This Preface is print∣ed in an old edition of the N. T. with the interlineary Gloss, and I find it in several MSS both in the Bodleyan and our own Col∣ledg-Library before the Catholick Epi∣stles. The Stile is exactly St. Hierom's and questionless his, and acknowledg'd as such, both by Erasmus and Socinus, however omitted by Erasmus in his edition of St. Hierom's works at Ba∣sil. St. Hierome in his preface to the Ca∣nonical Epistles, vindicates the antient reading, and laies open the baseness and perfidiousness of these men. I shall here put down the whole Preface;
(Latin Preface)
Erasmus and Socinus are so urged with this testimony of St. Hierome, that they are forced to make use of very pitiful and disin∣genuous arguments to invalidate it. Socinus had said before—fortasse ante Hieronymum vix ullus inveni∣etur, qui testimonium istud hoc in loco planè agnoverit, the falsity of which conjecture, however so warily laid down, has been disproved; hereby craftily concealing the citation out of St. Cyprian, he very bold∣ly accuses St. Hierome of Forgery, who having got a Copy or Copies, in which this verse was added,
adversus fidem aliorum omnium exemplarium, tam La∣tinorum, quam Graecorum, lectionem particulae istius tan∣quam germanam defendere & promovere coepit, conque∣rens publicè eam culpâ & fraude hereticorum abrasam à vulgatis codicibus fuisse.
But St Hierome has suffi∣ciently confuted the falseness and boldness of this Cavil. He was used to this kind of language, as if he had corrupted the Scriptures, but he was no way moved by it; though this accusation of those of his own time perchance may not so much be referr'd to this place, as to his translation in general, and may proceed not so much from heretical malice and pravity, as envy of several of his contemporaries, who were orthodox in the faith, but were no friends to his new translation. He charges the omission upon these unfaithful Translators (questionless Sabelli∣ans and Arians) and upbraids them with it as a thing manifest and notorious, and easily demonstrable; and certainly he would not have made himself so obnoxious, unless he had grounded his confidence upon the authority of several Greek Copies: with what little pretence of reason therefore Eras∣mus and Socinus fancy St. Hierome to have changed the publick and common reading, let any indifferent person judge. But supposing that the Copies of those times varied, which Erasmus grants (and therefore St. Hierome is most falsely and unjustly accused by Socinus to have been the author of this interpolation) He enquires,
quonam argumento docet u∣trum sit rectius, utrumve scriptum sit ab Apostolo, prae∣sertim cum quod reprehendit, turn haberet publicus usus Ecclesiae?
To this it may be answered, 1. that some vitiated and defective Copies, ought not to prejudice the authority of entire and better Copies, whether Latin or Greek. 2. that St. Hierome had reason to prefer and vindicate that reading, which gives such an evident proof of this great Article of the Christian Religion, agreeable to the doctrine of the Ca∣tholick Church, derived down to them by an universal Tradition, and acknowledged as such, by all, excepting a few, whom either discontent, or pride and conceitedness of their own parts, and a love of innovation and of being the author of a Sect, had drawn into the contrary heretical opinion. Besides, his words are so clear, that one might justly wonder, that Erasmus should pretend any difficulty or perplex sense in them, as he does in his,
non satis video, quid sibi velit hoc loco Hieronymus;
but that we have too just cause to suspect, how that great Scholar was biast and perverted in his judgment, concerning those great mysteries of Faith; though he is so wary and cunning, as not to discover himself too open∣ly. He indeed is forced to confess the nature of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be simple and und∣vided, and the essence the same, though he is peremptory, that it cannot be proved from this Text, constat hic agi de fide testimonii, non de substantia per∣sonarum, herein followed byde illâ () ut mihi quidem videtur non agitur hoc in loco; quod & glossa ista in∣terlinearis, quam vocant, agnosci. Beza, and with a great deal of ceremony confesses it to be pious to submit our understanding to the judgment of the Church, as soon as she shall declare herself (as certainly she has done in this in her publick Creeds, to the great shame and conviction of Hereticks, who reject her authority) yet still for all this demure∣ness, he pleads for a liberty of interpreting Scripture, as if the truth were not yet wholly reveal'd, and the Church might err in her declarations, nec interim ne∣fas est citra contentionem scrutari verum, ut Deus aliis alia patefecit (which is also the pretence of Socinus and his followers: ) and accordingly he interprets several places of Scripture in favour of Arius and the other Hereticks, and particularly this, cum totus locus sit obscurus, non potest admodum valere ad revincendos Haereticos (the same pretence being made use of for all places, though never so plain) and endeavours to elude the force of that famous place in 1 Tim. 3. 16. by expunging the word , as much as in him lies, that is, by pretending it was added by the A∣rian Hereticks. So that we need the less value the cen∣sure he passes upon S. Hierome in this matter, where nothing but pure zeal for the truths of God could make him so concern'd and fervent—Ille saepe nu∣mero violentus est parum{que} pudens, saepe varius, parum{que} sibi constans. Idacius Clarus a Spanish Bishop, who died about the year 388, at what time the elder Theodosius and Valentinian were Emperours, cites both verses, though as to their order transposed, and with a lit∣tle alteration, in his book against Varimadus an Arian Deacon,Tom. 4. Biblio∣thecae veterum Patrum. Paris. 1610. pag. 372.responsione 3.—Item ipse (i.e. Johannes E∣vangelista, whose Gospel he had just before cited) ad Parthos, tres sunt, inquit, qui testimonium perhibent in terrâ, Aqua, Sanguis, & Caro, & tres in nobis sunt: & tres sunt, qui testimonium perhibent in coelo, Pater, Ver∣bum & Spiritus, & hi tres unum sunt; which very cita∣tion is made use of, as being borrowed hence ...
. I always thank God for Rius Camp & Read-Heimerdinger .