nium, who asks him: Who are you? what do you teach? for they grievously accuse you. And Paul lift up his voice, saying: If I this day be called in question what I teach, hear, proconsul: God is jealous, a God of vengeance: God, that needeth nothing but the salvation of men, has sent me to deliver men from vice and impurity, that they may not sin. Therefore God has sent his son Jesus Christ, whom I preach, and teach men to have their hope in him, who alone has had compassion on an ignorant erring world, that they may be no longer exposed to condemnation, O proconsul, but might have faith, and the fear of God, and a knowledge of virtue, and a love of truth. If therefore I speak those things which have been revealed to me by God, proconsul, what crime am I guilty of? But the proconsul, having heard these things, commanded Paul to be bound, and to be cast into prison, till he should be at leisure to hear him more carefully.' I suppose that here are references, or allusions, to several things in the Acts of the Apostles, [Acts xxiv. 21; xxiii. 6; xvii. 3, 25, 30, 31;] and that in some other places of this work the author refers to other things in the New Testament. But I shall not detain the reader any longer in this book, which really is of no great importance; though Dr. Grabe does undoubtedly deserve commendation, for publishing it in the greatest perfection he was able. II. That the Sibylline Verses, or Oracles, which we now have in eight books, are not the same which were kept at Rome with so much care and veneration, nor any other heathen collection of Sibylline Oracles, but a christian forgery; has been so often and so clearly shown, and is so generally allowed by learned men, that I shall here take it for granted. However, I may have another opportunity, in the course of this work, of showing this particularly, if it should be needful. 6 h 6 We may take a general account of this collection of pretended Oracles in the words of Mr. Turner. • We there find,' says he, an account of the creation of the world, the fall of our first parents, the ark of Noah, the deluge ' of waters, the tower of Babel and other matters, all un'doubtedly taken from the book of Genesis. The histori'cal books of the New Testament have also furnished the forger of these Oracles with several pretended prophecies concerning our Saviour. The manner of our Lord's nati'vity, his life and actions, his trial and sufferings, his resurThe Calumnies upon the Primitive Christians accounted for.' Chap. 11. p. 201. London, 1727. 6 Ibid. p. 101, 102. ❝rection and ascension, are described with much plainness and particularity: which makes it more than probable, that several of those Oracles, relating to our blessed 'Saviour, are not predictions of future events, but historical 'narrations of facts that were already past and gone. The author, in order to disguise the imposture, is somewhat 'enigmatical in his account of the Roman emperors. He 'describes them all, from Julius to Adrian, chiefly by the 'initial letters of their names.' So far Mr. Turner. But the author has made use of more than one artifice to disguise the imposture. It may be justly supposed, that with this view he inserted in his work several things taken from the ancient heathen oracles, and from Orpheus, Homer, and other poets. I shall add little more preliminary to my extracts, but to show when these Oracles were composed. Cave, who is well satisfied of their being a forgery, supposes that a large part of them were composed in the time of Adrian, about the year 130, they being quoted by Justin Martyr; that others were added in the time of the Antonines; and the whole work completed in the reign of Commodus. Prideaux1 says, This collection must have been made between the year of our Lord 138 and the year 167. It 'could not be earlier, for therein is mention made of the 'next successor of Adrian, that is, Antoninus Pius, who ' did not succeed him till the year 138: and it could not be later, because Justin Martyr in his writings several times quotes it, and appeals to it, who did not outlive the year '167.' 6 Fabricius is of opinion, that this collection does not contain all the Sibylline Oracles which were used by the ancient fathers; but that, nevertheless, it contains a great part of them. He supposes, likewise, that several parts of the collection have been transposed, and placed in a wrong order by transcribers. He farther thinks, that the most ancient christian writers, who have quoted the Sibylline Oracles, had not the whole collection which we have, but only a part; which, together with additions made afterwards, compose the collection which we have. Sunt nonnulla in hac collectione, quæ auctor de industrià inspersit ex antiquis oraculis Ethnicis, ex Orpheo, Homero, et aliis poëtis. Fabric. Bib. Gr. T. i. I. i. c. 33. p. 217. Vid. et quæ sequuntur. *Conficta esse, idque in gratiam christianæ fidei, nemo non videt. Hist. Lit. P. i. p. 34. 1 Connection, &c. Part ii. book ix. p. 626. first ed. m Bibl. Gr. ut supra, p. 219-221. 6 6 These, and other observations of Fabricius, in his judgment upon this collection, have a great appearance of probability. We have good reason, I think, to conclude, that our collection contains a great part of the Sibylline books used by the fathers; because it has in it almost all the verses particularly quoted by them, and answers the character which they give of theirs. Justin Martyr, toward the end of his Exhortation to the Greeks,' (if that piece be his,) says: The" Sibyl expressly and clearly foretells the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ.' And again, a little after: That she not only expressly and clearly 'foretells the future coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ, but also all things that should be done by him.' So do ours, as will appear presently. Whether that work be Justin's, as is generally supposed, or not, is not very material in this case: it appearing from what he says in his P first Apology, an indisputed work, that he had in his hands some Sibylline books, which were very favourable to the christian cause. St. Augustine too says, that the Sibyl has nothing in her whole poem favourable to the worship of false gods; but on the contrary she so speaks against them, and their worshippers, that she may be ' reckoned to belong to the city of God.' 6 6 r However, some things contained in our present collection may have been added to those Sibylline writings which were in the hands of the first fathers. There may be some reason to suspect that the Acrostic, in particular, has been since added; it being first quoted by Constantine, and no where clearly referred to by Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, or Theophilus; whereas, had they known of it, it is likely we should have found in them some hint of it. Nor is there any good ground to think that Tertullian has alluded to it, as some have supposed. I shall make no use therefore of that Acrostic in my extracts here, which ought to be confined to writings of the second century: and that the main part of this collec n * Την του Σωτηρος ήμων Ιησου Χριςου αφιξιν σαφως και φανερως προς ayopeveσa. Ad. Cohort. p. 36. Περι δε της του Σωτηρος ἡμων Ιησου Χριτου μελλούσης εσεσθαι παρεσίας, και περι παντων των ὑπ' αυτου γενεσθαι μελλόντων, σαφως και φανερως προαναφωνούση. Ib. p. 37. Α. P P. 82. 4 Hæc autem Sibylla, sive Erythræa, sive, ut quidam magis credunt, Cumana, ita nihil habet in toto carmine suo, cujus exigua ista particula est, quod ad deorum falsorum sive fictorum cultum pertineat, quinimo ita etiam contra eos et contra cultores eorum loquitur, ut in eorum numero deputanda videatur, qui pertinent ad civitatem Dei. De Civ. Dei,xviii. cap. 23. Eus. H. E. P. 592. p. 207, 208; and Fabricius, p. 214. Ora. ad Sanctor. Coet. cap. 18. ap. tion was made within that time, I shall show briefly in two or three observations. 1. Justin Martyr is the first christian writer who appears to have quoted this collection of Sibylline Oracles, or any Sibylline Verses whatever, containing the peculiar doctrines of christianity. The more ancient writers preceding him, who have mentioned the Sibyls, have quoted nothing but what might be found in Sibylline writings among the heathen. This is an observation of" Fabricius, to whom I refer for the particular proof of it. 6 W 2. Celsus, who wrote before the end of the second century, gives the christians the name of Sibyllists; and says, that some of them had a great value for the Sibyl, and had interpolated her writings with many blasphemous things.' I shall not need to put down here Origen's answer to this charge, his answer being allowed by many learned men not to be sufficient. Celsus then may be reckoned to be a good evidence, that there were in his time Sibylline verses, which were more christian than heathen. 3. The author betrays his age by several things in this collection. He says, at the conclusion of the eighth book, that he is a christian. In the fifth book he says, he had 'seen the second ruin of the desired house; mosta probably meaning the destruction of Jerusalem in the time of Vespasian. In the beginning of the fifth book he describes the Roman emperors to Adrian, and says, that after him three shall reign,' [that is, Antoninus, Marcus, and Lucius:] and that the third of these shall obtain the power of all 6 They are quoted likewise, or referred to, by the anonymous author of the Preaching of Peter, who probably lived about the same time with Justin Martyr. See before, p. 255. note ". Fab. Bib. Gr. 1. i. cap. 33. sect. xi. * Είπε δε τινας ειναι και Σιβυλλισας. Orig. c. Cels. l. v. p. 272. W · Υμεις δε καν Σιβυλλαν, ή χρωνται τινες ύμων, εικοτως αν μάλλον προετησασθε ώς τε Θεου παιδα· νυν δε παρεγγράφειν μεν εις τα εκείνης πολλα και βλασφημα εικη δυνασθε. Ibid. l. vii. p. 368. X Fab. Bib. Gr. 1. i. c. 31. sect. 13. Blondel, des Sibylles, 1. i. ch. 20. p. 86-88. See also Du Pin, Dissert. Prælim. l. ii. c. 7. p. 115, 116. Amst. 1701. Johan. Richardsoni Prælectiones Ecclesiasticæ, vol. i. p. 161, 162. Jer. Jones, New and Full Method, &c. vol. i. p. 457. * Τ' ουνεκ' αρ' ήμεις και όσιης Χριςοιο γενέθλης b L. v. p. 332. Paris. Vid. Fabr. Bib. Gr. 1. i. c. 32. sect. 7. et Blondel, des Sibylles, 1. c. 4. p. 12. L. v. p. 304. Paris. Τρεις αρξωσιν, ὁ δε τριτος οψε κρατήσει παντων. things,' and in his time shall come the end of the world. This must have been written before 169, in which year Lucius died. He being the youngest, the author guessed he would have the longest reign. But Marcus survived him, and obtained the power of all,' or became sole emperor. So this is generally understood: but possibly by the 'third' the author means Marcus. Lucius indeed, while he lived, was the third and last, in point of rank and dignity, as well as age; but, after his death, Marcus might be spoken of as the third and last. I suspect that he is the person here intended: and the author prophesies of his sole empire, after it obtained. If Marcus is the person whom the author calls the third,' then the passages, in which the universal power' of one of the three is mentioned, were written after the death of Lucius in 169. 6 6 He speaks to the like purpose again in the eighth book: That after him who shall take his name from the Adriatic Sea, that is, Adrian, three shall reign in the last day,' and then comes the end of the world. But first of all Rome shall be destroyed in the 948th year from her foundation,' which is the year of Christ 195. The event not answering this prediction, it is reasonable to conclude, that this is only a vain conjecture, delivered before the time here mentioned. It is not easy to suppose that any one should publish such a false prediction after the time fixed for its accomplishment. I forbear to insist now on the sentiments of the author concerning the Millennium, and other matters, which might show the collection to be ancient, but do not prove it to be written in the second century. 4. These are things which have been already often urged by learned men in the dispute about the Sibyls. I shall add one observation more, though perhaps not very material. The first christians lay under the calumny of prac tising promiscuous lewdness, and other crimes, in their assemblies. It has been often supposed, that these calumnies arose from the licentious manners of those called heretics. Eusebius expressly says, that the impurities practised by the Valentinians, and other heretics, gave • Τον μετα τρεις αρξωσι πανυςατον ημαρ εχοντες. L. viii. p. 367. Paris. L. viii. p. 375. Paris. |