fn Contribíng ui'14 VaDciu íí®i. 41 man truly juft,by this proofofhis Integrity,that he,fhall Chap. 2 rr. fuffer the lofs ofeftate and honour, be fcourged, rackt, -y-.. bound, and have his eyes pluckt out, and after the en- during all miferies, at lait be ciucified.Socrates fo admi- red by them, was fo difguifed by the maliceofhis Ene- mies, that he was condemned todie by Poifon : Yet this was fo far from obfcuring his Reputation, that his fuffering Death was efteemed the molt noble effeét of his Courage,and themolt excellent proofofhis Vertue. Why then fhould they make a contrary judgment of our Redeemer's Sufferings ; whofe Innocencewas per- feet, and whole Patience was fo Holy and Divine, that in the midit ofHis torments he prayed for his Murde- rers? No reafon can be juffly alledged, but force dar- ling luft fpiritual or flefhly which they were refolved to cherub. The light that comes from above illuminates thehumble, and dazles the proud. The prefumption of their own knowledg, was the caufe of their pro- digious ftupidity. Simple ignorance is not fo dange- rousas errour : a falfe light that deceives and leads to precipices, is worfe thandarknefs. We find therefore that nonewere fiercer enemies to the Gofpel than the Philnfophers. The facred Rory tells us, that when the 1lpoflle preacht at Athens, that was as much the feat of Su- perdition as of Sciences : the Epicureans and Stóicks though molt oppofite in their Principles, yet con- fpired to encounter him ; they entertained him with fcorn, what will this Babler fay andhis fuccefs was but fmall there. He that fittet with a net in other places, and brought great numbers to Baptifin, did thereonly with an angle, and caught but one or two Souls. And in the progrefs ofthe Gofpel they perfifted in their oppofition. The molt grave and vertuous a- Ggg 2, neon;
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