd n?t l~e.; fo rhu_r he bnpg~ hiS Perfecutions againfi: their Imperfeaions to g.:nn Bclt~ft.o whtch CJnnot amount to more than a voluntary Conde· fcenfion tor ~he Time being, and c3.onot prove or countenance a Compulfo- ~h~ ~~~:~~ory, Formal, Cerefl'lonial Oath to be exaaed or taken up for ¥..., Bur mark, th_at th~ ·word. ~n~!J, ~r SrNear, ufed both by Chrilt and the ~pofile :Jamer 1n thc:a Proh1bmo~, ts nev~r ufed by Pn11/ in his Alrevera· nons, {lenher do~h he ~ver app_!y n to the Brethren; buD.fp"eaking to them of the Oath _that was mold Ttme1 :Jnd of Men (indefinitely) that ufe ro fwear, he f:mh, A1enj'werrz.~an:l to tbem on 0111b iS for .Conlirmlft;on· that is, as among t~c Jews and Heathen; he doth nor faY to rfs or to 'You J or We, or Y§ iwe:~r, who are not in Strife, which, if it h:aa'bcen true it might have ttpod ,the pref~nr Otttb-.Advf'cqte.tJ in Read: So that fuch 35 ~Bl have. it that )?nJII fw9~e, mufi bring rhe Word Sruor, or Oath, to pro.vt: it, f. But tf they cquld, h1s Exampl.e then ""ere no~ e~ough to inv:tlidatF ro UJ now tl~e Con:trp~n~ment of Omit, for ~he ahohrlung o(Swearing, no more than h1s th~vmg hts Head at Ccncbrea, liecaufe he had a fow; oi .his purL-fying himfel(i~ the Temple, and offi:ti~g With the Four J~ws that had a Vow ; or h}~cir~umcifing of Timothy_., hecaufe of the Jews,, can ~arrant us to the Obfcn•auon of thofe legal Rrtes :Jnc{ Ceremonies, which J(, lon_s: Hnce arc not.:..only dead, but deadly, as the F:nhers and Bp. Sander/on dt· ftinguilh abol!t them. And thofe that wo~ld ~he~efo~e ~ring in Swt"afing and Vows_. m1g~t u,nder the fame Colour, brmg tr. S:~cnficmg and Circum· ·-c" .. ~ ~A .,'1 t U ci6ng too. . ·• • LlV .. JSIDOJ!.U~ PE[.r.JSIOTA, who, as f;v.grius Scbol. writes, li:ed at L.r. ,, ,5• the f:.tttJe Time ymh Cjh/1, apd that the Fame of his Say.ings and Doings was fpread far and near, and rife in every Man's Moutfi that he, led M E<.'rrb rbe Life o[pn A. ngel, <H.ld wrote,m3ny notable Works: amongft which £~.lib. r. . :Jre his Epi!J:l.~, in OJ."lf~ [V(heregf he Wfiteth againlt Swraring rbw9; If Epifto11'i· rbou art PF our Flock, c1iui art o1·Jcred unJer a gooJ ShljlberJ, deny ·rbe ll"•rure of •vii~ f1e41'f! and · r~ey ~i< Voice thot forbiddeth to f.vear ~t alt. . ~ .lllqreover nDT 'ta};,£t4r ;!, 'not. to require an Oath of apocher : }/ow, if t/!ou • . ,, ' Opoq11 ' c;itr |
