was fancifully embodied by the poets under the representation of Proteus *, who eluded the grasp of men by assuming a multiform change of appearance. Gravina has well observed, that though this doctrine, which turns the Creator into the creature, be monstrous and absurd, yet it originated in a perversion of Hebrew doctrines which were true, and which affirmed that God was the author, and cause, but not the substance, from which all things were created. Those who were enlightened by Revelation, were instructed to believe. that God created the earth from that which was "without form and void." The heathens, however, not aware that every thing was created out of nothing, conceived that he drew the materials of the universe which he framed, from himself. Hence they fancied that the Divine nature was divided into different forms; and they worshipped, as they thought, the more excellent portions of it in the heavenly bodies, or in the persons of wise and distinguished men; thus converting "the glory of the incorruptible God into * Vide Gravina de universa sapientia, p. 23. " an image made like to corruptible man, "and to birds and four-footed beasts and "creeping things," changing" the truth of "God into a lie," and worshipping and serving "the creature more" "than the "Creator, who is blessed for ever Clement of Alexandria cites some lines of Musæus, in which the falling and renewal of leaves is compared to the succession of the generations of man, and which he supposes Homer to have copied †. Rom. i. 23-26, et Gravina de universa sapientia, P. 29. † saltws. Strom, lib. vi. p. 738. et Iliad, lib. vi. 1. 146. CHAP. VI. Pythagoras. THERE have been many disputes concerning the period of Pythagoras; and Bishop Lloyd, Bentley, and Dodwell, have controverted the point with much learning. The best supported opinion seems to be, that he was born at Samos about 568 years before Christ, or earlier, his father having settled in that island, it was said, in pursuance of the direction of the oracle of Delphi, which predicted in the birth of Pythagoras many blessings to mankind. Having been educated at Samos he travelled for upwards of twenty years, conversing with Pherecydes, Thales, and other sages, and reading the hieroglyphical pillars of Hermes in Egypt, where he submitted to circumcision, in order to obtain an acquaintance with the religious mysteries of that country He visited Crete and Sparta, having instructed himself in his different travels in the laws of Zoroastres†, Minos, and Lycurgus. This great man, who was distinguished for his wisdom and for his exertions in favour of the liberties and moral interests of men, is said by Plutarch, never to have written any thing; others, however, represent him to have composed many works in physics and ethics, which have perished. His followers ascribed many productions to him, particularly three works mentioned by Diogenes Laertius, which, though published under his name §, had little claim to be considered as genuine, and are now lost. In the time of Josephus no undisputed monument of his genius existed. The golden verses which go under the name of Pythagoras may, perhaps, be considered as expressing his doctrines and opinions, and the received accounts of the te Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. i. c. 15. p. 354. Theodor. Therapeut. Laertius de Vit. Philos. lib. viii. Selden de Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. i. c. 2. P. 83. + Selden de Diis Syris Syntag. 2. p. 322. vol. ii. Edit. Lond. 1706. Dodwell on the Age of Pythagoras. nets professed by his followers, who flourished as a sect till the end of the reign of Alexander. We may observe, that he seems to have maintained the unity of God as the mind and life of the world*, that the world had a beginning, and was made by God † the principle of all things; and that the soul was immortal, and a part of the divine sub stance. Some have conceived from the first line in the golden verses that he was a Polytheist, exhorting men to worship the immortal gods, as was enjoined by law. In truth, however, it should seem, that the great men of antiquity inculcated a respect to the religion of their country, upon a principle of civil, as well as religious duty; paying a reverence to the deities whose worship and service were established, and deeming this, compatible with the indulgence of their own speculative opinions, which they wrapped up in mystery, when likely to offend or mislead the general classes of society. Clem. Alex. Cohort. ad Gent. c. 21. p. 62. Justin Cohort. ad Græc. p. 84, 85. Cyril cont. Julian, lib. i. P. 30. + Cudworth, p. 394. Universal History, vol. i. p. 26. |