Lib. íz Chät.13.- Of P aandProäeffttnts, Introdua. pinor fwordcould ever fupprefs it but theChriftian ever tired and made their Per- feeders weary. 19. Another Argument is, thehorrid end of the oppofcrs of Chriftianity. For all theoppofers and perfccutors ofChriftians, from and before the firft Perfecution un- der Clandiset, to the tenth under Dioelefian, and all the Emperours that figned the Ediftsagainft Chriftians, carne to fearful,. miferable, and untimely _ends,. except only Libanites the Philofopher, that was converted to Chriftianity by St. Bafrl. As, Herod, eaten with lice; 7udas hangedhimfelf ; Pilate died inexile; Se}antu had a Traytors death, &c . So that one (alluding to thebad fuccefs of Perfêcutors) Paid to an Empe tor, Parce nobis, fi non nobis, parce tibi,fi nontibi,Carthagini. Spare us, if not us, yet thy felf, if not thy feif, yet be goodto Carthage. io. The Devils teftimony againft himfelf may be another Argument. For it is a Maxime inLaw, that how ill foever the witnefs bedifpofed; yet his teftimony is to be taken, cum confirerur indedecal futon, when that which he teftifies is againft his g, own reputation. And Zotonsen bath a ftory,i that 7ulian theApoffara being at An- tioch, and défirous to know why the Oracle at Daphnes ie theSuburbs of that City hadnot given anfwer as formerly it haddone, went thither, and having offered his Sacrifices, the Oracle, or theDevil rather in it, anfwered, that hecould not fatisfie his expeelationi till thebody or Tombof Babylaa theMartyr were. removed ; fohard a matter it was for the Devil to do any thing there, where the bones and afhes of a poor Chriftian lay. AndTertafian challenged the Empereur Severtu (who railed the fifth Perfecution agairift theGhriftians) concerninghis Religion,faying, Suffer me to come into your Tealpc, atad have conference with any of the fpirits in the Images there, and if i orany Chriftian force it not to confefs asmuch as the foul fpirit in the Gofpel confeft, and to comeout of the image, let your Religion prevail, and ours take the foil. And furely the Emperor had taken that largeoffer, had he not feared the event. 2i. Laltly, Plotinus confeffeth, as Cyprian and Origen report, that ApalloninsThy- dniork, and other ofthe Heathen, attempting to raife the Images of. Jupiter, Mars, &c. and effeeìed it ; but theyall confeft, that endeavouring to raife the Image of Chrift, theyand their fpirits were forced away with confufon. This alto (to clofe up this point may beadded; that their gods were afraid of Styx, but now we have foisnd him beforewhom Styx it fell, and all thepowers of Hell do fear and tremble. Addition!. concerning Points clear `andcontro- ytrted. CHAP. XIII. Of the two chiefparties that layclaim to ChriflianReligion, PapifisandProt efrants. Their difference about interpretation of Scriptures. The Churches Authority in expounding Scriptures. An additional obfervation oar of the Authorsother works. Rules about the fenfeof the Scriptures. Means forfinding out the truefenfe : other means controverted. Addition about the Churchespower in marre*sof faith, whether infallible. Decrees of Councils; Confentof Fathers. The Pope not infallible. A Nd now having found out the true way, and being thus far entred into it we -CV are comewhere iris divided into two. For there are two fortsof Chrifrians that lay claim to the true way, and eachpartypleadspolfeffion of ir, each thinking theother to tread in aby-path, and to beout of the right way. We will therefore txamine,which of the two are inthe right. Chriftian Religion, as it now ftands in thefe parts of theWorld, confifìs of Papifts and Pioteftants. It will not beamifs therefore, becaufe the Papifts buildupon the Word of God as do the Proteftants, to examine the main point between then} in difference, which is about theInterpretation of it: and to whom this Interpretation belongeth properly. Hear what thefenfi of this Reverend Author wasin his later years, concerning Points that are manifefl, and matters controverted, in his Sermon on r Tirpothy 3.16. page 18, 59. e Bleffed be God, that among divers otherMyfleries, about which there are fo many 'myfiaand clouds of ControvrrJie raifed in all ages, bathyet leftno fameclear, and without e Controllerfie,manifefi, andyeweat, great, andyet manifeff ; a fair cosceipt is crepti` to
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