the Emperour that having strictly inquired into the lives of the Christians he found nothing else but that they assembled together in remote places early in the morning and there said their prayers to heaven and bound themselves under a Solemn Oath not to commit Murder Adultery Injustice or any other crime They would also produce an answer from Trajan to Pliny wherein that Emperour gave positive orders that for the future there should be no particular enquiries made after the Christians but those only should be punished who should discover themselves And that we may not think that these letters are forged we may consider that 't is Tertulian that mentions them in his Discourse to the Senate and the Roman Emperour whom he could not impose upon without endangering his own life and prejudicing his Religion CHAP. II. Wherein we shall examin the Martyrdom of the Primitive Christians BUt Perhaps we may sooner suspect the credulity of the Primitive Christians than their innocence We are sure their Constancy proceeded from their hope and their hope from their perswasion But who knows the ground of that Perswasion Are there not Mahumetans so strongly perswaded of the Divinity of the Alcoran as to die in defence of that Errour The multitude then of Martyrs shews an infinite number of persons to be strongly perswaded of the truth of Christian Religion but proves not that perswasion to be well grounded We mâ—st therefore go a little further And here we may easily suppose without fear of being mistaken that the Primitive Christians had some sort of Common sense Those who made it their profession to ridicule the plurality of Gods and the many superstitions of the Heathens which were really contrary to Reason those who put in practice such wise Rules of Morality who were so regular in their behaviour so averse to all the excesses that disorder Reason who formed to themselves such rational Ideas of the Deity in comparison to others those men I say could not be wholly destitute of the light of Nature Now supposing them to have but the least glimmering of that light 't will be hard to conceivâ— that they should wholly renounce their Estates and Fortune and couragiously suffer Death in defence of any cause whatsoever unless they had very powerful Reasons to believe it were good This consideration will be further strengthn'd by two very important Reflexions And first we speak not here of such only who being born Christians blindly followed the prejudices of Birth and Education but also of a great number of persons who renounced Paganism to embrace Christianity and laying aside the favourable prejudices of Education and Birth which in them were quite contrary to the Christian Religion were yet willing to die for it as soon as 't was known and embraced Secondly The truth of Christian Religion is altogether founded upon mattters of fact For if Jesus Christ wrought Miracles and rose again from the Dead than is the Christian Faith True But if Jesus Christ wrought no miracles nor rose from the Dead then is the Christian Faith false And surely 't would have been folly or madness in those men to forsake so flourishing a Communion as Paganism to take upon them the name of Christians a name so vile and contemptible in those days to suffer voluntarily the loss of their Estates and undergo a most terrible Death only to defend a Religion grounded upon such matters of fact as they had no reason to believe to be true Those indeed that are born and live peacably in a Communion may blindly believe the Doctrines of it but he that is never so little acquainted with the constitution of man's heart can scarce imagin men to be so sensless as to renounce the prejudices of Birth and Education to offer violence to their dearest and most tender Inclinations and embrace a Faith pursued with fire and sword and persecuted by all the powers of the World unless they had first duely examined the nature of it and knew well upon what grounds they thus embraced it If it be objected that some of these men were of the meanest sort of people whose example cannot be alledged as a precedent for Wise and learned men We 'll grant it But then it must also be confess'd that the Vulgar usually embrace that Religion which is attended with Power and Prosperity Pomp and Authority and hate even Truth it self when once destitute of all these outward helps How is it possible then that against all outward appearance they should have acted so contrarily to themselves in this Occasion But supposing the commmon sort of Christians to have lost their Reason can we say the same of the Doctors of the Primitive Church as Clement Polycarp Justin Iraeneus c 'T is certain on one hÄnd these men were men of very good sense as their Writings those Monuments they have left us evidently demonstrate And on the other 't is very well known they lived in a time so very near to that of the Apostles that it is absolutely impossible they should have been deceived in this respect For Polycarp conversed a long while with St. John Iraeneus saw Polycarp and Justin was a more ancient Father than Iraeneus Had those Doctors only told us that Jesus Christ and his Apostles wrought several Miracles we might perhaps have suspended our belief upon their bare word But since they suffered Death in defence of the truth of certain matters of fact which they must necessarily have fully been informed of since I see that Clemens and Polycarp Disciples and Contemporaries with the Apostles chearfully came to the stake to maintain a Religion essentially founded upon those matters of fact such as were the gift of divers Languages conferred upon the Apostles the power of working Miracles and imparting those very gifts themselves to others Since I say these Christian Doctors suffered Martyrdom for the confirmation of matters of fact which the Christian Religion is essentially united to I confess I begin to be convinced Nevertheless let us search more narrowly into this matter and see whether we shall yet have any Reason to entertain any further scruples CHAP. III. In which we further prove the Truth of Religion by several undeniable matters of fact WHo told us Clemens and Polycarp suffered Martyrdom And supposing they did who will assure us they were not deluded by the Apostles Nay who can tell whether there ever were any such men I suppose I shall not be obliged to prove with a great many arguments there were such men as Clemens and Polycarp who suffered Martyrdom Eusebius who wrote their history could not wholly have invented it unless he had corrupted all the Writings of the Fathers that lived before him for they all speak of it Iraeneus Justin Clemens Alexandrinus c. mention it as a known matter of fact The first of them glories in several places of his works that he had seen Polycarp in his youth and it appears they all suffered Martyrdom
been clearly explained by their event Neither the Books of the Old or New Testament bear the least record of Mahomet whereas the Prophets had foretold the coming of Jesus Christ as of a Messias that was to unite the Jews and Gentiles and to carry the Covenant of God unto the ends of the World Mahomet established himself in the World by force and violence but Jesus Christ only by patience and sufferings The former was environ'd with Soldiers the latter was attended with Martyrs The one put men to Death but the other received Death for our sakes Mahomet's ambition who established such a flourishing Empire was presently seen in the success he had in his undertaking But Jesus Christ was far from self Interest or Ambition since he withdrew himself when they would have made him King and declared his Kingdom was not of this World Instead of encouraging the carnal prejudices of his Disciples he took care to undeceive them and to foretell all the Evils they were to expect And tho' any should presume openly to dispute all these matters of fact still they appear by the end and success of the Gospel the design of which was to sanctify the heart and calm the disorderly passions of the Soul Mahomet invented such a Religion which agreed only with corrupted Reason and the loose inordinate desires of the heart He made the scandal of the Cross to give place to the magnificence and grandeur of the World he took away the most spiritual and difficult matters of Morality to fill the minds of his Disciples with carnal and sensual Ideas But not so did our Saviour act who proposed his Cross to the minds of men as an astonishing Paradox and a continual cause of Mortification and Repentance Mahomet Established his Religion by the help of Ignorance and Darkness by suppressing such Books as might have enlightened mens Understandings and by requiring a blind submission from them Jesus Christ on the contrary would not have them believe his Doctrine but as they found it conformable to that of the Prophets Search the Scriptures says he for in them ye think ye have eternal life John 5. 39. Mahomet established himself in the World by dissembling and disguising his thoughts He promised in the beginning a toleration of all Religions carried it fair to the Christians but afterwasds did his utmost endeavours to extirpate them utterly But Jesus Christ declared at first his intention and design which was to save mankind and overthrow Superstition it self Nor he nor his Disciples used any Policy or Circumvention in this respect Mahomet died but never rose nor pretended to rise again from the dead thereby to shew he was approved of God Jesus Christ died but it was believed he rose again from the dead upon the testimony of those who had seen him after his Resurrection and testified of the Truth of this matter of fact to all the World at the expence of their lives and effusion of their blood Mahomet's Religion was invented maintained and supported by Policy but that of Jesus Christ was at first offensive to all the Princes upon earth and was established in the World notwithstanding all their endeavours to the contrary Mahomets's Religion appear'd at first view to be as it were the Triumph of Humane Industry and Covetousness but the Religion of Jesus Christ shew'd that of integrity and justice in their full perfection and Natural Religion in that proper purity and simplicity that was restored to it by Charity Mahomet laid the foundation of a particular Monarchy and established such Laws as humanly speaking are serviceable only in those places wherein he has settled his Dominion but Jesus Christ has given us new Principles of union and intelligence very usefull to the good of publick society in general and very fit to cement the union of all men together by making the spirit of Charity reign in the World The coming of Mahomet did not sanctify mankind but that of Jesus Christ was attended with an innumerable Company of persons who all renounced the World meerly by the Faith they had in him 'T was not Mahomet but Jesus Christ who exactly fulfilled the Oracles concerning the calling of the Gentiles because Mahomet derived all his knowledge of the true God from Jesus Christ as we have already shewed Lastly Temporal Prosperity was the true Character of the Religion of Mahomet and it might be very well affirmed that Mahomet was a Man of God if it were true that all those who enjoy the greatest Prosperity in the World that is all Tyrants wicked and unjust men are the favorites of God But the Character of the Religion of Jesus Christ is patience self-denial innocence and a simplicity of manners and certainly he was approved of God if God approves of vertuous patient humble and charitable men It concerns now the Incredulous to answer all these differences if they would have us allow of this Comparison for otherwise we shall ever reject it as being very ridiculous and extravagant CHAP. XV. Where we further examin the objections of the Incredulous THe Incredulous are apt to raise as many suspicions against the miracles of Jesus Christ as against his person because of all those proofs which establish his Religion there are none that can move the senses so much as that taken from true Miracles I. Then they object that Jesus the Son of Mary might have healed two or three people either by chance or by vertue of Second causes and that that good success might have got him afterwards the name of a Prophet through the ignorance of the people who are wont to ascribe to supernatural Causes every thing that is unknown to them We answer that we have here a very great number of miracles all of different kinds evident and sensible miracles in their Nature unimitable and above all Imposture Such are the Resurrection of the dead healing the Blind the Lame and the sick of the Palsy c. II. They pretend that he might perhaps have suborned Witnesses to testify some fabulous miracles But how could this be Since Jesus Christ had neither money to give nor dignities to promise and as for cunning Politick niceties Riches and Credit they were only amongst the Scribes and Pharisees and Doctors of the Law his implacable Enemies who took all opportunities to prejudice him because he publickly censured their hypocrisy upon all occasions III. They object that Jesus Christ was so prudent as to work his miracles only before three of his chosen Disciples viz. Peter James and John Now say they who knows but that those three Disciples to flatter the ambition of their Master might have attested certain Miracles as true which were not really so To remove this suspicion we need only reflect upon the many miracles Jesus Christ wrought in the presence of his other Disciples He raised from the dead the Son of the Widdow of Naim as he was a carrying to be interr'd He raised Lazarus from the grave in
the sight of several Jews who were purposely come thither to comfort the Sisters of the Deceased Person He tarried four days that it might not be said he was not really dead He permitted Lazarus to converse with his acquaintance after his Resurrection which gave occasion to the Jews blinded with madness to conspire together to send him to the grave again whom the grave had just sent them for their Conversion IV. But is it possible that such great and such unparalelled miracles as these should make so little impression upon peoples minds This Age is indeed a wicked and prejudiced age But yet what a noise would the Resurrection of a dead man make now How many would make it their business to be fully satisfied of the truth of such a matter of fact How few would doubt it after having known the certain truth of it To this I answer that the greatest part of those who heard this Miracle did not in the least believe it Some ascribed it to the power of Beelzebub others to some other cause some knew not what to think of it and therefore refused to enquire into it others verily believ'd that Jesus Christ and Lazarus had agreed together thus to seduce the people and this very likely was the opinion of those who sought after Lazarus to put him to death Others tho' very few took occasion from thence to glorify God But lest any man should wonder at the little impression this miracle made upon the prejudiced and superstitious minds of men 't will be sufficient to make these two following Reflections First That there have been several Jews who freely acknowledged the Miracles of Jesus Christ tho' they persisted in their incredulity chusing rather superstitiously to ascribe them to a certain I know not what pronunciation of the word Jehovah than to refer them totheir true cause which shews that the evidence of Miracles is not always of it self sufficient to overcome the hardness of some mens minds when prepossess'd with prejudice Secondly That superstition it self has been sometimes carried on to that degree as to extinguish utterly all the lights of Reason and even to call in question those very objects that are present to the senses rather than be obliged to renounce its prejudices But it is not necessary to insist much upon this last reflection It sufficiently appears from thence that there are such people in the World whose minds being prepossessed will either call in question any palpable truths or else ascribe matters of fact truly miraculous to some fantastical and extravagant causes But there are none that are willing to die in order to maintain that they were spectators of those things which they had really never seen especially when they profess to believe that imposture is a crime worthy of Death and when they might be so easily found out by so great a number of witnesses it would argue meer folly for any to pretend to impose upon men in this respect The Jewish Doctors had credit and authority enough over the people partly to stifle the knowledge they might have of those matters of fact or if that fail'd at least to give such reasons of them as would certainly flatter the immoderate desire the Jews had to see not a sorrowful and contemptible but a glorious and triumphing Messias But the Disciples were too weak to endure the severity of those Torments inflicted on them had they been meer Impostors and were not surely so sensless as ever to think they might easily perswade men to believe such matters of fact as the Resurrection of Lazarus For to endeavour to conceal a matter of fact of that Nature one had need only of prejudice and a wicked inclination but to have a design to make other men believe it when it was really false one must be possess'd with an unaccountable and unheard of madness V. But you will say let the opinion the Jews had of the Miracles of Jesus Christ be what it will still is it possible they could have no better preserved the memory of them and that Josephus for example who carefully relates the least sort of Events and forgets not to mention certain Seducers that had appeared in the World from time to time before him should not in the least speak of the Miracles of of Jesus Christ It is supposed by some that that notable testimony which he bears of him was a pious fraud of his or a meer Invention of the succeeding ages We shall not enquire into the truth of that at present We are willing to take things in the worst sense and we have three several replies to make this objection concerning the silence of Josephus in this respect The first is that those who probably inserted in the Writings of that Author that notable place which has given occasion to the Criticism of the Learned might for a continuation of their design have blotted out every thing that Josephus really tells us on this account and which perhaps tho' less advantagious to our cause is yet sufficient to shew that Jesus Christ was held as one that wrought many Miracles The second that Josephus being a Pharisee might probably have concealed the wonders of the life of our Saviour out of the hatred he bore to our Religion And the last is that as this man had endeavoured to insinuate himself into Vespasian's favour by foretelling him that he should be Emperour and had ascribed to him several prophecies of the Old Testament which promised that a King should come from the East it is highly probabable that this Author being a Courtier would not out of complaisance to Vespasian and his Children mention the least thing of a man who had pretended he was the Messias and to whom other people ascribed those famous prophecies whereby he had endeavoured to ingratiate himself in that Emperours Esteem And certainly it is very unlikely to suppose that a man who had carefully related the least Circumstance of the life of Herod the Great should have forgot the Murther of the Children of Bethlehem if at the time he discovered the cause of that Murther he had not been affraid to discover also the dread Herod had upon him at the birth of the Messias and the Opinion then currant among the Jews that the Messias was to be born in Bethlehem 'T is however certain that this Author could not have concealed any such events as these but only out of Ignorance or Policy He could not have done it out of ignorance and the Incredulous themselves will not presume to think that Josephus was altogether ignorant that Jesus Christ had been put to death at Jerusalem that he was accused there of seducing the people that he had several Disciples to attend him whose number in his time increased yet daily nay that there had been a very numerous Church at Jerusalem composed of persons of that perswasion And certainly there must have been Christians in all Judea since there dwelt a very
some marks of his weakness in the Garden of Gethsemane where the fear of Death made him sweat great drops of Blood and where he cried out several times O my Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me They also pretend that this exclamation of Jesus Christ when nailed on the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me was an expression of his despair I know not here what to admire most either the impudence of these proud Enemies of our Religion or the force of Truth which still becomes stronger the more they endeavour to shake it For as for the first If the Enemies of the Christians wont believe the report of the Evangelists how came they to know that Jesus Christ uttered these words which give them occasion to think he wanted constancy But if they will believe the report of the Evangelists why should they refuse to believe so many miraculous matters of fact which the Evangelists left to us in writing after having been eye-witnesses of the same It is certain that we may find in our principles wherewith to explain those places they bring against us The words which Jesus Christ spoke to his blessed Mother give us only to understand how very jealous he was of the duties of his Calling He spoke to her as a Mediatour between God and Man as the person in whom she ought necessarily to believe in order to her Salvation and who doubts but in that quality he had some Authority over her As for the sorrowfulness he expressed in his Agony it might proceed from a double cause the one natural and the other supernatural He might very well fear Death as Man and the pains inflicted on his Humane Nature might force him to utter some innocent complaints But that was not all that made his torments grievous He was loaded with the Sins of Mankind and subject to the curse of the Law He looked upon God as his Father but God offered himself to him as an angry Judge The more he loved his Father the more sensible he was of the Grief he sustained in being remov'd from him The measure of his sufferings consisted in the measure of his vertue and what he says here to his Father is rather the Language of his Love than that of his Despair But if the Incredulous should say they are not obliged to subscribe to my explanations because it is incertain whether they have any other ground than my bare imagination I am willing they should entertain this scruple and cherish it till by establishing my principles I have an opportunity of answering yet more fully all those difficulties But in the mean time I hold that nothing can more demonstrate the sincerity of the Evangelists than those places just now mentioned and I affirm that the sincerity of the Evangelists being well demonstrated does invincibly prove the Truth of the Christian Religion For certainly either those who composed the Gospels had a design to deceive Mankind in behalf of Jesus Christ and his Religion or they had no such design at all If they had any such design they would have taken special care not to set down those Circumstances of the death of their Master which might give the World an occasion to suspect he wanted Courage or thought himself forsaken of God But if in writing the matters of fact contained in the Gospel they had no manner of design to deceive Mankind we must then of necessity look upon them as being very sincere Authors who would not deceive us unless they themselves had first of all been deceived So that all the question is whether the matters of fact they tell us of are such as are shewn only by Illusion And we need here only consider whether all the Disciples could have fancied they saw an infinite number of very singular and sensible Miracles such as sick men healed Dead raised to Life c. and have believed that they themselves work'd miracles when all the while there was no such thing 'T is to no purpose here to alledge that the Evangelists affected an ingenuous simplicity to avoid the suspicion of dishonesty For had that been their design they would have taken special care not to furnish impious men with places and passages on which they might raise imaginary triumphs Nor is there any reason to believe that the Evangelists related those words because their simplicity was so great that they had not judgment to discern whether they were for or against their cause For what probability is there that men who had wit enough to deceive other people should have so little in this occasion Must a man needs be wise and learned when he chuses to represent his Master constant and undaunted rather than sorrowful unto Death And yet 't is not one single Evangelist that relates the history of his passion after this manner they all agree in this respect And how could this be so but that they only proposed to themselves to speak the plain truth and they spoke it without considering the impression it would make on Mankind without examining whether the Incredulous would take occasion from thence to slander the Christian Religion In the mean while if what has been said here is not sufficient I am willing more particularly to examin the matters contained in the Gospels CHAP. VI. Where we shall examine the matters contained in the Gospels and see whether they are capable of Illusion or Imposture THose Books contain an infinite number of extraordinary divine and admirable things but the principal of them are reducible to these four heads I. The Birth Genealogy and Education of Jesus Christ with all the Circumstances of them which we shall not speak of at present least we should be too tedious having already mention'd them in our first part of this work II. The Exercise of his Office confirmed by an infinite number of miracles from his Baptism to his Ascension III. The holiness of his life and conversation seen clearly in several occasions and shining throughout the various Actions of his life IV. His Doctrin and his Prophecies From these four different heads spring forth such beams of Truth as wonderfully illustrate this whole matter Let us therefore examine them in their order and keep still to our usual method which is to raise as we go along as many difficulties as we can and urge them on with all their force to stop if it be possible the complaints of the Incredulous against us We may very well consider in the miracles of Jesus Christ their number variety and greatness the noise they made in the World and the manner in which they were received And first the Evangelists make appear the number variety and greatness of them in telling us that he changed Water into Wine in Cana that he restored sight to the Blind hearing to the Deaf and health to the Sick that he cleansed the Leprous healed the sick of the Palsy cured one of a withered Hand
that perswasion so deeply rooted in their Mind that their Law was to be eternal and yet that a few years should perswade that great multitude of Disciples converted by the preaching of the Apostles that all those Rites and Ceremonies were become invalid by the Death of a Man whom the Sanhedrin had condemned to be executed as a Malefactor without any extraordinary or supernatural accident intervening which should occasion the framing to themselves such Ideas so particular and so contrary to their first Prejudices Certainly we may very well affirm that our Incredulous Adversaries have too great a value for imposture and ignorance when they imagin that an universal delusion and unanimous consent to a Lye could convert Nations Sanctify Mankind and spread the Knowledge of God throughout the World according as it was foretold by the Scriptures or that a few simple and ignorant Fishermen whose knowledge extended no further than their Employment should discover the defects and imperfections of the Ceremonial Law and introduce instead of it a Spiritual worship as really more conformable to the Nature of God who is a Spirit and more worthy of man who is a Spirit and more worthy of man who is a Reasonable Creature that those simple and ignorant men should discover the Sacrifices under the Law to be only Types of the Death of a man who was condemned to be executed as a Malefactor that they should attribute this thought to John the Baptist and make him express it only in these words Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World John 1. 29. Words so full and comprehensive that they contain the whole sum of Christan Religion And Lastly That they should invent Mysteries so very different from mens ordinary Thoughts and Conjectures and so far above the Capacity of the most judicious and learned that it may deservedly be said of them that they are such things which Eye has not seen nor Ear heard neither has it enter'd into the Heart of Man to conceive them 1 Cor. 2. 9. Lastly Experience tells us how difficult it is for persons already advanced in years to renounce the Common practices generally approved of in the World especially when authorised by Religion and Education How hard would it be for us Christians to live as the Jews And yet it would be more difficult for them to live as we do Because we look upon all their Customs as things very indifferent in themselves whereas they always look'd upon our Practices as scandalous and unlawful How then was it that not only one or two Jews but thousands who had embraced Christianity no longer in the least scrupled to converse with the Gentiles nay to to live with Heathens who before were an Abomination in their eyes You will say this was not without many considerable difficulties and was the cause of several great Animosities and Disputes I grant it but yet it appears the Ceremonial Law was utterly abolished presently after the Death of Christ the Apostles having determined that it had been accomplished in his Death and that it was not Lawful to joyn the Carnal Ceremonies of the Law with the Spiritual worship of the Gospel And I say that had not the Apostles both testify'd the Miracles and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and wrought very great wonders themselves it was naturally impossible they should have executed so great a design especially in so small a time For certainly if we consider the Disciples as born Jews they must necessarily have been very much devoted to their own Law If we consider them as poor and mean people they could not but have been passionately fond of that Law which gave such wonderful precepts for the Administration of Justice and the relief and comfort of the Poor If we consider them as simple and ignorant men they could not but have a blind love and obedience for their Law as all ignorant People have for the external objects of Religion Lastly Should we consider them as prepossessed with the usual prejudices of their Nation they must necessarily have expected a Glorious and Triumphant Messias who instead of abolishing the Law of Moses should have established it throughout the World Yet we need only consider the event to clear the truth of this matter We shall not insist upon all the Reflections we might easily make hereupon It 's sufficient to have taken notice of those things by the by because they may serve in some measure to illustrate the particular examination we shall make of the Miracles of the Gospel We have already considered them in general sufficiently to convince all reasonable Persons But it may not be amiss to insist more particularly on them that we may confound the Obstinate and Incredulous and make them at least truly sensible of their Errour tho' perhaps we cannot reclaim them from it To do this better we shall lay down four miraculous matters of fact which shall be as so many centers of the Truth we enquire into because there are several lines and degrees of Evidence and Light which necessarily lead us to the Truth of each of these matters of fact and then we shall joyn them all together the better to form a full and perfect Demonstration of them CHAP. II. The first Center of Truth a particular consideration of the Miracles of Jesus Christ WE dare say that such is the nature of these Miracles that the composers of the Gospel durst not could not would not have forged them had they been really false I say they durst not because they could not but have been publickly known To prove this I shall lay down four Examples of them which are I. The History of Zachariah the Father of John the Baptist II. The History of the Massacre of the young Children of Bethlehem III. The miraculous feeding of several thousands at several times in the Wilderness with a few Loaves and some small Fishes IV. And Lastly the supernatural prodigies which happened at the death of Jesus Christ himself As to the First we may observe that the Subject upon whom this great Miracle was wrought is a Priest a Priest who daily performed the functions of his Ministerial office and was then actually burning Incense in the Temple of Jerusalem at a very remarkable time during which the people who expected him were very intent at their Prayers to God in the outward Part or Porch of the Temple whilst he himself was in the Holy Place Now tho' the Historian had observed only concerning the Birth of John the Baptist that Zachariah and Elizabeth his Wife were far advanced in years and that the latter till then was thought Barren yet that event would have employed something so extraordinary and surprising that one might have been almost positive that the Evangelist durst not have been so bold as to forge it against the publick knowledge which all the Jews must then have had of it How then durst any one have affirmed that Zachariah wholly lost
the use of his Tongue whilst he was in the Temple that all the people were Eye-Witnesses of it and that he remained Speechless till the time was come wherein he was obliged to give a name to that wonderful Child which God had given him in his old age notwithstanding the Barrenness of his Wife Supposing the Gospel wherein this matter of fact is related was composed long after that Event still it is true that St. Luke composed his Gospel before his Book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles and that he composed the Book of Acts somtime before the destruction of Jerusalem as we have in another place already observed and as it is without doubt true Then supposing also forty fifty or sixty years if you will had past since all these things had happened and before St. Luke composed his Gospel can forty fifty or sixty years be sufficient to perswade several thousands of people nay all the Inhabitants of that great and flourishing City of Jerusalem that they had seen either with their own eyes or that their Forefathers had seen one of their Priests wholly deprived of the use of his tongue because he had seen a Vision in the Holy Place and yet that he recovered it precisely and exactly at the time he was obliged to give a name to his Child Certainly had none but Zachariah's Relations been acquainted with the Event of those things yet it would have argued rashness in any man to invent any thing false concerning them For what an extravagance would it have been in any one to pretend to invent it against the publick Knowledge of a whole and very numerous Nation so solemnly assembled together and so intent upon that Event nay so surprised at that prodigy or if you will according to the Incredulous so fully satisfied that there was nothing in it but a vain Chimaera and delusion And the people says the Historian waited for Zacharias and marvelled that he tarried so long in the Temple And when he came out he could not speak unto them and they perceived that he had seen a Vision in the Temple for he beckened unto them and remained Speechless Luke 1. 21 22. But the manner in which Zacharias was healed is no less surprising And it came to pass says the Evangelist that on the eighth day they came to Circumcise the Child and they called him Zachariah after the name of his Father And his Mother answered and said not so but he shall be called John And they said unto her there is none of thy Kindred that is called by that name And they made signs to his Father how he would have him called And he asked for a Writing Table and wrote saying his name is John And they marvelled all And his Mouth was opened immediately and his Tongue loosed and he spake and praised God And fear came on all that dwel't round about them and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the Country of Judea Luke 1. 59 60 61 62 63 64 65. Thus it appears this History consists of two Parts the first whereof was known to all the City of Jerusalem and the other was spread abroad throughout all the Country of Judea and certainly it is absolutely impossible any one should have in the least designed to impose upon the World in that Respect against that double knowledge they must have had of that matter of fact For then the Evangelist would have taken away all possibility of belief from his Narration by the choice of those Circumstances he inserted into his History Now it does not seem natural for an Author who wrote the History of Jesus Christ and his Miracles in a time wherein it was so strictly examined and the followers of that Sect were adjudged and condemned to Death with so much Severity in a time wherein as he himself makes the Jews of Rome tell it to St. Paul speaking to him at the latter end of the Book of Acts Chap. 28. v. 22. For as concerning this Sect we know that every where it is spoken against I say it does not seem Natural that that same Author who knew it â—ay observed it himself should have published such matters of fact the falsity of which he would soon have been convinced of by twenty thousands of people who must have been present in the Temple with Zachariah or at least heard it related by those who were there present One of the most dangerous errors which the Incredulous plunge themselves in is that they imagin that the same distance of time which is between us and those matters of fact related to us is also to be found between those very matters of fact themselves and those who so related them And they perceive not that whereas with respect to us 't is many ages ago since all those things came to pass yet 't was but a little while since these things must necessarily have happened with respect to the Disciples who published them to the World either by their preaching or writings Now for St. Luke to have invented such matters of fact must either have argued in him a certain drolling Mirth and pleasant Gayety of Spirit in telling such stories so gravely or else he must have had but a very mean opinion of Mens sense and understanding in his time to think they could so easily be deluded and imposed upon The History the Evangelists give us of the coming of the Wise-Men of the East into the City of Jerusalem of Herod's suspicious Concern and the cruel cautions he used to secure his own Crown by commanding all the Young Children that were in the City of Bethlehem and in all the Coasts thereof to be slain from two years old and under according to the time he had diligently enquired of the Wise-men I say this History is much of the same stamp with that we just now consider'd Had the Evangelists only told us in general that the Wise-men saw a Star in the East which they took to be the Star that signified the Birth of the King of the Jews that would have been somewhat more suspicious Had they told us only that those Wise-men came to Jerusalem that would not positively have concluded much But when they tell us that they came publickly to Jerusalem not any way concealing themselves or the cause of their coming and that the whole City was alarmed and concerned at it Does it seem natural that a man should fancy he could perswade so great a City as Jerusalem was that it had been disturbed and surprised at the arrival of Certain Wise-men who were come to worship the King of the Jews That a man who had proposed to himself to relate certain Fables whom it concerned that they should pass for true and certain matters of fact should yet pick out such circumstances as those were to vent abroad to a Nation that knew so very well the falshood of them For if we consider who it was that related these things 'T was
at her c. When Jesus had lift up himself and saw none but the Woman he said unto her Woman where are those thine Accusers hath no Man condemned thee She said no man Lord. And Jesus said unto her neither do I condemn thee go and sin no more There is no need of a Comment to understand the Divine energy of these words A Heart rightly disposed will sooner be sensible of it than able to express it Vers 51. Verily verily I say unto you if a Man keep my sayings he shall never see Death How could Christ advance such a Paradox Or how is it probable that John should make him utter it he who had already seen several of his Master's Disciples die These words then must secretly imply something more sublime and uncommon than appears to us at first sight And those who taught them had deeper Understandings and more piercing Judgments than other Men. Chap. XI 25. I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me tho he were dead yet shall he live This is such a strange discourse as was never met with before Vers 43 44. And when he had thus spoken he cried with a loud Voice Lazarus come forth And he that was Dead came forth bound Hand and Foot with Grave-cloaths and his face was bound about with a Napkin c. Nothing can be more circumstantially told than this matter of fact Lazarus had been Dead about four Days He was buried and a Stone had been rolled over his Grave Nay he already began to Stink Some of the Jews that were there present murmured and said among themselves Could not this Man who opened the eyes of the Blind have caused that even this Man should not have died John 11. 37. And others that were come to comfort the two Sisters were there assembled The Dead Person was raised to Life again he was seen and heard to speak Several that were there believed in Jesus Christ so that the great Council among the Jews was terrified at it and the Chief Priests and Pharisees being gathered together upon this Occasion many of them cried out and said What do we for this Man does many Miracles If we let him thus alone all Men will believe on him and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and Nation c. Had this matter of fact been falsly invented how durst the Evangelist so exactly describe it with all its Circumstances Why did not others make a strict enquiry and dive into the Bottom of it Did the Christians want Enemies to do it they who were continually exposed to the Persecutions of all the Powers upon Earth This Gospel was believed at Jerusalem which place was yet extant and Bethany was but a few Furlongs distant from Jerusalem The Falshood alone of that single matter of fact which was so signal and so publickly known would have utterly overthrown the whole Fabrick of the Apostles New Religion given up the Cause to the Jews and universally silenced the Christians Why then did they not manifest the Truth upon the Spot Chap. XIII 35. By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have love one to another A Divine Mark indeed and a Character not in the least to be suspected Chap. XIV 11 12. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me or else believe me for the very works sake Verily verily I say unto you he that believeth in me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do What could the Evangelists think when he related these things if he was truly convinced by his own experience and by that of his Associates that Christ 's Disciples could not perform any Miracles Chap. XV. 24. If I had not done among them the works which none other Men did they had not had Sin He continually laid before their Eyes the Testimony of his Works Chap. XVI 2. They shall put you out of the Synagogues yea the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service 'T is evident by this prediction the Evangelist ascribes to Jesus that the Disciples did not then expect nay were not to expect any thing but crosses and tribulations What then could support them in their present sufferings and the dismal prospect of worse to come but the hopes of such a reward as is inconsistent with the quality of Impostors A Name which our Incredulous Adversaries are pleased to give them Vers 33. In the World ye shall have Tribulation but be of good chear I have overcome the World He was continually foretelling them what misfortunes they were to expect This in all appearance should have disheartned them but it only serv'd to try their Patience and confirm the Word which they preached Chap. XVII 25 26. O Righteous Father the World has not known thee but I have known thee and these have known that thou hast sent me And I have declared unto them thy Name that thy love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them Can a Man imagin that an Impostor should express himself thus Is falshood then so different here from what it usually is and does it breath out nothing but Virtue Innocence Love and Charity Has it altogether that Spirit of pure Holiness and elevated Simplicity of ineffable consolation and wonderful Trust and Reliance upon God which run's through all the latter Discourses Jesus made to his Disciples to comfort them for his approaching Departure Chap. XVIII 36 37. My Kingdom is not of this World c. Pilate therefore said unto him art thou a King then Jesus answered thou sayest that I am a King And for this cause came I into the World that I should bear witness unto the Truth Every one that is of the Truth heareth my Voice Jesus plainly declared that his Kingdom was not of this World Yet he called himself King Had he been an Impostor he would have pretended to have reigned somewhere or at least shewed some Ambition of it Chap. XX. 25 26. The other Disciples therefore said unto him we have seen the Lord. But he said unto them except I shall see in his hands the Print of the Nails and thrust my hand into his Side I will not believe c. Jesus saith unto him Thomas because thou hast seen me thou hast believed Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed Could any one have made Thomas believe that he had been more incredulous than the rest of the Disciples and that he would not be persuaded till he had seen and felt the Body of his Master Chap. XXI 3. Simon Peter saith unto them I go a fishing They say unto him we also go with thee They went forth and entred into a Ship immediately and that Night they caught nothing But when the Morning was now come Jesus stood on the shore c. Christ being Dead the Disciples betook themselves again
must renounce our selves and beg of Almighty God that he would enlighten our Understanding when we perceive that such a sublime and elevated Science which offers such noble and magnificent Objects to our Consideration is yet conceived by those only that are pure in Heart Here then ought we to cry out what a Divine Religion is this Which at once enlightens and humbles us which amazes and yet clears our Understanding which leads us to saving Knowledge by the free and ready confession of our own Ignorance and takes away all the Imperfections of our Understanding by making it submit to Faith Where is the Wise Where is the Disputer of this World IX Portraiture of the Christian Religion or the Conformity of its Mysteries to the Lights of Reason HAving look'd into the Original of all our false Prejudices 't is now no difficult matter to distinguish Religion from Superstition and Divinity from Philosophy Without such a Distinction we must inevitably fall into the greatest Difficulties and by it 't is easy to demonstrate that Religion contains no greater Difficulties than even Nature it self Thus the Doctrin of Predestination of Grace and Original Sin are such unfathomable Depths as terrify at first view the Mind of him that endeavours to reconcile them to the Light of Nature and methinks I already hear a Multitude of Doctors crying out against me that I ought not to presume to dive into thebottom of those profound Mysteries which confound their Reason the more attentively they consider and reflect upon them But I beg leave of those worthy Men to tell them that all those matters would seem to them less difficult than they do were they less Philosophers than they are And I would have them always remember that Faith and Reason Divinity and Philosophy are essentially distinct one from the other in as much as the former barely perceives the Object it self without endeavouring to search into the manner of it and consists in that Submission which prevents its further Enquiries Pride and Rashness being contrary to it whereas the latter continually endeavours to know both the things and the manner of them together with the Physical Causes of them having no greater Enemy than Ignorance to oppose its Progress Accordingly a Divine ought only to enquire whether there be any such thing as Grace Predestination Original Sin c. But a Philosopher not satisfied-with a bare Knowledge of it will yet further enquire what is the order of the immutable Decrees of God after what manner Grace determines our Free Will and by what means Original Sin was transmitted from the first Man to his Posterity The Apostles who were the truest and indeed only Divines that confined themselves within the due Limits of Divinity have very largely instructed us in all those Objects by fully demonstrating the truth and necessity of them yet have not let fall the least Word that could give us an Insight into the manner of them But the succeeding Christians applying themselves to the study of the Platonic and Aristotelian Philosophy really thought the knowledge of Salvation a Science as well as the rest and thereupon framed to themselves many fruitless and unprofitable Speculative Systems which in many places were repugnant to Piety and perplex'd our Divine Religion with several humane Difficulties It would be injurious to imagin that St. Paul in his large Discourse about the Doctrin of Predestination aimed at nothing else but to gratify the vain Curiosity of those he address'd himself to All that he there says tho' seemingly Speculative is in reality Practical The Question was Whether the Distinction that was between the Jews and Gtntiles was not wholly taken away and if so whether the Gentiles were not to make up one and the same Body with the beliving Jews Those of the Circumcision being accustomed to look upon the Heathens as a People that were cursed could not easily imagin that they should ever enjoy the same Privileges with them But St. Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles endeavours to confute this Prejudice of theirs and to that purpose he shews them that God is the God of all Men that he suffered that all Men should Sin that he might thereby extend his Grace to all that the Choice he made of the Jews for his peculiar People was a free and liberal Election that 't was by by Faith alone and not by Works that the Patriarchs were acceptable to him that his Mercies were not entailed upon the Posterity of the Patriarchs that the Circumcision of the Flesh was not the reason of their Acceptance with God that the Law of it self could not have that effect that it was not for the Good Works of Jacob that his Posterity was preferred before that of Esau for whilst the Children were yet in their Mothers Womb and had done neither Good nor Evil it was told Rebekah consulting the Divine Oracle about them that the Elder should serve the Younger Now the Reflections to be made upon this Doctrin of St. Paul are these 1. That the absolute Necessity there was then to treat of those matters and the urgent occasion that obliged the Apostles to speak of them is now wholly at an end for there 's none among the Christians that either calls or ought to call in Question the Election of those Gentiles who sincerely believed the Gospel So that if we happen now adays to be ingaged in any eager Disputes about those matters 't is meerly out of a Principle of Vanity or Obstinacy or a rash and impious Curiosity Every thing was practical in St Paul's Discourse of Predestination whereas those are wholly Speculative that are in these latter Days composed about it St. Paul had no other Design but to create Peace and Charity between the Jews and Gentiles by shewing them that they were both the Object of the Divine Election But now this Doctrin is changed into Speculation and Philosophy and has no other use but to create Scandalous Divisions in Christian Societies 2. The best and surest Method in this Case is to imitate the Modesty of St. Paul who barely asserted the thing taking great care not to search into the manner of it He only spoke of Election in general And when his curious and impertinent Reason went about to examine the performance of it he only cryed out O the Depth of the Riches c. It must be confessed St. Paul had as much Wit as any modern Divines can pretend to and so could have framed as probable Systems of the Consent and Harmony of the Decrees of God or have found out either in the ill use we make of our Free Will or in the Springs of our Soul wherewith to solve these Difficulties Yet he never attempted it And the reason was he was a true Divine and not a meer Philosopher and knew very well that the most essential part of Faith consists in humbly casting down our Eyes before the dark side of the Mystery 3. But because we are