The second mistaken fact is, that demoniacs abounded in the Jewish nation about the time of our Saviour's being on earth only, because in the times before we find no mention of them in scripture. Were it true that there is no mention of any demoniac in the Old Testament, this is no manner of proof that there were none in those times. Is there any mention made there of hydropics, paralytics, or lunatics? Must we conclude therefore that there were no persons in those days labouring under such diseases? Had there been one sent from heaven to heal those distempers in a miraculous manner, as our Saviour did, no doubt we should have found Apollo, Bromie, quo me in sylvam venatum vocas? Multa mihi imperas, Apollo. Ecce, Apollo, denuo me jubes facere impetum. Plaut. Man. act. 5. scen. 2. v. 82. 109. 115. The argument which seems to me to have prevailed with the generality of the moderns in their laying aside this opinion, is, that madness oftentimes yields to medicine. But this had no weight with the ancients; for they were fully persuaded, that as possessions were to be obtained by the use of certain waters or herbs, so they might be delivered from then by medicines: Ἡ δὲ γῆ πολλῶν μὲν ἄλλων δυνάμεων πηγὰς ἀνίησιν ἀνθρώποις, τὰς μὲν ἐκστατικὰς τὰς δὲ χρη στὰς—τὸ δὲ μαντικὸν, ῥεῦμα καὶ πνεῦμα θειότατόν ἐστι καὶ ὁσιώτατον, ἄν τε καθ ̓ ἑαυτὸν δι ̓ ἄερος, ἄν τε μεθ ̓ ὑγροῦ νάματος ἀφαιρῆται. Plut. de Orac. Def. p. 432, D. Sed ibi (Phrygiæ Gallo flumine) in potaudo necessarius modus, ne lymphatos agat: quod in Ethiopia accidere his, qui e fonte rubro biberint, Ctesias scribit. Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. 31. §. 5. Thalassegle pota lymphari homines, obversantibus miraculis. Theangelida pota magi divinent. Id. 1. 24. §. 95. p. 360. And that the possessed might be cured, vid. Plaut. Mæn. act. 5. scen. 4. Joseph. Antiq. 1. 8. c. 2. §. 5. p. 339. de Bell. 1. 7. c. 6. §. 3. Tobit, ch. vi. and viii. Plut. de Fluv. p. 1159. The same virtue is also ascribed to this stone, which grows in the river Nile, by Aristotle, or whoever was the author of the book de Mirabil. Συντελεῖ δὲ καὶ τοῖς δαίμονί τινι γενομένοις κατόχοις, ἅμα γὰρ τῷ προσθῆναι ταῖς ῥισὶν, ἀπέρχεται τὸ δαιμόνιον. Vid. Maussaci Not. ad Plut. Fluv. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 25. §. 24. 1. 27. §. 83. l. 30. §. 24. 1. 37. §. 12. 15.

that there were as many under the Old Testament as under the New. But there having been no such occasion given for the speaking of them, can we wonder that we read not of many of them? However, it is not true that there is no mention made of demoniacs in the Old Testament, if the thing, and not the word, be hereby meant. For it is said that Saul, the first king of Israel, was troubled with an evil spirit, that is, was a demoniac. And it is evident, from the words of Josephus I have already referred to, that demoniacs were frequent among them from that time downward. For he expressly says, that the method of cure instituted by king Solomon very much prevailed in the Jewish nation even down to his own time. And whereas Mr. Mede says, that demoniacs abounded in the Jewish nation about the time of our Saviour's being on earth only, there is nothing more known, than that almost all writers for two or three centuries after, not only Christians, but such as were the greatest enemies the Christians ever had, mention them as no unusual thing in their time, and in other countries than Judæaf. It is an

d 1 Sam. xvi. 14. 16.

• Καὶ αὕτη μέχρι νῦν παρ' ἡμῖν ἡ

θεραπεία πλεῖστον ισχύει. Antiq. 1. 8. c. 2. §. 5.

Plut. Sympos. 1. 7. qu. 5. prope fin. Aaípovas áváywv. Luc. Philopseud. p. 474, Ε. Ὅσοι τοὺς δαιμονῶντας ἀπαλλάττουσι τῶν δει Máτwv. Ibid. p. 477, D. et 478, A. B. Apollonius relates, that a woman came to the Brachmans, praying relief for her son, who was sixteen years of age, dapovu dè dúo eτn, and had been a demoniac two years. Philostr. de Vit. Apol. l. 3. c. 12. p. 144, 145. Apollonius was himself taken for a demoniac by the hierophant at Athens. Ibid. 1. 4. c. 6. p. 175. Ὁ δαίμων ἐλαύνει σε οὐκ εἰδότα ἐλελήθει δὲ ἄρα δαιμονῶν τὸ μειράκειον. And Apollonius cast out the demon, making him throw down a statue at parting, as an evidence that he had left him. Ibid. p. 176, 177. Celsus in Orig. p. 333. 416. 417. Porph. de Abstin. 1. 2. §. 43, fin. 46, fin. 47,

unhappiness, that when learned men, through forgetfulness or inadvertency, or through a desire of being better informed, drop a doubt in their writings concerning any particular passage of scripture, the half-learned and the half-thinking eagerly catch it up, and insist upon it as an irrefragable argument against the truth of the sacred writings. I will be bold to say, that five-sixths of the objections against the Christian religion, which have of late been industriously spread, are of this kind.

Circumcision ; resting on the seventh day h; keeping fasts and feasts; eating at some times fin. The remains we have of Porphyry and Jamblichus contain not a little on the subject of demons. It is certain also, that the doctrine concerning demons was one article in the theology of the Platonists, as may be seen in the works of Plato, Plutarch, Plotinus, Maximus Tyrius, Alcinous, Apuleius, Proclus, Julian, and Eusebius in Præp. 1. 4. c. 5. And it appears plainly to have been Lucian's intention in writing his Philopseudes to ridicule the grave philosophers in and near his own time; for that their writings and discourses were so filled with demons, demoniacs, apparitions, and magical operations. Compare what he says with Philostr. de Vita Apoll. 1. 4. c. 15. p. 205, A. B. c. 3. p. 165. c. 8. p. 182, 183, 184. l. 6. c. 16. p. 303, 304. 1. 8. c. 3. p. 395, B. D. and c. 5. p. 411, C.

8 Acts vii. 8. x. 45. xi. 2. and xv. 1. Vid. Hor. 1. 1. Sat. 5. v. 100. et Sat. 9. v. 70. Catull. 45. Juv. Sat. 14. v. 99. 103. Pers. Sat. 5. v. 184. Mart. 1. 7. 29. 88. Strab. 1. 16. p. 761, C. et p. 824, B. Tacit. Hist. 1. 5. §. 5. Suet. Dom. c. 12. n. 6.

h Acts xiii. 14. 27. 42. xv. 21. xvii. 2. and xviii. 4. Vid. Hor. 1. 1. Sat. 9. v. 69. Juv. Sat. 6. v. 158. Sat. 14. v. 96. 105. 106. Pers. Sat. 5. v. 184. Tac. Hist. l. 5. p. 353. l. 4. Dio, l. 36. p. 36. E. p. 37, C. D. Plut. Symp. 1. 4. qu. 5. p. 671, F. 672, A. et de Superstit. p. 169, C. Justin. l. 36. c. 2.

p. 761,

i Acts xiii. 2. and xxvii. 9. Vid. Tac. Hist. 1. 5. §. 4. p. 353. 1. 2. Suet. Aug. c. 76. n. 3. Mart. 1. 4. 4. Strabo, 1. 16. C. et 763, A. Plut. Symp. 1. 4. qu. 5. p. 671, D. Just. 1. 36. c. 2. k Acts xviii. 21. Vid. Juv. Sat. 6. v. 158. Pers. Sat. 5. v. 180, &c. Plut. Symp. l. 4. qu. 5. p. 671, D. E. et 672, A.

unleavened bread'; making a distinction of meatsTM: separating themselves from the society of other people"; rejecting all images; worshipping the God of heaven alone P; permitting none but Jews to enter the temple at Jerusalem 9; burying their dead'; together with their firm adherence to Moses their lawgivers; are customs indeed plainly hinted in the Acts of the Apostles; but are so well known to have belonged to the Jews, that they need not any long and laborious confirmation.

1 Acts xx. 6. Vid. Tac. Hist. 1. 5. p. 353. 1. 3. Raptarum frugum argumentum, panis Judaicus nullo fermento, retinet. Acts x. 14. Vid. Tac. Hist. 1. 5. §. 4. p. 353. n. 1. Juv. Sat. 98. et Sat. 6. v. 159. Plut. Symp. 1. 4. qu. 5.

14. v. n Acts x. 28. xi. 3. and xvi. 20, 21. Vid. Juv. Sat. 14. v. 100. 103. 104. Tac. Hist. l. 5. §. 4. l. 2. Separati epulis, discreti cubilibus, §. 5. 1. 3. Κεχωρίδαται δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ περὶ Tùy díαitav návő ús eiñeïv. Dio, l. 36. p. 37, B. C. Just. l. 36. c. 2. n. 28.

• Acts xvii. 29. and xix. 26. Vid. Tac. Hist. l. 5. p. 353. 1. ult. Nulla simulachra urbibus suis, nedum templis sunt. Non regibus hæc adulatio, non Cæsaribus honor, p. 354. n. 5, 6. et p. 359. l. 2. Οὐδ ̓ ἄγαλμα οὐδὲν ἐν αὐτοῖς ποτὲ τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ἔσχον. Dio, l. 36. p. 37, C. Strabo, l. 16. p. 760, D. 761, A.

P Acts xiv. 15. and xvii. 24. Vid. Juv. Sat. 14. v. 97. Strabo, 1. 16. p. 761, A. Tac. Hist. 1. 5. p. 354. n. 5. Dio, l. 36. p. 37, C.

4 Acts xxi. 28, 29. and xxiv. 6. Vid. Tac. Hist. 1. 5. p. 3571. ult. Illic, immensæ opulentiæ templum ;--ad fores tantum Judæo aditus; limine præter sacerdotes arcebantur. Jos. Antiq. l. 15. C. II. §. 5, prop. fin. et l. 8. c. 3. §. 9. and the speech of Titus, de Bell. 1. 6. c. 2. §. 4.

Acts ii. 29. and v. 6. 10. Vid. Tacit. Hist. 1. 5. p. 354. n. 3. Corpora condere, quam cremare e more Ægyptio.

s Acts vi. 11. 13. 14. and xxi. 21. 28. Vid. Juv. Sat. 14. v. 101, 102. Tac. Hist. 1. 5. §. 4.

CHAP. VIII.

Grecian customs confirmed.

§. 1. I HAVE now, I think, considered all the customs referred to in the History of the Acts which are purely Jewish. There remains one which is common to the Jews with most other nations, and that is the practice of magic. We read of Bar Jesus a Jew, who was a sorcerera, and of Simon a sorcerer in Samaria, and that many of the Christian converts at Ephesus, who had used curious arts, brought their books together, and burnt them before all men. Nothing is more certain than that the arts of sorcery or magic were expressly forbidden by the law of Moses d. Notwithstanding, it is a very clear fact that they were practised by many among the Jews as well as among the heathen: if any credit may be given to the Talmud, twenty-four of the school of Rabbi Judah were killed by sorcerye, eighty women sorceresses were hanged in one day by Simon Ben Shetahf. And the gloss says, the women of Israel were generally fallen to the practice of sorceries. So greatly did the practice hereof abound among them, that a skill in this art was rec Acts xix. 19.

b Acts viii. 9.

a Acts xiii. 6. d Exod. xxii. 18. Lev. xx. 27. Deut. xviii. 10, 11. 1 Sam. xxviii. 3.9. Mishna Sanhed. c. 7. §. 4. Maim. in tract. Sanh. et Abodah Zara, c. 6. More Neboch. p. 3. c. 37. Seld. de Jur. Nat. 1. 2. c. 1. p. 172. et cap. 7. p. 228. et l. 7. c. 3. p. 718, et 719. de Syned. 1. 2. c. 13. §. 5.

e

Light. vol. 1. p. 371. vol. 2. p. 244. Hieros. Talm. fol. 18.

col. 3.

f Hieros. Sanh. fol. 23. 3. Bab. Sanh. fol. 44. 2. See Light.

vol. 2. p. 244.