King, who can be none but the Roman Emperor, for the Jews have not been destroy'd by any other, and they fay, themfelves, We have no King but Cæfar.

THE fecond Character is to be found in Verfe the feventh, where the Prophet gives us the Reafon why the paftoral Care fhould ftill continue, namely, for the fake of the Poor; from whence we may conclude, that God intended the Jewish Nation fhould ftill be fed, hot indeed for the fake of the whole Nation, but only for the fake of that Remnant, who, tho' contemptible in the fight of Men, fhould yet be brought to believe in Chrift, before the final Overthrow of the whole Nation.

OUR Author finds a third Character, in the ninth Verfe, where the Shepherd hints to the whole People, that this merciful feeding of the Flock fhould foon be at an end; and that then the final Deftruction of the Jews fhould immediately follow.

A Fourth Character of the Time, when this Prophecy was to be accomplish'd, we find, fays Mr. Holtius, in Verfe the thirteenth; from which it appears, that before all, that is here prophefy'd, was to happen, the Lord was to be appraifed at the Price of thirty Pieces of Silver.

FINALLY, there is a fifth Character to be drawn from the fixteenth Verfe, where it is faid, that a faithful Shepherd is to be raised, not in the Land, as is wrongfully put in our English Tranflation, and in all others, as far as I know but in that Land, to wit, in Judea, 14:2, John xix. 5.

No XIX. 17320

VOL. IV:

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among

among the Jews, and confequently before their final Overthrow.

FROM all thefe Characters and Obfervátions our Author infers, that the Event, spoken of in this Prophecy, must have happened between the Death of our Saviour, and the Overthrow of the Jewish Nation: And this, we think, is fufficient to give our Readers a Notion of Mr. Holtius his Method of expounding the Scripture. We'll fay but a Word or two of the following Differtations.

THE fourth is intitled Fons Vita, The Fountain of Life, and is an Explication of the fifty-feventh Verfe of the fixth Chapter of St. John's Gofpel. Here our Author intends to fhew, that thefe Words of the Evangelift, The living Father has fent me, and I live by the Father, do not relate to the economical fending of Chrift, as the Meffiah and Redeemer of Mankind, but to his Eternal Generation, by which be received from the Father, by a natural Communication, a divine Life. This Differtation is levelled against the famous Dr. Lampe, in his Life-time Profeffor of Divinity at Utrecht. Mr. Holtius knows very well, how to make ufe of the Argumentum Theologicum ex Invidia ductum, that is, to render his Adverfary odious, to represent him as an Heretick, in order to get a more eafy Victory over him. But, for that Reason, we don't think it proper to give an account of this Differtation; and be fides, it is written in fuch a fcholaftical Way, that the greateft part of our Readers fhould understand nothing of it; nay, I queftion whether our Author understood himself.

Vid. Cleric. Oper. Philof, Vol. I. p. 247, & feq.

THE

1

THE fifth and laft Differtation is intitled Unitio propria & Metonymica, The Unition proper and Metonymical: dr, Of the Word Chrift, as it fignifies an Anointed. It is not an easy thing to fay, what our Author's Defign is in this Differtation, and much lefs to make a coherent Abstract of it. This Differtation is fo full of Digreffions, and fo confufed and dark, that one fcarce knows, what to make of it; nay, this Fault runs thro' all the former Differtations, and this we may plead for ourselves, if this Abstract is not fo regular, as we could have wish'd. But to return to our Author, after having exhausted his Common-Places about the Etymology of the words Chrift and Meffiah, he inquires into the Reafons why fome Perfons were anointed, and fome not, before they enter'd upon their Functions. Some Functions, fays he, were neceffary, and fome were free: he calls neceffary thofe, which the Church or Commonwealth could not be without, as those of Teachers and Magiftrates; and he calls free thofe, which God eftablished out of his own Good-Will and Pleasure,as those of Prophets and of Kings. Hence it is, fays he, that all the Aa ronical Priefts were wont to be anointed, as well as fome Kings. To be confiftent with himself, he fhould have faid all Kings, fince, according to his Definition of free Functions, all Kings were eftablish'd by God; but then he was fenfible, that a few only of them have been anointed; and this he endeavours next to account for. Some very learned Men, fays he, maintain, that all the Kings of Judah, nay, and of Ifrael, were wont to be anointed: Others chufe rather to defend the common Opinion of the Jews, D2

viz,

T

viz. that no Kings were ever anointed, but they that were the firft of their Family, who afcended the Throne, or elfe they that came to be Kings, after the natural Order of Succeffion had been interrupted, or there had been fome Difpute or Struggle about it. Our Author likes neither of thefe Opinions; the firft, fays he, is-amp yeagis, unfcriptural, and the other may eafily be fhewed to be against the Scripture. What then is Mr. Holtius's Opinion? Why, we muft, fays he, by all means maintain, that Unction has never been used, bat when a Perfon or Family was appointed by God's express Command, to any Employment, either Ecclefiaftical or Civil but never when a Perfon came to an Employment, tho never fo holy, by the Appointment of Mén. This he endeavours to fhew, by entering very minutely into Particulars; but we cannot follow him here, without being too tedious, and making this Abftract too long.

2

FROM this Pofition, that no body was 'ever anointed, but he, that was immediately appointed by God to fome Office, Mr. Holtius infers the Metonymical Senfe of the Word anointed, which fignifies according to him, any Perfon chofen by God immediately, and in an extraordinary Manner, either to enjoy some great Honour, or to exercise fome Office," tho' he was never actually anointed, and this is the Reafon, why our Saviour is call'd the Anointed, the Meffiah, or Chrift: The remaining Part of this Differtation is all taken up with explaining this Unction of Christ; but we don't think it neceffary to give an Account of what our Author fays upon this Subject, because we have found nothing here, butwhat may be met with in almost

7

almost every Syftem of Divinity, especially in thofe of the Dutch Divines.

To conclude, if any body is fond of fcholaftical Notions, and a myftical Expofition of the Holy Scripture, he will find enough wherewithal to fatisfy himself in, these Differtations of Mr. Holtius, who doth not want Learning and Wit to fupport his Notions with a Shew of Rea fon; or, when Wit fails him, he knows how to make amends for the want of it, by talking in a decifive and peremptory/ Way, or by bran ding his Adverfaries with the odious. Titles of Socinians and Hereticks. But as for found Rea fon, and a critical Way of explaining the Scrip ture, it is what must not be expected from our Reverend Author..

ARTICLE III.

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NouveauxSermons fur l'Hiftoire de laPaffion de notre Seigneur JESUS CHRIST, & fur des Sujets, qui y ont du raport. Par feu M. JAQUES SAURIN, Pafteur à la Haye.

That is,

New Sermons on the History of the Paffion of our Lord JESUS CHRIST, and other Subjects relating thereto. By the late Reverend M. JAMES SAURIN, Minifter at the Hague. Two Vol. 8vo. Printed 4t Rotterdam for Jean Daniel Beman MpccxxxII.

Extract of the Second Volume,