PART II.

CENT. cerning the nature of these principles [ƒ]; but 1. this did not prevent the propagation of the main doctrine, which was received throughout a consi- . derable part of Asia and Africa, especially among the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syrians, and Egyptians, though with different modifications, and had even infected the Jews themselves [g]. The Arabians at that time, and even afterwards, were more remarkable for strength and courage than for genius and sagacity; nor do they seem, according to their own confession [h], to have acquired any great reputation for wisdom and philosophy before the time of Mahomet.

The wisdom of the

III. From the earliest times, the Indians were Indians and distinguished by their taste for sublime knowledge Egyptians. and wisdom. We might, perhaps, be able to form

a judgment of their philosophical tenets, if that most ancient book, which they looked upon as particularly sacred, and which they call veda, or the law, were brought to light, and translated into some known language. But the accounts which are given of this remarkable book, by those who have been in the Indies, are so various and irreconcileable with each other, that we must yet wait for further satisfaction on this head [i]. As to the Egyptians, they were divided, as every one

[f] See Hyde's History of the religion of the ancient Persians, a work full of erudition and disorder, and interspersed with conjectures of the mos improbable kind.

[g] See a treatise of Jo. Christoph. Wolf, published at Hamburgh, in 1707, under the title of Manichæismus ante Manichaeos. See also Mosheim's Observations upon Cudworth's Intellectual System of the Universe, p. 328. 423.

[h] See Abulpharaius, De Moribus Arabum, published by Pocock.

[i] I have lately heard that this most important and longexpected book has been acquired by some French Jesuits, who are missionaries in the Indies, and who have sent it over to the king of France's library. It is also said, that it is already translated, or will be so immediately. See Lettre du

I.

knows, into a multitude of sects and opinions [k]; CENT. so that their labour seems exceeding fruitless, who PART II. endeavour to reduce the philosophy of this people

to one system.

phy proper

IV. But of all the different systems of philoso- The orienphy that were received in Asia and Africa about tal philoso the time of our Saviour, none was so detrimental ly so called. to the Christian religion as that which was styled gnosis, or science, i. e. the way to the true know. ledge of the Deity, and which we have above called the oriental doctrine, in order to distinguish it from the Grecian philosophy. It was from the bosom of this pretended oriental wisdom, that the chiefs of those sects, which, in the three first centuries, perplexed and afflicted the Christian church, originally issued forth. These supercilious doctors, endeavouring to accommodate to the tenets of their fantastic philosophy, the pure, the simple, and sublime doctrines of the Son of God, brought forth, as the result of this jarring composition, a multitude of idle dreams and fictions, and imposed upon their followers a system of opinions, which were partly ludicrous, and partly perplexed with intricate subtilties, and covered over with impenetrable obscurity. The ancient doctors, both Greek and Latin, who opposed these sects, considered them as so many branches that derived their origin from the Platonic philosophy. But this was pure illusion: An apparent resemblance between certain opinions of Plato, and some of the tenets of the eastern schools, deceived these good men, who had no knowledge but of the Grecian philosophy, and were absolutely ignorant

P. Calmette à M. de Cartigny, dans les Lettres edifiantes et curieuses des Missions Etrangeres, xxi. Recueil, p. 455. as also Recueil, xxiii. p. 161.

[k] See Mosheim's Observations on the Intellectual System, &c. in his Latin translation of that work, tom. i. p. 415.

CENT.

I.

PART II.

The first

of this phi

of the oriental doctrines. Whoever compares the platonic and gnostic philosophy together, will easily perceive the wide difference that there is between them.

V. The first principles of the oriental philosoprinciples phy seem perfectly consistent with the dictates of losophy. reason; for its first founder must undoubtedly have argued in the following manner: "There are many evils in this world, and men seem impelled by a natural instinct to the practice of those things which reason condemns; but that eternal mind from which all spirits derive their existence, must be inaccessible to all kinds of evil, and also of a most perfect and beneficent nature; therefore the origin of those evils, with which the universe abounds, must be sought somewhere else than in the Deity. It cannot reside in him who is all perfection; and therefore it must be without him. Now, there is nothing without or beyond the Deity, but matter; therefore matter is the centre and source of all evil, of all vice." Having taken for granted these principles, they proceeded further, and affirmed, that matter was eternal, and derived its present form, not from the will of the Supreme God, but from the creating power of some inferior intelligence, to whom the world and its inhabitants owed their existence. As a proof of this assertion, they alleged, that it was incredible, that the Supreme Deity, perfectly good, and infinitely removed from all evil, should either create or modify matter, which is essentially malignant and corrupt, or bestow upon it, in any degree, the riches of his wisdom and liberality. They were, however, aware of the insuperable difficulties that lay against their system; for when they were called to explain, in an accurate and satisfactory manner, how this rude and corrupt matter came to be arranged into such a regular and harmonious frame

I.

as that of the universe, and, particularly, how CENT. celestial spirits were joined to bodies formed out of its malignant mass, they were sadly embar- PART II. rassed, and found, that the plainest dictates of reason declared their system incapable of defence. In this perplexity they had recourse to wild fictions and romantic fables, in order to give an account of the formation of the world, and the origin of mankind.

phers divid

sentiments.

VI. Those who, by mere dint of fancy and The orien invention, endeavour to cast a light upon obscure tal philoso points, or to solve great and intricate difficulties, ed in their are seldom agreed about the methods of proceeding; and, by a necessary consequence, separate into different sects. Such was the case of the oriental philosophers, when they set themselves to explain the difficulties mentioned above. Some imagined two eternal principles from whence all things proceeded, the one presiding over light, and the other over matter; and by their perpetual conflict, explained the mixture of good and evil that appears in the universe. Others maintained that the being which presided over matter was not an eternal principle, but a subordinate intelligence, one of those whom the Supreme God produced from himself. They supposed that this being was moved, by a sudden impulse, to reduce to order the rude mass of matter, which lay excluded from the mansions of the Deity, and also to create the human race. A third sort fell upon a system different from the two preceding, and formed to themselves the notion of a triumvirate of beings in which the Supreme Deity was distinguished both from the material, evil principle, and from the creator of this sublunary world. These, then, were the three leading sects of the oriental philosophy, which were subdivided into various factions, by the disputes that arose when they came to explain more fully their re

I.

CENT. spective opinions, and to pursue them into all their monstrous consequences. These multiplied PART II. divisions were the natural and necessary conse

Their opi

cerning the

Deity.

quences of a system which had no solid foundation, and was no more indeed than an airy phantom, blown up by the wanton fancies of self-sufficient men. And that these divisions did really subsist, the history of the Christian sects that embraced this philosophy abundantly testifies.

VII. It is, however, to be observed, that, as nions con- all these sects were founded upon one common principle, their divisions did not prevent their holding, in common, certain opinions concerning the Deity, the universe, the human race, and several other subjects. They were all, therefore, unanimous in acknowledging the existence of an eternal nature, in whom dwelt the fulness of wisdom, goodness, and all other perfections, and of whom no mortal was able to form a complete idea. This great being was considered by them as a most pure and radiant light, diffused through the immensity of space, which they called pleroma, a Greek word, which signifies fulness; and they taught concerning him, and his operations, the following things: "The eternal nature, infinitely perfect, and infinitely happy, having dwelt from everlasting in a profound solitude, and in a blessed tranquillity, produced, at length, from itself, two minds of a different sex, which resembled their supreme parent in the most perfect manner. From the prolific union of these two beings others arose, which were also followed by succeeding generations; so that in process of time a celestial family was formed in the pleroma [7]. This divine progeny, being

[] It appears highly probable, that the apostle Paul had an eye to this fantastic mythology, when, in the first chapter of his First Epistle to Timothy, ver. 4. he exhorts him