Of the I(nowledg, of {jod the Father, r"\.J\...F'! Pht!afopby after the Tradttion of Men, R11diments of the World, and 110t after BooK 11. Chriji. Some of the Teachers _of thofe Times, findin~ in Philofop?ers (then ~ in credit ) in Pl<~to, Orphet!J, Hejiod, 'P;thagora<, and 111 the JewJ!h fradltiOne, many Divine Things about My@', the Word, and ofEmanauons, and Genea– logies, and Defcents from God, as lremus !h~ws, of him from God, and of the the Creatures from him, they drefl: up a Chnfl:, and a Dtvmtty, With thofe Phi– lofophical Clothes, and Colours, and Paint, wh~ch the .Apofl:le Ctys, was not ,ifter Chrijl; a; you fay a falfePtcture of a Man, IS not after the Man, bemg not taken from, nor refemb];ng h1s Perfon, but another clean. They were defcnp– tions of him not taken from the L1fe or Truth that was 111 h1m. Whom there– fore 'P,utl rer's out in the fubfl:ance of him ; In hint dwells all the jit!nefs of the God·lc,ld bodily, or (you !hall give me leave to tranOate it) perfimally. And fo it was another Chrifr. And therefore, chap. 3· verf 19. thefe are faid not to hold the Head, that is, Him, verj.Io. he had fl:iled the Head of all 'Principalities and 'Powers; and chap. I. r8. tbe Head of the B~dy of his Church,. they having clean perverted him to another Chnfr. And as It was then, fo 1t IS now. Men have gone about to bring 'Paul's, the Scripture-Chrifr, to 'Plato's; and as fuch, would obtrude him on the Saints. Thus it was in 'Paul's Time: But John lived longer, after all the Apoflles, and f.1w thefe Seeds and Buddings then fown, come to a greater ripeneCs, and open and more groCs dilcovery, from Blade to Ear; and writing that firfl Epi– flle to the Chrifl:ian Jews in a more fpecial manner, he feeing what Chrifl: had foretold !hould fall out, about. the Time of Jemfolent's Deflruction, both afore and after it to be fulfilled; doth therefore, chap. 2. vcrf 18. give this warning; My Brethren, it is the l,'.ft bo11r, ( becaufe the lafl period of Tinte afore that fatal overthrow of that Nation) for even now there are ma11y Antichrijls, (as our Lord had foretold ) whereby we /znow that it is the h'.ft ho11r; we feeing it thus fulfilled. And, verf2 2. Who is a Lyar,b11t he that denieth that Jejia is, o lie,t<os, The Chrifl, the foie and only Chrifl. And he is an Antichrifl that denies the Father and the Son, the Difrinction of thefe Two, and the Perfonalities. And whofoever de– nieth the Son, the fome hath not the Father. And, I John 4· I. M.any folfe Pro– phets are gor.e o11t into the World. And what was the great falfe point of odds, which they endeavoured to few and diffufe, verf 3· They confej]i:d mJI that Jejia Clrijl wa< come in tbe Flejh; and that .Chrifl wa• God: and therefore the Ca- · tholick Faith of all true Believers, in oppofition to thole Errors about his Per– Con, he gives us, chap. 5· 20. And we k.t1ow that the Son of God is come, and hiilh gh·en tts mz Vnderjlanding, that we may k..now him that is True : and we are in him that is Tme, evw i1Z his Son Jejiu Chrijl. This is the tme God, and Eternal Life. They had other Dofrrines about their Chrifl:s whom they held forth, which were a full denial of all this. You have the like in his fecond Epiflle, verf 7· 9· And to obviate thole Errors about the Perfon of Chrifl, was it that he wrote thofe Epifl:les, and his Gofpel of John, after all the other Evangelifls and Epi– frles written ; exhorting them to hold fafr to that Chrifl: whorn they had heard and known from the beginning, as himfelf and the Holy Apofl:Ies had fet him forth, chap. 1. 'l:erf 1, 2, ~· That 2vhich w,u front the beginning, whi,h we have• hard, rrhi•h rr:e have Jew with 011r Eyes, which we have loof<.!d 11pon, and cmr Hands haz•e handled of the Word of Life; (For the Life wa< manifefled, and we have Jew it, and bear witnefs, and fherv 11nto you that eternal Life which w,u with the Fatler, a11d rea< manifefled 11nto us). That which 2ve have Jeen and heard, declare n•e m;to ;ou. And verf 24. of chap. 2. Let that therefore abide ill yo11, wlich )'e h,;ve heard fiwu tke beginning: If that which ye have heard from the beginning ]hall ren1ain in ;-o11, ;e fba/1 alfo contin11e in the Son, a11d in the Father. The like, Epift. 2. z·erf 9· declaring thofe that fell into fuch Errors, and continued in them, to be fuch Apofrates as nevtr had Truth of Grace; Chap. 2. verf 19. They went o11t from 111, b11t they were not of 111 : for if they had been of 11<, they would, r.o dc11ht, have contin11ed with 111: but they went out, that they "'ight be ntade nwli– feft, that they were not aU of ru. And hints how fome of them [ 0 finned therein, as th't withal they finned the Sin unto Death, never to be recovered; Chap. 5· z·erf 16, 17. ( thongh not all thole words, verf 16. do imply); If any Ma11 fie hi< Brotl·er ji11 a Sill whicb u 11otunto Death, be jhafl as/z, a1ul he jhafl give hint Lift
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