acquainted with, and therefore looked not for transitory promises only, but also spiritual, yea, for eternal salvation; salvation in Christ promised in the Old, though revealed only in the New Testament. And therefore he saith elsewhere, Moses ate manna, and Aaron ate manna, and Phinees ate manna, and many that pleased God ate there, and are not dead (spiritually). Why? Because they understood the visible bread spiritually, hungered spiritually, tasted it spiritually, that so they might be satisfied spiritually.'

And that it was only by Christ, that the old fathers were justified and saved, Cyril of Alexandria hath a large discourse upon it, which he begins thus: 'But that the mystery of justification by faith had a more ancient original than circumcision in the law; and that it was foretold to Israel in types and figures, that they could not be saved any other way than by Christ only, that justifieth the ungodly and pardoneth sins; and also they that are the heirs of God, and are reckoned amongst his most legitimate children, who are of the promise made in Isaac to blessed Abraham; go on, let us now speak.' And so he brings many arguments for what himself saith; and we have proved from Scripture, reason, and fathers, even that the Old Testament is not contrary to the New, and that both in the Old and New Testament, Eternal salvation is offered to mankind only by Christ,' &c.

ALTHOUGH THE LAW GIVEN FROM GOD BY MOSES, AS TOUCHING CEREMONIES AND RITES, DO NOT BIND CHRISTIAN MEN, NOR THE CIVIL PRECEPTS THEREOF OUGHT OF NECESSITY TO BE RECEIVED IN ANY COM

d Manducavit manna et Moses, manducavit manna et Aaron, manducavit manna et Phinees, manducaverunt ibi multi qui Domino placuerunt et mortui non sunt. Quare? Quia visibilem cibum spiritualiter intellexerunt, spiritualiter esurierunt, spiritualiter gustaverunt, ut spiritualiter satiarentur.-Aug. in Joh. Tract. 26.

• Οτι δὲ τῆς ἐν πίστει δικαιοσύνης τὸ μυστήριον τῆς ἐν νόμω περιτομῆς πρεσβυτέραν ἔχει προανάῤῥησιν, καὶ ὅτι προκατεγράφετο τοῖς ἐκ Ισραὴλ ὁ τύπος μὴ ἄν ἐτέρως δύνασθαι σωθῆναι, πότε πλῆν ὅτι διὰ μόνου Χριστοῦ τοῦ δικαιοῦντος τὸν ἀσεβῆ καὶ ἀνίεντος ἐγκλήματα· καὶ πρὸς γε δὴ τούτοις ὅτι Θεοῦ κληρονόμοι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὅτι μάλιστα γνησίας κατατιτάξονται τέκνοις, οἱ ἐκ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῆς ἐν Ισαάκ γεγενημένης πρὸς τὸν μακάριον Αβραάμ, φέρε δὲ λέγωμεν. — Cyril, Alexandrin. Glaphyr. in Gen. lib. iii.

MONWEALTH; YET NOTWITHSTANDING, NO

TIAN MAN WHATSOEVER

CHRIS

IS FREE FROM THE OBE

DIENCE OF THE COMMANDMENTS WHICH ARE CALLED
MORAL,

As every law whatsoever is either divine or human, and every divine law either published in Scripture or implanted in nature; so every law that is published in Scripture, is either ceremonial, judicial, or moral: which distinction seems to be intimated in those words, Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you,' Deut. vi. 1. Where by commandments we may understand the moral, by statutes the ceremonial, and by judgments the judicial law of God. Now what we ought to believe concerning these three laws, is here set down in this part of the article.

f

First, Concerning the ceremonial law, it is here said, Although the law given from God by Moses, as touching ceremonies and rites, do not bind Christian men,' implying, that that law is now of no force and virtue in obliging us to obedience, as it did the Jews: where we may briefly consider, first, what this law was; secondly, how it appears to be now disannulled. As for the first, what this law was, it is plain that it was that law whereby God was pleased to

The Hebrews have an observation, that when pn and own come together, the first signifieth the ceremonial, the other judicial law; and so

these are the,וזאת המצות החקים והמשפטים,they seem clearly to signify here

commands, the ceremonies, and the judgments or judicial laws.' So the vulgar Latin expressly: Hæc sunt præcepta et ceremoniæ atque judicia :'

ܦܘܩܕܫܐ ,anel so the Syriac translation seems to imply

Hec sunt precepta e leges atque ' ܘܢܡܘܤܐ

firo masajo Hæc sunt præcepta et leges atque judicia,' where max, vós, leges,' denotes the ceremonial, and Lia!, 'judicia,' the judicial laws. And so the word pn is to be taken also in the seventeenth verse of this same chapter, viz. Deut. vi. whence it is said, 'Custodiendo custodietis præcepta Domini Dei vestri, et testimonia ejus et statuta ejus quæ præcepit

,שמור תשמרון את מצות יהוה אלהיכם ועדתיו וחקיו אשר צוך

tibi;' where □, 'statuta,' the Syriac renders again by fox, vópa, the vulgar Latin expressly, ceremonias.' The Septuagint also here, and usually elsewhere, renders it by dinaiμasa, which properly signifies 'præcepta Dei vel mandata Dei de externis ceremoniis,' and so is always distinguished from ivroλal, præcepta moralia.'

determine the outward circumstances of his own worship, and the outward performances of his people's lives: containing several precepts, 1st. Concerning their sacraments, viz. circumcision and the eating of the paschal lamb; to which may be added also the eating of the shew-bread, and their purification from several uncleannesses, as when any one who was a leper had touched a dead body, or the like. 2dly. Concerning their sacrifices, whether sin-offerings or burnt-offerings, whether offered by the high-priest only, by the ordinary priest, by all the people, or private persons; as also whether they were of living creatures, as goats or kids, rams or lambs, heifers or calves, doves or turtles; or inanimate, as bread and wine, or oil. 3dly. Concerning their holy things: as, first, their holy places, as the tabernacle and temple- the one carried up and down, the other fixed, divided into three parts; the holy of holies, where the high-priest only came, and that but once a year; the sanctuary, where the ordinary priests went continually; and the outward court, where the people stood: secondly, the holy times, as their sabbaths, new moons, passover, pentecost, feast of tabernacles, the feast of in-gathering, the feast of trumpets, the day of atonement; Lev. xxiii. the sabbatical year also, and the year of jubilee. 4thly. Concerning outward observances in priests or people; as not to eat such and such flesh, not to wear such and such clothes, not to plough with an ox and an ass together, and the like. Thus we see what these ceremonies and rites were.

Now, secondly, that they are not obligatory unto us, as they were to the Jews, appears from the determination of that canonical synod, held by the apostles themselves at Jerusalem. Acts, xv. Where this question being debated, whether circumcision, and so the other ceremonies of the law, should be enjoined the Gentiles, they determined it in the negative, that the Gentiles which were turned to God should not be troubled with these things. Hence it is that we read St.

5 Πῶς οὐδὲν ὠφελήσει τὸν περιτεμνόμενον ὁ Χριστὸς; ὁ περιτεμνόμενος ὡς νόμον διδοικὼς περιτέμνεται, ὁ δὲ δεδοικὼς ἀπιστεῖ τῇ δυνάμει τῆς χάριτος, ὁ δὲ ἀπιστῶν οὐδὲν κερδάινει παρὰ τῆς ἀπιστουμένης· πάλιν ἑτέρως ὁ περιτεμνόμενος τὸν νόμον κύριον ποιεῖ, κύριον δὲ εἶναι νομίζων, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ μείζονος ἀυτὸν παραβαίνων μέρους, ἐπ δὲ τοῦ ἐλάττονος τηρῶν, πάλιν ὑπὸ τὴν ἀρὰν ἑαυτὸν τίθησιν, ὑποβάλλων δὲ ἑαυτὸν τῇ ἀρᾷ, καὶ διακρουσάμενος τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως ἐλευθερίαν, πῶς δύναται σωθῆναι

Paul writing to the Colossians, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat or drink, or in respect of an holy day, or new moon, or of the sabbath days." Col. ii. 16. And to the Galatians, "If you be circumcised, Christ profits you nothing," Gal. v. 2. And he acquaints the Hebrews with the reason of it," For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law," Heb. vii. 14. viz. the ceremonial law, which being at the first instituted and imposed only, until the time of reformation, Heb. ix. 10. even until the coming of Christ, who was the substance of these shadows, and the truth of these types, there was no need of them when once himself was come, nor indeed any law for them. For seeing the law enjoined them for no longer a time than till Christ was come, and the time in his coming being expired, the law enforcing them must needs be disannulled. So that now we are no ways bound to use any of the aforesaid ceremonies, they being no furtherances now, as they were under the law, but rather hinderances of our faith in Christ the substance: but they are to us Christians, as if they had never been imposed at all upon the Jews, even without any binding or obligatory force at all in them, as the fathers taught of old.

h

i

εἰ γὰρ χρὴ τι καὶ παράδοξον εἰπεῖν οὗτος, οὔτε τῷ Χριστῷ οὔτε τῷ νόμῳ πιστέυει, ἀλλ ̓ ἐν μέσω ἔστηκε, κἀκεῖθεν καὶ ἔνθεν βουλόμενος κερδαίνειν, διόπερ οὐδαμόθεν αυτὸν napásra.-Chrysost. in Epist. ad Gal. cap. 5. tom. iii. p. 750.

Cecidit Hierusalem, cecidit templum, altare sublatum est, &c. Ratio autem quâ hæc cuncta desinerent illa est, ut omne os obstruatur, et subditus fiat omnis mundus Deo. Ne qui fortè ex incredulo populo occasiones suæ infidelitatis acciperent, et habentes umbras antiquitus sibi traditas, vel templi, vel altaris, vel pontificii, vel sacerdotii, viderentur sibi permanente antiqui cultûs statu prævaricari religionis ordinem, si transiret ad fidem. Propterea ergo auferri hæc omnia, quæ in terris dudum fuerant adumbrata divina providentia dispensavit, ut viam quodammodo accipiant requirendæ veritatis cessantibus typis.—Orig. in Jes. Nave, Hom. 17.

1 Ει γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ Αβραὰμ οὐκ ἦν χρεία περιτομῆς, οὐδὲ πρὸ Μωϋσίως σαββα τισμοῦ καὶ ἑορτῶν καὶ προσφορῶν, οὐδὲ νῦν μετὰ τὸν κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ, δίχια ἁμαρτίας τῆς ἀπὸ γένους τοῦ Αβραὰμ παρθένου γεννηθέντα Υιον Θεοῦ ̓Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν, quóws iorì xesia.—Just. Martyr. Dial. cum Tryph. Jud. De our àæò Abgaàμ ἤρξατο περιτομὴ, καὶ ἀπὸ Μωσίως σάββατον, καὶ θυσίαι καὶ προσφορὰι καὶ ἑορταὶ, καὶ ἀπεδείχθη διὰ τὸ σκληροκάρδιον τοῦ λαοῦ ὑμῶν ταῦτα διατετάχθαι, οὕτως πάυσασθαι ἔδει, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς βουλὴν εἰς τὸν διὰ τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους τοῦ Αβραὰμ καὶ φυλῆς Ιούδα καὶ Δαβίδ παρθένου γεννηθέντα Υιὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Χριστάνο -Ibid. Καὶ τοῦτο πάσχει παρὰ τὸ ἁγνοεῖν, ὅτι ἡ σωματικὴ τοῦ νόμου τήρησις,

Secondly, Of the judicial law, it is here said, 'nor the civil precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth :' civil precepts,' that is, what precepts we found in the law of Moses, concerning state policy, or the civil government of the Jewish nation; as concerning their magistrates, contracts, distribution of inheritances, witnesses, several punishments of blasphemy, perjury, and the like. These laws, though they could not without sin have been neglected by the Jews, yet it is here said, that there is no necessity of their being received into other commonwealths; which certainly there is not. For though those laws were made by God, and so were certainly the best that ever were, or can be made only for that nation; ἐπὶ τῇ ἐπιδημίᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ κατήργηται, τῶν τύπων λοιπὸν μεταληφθέντων εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν· ἀργοῦσι γὰρ οἱ λύχνοι τῇ τοῦ ἡλίου παρουσίᾳ, καὶ σχολάζει ὁ νόμος, καὶ οἱ προφῆται κατασιγάζονται τῆς ἀληθείας ἀναφανείσης —Basil. De S. Spiritu. cap. 21. And Chrysostom proves it out of the law itself, that its ceremonies were to cease in Christ: Καὶ ποῦ τοῦτο (νόμος) εἶπέ, φησιν, ὅτι ἐν Χριστῶ καταργεῖται; οὐκ εἶπε μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ πραγμάτων ἔδειξε· καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τῷ τὰς θυσίας καὶ τὴν ἁγιστείαν ἅπασαν ἐν ἑνὶ κατακλεῖσαι τόπω, τῷ ναῷ, καὶ ἀυτὸν ὕστερον καθελεῖν· εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐβούλετο αυτὰς πάυσασθαι, καὶ τὸν περὶ τούτων νόμον ἅπαντα δυοῖν θάτερον ἂν ἐποιησεν, ἢ οὐκ ἂν καθεῖλε τὸν ναὸν, ἢ καθελῶν οὐκ ἂν ἀπηγόρευσεν, ἀλλαχοῦ θεύσθαι· νῦν δὲ τὴν οικουμένην ἅπασαν καὶ ἀυτὴν δὲ τὴν Ιερουσαλὴμ ἄβατον ταῖς τοιάυταις καθέστησεν ἱερουργίαις· μόνον δὲ τὸν ναὸν ἀνταῖς ἀνεῖς, καὶ ἀποτάξας, εἶτα ἀυτὸν τοῦτον ὕστερον καθελὼν, καὶ εἰς τέλος ἔδειξε διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων αυτῶν ὅτι πέπαυται τὰ τοῦ νόμου διὰ Χριστοῦ, καὶ γὰρ τὸν ναὸν nabiïasv ¿ Xgırròs. — Chrysost. in Ep. 2. ad Cor. Hom. 7. Augustine also, and Jerome, both acknowledged this truth, but yet had some difference about it; the one holding that now it is lawful not to observe the ceremonial law, but it is not sinful to observe it, so that it is not now binding to any, neither is any bound to omit the observation of it, the things themselves not being in themselves sinful, but now indifferent: Quapropter non ideò Petrum emendavit (Paulus) quòd paternas traditiones observaret, quod si facere vellet, nec mendaciter non incongruè faceret: quamvis enim jam superflua, tamen solita non nocerent. Aug. Epist. 9. ad beatum Hieronymum. But Jerome held it was now utterly unlawful to use any of them at all, and therefore writes back again to Augustine, aud amongst other things in his Epistle tells him, Ego è contrario loquar, et reclamante mundo liberâ voce prouunciem, ceremonias Judæorum et perniciosas esse et mortiferas Christianis, et quicunque eas observaverit sive ex Judæis sive ex gentibus, eum in barathrum diaboli devolutum.-Hieron. Epist. ad Augustinum. And certainly, to use them under the same notion now as they were used before Christ's coming, we cannot but acknowledge with Jerome, it is altogether sinful. But to use them without any respect at all to that law that commanded them, the things not being in themselves sinful, it must needs be acknowledged with Augustine to be lawful.