was a long Succession of Philosophers and Sophists who made it their business to oppose the Christian Religion The Shool of Platonists which continued at Athens for some Ages would revive or reinforce any Arguments that had been used by their Predecessors in Opposition to Christianity Proclus and Damascius who were of this School lived about the middle of the Sixth Age and the Writings of Damascius were extant (u) Phot. cod CLXXXI CCXLII. LXXVII in Photius's time in the middle of the Ninth Age the History of Eunapius was then likewise extant and is (x) Voss de Graec. Hist said to be preserved at Venice We have the Abridgment of it by Zosimus and a sufficient Specimen of his malicious Invectives in his other Writings And it is probable that these and many other Books of the like nature which are now lost continued much longer than any Accounts which we have now remaining of them mention Of about Thirty Answers (y) Holstein de Vit. Script Porphyt c. 10. which were written to Porphyry by several Authors not one of them is now to be found When the World was satisfied of the insufficieny of his Objections the Answers to his Books were as little regarded as the Books themselves but underwent the same Fate with them The Jews who from the beginning of Christianity before but especially since the Destruction of Jerusalem have in vast Numbers been spread all over the World and have ever been the most implacable Enemies of the Gospel had the greatest Opportunity to detect any falshood in it and have never omitted any Advantage of improving and enforcing the Arguments against it and and therefore would be sure to retain any thing considerable which had been objected by their Fore-Fathers or by the Heathens with whom they conversed The Jews have been a perpetual restless Enemy in all Parts and Ages of the World and nothing material in this Case would escape their Observation But out of the Writings of the Ancient Jews which are still extant many things have been alleged by many Learned Men of our own and other Nations in confirmation of our Religion from the Confession of the Jews themselves The Unbelief therefore both of the Jews and Gentiles of those Ages is no material Objection nor altogether so unaccountable as the Unbelief of too many now who were born among Christians and have had their Education in the Christian Religion The Truth is Example is always the weakest Argument in any Case and can be of no Force or Authority against the clearest rational Evidence CHAP. XXXI That the Confidence of Men of false Religions and their Willingness to suffer for them is no Prejudice to the Authority of the True Religion THE Christian Religion doth infinitely surpass all others in the Number of its Martyrs of both Sexes of every Age and Nation and Rank and Condition Mistaken ignorant Zealots may often have suffered for other Religions but Men of the highest Station and Worth and inferiour to none in the Knowledge and Experience of every thing that the World esteems Excellent have renounced all and upon choice and after a full consideration of the Merits of the Cause have laid down their Lives for the sake of the Gospel Tyrants of the greatest Power and Cruelty have made it their Aim and Ambition by all sorts of Tortures to extirpate the Christian Religion they esteemed their Persecutions matter of Triumph and a fit subject for the (a) Gâ—uter Inscript p. 238 280. Inscriptions of Monuments erected to their Memories But the invincible Patience and glorious Sufferings of the Christians prevailed against all the Rage and Force of their Enemies If the Martyrologies of all Religions were to be compared there would soon appear so manifest a difference between the Christian Martyrs and the Sufferers for other Religions that nothing would be needful to be said upon this subject But remembring with whom I have to deal I am resolved to take every thing at the lowest and argue with them upon their own Terms Let us for a while set aside whatever of this nature might be said in preference of the Christian Martyrs and suppose the Numbers and Zeal of the Martyrs for so we must call them at present of other Religions to have been as great as can be imagined yet the Cause it self makes a plain difference between them An ignorant Zeal in a wrong Cause is no Argument against the Goodness of any Cause which is maintained and promoted by such a Zeal as is reasonable and proceeds upon sure Grounds Indeed it were very hard and very strange if that which is true should be ever the less certain or the less to be regarded and esteemed because there may be other things that are false of which some Men are as firmly persuaded and are as much concerned for them as any one can be for the Truth it self And yet this is the wisest thing that many have to pretend against the certainty of the Religion in which they were Baptised that there are many Impostures in the World and none is without its Zealots to appear in Vindication of it I am confident no Man ever parted with any thing but his Religion upon so weak a Pretence A false Religion is not the only thing for which Men are wont to have an undeserved Value but their Country their Friends and themselves they are commonly as much mistaken in and do as highly overprize Is there then no real difference or solid worth in any of these Some of the most unlikely Countrys in the World have been admired by the Natives as if they were the Garden of Eden and the Place of Paradise Though there is nothing easier than to make a distinction concerning different Countrys And it is as easie to distinguish between the Elysium of the Heathens or Mahomet's Paradise and the Kingdom of Heaven and between the Ways which lead to them There is nothing especially if it be of any Moment and Consequence to them for which Men have not shewn themselves passionately concerned and it is not to be expected that they should be so much more infallible in Religion than in other things or should be so much less in earnest about it as not to discover the same Frailties and the same Affections which are visible in all the other Actions and Business of their Lives It is often seen in most Cases that some are as earnest and zealous in a false Cause as others are in a True but doth this prove that there is no difference between Falshood and Truth When two Men of opposite Parties are equally confident of the Goodness of their Cause it is certain that but one of them can be in the right and it is as certain that one of them must be at least so far in the right as he contradicts the other because as the two Parts of a Contradiction cannot be both True so they cannot be both False If then a confident and zealous
World though Men will take no Warning by never so many Examples but have need of continual Advice and Exhortation to keep them from the Commission of them Is there the less Certainty in the Mathematicks because Euclid Apollonius and innumerable others of all Ages and Nations have put forth Books and Systems of Mathematicks in several Forms and Methods When many write upon the same Subject it is an Argument of the Excellency and Vsefulness of it not that they are dissatisfy'd in what has been already said by others but that they think more may be said or that some Things may be prov'd more clearly in another Method with more Advantage to some Capacities and with greater Probability of removing the Scruples of some Men. It is undoubtedly very fit that all necessary Doctrines upon which the Eternal Happiness or Misery of Mankind depends should be treated of in all kinds of Ways and Methods and they cannot be too often discours'd of nor by too many Men that no Objection may remain unanswer'd nor Scruple unobserv'd Though a little may be sufficient upon a plain Matter to wise Men yet too much cannot be said upon a Subject wherein all Men are concern'd And it is the great Assurance of the Truth of Religion and Charity to the Souls of Men that has engag'd so many Authors in this Cause Besides the Primitive Fathers and Apologists Men of the greatest Learning and Abilities in latter Ages have undertaken this Subject having made it their Study and Business to consider the Grounds of our Holy Religion And I think few will pretend to more Judgment to discover Truth or to more Integrity to declare it than such Authors who have had no particular Interest or Profession in reference to Religion but were under only the common Obligations of all Christians which if they had valu'd as little as some others they could with as much Wit and Learning have appear'd in the Cause of Irreligion as any that ever undertook it Many of the most Eminent in all Professions and Callings have been the most zealous Assertors of Religion as I might shew by particular Examples which are in every Man's Memory Indeed I believe few Men have so vain an Opinion of themselves as to think they understand their several Studies and Professions better than such Persons who have given undoubted Evidence of their unfeigned Belief of the Christian Religion Men of the greatest Sagacity and Judgment have not been mov'd with such Objections as others so much stumble at but have liv'd and dy'd the Glory of their Age and an Honour to their Religion such were the Learned Prince of Mirandula and that Learned French Nobleman Mornaeus such were Grotius Sir Matthew Hales Dr. Willis and many besides both of our own and other Nations I shall mention but one more who indeed was so Eminent that I scarce need mention him for he must be already in every Reader 's Thoughts I mean the Honourable Mr. Boyle who was as inquisitive and as unwilling to be impos'd upon and knew as much of Nature perhaps as ever any Man not Inspir'd did and had withal as stedfast a Belief and as aweful Apprehensions of Reveal'd Religion which he endeavour'd to Establish and Propagate not only by his own Writings but by the Labours of others which he Engag'd and rewarded by his Last Will and Testament 2. But Men do not always live answerably to what they profess to believe It were heartily to be wish'd that there had never been any Occasion given for this Objection For though it be very inconsiderable in it self yet it does I believe the most mischief of any because Men naturally govern themselves more by the Example than by the Judgment of others or even than by their own Reason But if we will judge aright the Example of one Man who lives according to the Doctrines of Religion ought to be of more weight with us than the Example of never so many who live contrary to their Profession Because when Men profess one thing and act another their Actions are surely as little to be regarded as their Profession And if we will not believe their Profession against their Actions why should we regard their Example against their avowed Principles and Profession It is in all other cases esteemed a good Argument for the Truth of any thing when Men confess it against themselves And the Motives and Temptations are visible by which they are led aside from their own declared Faith and Judgment this Pleasure or that Profit is the cause of it which every Man can point to But when he who lives conformably to his Principles denies himself when he loses and suffers by it he must needs be in great earnest whereas the others are apparently bribed to forsake that in Practice which notwithstanding they cannot but own in the Theory and Principles This was an old Prejudice against Philosophy That the Philosophers did not observe their own Precepts But it was rejected by wise Men as no Argument against the Truth and Vsefulness of Philosophy It is a great Objection against the Men but sure it can be no Argument against the Things themselves that they are disregarded by those who understand their worth and pretend to have a due value and esteem for them And whoever renounces the Faith or takes up Principles of Irreligion because of any ill Practices of others too plainly declares either that in Truth and Sincerity he never had any or that he is very willing to part with his Religion All Men make some pretence to Reason and those Men most of all who are so apt to decry Religion upon this account That many who profess to believe it do not always live up to its Rules and Instructions But they do not consider in the mean time That Men generally act as much against Reason as against Relgion and that therefore this Objection if it can signifie any thing must banish all Reason and good Sence out of the World If there be no True Religion because so few practise it as they ought there can be no True Reason neither because the Lives of so many Men contradict it And some perhaps would be contented that there should be no True Religion rather than that there should be no True Reason because then they must be no longer allowed to be able to Reason against Religion But if the Truth and Reality of Things depend upon the Practice of Men then the same Religion may be true and false at the same time it may be true in one Age and false in another or true in one Countrey and false in the next and must be more or less true or false in the same proportion as the Lives and Manners of its Professors are more or less vertuous or vicious Indeed this is so unreasonable and unjust a Prejudice against Religion though it be grown a very common one that methinks every Man should be ashamed of it especially Men of Reason
of them must cease and the Reason why they should be bestowed ceasing these miraculous Gifts must of consequence cease with it And thus it was likewise under the Law It is observable that we read of no miraculous Power bestowed upon any Man before Moses The Creation of the World was dilivered down with undeniable Certainty and the miraculous Judgments of God in Drowning the Old World in the Confusion of Tongues and in the Punishment inflicted upon Sodom and Gomorrah were sufficient to keep up a Sense of the True Religion But when a new Institution of Religion was to be introduced by Moses miraculous Gifts were necessary to give Authority to it and to oppose those false and lying Wonders which were in use among the Magicians in Egypt and other Places In the former Ages Predictions were very frequent and they were delivered by the Patriarchs who were Men of unquestionable Credit and Authority and could have no need of Miracles to confirm the Truth of their Prophecies which were so usual in those Times and when the Lives of Men were so long divers Prophecies of the same Persons had been verified by the Event But Moses had a New Law to deliver and both He and the Prophets had a a stubborn People to deal with to whom the Message they were charged withal was commonly very unwelcome so that till this Institution was fully settled Miracles became necessary But when the Old Testament had been sufficiently authorized and established by Prophecies and Miracles and when by the Captivities and Dispersions of the Jews the Divine Mission of their Prophets became known among so many other Nations when the Jews were reduced from Idolatry which they never practised after their Return from their Captivity in Babylon and when they had made numerous Conversions amongst the Heathens then these miraculous Gifts were no longer continued as they had been before in the Jewish Church insomuch that it became a (a) Lightf Glean out of Exod. §. vi Harm of the Evang Luke i. 18. Joh. ii 18. Maxim among them that after the Death of Zechariah and Malachi and the rest of the Prophets who returned from Babylon the Spirit of God departed from Israel and ascended and for above Four hundred Years together the Gifts both of Prophecy and Miracles had been with-held from them before the Manifestation of Christ For though there were gross Errours and dangerous Corruptions among the Pharisees and Sadducees and other Sects of the Jews yet since the Truth and Certainty of that Revelation from whence these Errours might have been confuted had been so throughly confirmed all their Corruptions and Errors were not a sufficient cause for the continuance of miraculous Gifts and the Pharisees and other Sects who were most fond and zealous of their several Tenets and Traditions yet never durst pretend to a Power of Miracles or Prophecy but endeavoured to support themselves upon the Authority of Moses and the Prophets What they sometimes spake of (b) id Fall of Jerus §. IX Harm of the N. T. §. LXXIII the Bath Col or Voice from Heaven deserves but little Credit and amounts but to a Confession that the Spirit of Prophecy had failed under the Second Temple as the Jews themselves expressly acknowledge it to have done (c) More Nevock Part. 2. c. 36 41. Maimonides declares that the Bath Col did not denominate Men Prophets and therefore it is not reckoned by him among the Degrees of Prophecy I have already Proved at large Book 1. that the Evidence of those Miracles which were wrought in the Primitive Times affords as much certainty to our Faith as if we our selves had seen them wrought And our Saviour plainly says notwithstanding his Works which bore Witness of him that it was not to be expected that his own Words should be rather believed than the VVritings of Moses For had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me But if ye believe not his VVritings how shall ye believe my VVords Joh. v. 46 47. And when once the Gospel had been attested by Miracles as the Law had been and rendred as certain to all succeeding Ages as a constant Power of Miracles could have made it there could be no Reason why such a Power should be any longer bestowed Miracles were wrought in Evidence of the Truth of Revelations made to Mankind in the Old and New Testament not to decide any Controversies arising amongst those by whom the Scriptures are received For to whom the Scriptures are the Rule by which all Disputes ought to be determined and therefore the Gifts of Miracles were sometimes manifested among (d) Ad Orthodox inter Justin Martyr Oper. Respons v. Hereticks for the Conviction of Infidels which is the true end and design of Miracles and not to be any Note of Distinction between the Orthodox and Hereticks The learned (e) In Irenae Dissert 11. §. 28. c. Mr. Dodwell by an historical Account of Miracles from the Times of the Apostles through the Ages next succeeding has shewn that they were always adapted to the Necessities of the Church being more or less frequent as the State of the Church required till they at last wholly ceased when there was no longer any need of them For the only end and use of miraculous Gifts is the Confirmation and Establishment of Religion and therefore when this is once fully confirmed and established they can be no longer needful But it seems rather necessary that they should afterwards cease than that they should be continued I mean as to any constant Power of working Miracles residing in the Church For tho' there may possibly be some extraordinary Cases in which it may please God to manifest a miraculous Power yet there is no Reason to conclude that a constant Power of working Miracles should be continued to the Church but rather that those Gifts should cease when Religion has been confirmed by a perpetual Course of Miracles for some Hundreds of Years together Because I. Miracles when they became common would lose the design and end and the very Nature of Miracles For the Nature of Miracles consists in this that they are an extraordinary VVork of God not that they are more difficult than the ordinary works of Nature All things are alike easy to God and Miracles are as easy as any thing in the constant course of Nature can be the only difference is that Miracles are his wonderful Work they are more apt to raise our Wonder and Admiration and to put us in mind of a Divine Presence For we wonder at strange and unusual things and suppose a more than ordinary Reason for them But if Miracles had continued in all Ages this Effect of Miracles would have ceased and they would no longer have been Miracles but a kind of different Course of Nature For according to the best and most accurate Philosophy nothing in the settled Course of Nature can be performed without an