places it And by the same concurrent Testimony of all History we learn that in a very short time in less than forty Years after it was Preached in all the Provinces of the Roman Empire and in all other Countries of the World that were then known and of which we have any History left and that wherever it was Preached it made a very swift Progress insomuch that in a few Years the number of Christians became very considerable and bare a great Proportion to the People of all other Religions For it was not much above threescore Years after the Apostles had dispersed themselves in order to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles when Pliny Proconsul of Bithynia wrote that Epistle to the Emperor Trajan wherein giving an Account of the Christians then under a severe Persecution for their Religion by the Emperor's Order he tells him that there was a great number of Men obnoxious to Sufferings upon that Account that many of all Ages of all Orders and Degrees and of both Sexes were every Day called in Question for it that the Contagion of that Superstition as he calls it had spread its self not only in great Cities but also in Towns and Country Villages insomuch that the Temples of the Heathen Gods had for some Time before been in a manner desolate and their Worship and Sacrifices intermitted Now this is certain that there can be no Effect without a Cause of sufficient Power to produce it And it was evidently impossible that Christianity should make so swift a Progress and prevail so much in the World as it did in so short a time only by Natural Means For without good Skill in the Languages of the several Nations wherein the Apostles were to preach the Gospel it had been in vain for them to have gone about to Convert all Nations Or if they had attempted it 't is impossible it should have been with success And how can it be conceived possible that twelve grown Men who before understood not a word of any but their own Mother Tongue and that perhaps not well who had never been bred up to Study and who were then past the proper Age of learning Languages should yet be able in so short a time to become perfect Masters of all the Languages then in use in the World so as to speak them readily and fluently as if every one had been their own Native Tongue and that after this they should have time enough still left to go and preach the Gospel in all Countries So that the speedy Conversion to Christianity of such a great number of Men in all Parts of the World by their Ministry is a direct proof of that Gift of Tongues wherewith we believe they were endued And whoever can believe that they had this Gift which was peculiar and extraordinary and such as had never been heard of in the World before may I think more easily believe all the other Miracles that they are reported to have done which were not near so wonderful which were such as had been done by other Prophets in former Times But suppose this Story of the Gift of Tongues to be false and that indeed the Apostles were Men of such ready Natural Parts as to be able to learn all the Languages which they could have any use of in as few Days as it would have taken other Men Years to do it in or else that they had in truth been bred up to the Study of Languages from their Childhood and only concealed their Knowledge thereof until that famous Day of Pentecost that so then it might be taken to be Miraculous Yet what could twelve Men furnished with this excellent Skill do by their own Natural Power only towards the Conversion of the World to Christianity in so short a time For 't is to be consider'd that the Religion which they were to reach in the World was the most contrary that could be to the Carnal Lusts and Passions of Men that it promis'd no Worldly Greatness no Increase of Riches no Enjoyment of Sensual Pleasures but on the contrary taught all those that embrac'd it to be mortified to all these Things and not to set their Affections on any thing here below 'T is to be consider'd also that it proposed to Man's Belief such Doctrines as to the carnal Minds of Men could not but appear foolish or incredible As that the Eternal Son of God did for our sakes become Man and take on him the Form of a Servant that in that Form he submitted to be scornfully used cruelly scourged and at last barbarously Crucified as a vile Malefactor by his own Creatures that this same Jesus was afterwards declared to be the Son of God with Power by the Resurrection from the Dead that he was taken up into Heaven seated at the right Hand of the Father had all Power in Heaven and Earth committed to him was ordered to be Worshipped â—nd adored by all Men with the same Honour wherewith they honour the Father and was appointed by God to be the Judge of the quick and dead c. 'T is to be consider'd likewise that it was a Reliâ—ion perfectly destructive of all other Forms of Reliâ—ion then receiv'd or establish'd in the World and upon that Account only must needs meet with the strongest Prejudices all the Men it was preached to being before from their Childhood bred up and already fixed in another way And lastly 't is to be consider'd further that the Facts upon which this Religion was grounded that is by which the Divine Mission of the Lord Jesus was proved viz. his Miraculous Works were such as being above the known Power of Natural Causes were not like to be easily credited That he healed the Sick that he gave Sight to the Blind Hearing to the Deaf Speech to the Dumb Feet to the Lame and Strength to the Cripples that he did cast out Devils that he rais'd the Dead and all these only with a Word 's speaking that he fed sometimes great Multitudes of four or five Thousand with only so much Bread and Fish as to Appearance was not sufficient for twenty Men and that after they were all satisfied there was more in Bulk left in Fragments than there had been before in whole Provision That he walked on the Water as on dry Land That he had the Winds and Seas obedient to his Command And above all that he Raised himself to Life after he had been three Days Dead These and such like were strange Stories to be told to Men in order to persuade them to take upon them a new Religion What then I say could twelve Men tho' never so well furnished naturally with Parts and Learning and all other Endowments proper to qualifie them for such a Work do towards the persuading the World to embrace Christianity Suppose they had gone not as they did one into this Country another into that often singly seldom more than two in Company but all together in a
disproved but that there has been no such History cannot with certainty be affirmed This therefore say they is our Unhappiness that tho' we have a good Cause we are destitute of Means to support it and are in the Condition that the Israelites are said to have been in in the Days of Saul 1 Sam. 13.22 when they had War with the Philistins It came to pass in the Day of Battel there was neither Sword nor Spear found in the hand of any of the People But what was the Reason of this Why the Philistins had disarmed them Ver. 19. they had taken away the Weapons they had before and would not permit more to be made And this say the Infidels is exactly our Case In the War we have now with the Christians we are forc'd to fight without Sword or Spear And tho' for other good Reasons we are confident the Gospel History is false and are resolved never to believe it and make no doubt but that in former times it has been opposed and contradicted yet in this the Christians have been too hard and too cunning for us that while they have kept their own Weapons they have slily taken away ours for they have been careful to preserve the ancient Books that were written by those of their own Party in Defence of their Superstition but the Books of their Adversaries they have been as careful to suppress and destroy And they have had such good success in it that of all the Books or Discourses of the ancient Champions of Judaism Paganism or Deism Trypho Celsus Porphyry Julian and other great Names not much is now remaining besides Fragments and those perhaps imperfectly or falsly cited to be picked up out of the Books of those who have written Answers to them who we may well presume took notice only of those Passages therein which they thought were easiest to be answer'd But this is no unusual thing for the powerful and prevailing Party to stifle that Evidence which they know not how to disprove and to supâ—ress those Books which they cannot answer And â—his say they we take for a good Argument that â—here was something very considerable in these Books â—nd not easily to be answer'd because otherwise the Christians of former times would have been more willing that they should be preserv'd and transmitted â—o after times that so Posterity upon a fair Hearing â—f all that had been said on both sides might be â—ble to pass a right Judgment upon the Case and eiâ—her to chuse or to reject the Profession of Christiaâ—ity with Prudence and Discretion This is what has been sometimes suggested by â—he Enemies of our Religion and indeed I know not â—hat else can well be said to invalidate that Proof of â—he Gospel History which I am now upon But what â—ender ground there is for this Suggestion and how â—ery little the Christian Cause is affected by it a few Words will suffice to show For 1. Whereas 't is said that tho' indeed there â—â—e no Histories now in being whereby the Gospel â—istory can be disproved 't is possible however there â—ay have formerly been several Narratives extant that were perfectly contradictory to it and those too perhaps better attested and confirmed than the Gospel History was To this I answer That t is never allow'd to be a good Proof that a thing is to say that 't is possible it might be And besides if this surmize or suggestion of a thing barely possible be a good Objection against the Gospel History it is as much an Objection against all other ancient Histories If for this Reason the Gospel History be not credible no other History is so for there is no ancient History in the World now extant which we can be sure was never contradicted by some other as ancient History that is not extant But 2. As there is no Evidence that the Gospel History was contradicted when it was first publish'd that is when if it had been false it might most easily have been disprov'd so there is on the other Side as good Evidence as such a Matter is capable of that it never was thus contradicted or disproved Because if the Facts recorded in the Evangelical History had been then denied or disproved by any competenâ— and credible Witnesses 't is impossible that the Christian Doctrine which was grounded upon and chiefly established by these Facts should ever have spread so fast as by the Confession of all Parties it did from the time that it began to be preached by the Apostles Nothing but the strong Evidence that there was of the Truth of the Gospel History and strong it cannot be accounted if there was stronger and better Evidence on the other side could have supported the Profession of Christianity when it had nothing tâ— recommend it self by but its Purity and Truth against that violent Opposition which it met with every where in the World And 3. Whereas 't is further suggested that the Loss of those ancient Books which are supposed to have been written to disprove the Gospel History is owing to the Power and Subtlety of the Christians of those early times who thought it best to stifle that Evidence which they could not gainsay or refute this Suggestion is manifestly as groundless as 't is malicious For many Books of all sorts and of all sides have perish'd by Accident or been worn out by Time without any formal Design of any Party or Persons to suppress and destroy them And I see no Reason why these Books written in contradiction to the Gospel History if indeed any such were ever written may not have perished one of these ways as well as many other Books have done Or if a Reason must needs be given why some Books and why these in particular have been lost while others of the same or greater Antiquity have been preserv'd I think the little Value that Men generally had for those Books that are lost is the best Reason that can be given why they were suffered to perish and that the most probable Cause of Mens having so little value for them was because the Matter of them was so evidently false or the Reasoning of them so manifestly weak and fallacious that no Man thought it worth his while to be at the Pains or Charge of getting them transcribed Or if the Men we are now arguing with will not allow this to be a good Account of the Loss of such very valuable Books as they think these Anti-Gospel Histories were let them find out a better But I 'm sure that that before suggested by them viz. that it was by Design the first Christians purposely abolishing and destroying all Testimonies and Records that made against them is a much worse Account of it and infinitely more improbable than that which I have given For it must be supposed either that these Anti-Gospel Histories were written very early as soon almost as the Gospel History was published by the Preaching or Writing
Evidence of his own Senses But the Gospel of St. Luke it must be granted is not of this sort He himself does not pretend that the Matters by him recorded were of his own Knowledge he only says Luke 1.2 3. He had perfect understanding of them from the very first from those who from the Beginning were Eye-witnesses and Ministers of the Word And of some few Matters recorded by the other Evangelists the same must likewise be granted particularly of the things that were done before they were called to be Apostles of these things I say it must be granted that 't is most probable they were not Matters of their own Knowledge that they recorded them only upon credible Information from others But when 't is consider'd on the other hand that there are very few things related by St. Luke which are not to be found in some of the other Gospels his Testimony that he had perfect Information of the things he has recorded from several Eye-witnesses adds a Degree of credibility even to the other Gospels and is a good corroborating Evidence of their Truth And all the Matters recorded by him or the other Evangelists only upon Information of others must be granted to be more credible than the Matter of most other ancient Histories of good Credit is if we reflect upon what was said in the former Discourse concerning the Nature and Circumstances of the things recorded particularly that they were such things as might be most certainly known and were capable of the best attestation and that they were things done in the same Age and in the same Countrey in which they lived who have written the History thereof And what hath been said is I hope sufficient to shew the good Capacity the Authors of the Historical Parts of the New Testament were in to know the Truth of the Things they have recorded most of them being such as 't is probable three of the Evangelists as Two of them without all Dispute were Eye witnesses of and the rest such as they might have certain Information of from several Persons then alive and well able to witness the same Of the Ability then of these Authors to write a true History of these Matters I think there can be no reasonable Doubt And that there is as little Reason to doubt of their Honesty and Faithfulness will in part appear if we consider in the third place 3 The strong Obligations they were under to write nothing but the Truth according to the best of their Knowledge or Information Now the Obligations that Men are under to speak or write Truth may be reduc'd to two Heads Honour and Conscience By both which the Evangelical Writers were more strongly obliged to Truth in their Relations than commonly other Historians are 1. One Obligation that lies on all Men to speak or write nothing but what is true is Honour For there is nothing that is generally accounted more base or dishonourable than to tell a Lye there is nothing that by those who stand most upon their Honour is thought more reflecting and disparaging and more necessary to be resented as an high Affront than to have the Lye given them What therefore is generally thought to be a great Reproach it may reasonably be presumed unless the contrary appears a Man will be careful to avoid by not giving any just Occasion to have it cast upon him And this is one Ground of that great Credit that is generally given to ancient Histories 't is presum'd unless there be evident cause to think otherwise that the Authors of them were Men of so much Honour and that they had such a sense of the Reproach and Discredit that it would be to them to be found out in a Lye as made them careful not to record any thing as a certain Truth but what they had good Knowledge or Information of But that this Obligation to Truth was stronger on the Authors of the Evangelical History than on most other Historians is abundantly evident from what was noted the last time concerning the Nature and Conditions of the things by them related and of their History of them For the Matter of most other ancient Histories is such that the Historians might report many things untruly or upon slight Information and yet be pretty well assur'd that they should not be reputed Liars because the Matters recorded by them being things either done in some Places a good way of or in some time long before or in the Presence of but few Persons they might know that none of those into whose Hands their Histories would fall would be in a Capacity to contradict them tho' they were false Or they might reasonably suppose that their Readers would rather acquiesce in their Report than travel so far or take so much Pains as they must have done to disprove it especially if it was a Matter of no great Consequence to their Readers whether their Report was true or false But in the Gospel History the Case was quite otherwise and the Historians themselves could not but know that it was so For there were a great many concern'd to find out some Falsity in it and there were a great many that would have taken any pains to have done it and yet the Matters related by the Evangelists and their Manner of relating them were such that their History if it had been false in any particular might have been disprov'd with the greatest ease without being at any Pains to do it because most of those into whose Hands it first came would either have known it to be false or would readily have been told that it was so by abundance of Persons that could of their own Knowledge have contradicted it So that if it be supposed that the Evangelists had any Regard at all to their own Reputation it can't be imagin'd either that they did record any thing contrary to their Knowledge or that in Matters that were not of their own Knowledge they neglected to get the best Information and Intelligence that could be had because if they had done either of these they could not have been so vain as to hope to escape being Censured as the most notorious and shameless Liars that ever wrote But 2. The strongest Obligation that lies on all Men to speak or write nothing but the Truth is Conscience And the sense that all Men are supposed to have of the natural Turpitude of a Lye is the chief ground of that very great Credit that we give to humane Testimony in Cases of the greatest Concern and Consequence But this Obligation to Truth was likewise stronger on the Authors of the Evangelical History than on most other Historians 't was indeed so very strong that nothing less than an evident Proof of their Falsity can justifie the entertaining so much as a suspicion of it For to speak and write the Truth was what they were obliged to not only by the Law of Nature to which all Men are alike
Mat. 26.31 He told the rest of the Disciples that they would all forsake him when they every one profess'd themselves resolv'd to suffer with him Joh. 3.14.8.28.12.32 rather than leave him He signified before by what Death he should die and who should be instrumental therein Mat. 16.21.26.32.28.16 He assured his Disciples that after three Days he would rise again and appointed them a Place in Galilee where they should all see him He Prophesied that notwithstanding the Contempt he was had in and the greater Contempt that his ignominious Death would bring upon him his Religion should by their means a Company of poor illiterate Fishermen be preached with good success in all Parts of the World Mat. 24.14.3.19 He foretold likewise the utter Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple Mat. 24. Mar. 13. Luk. 21. before that Generation passed away and the Dispersion of the Jews into all Nations And several other things which it would take up too much time now to mention he foretold should be just in that manner in which they afterwards came to pass Concerning which it may be noted that some of his Prophecies were fulfilled soon after they were spoken the punctual Accomplishment whereof was to those that both heard them spoken and saw them fulfilled an evident Proof of his Prophetical Spirit and a just Ground of expecting the Accomplishment of all his other Prophecies in their Season and that others were not to be fulfilled 'till a good while after the Accomplishment whereof at the time foretold and long after the Predictions thereof had been recorded by the Evangelists was a good Evidence to those that lived then and is also to us that live now and either read the Accomplishment thereof in History or see the same with our own Eyes that he was endued with a Divine Spirit and likewise takes away all reasonable Ground of a Suspicion which we might otherwise have had that in those Instances wherein both the Prophecy and the Accomplishment of it are related by the same Authors the Prophecies were forged after the Events were come to pass Now if this be true and it is certainly true if the Gospel-History be so that our Saviour did foretell many things which afterwards happened and those very casual and contingent things depending upon the free will of Men this was an evident token that he had a divine Spirit for none can certainly foretell such things but God only or those whom he enlightens with his Spirit And therefore the Prophet Isaiah made this Challenge to the Idols of the Heathens Isa 41.23 Shew the things that shall be hereafter that we may know that ye are Gods And if to this it should be objected that future Events have been sometimes foretold by such as have not been true Prophets of God nor enlightned by his Spirit as by Diviners Astrologers and South-Sayers and by the Oracles of the Heathens this may be granted without any weakning of the Argument I am now upon for the Proof of our Saviour's divine Mission For there may be some future Events upforeseen by us and yet depending so intirely upon the Course of Natural Causes that unless hindred by a Miracle they will as certainly come to pass as the Sun will rise tomorrow And these the Devil who understands much better than we do the Power and Course of Nature may foresee and consequently foretell and When such a thing is foretold we who understand very little of Nature may think it a Prophecy whereas in truth there is no more of a Prophetical Spirit in the Devil when he foretells such things than there is in a skilful Astronomer when he Calculates and foretells to a Minute for several Ages to come the Motions and Eclipses of the Sun Moon and Planets And even in future Contingencies 't is no wonder that the Events have sometimes verified the Predictions of the Devil and his Prophets for this also may well enough be accounted for without allowing that any Being hath a certain Foreknowledge of future Contingencies but God only if we do but suppose as we may very reasonably do that the Devil hath a perfecter Knowledge than we can have of the Counsels Intrigues and Interests of Men that he understands their Tempers and Inclinations that he hath lived a great while and made very exact observations that he hath had a long Experience of things and hath also a notable sagacity much beyond what is in any Man for so even a wise observing and experienc'd Man may without a Spirit of Prophecy see much further before him than Men commonly do and may foretell by a Guess that shall rarely fail a great many things which a less thinking and experienc'd Man would never have thought of And when the thing happens that was foretold it may be past the Skill of others to judge whether it was foretold by a Sagacious Guess or by a certain Foreknowledge of what would be And that the Predictions of Diviners and the Oracles of the Heathens concerning future Contingencies have been no more than only probable Conjectures unless when they have been borrowed from divine Prophecies as they may have often been is evident by their uncertain Accomplishment Some things indeed have happened as they have been foretold but others have not so happened and because the Devil could not always certainly tell what the Events of those things would be which he was Consulted with about he commonly gave out his Oracles in ambiguous Expressions that so whatever happen'd he might be thought to have foretold it And when the Predictions of any Person pretending to Prophecy have fail'd in some Instances tho' in others they have been accomplish'd this is a certain Argument that he did not Prophesie by a divine Spirit according to what is said Deut. xviii 21 22. If thou say in thine heart How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken When a Prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord if the thing follow not nor come to pass that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken but the Propheth hath spoken it presumptuously In which words it seems to be implied tho' it be not expresly said that if the thing foretold did come to pass and especially that if of many things which the Prophet had foretold and which could not be fore-known by the greatest Skill in Natural Causes such as are the Actions of a free Agent not one thing fail'd but his words were made good by the Event in every particular they might then depend upon it that he was a true Prophet except only in one Case mentioned in Deut. 13. Deut. 13.1 2 3. viz. When he made use of that Credit which the Accomplishment of his Predictions had gain'd him to draw Men from the Worship of the true and only God to the Worship of Idols And accordingly 't is observ'd in 1 Sam. iii. 19 20. that because the Lord did let none of Samuel's
words fall to the Ground all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that he was established to be a Prophet of the Lord. The before-named Exception having therefore no Place in our Saviour for his Doctrine was Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God Mat. 4.10 and him only shalt thou serve and there being not one of those many Predictions that he gave forth tho' several of them were concerning the most casual Events that could be which has not been in its due time fulfilled we may safely conclude that he was a true Prophet of God and consequently that he ought to be hearkned to in every thing that he said 5. Another Testimony that was given by God to the divine Mission of our Saviour was by the Power of working Miracles more and greater Miracles than ever had been done before since the beginning of the World the Relation of which makes up a great Part of the Gospel-History Mat. 11.4 5. Joh. 10.25 37 38.14.11.15.24 And to these our Saviour himself frequently appeals as to a most evident Proof that he was sent by God and that he was the Son of God Joh. v. 36. The Works which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me And indeed what better Evidence can be desired that a Person speaking in the Name of God is sent by him than to see him do the Works of God that is such Works as cannot be done but by the Power of God And that our Saviour's Miracles were such cannot I think be doubted by those who believe they are truly related in the Gospel which it is now supposed they are And if to this it be said that the first Opposers of Christianity both Jews and Gentiles who either saw the Miracles of our Saviour or had such good Assurance thereof from Eye-Witnesses or Credible History that they could not deny them yet were not thereby convinc'd that he was a Prophet of God but rather thought that he did all his mighty Works by Magick Art and by the Help of the Devil I answer 1. That 't is a thing which we cannot be sure of that the true Reason why any of those who saw our Saviour's Miracles or were persuaded of the Truth of them did yet refuse to receive him as a Prophet sent from God was because they were not convinc'd that his Miracles were done by a divine Power for Men do not always act according to their Judgments for we read of some of the Chief Rulers in Joh. xii 42. that they believed on him that is they were convinc'd in their Judgments by the mighty Works that he did that he was the Person he pretended to be but they did not confess him lest they should be put out of the Synagogue for they loved the Praise of Men more than the Praise of God And therefore I think it most probable that they who attributed those Miracles of his which they could not deny to the working of the Devil did not nay could not believe what they said but only said it because they were resolv'd never to receive a Doctrine whatever Evidence was given of the Truth of it that was so contrary as our Saviour's was to their Prejudices Lusts and Worldly Interests and they could not tell what else to say to justifie themselves to the World But 2. If their Blasphemy in ascribing our Saviour's Miracles to the power of the Devil was not meerly malicious 't was however most evidently groundless For 1. Tho' the Devil be without doubt of much greater Power than we are and understanding better than we do the Force of Natural Causes can do many things which to the Eyes of Men may appear Miraculous because it may be past their Skill to give an Account of them by Natural Causes there is no reason however to believe that he can do a true Miracle that is that he can ever alter the Course of Nature or produce any Effect but by the Means of Natural Causes working in such a manner and by such Laws and Rules as God hath appointed And therefore the Apostle calls those strange Appearances which are done by the working of Satan 2 Thes 2.9 Lying Wonders But they were not Lying Wonders which were done by our Saviour they did not only seem to be done but were done and they were Miracles not only in appearance but in truth being many of them such Effects as were evidently above and beyond the Power of Nature and therefore such as could not be done but by a Power Superiour to Nature that is by God's For who but he only who at first brought all things out of nothing Mat. 14. Mark 6. Luke 9. John 6. could with five Loaves and two small Fishes satisfie the Hunger of more than five thousand Persons leaving a Remainder of more than twice the number of Baskets-full of Fragments that there had been of Loaves at the first Luk. 7.11 c. Joh. 11.39 c. Or who could restore to Life a dead Carkass that began to putrefie but he only who first form'd it out of the Dust of the Ground Who could call back the departed Soul and fix it to its former Residence but he only into whose Hands it was returned and who first breathed into our Bodies these Immortal Spirits And as to some other of his Works which may be thought to be such as might be produc'd by the working of Nature only the manner in which they were done plainly shews that they also were done by a Power Superior to Nature for thus a Sick Man may be restor'd to perfect Health in time and by degrees by the use of proper Medicines and such a Cure we reckon Natural But those were plainly Super-natural Cures which were wrought as our Saviour's for the most part were without the use of any Medicines only by a Word speaking and many times at a great distance and by which those who had been long Sick or Infirm or Cripples were restor'd to perfect Health and Strength in an instant of time To suppose therefore that the Devil can thus at his Will alter the Course of Nature is to attribute to him such a Power as is peculiar to the God of Nature who only doth great Wonders Ps 72.18.136.4 But 2. If the Miracles of our Saviour had been only such as we might reasonably think did not exceed the Devil's Power to do yet that they were not wrought by his Help and consequently that they were done by the Power of God is abundantly evident from the Design of them which was to establish a Doctrine the most contrary that could be to the Devil's Interest For to this Purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil and he did it 1 Joh. 3.8 by preaching to Men to turn from the vanities of Idols to the worship and service of the Living God Act. 14.15
happy Number they are sure they should not only have believed but also willingly have suffered as much as the Apostles themselves did for Bearing their Testimony to the Truth of those things which they had seen and heard And what now must be done for the Satisfaction of these Men For these have as much Right to a full Satisfaction as any others and by the same Reason that others do expect to be gratified in what they desire these may do so too And therefore in order to their Satisfaction it is necessary that our Saviour should be Born into the World in every Age of it or indeed much oftner and that in every Country at least if not in every Town and Village he should live and Preach and do Miracles and be Crucified and Rise again for that these things have been once done they can't they say believe only upon the Testimony of other Men who say they did see them And therefore by the same Reason if they themselves should see them other Men that should come after or live in other Countries would have as little Cause to believe their Testimony So that for the full satisfaction of all such Doubting Men as these our Saviour must have suffered often since the Beginning of the World and must continue to do so very frequently as long as the World shall last because with some Men nothing but seeing is Believing But that this should be is what I presume none besides themselves can think it reasonable either for Men to ask or for God to grant 4. Lastly The Unreasonableness of desiring any further or additional Proof of the Truth of Religion besides what is already afforded us in the Standing Revelation of the Holy Scripture will farther appear by considering our own Interest in being convinced and persuaded of the Truth of Religion by such Arguments and Motives as are in themselves sufficient for that purpose altho' they be not so very strong and forcible as we could wish they were And this Argument I shall handle in the way of Reproof and a just and seasonable Reproof I think it to such bold and presuming Persons as I have been now speaking of who will needs stand upon their Terms with Almighty God and will not be persuaded to Believe and Repent but just by such Reasons and such Motives as they themselves shall be pleased to require Tell not us say they of Moses and the Prophets and of things that were done a great while ago we know not when We 'll have fresh Revelations and new Miracles or Messengers from the Dead or else we will not Believe and Repent that we are resolv'd on Very well Then I say you may if you will continue still in your Unbelief and Impenitence Nevertheless I would advise you before you fully determine to persist in this Resolution to take a little time to consider seriously whose Interest and Concern it is either that you should Believe or that you should not Believe consider who it is that will be a Gainer or a Sufferer either by the One or by the Other For let me tell you if there be really a Heaven and a Hell and a Judgment and a Life to come 't is not your not believing them that will make them not to be and if these things are true 't is your own Life and Soul that is at Stake and if you are resolv'd to lose both unless you may be Saved your own way you your selves will be the greatest nay you your â—elves will be the only Sufferers And this is a Consideration that affects the Case very much and makes it very unreasonable to insist â—pon having such satisfaction in this Case as in some other Cases might not so very unreasonably be desired For if any Man tells me a Story which it is for his Interest I should believe it is his Concern to give me such Assurance of it as I shall require even altho' less than I require would be in all Reason sufficient And therefore if I will not believe one or two Witnesses tho' it may be unreasonable in me not to believe them yet it is his Business and what it behoves him to do to produce if it be possible ten or twenty Witnesses or as many more as I shall ask for And if one sort of Proof tho' in it self it be never so good will not satisfie me it is his part and what he ought in Reason to do if he be able to bring other Proofs of it and so to go on multiplying his Witnesses and his Proofs 'till such time as I shall declare my self fully satisfied And the Reason is because the Loss or Inconvenience will be his and only his in Case he cannot convince me of the Truth of his Relation But now on the other side if the Story which he tells me be true and it be for my Interest and Advantage only not at all for his that I should believe it to be true If I say he will be neither a Gainer nor a Loser whether I believe his Report or whether I do not believe it then if he gives me such Evidence of the Truth of it as is sufficient to convince a Man of Reason he has done enough he has done all that belonged to him as a Friend to do And if after this I make it my Business to cavil at and to except against his Evidence and go about to prescribe to him what sort of Proof he should give me of the Truth of what he relates declaring withal that less or other Proof than just that which I require shall never satisfie me he may justly reject my Suit as unreasonable and condemn me for a Fool that will not see my own Interest nor know when a Friend has done enough And this is exactly our Case God has sent his Son to us with the Promise of Eternal Life and has given us sufficient Assurance of his Divine Mission and thereby of the Truth of that Revelation which he made Now if we will believe this well and good the Profit will be all our own we shall save our own Souls alive But God will receive no Advantage to himself by our Believing his perfect Happiness being not capable of any Increase But if we will not Believe this Testimony that God has given of his Son if we except against his Witnesses and cavil at his Evidence and will not Believe but just upon that very sort of Proof which we our selves are pleas'd to pitch upon why then we may e'en take our own Course we may be Unbelievers still but 't is we only that shall suffer by our Unbelief the Infinite and Essential Happiness of God being as little capable of Diminution as of Advancement And as if we Believe and Repent God will be Glorified in our Salvation so if we will not Believe and Repent he will be no less glorified in our Destruction Seeing therefore whether you Believe or whether you do not Believe God