cursed Hands in the bloody Death of our Blessed Lord. Celsus therefore might every Jot as well have granted that our Saviour knew what Accidents wou'd befall him and yet have talk'd with the highest Contempt of his Divine Praescience as grant that he was capable of working such Miracles as he wrought and at the same Time affirm that he was a Notorious and Vile Impostor And he might with all his Learning have shown that the Augurs and Auspices foretold Future Events by the Flying of Birds and by the Intrails of Beasts But he was loth it seems to make this Concession whereas he do's in some sort acknowledge that our Saviour wrought many Miracles and yet asserts he did 'em by the Help of Magick Phlegon was much more ingenuous who in the 13th and 14th Book of his Chronicon acknowledges that our Saviour foretold Future Events and says they exactly answer'd his Prediction tho' I observe that he seems sometimes to confound our Blessed Lord with the Apostle Peter And as it were in Spite of Prejudice he draws this natural Conclusion That since the Founder of our Holy Religion and many of his Followers were able to foretell many future and remarkable Events at so great a Distance of Time which exactly answer'd their Predictions we must suppose that they were acted by a more than Ordinary Power Then Celsus says That our Saviour's Disciples not being able to conceal those Things which were expos'd to Publick View thought that the best Game they had to play was to give out that their Master foresaw a long Time before all the Accidents that did afterwards befall him But either he didn't know or at least seems to be ignorant that our Blessed Saviour us'd the following Words to his Disciples All ye shall be offended because of me this Night which Mat. 26. V. 31. we know happen'd accordingly and was no false Prophet when he said to Peter Before the Cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice Ibid. V. 34. Now if they hadn't been Men of undoubted Integrity but had design'd to impose on our Credulity by false Narrations they wou'd certainly have discover'd so much of Worldly Policy as to have said nothing at all of Peter's Denying his Blessed Lord whose Cause he had so resolutely promis'd to maintain and never to have mention'd the Offence which ev'n some of the Disciples took at the mean Condition in which our Saviour condescended and thought fit to appear and if these Things which seem to represent the Followers of our Blessed Lord to a great Disadvantage were not related in the Gospels how cou'd Celsus or any other Person have tak'n Occasion from thence to cast a Reproach on our most Holy Religion But they were not unwilling that latest Posterity shou'd be acquainted with their Failings since they were well assur'd that this wou'dn't in the least hinder the happy Progress of the Everlasting Gospel or give the Reader any just Occasion to be guilty of the like Irregular Practices What Celsus adds is ridiculous to the last Degree The Disciples got this publish'd says he to secure the Reputation of their Master and 't is as if to prove that a Man is just I shou'd instance in several Acts of Injustice that he has done or to prove that he 's free from Passion I shou'd shew that he has been guilty of Murder or to prove that he 's immortal shou'd expose his dead Body to View and after all put People off with this frivolous Pretence that he foresaw whatsoever shou'd befall him But here 't is apparent that he grosly misapplies the Instances which he 's pleas'd to produce For there 's no Absurdity at all in supposing that our Blessed Saviour shou'd propose himself to us as a Bright Example of Moral Virtue and yet teach us to sacrifice our Lives and all that 's dear to us for the Sake of the Religion we embrace Consider also that the Death which he suffer'd is of General and Universal Advantage as I think I have sufficiently prov'd already And tho' Celsus do's fondly imagine that it makes very much for the Cause which he espouses that we don't deny that our Saviour suffer'd in the most notorious and shameful Manner yet this is for Want of knowing the SACRED MYSTERIES that are contain'd in the Passion of our BLESSED LORD as St. Paul observes and the several Predictions which are left upon Record by the Inspired Prophets concerning this difficult and important Affair Besides he seems not to know that there was a Celebrated Heretick who deny'd that the Sufferings of our Saviour were real This made him say You don't pretend that his bitter Passion was only in Appearance but without mincing the Matter you hold that he suffer'd in a strict and proper Sence For our Parts we think 't is a Notorious Heresy to maintain that our Saviour's Sufferings were only in Appearance since we must then affirm as the necessary Consequence of the fore-mention'd false and dangerous Position that his Resurrection as glorious as we suppose it to be was a meer Deceptio Visus For he that really dyes if he rises again must be really ris'n and on the contrary he that dy'd but in Appearance can only seemingly rise But because Infidels endeavour to expose the Doctrine of the Resurrection of our Saviour to the last Degree of Prophane Contempt I shall take Occasion to mention here what Plato relates of Er the Son of Armenius Plato's Common Wealth l. 10. who at the End of twelve Days rose out of his Tomb and told several remarkable Transactions that to his certain Knowledge had pass'd in the World of Spirits And I might mention the Story which Heraclitus tells of a Woman who continu'd a considerable Time without any Sign of Life which I think do's evidently and not a little serve my present Purpose since 't is with Infidels I 'm now engag'd And many pregnant Instances might easily be produc'd from History of Persons who have appear'd the Day after their Decease Is it then any Wonder at all that one who in the whole Course of his Life did so many Actions which nothing short of a Divine Power cou'd possibly enable him to perform who wrought Miracles to attest the Truth of his Doctrine which were so surprizing and so open to the View of his most implacable Adversaries that Celsus himself has not the Face to deny that they were true in Fact tho' indeed he ascribes 'em to the Power of Infernal Daemons I say is it any Wonder at all that so Divine a Person as our Saviour was shou'd have something that was remarkable in his Death and that his Holy Soul having freely and ev'n chearfully left his Body for a Time shou'd return to it as soon as ever it had perform'd the entire Duty of a Disunited Spirit Our Saviour has the following Words No Man takes it from me speaking of his Life but I lay it down of John 10. V. 18. my self I have Power
the Will of God and to accomplish such great Designs But 't is hardly worth my while to return an Answer to so ridiculous a Question For 't is just as if a Person shou'd say how is it possible that I who always preach'd up the Doctrine of Temperance shou'd be guilty of Debauchery or that I who in Discourse did always vindicate the injur'd Rights of Justice shou'd ever be guilty of violating its Sacred Rules And as nothing is more common than for Persons to talk in the Praise of Virtue and yet be openly guilty of the most scandalous Vices So the Jews who make the Prophetick Oracles the Matter of their continual Boast do yet shut their Eyes against the glorious Light of those Scripture-Prophecies which are evidently accomplish'd in the Person of our Blessed Saviour And if I may ascribe their Blindness to some other Cause besides the wretched Degeneracy of Humane Nature which they plainly discover'd I may safely say that 't was directly foretold by the very Prophets they so much admire For Isaiah says expresly Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not make the Heart of this People fat Now let any Person acquaint me what it is that the Prophet intends by these and the like Expressions 'T is plain they saw our Saviour but wilfully shut their Eyes against the piercing Rays of the SVN of RIGHTEOVSNESS and heard him discourse to 'em but cou'dn't comprehend that his humane Nature was the living Temple of the Deity which was going to forsake their Nation and to engage all its infinite Perfections in the behalf of the believing Gentiles And 't is Matter of Fact and a Thing very Remarkable that since the Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour the Jews have been left by God and that the Beauty and Glory of their Religion is in a Manner entirely defac'd and lost insomuch that there is scarce one Sign of the Divine Presence among 'em except the severe Judgments which do so justly befall their Nation They have neither Prophets nor Miracles to attest the Truth of their Religion whereas the Christians ev'n at this Distance of Time have a Power of working Miracles conferr'd upon 'em some of which are not inferiour to those which were wrought when our Saviour was on Earth CHAP. IX THEN Celsus's Jew breaks out into the following Expression How can any one imagine that we shou'd treat a Person so ill that was foretold by our own Prophets unless we had a Mind to enhance our Crime and so to aggravate our most deserved Punishment To this I answer that at the final Judgment which is one of the Articles of the Christian Faith the Jews will be punish'd in a more dreadful Manner than the rest of the World not only for rejecting the Messiah which was a horrid Crime but also for their barbarous and almost unaccountable Carriage towards the Prince of Peace Nay ev'n at this Day so remarkably do's the Vengeance of God pursue em they are the most miserable People upon the Face of the whole habitable World For what Nation is there besides that of the Jews that is banish'd from their Metropolis and deny'd the Liberty of serving God according to the Religion of their Fathers and Ancestors in their Native Soil These are some of those grievous Calamities to which their own Crimes expos'd 'em For no History can parallel their Villanies and especially those horrid Barbarities which they exercis'd towards our Blessed Saviour who came into the World to save 'em from Sin and Hell CHAP. X. THE Jew adds How cou'd we look upon him as GOD who on the one Hand did none of those Mighty Things which he pretended to effect and on the other was convicted and condemn'd to a severe Punishment was forc'd to abscond that he might not be taken running like a Vagabond from Place to Place and yet was at last apprehended and betray'd ev'n by one of his most eminent Followers who of all Persons in the World one wou'd think might have had the Grace to espouse his Master's Cause Was it in the least suitable to the Majesty and Wisdom of a GOD to flee like a guilty Wretch and to suffer himself to be apprehended and forsak'n by his intimate Friends who esteem'd him their Lord and Saviour THE SON OF GOD AND THE TRUE MESSIAH To this I answer that we are not so ignorant as to call THE BODY of our Blessed Saviour which was material and sensible by the VENERABLE NAME of GOD. Nay we don't attribute so much as this ev'n to the holy and spotless Soul of JESVS with respect to which he uses the following Words My Soul is exceeding sorrowful ev'n unto Death When we meet Mat. xxvi V. 38. with such Words as these in the Writings of the Prophets Behold I am the Lord the God of all Flesh Or Those Jer. xxxii V. 27. Words Before me there was no God Isa xliii V. 10. form'd neither shall there be after me the Jews acknowledge that 't is the great God himself that speaks but he makes Use of the Prophets as Instruments to communicate his Will to Men and the Greeks confess that 't is a God that speaks the following Words by the Mouth of the Pythian Priestess I can the numerous Sands with Ease recount Herod Clio. Fathom the Sea and understand a Mute After the same Manner we say that it was GOD the ETERNAL WORD the SON of the EVER-BLESSED GOD that made Use of the humane Nature of the HOLY JESVS as a proper Instrument when he spoke the following Words I am the Way the John xiv V. 6. Truth and the Life I am the Door I am the Living Bread that came down John x. V. 7. from Heaven And I might instance John vi V. 15. in many other Expressions to the same Effect We blame the Jews therefore and I think not unjustly for not acknowledging our Saviour to be God of whom the Prophets do so frequently produce their concurring Testimony that he is the POWER of the ETERNAL FATHER 'T was to him the Command of God was directed which we read of in the Account that Moses gives us of the Creation of the World Let there be Light Gen. 1. V. 3. let there be a Firmament and the like 'T was to him he said Let us make bid V. 6. Man in our Image after our Likeness ibid. 26. And the ETERNAL WORD did every Thing according to the Command of God And this is not a Conjecture form'd in our own Fancies but we build our Faith in this important Affair on the concurring Testimony of those very Prophets who are readily own'd and extreamly admir'd by the Jews themselves For we are told expresly He commanded and they were created Now what created Being how noble soever cou'd execute the Command of the ETERNAL FATHER with Respect to the Creation of the World who but he who was the ETERNAL and LIVING WORD CHAP. XI BESIDES 't is plain from several
the Horrour of his Crime He went out Mat. 26. V. 74. and wept bitterly as St. Mathew tells us and those of his Disciples that we read of who retain'd a profound Respect for their Lord and Master but were a little amaz'd and for the present shock'd by considering the sad Calamities which befel him regain'd that Native Courage when he appear'd to 'em after his Triumphant Resurrection Nay they not only believ'd he was the SON OF GOD but were confirm'd in the Christian Faith and became more Couragious than ever under the happy Conduct of the great Captain of their Salvation Celsus thinks as appears by the Sequel of his Discourse there was no real Excellency in our Saviour's Doctrine nor any Regularity and Strictness observable in his Morals sufficient to advance him above other Men but that contrary to the Character which he bore he ought not to have dy'd at all or at least there shou'd have been nothing in his Death that might justly induce us to lay down our Lives when Occasion offers for the Sake of our most Holy Religion But to me I confess this seems to be a Notion not a little unworthy of the Learning and good Sence ev'n of a Heathen Philosopher On the contrary our Saviour by dying for Mankind has set us a Bright Example of Patience under all the Sufferings to which the Providence of God may call us for the Sake of the True Religion in Opposition to the ungrounded Prejudices which the Generality of Men are too apt to labour under who are Naturally ready to pay Divine Adoration to the most insignificant Trifle rather then the Supreme and Truly-Adorable Majesty and viewing Persons and Things in a false or very imperfect Light are wretchedly and frequently mistaken in the Judgment which they pass upon em For the greatest Instance of the pretended Piety of these Bigots to Idolatry is to level all their Wit and Malice at those Well-meaning and Truly-religious Persons who from a deep Sense of their indispensible Duty have entirely devoted themselves a Holy and Living Sacrifice to the Great Creator and Supream Governor of the Universe CHAP. XXV THEN Celsus in the Person of the pretended Jew continues his Charge against our Blessed Saviour in the following Words Your Jesus cou'dn't keep himself free from Evil. But I think he wou'd do very well to instance in any MORAL EVIL that might justly be charg'd upon him If he means that our Saviour was guilty of some Vice or other which must be his Meaning or else 't is plain that he talks very improperly 't will lye upon this vile Caviller to name any one Vice if he can that ever stain'd the Life and obscur'd the Bright Character of the HOLY JESVS But if his Meaning be no more than this that our Blessed Lord himself was expos'd to many outward and grievous CALAMITIES such as Poverty Persecution the Treachery of wicked Men and especially the shameful and painful Death which he suffer'd on the Cross then I think we may with equal Justice bring in a severe Charge against so great a Man as Socrates who with all his Philosophy and Moral Virtue cou'dn't avoid falling into innumerable external Dangers And how many of the Greek Philosophers cou'd I easily name who were not only oppress'd with extream Poverty but made it the Matter of their de liberate Choice For Proof of this we may have Recourse to their own Celebrated Authors They tell us that Democritus was so tak'n up with Nobler Thoughts that he had no Leisure Hours to bestow upon his Farms that Crates gave away the Income of his whole Estate with the greatest Freedom imaginable that he might have the better Opportunity for Philosophical Speculations and that Diogenes out of his strange Frugality was contented to spend his Life in a Tub and yet no Man I think of common Sence will for that Reason entertain hard Thoughts of so excellent a Person Then Celsus adds That our Saviour was far from being regular and unblameable But let him give an Instance if he can of any one among the Numerous Followers of our Saviour who ever observ'd him to do an unworthy Action or if he refuses to rely on their united Testimony I think 't is fit he shou'd acquaint us with the Grounds on which he builds his unjust and heavy Charge 'T is very unlikely to say no more that our Saviour shou'd be guilty of the least Breach of any Promise that he ever made if we consider how much and how readily he consulted the true Interest of his Followers I mean the Welfare of their Precious and Immortal Souls And when we see that the remarkable and unlikely Events which he foretold at some Distance of Time from their Accomplishment have exactly answer'd his Prediction that his Doctrine is publish'd to all the Nations of the World and that they who have embrac'd it have meerly on that Account been brought before Governours and Kings we can't but be fill'd with a Holy Admiration and encourag'd to have our firm and entire Dependance upon his Infinite Wisdom Irresistible Power and Universal Goodness And sure I am that Celsus himself can't reasonably desire to have greater Evidence of the Truth of any Doctrine than that which our Saviour has giv'n us of the Truth of the Gospel unless he be so wretchedly ignorant of the Incarnation of the ETERNAL WORD as to exspect that the HUMANE NATURE which was assum'd by him shou'd not be subject to the common Calamities which attend Humane Life and by Consequence to imagine that we shou'd want the Brightest Example of Submission to the Will of God that any Mortal ever gave The only Reason if it may be call'd so that can possibly be assign'd for such an extravagant Conceit is this that Celsus esteems PAIN the GREATEST EVIL and PLEASURE the HIGHEST GOOD And here he goes a Strain beyond most of the Philosophers themselves I mean of those that believ'd an Over-ruling Providence and allow Courage and Constancy and the like Endowments a Place among the MORAL VIRTUES which are at once so Necessary and so Ornamental And our Saviour was so far from subverting the Foundation of our Faith by the various and grievous Calamities to which he was expos'd and which in the Event did befall him that I think he has tak'n the most effectual Method to confirm it if we can but divert our Thoughts from the shocking Calamities that attend Humane Life to the Bright Objects and Glorious Entertainments of the Future State in which we shall look with an Holy Disdain upon Sin Satan and this lower World CHAP. XXVI THEN Celsus has the following Words Surely you will not have the Confidence to say that your JESUS being unable to work upon the Minds of Men in the wretched World in which we live went down to Hell it self to see if he cou'dn't make Converts there But our Saviour when he was here on Earth had so many and such zealous Followers
the Christians from those foul Aspersions which Celsus has publickly cast upon 'em as if a Confutation of him were not legible in the Things themselves and what he offers might not be deservedly rejected as wanting ev'n the Appearance of Truth to recommend it to the World To shew that our Saviour held his Peace when false Witness was brought against him I need only at present produce the Testimony of St. Matthew which is confirm'd by what St. Mark the Evangelist relates St. Matthew has these Words Now the Chief Priests and Elders Mat. 26. v. 59. and all the Council sought false Witness against Jesus to put him to Death but found none Yea though many false Witnesses came yet found they none At last came two false Witnesses and said this Fellow said I am able to destroy the Temple of God and to build it in three Days And the High-Priest arose and said to him answerest thou nothing What is it which these witness against thee But Jesus held his Peace We read in another Place of the same Evangelist that our Saviour return'd no Answer to the Persons who accus'd him And Jesus Mat. 27. v. 11. stood before the Governor and the Governor ask'd him saying art thou the King of the Jews And Jesus said unto him thou say'st And when he was accus'd of the Chief Priests and Elders he answered nothing Then says Pilate unto him hearest thou not how many Things these witness against thee And he answer'd him never a Word insomuch that the Governor marvell'd greatly And indeed it cou'd n't but be admir'd by Persons who were least capable of Reflection that when he had so fair an Opportunity to free himself from the heavy Charge that was brought against him to enumerate or at least modestly insinuate his shining Characters and to commend the higher Powers as being ordam'd of God and by these innocent and politick Methods to procure the Judge's Favour I say that when he had so fair an Opportunity to do all this he shou'd be so far from embracing it as to look upon his most violent Accusers with a truly-generous Disdain That the Judge seem'd willing to acquit him had he made his Apology is plain from the following Words Whom Mat. 27. v. 17. will ye that I release unto you Barabbas or Jesus who is call'd Christ And those Words He knew that for Envy Ibid. 18. he had deliver'd him So that the holy and spotless Jesus was scarce ever free from unjust and severe Accusations as long as the perverse Dispositions of Men whose Minds were corrupt and whose Lives were often stain'd with the most gross Enormities did remain the same as they have been in all the Ages of the World And ev'n now he holds his Peace and makes no verbal Answer but the unblemish'd Lives of his sincere Followers are his most chearful and most successful Advocates and have so loud a Voice that they drown the Clamours of his most bigotted and most zealous Adversaries I will therefore be so bold as to say that by Publishing this Apology I shall seem to lessen the Force of those powerful Arguments in Defence of the Christian Religion which are drawn from the holy Lives of its pious Votaries and are plain Appeals ev'n to Sense and common Observation But that I might not seem backward in obeying the Commands you have laid upon me I have endeavour'd according to my present Abilities to give a full or at least a sufficient Answer to all the material Objections which Celsus has brought against us which in your Opinion my Dear and Respected Ambrosius do strike at the Fundamentals of the Christian Religion but I verily believe will never shock the Faith of one who by the Grace of God does live in the Profession of it with some measure of Sincerity And God forbid that any of us shou'd have so embrac'd the Gospel which is so lively a Declaration of his Love to perishing Sinners thro' the Merits of our Blessed and All-sufficient Redeemer as to be in Danger of receiving any bad Impressions from Celsus's Discourse or the Writings of any other Ingenious and Learned Person who holds the same Wicked Principles For St. Paul reckoning up those things which are apt to separate Mankind from the Love of Christ all which his Love to 'em did and will at last effectually and most gloriously overcome don 't say that erroneous Discourses shou'd be any much less a principal Cause of this unhappy Separation Observe first he says Who shall separate us from the Love Rom. 8. v. 25. of God Shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword As it is written for thy sake we are kill'd all the Day long we are accounted as Sheep for the Slaughter Nay in all these Things we are more than Conquerors thro' him that loved us Then reckoning up another Set of Things which usually shock Mens Faith and Virtue he says I am perswaded that neither Ibid 38. Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor Things present nor Things to come nor Height nor Depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And there is just Ground ev'n for us who fall vastly short of the extraordinary Attainments of that great Apostle of the Gentiles to say Who shall separate us from the Love of God Shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword But the Apostle who thought this too mean a Boast for those who had arriv'd to so remarkable a Pitch of Virtue as that to which he had attain'd professes That in all these Things he was more than a Conqueror which Words have a peculiar Weight and Emphasis And therefore when he and the rest of his Noble Class come to make their Boast they proceed to the second Set of Things which are here enumerated and can say with a holy Triumph That neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor Things present nor Things to come nor Height nor Depth nor any other Creature shall separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So that I confess I have no great Opinion of that Man's Christianity whose Faith is in the least liable to be shock'd either by this Book of Celsus or the Writings of any other Person of the same unhappy Stamp For really I 'm at a Loss to know in what Class of Christians I shou'd rank that Man who is not Proof against all the bitter but unjust Reproaches with which Celsus has loaded the Followers of our Blessed Lord. But because the common Sort of People are in no small Danger as you imagine my Dear Ambrosius of turning Apostates from the Faith since perhaps they may be shock'd by what Celsus has offer'd against the well-grounded Principles of our holy Religion and I hope will be no less confirm'd in their Judgments
foolish and so daring a Thing that 't will contend for the Victory with the Providence of God it self This Passion had so far the Ascendant over Herod that he was fully perswaded that the King of the Jews was born and acted unaccountably whether his Notion were true or false and was so weak that he didn't discern that either our Saviour was the very Person whom the Prophets foretold to be the true Messiah and so wou'd infallibly possess the Throne or on the contrary was a meer Impostor and by Consequence there was no Ground for him to disturb the Peace of his Mind by any jealous Surmises He resolv'd to destroy him being hurry'd by his unruly Passion into the grossest Inconsistencies and stirr'd up without Doubt by the Devil who apprehending our Saviour to be an extraordinary Person and a most formidable Enemy to his usurp'd Dominion employ'd all his Wit Malice and Industry against him But the Angel warn'd Joseph to go with the young Child and his Mother into Egypt And how improbable soever this may seem to be on the first View yet the due Series of Events was very critically observ'd by Providence In the mean Time Herod issu'd out Orders that all the Infants that were in Bethlehem from two Years old and under shou'd immediately be put to Death expecting that he who was born King of the Jews wou'd share in the same common and approaching Calamity For he didn't discern that invisible and kind Hand of Providence that takes Care of them who are the proper Objects of its most watchful Protection and upon whose Safety the Good of Mankind does so evidently and so greatly depend and among which honourable Number our Blessed Saviour deserves to be esteem'd the Chief as being one who vastly and indeed infinitely surpass'd all other Men in real and intrinsick Dignity For he was not sent into the World to be an Earthly King as Herod falsly imagin'd but to enter on the Possession of such a Glorious Kingdom as it became the Great God to bestow on one who was to procure a Happiness for his Subjects that consists not entirely or chiefly in Things which are in themselves indifferent and frequently prove pernicious to the Owners and was to govern 'em by such Laws as are truly Divine and so to take the most proper Methods to render 'em compleatly and for ever happy Therefore denying that he was an Earthly King and shewing that his Kingdom was of a spiritual Nature he says If my Kingdom were of this Joh. xviii V 36. World then wou'd my Servants fight that I shou'dn't be deliver'd to the Jews but now is my Kingdom not from hence CHAP. XLIX IF Celsus had been aware of this he wou'd never have talk'd so weakly and so impertinently as he does If says he Herod was afraid that when you came to a fit Age to reign you wou'd dispossess him of his Kingdom why didn't you reign when you were grown up to Years of Discretion and Maturity On the contrary tho' you pretend to be the Son of God yet you are forc'd to go about like a Slave and a Vagabond and to sneak like a Malefactor not having a Place whereon you may comfortably lay your Head But 't is far from being an Argument of a sordid Spirit for a Person to use innocent and common Prudence that he may happily avoid the Dangers with which he is surrounded not from a slavish Fear of Death but a sincere and vehement Desire with Submission to the Will of God to prolong his Life that he may be farther serviceable to the Publick 'till a fair Opportunity to lay down his Life for the Promoting of the True and Best Interest of Mankind do's happily present it self That this was our Saviour's Case is plain to one who is acquainted with the Design of our Blessed Lord in those grievous Sufferings which he underwent of which according to my weak Ability I have already and I hope sufficiently discours'd CHAP. L. THEN that Celsus with all his Knowledge didn't so much as hit upon the exact Number of the Apostles may be gather'd from the following Words Being attended says he with Ten or Eleven Wicked Publicans and Mariners he went up and down with 'em begging his Bread from Door to Door like a base and most miserable Creature Let me therefore examine what he says and return him such an Answer as I judge convenient 'T is plain then to those who read the Gospels with any tolerable Care which I 'm apt to think my bold but blundering Antagonist never did that our Saviour chose twelve Apostles and that there was but one Publican among 'em I mean St. Mathew and by Mariners as he promiscuously calls 'em I suppose he may mean James and John because they left their Father Zebedee to follow their Blessed Lord. For as for Peter and Andrew that got their Livelyhood by their Nets they were not so properly Mariners as Fishermen as the Scripture calls em We 'll also suppose that Levi the Publican was another to whom he might have a Reference tho' according to some Copies that we have of St. Mark 's Gospel he was no Apostle As for the rest of that honourable Fraternity we know not what Employments they were by which they got their Maintenance before they espous'd the Interest of our Blessed Saviour CHAP. LI. SO that I may safely say that 't is plain to them who examine into these Matters with that Judgment Care and Impartiality which is highly requisite that the Apostles were acted by an extraordinary and super-natural Power when they publish'd the Christian Religion to the World and made the carnal and haughty Minds of some of the worst of Men submit to the commanding Authority of the Word of God For this wonderful Effect was not owing to the Charms of humane Eloquence the Exactness of their Method or those other Artifices with which the Logick and Rhetorick of the Greeks do frequently and perhaps more than sufficiently furnish too many subtil and designing Persons I am of the Opinion I confess that if we cou'd suppose our Saviour to have made Choice of Persons qualify'd with the brightest humane Accomplishments to preach the Gospel such as had the general Character and Reputation of Men of profound Wisdom and universal Learning who by the Help of sublime Speculations polite Language and a graceful Elocution cou'd win upon the Audience and make the several Passions of their Hearers serve their sordid and vain-glorious Purposes I say if our Saviour had tak'n this Method he might justly have been blam'd for using the same carnal Policy that was too apparent in the Heads of the several Sects of Philosophers and his Doctrine wou'd have wanted those legible Characters of its Divinity which were stamp'd upon it had it been maintain'd by sprightly Fancy proper and elegant Language and harmonious Cadencies and the Assent giv'n to it wou'd too nearly have resembl'd that which is giv'n to
to lay it down and I have Power to take it up again And perhaps the Reason why his Holy Soul made Haste to leave his Body might be this that his Legs might not be broken as those of the Thieves were who were crucify'd by his Sides Then came the Soldiers and brake John 19. V. 32. the Legs of the first and of the other which was crucify'd with him But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already they broke not his Legs So that I have answer'd that Objection of Celsus how will you perswade us that he cou'd foretell these Things As for that other How will you ever make us believe that a Dead Person is immortal We say 't wou'd seem no Wonder at all if People wou'd but take us right that he that dy'd was not strictly immortal but he that rose from the Dead Nay we say that our Saviour was not immortal with respect to his Humane Nature before his Body was separated from his Soul For no Person who is to dye can properly be said to be immortal but then he 's truly immortal when he 's for ever loos'd from the Bands of Death Christ being rais'd from the dead dies Rom. 6. V. 9. no more Death has no more Dominion over him whatever some Persons may affirm who don't understand the Meaning of these mysterious Words CHAP. XV. WHAT Celsus adds is no less ill-grounded than what goes before What God says he or Daemon nay what Man of Common Sence will not take the most proper Methods that he can to avoid the Evils he foresees will befall him and especially when he knows he can easily prevent 'em if he will But Socrates was well-acquainted with the Nature of the Poyson that was giv'n him and if he had but follow'd the Advice of Crito he had escap'd out of Prison and secur'd his Person from the great Inconveniencies to which he was expos'd and yet he chose rather to dye than to act in the least unbecoming the Character of so Celebrated a Philosopher So Leonidas the Lacaedemonian General knew very well that he and his Company shou'd dve at Thermopylae yet preferring his Honour to his frail and mortal Life he said Come let us dine like those who are to eat their Supper with the Dead They who will take the Pains to consult Historians may find abundance of such Instances as these What Wonder is it then that our Blessed Saviour didn't use all possible Endeavours to avoid those Evils which he knew wou'd befall him when a far inferiour Person I mean the Apostle Paul foreseeing what Things he shou'd suffer at Jerusalem encounter'd the greatest Dangers and sharply reprov'd the Cruel Kindness of those who with Tears in their Eyes endeavour'd to prevent him from the happy Execution of his great Designs Nay many at this very Day who are not ignorant to what dreadful Calamities the Profession of Christianity will expose 'em and that if they wou'd openly renounce it they shou'd be immediately discharg'd and have their Goods restor'd I say many at this very Day despise Life with all its native and gawdy Charms and embrace Death it self ev'n approaching to 'em in the most frightful Shapes What Celsus adds is as ridiculous as what went before If says he Judas 's Treason and Peter 's Denial of his Master were foretold by Christ one wou'd think they shou'd for that Reason have had an Aweful Sense of His Divinity and thereby have been effectually secur'd from offering such base Affronts to their suppos'd Rightful Sovereign and most Liberal Benefactor But here Celsus with all his Wisdom do's unawares most grosly contradict himself because if our Saviour was GOD as well as Man then the Events of Things cou'dn't but exactly agree with what his Infinite Mind foresaw concerning 'em and by consequence the one must Vnavoidably betray and the other by a sad but Fatal Necessity deny him If Matters cou'd have happen'd otherwise if Judas hadn't betray'd nor Peter deny'd him being sufficiently forewarn'd of the Folly and Danger of committing such horrid Crimes his Veracity might easily have been call'd in Question For if our Saviour foresaw as we say he did that Judas shou'd betray him he also foresaw that Corruption of his Nature that that inclin'd him to his Treachery and if he foresaw that St Peter wou'd deny him he also foresaw his Infirmity that was the unhappy Cause of his committing so base a Crime and this was consistent enough with his permitting him to be surpriz'd into a gross Act of Sin And what do's Celsus's Jew propose I wonder when he says They betray'd and deny'd him throwing off all manner of Respect to him whom they own'd to be their Lord and Master For I have already shown that Judas himself as vile a Wretch as he was retain'd some respect for our Blessed Saviour ev'n in that horrid Instant in which he inhumanely betray'd him And the like may be said of St. Peter who after he had shamefully deny'd him went out and wept bitterly as St. Mathew acquaints us What the Jew adds is very ridiculous and childish If a Person says he do's once discover the Snares that are laid for him and detect his Adversaries they commonly desist from their malicious Purpose For the contrary is most evident from the Experience of all Ages of the World Then as if he were drawing to a Conclusion he says We mustn't imagine that these Things came e're the more to pass because he foretold 'em but rather infer from what I have said that he never did foretell em For 't is absurd to suppose that either Judas wou'd ever have betray'd or Peter have deny'd him had they been forewarn'd and appriz'd of his Prediction But since I have already overthrown the Principles on which his Discourse is founded the Conclusion which he draws viz. We mustn't imagine that these Things came to pass because he foretold 'em must fall to the Ground of Course We say the Events happen'd as Things in their own Nature possible and since they came to pass we see the Predictions verify'd For the Truth or Falshood of Prophecies is best known by the Event Therefore what he says viz. That they didn't come e're the more to pass because he foretold 'em but we must rather infer from what I have said that he did never foretell em For 't is absurd to suppose that either Judas wou'd ever have betray'd or Peter have deny'd him had they been forewarn'd and appriz'd of his Prediction This I say is most apparently false and his Inferences are not just Then he says that If our Saviour was GOD and really foretold these Things as You are apt to imagine they must necessarily come to pass so that a God is suppos'd to force his Disciples to be wicked with whom he seemingly express'd so endearing a Familiarity when on the contrary he of all Persons shou'd have been highly serviceable to all Mankind and especially to
was the Resurrection of the two Children before-mention'd a great and diffusive Blessing to Mankind as we know the Resnrrection of our Saviour was when the Power of God did so eminently accompany the Preaching of the Gospel and caus'd it to make so deep and lasting an Impression upon the Minds of so many of his Hearers who at first were strangely prejudic'd against him CHAP. XXXI THE pretended Jew goes on and is ready to split his Sides with Laughing at the Earth-quake and ridicules the more than ordinary Darkness that were the AWFVL CONCOMITANTS of our Saviour's Sufferings But this I have already answer'd according to my weak Ability and produc'd the Testimony of Phlegon who acknowledges that these wonderful Events did really happen at the Time of our Saviour's Passion Then the Jew has the following Words You say that he rose from the dead tho' he was far from being able to secure his Person while he remain'd on Earth and shew'd upon his Body all the Marks of his Crucifixion and the very Print of the Nails with which his Hands and Feet were pierc'd But what dos this Gentleman mean by saying He wa'n't able to secure his Person If he means that our Blessed Saviour wa'nt able to secure himself from the common Contagion of Vice and Immorality what he says is absolutely and manifestly false For he never spoke a Word or did an Action that was in the least indecent or unworthy of an INCARNATE GOD. He was led as a Sheep to the Mat. 27 V. 2 Slaughter and as a Laneb before her Shearers was dumb so he open'd not his Mouth Viz. By way of Complaint or Uneasiness as St. Mathew acquaints us But if Celsus means that he didn't exert his Power to secure himself from the outward Calamities to which he was expos'd which morally consider'd were neither Good nor Evil I have prov'd already from the Gospels that he submitted to 'em with the greatest Readiness imaginable and shew'd the Reasons which justify'd his Conduct Then the pretended Jew having spoke of our Saviour's shewing all the Marks of his Crucifixion and the very Print of his Nails says There was no Witness of the Truth of this strange Account but one Fanatical Woman designing to ridicule Mary Magdalen who saw him after he was ris'n from the dead as we are told in the Gospels and because we are inform'd that he was seen by others he thought fit to add the following Words And perhaps some Body else of the same wretched Cabal Then he plainly discovers that he is one of those who admire the Epicurean Hypothesis when he endeavours to shew how a lively Idea of a deceas'd Person may be form'd in the warm Imagination in the following Words Who was deluded by her own idle Whimsies or too easily believ'd what she wou'd have to be true as we know it frequently happens There 's a great Deal of Force if we must give any heed to his idle Whimsies in this scurrilous Language But ev'n from hence we may be furnish'd with an Argument to prove the IMMORTAL SVBSISTENCE of HVMANE SOVLS when they are separated from their Bodies and the unavoidable Consequence of what he here asserts amounts to this at least that it survives the Body For if as Plato observes in his Dialogues about the HVMANE SOVL there are certain Images of dead Persons that are seen near their Tombs then they must be owing to some Cause or other And no Cause can be so rationally assign'd as the Soul of the deceas'd Person that assumes a Body which is adapted to it But Celsus who advances the fore-mention'd Notion wou'd make People dream while they are thoroughly awake and have their Sences about 'em and says They too easily believe what they wou'd have to be true Such Dreams indeed as he talks of are common when the Bodily Sences are lock'd up by Sleep but I think we can't easily account for 'em when Persons are awake unless they be troubl'd with Melancholy or fall'n into a Fit of the Frenzy Celsus it seems wa'n't ignorant of this and that made him call Mary Magdalen a Fanatick tho' the Scripture-History says nothing like it and our Saviour's Appearing after he was ris'n from the dead and showing all the Marks that were made in his Crucify'd Body must according to Celsus be solv'd by the Doctrine of the Images of deceas'd Persons but according to the Scripture-Account which he 's so cunning as to use when he thinks that it serves his purpose the Matter of Fact stood thus Our Saviour call'd one of his Disciples to him who cou'dn't for his Life believe that he was ris'n from the dead with the same Body I say with the same Body For the Appearance of Humane Souls after Death don't seem to be the least Matter of his Doubt Therefore 't is remarkable that he dos'n't say Except I see him but Except John 20. V. 25 I shall see in his Hands the Print of the Nails and put my Finger into the Print of the Nails and thrust my Hand into his Sides I will not believe He didn't question but that the Soul of a deceas'd Person might animate a Body which wou'd be visible to the corporeal Eye and bear a Resemblance to that from which 't was separated by Death not only with respect to the Eyes and Voice and Mien but also Sometimes appear in a like Habit cloath'd Hom. Il. Book 23 V. 67. Therefore our Saviour call'd Thomas to him and said Reach hither thy Finger and behold my Hands and reach John 20 V. 27. hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side and be not faithless but believing And by the Way 't was agreable to the many Prophecies which we meet with concerning him the many evident Miracles he wrought and unusual Accidents that befell him that he shou'd rise from the Dead and that this considerable Circumstance shou'd as it were crown and compleat the rest The Prophetical Psalmist speaking in the Person of our Saviour has this Prophecy relating to him My Flesh also shall rest in Hope for thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor Psalm 16 V. 9. suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption And the Body with which our Saviour rose from the Dead did neither consist of such gross Matter as it consisted of before nor of such subtil Matter as that with which separate Souls are cloath'd when an Apparition appears Therefore St. John has the following Words His Disciples were within and Thomas with em Then came Jesus the Doors being shut and stood in the Midst and said Peace be unto you And he adds these Words Then says he to Thomas reach hither thy Finger St. Luke tells us that When Simon and Cleopas were talking of the Things Luke 24 V. 14. that had happen'd to him Jesus himself drew near and went with em But their Eyes were holden that they shou'd not know him And he said to 'em What Manner of Communications are these that ye
have with one another as ye walk And in the same Chapter he has these Words And their Eyes were open'd and they knew him and V. 35 he vanish'd out of their Sight And tho' Celsus compares this Account which the Gospels give us of the Appearance which our Saviour made after he was ris'n from the Dead to common Stories of wonderful Apparitions and laughs at those who were Eye-Witnesses of the Fact yet they who impartially examine into Matters and are furnish'd with a Capacity to make nice Enquiries will be forc'd to acknowledge there was something in the Case before us that was very remarkable and surprizing CHAP. XXXII THEN Celsus offers an Objection which do's a little deserve to be consider'd by us If Christ had a Mind says he to exert the Divine Power which he pretended to have certainly he ought to have appear'd to his Enemies to the Judge who pass'd the Sentence of Death upon him and to the whole Body of the People who rose up as it were in Arms against him And indeed we don't go about to deny that the Scripture plainly acquaints us that after he was ris'n from the dead he refus'd to appear so publickly and to all Persons promiscuously as he did before He was seen of the Apostles forty Days and spoke Acts 1 V. 3. of Things pertaining to the Kingdom of God as we learn from the Acts of the Apostles And we read in the Gospels that he wa'n't continually with 'em but sometimes after the Interval of eight Days appear'd in the midst of 'em when the Doors were shut and at other Opportunities appear'd to 'em in a very different Manner And St. Paul intimating to us that he did't so frequently appear then as he had done before has the following Words I deliver'd unto you first of all that which I also receiv'd how that 1 Cor. 15. V. 3 c. Christ dy'd for our Sins according to the Scriptures And that he was bury'd and that he rose again the third Day according to the Scriptures And that he was seen of Cephas then of the Twelve After that he was seen of above five hundred Brethren at once of whom the greater Part remain unto this present but some are fall'n asleep After that he was seen of James then of all the Apostles And last of all he was seen of me also as one born out of due Time Here a very difficult Question do's occur that requires the closest Application and that not of ordinary Christians but of those who have attain'd to the greatest Eminency in the School of Christ viz. Why our Saviour refus'd to expose himself to publick View after his Resurrection as he had done before There 's no need I think in a Book of this Nature the main Design of which is to defend the Christian Religion against the bold Attempts of its malicious Adversaries to give a full or large Solution of so Critical a Point But I shall offer a few Thoughts at present which I hope will give the Reader some small Satisfaction in this difficult Affair Tho' our SAVIOVR was but ONE with respect to HIS PERSON yet there were SEVERAL NOTIONS under which Mankind did consider him and different Persons saw him in very different Sences That there were several Capacities in which Mankind did consider him is plain from such Expressions as these I am the Way the Truth and John 14 V. 6. the Life I am the Bread I am the Door and many other Expressions John 6 V. 35. that I cou'd easily name if Occasion John 10 V. 9. offer'd That different Persons saw him in very different Sences will readily be granted by those who can assign the Reason why he didn't take all the Disciples with him into the Mount of Transfiguration but only Peter James and John viz Because they alone cou'd bear the Brightness of so glorious a Sight behold the dazling Lustre of Moses and Elias and hear the Voice that came from Heaven and the Charming Conversation which those two Celebrated Prophets had the Honour and Happiness to maintain with the Blessed Jesus I 'm of the Opinion I confess that before he went up to the Mountain Mat. 5 V 1. and instructed his Disciples concerning the Beatitudes he didn't appear to those who were brought to him in the Evening at the Foot of the Mountain and were cur'd of their Distempers I say he didn't appear to those who were indispos'd and stood in need of his healing Power in the same Manner as he did to them who enjoy'd a confirm'd State of Health and were able to go up with him to the Mountain And as he privately explain'd the Meaning of his Parables to his Disciples whose Sense of Hearing was much quicker than that of the Common People to whose Ears there was nothing convey'd too often but an empty Sound So I believe there was some considerable Difference in their spiritual and ev'n their corporeal Sight 'T is farther plain that our Saviour wa'n't seen by all Persons after the same manner from the Instance of Judas who being about to betray him said to his Accomplices He whom I shall kiss is he intimating Mat 26. V. 48. they didn't know him And that Expression of our Saviour I sat daily with you teaching in the Temple and ye laid no hold on me do's manifestly favour the Opinion which I have here laid down Since therefore we have such Apprehensions of our Saviour not only with respect to his Divinity which was more latent and undiscern'd by the Generality of Men but also with respect to his Humane Body the Form of which I believe he chang'd when ever he thought fit to do it We think that before his Death by which he spoil'd Principalities and Powers he was in some Sense discernable by all but afterwards ev'n many of those who had formerly seen him had not Sences that were adapted to the Sight of a ris'n Jesus 'T was therefore an Instance of his Condescension to the Weakness of Men's Capacities that he didn't expose himself to Publick View after he was ris'n from the dead to Publick View did I say when twa'n't without frequent Intervals that he appear'd ev'n to his Apostles and Disciples For after he had honourably and happily accomplish'd the Work of our Redemption we have Reason to believe that his Divinity shone with much brighter Rays thro' the Glass if I may so say of his Humane Nature Cephas who was as it were the First-Fruits of the Apostles was the first that saw him then the Twelve Matthias being chosen in the Room of Judas then five Hundred Brethren at once then James then perhaps all the Seventy Disciples and at last the Apostle Paul as one born out of due Time who knew very well why he us'd the following Expression in his Epistle to the Ephesians Vnto me who am less than the least of Eph. 3. V 8 all Saints is this Grace giv'n And perhaps those Words Less than the least