THEOLOGY

THEOPHILANTHROPISTS

Also for all that is past, which we now enjoy, Grotius de Veritate Religionis Christine, and what is promised; for private and public, for Stilling fleet's Origines Sacra; Turreline's Inordinary and extraordinary blessings; for pros-stitutio Theologiæ Elenctiæ; Butler's Andag perity, and even adversity, so far as rendered sub- Picteti Theologia Christiana; Stapferi Instaservient to our good. The excellency of this duty tiones Theologiæ; Witsius on the Con appears, if we consider, 1. Its antiquity; it ex- Usher, Boston, Watson, Gill, and Ridgley's Di isted in Paradise before Adam fell, and therefore vinity; Doddridge's Lectures; Brown's Com prior to the graces of faith, repentance, &c.— pendium of Natural and Revealed Religing 2. Its sphere of operation; being far beyond many and Ryan's Effects of Religion on Masind other graces which are confined to time and See also articles CHRISTIANITY, RELIGION, REplace.-3. Its felicity; some duties are painful: VELATION, SCRIPTURES. as repentance, conflict with sin, &c.; but this is a source of sublime pleasure.-4. Its reasonable-fifth ness. And, 5. Its perpetuity. This will be in exercise for ever, when other graces will not be necessary, as faith, repentance, &c. The obligation to this duty arises, 1. From the relation | we stand in to God.-2. The divine command.3. The promises God hath made.-4. The example of all good men.-5. Our unworthiness of the blessings we receive.—And, 6. The prospect of eternal glory.

THEFT, the taking away the property of another without his knowledge or consent. This is not only a sin against our neighbour, but a direct violation of that part of the decalogue which says, "Thou shalt not steal." This law requires justice, truth, and faithfulness in all our dealings with men; to owe no man any thing, but to give to all their dues; to be true to all engagements, promises, and contracts; and to be faithful in whatever is committed to our care and trust. It forbids all unjust ways of increasing our own and hurting our neighbour's substance by using false balances and measures; by overreaching and circumventing in trade and commerce; by taking away by force or fraud the goods, persons, or properties of men; by borrowing and not paying again; by oppression, extortion, and unlawful usury. It may include in it also, what is very seldom called by this name, i. c. the robbing of ourselves and families, by neglecting our callings, or imprudent management thereof; lending larger sums of money than our circumstances will bear, when there is no prospect of payment; by being profuse and excessive in our expenses; indulging unlawful pleasures, and thereby reducing our families to poverty; or even, on the other hand, by laying up a great deal for the time to come, while our families are left to starve, or reduced to the greatest inconvenience and distress.

THEODOSIANS. See ANGELITES. THEOLOGY, signifies that science which treats of the being and attributes of God, his relations to us, the dispensations of his providence, his will with respect to our actions, and his purposes with respect to our end. The word was first used to denote the systems, or rather the heterogeneous fables of those poets and philosophers who wrote of the genealogy and exploits of the gods of Greece. Hence Orpheus, Museus, Hesiod, &c. were called theologians; and the same epithet was given to Plato, on account of his sublime speculations on the same subject. It was afterwards adopted by the earliest writers of the Christian church, who styled the author of the Apocalypse, by way of eminence, xys, the divine. As he various branches of theology are considered in their places in this work, they need not be insisted on here. The theological student will find the following books on the subject of utility:

THEOPASCHITES, a denomination in the century, who held that Christ had but one nature, which was the divine, and consequently that this divine nature suffered.

THEOPHILANTHROPISTS, a set of deists, who, in September 1796, published at Paris a sort of catechism or directory for so worship, under the title of Manuel des Them throphiles. This religious breviary found favour; the congregation became numerous; and in the second edition of their Manuel they assumed the less harsh denomination of Theophilanth i. e. lovers of God and man.-According to them, the temple the most worthy of the Divinity is the universe. Abandoned sometimes under the vac of heaven to the contemplation of the beauties f nature, they render its Author the homage adoration and of gratitude. They nevertheless have temples erected by the bands of men which it is more commodious for them to asseme ble, to hear lessons concerning his wisdom. Cer tain moral inscriptions; a simple altar, en wich they deposit a sign of gratitude for the bench's of the Creator, such flowers or fruits as the seasons afford; a tribune for the lectures and dise: Cres form the whole of the ornaments of their temples.

The first inscription, placed above the xtar recals to remembrance the two reis d which are the foundation of their nati.

First inscription. We believe in the ex ence of God, in the inmortality of fa Second inscription. Worship Gol cer kind, render yourselves useful to your cott Third inscription. Good is every thing d tends to the preservation or the perfection of ta Evil is every thing which tends to destro teriorate him.-Fourth inscription. Cha honour your fathers and mothers; th with affection, comfort their old age. Fathers mothers, instruct your children.-F tion. Wives, regard your husbands, the lack your houses. Husbands, love your wives, nd render yourselves reciprocally happy.

From the concluding part of the Mar Theophilanthropists, we may learn searth, more of their sentiments. "If any one ask y say they, "what is the origin of your re of your worship, you can answer him thas the most ancient books which are Low there what was the religion, what the worse the first human beings of which history ha served the remembrance. There you will see their religion was what we now call natur ligion, because it has for its principle even Author of nature. It is he that has engrave in the heart of the first human beings, in that of all the inhabitants of the earth; th gion, which consists in worshipping G cherishing our kind, is what we express r single word, that of Theophilanthropy. Th our religion is that of our first parents; it

THERAPEUTE

it is ours; it is the universal religion. As to our worship, it is also that of our first fathers. See even in the most ancient writings, that the exterior signs by which they rendered their homage to the Creator were of great simplicity. They dressed for him an altar of earth; they offered him, in sign of their gratitude and of their submission, some of the productions which they held of his liberal hand. The fathers exhorted their children to virtue; they all encouraged one another, under the auspices of the Divinity, to the accomplishment of their duties. This simple worship the sages of all nations have not ceased to profess, and they have transmitted it down to us without interruption.

"If they yet ask you of whom you hold your mission, answer, we hold it of God himself, who, in giving us two arms to aid our kind, has also given us intelligence to mutually enlighten us, and the love of good to bring us together to virtue; of God, who has given experience and wisdom to the aged to guide the young, and authority to fathers to conduct their children.

THOUGHT

mentaries of their ancestors, to discover some allegorical meaning in every part. Besides this, they entertained themselves with composing sacred hymns in various kinds of metre. Six days of the week were, in this manner, passed in solitude. On the seventh day they met, clothed in a decent habit, in a public assembly, where, taking their places according to their age, they sat with the right hand between the breast and the chin, and the left at the side. Then some one of the elders, stepping forth into the middle of the assembly, discoursed with a grave countenance and a calm tone of voice, on the doctrines of the sect; the audience, in the mean time, remaining in perfect silence, and occasionally expressing their attention and approbation by a nod. The chapel where they met was divided into two apartments, one for the men, and the other for the women. So strict a regard was paid to silence in these assemblies, that no one was permitted to whisper, nor even to breathe aloud; but when the discourse was finished, if the question which had been proposed for solution had been treated to the satis"If they are not struck with the force of those faction of the audience, they expressed their reasons, do not farther discuss the subject, and do approbation by a murmur of applause. Then the not engage yourself in controversies, which tend speaker, rising, sung a hymn of praise to God; in to diminish the love of our neighbours. Our prin- the last verse of which the whole assembly joined. ciples are the Eternal Truth; they will subsist, On great festivals, the meeting was closed with whatever individuals may support or attack them, a vigil, in which sacred music was performed, and the efforts of the wicked will not even prevail accompanied with solemn dancing; and these against them. Rest firmly attached to them, with-vigils were continued till morning, when the asout attacking or defending any religious system; and remember, that similar discussions have never produced good, and that they have often tinged the earth with the blood of men. Let us lay aside systems, and apply ourselves to doing good; it is the only road to happiness." So much for the divinity of the Theophilanthropists; a system entirely defective, because it wants the true foundation, the word of God; the grand rule of all our actions, and the only basis on which our hopes and prospects of success can be built.

THEOSOPHISTS, a sect who pretend to derive all their knowledge from divine illumination. They boast that by means of this celestial light, they are not only admitted to the intimate knowledge of God, and of all divine truth, but have access to the most sublime secrets of nature. They ascribe it to the singular manifestation of divine benevolence, that they are able to make such a use of the element of fire in the chemical art, as enables them to discover the essential principles of bodies, and to disclose stupendous mysteries in the physical world. To this class, it is said, belonged Paracelsus, R. Fludd, Van Helmont, Peter Poiret, and the Rosicrusians.

sembly, after a morning prayer, in which their faces were directed towards the rising sun, was broken up. So abstemious were these ascetics that they commonly ate nothing before the setting sun, and often fasted two or three days. They abstained from wine, and their ordinary food was bread and herbs.

Much dispute has arisen among the learned concerning this sect. Some have imagined them to have been Judaizing Gentiles; but Philo supposes them to be Jews, by speaking of them as a branch of the sect of Essenes, and expressly classes them among the followers of Moses. Others have maintained, that the Therapeute were an Alexandrian sect of Jewish converts to the Christian faith, who devoted themselves to a monastic life. But this is impossible; for Philo, who wrote before Christianity appeared in Egypt, speaks of this as an established sect. From comparing Philo's account of this sect with the state of philosophy in the country where it flourished, it seems likely that the Therapeute were a body of Jewish fanatics, who suffered themselves to be drawn aside from the simplicity of their ancient religion by the example of the Egyptians THERAPEUTÆ, so called from the extra-and Pythagoreans. How long this sect conordinary purity of their religious worship, were a Jewish sect, who, with a kind of religious frenzy, placed their whole felicity in the contemplation of the divine nature. Detaching themselves wholly THOUGHT, an image of any thing formed from secular affairs, they transferred their pro- in the mind; sentiment, reflection, opinion, deperty to their relations or friends, and withdrew sign. As the thoughts are the prime movers of into solitary places, where they devoted them-the conduct; as in the sight of the Divine Being selves to a holy life. The principal society of this they bear the character of good or evil; and as kind was formed near Alexandria, where they they are therefore cognizable at his tribunal; the lived, not far from each other, in separate cot- moral regulation of them is of the greatest importages, each of which had its own sacred apart-tance. It is of consequence to inquire what ment; to which the inhabitant retired for the purposes of devotion. After their morning prayers, they spent the day in studying the law and the prophets, endeavouring, by the help of the com

tinued is uncertain; but it is not improbable that, after the appearance of Christianity in Egypt, it soon became extinct.

thoughts ought to be rejected, and what to be indulged. Those of an evil nature, which ought to be banished, are, 1. Fretful and discontented thoughts.-2. Anxious and apprehensive thoughts.

TOLERATION

TOLERATION

tical Cause: Hints on Toleration, by Phy gatharches: Reflections Philosophiques et P litiques sur la Tolerance Religieuse, par J. P.

TOLERATION ACT, an act for ent

some ease to scrupulous consciences, in the exe The preamble states, "That forasmuch a cise of religion, may be an effectual means to unite their Majesties' Protestant Subjects terest and affection," it enacts as follows: Iz

3. Angry and wrathful thoughts.-4. Malignant and revengeful thoughts.-5. Such as are foolish, trifling, and unreasonable.-6. Wild and extravagant, vain and fantastical.-7. Romantic De N***. and chimerical.-8. Impure and lascivious.— 9. Gloomy and melancholy.-10. Hasty and vola-ing their Majesties' Protestant subjects, disenting tile.-11. Profane and blasphemous. The thoughts from the Church of England, from the Pena we ought to indulge, are those which give the of certain Laws. mind a rational or religious pleasure; tend to improve the understanding: raise the affections to divine objects; to promote the welfare of our fellow-creatures, and withal the divine glory. To bring the mind into a habit of thinking as we ought to think, there should be a constant dependence on and imploring of divine grace; an increasing acquaintance with the sacred Scriptures; an improvement of every opportunity of serious conversation; a constant observance of the works of God in creation, providence, and grace; and, lastly, a deep sense of the realities of an eternal world as revealed in the word of God. Mason on Self-knowledge; Watts on the Mind; Goodwin's Vanity of Thoughts. See his Works, vol. iii. p. 232.

TIARA, the name of the pope's triple crown. The tiara and keys are the badges of the papal dignity, the tiara of his civil rank, and the keys of his jurisdiction; for as soon as the pope is dead, his arms are represented with the tiara alone, without the keys. The ancient tiara was a round high cap. John XIII. first encompassed it with a crown. Boniface VIII. added a second crown; and Benedict XII. a third.

TIME, mode of duration marked by certain periods, chiefly by the motion and revolution of the sun. The general idea which time gives in every thing to which it is applied, is that of limited duration. Thus we cannot say of the Deity that he exists in time, because eternity, which he inhabits, is absolutely uniform, neither admitting limitation nor succession.

Time is said to be redeemed or improved when it is properly filled up, or employed in the conscientious discharge of all the duties which devolve upon us, as it respects the Divine Being, ourselves, and our fellow-creatures. Time may be said to be lost when it is not devoted to some good, useful, or at least some innocent purpose; or when opportunities of improvement, business, or devotion, are neglected. Time is wasted by excessive sleep, unnecessary recreations, indolent habits, useless visits, idle reading, vain conversation, and all those actions which have no good end in them. We ought to improve the time, when we consider, 1. That it is short.-2. Swift. -3. Irrecoverable.-4. Uncertain.-5. That it is a talent committed to our trust.-And, 6. That the improvement of it is advantageous and interesting in every respect. See Shower on Time and Eternity; Fox on Time; J. Edwards's Posthumous Sermons, ser. 24, 25, 26; Hale's Contemplations, p. 211; Hervey's Meditations; Young's Night Thoughts; Blair's Grave.

the

Sect. II. That neither the statute 23d of Elizabeth, intituled "An Act to retain t Queen's Majesty's Subjects in their de ni dience;" nor the statute made in the 9th ver of the said Queen, "for the more speedy and ta execution of certain branches of the former st; nor that clause of a statute made in the first reat of the said Queen, intituled "An Act for the Cur formity of Common Prayer," &c.; whereby al persons are required to resort to their part the censures of the church; and also up church or chapel, upon pain of punishment by that every person so offending, shall forfent fir every such offence twelve pence; nor the statute made in the 3d year of the late King Janes inti tuled "An act for the better discovering and repressing Popish Recusants" nor that other statute, intituled "An act to prevent and ad dangers which may grow by Popish Recusants" against Papists or Popish Recusants, shal be nor any other law or statute of this realm made construed to extend to any person or persons dis senting from the Church of England, that shall take the oaths (of allegiance and supremacy and shall make and subscribe the declaration Popery;) which oaths and declaration the tices of the peace at the general sessions of the sons shall live, are hereby required to ad peace for the county or place where such per and subscribe the same, and thereof to keen a to such persons as shall offer themselves to sadr register; and, likewise, none of the person said shall give or pay, as any fee or rewar any officer belonging to the court, abore the of six-pence for his entry of his taking the oaths, &c. nor above the further sum of six-pence for any certificate of the same.

the said oaths, and make and subsribe the de Sect. IV. That every person that shall take claration aforesaid, shall not be liable to say pains, penalties, or forfeitures, mentioned in act made in the 35th of the late Queen Eliz beth, nor in an act made in the 22d of Charis the Second, intituled "An act to prevent t suppress Seditious Conventicles;" nor shady of the said persons he prosecuted in any ette siastical court for their nonconforming to the Church of England.

Sect. V. Provided that, if any assembly of shall be held in any place for religious wa persons, dissenting from the Church of Eng with the doors locked, barred or bolted, dung any time of such meeting together, such pers shall not receive any benefit from this law, t be liable to all the pains and penalties of Un aforesaid laws.

TOLERATION, in matters of religion, is either civil or ecclesiastical. Civil toleration is an impunity, and safely granted by the state to every sect that does not maintain doctrines inconsistent with the public peace. Ecclesiastical toleration is the allowance which the church grants to its members to differ in certain opinions not reputed essential. See Dr. Owen, Locke, and Dr. Furneaut, on tained shall be construed to exempt any of the Sect. VI. Provided that nothing herein Toleration; Milton's Civil Power in Ecclesias-persons aforesaid from paying of tythes, or other

438

TOLERATION

3. Angry and wrathful thoughts.-4. Malignant and revengeful thoughts.-5. Such as are foolish, trifling, and unreasonable.-6. Wild and extravagant, vain and fantastical.-7. Romantic and chimerical.-8. Impure and lascivious.9. Gloomy and melancholy.-10. Hasty and volatile.-11. Profane and blasphemous. The thoughts we ought to indulge, are those which give the mind a rational or religious pleasure; tend to improve the understanding: raise the affections to divine objects; to promote the welfare of our fellow-creatures, and withal the divine glory. To bring the mind into a habit of thinking as we ought to think, there should be a constant dependence on and imploring of divine grace; an increasing acquaintance with the sacred Scriptures; an improvement of every opportunity of serious conversation; a constant observance of the works of God in creation, providence, and grace; and, lastly, a deep sense of the realities of an eternal world as revealed in the word of God. Mason on Self-knowledge; Watts on the Mind; Goodwin's Vanity of Thoughts. See his Works, vol. iii. p. 232.

TIARA, the name of the pope's triple crown. The tiara and keys are the badges of the papal dignity, the tiara of his civil rank, and the keys of his jurisdiction; for as soon as the pope is dead, his arms are represented with the tiara alone, without the keys. The ancient tiara was a round high cap. John XIII. first encompassed it with a crown. Boniface VIII. added a second crown; and Benedict XII. a third.

TIME, mode of duration marked by certain periods, chiefly by the motion and revolution of the sun. The general idea which time gives in every thing to which it is applied, is that of limited duration. Thus we cannot say of the Deity that he exists in time, because eternity, which he inhabits, is absolutely uniform, neither admitting

limitation nor succession.

TOLERATION

tical Cause: Hints on Toleration, by Philz gatharches: Reflections Philosophiques et Pa litiques sur la Tolerance Religieuse, par J. P. De N***.

TOLERATION ACT, an act for exert ing their Majesties' Protestant subjects, disenting from the Church of England, from the Penales of certain Laws.

The preamble states, "That forasmuch as some ease to scrupulous consciences, in the exe cise of religion, may be an effectual meats t unite their Majesties' Protestant Subjects in in terest and affection," it enacts as follows: vz

Sect. II. That neither the statute made in the

23d of Elizabeth, intituled "An Act to retain the Queen's Majesty's Subjects in their due es dience;" nor the statute made in the thre of the said Queen, "for the more speedy and de execution of certain branches of the former ; nor that clause of a statute made in the first year of the said Queen, intituled "An Act for the C formity of Common Prayer," &c.; whereby & persons are required to resort to their part church or chapel, upon pain of punishment by the censures of the church; and also upeo pas that every person so offending, shall forest fr every such offence twelve pence; nor the state made in the 3d year of the late King Japes int tuled "An act for the better discovering and repressing Popish Recusants; nor that ther statute, intituled "An act to prevent and aud dangers which may grow by Popish Resants:" nor any other law or statute of this realm made against Papists or Popish Recusarts, shall be construed to extend to any person or persons dis senting from the Church of England, that shali take the oaths (of allegiance and suprema and shall make and subscribe the declaration guest Popery;) which oaths and declaration the tices of the peace at the general sessions of the peace for the county or place where such persons shall live, are hereby required to adminser to such persons as shall offer themselves to rauke and subscribe the same, and thereof to keep a register; and, likewise, none of the persons e said shall give or pay, as any fee of rewat any officer belonging to the court, above the s of six-pence for his entry of his taking the oaths, &c. nor above the further sun of six-p for any certificate of the same.

Sect. IV. That every person that shall be the said oaths, and make and subscribe the e claration aforesaid, shall not be liable to pains, penalties, or forfeitures, mentioned act made in the 35th of the late Queen Ex beth, nor in an act made in the 22d of Charry the Second, intituled "An act to prevent suppress Seditious Conventicles;" not sha of the said persons be prosecuted in any ete siastical court for their nonconforming to Church of England.

Time is said to be redeemed or improved when it is properly filled up, or employed in the conscientious discharge of all the duties which devolve upon us, as it respects the Divine Being, ourselves, and our fellow-creatures. Time may be said to be lost when it is not devoted to some good, useful, or at least some innocent purpose; or when opportunities of improvement, business, or devotion, are neglected. Time is wasted by excessive sleep, unnecessary recreations, indolent habits, useless visits, idle reading, vain conversation, and all those actions which have no good end in them. We ought to improve the time, when we consider, 1. That it is short.-2. Swift. 3. Irrecoverable.-4. Uncertain.-5. That it is a talent committed to our trust.-And, 6. That the improvement of it is advantageous and interesting in every respect. See Shower on Time and Eternity; Fox on Time; J. Edwards's Posthumous Sermons, ser. 24, 25, 26; Hale's Contemplations, p. 211; Herrey's Meditations; Young's Night Thoughts; Blair's Grave. TOLERATION, in matters of religion, is either civil or ecclesiastical. Civil toleration is an impunity, and safely granted by the state to every sect that does not maintain doctrines inconsistent with the public peace. Ecclesiastical toleration is the allowance which the church grants to its members to differ in certain opinions not reputed essential. Sect. VI. Provided that nothing herein See Dr. Owen, Locke, and Dr. Furneaux, on tained shall be construed to exempt any Toleration; Milton's Civil Power in Ecclesias-persons aforesaid from paying of tythes, or din

Sect. V. Provided that, any assembly: persons, dissenting from the Church of Enga shall be held in any place for religious with the doors locked, barred or bolted, any time of such meeting together, such pers shall not receive any benefit from this la be liable to all the pains and penalties t aforesaid laws.