IN these words we have (as has been observed)

1. A description of Revela­tion, 'tis God's speaking, or de­claring his Will to Mankind.

2. The Certainty of that Revelation, 'tis by way of Declaration, God who at sundry times, and in divers manners spake, &c.

3. The Order observed in delivering that Re­velation, as to Time, Manner, and Persons; In time past by the Prophets, and in the last days by his Son.

4. The Conclusion and Perfection of that Revelation, 'tis in the last days by his Son.

[Page 2] Under the Second I have shewed,

1. That there has been such a Revelation.

2. That the Scripture is of Divine Revela­tion, and has upon it the Characters belonging to such Revelation.

For the better disposing of what I had to say Serm. V.under this Head, I proposed Four Questions to be resolved, viz.

Q. 1. How we can prove the Matter of Scri­pture to be true?

Q. 2. How we can prove the Matter of Scri­pture to have been of Divine Revelation?

Q. 3. How we can prove the Books of Scri­pture to have been of Divine Inspiration?

Q. 4. How we prove these Books that are now extant, and received by the Christian Church as Canonical, to be those very Books?

I have already Treated of the Two former, and shall now take the Two latter into Consi­deration.

Where we may observe somewhat as to the Writers, and then as to Inspiration.

[Page 3] 1. As to the Writers; of whom we may reckon Three sorts.

(1.) Merely Human; such as St. Luke speaks of, that out of a good and pious intent, took in Luk. 1. [...]. hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which were most surely believed. And this may be done without any material Error by Persons duly qualified for it.

(2.) Those that had what they wrote imme­diately dictated, or at least approved by such Per­sons as were inspired. So Eusebius saith that the Hist. Ec­cles. l. 2. c. 15. l. 5. c. 8.Gospel of St. Mark was approved by St. Peter, and St. Luke's by St. Paul.

(3.) Such as were immediately Inspired in the writing, as St. Peter and the rest of the Divine Writers are supposed to have been.

Now though the first of these may be suffi­cient in ordinary cases, and of good use in the extraordinary, where there is no better; yet where the Salvation of Mankind is concerned, there is somewhat farther necessary, and that is, that the Persons that write should be assisted and guided by the Holy Spirit of God, or write by the di­rection and approbation of those that are Inspired.

2. As to the Inspiration, that is Twofold:

(1.) Either when the Matter, Words▪ and Order, are immediately Dictated by God [Page 4] Exod. 20. 1, 22. himself; as the Decalogue was, and all that was Revealed by Voice; for then it was as Discourse with us.

(2.) Or, When Persons Selected wrote by Direction or Command from God, what was Revealed to them, as to the Matter only, whe­ther by way of Declaration, or Representation.

In which last case the Persons Inspired took their own way; which is the reason of the diffe­rence in Style and Phrase between their seve­ral Compositions; that, for example, Isaiah writ in a lofty courtly Style; and that Amos, a Herdsman, writ after a more Rustical way. So Erasmus saith of St. Luke, that he writ in a purer and clearer Style, because of his skill in the Greek Tongue.

Here the Office of the Divine Spirit was to suggest the Matter, or to represent the case, to assist and supervise, so that no Error should be in the Original Copy; though he left each to the liberty of their own way in expressing it. As if we were to send several Messengers upon the same Errand, we deliver the Message to them, and tell them what they are to say; but leave every one of them to express it as they think fit, and as they are able: Each of which is a faith­ful and wise Servant, though he keeps not exactly [Page 5] to the very words of his Master, and all agree in the drift and substance, though they differ in the expression or circumstance. So it is in the Evangelists, where they all agree in the material parts of the History, though they differ often in the words, and sometimes, perhaps, in some minute passages relating to it.

In one or other of these two senses, the Scri­pture may be said to be wrote by Divine Inspi­ration; that is, either by immediate and verbal Suggestion, or by Direction: And this I shall now endeavour to prove, by answering the Third Question, viz.

Q. 3. How we do prove the Books of Scri­pture, which contain the matter of Revelation, to have been of Divine Inspiration?

In proceeding upon this I shall premise:

1. That the proper course for proving the Divine Authority of the Scripture, is to begin with the Matter, abstracted from the Books, (as I have already done) and then to proceed from thence to the Books.

And therefore they begin at the wrong end, that would disprove the truth of the Revelation, or Matter contained in Scripture, by such Ob­jections as they make from the Writing, and the Books. For the Matter stands upon a proof and [Page 6] evidence of its own (as I have shewed) and will stand, though the written Word, or Scri­pture, should fail of supporting its own Au­thority.

Therefore those that will venture upon dispro­ving the Revelation, must in reason begin with the Matter; let them there try their skill, and call in question the proof by which that is sup­ported. But this we have already prevented, by having proved the Matter of Scripture to have been of Divine Inspiration.

2. Though there seems not to be so clear and full a proof for the Inspiration of the Books, as there is for the Matter, since the Matter has the utmost attestation it is capable of, viz. Miracles; but there were no Miracles wrought to prove these Books to have been of Divine Inspiration, Serm. V. p. 12.(as has been before observed): Yet if we prove that the Books were written by Inspired Per­sons, and that what they Wrote is the same with what they Taught, it is equivalent, and much of the same Force and Authority.

For what need was there of Miracles to prove the Books to be written by Inspiration, when the Persons writing them were Inspired, and that what they wrote is the same with what they taught, and when what they taught was con­firmed [Page 7] by the Miracles which they wrought?

Therefore while the Authors were in being, there needed no Miracles to prove these Writings to be theirs, when they themselves asserted them so to be: And after their decease we have as much reason to believe the Scriptures which they wrote to have been of Divine Inspiration, as what they taught to be a Revelation; both now depending upon the like Evidence, that is, Testimony, as to which we have no more proof of the Matter, than we have of the Books.

3. From hence it follows, That not to be­lieve the Scripture to have been of Divine Inspi­ration, is in effect to reject and deny the Reve­lation therein contained: The Scripture being the best, and in the present circumstances of Mankind, the only means left for the conveyance of it; I say, in the present circumstances, it is the only means; for when the circumstances were other than they are now, or have been for Sixteen hundred Years and upwards, there was then no such absolute need of a written Word: When the Instructors of Mankind had their Lives protracted to a vast extent, as it was with the Patriarch's of Old; or when there were Inspired Persons alive to teach and rectify any mistakes that might arise and disturb the Peace of the [Page 8] Church; as it was in the times of the Apostles.

But when things fell into an ordinary course, and that fallible Persons (as all afterwards were) might mistake in their reports of Doctrine, &c. and the weak memories of others not retain what they had been taught, and that the insincere would wrest what was taught to serve their per­verse designs; the case being thus alter'd from extraordinary to ordinary, so was the means of conveyance. And God, that committed the Divine Oracles to be taught by Persons whom he thought fit to inspire, employed the same Per­sons to commit that Revelation to writing for the future Preservation of it, and the conveying it down safe and intire to Posterity. Without which Mankind, in these circumstances, neither could themselves have been certain of what they were to believe, nor could they have sufficiently proved to others what it was they were obliged to receive and to believe, as wanting Authen­tick Monuments and Records for it. So that we have sufficient reason to believe that the same Divine Goodness▪ that did make known his Will to Mankind, would take the best means, and did take the best means for the continuing and preserving it.

[Page 9] And Scripture being the only means of that kind, becomes a Rule of Faith; and so is of Authority sufficient to oblige us to receive and obey it.

If the Matter of Scripture be true and of Di­vine Inspiration, we are obliged by it, though the Writing, or Book containing it, should be only of Human Composition; because it is the Doctrine, and not the way of delivery, that passes the immediate Obligation upon us: But when the Book containing that Matter, as well as the Matter it self, is of Divine Authority, and composed by Divine Appointment, Direction, or Inspiration, it obligeth us by vertue of the Composition, as well as the Matter; and both are to be jointly received as proceeding from one and the same Original and Authority.

But having asserted this, That the Scripture is the only means of conveyance of the Will of God to Mankind, and what becomes a Rule of Faith to us; it is fit to return to the Question pro­posed, viz.

How we can prove the Scripture to have been of Divine Revelation; or that those Books, so called, were wrote by the Direction and Com­mand of God, or by Inspiration from him?

[Page 10] A. 1. I Answer in the same way as before, That as there is no Revelation, if the Scriptu­ral Revelation be not that Revelation; so there is no written Revelation, if the Scripture be not that Book, and be not Inspired. And then we should want the only certain means of convey­ance, which is Writing, or should have been wholly left to the doubtful and uncertain hand of Tradition, for the knowledge and preserva­tion of Revelation.

Now, I think, this to be an Argument of conside­rable force for the Divine Authority of Scripture; that without this means we should after a Reve­lation be in effect without a Revelation: For so it will be if the Scripture contain not that Reve­lation, and that we have no sufficient Record, if that be not the Authentick Record of it.

But to come nearer the point.

2. I Answer, That there is as much proof for the Inspiration of the Scripture, as the mat­ter is well capable of, and as much as is suffi­cient; and if that be so, then 'tis unreasonable to reject it; for they who do so, can do it up­on no less pretence, than that they would have such a proof as the matter is not capable of, and more than is sufficient for the proof of it. But that there is such a proof for the Divine Autho­rity [Page 11] of Scripture as is sufficient, I think, will be evident if we shew,

1. That the Scriptures have for proof of their Inspiration, the Testimony of such as were In­spired.

2. That they were written by Persons Inspi­red, and that were Inspired when they writ them.

3. That they are worthy of such Authors, and have upon them the Characters of such In­spiration.

1. The Scriptures have for proof of their Inspiration, the Testimony of such as were Inspired. The Testimony of Persons Inspired is as much a Proof of Inspiration, as if it had been a matter they themselves were Inspired with; and therefore the Evidence that we have for the Inspiration of such Persons, is a suffici­ent Evidence for the Inspiration they give Testi­mony to. As for instance, suppose that we have not as good evidence for the Inspiration of the Old Testament as we have for the New; yet if the New doth justify the Inspiration of the Old, quotes it as such, and bestows that Cha­racter upon it; then by vertue of such a Testi­mony, we have as good Evidence for the Old as we have for the New. The meer Quotation [Page 12] of a Book by an Inspired Person, whether as to the Author, Words, or Matter, doth not give the like Authority to that with what he himself Acts 17. 28. 1 Cor. 15. 33. Tit. 1. 12.doth write by Divine Inspiration; for then Aratus and Menander, Epimenides and Callimachus, who were Heathens, and are Quoted by St. Paul, would become Inspired Writers.

But the Scriptures of the Old Testament are cited by our Saviour and the Apostles as the Oracles of God, and as Books of Divine Autho­rity, and which they produce and appeal to upon all occasions in justification of the Doctrine which they taught: So we are told that all Scri­pture, 2 Tim. 3. 15, 16. [...], or the whole Scripture (as Dionysius Carthus. expounds it) is given by Inspiration of God.

And what is meant by the Scripture, is no other than what was generally received by the Luke 24. 44. V. Jose­phus con. App. l. 1. Jewish Church as such, and which our Saviour distributes after their manner into the Three known parts, viz. The Law of Moses, the Pro­phets, and the Psalms: Which division compre­hended in it all the several Books; the Pro­phets containing not only the Books properly so called, but also the Historical, as written by In­spired Persons; and the Psalms containing all the Poetical.

[Page 13] And they descend yet lower; for of the Thirty nine Books of the Old Testament, there are very few, not above Seven or Eight, but what are quoted in the New Testament by Name, or for some remarkable Passage, and as Books of the same Character.

So that if we can prove our Saviour to be in­fallible, and the Evangelists and Apostles inspired (as we have done before, when we proved the Matter revealed by them to have been of Divine Authority), at the same time we prove the Scriptures of the Old Testament to be of Divine Inspiration; because they had this Testimony and Credit given to them by those that were themselves Infallible and Inspired.

The like Testimony have we for the Divine Authority of St. Paul 's Epistles, by St. Peter, 2 Pet. 3. 15, 16. who gives them the same Title of Scripture with the Books that were of the Jewish Canon; Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you, as also in all his Epistles:—Which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as also the Other Scriptures.

But though this be a good and sufficient Proof, where it may be had, yet it is not applicable to all; since the last of the Inspired Writers could have no such Evidence; as Malachi among the [Page 14] Jews; and St. John in the Primitive Church, who survived all the rest of the Divine Penmen. And therefore where this Proof of the Attesta­tion given to some is wanting as to others, we must have recourse to other Arguments that will supply what is deficient. The Old Testa­ment has the Testimony of the New to vouch for its Divine Authority; but what can thus te­stify to the New, when there is no other Reve­lation, and no Inspired Persons to come after?

But this will be help'd by the next Evidence, which is, That

2. The Scriptures were written by Persons In­spired, and that were Inspired in the writing of them.

(1.) They were written by Persons Inspired: Thereby is meant, that whoever were the Au­thors, known or unknown, we have yet good and sufficient Evidence that the Penmen were In­spired both as to the Matter and Manner or Way of Writing. (But this belongs to another place.) Or that the Authors of those Books were the same that before taught by Inspiration.

That the Writers of the Old Testament were of this kind, we have already proved from the Testimony of the New, as far as that is of Au­thority to verify it.

[Page 15] And that the Evangelists and Apostles, whom we have before proved to be Inspired, were the Authors of the Books of the New Testament, we have as good Assurance as the Jews had that the Pentateuch was written by Moses, or the Psalms by David; or that ever there were such Philosophers as Plato and Aristotle, or such Phy­sicians as Hippocrates and Galen, or any Books writ by them.

Nay, so much the stronger Evidence have we, as it has been the Duty (as they thought) and the Interest of so considerable a part of man­kind as the Christians are, to preserve these Re­cords safe and entire, and to take care that they be such in all points as they received them; and consequently according to their sense of them they are of Divine Inspiration, and wrote by those Inspired Persons. And for which there can be no greater Evidence than this sort of Tra­dition; unless we would have God reveal to every particular person, That the Authors of those Books were Inspired; or point it out by some special Miracles, which shall serve as the Star to the Wise Men, to direct us to it.

But since this is wanting, and cannot reaso­nably be expected, we must rest satisfied with that which is the only possible Evidence, and [Page 16] which not only the Primitive Christians did ad­mit as sufficient, but was not contested by the most violent Adversaries of their Religion: Among whom the Question was not, Whether the Persons reputed to be Inspired, were the Au­thors of those Books? or, Whether those whose Authors are not known, were of the same con­dition with those that were known? but, Whe­ther the matters of that supposed Revelation, and contained in those Books, were true, and that those Authors were sincere Relaters of it?

And whereas there were some Books of Scri­pture that were not so early and universally em­braced as others, yet they were not so much V. Euseb▪ Eccl. Hist. l. 23. c. 24, 25. l. 5. c. 8. l. 7. c. 24, &c.doubted of as to their Authority, as the Authors, (such as the Epistle to the Hebrews, the second and third of St. John, and the Revelation); un­less it were by the Alogi that Epiphanius writes of, who rejected the Works of St. John as not agree­able to their Opinion, That Christ was a mere Man.

(2.) The Sacred Penmen were Inspired in their Writing, in the sense before spoken of, p. 4. For,

1. There was as much need to Write, as to Teach; to Write with respect to the absent, and to Posterity; as to Teach and Preach to the [Page 17] present; for there is no other way to Teach in those cases, than by Tradition or Writing. But the Defect which those Holy Men found all their Discourses labour'd under as to their Convey­ance by Tradition, through the infirmity of Hu­man Nature, and an incapacity of transmitting the Matters now contained in the Scriptures, to future Ages in that way, without Prejudice, Corruption, and Abuse, disposed them, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, to commit them to Writing. So St. John 20. 31. These things are writ­ten, that ye might believe. So St. Peter, 2 Pet. 1. 5. I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

2. There was as much need to Write by In­spiration, as to Teach by Inspiration, for Wri­ting is but another way of Teaching. And if the Apostles had the Assistance of the Holy Ghost in all matters of moment when they Taught, it is reasonable to suppose (had we no other Evidence for it) that in the same Cir­cumstances they had the same Assistance in what they Writ.

Nay, so much the more might it reasonably be expected, that they should have the As­sistance of that Divine Power operating upon their Minds, and guiding, as it were, their Pen in [Page 18] what they Writ; as what they Writ was to con­tinue in the Church, and to be a Standard of Faith, and Rule of Life to all Ages: Whereas what they Taught could continue no longer than the Memories of fallible men could re­tain it.

So that we may conclude, That if they Taught and Preach'd by the special Assistance of the Holy Spirit, they were also under the Con­duct of it when they Writ.

3. Those Divine Penmen conceived them­selves to be alike Inspired in what they Writ, as in what they taught. Therefore we generally Phil. 1. 1. 1 & 2 Thes.find the Apostles, and St. Paul always, unless when he writes in conjunction with others, to begin their Epistles with a Declaration of their Commission and Authority by virtue of their Office, Paul an Apostle, &c. requiring the same re­gard and the like submission to what they Writ, as to what they Spoke when present.

And as they thus magnified their Office, so they writ as from Christ himself, after this and the like form, Grace be to you, and peace from God our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, Rom. 1. 7, &c.

Nay, they insist upon their Inspiration, which they received when they writ, to gain it Autho­rity with those they wrote to. So St. Paul, [Page 19] Gal. 1. 1. Paul an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, &c. Ver. 11, 12. I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of me, is not after man; for I neither received it of man, nor was I taught it but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ. And that Apostle expresly saith, The things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord, 1 Cor. 14. 37. 2 Cor. 1. 13.

So St. Peter, 1 Epist. 5. 12. I have written briefly, exhorting and testifying, that this is the true grace of God, wherein ye stand.

Now if they conceived themselves to be In­spired in Writing, who themselves were Inspi­red (as has been before proved) and did Write with the same Apostolical Authority as they Taught, it is certain that they were Inspir'd in Wri­ting; for they were the best Judges of their own Inspiration, and could best know when they were Inspired. And therefore if any would undertake to disprove the Divine Authority or Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, they must first of all prove that those Writers were not inspired, nor did ever give sufficient Evidence that they were Inspired. But if they were Inspired, and do withal declare that they Wrote those Books by Inspira­tion, we have as much reason to receive those Books as such upon their Affirmation, as we [Page 20] have no believe that they themselves were Inspi­red, or did ever Teach by Inspiration.

4. There is the same Proof for the Inspira­tion of the Apostolical Writers, in their Writing, as their Teaching, as what they Write is the same with what they Taught; and therefore what they Taught being confirmed by sufficient Evi­dence to be from God, so must what they Writ; the same Proofs that belong to the one, belong­ing to the other. And accordingly they in their Writings often appeal to what they Taught, as concordant with what they Writ, and to the Te­stimony given to the one for the confirmation of the other.

They appeal to what they Taught: So St. Paul, 2 Cor. 2. 13. I write none other things to you, than what you read, or know and acknowledge. So Gal. 1. 8, 9. Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have recei­ved, let him be accursed.

So they appeal to the Evidences of their In­spiration in Teaching, for a confirmation of what they Writ: So 2 Cor. 12. 12. Truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in all patience, and signs and wonders, and mighty deeds. Gal. 3. 5. He that ministreth to you the Spirit, and worketh mira­cles among you, doth he it by the works of the Law, or [Page 21] the hearing of Faith? From whence it is that the Apostles challenge the same regard to be paid to their Writings, as their Teaching; which they could not have done, were not their Writings of as good Authority as their Teaching, and were they not alike directed and assisted in the one as the other. So St. Paul, 1 Cor. 4. 1. Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, or Apostles. 1 Cor. 5. 3, 4. I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already as though I were present, &c. in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gather­ed together, and my Spirit, &c.

All which is to give Authority to what they writ; but what Authority could that be of to oblige others to receive it, if they themselves received it not by Inspiration; and that their Teaching and Writing were not the same, and obtained in the same way?

3. The Holy Scriptures are worthy of such Authors as were Inspired, and have upon them the Characters of such Inspiration.

Lecture V. I have before proved, That the Mat­ter contained in Scripture has upon it the Characters of a Divine Revelation. But the Design before us now is, to shew, That the Writing it self has upon it such Characters as [Page 22] will entitle it to Divine Inspiration, and is wor­thy of such Persons to write, as were Inspired. And that,

1. If we consider who the Persons were that were the Penmen of the Sacred Writ; that were as well Ignorant and Illiterate, as Learned. Amos 7. 14.Thus we find in the Old Testament, an Amos that was no Prophet, nor Prophet's Son, nor bred up in their Schools, but an Herdman, and Gatherer of Sycamore ▪fruit, is made at once a Pro­phet, and as Inspired, as the Great, the Noble, and Eloquent Isaiah: And under the Gospel, we find a Matthew and a John, as well as a Luke; a Peter as well as a Paul. For when the Workmanship pro­ceeds not from the Hand, but the Intelligent Mind; not from the Instrument, but the Efficient; it is not what the Hand, the Instrument, and Agent is, but what the Efficient pleases; and so God could make an Apostle and an Inspired Person out of an Illiterate Fisherman, as well as out of him that sate at the Feet of Gamaliel. For God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, &c. that no flesh should glory in his presence, 1 Cor. 1. 27.

[Page 23] And as it was in Preaching, so it is in Writing the Gospel, in which God no less gave them a Mind to indite, than a Mouth and Wisdom in Teaching, to speak. So that they needed no Luke 21. 14, 15.more to meditate before, what to write, than in that case what they should answer. It was there as the Spirit gave them utterance, and here as that did direct, and assist, or suggest. St. Paul exhorts Timothy, to give attendance to reading, till he him­self should come to give him farther Instruction; and to meditate and give himself wholly to them, that his profiting might appear to all, 1 Tim. 4. 13, &c. But we find no such dependance on human means in what they wrote: Then it is Paul an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus, and God the Father; the Gospel he wrote was the same he taught; and which when he wrote, he no more received from man, than when he taught, and which he was taught by the revelation of Jesus Christ, Gal. 1. 1, 11, 12.

And therefore where all was by Revelation, it was not as the Man was, but as he was made: And as St. Peter was as much an Apostle, an In­spired Teacher, so he was as much a Divine Writer as St. Paul, and writes with the same Di­vine Power and Authority, and with as much Certainty and Infallibility.

[Page 24] So that there are as few Objections (if we strictly consider it) made against the most Illi­terate as the most Learned of the Inspired Wri­ters; against St. Matthew and John, as against St. Luke; against St. Peter, as St. Paul. But now if those Writers had wrote after man (in St. Paul's Phrase) and purely from themselves, As it was naturally impossible that ever those Unlearned Persons should apply themselves to study at the Age of St. Peter, and write of the most sublime Arguments more to the satisfaction of Mankind than the profoundest Philosophers; so it was im­possible but that in their Compositions they should have been guilty of manifold Mistakes, when they wrote of such various Points, and Points of no small difficulty to explicate. But when the Unlearned of them are as free from Error as the Learned, and as little liable to ex­ception in what they writ, 'tis evident they writ from the same Spirit with, and had the same As­sistance as the Learned.

And therefore the supposed Errors in any of them could not proceed from Inadvertency, or Unskilfulness, or want of right Information; but are rather Errors supposed and imaginary, than real; the Mistakes of the Reader or Transcriber, rather than of the Penmen; as I have already shewed. (Serm. IV.)

[Page 25] For if the Errors had proceeded immediately from the Writer, they would have appeared more in the Composures of the Unlearned than the Learned: But when the Unlearned are as free from them as the Learned, 'tis an unque­stionable sign that the Unlearned wrote from the same Spirit as the Learned, and both from a Spirit that is Divine.

2. The Scriptures will appear to be worthy of such Authors as are Inspired, if we consider the way in which they are written, which though not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, that is, 1 Cor. 2. 1, 4.human, yet have such a Majesty and Autho­rity shining through the whole, as gives them a Lustre as much beyond other Books, as the Bodies of Angels which they assumed for some special service, excelled those of Mortals, and that were of a Natural Composition; and of which we may say in the like Phrase as Nicodemus of our Saviour, That none could write after this manner, except God were with them.

I freely acknowledge, that they are not writ­ten according to the ordinary Rules of Art and Method, which Almighty God is no more obli­ged to observe, than he is to govern the World by the Methods and Rules that are ordinarily observed among Mankind.

[Page 26] For as in the Government of the World, where there are different Ends to pursue, and di­vers Means to be made use of, God confines not himself to act as we would in such cases, but acts above all Rule known to us, and sometimes punishes where we would spare, and spares where we would punish; sometimes gives to those that we would deprive of such Favours, and deprives those of them to whom we should think fit to give: So it is in the Divine Compo­sures, in which he makes use of different Hands and Instruments, as there are different Tempers in Mankind: He makes use of the Poetical Vein in David, the Oratory of an Isaiah, the Rusticity of an Amos, the Elegancy of a Luke, the Plainness of a Peter, the Profoundness of a Paul, to serve the common Design of instruct­ing Mankind in the knowledge of God, and their Duty to him, without that Artificial Method which the Learned Part of the World expect to find, and think fit to observe.

The Heavens and the Earth have upon them the Signatures of an Almighty Power and Wis­dom, and which we may with David employ our most serious Hours in the Contemplati­on of, with Pleasure and Advantage. But yet there is no strict Order visible to us, nor can [Page 27] be observed by us in the Situation of the Con­stellations; nor can we give a reason why Orion and the Pleiades, or Arcturus, are placed in that Quarter of the Heavens which is assigned them: And the Earth is not like a Garden laid out in or­der, but rather there seems to us a rude Variety in the disposition of it; and yet notwithstand­ing, who is there that doth not under all these seeming Disadvantages, find out the Traces of a Divine Original, and enough to entitle God to the Creation of all? And so it is in the Holy Scriptures, where there often seems wanting the Accomplishments of Human Eloquence, the en­ticing words of man's wisdom, and that Decorum and Artifice which the Books of Human Con­trivance and Invention are embellished with: But as the Apostle saith, when he declined the words which man's wisdom (whether of Philoso­phers or Orators) teacheth, it was that their Faith might stand not in the wisdom of men, but in the 1 Cor. 2. 4, 5. power of God: So we may see under the Veil of a seeming Irregularity so much Beauty shining forth, and experiment so much Virtue proceed­ing from it, that it will evidently appear, that the less there is of Man in the Composure, the more there is of God, and that it can have none for its Author and Inditer but him; and which [Page 28] Irregularity can no more detract from the Autho­rity and Divine Inspiration of the Scripture, than it can be questioned whether the Sun be the Fountain of Light, because of what we that are at a vast distance from it, call Spots. For we are at a great distance from the Aposto­lical Age, and much more from the latest times of the Inspired Writers of the Old Testament, and so must needs be under some difficulties from our unacquaintedness with the Style and Way of Writing, as well as the Customs of those Ages. And there will be therefore some Spots and Dark Places in them as there are in the Sun, not for want of Light and Elegance originally in them, no more than for want of Light in the Sun; but because of some Deficiency in our selves, that are at a Distance, and under such Circumstances as intercept our Sight, and hinder us from ma­king true and exact Observations. But if we could but stand, as we are to judge of Pictures, in the same Light in which they were drawn; and had lived in the same Ages in which those Books were written, we should be able to make a much truer Judgment, and penetrate much farther into the meaning of them, than we now can do.

[Page 29] But now though all the Parts of Scripture are not equally alike, but like the Inspired Writers themselves, of whom some were bred up in the Nurseries of Learning, and others fetch'd from the Fishery and the Sheepfold; yet are they all plain in the same essential Doctrine, and in which the Salvation of Mankind is concerned.

And not only so, but the Style and Order of Words, if thoroughly understood as to their Propriety, Elegance, and Use, would be very surprizing (if we may judge of what we do not know, by what we do); which has not been unobserved even by some of the Heathens. It was Dionysius Longinus the Rhetorician, that admi­red the Majesty and Sublimity of Moses's way of writing. It was Amelius the Platonist, that at the same time as he call'd St. John a Barbarian (a Title which the Greeks and Romans bestow'd up­on Euseb. Praepar.all but themselves) found in his Gospel the Wisdom of a Philosopher.

But above all, we may see the Footsteps of a Divine and Extraordinary Assistance in the ad­mirable Discourses of our Saviour and the Apo­stles upon several occasions. Let us, for instance, take a view of our Saviour's last Discourse with the Disciples just before his Death, as recorded by St. John, chap. 14. &c. Turn we again to [Page 30] that of St. Paul about a Future State, and a Re­surrection to it, which is the subject of 1 Cor. 15. See it again in the close and sensible Argumenta­tions of the Author to the Hebrews. See it also in the very Digressions which those Holy Pen-men sometimes, by breaking off from their Subject in hand for a while, do fall upon; where we shall find that which is equivalent to what is ordinarily said by the Prophets in the Messages they▪ deliver­ed, Thus saith the Lord▪ and what is as expresly said, and will as much be found to be of Divine Re­velation. It was certainly as much an effect of the Divine Power to Direct, and Assist, and even Inspire those Writers with such sublime Notions, such convincing Arguments, as it was of the Di­vine Commission to send the Prophets with Au­thority to publish the Divine Commands and Theol. Po­lit. c. 8.Decrees. And therefore it is a very frivolous Exception which a late Author makes against the Divine Authority of the Apostolical Wri­tings, That they consist of long Deductions and Argumentations; whereas, saith he, God doth not reason, but command, as he did by the Pro­phets. But how often do we find in the Pro­phets God arguing with the Jews about the Va­nity of their Idolatry, from the Incomprehen­sible Perfections of his Nature, &c.? How often [Page 31] using Arguments to convince them of their Im­moralities and Impieties? How often exhorting them to Repentance and Reformation, from the most powerful Considerations? And therefore why are the Apostles less inspired for that reason than the Prophets? When God speaks to Men, and teaches one man by another, it is often after the manner of men; and therefore as he doth sometimes require absolute Obedience to his Commands, so at other times he condescends so far as to shew them the Equity and the Reasona­bleness of them, both equally becoming the Di­vine Majesty, and which are a glorious Instance of the Divine Wisdom conspicuous throughout the Holy Scripture; thereby adding both to the Excellency and the Usefulness of it; and advan­cing it in both above any Book in the World. And for this, take the Word of one (who is Anima Mundi, Sect. 1.otherwise no Friend to our Religion, or to the Divine Authority of the Scriptures) though in contradiction to himself.

‘As the Lustre of an Oriental Diamond is more clearly perceived when compared with Counterfeit Stones; so Christianity appears in its greatest Glory and Splendor, when compa­red with the Obscurity of Paganism; the De­formity of the one serving as a Foil to the [Page 32] other. Nor doth the Divinity of the Scri­ptures ever better appear, than when compa­red with the Follies of the Talmud, the Alcho­ran, or the Constitutions of the Heathen Law­givers; which is an infallible sign of their Excellence, that they so well bear the Test of Comparison.’ Thus [...] he.

IV. General.

How we prove the Books that are now ex­tant, and received by the Christian Church as Canonical, to be those very Books that were writ by Persons Inspired?

Now this will receive a sufficient Answer, if we prove,

1. That there were once such Books.

2. That these are the very Books which were once said to be Canonical and Inspired.

3. That these Books are not corrupted, so as not to be the Books now which once they were.

1. The first of these is not denied by the most violent Adversaries, such as Appion was to the Jews, and Celsus to the Christians.

2. That these are the Books which were here­tofore Penn'd by Inspired Persons, and received by the Universal Church as such, we have as much Evidence as we have or can have for any thing past or distant in time or place from us, [Page 33] and which we our selves have not seen: And if we call in question the Sufficiency of the Evi­dence, or the Truth of what is proved by it, we take away all the Evidence that we can have, and the Truth and Certainty of whatever has been, or is, which we have not seen our selves. So that either these are those Books, or there is no­thing of that kind which we can depend upon▪

3. These Books are uncorrupted, I mean, by Design, or by Accident.

If by Design, it must either be by Jews, He­reticks, or those that are called Orthodox.

1. If by the Jews, that must either be before the time of our Saviour, or after it. If before, they would have certainly been taxed for it by our Saviour and the Apostles, who upon all oc­casions appeal to the Scriptures; and yet never charge them with any such Falsifications.

V. Hieron. in 6. Isa. If they were corrupted by the Jews after our Saviour's time, How came they to leave those Prophecies uncorrupted which manifestly and principally prove our Saviour to be the Messiah? For surely if they adulterated, or expunged, or added to the less, they would have offered as much violence to the greater. But it is eviden [...] V. Philo de. Egress [...] Israel. ex▪ Aegypto.▪the Jews were in a high degree superstitious, in preserving the Copies of the Scripture sound and entire.

[Page 34] Or if they would have attempted this, how could they do it, and not be discovered and chal­lenged for it by the Christians, who from that time forward had the Scriptures of the Old Te­stament in their custody as well as themselves?

2. It could not be by the Hereticks, because the Scriptures were soon dispersed over all the Christian World, and were read both in publick and private; and with that Care and Faithful­ness, that they chose rather to part with their Lives, than become Traditores, and deliver up their Bibles to be burnt; and keeping then so watchful an eye upon them, they could not be perverted by their fraudulent Arts, but they would soon be observed and complained of; especially by those whose Office it was above others to study and preserve them.

Irenaus l. 1. c. 29. Tertul▪ con­tra Marci­on. l. 5. Epiphan. Haer. 42. So when Marcion falsified the Text, he was presently detected and exposed for it.

3. Nor could it be by the Orthodox, if any of them were so weak as to think to serve their Cause by it: For as to the Old Testament, they were as watchfully observed by the Jews, as the Jews were by them; and both the Copies of the Old and New were so soon and so far dispersed, that neither could any one attempt it with any likelihood of success, nor all agree in it, when impossible to convene for it.

[Page 35] And therefore when Manichaeus and his Fol­lowers pretended the Corruption of the Scripture in their own vindication, they could not make out their Charge, though provoked by St. Au­stin, Aug. de util. Cred. c. 3.&c. to it.

Use. We may observe from hence, what a Bles­sing we enjoy above the Ages of Tradition, when the knowledge of the Truth was conveyed from hand to hand; which so sensibly declined, that the Truth was soon turn'd into Fable, and that so few Years after the Flood as the time of Te­rah, the greatest part of the World was overrun with Idolatry; so that for the retrieving it, God drew Abraham out of that infected Mass▪ and en­joined him to set up a Family separated from the rest of the World, that out of that he might con­stitute a Church for his Service.

But we have that which those Ages wanted▪ a Written and Certain Rule for our Faith and Manners; and that so plainly and intelligibly wrote, and so compleatly and entirely furnished with all things necessary for us to know in order to the Happiness of another Life; that as none in the Christian Church (where the Guides and Teachers are faithful to their Flock) can be or must unavoidably be ignorant; so neither can any person be defective in the knowledge of his Duty, or void and destitute of a power of [Page 36] doing what is necessary toward his Happiness, unless by his own fault. If we keep but to our Rule, that is as an Infallible Compass to di­rect us, and we shall never fall short of knowing what God has revealed, or of obtaining what he hath promised.

And here we may farther reflect upon our Happiness in this Church, that we have not the Key of Knowledge taken from us, and the Truth lock'd up in an Unknown Tongue (as in the Church of Rome) but plainly and faithfully ren­dred in our own Language, for the Instruction and Edification of all.

What remains then, but that we make this our daily study, and labour to acquaint our selves with the Rich Treasures of Useful and Necessary Knowledge contained in those Sacred Reposito­ries, and making them as David did, a Lamp to our feet, and endeavouring to conform our selves in all points to their holy Prescriptions; and then we shall most certainly have reason to rejoice in the Comfort of the Promises, and with Patience look for that blessed hope and glorious appearance of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

To whom, &c.