Part XVIII.

The Cbddaic\ Philofophy.
35
and to be the fame with the firft and fe- lar herein .* R. Solomon hiarki reports from an cond Zoroafters, of which formerly. Ancient Commentary, that Tera fell out with
Others (as Damafcene) alcribe the Original of his Son Abraham^ in the Prefence of Nimrod^ for Idolatry to Zerug. Epiphaniui^ and the Author , breaking his Idols, and that Abrdha?n was there¬ of the Chronicon Alexandrimm^ affirm that Hel- j upon calt into a Fiery Furnace. Ah/es Gerunden- lemfm began in the time 0/ Zerug. This Uelle- \fis confirms the fame Story, but R. Cham relates nifm fome conceive the fame with the Sabdtan j it otherwile;, Abraham^ faith he, met with alVo- Superftition 5 what the Greek Fathers call Hel- man holding a DiJh in her hand^ and the Woman
lenilm^ the Rabbins tQxm Goth, the Arabians,Al~ giaheleiton, the time o f Ignorance and Paganifm. And tho’ to determine any thing of thole early and obfcure times be very difficult, yet we can¬ not doubt, but that the Idolatrous Worlhip of Fire, and of the Sun (afcribed to the Sabaans) was of great Antiouity among them, fince men¬ tioned by the moli ancient Authors, Job, who lived near them, as appears by the inroad which aChap.i.v.i$A the Sab fans made upon him. b If I beheld b chap. . (faith he)the c Sun when it Jhined, and the Moon c The vvord is \ji brightnefs., and my heart hath been Je-
nifieth « well enticed, or my mouth hath luffed my hand. Fire. ihis alfo were an Iniquity to be punifhed by the
Judge, for I fhould have denied the God that is above where by kiffing of the hand is implied the ancient manner of Veneration.
T
A De Nobility
b Mor. Nev.
c Jfofeph. j4n- tiquit. 1.8.
C H A P. II.
Others of the Sabacan SeU.
Hat Tera Father of Abraham was bred up in thlsDoH:rine,might be conjeflufd from Jofhud 24. 2. where he is reckoned among thofe thjt Served Strange Gods. • Rhilo terms him an Aftronomer, one of thofe that are verfed in Mathematicks.
Of AbrahamSonoi Terah, b R.Maimonides exprefly faith. It is well known that our Father Abraham was Educated in the Faith of the Zabi- ans, who held, there is ndGod but the Stars -, in¬ deed c Berofus acknovyledgeth he was skilful in the Catlejiials, and Eupolemus, cited by Eufe- bius, alcribes to him the Invention of AJirology and Chaldaick. The Zabians themfelves in their Annals give this account of his departure out of d Mor. Nev. Chaldfa. Abraham, lay they, being Educated in • Ur, but dijfenting from the Vulgar, and averting that there was another Creator befides the Sun, they began thus, and objelled againji him, and among other ObjeUions, they alledged the evident and ma- nifeji operations of the Sun in the World-, but A- hx2ih2imanfweredthem, Tou are right, which Sun is like the Ax which is in the hand of him that firiketh therewith. Then they recite fome of the ObjeUions which he brought againfl them, and at lajfthey fay, that the King cajihim inPrifon,ne- verthelefs, he perfjiedin Rrijon to oppugn them -, whereupon, the King fearing left he might do Jome hurt to his Kingdom, and feduce Men from their Religion', Conjifcated all his Eftate, and Banifhed him to the utmoJI Borders of the Eafl. Thus the Zabians-. from which Relation Jofephi*s AAieis not much, who faith, that c Abraham JirJi under¬ took to convince the received Erroneo//s Opinion of A\en, concerning the Deity, and that he frft taught and proved that there is but one God, but feeing the Chaldtrans begin to Mutiny again jl him for it, he thought it Expedient to jorfake the Country.
The Rabbinical Traditions, are more particu-
c Lxl. I .c, 5-
asking him zvhether he would offer any thing to the Gods, he took a Staff, and broke the Images which the Woman had, and threw away the Stfff • his Ba¬ ther coming thither at the fame time, demanded what was the matter} Abraham anfwered, fhe had asked him to make an Offering, and upon his anfwering that he would frj} eat Jomething, there arofe a difpute betwixtihem : but his Father urg¬ ed that the bufinefs was otherwife, and that Jje was heard to fay many reproachful things Nimrod.
The Controverfe was brought befqre Nimrod the King of Edheh he commanded Abraham toWorfhip the Fire that was Jet before him-, Abraham anfwe- red. If fo, then adore you the Water, Water which quencheth Bire. Nimrod faid to him,WorJhip the Water -, Abraham anjwered. If fo, Worjhip the Clouds zehich dijlil the Water. Mmrod ikld,Tben Worjhip, the Clouds-, whereupon Abraham, If it be fo, then the Wind is to be Worfhipped, which agi¬ tates and fcatters the Clou(h. Admrod,
Worjhip the Wind-, but Abraham, If fo, then is Man much more tobeworjhipped who under fands the Wind. At length Nimrod growing angry, Tou talk, faith he, idly, I Worjhip none but the Fire, into fhe midjl ef which I will c a fi thee. Let the God whom thou Worjhippeji come and free thee by his right hand, kxm food by and talked-, they asked oj which Opinion he was-, he anfwered.if K- braham^^’r the better,! will be J"or him, ifHimiod for Nimrod. After Abraham bad gone into the Fiery Furnace and toas freed, they faid to Aran, of which fide art thou-, he J'aid, oj Abraham’s ^ then they took him, and cafl him into the Fire, and all his Bowels were Burned, and he was taken out dead in the Rrejence of his Father. Thus R.Chain but Cedrenus affirms, chat Abraham throwing his Father’s Idols into the Fire, his Brother Aran endeavouring ^o Refeue them, was Burned.
The Arabians who imitate the Jews in Rela¬ tions of this kind, and fancy SuperftruHures of their own upon Fables of the_Rabbins, give a further accompt of what happen’d to Abraham after his departure from Nimrod, as appears by a fragment of a Mahumetan Writer, of which I fliall cite only lb much as moft particularly concerns the Sab^ans. Edris, on whom be Peace, was the firfi who after Enoch, the Son of Seth,r^^ Son of Adam, on whom Peace, wrote with a Pen. This thing afterwards Edris taught his Sons, and faid to them, 0 Spns, know that you are Sabatans, learn therefore to read Books in your Youth. Npzo Sabieans are Writers,of whom the High,hQ means, Mahumet, faid (Aik. Sur. 2.) The Sabaeans and the Nazarenes. The Author adds, that they ceafed not to poffefs the Books of Seth and Edris by Here¬ ditary Right among themfelves, until the times oj Afoah, and of Abraham, after that the High God aided him againfl Nimrod,on whom bemalediblwn. But in that day wherein Abraham went out of the Land of Irack, and would go into Syria, into the Land of his Forefathers, he went to the Land of Charan, and Ghefira, and there he found a Peo- Ffffa pk
The Chaldaicli Fhilofofhy.
Pa r t XV i
pie of the Zahians^ who read old Books^ and be^ lieved fuch things' as were contained in them. But Abraham ‘O my God, I did not think that ‘ befides my felf, and thole that are with me,
‘ there had been any of the Faithful who belie- ‘ ved thee to be One 3 and God breathed to A- ‘ raham this Anfwer. O ' Abraham, the Earth is ‘ never delfitute, but that there are fome in it ‘ that difpute for God : But God commanded him to call them to his Religion, and he called them, but they would not, faying, how Jhall we believe thee,when thou readeji not a Book} andGodJent among them a forgetfulnefs of thofe things which they knew of Sciences and Books, for they con¬ ceived the Books which they ufed, to be from God, and Jome of them Believed, others not. After¬ wards the Zabians were divided,and fome of them believed, viz. the Barhameans, who did notfepa- rate themf elves from Abraham of Bleffed Memo¬ ry, but the reft followed their ownReligion vety eagerly, viz. thofe who were in the Land of Cha- ran, who ivent not with Abraham into Syria, and faid, we follow the Religion of Edris, and Noah 5 T hus, according to Kifaus, the Religidn of the Sabaans was the fame with that of the Haraneeans^^ox Mefopotamians. What he relates of Abraham's being fent to the Sab^ans, is all ■borrowed from the Rabbinical Traditions.
But that tliere were anciently Learned Per- fons in Arabia, skilful in Natural Philofophy, Alfronomy, and other Scierices,is manifeft ifom Teftimonies far more authentick 3 (as particular¬ ly) from the Difcourfes betwixt fob. and his Friends 3 of the Arabian Philofophers it is uh- derlfood, xhdX Solomons Wifdom is faid to have Excelled the Wifdom of all the Sons of theEaft, Tacitus, defcribing Judxa, the Land and Bounds to the Eaft are terminated by Arabia. And that the Jews called Arabia the Eaft County is evi¬ dent from leveral places in Scripture, as Gen, 10 Job
0f the lame 'allay ti Maimonides conceives a Mor. Ne'v,lib. the Book of Healings to have been, which was hid by Ezekiel. .
The lame b Maimonides- ziXts many other 3 ij/or.2Va/. Books of the Sabaians, Tranflated into Arabick, of which the chiefeft is entituled, of the Agri¬ culture of the c Nabateans, Tranftatedby Aben Vachlchijah .* full ofldololatrical extravagancies-, it treats of the making of Tililmenaias, of the defcent of familiar Spirits, of Conjurations of D£- mons, of Devils, of fuch as dwell in Defarts (as Satyrs were thought to do) many other things it contained very ridiculous, by which neverthelefs they conceived that they could confute themanifeft Miracles (of Mofes, and the Prophets.^
Another entituled, the Worfhip, or of the Wor- Jhip of the Nabatatans, out of which, d Alaimo- d lib. nides cites a Story concerning Abrahatn xQhxQ^ formerly.
e The Book Haiftanchus, afcribedto Ariftptle, e Mam. mqt. but falfty. Nev. itb.^
f The Book Hattelefmaoth, o^Tfilmenaias -,f ibid. Buxtorfus renders it, of Ipeaking Images 3 the reafon we have given formerly.
The Book Tamtam.
The Book of HalTearab.
The Book of the Degrees of the Cceleftial Orbs and the figures that are afcendent in evey degree
Another Book- concerning Tlilmenaias, which alfo is. attributed to AxiRoAq, ...
Another Book afcribed to Hermes.
The Book of the Zabian, wherein he ar¬ gues in defence of the Laws of the Zabfan?.
A great Book of the Clift oms and Tarticulari- ties fthb Law of the Zdhhr\i,af of their f eaft s, SacriJices,Trayers, and other things concernifig their Beliief. All thefe (IkithMaimonidesj are ' Books which treat of Idololatrical things, and are Tranflated into the Arabick Tongue. •
Befides x}iQ^Q,(;d.sMaimonides kcknowledgeth,) there are many others, g Hoftinger cites, (n hisf.-^J^'"’'. ^ own P^lfelfion) A Treaiife'hf'MAiOxmi the *•
der. Son of Ifaak,who is 'otne|:wife called Abul-
30. and 25. 6, 18. Job i. 3. Judges 6. 3,i.&c TUny alfo mentions thS Magi of Arabia (of whom he inftanceth Hippocus.) Ptolomy, the Gulf of the Magi,\x\ Arabia-, and. Porphynm fark, xht Son of Abi Jakub. (citirig relates that Pyr^^^or^7j'(am'ong 1 -
other Countries to which he Travell’d for Learn- ‘ ing) went alfo /i? Arabia, and lived with the King there; . ,
THE
C H 'A P. III.
■ ' : ■ Thetr Writings.
T]AL Sabmns pretended (as was lately Ihew- dd out of Kiffeus,) to have had the Books of Sethfxnd Edris, and not only thofe, but fome alfo vvtitren by Adam 3 for the fame Author con¬ tinuing, the Story of Abrahanf s coming among the- Sahtelns, 2idds,th2.taftewards Ahxdhaxnopen- ed the Cheft of Ad^xrijand behold-, in it were the ' Books of Adzm -, likewife the Books of Seth, and fdff.dx]s,‘^^as alfo th) names of all the Prophets fiha;we?e,thbe. font 'ilfter Ahx'dham-, But Ahxd- ‘tern f ird, Happy indeed are the Lins out of 'fwhich 'dll thefe Prophets ftmll come : And God ^[ihretithedto.him (this Anlwer ) Thou, 0 Abraham If'vrtthf ft other of them all, and they thy Children-, 'and for this reafon- Ahxdhdxn dejerved to be called ■ /f;
NlNETEENTH PAR.t.
The Do&rine of the Sabsans.
W Hat is left to us of the DoHrine of the Sabaans is delivered up¬ on later Authorities,than thofe from which we have the Chal- daick : and therefore perhaps is but an account of what it was it later times, degenerated from their Primitive Doflrine, which was immediate¬ ly derived fpr the Chaldaick. Nor is it impofli- ble, but' that this Corruption might be fome- what aggravated by the eager oppofition of the Talmudifts, dxid fome Arabick Writers that fol¬ low them, from whole hands only we receive it. However, we conceive it necelTary to be annexed to the former, of which, tho’ depraved, it pre¬ tends at leaft to be the continued Succeflion.
CHAP.
I