CHAP. I.
Where we shall enquire whence the Christians had their Original, and what their Profession is, by looking back into the first Ages wherein they appeared.

IN order to which, we suppose that there are now Christians in the World, and there have not al­ways been such. From this I gather that I must look back into past Ages to find out the Original of my Religion. In this search I pass therefore from Age to Age, till I come to Constantine, without be­ing able to clear this doubt.

But here we must make a little stop. The pro­sperity of this Prince gives at first some occasion of suspicion, and we easily mistrust a man who being Master of the most considerable part of the World, seems probably to have established the Christian Re­ligion therein, either by Force, or Policy, looking perhaps upon it as more proper than that of the Heathens to carry on his designs.

Yet that suspicion soon vanishes, since we are as­sured there were Christians in the World before [Page 4] Constantine's time. All the Heathen Writers who lived before him speak of them; and the Ecclesi­astical Historians are wholly employed in describing their sufferings. But supposing that these Histori­ans lived in the days of Constantine, or after him, they must needs have either lost the use of their reason themselves, or have imagined that the men of their age had lost theirs, when they give them the History of the Christan Church, down from the Apostles to Constantine, if 'twere certain there had not been Christians in the World before that Prince. And therefore this must be too extrava­gant a suspicion to be entertained long.

But here is something still more observable, viz. that on the one hand the Christians who lived before Constantine were then possessed of the Books of the New-Testament, and on the other, that those very Chri­stians were so strongly perswaded of the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, of his miracles, of the pouring out the holy spirit on the Apostles, and of all other matters of fact that establish the Chri­stian Religion, that they hardly speak of any thing else; their books are full of them; and their Doc­trine is altogether built upon this foundation. And therefore if Constantine invented the matters of fact which establish Christianity, he must not only have forged the Books of the New-Testament, but also the Writings of Clemens, Justin, Iraeneus, Athe­nagoras, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, Origen, and in general of all the Fathers who lived before him, because every one of their Writings have an essential relation to those matters of fact that prove the truth of Religion.

And should we go up a little higher than the reign of Constantine, we should hear of Christians that were afflicted during the three first Centuries of the Church, and persecuted throughout the [Page 5] whole World, and punished with most barbarous and new invented torments. They were put to Death upon wheels and scaffolds, tortured by fire: their flesh torn with pincers; their bodies were mangled by cutting off limbs one after another: they were thrown into Rivers, and cast into the Sea, and exposed to Wild Beasts; wrapp'd up in garments dipped in sulphur, to serve for torches, and set up to light Passengers in their Way. In fine, it was never known that men so universally agreed in any one thing as in their design of tor­menting the Christians; in so much that the ordi­nary people who have generally some compassion for the greatest malefactors upon the Scaffold, con­ducted the Christians to the place of Execution with acclamations of Joy.

Certainly, 'tis a very difficult matter to restrain one's Curiosity so much, as not to desire a more particular Knowledge of a people persecuted by the World with so much rage and malice. For to see the whole World so strangely incensed against one sect of men, one would easily think them the com­mon Enemies of all mankind, and the offspring of Hell it self born for a common plague to the Rest of the World.

Tertullian in his Apolog. What then were the great Crimes these Christians were guilty of? They were accused of impiety, murther and incest. 'Twas pretended that they violated the re­spect due to the Gods; that they murthered their own Children, which they scrupled not to eat up after having Killed them; and lastly, that they lay promiscuously together, the Brother with the Sister, and the Son with the Mother.

But first of all there is little likelyhood that the Christians should suffer Death, and torments worse than Death it self, in defence of a Religon which [Page 6] engaged them to the Commission of such infamous actions. That stedfast constancy they shew'd in the midst of their Torments, and which their Enemies themselves acknowledged, sutes very ill with the voluptuousness and enormities they were accused of.

Besides, were they question'd concerning these Crimes which they are obliged to clear themselves of, they would produce in their Behalf the Apologies of Justin, Athenagoras, and Tertullian, wherein they earnestly desired the Senate, and Roman Emperours that they would make a strict enquiry into their lives, and inflict upon them such torments as were a thousand times if possible more cruel than those they had already endured, if they were really gu [...]lty of what they were accused.

They would shew us likewise a letter from Pliny to Trajan, which ought to be looked upon as an authentick monument of their Innocence: Since Pliny there informs the Emperour, that having strictly inquired into the lives of the Christians, he found nothing else but that they assembled together in remote places early in the morning, and there said their prayers to heaven, and bound them­selves under a Solemn Oath, not to commit Mur­der, Adultery, Injustice, or any other crime. They would also produce an answer from Trajan to Pliny, wherein that Emperour gave positive orders, that for the future there should be no particular enqui­ries made after the Christians, but those only should be punished, who should discover themselves. And that we may not think that, these letters are forged, we may consider that 'tis Tertulian that mentions them in his Discourse to the Senate, and the Roman Emperour, whom he could not impose upon, without endangering his own life, and pre­judicing his Religion.

CHAP. II.
Wherein we shall examin the Martyrdom of the Primitive Christians.

BUt Perhaps we may sooner suspect the credulity of the Primitive Christians than their innocence. We are sure their Constancy proceeded from their hope, and their hope from their perswasion. But who knows the ground of that Perswasion? Are there not Mahumetans so strongly perswaded of the Divinity of the Alcoran, as to die in defence of that Errour? The multitude then of Martyrs shews an infinite number of persons to be strongly per­swaded of the truth of Christian Religion, but proves not that perswasion to be well grounded. We m [...]st therefore go a little further.

And here we may easily suppose without fear of being mistaken, that the Primitive Christians had some sort of Common sense. Those who made it their profession to ridicule the plurality of Gods, and the many superstitions of the Heathens, which were really contrary to Reason; those who put in practice such wise Rules of Morality, who were so regular in their behaviour, so averse to all the ex­cesses that disorder Reason; who formed to them­selves such rational Ideas of the Deity in compari­son to others, those men, I say, could not be whol­ly destitute of the light of Nature. Now supposing them to have but the least glimmering of that light, 'twill be hard to conceiv [...] that they should wholly renounce their Estates and Fortune, and couragious­ly suffer Death in defence of any cause whatsoever, unless they had very powerful Reasons to believe it were good.

[Page 8] This consideration will be further strengthn'd by two very important Reflexions. And first, we speak not here of such only who being born Christi­ans, blindly followed the prejudices of Birth and Education: but also of a great number of per­sons, who renounced Paganism to embrace Christi­anity, and laying aside the favourable prejudices of Education and Birth (which in them were quite contrary to the Christian Religion,) were yet willing to die for it as soon as 'twas known and embraced.

Secondly, The truth of Christian Religion is al­together founded upon mattters of fact. For if Jesus Christ wrought Miracles, and rose again from the Dead, than is the Christian Faith True. But if Jesus Christ wrought no miracles, nor rose from the Dead, then is the Christian Faith false. And surely 'twould have been folly or madness in those men to forsake so flourishing a Communion as Paganism, to take upon them the name of Christians, a name so vile and contemptible in those days, to suffer vo­luntarily the loss of their Estates, and undergo a most terrible Death, only to defend a Religion grounded upon such matters of fact as they had no reason to believe to be true. Those indeed that are born and live peacably in a Communion, may blindly believe the Doctrines of it: but he that is never so lit­tle acquainted with the constitution of man's heart, can scarce imagin men to be so sensless, as to renounce the prejudices of Birth and Education, to offer violence to their dearest and most tender Inclinations, and em­brace a Faith pursued with fire and sword, and persecu­ted by all the powers of the World, unless they had first duely examined the nature of it, and knew well upon what grounds they thus embraced it.

If it be objected that some of these men were of the meanest sort of people, whose example cannot be alledged as a precedent for Wise and learned [Page 9] men, We'll grant it. But then it must also be con­fess'd that the Vulgar usually embrace that Religion which is attended with Power, and Prosperity, Pomp and Authority, and hate even Truth it self, when once destitute of all these outward helps. How is it possible then that against all outward ap­pearance, they should have acted so contrarily to themselves in this Occasion?

But supposing the commmon sort of Christians to have lost their Reason, can we say the same of the Doctors of the Primitive Church, as Clement, Po­lycarp, Justin, Iraeneus, &c? 'Tis certain on one hānd these men were men of very good sense (as their Writings, those Monuments they have left us evi­dently demonstrate) And on the other, 'tis very well known they lived in a time so very near to that of the Apostles, that it is absolutely impos­sible they should have been deceived in this respect. For Polycarp conversed a long while with St. John, Iraeneus saw Polycarp, and Justin was a more ancient Father than Iraeneus.

Had those Doctors only told us that Jesus Christ and his Apostles wrought several Miracles, we might perhaps have suspended our belief upon their bare word. But since they suffered Death in defence of the truth of certain matters of fact, which they must necessarily have fully been informed of, since I see that Clemens, and Polycarp, Disciples and Con­temporaries with the Apostles, chearfully came to the stake to maintain a Religion essentially founded upon those matters of fact, (such as were the gift of divers Languages conferred upon the Apostles, the power of working Miracles, and imparting those very gifts themselves to others;) Since, I say, these Christian Doctors suffered Martyrdom for the confirmation of matters of fact which the Christian Religion is essentially united to; I confess I begin to [Page 10] be convinced. Nevertheless let us search more nar­rowly into this matter, and see whether we shall yet have any Reason to entertain any further scruples.

CHAP. III.
In which we further prove the Truth of Religion by several undeniable matters of fact.

WHo told us Clemens and Polycarp suffered Mar­tyrdom? And supposing they did, who will assure us they were not deluded by the Apostles▪ Nay who can tell whether there ever were any such men?

I suppose I shall not be obliged to prove with a great many arguments there were such men as Clemens and Polycarp, who suffered Martyrdom. Eusebius who wrote their history could not wholly have invented it, unless he had corrupted all the Writings of the Fathers that lived before him; for they all speak of it. Iraeneus, Justin, Clemens Alex­andrinus, &c. mention it, as a known matter of fact. The first of them glories in several places of his works that he had seen Polycarp in his youth; and it appears they all suffered Martyrdom in imi­tation of those Primitive Christians.

That the Apostles deceived Polycarp and Clemens and the rest of their Disciples, is a thing much less to be suspected; because they themselves stuck not to boast of their being able to work miracles, heal all kind of diseases, speak all sorts of languages, and impart to others those gifts they called the gifts of the Holy Ghost. And it is impossible that Clemens, Polycarp, &c. should have suffered them­selves to be deceived in this respect, especially to [Page 11] [...]uch a degree as to suffer Death for the testimony of a Religion founded on so many impostures.

But whence appears it that the Apostles boasted of a power to work miracles, and impart the gifts of the Holy Ghost? It appears not only from their own Epistles which can't be forged (as we shall prove by and by) but also from the writings of the Doctors of the Primitive Church; and in fine, 'tis manifest of it self. For as we can't deny that there was such a man as Alexander the Great, with­out overthrowing the common Opinion that he sub­verted the Empire of Darius, and the Macedonians subdued all Asia under his conduct; because one matter of fact depends upon the other: so we can­not acknowledge the Divinity of the Christian Religi­on without believing the Miracles of Jesus Christ, his Resurrection; his pouring out the Holy Ghost on the Apostles, and the miraculous Gifts imparted to those that believed. For take away these matters of fact, and what would become of the Christian Religion? Wherein would the Divinity of it consist? Wherein would lie the Strength, Promises, and Essentials of it? Since therefore Clemens and Polycarp suffered Martyrdom for the truth of Christian Religion, it follows also that they died in defence of the truth of those matters of fact we just now mentioned. So that those matters of fact being very palpable, and it being very easy for Clemens and Polycarp who lived and conversed with the Apostles, to know certainly whether they really had the pretended gifts of divers tongues, of healing all sorts of dis­eases, and of communicating these extraordinary gifts to others, so as to render them frequent in the Church, I do not see how its possible to call the truth of them in question.

The soul of man however fruitfull in imagina­tions, can hardly raise here a doubt of a moment's [Page 12] continuance. For should I fancy they may have given me a false Relation of the Martyrdom of Clemens, of Polycarp, and the successors of the Apo­stles: this thought soon vanishes, when I consider the number, quality, and unanimous consent of the Witnesses of this matter of fact. For can we think that the Sucessours of Clemens, and Polycarp would have suffered a real Martyrdom in imitation of one that was but imaginary? Would they so coura­giously have imitated a fictitious Martyrdom of their own invention? And should I imagin Clemens and Polycarp were imposed on by the Apostles, I am soon convinced of the contrary; since those matters of fact which we have now before us, are matters of Experience so evident in themselves, that we cannot be mistaken in them. Lastly, should I doubt whether the Apostles endeavoured to per­swade men of the truth of them, I am made to un­derstand that there can be no Christianity without these matters of fact, and that the Apostles could never have established the Christian Religion unless they had first perswaded men of the truth of them. This will be farther seen by what we shall offer in the following chapters.

In the mean while may we not know what the profess'd Enemies of Christianity said of them? For it seems unjust to hearken to that only which the Christians alledge in defence of their own cause. This is no hard matter; We find Porphirius, Celsus, and Julian surnamed the Apostate maintaining that Jesus Christ did no miracles at all but by a magick power, and that it was a fantom which appeared to the Disciples instead of Jesus Christ risen again from the dead. Whereupon I think it necessary to make some few Reflections. It is very remark­able that those who were far more exasperated a­gainst the Christians, than the Incredulous of these [Page 13] imes are, and who living in a time nearest to that [...]f the Apostles might have easily known the truth [...]r falshood of those matters of fact; I say, 'tis re­markable that those men durst not in the least call [...]ny of them in question, but were forced to have [...]ecourse to Ghosts, and a Magick power to avoid [...]eing perplexed with them. 'Tis also worth our while to observe that Celsus himself who ever before questioned Magicians, was at length forced to a­ [...]cribe the miracles of Jesus Christ to a Magick power, [...]s Origen himself upbraids him in some part of his works.

Thus it immediately appears that the Primitive Christians were men of very good sense, and very honest and sincere principles too: that part of them lived in a time so very near that of the Apostles (in whose days all those things came to pass) that they must necessarily have known the truth of them; that in the mean time they suffered Death to seal the truth of a Religion, founded upon all those matters of fact; and lastly, that their Enemies themselves durst not presume entirely to call any of them in question.

But I will not yield my self conquered for all that, but rather raise my self a little higher, and stop for a while at the latter end of the first Century, which is the time wherein St. John (the last of the A­postles) was yet living, and wherein Clemens and Polycarp whom we just now mentioned flourish'd: and this shall be our fixed point in the following Chapters.

CHAP. IV.
Where we yet further prove the Truth of the Chri­stian Religion by several undeniable matters of fact.

'TIs an hundred years since there were no Chri­stians at all in the World, and now there are some in all parts of it, at Rome, and at Antioch, at Alexandria, at Corinth, at Ephesus, in Spain, and among the Gauls, &c. I confess I am some what surprised to see this progress, yet not so much as to be convinced of the truth of Christian Religion, be­cause Mahomet's Religion was established in a lesser time. We must then go yet farther, and consider that the Christian Faith was not only destitute of the assistance of Policy and Authority, but received notwithstanding the continual oppositions of both.

'Tis observable that other Religions, as that of the Heathens and Turks, were established in the World by some singular and extraordinary prosperity, and by the policy of persons raised to dignities and grandeur; but Christianity in a small time became Master of mens hearts and understanding, tho it was attended with nothing but shame and Misery, tho▪ all the powers of the World strove to stifle it in its very birth, and for that purpose invented such tortures and punishments as no other interest could have made men devise.

We might indeed question the sufferings of the Christians, were we not assured of them from the Writings of the Heathens, and had we not a clearer proof in the complaints of the Fathers, who certain­ly were not so extravagant as publickly to complain [Page 15] of an imaginary persecution, when it was so danger­ous to complain of one that was real.

And therefore I would fain know what this Chri­stian Faith and Doctrine is which made men so pa­tiently suffer, and abandon all things. But to my great amazement I find that they believed that a certain crucified man was the Son of God; that a man hang'd and nailed on a Cross was the sovereign judg of the World, and the object of our Adoration. I confess I can't but acknowledg some supernatural power in all this. For tho' men of as mean appear­ance as those who first preached the Gospel, might without any Miracles have weigh'd down the Autho­rity of Emperours and Prelates, and all the Magni­ficence and glory of Paganism, objects very suitable to the worldly and ambitious heart of a man, yet how can we conceive that they could without the help of Miracles, perswade men to believe a Para­dox so offensive to Reason, and which appears at first view so horrible as this, that the Son of God was nailed on a Cross?

We can never perswade our selves without offer­ing violence to our Reason, that those who from their youth represented their Deities to themselves, as the greatest and most glorious Beings they could imagin, and gave the name of Divine to whatever they thought in the highest degree beautiful and magnificent, should yet substitute to all these great Ideas, the notion of a God who died an infamous Death upon the Cross; That not one alone, but an infinite number of persons embraced an Opinion that immediately overthrew all their first Ideas of a God; that this great change was not gradually and insensibly brought to pass, or in the compass of several ages, but in a very few years, and with an incredible swiftness, by the Mystery of vile and contemptible persons, of no power or authority in [Page 16] the World; and that the passion they had for a Doctrine which seemed at first so monstrous to Men, induced them to suffer Death in defence of the same, after having renounced their Fortune, Reputation and Pleasures.

But does not prejudice over-rule in all this, and make me Fancy I see that distinctly which I perceive but confusedly? in truth I ought yet further to dis­trust my self, and tho' I honour Errour too much, in suspecting it may be so coherent, so united to the Principles of Common sense, and involved in so many appearances of Truth; yet I will not pass by any scruple for all that has been hitherto said.

I find then that the Christian Religion was establish­ed in the World an hundred years ago; I know that the Christians believe in a certain Jesus Christ crucified. I know also that this Opinion of theirs was not innate. I am fully perswaded that neither the Heathenish Priests, nor their ordinary Guides taught them this Doctrin, because they were the profess'd Enemies of it. I am compelled therefore in despite of my self to credit, at least in some respect, the Relation the ancient Doctors of the Church unanimously gave of it, viz: that some persons called Apostles and Disciples of Jesus Christ, went about the World, preaching that this same Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and the Messias whom God had promised to the Jews.

But these fundamental Truths require a more par­ticular Examination; and therefore we must shew more distinctly whether there were ever such men as the Apostles in the World; what their Original was; what Doctrine they preached; and how they were qualified. This we shall presently see, by laying down for a certain Principle, that the Chri­stians had the books of the New-Testament in their possession at that very time we have chose for our [Page 17] fixed point. I shall not at present enquire whe­ther those Books are forged or not, my design being to argue some time without entring upon that En­quiry. For whether they are forged or not, at least we learn from them certain undeniable matters of fact, which will wonderfully illustrate all our fol­lowing Enquiries,

CHAP. V.
Which demonstrates that all the matters of fact contained in the Books of the New Testament can never be forg'd.

IF the New Testament be forged, It may well be presumed that the Contrivers of that forgery (who certainly could have no other design but to make it pass for truth) endeavour'd to ground it upon some foundation either good or bad: So that we have reason to believe, that tho' they should have invented all that they relate, at least they in­vented not the Names, Country and Persons of Je­sus Christ and his Apostles, under whose Names they speak, and to whom they ascribe the Establishment of the Christian Religion.

For is it probable they should endeavour to per­swade men to worship a certain Jew called Jesus, the Son of Mary, a Galilean too, who was crucified at Jerusalem, and had several Disciples whose names [...]re exactly related, if the Jews could have immedi­ [...]tely convinced them of the falsehood of all those matters, by producing the Testimony of their own Nation, who would have thronged in to tell them, [...]hat Jesus and his Disciples were only fictitious [...]ames; and that there was no more to do but con­ [...]ult all the Registers and Decrees wherein Augustus [Page 18] commanded all the Jews should be taxed in the days of Cyrenius, and where it must have appeared that Jesus Christ himself (if there was any such Person) was also taxed.

'Tis all one as if a man should publish in this age a book full of excellent precepts of Morality, intermixt with several fictitious actions, which book he would have the World receive as the Doctrine of some di­vine and extraordinary man, who in the beginning of this age raised up several men from the Dead, healed all sorts of Diseases, calm'd the Winds and Tempests of the Sea, gave Authority to several of his Disciples to work many strange Miracles, was at length seiz'd and put to Death in Germany; and whose Disciples who bore such and such names, and were born in such and such a Countrey, came afterwards into France, dis­persed themselves throughout the other parts of Europe, preach'd his Doctrine, and at length died all unanimously in defence of it. What think you of this Tale? And how would it be received in the World but as a System only of many evident and palpable falsities? What think you those per­sons would say of it, who should be thus accused of so dreadful a parricide? They would certainly reply that that fictitious book was purposely design'd to blast their Reputation. But it appears the Jews never attempted to clear themselves after that manner. They confess there was such a person as Jesus Christ, and that their Fathers put him to Death: neither do they deny the least Circumstance of his Life, Mini­stry, or Death, excepting those which might probably make him pass for the Son of God. But we have here something still more clear and convincing than all this to offer.

Either those Books which you may think forg'd or not forg'd, spread of themselves the Christian Doctrine throughout the World, after they had [Page 19] been carried into several Parts of it, before there were any Apostles to preach it there, or else those Books were composed after the Apostles had pub­lished their Doctrine in the different parts of the Universe. I see no medium.

If the Books of the New Testament instructed men in the Christian Doctrine before any of the Apostles had preached it, how could the Romans be perswad­ed that St. Paul, which is a meer Name, had wrote an Epistle to them; or those of Antioch, that St. Peter had been in their City; or the Galatians, that St. Paul had preached the Gospel to them; or in gene­ral all Judea and Galilee that Jesus Christ with his Disciples had preached there; or in particular the people of Jerusalem, that he was there condemned to Death by the Sanhedrin, &c.

But if the New Testament was not collected into several Books, nor composed till after the Disciples of Jesus Christ had preached the Gospel in the several parts of the World, it must follow from thence that there were some Apostles before that time, and a certain Jesus Christ crucified, who was reputed the Son of God, and the true Messias according to the Christian Doctrin.

So that whether those Books be forg'd or not, still I am certain they relate certain fundamental matters of fact which are necessarily true. For it is certain there was such a person as Jesus Christ who dwelt in Nazareth, and was at last crucified at Jerusalem. 'Tis also as certain that Peter, James, and John were Fishermen who followed him out of Galilee, and preached the Gospel after his Death in several Parts of the World. Wherefore then should I be the on­ly person that should question a thing never so much as doubted of among the Christians or the Jews, nay which the Incredulous themselves of these times do not pretend to call in question?

[Page 20] But to stop a little here, It seems that Jesus the Son of Mary living in a certain Corner of Judea, pretended himself to be the Son of God, or if you will the Messias. 'Tis very strange indeed that a Man of so mean an extraction, who all his life time followed the profession of a Carpenter, (as his Ene­mies so often reproached him to have done) should notwithstanding pretend himself to be the Messias, who was to have been (according to the profess'd opinion of that age) surrounded or attended with pomp, splendour, and temporal Prosperity. Let us therefore enquire a little into it.

This Jesus (whoever he might be, and whatever Idea we may frame to our selves of him) gathered together a company of Disciples, some of which he took from among Fishermen on the bank of the Lake of Gennesareth, some out of the Towns of Galilee, nay and some he called from among the Publicans themselves, whom the people ever had in Origen. contra Cels. lib. 16.abomination (as the First Enemies of Christian Religion laid to his charge.) Those men which thus followed him were of mean Education and Birth. They neither had Learning nor Politeness; they neither were ac­quainted with the heart nor the inclinations of men, neither with the Policy of Princes, nor the elevated Morals of the Stoicks; nor lastly, with the misteri­ous and secret Wisdom of the Sages. But they were mean and simple Persons, as the Enemies themselves of Christianity readily acknowledge.

I shall not at present examin what Reasons in­duced them so firmly to adhere to Jesus Christ, nor what convincing arguments he used to engage them to follow him. It is enough we know they were ignorant persons, who looked for the Messias, according to the common Opinion of those times, [Page 21] and so might probably be thought to have been im­posed upon in that respect.

But here I cannot but admire that those mean and ignorant people, who had undoubtedly framed to themselves a very sublime Idea of their Messias, and imagined no less than that he would have distribu­ted Crowns to them (to use that expression, since this was always a strong opinion amongst the Jews) I say, I cannot but admire that those ignorant sort of people should content themselves with the out­ward and apparent meanness of a man, who took quite another form upon him than that of a Conqueror.

It can't be denied that Jesus Christ was in a very poor and mean condition when he called his Disci­ples, since Porphirius, Celsus, and Julian the Apostate reproach him with it. Besides this is such a matter of fact as no man would invent tho' he could easily have done it, and which he could not easily invent, tho he would have done it. 'Tis certain the Jews at that time and always before expected a Trium­phant Messias. 'Tis also as certain the Disciples adher'd to Jesus Christ notwithstanding the pro­fess'd opinion they were prepossessed with at that time; this is what we are surpris'd at.

Since the Disciples found not in Jesus Christ all the Glory and temporal power they were strongly per­swaded their Messias should have been invested with, they undoubtedly imagin'd that what their Master did not then actually possess, he would certainly en­joy some time after. They did not at all question but that he was to re-establish the Monarchy of Israel, and overcome the Enemies of the Jews. This made them to dispute the Priority among themselves. They would know who was to be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, in the flourishing King­dom of the Messias, which they termed the Kingdom of heaven in imitation of the Prophet Daniel. Nay [Page 22] two of them importuned our Saviour to grant them to sit the one on his Right Hand, and the other on his Left, as soon as he was exalted to that state of Glory.

I admit not of these matters of fact meerly be­cause they are in the New Testament, but because they are very conformable to the Jewish Tradition, and Reason it self. Common Sense assures us that the Disciples adhered not to Jesus Christ without some hope or other. Now what could they hope for from him whom they looked upon as the Messias, but that which they expected from the true Messias himself, viz. a temporal deliverance attended with the like Prosperity.

But not to advance any thing doubtful or in the least uncertain in it self, I affirm that the Disciples considered Jesus Christ as the true Messias, and that they could not regard him as such but either in the sense of the Jews, or in that of the Christians, that is, either as a temporal Deliverer, or a spiritual one, and consequently that whatever sense we take it in, still were they to hope for some advantage or other from him; but let us see how far this two­fold Consideration will lead us.

Whilst the Disciples were strongly preposessed with the thoughts that Jesus was their Messias, that is, the person that should have raised up their Na­tion to the utmost pitch of Prosperity and Glory, this Jesus himself was seized, and nailed on a Cross, where he suffered a most infamous Death, infamous in the esteem of all Nations, but more particular­ly accursed in the Jewish Law. What a mighty thunder bolt must this have been to such men who had fed their fancies with such charming hopes! They were long since perswaded that the Messias would make his appearance in a very Glorious State; that he would overthrow at his coming the Empire [Page 23] of Cesar, together with all the Roman Grandeur, and thereby make the Jews absolute Masters of the World. All these things they impatiently expect­ed from Jesus; and yet this Jesus was dishonoured by an infamous punishment he was compelled to en­dure. The Jews themselves not only sacrificed him, but they sacrificed him even to Cesar himself, and delivered him up to the Romans to put him to Death. There was no power able to deliver him out of the hands of his Tormentors; so that he died, and his Disciples heard of his Death, or rather were eye-witnesses of it. In truth I cannot conceive how they should after all this have still preserved the least of their pretentions. They might reasonably grieve at the loss of such pleasing hopes, but nothing could redeem the loss of them. They might abhor the furious passion of the chief Priests and Sanhedrin, who had utterly deprived them of their dearly be­loved Master: but they must at length lay aside the opinion they had entertained of him. And there­fore nothing can be so likely as that which St. Luke makes them utter in the midst of their sorrow and astonishment. But we trusted that it had been he, which should have redeemed Israel; and besides all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. Luke 24. 21.

But supposing they had no such Hopes or Expecta­tion, it is enough that the Disciples look't upon Je­sus as the promised Messias. Nay 'tis all one, whe­ther it was in the sense of the Jews or in that of the Christians. For if it was in the sense of the Jews, they could not but imagin that Jesus would have raised up the glory of the Jews to its utmost height, so far were they from conceiving he was liable to be put to Death by them. But if it was in the sense of the Christians, they ought surely to have believed that in case he should die, he would certainly raise up [Page 24] himself and those that believed on him from the grave, because the whole System of Christian Re­ligion essentially depends upon this foundation.

Thus, were the Disciples preposessed with the general opinion of the Jews, they could not chuse but lose it at the sight of the Death of Jesus, and were they prepossessed with the profess'd Doctrine of the Christians, they could not likewise but be unde­ceived of their Errour, when they saw that Jesus Christ rose not again from the Dead.

What then shall we think of certain Fishermen, who were a most mean wretched sort of people (as the Enemies of Christianity called them) who had not the courage to accompany their Master even when they looked upon him as the true Messias, but gave him over to his Executioners? Sure they are by this time sensible of their mistake. What care then does it appear they took to hide themselves, to conceal their shame and confusion from men? let us see what was the Event, and we shall know the Truth.

We find that few weeks after the Death of Christ, his Disciples publickly shewed themselves in Jerusa­lem, and confidently affirmed that they had seen their Master who was risen again from the Dead; had spoken with him, handled him, eat with him, convers­ed with him for forty days; and lastly, that they had seen him ascend into Heaven. 'Tis certain this was the Testimony of the Disciples, since the Faith of the Primitive Christians was founded on this Testimony.

Who could have thought of this unexpected turn? The Disciples affirmed that Jesus was the Messias: but could they still believe it, when they saw him give up the Ghost? Or if they did not believe it, were they now grown bolder to maintain an im­posture, than before to follow their Master, when they thought him the true Messias? Could certain Fishermen, dejected fearful Fishermen, who ought [Page 25] with shame to have owned their Error, could they in­vent such a fable, preach it with so much confidence, maintain it with so much boldness, expose their per­sons to all sorts of Torments, and even to Death it self, in defence of such an incredible fiction? Could any of them imagin that they could seduce Mankind, or had any one of them imagined it, could the rest have been so extravagant as to approve of his ridiculous fancy? Did they think the World would believe them up­on their bare Word? And were they then no longer in any dreadful apprehension of the Sanhedrin that had inhumanely put their Master to death? Did they believe they might safely reproach the Jews for hav­ing put the Messias to death, without being them­selves severely punished? Were they not sensible into how many troubles and afflictions this fable would inevitably cast them? And if they were, could they still be so couragious as to maintain such an imposture? Is it possible that no one of them should recant his opinion, not one contradict him­self, but that all should unanimously depose, not­withstanding the most rigorous punishments inflict­ed on them, a matter of Fact which they knew to be altogether Chimerical and false? Certainly this is a thing so very strange, or rather which appears to me so very absurd and extravagant, that I question whether our incredulous Adversaries could perswade themselves of it, provided they would but reflect never so little upon it.

But let us continue still to distrust our selves; may we not probably have made some false Suppo­sition in what we just now affirmed? we will there­fore go over again the same principles we just now established.

And indeed the more I reflect upon them, the less I conceive how we can possibly call any of them in question? For can I deny that Jesus ever was in [Page 24] [...] [Page 25] [...] [Page 26] the World, that he ever had any Disciples, or that those Disciples thought him at first the promised Messias? But why should I alone question a matter of fact which the Thalmudists, nay Julian, Porphirius, and all other Enemies of Christianity have always ac­knowledged? This is what I have shewn to be absurd.

Can I question but that if Jesus died and rose not again from the dead, his Disciples were then unde­ceived of the opinion they probably entertained, that Jesus was the Messias, the Son of God? If so, either they understood nothing at all by these two words, the Messias, the Son of God, or else they un­derstood quite another thing than that he was a Meer Man, who was to remain for ever under the power of Death after his Crucifixion.

Can I deny that the Disciples declared the Resur­rection of Jesus Christ after his Crucifixion? It's self evident. All the Earth has heard of the preaching of the Apostles, who all unanimously declared that Jesus Christ was risen again from the Dead: and 'tis purely upon their testimony that the World believ'd it.

Can we imagin that the Disciples of Jesus let slip a long period of time, as twenty or thirty years after the Crucifixion of their Master, and so having had time to embolden themselves, and to contrive an imposture, they suddenly appeared in the World, and preached that Jesus was risen again from the Dead? If so, how could the compilers or forgers of the New Testament, make the world believe that the Disciples of Jesus preached his Resurrection a few Weeks after his Crucifixion? How comes it to pass that the Jews never had the least thoughts of contradicting our Scripture in that respect? And what is the reason that the Christians yearly com­memorate two festivals successively one after ano­ther, one for the commemoration of the Death and [Page 27] Resurrection of the Lord, and the other for that of the coming down of the Holy Ghost on the Apo­stles, which was purposely given them to preach the Gospel in all places? If the Disciples had not preached the Resurrection of their Master till a long time after his Death, would it not have been ask'd them, what have you done since your Jesus was Cruci­fied? Rose he not sooner from the Dead? Or where­fore do you now preach his Resurrection so long after it? What could have obliged the Jews to assert that his Disciples had stolen away his Body by night, if his Resurrection had been preached so very late in the World? And how comes it to pass that there were Christian Churches established almost every where, by the sole testimony of the Apostles, few years af­ter the Death of Jesus Christ?

Can we suppose that it was out of ambition or revenge that the Disciples of Jesus published his Resurrection, as designing to make the Chief Priests and Scribes pass for Paricides, or immorta­lise their own names to Posterity? But could the Disciples think of revenging themselves on those Men that had so clearly shewn them their mistake in the Messias? Or could they fancy there was any revenge purely in inventing such a ridiculous fable? Would they buy their Revenge so dear as at the price of their own lives, and expose their persons to inevitable Torments, and certain death? then as for ambitious thoughts, did they entertain them immediately after the death of him who could only support and confirm them? Had they any reason to aspire after Glory and Grandeur, just when all their hopes were destroyed with their Messias? Is it likely a few poor Fishermen should have had such thoughts? Certainly had that been their design, they would soon have relinquish'd it, and the im­mediate scandal affixed to their profession, the Mi­sery [Page 28] and barbarous persecution it continually drew upon them, would have soon banished out of their Minds so ridiculous and extravagant a de­sign.

But to what purpose is it for any one to delude himself? 'Tis well known that when a Malefactor is put to the rack, he is forc'd to confess his Crime, the torments he endures extorting a confession of his most secret Actions. This is a way almost infalli­ble to discover truth; and human Justice often puts it in execution for that purpose; How were it pos­sible therefore that so many impostors together, that had been so often examined, and urged by Fire and Sword to recant what they had asserted, should yet so constantly persist in a false deposition? For 'twas not only one single witness, but a great Num­ber of Witnesses, who were not compell'd to suffer one single punishment only, but all sorts of punish­ments. 'Twas not only in one single place, but al­most in every place where they preached, they were urged to recant their opinion by the severest torments. Neither was it for one single Moment, but for every Moment of their lives that they were thus exposed to persecution. Not one single party was on their side? But Jews and Heathens, Kings and Magistrates, Prelates and People, openly declared themselves their Adversaries. They were not only assaulted with Persecutions, but reviled, contemned, and reproached, yet for all that not one of them recanted his Opinion. Being Separated or Confronted, they all unanimously deposed, not only that Jesus Christ was risen from the Dead, but that they had seen him after the Resurrection. If this be the Method commonly used to maintain an im­posture, I wonld gladly know how Truth it self is to be defended.

[Page 29] But perhaps the Disciples were themselves delud­ed, and Peter or some other Apostle, being so cun­ning as to remove the body of our Lord out of his Sepulcher, perswaded the other Disciples their Master was really risen from the Dead, and so they firmly believing his report, went about the World, preaching his Resurrection. But this Opinion ne­cessiarily falls of it self to the ground. For the Apostles not only testify'd that they had all seen Je­sus Christ after his Resurrection from the Dead, but that the holy Ghost fell on them in the likeness of fiery Tongues. They testify'd likewise the Truth of Christ's other Miracles, and 'tis impossible they should all have been deceived in respect of all those matters of fact at once.

Above all, 'tis necessary to observe this last kind of miracle, viz. the coming down of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles in the likeness of fiery tongues. For those Apostles boldly affirmed that with the help of that very miracle, they were endowed with the gift of divers Languages, so that Greeks, Romans, Parthians, Persians, &c. heard them speak every one in their own Language. This is a matter of fact which neither the Apostles could have deceived the World in, nor they themselves have been de­ceived in. It can't be imagined they could have deceived the World, or that some Fishermen could have been so bold as to pretend they were endowed with the gift of divers Languages, unless it had been really so; for they would in every place have been immediately convicted of the most notorious Cheat in the world. There were at Rome men who spoke Greek, as well as in Greece some that spoke Latin. And by reason of Trade, it generally hap­pens that there are men of all Languages in every Country. Now if St. Paul really understood no o­ther Language but that Greek spoken in Cilicia, can [Page 30] we suppose he would have been so bold as to boast in Asia of his speaking Latin, or any other forreign Language? Would he not have certainly met with people, who would have immediately convicted him of falshood? Neither is it more likely that the Apostles could have been themselves deceived in this respect, because 'tis a business of inward sense. I may easily be deluded outwardly, and think that I see a man indeed, when I see but the shadow, or fantom of a man. But I can never perswade my self that I speak several different Languages, when I speak but one. But when I see that men of diffe­rent Countries, who speak different Languages, do all understand my speech, there can certainly be no illusion in that.

The Validity of a Testimony is no longer incer­tain, when we are sure of two things; First, that the witness is not himself deceived; and Secondly, that he does not intend to deceive Others. Now this might easily be verified concerning the Disciples of Jesus. For first the matters of fact upon which their depositions were founded, are so evident and notorious, that none can ever be deceived in relation to them. Thus how is it possible that the eyes should think they saw, what they did not really see, that the ears should agree to witness nothing but what was agreeable to the Testimony of the eyes; that the hand should touch that which both the eyes and the ears perceived, not once only but several times, not the eyes, the ears and the hands of one single man, but of several men together, that they should unanimously profess themselves to be endow­ed with an extraordinary power, and that too of working miracles, unless they themselves knew the certainty of it? but tho we should suppose a man so Whimsical as to impose upon himself after that pro­digious rate, yet sure we could not without extra­vagance [Page 31] imagin, that the Apostles had utterly lost their senses by the same kind of madness; that this madness begun exactly after the Death of Jesus Christ; that the spreading of the Gospel over the face of the Universe was a wonderful contrivance of the same; that it was joyned to that Morality which is so excellent, so sublime, and yet so just and pious in it self, that the very Enemies of our Religion always reverenc'd it, And Lastly, that all manner of vertues deriv'd their original from such pretended madness, which works a change upon the World, sanctifies mankind, and exactly fulfills all those Oracles which foretold the calling of the Gen­tiles.

But if it appears that those men did not impose upon themselves, much less ought they to be suspec­ted of having had the will to deceive others; because their Simplicity and mean Education allowed them not to frame any such design; and besides the con­fusion they were in to see themselves frustrated of their hopes by the unexpected Death of their Master, would wholly have diverted them from it. Their temporal concerns too could not admit of it, and their shame to shew themselves to the World after what had happened, was of it self sufficient to hinder them from it. Moreover their Conscience would have check'd them for their superstitious fond­ness of the vain shadow of a Messias. And it is impossi­ble they could ever have agreed together so as to contrive that strange and notorious imposture. But supposing they undertook it, the Torments inflicted on them would have made them repent such a rash design; and the confession of one single person a­mongst them would have sufficiently discovered them all. Lastly, their Shame and Poverty, the Gaols and the Chains, the Stripes, the Fire and the Sword that were used against them to make them [Page 32] recant, sufficiently warrant us that they never in­tended to deceive the World. And if one single per­son so disposed is to be looked upon as an unheard of prodigy, how much more unlikely is it that a whole Society could have conceived such an extrava­gant design?

If the Testimony of the Disciples be false, we can­not chuse but look upon them as Mad men, or rather as Rascals, nay perhaps as both. And yet their preach­ing sufficiently shews the glory of their Innocence and Wisdom, to confound both these Calumnies. Let any man but read over the Books of those ad­mirable Writers, and there he will to his satis­faction find, that Honesty, Sincerity, and Self denial is inseparably interwoven with the most pure and most judicious Morality that ever was.

But this Reflexion puts me in mind that I must now hasten to the consideration of the Books of the New Testament, not to see whether they be human or divine (for that will be considered in its own proper place) but whether they be forged or not. For if once we shew that they are not forg'd, we need only read them over, to know the Testimony the Disciples bore of Jesus Christ himself. And be­cause that Truth will serve for a confirmation of what we have already said, we shall begin the follow­ing Section with the Consideration of it.

CHAP. I.
Wherein we shall prove that those Books can never be supposititious.

WHen I examin the Books of the New Testa­ment, all the doubts I strive to raise con­cerning them, amount only to these three, I. Whe­ther those Books were not composed by some Im­postor, who probably might have ascribed them to the Apostles? II. Whether those Books, supposing they were composed by the Apostles, were not after­wards corrupted by the Christians? III. Whether the Apostles the pretended Authors of those Books, did not themselves fill them up with many fictions for their Masters honour, and the advantage of their Religion? It is but just we should examine whether these three suspicions are well grounded or no.

And First, it is certain that in taking away the evidence of the Books of the New Testament, we overthrow that of all other Books, and call in ques­tion the account of all things past. For who will warrant me that Cicero's Orations are his own, if I can't reasonably assure my self that the Epistles of St. Paul were written by St. Paul himself? But [Page 34] hold! Perhaps it was easier or more advantageous to counterfeit the Books of the New Testament than those of Humane Learning. This is what we must a little enquire into.

And I. the facility there is in Counterfeiting the the works of an Author, wholly depends upon the several Circumstances of time, place, and persons, upon the subject matter of that Book, the temper of mens minds, their different notions, and their various interests which must be carried on in it. Now to counterfeit Books of Humane Learning seems in­finitely more easy in all these respects, than to coun­terfeit those of the New Testament.

I. Because they who counterfeit a Book of Hu­mane Learning, may take as much time as they please for it; but here we know not what time can be imagined the Books of the New Testament were forged in. If we look back from age to age, we find the Christians had those Books continually be­fore their eyes, and that they were quoted by the most ancient Fathers, who looked upon them as Sacred and Divine.

II. It is easy to counterfeit Books of Humane Learning, because there are generally but few peo­ple that interess themselves at all in them, at least but very indifferently: but it would have been a very difficult matter to counterfeit those Books which compelled men to suffer Martyrdom, as the Books of the New Testament did. If a man that lends out his money seeks the best security he can for it; what then must that person do, or rather what must an infinite number of persons do, who utterly renounce all things for the sake of the Go­spel?

III. There has been found some who have coun­terfeited Books of Humane Learning: but none e­ver known that were willing to die in defence of [Page 35] their forgery. Now none here can be suspected to have forged the Books of the New Testament, but only those who suffered Death in defence of the Christian Religion, and consequently to confirm the Truth of these matters of fact on which Chistianity it self is founded.

IV. A man may very well counterfeit a Book of Humane Learning, but not always, nor in all cir­cumstances, and 'twould be very ridiculous in a man to forge Letters that must have been written not long ago to whole Societies, or Epistles that must have been deposited in the hands of an infi­nite number of persons, and in very many different places. Now this must needs be affirmed of all the Epistles of the Apostles, which make up a very con­siderable part of the New Testament. And how could the Church of Rome have possibly been made to believe, that St. Paul wrote an Epistle to her; or the Church of Corinth, that she had received two Epistles from him, and so of the rest unless it had been so.

V. This argument is so much the more consider­able, since he that grants one point in this matter, unavoidably grants the whole: and if you should agree with me, that perhaps one single Epistle a­mong all those of the New Testament was not forg'd, you must grant the same thing of them all; or at least it will be to no purpose for the Incredulous to to cavil thereupon. For what if I should grant the four Gospels to be forg'd, does not the Book of the Acts of the Apostles contain, nay does it not neces­sarily suppose the same essential matters of fact, related to us in the Gospels? should I grant the same of the Book of Acts, are not the Epistles of St. Paul sufficient to inform us, that Jesus Christ wrought several miracles, rose again from the Dead, and ascended into heaven, and that the Holy Ghost de­scended [Page 36] upon the Disciples on the day of Pentecost? and that's as much as I desire. In a word, should I grant all the Epistles of St. Paul to be the works of another man, I need but receive those of St. Peter, or those of St. John, to prove the same thing. There being never an Epistle in all the New Testa­ment, but what mentions or implies those essential matters of fact, without which there can be no such thing as Christianity in the World.

Let us now see whether we can perswade our selves that all the Books of the New Testament, with­out excepting one fragment, or single Epistle a­mongst them, are forg'd; and whether we can en­tertain such a suspicion which no Heretick, no Im­pious, or Incredulous Person ever entertained.

But how is it possible all the Epistles of the A­postles should be forg'd, since they must have been committed to an infinite number of Persons, as they were really in the begining of Christianity, and since Tertullian tells us, that in his time they carefully preserved in several Churches the Originals of those Epistles which the Apostles had wrote to them?

Again, in what time, and on what occasion could this Forgery have been made? Was it during the lives of the Apostles? No: For could the World consider those Books as Sacred and Divine, which the Apostles themselves forg'd. Was it then im­mediately after the Death of the Apostles? Do we owe it to Clemens, Polycarp, and the other Doctors of that Age? By no means: for those Disciples of the Apostles separated themselves as soon as those great Lights of the World were extinguished. Po­lycarp went to Rome, to decide a controversy with a Bishop of Rome, occasioned in the Church about the time wherein they were to celebrate the Feast of the Christian Resurrection, or Passover. Those two great men differed much in that point, but yet they both [Page 37] greed unanimously to receive the Writings of the Apostles, and to look upon them as the true stand­ard of their Faith and Manners. Moreover, what Probability is there that so great a number of Churches could have been induced to receive so many false Epistles, so soon after the Death of the Apostles, and when there was so many Persons yet living who had conversed with them? In truth, this is so ex­travagant a Notion that we hold our selves not at all obliged to refute it.

But it may be objected that the Primitive Christians question'd the Authority of some Epistles, such as the Epistle to the Hebrews, whose Author was never certainly known, the second Epistle of St. Peter, that of St. Jude, &c. I grant it: but then I presume that this consideration makes for us, since it cannot be conceived that the Ancient Primitive Christians should dispute so long about some Epistles in par­ticular, had the rest altogether been as liable to suspicion.

But may we not reasonably imagin that during those strange disorders which followed the destruc­tion of Jerusalem, some Christians either perfect cheats, or but partly perswaded of that Faith, might have composed the Books of the New Testa­ment, and so after having inserted in them what­ever stories they pleased, ascribed them to the A­postles, to gain the greater veneration and respect for their fictions? No certainly, because the devas­tation of Jerusalem hinder'd not but that there might be very numerous Churches at Rome, at Antioch, at Thessalonica, Philippi, &c. whom it would have been impossible to have perswaded that the Apostles had wrote them some Epistles which must have been al­ready deposited in their hands. And besides that, it appears plainly that the Books of the New Testa­ment were composed before the destruction of Jeru­salem, [Page 38] because Jerusalem and the Church established at Jerusalem is often mention'd therein, without the least hint that Jerusalem was then utterly destroyed. Besides how could it come into any mans mind to forge such Books after the destruction of Jeru­salem, whose design was only to humble the pride of the Jews, to induce them no longer to hate the Hea­thens as being strangers, and to perswade them that tho God as yet suffered the carnal worship of their Law, they ought not to expect to be justified by that. This I say was the end of the New Testa­ment, and especially the Epistles of St. Paul, who seems earnestly to desire to unite the minds of the two Nations. And Heaven having sufficiently de­clared it self against the Jews by the destruction of their City, the confusion of their Tribes, and Fa­milies, and that general dispersion which made them Tributaries to all other Nations, there was no need of any further reasons to prove that the Jews were not the only Nation called to the Knowledge of the true God. 'Twas enough that this proof was evi­dently written by the hand of God in the just punish­ment of that people.

In the mean while, 'tis necessary to observe that by shewing that the New Testament was composed before the destruction of Jerusalem, I shew also that it is as ancient as the Apostles themselves: which affords us one determination very advantagious to our Cause. So that this objection being very fa­vourable to, instead of proving any thing against us, nothing hinders but that we pass on to the con­sideration of the second suspicion we were willing to entertain concerning the Books of the New Testa­ment.

CHAP. II.
Proving that the Books of the New Testament were never corrupted.

'TIs certain that from the Apostles time to ours, the New Testament was ever look'd upon as sacred, and not to be corrupted, without impiety and Irreligion. But whether it were Reason or Prejudice that made it so esteemed by the Christians, I shall now examin. It is enough that the esteem men have of it seems as ancient as the Book it self. Its being considered as the foundation of all our hopes, and the original of heavenly Revelation, its being read and order'd to be read in Publick and Private from the Age of Clemens, Polycarp, Justin and Iraeneus to ours: I say all this shews that it could not have been corrupted in its Essentials. But this Truth very well deserves a more strict consi­deration.

I say then how is it possible that all the World should have unanimously conspired to corrupt this Book? For tho' one single Doctor of the Church should have attempted it, yet the rest would certain­ly have opposed it. Tho' all the Christian Doctors dispersed up and down the World should have agree­ed to it, yet the people would never have consented to't. Tho' the Doctors and the People together should have been inclinable to it, yet sure their Ad­versaries would not have failed to reproach them with it. The Jews and Heathens whose only aim was to cry down their Religion, would never have concealed it. Julian, Porphirius, and all other par­ticular Enemies of the Christians would have drawn some advantage from it. In a word, tho' the si­lence [Page 40] of their Adversaries had favoured so strange an Enterprise, yet the different parties, and various Heresies which soon after sprung up among the Chri­stians, were an invincible obstacle to it.

'Tis well known that immediately after the Death of the Apostles, the Church was strangely disturb­ed by several various Controversies. For not to speak here of the Gnosticks, that abominable Sect, which deserves not the honourable name of Christi­ans, certainly the Opinion of the Millenarians (which Papias seems to have been the Author of) found­ed upon the Apostolical Tradition fifteen years after the death of St. John: the Controversy which soon after happened concerning the Christian Passover, to­gether with the Disputes of the Orthodox against the Origenists concerning the Resurrection, and several other Articles of the Christian Doctrin, I say these Disputes might easily have divided the Chri­stians in the first Century of the Church. Next to them succeeded the famous Disputes of the Ortho­dox with the Arrians, and with what heat and ani­mosities they were carried on, is sufficiently known to all the World. But however fatal all those Con­troversies were to the Church, yet they produced that good effect by the direction of Providence, which orders every thing to some good end, that they preserv'd the Revelation of the New Testament pure and entire, and at present strengthen our be­lief against all suspicions we might probably enter­tain in this respect.

For tho the Millenarians, the Origenists, and the Ari­ans should have attempted to corrupt the Scripture; yet how were it possible that the Orthodox which were so exasperated against them, should have suf­fered it to be done; or that if the Orthodoxes had had any such design, their Adversaries which were [Page 41] so incens'd, should have agreed with them in the same Intention?

Should I further grant this mutual agreement possible, doubtless the almost infinite number of Copies, of Editions, and Translations made at first of the New Testament, rendered the execution of that design impossible. For tho' a man had corrup­ted one single Copy among all those Copies, or translated those Books false, yet how could he cor­rupt all the other Copies of them which are dispers­ed in the World? or how could he alter so many other Translations which have been made of them in different times and in different places?

But supposing this were feasible, if the Writings of the Apostles were ever corrupted, it must have been either in their Essentials, or in things of little Im­portance; I mean by their Essentials, those mira­culous matters of fact related in the New Testament, as well as all those others which if true demonstrate the Truth of the Christian Religion. Now if those Writings were not corrupted in their Essentials, it necessarily follows that they contain several true matters of fact sufficient to prove the Truth of Chri­stianity. But if they were altered in their Essentials, there must have been added to them the Miracles of Jesus Christ, his Resurrection, Ascension into Heaven, the pouring out of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, the power the Apostles had of speaking strange Languages, and of imparting miraculous gifts to others. Now I affirm that all those matters of fact could not have been added to the New Testament, unless the whole Book was forg'd; because the subject matter of the New Testament consists of nothing else but of those matters of fact, or if you will of such things as evi­dently relate to them, and which would certainly be false, if those matters of fact were false. But let [Page 42] us joyn Experience to Reason, and consider that if the Christians had corrupted the writings of the A­postles, the Books of the New Testament would now be quite different from what they were in the former ages; and that having been continually altered from that time untill now, nothing could be more ap­parent than such an alteration. Yet 'tis easy to perceive the contrary, and it evidently appears by an almost infinite number of places of the New Testament quoted in the Books of the Fathers, that there never was a Book that suffered less alteration by the revolution of years than that did.

There are but two things, in my opinion that may be answered to this Argument; the first is, that in corrupting the Books of the New Testament, those places quoted in the Works of the Fathers might also have been altered. But this thought can never enter into any reasonable mans mind: for he must then suppose that there was a person in a man­ner Immortal, who might have had time enough to alter so many Books composed from Age to Age; and a man too so much Master of other Mens hearts and understandings, as to have been able to corrupt a Book the most universally read, and most careful­ly preserved that ever was, and to alter also with it all the Books of the ancient Fathers, without any body ever perceiving it, or making the least opposi­tion against it.

The second thing that may be answered, is that this corruption of the Scripture was done before a­ny of the Fathers begun to write, that is, fifteen or twenty years after the Death of the Apostles. But we need only recall to mind all the reasons that per­swaded us that the Books of the New Testament were not forged by the Successors of the Apostles: and it will appear they are no less conclusive in this place. In short, we need but joyn the Martyrdom of [Page 43] the Primitive Christians (who were not certainly so Whimsical as to die in defence of their fictions) with the passion the people had for the Writings of the Apostles, the Divisions which disunited the Church immediately after their Death, the variety of Translations, the number of Copies, the constant and perpetual Tradition of the Ancient Fathers, the connexion of the essential matters of fact of the Gospel, which is such, that he that admits of one, is obliged to admit of the other too, (as he that be­lieves the Ascension of Jesus Christ, is obliged to be­lieve his Resurrection also, and he that denies those matters of fact is no longer a Christian) the number of the Books which the New Testament consists of, the Repetition of the same matters of fact in them, the want of Time and Opportunity to invent, or es­sentially corrupt them, the impossibility of it, un­less the Book was wholly forg'd, the prodigious multitude of people who must have been imposed upon in that respect, the nature of the matters of fact they must have been made to believe, viz. that whole Societies had received some Epistles from the Apostles, which contained such and such things which they ought to have well remembred) the Ex­perience of time past, which evidently shews that from Clemens and Polycarp down to us, that is, for sixteen Ages together, the Books of the New Testa­ment were not essentially corrupted; the distance of places where those Books must have been forg'd or corrupted, together with the impossibility of making many fictions (which in all appearance those Books would have been full of) pass for Truth, and that so soon after the Death of the Apostles, when the World had their preaching yet fresh in their me­mory; the silence of the Enemies of the Christians on that account, who never mentioned any thing concerning that pretended forgery; the distinction [Page 44] the Primitive Christians made at first between the Writings of the Fathers and those of the New Testa­ment, which they looked upon as the absolute Rule and Standard of their Faith: All these considerati­ons, I say, put together plainly shew us, and that too in an evident manner, that it would argue mad­ness in the highest Degree longer to entertain either of the two former Suspicions.

I pass on therefore to a third, which is, that the Apostles themselves composed fables for the honour of their Master. But since this is the most consider­able of them all, and that which Julian, Mahomet, and almost every Incredulous person of these times chiefly urge against us, it is but reasonable I should more particularly and throughly examin it in the following Chapters; for truly upon that chiefly depends the solid proof of our Religion.

CHAP. III.
That the Apostles did not Write what was false.

TO comprehend distinctly that the Authors we speak of did not impose upon us in their Writings, it is fit to consider those Writings in particular one after another. They consist of three principal parts, which are the four Gospels, the Book of Acts, and the Epistle of the Apostles.

St. Mathew writ the first, and his Gospel is quoted by Clemens Bishop of Rome, Disciple and Contem­porary with the Apostles. Barnabas quotes it also in his Epistle. And Ignatius and Polycarp who liv­ed in the time of St. John. Justin, Iraeneus, who lived a little after; Athenagoras, Tertullian, and all the [Page 45] other Doctors of the Church which succeeded them, unanimously received it.

There is not only the Gospel according to St. Matthew, concerning which 'twould be a very difficult matter to entertain any reasonable suspicions; but the Gospel according to St. Mark was also a while after written for a second support of our belief. The same Fathers who testify of the one, testify also of the other. Papias, Clemens Alexandrinus, Justin speak of it; and St. Iraeneus relates that Mark the Disciple of St. Peter composed his Gospel of those matters he had heard the latter speak of.

St. Luke who accompanied St. Paul in all his Tra­vells, wrote a third Gospel which the Ancient Fa­thers have also received.

Lastly, St. John, the last of the Apostles com­posed a fourth Gospel towards the latter end of his days, as the Doctors of the Primitive Church tell us; and this Apostle declares at the end of it that he himself is the Author of it: this is the Disciple, says he, which testifieth of these things which he has seen. chap. 21. 24.

It is to be observed first of all, that the four E­vangelists, who all agree in the plainness and inge­nuity which appears in their Relations, have never­theless a very different stile from one another. Thus St. John expresses himself after a very simple man­ner if compared with that of St. Luke, who being a Phisitian, ought to have written in a more lofty stile than St. John, who was originally a Fisherman. And this consideration removes the Suspicion we might entertain, that all those Gospels were com­posed by one and the same Author.

Secondly, We may observe that altho' these Writers agree essentially in the matters they relate, there is nevertheless some small difference betwixt them, which very sensibly shews us, that they com­posed [Page 46] their Gospels separately: Divine Providence having so ordered it the better to confirm ou [...] Faith.

Yet our incredulous Adversaries will not stand to this Assertion. They will perhaps imagin that the Disciples of Jesus having got together at Jeru­salem after the Death of their Master, took certain Measures to make men believe certain supposititions matters of fact, which they very exactly and precisely set down, least they should contradict themselves in the Testimony they should give of them; and that after having founded several Churches by then preaching, some of them took special care to digest those very matters of fact in Writing which they had preach'd throughout the World, after having invented them. I think this is the most plausible objection of theirs that is likely to be raised against this subject.

But in order to confute this imagination, it might perhaps suffice to call to mind what I have before mentioned, the absurdity there is in supposing that a few simple and ignorant Fishermen dejected by the Death of their Master, undeceived of the opinion they had entertained that he was their Messias; and so fearful that they fled when he was seized upon in order to his Crucifixion, should contrive amongst themselves how to deceive other men, when they themselves were so miserably deluded; that they should dare to invent a matter of fact which would certainly fix an eternal blot and scandal upon their Nation, by making the Jews be looked upon as so many abominable Murtherers; that all the Disciples should contrive this design together; that not one of them should confess the Truth; that the distance of Places, the severity of Punishments, the force of Truth, the Remorse of Conscience, the Pleasures of the World, which they utterly lost by their Pro­fession, [Page 47] should not be capable to break off this unani­mous contrivance of falshood; that they should glad­ly suffer for the confirmation of their Fables; that they should add to Constancy a virtuous life; that these Cheats should preach nothing but Vertue, Tem­perance, Charity, the Love of God and Humility; that they should command us to love our Enemies, and bless them for the sake of God which curse us; that Falshood should immediately undergo the trial of torments; that the simplicity of some gross sort of men should be capable of that nice Ambition, which consists in making men desire to immortalize their own names by suffering Torments and Death it self; and that the Malice of some impostors should be ca­pable to make Charity reign, to establish in the World all sorts of Vertues; to destroy the Heathen­ish Idolatry, by making the true God be every where adored, and to accomplish all those Oracles which concerned the calling of the Gentiles.

But this consideration will be much stronger and more considerable, if we consider the behaviour of the Apostles in opposition to that of those Here­ticks, who so much disturb'd the Church almost in its infancy. What Pride, self Interest and Ambi­tion was there not seen in them? Their thoughts were wholly bent upon making new Sects. Every one of them set up for a Ring-leader of factions. Simon called himself, the great Vertue of God, and his Helena the Holy Ghost. Menander who succeeded him pre­tended that he was Vertue it self, which was sent down from Heaven for the salvation of mankind. Basilides boasted that he declared things more sub­lime, and far more wonderful than the two former. And among this same rank must be also inserted Cerinthus, Carpocrates, Marcion, &c. who all en­deavoured to excel one another, in the particular design of raising themselves above all: not to men­tion [Page 48] at this time that which they pretended; that those who had attained to a certain degree of Know­ledge, which according to them, was a state of per­fection, might live as they pleased, and give them­selves over to all sorts of Passions. Such you see is the Character of Impostors.

If the Disciples of Jesus Christ invented those matters which they wrote after having preached them, they must themselves have looked upon Re­ligion as a meer Fiction. What is then the Reason they seem to us so different from those Hereticks which we just now mention'd? And wherefore in­stead of inventing, as the Gnosticks, such Doctrines as were favourable to their several passions, did they on the contrary preach a Morality which wholly tends to mortify all Evil and Irregular affections? Why did they not set up for Ring-leaders of factions? Why did not every one of them take a pride in himself? Why did they plot together to raise ano­ther man; being so unanimous that they never con­tradicted one another; so humble that there was not one amongst them that took upon him to be Head and Master; so disinteressed that not one of all the Passions incident to men seemed to have a share in their conduct?

Further it is observable, that those Ancient He­reticks we just now mention'd invented many points of Doctrine in opposition to one another. They talk'd of Invisible Eternal Spirits. They reasoned a­bout the principle of the World. They gave out many very fantastical Ideas of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Ghost. They established a subordination of Heavenly Vertues: and because all these Doc­trines did meerly depend upon Speculation, and not on Experience, 'twas an easy matter for them to use them to seduce the Simple and Ignorant.

[Page 49] The Disciples of Jesus Christ on the contrary con­firm'd whatever they said, not as those Impostors by some Eternal Invisible Spirits, and some abstracted and impenetrable Speculations, but by those matters of fact whose knowledg meerly depended upon the Senses themselves. Now 'tis well known that the Senses of the most simple are as much enlightened as those of the most Learned, which evidently denotes they had no manner of design of imposing upon men.

But it is not enough to shew that the Disciples of Jesus Christ were not of such a character as to invent those things which they preach'd: let us therefore proceed yet further, and endeavour to make it ap­pear that it is absolutely impossible that the Disci­ples of Jesus Christ should have invented those mat­ters.

CHAP. IV.
That the Disciples of Jesus Christ could not im­pose upon men in the matter of their Writings, or Preaching.

SInce the principal design of an Impostor is to con­ceal the cheat he intends to play, it is very easy to observe his Intention and Cunning in his choice of the Circumstances he relates.

For if he invents a matter of fact, he will certain­ly pretend either that it happen'd long since; or 'twas in a remote Country; or that there were but few Spectators of it, who are since dead; or that [...]t is a singular matter of fact which drew no Con­ [...]equence after it, and of which there can be no sen­ [...]ible Evidence given. In short, whatever a man in­vents, [Page 50] he still reserves to himself some means or other to bring himself off in case he were too far urged by some people who might interess themselves in the thing related.

But here we observe on the one hand, that men are more particularly concerned in the matters of fact which the Apostles relate, nay and all mankind. The Jews who are represented in them as most abo­minable Parricides, could not look upon them with­out some concern. The Christians whom the truth of these matters of fact engag'd to suffer Martyr­dom, could not but examine them with attention. And the Heathens whose Religion those matters of fact would certainly subvert, if once acknowledged to be true, were very much concerned not to con­sent to such a forgery. Lastly, the High-Priests were too jealous of their Authority, the Magistrates too much averse to all new Sects, and the People too much devoted to prejudice and superstition, ever to admit of these matters of fact without a strict examination.

We observe on the other hand, that those very men who published them, were so far from being sparing or cautious in their choice of the Circum­stances they related, that they set down expresly so many that must needs have been well known; that either they must have been immediately convinced of their falshood, or we acquiesce in what they told us.

For I. if you ask, in what place did they testifie and affirm the truth of these matters of fact? We answer at Jerusalem, and in Judea, the very places where all these things occur'd. And lest you should any ways question it, we will prove further by the Testimony of all Antiquity, that the Apostles esta­blish'd by their Preaching a Church at Jerusalem.

[Page 51] II. Would you know the time? 'Twas in the space of three years that the Miracles of Jesus Christ, his Death, Resurrection, and Ascension were brought to pass: and a few Weeks after the Ascension, the Apostles begun to Preach publickly in Jerusalem.

III. Would you know the witnesses of the truth of these matters of fact? We can produce a great number of persons who both lived and conversed with Jesus Christ himself.

IV. Would you fain know the nature of the matters of fact here attested? We shew you that they are very evident and singular ones; that the Sick are healed, the Winds and Seas hush'd, the Dead raised, a man put to death who convers'd with his Disciples, and ascended into Heaven, &c.

V. If you would know their number: we can shew that the whole Life of Jesus Christ was but one continual series of Miracles.

VI. Lastly, Would you know the proofs of all this? The Apostles themselves boast of having re­ceived miraculous gifts, and that too by a good Title, as we shall shew in the sequel of this Work.

In the interim do but unite all these Circumstances together, and see what an irresistible evidence arises from their Union? How could the Apostles perswade so many persons concerned in this thing, so many that had both known and seen Jesus Christ? Would they not soon have lost all Credit, if search had been made into the places, and the truth of what they affirmed strictly examin'd? Or rather, how is it possible that whilst they ventur'd to publish such things in the very places where they must necessari­ly have been brought to pass, the Jews should not have stopt the progress of the Gospel, by discover­ing to the World so visible and evident an Impo­sture? For the Apostles did not publish only one single matter of fact of this nature. They affirm'd [Page 52] also that their Master had raised Lazarus from the Dead, together with the Son of the Widdow of Naim, and the Daughter of Jairus; that he had heal'd almost an infinite number of people possessed with the Devil, Deaf, Blind, and sick of the Palsy; and that his fame had spread throughout all Syria.

Nor were the Apostles content barely to preach all these things, they put them also down in writing, and their Writings are dispers'd throughout all the World. Therefore they hid not themselves, but were willing every one should know the certainty of what they testify'd, and examine as much as they pleased the matters of fact they related. They gave them out to the World, and exposed them to be search'd all manner of ways. But supposing I should grant those Books to be written forty, fifty, or sixty years after the Death of Jesus Christ, still is it evident that before that time there was a Church at Jerusalem founded by the preaching of the Apostles; and it is certain that the Apostles had declared by word of mouth the Miracles and Resurrection of Je­sus Christ, which are the essential matters of fact contained in those Books.

For how could they otherwise perswade the World to worship a crucified man? or convince them that Jesus Christ was the true Messias? How was it possi­ble the Christians should look upon that Book as Di­vine, which went upon a supposition of what was never done? By what kind of agreement should four persons who wrote in different times and places, and copy'd not one anothers Writings (as is plain if we read them over with never so little attention, and consider their different manner of relating the same things) I say by what kind of agreement should they have conspired to inform us of the same mat­ters of fact, if the Apostles had not first of all una­nimously and universally publish'd them? How could [Page 53] the Apostles have perswaded men to turn Christians, had they not declared the Miracles, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ; since Christianity can't subsist without these matters of fact? Thus we see 'tis to no purpose for Impostors to disguise them­selves, for all their shifts and tricks serve only to discover them.

CHAP. V.
Where we shall more particularly examine, whe­ther the Apostles had the Power or the Will to deceive mankind.

THose men who have a design to deceive the World, must have more skill, wit and cunning than others; which skill, wit, and cunning will ap­pear in their works in spite of all their Art, and sub­tilty.

But when I strictly examine those Authors whom we call Sacred, I neither find Cunning, Wit, nor Affectation in their Books. Every thing they contain seems to me very simple, naked and open. They all exactly relate their own Weaknesses and imper­fections. They do not conceal their true Birth and extraction. They discover their ambition in their controversy, who amongst them should be the greatest in the flourishing Kingdom of the Messias; their gross ignorance in the Questions they asked their Master, and one another, viz. What meaneth this, to rise again from the Dead? their cowardise in betaking themselves to flight at the sight of the Soldiers that came to take away their Master, and their incredulity in those scruples they raised con­cerning his Resurection.

[Page 54] All these things plainly discover the greatest sin­cerity and impartiality. But yet there arises here a certain scruple which seems not altogether incon­siderable, and may deserve a little consideration. Who knows (perhaps some will object) but that this is an affected sincerity which prepossesses our minds in their behalf, only to deceive us the more securely? In order to overthrow this notion, I shall not assert that the Writers we speak of were originally Fisher­men and Publicans, and that it would seem very strange that men of that Birth and Education should affect simplicity, and be capable of so refined apiece of policy, of which there can hardly be given an ex­ample amongst the most able Politicians, that ever took upon them to deceive mankind.

Neither shall I say, that since the four Evangelists composed their Writings apart, 'twould be very surprising that they should all concur in the design of imposing upon the credulity of men, by Writing after so simple and ingenuous a manner; and that they should not only be entirely conformable to one another in this respect, but also should agree with the other Writers of the New Testament.

'Tis sufficient to observe, that they sometimes relate such things, as at first view suggest those no­tions in us which Piety utterly rejects, and Incredu­lity makes use of to oppose the Christian Religion, by attacking its divine head. This they would never have done, had they only affected an ingenuous sim­plicity. Thus it's ask'd, why Jesus Christ who was subject to his holy and ever blessed Mother, ac­cording to the observation of the Evangelists, should make her this answer, which is some what rough and severe: Woman what have I to do with thee? my hour is not yet come. Thus Julian the Apostate, Celsus, Porphirius, and other Enemies of the Christian Re­ligion, stick not to say that Jesus Christ gave some [Page 55] marks of his weakness in the Garden of Gethsemane, where the fear of Death made him sweat great drops of Blood, and where he cried out several times, O my Father, if it be possible let Mat. 26. 39. this Cup pass from me. They also pre­tend that this exclamation of Jesus Christ when nailed on the Cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? was an expression of his despair.

I know not here what to admire most, either the impudence of these proud Enemies of our Religion, or the force of Truth which still becomes stronger the more they endeavour to shake it. For as for the first, If the Enemies of the Christians wont believe the report of the Evangelists, how came they to know that Jesus Christ uttered these words, which give them occasion to think he wanted constancy? But if they will believe the report of the Evangelists, why should they refuse to believe so many miracu­lous matters of fact, which the Evangelists left to us in writing, after having been eye-witnesses of the same?

It is certain that we may find in our principles wherewith to explain those places they bring against us. The words which Jesus Christ spoke to his blessed Mother, give us only to understand, how very jealous he was of the duties of his Calling. He spoke to her as a Mediatour between God and Man, as the person in whom she ought necessarily to be­lieve in order to her Salvation; and who doubts but in that quality he had some Authority over her?

As for the sorrowfulness he expressed in his Ago­ny, it might proceed from a double cause, the one natural, and the other supernatural. He might very well fear Death as Man; and the pains in­flicted on his Humane Nature might force him to utter some innocent complaints. But that was not [Page 56] all that made his torments grievous. He was load­ed with the Sins of Mankind, and subject to the curse of the Law. He looked upon God as his Fa­ther, but God offered himself to him as an angry Judge. The more he loved his Father, the more sensible he was of the Grief he sustained in being re­mov'd from him. The measure of his sufferings consisted in the measure of his vertue; and what he says here to his Father, is rather the Language of his Love, than that of his Despair.

But if the Incredulous should say they are not obliged to subscribe to my explanations, because it is incertain whether they have any other ground than my bare imagination; I am willing they should entertain this scruple, and cherish it till by establish­ing my principles, I have an opportunity of answer­ing yet more fully all those difficulties. But in the mean time I hold that nothing can more demonstrate the sincerity of the Evangelists than those places just now mentioned: and I affirm that the sincerity of the Evangelists being well demonstrated, does invincibly prove the Truth of the Christian Re­ligion.

For certainly either those who composed the Gospels had a design to deceive Mankind in behalf of Jesus Christ and his Religion, or they had no such design at all. If they had any such design, they would have taken special care not to set down those Circumstances of the death of their Master, which might give the World an occasion to suspect he wanted Courage, or thought himself forsaken of God. But if in writing the matters of fact con­tained in the Gospel, they had no manner of design to deceive Mankind; we must then of necessity look upon them as being very sincere Authors, who would not deceive us, unless they themselves had first of all been deceived. So that all the question [Page 57] is, whether the matters of fact they tell us of are such as are shewn only by Illusion. And we need here only consider whether all the Disciples could have fancied they saw an infinite number of very singular and sensible Miracles, such as sick men heal­ed, Dead raised to Life, &c. and have believed that they themselves work'd miracles, when all the while there was no such thing.

'Tis to no purpose here to alledge, that the E­vangelists affected an ingenuous simplicity to avoid the suspicion of dishonesty. For had that been their design, they would have taken special care not to furnish impious men with places and passages on which they might raise imaginary triumphs. Nor is there any reason to believe that the Evangelists re­lated those words, because their simplicity was so great that they had not judgment to discern whe­ther they were for or against their cause. For what probability is there that men who had wit enough to deceive other people, should have so little in this occasion? Must a man needs be wise and learn­ed, when he chuses to represent his Master constant and undaunted, rather than sorrowful unto Death? And yet 'tis not one single Evangelist that relates the history of his passion after this manner, they all agree in this respect. And how could this be so? but that they only proposed to themselves to speak the plain truth, and they spoke it without consider­ing the impression it would make on Mankind, without examining whether the Incredulous would take occasion from thence to slander the Christian Religion.

In the mean while, if what has been said here is not sufficient, I am willing more particularly to ex­amin the matters contained in the Gospels.

CHAP. VI.
Where we shall examine the matters contained in the Gospels, and see whether they are capable of Illusion or Imposture.

THose Books contain an infinite number of ex­traordinary, divine and admirable things; but the principal of them are reducible to these four heads, I. The Birth, Genealogy, and Education of Jesus Christ, with all the Circumstances of them, which we shall not speak of at present, least we should be too tedious, having already mention'd them in our first part of this work. II. The Exer­cise of his Office, confirmed by an infinite number of miracles from his Baptism to his Ascension. III. The holiness of his life and conversation seen clearly in several occasions, and shining throughout the various Actions of his life. IV. His Doctrin and his Prophecies. From these four different heads spring forth such beams of Truth as wonderfully il­lustrate this whole matter. Let us therefore ex­amine them in their order, and keep still to our usual method, which is to raise as we go along as many difficulties as we can, and urge them on with all their force, to stop if it be possible the complaints of the Incredulous against us.

We may very well consider in the miracles of Je­sus Christ, their number, variety, and greatness, the noise they made in the World, and the manner in which they were received. And first the Evange­lists make appear the number, variety and greatness of them, in telling us that he changed Water into Wine in Cana, that he restored sight to the Blind, hearing to the Deaf, and health to the Sick; that [Page 59] he cleansed the Leprous, healed the sick of the Palsy, cured one of a withered Hand, another of a Dropsy▪ a third diseased with an Issue of Blood, that he cast out many Devils, raised the Dead to Life, appeased the stormy Winds and Tempests, and at several times wonderfully fed many thousands in the Wilderness. These Miracles are very nu­merous indeed, seem very much different from one another, and cannot proceed but from a Divine Power.

To this we must further add, that they are of such a nature as could not be concealed from the knowledge of men, that they must necessarily have an infinite number of witnesses, so that had the A­postles purely invented them, they might soon have been contradicted by an infinite number of people.

And yet it seems the most inveterate enemies of Jesus Christ durst not altogether deny the evidence of them; because they accused him of healing the sick on the Sabbath Day, and pretended he cast out Devils by Belzeebub, the Prince of the Devils: this sort of calumny being as it were an extorted confes­sion of his infinite Power, and a Testimony which they bore in spite of themselves to the Truth of his Mission.

Besides, 'tis easy to believe that the Evangelists did not invent of themselves what they make the Scribes and Pharisees utter on this account, because they unanimously agree in the relation they give us of it; they represent Jesus Christ refuting this ca­lumny, and assuring us in this occasion, that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost would never be forgiven, a thing which could not easily enter into any mans mind: In a word, the Jews that came after, being compelled to own that Jesus Christ had done several miracles, were obliged to say that he had found out the true pronunciation of the great word Jehovah, [Page 60] and that 'twas by the help of this pronunciation (a pattern whereof he had found in the Temple) that he wrought so many miracles. See into what ex­travagant opinions men necessarily fall into, when they endeavour to shun the force of Truth.

But not to insist on all these vain Chimeras, me­thinks neither of these two Truths can reasonably be contested. The first is that Jesus Christ pretend­ed to have work'd many miracles. This is what his enemies reviled him with, when standing round about his Cross they said, he saved others, himself he can­not save. Let him now come down from the Cross, and we will believe him. The second is, that the Disci­ples who followed him, knew for certain whether he wrought any miracles or not. For since we have here to do with evident and singular miracles above the reach of Human Power, they could not but cer­tainly know the truth of them.

Things being thus supposed, I further consider, that of the many Disciples Jesus Christ had, there were but two that proved unfaithful to him: but it was not long before they did right to the Truth, tho each of them in a very different manner. The one was moved with a sensible regret, and wept bitterly, the other was so tormented with the re­morse of Conscience, that he was forced to make himself away.

Had Jesus been an Impostor, how came Peter to repent, and Judas to despair. If he falsly boasted of many miracles, those two men, those two con­stant and perpetual witnesses of his Actions, must needs have known it; and and if they did certainly know it, whence could then proceed the Repentance of the one, and the Despair of the other?

'Twould be to no purpose to use any Evasions in the history of Judas, which the Writers of the New Testament have represented to us as a thing publickly [Page 61] known to the World. This man (says St. Peter, in the first Chapter of the Books of Acts verse 18.) purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, burst asunder in the midst, and all his Bowels gush'd out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem, insomuch as that field is called in their pro­per tongue, Aceldama, that is to say the field of Blood. Is it possible to be more particular in any thing? And could the Author of the Acts be so foolish to imagin he could invent all these Circumstances, and make St. Peter utter them without making him ridi­culous and himself liable to be contradicted

In like manner the Evangelists tell us all the Cir­cumstances of the Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. They say that at his death there was a great Darkness, and a dreadful Earth-quake, that the Rocks burst, and the vail of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. If all this were meer In­vention, those Writers shew'd but little reason in chusing such strange Circumstances to impose upon mens belief. Was it such an easy matter to per­swade all the Inhabitants of Jerusalem that on the day Jesus Christ was crucified, the vail of the Temple rent in twain, and several other notable Prodigies were seen? Was it not a pretty way of getting credit amongst men? And those men too who related such strange things contrary to the certain know­ledge of every one, and so soon after they must have been brought to pass, could they gain over to their side so many thousand people?

As to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Evan­gelists relate that the Stone of his Sepulchre was sealed, and a watch set over it; that the Soldiers said the next day that the Disciples of Jesus came by night and stole away his body whilst they slept, &c. If you doubt whether the Souldiers were suborned by the chief Priests, and gave out that the body of Jesus [Page 62] Christ had been stole away by his Disciples, St. Matthew will inform you of it in such a manner as will infallibly clear all your doubts. Now, says he, some of the watch came into the City, and shewed unto the Chief Priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the Elders, and had taken Councel, they gave large money unto the Soldiers, saying, say ye, his Disciples came by night and stole him away while we Slept. And if this comes to the Governours ears, we will perswade him and secure you. So they took the mony, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews unto this day. Chap. 28. v. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

Here the Evangelist is far from designing to de­ceive the Publick in those things he pretends were publickly known. It is therefore to be confess'd that a watch was set over the Sepulchre of Jesus Christ, and that some of the watch reported such things as are mentioned by the Evangelists, or at least that it was supposed, that that same was their report. The question therefore is, whether the Dis­ciples did really steal away the body of Jesus Christ from the midst of a company of Soldiers that were appointed to guard it. But do but only reflect a little on the person of the Disciples, who were no better than poor and fearful Fishermen, on their Dispersion, their trouble and heaviness, the triple denial of the stoutest of them all, together with all other Circumstances of that Event; and it will appear that they were so far from executing so dangerous an undertaking, that it was impossible such a design could have ever entred into their heads.

And therefore Pilate was so truly convinced of the Truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, that he wrote to Tiberius about it. And 'twas on the ac­count of Pilate's Letter, that this Emperour went [Page 63] [...]o the Senate, and proposed the insertion of Jesus Christ among the Gods. We have no Reason to suspect this history, especially if we consider that Tertullian himself relates it in the Apology which he addresses to the Senate and the Roman Emperour, who needed only to have consulted their Registers to find the actions of Pilate, as they were so often desired to do by all those who wrote Apologies in behalf of the Christians.

In the mean time we have no great occasion of this outward Testimony, because there can be nothing more inseparably interwoven than these truths are: And we need only read carefully the Gospels over to be satisfied therein. We have seen the miracles of Jesus Christ with all their Circumstances; we shall now shew that his holiness of life was no less extraordinary than his Miracles.

CHAP. VII.
Of the Holiness of Life of Jesus Christ.

IF Jesus Christ was neither the true Messias, nor the Son of God, and if he falsly boasted that he wrought many Miracles, his Disciples must necessa­rily have considered him as an Impostor, as soon as his Death frustrated the hopes and promises they received from him. And if they considered him as an Impostor, there is little appearance they should propose him as a model of Vertue and Perfection to mankind.

But supposing they had this design, we may rea­sonably imagin that having neither the Learning nor Eloquence of the Authors of that Age, they would have had no better success in drawing an [Page 64] imaginary Character of their Master, than others in representing the Excellencies of those great men it was their interest to flatter. Yet if we chuse the politest Writings of this kind, the lives of great men composed with all art imaginable, Panegyricks that cost thirty years labour; add to these all the collected notionsof Vertue, the Wit and Observation of the most passionate, judicious, and elegant Ora­tors can furnish us with; joyn, the Cato's and Aristides's together, nay separate their Vertues from their imperfections, and ascribe to them all the good qua­lities we find dispersed in other men; I will yet maintain that all these Ideas, Notions and Characters come far short of that perfection the Evangelists make us conceive of Jesus Christ, and that too without Hyperbole or Art, but by a bare and simple recital of his Actions.

The Heroes of whose vertue the Ancient Heathens so much boast, directed their Actions to no other end than the glory of their Country, or their own am­bition: Whereas Jesus Christ referr'd all his Actions to the Glory of God. It may properly be said of them, that they aimed at nothing else but to furnish an infinite number of persons joyned together in a Society wherewith to satisfy their most inordinate passions, as we have already observed elsewhere con­cerning Cato. Whereas Jesus Christ design'd only to subdue the vicious desires and inclinations of mens hearts. The Ancient Sages would sometimes renounce Riches and Honours, but 'twas only to be­come slaves to Glory. If they overcame some small passions, 'twas only to submit themselves to the the Tyranny of greater. They sacrificed their other affections to their Pride and Ambition of Fame. Nay they were so puff'd up with the conceit of their own Wisdom, that they imagin'd themselves happi­er than the Gods, fancying they ow'd the temper [Page 65] and inclination of their minds to none but them­selves; that they were free from any passion, and were sole Lords of all. Jesus Christ on the contrary teaches us first to renounce vain glory. This is the first principle of his Religion. God, says he, resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. And he is so far from having us imagin we can be happy without the concurrence of God, that he shews us the wretched weakness and corruption of man when separated from his Maker. This the continual use of that prayer he taught us, would fully instruct us in, tho' his Morals and most holy Life should [...]ot. The Ancient Sages of Antiquity either were, [...]r seemed true patterns of Justice: but Jesus Christ [...]s the teacher and the true pattern of Charity; and ▪tis by Charity rather than Justice that we resemble [...]he Deity which confers good upon men, without [...]eing any ways obliged thereto.

'Tis easy to practice Vertue when attended with Reputation and Prosperity, as the Ancient Philoso­ [...]hers did; but difficult to continue virtuous as our [...]aviour did in the midst of poverty and ignominy, [...]nd in spite of disgraces and persecutions. So [...]ecessary is Esteem and Reputation in this life, that [...] seems to be as it were the very nutriment of mans [...]eart; and should men but consult themselves, [...]hey would find they cannot live without it. How [...]ft do those who think themselves uncapable of [...]er obtaining it, abandon themselves to such a [...]espair as puts them upon the blackest villanies: [...]hich has occasioned some Princes already odious or Cruelty, to defile themselves with all manner of oluptuousness, as despairing of ever recovering [...]at good opinion, they have already lost in the [...]inds of men? To see Christ hated, despised and [...]posed by the most considerable and leading men [...]ongst the Jews, and not able to gain the least [Page 66] credit or esteem, unless with some poor Fishermen so gross and ignorant, that they could hardly un­derstand what he taught them: would not it make one think that he had all the Reason in the World to fall into a kind of despair, and that since he could never hope for Reputation, to give himself over to all sorts of pleasures, and make his condition the best he could? Yet we see that being continually in disgrace and poverty, he omitted nothing of the severe practice of vertue. When he was affronted, he endured it with a sweet and gentle Patience. When he was despised, he went on boldly in his in­nocence. Tho' his followers were simple and igno­rant people, he still blessed God for it. I thank thee Father, says he, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, but revealed them unto Babes. Mat. 11. 25.

But we should wrong the blessed Jesus by com­paring him with the most admired persons of all ages, since none can come in comparison with him who is only like himself.

We need only reflect upon his life and actions re­presented to us by the Evangelists, to see whether we can find in him the least shadow of Vice. Would we know whether he was addicted to Voluptuousnes [...] we need only consider that his very Enemies dur [...] not cast this reproach upon him. I confess th [...] Mat. 11. 19. Pharisees call'd him a Glutton and a Win [...] bibber, a friend of Publicans and Sinner [...] but not because he was luxurious either in meat [...] drink; and they meant only that he ought not [...] have eaten with sinners, such as the Publicans wer [...] a reproach which Jesus Christ presently confound [...] by this answer no less worthy of his Wisdom tha [...] Goodness: They that be whole need no Physitian, [...] they that are sick. Mat. 9. 12. Should we fancy hi [...] Ambitious, 'tis but considering what use he made [...] [Page 67] his credit amongst the people. He privately with­drew, when they would have made him King; and always told them his Kingdom was not of [...] World. Did he seek after vain glory? Who decl [...]ed the praise of John the Baptist? Did he ever flatter the Doctors of the Law? Did he take any of those measures our pride generally uses to purchase esteem? How did he exclaim against the vices of the Scribes and Pharisees? and with what Authority did he speak to the People? Could he be suspected of design or self interest, he would have aimed at some temporal advantage. And had he been a Whimsical or Melancholy person, he could never have preach'd that excellent Sermon on the Mount. Consider the solidity of his Answers to those that asked him Questions, the beauty of his Maxims, which seem wholly to proceed from Piety and Cha­rity, and yet so sublime and excellent Morality, which is all along contained in the Doctrine he taught the people on the Mount▪

He expressed himself in a simple but noble Style, worthy the eternal wisdom of God, and suitable [...]o the simplicity of every mans understanding. And as if he had liv'd only to do good, he was never weary of exhorting men to live well. He travelled [...]ver all the Villages of Galilee with an indefatigable [...]atience. He spent the days in instructing the Mul­ [...]itude, and the Nights in making his supplications [...]o God. He rejected none that offer'd themselves [...]o him, and consider'd not men by their outward [...]ppearance. When he desired to be followed, 'twas [...]ot for the pleasure he took in a great retinue, but [...]he better to teach the Multitude. When he eat [...]nd drunk, 'twas with those people only he had a [...]esign to convert. When he spoke of the things of [...]his World, he used them only as Representatives [...]f things above. When he sharply rebuked his [Page 68] Disciples, 'twas because they would put a stop to the work of his Ministry. When he was desired to eat, he replie [...] his meat was to do the will of his Father. When he thirsted and came nigh unto any fountain, it was rather to put men in mind that he was the spring of Life, than to quench any thirst of his own▪ Whatever offered it self to his Senses, elevated his thoughts to something Divine. He was far from that busy Curiosity, that Preference of himself before others, that false Modesty so frequent among men, and indeed from all those other affected Vertues, which no less discover the bottom of our Corruption, than our Vices themselves. His concern for his fa­mily never came in competition with his con­cern for the Kingdom of God. 'Twas not self-love, but a divine love which was the rule of his affections, since he called all those who did the will of his Fa­ther, his Father, Mother, and Brethren. If he was an­gry, 'twas his concern for the glory of the Deity; and he was eaten up with the zeal of his house, when he found they had made it a den of thieves. He not only patiently endured but pardon'd a thousand injuries, nay obliged himself to love his Enemies, commanding all his true Disciples to do their bes [...] Endeavours to bring themselves to it. In a word, search and examin the heart of man as long as yo [...] please, you'll never find there such vertues as thos [...] of Jesus Christ were. Consider well the conduct o [...] his whole life, and you will scarce sind the least ap­pearance of any of the inordinate passions or irreg [...] ­lar desires of other mens hearts. Consider all th [...] pleasures and profits of the World, and you wi [...] find they are things Christ ne'er sought after. E [...] ­amine one after another all his proceedings and a [...] his Actions; and you'll find they did not in th [...] least incline to the things of this World

[Page 69] After what manner can we think the Eternal Son of God must have lived in the World, supposing he came into it, unless as Jesus Christ? What other language ought he to have spoken but that of Jesus Christ? What kind of Vertues ought he to have practised but his Vertues? What kind of Charity ought there to have appeared in him, but that of Jesus Christ? And whom ought he to have been con­formable to, but to that man, in whom we find something more than man, even the Vertues of a God concealed under the fleshly vail of Humane In­firmity?

We can't suspect that 'twas Ambition as well as his other Qualities that exalted him so far above all other men, and that his design was only to raise himself to the highest Authority in Religion. He must then have foreseen that which afterwards came to pass, that his Cross would be acknowledged in all the World: And to foresee that he must have been a Prophet. But tho' he should have foreseen all these things, still 'twas necessary he should have had Strength enough to overcome himself, to overcome himself continually and in all respects, to renounce all the pleasures of life, and expose himself to the most cruel sufferings: but it was impossible his Soul should have been continually strengthened to that degree by the bare consideration of a Glory that seem'd to be ima­ginary, and at such a distance too. In short we know partly what kind of Vertues may proceed from the bottom of a worldly and ambitious heart, and we also very distinctly know that so solid a Vertue, so Univer­ [...]al, so far from any Hypocrisy and Affectation, so con­ [...]rary to the Vertues of the World, of a Character above Imitation, above those very Ideas men [...]ramed to themselves of it, could no more arise from [...]uch a source as a worldly and ambitious heart, than [...]ight can be said to proceed from darkness.

[Page 70] But who will assure us that the Evangelists did not flatter their Master in his Character, and repre­sented him as he ought to be, not as he was? This thought has yet less solidity than the former. For if this here be but a witty conceit of those Writers, I ask how could some poor, simple and ignorant Fish­ermen invent such a model of Vertue, as was never seen or thought of before, and whose Idea is so far a­bove what all Antiquity gives us of its Heroes? Besides, the Evangelists make no Eulogies upon their Master, nor aggrandise his Vertues, nor affect to give us a more particular view of his best Actions: but they on­ly give us a bare and simple Recital of them, without any Art or Design; Nay such is their sincerity, or if you will their want of judgment (for we freely permit the Incredulous to make what suppositions they please) that they related such things as at first shock our thoughts, and which Impious men chiefly insist upon, such as this complaint of Jesus Christ, My God, My God, &c. Besides this, the Circum­stances with which they relate all the actions of their Master, will sufficiently convince us of their sin­cerity▪ For is it probable the Evangelists should have invented or forg'd the murmurings of the Scribes and Pharisees, who reproach'd them saying, Why do ye eat and drink with Publicans and Sinners? &c. And that controversy betwixt the ambitious Disciples, on whose account it was that Jesus Christ having taken up a little Child, told them they must be like that Child, if they would qualifie themselves for the Kingdom of Heaven, &c. a wonderful discourse indeed both for its shortness and simplicity, which sufficiently shews us the very Soul of our blessed Lord! 'Tis not one single Writer of all these, that relate those Actions, there are three of them, who wrote after such a manner as manifestly evinces they copy'd not one anothers Writings. And if you would [Page 71] be further satisfy'd, the Apostles themselves prove the Holiness of life of their Divine Master, by imita­ting his Actions. The Primitive Christians shew us how well the Apostles lived by following their Ex­ample. If you should desire we should produce some authentical testimonies of Holiness, Vertue, sweet and peaceable temper of the Primitive Christi­ans: there are abundance to be had in the Writings of their very Enemies. We need only an indiffe­rent Knowledge of Antiquity, to banish all suspici­ons in that respect.

Thus the truth appears on all sides; and I sensi­bly perceive it as soon as I frame any Idea to my self of the life and actions of Jesus Christ. Yet I am willing however, that the Incredulous should not wholly conform their judgment to mine; and if this Argument does not move and convince them as much as it does me, they need only pass on to the consideration of others.

CHAP. VIII.
Of the Prophecies of Jesus Christ.

THey will perhaps be much more affected with the Prophecies that occur in the Gospel, seve­ral of which are very expresly delivered. But among the rest we shall make choice of one which we shall particularly examin: 'tis that concerning the final destruction of Jerusalem.

We may easily perceive how clearly 'tis set down by the Evangelists, who bring in Jesus Christ fore­ [...]elling it, and how exactly 'twas afterwards fulfilled.

The words of the Prophecy are these. And Jesus answering said unto him, seest thou these Mark 13. 2. [...]reat buildings? There shall not be left one [...]tone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. &c. [Page 72] And when ye shall hear of Wars, and Rumours of Wars, be ye not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For Nation shall rise against Nation and Kingdom against Kingdom: and there shall be Earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: for all these are but the beginnings of sor­rows, &c. When ye therefore shall see the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing where it ought not (whoso readeth let him understand) then let them which be in Judea, flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the house top, not come down to take any thing out of his house, &c. But wo unto them that are with Child, and to them that give Suck in those days. For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not since the beginning of the Creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be again. And except that the Lord had shortned those days, no flesh should be saved, but for the Elects sake, &c. And then if any man shall say unto you, lo here is Christ, or lo he is there: believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false Prophets, and shew great signs and wonders to seduce (if it were possible) even the Elect. But take ye heed: be­hold, I have foretold you all things.

It is not requisite that a man should be very well acquainted with the Jewish History, to know that this Prophecy was exactly fulfilled. Those who doubt it, may consult the History Josephus wrote of it. There they will hear of Troubles, of Wars, Rumours of Wars, of Famines, Earthquakes from place to place, which preceeded for some years the final destruction of Judea. Therein they will find Jerusalem surrounded with Armies, and trodden down by the Gentiles. There they will read of a time, wherein 'twas much better for the Inhabitants of that miserable Country, to forsake their abodes in the Cities, and to flee to the Mountains. There they will see the Temple of Jerusalem burnt down and [Page 73] demolished, without having one stone left upon ano­ther; and surely be convinced that there was never Tribulation like unto the Tribulation of those days. They will be no longer ignorant of the Abomination of Desolation set up in the holy place which the Pro­phet Daniel speaks of, when they shall see the Jews rushing into the Temple, and there cutting one anothers throats on a solemn feast day. But if they would further consult our Ecclesiastical Histo­rians, or the Primitive Fathers, they would find them all agree in this Relation, that the faithful Disciples of Jesus Christ, who were at Jerusalem, fled to a little City called Pella, after having been fore­warned of it by the Spirit; and there will be no longer reason to think these Words of Jesus Christ obscure, But pray ye that your flight be not in the Win­ter, &c. There are few people but what perceive the exact Conformity of this prophecy with its E­vent; and we need not at all question the certainty of it: But 'tis not so very certain that it was not composed after the Event, and it will concern us to enquire into it.

It appears then first, that the Gospels wherein 'tis related, were composed before the destruction of Jerusalem, because St. Luke wrote not the Book of Acts, till some time after he had composed his Gospel, as he testifies himself in these Words: The former treatise have I made O Theophilus of all that Jesus begun both to do and to teach, &c. Acts 1. 1. Besides, it seems that St. Luke, had written the Book of Acts before the destruction of Jerusalem; because he is so far from speaking of that Event, that on the contra­ry he speaks of Jerusalem as of a City that was still in being, and wherein there was a flourishing Christian Church.

But perhaps this is not so much insisted upon; It may be further ask'd whether that prophecy might [Page 74] not have been inserted in the Gospel by some Zea­lous Christians, who having seen the destruction of Jerusalem, might have took occasion from thence to honour their Master, by pretending he had foretold it.

For the clearing of this doubt, we shall observe first, that tho' this Prophecy be the same in substance in the three Gospels wherein 'tis related, yet 'tis expressed after a very different manner, which is sufficient to perswade us that it was not inserted by one and the same Author in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, in the Gospel according to St. Mark, and in the Gospel according to St. Luke. For to examin the beginning of it only, it appears that St. Matthew relates it thus, Chap. 24. And Jesus said un­to them, see ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the Disciples came unto him privately saying, tell us when shall these things be, &c. Now St. Luke expresses himself thus, Chap. 21. And as some spake of the Tem­ple, how it was adorned with goodly stones, he said, as for these things which ye behold, the days will come in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another. Here he does not say as St. Matthew, that the Disciples as he sat upon the Mount of Olives asked him saying, Master, but when shall these things be? &c. Lastly, after this manner also St. Mark begins this Narra­tion, Chap. 13. And as he went out of the Temple, one of his Disciples saith unto him, Master, see what stones and buildings are here. And Jesus answering said unto him, seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives over against the Temple, Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew asked him privately, tell us when shall these things be, &c. This last Evangelist perfectly explains and reconciles the [Page 75] other two together, by delivering all the Circum­stances of the matter of fact, viz. that Jesus was two several times asked concerning the buildings of the Temple, and that the last time was as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, from whence one might very well see the Temple, and where that prospect gave occasion to his Disciples to desire that he would explain what he said of its Demolishing, when he was yet in the Temple it self. In the mean while it is to be confessed that the little difference we perceive in this respect between the Evangelists, utterly overthrows the suspicion we might entertain, that this Prophecy was forged by some body or o­ther, who had inserted it in all the three Gospels.

But II. it's worth our observation that the Disciples having confounded together two very remote E­vents in the question they asked their Master, viz. the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the World, saying, tell us when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the End of the World? Mat. 24. 3. Jesus Christ answered with­out undeceiving his Disciples, and without distin­guishing what they had thus confounded together. Now what likely-hood is there that a man who had seen the destruction of Jerusalem, but could not imagin it should be attended with the End of the World, should make the Disciples utter such a Question, without making Jesus Christ answer the least thing for the clearing of it?

But rather III. how should he have been able to joyn in this Prophecy the destruction of Jerusalem to the coming of the Son of Man in the Clouds with great Power and Glory? How could that Man who had been an eye-witness to the destruction of Jerusalem, have reasonably said, that presently after the tri­bulation of those days, the Sun should be darken'd, and the Moon should not give her light; that the Stars [Page 76] should fall from Heaven, and the powers of Heaven be shaken; that mens hearts should fail them for fear, and for looking after those things, and that the World should mourn, &c. How were it possible he should have intermixed all those Circumstances with the history of that matter of fact, the falshood of which he must needs well know, if he composed the Prophecy after the Event?

But do we not fall here from one difficulty into a greater? For if all those signs which were to ac­company the destruction of Jerusalem, did not really come to pass, wherein then lies the truth of this same prophecy?

To answer this Objection some think it sufficient to say, that Jesus Christ expressed himself in this place after the usual manner of the Prophets, who say, that Nature trembles, and Heaven and Earth is moved, when God visiteth men after some extra­ordinary manner either in his Goodness, or Justice. They further add, that the Judgments of Christ ex­ecuted on the Jews, are represented to us as a com­ing, and as a Singular coming, by reason of the ter­rible plagues he inflicted on them. But what seems to me more reasonable and natural than this is, that Jesus Christ thought it not convenient to undeceive his Disciples who being prepossess'd with a favour­able Opinion of their Nation, thought that Jeru­salem should last as long as the World, and that the ruine of the one, should be the ruine of the other. He therefore seemed to side with their Opini­on, and represented those two Events to them by the same signs.

And indeed I conceive there might be several Reasons which obliged Jesus Christ so to act. For not to alledg here that Obscurity is the true Cha­racter of all Prophecies, and that it was necessary this here should be somewhat overshadowed, as well as the rest, lest any one should foreknow the [Page 77] time of its Accomplishment, God having reserved that knowledge to himself, as it is delivered to us in this same Prophecy, was it not also Necessary that Jesus Christ should follow the ordinary Custom of all the Prophets, which is to unite several very remote events together in one single Prophecy, to shew that the remotest things are nigh one another in the sight of God? Besides, the Destruction of Jerusalem being the greatest and most perfect Description of the End of the World, what could be more wisely thought of than to represent the one to us by the other, ac­cording to the Notion of the Disciples, who con­founded those two Events together.

There happened Pestilences, Wars and Famines immediately before the Destruction of Jerusalem: there will also happen the like immediately before the end of the World. As the Tribes which dwelt in the holy Land, mourn'd to see the effects of the Curse of Heaven falling upon their Nation; so shall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn, and be asto­nished, when God shall destroy this inferiour World, and proceed to the last Judgment. As the Destruction of Jerusalem happened not till the Go­spel was preached throughout the World, that is, in all the parts of the known World: so in all ap­pearance the end of the World will not happen till all the Nations which lay concealed and unknown have been converted to the Faith of Jesus Christ. As there were seen false Christs, and false Prophets, before the final destruction of the Jews; so there will be also false Teachers who shall endeavour to seduce men, before the End of the World; and it will be often said, lo here is Christ, or lo he is there, before the last day of Judgment. As before the destruction of Jerusalem Jesus Christ gathered toge­ther in some Christian Churches the Elect, from the four Winds of Heaven, and that by the preaching [Page 78] of the Apostles his Mystical Angels; so likewise at the end of the World, he will send his Angels to raise his Elect from the Dust and Obscurity of the Grave. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and the Dead in Christ shall rise. 1 Thess. 4. 16. As there were seen several Comets and terrible Signs that foretold the Destruction of Jerusalem; as the Smoak of the City and Flaming Temple hid the light of the day, and darkned the Sun and Stars; so without doubt the end of the World will be also attended with Signs and Prodigies much more terrible. St. Peter saith, the Earth shall be burnt up, and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat, &c. 2. Epistle 3. 10. As the Destruction of the Jews hap­pened after an unexpected manner; so also shall the last day come as a thief in the night. As Jerusa­lem and the Temple were utterly destroyed as soon as the Jews had compleated the measure of their sins: so this World which we inhabit must perish as soon as the end or Calling of all Nations shall be fulfilled, as Jesus Christ himself says in that Prophecy we now have under Consideration.

Besides, one may reasonably imagin the Disciples to be always prepossessed with this Opinion, that the End of the World would immediately follow the destruction of Jerusalem. For when it was reported among the Disciples that St. John should not die, because Christ had said to one of them speaking of John 21. 22.him, If I will that he tarries till I come, what is that to thee? They stretch'd that till I come, as far as the end of the World: but they might have confined it to the Destruction of Jerusa­lem, a time which the Apostles in reality saw, and in which Jesus Christ visited the Jews in his justice. Further, this Tradition being spread abroad, that the day of the Lord drew nigh, the Thessalonians [Page 79] were so terrifi'd at it that St. Paul to comfort them, again sent them the following assurances to the Contrary. Now we beseech you, Brethren, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Chrst is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except first, &c. 2 Thess. 2. 2, 3.

In a word, there is no reason to wonder that that Prophecy of Jesus Christ so faithfully related by his Disciples, should have left this Impression in their minds. For Jesus Christ on the one hand had given such marks and signs of his coming, that it seemed as if the last judgment was immediately to follow it; saying, that he should appear as the lightning that cometh out of the East; and shineth even unto the West: and on the other hand he had declared several times that all those things should happen to that generation, that many of those who were present with him, should not taste of Death until they had seen all those things.

Since then Jesus Christ united thus two several Events in one and the same Description, but two subordinate Events, as like unto one another as the Copy and the Original may be, it follows thence that his Prophecy must have had two accom­plishments, the one very nigh, and the other re­mote. This in my opinion is the true way of un­ravelling all those Difficulties. The Disciples con­founded together two very remote Events, and Jesus Christ suffered them to continue in that Opinion. 'Tis necessary that the Event should justifie the Prophecies, but not that the Prophecies should be contrary to their Event. It is necessary therefore they should be obscure before their Completion, but clear and easy when once accomplish'd.

But however probable what I've laid down may seem to be, I should be very sorry any one should [Page 80] think I lay the stress of my argument upon it. I make a distinction between bare Conjectures, and true and certain Principles; and I leave all the Ex­planations I have just now given to the Readers judgment, to use according to his Discretion. I am indifferent whether he uses my Notions, or those of any other Man, to solve certain difficulties which may occur therein: I shall only insist upon two cer­tain Truths, which in my opinion admit of no Diffi­culty. The first is, that this Prophecy is so cir­cumstantially related, that it is absurd to imagin it composed after the event: or that a man took oc­casion from the Destruction of Jerusalem (at which none but Titus and his Army were seen) to make Jesus Christ say, when he foretold that Devastation, that he would come in the Clouds of heaven; that he would send his Angels to gather his Elect from the four winds; that they would see him coming with power and great glory; as the lightning that cometh out of the East, and shineth even unto the West; that all the Tribes of the Earth should mourn at his coming; and that day should come as suddenly as the fire of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The second Truth which seems to me altogether unquestionable, is, that notwithstanding that little darkness with which the Wisdom of God thought fit to overshadow this prophecy, it was nevertheless in all Respects so very exactly related in all its Cir­cumstances, and so clearly fulfilled, that supposing it composed before the Event, we cannot but ac­knowledge it to proceed from a Prophetical Spirit. For what can we Read in the History of the Jews, but what is included in this Prophecy? The beginning, the continuation and ending of the Misfortunes of the Jews are all to be found in it. It does not foretel a particular Captivity of that people, but a general dispersion of the whole Nation: and they shall be led Captives into all Nations, Luk. 21. 24. Jesus Christ [Page 81] wept over Jerusalem on another occasion at his en­tring into it, and uttered these Compassionate Words, O that thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come, that thine Enemies shall cast a Trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep the in on every side, and shall [...]ay thee even with the ground, and thy Children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another: because thou knewest not the time of thy Visitation. Luke [...]9. 42, 43, 44.

And can any one believe that this passage of our Saviours weeping over Jerusalem was also inserted in [...]he Gospel? Were all those Prophetical Parables in­ [...]erted too, in which Jesus Christ threatned the Jews [...]ith their approaching Destruction, telling them [...]ne while, that the Lord would let his Vineyard to other Husbandmen, after having destroyed them as so ma­ [...]y unfaithful servants; another while that the King [...]ho had invited them to the Marriage of his Son, would [...]nd his Soldiers to destroy them, and burn up their City?

But not to go so far off, one of the Marks where­ [...]y they ought to have known that the Event which esus Christ had foretold drew nigh, was that the [...]entiles were to be called to the knowledge of the [...]ue God. This is expresly delivered in the places [...]e have already quoted. He therefore that insert­ [...] this Prophecy in the Gospel, must have imagin­ [...] that in his time, the Gentiles had already been [...]lled to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. But since [...]ere were then an infinite number of Christians, dis­ersed throughout World, since an infinite number [...] Persons had the Writings of the Apostles in their [...]ssession; How was it possible either to alter or [...]d thereto several Parables and Chapters, nay to [...]rrupt three Gospels in three Essential places? If ch a thing had been done in Asia, how could it [Page 82] afterwards have been received in Europe, where there must necessarily have been an infinite number of Copies of that Gospel? For of all the Books of the New Testament, the Gospels were first composed.

And now do not the Incredulous as yet perceive that Truth overthrows more scruples than they are able to raise against it. That they continually offer Violence to thelr Reason, by resisting the Truth which appears so strong and invincible on all hands; and that tho' their Reason is sometime perverted and blinded by their Passions, so that they cannot see things in their due light; yet the Objects, the Na­ture of things, and the Truth which is immutable, never shift or turn a side to follow the foolish fancies of their Understanding, or the perverse Inclinations of their Heart?

CHAP. IX.
Wherein we shall examine the matters contained i [...] the Book of Acts.

THe matter of this Book may be reduced t [...] these three heads, viz. the Ascension of Jesu [...] Christ, the coming down of the Holy Gost upon th [...] Apostles, and the Establishment of the Christia [...] Churches by the successful preaching of the Apostles All these things are of such a nature as could no [...] possibly be forg'd.

The Ascension of Jesus Christ is related with to [...] many Circumstances to leave us any reason to be­lieve that the Disciples themselves were deceive [...] therein. The Author expresly affirms that Jes [...] conversed the space of forty days with his Discipl [...] after his Resurrection; that he promised them the [...] [Page 83] should be baptised with the Holy Ghost, and com­manded them to wait at Jerusalem for the effect of that promise, that he carried them to the Mount of Olives; that he was taken up in a Cloud, which carried him out of their sight; and that as they stedfastly looked up towards Heaven, as he went up, two men stood by them in white apparel, and pro­mised them that Jesus Christ would come again in like manner as they had seen him go into Heaven. So that [...]t is no longer a question whether the Disciples were deceived in this respect; but rather whether they had a mind to deceive others by a false Relation of so Chimerical an Event.

For the perfect understanding of this Matter, it is sufficient to observe the time in which the Disciples begun to declare it. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, says St. Luke, they were all with one ac­cord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a rushing mighty Wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there ap­ [...]eared unto them Cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it [...]at upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and begun to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout Men, out of every Nation under Heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, be­cause that every man heard them speak in his own Lan­guage, &c. But Peter standing up with the eleven, lift [...]p his voice, and said, &c. Then they that gladly received his Word, were baptised: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand Souls, &c. And fear came upon every Soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles, Acts Chap. 2. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 41, 43.

That this matter of fact was not invented, ap­pears by the bare Consideration of it: because this [Page 84] is a thing as must have been brought to pass at Je­rusalem upon a solemn feast day, before men of all sorts of Nations, and as I may so speak, in the sight of all the Universe; and which Consequently is such as could not possibly have been forg'd or invented.

What then can be objected to shake the Certain­ty of this History? Can it be said that this Matter of fact was inserted in the Writings of St Luke, long after the Death of that Author? But then it must at the same time be confessed, that the whole Book was forg'd, because that is an essential and fundamental matter of fact, on which the other things contained in the Book of Acts altogether de­pend. Thus for instance, the preaching of the A­postles and the success of it wholly depend upon it. Whatever is contained in their Epistles absolutely relates to it. And lastly, every thing in the New Testament is forg'd, if the coming down of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles be a meer Invention.

Shall I believe that St. Luke himself invented this matter of fact, and that no one ever spoke of it be­fore him? If so, what was it the Apostles said to those they preach'd the Gospel to? What did they ground their preaching upon, but only on the Missi­on of the Holy Ghost? What other right but that had they to preach?

Did the Apostles themselves to deceive Mankind, pretend that they had received the Holy Ghost? This is the only plausible suspicion the Incredulous can entertain; yet for all that it is absurd. For when was it they made this Pretension? It must ne­cessarily be either after they had founded a Church at Jerusalem, or some time before. If it was after they had founded a Church therein, how was it possi­ble this Church should have been afterwards per­swaded that the Apostles had received the Holy Ghost; that they had publickly spoken all sorts of [Page 85] Languages, and that their preaching attended with several strange prodigies, had been the occasion of the forming that Church?

But if the Apostles pretended they had received the Holy Ghost, before there was ever any Christian Church established in Jerusalem, nay if it were by a false attestation of this matter of fact, and many other such that they founded this Church: the Apo­stles must of necessity have learned all the Languages in the World since the death of their Master, and together with that the secret of making the lame walk, and healing the sick: because these are what they call the gifts of the Holy Ghost.

But perhaps 'tis a question whether there was ever any Christian Church founded at Jerusalem? If so, then must the Ancient Doctors of the Church who lived in different times and in different places, have conspired together to deceive us in this respect; and the Jews and Heathens, and all other profess'd Enemies of our Religion, as well Ancient as Modern, who never contested the truth of this matter of fact, must utterly have lost their Reason.

In a word, supposing the Book of Acts composed long after the destruction of Jerusalem, that is, when there could be no longer any flourishing Church in that City, yet there is no point gained. For it is true still that the Apostles set down the matter of fact we speak of, and that their Epistles are filled with such things as visibly relate to it.

I shall not here further add that the Book of Acts mentions nothing of the Death of the Apostles; which manifestly shews that it was composed during their lives, and consequently in a time wherein the Church of Jerusalem flourish'd: nor that it mentions nothing of the last destruction of Jerusalem, no not so much as any of the signs or presages of it; which induces us to believe that that Book was composed [Page 86] some time before that great Event; it being very probable that the Author who composed it meerly for the Glory of the Apostles and of the Christian Religion, (as the Incredulous undoubtedly imagin) would never have failed to have inserted in it the History of all those dreadful Misfortunes which fell upon the Jews, and which the Christians look upon as the effect of their rejecting the Messias.

But since my design is not to leave the Reader the least shadow of a doubt, I promise to prove by and by, that the Apostles both received and imparted many miraculous gifts. In the mean while till the Method I have prescribed to my self, gives me leave to enter upon that subject, I think it fit to make some few Reflexions concerning the success of the Apostles's preaching, which is that essential head to which all other matters contained in the Book of Acts relate.

CHAP. X.
Wherein we shall take into Consideration what success the Preaching of the Apostles had.

THis matter of fact is related with very remark­able Circumstannces. As I. That those men who first preached the Gospel were Fishermen, that is, gross and ignorant people, of no appearance, or authority in the world. II. That those men went about preaching that they had seen Jesus Christ risen from the Dead, and ascending into Hea­ven, and that they had long before been Eye-Witnesses to his Miracles. III. That they offended by their preaching all the Powers of the World, and exposed their persons to an infinite number of [Page 87] Dangers and Misfortunes. IV. That they suffered them with Patience, or rather with Joy. V. That the success of their preaching was so swift and sud­den, as is almost inconceivable.

In all this St. Luke has told us nothing but what our own Reason would tell us. We may conclude that they were men of no extraordinary birth, or credit in the World that first preached the Gospel, since no body has ever said any thing to the con­trary.

'Tis manifest that those men ought to have testi­fied that they had seen Jesus Christ work many mira­cles, seen him risen from the Dead, and ascending into Heaven: because they would never have con­verted so many Nations as they did, had they only said they knew all those things by hear say: and be­sides that the Epistles of the Apostles inform us that that was the subject of their preaching.

There is no doubt but all the Powers of the World persecuted these men: for as much as Policy is an Enemy to all new Sects, and the People themselves are always Jealous of their Religion.

It cannot be doubted neither, but that the Apo­stles very couragiously suffered the effects of that persecution: because had they recanted, or drawn back for fear of punishments, their design would have miscarried in its very beginning.

Lastly, who can deny but that the success of their preaching was very swift and sudden; in as much as in a short time there were several Churches esta­blished in all parts of the known World? This is a matter of fact which was never contested.

And therefore Reason, as well as St. Luke, tells us all these things. The Book of Acts informs us of the Truth of them; and the Nature of things will not suffer us to doubt but that they were so: which ut­terly [Page 88] destroys the suspicion we might entertain, that they were all forg'd or invented.

In the mean time I cannot consider all these mat­ters of fact, nor unite them together, and observe the proportion they have one with another, with­out presently believing the Truth of that Religion which they so plainly Prove and Establish.

CHAP. XI.
Wherein we shall examin the matters contained in the Epistles of the Apostles.

THo' the Ancients had not unanimously received the Epistles of St. Paul, tho' Clemens, Polycarp, and Barnabas, had made no mention of the second Epistle of St. Peter; yet it would be sufficient to ob­serve that they were written to some Churches, that is, to whole Societies, who for a long while preserved the Originals of them, to assure us that they were not forg'd.

'Tis then our concern to see whether we can find therein any Characters of the Divinity of our Religi­on. We cannot Read St. Paul's Epistles without observing therein I. The Piety and Charity of that Apostle. II. His Impartiality and Contempt of the advantages of the World. III. His Courage in en­during afflictions, which instead of disheartning, rather overjoy'd him. IV. A continual repetition of the Testimony which the Apostles bore of the Truth of the Resurrection of the Lord. V. Such things which manifestly denote that St. Paul had re­ceived the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost. and that those that then believed very frequently re­ceived them.

[Page 89] The Piety of that Apostle so variously discovers it self in his Writings, that we cannot think it dissembled without offering Violence to our Under­standing. For tho' a man should constrain himself upon some occasions, yet is it possible he should after the very same manner during a great part of his life, in all his Actions, in all his Words, in his manner of telling of things, which oftener discovers the bottom of the heart, than the things he speaks of. I know very well Hypocrisy covers it self with the external shew of Vertue: but really there is yet something which I can't express, a simple and natural air in true vertue, which is not to be met with in Hy­pocrisy: or rather Hypocrisy is neither so subtle, nor clear sighted, but that it discovers it self on one side or other, nay often it lets drop a wordwhich un­masques it to the eye of the World.

However I am willing the Epistles of St. Paul should be strictly examin'd, to see whether any thing but what is very natural and sincere can be found in them. Could there proceed from the Malice and Perfidiousness of a man, who had so lately accused his Nation of a Crime he knew to be utterly false, so many Exhortations to fear God, so strong, so moving in themselves and so often repeated, that they wholly take up the Writings of this Apostle? Could his humility proceed from thence, whereby he refers every thing to God as to the Center of all good things? so sincerely telling us, What hast thou that thou didst not receive? And if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? 1 Cor. 4. 7. We are yours, you are Christs, and Christ is God's, 1 Cor. 3. 23. Could his hatred too for vice arise from thence, which upon all occasions he testi­fys and expresses after so strong and lively a man­ner?

[Page 90] His Charity appears no less in his passionate con­cern for the sanctification of his Brethren. All his Epistles are a continued serious of tender or moving Exhortations, or rather ardent requests he makes them to love one another. He desires they should live soberly, justly, and religiously. He addresses himself both to Servants and Masters, to Poor and Rich, to Parents and Children, to Young men and Old men. Having no prejudice nor hatred for any one, he pours out himself in thanksgivings and blessings for all men, he speaks to them after a very tender and moving manner. He calls them his little Children, his Beloved, his Bowels, his Glory, and his Crown. And what was his design in all this? only to inspire them with the love of God, and their Neigh­bour.

How does he extol the excellence of Charity. Tho' I speak, says he, with the tongues of men, and of Angels, and have no Charity, I am become as sounding brass or tinkling Cymbal; and tho' I bestow all my Goods to feed the Poor, and tho' I give my body to be burned, and have not Charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; Charity envieth not; Cha­rity vaunteth not it self, is not puffed up, does not behave it self unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provok­ed, thinketh no Evil, rejoyceth not in Iniquity, but re­joyceth in the Truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things. 1 Cor. 13. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Such is the Idea St. Paul had of Charity, in which appears the force of Reason and of true Vertue, with­out the fantastical weakness of superstition: he pre­fers Charity to miraculous gifts, and therein ap­pears the spirit of true Religion.

This consideration of the Character and Vertue of this Apostle is so much the more considerable, that it forces us in despight of our selves, to assert [...] one of these two things; either that St. Paul was a wicked [Page 91] man, and a notorious Impostor; or else that he had heard the voice of Jesus Chrict in the way to Da­mascus, that he had received the Holy Ghost, and was truely the Apostle of Christ. So that whoso­ever proves that St. Paul was no wicked person, does even thereby prove the Divinity of Christian Religion.

I desire therefore the Reader throughly to consi­der the style of his Epistles, and examine them from the beginning to the end, to discover the true Ge­nius and Character of them.

What is it this Apostle desires of God? that those whom he speaks to might live good lives, and that God might be glorified by their works. What does he complain of? Vice. What is it he chiefly praises? Vertue. By what motive does he act, or speak as he does? By quite another motive than that of self interest.

St. Luke had already told us in the Book of Acts, that he work'd for his Living, and that his Employ­ment was to make Tents. Whereupon we shall make these two observations. I. That St. Paul ha­ving been a Pharisee, bred up at the feet of Gamaliel, would have thought it beneath him to follow so vile a profession, had he been worldly minded or ambi­tious. Secondly, that this Apostle resolved to work with his own hands for his Living, in a time which other people would have greedily embraced to ac­quire wealth. For what could have been refused to those men, who opened to mankind the direct way way to Heaven, and gave them certain hopes of Eternal Salvation? For it cannot be denied but that was the opinion of the Primitive Christians with re­gard to the Apostles.

But if St. Luke should be thought to have imposed upon us in the Relation of this Matter, 'tis but hearing what St. Paul himself says of it, who cer­tainly [Page 92] would not have undertook to perswade those people of it against their own proper knowledge. Behold, says he to the Corinthians, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: For the Children ought not to lay up for the Parents, but the Parents for the Chil­dren, 2 Cor. 12. 14. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, &c. and then, have I caught you with guile? And in another place, Have I committed an of­fence in abasing my self that you might be exalted, be­cause I have preached to you the Gospel of God freely? 2 Cor. 11. 7.

St. Paul would never have spoken to them after this manner, had he preach'd only out of self inte­rest, according to the Custom of those who carrying a worldly mind along with them into the Sanctuary, are meer huchsters of Religion, and make a Trade of the most sacred and sublime Mysteries of Christi­anity.

But supposing St. Paul acted not by a principle of self interest, which is generaly the center of other mens Actions, who will assure us that he owed not his Virtues to Pride, which is another nice kind of Interest, to which some men direct all their Acti­ons?

I am very well perswaded that men may out of a capricious fancy ascribe the best Actions to Pride, and give the name of Hypocrisy to the most sincere Vertue. For what can put a stop to the continual rovings of a Soul, that endeavours only to raise doubts and scruples? But then I also affirm that there are such visible marks in the conduct and actions of St. Paul, as manifestly evince in spight of Incredulity, that his Vertue was solid, and his self denial [...]incere. But this I hope will more plainly appear by the follow­ing reflexions.

[Page 93] We need but a very indifferent Knowledge of mens hearts and inclinations, to know that as there are two different states into which men may fall, so likewise there are two different sorts of Passions, which then arise in the soul. Prosperity is the cause of pride with all the other Vices that accompany it Poverty and Misery that of Covetousness, with all that is consequent upon it. Not but that Cove­tousness is found sometimes even in Prosperity, as well as Pride in the midst of Misery: but that is not my meaning. I only would say, that Prosperi­ty is as it were the Kingdom of Pride, and Poverty the Kingdom of Avarice: because a man that is rich, being content in that respect, generally seeks after Glory. Whereas a man that has scarce wherewithall to live, little thinks of acquiring glory, but aims only at a bare subsistance. Whence it follows that instead of vainly imagining that St. Paul design'd to reduce himself to extream Poverty, and at the same time was very earnest in the pursuit of Glory, it is rather more natural to believe, that he could not so much as propose to himself Glory, as the only end of all his Actions, untill the first found himself exempted from Want and Misery.

Nevertheless this reasoning seems to carry with it the force of Conviction; since there have been those who have despised riches only to gain the esteem of men. It must therefore be further added (to distinguish St. Paul from this last sort of men) that he was not only poor, and forced to labour for his living; but that he suffered also all the Misfor­tunes and Disgraces a man is capable of enduring. 'Tis well known how much Adversity dejects our minds, and humbles the proud thoughts of our hearts, and we may venture to say, that had those Philosophers we lately mention'd, been overwhelm'd with a continual series of Misfortunes, still leading [Page 94] on and following one another; had they been loaded with Chains, mark'd with stripes, exposed to storms and shipwracks, to the scorn of the learned, the bitter scoffs of Princes, the hatred of Magistrates, and the fury of the People, as St. Paul was, their Pride would soon have been abated, their hopes dis­appointed, and the Natural love of ease and quiet, together with the impatience to get out of so wretch­ed a Condition, would soon have superseded all o­ther thoughts.

Besides, those very Philosophers who so much de­spised riches and dignities, despised them only out of self love, but not for the sake of others: since being little concern'd at the welfare of their neighbour, they commonly retired into solitary places, or kept com­pany only with other wise men, where they took pride in applauding one another, for having re­nounced the World to give themselves wholly up to the study of Philosophy. But here the Apostles for­sook every thing to labour for the Conversion of mankind. St. Paul made Tents, as well as Abdolominus dug in a Garden: but the one ceased not to per­swade men by preaching the Gospel, whilst the o­ther minded nothing but his own repose and tran­quillity.

Lastly, the Philosophers had this consolation that however they renounced riches, they esteemed them­selves happy in the enjoyment of true Vertue. For blinded as they were by self-conceit, they were far from imagining their Vertue false, and the Idea they had of its excellency, was their only comfort for what they had lost of the things of this World. Whereas St. Paul and the other Apostles being but Impostors, as Irreligious men suppose, could not have that comfort which arises purely from the sense of ones own Vertue, but were wholly deprived of the support of a Good Conscence, which keeps the [Page 95] soul from sinking under the greatest dangers and afflictions. In a word, consider this matter on which side you will, still you will find somewhat singular in the conduct of St. Paul; and that no Character equals his Apostolical Character.

But perhaps some will object that St. Paul seems to boast a little too much in some of his Epistles of the Excellence of his Revelations. He writes to the Galatians, Chap. 2. 9. that he had received nothing from the most excellent of the Apostles, or rather, that he was not behind even the very best of the Apostles. That James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be Pillars of the Church, had given him the right hand of fellowship; Chap. 1. 16. that after he had been made an Apostle, he did not confer with flesh and blood, neither went he up to Jerusalem to be there approved of by the other Apostles; Chap. 2. 11. that he withstood Peter to the face, and blamed him because he deserved to be blamed.

But this difficulty cannot perplex those who shall be acquainted with the reasons that obliged St. Paul to speak and act thus. There were several false Teachers among the Galatians, who endeavoured to destroy the fruit of the preaching of that Apostle, by joyning the Jewish Ceremonies to the Christian Faith, and alledged for it the Authority of Peter, James, and John, whom they had seen at Jerusalem. He therefore fearing lest under pretence of follow­ing the Doctrine of the three principal Apostles of our Lord, they should subvert his Work, under­takes to shew that the Excellence of his Ministry was not in the least inferiour to that of any other Apostle. Under this consideration he compares himself to the other Apostles in his Epistle to the Galatians, beginning it after this manner. Paul an Apostle (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Crist and God the Father; &c. And tis upon the very same account; that comparing himself in his second E­pistle [Page 96] to the Corinthians to some Teachers, who en­deavoured to disturb him in his Ministry, he ex­presses himself after this manner. Chap. 11. v. 22, 23, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29. Are they Hebrews? So am I: Are they Israelites? So am I: Are they Mi­nisters of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwrack. In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own coun­trey-men, in perils by the heathen, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings of­ten, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the Churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended and I burn not?

Can any one suppose that St. Paul would have presumed to speak so particularly of all his afflicti­ons, and with so much confidence, for the good of the Church whom certain Seducers would have dis­swaded from the faith, if those afflictions had not been real and well known to the World? If what he asserts had been false, sure he must have perceived that far from silencing his Enemies this way, he ra­ther supplied them with new matter to reproach him with? But if what he asserts was true, who doubts but that he was strongly perswaded of the Truth of the Christian Religion, when we see how much, and in what manner he suffered in defence of the same? What piece of imposture, or mistaken principle can inspire a man with so much confidence as this Apostle shew'd? Produce a wicked man that can undergo a continual Martyrdom in defence of a cheat, and yet breath out nothing in all his Wri­tings but Zeal, Confidence, and Charity. Produce a [Page 97] wicked man, who being just come out of Prison, shall strive to re-enter into it, and continue preach­ing a Gospel, which has cost him so many stripes; who being an Enemy to his own Nation, a perfidi­ous seducer, who having renounced all his possessions only for the sake of preaching to others, shall yet not so much as receive his diet and cloathing from them; Nay who after this usage still preaching on, will not so much as exempt himself from any labour (however vile and contemptible) for a livelyhood; as St. Paul declared he would not in his Epistles to those people, who would undoubtedly have refused him nothing; who in fine, after all this, shall still re­fuse and without affectation reject the glory which his preaching and self denial seem to merit; and who to shew the reasonableness of his refusal shall teach us to ascribe all honour and glory to God as the first great Author of our Being, and princi­pal end of all our Actions. 1 Cor 9. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. Even so, saith he, has the Lord ordained, that they which preach the Gospel, should live of the Gospel. But I have used none of these things, that it should be so done unto me. For tho' I preach the Gospel, I have no­thing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, wo is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel. For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, a dispensation of the Gospel is committed unto me. What is my reward then? Verily that when I preach the Gospel, I may make the Gospel of Christ without charge, that I a­buse not my power in the Gospel. And in another place, Phil. 3. 8. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ.

Thus St. Paul rooted up all Vanity out of his heart. He was not carried away with vain shews of glittering Vertue and Merit; But sought only the [Page 98] remission of his sins. All his strength was in Christ. He affirmed that God had sent his Son into the World to save sinners, of whom he was chief. He confessed that he had blasphemed that holy name by which we must be saved; that he had persecuted Jesus Christ in his members. He imputed his Conversion to Grace, and spoke of nothing but of Grace. Now what could so much humble the heart of man as the consideration of the Immense greatness of God, the wretched misery of mankind, their desperate cor­ruption, and the infinite Mercy of God manifested to them in the sending his Son: all which took up the Discourses, Epistles and Mind of St. Paul, who including all his designs in one, proposed nothing else to himself, but the knowledge of Jesus Christ and him crucified?

But some perhaps will object, is it not true that St. Paul in acting as he did, got himself immortal honour? This the Event has sufficiently shewed; and therefore why should we not believe that St. Paul acted by a principle of vain glory, having fore­seen what would certainly happen?

Certainly it would be a very pretty conceit to imagin that Saul who was prejudiced against the Christians, and a proud Pharisee, designing to im­mortalise his name, should affirm an imposture that as much shocks our Reason as that of the Disciples (if we may believe what the Incredulous say) that he should have imagined he could deceive both pre­sent and future ages by such gross fictions; that he could have drawn Strength, Courage, Constancy, Charity, Piety, from such a chimerical project and perfidious design; that he should have fought with beasts at Ephesus, out of the hopes of an imaginary immortality, which one day would not flatter his ashes in the Grave; that he should retain so much Pride in the midst of Shame and Torments; and [Page 99] that a vain notion which is the usual effect of Idleness, Luxury, and Prosperity, should immediately triumph over the most real, and most lively Sentiments of Nature.

But what of all this? St. Paul was perhaps a Poli­tician, a man that understood the World, who had some secret self interest in all his designs and practi­ces. But is it possible that his Character would never have been known? Would he not have con­tradicted and so betrayed himself? Was there no way of discovering his Ambition, when the people taking him for Mercury, would have sacrificed to him in Lycaonia? And if we would reflect upon his Epistles, might we not find marks of that prodigious Vanity which made him act thus? Let the Incredulous con­ [...]ult themselves thereupon, and judg what they would have done on the like occasion.

Perhaps they could find in their hearts to turn [...]mpostors, but never to suffer for their imposture, [...]r if they were disposed to suffer for an imposture, t must be one that would in the end certainly pro­ [...]ure them great Riches; not one that would oblige hem to renounce every thing, to suffer, and crown heir sufferings with Martyrdom. 'Tis true, a man [...]ay be disposed to renounce every thing, and suffer [...]eath it self for the good of his Country, the pre­ervation of his honour, or some other seeming [...]wful Reason, but never in defence of what he [...]nows to be a fiction. The thought of being re­ [...]embred by Posterity might flatter his Pride; but ot so far as to oblige him to make this present life [...]retched and dreadful, and to sacrifice to that [...]ought all his real temporary advantages. He [...]ight find himself inclinable to deceive other men, [...]d to accuse his Nation of an imaginary crime, [...]t not when he testifies an extraordinary kindness [...]r it, and does his utmost endeavours to sanctifie [Page 100] it. He might entertain the thoughts of seducing other men; but not at the same time discover a won­derful Resolution in his Words, and a thousand vertues in his Actions. Search as long as you please the hearts of men, you will never find all these qua­lities united therein. As we cannot give an Ex­ample of it in the life and actions of any man, so perhaps the Idea of it never enter'd into any mans mind. What folly is it then to imagin, that all these things were really to be met with in the Person of St. Paul, and of some other Fishermen? How can a man ground such an imagination, unless upon a mind desperately resolved to deceive it self?

But lest we should be thought without any ground to advance any thing concerning the Courage of that Apostle, let us hear him speak himself. 2 Cor. 4. 17. For our light affliction, says he, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory. And in another place, 2 Cor. 7. 4, 5, 6. I am exceeding joyful in all our Tribulation. For wh [...] we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest: b [...] we were troubled on every side; without were fighting [...], within were fears. Nevertheless God that comforte [...] those that are cast down, comforted us. And in the 12. Chap. of the same Epist. v. 10 Therefore I take plea­sure in Infirmities, in Reproaches, in Necessities, in Per­secutions, in Distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak then am I strong. Nay he pretends that all those who are animated with the same spirit that he was, cannot forbear piously rejoycing in their suf­ferings. But the fruit, says he, of the spirit is Lo [...], Joy, Peace, long Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Fait [...], M [...]ekness, Temperance, Gal. 5. 22. That is the tr [...] Character of a Christian. And the Apostles desig [...] in preaching was to plant these Virtues in the mind [...] of men. But let us see further some other marks of the joyfulness and confidence of St. Paul. He ex­presses [Page 101] himself after this manner in some of his E­pistles. 2 Cor. 4. 8, 9, 10. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed: we are perplexed, but not in despair; per­secuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be mde manifest in our body. And in another place, yea, and if I be [...]ffered upon the sacrifice of your faith, I rejoyce with you [...]ll, for the same cause also do ye rejoyce with me, Phil. 2. [...]7. From whence could proceed those motions of Joy which St. Paul so naturally expresses, which no Art can imitate, which run through all his Epistles from the beginning to the end, and which seem to spring from an heart, which not being able to con­ [...]ain its inward pleasure and satisfaction, opens and [...]nlarges it self, and breaks forth into these lively [...]xpressions of Joy?

Certainly such sentiments as these could never [...]pring from Nature. For Nature sends forth sighs [...]nd groans under her sufferings. The Stoicks who [...]ndeavoured to stifle her innocent complaints, pre­ [...]ended that a man might overcome himself to that degree, as to preserve his mind serene and calm in [...]he midst of Torments: but the Stoicks never went [...]o far as to believe that joy could spring out of the midst of the bitterness of afflictions. None but the Christians could ever find unspeakable joy and com­ [...]ort in the midst of their sorrows. Who was that [...]aul then that had thoughts so elevated? Only an [...]mpostor if we will believe the Incredulous. By [...]hat strength or power does he so much surpass the [...]ertue of the Stoicks? By the power of the greatest [...]mposture that ever was. And can any one really be [...]erswaded of such a thing? For my part the only [...]ifficulty I find in all this, is to imagin that the proud [...]retended Patrons of Humane Reason should be so [...]nreasonable and Extravagant.

CHAP. XII.
Wherein we further examine the Epistles of St▪ Paul.

THe third thing to be observ'd in the Epistles of St. Paul, is, that they are as it were a continu­al repetition of the Death, Resurrection, and Ascen­sion of Jesus Christ, or at least of such things as es­sentially belong to them: so that altho the four Go­spels should be lost, still the Substance and Essentials of the Gospel are to be found in the Writings of St. Paul. Now this appears in the beginning of almost every one of his Epistles. Concerning his Son, says he in his Epistle to the Romans Chap. 1. v. 4. which was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holyness, by the Resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ. But this appears yet more expresly in several other places, as in the 15. Chap. of his first Epistle to the Corinthians, v. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8. For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; and th [...] he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After th [...] he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once: of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but so [...] are fallen a sleep. After that he was seen of James, th [...] of all the Apostles. And last of all he was seen of [...] also, as of one born out of due time.

So boldly does this Apostle speak of the Resurrecti­on of Jesus Christ. He does not only say in general terms that Jesus Christ was seen after his Resurrecti­on; but in particular that he was seen of Cephas, of James, of the other Apostles, and of himself; that [Page 103] he was seen by five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greatest part was then living, whom he appealed to as witnesses of the Truth of what he said, and who might easily have contradicted him if it had been false. But if so great a number of peo­ple really saw Jesus Christ after his Resurrection, that matter of fact can never be false. For how is it possible that five hundred, three hundred, nay fifty persons, should maugre all punishments, conspire to­gether to maintain a fiction? But if such a number of persons neither saw, nor certified they had seen Christ after his Resurrection: how should St. Paul have presumed to write this to an infinite number of persons, who seeing and conversing with the A­postles, must have known the certainty of it? How durst he name those whom he pretends that Jesus Christ appeared to after his Resurrection? How great was his boldness to assign so great a number of Witnesses of that Truth, and to affirm that the great­est part of them were still living? How comes he to speak of it slightly, by the way, or only as a thing universally known? He tells it, but not with any turn of Wit or fineness of Expression, which Im­postors use to varnish over a specious lye, who use the more art and insinuation, the more incredi­ble the things are they would induce men to believe. But why should not he boldly assert the Truth of the Resurrection, since as he pretends, the Holy Ghost evidently bare record of it?

In a word, St. Paul speaks in his Epistle of miracu­ [...]ous gifts as of a thing universally known. He calls them the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, and sometimes only the Holy Ghost. He that should attempt to cut off from his Epistles every place wherein he men­ [...]ions them, would certainly take away the most considerable part of them. To one, says he, is given [...]he spirit, the gift of Wisdom, to another the gift of [Page 104] Knowledge by the same spirit; to another Faith by the same spirit, to another the gift of healing by the same spirit; to another the working of Miracles; to another Pro­phecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kind of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the self same spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will, 1 Cor. 12. 8, 9, 10, 11.

You see how St. Paul cursorily mentions this mat­ter of fact, as a matter of uncontested Experience. Mean while 'tis observable that we have not to do with one single gift, but several miraculous gifts, in which there was no Artifice or Illusion. For tho' it might be pretended that some certain people had received the gift of tongues, and altho' those very people should not immediately be found out by those, who perfectly understood those Languages; yet how could there be others who expounded di­vers Languages, and understood men of all Nations, others who healed the Sick, others who by Faith wrought miracles, &c.

But perhaps the Incredulous will not be satisfied with that one Text of Scripture, and therefore here is another of the same stamp, 1 Cor▪ 13. 1, 2. Tho' I speak with the tongues of Men and of Angels, &c. and tho' I have the gift of Prophecy, and understand all Mysteries, &c. And tho' I have all Faith, so that I could remove Mountains, &c. 1. Cor. 12. 29, 30, 31. Are all prophets? says he in the foregoing chapter. Are all workers of Miracles? Have all the gift of heal­ing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all Interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you, a more excellent way. 'Tis then he begins his Encomium of Charity, and prefers it before all o­ther miraculous gifts. In like manner he speaks in this place indirectly, and as it were by the by of those gifts; and the manner of his Expression mani­festly [Page 105] shews, that this matter of fact was publickly known.

But if they should still require a greater demon­stration of this Truth, such a demonstration as seems to me above all subtilty of Cavils and Excep­tions, it's sufficient to observe that among all those Gifts, that of Tongues was so common (by reason it was very often imparted by the Apostles's impo­sition of hands) that there arose a great Disturbance and Confusion in the Church of Corinth upon the ac­count of it; because all those who had received that gift, being desirous to speak strange Languages in the Church, the Congregation was not in the least edified by it. And it obliged St. Paul to write to them very sharply thereupon, to which end he par­ticularly designed the 14. Chap. of his first Epist. to the Corinthians, I would, says he to them, v. 5. that ye all speak with tongues; but rather that ye prophecied that the Church may receive edifying. Now to prophecy in the sense of this Apostle, is to declare the word of God, and expound it to the people, I thank my God, adds he further v. 18, 19. I speak with tongues more than you all. Yet in the Church I had rather speak five words with my Ʋnderstanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. Wherefore, adds he a little further v. 22. Tongues are for a sign not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophecying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. That is, as any one may easily conceive, that the gift of tongues which God had granted to the Church after a most extraordinary and wonderful manner, was designed either to confound, or convert the Infidels by that evident testimony of the Divinity of Christi­anity: whereas the gift of prophecying, that is, of declaring God's Will, and expounding it to the people, had been wholly given men for the good and [Page 106] Edification of the faithful. Now to these miracu­lous Gifts St. Paul certainly alluded, when he said in his first Epist. to the Thessalonians, Chap. 5. v. 19. Quench not the spirit. And tis concerning those same gifts and signal miracles that he says to the Galati­ans, O foolish Galatians, &c. Chap. 3. 5. He there­fore that ministreth to you the spirit, and worketh mira­cles among you, doth he it by the works of the Law, or by the preaching of the Faith? Lastly, 'tis concerning these miraculous gifts that the Apostle speaks, when he says, that the sign of his Apostleship was manifested among the Corinthians, in all Patience, in Signs, and Wonders, and mighty Deeds.

We may see to what perplexity and confusion the Incredulous are reduced; and how angry soever they may be, there are but two sides they can take. They must either assert that St. Paul had lost his senses, when he wrote those things we just now mention'd; which they'll never do, because their opinion is that St. Paul wanted no cunning to de­ceive a great many persons: or they must confess that the faithful very frequently received many mi­raculous gifts in the Ancient Church; that those gifts were various; that there had actually been such persons in the Church of Corinth, who had caused some kind of disturbance in it, by speaking divers Languages as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost; and consequently they must own the Divini­ty of our Religion.

CHAP. XIII.
That we ought to look upon the New Testament as a divine Book.

I Doubt not but that we may certainly find several unquestionable Characters of Divinity in that Book. For not to repeat here what we have already said in our first part of this work, concerning the Books of the Old Testament, and which is no less true of the New one, we cannot but admire the mutual agreement of those Authors with Moses and the other Prophets. We cannot but be surprised to see such an unanimous consent among those Wri­ters, whether it be in the things they relate, or in in the design of their Exhortations, or lastly, in the record they bear. Never was Author seen so con­formable to himself, as those Divine Authors are to one another in the Essentials of their Doctrine. Where can we find such a Character of Sweetness, Gentleness, and Simplicity, so much Charity for Man­kind, and Aversion to Vice, so many motives to Humiliation, and so great a desire to glorify God? Where can we find such a Loftiness of thought, and yet such a Simplicity of expression, such a mixture of joy and sorrow, such heroical confidence in a forlorn state of Misery, such profound Humility, and such presence and greatness of mind, which is the cause that their Morality is the finest that ever was, and their thoughts more elevated than those of other men, their design the noblest that ever entred into the heart of man, that is, to gain all men unto God, ha­ving no self interest, or refined Niceties of Policy, but only a fervent desire to succeed in their Mini­stry?

[Page 108] I know that this here is matter of Inward sense, rather than Demonstration, and that I shall never perswade the Incredulous that they may discover in the New Testament that loftiness of thought and that divine Majesty, which I my self perceive amidst that seeming rough and unpleasant Language, which is as it were the bark and outward shell of it: but yet for all their obstinacy they cannot deny these four following Truths, I. That never any known Impostor left us such excellent Books as the Apostles, no not even Mahomet himself, who might have easily borrowed their Notions, the better to disguise his own. II. That it appears that their Writings are a thousand times more free from all Passions and Hu­mane Imperfections, than all the Books of the Wisest men among the Heathens, where we see Pride as it were upon her Throne. III. That the Character of the New Testament is infinitely more excellent than that of the Writings of all the Fathers, who lived successively from the Apostles down to us, wherein any one may easily observe a strange af­fectation, a particular vanity of shewing their parts and learning, and sometimes much heat and passion; because they were far from the perfection in Chri­stianity which the Apostles had. IV. That the best sorts of godly Books written amongst the Chri­stians, from the Apostles's time down to us, I mean those Books that most establish the peace and tran­quility of publick Society, and chiefly tend to the Glory of God, were written in imitation of the holy Scriptures, from which they had their materials to compose them with. This is what in my opinion is very sure and certain.

And as certain it is, that if the Apostles were not divinely inspired, they must necessarily be Im­postors, nay such abominable men, as desired only to dishonour their Nation and to sacrifice to a vain [Page 109] flattering Idea of Glory, the lives and fortunes of an infinite number of persons whom they encourag­ed to suffer Martyrdom.

Let us now see whether we can perswade our selves that the most excellent Books that were ever known, I mean those Books that are most proper to inspire us with piety, with the love of God, and our Neighbour, that are the source of the best matters that ever were written, and the original of the Piety and Vertue of all those persons who were converted by them, were only the invention of the most wicked men that ever were.

Certainly, since all Christians in all Ages consider­ed this Book as Divine, and as the rule of their Faith, whereby they distinguish'd it from all other Books; it follows thence that all the Christians were either deceived in the Essentials of it, and that their Faith was false, or else that Book must in reality be of a Divine Authority: For such an Universal Tra­dition, so constant, and so necessarily affixed to the end and design of Religion, can never impose upon us.

It has been the Wisdom of Providence as we have already observed, to take care that this Book should be left to us as entire as when it came out of the Apostles hands: and the Primitive Christians who all assure us that it is of a Divine Authority, tell us only but what right Reason obliged them to acknow­ledge, and us as well as them. For the Word preached and the Word written by the Apostles, differ not essentially from one another; so that if the former be Divine, the latter must necessarily be so too. And who doubts but that Word must be looked up­on as Divine, which God himself authorised by so many Miracles?

Perhaps some will reply, that it would be of a very dangerous Consequence to reason often after this [Page 110] manner; and that altho' a false Prophet should work prodigious Miracles, yet we ought not to fol­low him upon a bare supposition that God never as­sists an Impostor with his infinite Power. But this I own and affirm also, that we ought strictly to ex­amin both his Doctrine and Miracles, to find out by that comparison the true Original of both. And therefore we have this advantage, that we not only find here such miracles as excel all the power of Hell; such as for example, the raising a man from the Dead; but that this Doctrine also visibly bears all the Characters of one that proceeded from Heaven. Those miracles on the one hand so great and nume­rous that the people cried out, surely this is the finger of God, take away all suspicion of the falsity and pernicious consequences of the Doctrine they con­firm; because the arm of the Lord is not usually employed in favour of an Imposture. And on the other hand, that Doctrine which is so holy, and so perfectly tends to the union and wellfare of Man­kind, which is so worthy of the love of God to man, sufficiently warrants us that the Miracles whereby it is confirmed, proceed not in the least from the power of Darkness, as the Enemies of Christianity seem to believe. Hell never concerns it self either to unite or sanctify mankind.

All the Apostles expresly declare, that the word which they preached, proceeded not from themselves, but God. But I certifie you Brethren, says St. Paul in his Epist. to the Galatians Chap. 1. v. 11. that the Gospel which was preached of me, was not after man: for I neither received of man, neither was I taught it, but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Thus when the A­postles were assembled together at Jerusalem in the first Council that ever was held, and wrote to some Chnrches concerning several questions that were then in Agitation, they made use of this manner of [Page 111] speaking, For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, Act. 15. 28.

It appears then that the Apostles spoke by the Order and Revelation of God, which was given se­veral ways; viz. sometimes by Vision, as when St. Peter saw a certain vessel descending from Heaven, as it had been a great sheet knit by the four Corners, wherein were all kinds of unclean Beasts; and he was commanded saying, Peter kill and eat, Act. 10. 13. on purpose to signify that he ought to preach [...]he Gospel to the Gentiles, who were no longer an unclean Nation in the sight of God; sometimes by Dreams, as when a certain Macedonian appeared unto St. Paul, commanding him to go into Macedo­nia, and preach the Gospel there: sometimes by Ex­ [...]asy, as it is probable that St. Paul was caught up into the third Heaven; but yet much oftener by the inward dictates of the Holy Ghost formed as it were [...]n their Souls, as when the Spirit said unto Peter concerning the men which Cornelius sent to enquire for him, Go thou with them doubting nothing: for I [...]ave sent them, Act. 10. 20.

'Tis true one might very well suspect these Reve­ [...]ations, if one single man boasted of having had [...]hem imparted to him: but here we have several. God did not reveal himself to them after one single manner, but after divers. They asserted not only [...]hat God had revealed some things to them in order [...]o induce Mankind to believe it, but they wrought many Miracles, spoke divers Languages, im [...]arted [...]hose Gifts to others, thereby converted the World, [...]nd exactly fulfilled the Oracles of God. That [...]pirit which filled them, and was necessarily to fill [...]hem, because the time of the Calling of the Gentiles [...]as come, was outwardly produced by such effects [...]s undoubtedly will confound the Incredulous if they [...]eflect upon them.

[Page 112] Certainly, if it be true, as it is, that God poured down his Spirit upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, 'twas only that they might preach unto men by their Ministry, unless it be pretended that the Tongues of the Apostles which were exalted after a supernatural manner, so far as to speak all sorts of Languages, were to confine themselves to that particular employ, and not to reveal unto men the will of God. But if we ought to look upon that word as Divine which those Tongues have preached, we cannot but look upon those Writings as Divine in which that Word it self is contained.

I hope that whosoever shall seriously reflect on the Connexion of all these principles, will fully be per­swaded that their Union is not to be dissolved. If there was such a Book as the New Testament in the days of Clemens, Polycarp, and of the Primitive Fa­thers, as without dispute there was, that Book could never have been forg'd. If the Book of the New Testament could not have been forg'd, it is im­possible but that certain publick matters of fact, which are inserted in that Book as being publickly known by all the Christians, are true. And if those matters of fact are true, it can never be denied but that the Apostles received the Holy Ghost. If the Apostles did receive the Holy Ghost, certainly their Writings must be looked upon as Divine. I have made choice of these principles only among several others which I have established; but lest any one should imagin that they subsist meerly by their Con­nexion, I desire the Reader to remember that I have proved each of them apart by themselves, after several different ways.

It is very true therefore that the New Testament, as well as our Religion, is divine: for these two Truths are properly one and the same: The Chri­stian Religion can't be Divine, if the Word or the [Page 113] Scripture which is the ruleof the Faith of its Pro­fessors, be Humane; and the Scripture can never be Divine, unless the Christian Religion be of an heaven­ly Original, and proceeded from God. But it is fit that we should examin the Difficulties that are opposed against this grand principle.

CHAP. XIV.
Wherein we shall examin those Difficulties which may probably be raised against the foregoing Truths.

TRuth is an Enemy to all shifts and tricks: let us therefore briefly consider what doubts we may possibly entertain in the foregoing Truths. Let us give full scope to our imagination to frame what sus­picions we can as to the persons of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, their Miracles, the Resurrection of our Lord, and the extraordinary and miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost, which were imparted to mankind by the hands of the Apostles themselves.

And I. to begin with the Person of Jesus Christ, there are some who believe that Jesus Christ was an Essene, and that he borrowed from that Sect the purity of his Morals and the soundness of his Doc­trine. And indeed it appears from the Description which Philo, and Josephus gave us of that Sect, that the Essenes lived among themselves in a perfect union, that they possessed all things in Common; that they looked upon one another as so many brethren, and that they had very rational and sound Ideas of God and Religion. All this pretty well agrees with the Nature of Chistianity. Besides it does not appear that Jesus Christ ever opposed their Doctrine, when he [Page 114] pronounced so many woes against the Scribes and Pharisees. And if it be true that Jesus Christ bor­rowed his Doctrine from that Sect, we should have less Reason to be surprised at his extraordinary Mo­rality and Holiness of life. But 'tis easy to refute this notion if we consider that there was no such Sect as that of the Essenes in Galilee, which was the na­tive Country of Jesus Christ; that the Essenes avoid­ed all correspondence with other men, as looking upon them as impure and prophane, and for that reason dwelt not in any great Cities: Whereas Jesus Christ travers'd Towns and Villages, taught multi­tudes, Preached in the Synagogues, &c. Besides the Essenes abhorr'd Matrimony: whereas Jesus Christ made choice of such Disciples as were Marri­ed; and lastly, that he had several Fishermen to at­tend him, but none of them were Essenes.

But II. May we not think that Jesus Christ ow'd his knowledge to his Education? But how could that be? For as much as he was bred up in the shop of a Carpenter, as his Enemies themselves confess in their reproaches of him.

III. Some will object, that 'twas out of spite to the Scribes and Pharisees and other Rulers of the Jews, that he first exclaimed so much against them, and after invented on purpose to thwart them a Religi­on quite opposite to theirs. But what had the Son of Mary to do with all those Teachers, since he nei­ther was Priest, nor Levite, nor pretended to any such dignities? What should make him come in competition with them? Besides it is not sufficient to assert that Jesus Christ seemed very much ex­asperated against their Doctrine and Behaviour, it must also be considered, whether he had not a great deal of reason to be so.

IV. 'Tis objected that perhaps he was ambitious of being thought a Prophet; or it may be not right­ly [Page 115] understanding certain Oracles, which seemed to determine at that time the coming of the Messias, he really thought himself to be that Messias.

But nothing of this is true. For Jesus Christ could not have thought himself to be the Messias out of meer simplicity and ignorance, nor have endeavour­ed to make the World believe it out of malice or de­ceit. We have no reason to believe the former, if we consider his Morality and Doctrine; and his ho­liness of life gives us no occasion to imagin the lat­ter. The incredulous will soon be reduced to an evident absurdity, if they assert that Jesus Christ was the most ignorant, or most wicked of men; the most ignorant, if he thought himself to be the Messias, without being really so; or the most wick­ed, if he endeavoured to make other men be­lieve it, when he believed it not himself: because one must be wilfully blind not to perceive that the Christian Religion proceeds both from a very clear principle, and a good foundation too.

V. But may we not say the same of Mahomet? The incredulous compare them often together. They pretend that Jesus Christ and Mahomet might have been animated both with the same Spirit. But of all the shifts of the Incredulous this is certainly their weakest: and 'tis a plain demonstration that they have no manner of Idea of the things they speak of, when they insist upon this comparison.

For we can here produce several essential differ­ences betwixt Jesus Christ and Mahomet. Mahomet never pretended to Establish his Religion by work­ing miracles, although several have been imputed to him: Whereas Jesus Christ desired no belief but up­on the testimony of his extraordinary Miracles; being willing thereby to convince the eyes and senses of his Disciples by sensible matters of fact, and such miracles as he gave them also power to work [Page 116] themselves; when he sent them forth to preach a­broad his Resurrection and Miracles, at the same time he threatned them with Death and eternal Dam­nation, in case they should endeavour to deceive any body with fictions, or even disguise the Truth it self. Mahomet left no such prophecies behind him, as have been accomplished: whereas we have several of Jesus Christ which have been clearly explained by their event. Neither the Books of the Old or New Testament bear the least record of Mahomet; whereas the Prophets had foretold the coming of Jesus Christ as of a Messias, that was to unite the Jews and Gentiles, and to carry the Covenant of God unto the ends of the World. Mahomet established himself in the World by force and violence; but Jesus Christ only by patience and sufferings. The former was environ'd with Soldiers, the latter was attend­ed with Martyrs. The one put men to Death, but the other received Death for our sakes. Maho­met's ambition, who established such a flourishing Empire, was presently seen in the success he had in his undertaking. But Jesus Christ was far from self Interest or Ambition, since he withdrew him­self when they would have made him King, and de­clared his Kingdom was not of this World. Instead of encouraging the carnal prejudices of his Disci­ples, he took care to undeceive them, and to fore­tell all the Evils they were to expect. And tho' any should presume openly to dispute all these matters of fact, still they appear by the end and success of the Gospel, the design of which was to sanctify the heart, and calm the disorderly passions of the Soul. Mahomet invented such a Religion which agreed on­ly with corrupted Reason, and the loose inordinate desires of the heart. He made the scandal of the Cross to give place to the magnificence and grandeur of the World; he took away the most spiritual and [Page 117] difficult matters of Morality, to fill the minds of his Disciples with carnal and sensual Ideas. But not so did our Saviour act, who proposed his Cross to the minds of men as an astonishing Paradox, and a con­tinual cause of Mortification and Repentance. Ma­homet Established his Religion by the help of Igno­rance and Darkness, by suppressing such Books as might have enlightened mens Understandings, and by requiring a blind submission from them. Jesus Christ on the contrary would not have them believe his Doctrine, but as they found it conformable to that of the Prophets, Search the Scriptures, says he, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, John 5. 39. Mahomet established himself in the World by dis­sembling and disguising his thoughts: He promised in the beginning a toleration of all Religions; car­ried it fair to the Christians, but afterwasds did his utmost endeavours to extirpate them utterly. But Jesus Christ declared at first his intention and design which was to save mankind, and overthrow Super­stition it self. Nor he, nor his Disciples used any Policy or Circumvention in this respect. Mahomet died, but never rose, nor pretended to rise again from the dead, thereby to shew he was approved of God. Jesus Christ died, but it was believed he rose again from the dead, upon the testimony of those who had seen him after his Resurrection, and testified of the Truth of this matter of fact to all the World, at the expence of their lives, and effu­sion of their blood. Mahomet's Religion was inven­ted, maintained and supported by Policy, but that of Jesus Christ was at first offensive to all the Princes upon earth, and was established in the World not­withstanding all their endeavours to the contrary. Mahomets's Religion appear'd at first view to be as it were the Triumph of Humane Industry and Co­vetousness; but the Religion of Jesus Christ shew'd [Page 118] that of integrity and justice in their full perfection, and Natural Religion in that proper purity and sim­plicity that was restored to it by Charity. Maho­met laid the foundation of a particular Monarchy, and established such Laws as, humanly speaking, are serviceable only in those places wherein he has settled his Dominion: but Jesus Christ has given us new Principles of union and intelligence, very use­full to the good of publick society in general, and very fit to cement the union of all men together by making the spirit of Charity reign in the World. The coming of Mahomet did not sanctify mankind: but that of Jesus Christ was attended with an innu­merable Company of persons, who all renounced the World, meerly by the Faith they had in him. 'Twas not Mahomet, but Jesus Christ who exactly fulfilled the Oracles concerning the calling of the Gentiles, because Mahomet derived all his knowledge of the true God, from Jesus Christ, as we have al­ready shewed. Lastly, Temporal Prosperity was the true Character of the Religion of Mahomet, and it might be very well affirmed that Mahomet was a Man of God, if it were true that all those who en­joy the greatest Prosperity in the World, that is, all Tyrants, wicked, and unjust men are the favo­rites of God. But the Character of the Religion of Jesus Christ is patience, self-denial, innocence and a simplicity of manners; and certainly he was approved of God, if God approves of vertuous, patient, hum­ble, and charitable men. It concerns now the In­credulous to answer all these differences, if they would have us allow of this Comparison; for other­wise we shall ever reject it, as being very ridiculous and extravagant.

CHAP. XV.
Where we further examin the objections of the In­credulous.

THe Incredulous are apt to raise as many suspici­ons against the miracles of Jesus Christ, as a­gainst his person: because of all those proofs which establish his Religion, there are none that can move the senses so much as that taken from true Miracles.

I. Then they object, that Jesus the Son of Mary might have healed two or three people either by chance, or by vertue of Second causes, and that that good success might have got him afterwards the name of a Prophet through the ignorance of the peo­ple, who are wont to ascribe to supernatural Causes every thing that is unknown to them. We answer that we have here a very great number of miracles, all of different kinds, evident and sensible miracles, in their Nature, unimitable and above all Imposture. Such are the Resurrection of the dead, healing the Blind, the Lame, and the sick of the Palsy, &c.

II. They pretend that he might perhaps have suborned Witnesses to testify some fabulous miracles. But how could this be? Since Jesus Christ had nei­ther money to give, nor dignities to promise; and as for cunning, Politick niceties, Riches and Cre­dit, they were only amongst the Scribes and Pharisees, and Doctors of the Law, his implacable Enemies, who took all opportunities to prejudice him, because he publickly censured their hypocrisy upon all occasions.

III. They object that Jesus Christ was so prudent as to work his miracles only before three of his cho­sen Disciples, viz. Peter, James, and John. Now (say they) who knows but that those three Dis­ciples [Page 120] to flatter the ambition of their Master, might have attested certain Miracles as true, which were not really so?

To remove this suspicion, we need only reflect upon the many miracles Jesus Christ wrought in the presence of his other Disciples. He raised from the dead the Son of the Widdow of Naim, as he was a carrying to be interr'd. He raised Lazarus from the grave in the sight of several Jews, who were purposely come thither to comfort the Sisters of the Deceased Person. He tarried four days, that it might not be said, he was not really dead. He per­mitted Lazarus to converse with his acquaintance after his Resurrection, which gave occasion to the Jews blinded with madness to conspire together to send him to the grave again, whom the grave had just sent them for their Conversion.

IV. But is it possible that such great and such un­paralelled miracles as these, should make so little impression upon peoples minds? This Age is indeed a wicked and prejudiced age: But yet what a noise would the Resurrection of a dead man make now? How many would make it their business to be fully satisfied of the truth of such a matter of fact? How few would doubt it, after having known the certain truth of it? To this I answer, that the greatest part of those who heard this Miracle, did not in the least believe it. Some ascribed it to the power of Beelze­bub; others to some other cause; some knew not what to think of it, and therefore refused to en­quire into it; others verily believ'd that Jesus Christ and Lazarus had agreed together thus to se­duce the people, and this very likely was the opini­on of those who sought after Lazarus to put him to death; Others, tho' very few, took occasion from thence to glorify God. But lest any man should wonder at the little impression this miracle made [Page 121] upon the prejudiced and superstitious minds of men, 'twill be sufficient to make these two following Re­flections. First, That there have been several Jews who freely acknowledged the Miracles of Jesus Christ, tho' they persisted in their incredulity; chusing rather superstitiously to ascribe them to a certain I know not what pronunciation of the word Jehovah, than to refer them totheir true cause; which shews that the evidence of Miracles is not always of it self sufficient to overcome the hardness of some mens minds when prepossess'd with prejudice. Secondly, That superstition it self has been sometimes carried on to that degree as to extinguish utterly all the lights of Reason, and even to call in question those very objects that are present to the senses, rather than be obliged to renounce its prejudices. But it is not necessary to insist much upon this last reflecti­on.

It sufficiently appears from thence that there are such people in the World, whose minds being pre­possessed, will either call in question any palpable truths, or else ascribe matters of fact truly miracu­lous to some fantastical and extravagant causes. But there are none that are willing to die in order to maintain that they were spectators of those things which they had really never seen, especially when they profess to believe that imposture is a crime worthy of Death; and when they might be so easily found out by so great a number of witnesses, it would argue meer folly for any to pretend to im­pose upon men in this respect. The Jewish Doctors had credit and authority enough over the people, partly to stifle the knowledge they might have of those matters of fact, or if that fail'd, at least to give such reasons of them, as would certainly flat­ter the immoderate desire the Jews had to see not a sorrowful and contemptible, but a glorious and [Page 122] triumphing Messias. But the Disciples were too weak to endure the severity of those Torments in­flicted on them, had they been meer Impostors; and were not surely so sensless as ever to think they might easily perswade men to believe such matters of fact as the Resurrection of Lazarus. For to endeavour to conceal a matter of fact of that Nature, one had need only of prejudice and a wicked inclination; but to have a design to make other men believe it when it was really false, one must be possess'd with an unaccountable and unheard of madness.

V. But you will say, let the opinion the Jews had of the Miracles of Jesus Christ be what it will, still is it possible they could have no better preserved the memory of them; and that Josephus for example, who carefully relates the least sort of Events, and forgets not to mention certain Seducers that had appeared in the World from time to time before him, should not in the least speak of the Miracles of of Jesus Christ? It is supposed by some that that notable testimony which he bears of him, was a pious fraud of his, or a meer Invention of the suc­ceeding ages. We shall not enquire into the truth of that at present. We are willing to take things in the worst sense, and we have three several re­plies to make this objection, concerning the silence of Josephus in this respect. The first is, that those who probably inserted in the Writings of that Author that notable place which has given occasion to the Criticism of the Learned, might for a continuation of their design, have blotted out every thing that Josephus really tells us on this account; and which perhaps tho' less advantagious to our cause, is yet suf­ficient to shew that Jesus Christ was held as one that wrought many Miracles. The second, that Josephus being a Pharisee might probably have concealed the wonders of the life of our Saviour, out of the hatred [Page 123] he bore to our Religion. And the last is, that as this man had endeavoured to insinuate himself into Vespasian's favour, by foretelling him that he should be Emperour; and had ascribed to him several prophecies of the Old Joseph. de bello Judaico. lib. 3. cap. 14. 7, 12. Testament, which promised that a King should come from the East; it is highly probabable that this Author being a Courtier, would not out of complaisance to Ves­pasian and his Children, mention the least thing of a man, who had pretended he was the Messias, and to whom other people ascribed those famous pro­phecies, whereby he had endeavoured to ingratiate himself in that Emperours Esteem. And certainly it is very unlikely to suppose that a man who had carefully related the least Circumstance of the life of Herod the Great, should have forgot the Mur­ther of the Children of Bethlehem, if at the time he discovered the cause of that Murther, he had not been affraid to discover also the dread Herod had upon him at the birth of the Messias, and the Opi­nion then currant among the Jews, that the Messias was to be born in Bethlehem.

'Tis however certain, that this Author could not have concealed any such events as these, but only out of Ignorance or Policy. He could not have done it out of ignorance; and the Incredulous themselves will not presume to think that Josephus was altoge­ther ignorant that Jesus Christ had been put to death at Jerusalem; that he was accused there of seducing the people; that he had several Disciples to attend him, whose number in his time increased yet daily; nay that there had been a very numerous Church at Jerusalem, composed of persons of that perswasion. And certainly there must have been Christians in all Judea, since there dwelt a very considerable number of them at Rome, under the Emperour [Page 124] Sueton. in vit [...] Claud. Claudius Cesar, as it appears more at large by the History of Suetonius. It must therefore be out of Policy that Josephus made no men­tion of them: and we can never suspect him of ha­ving had a design to conceal by his silence, those Impostors which arose amongst the Jews, because he speaks of all the rest; nor to spare the shame and confusion of his own Nation, because he so par­ticularly made it his business to discover the fury and leudness of that people. Let any one throughly consider all these things, and he will then necessarily confess that the silence of Josephus which was occasi­oned meerly by Policy, cannot but be very advan­tagious to our cause.

VI. But lastly, 'Tis objected there is nothing more frequent than to see some men endeavouring to make others believe those miracles as were never in being. It is very well known how strangely people have always been infatuated in this respect, and what an easy matter it is to impose Tacit. lib. 5. Histor. cap. 13.upon them. Tacitus relates that Vespa­sian being one day at Alexandria, he healed two blind men; and that this mat­ter of fact would have been altogether incredible, hadnot the whole Court been an eye-witness to it.

We answer, that it is very likely Vespasian was willing to be thought to have done some miracles, in respect of those prophecies which seemed to pro­mise him the Empire of the World, according to the false application Josephus had made of them to his person. He was at first well enough pleased to see that Jew flattering him by such an agreeable predic­tion: but being sometimes after come to Alexandria, and perceiving that his concerns successfully went on, he thought it behoved him to perswade the peo­ple that he was called to the Empire by Divine In­spiration; and doubtless with that design he com­manded [Page 125] two men that counterfeited blindness to be brought unto him, on purpose to work upon them a false Miracle. But giving this objection a greater latitude, I answer that there are no miracles whatever but what I verily believe to be true, and which appear to me past all contradiction, if they have those ten Characters which any one may ob­serve in the Miracles of the Apostles. I. If they were as the former, foretold in the Ancient Oracles. II. If they are very frequent, very numerous, va­rious, and evident. III. If the Authors of them were a simple and disinteressed sort of people, who in all appearance had neither malice enough to have a design to deceive, nor understanding enough to have the power to do it, nor boldness to under­take it, nor credit to maintain it. IV. If those Miracles are so try'd by the prudence and industry of the most skilful men in the World, that they not being able altogether to deny the truth of them, are obliged to refer them to several odd and extra­vagant causes. V. If there is an innumerable com­pany of Witnesses who die, and rejoyce to die in the testimony not that they only heard of them, but that they both saw and work'd them themselves. VI. If the end of those Miracles is not to satisfy mens passions or loose desires, but to sanctify their hearts and regulate their manners. VII. If those persons which both testify and admit of them, seem on the one hand to aim at nothing else but their own Salvation, and that of their brethren; and on the other if they are perswaded that their Salvation is inconsistent with imposture and deceit. VIII. If those who testify them, proffer to do the like, if they pretend themselves able to impart any miraculous gifts to others; and if by the help of that sensible means, and of that proof, which they call the con­viction of the mind, they make greater progress [Page 126] than ever the most fortunate Conquerours did by the force of their arms. IX. If those who refuse to allow of all these miraculous matters of fact, must unavoidably fall into an infinite number of self evi­dent contradictions, as for instance, to believe that the wisest amongst men are the most foolish, and the most constant the most deceitful. X. If all those matters of fact are so strictly united to one another, that it is impossible to own the one, with­out presently granting the other too; and so inse­parably interwoven with some other undeniable matters of fact, that cannot be called in question without utterly renouncing our Sense and Reason. And Lastly, If they end in the Resurrection of a man, who was vainly sought for in his grave after his death, notwithstanding his Sepulchre had been sealed and surrounded with a watch; of such a man whom above five hundred witnesses affirm'd they had seen, and who conversed with his Disciples forty days after his Resurrection, as they unanimously testi­fy'd, notwithstanding all the punishments inflicted on them for the same. The incredulous must either shew us to be deceived, in ascribing all these Cha­racters to the Miracles of Jesus Christ, or else for­bear making such comparisons.

CHAP. XVI.
Where we further examine those Difficulties which may be raised against our principles.

THose who regard not the Master of the House, doubtless will not respect the person of his Servants. The Incredulous no doubt have many things to object against the Disciples of Jesus Christ. [Page 127] They will ask why the number of them was so small, wherefore he chose them so poor and ignorant; since your famous Teachers, such as the Pharisees amongst the Jews; the Stoicks amongst the Heathens, wo [...]ld have probably gained his Sect more credit and respect: Wherefore was he attended with Pub­licans and Sinners, nay even with Harlots? And Lastly, Why should we rather believe the testimony of the Disciples concerning their Master, than that of those men whom the Jews employ'd to signify that Jesus a Galilean was an Impostor, and that his Dis­ciples had taken away his Body by night from the Sepulchre wherein he had been laid. Justin is the man who speaks of those chosen by the Synagogue to spread abroad this report, in his Dialogue a­gainst Tryphon.

It will be easie for us not only to answer all their objections, but even to draw from them several very considerable advantages to our Cause.

For as to the First, We answer that besides the twelve Disciples, commonly called Apostles, which Jesus Christ had chose to himself in the beginning, he also sent seventy others, who were not only eye­witnesses to all his Actions, but also the very instru­ments he made use of to advance his Kingdom: that the truth of his Resurrection was testify'd and seen by above five hundred brethren at once, and that the miraculous gifts which fell on the Disciples after the Ascension of their Master, and the Miracles which God wrought by their hands, had as many witnes­ses, as their were people that believed there preach­ing.

As to the second, we answer, that the choice of such vile contemptible instruments as God was pleased to make use of for the Execution of the greatest and most noble design, is one of the most considerable proofs that every thing here was solely transacted [Page 128] by the finger of God. Had he chose for his Mini­sters the Princes and Potentates of the World, some would perhaps have ascribed the wonders of Christian Morality to Policy, and the design of keeping people in obedience, by obliging them to a charitable Union among themselves. Had he chose Philoso­phers, some would have ascribed their heroical self­denial to the singularity and pride of their Sect, or to those elevated thoughts which Philosophy had inspired them with. Had he chose Orators, some would have thought that they might have seduced men by the charms of their Eloquence. Had he chose very Powerful and Rich men, some would have at­tributed the success of their preaching to their libe­ralities. He chose therefore mean and contemptible persons, who had ever lived in great simplicity, and labour'd under an obscure condition, to shew more clearly that the success of the Gospel was the work of God and not of Men.

In answer to the third Objection we assert, that tho' Jesus Christ was usually attended with Publicans and Sinners; yet they were Sinners converted by the efficacy of his Doctrine, they were Publicans rege­nerated, whose testimony of the Christian Religion was the more authentick, as it more plainly evinced that this Religion was the only one truly capable of sanctifying Mankind. Certainly I cannot per­ceive a more evident sign of the Divinity of our Saviours Mission than to see that he acted with so much efficacy, that sinful women came, and wash'd his feet with repentant tears, and wiped them with their Hairs; that one word of his could draw Levi from the receit of Custom, oblige Peter, and Andrew, to follow him, to forsake their Nets, their Boat, and even their Father Zebedee.

But some will say, if Jesus Christ made his Dis­ciples utterly renounce all worldly advantages, [Page 129] 'twas meerly by the hopes he gave them of a blessed and eternal life, and consequently it was to their ad­vantage thus to renounce them. I grant it: but then I say this consideration makes for us, and is more than sufficient to give an invincible Demonstra­tion of the Truth of the Christian Religion. For if the Disciples did verily expect an everlasting Life from Jesus Christ; and if it was purely on the ac­count of that interest, the greatest indeed of all our Interests, and of that hope, far stronger than all their passions, that they suffered such torments for the name of Jesus (as we must either believe it, or look upon the Disciples as so many Fools or mad Men) I say if the Disciples hoped for eternal life from him, it necessarily follows thence, that they sincerely believed him to be what he professd himself to be; since they could not expect eternal life from an Impostor. And if they believed his calling to be true, they likewise believed his Miracles and Resur­rection to be so too. And if they thought his Mira­cles and Resurrection true, it follows thence that they were necessarily so; it being impossible that the Dis­ciples should have deceived themselves in certain matters of fact which required only seeing, hearing and feeling.

Let the Incredulous use what Shifts and Evasi­ons they please, I dare say they can bring nothing but absurd impertinencies in answer to this argu­ment, which we look upon to have the force of De­monstration. If the Apostles expected everlasting life from Jesus Christ, it follows thence that they could not look upon him as an Impostor, nor abet his Imposture, nor be Impostors themselves, as they necessarily must have been, were not the Christian Religion infallibly true. Now 'tis most certain that the Disciples did hope for everlasting life from Jesus Christ, because he never proposed any other object [Page 130] to their Faith, he foretold them nothing but Crosses and tribulations in this life, publickly declaring that his Kingdom was not of this World; besides Ex­perience and Reason taught them the very same thing; they themselves declared in all their Epistles that they expected nothing but crosses and tribu­lations in this life, comparing it to a Warfare, a Wrestling, the World to a Field of Battel; calling themselves the Champions of Jesus Christ; and con­tinually rejoycing that they were to suffer in hopes of the Crown that was reserv'd for them.

As to the Fourth Objection, we answer that we are willing to compare the Witnesses of the Syna­gogue with those Writings of Jesus Christ. The Wit­nesses of the Synagogue testify'd that which was un­known to them, that which they had not seen, and which they therefore could have no certain Know­ledge of. For who can believe the report of the Watch? If they really saw any one taking away the body of Jesus why did they not prevent it? But if they did not see it, how can their Testimony be va­lid? But as for the Disciples of the Lord, they tes­tifi'd those matters of fact which their Eyes were Witnesses to. That which we have seen, say they, with our Eyes, which we have heard with our Ears, and our Hands have handled of the Word of Life, declare we unto you, 1 John 1. 1. The former Witnesses were Soldiers, the latter Martyrs. The former en­deavoured to perswade men by force, the latter per­swaded them maugre all the violence offered to them. To be such a witness as the Apostles were, there is need of Constancy and perswasion. To be such a one as those suborned by the Synagogue, there is need only of fury and violence. But was there ne­ver a one of either party that recanted his Opinion? Yes without doubt, and this consideration alone is sufficient to decide the Controversy.

[Page 131] Saul a servant of the Synagogue going one day to Damascus, not only to testify that Jesus Christ had been a Seducer, but also to persecute all those that believed on him, was on a sudden changed, and be­came a Disciple of him whom before he went about so furiously to persecute. Judas on the contrary a Disciple and Apostle of Jesus Christ, renounced his Master, and deliver'd him to the Jews who put him to Death. Here are two several witnesses who seem to recant their opinion, but consider the different end of their Recantation.

Saul was a Pharisee, the Son of a Pharisee, and consequently a Member of a Sect particularly exaspe­rated against Jesus Christ. He had obtained letters from the Sanhedrin or grand Councel at Jerusalem, to the Synagogues of Damascus to demand assistance from them against the Christians that dwelt therein, whom he had purposed to himself to drag along to Prison, and to put to Death, as he had done several others before. He was therefore on his journey, and drew nigh unto Damascus: he was upon the point of satisfying his rage and fury; but on a sud­den he is altogether changed. What was there that could have obliged this Witness thus to recant? What proffers were then made to him, or who was then in a condition to make him any? What unex­pected force so suddenly overthrew all the designs and prejudices of a man that was just going to shed the blood of Christians? He went about afterwards preaching that he had seen Jesus Christ, that a great light shone round about him, that the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven were revealed unto him. He affirmed that God had set him forth unto the World, and that he became a Spectacle unto Men and Angels, 1 Cor. 4. 9.

If men will not credit his report, let them try him by torments, and see what effect they will have [Page 132] upon him. Let them load him with Chains, and cast him into Prison, let them expose him to Wild beasts at Ephesus; let the Elements, Men, and De­vils be all at once set against him; let them scourge him, drag him along, stone him, let them bring him from Jerusalem to Cesarea, from Cesarea to Rome, in­crease and prolong his Afflictions, Saul the Witness of the Synagogue 'tis true recanted his opinion; but Paul the Witness of Jesus will never recant his.

Having seen the strange alteration which happen­ed to the Person of the Minister of the Synagogue, let us reflect a little on that which happened to the Person of the Apostle of Jesus Christ. Judas betray­ed his Master, and received for his reward thirty pieces of Silver. But how comes it to pass he was so much disturbed after he had done it? The Jews, the Romans, the People, the Doctors, the Magistrates and Judges, all favoured his crime, and let him go unpunished; yet the remorse of his own Conscience tormented him to that degree that he could not rest any where; and at length not being able to over­come his Despair, he made away with himself: and the Wisdom of God so ordered it, that the Jews themselves preserv'd the memory of that astonishing event, by buying with that mony a field which is since called Aceldama, because it was the price of blood. What a strange difference we find in these two Per­sons of Judas and Saul? Judas killed himself in the midst of his Prosperity; but Saul rejoyced in the midst of his afflictions. Judas prevailed upon by the Synagogue could not be comforted by the same, but died in despair. Paul became the Disciple and Wit­ness of Jesus, and to him the Cross of Jesus was matter of the greatest joy. God forbid, says he Gal. 6. 14 that I should glory, save in the Cross of my Savi­our Christ, by whom the World is crucified unto me, and I unto the World. Will any one believe that Judas [Page 133] was his own Executioner meerly out of remorse for having betray'd an Impostor to the Jews? Or that St. Paul derived from the sense of his infidelity, the courage he shewed in all his sufferings. Certainly it may be very properly said, that they were both the Martyrs of God, but only with this difference that Judas was so against his will, but Paul voluntari­ly. If the constancy of the one testify'd in behalf of Jesus Christ, the despair of the other was no small honour to him. And the only difference is this, that Paul was properly a Martyr, but Judas in spite of himself a witness of the Truth of Religion.

CHAP. XVII.
Where we further answer the Objections of the In­credulous.

OF all the Objects which the Christian Religion offers to our understanding, there is no one seems more to shock the Reason of a prejudiced and incredulous person, than the Death of the Messias. The Cross of Jesus Christ was, according to the Expres­sion of an Apostle, a scandal to the Jew and a folly to the Greek. But in our opinion there is nothing bears more visible characters of Greatness and Divinity than that does. The Incredulous tell us, that could we but rid our selves of all our prejudices, we should be heartily ashamed to entertain such strange Ideas of God. And we also tell them, that could they once but free themselves of those passions which darken their understanding, they would certainly admire with us the wonders of so Divine an object. Who then is in the wrong in this thing? That will [Page 134] best appear by the answers we shall make to their objections.

We find in the Person of Jesus Christ one who suf­fered himself to be seized upon, and was afterwards nailed on a Cross, not having any one to deliver him from the power of his Enemies. This they object was a mark of his Weakness. For, say they, had he been the King of the Jews, why did he not come down from the Cross, and all the World would have belie­ved on him? He died as one condemned by the grand Council of the Jews, which God himself had esta­blished. This was he as was found guilty. He was seized with sorrowfulness even unto Death the day before his Passion, and cried out bitterly when he gave up the Ghost. This shews his wretched condition. He was made to suffer a punishment proper only for Slaves. It cannot therefore be doubted but that he died a most infamous Death. And who can imagin that Weakness, Guilt, or at least Condemnation, Wretchedness and Infamy should be the true Characters of the Son of God? Thus the Incredulous argue. We answer that Jesus Christ suffer'd by the determi­nate Council of God; since the Scriptures fore­told that he was to be wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, that he was to make his Soul an offering for sin▪ that he was to be cut off, but not for himself. And St. John the Baptist seeing him coming to him, at a time wherein it was very unlikely he should ever suffer, called him the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World, John 1. 29. Jesus Christ suffered voluntarily; he foretold all his own Sufferings to his Disciples, inviting them to take up their Cross and follow him. He told them that he had made choice of a Company of miserable and afflic­ted Wretches in the World who were notwithstand­ing to overcome the World, and by their sufferings establish the Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. He [Page 135] freely owned to them that he was not come to settle peace in the World, but the sword, that God would smite the Shepherd, and that the Sheep should be scattered, that they were to drink of the same cup with him, and be Baptised with his Baptism, that is, to taste the bitter cup of his Afflictions, and be Baptised with him with a Baptism of Blood. He intermixed his suffer­ing with theirs, that they might the better bear them in remembrance. If we should in the least doubt whether Christ foretold his sufferings, we need only consider the design of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and the time wherein this Ceremony was instituted. For unless we should call in question the real institution of that Sacrament, and so affirm that the Disciples out of an unaccountable and fantastical Extravagance, pretended only that Jesus Christ had instituted that Ceremony, when there was no such thing: it will appear that Jesus Christ foresaw his Death, that he prepared himself for it, and affirm­ed he suffer'd it voluntarily for the Salvation of Man­kind. The Sacrament of the Eucharist which he insti­tuted in cold Blood certifies us of all these things. But because an involuntary Death would argue a certain kind of weakness, 'tis also most certain that nothing can better evince the strength and courage of Jesus Christ, than that tho' he foresaw the hor­rours of an infamous and painful Death, yet he ex­posed himself to it with such a constant will and firm Resolution, that by his example he shewed his Dis­ciples, how he would have them imitate and com­memorate his sufferings.

Jesus Christ was condemned to Death by a Nation seditiously stirred up against him, and by a Sanhe­drin envious of his Glory: but he was justified by the Conscience of Judas, whose remorse for having be­tray'd him, forced him to kill himself, and by the solemn declaration of Pilate, who washed his hands [Page 136] in the presence of the Jews, to shew that he was in­nocent of the Blood of that just Person. He was justi­fied too by the voice of the Centurion, who saw the prodigies his Death was attended withall, and soon after by the mouths even of those who sought his ru­in, and who being prick'd to the heart, cry'd out to the Apostles, Men and Brethren what shall we do, Act. 2. 37. And certainly 'tis a very great glory to our Messias, that the most guilty Conscience, the most unjust judges, the most insensible and hardened sort of Soldiers, and the most barbarous Murtherers should even bare record of his Innocence.

Jesus Christ suffered, but it was for our sakes: he gave himself up to the sorrow and anguish of Death, and made his life an offering for Sin. And if those wounds are counted honourable which a Subject re­ceives sighting in the presence of his King, and if those which a King receives for the safety of his Subjects are esteemed yet far more glorious: what Glory then did Christ deserve, who suffered in the presence and by the will of his Father for the Salva­tion of his People and Children, and who by his sufferings established such an Empire which no power can dissolve?

Lastly, Jesus Christ suffered a punishment proper only to Slaves; but we are also very certain, that during the time of his sufferings, he shewed himself to have a power over Nature her self, since the Graves were opened at his Death, the Rocks rent, the Sun was darkened, and the Vail of the Temple was rent in twain: And it is impossible that the Dis­ciples of the Lord should have invented so sensible and signal matters of fact, against the fresh and pub­lick knowledge which those men that lived in their days had of it, without being guilty of such an Ex­travagance which is more than humane.

[Page 137] But here we will ask the Incredulous in our turn, whether a voluntary Death, an innocence publickly own'd, the sorrows and anguish which a man suffer­ed out of Charity to the World, the homages which even insensible Creatures paid to him whom men scorned and condemned, were not certain Characters worthy of the Messias that had been promised us?

Indeed if you take away the proofs which evident­ly shew Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, you may then call his Cross a scandal to him and the World, but whilst those proofs shall be left entire, his Cross will serve the more to illustrate his Majesty and Grandeur, and we shall not only then assert that it was a voluntary Death which he underwent, and a Death that was foretold us; but we shall also shew that it is as it were a looking-glass-like, wherein we may see at once all the vertues of man, and all the Attributes of God. There we may find the pa­tience of a man, who suffered every thing from his equals, and from those who ought to have been his Servants and Disciples, the Charity of a man who pray'd for them that put him to Death; the Con­stancy of a just man, who bore the burden of the ini­quities of mankind; and the constancy of an inno­cent man, who at once as it were wrestled with the fury of men, and the Justice of God. There we may see the Masterpiece of Divine Wisdom, the de­signs of our Enemies frustrated, and the designs of God triumphing over the vain opinions and projects of men; the propitiation of sins made for us by the most dreadful parricide that was ever committed or conceived; the Synagogue buried in his grave whom they barbarously put to Death in defence of their priviledges; the Romans crowning a King with thorns who was to rule over all Nations, and putting a Reed instead of a Scepter into his hands, flesh and blood shewing us in the Death of Christ the true pat­tern [Page 138] of mortification; Jesus Christ dying attended with almost infinite numbers of Martyrs, who were willing to die in imitation of him, who was Conque­rour of the World only by his shame, who crucify­ed the flesh by the preaching of his Cross, and pro­cured Rest and Peace to the Souls of them that dyed by the Anguish of his Agony.

We may also see the Justice and Mercy of God clearly manifested in his Death. For what other Victim could have better evinced Gods hatred for Sin? What present could have been made unto men, that could have better discovered Gods love to them? The Incredulous therefore reproach us with the meanness of an object, wherein the vertues of men, and the attributes of God himself are shewn in their greatest height and perfection.

But let him that any ways doubts, it, consider the Resurrection of Jesus Christ which is as it were a key that opens all these Events to us. To dye and re­main under the power of Death, is indeed an evi­dent mark of weakness and misery: but to dye and yet overcome Death by rising from the Grave, is the mark of a supernatural power and a divine glo­ry. Thus Jesus Christ descended into the lower parts of the Earth for no other end but to ascend in­to Heaven, as the Eye-witnesses of that great and notable Event did plainly testify.

But the Incredulous will not believe their report, and they further pretend, that they can find in hi­story the example of a testimony very like that, which was nevertheless without contradiction repu­ted Plutarch in the life of Romulus.to be a meer Imposture. We read say they, that after the Death of Romulus, there was a certain se­nator, who having always lived in the repute of a very honest man, certified that Romulus was ascend­ed into Heaven, where he was inserted among the [Page 139] Gods, and that this Monarch had appeared unto him, &c. Is not this a matter of fact not unlike that which the Disciples testify'd of Jesus Christ through­out the Universe?

'Tis very like it indeed, only it has these follow­ing differences; there you read of a single person testifying that he had seen Romulus ascended into Heaven; but here you have a very great number of people who certifiy'd that they had seen Jesus Christ after his Resurrection. There it is pretended that a great and triumphant Monarch during the course of his life, was inserted amongst the Gods after his Death; (which agrees well enough with the com­mon notions of the Vulgar) but here that a man died a Death proper only to Slaves; that he rose a­gain and ascended into Heaven, which is a thing that could not easily enter of it self into any mans mind. There a Senator made use of a lie to free the Senate from the accusation of having murthered their King; but here we find men who exposed themselves to Death, and to torments, if it were possible more insufferable than Death it self, to bear witness of that they look'd upon as a Truth. There it appears that 'twas a cuning man who softned a multitude enraged for the murther of their King, by imposing upon their beleif: but here we have only simple and ignorant persons, who by their tes­timony convinced even the most obstinate amongst the Learned, and engaged them also to suffer Martyrdom. There a single person barely affirmed without any proof, that Romulus had appeared to him: here we have such Witnesses as convince us of the Truth of their Testimony by the most real and sensible proofs in the World, viz. the extraordina­ry and miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost confer­red upon them, and which they themselves frequent­ly imparted to others.

[Page 140] But lastly, it may be objected that we see now a days certain Enthusiasts and Quakers pretending themselves inspired by the Holy Ghost, who re­veals to them as they say, both what they should do and believe, whereas all men of sense know very well they do but dream all this while; and per­haps too the Disciples might have falsly pretended they had received the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. It will soon be seen how wretchedly foolish and trivial this same objection is, if it be only considered that tho these Enthusiasts vainly boast of their being di­vinely inspired, yet they pretend not to confirm their Doctrine by working any Miracles, or speak­ing strange Languages, &c. They think themselves inspired in respect of their Doctrine only; and since they commonly speak in the stile of the Holy Scrip­ture, which they have continually before their eyes, we have no reason to wonder at their taking for an inspiration a continual repetition of that they have so often read over. But the Apostles not only pre­tended themselves inspired by the Holy Ghost, (that they might not advance any thing but what was Or­thodox and conformable to the Holy Scriptures) but they affirmed also they had received some su­pernatural and miraculous gifts, the truth of which they could at any time justify by their Works. And if you should doubt it, you need only observe they did not prove the same by meer speculations, but by calling to bear witness of what they said, the senses of those they spoke to, nay the eyes of the Jews themselves both their Masters and their Enemies too. He therefore being, say they, by the right hand of God exalted, has shed forth this which ye now see and hear, Acts 2. 33. If you should doubt whether St. Peter really spoke just after this manner to the Jews; the multitude of those Proselytes converted by the evi­dence of this Demonstration, and a whole Church [Page 141] purely founded by the efficacy of the same, will suf­ficiently warrant the certainty of it. Should you suppose that the Disciples deceived the multitude, we will only remind you that they had to deal with several learned and skillful Adversaries, tho' they themselves were but simple and ignorant People. If you should imagin that the Vulgar delighted in suffering themselves to be thus miserably deluded, we will only put you in mind, that there could be no Faith more Grievous or terrible, according to the judgment of men, than that which they embraced when they turned Christians; that it highly concern­ed them throughly to examin such matters of fact, the belief of which obliged them to suffer Martyr­dom; that those of Berea who daily took care to compare the holy Scriptures, to know whether all things were really so as St. Paul had told them, cer­tainly would not have failed to consult their eyes and ears, to be assured whether the Apostles had any reason to pretend they could do signs and wonders; this latter examination being more sure and easy than the former; that 'twas not once or twice only St. Paul boasted of having made himself known by many signs, miracles and wonders wrought by him in the presence of those he wrote his exhortations to; that every one of his Epistles is full of Declara­tions of this kind, or of those things visibly relating thereunto; that he derived both his Arguments and the motives of his exhortations from that undeniably known effusion of the supernatural graces of the Ho­ly Ghost. Certainly no man can imagin St. Paul so senseless as to write to the Corinthians in these Words, Wherefore, Brethren, covet to prophecy, and forbid not to speak with tongues, 1 Cor. 14. 19. supposing those gifts had not been actually visible in the Church; nor would he have taken so much care to remedy those disorders which arose from the abuse of those mira­culous [Page 142] gifts, as we have already observ'd he did. Neither would he have warned them that the end of Prophecying was to edifie the faithful, but that the gift of Tongues as being miraculous was to convince the Incredulous. Lastly, he would never have un­dertook to correct the disorders of men, who valued those extraordinary Gifts more than Charity it self, as we see he did when he observed, that whether there were prophecies, they should fail, whether there were Languages, they should cease: but that Charity did ne­ver fail.

But we may easily see by his words how fully he was perswaded of these things. He had so great an admiration for so many miracles, signs, and won­derful works, which the Spirit of God wrought in the sight of men; that he knew not well what suit­able name to give to that Divine principle. Some­times he called it The excellency of the power of God, 2 Cor. 4. 7. sometimes, the exceeding greatness of his power, Eph. 1. 19. sometimes, the Excellency of the power of his might, Eph. 6. 10. All which ex­pressions are to the full as Natural as they are strong, and discover to us beyond all the arguments in the World the Idea St. Paul had of those miraculous gifts, and consequently that too which we our selves ought to have of them.

CHAP. I.
Of the Natural Temper, Dispositions, and In­clinations of the Disciples, and what sort of prejudices they were possessed with, when Jesus Christ manifested himself to them.

WE cannot better discover what Impression the matters of fact related in the Gospel may have, or ought to have wrought upon the minds of the Disciples, than by considering what sort of pre­judices they were till then possessed with. We shall therefore begin this third Section with the examina­tion of them.

Since the Disciples of Jesus Christ were originally Jews, they must needs have been possest with these five following prejudices. I. They were fully per­swaded that the Kingdom of the Messias was to be attended with temporal Prosperity. II. They imagined that the Messias would restore the King­dom of Israel to its former Glory, and once more raise up the house of David out of that disgrace, [Page 144] and almost oblivion it had lain under, to its anci­ent Power and Majesty. III. They believed their Law to be of an eternal duration. (Now by their Law I do not here understand the Moral Law only, but the Ceremonial one too, or rather the whole body of it in general, containing both the Moral and Ce­remonial Law.) IV. They esteemed their Sacrifices to be the most sacred and most inviolable Duty of their Religion, and they were far from imagining that those Sacrifices enjoyned by their Law should on a sudden cease, as soon as one Man was put to Death. V. And lastly, they could not consider the Gentiles but as an unclean and abominable sort of peo­ple in comparison to themselves. For besides the sin of Idolatry (which the Jews accounted so capital a crime as to deserve that God should for ever cast them off who were guilty of it) the Heathens were variously polluted and defiled according to the no­tions the Jews had of their Law, since they used none of those Ceremonies that were absolutely ne­cessary to their external Sanctification, by avoiding all uncleanness and legal Impurities.

As to the first prejudice, it can never be doubted but that the Jews expected a temporal Prosperity from their Messias. For besides that the Prophets seem'd to have disposed them thereto by so many excellent and noble Prophecies utter'd concerning him, who knows but that they might look upon Herod the great (tho born an Idumean) as the true Messias who was to come, being surprised at the noise of his Victories, the pomp of his Triumphs, and that constant Prosperity that continually follow­ed his Reign?

Nay it seems very probable, that Herod himself had a design to be taken for the true Messias, and therefore caused the Temple of Jerusalem to be de­molished, on purpose to re▪build it after a more [Page 145] glorious and magnificent manner; since it was the received opinion of the Jews of those days that the Messias was to have been the glory of that House, ac­cording to all the Predictions of the Prophets.

But whether there be or no any grounds for that conjecture, 'tis true at least that his surprising victo­ries and prosperity had made so great an impression upon the minds of the Jews, that a very consider­able number of them imagined, that Herod was the Messias whom the Prophets had promised, and who was to raise their Nation to the height of Happiness and Prosperity. For this opinion gave rise to the Sect of the Herodians that is mentioned in the Gospel.

And we ought not to wonder at it, since the cor­rupt heart of man delights in nothing so much as worldly grandeur and temporal prosperity. Therein consist the pleasures of great as well as mean Persons; and he that shall but consult the History of Mankind▪ will find that from the beginning of the World, those Societies which were distinguished from others by the splendor of honours, or enjoyment of tempo­ral prosperity, still prevailed over all the rest.

The Second received opinion of the Jews was, that their Messias was to restore the Kingdom of Israel to its former glory. For on one hand their Prophets had taught them that the House of David should reign, and endure as long as the Sun and Moon; And on the other they were sensible that the House of David was partly extinguished, and partly fallen in­to disgrace and humiliation. They expected there­fore from the Messias, that he would restore it again. And altho' the people had for a long time been go­verned by several Kings not descended from the Tribe of Judah; yet they still fed themselves up with that imaginary hope.

[Page 146] But above, all the Jews were firmly perswaded of the perpetual Duration of their Law, that is, that people should continually come up from all parts of the World to worship in Mount Sion, and offer up variety of sacrifices in the Holy Land. 'Twas this Law they had heard so often mention'd in their in­fancy, which their Parents, their Elders and their Teachers had so often entertained them with in their common discourse.

They heard every body speak of Jerusalem with a great deal of respect, and 'twas reputed a great oath among them to swear by the City of the great King. They considered the Levites as so many Sacred Per­sons; and the Priests as the Visible Ministers of an invisible God that was pleased to dwell among them. They sent yearly to Jerusalem the tenth of their goods; and brought an infinite variety of victims to be there offered up to God. They thought they could neither be acceptable in the sight of God nor man, unless they practised all the Customs their law prescribed them, touching their purity and external sanctification.

They had seen the greatest severities inflicted up­on the infringers of that Law: and the four sorts of punishments ordained by the Law against the Viola­ters of it (viz. that they should be strangled, or cut off by the Sword, or Burnt, or stoned to Death, according to the enormity of their crime) were continually before their eyes, and almost daily exe­cuted upon those that were guilty in breach of the Law; so that they could not but look upon the pre­scriptions of the Law as sacred and inviolable duties, they were obliged to perform. Now 'tis obvious to every one how great an impression these punish­ments must necessarily make upon the minds of the meaner sort of people▪

[Page 147] They were filled with the thoughts of their Fes­tivals and Solemnities, which were so very proper to fix and stay their minds by that great number both of Ceremonies and Circumstances they were attended with. Thrice every year they were enjoyned to go up to Jerusalem, during such certain sacred times, which they were obliged to observe with a particular devotion; and it was forbidden them to discourse any thing else during the Passover, but of the sor­rowful Captivity which the antient Israelites endur'd in Egypt, Exod. 13. 8. Neither were they permitted to eat any thing for seven days together but un­leavened Bread, in token of that Bread of affliction which their Forefathers had eaten. They were com­manded to kill as many Lambs as there were Fami­lies dwelling in Jerusalem, in token of the antient passage of the destroying Angel over the Houses of Israel. The Feast of Pentecost was to be commemo­rated with no less solemnity, at which time they were obliged to offer up to God the first fruits of the earth▪ It was a part of their Duty to observe yearly a solemn and general Fast the tenth day of September, as also to rest from all manner of Labour the first and last day of the Feast of the Passover, as well as the day called Kipur, in which they were not suffered so much as to eat, or drink, or anoint, or wash themselves. They were obliged to dwell seven days together in Tents during the Feast of Tabernacles, which Ceremony was particularly de­signed to commemorate the abode of the antient Israelites in the Wilderness.

Now every one knows that the greater number of Festivals and Solemnities there is in any Religion, the more impression they make upon the minds of the people, who are apt to think that Religion chiefly consists in external Rites and Ceremonies.

[Page 148] 'Tis certain that the great number and variety of sacrifices prescribed in the Law of Moses, and duly performed by the Jews, was capable enough to pro­duce this effect in the minds of the people. For they thoght every thing was to be offered to God. They offered him men, which was called Consecrati­on. They offered him the fruits of the Earth, which was called Oblation. They offered him their Li­quors, which was termed Libation. They offered him Spices which were burnt in his presence, and that was called Burning of Incense. Lastly, they of­fered him four-footed Beasts, which was more pro­perly called Sacrifice. They offered him also Burnt­offerings, and other ordinary Sacrifices. They of­fered Sin-offerings, and Peace-offerings. They of­fered some set sacrifices, and others accidental and occasional. They offered two daily, one in the morn­ing, and the other in the evening; as also an extra­ordinary one every week, and another extraordinary one every month, and new ones on every solemn feast day. They offered them either for the sins of the peo­ple in general, or for those of private persons in par­ticular. But on the day of the solemn expiation, they offered then two sacrifices, the one which the High-Priest offered for himself and his whole Family at his own proper charge, and the other he offered at the charge of the people, for the sins of the people. Then they chose two he-Goats, one whereof was offered as a sacrifice for sin, and was burnt out of the Camp, or City, and the other was sent into a desart near a mountain called Hazazel, where it was cast down head long. Which being done, the High-Priest cloathed in white Raiments, enter'd into the most holy place, holding a Censer in his hands full of hot burning Coals, on which he would sprinkle all sorts of spices, the smoak whereof made a kind of cloud, which covered the Mercy-seat all over, on which he [Page 149] would then power the Blood of the he-Goat that had been slain in the Porch. This being done, the High-Priest pull'd off his sacred Robes, and having put on again his usual Garments, return'd back to his own House, accompanied by all the people, who ended the day with festivals and rejoycings, because the High-Priest was come out from the presence of God safe and sound. So great a number therefore and variety both of Ceremonies and Sacrifices, could not but naturally have a great power over the minds of those, who from their infancy had had all those objects continually before their eyes.

We ought to make the same judgment on their different kinds of purification. For as Custom and Education only make us think Nudity a shameful and unbecoming state for any man to be seen in; so Custom, Education and Religion, which is often of more force than either, made them esteem all those unclean, who had contracted any legal impurities. The camp of the Israelites in the desart, and after­wards the City of Jerusalem was divided in three parts: the first was the place or habitation of God himself, who dwelt either in the Tabernacle, or the Temple. The second was that of the Levites, who dwelt round about the Sanctuary: and the third was that of the people, which was separated from the Tem­ple by that of the Levites. In like manner they dis­tinguished three sorts of unclean persons: The first sort were only excluded from the Temple or Dwel­ling place of God; such were all those who had touched any dead Carcass, or were uncircumcised: The second being look'd upon as more unclean than the first, were shut out both of the first and the second habitation, viz. out of the Temple and the Habitation of the Levites, that is, they were entire­ly excluded out of Mount Sion, such were all Wo­men after Child bearing, or all men and women that [Page 150] had any natural or accidental impurities: Lastly, the third, the most unclean of all were excluded out of those three Habitations, and utterly sequestred from the Society and Communion of the people. Such were all Lepers who were not only looked upon as defiled, but also as persons who might easily defile other people, and who to distinguish and make themselves known in those very places where they lived a part by themselves, were obliged according to the He­brew Tradition to wear torn garments, to let their hairs grow, and walk about with their faces cover­ed with a vail, as if they were capable of defiling other men by their very looks, or as if other men were afraid to contaminate their eyes by looking up­on them, as it appears by the allusion of the Prophet Isaiah to that custom, in the prophecy contained in his 53. Chap. v. 3. We hid as it were our face from him, that is, as the Comment imports, as one hideth his face from a Leper.

It is certain that so many cautions being required of them to avoid the contracting of any legal impu­rities, to cast out from among them the unclean persons, to purify themselves either by Washing, or Sacrifices, or the Ashes of a red Cow; as also the prejudices which this Custom supported by Educati­on, and strictly enjoyn'd by the Law of God, so naturally suggested in their minds; I say it is certain that all these motives were the original cause of that invincible aversion the Jews had both for the Gentiles, who were in divers respects very unclean in com­parison to them, and for every new Religion that might either permit, or not at all insist upon those corporeal and external Impurities.

Add to this the profound reverence they had for the Temple, which the Antient Israelites us'd to call with such transports of Admiration, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord; The respect they [Page 151] had for the Levites, to whom God had commited the care of the Temple, Numb. 18. and the Priests in whomwas required so much purity, that they were ne­ver to perform their Sacerdotal office without having first washed their Hands and Feet, who were to bless the People, to burn Incense and offer the common and ordinary offerings, and who also were anointed as well as Kings and Prophets, to shew how accept­able they were in the sight of God.

Add also to this, the great care their Lawgiver had taken to engrave their Religion on their Walls, and even upon their Garments, which latter were to have the Law, or at least the greatest part of it, written upon them, as also the pious care that same Lawgiver had taken to sanctify the Estates of the Rich, in teaching them how to consecrate them to God, and to comfort the poor in their necessities, by enacting such admirable Laws designed only for their Subsistence, Levit. 19. Deut. 15. 7, 8, 24.

Lastly, To all this you may yet further add those wonderful Laws of Equity and Justice, whereby their Lawgiver had so prudently determined what Judg­ments shouldbe executed in the midst of that people: those Laws which seemed to be only the first and most just determinations of the Law of Nature, and which may and ought to serve for an example to all Civil and Political Laws established in the World.

Now from all this it necessarily follows; First, That the Disciples could not look upon Jesus Christ as the Messias who was to come, and whom their Nation expected with so great impatience, without expect­ing from him a Temporal Happiness and Prosperity. This plainly appears by the request which the Mo­ther of Zebedee's Children made to Jesus Christ when she came to him, saying, Lord grant that these my two Sons may sit, the one on the Right Hand, and the other on the Left in thy Kingdom, Mat. 20. 21. The Dis­ciples [Page 152] therefore must necessarily be strangely offen­ded to hear that their Master was not come to com­mand, but to serve, and give his Life as a Ransom for many; that he should be the greatest in his King­dom who was most humble; and that the greatest was to be as the least, and as one that serveth.

Besides, how strangely must their hopes be cross'd to see that nothing but Misery, Poverty and Afflicti­ons, continually attended the profession they had em­braced, of following Jesus Christ.

They must have certainly found something or other in their Master, which recompens'd the loss of that Temporal Prosperity they so eagerly thirsted after, and made them patiently endure all sorts of Afflictions; and that recompence could be nothing else but the Doctrine or Miracles of Jesus Christ. Yet 'twas not his Doctrine, because they understood it not for along time, as is evident by so many vain, frivolous, absurd and ridiculous questions that were offensive, and savoured of little respect to their Master. Besides, what was most holy and most pro­per to perswade men to embrace his Doctrine, was that part of it which was most spiritual, and that part was hid from them, and they could not under­stand it, because their minds were filled only with gross and carnal Ideas of the World, as it appears by their Discourses to their Master, which they themselves relate after so simple and ingenuous a manner. They must then necessarily have found in Je­sus Christ such miracles as served them instead of all their o [...]her desires. And 'tis by them chiefly that Jesus Christ proved the truth and Divinity of his Calling to them. He told them that the Father had not left him without a witness, but that the works which he did, testify'd that the Father had sent him. And on another occasion he solemnly declared that there was a greater witness than John the Baptist, adding [Page 153] that the works which the Father had given him to do, were those that should testify of him.

But perhaps it may here be objected, that John the Baptist could draw a great multitude after him, and be esteemed a Prophet among the Jews, without ha­ving wrought any Miracles, at least none that we know of, or meet with in the Gospel, and conse­quently that it's no wonder if Jesus Christ as well as John the Baptist drew a great number of Disciples after him, not so much upon the account of his Mi­racles, as his extraordinary Piety, and the pro­mises he made them of an Eternal Life. To this I answer First, that tho' we read of no kind of Mi­racles that John the Baptist wrought himself in the whole Course of his Life, or of his Ministry, yet it is sufficient that his Birth was signalized by a very surprising Miracle, which was sufficiently known by all his Nation, to make them expect great and wonderful matters from him. Secondly, I say that as John the Baptist wrought no Miracles, so neither was he looked upon as a Prophet that was to have done any. He was not that Messias of whom it had beeen foretold that he should be the desire of all Nations, that he should be called the God and Savi­our of the World, at whose coming God would shake Heaven and Earth, the Sea, and the dry Land. He was no more than his forerunner: He was the voice of one crying in the Wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his Paths straight, Matt. 3. 3. Thirdly, John the Baptist declared only to them the coming of the Messias, which could not but very much please the Jews, and which perfectly well agreed with their Hopes and Opinions. His Ministry had nothing but what was very grateful and pleasant. And it was not requisite he should work any Miracles to exhort the Jews to receive the most wellcome tidings they could ever hear of. But it was not [Page 154] so with Jesus Christ, who was obliged to shew the Messias in his own Person, and him too so contra­ry to that Idea they had framed to themselves of him, even from their infancy. So that he could not chuse but exasperate them against him. And to this (if I may mention it by the way) we ought to refer the different success of the Ministry of John the Baptist, and that of Jesus Christ, which was signi­fied in the predictions of the prophets, who fore­told that John the Baptist should reconcile the Hearts of the Parents to the Children, but on the contrary, that Jesus Christ would be a stumbling block, and an offence to Israel.

Since the Jews so eagerly expected the coming of the Kingdom of the Messias, they framed a very agreeable Idea of him to themselves, as they do still to this day. They invested him with all the Splendor and Glory they could possibly wish to themselves. They painted him (if I may so speak) in Colours suitable to their own Pride and Ambiti­on. They expected they should speedily have Kings of the Earth for their nursing Fathers, and Queens for their nursing Mothers, nay they imagined no less than to have them immediately for Man Servants and Maid Servants. These things they had been told of from their Infancy; and that Carnal and Temporal Messias they fancied, was as it were the Idol of their Hearts. Soon after John Baptist ap­peared in the World, who setting forth the King­dom of the Messias in such terms as the Prophet Daniel had made use of before him, publickly af­firmed that the Kingdom of Heaven was at Hand, Mat. 3 2 At the report of this agreeable voice, all the people ran in crouds to hear it from Jerusalem, from Decapolis, from Judea, from Galilee, and from the Cities beyond Jordain. John preached Repentance to them as a necessary preparation to become partakers [Page 155] of all the Benefits they were to expect under the Messias: and they willingly hearkened to his preach­ing. He exhorted them to be reconciled to one an­other, and so to become Subjects of the same Heavenly King: they renounced then all their differences and quarrels, the dear expectation they had of their Messias stifling in their hearts all Passions and Re­sentments. But when John the Baptist had as it were led them by the Hand to Jesus Christ himself, they were strangely surprised to find in him nothing of what they expected. They found in him Poverty, where they thought to have found Riches, Shame and Afflictions, where they thought to have met no­thing but great Splendor and Temporal Glory. For this Reason therefore they rejected him with Horrour and Abomination; all their thoughts being on a sudden changed into indignation and anger a­gainst him, in whom before they had fixed all their imaginary hopes.

But tho' the generality of his Nation cast him off, there were yet a certain number of persons who were willing to follow him; and that number daily increased in proportion as Jesus Christ's sufferings and afflictions increased. There were at first but twelve whom he called to his Service. Then sent he seventy others abroad, who were succeeded by a great may others after his Death. And their number further increasing with the fury of the San­hedrin, there were at length many seen who testify'd in behalf of that crucified man.

But how come those Disciples to follow a Messias so contrary to their first Ideas and receiv'd opinions? How is it possible they should not have been discou­raged at his Cross, unless Jesus Christ had promised them to do signs and wonders? How could they have been with him night and day for three Years and an half, without inquiring into that important matter of [Page 156] fact, or knowing whether he were really able to do Miracles or not? Or how is it possible when they found their mistake, that Jesus Christ was but an ordinary sort of a man, uncapable of working any signs or wonders, they should not have forsaken him as a Whymsical Impostor? How could their minds be so suddenly changed, as to look on Humili­ation and Meanness, Misery and Afflictions, as upon the true and real Character of the Messias, they I say, whose minds Education had filled only with carnal Ideas of the flourishing Kingdom of the Messi­as? But above all, how could they be present at the Crucifixion of their Master, without being redu­ced to the last greatest Consternation and Confu­sion?

So that the second Consequence which may very well be drawn from these principles already esta­blished, is that the Disciples having always imagi­ned with their Fathers and Mothers, their Brothers and Sisters, their Teachers and Elders, and in ge­neral with their whole Nation, that their Messias should have restored the Kingdom of Israel, and ha­ving understood those words in a literal sense, it is impossible but that they should be extreamly offen­ded to see him wearing a Crown of Thorns upon his Head, when he was nailed on the Cross, and a Reed instead of a Scepter in his Hand: Nay more than this, 'tis morally impossible but that this object must have rooted out of their Hearts all thoughts of Pride and Ambition, and all pretensions to Great­ness and Temporal Prosperity, which their Blindness had caused them to conceive upon this mans ac­count; unless there had happened since his Death such supernatural and extraordinary things, as were able to revive in their Heart such great hopes as these.

[Page 157] Thirdly, We shall conclude from the Principles we have already established, that the Disciples as well as all other Jews, being as it were ty'd to their Religion by what they had Seen and Heard, by their Inclination and Ʋnderstanding, by their Interest and Piety, by their Customs and Education, and by the Advantage wherewith they might well flatter them­selves of being distinguished from all other Nations of the World, and being further as it were wedded to it by that great number of Ceremonies and Cus­toms, the Justice and Holiness of which they could no way doubt of, since they had been so exactly prescribed them by the Law of God himself; it cannot be supposed but that they imagined their Law to be of an eternal Duration, and that being ex­treamly averse to every new sort of Worship which was contrary to that of Moses; they could not have so suddenly altered their opinion, nor could there have happened so strange a revolution in the Hearts and Minds of so many persons united, and as it were link'd by so many respects to the Law of Moses; that in so small a period of time the Souls of all those Jews should have been so entirely changed, as that they should begin to look upon the Jewish Reli­gion as upon a Dispensation granted with a provi­so, and which was to come to an end, and for the future be considered only as a thing altogether useless and out of Date.

I confess that this principle was not first of all approved of in the World without great contest and difficulty, and that there were for a while cer­tain Judaising Christians who taught others that the Law of Moses was still in force, and that it was ne­cessary to Salvation, to joyn the Doctrine of Jesus Christ with the Ceremonies of the Law: But then it is well known they were only either some of Christ's [Page 158] Enemies who started these questions out of a parti­cular design to make a division in the Christian Church, or some Jews turned Christians, as yet very weak and not fully strengthened in their belief, whose scrupulous Zeal and blind Superstition caused all those Controvesies. But however, 'tis evident that the true Disciples of Jesus Christ, and especially the A­postles, were not long in an errour as to this point. They affirmed that men were justify'd only by the Faith of Jesus Christ without the works of the Law. And 'tis manifest that in the first Council held at Jerusalem, the Disciples of our Lord abolished the Customs and Rites of the Ceremonial Law.

But at last it is of no great moment, whether the Ceremonial Law or Religion of Moses was abolished, ten years sooner or later. Still it is certain that it was sometimes abolished, or rather to speak more exactly and truly, it was fulfilled by the Gospel, and so the observation of it ceased.

Now I demand how it is possible that those men who were so devoted and bigotted to that Law, who made it the object of their thoughts and most com­mon discourse, should so great a number of them, and in so short a time, with one common consent re­nounce that Law which Piety made so venerable, and Honour and Interest so valuable in their Esteem? Whereas so many ages elapsed before the coming of Jesus Christ into the World could not wear out of their minds that profound esteem and respect they had for that Law. For tho' they had often broke it in several respects, yet it may be said in their be­half they almost always look'd upon it as inviolable. And can we suppose that so many ages as have pass­ed since the Death of Jesus Christ, could not remove that perswasion so deeply rooted in their Mind, that their Law was to be eternal: and yet that a [Page 159] few years should perswade that great multitude of Disciples, converted by the preaching of the Apo­stles, that all those Rites and Ceremonies were be­come invalid by the Death of a Man, whom the Sanhedrin had condemned to be executed as a Male­factor, without any extraordinary or supernatural accident intervening, which should occasion the framing to themselves such Ideas so particular, and so contrary to their first Prejudices?

Certainly we may very well affirm, that our Incre­dulous Adversaries have too great a value for im­posture and ignorance, when they imagin that an universal delusion, and unanimous consent to a Lye, could convert Nations, Sanctify Mankind, and spread the Knowledge of God throughout the World, accor­ding as it was foretold by the Scriptures; or that a few simple and ignorant Fishermen, whose know­ledge extended no further than their Employment, should discover the defects and imperfections of the Ceremonial Law, and introduce instead of it a Spiritu­al worship, as really more conformable to the Nature of God who is a Spirit, and more worthy of man who is a Spirit, and more worthy of man who is a Reasonable Creature; that those simple and ignorant men should discover the Sacrifices un­der the Law to be only Types of the Death of a man, who was condemned to be executed as a Male­factor; that they should attribute this thought to John the Baptist, and make him express it only in these words, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World, John 1. 29. Words so full and comprehensive, that they contain the whole sum of Christan Religion: And Lastly, That they should in­vent Mysteries so very different from mens ordinary Thoughts and Conjectures, and so far above the Capacity of the most judicious and learned, that it may deservedly be said of them, that they are such things which Eye has not seen, nor Ear heard, neither [Page 160] has it enter'd into the Heart of Man to conceive them, 1 Cor. 2. 9.

Lastly, Experience tells us how difficult it is for persons already advanced in years, to renounce the Common practices generally approved of in the World, especially when authorised by Religion and Education. How hard would it be for us Christians to live as the Jews? And yet it would be more diffi­cult for them to live as we do. Because we look up­on all their Customs as things very indifferent in themselves, whereas they always look'd upon our Practices as scandalous and unlawful. How then was it that not only one or two Jews, but thousands who had embraced Christianity, no longer in the least scrupled to converse with the Gentiles, nay to to live with Heathens, who before were an Abomina­tion in their eyes?

You will say this was not without many consider­able difficulties, and was the cause of several great Animosities and Disputes. I grant it; but yet it appears the Ceremonial Law was utterly abolished presently after the Death of Christ; the Apostles having determined that it had been accomplished in his Death, and that it was not Lawful to joyn the Carnal Ceremonies of the Law with the Spiri­tual worship of the Gospel. And I say, that had not the Apostles both testify'd the Miracles and Re­surrection of Jesus Christ, and wrought very great wonders themselves, it was naturally impossible they should have executed so great a design, especial­ly in so small a time.

For certainly if we consider the Disciples as born Jews, they must necessarily have been very much de­voted to their own Law.

If we consider them as poor and mean people, they could not but have been passionately fond of that Law which gave such wonderful precepts for [Page 161] the Administration of Justice, and the relief and com­fort of the Poor.

If we consider them as simple and ignorant men, they could not but have a blind love and obedience for their Law, as all ignorant People have for the external objects of Religion.

Lastly, Should we consider them as prepossessed with the usual prejudices of their Nation, they must necessarily have expected a Glorious and Trium­phant Messias, who instead of abolishing the Law of Moses, should have established it throughout the World.

Yet we need only consider the event to clear the truth of this matter. We shall not insist upon all the Reflections we might easily make hereupon; It's sufficient to have taken notice of those things by the by, because they may serve in some measure to illustrate the particular examination we shall make of the Miracles of the Gospel.

We have already considered them in general, sufficiently to convince all reasonable Persons. But it may not be amiss to insist more particularly on them, that we may confound the Obstinate and In­credulous, and make them at least truly sensible of their Errour, tho' perhaps we cannot reclaim them from it.

To do this better, we shall lay down four miracu­lous matters of fact, which shall be as so many cen­ters of the Truth we enquire into, because there are several lines and degrees of Evidence and Light which necessarily lead us to the Truth of each of these matters of fact, and then we shall joyn them all together, the better to form a full and perfect Demonstration of them.

CHAP. II.
The first Center of Truth: a particular considera­tion of the Miracles of Jesus Christ.

WE dare say that such is the nature of these Miracles, that the composers of the Gospel durst not, could not, would not have forged them, had they been really false.

I say they durst not, because they could not but have been publickly known. To prove this I shall lay down four Examples of them, which are I. The History of Zachariah the Father of John the Baptist. II. The History of the Massacre of the young Chil­dren of Bethlehem. III. The miraculous feeding of several thousands at several times in the Wilderness, with a few Loaves and some small Fishes. IV. And Lastly, the supernatural prodigies which happened at the death of Jesus Christ himself.

As to the First, we may observe that the Subject upon whom this great Miracle was wrought is a Priest; a Priest who daily performed the functions of his Ministerial office, and was then actually burning Incense in the Temple of Jerusalem, at a very remarkable time, during which the people who expected him, were very intent at their Prayers to God in the outward Part or Porch of the Temple, whilst he himself was in the Holy Place.

Now tho' the Historian had observed only con­cerning the Birth of John the Baptist, that Zachari­ah and Elizabeth his Wife were far advanced in years, and that the latter till then was thought Barren, yet that event would have employed something so extra­ordinary and surprising, that one might have been almost positive that the Evangelist durst not have [Page 163] been so bold as to forge it, against the publick knowledge which all the Jews must then have had of it. How then durst any one have affirmed that Za­chariah wholly lost the use of his Tongue whilst he was in the Temple; that all the people were Eye-Witnesses of it; and that he remained Speechless, till the time was come wherein he was obliged to give a name to that wonderful Child which God had given him in his old age, notwithstanding the Barrenness of his Wife? Supposing the Gospel wherein this matter of fact is related, was composed long after that Event: still it is true that St. Luke composed his Gospel before his Book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, and that he composed the Book of Acts somtime before the destruction of Jerusalem, as we have in another place already observed, and as it is without doubt true. Then supposing also forty, fifty, or sixty years, if you will, had past since all these things had happened, and before St. Luke composed his Gospel; can forty, fifty, or sixty years be sufficient to perswade several thousands of people, nay all the Inhabitants of that great and flourishing City of Jerusalem, that they had seen either with their own eyes, or that their Forefathers had seen one of their Priests wholly deprived of the use of his tongue, because he had seen a Vision in the Holy Place, and yet that he recovered it precisely and exactly at the time he was obliged to give a name to his Child?

Certainly, had none but Zachariah's Relations been acquainted with the Event of those things, yet it would have argued rashness in any man to invent any thing false concerning them. For what an ex­travagance would it have been in any one to pre­tend to invent it, against the publick Knowledge of a whole and very numerous Nation, so solemnly assembled together, and so intent upon that Event, [Page 164] nay so surprised at that prodigy, or if you will (according to the Incredulous) so fully satisfied that there was nothing in it but a vain Chimaera and delusion. And the people, says the Historian, waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the Temple. And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a Vision in the Temple: for he beckened unto them, and remain­ed Speechless, Luke 1. 21, 22.

But the manner in which Zacharias was healed is no less surprising. And it came to pass, says the E­vangelist, that on the eighth day they came to Circum­cise the Child, and they called him Zachariah after the name of his Father. And his Mother answered and said, not so, but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, there is none of thy Kindred that is called by that name. And they made signs to his Father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a Writing Table, and wrote saying, his name is John. And they marvelled all. And his Mouth was opened immediately, and his Tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. And fear came on all that dwel't round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad through­out all the Country of Judea, Luke 1. 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65.

Thus it appears this History consists of two Parts, the first whereof was known to all the City of Jeru­salem, and the other was spread abroad throughout all the Country of Judea, and certainly it is absolute­ly impossible any one should have in the least design­ed to impose upon the World in that Respect, a­gainst that double knowledge they must have had of that matter of fact.

For then the Evangelist would have taken away all possibility of belief from his Narration by the choice of those Circumstances he inserted into his History. Now it does not seem natural for an [Page 165] Author who wrote the History of Jesus Christ and his Miracles, in a time wherein it was so strictly ex­amined, and the followers of that Sect were ad­judged and condemned to Death with so much Seve­rity, in a time wherein as he himself makes the Jews of Rome tell it to St. Paul, speaking to him at the latter end of the Book of Acts Chap. 28. v. 22. For as concerning this Sect, we know that every where it is spoken against. I say it does not seem Natural that that same Author who knew it, [...]ay observed it himself, should have published such matters of fact, the falsity of which he would soon have been con­vinced of by twenty thousands of people, who must have been present in the Temple with Zachariah, or at least heard it related by those who were there present.

One of the most dangerous errors which the In­credulous plunge themselves in, is that they imagin that the same distance of time which is between us and those matters of fact related to us, is also to be found between those very matters of fact them­selves, and those who so related them. And they perceive not that whereas with respect to us 'tis many ages ago since all those things came to pass, yet 'twas but a little while since these things must necessarily have happened with respect to the Dis­ciples who published them to the World, either by their preaching or writings.

Now for St. Luke to have invented such matters of fact, must either have argued in him a certain drolling Mirth and pleasant Gayety of Spirit, in telling such stories so gravely, or else he must have had but a very mean opinion of Mens sense and un­derstanding in his time, to think they could so easi­ly be deluded and imposed upon.

The History the Evangelists give us of the com­ing of the Wise-Men of the East into the City of [Page 166] Jerusalem, of Herod's suspicious Concern, and the cruel cautions he used to secure his own Crown, by commanding all the Young Children that were in the City of Bethlehem, and in all the Coasts there­of to be slain, from two years old and under, ac­cording to the time he had diligently enquired of the Wise-men, I say this History is much of the same stamp with that we just now consider'd.

Had the Evangelists only told us in general, that the Wise-men saw a Star in the East, which they took to be the Star that signified the Birth of the King of the Jews, that would have been somewhat more suspicious. Had they told us only that those Wise-men came to Jerusalem, that would not posi­tively have concluded much. But when they tell us that they came publickly to Jerusalem, not any way concealing themselves, or the cause of their coming, and that the whole City was alarmed and concerned at it; Does it seem natural that a man should fancy he could perswade so great a City as Jerusalem was, that it had been disturbed and surprised at the ar­rival of Certain Wise-men, who were come to wor­ship the King of the Jews? That a man▪ who had proposed to himself to relate certain Fables whom it concerned that they should pass for true and certain matters of fact, should yet pick out such circumstances as those were, to vent abroad to a Nation that knew so very well the falshood of them? For if we consi­der who it was that related these things. 'Twas Matthew who was born a Jew. And who did he re­late them to? Why to several thousand Jews that had embraced Christianity, and who dwelling at Je­rusalem, knew full as well what had happened therein both in their days and in those of their Fathers, as they know at Paris what was done in that City in the days of Cardinal Richelieu, or as they know at London every thing that happened in those of Oliver [Page 167] Cromwell; and at Stockolm in those of Gustavus A­dolphus: And now I pray consider whether it be pro­bable any man could have made the like matters of fact believ'd in any of those great Cities by such a successful forgery; or whether he could have gained over to his side several thousands of people by the meer strength of his Fictions.

But if I grant that the Evangelist had boldness enough expresly to denote the coming of the Wise-men, and the impression it made on all the Inhabi­tants of Jerusalem against their publick knowledge, nay against the memory of those things they had then fresh in their minds; at least it can't be denied but that the consequences of that coming, and the Dependencies of that first event are of such a Nature and Character, as not possibly to have been forged or invented by the most bold faced and impudent Writer that ever was.

There are here two or three Circumstances so natu­rally and inseparably united one with the other, that it is impossible to grant one without granting the other too. No man can doubt of the coming of the Wise-men to Jerusalem, if he allows that this coming forced Herod to assemble the Grand Council of the Jews to know of them where the Messias should be born: neither can he doubt of the answer that was made him by the Sanhedrin, if he owns that Herod sent his men into Bethlehem, to slay the young Chil­dren that were there from two years old and under. So that if it can be made out that this last matter of fact was true, the other two will not need much proof.

Now I affirm that the Evangelist durst not assert this last matter of fact, had it been utterly false. For what! Since the reign of Herod surnamed the Great was so well known, that the least of his Acti­ons was publickly talk'd of; how could any one [Page 168] have presumed to impute falsly to him a Massacre so notable and extraordinary as that must have been? The City of Bethlehem had not as yet been destroyed, when the Evangelist wrote those things; and there­fore supposing the things false, there were so many Witnesses of the Falsity, as there were Inhabitants yet living in that City. That City was not so far distant from Jerusalem, but that those Christians who dwelt in the latter might have very well known the certain Truth of them. Besides, there was a very great Commerce between those two Places; and the time from the Birth of Jesus Christ to that in which this Gospel was composed, was not so long as to have given occasion to so impro­bable a Fiction. Suppose a Man in these latter Days should take upon him to make us believe that one of the present Kings in Europe, or if you will, of those who reigned forty or fifty Years ago, caused two or three thousand Children to be slain in their Cradle, that so he might involve in that Massacre the Ruin of a Child, whose Destiny he suspected would prove fatal to him: Certainly it is not very probable we should credit such a Fable, or that any one durst pretend to publish it; nay, had so much as the least Thoughts of it. But then 'tis much more improbable, that any one should endeavour to perswade those Men to the Belief of it who lived in that Kingdom, or in those very Places where such a thing was supposed to have happened.

But to come a little nearer to the Death of Je­sus Christ. The Evangelists represent him to us as having lived thirty Years obscurely in the World. Now had it been their Design to put us off with Stories, they might have perswaded us, that Jesus Christ, during his abode here, had been often wrap'd up into Heaven, or transported into far [Page 169] Countries, where he had done many Signs and Wonders; nay they might have told us too, that for the space of thirty Years he had continually wrought very sensible and wonderful Miracles in the midst of the Jews: For it was as easy for them to suppose such a thing as all the rest. Yet it ap­pears that the Evangelists include all his Miracles in the three last Years of his Life: And what is the Reason of it? Because they wrote nothing but Truth. But we shall not here insist much upon this Consideration.

What is most certain is, That the Evangelists having delivered in their Writings, that Jesus Christ had done a great many Signs and Wonders before a great number of Witnesses, and having set down the Time and Place when and where they were done, they must necessarily have been void of all Shame, as well as Reason, to relate such things as these, if they were false. They tell us, That Jesus Christ, with a few Loaves and some small Fishes, mi­raculously fed in the Wilderness, at one time, five thousand; and at another, three thousand men; be­sides Women and Children. Now I am at a stand to imagine how it can be thought natural for one Man to undertake to perswade several thousands, that they had been wonderfully fed, and not only to relate the bare matter of fact it self, but also bring in Christ reproaching the Multitude, that they followed him not purely for the sake of his Miracles, but the Loaves he fed them with; and then the Multitude excusing themselves, and saying, that Moses had fed their Forefathers, and that he must also feed them, if he would have them be­lieve in him; as also Jesus Christ bidding them on this Occasion to labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, Joh. 6. 27. and to that end promising to give them [Page 170] his Flesh to eat, and his Blood to drink: All which Expressions are indeed very extraordinary in them­selves, and such as no Man ever made use of before him.

But there are matters of fact related in the Gos­pel more extraordinary and surprising than these▪ There is nothing so remarkable, and which strikes us so much with Astonishment, as the Description the Evangelists give us of the Prodigies that atten­ded the Death of Christ: And behold, say they, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurre­ction, and went into the holy City, and appeared unto many, Matth. 27. 51, 52, 53.

We shall not here insist on each particular Cir­cumstance that attended this miraculous matter of fact; neither shall we nicely examine the Resurrecti­on of those Saints whose Bodies came out of their Graves, and appeared unto many in the City of Jerusalem. It will be sufficient for us to consider only those Prodigies which drew the eyes of the whole World, and could not but universally cause a publick Consternation, and make a fearful Impres­sion on the Minds of Men. Now I affirm, it cannot naturally enter, I shall not say into the Mind of a sincere honest Man, but even into that of an Im­postor, to imagine he could ever be capable of ma­king others believe things so notoriously known, as those we now have under Consideration must have been, had they been false.

'Tis not many Years ago since a certain Man was Executed at Paris for calling himself the Holy Ghost, who had a few Disciples, and some Followers: but his Sect was soon buried, together with him, in his Grave. Now let us suppose, if you will, that his [Page 171] Disciples had preach'd after his Death, and com­posed a new Gospel, filled only with the Doctrine and Precepts of that Man, who was thought by them to be no less than a divine Person: I ask then (whatsoever Extravagance you may suppose them to have been guilty of) whether you can conceive it could have entred into their Minds to perswade the People of Paris, that the very Day on which that Man who called himself the Holy Ghost died, the Church of Nostre Dame was either thrown down or demolished, that its Altars and Statues were bro­ken down; that there happened an Eclipse of the Sun, the greatest that ever was known, accompani­ed with such a mighty Earthquake, that even the Rocks were rent; and that all these Wonders wrought so great an Impression upon the Mind of a certain Captain that guarded the Body of the exe­cuted Person, that he believed in him? Doubtless these whimsical Men could not have taken a more effectual way, not only to hinder others from be­lieving their Report, but even to undeceive all those who might till then have been led away by that pernicious Sect, than to insert in the Gospel they were to compose of the Doctrine of their Master, such Circumstances as would have contradicted the publick Knowledge and fresh Remembrance every body had of things so lately done, and to advance such matters of fact as would immediately have been proved to be false by the publick Testimony every body could give of them. Now all this may be very well applied to the Disciples of Jesus Christ. For supposing those Disciples were very great Im­postors, we cannot reasonably ascribe to them any other Design than that of deceiving Men, by making them receive Falshood for Truth: And it is sufficient if they had that Design, and were not wholly void of Reason, to make us think they could not have [Page 172] had [...]e Boldness to invent such Circumstances as these, and afterwards publish them to the World.

But after all, was there not a very numerous Church [...] in Jerusalem when that Gospel was composed? And did not that Church consist of ma­ny thousands of People who dwelt at Jerusalem, and knew perfectly well whatever had happened at the Death of Jesus Christ? Certainly no Man can doub [...] [...] it, unless he has a mind voluntarily to [...] himself. Those very Christians then of Je­rusalem saw all those things which happened at the Death of Christ: for they were the Men that had been converted by the preaching of St. Peter, and the other Apostles; and who, being prick'd to the Heart, cried out, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Acts 2. 37. They had seen then that the Sun was not eclipsed, that the Rocks rent not, that there happened no Earthquake, no surprising and supernatural Prodigy at the Death of Christ: And if they saw none of these things, they could not but look upon the Report of the Evangelists as a scandalous Lye and notorious Falshood, design'd to seduce them from their rational Belief, and per­swade them out of their Senses. But it is farther observable, that not one only, but three Evange­lists, have written these things; who, as appears evidently, did not compose their Gospels together, but separately, and at different times, and yet all agree in their Relation of that notable Circum­stance of the Death of Christ. And no doubt but they all agreed also in the Relation of it, when they preached the Gospel by word of Mouth.

Who then can reasonably believe, that when the Disciples preach'd the Gospel in Jerusalem, in or­der to establish a Christian Church there, their De­sign was to perswade the Jews that they must not believe their own Eyes? and that what they had [Page 173] seen, was not that thing which they had seen? Who can imagine that those very Jews themselves who were present and assisted at the Death of Je­sus Christ, should suffer themselves insensibly to be perswaded that that fabulous Recital was a very true Narration, and believe that really to have happened which they certainly knew never came to pass? Who can even suppose that the Apostles could fancy themselves able to make the Jews look upon a crucified Man as the Object of their Adora­tion and Worship, by proposing to their Belief the most impudent and apparent Lyes that ever were invented since the Beginning of the World?

But it will concern us carefully to consider the rending of the Vail of the Temple; for that Cir­cumstance is so very singular, that it is sufficient of it self to stop the Mouths of our incredulous Adversaries, who tho' they should so inconsiderate­ly and wilfully delude themselves, as to suppose, that the Day whereon Jesus Christ died there hap­pened by chance, or rather, according to the or­dinary Course of second Causes, a real Eclipse, which had indeed seemed supernatural to the igno­rant Vulgar, but had nothing supernatural in it self; yet what can they say to the Vail of the Temple's being rent in twain from the Top to the Bottom? Could there be any natural Cause why it should be rent precisely and exactly at the time when Jesus Christ suffered Death? or could any ex­terior Darkness produce such an Effect?

Perhaps some will object, that the Primitive Chri­stians were simple and ignorant People, and that nothing could be easier than to delude and impose upon them. I grant it. But then what great Lear­ning was required to know precisely whether all those so sensible and so notable Prodigies had real­ly fell out upon the Day of Christ's Death?

[Page 174] We have already shewn, that among the several Circumstances of the Life and Death of Jesus Christ, there were several which the Disciples durst not have invented or forged, had they not been really true.

We must add in the second place, that there were a great number of other Circumstances which the Disciples could not have forged had they de­sign'd it. To say nothing of the great number of Lame People whom our Saviour caused to walk, of the Sick of the Palsy to whom he restored the Use of their Limbs, of the Deaf whom he caused to hear, and of many others diversly affected with various Diseases, whom he wonderfully healed to the great Amazement of whole Multitudes that fol­lowed him, and cried out, saying, It was never so seen in Israel, Matth. 9. 33. I say, to pass by all these Miracles, I shall insist only upon the Dead he restored to Life.

To raise a Dead Man to Life again, is certainly the most surprising, and which in all Countries and all Ages has been always look'd upon as the most impossible thing the Mind of Man is capable of imagining. We read only an Example or two of it in the Old Testament; and Men then had hardly any Notion of it. Besides, to raise a Dead Man to Life is no doubtful Miracle, which may any way be reduced to natural Causes, but it must necessarily be granted, that nothing but a supernatural Power can effect it.

Yet it was by raising the Dead to Life again that Jesus Christ was willing to testify of himself. And the Evangelists could not have imposed upon Men in that respect: 'Tis true, they might per­haps have deluded those Men that lived in a Climate and a Time very distant from theirs; but they could not have deceived the Jews in those things [Page 175] that had happened in their Days, and of which they were Eye-Witnesses. This will appear more evidently, if we consider that the Evangelists (as was said before) did not write their Gospels toge­ther, nor assisted one another in the Composure of them, and yet they agree in the Relation of almost the very same matters of fact, and the very same Miracles, not at all differing in the setting down the Times, Places, Persons, Witnesses, and all the Circumstances of those matters of fact which they testify and affirm. At Naim they tell us Jesus Christ raised a Man to Life again that was carrying away to be buried. He commanded the Bier to stop, and the Dead rose up at that very instant. The Man that was raised was the Son of a Widow. The Daughter of one Jairus being dead, he went up into her Chamber, and with a Word restored her to Life again, notwithstanding the Players up­on Musical Instruments, the Mourners, Attendants, and other sorts of People, whose Business it was, according to the Custom of those Days, to look after the Obsequies of the Dead, had at first laugh­ed him to scorn. Lastly, He raised Lazarus from the Dead in Bethany, before several Jews, and in the Presence of Martha and Mary, Lazarus's Sisters. He raised him to Life again four Days after he had been dead, and when he began already to stink. Such are the Things which the Jews learn in a Book that was composed in their Days, and which gives them the History of a Man whom they saw giving up the Ghost after he had been nailed on a Cross, and of his Miracles also that he wrought in the midst of them.

Now these matters of fact are, in my Opinion, so circumstantially told, that one must presently discover the Cheat, if there be any: for the Names both of the Places and the Persons themselves, are [Page 176] very exactly related. Every body knew too well, whereabouts lay the City of Naim: And the raising of a dead Man to Life, was too considerable an Event for any one to need any long Enquiry to be satisfied about it. Jairus was a Man very well known, and lived in a very good Repute: he had many Friends and Relations, so that nothing could be easier than to enquire whether his Daughter had really been raised from the Dead. Bethany was not above fifteen Furlongs distant from Jerusalem; and Lazarus himself was an Inhabitant of Bethany. He was then living, or at least his Sisters were; or if neither of them all were alive, yet there were still a sufficient number of Jews surviving, who had both seen and conversed with him after his Resur­rection.

Had all these miraculous Resurrections we have set down been false, 'tis certain the Jewish Doctors and Elders who took all the Care imaginable either to suborn false Witnesses against Jesus Christ, or corrupt one of his Disciples, either to make him pass for a Glutton and a Wine Bibber, a Friend of Publicans and Sinners, or for a Sorcerer, who cast out Devils only by Beelzebub the Prince of the De­vils; I say, it is certain that these Jewish Doctors could never have failed of presently convincing those Gospels of Imposture and Deceit, as soon as they should have been published. For to do this, 'twas only requisite they should go out of the City of Jerusalem, and visit those Places where those pretended Miracles were supposed to have been effected; not but that there were too, in Jerusalem, Men of Bethlehem, of Gadara, of Naim, of Bethany, of Capernaum, and of other Places where Miracles were wrought, of whom they might have enquir'd the Certainty of them. But tho' the Hatred of the Enemies of Christianity should not have been of it [Page 177] self sufficient to discover the Cheat, yet at least those Christian Proselytes who dwelt at Jerusalem, and were Members of that flourishing Church esta­blished there, must have had the Curiosity either to see those very Men whom Jesus Christ had raised to Life again, or at least to see those who had been Eye-Witnesses to the Resurrection, or to speak to their Relations and Friends, or to visit those Places where those Matters were said to have been brought to pass. Accordingly the Gospel tells us of a very great number of Jews who went to Bethany, on pur­pose to see Lazarus, who had been raised from the Dead: Of which We have the less Reason to doubt, who since those days have seen almost an infinite number of People undertake a Voyage into the Holy Land, not with a Curiosity to see Men that had been raised to Life again, or to hear whole Cities testify of that Event; but purely to visit those Places where all those matters came to pass, and to behold those Mountains and Rocks which are thought to have been honoured with the Presence of the Son of God. But Men went daily from Jerusalem to Bethany; so that every thing that was done in Be­thany, was very well known at Jerusalem. Although therefore neither the Jews, the profest Enemies of the Christians, nor the Christians, zealous for the Honour of their Master, should have taken no man­ner of care to instruct themselves in these things; yet since they were Inhabitants of Jerusalem, they must necessarily have very distinctly known the Miracles that Christ wrought in Bethany; and con­sequently, they must have presently rejected, as a manifest Forgery, the History of the Resurrection of Lazarus, had it been utterly false.

And this Argument is so much the stronger and more convincing, since the Evangelists relate not only one or two Miracles of our Saviour's, but [Page 178] their Gospel is a continued Series of miraculous Circumstances, or rather a Catalogue of the Sick that were healed, of the Blind restored to Sight, and of the Dead raised up to Life again. So that the very first Impression which this Gospel commonly makes upon Mens minds, is, that Jesus Christ, for the space of three Years, or three Years and an half, as long as his Office lasted, wrought more surpri­zing Miracles than have been either seen or known since the Beginning of the World. And so to be­lieve the Gospel, is firmly to believe, that Christ work'd those Miracles which are so often and so circumstantially repeated in it, and so inseparable from the other Parts and Accidents of his Life. It must not then be affirmed, that the Primitive Chri­stians embraced Christianity without enquiring in the least into the Miracles of Christ: for that im­plies a Contradiction. Neither must we say, that they believed those Miracles without a due Exami­nation of them. Such Things as these indeed re­quire no very great Examination; but they could not avoid examining them had they endeavour'd it: for 'tis not wholly left to my Choice either to know or not to know the Things which are done in the Place which I inhabit: neither does it whol­ly depend upon me to believe or not to believe certain matters of fact that are contradictory to publick Knowledge. And tho' a Man, under Pre­tence of Religion or otherwise, should endeavour to make me believe he had raised a dead Man to Life again in a Village a few Miles distant from the Place I dwell in, whom I might have both seen and known after his Resurrection; or if I had not seen him my self, many others had both seen and known, and many went to see: I say, all this is no more left to my Choice to know or not to know, than it is left to my Choice to be Mad or in my Senses.

[Page 179] For the better apprehending the Strength of this Argument, I shall make this Supposition. What if we, being fully perswaded that Christ did all those Miracles the Gospel relates, had gone up to the City of Jerusalem in the time of the Apostles them­selves, and reach'd thither just at the Evening of that Day of Pentecost on which St. Peter Converted so many People, by convincing them that he had received the Holy Ghost: I dare maintain first, that we could not have forborn examining such Things which made so great a Noise; then secondly I af­firm, that however willing we might have been to delude and impose upon our selves, we could not have been so much as twenty four Hours at Jerusa­lem, without knowing very distinctly the certain Truth of all those matters of fact. It would have been no very great Trouble for us to have enqui­red how Lazarus did, and his two Sisters Mary and Martha; and tho' by chance they might have been all three dead, to have desired to speak with their Friends and Relations, or with those that had seen Lazarus, and eaten with him both before and after his Resurrection. In like manner we might have easily spoken with the Friends and Relations of Jairus, and with those too of other People whom Christ had healed, or raised from the Dead in the different Parts of Judea and Galilee: and that was so much the more easy because Commerce was much more stirring between the Metropolis of Judea and the other Cities of the Holy Land, than between the Metropolis and the other Cities of the other Pro­vinces; the Jews being wont to go up to Jerusalem at least on every solemn Feast-day. Nay farther, we might have enquired about the Truth or Falshood of those wonderful Prodigies which, as the Gospel tells us, attended the Death of Christ: And since it was impossible that several thousand Witnesses [Page 180] should have been imposed upon concerning so great a number of evident and sensible matters of fact, so in like manner it would have been absolutely im­possible we should have become Christians only for twenty four hours, after we had left Jerusalem, sup­posing those matters of fact had been utterly false.

I have already shewn that the Life and Death of Jesus Christ were attended with such wonderful Cir­cumstances, as the Evangelists durst not have pre­sumed to invent had they been utterly false, nei­ther had the Power to forge, or make one single Person believe them, had they design'd to impose upon Mens Belief. There remains only for our full Conviction in this matter, to shew that they would not have forged them, had it been wholly left to their Choice.

I shall not here alledge that the Miracles of Jesus Christ, according to the Recital of the Evangelists, were attended with such Circumstances, and so ma­ny strange Events, that it is inconceivable the Dis­ciples should take any Pleasure in inventing them: such is, for Example, the tempting of our Saviour; a strange and most scandalous Passage indeed to all those who are not fully acquainted with the true Mystery of it, since it represents Christ to us as be­ing in the hands of the Devil, who sported him­self with his Weakness tho' he was not able to overcome his Virtue; one while placing him upon the Pinacle of the Temple, whence he advised him to cast himself down, another while upon an ex­ceeding high Mountain, from whence he shewed him all the Kingdoms of the World, and the Glo­ry of them. Now to see a Man in the hands of Sa­tan, would be a Sight that would shock us, to see a just Man, would be an Object more terrible; but to see a Prophet himself, would be a Wonder that would create Horror in us. What must it be [Page 181] then to see a Divine Person in his Clutches, or ra­ther one that is both God and Man, one that was called by way of Eminence, the Just, the Holy, the Man without Sin or Blemish, the greatest of all the Pro­phets, in [...]ine, the Son of God himself? He must ne­cessarily be much mistaken, that can imagine that such Thoughts as these could have naturally offered themselves to any Man's Mind, much less to the Mind of Ignorant People, who judge of Things by the Prejudices they are generally possest with. 'Tis true indeed, Christ is represented to us in the Gos­pel as surrounded with Angels who ministred unto him after his Temptation; but yet that Circumstance is so far from removing that which may seem offen­sive and surprising in that Event, that it rather makes it the more strange and incomprehensible; no­thing so ill befitting a Man who was but just now in the Power of the Devil, and carried about by him wherever he pleased, as to be immediately after waited upon by Angels. Add to this, the uniting of so many mean Circumstances with so many glorious ones that occur in his Nativity, in his Life, and in his Death, to instance in Christ's lying in a Manger, whilst he was praised by the Hosts of Heaven; his ha­ving not a Hole wherein to lay his Head, whilst at the same time he commanded the Fishes of the Sea to bring him Mony to pay Tribute to those who asked it of him; his shewing a great deal of Fear, nay even apparent Weakness, whilst he shook the whole Frame of the World, and made the Earth tremble, and the Sky to become dark; his begging of his Father that the Cup of his Sufferings might pass away from him, when at the same time he so well had prepared him­self for Death, as to have instituted a Sacrament for a Commemoration of it, unto the End of the World, his complaining that his heavenly Father had forsook him, whilst he promised Heaven to a Thief that glo­rified [Page 182] him upon the Cross. An hundred other myste­rious Contrarieties there are, which Divine Provi­dence inspired the Evangelists to write against their profest Opinions, against the Biass of their Passions, and their natural Ideas, that their Gospel might have a more extraordinary and more divine Cha­racter.

But these are not the Circumstances I mean, when I speak of such extraordinary ones in the Life of Christ, as the Disciples would not have forg'd if they could. By them I mean all the sensible and extraor­dinary Miracles which Christ himself wrought, and his Disciples have related to us; and these, I say, the Disciples would not invent, had they been false; which I prove by these two invincible Argu­ments.

First, that by their relating them, and above all, their mentioning both Places and Persons as it appears they have done, they manifestly ingaged themselves both to maintain and evince the Truth of them. Cer­tainly they doubted not but that they should be cal­led to give an account of them, They who so very well kn [...]w how difficult it had been for them to escape free when their Master himself was put to Death. They knew they should be compelled to maintain what they had thus affirmed, and they knew also they could never be able to defend their Imposture, if they should by chance be confronted with the Witnesses they mention'd. And all this is no very hard thing for any one to foresee; a Man, tho' not over-wise, may easily presage these Things, and it is sufficient that he be in his Senses to make him cautious of advan­cing such Matters as he thinks himself incapable to maintain, the Falshood of which would be presently discovered by the very Witnesses he mentions, by the Places he sets down, and the other Circumstances of the matter of fact he thus exposes to publick View.

[Page 183] 2. The Second Argument which proves that the Evangelists would never have forg'd the like matters of fact, supposing they had been altogether false, is, that by counterfeiting them, they necessarily render­ed themselves liable to be put to a great Confusion, when they should find themselves obliged to perform the very same Miracles. For, besides that it was very natural for any one to say to them thus; If it be true that your Master has wrought so many strange Miracles, surely he has also given you Power to do the like your selves; it being well known that the first thing they taught was, that Jesus Christ had sent them abroad with Power to perform the very same Works he had done. 'Twas no time therefore to use Shifts, or stand doubt­ing and shuffling, they were obliged either to sup­press what they knew concerning the Miracles of Je­sus Christ, or to perform the same themselves. Christ himself, when he sent them to preach in the different Parts of Judea, commanded them saying, Heal the Sick, cleanse the Lepers, raise the Dead, cast out Devils, freely you have received, freely give, Matth. 10. 8. And these are the Characters he gave of the calling of his Disciples. And these Signs shall follow them that believe; in my Name shall they cast out Devils, they shall speak with new Tongues, they shall take up Serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, they shall lay hands on the Sick, and they shall recover, &c. And they went forth and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and comfirming the word with Signs, &c. Mark 16. 17, 18, 20.

Thus it appears they could not well relate what Je­sus Christ had done, without at the same time publish­ing what they themselves were obliged to perform for the further Confirmation of the Gospel: so that they did not relate the least Miracle, without at the same time affirming they were able to do the like. It must therefore certainly be one of these two things, either [Page 184] that those Men had utterly lost their Reason, or that they sincerely believed the Miracles of Jesus Christ.

Had they thought them to be false, they would neither have engaged themselves to maintain an un­warrantable Fiction, by setting down so many Circum­stances more than sufficient to discover the real Truth of it; nor have rendred themselves liable to Shame and Confusion, by relating such Miracles they were not able so much as to imitate, at that very time when they professed themselves absolutely capable of doing every thing their Master himself had done.

Thus it appears to us, that the Miracles of Jesus Christ are such matters of fact which the Disciples had neither the Boldness, the Power, nor the Will to counterfeit, supposing they never had been done. And I think this enough to convince us in this respect, and to make us look upon those Miracles which have illustrated the Life and Death of Jesus Christ, as a Center of Truth that will infallibly perswade us of the Truth and the Divinity of the Christanity we profess.

CHAP. III.
The second Center of Truth. A particular Consideration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

HAving spoke of the Miracles of Jesus Christ, we come now to his Resurrection; an Event which ought chiefly to be considered in the Connexion it has with those Miracles: For if this Resurrection be true, without dispute those Miracles are so too; And if [Page 185] those Miracles are true, one cannot easily doubt of the Truth of our Saviour's Resurrection.

Now to take away all Scruples that may arise in our Minds concerning the Truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 'tis but reflecting a while upon Christ himself, upon the Jewish Doctors, who used all pos­sible Care and Precaution to prevent so much as a Re­port after his Death, that he was risen from the Dead upon the Testimony of the Watch appointed to guard his Sepulchre, upon the Procedure of the Apostles, and the discourse of all the Disciples in general; and lastly, upon that ready Disposition of Mind found in a great number of Jews to em­brace Christianity a [...] Jerusalem a few Weeks after the Death of Jesus Christ, and at a time when no­thing could be easier than to enquire into the Truth of his Resurrection.

As for Jesus Christ, the Evangelists unanimously tell us that he had several times foretold his Death and Resurrection to his Disciples: Nay 'tis observable, that those very Predictions are oftentimes intermixed either with such Circumstances as do not easily of themselves enter into any Man's Mind, or with those which seem to have no manner of Relation one with another; which proves that they cannot be the imaginary Conceits of a pleasant Fancy, that de­lights in the Invention of Fables. It is very impro­bable that the Evangelists should have invented the Discourse of Jesus Christ with St. Peter concern­ing the Sufferings that should certainly besall him at his going up to Jerusalem: And it is worth taking notice of, that St. Peter had but just made a very ex­cellent Confession of what Jesus Christ was, in Pre­sence of all the other Disciples, telling him, Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God; and that Jesus Christ had crowned this admirable Confession with that extraordinary Promise of his, Blessed art thou, [Page 186] Simon Barjona. For flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not pre­vail against it, &c. Matth. 16. 17, 18. Immediate­ly after Christ foretold what Death he was to suffer from the Chief Priests and Scribes; but added withal, he should rise again the third Day. Whereupon St. Peter rebuked him, and said, Be it far from thee, O Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But Jesus Christ instead of approving of that seeming Concern and Affection his Disciple had for him, severely reproved his Indiscretion in these words, Get thee behind me Satan, thou art an offence unto me for thou savourest not, &c. This History seems to be very natural and sincere, and that mixture of Circumstances which in all probability have no manner of relation with one another, could not of it self easily enter in any Man's Mind. St. Peters Confession was excellent, and the Promise Jesus Christ made him was extraor­dinary: Nay the very Expression of it implied some­what strange and difficult. But above all, it seems at first view that Jesus Christ too rigorously censures the great Zeal which Peter shewed for his Person, and it does not seem very natural that he who told him, Blessed art thou Simon Barjona, and promised to make him a Pillar of his Church, should tell him presently after, Get thee behind me Satan. 'Tis plain, a Man must, in spite of himself, perceive that 'tis [...]he force of Truth, and not the natural Agree­ment of those Circumstances that obliged the Evan­gelist to joyn them both together in one and the same Recital. And that which necessarily oc­casions this Reflexion of ours is, that Jesus Christ had really foretold his Death and his Resurrection, before ever he had suffered the one, or the other was brought to pass.

[Page 187] But what proves this better than any thing else, is, that Jesus Christ, upon cooler Thoughts, and the very Day before his Passion, did such a thing as had never been done before, and which doubtless never will be done again; and that is, he instituted a Memorial of that Death he was just upon the point of suffering: He foretold that he should suffer Death from the Chief Priests, the Scribes, and the Doctors of the Law: Nevertheless he might have easily a­voided it if he would by retiring into another place. But he chid, or rather storm'd at the Indiscretion of Peter, who would have diverted him from that Death; therefore he considered it as an Event that was to be attended with very happy and saving Con­sequences with respect to Mankind. And what hap­py Consequences could his Death have been attend­ed withal, unless it was to have been immediately followed by his Resurrection?

He first instituted a Memorial of his Death, and then voluntarily suffered it: He commanded that it should be commemorated, therefore he regarded it as an Event which was to be the Means of our Salvation. He foresaw that it would be commemo­rated; he foresaw then what would most infallibly come to pass, and that too in a time when there was but little Appearance of its ever happening. He did not say, that they should commemorate his Death only till he rose again, but till his Second Coming. He foresaw then, that he should speedily rise again, and that after his Resurrection he should depart in order to return again at the End of the World.

Besides, no reasonable Man can imagine that the Evangelists had wholly invented the Account of the Institution of the Eucharist: For there is a great deal of Difference between a Doctrine and a Practice. A Doctrine can hardly be forged, especially because [Page 188] it must be concerted by the Consent of several Per­sons: But a sensible Practice, a thing in Use, and as it were a speaking Doctrine, can much less be palm'd upon Mankind. And certainly 'twould be the great­est piece of Folly imaginable in any one, to think that a dozen poor Fishermen, astonished and cast down at the Death of their Master, and undeceived in the Opinion they had entertained that he was to have restored the Kingdom of Israel, Persons who knew not what things might come to pass by their publishing the Doctrine of that crucified Man, that that they should go and invent the Institution of the Eucharist with all the Circumstances of it, and make Jesus Christ utter these Words, This is my body which is broken for you: this is the New Testament in my blood: Words that implied something new and very sur­prising, which have given occasion to so many Con­tests, and are liable to such different Interpretati­ons; Words which S. Paul and the Evangelists una­nimously set down, but without any mutual Com­pact, as appears by the little Variety there occurs in their Recital of them. I say, it would be very extravagant to imagine that the Disciples had in the least thought of inventing these Words, or that History of the Institution of the Eucharist; so that we need not insist longer on any farther Proofs of it. We have already touched upon it in another Place, and upon another Subject. The only Consequence we shall draw from it here is, that Jesus Christ fore­saw his Death, prepared himself for it, and suffer­ed it voluntarily. Whereupon I argue thus:

If he foresaw that he should die, and if he volun­tarily offered himself up to Death, he then either foresaw that he should rise again, or he did not fore­see it. If he did not foresee it, with what kind of hopes then did he comfort his Disciples? What was it he promised them? Or what proposed he to [Page 189] himself by his Death? Why did he not shun it, as he might yet have done when he was at Supper with his Disciples? What meant he by instituting a Me­morial of his Dead Body, if that Dead Body were always to abide under the power of Death, and rot away as it were in the Presence of his Disciples?

And if he thought he should rise again, as we may very reasonably imagin he did, I say he himself could not have believed it, but only upon the Experience he had already made of that Power which had restored Sight to the Blind, Health to the Sick, and Life to the Dead. For he could not think his own Miracles false, and yet at the same time believe he should rise again from the Dead. If he thought he should rise again, he also thought his Miracles to be true. And if he believed his Miracles to be true, his Miracles must of necessity have been really so; because they were of a Nature incapable of Illusion and Deceit, at least with respect to those who wrought them. Jesus Christ could never imagine that he had filled five thousand Men at one time, three thousand at another; that he had raised to Life the Widows Son of Naim; the daughter of Jairus, and Lazarus of Bethany; that he had made St. Peter walk upon the Sea, &c. if all these things had not really been true.

No one surely can doubt but that Jesus Christ fore­told his Resurrection, if he considers that it was upon this Account only that the Jewish Doctors appointed a Watch to guard his Sepulcher, and commanded the Stone of it to be sealed. Sir, we remember, said they to Pilate, that that Deceiver said, while he was yet alive, after three days, I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his Disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say un­to the people, he is risen from the Dead. so the last er­rour shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, ye [Page 190] have a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can▪ So they went and made the Sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch, Mat. 27. 63, 64, 65, 66. This is such a matter of fact which the Disciples could not, durst not invent against the publick knowledge every body had of it, and which besides agrees very well with the other Circumstances of that Event. For how came that Report to be spread in Jerusalem, that the Watch slept when the Disciples took away the Body of Jesus, had they not really set a Watch to guard his Sepulchre? And what necessity was there to appoint a Watch to guard it, had it not been to hinder the Disciples from reporting abroad, that he was risen from the Dead?

And if Christ really believed that he should rise again, he could not have believed it, but upon the Truth of his Miracles, neither could he have belie­ved his Miracles to be true, had they been false. Thus it appears that the Connexion of all those Cir­cumstances, if narrowly considered, forms as it were a kind of a moral Demonstration, which can­not but throughly convince any just and reasonable Man.

But let us not slightly pass over that matter of fact, but having seen what Christ thought concern­ing his Resurrection, let us next consider the Opinion of the Scribes and Pharisees concerning it, and the Report the Soldiers made that were appointed to guard this Sepulcher. For the Consideration of those Circumstances may give us some light in the Discovery of that matter of fact, the most impor­tant and the most essential that ever was, or ever shall be hereafter.

In the first place, the Scribes and Pharisees, and generally every Member of the Sanhedrin, being in­stigated by the very same Spirit that had induced them to put Jesus Christ to Death, were in a great [Page 191] Apprehension lest his Disciples should take away his Body, and afterwards report abroad that he was risen from the Dead. We may judge how much they thought it for their Interest to prevent it, by the Attempts they had already made to put him to Death. And it is very probable, that since the Se­pulcher of Jesus Christ was to have been guarded but three days, they took all care imaginable before hand, for fear the Watch, thro negligence or otherwise, should have suffered that Body to be taken away, which it so mightily behoved them to keep in their Custody.

But let us consider the Event of all this. The Soldiers that watch'd the Body could not hinder it from rising out of it's Sepulcher. How so? Was it because they were afraid? or were they bribed not to discover the Business? Had they been bribed, one might very well imagine it was not in behalf of the Disciples, that they would run the hazard of losing their Lives for their Negligence or Treachery. What then were they afraid? But how could the Watch prove so fearful, and the Disciples on a sud­den so couragious, as to attempt the taking away the dead Body of one from whom they had so lately fled while he was yet alive? Besides, How could those Soldiers have reported such things as they did without manifestly contradicting themselves? For if they were asleep, how did they know that the Dis­ciples of Christ had taken away his Body? But why did not the Sanhedrin, for their own Honour, and the Respect they bare to the Truth, put all those Soldiers to the Rack? And if that Thought came not presently into their Heads, is it not natural to think they would have done it, when they found awhile after, all Jerusalem inclinable to believe in that crucified man, and that about six thousand Souls had already believed in him in one day, and that too [Page 192] but fifty days after his Death? Certainly the Sol­diers that watch'd his Body were still at Jerusalem; And the Sanhedrin had still the same Power and Au­thority as before. It highly concerned them to pu­nish the Negligence of those Soldiers, or make them confess the Secret of their Perfidy, and who it was that suborned them. I say, it highly concerned them to make that strict Examination, both to justify their own Procedure, and prevent the utter Loss of almost an infinite number of Persons that had already sided with the Disciples of that pretended Impostor. But this is not all. When on the Day of Pentecost, that is, fifty days after the Death of Jesus Christ, the Apostles shewed themselves in the City of Jerusalem, to testify there that they had seen him risen from the Dead, and that after he had several times appeared to them, and was gone up into Heaven, he had pour­ed down upon them the miraculous and extraor­dinary Gifts of the Holy Ghost, why did not the Sanhedrin then, who was so highly concerned in dis­covering the Authors of the taking away the Body of Jesus Christ; I say, why did they not seize upon the Apostles, and so make them confess how all things had happened? Why did they not confront them with the Watch? Why did they not cast Jo­seph of Arimathea and those Men in Prison, till they had made them confess what was become of that Bo­dy, as also every other Circumstance of their Im­posture?

'Tis already very unlikely, that if the Disciples of Christ had come by night, and had stolen his Bo­dy away, they durst have shewed themselves and ap­peared in publick, nay immediately confessed that they were his Disciples. It is much more credible they would have hid themselves after such an Action; and that if they preach'd at all, it would have been to People more remote, and not in Jerusalem, the [Page 193] very Place where those things had happened, nor in the Presence of that very Sanhedrin they were so much afraid of, and had so much offended.

Why then did not the Sanhedrin take the ordina­ry Methods made use of to discover Criminals? They were very ready by Threats, Torments, and Persecutions, to oblige the Apostles not to preach up the Name of Jesus Christ, but they never accu­sed them of having stolen away the Body of their Master whilst the Watch slept. They durst not enter upon that Examination; for they knew well enough what the Soldiers had told them, and 'twas that very thing which made them so apprehensive.

We all know well enough how Men generally act upon the like Occasions. Had the matter so hap­pened as the Soldiers afterwards reported, those very Soldiers would not have failed pursuing some one of the Disciples of Christ throughout the whole City of Jerusalem, on purpose to make him confess the plain truth by the many Torments they would have made him suffer; and the Scribes and Pharisees together with the other Doctors of the Law, would on their side have made such an exact Enquiry into the matter, that they would have at last found either some Witnesses, or some other Evidence, to prove the stealing away of that Body upon them. And that would have been no very hard task for them to perform; because it had been done during the Cele­bration of one of their Solemn Feast-days, when the People of Jerusalem were never so intent upon any Spectacle, as they had been upon the Sufferings of Christ; when what had so lately happened to such an extraordinary Man, had filled every body with Amazement: witness that which the Evangelist makes a Disciple utter on the way to Emmaus, as he was discoursing with Jesus Christ himself not Know­ing it was him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, [Page 194] and hast not known the things which are eome to pass there in these days? And since those men who had ap­pointed a Watch to guard the Sepulcher of Jesus Christ, had in all probability very expresly charged them to take care lest any of his Disciples should come by night and steal his Body out of the Sepul­chre, it is repugnant to Reason, and contrary to all outward Appearance, to suppose that the second night after the Soldiers were placed there, they should fall into so deep a sleep, as that the Disciples should be bold enough to hazard the taking away of this Body, or be able to roll the Stone away from the Sepulchre, and break the Seal; that they should have Time enough, Leisure, Freedom, and so little Fear as to untye and take away the linnen Cloaths wherein he was wrapped up, and the Napkin that was about his Face: For the Evangelists unanimously relate that they found the Sepulchre in that state.

Yet these are not the strongest Arguments that may be brought to evince the Truth of that matter of fact. We must also pass on from the Consideration of the Soldiers that watched the Body, to that of the Apo­stles themselves. Had they testify'd falsly that they had seen Jesus Christ risen from the Dead, it was ei­ther with a mutual Agreement, or without one. Now it cannot be without a mutual Agreement; for an Er­ror that is not supported by an unanimous Consent, must necessarily fall of it self to the ground, and it would have unavoidably so happen'd, while one would have affirm'd that Jesus Christ was risen from the Dead, another that he was not at all risen; one would have said that he appeared unto many, and another that he appeared to one only; another, that he appeared to no Body; one would have related the matter one way, another another way, and in fine, the most honest and sincere would have frankly confess'd that there was nothing at all in it.

[Page 195] But if they unanimously agreed to contrive this Imposture, there must have been then several Per­sons who agreed together constantly and unanimous­ly to relate a matter of fact, which they knew to be utterly false. Now that's a thing altogether im­possible.

1. First, Because it is inconceivable, that a man should willingly expose himself to all sorts of Punish­ments, and even to Death itself, on purpose to testify a matter of fact which he knew very well to be utterly false. 2. That tho' there should have been, by an unheard of Prodigy, one single Person of that mind, yet it is the height of Extravagance, to imagine that there were a very great number of Persons that took on a sudden that dangerous and fatal Resolution, especially such as had behaved themselves before after a manner quite opposite to that, and shewed not only a great deal of Caution, but Fearfulness in several other Occasions. 3. That tho a very great number of People should have agreed together to bear Witness to a Falsity, yet it could never be thought so of those who looked upon Lying and Perfidy as Sins that were altogether incon­sistent with their Salvation; neither could it be thought of those, who if they allow'd the Resur­rection of Jesus Christ to be a meer Fiction, must al­low also that they had followed a Phantom, a Chime­rical imaginary Messias; and if they own'd that they had follow'd a Phantom, they must likewise confess their own mutual Extravagance. 4. That this mutual Agreement could never have been so carried on, but that some of them, to avoid Punish­ment, would have discovered the Intrigue to the Jews with all its Circumstances, it being most certain, that since Jesus Christ had been so very basely betray­ed in his Life-time, it is more probable he would be so served after his Death: For they might indeed [Page 196] have expected some Reward from him when living, but they could hope for nothing from him after his Death, but Misery and Torments, Shame and conti­nual Remorses, for having followed a deceitful Im­postor. 5. And lastly, 'Tis not to be question'd, but that the very same Principles which had dissolv'd their mutual Fidelity, would more probably break off their mutual Treachery. And since the Love and Affection they had had for their Master, supported by a strong Perswasion on their side that he was the true Messias, had not been capable to maintain and keep up that mutual Fidelity, which made them say not very long before, Let us go there also, that we may die with him, John 11. 16. so that they fled, and wholly left him to the Power of his Enemies, can we reasonably suppose that having been unde­ceived of the Opinion they had entertained of their Messias, they should yet notwithstanding their Shame, Fear, and dejected Condition, presently after unani­mously agree to maintain and affirm a most horrid Lye, on purpose to blemish their Nation, by laying an imaginary Crime to their charge, and maintain it too to that degree that not one of them should recant, or contradict himself, but all of them unani­mously suffer the severest Torments, only to affirm that they had seen what they had really never seen?

'Tis yet further observable, that this was not a mutual Agreement carried on between twelve Apo­stles only, but also between all the Disciples of Jesus Christ in general, who made up a very considerable number. For Jesus, after his Resurrection, appear­ed one while to some Women, whom he command­ed to tell his Brethren that he was a going before them into Galilee, another while to Peter alone, and then after to the Twelve. One while he went out to find them as they were a fishing upon the Sea, and bless their Toil with a considerable Draught of [Page 197] Fishes; Another while he was in the midst of them, when they had met together to pray to God. Some time he sat at Table, and eat and drank with them; At another time he gave them several Instructions, and reminded them of those things he had taught them before his Death. At one time he manifested himself to above 500 Disciples, at another he con­victed an unbelieving Disciple by making him feel his Hands and his Feet, saying, Reach hither thy fin­ger, behold my hands, &c. and be not faithless but be­lieving, John 20. 27. One while he appeared to two Disciples as they were a going to Emmaus, discours­ed with them, and expounded the Scriptures to them by the way; At another time he assembled his Dis­ciples together, and commanded them to teach all Nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

It may not be amiss to reflect a little upon that vast Multidude of Disciples who testify'd they had seen Jesus Christ after his Resurrection. St. Paul, some where in his Epistles, affirms, that Jesus Christ appeared to above five hundred Brethren at once; and adds, that the greatest part of them were yet alive, but some were fallen asleep. Now 'tis most certain, that St. Paul would not, durst not, could not speak after that manner, had there not been a great number of Disciples still living, who testify'd that they had seen Jesus Christ after his Resurrecti­on. I would fain know, whether it be possible for so great a number of persons unanimously to con­trive such an intolerable Imposture as that must needs have been, were there nothing of Truth in what they advanc'd. Truly it seems to me to be a thing not possible for a man to imagine, much less to put in Execution.

A Man must do Violence to himself barely in sup­posing that so many Disciples should falsly affirm [Page 198] that they had seen Jesus Christ after his Resurrection: For one must thence suppose, that that great num­ber of Persons were not really Men; and that what­ever they had been during the rest of their Lives, they had put off their Humanity immediately after the Death of Jesus Christ.

They were indeed Men till that time; and their Behaviour pretty well evinces that their Sentiments were such as self-love and self-preservation general­ly inspire us withal: for they expected and were in hopes of something. They followed none other but Christ, because they expected from him what gene­rally all the Jews expected from their Messias, ac­cording to the Ideas they had form'd themselves of him. They were afraid of Death: They dreaded the Fury of the Sanhedrin: They flattered themselves with the Hopes of seeing themselves restored to their former Glory: They begg'd of Jesus Christ to deliver them out of approaching Dangers, if at any time they were in hazard of their Lives, or ex­posed to any Tempest.

But since the Death of Jesus Christ, they seem'd to have put off their Humanity; Their Minds and Hearts were not disposed like those of other Men. They neither hoped for, or expected any thing. For indeed what should they hope or expect from the Profession they made of being Disciples of Jesus Christ, if they knew that he was not risen at all ac­cording to his promise? What could they hope for, if he who had promised them Eternal Life, and af­firmed himself to be the Resurrection and the Life, was to be for ever subject to the Power of Death? Before while they trusted in Jesus Christ they were afraid: Now when they trusted no more in him, their Fear vanished. Since they could not expect any thing from another Life, they were resolved not to be any way concern'd for this, but to mind [Page 199] only a Future State. What is the meaning of this preposterous Change? Formerly they thought they should do God great service, in suffering for Christs sake, whom they supposed to have been their Mes­sias; and yet they were then faint-hearted and fear­full: but now that they were assured they did God no manner of service by adhering to the Gospel; but rather blemish their own Reputation by maintain­ing a Cheat, they became on a sudden constant and couragious, undaunted in the greatest Dangers, and invincible in the midst of the most violent Trials. Who can comprehend all this?

Certainly, if we have but the least Common Sense we cannot but perceive that a Cheat in so evident and sensible a matter of fact as that must have been, could not be unanimously carried on by so many thousands of People. For supposing one Man was diposed to Lye, who knows but another would be as inclinable to tell the Truth; especially since there was nothing to be got by Lying, but Prisons, Tor­ments, and Death itself, whereas telling the Truth would have gained them Credit, Friends, and Estates, by pleasing those in whose Power it was to dispose of Riches and Offices of State. And had any one of them imagined that some of the rest would certain­ly contradict him or themselves, he would have been for that very Reason incapable of agreeing with them to carry on that Cheat; Now it is naturally impossible but that this Thought must have offered it self to the Mind of every one of them, and conse­quently such a mutual Compact or Agreement was absolutely impossible, unless it so happen'd that that whole Multitude had suddenly been bewitch'd and infatuated by the same kind of Folly, and that too at one and the same time, as soon as Jesus Christ had given up the Ghost.

However they must have been void of all Self-Love, [Page 200] and that natural Affection Men usually bear to them­selves, nay they must have been altogether insensible of the cruel Stripes they underwent, and the Persecu­tions wherewith they were almost overwhelmed; and that Insensibility and Extravagance must not only have been an ordinary one, or of a short conti­nuance, but of the longest Duration, and strongest Force that ever was known.

CHAP. IV.
The third Center of Truth. A particular Conside­ration of the Ascension of Jesus Christ.

THE Ascension of Jesus Christ, is a third Center of Truth, which we ought to have continually before our eyes, in order to consider the Arguments it contains for the Truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

This Ascension was preceded by several Apparitions of Jesus Christ, and followed by an extraordinary Ef­fusion of the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost, suffi­ciently manifested to all the Inhabitants of the City of Jerusalem; so that it seems to want no Illustration.

It rather proves it self, and that too by its own pro­per Characters: For it is a thing unheard of, that seve­ral Persons should agree to testify after that manner so signal an Imposture as that must have been, had not the Ascension of Jesus Christ been a real Event. But let us throughly consider all the Circumstances of it.

As the Resurrection of Jesus Christ justified the wonderful Passages of his Death, so likewise does his Ascension justify those of his Resurrection: For tho' one should suspect that the Eyes of the Disciples might by chance have been suddenly dazzled, and so they thought they had seen what they in reality [Page 201] never saw, yet they had time enough to recover them­selves out of this dazzling Amazement; for it was forty days after Jesus Christ was risen from the Dead before his Ascension. Had it been a Spirit that appeared to them, and frightned them, yet had they time enough to come to themselves again, and know certainly that the Spirit they saw was not real­ly their Master. For they saw him and heard him: They handled him, they eat and drank with him. Had it been thro' the obscurity of a darksome Night that they had imagined they had seen some Repre­sentation of their Master, instead of a true and full sight of him, they could not long continue in their Error: But it was in full day that they saw the Stone rolled away from the Sepulcher: 'Twas in full bright day that Christ so often manifested himself to them, and discoursed with them, and afterwards ascended into heaven before their eyes.

Had the force of their Desires, their Fears, or Affections, disturbed their Senses, we should have less Reason to wonder at it, tho even in that case the thing would seem altogether unaccountable, it being morally impossible that the Senses of so many People should all at once be so confined to one wonderful Object, and so disturbed at the same time. But they had time enough to get out of their Confusion and Astonishment; and their Minds were very sedate and at ease when Christ made them Eye-Witnesses of his glorious Ascension. In a word, had it been a pri­vate and silent Interview, we might have much more Reason to doubt; but Christ appeared to his Disci­ples with a particular Design to discourse with them. He gave them several Instructions; he forbad them to depart from Jerusalem, until they had received the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. He made them se­veral Promises, and such surprising ones, that they are fit only for a God to make, and a God [Page 202] to perform: for he promised that he would be with them even unto the End of the World. He instituted two Sacraments; he commanded them to baptise all Nations in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, as well as to com­memorate his Death in the Passover. Nor was that all. He had many long and coherent Discourses with them. He spoke to them, and they answered him. They were at first incredulous; but he con­vinced them of the Truth of his Resurrection, not­withstanding their Scruples and their Infidelity. He rebuked them several times for their little Faith; at least they tell us so. The Evangelists relate what Christ said to Thomas, and what Answer Tho­mas made: And both their speeches were too sur­prising to be so soon forgotten. Thomas being struck at the Wonders of his Resurrection, was the first that gave Christ a Name which he was not wont to bear in the Stage of his Humiliation, calling him, My Lord, and my God, John 20. 28.

The Disciples asked him, Whether he would at that time restore the Kingdom unto Israel: but he answer'd them, that it was not for them to know the Times and Seasons which the Father only had in his power. Lastly, The Evangelists give us no less the History of Jesus Christ risen from the Dead, than that of Jesus Christ living and conversing before his Death among the Jews: and we affirm, we have as much reason to believe one as the other. For indeed, Why do we believe there was ever any such Person as Jesus Christ? We believe it certainly, because it is, in humane speaking, morally impossible that so many Persons should unanimously tell us they had seen him, that they discours'd, eat and drank with him, nay saw him suffer Death at Jerusalem; I say, they would never have told us all this, supposing, there were nothing at all in it. But then ought not [Page 203] that same Reason to perswade us likewise that Je­sus Christ both lived and convers'd forty days with his Disciples, since so many Persons saw him, dis­coursed, eat, and drank with him, saw him present in the midst of their Assemblies, nay touched and handled him?

But (perhaps some will object) were that certain­ly true, Why then was there in those days so many Persons that refused to believe the Ascension of Jesus Christ? Why it is no hard matter to find the reason of this; 'twas because if they had once acknowledged the Truth of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, they were obliged to die Martyrs for that Truth; and no doubt Men were as worldly-minded in those days as they are now.

So that methinks it appears hitherto very clear­ly, that the Disciples of Jesus Christ were neither capable of deceiving themselves, nor of being decei­ved by others, as to the Truth of the matters of fact they testifyed. It is a very difficult matter (I had almost said impossible) that they should have decei­ved themselves in the Miracles of Christ which they relate, because they so exactly set down the Circum­stances, the Names, Places, and the Persons them­selves; nay, they pretend they themselves were sent by their Master into all the Parts of Judea, to work there the very same Miracles they attested. But tho' they should have deceived themselves in the Mi­racles of Christ, yet they could not possibly deceive themselves in his Resurrection. For they knew well enough what a dead Body and a living Man was, they could easily distinguish between them; and those things are of such a nature as not to be capable of Illusion or deceit. Yet tho' we should supose that the disciples had been deceived in the Resurrection of Christ, yet they could not have been imposed upon in the last miraculous Event of his Ascension. It [Page 204] could never come to pass, that after having seen a Spirit, they should yet converse with him forty days; that that Spirit should suffer himself to be handled, that he should give them Instructions, make them several Promises, and afterwards be caught up into Heaven in their Sight, they all the while look­ing upon him, and adoring him as he was ascending into Heaven, and understanding distinctly the Dis­course of the Angels which promised them, that he should so come again in like manner, as they had seen him go up into Heaven.

It would be to no purpose here to alledge with Spinosa, That the Evangelists have not exactly descri­bed all the Circumstances of the Event they relate, and that had they taken special care to do it, it would perhaps so happen that the Circumstances which they thought sit to conceal, would make us comprehend, that those which they have related proceeded from Natural Ca [...]ses: For, I desire to know what can be more expresly declared, or more often repeated in the Gospel, than the Resurrection and Ascension of Je­sus Christ into Heaven? And how can any Man rea­sonably imagin, that it was natural, and according to the regular Course of second Causes, to see a Man that had been crucified, and laid in a Sepulcher where a Watch was appointed to guard him, rise out of that Sepulcher again, appear alive to several Men that touched and handled him, and afterwards ascend into Heaven in their sight?

Certainly that very Ascension of Jesus Christ, can­not but convince the most suspicious and scrupulous Person, that it was an Event purely divine and su­pernatural: For otherwise, our Incredulous Adver­saries might imagin (since they are everlastingly raising Doubts) that the Body of Jesus Christ might have been taken down from the Cross before the Breath was gone out of it; that Joseph of Arimathea, [Page 205] who was his Disciple, tho he durst not own it pub­lickly, might have dress'd his Body, and recover'd him out of his Swoon by the strength of the Reme­dies he gave him; that he might have laid another counterfeit Dead-body in his place, and buried it; and that afterwards Jes. Christ might have privately shewed himself to his Disciples, not daring to appear in publick for fear of falling a second time into the hands of the Jews, and suffering a true and real Death, instead of that imaginary one he had suffered before.

But this Fiction is absurd and incredible, and that for several Reasons. First, Because the Evan­gelists relate, that Christ had his Side pierced with the Lance of a Soldier, which thing alone was enough to give him his Death. Secondly, It is very impro­bable to think that the Jewish Sanhedrin, who had con­demned him to die, nay who had taken such care to set a Watch over his Sepulcher, should yet suffer his Bo­dy to be taken down from the Cross before the Breath was gone out of it. Lastly, because it can never be supposed that a Man who hung several Hours toge­ther on a Cross, should yet escape Death, and shew himself not long after safe and sound to his Disciples.

But that which will immediately remove all these Doubts, is, that Jesus Christ not only rose from the Dead, but also ascended into Heaven in the sight of his Disciples. And this is so sensible and evident a matter of fact, that they could never have been im­posed upon in that respect.

So that it may very well be affirmed, that the Argu­ment for the Truth of the Christian Religion chiefly de­pends upon that Important Inquiry, whether the Dis­ciples designed to impose upon us, by relating to us a false Event, which they did not believe themselves. Now if we can clearly prove the contrary, we shall invincibly demonstrate the certain Truth of our Faith.

[Page 206] Let us therefore in order to it, closely stick to the Examination of that matter of fact, the most essen­tial and the most important that ever was, and en­deavour to discover whether it be possible we should have been imposed upon by those Men, which could not deceive themselves.

If we would suppose that the Disciples of Jesus Christ deceived us in their relation of a fictitious Event, we must also necessarily suppose these three things. 1. That their Illusion or Imposture must be a thing that was possible to be put in Execution. 2. That it must be of some Use or other to them. 3. That it must be such as Men, and only Men make use of. Now it is certain, that their pretended Illusion here in question, could not have any of these three Qualities. 1. It could not have been possible, because it must have been agreed upon by many Per­sons who all knew the bare Truth of the matter of fact it self. 2. It would have been of no use, for what could those Men propose to themselves in inventing such a Fiction? 3. It could not be such as Men usual­ly contrive, because from the Beginning of the World till now, we never heard of any Man that invented Lyes, on purpose to have the pleasure of being han­ged, scourged, burnt, or executed upon a Scaffold.

1. As to the first, I'll grant you if you will, that Peter with some other Disciples might have taken away the Body of Jesus Christ out of the Sepulcher, either by tricking the Watch, or taking the Advan­tage of their sleeping; or lastly, by bribing them with Mony: I'll grant you too, if you will, they might have easily perswaded the whole Company of Disciples, who were too credulous and too ea­ger in swallowing of Novelties, that Jesus Christ had appeared to them indeed, and that he was risen from the Dead; I'll grant you likewise, that the other Disciples might have imagined thereupon [Page 207] they had seen some Visions, or thought they had seen him in several Places and on several Occasions: but then I ask, How they could have all agreed to­gether concerning the truth of his Ascension? By what Charm or Cunning could Peter and the other Apostles have made them see that which they never saw or heard a Man speak, whom they really never heard? By what Machine could they have caused the Clouds to descend? Or by what sort of Inchant­ment could they have produced two Men in white Raiments, telling them, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus which is ta­ken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like man­ner as ye have seen him go up into Heaven, Acts 1. 11. By what secret Power could they have so deeply imprinted in the Minds of the Disciples, the Words which Jesus Christ spoke to them after his Resur­rection, the Reproaches he made them of their Infide­lity, his Promise of sending the Holy Ghost to them, his forbidding them to depart from the City of Je­rusalem, and the Command he gave them to Baptise all Nations in the Name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost; I say how could they have done all this, if all these things were but the witty Con­ceits of their Imagination and Fancy?

Certainly tho St. Peter or some other Disciple of Jesus Christ, should have formed to himself the De­sign and Plan of so Signal a Cheat, and tho he should have set down in writing all the Articles one by one, which he was obliged to make other Men believe against the plain Truth, yet he could never have been so bold as to propose any such thing to those Men, who were prepossessed with the Opinion that Lying was a great Sin, but Truth and Sincerity, on the contrary, a great Vertue. Nay, it is even impos­sible it should ever come into his Head, to frame so Signal an Imposture upon so sad and sorrowful an [Page 208] Event as the Death of Jesus Christ. Neither does it appear that his Mind or his Thoughts were any ways bent upon any such Design. And tho he should have been induced out of a Spirit of Revenge, to invent such a Lye to discredit the Scribes and Pharisees, yet it can't be supposed he should have been so very silly, as to imagin that the rest of the Disciples would con­sent to that Imposture, or be willing to maintain it at any rate whatever, out of meer Complaisance to him.

Such is the Nature of Mankind, such the Frame and Temper of their Hearts, that they will admit of no Falsity, unless covered with a specious shew of Truth. So that when any thing is so evidently false that every Body must necessarily be sensible of it, we have no Thoughts of attempting to make others be­lieve it; as for instance, it will never come into my Head to make other Men believe that I have Wings, and that I fly, &c.

We might here repeat what has been said concern­ing the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: either the Dis­ciples looked upon Jesus Christ before his Death as the promised Messias, or else they did not look up­on him as such. If they considered him as the pro­mised Messias, they then believed his Words, and thought that he would truly rise again; and if they did expect that he would truly rise again, they consequently believed he would come himself out of his Grave, and so it was not at all necessary they should steal his Body away. And if they did not consider him as the promised Messias whilst he was alive, it must follow from thence, that they were Seducers and Impostors even before the Death of Christ. Now how can any one conceive that those Seducers should not have been terrified at the Punishment inflicted on their Master, or that such a terrible Example of the most rigo­rous Justice design'd too for them, should not [Page 209] put an end to their frontless Impudence? Above all, How can it be supposed that those wicked and perfidi­ous Disciples durst have proposed to the other Disci­ples, who were really Sincere and True, to joyn with them, and so testify that they had seen Jesus Christ ascending into Heaven?

Truly I don't see what any Man can alledge ex­cept one of these two things, either that they were all sincere and honest Men, or that some of them were honest, and the rest Cheats. If they were all sincere and honest Men, as their Manners, their Discourse, their Conduct, and a thousand other Characters of them evidently shew, then is it abso­lutely impossible that any such Cheat could have been carried on amongst them. But if they were all a pack of cheating treacherous Impostors, then it was the first time that ever a Society of cheat­ing perfidious Rogues was erected, who seemed to have had no other Design than to sanctify Man­kind.

But what Man, be his Thoughts never so confus'd and irregular, be his Reason never so corrupt, can yet imagin that so many mean-spirited, simple and humble Men as the Disciples were, should immedia­tely become the most Lying notorious Cheats, out of no other Design then to involve themselves in ru­in? If some of them were false and others sincere, and if the latter were at all imposed upon by the former, which is the most our Incredulous Adversa­ries can imagin; yet even then I assert, that such a Cheat could not have been carried on by them. For supposing Peter never so smooth and Eloquent, never so adroit at Dissembling and Insinuation, yet how could he possibly perswade so great a number of Persons to believe against their Senses, that they had seen that which they really never saw, or hand­led that which they had never handled; that Jesus [Page 208] [...] [Page 209] [...] [Page 210] Christ after having given them many Precepts and large Instructions, which he left very deeply imprint­ed in their Minds, ascended into Heaven in their sight? But should I grant he might have perswaded them of the Truth of his Resurrection, yet how is it possible he could perswade them of the Truth of his As­cension?

Had St. Peter but so much as proposed it to them whom he designed to delude, it would have been for that very Reason impossible but that they should have found out his Design to cheat them. But he would not sure presume to propose to them the joint Contrivance of such a fabulous Story, nor would he have found (tho he had been bold enough to have proposed it) any that would have assisted him in so sensless a Design, much less maintain'd his Extravagance, and least of all exposed themselves to a thousand Torments on purpose to maintain it.

2. But secondly, I observed that such an Impo­sture would have been of no manner of use to them. It is enough to have proved that it was impossible to be put in Execution to satisfie any reasonable Man how needless and useless it would be to advance it. 'Tis true, there have been in all Ages and Countries such Men as would have been very willing, for their own Advantage, to make others believe improbable Stories and Fictions, had the thing been but practi­cable: but because they could not effect it without such a mutual Concert among several Persons to maintain it, as is altogether impossible, for that ve­ry Reason it never came into their Minds upon seri­ous and cooler Thoughts.

It would, no doubt, be of very singular Advan­tage to those Princes, who so earnestly desire to pro­cure themselves an extraordinary Respect and Vene­ration from their Subjects, and for that Reason very seldom appear in publick, and hardly ever shew [Page 211] themselves to their Poople; I say, it would be of great Advantage to them, if they could but once perswade their People that they were of a Divine Race, and came down from Heaven: but because they judge such a Design impracticable, they reckon it a thing altogether useless and needless ever to un­dertake it.

Certainly we may as well affirm that the Design of making other Men believe the Ascension of Jesus Christ against the real truth of the thing, and inward sense of their own Consciences, would have been al­together as useless and needless; because it does not in the least appear that the Disciples could propose to themselves any reasonable Design in maintaining such an incredible Story.

3. Nay it was a thing not only wholly useless, but as we observ'd in the third place, such a one as Men dont usually Design, or contrive. It could not enter into any one Man's mind, much less into that of so many different men at once, to fancy that they could perswade other Men to credit such an impudent Lye as that must have been, or to dare undertake to make others believe it, to think in the least that they could succeed in so strange a Design, or that others would have acted in it jointly with them, to imagin that they could be able to endure the most rigorous Torments, and the severest and most cruel Afflicti­ons, or that the Cheat which they unanimously had agreed on, would have been both believed and appro­ved of throughout the World; nay what is more, that Men should repent and become Holy and Righte­ous out of a Respect and Reverence they bo [...]e to an Impostor, and that Vertue and Piety should have been established in all the Parts of the World by the means of an extraordinary Cheat.

To this we may add, that considering this Design of theirs another way, it is not, cannot be such a [Page 212] one as any Man would conceive or endeavour to put in Practice. It is absolutely impossible to find any Man so much an Enemy to himself, as willingly to lose his Quiet, his Liberty, Friends, Relations and all his Acquaintance, only to assert and defend a Lye, that must unavoidably be attended by such fatal and sorrowful Consequences. For Nature is not insen­sible of Grief and Pain. As she is exposed to Griefs and Sufferings, so when she suffers 'tis with Reluct­ance, Complaints, Sighs, and Tears. She cannot accustom her self to bear slightly Contempt or Infamy. Nothing disturbs and exasperates her more, nothing makes her more impatient than Mortifications and Disgraces. How then is it possible so great a Com­pany of People should on a sudden renounce all those inviolable Sentiments of Nature which no Violence can root out, on purpose to maintain that they had seen a thing, which they really never saw? This is a Consideration that cannot be too often repeated.

Lastly, it is such a Design as is not in the nature of Man to conceive. For, to maintain an Impo­sture with such Constancy as the Disciples did, is such a piece of extraordinary Courage as is above the Na­ture or Power of Man. An Impostor that thinks and knows himself to be one, whose Mind tells him that he acts contrary to his Natural Sentiments, cannot go long undiscover'd. He is seiz'd with Remorse, and his Conscience is awakened. He trembles and un­warily discovers himself to the World upon the least danger he meets with. He is ready to confess the whole Cheat, as soon as he is brought before his Judges, and is frighted with the Punishments of a secular Power; and he never fails of betraying him­self, either by confessing the whole Business, or main­taining what he has advanced after so weak and fear­ful a manner, that he will not be long, (if but close­ly urg'd to it) before he discovers the whole Truth. [Page 213] For such is the usual Temper of Men upon such an Occasion. And if a single Person that should not act thus in this respect, would be looked upon as an un­heard of Prodigy, how much more shall an infinite number of People be looked upon as such? Who can imagin that so many Persons should either on a sud­den renounce their humane Nature, or be of a dif­ferent make from all other Men since the Beginning of the World; For my part, I cannot conceive how it should be, and therefore look upon this as a most sensible and evident Truth. But we must yet carry on this Conviction further, by following those Noti­ons which it has pleased God in his Wisdom to put into our Mind upon this Subject.

CHAP. V.
The fourth Center of Truth. A particular Conside­ration of the Effusion of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost upon the Disciples.

THE last Degree of Evidence that occurs in the Demonstration which sensibly proves to us the Truth of the Christian Religion, is, the Truth of a fourth matter of fact, naturally proved by its own proper Characters; and that is, the Effusion of the Holy Ghost on the Disciples of Jesus Christ.

This Demonstration of the truth of Christian Re­ligion has three different Degrees of Evidence, which also consist in the three Parts of the Testimony of the Apostles. The first whereof is this; Jesus Christ the Son of Mary did such Actions as cannot but be superna­tural and miraculous; such are, for instance, the Resur­rection of the Dead which we have been Eye-witnesses of. The second is, We, even we our selves, have received [Page 214] the Power to work Signs and Wonders, and such as are equal to those of Jesus Christ himself, as he foretold and declared it several times unto us. The third is, We have not only the power to do those Miracles, but can al­so impart it to others: and those we shall hereafter con­vert will know themselves to be the true Disciples of Jesus Christ, in that they shall work Signs like unto ours, and to those which Jesus Christ himself wrought.

The first Degree of this Evidence must necessari­ly convince us. For it is a very convincing Demon­stration indeed, to have present to one's Eyes, nay in ones own Disposal and Power, the Witnesses of the Miracles of Jesus Christ, and such Eye-witnesses too, that both heard what he said, saw every thing he did, familiarly conversed with him, and often question'd him concerning the Difficulties that offer­ed themselves to their Mind; and lastly, such Wit­nesses who all unanimously deposed the very same matter of fact, and boldly maintain'd it even in the midst of the most cruel Torments; And yet such Witnesses as these had those who were first convert­ed to the Christian Faith.

But it is a thing yet somewhat more perswasive to hear those Men affirm, that they had not only seen the Miracles of Jesus Christ, but that they themselves were able to work the same Miracles. Certainly, of all the Witnesses in the World, those are soonest to be received and believ'd, who proffer to shew you the very Things they testify.

But what seems to me to be the last Degree of Evidence, and the clearest Demonstration, is, that those very Witnesses undertook to convince Men of those matters which they affirmed to be true, not only by relating those Miracles which they saw Je­sus Christ do, not only by profering to do the like themselves, but also by promising to enable those People (who should believe their Words) to ope­rate [Page 215] the very same things: For they imparted the extraordinary and miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost to their Proselytes, as it appears by the Ex­ample of the Centurion Cornelius. And those Gifts became afterwards so frequent and visible, that Si­mon Magus would have bought them for Mony: They were so very remarkable, that they made great and publick Impressions on the Minds of se­veral Jews, who were already converted to the Gos­pel of our Lord, and praised God for his having also visited the Gentiles. Lastly, the Gospel which those Disciples preached, tells us that such should be the Signs that followed the true Disciples of Je­sus Christ, namely, that they should heal the Sick, &c.

Certainly how strong soever the obstinacy and prejudices of the Incredulous may be, yet they can­not any longer hold out against the powerful Con­victions of that threefold Truth. It is impossible that the Disciples should bear witness to the Mira­cles of Jesus Christ, if they had not been true; nei­ther can we suppose they would have had the Bold­ness, Power, or Will to do it. It is impossible they should have contrived together such an unparallel'd Imposture, by agreeing among themselves to preach the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ, of which they were never Witnesses.

But it is extravagant to imagin that the Apostles boasted they were able to do Miracles, meerly to have other Men believe those of Jesus Christ, and it argues yet a greater Extravagance, to suppose they promised all those they should convert to him, to make them able to work the very same Miracles they attested.

Besides, we are to consider two things in the Re­velation made to the Apostles on the day of Pentecost: viz. the Symbol or Token of the Presence of the Holy Ghost, and the Effects or Gifts of the said Holy [Page 216] Ghost. And it is not easie to imagin how the Dis­ciples could be deceived in either respect: I am wil­ling, however, for once to suppose that they might have been deceived in those external and corporeal Symbols; that they might fancy they heard a mighty rushing Wind, of which there was really no noise; that their Eyes being dazzled they might have taken that for Fire which was not Fire; yet this Supposi­tion would certainly be a little too extravagant. For tho the Apostles, by reason of some Imperfecti­on in their Organs, or some outward Illusion, may have fancy'd that they saw Fire where no Fire was, yet it is a very difficult matter for a wandring Ima­gination (as they must be supposed to have had then according to this Notion) to have joyn'd Fire and a Sound together; and much more difficult also to have perceiv'd that Fire in a form which was most agreeable to their Ministry: and that must have been a very fortuitous Chance indeed, that could thus modify that Fire, and make it appear as Cloven Tongues like as of Fire, which sat on each of the Disci­ples when they were assembled together. Besides, it would be very strange they should be all of them liable to the same Delusion. But what then? still this Supposition is too extravagant. Is it so? If you will, we'll suppose it true. But then tell us, how we shall express the wonderful Effects of that Effu­sion, those durable and lasting Effects which were still extant, tho' the Wind had ceased blowing, tho' that Sound which had filled the whole House was no longer to be heard, and tho' that Fire and those Tongues had vanished away.

For certainly 'twas never intended those surpri­sing Effects should be concealed. The Apostles im­mediately spoke all sorts of Languages, and that too before all Nations of the World. They convert­ed one while six thousand People, at another three [Page 217] thousand by one single Sermon, and only speaking this to their Auditors, Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Fa­ther the Promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear, Acts. 2. 33.

We'll grant, if you will, that Jesus Christ did no manner of Miracles; It will produce no great Consequence, so long as it appears that the Apostles did several: Nay, they chose for that very end, the Sick that were most known. They took a lame Person, for instance, that was publickly known to all the City of Jerusalem for such a one, to make him walk and leap before all the People of that great and flourishing City.

'Twould have been a strange thing indeed, if the Apostles had attempted to shew false Miracles to those People that were ten thousand times more sub­tle and refined than themselves: But it would be yet far more strange, that after having preached a false Resurrection of their Master, they should have undertook to prove it by working a false Miracle, which must necessarily have been immediately disco­ver'd.

But I'll grant, if you will, that they might have been so extravagant, as to undertake it, and that the Jews whose chief Interest it was to discover their Cheats and Artifices, might have been so far void of Common sense as not to make the least Inquiry into it, or Examination about it. But what then will you say to this, which in my Opinion may serve for an invincible Demonstration; namely, that the Apostles not only pretended themselves able to work Miracles, but also to give their Disciples Power to do the same?

Did any one ever hear of a Society form'd by the preaching of certain Impostors, who gave this Cha­racter of the Truth of their preaching, that they [Page 218] would impart to others the Power of working the same Miracles with themselves, who confer'd mira­culous Gifts upon those they baptised, but miracu­lous Gifts so evident and so sensible, that they them­selves could not doubt but that they had truly recei­ved them; nor they on whom they were confer'd form any lawful or reasonable Objection against them?

This Consideration is so much the more convin­cing, because those Gifts we here speak of were dura­ble and permanent, at least, during the Infancy or first Age of the Church. I confess indeed, that the Holy Ghost foretold that Prophecy should vanish away, and the Gifts of Tongues should cease; which is a ve­ry good Reason to prevent our wondering at the Cessation of those Gifts in our days. There were none but Faith, Hope, and Charity that were to en­dure to all Ages. But I am also certain, that the miraculous Gifts lasted as long as the Apostles them­selves, nay they were yet extant long after their days, till God himself had settled Christian Churches in all Parts of the World, the Scaffolds having been only taken down, when the Building was finished. And this no Man of sense can reasonably doubt of, especially when he sees that the Apostles so frequent­ly allude to this Matter of fact, after so simple and so natural a Manner. The Gift of Tongues there­fore, and all other miraculous Gifts, were durable and permanent in respect of those they had been con­fer'd upon. The Father was seen to discourse about them with his Son, and the Son with his Father. And it gave Occasion to the Jews who wondered that the Holy Ghost was also imparted to the Gentiles, to giorify God for it.

But I am willing some Men should make the most violent Supositions they can; at least, they will not refuse to allow that the Apostles, who pretended to [Page 219] impart the Holy Ghost to other men by the Imposi­tion of their hands, and who proffered to make it descend upon their Proselytes by baptising them; who went about preaching every where that the Time was come, wherein according to the Prophecy of Joel, the Holy Ghost was to be poured upon all Flesh; and who in their Gospels and Histories they composed of the Life of their Master, affirm'd upon serious Reflection, that, these signs should follow them that believed, &c. I say, it is to be presumed they will not refuse to allow, that those Men sincerely be­lieved they had received, and were able to impart the Holy Ghost to others. Perhaps it was their Mistake, if you will have it so; but that is not the thing I now contend about. Whether they were mistaken indeed, or not, still it is evident, that un­less they had sincerely believed that Mistake, or that profess'd Opinion, they durst never have made such Promises: 'Tis plain enough, that a Man who did not think within himself that he had received the Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost, would never pro­mise to impart them to others.

Now I would desire the Reader carefully to con­sider this last Principle, it being necessary to give an invincible Demonstration of the Truth of Christia­nity. In a word, if the Apostles sincerely believed they could speak all sorts of Languages, and had re­ceived the extraordinary and miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost, I affirm, that it was absolutely impossible they should have been Deceivers as to the other matters of fact: For it is impossible they should believe they had received those miraculous Gifts, un­less they also believ'd the Miracles, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ to be true; and it is impossi­ble they should have believed the Miracles, Resur­rection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ to be true, if all those Events had not been true indeed; because, [Page 220] as we have already plainly made it appear, it is not possible that those matters of fact should have been capable of Illusion and Deceit.

CHAP. VI.
Wherein we shall joyn all the miraculous Matters of fact together, and form thereby a full and perfect Demonstration of them.

SHould we consider all those Events in general, we might form an invincible Demonstration of them, by supposing the three following Principles, which in my Opinion will hereafter appear to be ve­ry evidently proved.

The first is, that the Apostles, and the rest of the Disciples of Christ did really testify his Miracles, Resurrection, Ascension, and the pouring out the Ho­ly Ghost on the Apostles. The second, that they sincerely believed what they so testified. And the third, that they having firmly believed that Jesus Christ wrought many wonderful Miracles, that he was risen from the Dead, ascended into Heaven, and had poured out his Spirit upon all his Disci­ples, of all which Events, they were Eye-Witnesses, it must necessarily follow from thence that all those things were certainly true.

The first of these Principles is undeniable in it self. For it appears that these four Events were the whole subject Matter of the preaching of the Holy Apostles; which too is plain, because they themselves tell it [...] th [...]ir Writings, or rather because their Writing [...] [...] continual History of them; because they [...] o [...] any thing else in all their Epi­stles, [Page 221] but of those four wonderful Events, in those Epistles they wrote to whole Societies, who so care­fully preserved them as Writings of the greatest va­lue; because there is no fragment, page, or scarce a line in all those Writings, but what either relates those matters of fact, or evidently supposes them; because there can be no Christianity established in the World without this Foundation; because they have been confirmed to us by Persons who lived since the Blessed Apostles, and discoursed familiarly with them; because the publication of those things was the cause of the establishing very numerous Churches almost every where in the days of the Apostles them­selves; because Reason and Common sense sufficiently assure us, that the Jews and Gentiles could never have believed in a crucified Man as such, without be­ing at the same time also taught that he was risen from the Dead; because the Faithful only believe the last Resurrection, upon their certain hope and strong perswasion that they are to be made like unto the glorious Body of their Divine Redeemer; be­cause it is manifest that the Authors of the New Testa­ment copy'd not one anothers Writings, and yet unanimously agree in the relation of those four sur­prising Events, as being the very essentials of their Doctrine; because the Primitive Christians would not have sanctified themselves, nor utterly renounced the enticing charms of the World, but that they trusted wholly in a Man that was risen from the Dead, and ascended into Heaven; because the most obsti­nate, and most insolent Enemies of Christianity never entertained the least scruple in that respect, nor presumed to deny but that Christs Disciples boldly testify'd of him that he was risen from the Dead, and ascended into Heaven; because the Jews always acknowledged this to be the testimony of the Apo­stles; and lastly, because the union of all those and [Page 222] many other Circumstances we have already handled, render the thing itself wholly undeniable and evi­dent in the highest degree: so that it is almost to no purpose to insist any longer on the proof of the first Principle.

The second is no less certain than the first. For 'tis evident that the Apostles sincerely believed that whatever they related was most certainly true; be­cause those things they deliver'd to us in their Wri­tings, were the Motives and Incitements they had to their Vertue, self denial, and patience so often tried in the dangers they underwent; because they made such simple and natural allusions to them, that it is absolutely impossible, one should not perceive their being truly perswaded of the truth of them, in so much that they were convinced of the future Hap­piness of their condition, mauger all the reasons they might have to think it should be Miserable and Sorrowful; because 'twas this very perswasion which gave them the Courage they had to expose them­selves to the greatest Dangers, and undergo the most severe trials; because they rejoyced with one another in that they were thought worthy of spend­ing their lives and whatever else was dearest to them, for the defence of so good a Cause, tho they must needs have very well known the cheat they had forg'd among themselves, if what they said was not certainly true; and above all, because they pretend­ed to shew very sensible and miraculous proofs of the matters of fact which they had delivered.

In fine, the last of these Principles is still (if I may so speak) more evident than either of the former. For it is impossible that the Disciples of our Lord should have been deceived, 1. in such evident mat­ters of fact, the Truth of which they might so easily have been assured of by sensible Experience; 2. in so great a number of matters of fact, so different from [Page 223] one another by their Circumstances; and 3. in such matters of fact that were so link'd and united one with another, that whosoever grants but one, must necessarily grant the truth of the rest.

And now let the Reader but throughly consider all these things within himself, and I am fully per­swaded he can never doubt of any of these three Principles. For he cannot so much as deny one of them without an extraordinary reluctance in his mind, which will force back the truth upon him. Should he say that the Apostles never preached the Miracles, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ, nor the pouring out the Holy Ghost on the Apostles themselves, 'twould be as great a falsehood as if he should say, that there were never any such Men as the Apostles, or that they were not the Disciples of Christ, nor preached that Men must necessarily believe on him; and it is most certain that he will presently reject all these propositions, as being absurdly false and extravagant in themselves.

Again, should he say that the Apostles did not sincerely believe the Miracles, Resurrection, Ascen­sion of Jesus Christ, nor the Effusion of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, 'tis as much as if he should affirm they did not pretend to work any Miracles, speak strange Languages, or think themselves capable of Imparting those gifts to other Men: and consequent­ly as much as if he should advance, that the Apostles wrote none of all those Epistles that were ascribed to them; that they preach'd not publickly at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, nor settled any Church therein, or taught Men that they should stedfastly believe in the Gospel.

Lastly, should he say that the Apostles sincerely believed all these things, but yet that none of them were true, 'tis as much as if he asserted that they had neither Eyes, Ears, nor Memory; and that several [Page 224] thousands of People were all deprived of their Sen­ses by the same kind of bewitching folly, so that those who embraced the Doctrine which they taught, must at the same time precisely and necessarily have lost their Reason; and yet 'tis evident that folly is the only Principle that makes us lead good lives, and sanctifies the corrupt Affections of Men.

It is certain, that by considering the union of all these Circumstances together, there arises from them such a Moral Demonstration, as is worth all other Mathematical Demonstrations in the World. But to be as brief as possible, I say that this Demon­stration after all, consists in the two following pro­positions. As thus the Disciples of Christ sincerely believed his Miracles, Resurrection, Ascension, and the Effusion of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. It fol­lows therefore, that these four Events are most cer­tainly true. The Consequence of this argument is evident, because these are matters of fact that were altogether incapable of Illusion or Deceit, and in which it was absolutely impossible they should have been deceived. For tho the Disciples might have been decieved in one single Miracles, yet how could they be deceived in several Miracles at once? Tho it were possible they might have been deceived in the Miracles of Christ, yet they could not be deceived in his Resurrection. Tho' they might have been de­cieved in his Resurrection, yet they could not be de­ceived in so many sensible Marks which Christ gave them of his Presence after he was risen from the Dead; and above all, in his Ascension. Tho' they might have been deceived even in his Ascension, yet they could not be deceived in the Effusion of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, because they had a conti­nual Experience of that last Miracle. They knew whether it was true or not, there had appeared to them Cloven Tongues like as of fire; but still they [Page 225] knew yet much better, whether they had really re­ceived the Gift of Tongues, which were represented to them by that external Symbol: the Holy Ghost having particularly chosen that Gift above all others on purpose to make it the more remarkable; be­cause of all sorts of Gifts, this is certainly the most un­imitable, and the least capable of Error and Illusion.

For pray how is it possible, I should perswade my self that I can speak the Persian, Chinese, and Arabick Tongue, or that I understand all those Languages when they are spoken to me, had I no such Gift of Tongues? And if it be so rare a thing to see one single Man possessed with that foolish kind of Mad­ness as to imagin such a thing, it is most certainly impossible that a great number of Persons should fancy that they on a sudden spoke all sorts of Lan­guages in the World, when there was no such thing.

It must then necessarily be granted, that tho' the Disciples of Jesus Christ might perhaps have been im­posed upon in all the other matters of fact, yet they could not be deluded in this. For a Man cannot be ignorant whether or no he speaks those Languages which were before wholly unknown to him, much less can 2 Men be so, much less again 12, and much less still 70, and since every one of these Persons must necessarily know what passes within himself, it is impossible they should all believe they had received the Gift of Tongues, when there was no such thing.

The Consequence therefore of our Argument is most certain, most evident and undeniable, if ever any thing was so; and the Principle of it will appear to be so likewise.

The Disciples of Christ sincerely believed his Mira­cles, Resurrection, Ascension, and the Effusion of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. If you would be more fully convinced of this, 'tis but reading the New Testament over from one end to the other: There you will [Page 226] find that Sincerity and that full Perswasion in their disinteressed Self-denial, which sprung from the Knowledge they had that Christ, as their only trea­sure, was ascended into Heaven; there you will see their Joyfulness in Afflictions arising purely from the Testimony they bore to the Truth; their Charity and Piety wholly inconsistent with the Character of Impostors; their Humility, Purity, Patience, burn­ing Zeal, and that fervent desire they had to Kindle all those Vertues in the Souls of others: these being two undeniable matters, first that the Disciples of Christ shewed themselves to have the most natural sentiments of Piety and Vertue imaginable; second­ly, that Piety and Vertue can never proceed from Imposture and Deceit. There you will also find the plain Honesty of the Disciples, and the Sinceri­ty of their Perswasion in the style of their Discourse. For if it be true, that Languages express the Genius and Manners of the People; it may be very well affirmed, that the Language of Christ's Disciples fully expresses the Miracles of the Gospel by a par­ticular Energy, which distinguishes the style of those Authors not only from that of all other Men, but also from that of the Law. You will meet with the same Sincerity even in that great number of ob­scure and difficult Texts which the Evangelists re­late: For on one hand it is impossible that they should counterfeit or invent those Precepts, or those difficult and obscure Sayings which they make Christ utter to the People, and on the other it is most cer­tain, that those difficult and obscure Texts almost always include some miraculous matter of fact, or at least some Allusion to those supernatural Miracles. First then, I say, that the Evangelists invented not those obscure and difficult Sayings they make Christ utter, which are truly very numerous: For how should those poor Fishermen have been industrious [Page 227] enough to forge and invent such Things which all the Doctors as have lived these sixteen hundred years down to us, were hardly able either to understand themselves, or make other Men comprehend?

Besides it is certain that those obscure and difficult sayings, either contain the History of those miracu­lous matters of fact we are now speaking of, or else include such plain and natural Allusions to them, that it is easie for any one to perceive that he that relates those Texts, both supposes that those mat­ters of fact were certainly true, and publickly known to the World. Thus for instance, why did our Lord say that there was not a greater Prophet than John the Baptist born of a Woman? 'Twas not surely be­cause of his Miracles, for he did none: Neither was it because of his extraordinary Piety. For Mo­ses called the meekest of Men, was without doubt in that equal to him. 'Twas then because of the ad­vantage he enjoyed both in Seeing and Hearing the Messias. But how comes our Saviour to add that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven was greater than him. Must we understand by the Kingdom of Heaven, that Kingdom of which John himself said, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand? Was it not rather because John saw none of all the Wonders of that Kingdom which the least of Christ's Disciples had seen? Which in­deed was the reason that our Saviour told them, Blessed are your Eyes, for they see, and your Ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many Prophets and righteous Men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Matth. 13. 16, 17. Now all this evidently supposes the Miracles of Christ, and all the other marvellous Events which serve for a Confirmation of our holy Religion.

What he also said himself concerning Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, is altogether strange and [Page 228] very surprising. Nay the very name he gave to that sin implies something in itself Singular and Extraor­dinary. For no body before him ever expressed himself after this manner. Men were not ignorant that sinning against God was a very great Crime, but they had no Knowledge of the sin against the Holy Ghost, much less were they satisfied if there was any harm in Blaspheming against him. This unusual Language necessarily proceeded from a new Revelation, and from new and different objects not seen or heard of before. For the Jews knew not what the Holy Ghost was (if we take that word in the Sense of the Evangelists.) Nay there were some of them who tho converted to the Gopsel of Christ, yet still were ignorant of the true meaning of that Expression. In the mean while if we will but consult the Writings of the New Testament, and therein the Gospels, the Acts of the Holy Apostles, and the Epistles of those great and extraordinary Men, they will presently inform us that by the Holy Ghost must be understood in most of those places, the extraor­dinary and miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit im­parted to the Men of those days; and that to Blas­pheme against him, is downright Blasphemy against that Divine and Glorious Principle of all things, which was, the cause of all the Perfections and Mi­racles of Christ, and gave such Power unto Men.

So that there is first in that Text such an obscuri­ty as proves that the Evangelists could not have thought of inventing it, had not Christ himself real­ly utter'd these very words; and secondly, it unde­niably supposes the miraculous matters of fact, the Pharisees were wont to ascribe to the Power of Bel­zebub, wherein indeed Chiefly consisted the Blasphe­my against the Holy Ghost.

In like manner this Text, Except a Man be born of Water, and of the Spirit, John 3. 5. implies a very [Page 229] puzling Difficulty; because it was not usual for­merly for Men to express themselves after this man­ner. It is a very difficult matter indeed to under­stand the true meaning of that Text, but it is yet far more difficult to invent it; and all the Doctors in the World might put their Heads together, and yet never be able to invent the like Text. Above all it was not natural for the Jews to invent any such thing, because they had no such objects amongst them as could fill up their Minds with any such Ideas. When we suppose the Baptism of the Holy Spirit confer'd upon Christ's Disciples, we may then easily comprehend the true meaning of that mysterious but very remarkable Expression. We might also add to this Text, that other which mentions the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire.

In like manner it pleased God in his Wisdom that they who related to us the History of Christ's Resur­rection, should tell us also some things which we can­not at first view easily comprehend (tho they have a true and reasonable meaning) on purpose to make us understand that as it was impossible those obscure and difficult sayings ascribed to him by them should come of themselves into their thoughts, had not he really spoke them, so consequently it can never be supposed that those Men should have forg'd the History of Christ's Resurrection, or their Discourses with him after he was risen from the Dead, as for instance, these Words which he spake to Mary, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, John 20. 17. We could make almost an infinite number of such Remarks as these, which tho' they cannot come up to an evident Demonstration, yet are very proper to make us sensible of the Truth of those matters of fact we are now speaking of.

The Sincerity of the Disciples will further appear by the great number of Circumstances with which [Page 230] their Narrative is fill'd, some whereof are so sin­gular, that they can't easily enter into any Man's Mind, and others so unbecoming their Master, or d [...]dvantageous to themselves, that there is not the least Probability they could have any Desire to forge them; others are so inseparably united with those Events which must necessarily have been well known, that they durst not so much as think of forging them against the publick Knowledge every body must have had of them, as we have already proved at large.

But lastly, 'tis not our present Design to insist purely upon probable Reasons, tho' never so proba­ble and sufficient of themselves, to form a true and perfect Demonstration when joyned together. I therefore proceed to that which is in itself wholly Demonstrative.

Now the whole Demonstration of the Truth of Christian Religion depends upon this Argument; namely, that the Apostles and Disciples of Christ sincerely believed his Miracles, Resurrection, Ascen­sion, and the Effusion of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost; whence it follows, that all those matters of fact are most certainly true.

We have already given an invincible proof of the Consequence of this Argument, by shewing that it was impossible the Disciples should have been impo­sed upon in all these matters of fact; that tho' they might have been deceived in the Miracles of Christ, yet they could not be imposed upon in his Resurrecti­on; that tho' they should have been imposed upon in his Resurrection, yet they could not be deceived in his Ascension; and that tho' they should have been deceived in his Ascension, yet they could not be so too in the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are matters of fact that they knew by inward sense, and continual Experience.

[Page 231] I prove also the Principle of this Argument, viz. that the Disciples of Christ sincerely believed all those matters of fact by the same Gradation. I say then, that the Disciples could not impose upon Men as to the Miracles of Christ, not only because they asserted them at the Expence of their own Quiet, of their dearest Blood, and even of their Lives, but also because they mention'd the Places, the Occasi­ons, the Time when they were done, and generally all the Circumstances absolutely necessary to disco­ver the Truth, and render the Design of imposing upon Mankind altogether impossible, and besides that, they confirmed those Miracles by others full as great if not greater than they were, which they pretended to do even in the sight of those to whom they preached the Gospel, not only telling them, That which we have heard, which we have seen with our Eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have han­dled, of the word of life declare we unto you, 1 John 1. 1. (alluding thereby to Christ's having deliver'd himself to be touched and handled by his Disciples after his Resurrection) but also adding these Words in another place, Therefore he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear: there being this further very remarkable in those Expressions; namely, that they pretended that the Holy Ghost descended not in great abun­dance upon them till after Christ's Glorification. For they make this Truth one of the chief Articles of their Gospel, the Holy Ghost, said they, was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified, John 7. 39. Thus it appears what it was they understood by the Holy Ghost, not the Grace of God only which they had already received when Christ was yet with them, not a few of the miraculous Gifts of the Ho­ly Ghost, for they had partly received them when they were sent into the different Parts of Judea to preach the Gospel and work Miracles in the Name [Page 232] of their Master, but also that extraordinary and a­bundant Effusion of the miraculous Gifts which they received on the day of Pentecost. For as they were then obliged to speak to all sorts of Nations, so they received the gift of speaking divers Tongues, and were baptised and fill'd with that Spirit which they had received but in part before. And this they cal­led the receiving the effect of the Promise, which every one of the Evangelists also termed, Baptising with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

But tho' it were not possible for us to prove that the Disciples sincerely believed Christ's Miracles, yet it must be granted, that they sincerely believed his Resurrection; it being impossible that they should either unanimously agree to testify the same, not­withstanding all the severe Trials they were forced to undergo in a time they must otherwise have been so much dejected, or that they could be able to maintain that Cheat with so much Constancy as they did. And the same thing I also affirm of his glorious Ascension.

Certainly, tho' the Sincerity of the Disciples might be justly suspected in both these two last Events, yet it can never be call'd in question concerning the mi­raculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost: For, if Christ's Disciples were not truly sincere, then they necessa­rily knew themselves to be Deceivers, and conse­quently not able to work any Miracles, or speak all sorts of Languages: And if so, they could not have boasted that they were able to do both, and make this an Essential Article of their Gospel. Nay they could not so much as have any Thoughts of attempt­ing it. And were they (as some pretend) perswa­ded that they could perform no Miracles, nor speak any Language but their own; tis impossible that they should yet declare that God had sent them to work Miracles, and preach to all Nations in the [Page 233] World in their respective Tongues. 'Tis yet still more impossible they should promise to enable their Proselytes to perform the same Miracles, and speak all sorts of Languages, so that they themselves and those to whom they spoke, should equally be sensible of it at the same time: For, if the Disciples knew by Experience they could speak no Language but their own, they would easily know by the same Ex­perience that their Proselytes would soon perceive how falsly they had promised them the Gift of seve­ral Languages.

And tho' one single Disciple of Christ should have been so foolish and stupid as not to perceive it, yet it cannot be that all of them together should be be­sotted with the same kind of stupidity.

Should we suppose that all the Disciples had un­dertaken to perswade their Proselytes, that they had confer'd upon them the Gift of Tongues, yet we can't suppose that those Proselytes would be­lieve it against their continual Experience to the contrary: For, if the Disciples knew by Experience, they could speak no Language but their own, by the same Experience their Proselytes would have known that they had not received the Gift of Tongues. And though one single Person might have fancy'd he had received it (which is yet im­possible in it self) yet a whole Multitude could never be perswaded of it; and it is still much more impossible that this pretended Illusion should have grown so universal and durable, that St. Paul not only supposed but found it settled in the World, and undertook to reform the Disorders which arose in several particular Churches concerning the Use of the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit. And tho' Christ's Disciples might have promised out of a particular Design of their own, to impart these mira­culous Gifts, which they were sensible they had not, [Page 234] and make other Men speak such Languages, as they neither understood, nor spoke themselves; and tho' a Multidude of Proselytes and Disciples might have perswaded themselves against their own Expe­rience and inward Sense, that they understood those things which they understood not, or spoke those Languages which they really spoke no more than they did before their calling; yet it is still impossible that those miraculous Gifts, supposing them to exist only in the imaginary conceit of the one and of the other, should have such an effect as any way to move the sight of the Spectators, or make the Jews glo­rifie God in that they had seen his Spirit descend up­on the Gentiles. But granting all this possible, tho' this Illusion should have taken place with respect to the Gift of speaking divers Tongues, yet men could not be deceiv'd in the Gift of interpreting them, and much less in all the other Gifts of the holy Spirit.

Add to this the consideration of the Patience of the Disciples, of their Holiness of Life, their Charity, their Zeal, their unaffected way of expressing them­selves, their Self-denial, Sincerity and plain Ingenui­ty. Methinks all these Characters put together, ne­cessarily and evidently convince us, that the Disci­ples were plain, honest, sincere Men, that had not in the least any Design to impose upon us; so that this Truth needs no further Demonstration.

It may not however be amiss, to remove some few small Difficulties which may seem to oppose what has been said concerning these miraculous matters of fact.

The first difficulty is to know how the Enemies of the Gospel could be able to extinguish the Know­ledge of so many extraordinary and miraculous mat­ters of fact, which seemed sufficient to convert all Mankind, or at least those Countreys where all those things came to pass.

[Page 235] I answer, first, those matters of fact were not in the least stifled or concealed. They were so far from it, that they converted an infinite number both of Jews and Gentiles, and that too in a very short time. Secondly, there were several external Causes which very much contributed towards the weakning the Impression they would otherwise have made up­on Mankind. For first, the Elders amongst the Jews endeavour'd as much as they could to perswade the People, that all those Miracles were nothing but the product of some Magick Power, or a kind of compact with the Devil.

Secondly, Those that were in Power were so much exasperated against the Disciples of Christ, that who­soever resolved to embrace his Doctrine, must im­mediately prepare himself to be cast into a Dungeon, or executed upon a scaffold. Nay, to undergo if pos­sible, any thing more sorrowful and fatal than this. And because nothing makes a greater Impression up­on Men than to see Punishments inflicted on others, all Parents strictly charged their Children not to hold any Conversation with the Christians, least they should see them end their days in the midst of Tor­ments. Nay they were very cautious and strict them­selves in avoiding their Society: which was the rea­son that keeping such an extraordinary distance from the Christians, they shut their Eyes and stopped their Ears that they might not hear their Words, nor see the Miracles which they perform'd.

Thirdly, The Doctrine of the Apostles was so con­trary to the Opinion the Jews had been prepossessed with, that they could not but hate and avoid it. For the Cross of Christ became a scandal to the Jews, and was treated as a folly by the Greeks.

Lastly, The Christian Religion putting an end to the bondage of the Law, and the Religion of the Hea­thens, a Jew then could not be converted to Christanity, [Page 236] without utterly renouncing what he always esteem­ed inviolable; nor could a Heathen believe in Jesus Christ, without looking upon that as profane, which he thought before most sacred. Hence it is that the holy Scripture speaks to us of the effects of the Gospel attended with the power of the Holy Ghost, as of the Creation of new Heavens, and of a new Earth.

If we add to this, the extraordinary care the Jewish and Heathenish Priests, and the Magistrates of both Nations took to smother the light of the Gos­pel; and the Weaknesses and Passions of Men, who were unable to sustain so much as the Idea of the torments that were invented, on purpose to hinder the progress of Christanity: I say if we consider this, we shall have no Reason to be any longer astonish'd at that which at first view so much surprised us.

But secondly, it may be asked why the Historians among the Heathens never mention'd any thing of those mighty Wonders of the Gospel, which yet deserved to have the most considerable place amongst the many other Events they have so carefully re­lated.

We answer, That this Consideration proves nothing against the truth of those Matters of fact we have so firmly established. First, because it is needless and extravagant to draw any further Consequences from a Principle which proves more than enough al­ready. 'Tis true, the Heathen Writers say little or nothing concerning Jesus Christ, for they hardly knew his Name. Suetonius speaks of him after this manner, Judaei tumultuati sunt Cresto impulsore. But what then? Does it follow that because Suetonius hardly knew the Name of Christ, that there was no such Person as Christ, or that he was not really cal­led Christus? The Heathen Authors you see relate not how several Christian Churches were in a small [Page 237] time settled at Rome, at Corinth, at Ephesus, at Sar­dis, at Smirna, at Philippi, at Thessalonica, &c. But must it follow from thence, that there was no such thing? Certainly if any matters of fact were true, this was undoubtedly true. I grant indeed, that the Miracles, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ were all matters of fact that might be doubt­ed of, yet we may at least affirm that the Establish­ment of those Christian Churches, composed of such Men as believed all those things, was a thing not to be doubted of. This was a matter of fact very im­portant and remarkable. Yet it was not in the least mention'd by the Historians of that Age, there­fore the Objection goes too far, it proves too much, and so consequently proves nothing.

Secondly, I say, that the Historians of those Times have so ignorantly treated of the Jewish Affairs, that we need not wonder they appear so little instructed in the Knowledge of what concerned the Christians, whom they supposed to have been a Sect belonging to the Jews. For if it appears that the History those Authors composed of them agrees not very well with the Gospel of the Apostles, 'tis but comparing it with that of Josephus, and we may clearly see that it agrees no better with one than with the other.

Lastly, the Heathen Authors consider'd the Christi­an Religion as a kind of Magick, and a detestable Superstition, which aimed at the total Destruction of Mankind. It is certain that some Men earnestly en­deavour'd to make it pass for such, among those who lived both in the Time of the Apostles, and long after them; and it was very dangerous to give it any other Name. The World was divided be­tween the Friends and Enemies of Christanity: Those who were the Friends of it, professed it, and deli­ver'd not only by word of Mouth, but in Writing, what they knew concerning the Wonders of it. As [Page 238] for its Enemies, they neither had the Boldness, Power, or Will to write ofit as the former had done: They would not do it, lest they should wrong their own Cause, and dishonour their own Religion: And they could not do it, because they themselves were not so well acquainted with the Miracles of Christanity, ha­ving always been afraid to converse with the Christi­ans, and esteemed the Belief of those Men a very sorrowful and dangerous Persuasion; since by pro­fessing their Religion, they were sure of getting no­thing but Torments, and Death it self. Lastly, they durst not presume to write things as they really were, tho' they had been never so well acquainted with them; because their own Writings would ac­cuse them of having embraced Christianity, a Crime which was so severely punish'd in those days, that it would unavoidably have brought upon them certain Death and Ruin, or at least, after their Death, Shame and Infamy upon their Families.

But thirdly, it may be asked why the Apostles who had Power to heal the Sick, and raise the Dead, did not raise all the Dead to Life again, nor heal all the sick that were in Judea, because then all the World would have been forced in spite of themselves to believe in Jesus Christ. We answer, That this Question is much like what the Murtherers of Jesus Christ said to him upon the Cross, He saved others, let him save himself, let him come down from the Cross and we will believe in him. Nay it is all one as if a Man should say, If there be a God, why does he not shew and manifest himself after a sensible manner, by speaking to men immediately from the highest Heavens? and then they would all be forced in spite of themselves to acknowledge him.

But God does not desire us to acknowledge him against our own Inclinations; and consequently, he is not obliged to manifest himself as we in our extra­vagant [Page 239] Desires would have him, but as it seemeth best to his infinite Wisdom. Had Christ or his Apostles raised all the Dead they found to Life again, we should then, contrary to the Design of the Almighty, have had no other Faith but what depended entirely upon our Senses. It is enongh that they healed almost an infinite number of Sick People, and raised not only one, but several Dead Men to Life: So much indeed was absolutely necessary to confirm the Truth of their Calling. Because they were not only to make Men believe in a crucified Saviour, and adore him as the Son of God, but also to oblige them, for the Confirmation of their Faith, to undergo Mar­tyrdom. More than this would have been but su­perfluous, because they were not obliged to alter the Oeconomy of Faith, but only to perfect it, not to make Men believe against their own Inclinations, but conformably to the Lights of their own Under­standing.

But tho' I should grant all these Difficulties to be greater than they really are; yet we ought to regu­late our speculative Opinions by some Arguments drawn from matters of fact, and not on the contrary, regulate the Arguments drawn from matters of fact by any speculative Opinions. And this is such a ge­neral Maxim, that it holds good in all respects.

Many Difficulties arose at first about the Belief of the Antipodes. Some pretended that such an Opinion was contrary to Reason; others affirmed, it could never be reconciled to the Principles of Religi­on: And both Parties raised several notable Objecti­ons against it. But as soon as the thing was evidently proved from undeniable matter of fact, all their Ob­jections and Difficulties were turned into Ridicule.

Some Philosophers have pretended to prove by Ar­guments, that Motion is impossible: But since we have daily Experience that there is such a thing as [Page 240] Motion, we let these Philosophers talk on, and chuse rather to believe our own Senses.

And I dare affirm (without begging any Excuse for the Boldness of my Assertion) that there never were, nor never will be any matters of fact, against which we might not raise several plausible Objections and considerable Difficulties that are meerly specula­tive. Some are daily raised against the Flux and Reflux of the Sea, against the Attraction of the Load­stone with Iron, the Source or Head of the River Nile, against Comets and Meteors, nay even against the peopling of the World, and the Propagation of Mankind. We readily grant the Incredulous, that several considerable Difficulties may be raised against the Mysteries of Religion, as we see there are no less considerable ones daily raised even against the My­steries and secret Operations of Nature. But I still affirm, that we must renounce the Evidence of Sense, if we prefer any Difficulties of meer Speculati­on before those Arguments which are taken from un­deniable matters of fact.

Tho' we should argue only upon the Nature of Things, and the Principles of Natural Religion, it would appear, if we compare the Obscurities which cause those Difficulties, with the Evidences which clear them, that the latter would gain more upon our Be­lief than the former; and this Truth we think we have sufficiently proved in our first Part of this Work. But tho' we should meet with nothing else but Difficulties in those natural Principles, without any Lights at all to clear them, yet ought we to banish all Scruples and Doubts that arise meerly from Speculation, the better to embrace the Opini­on which proceeds from the Arguments drawn from undeniable matters of fact, unless we have a mind to be guilty of an Absurdity not to be met with; which is wholly contrary to common sense and Reason.

[Page 241] But having thus evinced the Truth of the Essen­tials of our Religion, namely, those matters of fact contained in the Writings of the Apostles; it re­mains only, that we make Men further sensible of them, by laying down a few short Remarks which we shall make on several places of the New Testament, whose whole Purport shall be either to perswade us that the Apostles did really teach all these matters of fact, or assure us that they sincerely believed the things which they declared, or else to make it ap­pear, that they could not have been imposed upon in those matters of fact. For from those three princi­ples is formed the Demonstration of the Truth of the Christian Religion.

CHAP. VII. Wherein we shall further produce out of the other Gospels, several Places very proper to make us truly sensible of the Divinity of the Christi­an Religion.

CHAP. VIII.
Wherein we shall further produce from the Acts of the Apostles, several Places very proper to make us truly sensible of the Divinity of the Christan Religion.

CAHP. IX. Wherein we shall yet farther produce from the Epistles of St. Paul, St. Peter, and St John, several Texts very proper to make us truly sensi­ble of the Divinity of the Christian Religion.