ARNOBIUS, junior.
THE Author of the Commentary upon the Psalms Dedicated to Laurentius, or rather Le∣ontius, and Rusticus, commonly bears the Name of Arnobius. It is hard to say, Whe∣ther * 1.1 it be the true Name of this Author, or some feigned Name; but however that be, we must not confound him with Arnobins the Apologist for Religion, this last having lived after the Heresie of Pelagius, in the time when there were such hot Disputes about Predestination. He took part, and ranked himself on the side of the Priests of Marseille, against the Scho∣lars of S. Austin, which makes me think he was a French Man brought up in the Monastery of Lerins. The Bishops to whom he writes are without doubt Leontius of Arles, and Rusti∣cus Bishop of Forum-Julii. It appears by what he says upon the 105th Psalm, that he was in the Priesthood.
His Commentary is extreamly short. He applies himself to the Allegorical Sence, and re∣ferrs all the Text of the Psalms to Jesus Christ, and his Church. He doth it with a great deal of Wit and Elegancy, and mixes now and then some Moral Observations, but his chief design is to find in the Psalms the whole Oeconomy of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and par∣ticularly the benefits of the Redemption. He seems to favour the Error of Pelagius in his Commentary upon the 50th Psalm, where he says, That Man is born Subject to the Sentence passed upon Adam, without partaking in his Sin. Qui nascitur, sententiam Adae habet, peccatum vero non habet. Nevertheless he acknowledges, That the Nature of Man is decayed thro' the Sin of the First-Man. He owns the effects of Original-Sin, and the Necessity of Redemp∣tion; and he observes all along, that we can do nothing without the Divine help; That it is he that delivers us from our Irregular Motions, who instills into us the knowledge of Good, who makes us love it and practise it. He goes yet further, and will not have Man attribute any Good-Work to himself, nor presume upon the strength of his Free-Will, because the Will, says he, upon Psalm 117, may be over-powered, but God cannot. The Freedom of Man cannot say, I have Conquered my Enemies, for no Man ever overcame either his visible, or invisible Enemies, without the help of God. To God then we owe our Victory, his Al∣mighty Arm works that little Goodness that we have in us, he hath the power of Life and Death, he makes us sing his Divine Praises. But altho' he extolls the strength of Grace so much, yet he opposes those that Teach Predestination, or as he says on Psalm 109, those that have Predestined some to Good, and others to Evil, and deny Free-Will. He maintains, That Grace doth not expel Freedom, but that we may request, pray, knock at the Gate for it, and God will not deny his Grace to those Persons who do so. That there is an Universal preventing Grace, which Jesus Christ hath diffused upon all Men, which goes before all their desires, and by the help of which they have recourse to God for his Special Graces. That their Freedom is not utterly destroyed, but yet they must impute all the Good they do to God. God commands nothing impossible. Men never are guilty of Sin, but when they have no Will to do that thing which they are able to do. God never rejects them who have re∣course to him. Read the Commentaries upon Psalm 37, 77, 91, 109, 117, 118, and 146. In his Commentary upon the 138th Psalm he opposes the Novatian Heresie. In the 139th Psalm he notes, That Excommunication is to terrifie, not destroy, because it excludes from Eternal Life. He adds, That Hereticks can have no place in the Kingdom of Heaven. because they corrupt the Word of God; and he says further, That Bishops who have no