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
recommended be impracticable partly by Reason of Men's natural Incapacities who for the most Part are very unfit to apply their Minds to Learning and partly by Reason of the necessary and unavoidable Cares which attend Humane Life what better Way cou'd any one have contriv'd and tak'n more suited to the Genius and outward Circumstances of the common People than that which our Blessed Saviour took for the Conversion of a degenerate World And as for the vast Numbers of Persons who have left those horrid Debaucheries in which they formerly wallow'd and have profess'd to embrace the Christian Religion I ask which of the two Methods conduces most to their Advantage and has the most natural and remarkable Tendency to the general Benefit of the Humane Race to reform their Manners from a Sense of those most grievous Torments which the just God will be as it were constrain'd to inflict upon the wicked and of that bright and massy Crown which waits for the Righteous and which they will receive when this frail and short Life is ended tho' they don't stand to examine the Grounds on which their Faith is built according to the strict Rules of Art or to defer their Conversion 'till they have a fair Opportunity and Capacity to apply themselves to rational and learned Studies For Experience may convince us that very few in a comparative Sence will advance ev'n so far as this and reap the Benefit of yielding a naked but well-grounded Assent to the Truths of the Christian Religion but instead of that the greatest Part of Mankind are fully bent upon a vicious Course of Life CHAP. XI THE Love of God therefore in sending his Son into the World do's very plainly appear in accommodating Matters to the Circumstances of Humane Life that so the Gospel might be of more general Advantage to the World and this is none of the least Powerful Arguments to prove that our Blessed Saviour had a Divine Commission For if a Man who has any Manner of Religion will readily acknowledge that a Physitian who recovers sick Persons is sent from God tho' the Cure do's extend no farther than the Bodies of his Patients much more must we ackowledge that our Saviour was indeed sent by the Father who has recover'd so many Thousands of Persons from spiritual and more dangerous Distempers has improv'd the Faculties of their Minds and prevail'd with 'em to depend upon the Will and Providence of God to refer all their Actions to the pleasing of him and to use their utmost Care lest they incur his just and severe Displeasure by Thought Word or Deed and since our Adversaries are continually making such a Stir about our taking Things on Trust I answer that we who see plainly and have found the vast Advantage that the common Sort of People do manifestly and frequently reap thereby who make up by far the greater Number I say We who are so well advis'd of these Things do professedly teach them to believe without a severe Examination who can't neglect their worldly Business and spare Time enough to make long and exact Enquiries into the Grounds of our Holy Religion And our Enemies themselves tho' they wo'n't confess it do the very same Thing by which we incur their Censure For when any one of them do's first devote his Time and Strength to the Study of Philosophy and either by some unexpected Accident or the Tutor who is first recommended to his Choice is determin'd to fall in with a particular Sect don't he take it for granted that he has pitch'd on the most happy Method For he do'sn't stay 'till he has heard and weigh'd the Arguments that may be brought for one Sect and against another and so at last choose to be a Stoick Platonick Peripatetick or Epicurean Philosopher or the like For 't is by a certain Impulse in which Reason is little or not at all concern'd that the Preference is frequently given to the Stoick Philosophy for Instance and the Platonick is despis'd as being less sublime than the rest and the Peripatetick as giving too great an Indulgence to humane Frailty and representing more than any other Sect those Things to be truly good which are generally but very unjustly reputed to be so And there are some who being as it were thunder-struck at the very mention of an over-ruling Providence by reason of its unequal Distribution of its Favours as they imagine do rashly deny that there is any such Thing and fondly embrace the corrupt and wild Notions of Epicurus If therefore according to the Dictates of Reason we must joyn our to some Sect of Philosophers or other either among the Greeks or Barbarians without weighing all the Arguments which may be brought on either Side how much more just and reasonable is it that we shou'd believe him who is GOD over all and our Blessed Saviour who teaches that this God alone is to be worshipp'd and that we shou'd raise our Minds above those Things which can hardly be said to have a true Existence or at best are very improper Objects of Divine Adoration 'T is true that only one who makes Use of Reason and severe Study in examining the Principles he holds is capable of building his Faith on rational Demonstration But since we are forc'd to take many Things on Trust ev'n in the most common and necessary Affairs of Humane Life is it not highly agreeable to the Dictates of solid Reason that we shou'd immediately and firmly believe in God and in him alone Who is there that goes by Sea marries performs the Conjugal Act or sows his Ground that will not hope the best tho' nothing is more common than to meet with frequent and great Disappointments And if in our ordinary and daily Concerns we overlook the uncertain Events of Things and are encourag'd by the pleasing Prospect which our Faith and Hope do already give us how much more Reason is there for one who puts his Trust in God to expect the desir'd Success of any important Action than there is for one who goes by Sea or is employ'd in any worldly Affair I say how much more Reason is there for such a One to place his entire Confidence in God the glorious Creator of the spacious Universe and in our Blessed Saviour who in his infinite Wisdom thought it fit to recommend his excellent Doctrine to the whole habitable World by suffering for Mankind not only cruel Persecutions but also a Death which in some Sence was highly ignominious and by his own most Heroick Example at once taught and encourag'd the first Publishers of the Gospel boldly to encounter the greatest Difficulties and the most apparent Dangers if they might but be honourably and happily instrumental to save precious and immortal Souls CHAP. XII THEN Celsus says If they will return a solid Answer to some pertinent Questions which I shall fairly propose to 'em not as if I were unacquainted with the Opinions which they hold but
Conquest And I scarce know whether the Greeks can produce any Instances of this kind in any other Persons besides Phaedon and Polemon or at best they can name but very few Persons who ever left their Intemperance and Debauchery to apply their Minds to the entertaining and useful Study of Philosophy But in the School of Christ besides the twelve Apostles who had the Honour to be contemporary with him we see daily a far greater Number of Persons that become virtuous and pious and join in a Blessed Chorus acknowledging with the deepest shame and Sorrow the many false and almost fatal Steps which formerly they took We our says the Apostle were sometimes Tit. iii. V. 3 4. foolish and disobedient deceiv'd serving diverse Lusts and Pleasures living in Malice and Envy hateful and hating one another But after that the Kindness and Love of God our Saviour toward Man appear'd not by Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he sav'd us by the Washing of Regeneration and the Renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly For as the Prophetical Psalmist speaks He sent his Word and heal'd 'em and deliver'd 'em Psal cvii. V. 20. from their Destructions I might add that Chrysippus in a Book which he has writ Entitul'd The Art of Curing the Disorders of the Humane Passions endeavours to lay down proper and effectual Rules for the Management of those which disturb the Peace of the Mind and to that end he argues upon the Principles of several Sects of Philosophers not examining which of 'em are most agreeable to Truth and has the following Words If says he Pleasure be esteem'd the chief Good the Passions may and ought thus to be cur'd and if there be three Kinds of Good they are to be cur'd after this different Manner Now they who find Fault with the Christian Religion do wilfully Neglect to consider how many unruly Passions are successfully govern'd by it what a Stop it puts to that rapid Torrent of Vice and Immorality which is too visible in the World and what extravagant savage and ev'n Diabolical Tempers it has frequently happily and very suddenly conquer'd Certainly it ought to raise their Admiration and constrain 'em to make the most thankful Acknowledgements to Almighty God to consider what vast and apparent Advantage the Publick reaps from those proper and most excellent Methods which our Saviour took for the Reformation of Manners and one wou'd think that if they won't allow Christianity to be the True Religion yet they must confess that it conduces very much to the true Interest of Manking and which is more has an Immediate and Principal Regard to their better and immortal Part. CHAP. LIV. AND our Saviour has so effectually consulted ev'n the Temporal Advantage of his Followers that he wou'dn't have 'em to be rash and precipitate but gives 'em this necessary Lesson When they persecute you in one City flee unto another and teaches 'em by his own Example not to run into needless Dangers Celsus takes Occasion ev'n from hence to form an Accusation against him in the Person of a Jew in the following Words You run up and down with your Disciples But as for the Charge which is here brought against our Blessed Saviour we meet with a Parallel Case ev'n in the Histories which the Greeks have publish'd For Aristotle that Famous Philosopher when he saw he shou'd be condemn'd as a wicked Person by reason of some peculiar and in some Sence dangerous Notions he advanc'd which as the Athenians thought did give too great Encouragement to Licentiousness took an Opportunity to go from Athens and remov'd his School to Chalcis making the following Apology to some of his Acquaintance Let us leave Athens says he that we mayn't suffer it to be in the Power of the Athenians to re-act that horrid Impiety which they plainly discover'd by their ill Treatment of so great a Genius as the World knows Socrates to have been and to commit a most grievous Offence against so sacred a Thing as Philosophy CHAP. LV. CELSVS adds That our Saviour running up and down with his Disciples was forc'd to beg his Bread like a sordid Wretch But pray let him inform us where he has rak'd up all these scurrilous Expressions I confess we read in the Gospels that certain Women that were cur'd of their Infirmities among which was Susannah did readily distribute some Part of their Substance to furnish the Disciples with what was necessary for the Support of Life But pray what Philosopher who employs his Time and Strength with some Regard to the Benefit of his Relations and Friends and indeed of Mankind in general wou'd refuse to have his Wants supply'd Or did it become the Philosophers to accept the seasonable and generous Assistance of their Friends and others but argue a base and sordid Spirit in our Blessed Lord or those who became his Followers CHAP. LVI THEN the Jew whom Celsus personates continues his Discourse with our Saviour in the following Words What Necessity was there that when you were an Infant you shou'd be carry'd into Egypt to avoid being kill'd For surely it didn't become a God to be afraid of Death An Angel it seems was dispatch'd from Heav'n to bid You and some of your nearest Relations betake your to Flight lest you shou'd be found and be put to Death But cou'dn't Almighty God who as we are told did imploy his Angels for your Direction and Assistance preserve his Son as easily in Judea as in Egypt Celsus thinks that there was nothing extraordinary in the Humane Body and Soul of our Blessed Saviour and ridiculing his precious Blood that was shed upon the Cross he says 't was not Such Blood as from the Immortal Gods do's Hom Il. Lib. 5. V. 34â— flow But we who give Credit to our Saviour when he gives a Testimony of his Divinity in the following Words I am the Way the Truth and the Life John xiv V. 6. and in other Parallel Places and when he bears Witness to the Truth of his Humanity in the following Expression Now ye seek to kill me a Man who has told you the Truth I say we who believe John viii V. 40. our Saviour when he speaks thus of himself do assert and maintain that he had Two Natures the one Divine and the other Humane and that since he came into the World with an Intention to live in some respects like the rest of Men 't was highly incongruous that he shou'd run upon a Precipice and be fond of Misery and Death 'T was fit he shou'd be directed and govern'd by them to whom the Care of his Education did belong and that the Angel's Orders shou'd be strictly and religiously observ'd and the same Angel which said at first Joseph thou Son of David fear not to Mat. i. V. 20. take unto thee Mary thy Wife for that which is conceiv'd in her is of the Holy Ghost said
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
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
enter upon a virtuous Course of Life did deserve so scornful a Title as that which the Jew bestows upon our Holy Religion Celsus adds with equal Inadvertency No one says he but a Mad Man wou'd take your Saviour to be God or the Son of God who instead of carrying the aweful Stamp of Divinity bore all the Marks of Infamy and Disgrace and especially since this Doctrine is entirely built on some forc'd and ev'n ridiculous Interpretations of Scripture But he ought to produce some Instances of these forc'd Interpretations which he talks of and these Marks of Infamy as he thinks which do so much disgust him and let us see what it is that he has to offer against us that so the Christians might return him a satisfactory or at least a sufficient Answer if they thought the Matter did require it He says That as the Sun enlightning every Thing by its piercing Rays do's immediately discover it self to us by the glorious Light which it transmits over the whole Sphere by turns So your pretended Saviour had he been God or the Son of God wou'd have resembl'd that glorious Luminary This we say believe know and can prove he did For when he came into the World or which is the same Thing when the Sun of Righteousness did but begin to shine and its dazling Rays were intercepted by a dark and sullen Cloud Justice seem'd to regain its native Seat the Neighing of Horses the Clangor of Trumpets the Clashing of Arms and the piercing Groans of Sick and Wounded Persons were heard no more but a wonderful and happy Calm succeeded the late dismal Confusions The All-wise GOD so order'd Matters that he prepar'd the Way for the Success of the Gospel by subjecting entire Nations to the Roman Empire that so our Saviour's Apostles might not be hinder'd as otherwise they might have been in observing the Orders which their Blessed Lord had giv'n 'em to teach all Nations For how wou'd this have been practicable I wo'n't say easy to be done if People of different Countries had liv'd under Princes of their own had wanted a mutual and fair Correspondence and had not liv'd under the Jurisdiction of the Roman Emperors 'T is very well known that our Saviour was born in the Reign of the Emperor Augustus who brought the greatest Part of the World under the Roman Yoak and made Mankind almost as it were one Body Politick This manifestly and greatly conduc'd to the Spreading of the Gospel not only as it laid a Foundation for a Freedom of Commerce but also as it happily prevented those dreadful Wars which we have Reason to believe wou'd unavoidably have happen'd if all the Nations of the Earth hadn't been united under one common Empire For before the Reign of Augustus the Athenians wag'd War with the Peloponnesians and many Parallel Instances if it were needful might easily be produc'd from History And the strict and most peaceful Religion which the Christians embrace wou'd never in all Probability have been establish'd in the World as Blessed be God it is if our Saviour hadn't been seasonably born in a Time of profound and universal Tranquility Then Celsus says That the Christians are guilty of wretched Sophistry when they have the Confidence to say that he whom they affirm to be the Son of God was the VERY ETERNAL WORD And he thinks this is unanswerable Because says he instead of that Pure and Holy Word which we exspected they wou'd give us an Account of they only tell us of a miserable Man and scandalous Wretch that ended his Days upon a Cross which was certainly the most shameful as well as painful Death that he cou'd possibly have sufr'd But this Objection has been already answer'd and I have plainly shew'd that The First-born of every Creature was pleas'd to assume a Human Body and Soul that at the Creation of the World God gave a positive and strict Command and the Person who was concern'd in its honourable and speedy Execution was no other than the LIVING and CO-ETERNAL WORD And since my Business at present is to talk to a pretended Jew I shall quote a Passage out of the Old Testament viz. He sent HIS WORD Psal 107 V. 20. and heal'd 'em and deliver'd 'em from their Destructions What Celsus adds in the Person of a Jew That if this was the Word that was the Son of God we heartily agree with you is more than I ever heard any Jew acknowledge tho' I have frequently convers'd and disputed with their most Celebrated Doctors I have already prov'd that our Blessed Saviour was no Magician nor Vile Impostor and I don't think fit to imitate Celsus in his frequent and ridiculous Tautologies CHAP. XXI LET us see now what he has to say against the Account we have of the GENEALOGY of our SAVIOVR Here one wou'd think he might seasonably have mention'd the Disputes that the Christians themselves have often had by reason of the seeming Disagreement that there is between the several Evangelists in this important Affair But with all his profound Knowledge of the Mysteries of our Holy Religion he hadn'd so much Policy it seems as that wou'd amount to He says This Genealogy which it seems is orderly trac'd up to the reputed Parent of Mankind and according to which your pretended Saviour was of the Honourable Line of the Jewish Kings was a fine Invention to procure him greater Kindness and Respect from those weak Persons who wou'd be so credulous as to take any Notice of him And says he 't is a little odd indeed but the Christians can swallow any Thing that the Carpenter 's Wife was descended from so Noble a Race and which is more unaccountable that she her self shou'd know nothing of the Matter But pray what 's this to the Affair in Hand Suppose she was ignorant that she came from a Noble Family what I beseech you can you infer from thence to the Prejudice of Christianity Might it not be true that she was remotely descended from the common Parents of Mankind and more immediately from the Kings of Judah whether she knew it or no And perhaps Celsus thinks that all the Ancestors of a Person who is oppress'd with Poverty must of Course resemble him in Condition and that all the Ancestors of a King did infallibly attain to Royal Dignity But 't wou'd be Loss of Time to return an Answer to such ridiculous Discourse as this For the Age in which our Lot is cast will furnish us with innumerable Instances of Persons who came of a Rich and Noble Family and yet by some unhappy Accident or other were soon reduc'd to a much meaner Condition than that of the Virgin Mary the Mother of our BLESSED LORD and on the contrary they whose Outward Circumstances were formerly very inconsiderable have been advanc'd by some Sudden and Remarkable Turn of Providence to the Highest Pitch of External Grandeur CHAP. XXII THEN he asks in his Cavilling Way Pray what did your
might suspect that out of wicked Policy I passed by his Objections being conscious to my self that I was utterly incapable of returning a satisfactory or ev'n tolerable Answer Then says he Pray isn't it the most absurd Thing in the World to suppose that he who when he was alive and us'd all the little Arts he had cou'd gain no Followers in comparison or at least none of any Sense or Rank shou'd after his Death by the Ministry of his Apostles so strangely influence a considerable Part of Mankind as they are represented by some to do But according to the Rules of strict Reasoning which he pretends to be so great a Master of he shou'd have argu'd thus if after his Death he furnish'd his Ambassadors with all necessary Abilities to work upon the Minds of Men and did actually and so wonderfully move all the secret Springs of the Humane Soul then there 's no Question to be made but that when he was on Earth in Person he made deep Impressions on the Minds ev'n of the greatest Barbarians partly by his powerful Preaching and partly by his uncontested Miracles CHAP. XXVIII BY and By he asks Pray what Reason have you to believe he was the Son of God And personating one of us returns this Answer in his usual way of Banter Because we know says he that he laid down his Life to destroy the Works of the Devil But the Faith of Christians in an Affair of this Nature and Importance is built I can assure him on no single Argument how perswasive soever it may be but the concurring and clear Evidence of several Motives a few of which I have already mention'd And I shall have Occasion perhaps to make Mention of some other Arguments on this Head not only in my Answer to Celsus's Book entituled A TRUE RELATION but also in some other Treatises if GOD shall be pleas'd to afford me that Measure of the Assistance of his Spirit that will be necessary to accomplish my Design Then as if we were so weak as to believe that our Saviour's bare Suffering on the Cross was sufficient to prove He was the Son of God He says What if he did really suffer can't we instance in many others that suffer'd as well and as much as he But Celsus in this Matter acts the Part of one of the most unfair Enemies which the Christian Religion has who when they read the History of the Crucifixion of our Saviour immediately imagine that we FONDLY CANONIZE all Persons who were ever so unfortunate as to hang upon a Cross This any one may see is the common Practice of the Adversary I have to do with who being utterly unable to resist the clear Evidence which the Miracles of our Blessed Saviour do carry in 'em of the Truth of our Holy Religion has the Face to misrepresent 'em to the World as done by meer Legerdemain or rather by the Assistance of the Devil But this Pityful and Vile Cavil has been so frequently answer'd according to my slender Ability that really it quite tires my Patience to repeat Things so often as I see I must Then Celsus makes us say That our Saviour was the SON OF GOD because he cur'd the lame and blind and rais'd a few from the dead as we Poor Creatures that we are are ready to imagine But that in Spite of all that he can say this Consideration of it self is a solid Argument to prove he was the SON OF GOD is plain from that Famous Prophecy in Isaiah Then the Eyes of the Blind shall be open'd and the Ears of the deaf shall Isa 35 V. â— be unstopp'd Then shall the lame Man leap as an Hart. And 't is highly improbable to say no more that the Evangelists shou'd forge the Account they give us of some rais'd from the dead because had they been giv'n to inventing Fictions meerly to serve a Turn they wou'd have giv'n us more frequent Instances of that Nature than we meet with and of the Resurrection of those who had been longer dead than those of whom we read in the Gospels But their giving so few Instances of Persons restor'd to Life seems to me to be as plain a Proof as can be that the Evangelists whatever Celsus may say were Men of HONEST PRINCIPLES and the farthest of all Men in the World except our Blessed Saviour from being Persons of INTRIEGVE They instance only in the Daughter of the Ruler of the Synagogue whose Case seems foreign to the Purpose for our Saviour says of her She is not dead but sleeps in the only Son of a Widow whom our Saviour recover'd out of tender Compassion to his disconsolate Mother ordering the Coffin to be stop'd And Lastly in Lazarus who had continu'd some Days in the Grave as the Evangelist acquaints us and I wou'd offer the following Consideration to the most judicious of our Adversaries and at this Time more immediately to the Jew whom Celsus personates viz. That as in Elisha's Time there were many Lepers but none of 'em were cur'd that we read of except Naaman the Syrian and many Widows in the Days of the Prophet Elijah but he was only sent to the Widow of Sarepta in the Country of Sidon for she alone was thought worthy of the Miracle he wrought so many Persons dy'd when our Saviour was on Earth but he only rais'd those from the dead who in some Sence had QVALIFY'D THEMSELVES for so SPECIAL A FAVOVR And this I am apt to think he did to typifie something future and give Mankind convincing Proofs of the Truth and Excellency of that Doctrine which he introduc'd into the World And I may safely say that according to the Promise he had made his Disciples did far stranger Things than those which he himself exhibited to the outward Senses of them who were the happy Spectators of his Miracles For the Eyes of the spiritually blind were frequently open'd by 'em the Ears of those who once were deaf to all the awakening Precepts of Virtue and Religion were unstopp'd that so they might receive the Word of God and the Promise of Eternal Life and many who were spiritually lame were cur'd by the Gospel insomuch that they don't only leap but ev'n leap as a Stag which Animal as Naturalists observe is an Enemy to Serpents and happily expels their Poison They deriv'd such a healing Virtue from their Heav'nly Physician that they cou'd immediately tread on those Serpents and Scorpions by which they were once most sadly crippl'd without incurring the least seeming Danger Nay they were effectually steel'd if I may so say against the strong and too often fatal Impressions which Vice and Immorality are apt to make upon the Minds of Men and in a great Measure fortify'd against the malicious and vigorous Attempts of United Daemons CHAP. XXIX WHEN our Saviour admonish'd his Disciples to avoid those designing Wretches who confidently affirm'd they were the TRVE MESSIAH and endeavour'd by their cursed Enchantments to draw
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