Excerpt from The Works of Symon Patrick, D. D, Vol. 6 of 9: Sometime Bishop of Ely; Including His Autobiography

You may think this to be scarce credible; but when you consider the ignorance of some, the weakness of other men's natural parts, the naughty affections that most are possessed withal, and bring along with them to the reading of books, even of the holv Scrip tures; and how truth itself was rejected when it came in person into the world, and the sacred volumes have been so wrested that the absurdest fictions have been made out of them, you will not wonder that a pious discourse meets with this bad entertainment. Either men consider not that some truths lie deep, and must be drawn up with a great deal of labour; or they have not indifferent minds, but suffer their desires and wishes to form their opinions for them.

They run over a book in posthaste, and only spend a few slight thoughts upon it; or they want that honesty and integrity of heart, which is necessary to a right understanding. They are fiercely bent to maintain their own conceits, they are blinded by the love of this world, or by anger and hatred of others, or by a proud and vain Opinion of themselves, which rise up to contradict the plainest truth that strikes at them. And of all the rest nothing more indisposes the soul, and prejudices it against the truth, than that last thing now named, a vain conceit of themselves; which makes men bold and confident, apt to censure rather than to learn, to be angry at all reproofs, and to conclude that is false which they they do not instantly understand. St. Austinf confesses that this would not let him understand the holy Scriptures, which contain things that are of this property, to grow up with a little one; but 1 disdained, saith he, to be a little one, and being swollen with pride and conceit seemed some great person in my own eyes. To this there often joins itself an envious humour, which loves to detract from others, that men may seem better themselves than indeed they are or rather, as Dr. Sibbs hath observedg, this is a thing which springs from the poisonous pride of men's hearts, that, when they cannot raise themselves by their own worth, they will endeavour to do it by the ruin of another's credit, through lying and slanders. The devil was such a liar and slanderer, then a murderer. He cannot murder, without he slander first. This disposes them to believe any thing of others, though never so false, and then moves them to fling it abroad by word and writing: thinking it enough to salve their own credit, should they be caught in a falsehood, and convicted of notorious lies, to thrust in these old words, 'they say, it is report ed, ' and such likeh; wherewith all the tales and legends that are, have been ushered into the world. In this manner Apion calumniated the Jews and thus the primitive Christians were abominably abused. And all this with security enough; the folly and ill-nature of the multitude being so great, that they dote upon these forgeries and detractions, and suffer themselves (as Josephus hath observed i)

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