greatest Zeal for Religion should not justly render it suspected to Vnbelievers p. 131. Chap. 3. That the Incredulous are in the wrong for rejecting the Christian Religion because Interest seems to be the main Cause of many Peoples Devotion p. 143. Chap. 4. That the Divisions which reign among Christians is no good Reason why the Christian Religion should not be true p. 165. Chap. 5. That the Incredulous object in vain that Christianity being so little known and so ill observ'd in the World as it is can't be so useful to Mankind as a Religion reveal'd from Heaven for the Good of all Men should be p. 180. Chap. 6. That Vnbelievers can't conclude the Christian Religion to be false because the Divines of their Acquaintance make bad Answers to their Objections against it or because they maintain some false Tenets as true and as the Doctrine of Christ p. 199. Chap. 7. That the Difficulties which may occur in the Christian Religion ought not to bring the Truth of it into doubt p. 234. The Conclusion of the second Part. p. 277. Of the Truth of the Christian Religion p. 282. Letter 1. Wherein is prov'd the Sincerity of the Apostles concerning the Testimony they render'd to Christ's Resurrection p. 283. Letter 2. Shewing what a Miracle is and proving that from the Miracles of Jesus Christ and his Apostles we ought to look upon them as Persons truly sent of God p. 307. ERRATA Page 18. line 23. read angusta P. 23. l. 8. dele and. OF INCREDULITY The PREFACE Containing the Design of the Author in this Work I Cannot determine whether during the first Ages of Christianity more Books were written by the Christians to evince the Truth of their Religion than there may have been for these two hundred Years past But that we have fewer remaining of the precedent Ages than of the last two is most certain The Teachers of the Primitive Church and their Followers whilst Paganism was still considerable in the World labour'd more in confuting the Religion of the Heathens than to prove the Truth of that of Jesus Christ and his Apostles They thought if they could once convince the Heathens of the Falsity of their own Opinions that it would be no hard Matter then to make 'em Christians And this I could most easily shew were it at all useful to my Design On the contrary when Paganism was abolish'd in Europe and Christianity become the governing Religion the Teachers of it then left Paganism to attack the Religion of the Jews and that of the Mahumetans both which are yet in being amongst us But beside these two sorts of Vnbelievers there is yet a third who acknowledging the Falsity of the Mahumetan and Rabbinic Doctrines doubt notwithstanding of the Christian Religion or peremptorily judg it not true without setting up any other Religion in its Place Now to reduce these a new Method was absolutely necessary It was agreed therefore to prove directly the Truth of Christianity without insisting upon the Confutation of other Perswasions And it may truly be said to the Honour of the present Age and of that immediately preceding it that this Matter was never manag'd with better Success The Heathens the Jews and the Mahumetans were not ill confuted before but the Truth of the Christian Religion was far from being ever so well prov'd I am of Opinion nevertheless that there is still one thing behind which the most part of the Writers upon this Subject have either not touch'd at all or but very slightly I mean the secret Motives and general Reasons which the Incredulous have of not believing Christianity to be divinely reveal'd Their internal Disposition or Inclinations do so strongly incline them to reject all the Reasons offer'd them tho they are not aware themselves of the Motives by which they do this that all speaking to 'em is in vain before the Vnreasonableness of this Disposition be made evident Just as if any should plead a good Cause before prepossess'd Judges without endeavouring to cure them first of their Prejudices which must needs make them look upon that thing as false whereupon all the Reasons alledg'd are grounded 'T is certain that the Pleaders of such a Cause tho never so just would expose themselves to be cast or condemn'd This has been notwithstanding the Conduct of a great Part of the Champions of Christianity They have prov'd the Truth of it well enough but their Reasons appear weak to the Incredulous considering the Disposition wherein they are and whereof they know nothing themselves What is unreasonable therefore in this Disposition must be discover'd and laid so clearly before them that they may perceive how it imposes upon the Light of their Vnderstandings This is what the Author of the Christian Religion has taught us when he said that every one that doth Evil hateth the Light Joh. 3.20 neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved which signifies that Vnbelievers cannot look upon that as true which is contrary to the Maxims by which they have long govern'd themselves and to the Habits they have been contracting for many Years On the contrary he says that he that doth Truth cometh to the Light Ver. 21. that his Deeds may be made manifest that is to say that such as are dispos'd to live according to the Prescriptions of the Gospel are easily perswaded of the Truth of it In the same Sense he says elsewhere that if any will do his Will Joh. 7.17 he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether of himself Beside the Disposition wherein those may be who disbelieve the Gospel and which deceives them without their perceiving of it there are likewise certain general Reasons drawn from without that help to lead them into Error These Reasons must by all means be exploded because they are to them so many Prejudices whereby they determine the Truth and Falsehood of all that is said to them Whilst they think 'em good all the Proofs imaginable can make no Impression upon them because they never fail of opposing to them these Reasons which concluding to be solid they cannot at the same time embrace Christianity There are a world of People for example who discovering several of those Doctrines that go under the Name of Christ to be false judg of the rest by these and reject the good with the bad They are told of a thousand lying Miracles to whom those of Jesus Christ and his Apostles are join'd but finding the modern Miracles to be Impostures they give no greater Credit to those upon which the Christian Religion is grounded As long as they are of the mind that these Miracles are not more certain one than another all the Consequences drawn from those of Christ appear to them as built upon a rotten Foundation and the Christian Religion therefore but as a tottering Fabrick It must be shewn the Incredulous then that those Reasons drawn from without which
prove the Apostles Sincerity They are contented to offer some Objections concerning the Nature of Miracles and so confine themselves to the second way of knowing the Falsity of a Fact which consists in discovering that 't is a thing absolutely impossible But I shall speak of this in another Letter wherein I shall explain the Nature of Miracles I am SIR Yours LETTER II. Wherein is shew'd what a Miracle is and that we ought to conclude from those of Christ and his Apostles that they were truly sent of God 1. SIR I promis'd you to discourse of the Nature of Miracles and I must perform my Promise seeing without it I should but half prove the Truth of the Christian Religion 'T is not enough to believe that the general Doctrines of Christianity are true and agreeable to Reason we must be also perswaded that they are of Divine Revelation and this we learn from the Miracles of those who first preach'd them That is the Seal whereby we clearly discover the Truth of the Christian Religion To shew that it was reveal'd by the same God who made Heaven and Earth and gave to Nature the Laws according to which natural Causes act they have often desir'd him to suspend the Effects of those Laws tho unavoidable at their Prayers they were suspended and the contrary of what the Experience of all Ages had observ'd hitherto and of what we still see happen'd then That 's an undeniable Proof not only of their Doctrines being agreeable to the Will and Designs of the Maker of all Things as it seems to be if it be merely consider'd in it self but also of their having an express Order from God to publish it among Men. Wherefore I 'll shew first what a Miracle is and how true Miracles may be distinguish'd from false ones Secondly I 'll enquire into the Author of them and what Consequence may be drawn from them Lastly I shall say something concerning the Extent of Miracles and their different kinds I 'll shew at the same time the Truth of the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles and I shall answer some Objections of Unbelievers 2. To look upon an extraordinary Effect as a Miracle and draw any Consequences from it First it must be a thing above the Power of Men. Secondly it ought to be above the ordinary Course of Nature or corporeal Causes and above the Strength of humane Souls for Nature or natural Causes and the Order or the Laws of Nature are nothing but the Souls and Bodies of Men other Bodies and the Laws according to which they constantly act without being able to violate them Thirdly he in whose Behalf that thing is done ought to know it before-hand or at least it must happen when he wants it I shall examin those three things one after another for the whole Strength of the Proofs which can be fetch'd from Miracles depends upon it 3. There are some Divines who maintain that a Miracle is only the Effect of an infinite Power and consequently that God only is the Author of it so that it is not only above the Power of Men but also above that of all other Creatures I shall speak of that hereafter 'T is enough to observe here that nothing which Men are able to do can be look'd upon as a miraculous thing Wherefore to be sure whether what is vented as a Miracle is really so the first thing that is to be consider'd is whether Men can do it For if it appears that it is not above the Power of Men there would be no reason to believe that it is an extraordinary Effect of God's Power or of some other intelligent Being Thus if a Man shew'd an usual Skill in Swimming and boasted of it as of a miraculous thing he might be justly accounted an Impostor because one may by Use get a Skill in Swimming which seems wonderful to those who have it not But if any body walk'd upon the Water as upon the Land without sinking in the least it could not be doubted that he did a thing which is above all the Strength and Skill of Men provided he had nothing under his Feet that might be seen or elsewhere to uphold him Every one knows that there being a certain Relation of Gravity between humane Bodies and Water the Laws of Nature allow not that a Man should stand upon the Water So that if it appears that any body walk'd upon the Water as upon the Land without having under his Feet or elsewhere any thing to hold him so it must be granted that a Power greater than that of Men acted in his behalf 4. But because there are an infinite number of natural Causes which Men make use of to produce some Effects which they themselves cannot produce by their mere Skill and Strength a thing to be look'd upon as miraculous ought not to be done by any other natural Cause such as are the Bodies which surround us For example great Weights which would presently sink if they were thrown into the Water will lie upon it without sinking if a Body much lighter than Water as Wood be put between the Water and those Weights There is nothing miraculous in that because it is done by a corporeal and known Cause But it could not be deni'd to be a miraculous thing if a Man should walk upon the Water as I have said When a learned Physician cures a sick Person with some Remedies after he has spent a long time in studying the Nature of Diseases and the Effects of Remedies that Cure is not look'd upon as a Miracle 't is ascrib'd to the natural Effect of the Remedies which have been well appli'd But if we should see a Man who only by touching all sorts of sick Persons or by speaking to them without using any sensible Remedy cures them upon the spot that Effect could be ascrib'd only to some supernatural Causes Some * Spinosa in Tract Theologico-Polit cap. 6. Unbelievers have endeavour'd to make that Character of Miracles uncertain by saying that we know not so perfectly natural Causes and their Effects as to be able to distinguish what they can produce from what is above their Strength Nay they pretend that what is call'd Miraculous should only be look'd upon as an extraordinary or rare Accident and the Effect of natural Causes which were not well known But tho it be very true that we are very far from having a perfect Knowledg of natural Causes yet it is not less certain that we know most certainly some things by Experience especially when that Experience is common and easy For example we perfectly know that no Man can stand upon the Water so as to touch it only with the Sole of his Feet without using the help of any other Body for it If any one should say that it may be such a thing happen'd sometimes by an extraordinary Effect of some natural Causes which we know not it is certain that such a Conjecture could only be
A TREATISE OF THE Causes of Incredulity Wherein are examin'd the general Motives and Occasions which dispose Unbelievers to reject the Christian Religion WITH Two LETTERS containing a direct Proof of the Truth of Christianity Translated fròm the French of Monsieur LE CLERC LONDON Printed for Awnsham and John Churchill at the Black Swan in Pater-noster-row MDCXCVII The Translator's PREFACE MR. Le Clerc is a Person so well known to all the learned World that it could not be thought less arrogant than superfluous for me to give any Character of his Capacity or his Writings Nor can it be said that I transgress either way in recommending the following Treatise for setting aside all personal Considerations the Subject of it is enough to justify my Vndertaking The Study of Religion in general is so natural to Man that some would make this Inclination to pass for the only essential Distinction of our Species from all other Animals But the Study of the true Religion must needs be of the highest Importance since the Profession of it is not acknowledg'd to be more necessary than the Sects pretending themselves to be the only Persons enjoying that Happiness are found to be different from one another in their Opinions and Practices This Diversity join'd to the great number of Parties that lay their Claim to genuine Christianity exclusively of all the rest seems to render the Discovery of the Truth very difficult if not impossible And indeed thousands of well-meaning People have upon this very account given up themselves to Scepticism and Indifference in Matters of Religion or which is as bad are content to be implicitely led by their Teachers Now that Person deserves best of the World who not only makes the Truth plain and intelligible separating it from all the false Notions with which it is so mix'd and over-run sometimes as to endanger the entire Ruin thereof but who likewise establishes such an excellent Method that a Man may be most certain he 's on the right side without being oblig'd to undergo the endless labour of examining every Religion successively How far our Author has contributed to do Mankind this desirable piece of Service the Reader must determine for we pretend not to lead his Judgment And tho Mr. Le Clerc is so modest as to think his own Performance inferiour to that of Grotius upon the same Subject I must affirm and that with all imaginable Impartiality that in my Opinion there is no Comparison to be made between them for were it for nothing else but that the Evidence of Mr. Le Clerc's Reasons is obvious to Men of all Conditions whereas most of the other's Book is not intelligible but to profound Scholars as if these only had a Right to the Privilege of understanding the Grounds of their Religion this alone is sufficient to decide the Controversy But what is more notwithstanding the extraordinary Talents of Grotius he was not near so great a Master of the Oriental Languages nor so acute and solid a Philosopher nor yet superior in Philology or History to speak nothing of the Advantages of writing after him But let Mr. Le Clerc's Book speak for its Author As for my Version I shan't detain the Reader with any Apology because it is not more correct or polite if it be faithful and intelligible which is all that is necessary for those who sincerely study for Truth and if I be so happy as to satisfy them I care not much for the Displeasure of others To the READER 'T IS some Years since I first form'd a Design of writing upon the Subject of this small Piece which I publish at present and had my other Occupations purely depended upon my own Choice this had been perform'd long ago but being necessarily engag'd in some other things I was forc'd to put it off till now At length having finish'd my Latin Writings upon the Pentateuch I happily became Master of Time enough to turn my Applications upon this Subject I can freely say that I never thought of Matters of this nature without extreme Satisfaction for after what manner soever I could consider the Christian Religion it always appear'd to me grounded upon the firmest Proofs and the Doctrines of it perfectly conformable to sound Reason or to say all in one word worthy the Creator of Heaven and Earth Nor did I in my whole Life labour with more ardour and delight than I did in composing this Work wherein I have I think evidently made out that Unbelievers act against all good Sense in refusing their Assent to the Gospel and I perswade my self that if they consider the same things that I have they must necessarily acknowledg the Truth of it But whether I 'm mistaken or not that the World shall judg If this Book have the good luck to meet with that Reception in French which several others of this kind have had I may one time or other put it into Latin and in my Annotations upon it confirm all that I say by the Authority of the most antient Apologists of Christianity and that too of the most considering Heathens as the incomparable Grotius has done in his Books of the Truth of the Christian Religion I 'm far indeed from equalling my Work to his nor do I flatter my self with the same Success as to the Judgment of the publick but if Men had regard only to the Intentions of those that write I think I may safely say that none in the World had better than mine nor was more convinc'd of the Goodness of that Cause I have undertaken to defend John Le Clerc The CONTENTS of the Chapters THE Preface or the Design of the Author in this Work pag. 1. Part I. Of the Motives of Incredulity which spring from the inward Disposition or Inclinations of Vnbelievers Chap. 1. That it is unreasonable and unjust to reject the Christian Religion because it is contrary to the Dispositions a Man finds in himself p. 9. Chap. 2. That Pride may be the Cause why Assent is refus'd to the Proofs of the Truth of the Christian Religion p. 27. Chap. 3. That what hinders Vnbelievers from yielding to the Proofs of Christianity partly consists perhaps in mere Prejudices which all the while may be false p. 45. Chap. 4. That many are Vnbelievers only because they know not how to reason well p. 63. Chap. 5. That the Neglect of searching into Truth is often the Cause of Incredulity p. 75. Chap. 6. That Laziness keeps many People in Ignorance Doubts and Infidelity p. 93. The Conclusion of the first Part. p. 107. Part II. Of the Motives of Incredulity which proceed from the Occasions given Vnbelievers to doubt of the Christian Religion or entirely to reject it Chap. 1. That the Truth of the Christian Religion ought not to be call'd in doubt because several embrace it more out of Credulity than upon good Reasons p. 110. Chap. 2. That the Immorality or Ignorance of those who sometimes express the
may find fault with something or other should at last grow so conceited of their pretended Sagacity as to be almost incurable Such a Disposition is not at all agreeable to the love of Truth which they profess and can only serve to increase one's Errors And indeed what Truth can he find out who only seeks an Occasion of disputing and overcoming Truth which often flies from those that seek it with Application offers not it self to the sight of those that fly from it After those general Observations concerning the Difficulties that are offer'd against Religion I must alledg some particular Examples of the chief Doctrines which Unbelievers are wont to assault There is none they more frequently speak against than what Christians believe concerning the Creation of the World and it is of so great Moment that it may be said this Doctrine being once well prov'd 't is no hard matter to get the rest admitted whereas if it remains doubtful the other Doctrines of Religion will necessarily be uncertain All Revelation depends upon this viz. That there is a God who created Heaven and Earth And he that begins not with that can make no Progress in the Knowledg of Religion So that it will be necessary to prove it in few words There are two sorts of Beings some call'd Spirits Perceive Will Feel and Reason the other who have no Understanding are Extended Divisible and Solid and are call'd Bodies Those Spirits and Bodies are variously modifi'd as we see or know by Experience This is all that we know in the World besides God The Christian Religion teaches us that those Spirits and Bodies with all their Properties had a Beginning and that they were created by a Being who has no Beginning This is what Unbelievers say they cannot apprehend and it seems to them that every thing was always as it is now To know whether there is any appearance of Truth in what they say we must examin those two sorts of Beings and see whether they contain any thing whereby we may suspect that they are Eternal As to Spirits we only know our own Souls well and Unbelievers acknowledg no other Now I ask of them whether they perceive any thing in their Minds which induces them to suspect that they are Eternal 'T is certain that there is no such thing unless they will say that Ignorance and Weakness are Characters of Eternity If we examin Bodies which are inferior to Spirits because they are without Understanding we shall see nothing in them neither which may make one believe that they are Eternal There are but two things that can be consider'd in this latter kind of Beings viz. Matter and Form and if neither of them affords us any reason to believe that they have always been we cannot affirm it As for the Matter of Bodies 't is but a Substance Extended Solid Divisible and capable of Motion and all sorts of Figures That collection of Qualities which makes up the Essence of all Bodies as far as it is known to us contains nothing that looks like Eternity The notion of this Property however it be consider'd cannot be found in that Collection So that it cannot be affirm'd that the Matter of Bodies is Eternal All that can be said thereupon may be reduc'd to these two things First That one cannot conceive how meer Extension had a Beginning because notwithstanding all our endeavours to think upon the Time when God was alone before Bodies were created a simple and boundless Extension always offers it self to the Mind But a meer Extension in which we apprehend no Solidity is not a Body as it appears by the abovemention'd Definition of a Body There is another manifest Proof of it viz. because meer Extension is Indivisible and Boundless as we perceive it by trying to divide or put some bounds to it in our Mind whereas all Bodies are Divisible and continu'd within Bounds So that all that could be concluded from thence is that the Place of Bodies is Eternal Secondly Unbelievers say that they cannot apprehend how such a Substance as that of Bodies should be produc'd out of Nothing as the Christians say If to be created out of Nothing signifi'd to have no preexistent Cause and yet to begin to exist I confess that would be altogether impossible For supposing that nothing exists but a meer Extension how can it be conceiv'd that a solid and divisible Substance should be form'd in it One might as well apprehend that all sorts of Beasts Plants and Minerals may spring forth out of the Air without any Productive Cause But to be created out of Nothing signifies to have a Cause which contains in a more excellent manner the Proprieties which we see in the things created besides an infinite number of others from which Cause the things created have their Existence or by the Will whereof they begin actually to exist There is nothing in all this that 's contradictory and if we do not clearly apprehend wherein the Action of the Cause which creates out of nothing consists 't is because the Nature of that Cause is not perfectly known to us To explain what I have said by an undeniable Example no Man will deny that there is in Nature a Principle of Motion different from Matter seeing we perceive that Matter moves not of it self All that we perceive in it is Mobility but it cannot be said that we have any reason to believe that Matter moves and modifies it self This being so the immaterial Principle of Motion whatever it be produces Motion in Matter out of nothing that is to say being able to move without having the imperfections of Actual Motion he makes Motion to begin to exist in Matter which before was in the state of Rest This is a Fact which cannot be doubted of seeing Motion exists and Matter is not the Cause of it But 't is not known how a Being uncapable of Motion seeing it is not Material can produce it in Matter If any one should say that Motion is Eternal because he can't apprehend how it can have a Beginning he might be referr'd to Experience which teaches us that we move our Arms and Feet when we please after they have been at rest tho we don't know how it is done I know some Philosophers say that we only determin the Actual Motion of the Animal Spirits which move our Members as many ways as we please I will not here confute that Conjecture for 't is only a meer Conjecture but I maintain that 't is as difficult a thing to apprehend that an immaterial Being determines a Motion a certain way as to apprehend that he produces it anew So that if those Philosophers may be allow'd to affirm the one or if they cannot deny it tho they apprehend not how it comes to pass it would be a great piece of Injustice to find fault with those that say there is an immaterial Principle which produc'd Motion in Matter tho it is not known
heard as a Proposition which is not contradictory but is not the less false for that as the Experience of all Mankind teaches us Indeed those who use that Argument to make Miracles doubtful do it only to perplex simple Men who hear them They know very well that we are perfectly sure of some things and that they can't be made doubtful by saying only that 't is not contradictory that the contrary be true If they durst deny the miraculous Effects on which Religion is grounded they would roundly do it and not have recourse to Objections so little judicious but not daring to do it and being not able to make the contrary of what we believe look probable they confine themselves to some such Objections I shall not undertake now to confute all their particular Objections because the Principles I lay down destroy them 5. 'T is therefore certain that we may know some things are above the Power of Men and can't be the Effect of any other natural or corporeal Cause and that if we see some happen or learn from faithful Witnesses that there happen'd some we may say without being mistaken that they are miraculous things Such is for example the Action of walking upon the Water and curing all manner of Diseases without Remedies However to draw any Consequences from a miraculous Fact in the behalf of any body he ought to know before-hand that that Miracle will happen or at least it must happen just when 't is necessary for otherwise it would be insignificant If when no body thinks of it there happen'd a thing wherein neither Men nor other natural Causes had a hand and no body knew of what use it would be nothing could be concluded from it and he who should say that it happen'd in his behalf ought to be suspected of Fraud Some * See my Dissertation De Trajectu maris Idumaei Historians for instance tell us that Alexander going to meet Darius led part of his Troops to pass at the foot of Mount Climax where there was no Passage when the South Wind blew because the Sea cover'd that way and that as soon as he came thither the North blew so that they went through it Not to say the Change of Wind at that time might be natural I affirm that Alexander having not known it before and being able to go another way it can't be look'd upon as a Miracle which Providence wrought in his behalf nor can it be concluded from it that Heaven approv'd his Designs To give another Example fetch'd from the History of the same Prince * Vid. Q. Curt. lib. 10. c. 10. 't is said that his Corps remain'd seven Days at Babylon before it was embalm'd without smelling ill in the least nor had his Face a different Colour than what it had whilst he was alive tho it be extremely hot in that Climate wherein Babylon was situated Let us suppose not only the Truth of that Fact but also that natural Causes had no hand in it 't is manifest that nothing can be concluded from such a thing either for or against Alexander For indeed what could the invisible Power mean by preserving the Body of Alexander from Corruption during seven Days None but that Power can teach it and if any one had undertaken to make his advantage of it he had been justly laugh'd at That Character of a true Miracle altogether destroys the Objection I have confuted already for if miraculous Facts were extraordinary Effects of natural but unknown Causes 't is manifest they could not be foreseen No Man can foresee a thing which scarce ever happens and is the Effect of some Causes which are unknown to him unless that Man be warn'd of it by an Effect of the same Causes which is to suppose without reason a thing altogether incomprehensible 6. Wherefore if we can shew that there happen'd some things that neither Men nor other natural Causes could do which notwithstanding were foretold by those in whose behalf they were done it must be granted us that they are miraculous Facts which happen'd in the behalf of those who foretold them The Gospels are full of the like Miracles but I shall only pitch upon one to apply what has been said to it It is of of great moment that if it be granted that 't is true the rest can't be deni'd I mean the Resurrection of Jesus Christ wherein we see all the Characters of a true Miracle First 't is certain by the Experience of all Ages that no Man or any other natural Cause can restore a dead Man to Life Tho the humane Body is not perfectly known to us no more than the Virtue of an infinite number of things yet we may affirm without Rashness that no body raises himself nor by his own Virtue or that of any other thing One can't affirm the contrary without being look'd upon as a mad Man among all the Nations in the World Secondly Jesus Christ * Mat. 16.21 17.23 26.61 27.63 often foretold his Resurrection and said it should happen on the third Day He concluded from thence before-hand that Men would be oblig'd to believe that he was sent by God his Resurrection being the greatest Sign of it that could be ask'd †Mat. 12.39 40. An evil and adulterous Generation said he seeks after a Sign and there shall no Sign be given to it but the Sign of the Prophet Jonas for as Jonas was three Days and three Nights in the Whale's Belly so shall the Son of Man be three Days and three Nights in the Heart of the Earth If the Apostles were sincere Men and were not deceiv'd that Fact is undeniable and consequently it must be acknowledg'd that he who rais'd Jesus Christ bare him a Testimony which can't be doubted of I have shew'd in the foregoing Letter that the Apostles were sincere Men and could not be deceiv'd on that occasion Their Master was not hid in a Chamber when it was said that he was dead 't was upon a Cross and in a publick Place surrounded with Roman Souldiers He had been buri'd his Enemies seal'd his Sepulcher they set a Guard of Souldiers about it and he was above four and twenty Hours in it Therefore no body could doubt of his being truly dead and his Apostles did not question it Afterwards they saw him several times touch'd him spoke with him and ate with him so that they could not be mistaken in it Wherefore if the thing had not happen'd it were not possible to vindicate their Sincerity and if they were sincere Men which they certainly were as has been shew'd the Truth of the Fact cannot be doubted of 7. The more we examin their Testimony the more we shall be convinc'd of it and without insisting longer upon that I had rather observe against those who acknowledg a God and a Providence that what may be said of feign'd Miracles can't be objected against that Miracle and other Miracles of