Jefus Chrift is truly God and Lord; or really, ibid Art.4. by the appointment of the Father, our God, and our Lord, our King, and our Judge. Dono

And now fure we may eafily learn from the whole Conduct of our prefent, and other the like late Convocations and Synods, how very fallible fuch Affemblies are in matter of Religion: Where few or none dare speak their real Sentiments freely and openly; and every fingle Member is afraid of the reft: Where a very few Notable and Managing Men, fupported by others behind the Curtain, can lead whole Bodies as they please: Where Examination is efteem'd very dangerous, and beneath the Dignity of the Body; where the common Right of Mankind, to be heard before Cenfure, is deny'd where Facts notoriously falfe pafs for great Motives and Arguments; and particular Drawers up of Cenfures, or Reprefentations, can engage whole Bodies to affert fuch Facts: Where Two diftinct Houses fhall fo little agree about the Doctrines of the Church, that out of Eighteen Heretical Articles Cenfur'd in the Upper, but Twelve fhall appear Cenfur'd by the Lower; and the Upper fhall appear so far unconcern'd about one third part of its Cenfure, as to drop it immediately, in complyance with the Lower, as if feveral of thofe Points at least, were no Herefies at all, or however, of no great confequence Where the Obligation, to compare my Doctrines with the Holy Scriptures, the Two First General Councils, and Liturgy & Articles of the Church of England, own'd in the Preamble, feems to be forgot in the Body of the Cenfure, and all cis left to ftand on the Authority of the prefent Convocation alone and Where, after all, that Cenfure which does earnestly befeech all Christian People by the Mercies of Christ, to take

beed

beed how they give Ear to thefe falfe Doctrines, is moft ftudiously and induftriously conceal'd from all Chriftian People, and the very Perfon whofe Doarines are cenfur'd, is forc'd, not without great difficulty, to obtain an Account of that Cenfure. To conclude, I heartily with however, that all the Honeft among the prefent Orthodox, could but as well know the true Hiftory of the Council of Nice, as they may of this last Convocation: for I believe it would go near to cure them as to their efteem of the great Authority of fuch Affemblies; as the knowledge of the true History of the Council of Trent has cur'd the Proteftants, and I believe fome of the moderate Papifts alfo, as to the Infallibilty of those Councils which are under the Management of the See of Rome. Nor do I fee how a Proteftant Synod, while it owns even General Councils fallible, can act as if it felf were infallible; without giving up the Foundation of her intire Settlement; and cutting the very Sinews of the Proteftant Reformation.

Novemb. 14. 1711.

WILL WHISTON.

A DISSER2

PROPOSITIO N.

The Larger Epiftles of Ignatius, which of late have been ftil'd his Interpolated Epiftles, are alone the Genuine and Original Epiftles of that Father. And the Smaller are only an Epitome of feveral of the Larger; made most probably about the Middle of the Fourth Century of the Church.

T

HIS is an Affertion fo very strange in this Age, and yet of fo very great Confequence to the Chriftian Church on feveral Accounts, that it requires a very careful Confideration: Efpecially fince the Moderns have been fo affrighted with fome Original, but long fince Exploded Doctrines of Chriftianity, and Citations from the Constitutions of the Apostles (which have been themselves alfo exploded on the like Occafion,) therein contain'd, that they have not had Courage or ImparB tiality

tiality enough to enquire throughly into their Antiquity and Authority hitherto, as they ought to have done: Which therefore I fhall attempt at prefent.

But before I come to Particulars, I muft make this Declaration in general, that under the Larger Genuine Epiftles, I include Ten. I mean befides the Seven known Epiftles contain'd in the Polycarpian Collection, of which Eufebius gives us a particular Account, and Ferom from him, I efteem thofe Three to Tarfus, to Antioch, and to Hero, to be genuine alfo ; tho' the Silence of Eufebius and Ferom concerning them makes it not reasonable to pretend to the fame Degree of Evidence for those Three, that we have for the other Seven. However, fince there is Reafon to believe, that Ignatius did write more Epitles than thofe Seven commonly afcribed to him; Grab Spi- fince the Stile, Genius, Doctrines, and Nature cileg. of thefe Three, are fo very much the fame with Tom. II. thofe of the other Seven; fince the Notes of P. 24, 25, Chronology, with the Ancient Quotations and

Vid.

26.

References agree to them, as well as to the other; fince Eufebius's Silence only fhews, that he had met with no other than thofe Seven which Polycarp collected, and fent to Philippi; (whereas the other Three were written from Philippi) as was the Cafe in the Epiftles of PoHift Eccl. lycarp himself: [ For tho' Eufebius, from Irenæus,

affures us they were Seven; yet does not he appear ever to have feen any other of them than this to the Philippians, which accompanied thofe of Ignatius before-mentioned; ] and fince all the MSS. that are known, both Greek and Latin, excepting that fingle Copy mention'd by Bishop Pearfon, and now in the Bodleian Library, of the Seven Large ones, appear to have all thefe Three,as well as the reft; even when feveral of them omit the

Spurious

Spurious Epiftle to the Philippians at the fame time: All which will hereafter be proved We have no fufficient Reafon to reject thefe Epiftles; especially when they are infcrib'd to fuch Places, and to fuch a Perfon, as Ignatias was more unlikely to forget, than most of thofe to which he wrote his other Epiftles. This being Premis'd, I come to my main Design; and fhall comprehend what I have to fay upon this Subject, under the following Heads.

I. I fhall offer fome General Arguments to prove, that 'tis highly improbable that the Smaller Epiftles fhould be the Genuine ones: Which Arguments will also infer the great Probability that the Larger are fo.

II. I fhall fhew, that Eufebius's Defcription of the Epiftles which he faw, do better agree to the Larger, than they do to the Smaller Epiftles; nay, that One of his Defcriptions entirely agrees with the Larger, and as entirely difa grees with the Smaller Epiftles.

III. I fhall fhew by Internal Arguments and Characters, that the Smaller Epiftles cannot be the Genuine ones,nor fo early as the Days of Ignatius.

IV. I fhall fhew by the like Internal Arguments and Characters, that the Larger Epiftles are the Genuine ones, and agree exactly to the Days and Circumstances of Ignatius.

V. I fhall fhew, that the Ancient Exprefs Citations out of thefe Epiftles, that are not equally in both Editions, for the First Six Centuries at the leaft, do, in general, much better agree to the Larger Epiftles than to the Smaller.

VI. I fhall fhew, that the Ancient Obfcurer References and Allufions to thefe Epiftles, are generally taken out of the fameLarger Epiftles only. VII. I fhall fhew in Particular, that the Smal