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.

JULIUS FIRMICUS MATERNUS.

THIS Author, of whom none of the Ancients have made mention, has written a Treatise, Inti∣tuled, * 1.1 Of the Errours of Prophane Religions, which he has addressed to the Emperours Constan∣tius and Constans, the Son•• of Constantine. The Stile and Matter of this Book abundantly convince us, that it is no Spurious Piece, and the Title it carries, gives us an occasion to Conjecture, that it was writ after the Death of Constantine, the Eldest Son of Constantine the Great, which happened in the Year 340, and before that of Constans, who was Slain by Magnentius in the Year 350, for it being ad∣dressed to Constantius and Constans, there is reason to believe that Constantine their Eldest Brother was already dead, and 'tis very evident that Constans was then alive. We don't know what the Author was, of what Country, or of what Profession. a 1.2 Baronius believes that he was Bishop of Milan; but without any solid Foundation. There are Eight Books of Astronomy that bear the same Name. Now some Persons are of Opinion that they were composed by another Author. b 1.3 Labbé main∣tains, that they belong to the same Man; but we cannot positively assert either one or the other. This Treatise De Errore Prophanae Religionis was Printed at Venice in the Year 1499. At Basil by Her∣vagius in 1533. At Strasbourgh in 1562. And afterwards with Wouverus's Notes by Frobenius in 1603. Afterwards it was joined with Minutius Felix, and Printed at Amsterdam in 1645. And in 1652. At Leyden in 1562, in Quarto. 'Tis likewise to be found in the Bibliotheca Patrum. And last∣ly, it was put at the end of the last Edition of St. Cyprian, which was Printed at Paris 1666. The

Author of it discovers the Original of all the several Religions amongst the Pagans, and shows the absurdity of them. In the first place, he shows how prodigiously Men have debased themselves in making Gods of the Four Elements. Secondly, he lays open the Extract and Rise of the fabulous Deities, giving an Historical Account of those things which the Poets have so disguised in Fiction. In the Third place, he demonstrates the Absurdity and Impiety of the Pagan Theology, where several Persons have had the good luck to drop into an Almightyship, only for being more exquisi••ely vil∣lainous than the rest of their Fellow-Creatures. In the fourth place, he takes occasion to refresh their Memories with several particulars relating to their Gods, as how they have been slain, woun∣ded and ill-used by Men. Fifthly, he pretends that the Religion of the Aegyptians derived its Ori∣ginal from Joseph, and that their God Serapis is the same with the above-mentioned Patriarch, who is so called, because he was the Son of Sarah. (This Reason in my Opinion appears to be weak, and ill-grounded.) Sixthly, he observes, that Men have Deified abundance of things which they either love, or have frequent occasion for; and thus they call Eating and Drinking their Dii Pen••tes, or their Houshold Gods: Thus Vesta is the Domestick Fire we daily use, and the same Judgment may be passed of several others, and for this Reason it has happened, that the Names of their Gods de∣note the Proprieties of Natural Things. In a word, he Describes and Enumerates the Prophane Signs, or Mysterious Words that are used by the Pagans in their Way of Worship, and he applies them to Jesus Christ with a great deal of Wit. To say the truth, This Treatise is exceeding Elegant, and is abundantly stored with a great deal of Profound Learning; the Author of it shows a consi∣derable Stock of Knowledge, Wit and Eloquence; he frequently Exhorts the Emperours to destroy the Pagan Temples, to suppress their Religion, and to make use of strong and violent Remedies, to cure Men of their Maladies, and retrieve them from their Extravagancies and Errours. At the same time he Exhorts all Men to feed and nourish themselves with the Bread of Jesus Christ, which is his Word and his Doctrine, (for he does not speak of the Eucharist in this place, as some Per∣sons have vainly imagined) to embrace the Light, and come to the Marriage of the Celestial Bride∣groom. He tells us there, that God made himself Man to save us, and restore us to that Immorta∣lity, which we lost and forfeited by the Fall of Adam; that if he had not assumed a Body in the Womb of the Virgin, and suffered an Ignominious Death for the sake of Mankind, all the Jews, even those of the Old Testament, had never been in a Capacity of obtaining Salvation. He teaches us, that the Soul is Immortal and Spiritual, and that the Daemons were frequently disturbed, and ejected out of the Bodies of those Persons, whom they had possessed, by the powerful Prayers and Interces∣sions of the Christians. He acquaints us with several Figures or Types of the Cross, drawn out of the Old Testament. Lastly, to speak a Word or Two concerning his Morals; he severely declaims and inveighs against those that disguise themselves in Female Habits. These are the Principal and most considerable Heads that are discoursed of in this Treatise. As for his Astronomical, and Ma∣thematical Books, they are divided into Eight Parts. That Work was first Printed by Aldus Manu∣tius at Venice, in the Year 1499. Reveiwed by one who calls himself Pascennius, and afterwards Printed in the same place in 1501. Lastly, It was Published at Basil by Hervagius, and Corrected by Bucherius in the Year 1551.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Julius Fir∣micus Ma∣ternus.
• a 1.2

  Baronius believes, that he was Bishop of Milan.] Ba∣ronius imagines that he was Bishop of Milan in the time of Julius, and that he assisted at a Council held at Rome under that Pope. There is indeed mention made of one Maternus a Bishop of Milan, who suffered in Dio∣clesian's time in the Martyrologies of the 18th. of July. But he that was the Author of this Treatise, never took upon him the Quality of a Bishop; and we don't find it related in any Authors of Credit and Reputation in the World, that there ever was a Bishop of Milan of that Name. On the contrary, it appears by St. Athanasius, That in the time of Julius there was no Bishop of that Name at Milan: And the Roman Council, of which Baronius is to be understood, is a Chimerical Council in∣vented by Isidorus.
• b 1.3

  Labbè maintains, that they belong to the same Man.] Possevinus and Simlerus distinguish them, and call the last the Younger of the two. Labbè pretends, that he lived in the Years 334 and 337, and according to this Computation, he might perhaps be the Author of the Treatise, De errore Profan•• Religionis.