Christ every one that had heard him Preach and had been a Witness of his Life and Miracles and Resurrection and had received the Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost did write a distinct Gospel giving an Account of some of the most remarkable Passages of our Saviour's Life which he had been a Witness of and did likewise as he had Occasion write Epistles or other Tracts for the Use and Instruction of the Christian Church every one of all which Books if they were now extant and as well attested as the Books of the New Testament are would be of equal Authority with them because dictated by the same Spirit by which all the Apostles were led into all Truth and had all things that Jesus had spoken brought to their Remembrance yet I say it would by no Means follow from hence either that those Books which are now lost if indeed there are any lost that were written by the Apostles were needless when they were written or that those which do now remain are not sufficient And a very little Consideration of the State of things as it was then and as it is now will make this which I have said very plain For the Case then was thus The Gospel of Christ was to be preached to the whole World by a few Persons who had been Eye-witnesses of his Miracles and were enabled by the Power of the Holy Ghost to confirm their Testimony of him by doing the like Miracles themselves And that this great Work might be accomplished within the Term of their Life it was necessary that they should quickly disperse themselves into all Parts of the World one going this Way and another that according as they had agreed among themselves or were directed by the Spirit And in this Division of Countries every one had a large Province assigned to him so that having much Work to do in a little Time he could not well stay long in one Place And upon this account it might be very proper for him after he had preached the Gospel in one City and made a good number of Converts and ordained Elders and established a Christian Church there when he went thence to leave behind him in Writing the Sum of what he had before preached among them for the Help of their Memories for the Direction of their Pastors and to prevent any Mis-representation that might afterwards be made of his Doctrine by ignorant or designing Men And after he was gone from thence he might have frequent Occasion to send them Letters either to confirm them in their Faith or to caution them against some Errors which he had heard were springing up among them or to correct some Fault in their Discipline or Manners By this Means I say it might well enough be tho' there be no Evidence that it was so that in the first Age of Christianity there might be besides occasional Letters as many distinct Gospels as there were Apostles every One writing a Gospel for the proper Use of those Churches which he himself had planted and in the Language that was best known to them And this if it was done might be no more than might be then necessary when it was not so easy as it is now since the Increase of Commerce and Navigation and the Invention of Printing to communicate and disperse the Books that are Published in one Country to other Countries that are far distant Besides if this could have been done then it can't well be supposed that a Gospel written by any other of the Apostles who had never been in that Province or Division and of whom they had never heard perhaps more than only his Name should be at first of so great Authority to them as a Gospel written by that very Apostle by whose Ministry they had been converted and of whose Miracles they themselves had been Witnesses Thus it might be and if it was so it might be agreeable to the divine Wisdom and Goodness so to order it that before those Books of the New Testament which we now have could be well dispersed and upon good Attestation receiv'd in all Christian Countries some particular Churches and especially those most remote from Judea should have for their present Use other Books written by some other of the Apostles containing the same Form of sound Words and relating the same things concerning the Life and Doctrine of our Saviour that these do And that some of those many Books which might be written by the Apostles or other inspired Men upon this Subject should be lost is no Marvel at all 't is rather a Wonder considering the Poverty of the first Christians and the constant Persecutions they were then under and the many Revolutions of Government that have been in Christendom since that time that so many as we have now left could be preserved for so many Ages before Printing was found out And those were of all the most like to be lost which were published in rude and barbarous Countries and which were written in some Language that was peculiar to one Nation only And those the most easie and consequently the most probable to be preserved which were published in the learned Part of the World and written in the most learned Language then in Use But altho' a greater Number of inspired Books than are now extant might be necessary in the first Age of Christianity before the Christian Churches then newly planted in all Countries of the then known World could have Communication with one another it cannot be argued from hence that those Books which we have now remaining are not sufficient for the present Time and for all the Time that has passed since the other Books were lost But rather it may very reasonably be presumed that there was nothing more for Substance in those Books which are supposed to be lost than there is in these which are now remaining so that the Loss of them may be no real Loss or Detriment to Religion and those which remain and are now receiv'd in all Christian Churches may be abundantly sufficient to instruct us in all Points of Christian Faith and Practice And there is indeed no Reason to think they are not seeing some of those single Books which we have now were written for this very Purpose were designed as Compendiums of the whole Christian Institution For St. Luke wrote his Gospel that Theophilus might know the Certainty of those things wherein he had been instructed And if this was the Evangelist's Design Luke 1.4 it can't be supposed but that he thought he had put into his Gospel whatever was necessary or very material And St. John in the same Place where he acknowledges that he had omitted the Relation of many things which Jesus did Joh. 20.30 31. says that he had written the things contained in his Gospel that Men might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing they might have Life through his Name By which it appears that
of Holy Scripture were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof 2. That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to them in their Relation of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded And 3. That if the Matters of Fact recorded in the Scripture are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught These things therefore I shall now endeavour to make good But in speaking to this Point I shall for Brevity's sake confine my Discourse only to the Books of the New Testament Partly because these are the Books wherein our Christian Religion is chiefly taught And especially because I think there are none who receive the New Testament as of divine Authority that do or â—ndeed can with any Reason reject the Old 1. Then I am to shew that we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of Holy Scripture of the New Testament in particular were written by those Persons that are said to be the Authors thereof This indeed is a Point that it does not properly lie upon us to make any Proof of For as a Man's Possession of an Estate is alone a good and a sufficient Title to it till a better is shewn by the Person that endeavours to eject him so it is here These Books are generally receiv'd as written by such and such Persons These Authors have the Name these have as it were â—he Possession of them and that 's Title enough if no other could be produced so long as no Evidence is ofâ—ered to shew that any other Persons have a better Title â—o them It lies on them therefore who deny that the Books are theirs to give a Reason of what they say â—ither by alledging some special Matter out of the Books â—hemselves whereby it may be proved that they could â—ot be of their Writing or by producing some creâ—ible and authentick History testifying that they were written by some other Persons and not by them And â—ill they can and shall do this which I am persuaded â—an never be done we may very well refuse to proâ—uce any positive Evidence to affirm or prove their Title their Possession being a good Title enough till a better appears And a Tenant might with as good Reason refuse to pay Rent to the Person of whom he â—ook the Estate and to whom he hath ever hitherto â—aid Rent and whose Right to it is not at all controverted until he shall suffer his Writings to be perused and examined and by them make it plainly appear that he is the lawful Landlord as any Man can now refuse to give that Credit to these Books as written by the Apostles which has been given hitherto and is still given by all Christians unless he may have now as good positive Evidence of their being written by the Apostles as might have been given thereof at first and as it may be presumed was given before their Title to them was so universally acknowledged But nevertheless what a Man is not under any Obligation to do for the asserting of his Right he may do wisely enough for his own Satisfaction And it must needs be a Satisfaction and Pleasure to a Man altho' his Title to his Estate be not at present controverted if in looking over the Writings and Evidences of it he sees plainly how it descended to him by a lineal Succession from Father to Son for many Generations past and how it came at first to his Ancestors by a clear and fair Purchase from the former Possessors or by Donation from the Prince in the Division of a wast or conquered Country and if he also finds ancient Terriers agreeing in the same Measure and Boundings and exactly describing the same Estate which he now possesses and if moreover looking far back he sees that upon some Disputes or Law-suits that have formerly been concerning it Judgment has been always given on his Side It cannot but please him I say that upon such a Search into Antiquity he finds that he is so very well provided to make out his Title if there should ever be any Occasion for it altho' by Reason of the long and quiet Possession that he and his Ancestors before him time out of Mind have had of it he has no just Cause to fear he shall ever meet â—ith any Disturbance And so it is here These Writings the Books of â—he New Testament are generally acknowledged to be â—ritten by the Apostles of Christ and their Authoâ—â—ty is at present uncontested It may therefore reaâ—â—nably be presumed especially by those who have â—ot Parts or Learning or Leisure to examine into the â—easons of such things that they would not have â—â—en so universally acknowledged and reverenced as â—â—ey are upon this Account but upon very good â—rounds tho' what the Grounds thereof are they â—â—ve not yet inquired Their being in Possession is â—one Reason enough to acknowledge and assert their â—â—tle It lies upon them that deny these Books to 〈◊〉 theirs to produce satisfactory Evidence of their â—ing forged or counterfeit and till they shall proâ—â—ce some Evidence thereof that has a Shew and Apâ—â—arance of Truth we have no Reason to be stagâ—â—red in our Belief by their bare however bold and â—â—nfident Denial of their Authority And much â—s shall we need to give our Reasons for our reâ—â—ving them as written by the Apostles till our Adâ—â—â—saries shall offer some Reasons why we ought not 〈◊〉 receive them as such But nevertheless because we see there are some in â—s incredulous Age that shew a good Will to deny 〈◊〉 Authority of these Sacred Books and whose Inâ—est it would be to prove them Spurious and beâ—se we cannot tell what unwarrantable Practices â—ir Inclination and Interest may put them upon 〈◊〉 what Writings or Evidences plausibly forged 〈◊〉 counterfeited they may hereafter produce it cannot be amiss for us to inquire and see and it cannot but be a Pleasure and Satisfaction to us who hold our Hope of eternal Life chiefly by these Writings to find and consider how well provided we are to detect and disprove any such Forgeries if they should be offered by being able to produce in Opposition thereto as good positive Proof that these Books are genuine as such a Matter is capable of much better than I believe can be produced for the Authority of any other Books of the like Antiquity And it gives us some Satisfaction in the Belief wâ— have been bred up in that these are the genuiâ—â— Books of the Authors to whom they are ascribed tâ— find that they are receiv'd as such not by a smaâ—â— Party of Men not by that Church and Nation onlâ— to which we belong but by all Christians disperseâ— in all Parts of the World and likewise that they aâ— agree with us in the same Testimony viz. that theâ— received then as such from their Fathers For thâ—â— these Books should be thus generally receiv'd anâ— acknowledged
mention as briefly as may be the Answers that have been usually given to these Objections And 1. Whereas 't is said that of some of the Books of the New Testament the Authors Names are not certainly known as namely of the Epistle to the Hebrews and that of others the Authors have been doubted particularly of the second and third Epiâ—tles of St. John To this it hath been answered 1. That the Credit and Authority of a Book depends many times much more upon the good Assurance that we have of the time when it was written and of the Character of the Person that wrote it than upon the certain Knowledge of his Name It is therefore a Matter of no great Conseâ—uence whether the Epistle to the Hebrews was writâ—en by St. Paul himself as is commonly and upon â—ery probable Grounds believed Or as some have â—onjectured by St. Luke his constant Companion Or as others by St. Clemens his Fellow-labourer â—hose Name was in the Book of Life Phil. 4.3 Or as others â—y St. Barnabas his Assistant in Preaching the Goâ—pel Acts 14.14 and who is dignified by St. Luke with the Tiâ—e of an Apostle And so neither is it very maâ—erial whether the Epistles called the second and third Epistles of St. John and commonly believed to be written by the same Person that wrote the first were indeed written by St. John the Apostle and Evangelist or as some have thought by another â—ohn who was made Bishop of the Jewish Christians â—t Ephesus by him For it is sufficient that the Writers of these Books which soever they were of the Persons before-mentioned were of good Ability and Integrity and well instructed in that Doctrine and Religion which they wrote about And of this besides the Testimony of the Ancients there is good Evidence enough in the Writings themselves 2. In Answer to this and to all other Objections of this sort against these or any other Books or Chapters or Paragraphs of the New Testament it hath been farther truly said that there is nothing singular in these Books that there is no Doctrine of Christianity taught in any Part of the New Testament of the Author or Authority of which there hath ever been any Doubt in the Church which is not taught in some other undoubted and uncontroverted Part of the same Book So that if it were granted that those Parts of the New Testament of which there has been formerly any Doubt were still of uncertain Authority our Christianity would suffer no real Loss thereby Only giving up these controverted Places we should sometimes want a good Help to enable us to understand readily those other uncontroverted Places of the New Testament wherein the same Doctrines are but perhaps more briefly or obscurely delivered 2. Whereas 't is said that some Parts of the New Testament have been rejected in ancient Times This is granted But then it hath been shewn that considering by whom they have been rejected and under what Notion and for what Reasons they were rejected this Objection is of no force to invalidate the Authority even of those Parts of the New Testament which have been so rejected and much less of the rest of the Book which has been allowed by all Thus some Portions of the New Testament have been rejected by Hereticks because they contradicted their private and singular Notions Some by Judaizing Christians as the Two first Chapters of St. Matthew because they were not found in that Hebrew Copy of that Gospel which they used and all the Epistles of St. Paul were likewise rejected by the same Persons but not as not written by St. Paul but only because they were written by him whom they looked upon as an Enemy to their Nation because he levelled them with other Nations and as too averse to that Religion which had been introduced by Moses which they continued so wedded to even after their embracing Christianity that they could not but suspect him to be a false Apostle who had so plainly taught the Abrogation thereof And for the like Reasons some other Parts of the New Testament have been likewise rejected by some few Men that is not because they wanted the same Attestation which the other Parts of it had or because it appeared by credible History that they were Spurious but only because they contradicted too plainly some Notions which their former Prejudices or Education had made them fond of So that this Argument against the Authority of the New Testament taken from the Rejection of some Parts of it by some particular Men or Sects is manifestly of no Strength unless there was some good Reason for their Rejecting them And that there was good Reason for it has not yet been shewn but the contrary has been shewn very plainly by the ancient Writers of the Church in several Books written by them in Confutation of those Sects and Heresies which are still extant And 3. Whereas it is further said that some Books which are now receiv'd as Parts of the New Testament were not universally receiv'd in the most early Times when their Authority if they were authentick might have been asserted upon more certain Grounds than it can be now viz. the Epistle to the Hebrews the Epistle of St. James the 2d of St. Peter the 2d and 3d. of St. John the Epistle of St. Jude and the Book of the Revelation This is likewise granted But in Answer to it it is said 1. That there is good Evidence from Antiquity that these controverted Books were receiv'd in the most early Times by those who had the best Opportunity of satisfying themselves of the Authors and Authority thereof viz. by those to whom they were sent and in general by the whole Greek Church 2. That it is no Wonder that these Books being written either to Christians dispersed and consequently only published by giving out Copies thereof to some to be communicated as there was Opportunity to others or else to private Persons living perhaps at great Distance from the Places from which they were sent were not so easie to be attested and upon that Account were not at first so generally receiv'd as the others were which were either written to particular Churches to which the Authors Hands and the Messengers that brought them were well known or which were first published and receiv'd in the same Places where they were written And 3. That even those Churches which did for some time doubt of the Authority of these Books were persuaded at last to receive them as the Authentick Writings of the Apostles or other Inspired Men. If therefore it be supposed that while they doubted of these Books they had Reason for their Doubt that is that they did it because they were not as yet fully satisfied that they were Apostolical Writings which the Objectors I believe will readily enough grant it may be very reasonably presumed that they had afterwards greater Reason to lay aside their Doubt and that when they did receive
them it was because there had been then lately such Evidence and Attestation given of their being written by the Apostles or other Inspired Men as they had not heard of before such as they could not then with any Reason contradict or gainsay For ordinarily a less Reason will persuade a Man to take up an Opinion at first than will persuade him to go back from an Opinion how weakly soever grounded which he has before embraced and defended So that this Objection is so far from lessening that it rather strengthens the Proof we have of the Authority even of these once controverted Books And it is besides a very good corroborating Evidence of the Authority of all the other Books of the New Testament For the Backwardness of some Churches to receive these controverted Books at first when they had nothing to object to the Matter of them makes it evident that the Christians of the first Ages were not so very easie and credulous as some have represented them that they did not so very greedily swallow any Book for divine Revelation that contained a great many Miracles mixed with a few good Morals without making due Enquiry concerning the Author and Authority thereof But on the contrary their being so hard to be persuaded to receive these controverted Books for some time while they wanted as they thought sufficient Attestation altho' the Doctrine of them was in all Points agreeable to the Doctrine of the other Books which they had before received their being so hard I say to receive these Books of the Authority of which there nevertheless really was such Evidence as they themselves after having well weighed and considered it declared themselves satisfied with gives very good Ground to believe that they had from the Beginning such Evidence as was without Exception of the Authority of all those other Books that is of much the greatest Part of the New Testament which were never controverted which were from the first and with universal Consent receiv'd by all Christian Churches For if there had not been very undeniable Evidence of their being the genuine Writings of the Apostles or other inspired Men there would certainly have been the same Doubt and Controversie concerning them that there once was concerning these But 4. It hath been further objected that in the early Times of Christianity there were several counterfeit Gospels and Epistles which passed among some for the Writings of the Apostles and that 't is possible some of them may have slipped into the Canon unawares to the first Christians who by all the Accounts of those Times were more remarkable for their Honesty and Simplicity and Zeal than for their extraordinary Parts and Learning But this Objection granting the Matter of Fact alledg'd in it to be true is so far from lessening that it rather adds to that reasonable Assurance that we have that all the Books of the Canon are true and genuine For there is nothing so apt to put Men upon using Caution as a great Probability of being cheated if they be not cautious Thus when the Coin is generally good and there is very little base or counterfeit Money stirring Men commonly take it by Tale without examining the Weight and Purity of every Piece and so may more easily have a single Piece of lighter Weight or baser Metal put upon them without discerning it But if the Coin be much corrupted they look more narrowly upon every single Piece of Money that they take and if there be the least Cause to suspect it make Trial of it by the Scale or Touchstone before they accept it as good If therefore there were in the early Times of Christianity many counterfeit Pieces given out and perhaps receiv'd by some as written by the Apostles and which were some of them discovered to be spurious and there is not greater Evidence from Antiquity that there were any such spurious Writings than there is that the Spuriousness of some of them was soon discern'd this could not but put the Christians of those Times upon examining more strictly what Evidence and Attestation there was that those other Books were true and genuine which had been generally receiv'd as such So that the more there were of these spurious and counterfeit Books so much the more assured and confident we may reasonably be that none but such as were undoubtedly true and authentick and very well attested were admitted into the Canon And of the two it is much more probable that they did for Want of clear Attestation refuse to admit some that had been written by the Apostles than that they did without sufficient Attestation admit any that were not And that the Christians of those early Times who had the best Means and Opportunities of satisfying themselves whether any Book given out as written by an Apostle was so or not wanted not Skill to discern between a true and a spurious Writing as is maliciously suggested by some Men is abundantly evident from those Monuments of the excellent Parts and Learning of some of the first Converts to Christianity which are still extant in their Books and from the Testimony that is therein given to the like good Ability of several others who were famous in their Generation for their Preaching and Writings and for their stoutly maintaining the Truths of Christianity both against Infidels and Hereticks but whose Books are now unhappily lost But 5. and lastly It was further said That tho' it be granted that all the Books of the New Testament that are now receiv'd were originally written by the Apostles or other inspired Men yet those which we now have are but Copies in which by so many Transcriptions thereof as must have been in about 1400 Years many Alterations may have happened thro' the Ignorance or Oversight or evil Design of the Transcribers And that several Changes have been made iâ— undeniably plain by the various Readings that have been observed in comparing the best Manuscript Copies that are now or have been extant since Printing began So that we cannot be sure whether any particular Passages once found in those Books are the very Words of an Apostle or of some ignorant or careless Scribe But to this it hath been answered 1. That so far as this Objection is of any Force it â—nvalidates the Credit of all History and of all other Books of ancient Date as well as of the New Testament Nay indeed of all other Books much more than of â—his for the faithfully Transcribing whereof it may â—easonably be presumed there was formerly greater Care taken as there is now for the correctly Printing 〈◊〉 than there ordinarily was of other Books that â—ere of less Consequence 2. That tho' it be certain that some Hereticks â—ave attempted to corrupt the Text of the New Testaâ—ent in some Places and have made Changes in some â—â—w Copies thereof it is almost as certain that their â—ttempts of this kind neither have nor ever could â—â—ount to a Corruption of all
in the Holy Scripture it must be either in the Matter of it or in the Proof of it And if it be in the Matter of it it must be either that it does not give us sufficient Directions what to do or that it does not propose sufficient Motives to persuade Men to do what it requires And therefore in speaking to this Head I shall shew 1. That the Holy Scripture gives us sufficient Directions what to do 2. That the Motives which the Scripture proposes are sufficient to persuade us to do what it requires And 3. That we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scripture and consequently of all the Doctrines which are taught by it 1. I shall shew that the Holy Scripture gives us sufficient Directions what to do And of this there can be little Doubt among those that believe the divine Inspiration and Authority of the Holy Scripture because to them its own Testimony of its own sufficiency is a Proof thereof beyond all Exception For if as the Apostle says 2. Tim. 3.16 it be profitable for Doctrine and for Reproof and for Correction and for Instruction in Rigteousness it is plainly profitable for all the Purposes for which we can desire a divine Revelation And if as he says in the next Verse it was given to make perfect the Man of God that is the Man whose Business it is to teach and instruct others and throughly to furnish him unto all good Works it cannot be deficient in delivering all such Rules and Directions as are necessary to be given by a Pastor to the People committed to his Care And if as the same Apostle had said at the 15th Verse of that Chapter it be able to make us wise unto Salvation we have no Reason to desire to be wiser than this excellent Book can make us And if all this could truly be said by the Apostle before the Canon of the New Testament was compleated if it could be said by him of those Holy Scriptures which Timothy had known from a Child that is of the Books of the Old Testament only much more may it be now said of the Books of both Testaments together But to speak at large of this Point at present would be too great a Digression from the Design of these Lectures which were intended only against Infidels not against any Sect of Christians and such they pretend to be such because they hold the Foundation Christ Jesus they may in Charity be allow'd to be who do chiefly differ from us in this Article and deny the sufficiency of Scripture only because they are resolved to maintain some gainful Doctrines and Practices of their own Church which they are sensible have no Warrant from Scripture and so can be maintained no other Way but by affirming that they have been delivered down to them by Tradition and that unwritten Tradition is a necessary Supplement to the written Word and of equal Authority with it For between us and Infidels who reject the Scripture the Sufficiency of the Scripture as a Rule of Faith and Manners is hardly Matter of Controversie for these do not reject the Scripture because it teaches too little but rather because it teaches too much because it teaches Doctrines above their Reason and commands such Duties as they do not like to practise and if it taught less than it does they would be more ready to own its divine Authority But nevertheless even these Men that they may leave no Stone unturned will be sometimes discoursing upon this Point and altho' those Books of Holy Scripture which are now extant and which are now generally receiv'd do teach much more than they themselves are willing to believe and practise yet that they may as much as they can unsettle the Belief of others do not stick to argue againast the Christian Religion from this Topick and to affirm that the Books of Holy Scripture which are now receiv'd do not contain the whole Will of God For there were say they in former times several other Gospels and Epistles and other Tracts designed to instruct Men in the Christian Religion which were written by the Apostles or other inspired Men and which were consequently of the same Authority in themselves with those which are now receiv'd into the Canon of which nevertheless we have nothing now left but the Names and Titles or some imperfect and uncertain Fragments so that it may well be doubted whether those few Books which are now remaining are sufficient to instruct us in all necessary Points of Knowledge and Practice And of this Matter of Fact there is they say some Evidence even from the Scripture its self For St. Luke in the Beginning of his Gospel takes Notice that many before him had taken in Hand to set forth a Declaration of those things which were surely believed among Christians that is had written and published Narratives of the Life Actions Miracles Preaching Death and Resurrection of our Saviour But there are no Histories of this Kind no Gospels now extant that were written before St. Luke's except only St. Matthew's and St. Mark 's and if there had been no more extant at that time it would have been very improper they say for the Evangelist to have said that many had written upon this Subject when he spake only of those two And that there was Matter enough for several such Narratives so that tho' they were very different Gospels they might nevertheless be all true we are told by St. John who wrote his Gospel the last of the Four Evangelists Joh. 20.30 Many other Signs truly did Jesus in the Presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book and again Ch. 21. Vers 25. There are also many other things which Jesus did the which if they should be written every one I suppose that even the World its self could not contain the Books that should be written Now if it be true that there were several other Books formerly extant but which are now lost that were written by the Apostles and other inspired Men and consequently by divine Inspiration either these were needless when written and it is unreasonable to suppose that any Book written by divine Inspiration was needless or else the Loss of these Books is a Loss to Religion and we cannot be well assured that those which we have now remaining do sufficiently instruct us in all Points of Christian Faith and Practice But admit the Truth of this Matter of Fact viz. that more Books were written by the Apostles or inspired Men than are now extant which I will not now dispute because I think it needless because I think it may be granted without any Prejudice to the Christian Cause altho' there be none or at most but very slender Evidence of it nay admit more than is upon any good Grounds alledged viz. not only that several but that every one of the Apostles and immediate Disciples of
he thought he himself had written enough in his Gospel to persuade Men to believe in Christ and to direct them in the Way to eternal Life There being therefore in those Books of the New Testament which we now have several Abridgments of the whole Christian Doctrine it cannot with any Reason be pretended that all these Books together are not sufficient fully to instruct us therein Besides The Gospel of Christ that was preached suppose by St. Thomas in India or by St. Simon in Africa or by any other of the Apostles in Countries remote from Judea or without the Bounds of the Roman Empire was undoubtedly the very same Gospel that was preached by St. Peter and St. Paul or those other of the Apostles whose Books are now extant and received by the Catholick Church for they were all taught by the same Master Christ and were all enlightned by the same Holy Ghost so that if any of them did as 't is reported they did write any Gospels for the present Use of those particular Churches which they had planted tho' they might be somewhat different from any of the four Gospels which we now have in the Expression or perhaps in the Relation of some particular Passages of our Saviour's Life which our Evangelists have omitted just as the four Gospels which we now have do differ from one another yet for Substance they must needs have been the same with these and with one another if indeed they were all true Relations of the Matters of which the Authors thereof had been Witnesses so that if we had them all now they could all together teach us no other Doctrines than are taught in the Books of the New Testament Nevertheless I do not deny but that if we had more Books of this Kind than we have that if we had all the Books that were written by the Apostles or their immediate Successors who had been taught by them they might be of very good Use to us to help us to understand more readily and easily those Books which we have as now we receive from some Portions of Holy Scripture great Light to help us to understand and to put a right Interpretation upon others But perhaps it was for this very Reason that the Providence of God did order no more to be written than were written or has suffered those to be lost that are supposed to be lost that it might cost us some Pains and Study to understand our Religion that so our Knowledge as well as our Practice being in some Measure the Fruit of our own Industry might be a proper Subject of Reward In short That there were more Books in the first Age of Christianity written by Apostles or other inspired Men than are now extant or than if extant can be well proved to be of their Writing is a Point which I believe cannot be now upon any certain Evidence either affirmed or denied But if it be granted I say however there is no Reason to inferr from thence that those which we now have are not sufficient For if there be a God and a Providence and if there be any Truth in the Scripture Declarations of the Love of God to Mankind and that he would have all Men to be saved and to come to the Knowledge of the Truth most certainly the necessary Means of Mens Salvation is a proper Subject of the divine Care And if so it can't be thought but that the same good Providence which as is now supposed took Care for the writing of more Books when more might be necessary has likewise taken Care for the Preservation of so many of these Books as are now sufficient Or if the Men we are now arguing with will not grant that there is such a particular Providence of God yet if they will but allow that God is just that he is not a hard Master expecting to reap where he has not sown I think they must allow that all things necessary to our Salvation not knowable by Reason are taught in the Books of Holy Scripture which we now have because there are no other Books extant which we have reason to receive and accept as divine Revelation Or if they deny this it will lie upon them to produce those other Books which we ought to receive besides these and to give good Evidence to the World of their divine Authority Which when they have done or if they shall but only shew that there is as good Reason to receive them as these We must own our selves to blame if we shall not then take them also into the Canon of Scripture But till that shall be done what hath been already said is enough to shew that the Holy Scripture is a compleat Rule both of Faith and Manners Especially considering as was noted before that when-ever the Insufficiency of Scripture in this Respect is urged by those who do not believe the Scripture which are the Persons I have now to deal with it can be only for Cavilling sake the true Reason of their Backwardness to receive it as a divine Revelation being not because it teaches not enough but because it teaches more than they are willing to believe and commands more than they are disposed to practise For I cannot imagine that these Men do truly desire more Duty than is laid upon them in the Books of Scripture now received by the Christian Church But what they may most reasonably be thought to desire is either some better Encouragement to undertake that difficult Task which the Scripture lays upon them or some better Evidence that the Scripture is a divine Revelation I proceed now therefore to the second thing propounded which was 2. To shew that the Motives which the Scripture proposes are sufficient to persuade Men to do what it requires Now Hopes and Fears are the great Springs of Action and the greater the Good is we hope for or the Evil we fear the stronglier do they move and incline us to Action And therefore how difficult soever the Undertaking be so it be but possible if the Motives are proportioned to the Difficulty they must be granted to be sufficient Inducements to undertake it But that the Task or Business required of us is possible to be done needs not to be proved now because it must be granted by those who say they believe they should be persuaded to do what is required if they had better Encouragement for no Arguments or Motives whatsoever can reasonably persuade a Man to undertake a thing that he believes impossible Supposing it therefore possible I say that whatsoever Difficulty there really is or we may apprehend there is in a Christian Life if any Motives that could possibly be proposed to us can be thought sufficient to induce us to undertake it most evidently those Motives which the Gospel proposes are so because better or greater cannot be so much as conceived or imagined seeing both the good things which it promises to persuade us to Virtue and
by so many different and far distanâ— Nations without some good Grounds is not conceâ—vable because it can neither be imagined that thâ— Christians of the present Age dispersed in all Countriâ— should combine together to say that they receiv'â— these Books from their Fathers as the genuine Wrâ—tings of the Apostles if they had not so receiv'd them nor that their Forefathers in any of the Ages paâ—â— should have all agreed together to put a Cheat upoâ— their Posterity by delivering down to them theâ—â— Books as written by the Apostles when they themselves had no good Reason to believe them so or whâ—â— they knew the contrary It is a further Satisfaction to us to observe and consider that the Authority of these Books is as well proved as it can be not only by oral but also by the best written Tradition The Christian Writers of all Ages citing them as they had Occasion as the genuine Writings of the Apostles And that as well before the Canon of the New Testament was defined and declared by Councils as since And lastly It gives us very good Satisfaction that these Books are the genuine Writings of the Persons to whom they are ascribed that we do not find they were ever excepted against as spurious and counterfeit in those times when it would have been most proper to have made the Exception and by those Persons whose Cause and Interest it would have served very much to have proved them Spurious if it could have been done For the proper time to have made this Exception to these Writings was when or soon after they were first published when it would have been easie to have proved them Spurious if they had been so and no less easie to have brought positive Evidence of their being Genuine if indeed they were Genuine either by the living Testimony of the Authors themselves or of others that knew their Writing or by producing the original Copies under their own Hands And therefore their being then received as the Writings of the Apostles by those who were best able to know whose Writings they were and their being not for ought appears excepted against upon this Account at that time â—s a very good Argument that there was no just Ground for any such Exception And the most likely Persons they whose Cause and Interest it would have served most to deny that these Books were written by the reputed Authors thereof were the Enemies of our Religion The Jews or the Heathens who neither of them wanted either Malice or Wit to alledge any Fact that they could have justified the Truth of in Disproof of the Christian Religion It is therefore no small Satisfaction to us to observe that they never argued against the Christian Religion from this Topic that they never denied that the Books which the Christians received as written by the Apostles were genuine Nay that Julian himself one of the subt'lest as well as of the bitterest Adversaries of the Christian Faith did yet expresly own that the Books read by the Christians as the Books of Peter Paul Matthew Mark and Luke were indeed theirs After all indeed it must be owned that we have not such Demonstration that the Books of the New Testament were written by the Apostles as is self-evident and cannot possibly be contradicted for the Matter it self is not capable of such Demonstration But we have such Demonstration of it as cannot be contradicted with any Reason We have as good Assurance of it as we have or can have of any Matter of that kind We have as good Evidence of the Truth of it as supposing it to be true we could have of it and more than this cannot be desired We are as morally certain that these Books were written by the Authors to whom they are ascribed as we are that any other ancient Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it There being no Argument by which it is or can be proved that any ancient Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it which does not prove the Authority of these Books rather more strongly than it does the Authority of any other Book And there being no Argument that is or can be urged against the Authority of these Books which may not with as good Reason be urged to disprove the Authority of any other Book of the like Antiquity nay indeed of all the Books in the World ancient or modern the Authors of which are not now living or of whose Writing the Books ascribed to them no living Evidence can be produced For what is there that can be said to disprove or to render suspected the Authority of these Books but only that there is a Possibility that Things may not be as we believe them to be It may be the Atheist or Infidel will say that these Books were not written by the Persons under whose Names we receive them but by some others It may be he 'll say for Instance that there never was such a Man as Matthew the Publican afterwards an Apostle of Christ Or if there was yet it may be that the Gospel that goes under his Name was not of his Writing but is a Book of a much later Date It may be that it was written by some crafty Priest no longer ago than the last Age And that he and some others in Confederacy with him at the same Time that they forged this Gospel in the Greek Tongue did likewise make and contrive all those Translations of it into several Languages that are now extant some of which pretend to very great Antiquity and which are all made with such an Appearance of Truth and with such Congruity to the several Times in which they are said to be made that none of the Learned Men of the present Age have been able to discover the Fraud And It may be also that when they forged the Gospel it self they forged likewise all the other Books that are pretended to be written by several Historians and Divines in divers Languages and in several Ages of the World for Sixteen Hundred Years past in which this Gospel is either testified to be written by St. Matthew or is cited or commented upon as his And it may be likewise that at the same Time that they trumped up all these Books in one Countrey they had their Confederates and Correspondents that did the same in all the other Countries where they are now found not only exposing them to publick Sale as Books of ancient Date and venerable Antiquity but likewise slily conveying an infinite Number of written and printed Copies of the same into all Libraries both publick and private unknown to the Keepers and Owners thereof And it may be that all these things were done so secretly that none of the Confederacy did ever confess nor any besides ever discover the Cheat And it may be that all the rest of the World was so much asleep at that time as to have
was For in Matters of common Testimony we make little Difference between Speech and Writing If a Man whom we dare trust sends us a Letter and therein relates such and such things as heard or seen by himself or as well attested to him by unexceptionable Witnesses we give as full Credit to his Letter as we should do to his Words So that in Truth our Case who live now is not very different from theirs who lived in the Apostles Days and heard them saying those same Things which we now read in their Books and if we think those inexcuseable who did not receive their Testimony when given by Word of Mouth we can't in good Reason hold our selves excused if we receive not the same Testimony of the same Persons given under their Hands In one Respect indeed it must be granted that they had the Advantage of us viz. because they might be surer that they heard an Apostle speak than the Nature of the Thing will admit we should be that we read the Words of an Apostle written But we are sure enough of this We have as good moral Certainty of it as we can have of any thing that is not capable of any other than a moral Certainty And if the Words that we read in the New Testament are the Words of the Apostles of Christ we have in some Respects the Advantage of those who lived in those early Times for we have the concurrent Testimony of several of the Apostles written whereas hardly any in those times when a few Persons were to bear Witness to all the World could have more than the Testimony of one single Apostle only by Word of Mouth and many Witnesses are more credible than one And besides there being several Witnesses their Testimony if it be false may be more easily proved so by their Disagreement with one another than the Testimony of one single Witness could be And lastly a Writing which we may review and read over as often as we will and which we may take what time we please to consider of may be more throughly understood and better digested than a Sermon or Discourse only once spoken can well be But if it be granted that the Faith of the first Converts to Christianity which came by Hearing of the Apostles might be built upon more certain and infallible Grounds than ours that comes only by Reading is And some Reasons may perhaps be given hereafter why 't was fit it should be so it is enough however to render our Infidelity inexcusable if the Grounds of Faith that we now have are very rational if they are a sufficient Support for such a Faith as will enable us to please God and to overcome the World And this may be farther said for our Comfort and to make us easie and satisfied with those Grounds and Reasons of Faith which are afforded to us by the written Testimony of the Apostles in the Books of the New Testament that as there is more Certainty in that Belief if it may be called Belief which is grounded upon Demonstration or infallible Evidence so there is more Praise and Vertue in that good Disposition of Mind which makes us rest satisfied with such Grounds of Faith as tho' not absolutely and infallibly certain yet cannot with any good Reason be denied or excepted against According to that Saying of our Saviour to St. Thomas in a like Case with which I shall conclude Joh. 20.29 Thomas because thou hast seen me thou hast believed blessed are they that is they are more blessed their Faith is more excellent and praise-worthy and so will intitle them to a greater Reward who have not seen and yet have believed Which Blessedness that we may all attain God of his great Mercy and Goodness grant for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ c. FINIS ERRATA Pag. 8. l. 19. for then r. them Books Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard A Sermon Preach'd before the Honourable the House of Commons at St. Margaret's Westminster January the 30th 1698 9. The Sufficiency of a Standing Revelation A Sermon Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's Jan. 1st 1699 700. being the first for the Year 1700. of the Lecture Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq The Sufficiency of the Scripture Revelation as to the Matter of it Being the Second for the Year 1700. of the Lecture Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq These Three by Ofspring Blackall Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty A Perswasive to Prayer A Sermon Preach'd before the King at St. James's A Sermon Preach'd before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled in the Abby Church at Westminster Jan. 30th Fifteen Sermons Preached on several Occasions the Last of which was never before Printed These Three by the most Reverend Father in God John Lord Arch-Bishop of York Primate of England and Metropolitan The Faith and Practice of a Church of England Man A False Faith not Justified by Care for the Poor Prov'd in a Sermon Preach'd at St. Paul's Church Mysteries in Religion Vindicated or the Filiation Deity and Satisfaction of our Saviour asserted against Socinians and others with Occasional Reflections on several late Pamphlets These Two by Luke Milbourn a Presbyter of the Church of England Two Sermons of Mr. Young's about Nature and Grace Preach'd at Whitehall THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE Scripture-Revelation As to the Proof of it PART II. TWO SERMONS Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul April 1 st and May 6 th 1700. BEING The Fourth and Fifth for the Year 1700 of the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead THE Point I entred upon the Proof of the last time was this 3. That we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scripture and consequently of all the Doctrines that are taught by it And for the Proof of this having for Brevity sake confined my Discourse upon it to the Books of the New Testament only the rather because the Authority of that being granted the Authority of the Old Testament cannot reasonably be questioned I propounded to shew 1. That we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of the New Testament were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof 2. That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to them in their Relations of those
alone presently reject either of them but we enquire which of them was in the best Capacity to know the Truth and which of them is the least liable to the suspicion of falshood and which Story is the most probably related and to the Belief of that we encline If therefore there be any Man that thinks there is any truth in History and who does give Credit to other Histories and I believe there is no Man but does so and yet will not be persuaded to allow that the Gospel History is very credible which contains a Relation only of such Matters of Sense as it was morally impossible there should be any Cheat or Deceit in and in which if there had been any Deceit or Mistake it was morally impossible that it should not be discover'd and disprov'd and which yet neither is now nor ever was contradicted by any History of competent Antiquity and good Credit I think we may very well conclude that 't is not Reason or Judgment but Prejudice or Interest or the Love of some Vice or Lust that makes him an Infidel The End of the Fourth Sermon THE Fifth Sermon St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead THE Subject I was upon in my last Discourse on these Words and which I left unfinish'd was to shew That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to the Authors of the Historical Books of the New Testament in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded For the Proof of which I proposed these following things to be considered 1 The Nature Conditions and Circumstances of the Matters they have recorded and of the History its self 2 The good Capacity they were in to know the Truth of the Things they have related 3 The strong Obligations they were under to write nothing but the Truth according to the best of their Knowledge or Information 4 The good Evidences that we have of their Honesty and Faithfulness And 5 Lastly The Confirmation that was given to the Truth of their History by God himself The last Discourse was spent in the Consideration of the first of these things I proceed now to the Second viz. 2. The good Capacity that the Writers of the Evangelical History were in to know the Truth of those things which they have related Now the Matters of History which are related in the Epistles are but few and those for the most part such as had been done by or had happened to either the Persons that wrote them or the Churches or Persons to whom they were written so that of these we shall not need to say any thing For the Bulk or Body of the Evangelical History is contain'd in the Four Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles And of the Authors of these Books there is no Controversie in the Christian Church And if they were written by the reputed Authors a few Words will suffice to shew that they were in a very good Capacity to know the Truth of the Things they have recorded much better than most other ancient Historians whose Relations nevertheless are generally thought worthy of Credit For St. Matthew and St. John two of the four Evangelists were of the number of those Twelve who were in constant Attendance upon our Lord from the Time that he first began to preach and to make Disciples until he was taken up into Heaven so that they were themselves Eye or Ear-Witnesses of most of the Things which they have recorded Of St. Mark and St. Luke indeed the same cannot be said neither is it certain that they were of the Number of the Seventy Disciples tho' that be affirmed by some of the Ancients But this I think is agreed to by all that St. Mark was for some part of his Life a constant Companion of St. Peter who was not only one of the Twelve but most probably the First that was call'd to be an Apostle and who was also one of the three with whom our Lord was most intimate and familiar for we often read that Peter Matt. 17.4.26 37. Mark 5.37 and James and John were singled from the rest to be Witnesses of some of the most private Transactions of his Life And it was generally believed in the Ancient Church that St. Peter was more truly the Author of the Gospel called St. Mark 's than St. Mark himself He being only the Scribe or Amanuensis and St. Peter the Person that dictated the things written by him whence also this Gospel is by some of the Ancients stiled the Gospel of St. Peter And of this there seem to be some Tokens even in the History its self particularly in that Relation that is therein given of St. Peter's Denial of his Master and of his Repentance for it for his Denial is there told with some more Circumstances than in the other Gospels such as the Person himself chiefly concerned was best able to know and might best remember And the Account that is given of his Repentance is by this Author expressed more modestly as it best became a Person to speak who spake of himself than it is by the other Evangelists for St. Matthew and St. Luke say that he wept bitterly but St. Mark or rather St. Peter himself dictating those Words only says that when he thought thereon he wept It is likewise agreed on all Hands that St. Luke if not one of the Seventy Disciples which 't is most probable he was not was however a very early Convert to Christianity that he conversed frequently with the Apostles and immediate Disciples of our Lord and was a constant Companion of St. Paul for a good while in his Preaching and Travels so that of almost all the Things which he relates in his History of the Acts of the Apostles he might be and of much the greatest part of them 't is most probable and of some 't is certain he was an Eye or Ear-Witness So then There are three of the five Historical Books of the New Testament that were written by those who were present at most of the things which they have related viz. the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John and the Acts of the Apostles and another of them tho' it bears the Name of St. Mark the Person by whom it was penned yet if it was as has been generally believ'd dictated by St. Peter may be added to that number and be likewise reckon'd the Testimony of One who was an Eye Witness of the things he has related In this Respect therefore the Gospel History is manifestly as credible as 't is possible any History should be for no Historian can record any thing upon better Assurance of its Truth than the
Part of my Discourse and therefore shall lengthen it no further Heb. 6.9 I am persuaded better things of you and things that accompany Salvation For your Presence here in the House of God and in the Assembly of Christians makes it reasonable to believe that you are already convinced not only of the Being and Providence of God but likewise of the Truth of the Christian Religion and of the Divine Inspiration and Authority of the Holy Scriptures 2. To you therefore who are Christians I shall now turn my Discourse Heb. 13.22 And I beseech you Brethren suffer the word of Exhortation it is only this Since you have Moses and the Prophets and Christ and his Apostles and believe that they are Messengers to you from God to instruct you in his Will receive the Truth and the Law at their Mouths mind what they say and be careful to follow their Directions in all things For even we who have the Scriptures the lively Oracles of God may perish for want of Knowledge as well as they that have them not unless we make that Use of them which they were given for unless we are diligent in reading them and careful to practise what they teach For the Rich Man spoken of in this Parable had the Scriptures but his meer having them did not keep him from Hell And his five surviving Brethren had likewise the Scriptures and yet were then in a fair way of following their Brother to that Place of Torment They had Moses and the Prophets but they did not hear them And this also may be our Case who have not only these but also Christ and his Apostles Preaching to us if we do not hear them for what Advantage can it be to us to have good Instructors if we will not mind what they say if we stop our ears to all their Counsels and Reproofs No Man was ever made a Scholar only by having a good Library in his Possession No Man ever learnt any Art or Science tho' it was never so well taught in any Book only by keeping the Book in his Chamber or carrying it about in his Pocket And as little shall we be the wiser only by having the Holy Scriptures tho' as the Apostle says they are able to make us wise unto Salvation 2 Tim. 3.15 if we do not read and study them with an honest Design to furnish our selves from thence with a stock of useful Knowlege and with a firm Resolution to lead our Lives according to the Directions which they give us Nay so far shall be from receiving any Advantage only by our having the Holy Scriptures given us and free Liberty allowed us to look into them a Privilege we of this Nation have above most of our Neighbours that if we do not read and study them it will be much the worse for us our Condemnation will be the greater and our Destruction so much the more certain For the Case of those who offend thro' Ignorance when their Ignorance is unaffected is very pitiable and tho' we can't certainly say how God will deal with those who had no clear Revelation of his Will made to them this we may be sure of that God who is a merciful God will deal mercifully with them John 15.22 If I had not come and spoken unto them says our Saviour they had not had Sin But the Case will be quite otherwise with those Luke 12.47 who knew their Master's will and did not do it They as our Saviour says shall be beaten with many Stripes And it will be all one if they did not know it if their Ignorance of it was occasioned by their own fault in neglecting those Means of Knowledge which God has afforded them And much rather if their ignorance of their Duty was affected and chosen that they might Sin with less disturbance of Mind for our Saviour's Judgment in this Case is very plain and and 't is his Judgment by which we must stand or fall to all Eternity Joh. iii. 19. This is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men loved Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds were Evil. Having therefore Moses and the Prophets and also Christ and his Apostles continually Preaching to us in the Books of Holy Scripture let us hear them This is both our Duty and our Interest And that our study of the Scripture may be with good success and we may thereby be thoroughly furnished unto all good Work Let us Pray as we are taught by our Church in a most excellent Collect suited to the Subject I have been Discoursing of Collect for 2d Sunday in Advent Blessed Lord who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our Learning Grant that we may in such wise hear them read mark learn and inwardly digest them that by Patience and Comfort of thy Holy Word we may embrace and ever hold 〈◊〉 â—he blessed Hope of everlasting Life which thou hast given us 〈…〉 â—ur Jesus Christ Amen FINIS ERRATA Page 55. line 10. for some read same
THE SUFFICIENCY Of a Standing REVELATION in General AND Of the Scripture REVELATION in Particular BOTH As to the Matter of it and As to the Proof of it AND That NEW REVELATIONS Cannot Reasonably be Desired and Would Probably be Unsuccessful In Eight SERMONS Preach'd in the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul London At the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable ROBERT BOYLE Esq in the Year MDCC By OFSPRING BLACKALL D. D. Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. THE SUFFICIENCY OF A Standing Revelation A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul January the 1 st 1699 700. BEING The First for the Year 1700 of the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. To the most Reverend Father in GOD THOMAS Lord Arch-Bshop of Canterbury Sir HENRY ASHURST Baronet Sir JOHN ROTHERAM Serjeant at Law JOHN EVELYN Senior Esquire Trustees appointed by the Will of the Honourable ROBERT BOYLE Esquire Most Reverend and Honoured I Beg leave humbly to present you with these First-fruits of my Labours in that Station which you have been pleased to assign me for this Year Taking this Occasion both to acknowledge publickly and with all Thankfulness the Honour you have done me in appointing me to this Work and likewise to give you Assurance that the After-fruits shall also in due Time be offered to you if God shall be pleased to give them a Season to ripen And I heartily wish they may be better and more worth your Acceptance than I am sensible these are However I hope the same Goodness and kind Opinion of me which moved you to nominate me to the Employment will incline you to forgive all my Failings in the Management of it And if my Labours shall be well accepted by you And especially If by the Blessing of God who only giveth the Increase they shall any Ways contribute toward the Promoting the pious Design of the Honourable Founder of these Lectures of blessed Memory I shall be very easie under the too just Charge of Insufficiency for such an Vndertaking which I make no Doubt will be cast upon me by those who will be inwardly glad that I have performed my Task no better and will earnestly wish that the Christan Cause may never have an abler Advocate But that by your wise Choice of Persons to succeed in this Employment they may see themselves every Year disappointed in this their Wish is the hearty Desire of Most Reverend and Honoured Your most obliged and obedient Servant OFSP BLACKALL Feb. 26. 1699 700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead THESE words contain some of the Discourse that passed between Abraham in Heaven and a certain rich Man in Hell occasioned by a Request which he had made in the foregoing Verses in the behalf of his five Brethren whom he had left alive upon Earth that Abraham would be so kind as to send Lazarus to them to testifie to them lest they also should come into that Place of Torment And the general Design of them and indeed of the whole Parable of which they are a Part is to assert the Sufficiency of those Means which God hath thought fit to use to bring Men to Repentance particularly by granting them a standing Revelation of his Will and the probable Unsuccessfulness of any other Method that we could propose and perhaps might think more proper for this Purpose And when these Words were first spoken it was with a special Reference to the State of the Jews and and to that Light and those Means of Salvation which were afforded to them at the Time when our Saviour began his Preaching when all the standing Revelation of God's Will was contained in the Books of Moses and in the Writings of the Prophets But since then our Lord Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God a more credible Messenger than Lazarus from the dead has come himself in Person to assure us that there is a Heaven and a Hell and to shew us the Means of attaining that and avoiding this and God having raised him up from the dead after he had been crucified by the Jews has given sufficient Assurance to the World of his divine Mission And that Jesus did and said such things and that he died and rose again we have the Testimony of his Apostles and others who were Eye and Ear-witnesses thereof and who in Confirmation of their Testimony were empowered by God to do as great Miracles as Jesus himself had done And lastly of what was done and taught by our Saviour and his Apostles we have very credible Records still remaining viz. the Books of the New Testament the Authority of which is at least as well proved to us as ever the Authority of the Old Testament was to the Jews So that we now have plainly more and stronger Motives to Repentance than the Jews before our Saviour's Time had we consequently do stand in less need of new Miracles and new Revelations than they did And therefore the Argument in the Text as it may be applied to us who live now is much stronger than as it was here urged by Abraham with Reference to the Jews while they had only Moses and the Prophets And thus in my Discourse upon the Words I shall now consider it viz. as if the Request made by the rich Man in the Behalf of his Brethren in the two foregoing Verses were made now in the Behalf of those to whom the Revelation of the Gospel has been given but without Success and as if the Answer here returned to it by Abraham had been suited to the present State of things And from the words thus largely understood I shall take occasion to speak to these Three Points I. I shall endeavour to shew that the present standing Revelation of God's Will contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament is abundantly sufficient to perswade Men to Repentance if they are not unreasonably blind and obstinate They have Moses and the Prophets I add they have also Christ and his Apostles let them hear them II. I shall shew that having already such good Grounds of Faith such full Directions for Practice and such strong Motives to Repentance it is an unreasonable Request to desire more Nay Father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And III. Lastly I shall endeavour to shew That in case God should condescend to
gratifie Men in this unreasonable Desire working every Day new Miracles before their Eyes or sending their deceased Friends to them from the dead to assure them of a future State and to warn them to prepare for it 't is highly probable that very few or none of those who do not believe and are not brought to Repentance by the Preaching and standing Revelation of the Gospel would be perswaded by this Means If they hear not Moses and the Prophets nor Christ and his Apostles neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead I. I shall endeavour to shew that the present standing Revelation of God's Will contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament is abundantly sufficient to perswade Men to Repentance if they are not unreasonably blind and obstinate They have Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles let them hear them And I think that if the standing Revelation which God hath made of his Will in the Holy Scriptures can upon any account be thought insufficient to effect this Design it must be upon one of these two Accounts viz. Either 1. Because no standing Revelation can be sufficient for this Purpose Or 2. Because there are some particular Defects in that standing Revelation which we have in the Holy Scripture which render it not so sufficient for this Purpose as 't is possible a standing Revelation might be 1. It may be pretended that no standing Revelation can be sufficient for this Purpose I am now therefore to enquire with what Reason this can be pretended And in speaking to this Point it does not lie upon me to prove that God could not reveal his Mind afresh to every Man in every Age of the World if he so pleased for there is no question but that the same God who in divers manners spake in times past to our Fathers by the Prophets could if he pleased speak to every one of us their Children in such Manner as he then spake to the Prophets themselves so that we might be all immediately taught of God as they were But every thing that may be done is not expedient to be done And whether this Method would be expedient or not will be hereafter enquired Neither does it now lie upon me to prove that this Way which God hath thought fit to take to instruct the greatest Part of the World viz. by a standing Revelation is the best Way and the most like to be effectual of any that could be used Of this I shall likewise have Occasion to speak somewhat hereafter But what lies upon me at present to make good is only this That a standing Revelation of God's Will may be so well contrived and so well attested as to be sufficient to perswade Men. And if there be any Ground for the contrary Pretence I think it must be either 1. Because all Matters necessary to be known and done by Men at all Times cannot at once be committed to Writing Or 2. Because there cannot be sufficient Evidence given to satisfie a Rational Man that any Writing that is said to be of divine Inspiration and Authority is indeed so 1. It may be said That all Matters necessary to be known and done by Men at all Times cannot be at once committed to Writing Because every Age of the World produces new Opinions which whether they be erroneous or not cannot be judged by a Criterion that was given many Ages before these Opinions were broached And as the World grows older in Years it likewise improves in Wickedness which cannot be restrained and suppressed by an old Law which was made before several Instances of those Wickednesses that are now practised were either known or thought of And if it were not so what need would there be of such a number of Books as are written in every Age to direct Men how to distinguish between Truth and Error and what Opinions to fix upon in that great Variety of Opinions that are offered to them Or what need would there be of so many new Laws as are daily made in every Commonwealth to restrain the growing Extravagances of Mankind and to keep them within due Bounds So that if there be any Necessity at all of divine Revelation to teach Men the Belief of Truth and the Practice of Righteousness it is necessary that there should be a new and fresh Revelation made at least as often as any new Error is broached or any new Piece of Villainy is practised in the World But to this Objection against the Sufficiency of a Standing Revelation I suppose a full Answer will be given in these two particulars 1. That there is no Arguing from the Wisdom and Power of Men to the Wisdom and Power of God It may be granted to be impossible for a Man to write such a Book as shall be sufficient to confute all the Errors that can possibly at any time afterwards spring up Or to compile such a Body of Laws as shall be sufficient to prevent or punish all future Crimes But what is impossible with Men may be possible with God who has a perfect Foresight of all the Errors that will ever be broached and of all the Wickedness that will ever be practised by Men to the End of the World To a Being of infinite Wisdom and Knowledge it may be not only possible but very easie so to contrive a Revelation designed by him for the Direction of future Ages that no Addition shall ever after need to be made to it Nay indeed 2. The Thing it self that is That a standing Revelation should be thus perfect that it should be so contrived at once and at first as to be sufficient to answer all the Ends of a divine Revelation as long as the World shall last is not very hard to be conceived For tho' Error be infinite Truth at least all Truth necessary to be believed is finite and limited And after a divine Revelation is once given no more is necessary to be believed in after Ages than was at first nor will there ever be more things necessary to be believed to the End of the World unless God shall please to add some new Revelation to the former And this Revelation of all necessary Truth once made being given to Men that are endued with Reason nothing more is or ever will be needful for the Discovery and Confutation of all Errors that can possibly spring up in after Ages but only a right Understanding of the Truths already delivered and a right Use of Reason in making Inferences and drawing Consequences therefrom And this is all that is pretended to by the Books of Controversie that are written in every Age The Design of them is not to declare new Truths or to establish new Articles of Faith but only to shew that those Opinions which they represent as false and erroneous are either in themselves or in their true Consequences contrary to some Maxims that are already receiv'd as true And it is no
of Books as written by such and such Authors without sufficient Assurance thereof But I believe the Truth is There are some Men who for Reasons best known to themselves but which may some of them be easily enough guessed at will not allow that to be sufficient Evidence that a Book was written by a Prophet or an Apostle which they must and do allow to be sufficient Evidence in any other Case of the like Nature For in other Cases we make no Doubt to receive a Book as written by such an Author if he owns himself to be the Author of it or if it be shewn written with his own Hand or if they that are the Publishers of it declare that they had it from him as his own or that they transcribed or printed it from a Copy which they knew to be of his Hand-writing or if it passes current in common Fame and Report to be his and his most intimate friends believe it so and he himself does not disown it and there be none else that pretend any Claim or Title to it Where these or most of these Circumstances do concurr we never doubt but that the Person said to be the Author of such a Book is so indeed unless there be some very clear Reason grounded upon the known Incapacity of the Person to write in such a Language in such a Stile concerning such a Subject or the like whereby it may be demonstrated that whoever was he could not be the Author of it The truth is Now adays and I suppose the Case was much the same formerly whoever is the true Author of any Book finds very little Difficulty to make Men believe that the Book is his the greatest Difficulty is for a Man to conceal himself in case he be not willing to be known to be the Author of it And when once a Book is generally receiv'd as written by such a Person when I say 't is thus receiv'd in that Age in which it was first publish'd and by those that were in the best Capacity to inquire and to judge who was the true Author of it they that live in after times never think it reasonable to question the Authority thereof unless there be evidently something either in the Language Dialect or Stile or else in the Matter of the Book as in the Relation of some Piece of History the References to some ancient Customs the Citations out of other Authors or the like by which it may be clearly made out that the Book cannot be of such Antiquity as it pretends to or could not be the Writing of that Person who is reported and has been commonly taken to be the Author of it Upon such Reasons as these a great many Books are every Day received as written by such and such Authors and tho' we cannot be so sure of a thing that we believe upon these Inducements as we are of what we see with our own Eyes yet such Reasons as these are by the general Consent of Mankind judged to be sufficient in a Matter of this Nature which is hardly capable of better Proof And for a Man to disallow in one Case that same Evidence of the Truth of a Matter of Fact which in other Cases of the like kind he allows to be sufficient for a Man to receive a Book as written by another Person and not to receive a Book as written by a Prophet or an Apostle when he has as much Reason to receive one as the other and no more Reason to reject one than the other is not Judgment or Discretion or reasonable Caution but manifest Prejudice and Partiality But 2. It was further said That tho' we might be well enough assured that a Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it there is no Way to be sufficiently assured that who he was the Author of it did not design to impose upon his Readers It seems then there is no Way to be sufficiently satisfied that any Man is an honest Man and fit to be credited that he does not lye in every thing he says and intend a Cheat in every thing he does For if a Man may be believed in what he says he may as well be believed in what he writes And if he may be trusted in one Concern he may be as safely trusted in another unless good Reason can be shewed to the contrary But in judging of humane Nature in general Men commonly judge of others by themselves What they are inclined to they think is the Inclination of Mankind what they allow themselves in they think others whatever they may pretend make as little scruple of as they do what they freely practice they make no Doubt other Men would practise as freely on the same Occasions and upon the same Inducements So that when any Man is so very suspectful of the Honesty and Veracity of other Men it gives but too just Ground to think that the Reason of his Aptness to distrust all others is his Consciousness of his own evil Designs and of the little Regard that he himself has to Truth in his own Assertions And if those he has to deal with should refuse to give any Credit to any thing that he affirms because according to his own declared Opinion very little Credit can reasonably be given to the Report and Affirmation of others I do not see with what Reason he can blame them for so doing Not but that after all 't is possible that a Man may 't is doubtless what has been done by some give out a Report or write Book on purpose to deceive Mankind But nevertheless I say that it ought not without very good Reason to be suspected that this is any Man's Design and that we may have Assurance enough that a thing is not which yet we must grant was possible to have been Particularly as to the Matter we are now speaking of First In case the Author of any Book or of any Report relates a Matter of Fact of which there are not nor well could be any other Witnesses but himself as if he says that he has received from God such a Revelation with order to publish it to the World or that he himself was an Eye or Ear-witness that such a thing was privately done or spoken by another the Credibility of such a Report whether written or spoken depends Partly upon the Nature of the Report its self Partly upon the Credit of its Author And partly upon the Proofs that he gives of his Honesty and Veracity in that particular And where there is a full Concurrence of all these that is When the Matter of the Report is credible in its self when its Author is a Person of Credit and when he gives the best Proofs that can be of his Veracity in that particular there is no Reason to reject his Testimony there is sufficient Reason to give Credit to it 1. If the Matter of his Report be credible in its
other Matter that he has related as of his own Knowledge that 't is possible there might be Mistake in the Sign and Proof of the divine Revelation as well as in the Revelation its self that 't is possible that the Author of the Report whether it was the Prophet himself or any other Man who has reported the Miracles done by the Prophet as Matters of his own Knowledge did imagine he saw things which he did not see and that he heard things which he did not hear But if this be supposed possible that any Man and much more that several Men agreeing in the same Report the Organs of whose Senses were rightly disposed and who by all their other Actions and Discourses appeared to be sober and considerate and judicious should yet in the Day time and in a clear Light and when they were sure they were broad awake be mistaken in the plainest Matters of Sense then there is no such thing as Certainty in the World Then they that make the Objection can be no more sure of what they themselves see and hear than other Men can be And 't is to no Purpose to hold an Argument with such as dare not believe their own Eyes and Ears The only sense whereby I think such Men can be convinced must be Feeling And it will be well for them if they can carry the same Scepticism with them into the other World and when they are compassed about with the Flames of Hell can be able to doubt whether it be a real or a painted fire whether they are tormented in that Flame or not Leaving these therefore to be convinced in the other World as being I think not capable of Conviction here I shall content my self with having said what I suppose is enough to satisfie others That the Witness of a plain Matter of Fact may be sure of the Truth of what he witnesses and that 't is possible for God to speak so plainly to Men that they may be certain they have had a divine Revelation and that such Evidence may be given of the Veracity of an Author and of the Authority of a Book as is sufficient to satisfie a reasonable Man And by this and what was said before I hope I have made it appear that a Standing Revelation of God's Will may be so well contrived and so well attested as to be sufficient to effect its Design viz. to bring Men to Repentance Whether the Standing Revelation which we have in the Holy Scripture be sufficient for this Purpose will be Matter of Enquiry in the next Discourses In the mean time what has been already said may serve to dispose us to hear without Prejudice the Arguments that may be offered to prove the sufficiency of the Holy Scripture For 1. If it be possible that there may be such a Standing Revelation it is very probable that there is one for from that natural Notion that we have of the Goodness of God it may be fairly argued that he is not wanting to Men in the necessary Means of Salvation and therefore it being evident that there are not new Revelations made every Day it may be reasonably concluded that the Reason is because there is already some Standing Revelation of God's Will extant that is sufficient to direct us in the Way to Happiness And 2. If there be already any such Standing Revelation extant it may be strongly presumed that it is that which we have in the Holy Scripture because there is no other Book that we know of which has such good Evidences of divine Authority and Inspiration as that has Let us then be prepared to inquire into the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Faith and Religion with unprejudiced Minds with a sincere Love and Desire of Truth and with a Resolution to hear Reason and to be convinced by it And above all which indeed is the best Preparation for Truth and the best Security against Error let us in the Sincerity of our Hearts apply our selves to God for his Help and Direction And that our Prayer may be effectual let us be careful to approve our selves to him by a conscientious Discharge of all those Duties of Piety Justice Temperance and Charity which are clearly taught even by natural Reason and be readily disposed to practise whatever else we shall learn to be our Duty by any farther Illumination Joh. 7.17 for if any Man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God FINIS ERRATA IN Epist Ded. l. 3. r. Arch-Bishop p. 8. l. 31. r. forborn p. 13. l. 19. r. he who p. 14. l. 16. r. a Book THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE Scripture-Revelation As to the Matter of it A SERMON Preach'd at the cathedral-CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul February the 5 th 1699 700. BEING The Second for the Year 1700 of the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead THE first thing which I propounded to do in Discoursing on these Words was to endeavour to shew that the present Standing Revelation of God's Will contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament is abundantly sufficient to persuade Men to Repentance if they are not unreasonably blind and obstinate They have Moses and the Prophets they have also Christ and his Apostles let them hear them And if that Standing Revelation which God hath made to us of his Will in the Holy Scriptures can upon any Account be thought insufficient to effect this Design it must be I think either 1. Because no Standing Revelation can be sufficient for this Purpose Or 2. Because there are some particular Defects in that Revelation which we have in the Holy Scriptures which render it not so sufficient for this Purpose as 't is possible a Standing Revelation might be I have therefore in a former Discourse upon these Words endeavoured to shew in general that a Standing Revelation of God's Will may be so well contrived and so well attested as to be sufficient for this Purpose I proceed now in the second place 2. To Consider whether that Standing Revelation which we have in the Holy Scriptures be such a Revelation whether it be sufficient to persuade Men to Repentance and fully to direct them in the Way to Happiness Or whether there be not some particular Defects in this Revelation which render it not so sufficient for this Purpose as 't is possible a Standing Revelation might be And if there be any such Defect
no Suspicion of what was done nor any Sense of that great Alteration that had been made in the World by these Books nor any Remembrance afterwards when they awoke and found themselves Christians that they had been of some other Religion before when they were first taken with that Lethargick Fit But if these things may be what is there of this kind that may not be If the World be so much mistaken in this Matter it may be as much mistaken in any other Matter of the like Nature And then It may be that there never was such a Man as Homer or Virgil or Coesar or Cicero or Plutarch or any other of those Persons as whose Writings we now receive the Books that go under their Names but that all the Books pretended to be written by those Authors and likewise all the Books of later Date whereby the Authority of those former Books is attested were in like Manner contrived and made and dispersed by such another Gang of crafty and designing Knaves who took a Pleasure in abusing the rest of the World or hoped to make a Gain to themselves â—hereby Nay then for why should we stop here It may be that not only the Laws of our Religion but the Laws of our Civil State too are all forged and counterfeit It may be that once upon a time The Keeper of the Publick Records having by much and long Observation attained to good Skill â—n the ancient Ways of Writing for many Ages backward and being a compleat Master of his Pen and having also gotten an Art to make a fresh Writing seem just as old as he had a Mind it should be thought to be did compose and deposite in â—heir proper Places those Original Acts of Parliament which are now taken to be the Laws of some of our former Kings and that to confirm and establish his Fraud he procured some other Persons at the same Time to Write or Print and to convey into all Shops and Libraries several Books of Reports and Pleadings wherein these counterfeit Acts were cited and referred to and it may be that while as this was doing none else had their Eyes open to see it nor had ever after the least Suspicion of what was done Or if they had yet that they were so well pleased with the Cheat which they thought would be a good Means of preserving Peace and Justice in the Nation as to be willing it should pass to Posterity undiscovered These May be 's are I am sure every whit as possible and as likely as the other Either therefore let those Men who upon this Account doubt of the Authority of the Books of the New Testament Or who would make others doubt of it only by suggesting that it is a thing possible in Nature that they may be all forged and counterfeit let them I say either entertain and suggest the same Doubt concerning all other ancient Books of the Antiquity and Authority of which there is not greater Evidence than there is of these And then they will render themselves so justly ridiculous to the World that there will be no Need to expose their Folly for then they must call in Question the Authority of all Books and the Truth of all History Or else let them fairly own that the true Reason of their making a Doubt concerning these Books rather than concerning others is because they do not relish the Matter of them because they find it easier to resist that strong Evidence that is given of the Authority of these Books than they do to govern their Lives according to those strict Rules of Holiness and Purity that are therein prescribed and to bring their Wills to the Obedience of Faith And if they will but own this which I believe is the Truth their Prejudice and Partiality will be so evident to all that it may be reasonably hoped their impious Suggestions will do but little Harm in the World and that few Men of any Sense or Reason will be so fool-hardy as to venture their Souls and run the Hazard of a miserable Eternity upon so many and such very improbable I had almost said such impossible may be 's as must be supposed to have been if indeed these Books are forged and counterfeit if indeed they were not written by those Persons whom they are commonly ascribed to But yielding this Point may the Atheist or Infidel farther say viz. that the Gospel called St. Matthew's was written by St. Matthew and that of St. Mark by St. Mark and the Rest of the Books which are ascribed to any other certain Authors by those Persons to whom they are severally ascribed yet the Authority of the whole New Testament will not by this Concession be sufficiently established For of some Books of the New Testament the Authors are not known of others they are doubted Some Parts of this Book that are now received have been rejected in ancient Times and â—thers not universally receiv'd And besides 't is cerâ—ain that in the early Times of Christianity there were several Counterfeit Gospels and Epistles some of which may possibly have slipped into the Canon unawares And lastly If it be granted that all the Books of the New Testament were originally written â—y the Apostles or other Inspired Men yet however the Books that we now have are but Copies in which many Alterations may have been made by designing Men or careless Transcribers These Objections or Cavils rather for such I am sure they would be accounted in any other Case against the Authority of these Sacred Books have been urged by some Men both anciently and lately But they have been also so well and fully answered by those learned Persons that have written in Defence of the Canon that I once thought to have taken no Notice of them and I believe had not done it but that I considered on the other Hand that when an old Objection that has been answered an Hundred times is urged afresh a great many may take it for a new one and if it be not quickly answered may be apt to think it unanswerable so that in this Case it may be better to repeat the same Answer if it be a good one that has been often formerly made to it than to say nothing And besides in this degenerate Age in which any wild or Atheistical Discourse passes for Wit it may be the Hap of some Persons who have not much Mind or Leisure or Opportunity to read Books to hear these things in Conversation and not knowing readily what Answers to make to them to be somewhat staggered in their Belief thereby Especially if they be such whose loose and licentious Way of Living makes them easie to receive without Examination any Notions that may give them Ease or Encouragement in Sin For these Reasons therefore I thought it would not be amiss especially because it is a Matter properly belonging to the Subject I am now upon and because I have some time left for it to
the Copies thereof that â—ere generally in Mens Hands In which there is â—en to this Day an admirable Agreement in all Matâ—â—rs of Moment And from that general Agreement â—â—at always was in all the Copies of this Book exâ—â—pt those few that were sometimes corrupted by Heâ—â—ticks to serve a Turn their Attempts of this kind â—â—ve been always rendred successless and those false â—octrines that were justified only by their own false â—opies of this Book solidly confuted 3. It is further answered that not only there is no â—â—idence that there has been but that 't is morally â—â—possible that there should be a general Depravation 〈◊〉 the Copies of this Book either designedly or by â—ance in any Place of great Consequence either Point of History or Doctrine For when was it possible that this Corruption should be Was it in the Copies that were given out in the Days of the Apostles and while they were living This can't well be supposed Or if it had been done then it can't be thought but that the Authors of these Books being living would have taken Care to have had such false Copies of their Books suppressed or well corrected or at least have given publick Notice in order to their Correction of those Faults that had been committed in the transcribing which did either obscure or spoil their sense Was it then in the Times immediately after the Apostles were dead But neither could this be for by this time an infinite Number of true Copies had been made and dispersed in all Parts of the Christian Church And besides the Autographs of the Books themselves were then probably all in being For Tertullian who lived in the Third Century witnesses that some of them were extant and to be seen even in his Time So that by comparing of the new false Copies with the ancient true ones or with the Originals themselves then extant the Fraud would have been quickly discovered or the Mistake easily rectified Was it then in the Times after this when the Originals were lost or worn out This was still less possible For by this Time not only a greater Number of true Copies thereof in the Original Greek were dispersed and in the Hands of all Christians but several Translations thereof had been likewise made into other Languages several Commentaries had been written thereupon and the most material Passages thereof had been occasionally cited by the Christian Writers of those or the foregoing Times And the further we go on downwards 't was still for such Reasons as have been given already more impossible that the Copies of this Book should be generally corrupted in any Place or Matter of Moment as well as more likely that there should be every Day an Increase of such small and literal Mistakes as could hardly be avoided by the greatest Care and Faithfulness And these are the Various Readings before spoken of Concerning which and in Answer to the before-mentioned Objection so far as it is grounded upon them it is farther said 4. In the fourth Place That they are no other than such as are to be met with in Comparing the Manuscripts of all other Books That these various Readings if they be compared together with Judgment are more like to lead us to understand the true Meaning of the Writers than to endanger our mistaking their Sense it being very probable that when there are several Readings one of them is the right and easier by their Help to rectifie the Mistakes that may have been made in some Copies than it would have been if all Copies had agreed in the same Mistake And lastly that it is hardly in any Place of which there are such various Readings very material which is the true Reading there being no Point that is of the Substance either of the History or Doctrine of Christianity that is grounded upon any Text of which there are in different Copies various Readings but which may be proved by some other Texts in the Reading whereof all Copies do agree 5. And Lastly In Answer to this Objection that the Text of the New Testament is depraved and corrupted and consequently of uncertain Authority it is further said That supposing these Books to be written by the Apostles and by divine Direction and Inspiration which must be supposed or at least for Argument sake be allow'd by those that make this Objection Or else the Objection is trifling it is by no Means credible that the same Goodness of God which took Care for the Writing has not likewise taken Care for the preserving of these Books so free at least from Corruption that they may be sufficient to answer the Ends for which they were written that is fully to instruct Men in all Points of Christian Faith and Practice to make them wise unto Salvation and throughly to furnish them unto all good Works And now from all that hath been said I hope it appears that we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of the New Testament were written by those Persons whose Names they bear or to whom they are ascribed viz. by the Apostles of Christ or other inspired Men Which was the first thing I was to make good Whether there be sufficient Reason to give them Credit in the Matters of Fact which they have related and whether the Doctrine of the Gospel be well proved by the History of it shall God willing be hereafter enquired In the mean Time supposing their Testimony to be credible what has been said upon this first Head may serve to shew in some Measure the Unreasonableness of those Men who are not satisfied with the Scripture Revelation For I believe there are few that have heard anything of the Manner of the first Preaching of the Gospel but who think that they that lived in those Times and heard the Apostles themselves had sufficient Reason to receive their Testimony And this perhaps they 'll say is what they could with for themselves viz. That they might have heard the Apostles themselves or that they might now have as good and sure Grounds of Faith as those had who were converted to Christianity by the Preaching of the Apostles which if they had they make no Doubt but they should be not only almost but altogether such as the Primitive Christians were both in Belief and Practice But if they are not such now 't is much to be doubted whether they would have been such if they had lived then For by what has been now said it appears that the Books of the New Testament being as we have very good Reason to believe they were written by the Apostles themselves are their Words their Sermons that therein the Apostles themselves being dead do yet truly speak to us the very same things tho' not just in the same Manner that they spake before while they were living and that their Testimony written if indeed it be theirs which I have shewn there is no Cause to doubt of is as credible as their living Testimony
time could have no possible Doubt of their Supernatural Assistance They that heard them speak with Tongues which they had never learned could not but conclude that it was the Spirit that gave them this Utterance Acts 2.4 because nothing else could give it So that this was not only as their other Miracles were a Proof of Inspiration but likewise an Instance and Example of it It was a Proof of an inward and invisible Inspiration by an Inspiration that was as I may say outward and visible by an Inspiration that was discernible even by the Bodily Senses of all those that were present But be it so perhaps the Infidels will say that they that saw the Miracles which the Apostles are reported to have done in the Name of Christ had Reason enough to believe their Testimony concerning him and as well that which they have left in Writing as that which they gave by word of Mouth Yet what 's this to us that live now For we neither saw the Miracles that they wrought nor heard them speaking with Tongues neither have we any Assurance that they ever did either the one or the other but only from themselves They indeed tell us that they did a great many wonderful things such as we are willing enough to grant could not be done but by the Power of God in Confirmation of their Testimony concerning Jesus But we see no more Reason to believe this their Testimony concerning themselves than there is to believe their other Testimony concerning him so that this cannot in reason be reckoned a Proof or Confirmation of that Nay rather we think they are less credible Witnesses in their own Case than they were in his So that to us the History of the New Testament granting it to be written by the Apostles is of no more Authority than their Writing it considered only with respect to their Natural and Moral Capacities and Qualifications could give to it Because that Seal of Miracles which is said to have been affixed thereto by God is now by length of Time quite worn off or at least the Impression thereof is now so defaced that we cannot distinguish whose Seal it was or whether it was a true Seal or a counterfeit one And that this Seal was ever affixed to their Testimony is testified only by those same Witnesses whose the Testimony its self was To this Objection therefore which it must be confessed has some Appearance of Weight and Reason in it I answer 1. By denying the Ground it is built upon viz. That the Testimony of the Apostles themselves is the only Proof we have of the Miracles which they wrought for the Confirmation of their Testimony concerning Jesus For besides the Testimony of the Apostles in their Epistles and in the Acts Witnessing their own Miracles we have likewise the Testimony of all the other Christian Writers whose Books are preserved that lived in or near the Apostle's Times Witnessing the same Thing And this Testimony not only given as it were in secret in order to the making Proselytes of such as they found to be easie and credulous but in the most publick manner in those Apologies for the Christian Faith which they presented to Magistrates and published to the whole World in which for Proof that these Miracles had been wrought by the Apostles they appeal to all the Histories and Records of the Apostle's Times then extant in which they challenge any that could do it to contradict their Testimony in which they testifie that the same Miraculous Power did still continue in the Christian Church and was sometimes exerted often enough and openly enough to prove its being tho' not so frequently as it had been by the Apostles themselves when there was more need of shewing it viz. at their first Preaching of the Gospel Now these things if they had not been true the first Christians in the Circumstances they were then in would not have dared to affirm and if they had been false they might easily have been disproved and they would most certainly have been at least boldly denied and contradicted by the profess'd Adversaries of the Christian Faith But they did not deny or contradict they did not offer to disprove the Report that was then generally believed of the Miracles that had been done by the Apostles Nay so far were they from this that there is good Evidence from Antiquity still remaining that several even of those who took upon them to oppose the Christian Doctrine did yet expresly own that great and mighty Works had indeed been done by the Hands of the Apostles as well as of their Master But then they had been done they said and that was all they could say in the Case by Magick Art by the Help of the Devil just as the Jews had said before of our Saviour Mat. 12.24 This Fellow doth not cast out Devils but by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils I shall not stay now to shew how groundless as well as malicious this Suggestion was with reference both to our Lord's Miracles and to theirs because I suppose I shall have a better Occasion to do it hereafter in my next Discourse 't is enough for my present purpose if the Matter of Fact only be granted viz. that the Apostles did do many Miracles in the Name of Christ and to confirm their Testimony concerning him And that they did so cannot I say be reasonably doubted because 't is witnessed not only by themselves but by all the Christian Writers of those or the succeeding times and is not denied nay is granted even by their Adversaries and Opposers But 2. If we had not so good Proof of the Miracles done by the Apostles if there were no Witnesses thereof but themselves I say however that their Testimony alone would be very credible Nay indeed the thing testified by them must I think necessarily have been acknowledged by us altho' there had been no History or Record at all of it transmitted to our Times I do not mean that without the Light of History we could have known that they did just those very Miracles which are recorded but I say that without this we might have known in general that they did do Miracles or that they were assisted by a Supernatural Power This I say we might have been sure of by the permanent Effects of such a Power continuing after their Times and testified by all Historians Heathen as well as Christian of all Ages ever since and which are even still extant and visible For that a great Part of the World is now Christian we see and know and that it has been so for many Ages past we are as sure as we are that there have been any Ages past before our own And looking back to see when and how it came to be so we learn by the concurrent Testimony of all History Jewish Pagan and Christian that Christianity had its Beginning in Judea just at that Time in which the Sacred History
thing credible which in it self is incredible And such it may be pretended some of the Christian Doctrines are which are taught in the New Testament and especially the Doctrine of the Trinity And that this Doctrine is clearly taught in the New Testament we freely grant But why should it be deem'd incredible Does it imply a Contradiction Can they that except against it or against the Gospel-Revelation upon the Account of it shew that it is impossible it should be true Can they demonstrate that 't is impossible for an Infinite and Eternal Being to beget a Son in his own Likeness Heb. 1.3 the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person Or can they shew it to be impossible that there should be a third Person proceeding from both these No perhaps they 'll say But that these three should be one as the Scripture teaches that they think exceeds all the Measures of Belief that they can't but think a manifest Contradiction But why so Do the Christians hold or does the Scripture say that they are three and one in the same respect does it say that the one God is three Gods or that those three whom it speaks of as three distinct Persons ascribing personal Acts to each of them are nevertheless but one single Person No it only tells us in general that these three are One But how they are Three or how they are One wherein consists their Distinction and wherein their Unity it says not at least not very plainly And I think it the safest Course in such high Matters Psal 131.1 in Matters so much too high for us not to exercise our selves nor to pretend to be Wise above what is written If therefore there be no Contradiction in the Doctrine of a Trinity in Unity as there is not unless we say that God is One and Three in the same Respect that 's enough that 's all that needs to be said upon this Occasion For tho' we may as indeed we must allow it to be an incomprehensible Mystery there is no Reason to Cavil at the Gospel-Revelation or to deny it to be a true divine Revelation upon this Account For we live in a World of Mysteries we must believe Mysteries in abundance whether we will or no I mean there are some Truths so very plain even to our Reason that we can't doubt of them and yet so very high and Mysterious that we can no more fathom them than we can the Doctrine of the Trinity For thus that Matter is not Eternal we are as sure almost as we are of any thing for Matter could not exist of it self and yet how Matter should be made out of nothing is as incomprehensible by us as 't is how the One undivided Godhead does personally subsist in the Father Son and Holy-Ghost And thus again that God is Eternal we are certain by Reason for by God we mean the first Cause of all and he who was first could have none before him and yet that any thing should exist without a Cause of its Existence is unaccountable and if we were not sure that it must be so we should be ready to say that it was impossible and a manifest Contradiction that it should be so Thus I say we are led by the Light of Reason only to a firm belief of some Truths which yet we can give no Account of by our Reason and I think 't is very hard that we will not receive an incomprehensible Doctrine upon the Credit of a very plain and well attested Divine Revelation as well as we do and must do the same upon the Evidence of Natural Reason Especially considering the Subject of this incomprehensible Doctrine which is the Essence or Substance of God who is an Infinite Being and so must needs be incomprehensible by our finite Understandings by our Understandings I say which are so very shallow that I believe I may truly say we understand not the Essence or Substance of any thing For we understand not what is the Essence or Substance of Matter or Body tho' it be a thing that all our Senses are continually exercised about all that we know of it is some Properties or Accidents thereof that it is something but what we know not that has Figure and Dimensions that is hard soft fix'd fluid or the like And we understand no more but rather less what the Essence or Substance of our Soul is all that we know of it is that 't is something that thinks and because it thinks we know it must be something and because none of those Properties which we observe in Matter have any Relation at all to Thought we conclude that the thinking Soul is an immaterial Something tho' what is immaterial cannot be explain'd by us unless we could say what is material Seeing therefore as the Wise Hebrew speaks we do hardly guess aright at things that are upon Earth Wisd 9.16 and with Labour do find out the things that are before us is it any wonder that we cannot search out and fully know and comprehend the things that are in Heaven If we are not able to understand even our own Essence and how by an ineffable Union of Spirit with Matter the whole together becomes one Man is it any Wonder Job 11.7 that by all our Searching we cannot find out God that we cannot find out the Almighty unto Perfection And what hath been thus briefly said is I hope sufficient to shew that a Divine Revelation cannot reasonably be excepted against or refused only upon the Account of some Mysterious and Incomprehensible Doctrines that are therein contain'd And if not then I hope what was said before is enough to satisfie any considering Man that the Gospel is a true Divine Revelation To Conclude all therefore having Christ and his Apostles continually Preaching to us in the Books of the New Testament Jam. 1.21 22. Let us as the Text says hear them Let us Reverence these Sacred Writings as the Oracles of God and receive with Meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save our Souls But let us be Doers of the Word and not Hearers only deceiving our own selves For as the Apostle argues Heb. 11.3 c. If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every Transgression and Disobedience receiv'd a just Recompence of Reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy-Ghost according to his own Will FINIS ERRATA IN Sermon IV. and V. page 14. line 23. for more read most p. 47. l. 12. for they r. be l. 27. for there r. them In Sermon VI. p. 5. l. 3. for him r. ber No Reason to desire NEW REVELATIONS A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul October 7th
already given Reasons why if it might it should not be so but it is as clear as such a Matter is capable to be And I dare be bold to say that there is no other Proof of Religion fit to be offered or reasonably to be desired to which a Sceptick might not make as just and plausible Exceptions as he can to the Standing Proofs of Christianity For one single Miracle done in his own Presence would be nothing near so convincing as the many Miracles wrought by Christ and his Apostles were of some or other of which there were more than ten thousand Witnesses and if he can suppose that so many were deceived in plain Matters of Sense he may much rather suppose that he a single Man may be imposed upon And an Apparition of a deceased Friend would be a Matter wherein any one Man might be more probably Cheated or be more easiy persuaded that he was Cheated than the Apostles could be in the Resurrection of our Lord when he was seen by them very frequently and sometimes by a great Company of them met together by the space of forty Days And a single Miracle that is over as soon as done could not make such a deep and lasting Impression upon a Man's Mind as that constant Power of working Miracles and especially the Gift of Tongues which lasted a whole Life must needs do upon the Apostles and those that lived in their time who were either Partakers of these Gifts themselves or constant Witnesses thereof in others In short whatever Miracles we can desire may be wrought for our Conviction either they must be seen by us with our own Eyes or else they must be receiv'd by Testimony from others And tho' they should be seen by us with our own Eyes yet so long as 't is against our Inclination or inconsistent with that Love which we bear to the World or to our Sins to believe that they are true Miracles we should easily be apt to fansie that they were only melancholy Delusions or Tricks put upon us by Designing Men which our first Fright or Amazement hindred us from discovering the fraud of and so they would probably have no effect at all upon us longer than till our Fright or Amazement was well worn off But if we should only have an Account of them by Testimony from others they would be yet less likely to persuade us because there can be no Testimony concerning any such Matters of Fact more clear and unexceptionable than that which we have already of the Truth of our Saviour's and his Apostles Miracles so that if we believe not this we should hardlier believe any other Testimony because we can scarcely have so good Assurance of any Man's Truth as we have of the Sincerity and Veracity of all those who are the present Witnesses to our Religion and we can hardly be surer that we hear any Man whom we know speaking to us than we are that we hear the Apostles speaking to us in the Books of the New Testament And therefore I think it plainly follows as I farther noted that the same Temper and Disposition of Mind and the same Unwillingness to believe the Truths of the Gospel which now dispose Men to Infidelity and prompt them to study and make Exceptions to the Proofs already given us of the Christian Faith would work the same Effect if other Proof and Evidence were given of it and that Men would then quickly make as good Exceptions to that as they do now to these For from what has been said I think 't is plain that if Men do not see the Truth when 't is placed in so clear a Light as 't is in already the Reason must be because they wilfully shut their Eyes or else are so blinded by a Love of this World or of their sinful Lusts that if the Light were ten times brighter than it is they would see no more than they do now And it would be to as little Purpose in order to the Conviction of such perverse and obstinate Men to add an more or stronger Proofs of the Truth of Religion as it would be to light up abundance of Torches to a Man that is quite blind For this is indeed the true Cause why Men will not hear Moses and the Prophets why they will not believe Christ and his Apostles testifying the certainty of a future State and other Truths of Religion 't is not I say because there is any just Exception to their Testimony but because they do not like the Matter of it and so are resolved not to believe They love their Sins so well that they can upon no Account be persuaded to part with them and being so resolved it is an easie thing to cavil at any Motives or Arguments that are urged to persuade them to it Seeing they will not see and hearing they will not hear nor understand and to Men so obstinately resolved against Conviction no Proof can be convincing enough And this is the sad effect of Love to Sin it Viciates the Judgments of Men so that they can't distinguish between things that differ most vastly it darkens their Understanding so that the plainest Proposition or the clearest Consequence in the World if it be against the Interest of Sin seems dark and obscure to them and it renders their Minds so averse to Religion that they can't with any Patience so much as hear the Arguments that are offered to prove it And be a Reason never so good 't is not to be hoped it should be convincing to a Man who will not hear it or who will not allow himself calmly to consider it From all that hath been said therefore upon this Head it plainly appears That the proper Cure of Infidelity is not the Addition of more Proof of the Truth of Religion but a right Prepaartion and Disposition of Mind to consider well the Proof thereof that is offered which is sufficient to convince and persuade all those that have a Love of Truth and a Will disposed to Virtue The Causes of Infidelity must be first removed and then the Cure of it will be easie by those Means which God has provided and directed us to use and there will be no need of his Working Miracles for Men's Conviction But 'till the Causes of it are removed 't is hardly to be Cured even by a Miracle But it will be said perhaps that tho' fresh Revelations and new Miracles might not be sufficient to convince all they might however convince some because there are several Degrees in the Perverseness and Obstinacy of Men Some indeed there may be whom no such Proof of Religion as is fit to be given us in this State of Trial would persuade whose Case therefore must be given over as desperate but then there are others Acts 26.28 who as King Agrippa was are almost persuaded to be Christians and when the Scales are already near even a small weight put into the lightest will make it