this laft Age fhould produce a ftrange Alteration, a fort of Renovation of Mankind; fhould reftore Juftice and Truth, and Peace amongst Men, which had been long fince banish'd out of the World. What more agreeable to the Defcriptions of the Prophets, as to the Reign of the Meffiab? It will be much more wonderful if we fuppofe this Sibyll (which is not unreafonable to fuppofe) to have been as lucky in her Defcriptions of former Times or Ages, as fhe is in this. So that in fine, if we fuppofe fuch a fort of a Prediction as this contain'd in thefe Verses, that in Virgil's Time the Romans receiv'd as Sibylline, viz. a Description of the foregoing Ages, (and in this as true, as in her Defcription of the Gofpel-Difpenfation) and after thefe, fhe fhould declare to fucceed the Laft or Gofpel-Age, which fhould produce a mighty Change on Men's Hearts and Lives, a new Generation of Men totally unlike the former; instead of being Barbarous, Wrathful, Cruel, Revengeful, fhould be Mild, Peaceful, Gentle, Charitable; inftead of Earthly, Covetous, Heavenly and Divine; and all this fhould proceed from the immediate Influence of the Deity. Calo demittitur alto. I fay, if any Man doth but fuppofe fuch Things as thefe, contain'd in thefe Verfes (which cannot be reafonably doubted, from thefe Words of Virgil) in Truth there may be as far as any Man can tell, that never faw them, feveral other ftrange Things contain'd in them; and this may very much abate the force and edge of that fort of Criticism against the Fathers, that the Prophecies they quote are too particular and exprefs. At leaft it will abundantly juftifie Justin Martyr, in his Expreffion of the Sibylls, that they fpake vapa's xj parepas of our Bleffed Saviour. And And again, nothing can be more clear than that in thefe Verfes that the Romans receiv'd, there were contain'd very odd Defcriptions of the arifing of fome great King, that fhould govern the whole World. It is certain, that the Minds of the Romans were fo poffefs'd with this Expectation, that none of them were attended with any extraordinary Gale of Profperity and Succefs, but he immediately thought himself the Perfon fignified in thefe Verfes, as is plain from Cicero, and other Authors. Thirdly, That these Verfes extant, under the name of the Sibylls, (whencefoever they proceeded) contain'd Matter of a very odd and peculiar Nature, feems very clear from one Oracle that Jofephus (a) mentions. His Words are thefe, fpeaking of Babel; Of this Tower, and the Diversity of Languages Sibylla makes mention in thefe Words; At fuch a Time as Men us'd one kind of Language, they built a most high Tower, as if they meant by the fame, to mount up into Heaven; but the Gods rais'd Winds, and overthrew the Tower, and fent amongst the Builders diftinct and several Languages; whence it came to pass, that the City, which was afterwards built in the fame place, was call'd Babylon. Now I believe, it must feem to any impartial Man very odd, that the Chriftians fhould have this luck, to be able to impofe their forg'd and (counterfeit Stuff upon Heathens and Jews at this rate. If this cannot be admitted, I think the contrary is clear, that fome Verfes attributed to the Sibylls by others, as well as the Chriftians, contain'd Things not altogether Heathenish and Prophane, and were of good Authority in thofe Days, and very probably quoted not without fome Effect on the Heathens. (a) Fofep. Antiq. lib. 1. pag. 33.・・ U Fourthly, 290 λα او 2 Fourthly, St. Origen (whofe Authority is urgid chiefly for the Miftake of the Fathers in this particular) doth very clearly allow the Sibylline Verfes to run in favour of Chriftianity. His Words are thefe (upon Celfus objecting to him that Sibylla, whofe Authority they fre quently us'd, was much more worthy of be ing repured a Goddefs, than our Saviour) Ειτ', ἐκ διδ ̓ ὅπως, (α) εβάλετο ἡμᾶς μάλλον Σίβυλλαν ἀναγορεῦσαι παῖδα Θεῖς, ἢ Ιησεν, απο φηνάμ. Θ., ὅτι παρενεγράψαμεν εἰς τὰ ἐκείνης πολύ λὰ καὶ βλάσφημα καὶ μὴ ἀποδείξας μηδ' ό, τι παρενεγράψαμεν ἀπέδειξε δ ̓ ἂν εἰ τὰ ἀρχαιότερα καθαρώτερα ἐδείκνυε, καὶ ἐκ ἔχοντα ἅπερ διεται παρεγγεγράφθαι. μὴ ἀποδείξας δὲ μήδ', ὅτι βλα σφημά ότι ταυία. Celfus objedeth, we have corrupted thefe Sibylline Verfes, to make them fpeak in favour of Chriftianity. Ought he not then to have fhewn, what we have foifted in, or in what corrupted them, by producing a purer and more antient Copy, in which had not been found thofe Verfes we quote? But he does no fuch thing, a plain Indication he had none more antient or uncorrupt than what we ufe. B. I have heard you carefully and attentively: And as far as I can apprehend of the Matters there feems not fuch evident Reason, altoge ther to contemn the Authority of the Fathers, in regard to thefe Verfes. It looks in Truth as if fome of the moft particular Prophecies relating to our Saviour were foifted in, but that in the Sibylline Oracles in thofe Days, fomewhat was contain'd, that did very easily and aptly correfpond to the Perfon and Doctrine (a) Orig. contra celfum, lib. 7. p.369. of of our Saviour, can hardly be deny'd. What A. It may be difputed, whether they were at Heathen Many great Men amongst the Heathens ut- of the Interly deny'd their Infpiration, exploded them piration as having nothing Supernatural in them, as the meer Tricks and Impoftures of Priefts, inftead of Oracles. Evil Spirits. Of this Opinion were the Academicks, Ariftotle, and Epicurus, and generally their Difciples and Followers. The Stoicks on the R contrary admitted all forts of Infpiration and Supernatural Influences, by Divination, Dreams, Oracles, and all the Superftition of this kind, believ'd and practis'd by the Heathens. And amongst the reft, Chryfippus was a zealous Champion for Oracles, and collected a large Volume of very pithy, acute and fubtil Predictions. And indeed the Exploders of Oracles confefs, that the Matter was fo manag'd, with fuch Art and Subtilty by the Priefts, that no wonder, Men of common Underftandings, were impos'd on by them. Of the Acutenefs and Compafs of Chryfippus's Underftanding, and the Nature of thofe Oracles he collected, we can only know from others; this voluminous piece, and all others of his Works being perifh'd. By his own Party he was judg'd a fmart Man, and especially in the Dialecticks, but by others thought meanly enough of; hence Lucian (a) introduces Jupiter, complaining that his Altars were grown as frigid as the Laws of Plato, or the Syllogifms of Chryfippus. Of the Stupidity of which, you read farther in the fame Author (b): Zeno by way of Derifion always call'd him Chefippus, the little old fmart Philofopher. If you will take Cicero's Opinion, he was liable to Impofition, for fpeaking of the Equivocation of thefe Oracles; he fays, Illa qua Cræfum decêpit, vel Chryfippum potuiffet fallere, bæc vero ne Epicurum quidem; who agreeably to his Principles always derided them. And particularly as to this voluminous Work, in the defence of Oracles, Cicero again fpeaks, (c) Tuis enim Oraculis Chryfippus, totum volumen implevit partim falfis, ut ego opinor, partim cafu veris,- partim flexiloquis & obfcuris partim ambiguis. If he were as dull in his Oracles as his Syllogifms, he was little to be credited; for his Syllogifms were certainly apter to provoke Laughter, than Perfuafion or Conviction. Many of the Fathers likewife fufpected there was much of Craft in thefe Oracles, and feem at a ftand, to which to impute them, whether to This or a Supernatural Caufe; as Minucius Felix, St. Origen, and efpecially Eufebius, who hath confider'd this Matter, the largest of any I have met with. But yet generally they inclin'd to believe, there was fomething Supernatural in them. The Reasons that induc'd Men in that Age (and may ftill induce any Man that confi The Readers them) to fufpect Craft in this Cafe, were Sons that might in briefly thefe. duće Men First, The meer Stupidity of thefe Predictito believe ons utter'd by way of Oracles. For this fee (d) that there Lucian, who makes an exceeding Jeft of Apollo was no thing Su pernatural (b) Aut. Vit. p. 383. in thefe Oracles. (d) fup. traga. p. 145. (c) Lib. 2. de Divin. on |