A new history of ecclesiastical writers containing an account of the authors of the several books of the Old and New Testament, of the lives and writings of the primitive fathers, an abridgement and catalogue of their works ... also a compendious history of the councils, with chronological tables of the whole / written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin.

The SEVENTH TOME.

THE Seventh Volume contains St. Augustin's great Work of the City of God. He undertook * 1.1 it about the Year 413. after the taking of Rome by Alaric King of the Goths, to refute the Heathens who attributed that Misfortune to the Christian Religion. This VVork held him several Years, by reason of many intervening Businesses which he could not put off; so that he did not finish it before the Year 426. It is divided into Two and twenty Books, whereof the first Five refute those who believe that the worship of the Gods is necessary for the good of the VVorld; and affirmed, That all the Mischiefs lately happened, proceeded from no other cause, but the abolishing of that Religion. The next Five are against those who confessing that the same Calamities have been in all Ages; yet pretend that the worship of the Heathen Divinities was profitable to a future Life. Thus the Ten first Books are to Answer both those Chimerical Opinions, which are contrary to the Christian Religion. But lest they should reproach him with having refuted the Opinions of others, without establishing the Christian Religion, the other part of this VVork is allotted to that purpose, and it consists of Twelve Books, though he sometimes establisheth our belief in the former Ten, and so in the Twelve others he sometimes correcteth the Errors of our Adversaries. In the Four first of these Twelve, he describes, The Ori∣ginal of the two Cities; the one of God, and the other of the VVorld. In the Four next, their Progress; And in the Four last, their Ends: And so, though all the 22. Books do equally treat of both Cities, yet this VVork has its Name from the better, and they are commonly called, The Books of the City of God. This is the Account which St. Augustin gives, both of the Subject and of the Occasion of these Books in his Retractations. Let us now examine more particularly what is most remarkable in each Book; for it is a VVork made up of a great variety of very learned and very curious things.

In the First Book, he shews, That instead of imputing to the Christians, the Desolation and the taking of Rome, the Heathen ought rather to ascribe to the special favour of Jesus Christ, That the Barbarians, only out of reverence to his Name, spared all those that had retired into the Churches. He pretends, That there are no Examples in the VVars of the Heathen, to shew That the Enemies who spoiled a Town taken by Storm, spared those who took Sanctuary in the Temples of their Gods. This puts St. Augustin upon asking, why this Favour of God was ex∣tended to those Ungodly Men that fled into the Churches, who feigned themselves to be Chri∣stians; and why the good were involved in the same Mischief with the wicked. He confesses, That both the Good and the Evil Things of this VVorld are common both to Good and Evil

Men; but the difference consists in the Use which they make of them. He observes, That per∣haps good Men probably are punished with the wicked, because they took no care to reprove * 1.2 and to correct them; and that however, good Men lose nothing by losing the good things of this World; That a Christian ought to be easily conforted for want of Burial, seeing that this doth him neither good nor hurt: And he comforteth the Virgins that had been ravished in that disorder; shewing, That they lost neither the Chastity of the Soul, nor the Purity of the Body: He excuseth those that killed themselves, rather than endure that dishonour. But he shews at the same time, That this Action so much admired by the Heathen, is contrary both to Reason, and to the Laws of Nature; and that it is never lawful to kill our selves upon any account whatsoever. He answers the Examples of some holy Women who threw themselves into the River, to escape the Violence of those that would have ravish'd them. He saith, That they might have been induced to that, by the Spirit of God, as Sampson was. He concludes with a Description of the Depravation of the Romans, and the Disorders of their Manners, at that time.

In the Second Book he affirms, That the corruption of Manners, which is the greatest of Mischiefs, was always reigning in Rome; and that the Gods they Worshipped, were so far from prescribing them Laws, for the Reformation of their Manners, that on the contrary, they encouraged them to Vice, by their Examples, and by the Ceremonies that were used in their Worship.

In the Third Book he goes back as far as the Siege of Troy, and then takes a view of the prin∣cipal Events which happened to the People of Rome, to convince the most Stubborn, That their Gods preserved them not from the same Disasters and Calamities, which the Heathen now imputed to the Christian Religion.

In the Fourth Book he shews, That the encrease of the Roman Empire can be attributed neither to all the Divinities which they adored, nor to any one in particular: That however, no Empire is to be called Happy, which is encreased only by War, as the Roman Empire was: That great Empires, without Justice, were but great Robberies; and that the true God alone, is the sole Dispenser of the Kingdoms of the Earth.

He prosecuteth the same Subject in the Fifth Book; and proves, in the beginning, That the greatness of Empires depends not upon Chance, nor upon a particular Conjunction of the Stars: Which gives him occasion to speak of Destiny, and to refute judicial Astrology at large. He acknowledges a Destiny, if by this Term is meant a series, and concatenation of all Cau∣ses, which God foresaw from all Eternity; but he advises Men rather not to use that word which may have an ill Sence. He endeavours to make God's Fore-knowledge, and the infalli∣bility of those Events, which he foresees, to agree with Man's Free-Will. Then from this Disposition of Things, he comes to enquire into the Causes of the Roman Victories, and he meets with none more probable than their Honesty. He confesses, That God rewarded their moral Vertues with those sorts of Recompences; adding, That thereby God made the Inhabi∣tants of the eternal City, to know what Recompence they were to expect for their Christian Vertues. Since the counterfeit Vertues of the Heathen were so well rewarded, that he set this Example before their Eyes, to teach them how much they ought to be in love with their Heavenly Country for an immortal Life, since the Inhabitants of an Earthly Country were so much in love with it, for an humane, and a mortal Glory; and how hard they were to Labour for that Heavenly Country, since the Romans had taken such great Pains for their Earthly One.

He examineth afterwards, wherein consists the true Happiness of Christian Kings, and Princes: And he shews, That they are not Happy for having reigned long, for dying in Peace, and leaving their Children successors of their Crowns, nor for the Victories which they obtained, because such Advantages are common to them with ungodly Kings: But that Christian Princes are said to be Happy, when they set up Justice, when in the midst of the Praises that are given them, and the Honours that are pay'd unto them, they are not swell'd with Pride, when they submit their Power to the Sovereign Power of God, and use it to make his Worship to flourish. When they fear, love, and worship God; when they preferr, before this which they now enjoy, that wherein they are not afraid to meet with any Competitours; when they are slow to Punish, and ready to Forgive; when they punish only for the good of the Publick, and not to satisfie their Revenge; and when they forgive purely that Men may be Corrected, and not that Crimes may be Countenanced; when being obliged to use Severity, they temper it with some Actions of Meekness, or Clemency; when they are so much the more temperate in their Pleasures, by how much they have a greater Liberty to exceed; when they affect to Command their Passions, rather than all the Nati∣ons of the World, and they do all these Things, not out of Vain-Glory, but to obtain eter∣nal Happiness; and, in short, when they are careful to offer unto God, for their Sins, the Sacrifice of Humility, Mercy, and Prayer.

These, saith St. Augustin, are the Christian Prin∣ces whom we call Happy: Happy even in this World by Experience, and really Happy, when what we look for, shall come. Finally, he proposes the Examples of some Christian Empe∣rours, and particularly of Constantine, and Theodosius, whose Greatness, and Prosperities, he extols and sets forth.

In the Sixth Book, St. Augustin proves by the Authority of Varro, that, the fabulous Divi∣nity of the Heathen is ridiculous; he makes the same Conclusion concerning their civil Theolo∣gy, and grounds what he saith of it upon Seneca's Authority.

He goes on in the Seventh, to discover the Falshood of the Heathen civil Theology; shew∣ing, That their chiefest Divinities, or select Gods, do not deserve to be called Gods; and that the Christian's God alone governs the World.

The Eighth Book refutes the natural Theology of their Philosophers: He preferrs the Pla∣tonists before all other Philosophers, and owns that they knew the True God; shewing with∣all, that they were deceiv'd by honouring Daemons, as subaltern Deities, and Mediators betwixt God, and Men: He shews,

That the Christians never committed this Mistake; and that they are so far from adoring the Daemons, which are evil Spirits, that they do not worship the Angels, nor the Holy Martyrs; that they do indeed Honour, and Reverence them as the Servants of God, but that they did not build Temples for them, nor consecrate Priests, nor offer Sacrifices unto them. For, saith he, who among Christians ever saw a Priest before an Altar, consecrated to God, upon the Body of a Martyr, say in his Prayer, Peter, Paul, or Cyprian, I offer you this Sacrifice?

It is offered to God, though it be upon the Monuments of Martyrs; and these Ceremonies were appointed to be performed upon their Monuments, for no other end, but to give the True God Thanks for the Victories which they had obtained, and at the same time, to stir up Christians to imitate their Courage, and to make themselves wor∣thy to have a share in their Crowns, and Rewards: So that all the Acts of Piety, and Reli∣gion, which are done at the Tombs of the Holy Martyrs, are Honours pay'd to their Memory, and not Sacrifices offered to them as Divinities.

But forasmuch as they owned Two sorts of Daemons, some good, and some bad, St. Augustin examines that Distinction in the next Book, where he shews by the Principles both of Apu∣leius, and of the Chief of Heathenish Authors, that all Daemons are Evil. Whence he con∣cludes, That they cannot be Mediatours between God, and Men. He doth not believe, That Angels deserve that Title, affirming, That it belongeth to none but Jesus Christ alone.

In the Tenth Book he treateth at large of Angel Worship: He saith, That they are Crea∣tures, whose Felicity is all in God; that they worship God, and their Desire is, that all Men would worship him; that they require of us, neither Adoration, nor Sacrifices; and that God doth not expect from us Sacrifices, like those of the Heathen, but a Sarcifice of Union, such as the Church celebrates in the Eucharist, and which the Faithful know: That the Miracles which were wrought by the interposition of Angels, (not of Daemons, whose Prodigies are no∣thing but illusions:) These Miracles, I say, were wrought by God's Power, to make himself known unto Men: That the invisible God becomes visible by the ministry of his Angels, whom he made use of to deliver his Law to the World: That it is so true, that no Sacrifice is to be offered to any but God; that Jesus Christ, as Man, would be made a Sacrifice himself, and not receive one from any Body else: That God alone can purifie Men of their Sins, as the Platonists themselves acknowledge, that so it was necessary that God should be made Man to be a true Mediator: That the just Men, under the old Law, were not Saved, but by Faith in this Me∣diator: That Pride alone keeps the Platonists from owning the Incarnation: That the Soul is not Co-eternal with God, as they imagine: And Lastly, That the Means of delivering, the Soul which they sought after to so little purpose, is nothing but the Christian Religion.

In the 11th. Book, St. Augustin finds the Original of both Cities, in the diversity of Angels; which gives him occasion to treat of the Creation of the visible World, which was immediate∣ly preceded by that of the invisible, that is of the Angels whom he created all in a State of Righteousness, from which some are fallen through their own fault. He makes some digressi∣ons to speak of the Trinity, and of several Circumstances of the Creation of the VVorld.

Having proved in the 12th. That the difference of good, and evil Angels doth not proceed from their Nature, but from their VVill, because God created nothing but what was both Good, and Perfect. He comes to discourse of Mankind; and proves, That Men are not from Eternity, but that God created Man in time: And he mentions something, concerning the Fall of the First Man, whereof he speaks more at large in the 13th. Book, where he shews, That the death, both of Body and Soul, was the Consequence, and the Punishment of Adam's Fall. There one may meet with several curious Notions concerning Death; and several Reflections upon the Resurrection, and the Quality of glorified Bodies. He goes on in the 14th. Book, to speak of the Fall of the First Man, and of the lamentable Consequen∣ces that attended it, and particularly of irregular Desires, and shameful Passions. He en∣quires, VVhether the First Man was subject to Passions, and how he could Sin, being free from them. Lastly, He asketh several Questions, rather nice, than necessary, how Men should have had Children in the Earthly Paradise, had they continued in the State of Inno∣cence.

The Fifteenth Book is the first of those wherein he examineth the Progress of both the Ci∣ties: He finds the History of it in the Old Testament, where he shews who were the Citizens of both those Cities. This Book prosecutes this History from the Creation, to the Flood. On the one side, we see Abel, and Isaac, and on the other Cain, and Esau: And both these Cities may be taken notice of in the Marriages of the Sons of God, with the Daughters of

Men. The Church is represented by Noah's Ark. There are in this Book curious Allegories, and several Reflections upon the History of Genesis. Amongst other Things, he examines the length of the Lives of the First Patriarchs; and the Difference betwixt the Translation of the Septuagint, and the Hebrew Text, about the Number of the Generations.

In the 16th. Book he carries on the History of both Cities, from Noah to Abraham, and from Abraham to the Kings of Israel. He doth not find that the Scripture takes notice of any that served God from Noah to Abraham. He speaks of the Posterity of the Children of Noah, of the Confounding of Languages, of the Antiquity of the Hebrew Tongue, and of the Multipli∣cation of Mankind. He questions whether there be Antipodes. In the rest of the Book he clears the History of Abraham, and of his Posterity, which is explained with relation to the City of God.

In the 17th. taking a View of the History both of the Kings and of the Prophets, he relates and expounds the Prophecies which are in the Books of Kings, in the Psalms, and in the Books of Solomon, which relate to Christ or his Church.

Now as he had quitted the History of the City of the World, when he was come to Abra∣ham, so he resumeth it in the beginning of the 18th. Book; which contains an Abridgment of the History of the Principal Monarchies in the VVorld, the times whereof he makes to agree with the History of the Bible; and he omits not to speak of the Fabulous Histories, and of the Metamorphoses. Afterwards, he quotes the Sibylline Oracles; but he insists most upon the Predictions of the Prophets, which he produces in all their Particulars. He speaks also of the Books of the Maccabees: and having made some Reflections upon the Authority of the History of the Canonical Books, and of the Translation of the LXX. he describeth in few words the Fall of the Jewish Empire; and so he comes to the Nativity of Jesus Christ, the Dispersion of the Jews, the Settlement of the Church, the Persecutions and Heresies which immediately followed. St. Augustin makes very ingenious Reflections upon all these Articles; and concludes this Book, by showing, That the End of the VVorld is Unknown; and he refutes a false Pre∣diction which the Heathens published, That the Christian Religion should last but Three hun∣dred sixty five Years.

The 19th. Book treateth of the End of both Cities: Each one aims at the chiefest Good; but the Inhabitants of the Terrestrial know so little of it, that their Philosophers, the Wisest among them, could never agree wherein it consisted. Varro reckoneth Two hundred eighty eight different Opinions of Philosophers about it. The Christian Religion discovers the Falsity of all those Opinions, by letting Man know, That he cannot be Happy in this Life, but only in Hope; because he cannot enjoy here Peace and perfect Tranquility.

The 20th. Book contains a Description of the Last Judgment, of the Renewing of the World, of the Resurrection, and of the Heavenly Jerusalem.

The 21st. treateth of the End of the Earthly City, and represents the Horror of the Tor∣ments of Daemons and Damned Men, and of the Eternal Fire of Hell. St. Augustin refutes the vain Reasons of those that doubt of it; and the Fancy of some, who affirmed, That those Torments should have an End, and that Men should be kept from them by the Intercession of the Saints, by the Use of Sacraments, and by Almsdeeds.

The Last Book is, concerning the Happiness which the Saints shall enjoy to Eternity. The main End which St. Augustin aims at there, is, To prove the Probability of Man's Resurrection. His chief Reason is grounded upon Christ's Resurrection; attested by such credible Witnesses, that none can rationally doubt of it, the truth thereof having been confirmed by so many Mi∣racles. But because Unbelievers demanded why Miracles were not still wrought, St. Augustin mentions several that were done in his time, which he pretends to be very certain, and very well attested. He speaks again of the Condition of Glorified Bodies, and Crowns his Work with an excellent Pourtraicture of the Happiness of the Saints.

How great (saith he) will be that Felicity that shall be disturbed with no Evil, and where no other Business shall be followed but singing the Praises of God, who shall be all in all?... There will be found True Glory, where there is neither Error nor Flattery. There is True Honour; since it it is refused to none that deserve it, and it is not given to any that deserve it not; yea, where no Unworthy Person shall pretend to it, because there shall be none there but such as are Worthy. There will be True Peace, where a Man shall suffer nothing either from himself, or from other Men. He that is the Author of Vertue, shall himself be the Reward of it; because there is nothing better than He. He shall be the End of our Desires, whom we shall See to be without End, whom we shall Love without Disgust, and Praise without Weari∣ness. This Employment will be common to all Men, as well as Eternal Life; but it is im∣possible to know what degree of Glory shall be proportionable to each Man's Merit; and yet it is certain, that there is a great difference betwixt the Happiness of the one and of the other. But one of the great Advantages of that City, will be, That none shall envy those whom he shall see to be Above him.... Every one shall enjoy a Happiness, some greater, and others less; but every one shall have this Gift, Not to desire a greater than what he has. And we are not to imagine that Men shall be there without Free-Will, because they cannot take pleasure in Sin. For he will be so much the more Free, who shall be delivered from the Pleasure of Sinning, so as to take an unalterable Pleasure in not Sinning any more.... Wherefore, all the Inhabitants of this divine City shall have a Will perfectly

Free, exempt from all Evil, fill'd with all manner of Good, enjoying without intermission the Delights of an Immortal Joy, without remembrance either of his Faults or of his Miseries, otherwise than to bless their Deliverer for the same.

They have left out in this Edition the Commentaries both of Ludovicus Vives, and of Leo∣nardus Coquaeus; which exceeded the Text of St. Augustin by much, and which served but little to understand it, though otherwise full of Learning and Erudition.

These Books of St. Augustin are very pleasant, for the surprising variety of the things which he hath brought in to serve his purpose, so as all to tend to the same end. Their Learning is generally admired; yet they contain nothing but what is taken out of Cicero, Varro, Seneca, and other profane Authors, whose Works were common enough in those days; and one may say, that there is nothing very curious or elaborate; and in some places he is not exact, and he does not directly resolve most of the Difficulties which he proposes both upon the Text, and upon the History of the Books of the Bible. He discusses very useless Questions, and sometimes makes use of Reasons too weak to persuade those that would doubt of what he intends to prove; yet for all that, this is a most excellent Book: What I most admire in it, is, the Ma∣nagement of the whole Work, the judicious Reflections which he makes upon the Opinions therein related, and the great Principles of Morality which he layeth down upon Oc∣casion.

At the latter end of this Volume there are some Letters which have some relation to what St. Augustin saith in the 8th. Chapter of the last Book of the Miracles that were done in his time. The First is one of Avitus, upon the Translation of a Letter written by Lucianus, concerning the Discovering of St. Stephen's Body. With this Translation, they have added ano∣ther Tract, translated out of Greek by Anastasius the Library-Keeper, about another Discovery of St. Stephen's Relicks at Constantinople. They have likewise placed their Bishop Severus's Let∣ter, touching the Miracles happened in the Island Minorca, at the appearing of St. Stephen's Relicks for the Conversion of the Jews: And two Books ascribed to Evodius, Bishop of Uzala, concerning St. Stephen's Miracles; which have been mentioned already.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Tom. VII.
• * 1.2

  St. Au∣gustin. I••me VII.