a 'cross with a circle round it--And when there were such signs in earth and in heaven, were there not also some in the air? Was not that also sanctified with the signs of our Lord's 'passion? Let them who were spectators of this wonderful event, and partakers in it, now shew their garments which were then marked with the prints of the cross. For at that time, as anyone spoke of it, or heard it related, whether he was one of our own people, or a stranger, each one presently observed the wonder either upon himself, or upon his neighbour; discerning 'manifestly a radiant mark upon his body, or in his garments, surpassing the finest embroidery or painting. Which so affected the minds of those who saw them, that almost all, as with 'one consent, were induced to acknowledge the God of the Christians, and endeavoured to appease him by prayers and praises: and they came to our priests, humbly intreating the favour of baptism.' So writes Nazianzen in his invective against Julian, written soon after that emperor's death. It is not yet time for me to make remarks; but surely, no attentive reader can forbear to make some observations upon so strange a relation; in which a contemporary, representing a matter of so great importance, more than once refers to hear-says and common reports, instead of appealing to his own sight and knowledge. Chrysostom has several times spoken of this thing, and deserves to be taken notice of as well as any. And in our time the emperor, who exceeded all men in impiety, gave them leave to build their temple, and assisted them in it. And they began the work, but could not proceed at all: for a fire rising up from the foundation drave them all away. And that they had a mind to it, appears from the foundations which still lie open: whereby it may be discerned, that they began to dig, but were not able to build, they having met with an obstruction.' C In another place, the same great orator, and fine writer, having largely related the conversation of Julian with the Jews, and his proposal to them that they should sacrifice, he goes on: • Nevertheless still blinded against all means of conviction, they entreated him to join with ⚫ them in rebuilding the temple: and he furnished them with money, and appointed officers of great distinction to superintend the work, and sent for artificers from all parts. He attempted every thing; he omitted nothing that could be done; hoping, that if he could bring them to • sacrifice, he should also persuade them to the worship of images; hoping likewise, in his great perverseness, to confute the declaration of Christ, that the temple should not be rebuilt. But he who "taketh the wise in their own craftiness," soon shewed by the effects, that the decrees ' of God are more powerful than all things, and that his word is firmly established. For as soon as they began their impious attempt, and were removing the foundations, and had dug away a good deal of earth, and were ready to set about the building, fire bursting from the foundations burnt many of them, and cast away many stones from the place, and interrupted the vain attempt. And not only they who were employed in the work, but many Jews likewise, when they saw what had happened, were confounded and ashamed. And the And the emperor Julian 6 having been informed of these things, though he was to distraction intent upon the design, fearing lest he should bring down the fire upon his own head, desisted, being overcome, together with the whole nation. And now, if you should go to Jerusalem, you may see the foundations open: and if you inquire the reason, you will hear no other than that just men'tioned. And we are witnesses of it; for it happened in our time, not long ago. And observe the splendor of this victory; for it happened not in the time of pious emperors, lest some 'should say, they were the Christians who obstructed the work: it happened when we were in affliction, when all were in fear for their lives, when our liberty was gone, when Hellenism flourished; and the faithful were some of them shut up in their houses fearing to stir abroad, others were retired into deserts, and fled from cities. Then these things happened, that the 'most impudent might have no pretence to deny them.' Again, having observed the declaration made to Julian by the Jews, that they could not now offer sacrifice, the temple being in ruins: he ordered money to be allowed them out of a P. 113. • Και yas Επί της γενεας της ημετερας, ὁ πανίας εις ασέβειαν νίκησας βασιλευς και εδωκεν εξεσίαν τοτε, και συνέπραξε, και το ερία ήψαντο, και εδε μικρον προσελθειν εδυνήθησαν άλλα και πυρ από των θεμελίων εκπηδήσαν πανίας αυτες απήλασεν. Ότι δε ηζελήθησαν, και τοίς δείγμα εσιν έως τα νυν θεμέλια d γυμνωθενία ἵνα ειδης, ότι επεχείρησαν διασκαπίειν, οικοδομής σαι δε εκ ίσχυσαν, της αποφάσεως ταύτης αντιπραττεσης αυτοις. Contr. Jud. et Gent. T. i. p. 580. E. Adv. Judæos. Or. v. T. i. p. 646, 647. a De S. Babyla. contr. Julian. et Gentil. Tom. ii. p. 547. C. D. a the public treasury, and every thing else necessary to carry on the building, and then bid them go and repair the temple, and offer sacrifices according to the ancient custom. And they who were blind from the womb, and even to old age, went away and set about the work under the • emperor's favour: but as soon as they began to remove the earth, fire issuing from the foun⚫dations consumed them all. When these things were related to the emperor, he dared not to ⚫ proceed any farther, being restrained by fear: nevertheless he did not forsake the worship of dæmons, to whom he was subject.' Once more, where he says, that after the Christian religion had been established, there were not so frequent miracles as at the beginning; yet in our time,' says he, in the reign of Julian, who surpassed all men in impiety, there were many miracles. And when the Jews • attempted to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, fire issuing out from the foundations of the temple restrained them.' This may suffice for shewing the testimony of Chrysostom in this point. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, in a letter to the emperor Theodosius, supposed to have been written in the year 388, says: Have you not heard, Sir, that when Julian gave command to ⚫ rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, the workmen were destroyed by fire sent from God?" There still remains one contemporary writer to be quoted, who is Ammianus Marcellinus, a heathen, and a good historian, and well acquainted with the emperor. d Julian,' says he, who had been already thrice consul, taking for his colleague Sallust, præfect of the Gauls, entered for the fourth time on that high office: and although he was not ⚫ without a solicitous concern for futurity, considering the various events which this year was likely to produce, he carried on his preparations for the war with the utmost diligence. And still enlarging his views, and being desirous to perpetuate the memory of his reign by some great works, he resolved to rebuild at a vast expense the magnificent temple at Jerusalem; ⚫ which after a long and obstinate siege, begun by Vespasian, and carried on by Titus, had been with great difficulty taken and destroyed. The conduct of this affair was committed by him to Alypius of Antioch, who formerly had been lieutenant in Britain, with orders to forward it as much as possible. When therefore Alypius had set himself to the work with the greatest resolution, and was also assisted by the governor of the province, frightful balls of fire broke ⚫ out near the foundations: and those eruptions being repeated, they rendered the place inac⚫cessible to the workmen, who were scorched and burnt several times before they left off. But the element continuing to repel them, the enterprize was laid aside.' So writes Ammianus: according to whom, therefore, this attempt was made in the beginning of the year 363, when Julian was setting out from Antioch on his Persian expedition. с So likewise says Socrates, whom I shall allege next. Having mentioned Julian's conference with the Jews, who told him, that they could sacrifice no where but at Jerusalem, he says, • Julian' immediately gave orders for rebuilding Solomon's temple: and then he went away ⚫ against the Persians. But the Jews, who had long been desirous to see the temple rebuilt, set about the work with great diligence-And as the emperor had directed that the expense should be borne out of the public treasury, materials were soon provided; timber, stones, burnt-brick, clay, lime, and all other things needful for a building. At that time Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, mindful of the prophecy of Daniel, and of what Christ had said in the gospels, predicted before many people, that the time was now come, that one stone would not be left 6 g * Και ὡς αυτον τε όμε τον χεν ηρξανίο κενον, και πυρ των θεμελίων εκπηδησαν άθριον άπαντας αυτες καλανηλωσεν. Ib. P. 574. C. In Matt. hom. 4. Tom. 7. p. 47. A. ⚫ Non audîsti, Imperator, quia cum jussisset Julianus reparari templum Hierosolymis, divino, qui faciebant repurgium, igne flagrârunt? Ambr. Ep. 40. Cl. i. T. ii. p. 949. d Julianus vero, jam ter Consul, adscito in collegium trabeæ Sallustio præfecto per Gallias, quartum ipse amplissimum iniverat niagistratum; et videbatur novum adjunctum esse Augusto privatum, quod post Diocletianum et Aristobulum nullus meminerat gestum. Et licet accidentium varietatem solicitâ mente præcipiens, multiplicatos expeditionis apparatus flagranti studio perurgeret; diligentiam tamen ubique dividens, imperiique sui memoriam magnitudine operum gestiens propagare, ambitiosum quondam apud Hierosolymas templum, quod post multa et interneciva certamina, obsidente Vespasiano, f κελευει ταχος κλιζεσθαι τον Σολομωνος ναον. Και αυτός επι Περσας ηλαυνε. Ib. p. 192. D. 8 Πολλοις τε προελεῖον, ώς αρα νυν ήκει ὁ καιρος, ὅτε λιθος επί λίθον εκ αν μενοι εις τον ναον, αλλά το τα σωτηρος λαδιου wapwinσelai. p. 193. B. a upon another in that temple, and our Saviour's word would be fulfilled. So said that bishop. And in the night there was an earthquake, which tore up the stones of the old foundations, and dispersed them, with the adjacent edifices: and by that accident the Jews were much 'terrified; and the fame of it brought many to the place from distant parts. When therefore many were gathered together another prodigy happened; for there came down from heaven a 'fire which consumed all the workmen's tools: and you might see mallets, irons for polishing 'stones, saws, axes, spades, and all such instruments which are made use of in building, con'sumed by the flames: the fire preyed upon these things for a whole day together. The Jews thereupon being terrified, acknowledged, though unwillingly, Christ to be God. However, they obeyed not his will, but still remained prepossessed in favour of Judaism. Nor did the third miracle, which afterwards happened, induce them to the belief of the truth: for in the 'night following radiant marks of the cross were impressed on their garments. When they saw them the next day they endeavoured to rub and wash them out, but in vain: to so great a degree were they blinded.' с The same story is told at length by Sozomen, Theodoret, Philostorgius, and other Christian writers, though with somewhat different circumstances. Theodoret in particular tells us, it was said, that upon this occasion the Jews had shovels, mallets, and baskets made of silver. Some Jewish writers also have been alleged as bearing testimony to this event: I shall also allege here as cited by Wagenseil, to whom divers learned men have referred. That is the history of this affair, which is generally credited; and indeed it seems hard to deny, or dispute the truth of a relation, attested by several contemporaries, beside many others who lived not very long after them. Accordingly the truth of this history is maintained by Fabricius, Witsius," the learned and laborious Dr. Warburton, now bishop of Gloucester, and others, men of the highest reputation in the republic of letters. k i Basnage made some objections to the truth of this history, which have been considered by divers learned men, and particularly and largely by the bishop of Gloucester in the work a It is very absurd for any Christians to talk in that manner. Christ's words had been fulfilled almost 300 years before that time. Matt. xxiv. 34. " Verily, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." And so it came to pass, as we know from Josephus and others. There is, in my opinion, a much better sense in Rufinus. Cyril was then bishop of Jerusalem; and when the Jews were ' about to lay the foundations of a new temple, he, considering the prophecies of Daniel, and the words of our Lord re'corded in the gospels, confidently asserted, that it could not be, that the Jews should be able to lay there one stone upon another. His words are these: Cyrillus post maximum confessorem Hierosolymis episcopus habebatur. Apertis igitur fundamentis, calce cæmentoque adhibitis, nihil omnino deerat, quin die posterâ, veteribus deturbatis, nova jacerent fundamenta; cum tamen episcopus, diligenti consideratione habitâ, vel ex illis quæ in Danielis prophetiâ de temporibus legerat, vel quæ in Evangeliis Dominus prædixerat, persisteret, nullo genere fieri posse, ut ibi a Judæis lapis super lapidem poneretur. Rufin. 1. i. cap. 37. So writes Rufinus. And, perhaps, the sense which we have in Socrates's History is owing to his misinterpretation of Rufinus, and not rightly understanding him; for I suppose that Socrates here borrowed from Rufinus. However, undoubtedly the learned reader will consult the Annotations of Valesius upon Socrates. b Soz. 1. v. cap. 22. © Theod. l. iii. cap. 20. Philost. 1. vii. sect. 9. p. 566. ε Φασι δε αυτες και σκαπανας εξ όλο αργυρό, και αμας και XOPIVUS, NATAσXEvaσa. Ut supra. p. 142. C. Equidem aut valde fallor, aut, non sine peculiari curâ numinis factum est, ut ipsi adeo Judæi suis monumentis historiam inseruerint, quamquam non bonâ omnes fide. R. David Gansius enim animadvertisse videtur, quantopere isthæc suæ genti incommodent: ideo veritatem malitiosissime adulteravit. Nam, etsi negare non audet, Deo sic disponente, m Judæos in restaurando templo fuisse impeditos, tamen genuinam rationem modumque, quibus id factum est, nequiter dissimulat, et solam Juliani mortem Judæos ædificantes sufflamine strinxisse, ex suo ingenio confinxit. Ejus verba sunt Julianus Cæsar præcepit, ut restitueretur templum sanctissimum magno cum decore et pulchritudine; huicque rei ipse sumtus suppeditavit. Verum cœlitus impedimen'tum injectum est, ne perficeretur fabrica. Nam Cæsar in bello Persico periit.'--Atenim non opus est, ut operose probem, verum certumque esse, Judæos ante cessâsse ab opere, quam Julianus postremam expeditionem adversus, Persas, quæ ei exitium attulit, suscepisset. Sufficit coram huc adducere R. Geddalium, qui-candide narrationem instituit,. et sine fuco—In diebus R. Channan, et sociorum ejus, anno circiter orbis conditi 4349, memorant libri annalium, magnum in orbe universo fuisse terræ motum, collapsumI que esse templum, quod struxerunt Judæi Hierosolymis, præcepto Juliani Apostatæ, impensis maximis. Postridie, ' ejus die (quo mota fuit terra) de coelo ignis multus cecidit, ̧ ita ut omnia ferramenta illius ædificii liquescerent, et am-' 'burerentur Judæi multi, atque adeo innumerabiles.' Wagenselii Carmin. Lipmanni. Confutatio. p. 231, 232. Bib. Gr. T. vii. p. 76. &c. Lux Evangelii, cap. vi. p. 120. &c. Miscellanea Sacra. Tom. ii. p. 374, &c. i Julian, &c. It is a handsome octavo of 320 pages, beside an Introduction. The late Mr. Mosheim, who had seen the first edition of that work, seems to have thought his lordship had overdone it. His words are: Nuper ex instituto, sed interdum ingeniosius, quam necesse erat, pro veritate miraculi disputavit Guil. Warburton. Julian. or a Discourse, &c. Lond. 1750. in 8vo. Moshem. Instit. H. E. p. 148. * Hist. des Juifs. 1. vi. ch. 4. Tom. iv. p. 1257. &c. ' Vid. Fabric. Lux Evangelii. p. 130. in notis. m See His Lordship's Julian. B. ii. ch. 4. p. 174, &c. the second edition, in 1751. before referred to: I also have had many thoughts upon this subject, which I desire now to propose with due deference to the judgment of others: I shall not transcribe Basnage; but I have been led to argue in this manner. 6 a 1. Julian's own writings may dispose us to think that he never attempted to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. He designed it, but it is not so clear that he attempted it, or actually set about it, or gave orders for it. In his Letter to the Community of the Jews, before taken notice of, he desires their prayers for the prosperity of his reign, and the rather, forasmuch as if he succeeded in his war with the Persians, he would rebuild their holy city of Jerusalem.' But he did not succeed in the war, and he never returned from Persia, therefore he never set about rebuilding Jerusalem, or the temple there: nor did he, at the time of writing that letter, intend to set about it, unless he first succeeded in the war with the Persians. He seems to have supposed it to be a work which he should not be able to undertake till after the Persian war was over, and had a good issue. b In the fragment of some oration or epistle, having taken notice how often the Jewish temple had been destroyed, and was not yet restored, he adds: I say not this by way of reproach; for I also have designed, [or have had a design] to raise that temple, which has been so long in ruins, to the honour of the God who is there worshipped.' Therefore, when that letter was written, this design was laid aside; or, he did not think that to be a proper time and season to set about it. The present circumstances of his affairs did not admit of such an undertaking, nor allow him to give orders about it. When that letter or oration was written is not clear. Dr. Warburton thinks it was written in the spring of the year 363; his words are these [at p. 73]: Where Julian, speaking of the customary honours paid to the gods, says: "Which not three years, nor three thousand have established, but all past ages among all nations upon earth." By the three years he evidently alludes to his restoration of idolatry; which at any time sooner than the Persian expedition, ⚫ was not entitled to so high a date. For he was first saluted Augustus in the spring of the year 360, and the Persian expedition was in the spring 363; at this time, therefore, he had well digested his defeat at Jerusalem.' That is an ingenious conjecture, but not decisive. It is not clear, that Julian here refers to his own restoration of the heathen rites: the phrase, three years,' needs not to refer to any determinate period; it may denote no more than this: which not a few years, nor several thousand years have established, but all past ages.' Secondly, it cannot refer or allude to Julian's restoration of idolatry; for that had not been done three years,' nor two years by a great deal. In the spring of the year 363, it was not more than three years since he had been declared Augustus by the soldiers in Gaul: not yet quite a year and half since his being sole Augustus; and not more than two years since he had at all made an open profession of Hellenism, allowing him to have begun to make it when he was in Illyricum, before the death of Constantius. Julian in this place, as I think, useth a definite for an indefinite number, by 'three' meaning a few only. So in his work against the Christians, he says, the law of Moses was designed to be everlasting. And this he says, he will demonstrate not from ten only, but from ten thousand passages of Moses himself." Which answers to the place under consideration, and may shew, that by three years,' no certain space of time was intended: consequently this argument of his lordship for the date of this epistle must fall to the ground. And there can be no reason to believe, that this letter was written in the beginning of the year 363, or that Julian here refers to any extraordinary defeat, which had been given to his design of rebuilding the temple: and whenever that letter was written, it affords reason to believe, that Julian had not yet given any orders for rebuilding the temple. с Once more, I argue from some things said by Julian in his work against the Christians, where he observes, that the Jews might offer sacrifices at other places beside Jerusalem. We know, that work was not composed long before he set out upon the Persian expedition. If that was his mind then, it seems, that he was grown more indifferent about rebuilding the Jewish temple than he had formerly been. a Julian. Ep. p. 397. D. See the words cited above at p. 323, noted. * Εδω δε είπον, εκ ονειδίζων εκείνοις· ὃς γε τοσεῖοις ύσερον χρόνοις αναζησασθαι διενοήθην αυτον εις τιμήν τε κληθενίος επ' aulu Oε8. T. ii. p. 295. D. • Τελο ότι ψευδώς λείεσιν, αποδείξω σαφώς εκ μεν το Μωσέως 8 δεκα μόνας, αλλα μυρίας παρεχομενος μαρτυριας. Cyril. Contr. Jul. lib. ix. p. 319 D. The words to which I refer stand thus: But this person,' says Cyril, I know not how, 'sometimes approves of the Jewish customs; at other times he blames them, as separate from all other men; and as having most unreasonably given over sacrificing, though Elias, as he says, sacrificed in Carmel, and not in the holy city Jerusalem.' It appears to me very unlikely, that Julian should be disposed to gratify the Jews at a vast, and then unseasonable, and inconvenient expense, in what he reckoned an unreasonable fancy. If Julian's work against the Christians, as Libanius says, was composed in the winterseason, during the long nights,' that is, near the end of the year 362, and the beginning of 363, it is not at all likely, that he should in the beginning of the same year 363, issue out orders for rebuilding the Jewish temple at Jerusalem. In that oration, or epistle, to which we have referred several times, at p. 295, are these expressions: What will the Jews say to their own temple, which has been thrice demolished, and is not raised again to this day? Τι περι το νεω Φησεσι, το παρ αυτοις, τρίτον ανατραπενιος, εΓειρομενο δε εδε νυν. Some learned men have supposed, that here is a reference to the defeat of Julian's attempt to rebuild the temple, and that Julian himself here acknowledgeth it. But the bishop of Gloucester, p. 74, in the notes, has candidly and judiciously shewn that to be a mistake. For, 1. Defeating an attempt to rebuild cannot in any known figure of speech, be called the overthrow of a building. 2. And is not raised again to this day, cannot be said of a building that had been destroyed but two months before.' And by the three subversions here spoken of, his lordship supposes may be meant that by the Assyrians, and that by the Romans; and by the third may be meant the profanation of the temple by Antiochus. If I should allow myself to represent this a little differently, it would be after this manner : The case was this; the temple was then in ruins, and had been so for a long time; it had been demolished more than once; Julian did not think himself obliged to say how often; and it was to his purpose to augment, rather than diminish the number of its subversions. Indeed, it had been demolished but twice; that is, by the Assyrians, and then by the Romans; the emperor says thrice, not being careful to be exact. Or, if it be needful to understand Julian literally, we may suppose, that he refers to the subversion of Jerusalem, and the Jewish people in the time of Adrian, spoken of by Eusebius in his History, and in his Chronicle, and by other writers elsewhere. This Julian might compute for the third. с с 2. That Julian should give orders for building the temple, and allot money for it out of the public treasury, when he was setting out for Persia, is very unlikely. It is not easily credible, that he should at that time do any thing that might at all impede the expedition against the Persians, upon which he had been so long intent. We may reasonably suppose, that when he wrote his letter to the community of the Jews, and told them, he would build their temple, if •he returned victorious;' he was then sensible he could not attempt it sooner; and that he should want all the resources of money and treasure for that one design: which seems actually to have been the case. And when Marcellinus speaks of Julian's attempt, he appears to have been very sensible that the emperor's hands were full, and that there was at that time no room for any other expensive undertaking, beside the Persian war. 3. Great weight is laid upon the testimony of Ammianus Marcellinus, who was a heathen, and an impartial historian. But then, it has been said by some, that he had his account from the Christians, and took it up without examination. To which I would add, that he was credulous, as appears from many things in his history; he might, therefore, without scruple, record a miraculous interposition, a * Ο δε, εχ οιδ' ὅτι παίων, αποδεχεται τα Ιεδαίων, καταψεύει δε παλιν αυτας, ὡς των μεν αλλων ἁπανίων απηρτημενες, αλοδωλαία δε το θυειν οκνενίας, καίτοι, φησιν, Ηλις τεθυκολος εν τῷ Καρμηλῳ, και εκ εν τη άδια πολει, φημι δη τη Ιερεσαλήμ. Cyril. Contr. Jul. 1. ix. p. 324. C. So Bletterie, Vie de Julien. 1. v. p. 398, and Dr. Chapman in his Eusebius, against the Moral Philosopher, Tom. i. p. 408, 409. Eus. H. E. 1. iv. cap. 6. Bellum Judaïcum, quod in Palæstinâ gerebatur, finem accipit, rebus Judæorum penitus oppressis; ex quo tempore etiam introeundi eis Jerosolymam licentia ablata. &c. Chron. p. 167. e Vid. Vales. in Euseb. H. E. and see here in this work, Vol. iii. p. 549-551. 'Nocte tamen, quæ declarationis Augustæ præcesserat diem, junctioribus proximis retulerat Imperator, per quietem aliquem visum, ut formari Genius publicus solet, hæc objurgando dixisse.- Ammian. 1. xx. cap. 5. fin. vidit squalidius, ut confessus est proximis, speciem illam Genii publici, quam, cum ad Augustum surgeret culmen, conspexit in Galliâ. Id. 1. xxv. cap. 2. p. 451. |