7. BUT now if they are so ambitious of the Honour of being thought polite and eloquent Slanderers, it does so much the less befit us to be mute and careless in the Defence of our most excellent Cause; for it is certainly the part only of dissolute Men, who can securely and wickedly shut their Eyes when the Divine Majesty is injured, to be wholly unconcerned; what is (tho' ⟨p. 9⟩falsely and unjustly) said of them and their Cause, especially when it is of that Nature, that the Glory of God, and the Affairs of Religion are at the same time violated; for although other, and those often very great Injuries, may be born and dissembled by a modest Christian, yet He (saith Ruffinus) who shall patiently put up the Name of an Heretic, does not deserve to be called a Christian. Permit us then to do that which all Laws, and the very Voice of Nature commands us, that which Christ himself did, when he was in a like Case assaulted with Reproaches; that is, suffer us to repel their Defamations, and with Modesty and Truth, to defend our Cause and Innocence: for Christ himself, when the Pharisees charged him with Conjuration, as if he had entered a Combination with impure Spirits, and by their Assistance wrought many Wonders,1 replied, I have not a Devil, but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me; and St. Paul, when he was undervalued by Festus the Proconsul, as a Mad-man,2 answered, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the Words of Truth and Soberness. And the Primitive Christians, when they were traduced to the People as Murderers, Adulterers, Incestuous Persons, and Disturbers of the Government, and saw that the Excellence of their Religion might be called in question, especially if they held their Peace, and by their Silence, seemed to confess the truth of these Accusations, and so the Course of the Gospel might be hindered, they thereupon ⟨p. 10⟩†made public Orations, wrote supplicant Books, and discoursed before Emperors and Princes in the public defence of themselves and the Chruch.
7. BUT now if they are so ambitious of the Honour of being thought polite and eloquent Slanderers, it does so much the less befit us to be mute and careless in the Defence of our most excellent Cause; for it is certainly the part only of dissolute Men, who can securely and wickedly shut their Eyes when the Divine Majesty is injured, to be wholly unconcern'd; what is (tho' ⟨p. 9⟩falsly and unjustly) said of them and their Cause, especially when it is of that Nature, that the Glory of God, and the Affairs of Religion are at the same time violated; for although other, and those often very great Injuries, may be born and dissembl'd by a modest Christian, yet He (saith Ruffinus) who shall patiently put up the Name of an Heretick, does not deserve to be called a Christian. Permit us then to do that which all Laws, and the very Voice of Nature commands us, that which Christ himself did, when he was in a like Case assaulted with Reproaches; that is, suffer us to repel their Defamations, and with Modesty and Truth, to defend our Cause and Innocence: for Christ himself, when the Pharisees charged him with Conjuration, as if he had entered a Combination with impure Spirits, and by their Assistance wrought many Wonders,1 replied, I have not a Devil, but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me; and St. Paul, when he was undervalued by Festus the Proconsul, as a Mad-man,2 answered, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the Words of Truth and Soberness. And the Primitive Christians, when they were traduced to the People as Murtherers, Adulterers, Incestuous Persons, and Disturbers of the Government, and saw that the Excellence of their Religion might be call'd in question, especially if they held their Peace, and by their Silence, seemed to confess the truth of these Accusations, and so the Course of the Gospel might be hindered, they thereupon ⟨p. 10⟩†made publick Orations, wrote supplicant Books, and discoursed before Emperors and Princes in the publick defence of themselves and the Chruch.
- 1John 8. 49.
- 2Act. 26. 25.
- †Quadratus, Justinus, Melito, Tertullian. Quadratus a Disciple of the Apostles, and Bishop of Athens, wrote Books for the Christian Religion, and made an Oration in the Defence of it before Hadrian the Emperor, by which he put a stop to a furious Persecution then moved against it. Anno Christi 128. Spondanus. Justinus the Martyr, a Christian Philosopher, wrote an Apologetic Oration for the Christian Religion, with great freedom and truth, which he dedicated to Antoninus Pius the Emperor, and his adopted Sons Marcus and Lucius, and to the very Senate and People of Rome. Anno Christi 150. for which he lost his Life. Melito, Bishop of Sardis, wrote an excellent Apology to Aurelius the Emperor for the Christians, which he presented to that Emperor in the tenth year of his Reign. Anno Christi 172. Baronius. Tertullian wrote a very learned and a sharp Apology for the Christian Religion, which was some few years since made English. It was first published by the Author, without his Name, in the year of Christ 201. in the very City of Rome, and did great service to Christianity, which was then most miserably oppressed by the Lies and Defamations of the Pagans, which did it more hurt than all their other Fury.Quadratus, Justinus, Melito, Tertullian. Quadratus a Disciple of the Apostles, and Bishop of Athens, wrote Books for the Christian Religion, and made an Oration in the Defence of it before Hadrian the Emperor, by which he put a stop to a furious Persecution then moved against it. Anno Christi 128. Spondanus. Justinus the Martyr, a Christian Philosopher, wrote an Apologetick Oration for the Christian Religion, with great freedom and truth, which he dedicated to Antoninus Pius the Emperor, and his adopted Sons Marcus and Lucius, and to the very Senate and People of Rome. Anno Christi 150. for which he lost his Life. Melito, Bishop of Sard•s, wrote an excellent Apology to Aurelius the Emperor for the Christians, which he presented to that Emperor in the tenth year of his Reign. Anno Christi 172. Baronius. Tertullian wrote a very learned and a sharp Apology for the Christian Religion, which was some few years since made English. It was first published by the Author, without his Name, in the year of Christ 201. in the very City of Rome, and did great service to Christianity, which was then most miserably oppressed by the Lies and Defamations of the Pagans, which did it more hurt than all their other Fury.
