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TroposchemmalogiaTroposchēmalogia

Name: Troposchemmalogia
Author: Benjamin Keach

Troposchemmalogia: Tropes and figures; or, A treatise of the metaphors, allegories, and express similitudes, &c. contained in the Bible of the Old and New Testament To which is prefixed, divers arguments to prove the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures wherein also 'tis largely evinced, that by the great whore, mystery Babylon is meant the Papal hierarchy, or present state and church of Rome. Philologia sacra, the second part. Wherein the schemes, or figures in Scripture, are reduced under their proper heads, with a brief explication of each. Together with a treatise of types, parables, &c. with an improvement of them parallel-wise. By B. KTroposchēmalogia: Tropes and figures; or, A treatise of the metaphors, allegories, and express similitudes, &c. contained in the Bible of the Old and New Testament To which is prefixed, divers arguments to prove the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures wherein also 'tis largely evinced, that by the great whore, mystery Babylon is meant the Papal hierarchy, or present state and church of Rome. Philologia sacra, the second part. Wherein the schemes, or figures in Scripture, are reduced under their proper heads, with a brief explication of each. Together with a treatise of types, parables, &c. with an improvement of them parallel-wise. By B. K

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XIII. But the Doctrines and Matters of Fact in the Scripture (which if true,¹ its Divine Original will be undeniable) are not only avouched by its own Votaries, but many most considerable parts of it acknowledged by its Enemies: As appears by this brief induction of Particulars. The Creation of the World is intimated by Ovid in his Metamorphosis, lib. 1. The extraordinary long Lives of the Patriarchs in the first Ages o• the World, by Manetho the Egyptian, Berosus, the Chaldean and others; who add, That they were ordained to live so long that they might study Sciences, and invent Arts, especially that they might observe the Celestial Motions, and enrich the World with the knowledge of Astronomy; wherein (say they) they would have done little good, if they had lived less than six hundred Years, because the great Year (as they call it) is so long in going about and coming to a Period. The Flood is mentioned by the same Berosus, whose Words are recited by Josephus, lib. 1. Antiq. cap. 4. Of Noah (under the Notion of Bifronted Janus, because he lived in both Worlds,) we read in Berosus and Herodotus: And of the Ark Sailing over America, and the letting forth of Birds that found no dry Ground, in Polyhistor, and others. Of the Destruction of Sodom; or the Asphaltic Lake, we have some Account in Pliny, lib. 5. cap. 16. and Justin, lib. 36. That there was such a Man as Moses, such a People as the Israelites; that this Moses was their Captain, and led them out of Egypt, wrote their Story, and gave them Laws, is testified by the most ancient Records or the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Chaldeans, and Grecians. And Manetho speaks very particularly both of their Coming into Egypt, and Departure thence. Of Circumcision, Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Tacitus, lib. 2. Of the coming of the Israelites into Canaan, Procopius, lib. 4. Of Solomon we read in Dionysius Cassius; of the Slaughter of Sennacherib, in Herodotus, lib. 2. The great Roman Historian, Tacitus, in his Annals, speaking of the Christians being persecuted by Nero, on pretence of burning of Rome, which he set on fire himself, says expressly,^(b) The Author of that Name or Sect was CHRIST, who, when Tiberius was Emperor, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, the then Procurator of Judea. The Star that appeared at our Saviour's Birth, is taken notice of by Pliny, lib. 2. cap. 5.

XIII. But the Doctrines and Matters of Fact in the Scripture (which if true,¹ its Divine Original will be undeniable) are not only avouched by its own Votaries, but many most considerable parts of it acknowledged by its Enemies: As appears by this brief induction of Particulars. The Creation of the World is intimated by Ovid in his Metamorphosis, lib. 1. The extraordinary long Lives of the Patriarchs in the first Ages o• the VVorld, by Manetho the Egygtian, Berosus, the Caldean and others; who add, That they were ordained to live so long that they might study Sciences, and invent Arts, especially that they might observe the Celestial Motions, and enrich the World with the knowledg of Astronomy; wherein (say they) they would have done little good, if they had lived less than six hundred Years, because the great Year (as they call it) is so long in going about and coming to a Period. The Flood is mentioned by the same Berosus, whose VVords are recited by Josephus, lib. 1. Antiq. cap. 4. Of Noah (under the Notion of Bifronted Janus, because he lived in both VVorlds,) we read in Berosus and Herodotus: And of the Ark Sayling over America, and the letting forth of Birds that found no dry Ground, in Polyhistor, and others. Of the Destruction of Sodom; or the Asphaltick Lake, we have some Account in Pliny, lib. 5. cap. 16. and Justin, lib. 36. That there was such a Man as Moses, such a People as the Israelites; that this Moses was their Captain, and led them out of Egypt, wrote their Story, and gave them Laws, is testified by the most ancient Records or the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Caldeans, and Grecians. And Manetho speaks very particularly both of their Coming into Egypt, and Departure thence. Of Circumcision, Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Tacitus, lib. 2. Of the coming of the Israelites into Canaan, Procopius, lib. 4. Of Solomon we read in Dionysius Cassius; of the Slaughter of Sennachcrib, in Herodotus, lib. 2. The great Roman Historian, Tacitus, in his Annals, speaking of the Christians being persecuted by Nero, on pretence of burning of Rome, which he set on fire himself, says expre•ly,^(b) The Author of that Name or Sect was CHRIST, who, when Tiberius was Emperor, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, the then Procurator of Judea. The Star that appeared at our Saviour's Birth, is taken notice of by Pliny, lib. 2. cap. 5.

113 The Acknowledgement of the Heathen13 The Acknowledgment of the Heathen
(b)Author nominis ejus Christus, qui, Tiberio imperante, per Procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio affectus erat. Tacit. Annal. l. 15.

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But more particularly by Calcidius, an Heathen Philosopher, in his Comment on Plato's Timaeus; whose Words, as I find them cited by Cardinal Baronius, that learned Annalist, are these:^(c) There is another more venerable and holy History, which tells us of the Rise of a certain unwonted Star, not threatening Diseases and Death, but the Descent of the venerable God, to converse with Men, and mortal Affairs: Which Star, when certain wise Men of Chaldea saw in their fourney by Night, being sufficiently acquainted with Astronomy, and consideration of Celestial things, They are reported to have sought out this new Birth of God, and the Majesty of this Child being found, to have worshipped him, and offered Gifts suitable to so great a God. Herod's slaughtering of the Children is notorious, by that Joke passed upon him on that occasion by the Emperor Augustus, recorded by Macrobius, ^(d)When he heard, that amongst those Children under two Years old, whom Herod the King of the Jews had commanded to be slain in Syria, his (the said Herod's) own Son was slain also, he said, 'Tis better to be Herod's Hog, than his Son: Alluding to the Jews Abhorrence of Swines Flesh, which it seems Herod, tho not of that Nation, yet pretending himself a kind of Proselyte, did likewise observe. Touching the preternatural Defect of the Sun at our Lord's Crucifixion it was with amazement seen and recorded by Dionysius the Areopagite. And Tertullian, in his Apology, cap. 21. appeals to the Roman Records for the certainty of it. And Origen affirms, that one Phlegon, Secretary to the Emperor Adrian, did write thereof in his Chronicles. What an illustrious Testimony is that extorted by Truth from the Mouth of an Enemy, I mean Josephus, a Jew in Religion, as well as by Nation, (tho he wrote in Greek) born not above five or six Years after Christ's Passion! In his 18th Book, and 4th Chapter, speaking of the Reign of Tiberias, he hath these Words: In those Days there was one Jesus, a wise Man, (if it be lawful to call him a Man) for he was a Worker of great Miracles, and a Teacher of such as readily receive the Truth, and had many Followers, as well Jews as Gentiles. This is that CHRIST, who tho he was accused by the chief of our Nation, and by Pilate condemned to be crucified; yet ⟨p. xii⟩did not they who had first loved him, forsake him; for he appeared unto them the third Day alive again:

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The holy Prophets foretelling these, and many other wonderful Things of him. And even to this Day the Christian Sect (so named from him) continues. Nor is that less clear of Lentulus, in his Epistle to the Emperor Tiberius, recited by Eutropius, in his Annals of the Roman Senators, and now commonly extant in the Bibliotheca Patrum, ^(e)He thus begins, There hath appeared in our Days, and yet is living, a Man of great Virtue (or Power), named Jesus Christ, who is called of the Nations the Prophet of Truth, whom his Disciples call the Son of God, a Raiser of the Dead, and an Healer of all manner of Diseases.

(e)Apparuit temporibus nostris, & adhuc est, homo magnae virtutis, nominatus Jesus Christus, qui dicitur à Gentibus Propheta veritatis, quem ejus discipuli vocant Filium Dei, s•scitans mortros, & sanans omnes languores.

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To all which we might add the Prophecies of the Sibyls, amongst the Heathens, who most plainly foretold the Coming of Christ, the Son of God, into the World, and expressed his very Name and Quality in certain Acrostic Verses, recited by the great Augustin, in the 23d Chapter of the Ninth Book of the City of God.

To all which we might add the Prophecies of the Sybils, amongst the Heathens, who most plainly foretold the Coming of Christ, the Son of God, into the World, and express'd his very Name and Quality in certain Acrostick Verses, recited by the great Augustin, in the 23d Chapter of the Ninth Book of the City of God.

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XIV. He that disowns the Bible to be of Divine Authority, must either think there is some Revelation from God to the World, how he will be worshipped, and how they ought to conduct themselves; or he thinks there is none: If he thinks there is none, he not only gives the Lie to the Christian and Jewish, but generally to all Religion, that has been, or is in the World: For they all have pretended, and do allege the same as their Foundation. And besides, he must confess, that God (who has made Man the noblest of Creatures, and Lord of the whole World) has left him in a worse Condition, in the present Posture we find him, than the meanest Creatures, to whom he has given sufficient Means to attain the highest End of their Beings: But that infinite Wisdom should deal thus, is absurd and unreasonable to conceive. If he grant, there is any-where a Revelation from God to the World, let it be produced, and judg if it be any way able to vie with the Scriptures, for all those glorious Characters and Marks of Divine Authority, Power, and Excellency, which we have enumerated.

XIV. He that disowns the Bible to be of Divine Authority, must either think there is some Revelation from God to the World, how he will be worshipped, and how they ought to conduct themselves; or he thinks there is none: If he thinks there is none, he not only gives the Lie to the Christian and Jewish, but generally to all Religion, that has been, or is in the World: For they all have pretended, and do alledg the same as their Foundation. And besides, he must confess, that God (who has made Man the noblest of Creatures, and Lord of the whole World) has left him in a worse Condition, in the present Posture we find him, than the meanest Creatures, to whom he has given sufficient Means to attain the highest End of their Beings: But that infinite Wisdom should deal thus, is absurd and unreasonable to conceive. If he grant, there is any-where a Revelation from God to the World, let it be produced, and judg if it be any way able to vie with the Scriptures, for all those glorious Characters and Marks of Divine Authority, Power, and Excellency, which we have enumerated.

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XV. If the Scriptures be neither the Invention of Devils nor Men, then it can be from none but God: But they are not from Devils; for neither could they work Miracles, nor deliver true Prophecies to confirm them; nor would it consist with God's Sovereignty over them, or with his Goodness, Wisdom, or Faithfulness of governing the World; nor would Satan speak so much for God, nor lay such a Design for Man's Salvation, and against his own Kingdom, nor be so industrious to draw the World to unbelief of it. Nor were the Scriptures the Invention of Men; for they must be either good Men, or bad Men: Good Men they could not be; for nothing could be more opposite to Goodness, nay, even common Honesty, than to assume the Name of God falsely, feign Miracles, and cheat People with Promises of another World. And then on the other side, 'tis as impossible ill Men could be the Devisers of so holy a Book: For can any rational Man think, that wicked Deceivers would so highly advance the Glory of God? Would they so vilify themselves, and brand and stigmatize their own Practices? Could such an admirable undeniable Spirit of Holiness, Righteousness, and Self-denial, as runs through every Vein of Scripture, proceed from the Invention of the Wicked? Would they ever have extolled their Enemies, the Godly, and framed such perfect spiritual Laws? or laid such a Design against the Flesh, and all their worldly Happiness, as every-where the Scope of the Scripture doth carry on? If we cannot gather Grapes of Thorns, and Figs of Thistles, then may we be assured, that no ill Men had an hand in writing and promoting this good and holy Book.

XV. If the Scriptures be neither the Invention of Devils nor Men, then it can be from none but God: But they are not from Devils; for neither could they work Miracles, nor deliver true Prophecies to confirm them; nor would it consist with God's Sovereignty over them, or with his Goodness, Wisdom, or Faithfulness of governing the World; nor would Satan speak so much for God, nor lay such a Design for Man's Salvation, and against his own Kingdom, nor be so industrious to draw the World to unbelief of it. Nor were the Scriptures the Invention of Men; for they must be either good Men, or bad Men: Good Men they could not be; for nothing could be more opposite to Goodness, nay, even common Honesty, than to assume the Name of God falsly, feign Miracles, and cheat People with Promises of another World. And then on the other side, 'tis as impossible ill Men could be the Devisers of so holy a Book: For can any rational Man think, that wicked Deceivers would so highly advance the Glory of God? Would they so vilify themselves, and brand and stigmatize their own Practices? Could such an admirable undeniable Spirit of Holiness, Righteousness, and Self-denial, as runs through every Vein of Scripture, proceed from the Invention of the Wicked? Would they ever have extolled their Enemies, the Godly, and framed such perfect spiritual Laws? or laid such a Design against the Flesh, and all their worldly Happiness, as every-where the Scope of the Scripture doth carry on? If we cannot gather Grapes of Thorns, and Figs of Thistles, then may we be assured, that no ill Men had an hand in writing and promoting this good and holy Book.

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¹XVI. The Divine Composition of this blessed Book is not a little manifested by the continual Rage of the Devil against it, which appears not only in stirring up his Instruments utterly to suppress it, (for what Book in the World ever met with such Opposition? as aforesaid) but also in those Temptations with which he assaults the Hearts of Men, when they apply themselves to the serious Study of it. We can read any other History, and readily entertain and credit it; but when we once come to the Bible, strange Objections, Doubts, and Curiosities arise, and presently we are apt to question the Truth and Possibility of every Passage: These are the Suggestions of Satan, to render that holy Book ineffectual to us, the Scope and Purport of which he knows tends directly to the Overthrow of his Kingdom of Darkness.

¹XVI. The Divine Composition of this blessed Book is not a little manifested by the continual Rage of the Devil against it, which appears not only in stirring up his Instruments utterly to suppress it, (for what Book in the VVorld ever met with such Opposition? as aforesaid) but also in those Temptations with which he assaults the Hearts of Men, when they apply themselves to the serious Study of it. VVe can read any other History, and readily entertain and credit it; but when we once come to the Bible, strange Objections, Doubts, and Curiosities arise, and presently we are apt to question the Truth and Possibility of every Passage: These are the Suggestions of Satan, to render that holy Book ineffectual to us, the Scope and Purport of which he knows tends directly to the Overthrow of his Kingdom of Darkness.

116. Satan's Suggestions & Temptations against the Bible, argue it divine.

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Some of the most frequent Objections against the Bible, are these that follow.

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Object. 1. How Men, in the respective Ages wherein the several parts of the Bible were written, could know that they were written by an infallible Spirit, and so distinguish them from other Writings?

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Answ. Two ways: First, by the Quality of the Persons; and secondly, from the Nature and Quality of the Matter. As for Moses, there could not be the least Cause of doubting his being inspired by God, since he wrought such Miracles, and had a visible and audible Intercourse with the Lord, as we read, Exod. 19.9. that the Lord said unto him, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick Cloud, that the People may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. The other Parts of the Old Testament were written by Prophets, and holy Men. And tho several of them were not received and hearkened to as such, by the corrupt ruling Part of the Jews, whilst they lived; yet they were acknowledged afterwards, as well for the Sanctity of their Lives, and the fulfilling of those things mentioned, the Judgments which they foretold coming to pass, and the Agreeableness of what they delivered to the established Worship of God. For two ways God himself had provided, for discovering all Pretences to Revelation: First, If any such Pretender went about to seduce the People to Idolatry, he was to be rejected. — The Prophet that shall speak in the Name of other Gods, shall die^(f). Secondly; If the Matter came not to pass, as we have it in the next Verse save one; When a Prophet speaketh in the Name of the Lord, if the Thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the Thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the Prophet hath spoken it presumptuously. And a final Decision, what was to be received for the Old Testament, God was pleased to make, after the Babylonish Captivity, in the Days of Ezra, and that famous Synagogue, several of the last Prophets being personally present, where, by a divine Direction, all the Parts of the Old Testament were collected, and a Separation made, not only between the Works of true Prophets and false; and such Writings as came by divine Inspiration, from those that were of divine Extraction; and such as were to be a perpetual Rule to the Church, from such as relating only to particular Cases, were not so. And in this Settlement the Jewish Church did acquiesce, and from that time to this have had no further Disputes, but received those very Books, and none others, (for those called Apocrypha, which the Papists would obtrude upon us, were never received as Canonical by the Jews.)

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Then as for the Books of the New Testament, they were all written either by Apostles, or Apostolical Men, known by their being called to that Office, and the Gift of Tongues, and Power of working Miracles, to be guided by the Holy-Ghost. And as the Writing of the Old Testament ended with the Prophets, (for after Malachi, to the Time of John the Baptist, which was near four hundred Years, there arose not a Prophet in Israel); so the New Testament begins with the Accomplishment of Malachi's Prophecy, by the Birth of the said John, predicted under the Type of Elijah, and ends with the Apostles; for John, who wrote the Revelation, outlived all the rest of the Apostles, (for he died not till the Time of Trajan, in the 99th Year of our Lord, and almost thirty Years after the Destruction of Jerusalem) and he closes the Canon of the New Testament with a Denunciation of a Curse to any that should add thereunto^(g).

Then as for the Books of the New Testament, they were all written either by Apostles, or Apostolical Men, known by their being called to that Office, and the Gift of Tongues, and Power of working Miracles, to be guided by the Holy-Ghost. And as the Writing of the Old Testament ended with the Prophets, (for after Malachi, to the Time of John the Baptist, which was near four hundred Years, there arose not a Prophet in Israel); so the New Testament begins with the Accomplishment of Malachi's Prophecy, by the Birth of the said John, predicted under the Type of Elias, and ends with the Apostles; for John, who wrote the Revelation, outliv'd all the rest of the Apostles, (for he died not till the Time of Trajan, in the 99th Year of our Lord, and almost thirty Years after the Destruction of Jerusalem) and he closes the Canon of the New Testament with a Denunciation of a Curse to any that should add thereunto^(g).

(g)Rev. 22.18

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Object. 2. But how are we sure that we have now at this Day all the Books that were anciently esteemed Canonical? It seems not: for there is mention made of Solomon's three thousand Parables or Proverbs, and Songs an hundred and five^(h), of Nathan the Prophet, and of Gad the Seer⁽ⁱ⁾, the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the Visions of Iddo the Seer^(k): And in the New Testament, of the Epistle to the Laodiceans^(l); now where are any of these extant?

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Answ. Those Books mentioned in the Old Testament, were either Books of a common Nature, and not divinely inspired; or else they are yet extant under another Name: For how do we know, but the Books called Samuel might be written partly by himself, whilst he lived, and partly by Gad and Nathan, after his Death. And for the other Writings of Nathan, Ahijah, and Iddo, they may very probably be the same that we call the Books of the Kings. And for that Epistle to the Laodiceans, the Original is, [Greek or Hebrew], [from] (not [to] as some Translations would have it) Laodicea: And 'tis probable it was some Letter written from the Laodiceans to Paul, wherein there might be something that concerned the Colossians, and therefore the Apostle advised them to read it.

Answ. Those Books mentioned in the Old Testament, were either Books of a common Nature, and not divinely inspired; or else they are yet extant under another Name: For how do we know, but the Books called Samuel might be written partly by himself, whilst he lived, and partly by Gad and Nathan, after his Death. And for the other Writings of Nathan, Ahijah, and Iddo, they may very probably be the same that we call the Books of the Kings. And for that Epistle to the Laodiceans, the Original is, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, [from] (not [to] as some Translations would have it) Laodicea: And 'tis probable it was some Letter written from the Laodiceans to Paul, wherein there might be something that concerned the Colossians, and therefore the Apostle advised them to read it.

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Object. 3. But the Papists say, That the very Fountains, the Hebrew and Greek Originals themselves, are corrupted, depraved, and troubled; and if so, how shall we be at any certainty?

:99p. xiv

Answ. 'Tis true, they do say so, but most falsely and wickedly, only to the dishonour of the Word of God, to make way for their own Traditions, and the Authority of their Church; tho by this Suggestion they blaspheme the Providence of God, and also lay an insufferable Scandal on the Church: For if the Scriptures were committed to her Charge, and she hath suffered any part of them to be either lost or corrupted, has she not grossly abused her Trust? But they are not able to give one Instance where any such Corruption has happened. As for the Old Testament, 'tis well enough known how strictly careful the Jews were, and are to this day, to preserve it, insomuch that they took an account how oft every Letter in the Alphabet was used in every Book thereof. And Philo the Jew, an ancient, learned, and approved Author of that Nation, affirms, That from the giving of the Law to his Time, which was above two thousand Years, there was not so much as one Word changed or varied; yea, that there was not any Jew, but would rather die a thousand times over, than suffer their Law to be changed in the least. And Arias Montanus, (a Person extremely skilled in the Hebrew) in his Preface to the Interlineary Bible, assures us, That as in these Hebrew Bibles which are without Vowels, we find a certain constant Agreement of all the Manuscripts and Prints, and a like Writing in each; so in all those too that have the Points added, we have not observed the least variation or difference of pointing: Nor is there any Man can affirm, That he ever in any place saw different Exemplars of the Hebrew Text. And indeed had the Jews ever corrupted any part of it, no doubt they would have done it in those Texts that plainly refer to our Saviour; and had any Christians done it, the Jews would soon have discovered the Forgery. But neither of these things have happened, therefore to say the same is any way corrupted, is false. And for the New Testament, 'tis true, there have in ancient Manuscripts some various Readings been observed, but not such as to cause any Dispute touching the Sum or Substance of the Doctrine therein delivered, or considerably to alter the Sense of the Text.

Answ. 'Tis true, they do say so, but most falsly and wickedly, only to the dishonour of the Word of God, to make way for their own Traditions, and the Authority of their Church; tho by this Suggestion they blaspheme the Providence of God, and also lay an insufferable Scandal on the Church: For if the Scriptures were committed to her Charge, and she hath suffered any part of them to be either lost or corrupted, has she not grosly abused her Trust? But they are not able to give one Instance where any such Corruption has happen'd. As for the Old Testament, 'tis well enough known how strictly careful the Jews were, and are to this day, to preserve it, insomuch that they took an account how oft every Letter in the Alphabet was used in every Book thereof. And Philo the Jew, an ancient, learned, and approved Author of that Nation, affirms, That from the giving of the Law to his Time, which was above two thousand Years, there was not so much as one Word changed or varied; yea, that there was not any Jew, but would rather die a thousand times over, than suffer their Law to be changed in the least. And Arias Montanus, (a Person extremely skill'd in the Hebrew) in his Preface to the Interlineary Bible, assures us, That as in these Hebrew Bibles which are without Vowels, we find a certain constant Agreement of all the Manuscripts and Prints, and a like Writing in each; so in all those too that have the Points added, we have not observed the least variation or difference of pointing: Nor is there any Man can affirm, That he ever in any place saw different Exemplars of the Hebrew Text. And indeed had the Jews ever corrupted any part of it, no doubt they would have done it in those Texts that plainly refer to our Saviour; and had any Christians done it, the Jews would soon have discovered the Forgery. But neither of these things have happened, therefore to say the same is any way corrupted, is false. And for the New Testament, 'tis true, there have in ancient Manuscripts some various Readings been observ'd, but not such as to cause any Dispute touching the Sum or Substance of the Doctrine therein delivered, or considerably to alter the Sence of the Text.

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Object. 4. But suppose the Originals be pure, how shall the Unlearned (who are the far greater part of Mankind) be sure that the Translations they have, and can only make use of, are well and honestly done, and do contain the Word of God?

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Title as printed: Troposchemmalogia: Tropes and figures; or, A treatise of the metaphors, allegories, and express similitudes, &c. contained in the Bible of the Old and New Testament To which is prefixed, divers arguments to prove the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures wherein also 'tis largely evinced, that by the great whore, mystery Babylon is meant the Papal hierarchy, or present state and church of Rome. Philologia sacra, the second part. Wherein the schemes, or figures in Scripture, are reduced under their proper heads, with a brief explication of each. Together with a treatise of types, parables, &c. with an improvement of them parallel-wise. By B. KTroposchēmalogia: Tropes and figures; or, A treatise of the metaphors, allegories, and express similitudes, &c. contained in the Bible of the Old and New Testament To which is prefixed, divers arguments to prove the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures wherein also 'tis largely evinced, that by the great whore, mystery Babylon is meant the Papal hierarchy, or present state and church of Rome. Philologia sacra, the second part. Wherein the schemes, or figures in Scripture, are reduced under their proper heads, with a brief explication of each. Together with a treatise of types, parables, &c. with an improvement of them parallel-wise. By B. K
Author: Benjamin Keach 1640–1704
Place: London
Printer: John Darby
Year: 1682
Size: [12], xvi, 436, 48, 437-444 p.
Words: 336,511
Catalogue: Wing K101A · ESTC R7039
Text: EEBO-TCP B25425

Passages: 3,827
Sections: 518

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Benjamin Keach 1640–1704

PuritansEngland

Particular Baptist minister.

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▪: illegible punctuation
⟨p. 12⟩: a page break in the printed book

But more particularly by Calcidius, an Heathen Philosopher, in his Comment on Plato's Timaeus; whose Words, as I find them cited by Cardinal Baronius, that learned Annalist, are these:^(c) There is another more venerable and holy History, which tells us of the Rise of a certain unwonted Star, not threatning Diseases and Death, but the Descent of the venerable God, to converse with Men, and mortal Affairs: Which Star, when certain wise Men of Caldea saw in their fourney by Night, being sufficiently acquainted with Astronomy, and consideration of Celestial things, They are reported to have sought out this new Birth of God, and the Majesty of this Child being found, to have worshipped him, and offered Gifts suitable to so great a God. Herod's slaughtering of the Children is notorious, by that Joque passed upon him on that occasion by the Emperor Augustus, recorded by Macrobius, ^(d)When he heard, that amongst those Children under two Years old, whom Herod the King of the Jews had commanded to be slain in Syria, his (the said Herod's) own Son was slain also, he said, 'Tis better to be Herod's Hog, than his Son: Alluding to the Jews Abhorrence of Swines Flesh, which it seems Herod, tho not of that Nation, yet pretending himself a kind of Proselyte, did likewise observe. Touching the preternatural Defect of the Sun at our Lord's Crucifixion it was with amazement seen and recorded by Dionysius the Areopagite. And Tertullian, in his Apology, cap. 21. appeals to the Roman Records for the certainty of it. And Origen affirms, that one Phlegon, Secretary to the Emperor Adrian, did write thereof in his Chronicles. What an illustrious Testimony is that extorted by Truth from the Mouth of an Enemy, I mean Josephus, a Jew in Religion, as well as by Nation, (tho he wrote in Greek) born not above five or six Years after Christ's Passion! In his 18th Book, and 4th Chapter, speaking of the Reign of Tiberias, he hath these Words: In those Days there was one Jesus, a wise Man, (if it be lawful to call him a Man) for he was a Worker of great Miracles, and a Teacher of such as readily receive the Truth, and had many Followers, as well Jews as Gentiles. This is that CHRIST, who tho he was accused by the chief of our Nation, and by Pilate condemned to be crucified; yet ⟨p. xii⟩did not they who had first loved him, forsake him; for he appeared unto them the third Day alive again:

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