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tiality on which it feemed to be founded. This recommended it particularly to thofe real fages, whose inquiries were accompanied with wifdom and moderation, and who were fick of thofe arrogant and contentious fects, which required an invariable attachment to their particular fyftems. And, indeed, nothing could have a more engaging aspect than a set of men, who, abandoning all cavil, and all prejudices in favour of any party, profeffed fearching after the truth alone, and were ready to adopt, from all the different fyftems and fects, fuch tenets as they thought agreeable to it. From hence alfo they were called Eclectics. It is, however, to be obferved, as we hinted in the former fection, that though these philosophers were attached to no particular fect, yet they preferred, as appears from a variety of teftimonies, the fublime Plato to all other fages, and approved of the most of his opinions concerning the deity, the univerfe, and the human foul.

This new fpecies of Platonism was embraced by such of the Alexandrian Chriftians as were defirous to retain, with the profeffion of the gospel, the title, the dignity, and the habit of philofophers. It is alfo faid to have had the particular approbation of Athenagoras, Pantænus, Clemens the Alexandrian, and all thofe who, in this century, were charged with the care of the public school which the Chriftians had at Alexandria. Thefe fages were of opinion, that true philofophy, the greatest and moft falutary gift of God to mortals, was fcattered in various portions through all the different fects, and that it was, confequently, the duty of every wife man, and more especially of every Chriftian doctor, to gather it from the feveral corners, where it lay difperfed, and to employ it, thus reunited, in the defence of religion, and in deftroying the dominion of impiety and vice. The Chriftian Eclectics had this alfo in common with the others, that they preferred Plato to the other philofophers, and looked upon his opinions concerning God, the human foul, and things invifible, as conformable to the spirit and genius of the Christian doctrine.

This philofophical fyftem underwent fome changes, when Ammonius Saccas, who taught with the highest applaufe in the Alexandrian fchool, about the conclufion of this century, laid the foundations of that fect which was distinguished by the name of the New Platonics. This learned man was born of Christian *parents, and never, perhaps, gave up entirely the outward profeffion of that divine religion, in which he had been educated. As his genius was vaft and comprehenfive, fo were his projects bold and fingular. For he attempted a general reconciliation or coalition of all fects, whether philofophical or religious, and taught a dorine, which he looked upon as proper to unite them all, the Chriftians not excepted, in the moft perfect harmony. And

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herein lies the difference between this new fect and the Eclectics, who had, before this time, flourished in Egypt. The Eclectics held, that in every fect there was a mixture of good and bad, of truth and falfhood, and accordingly they chofe and adopted out of each of them, fuch tenets as feemed to them conformable to reafon and truth, and rejected fuch as they thought repugnant to both. Ammonius, on the contrary, maintained, that the great principles of all philofophical and religious truth were to be found, equally, in all fects; that they differed from each other, only in their method of expreffing them, and in fome opinions of little or no importance; and that, by a proper interpretation of their refpective fentiments, they might eafily be united into one body. It is further to be observed, that the propenfity of Ammonius to fingularity and paradox, led him to maintain, that all the gentile religions, and even the Chriftian, were to be illuftrated and explained by the principles of this universal philofophy; but that, in order to this, the fables of the pricfts were to be removed from paganism, and the comments and interpretations of the difciples of Jefus from Christianity.

This arduous defign, which Ammonius had formed of bringing about a coalition of all the various philofophical fects, and all the different fyftems of religion, that prevailed in the world, required many difficult and difagreeable things in order to its execution. Every particular fect and religion must have feveral of its doctrines curtailed or diftorted, before it could enter into the general mafs. The tenets of the philofophers, the fuperftitions of the heathen priests, the folemn doctrines of Chrif tianity, were all to fuffer in this caufe, and forced allegories were to be fubtilly employed in removing the difficulties with which it was attended. How this vaft project was effected by Ammonius, the writings of his difciples and followers, that yet remain, abundantly teftify. In order to the accomplishing his purpofe, he fuppofed, that true philofophy derived its origin and its confiftence from the eastern nations; that it was taught to the Egyptians by Hermes; that it was brought from them to the Greeks, by whofe vain fubtilties and litigious difputes it was rendered fomewhat obfcure and deformed; but was, however, preferved in its original purity by Plato, who was the best He interpreter of Hermes, and of the other oriental fages. maintained, that all the different religions that prevailed in the world, were, in their original integrity, conformable to the genius of this ancient philofophy; but that it unfortunately happened that the symbols and fictions, under which, according to the eastern manner, the ancients delivered their precepts and their doctrines were, in procefs of time, erroneously understood both by priests and people in a literal fenfe; that, in confequence

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of this, the invifible beings and demons, whom the fupréme deity had placed in the different parts of the universe as the minifters of his providence, were, by the fuggeftions of superstition, converted into gods, and worfhipped with a multiplicity of vain ceremonies. He therefore infifted, that all the religions of all nations should be restored to their original purity, and reduced to their primitive standard, viz. "The ancient philofophy of the eaft;" and he affirmed, that this his project was agreeable to the intentions of Jefus Chrift, whofe fole view, in defcending upon earth, was to fet bounds to the reigning fuperftition, to remove the errors that had crept into the religions of all nations, but not to abolish the ancient theology from whence they were derived.

Taking thefe principles for granted, Ammonius adopted the doctrines which were received in Egypt, the place of his birth and education, concerning the univerfe and the deity confidered as conftituting one great whole; as alfo concerning the eternity of the world, the nature of fouls, the empire of providence, and the government of this world by demons. For it is moft evident, that the Egyptian philofophy, which was said to be derived from Her ́mes, was the bafis of that of Ammonius; or, as it is otherwise called, of the more modern Platonifm; and the book of Jamblichus, concerning the mysteries of the Egyptians, puts the matter beyond difpute. Ammonius, therefore, affociated the fentiments of the Egyptians with the doctrines of Plato, which was eafily done by adulterating fome of the opinions of the latter, and forcing his expreffions from their obvious and natural fenfe. And, to finish this conciliatory fcheme, he fo interpreted the doctrines of the other philofophical and religious fects, by the violent fuccours of art, invention, and allegory, that they feemed, at length, to bear fome refemblance of the Egyptian and Platonic systems.

To this monftrous coalition of heterogeneous doctrines, its fanatical author added a rule of life and manners, which carried an afpect of high fanctity and uncommon aufterity. He, indeed, permitted the people to live according to the laws of their country and the dictates of nature; but a more fublime rule was laid down for the wife. They were to raife above all terreftrial things, by the towering efforts of holy contemplation, thofe fouls whofe origin was celeftial and divine. They were ordered to extenuate, by hunger, thirft, and other mortifications, the fluggish body, which confines the activity, and restrains the liberty of the immortal fpirit; that thus, in this life, they might enjoy communion with the fupreme being, and afcend after death, active and unencumbred, to the univerfal parent, to live in his prefence for ever. As Ammonius was born and educated among the Chriftians, he fet off, and even gave an air of aut

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thority to these injunctions, by expreffing them partly in terms borrowed from the facred fcriptures, of which we find a vaft number of citations, alfo, in the writings of his difciples. To this auftere difcipline, he added the pretended art of to purging and refining that faculty of the mind, which receives the images of things, as to render it capable of perceiving the demons, and of performing many marvelous things by their affiftance. This art, which the difciples of Ammonius called theurgy, was not, however, communicated to all the fchools of this fanatical philofopher, but only to thofe of the first rank.

The extravagant attempts of Ammonius did not cease here. To reconcile the popular religions of different countries, and particularly the Chriftian, with this new fyftem, he fell upon the following inventions: 1ft, He turned into a mere allegory the whole history of the gods, and maintained that those beings, whom the priests and people dignified with this title, were no more than celeftial minifters, to whom a certain kind of worship. was due; but a worship inferior to that which was to be referved for the fupreme deity. 2dly, He acknowledged Chrift to be a most excellent man, the friend of God, the admirable theurge; he denied, however, that Jefus defigned to abolish entirely the worship of demons, and of the other minifters of di-, vine providence, and affirmed, on the contrary, that his only intention was to purify the ancient religion, and that his followers had manifeftly corrupted the doctrine of their divine mafter.

This new fpecies of philofophy, imprudently adopted by Origen and many other Chriftians, was extremely prejudicial to the caufe of the gospel, and to the beautiful fimplicity of its celeftial doctrines. For hence it was, that the Chriftian doctors began to introduce their fubtile and obfcure erudition into the religion of Jefus, to involve in the darkness of a vain philo-: fophy, fome of the principal truths of Christianity that had been revealed with the utmost plainnefs, and were indeed obvious to: the meanest capacity, and to add, to the divine precepts of our Lord, many of their own, which had no fort of foundation in any part of the facred writings. From the fame fource arqfe that melancholy fet of men, who have been diftinguished by the name of Myftics, whofe fyftem, when feparated from the Platonic doctrine concerning the nature and origin of the foul, is but a lifeless mafs, without any vigour, form, or confiftence.Nor did the evils, which fprung from this Ammonian philofophy, end here, For under the fpecious pretext of the neceflity: of contemplation, it gave occafion to that flothful and indolent courfe of life, which continues to be led by myriads of monks retired in cells, and, fequeftred from fociety, to which they are neither useful by their inftructions, nor by their examples. To

this philofophy, we may trace as to their fource, a multitude of vain and foolish ceremonies, proper only to caft a veil over truth, and to nourish fuperftition, and which are, for the moft part, religiously obferved by many, even in the times in which we live. It would be endless to enumerate all the pernicious' confequences that may be justly attributed to this new philofophy, or rather to this monftrous attempt to reconcile falfhood with truth, and light with darknefs. Some of its most fatal effects were its alienating the minds of many, in the following ages, from the Chriftian religion, and its fubftituting in the place of the pure and fublime fimplicity of the gofpel an unfeemly mixture of Platonifm and Chriftianity.

The number of learned men among the Chriftians, which was very small in the preceding century, grew confiderably in this. Among these there were few rhetoricians, fophifts, or orators. The moft part were philofophers attached to the Eclectic fyftem, though they were not all of the fame fentiments concerning the utility of letters and philofophy. Thofe, who were themselves initiated into the depths of philofophy, were defirous that others, particularly fuch as afpired to the offices of bishops or doctors, fhould apply themfelves to the ftudy of human wisdom, in order to their being the better qualified for defending the truth with vigour, and inftructing the ignorant with fuccefs. Others were of a quite different way of thinking upon this fubject, and were for banishing all argumentation and philofophy from the limits of the church, from a notion that erudition might prove detrimental to the true fpirit of religion. Hence the early beginnings of that unhappy contest between faith and reafon, religion and philofphy, piety and genius, which increafed in the fucceeding ages, and is prolonged even to our times with a violence, that renders it extremely difficult to be brought to a conclufion. Thofe, who maintained that learning and philofophy were rather advantageous, than detrimental to the caufe of religion, gained, by degrees, the afcendant, and, in confequence thereof, laws were enacted, which excluded the ignorant and illiterate from the office of public teachers. The oppofite fide of the queftion was not, however, without defenders; and the defects and vices of learned men and philofophers contributed much to increase their number, as will appear in the progrefs of this hiftory.'

In treating of the Afcetics, our learned Author obferves, there is a particular confideration, which will enable us to render a natural account of the origin of that auftere difcipline they impofed upon themselves, and which is drawn from the genius and temper of the people by whom it was first practifed. It was in Egypt, he fays, that this morofe difcipline had its rife; and it is obfervable, that Egypt has in all times, as it were by an immutable

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