36 Chap.$. Re'ifo is againfi Poltheifine. lntroduûu. and hath power alike in all things, which as they confefs theirs had not, and there- foreare not Gods. 4. Again, the Objectionof Cyril/ to fedam (which madehim to flogger) is flrong againft them. That it being the fin of the body which defileth,the Soul, the Soul had need of fomething to purge and cleanfe it : but their Religion having nothing in it to cleanfe the heart and Soul as well as the body, cannot be the trueReligion. 5. That their Gods wereno Gods but men, appears, in that their Parents were known and confeft by the Heathen Writers themfelves, as of Hefiod in his The ognia, Tallie de nature deorum, and others ; as alto by Cyril againft fulien , Asps- /line in his Books de Cimitate Dei ; Eufebius de preparatieneEvangetice, but heft by Gregory Nyffen, t3`Cypriot devanitsteldolorum. And Alexander the Great in a pri- vate Conference with Leo a Prieft ofEgypt, was informedby him that the Gods of the Greciansand other Nations came out of Egypt, and that the Religion of the Greeks came from theEgyptiansby the means of Cecrops, and from Phoeniciaby Cabo*. That the Remus had theirs from the Greeks, by Nun* Pompiliue. And the Egyptian Gods were but men , for theirdefcents were known, as Hermes Trefinegiftus, and Efcula- pieta, who defctnded from Vraniue and Mercerises, and yet thefe were reputed to be their Gods. 6. Again, Their Gods were not only Men, but wicked men. For Religionbeing nothing but a faculty to make menperfect, and fit them for a more bleffed life, by framing them in fimilitude to the aftions andperfections of God, their Gods asthey were but men and no Gods, fowere they men of wicked lives and Converfation, ftigmatized with Rapes, Adulteries, and the like fins, as not only their own ftories te- Rifie of them, butother IIiftorians alfo without exception, as Eufebiuy Cyril, 7ofephrsa againftAppian, Atbanefins, Origen, Testa/ten, Lad intiur, and others. Objection. But herewill bemade a Queflion, or Objection confifting of twoparts. I. If their Gods were but men, how came they to beworshipped Cultu divino with divine honour, z. And fecondly, how came Bcafts to beworshipped by the Heathen with thelike worfhip. Anf}ver. r. To thefe may be anFvered. Firft, thatafter the flood, there being ageneral re volt from Religion and the true worfhip of God, cxcelt that among the Jews,there was infufed this Maxime into the minds of many, that men were to worfhip them that did them good, or delivered them fromevil. Out of an 2. Anothercaufe of divine worfhip giventome», we have from * Porphyries Lela- ' Authornot that Nimes having obtained the Monarchy, erected an Image to the honour and ;pow. extant, meos of his father Belts, andbecaufe he would have it no lefs refpected by others named San- y obuniatson. than by himfelf, he made it a Sanctuary for Offendors and Debtors. So that many having receivedbenefit by it, and withal thinking to ingratiatethemfelves with Ni- /de C7 ofjri_ (who thenbare abfplute rule) inftitutedFaits upon certain days to it : at which °' times they adorned the Image with garlands,and madeHymns,which they fang to the honour of Father andSon. Now the ground of this lnflitution being forgotten,they which fucceeded in after-times became fo fuperflitious in this fervice, that they made prayers, and offered Sacrifices to this Image, which was the fame Bel, which in the broader dialect of the Hebrews was calledBaal. Thus Images creded to the memory of mens venuesbecame to beworlhipped, when the caufeof their ere&ion was forgotten. And from Profapopeia's and Apofirophes to thedeceafed they began to pray to thevery Images. z. For theDeifying of Beafts, the anfwer is this, Plutarch reports, that Ofyrie be.. ingKing of Egypt, and dividing his Kingdom intoProvinces, gave a feveral badge or cognizance to every one, according to the quality and condition of eachProvince, as molt natural to the things moftabounding in it : as to that 'which conffted molt in Tillage,he deligned an Oxe : to that which wasmolt plentiful in Woods, a Dog : to that wherein was molt Meadow, a Clod with a little Grafs on the top, whichwe call aTurff and to that wherein was molt water, a Crocodile. Thefe he erected upon Poles, and placed them between his feveral Provinces. Pofterity forgetting to what end thefe wereerected,conceived in them tomeDivine nature and power : and thereupon, he which lived by thePlough worshipped theOxe, calling it Apis: the Huntfrnan the Dog, calling it Anubis : the Grafter the Clod, calling it ¡ s, &c. And upon this, this kinde of Idolatryhad itsorigiftal. The
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