c. 7. in Ceylon the Noya will stand with half his Body upright for two or three hours together (q) See Mr. Mede lib. 1. Disâ—â— xli These may be for Monuments of the Truth of the Curse upon the rest as some of the Race of the Giants were left in the Land of Canaan till David's time as a Memorial to the Israelites of the Miraculous Power of God in the Conquest of the Land by their Forefathers The Curse of the Ground was for a Punishment to Adam and his Posterity and can be considered no otherwise nor be made matter of Objection unless it be thought unreasonable to inflict a Curse upon Mankind for this Offence of eating the Forbidden Fruit by making the Earth less fruitful and pleasant to them Tho' the Garden of Eden were the most delightful and happy Part of the Earth yet the whole Earth before the Fall was very different from what it has been since For if it had continued as it was the Curse and Punishment upon Mankind could not have been effected in that manner in which it was determined 2. Our First Parents were turned out of Paradise and not suffered to taste of the Tree of Life They had been charged not to eat of the Fruit in the midst of the Garden and Threatned with Death that is that they should become Mortal and be sure to die if they would presume to eat of it To be subject to Misery both in Body and Mind so that the Body should decay and at last be dissolved and the Soul which could not Perish should be miserable after its separation from the Body was the Original Notion of Death and our First Parents who had never feen what Natural dying was understood Death no otherwise than as a Privation of Happiness and consequently a State of Misery both in this Life and the next The first was unavoidable the latter to be avoided by Repentance and a future Obedience thro' Faith in God's Mercy for Christ's sake They were hindred from tasting of that Tree which was to have been the Means and Instrument of Immortality to them For God who has given a Medicinal Vertue and a Power of Nourishment to other Fruits and Herbs might convey a Power and Influence into this Tree of rendring Men Immortal by preventing the decays of Nature and Nourishing or Strengthning them to an endless Life How this should have been we are now no more able to know than to become immortal here upon Earth But this was God's Decree that Immortality should be annext to the tasting of that Tree and therefore our First Parents when they had incurred the Penalty of Death were not suffered to taste of it but were forced out of Paradise and it was just that they should be hindred from enjoying any longer the Delights of Paradise for the Transgression of a Commandment which wantonness only and a vain and criminal Curiosity could make them disobey We are able to give little more Account how the Food we now eat can nourish and sustain us from time to time for Threescore and Ten or Fourscore Years than how the Fruit of the Tree of Life should have been a preservative to keep Men alive for ever only this we have the Experience of and so fancy we can tell how it comes to pass but that is strange to us and what is strange Men wonder at and will hardly believe it But since God has endued our ordinary Food with a power of Nourishment no man can reasonably doubt but that he might endue this Fruit with such a Vertue that it should have made men immortal to Taste of it and have prevented that decay of Nature which now still creeps upon us in the use of other Food We may well suppose that if they had once tasted of this Fruit they should have suffered no Decay but have lived in constant Vigour here tho' partaking afterwards only of other Nourishment till they had been translated to Heaven Or it might be design'd not as a Physical but a Sacramental Cause of Immortality that is as a Sign and Pledge of Immortality God having decreed that upon the Tasting of this Fruit Adam and his Posterity should have been immortal But the Forbidden Fruit being of a most delicious Taste as well as pleasant to the Eyes and containing a very fermenting Juice might put the Blood and Spirits into great Disorder and thereby divest the Soul of that Power and Dominion which it had before over the Body and by a closer and more intimate Union with Matter might reduce it to that miserable Condition which has been propagated and derived down to Posterity with the Humane Nature from our First Parents as some Poysons now strangely affect the Nerves and Spirits without causing immediate Death but make such Alterations in the Body as are never to be cured And it could not be fitting that Man should become immortal in this Condition or that the Threatning of God however should not take place From what has been hitherto said upon this Subject I hope it is evident that there can be no necessity of running to Allegorical Interpretations to explain the Fall of our First Parents And indeed all the Reason that can be given why it is represented under an Allegory will rather prove the Litteral Sense For if the Simplicity and the Customs and Manner of Life in the Beginning of the World did require that the Fall of our First parents should be describ'd under an Allegory of this Nature for the very same Reasons we may suppose that the Fall was in this manner For what is it which makes it seem improbable but only its being disagreeable as some Men conceit to Reason But if it be absurd to suppose that such a thing should have been in the Beginning of the World why is it not as absurd that such a thing should be represented to those who liv'd at the beginning of the World as if it had been If this was then the most fitting and proper Representation of the Fall why was it not the most likely manner for it to happen by God's Dispensations are always fitted to the Capacities and Circumstances of those who are most concern'd in them and the Devil in his Temptations applies himself to the Circumstances of those whom he would seduce And it cannot be conceiv'd that the most remarkable Thing that ever has befaln Mankind except the Redemption of the World by Christ should so come to pass as not to be told to Posterity but in an Allegory For if the Litteral Truth had ever been known it was impossible it should be forgotten in so few Generations and that Moses should put an Allegory in the room of it Did the Children of Israel know the Historical Truth of the Fall or did they not know it If they did why should Moses disguise it under an Allegory rather than the rest of the Book of Genesis If they did not know it how could it be forgotten
in Sport Prov. xxvi 18 19. But what Description or Comparison can be found equal to his Madness who deceiveth and destroyeth himself and that Eternally and yet says Am not I in Sport Is not this the very perfection of Wit and Raillery Wo unto him that Striveth with his Maker Isai xlv 9. Do they provoke me to anger saith the Lord do they not provoke themseves to the Confusion of their own Faces Jer. vii 19. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord and that I have heard all thy Blasphemies Thus with your Mouth ye have boasted against me and have Multiplied your Words against me I have heard them Ezek. xxxv 12 13. Do we provoke the Lord to Jealousy are we stronger than he 1 Cor. x. 22. There shall come in the last days Scoffers walking after their own Lusts 2 Pet. iii. 3. But Beloved remember ye the Words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ how that they told you there should be Mockers in the last time who should Walk after their own ungodly Lusts Jude 17.18 If all that I have discoursed be insufficient to convince these Men yet let their own Arguments and even their own Blasphemies convince them for the very worst that they can say or do serves to fulfil the Prophecies and confirm the Authority of the Holy Scriptures FINIS ADDENDA The BOOK having been long ago fitted for the Press and out of the Author's Custody he could not insert the following Additions in their proper places CHAP. IV. p. 112. l. 3. after St. Mark and St. Luke add If either in the Epistle of St. Barnabas or St. Clement it be supposed that the Reasoning is not always just but is sometimes too Allegorical and sometimes founded upon Mistakes in Natural Philosophy yet it is certainly agreeable to the ways of Reasoning and the Philosophy of that Age so that nothing of this kind could then be any hindrance or prejudice to the Reception of these Epistles CHAP. X. p. 222. l. ult after Principles add And besides other Uses which may be found out hereafter one very considerable has been already made of the Satellites for the benefit of the World in rectifying Geography and determining the Longitude of Places Philos Burgund Tom. 5. c. 8. Disseâ—t 3 M. Cassini has drawn up Tables for this Purpose and Written a Treatise on the Subject And the Le Compte's Memoire p. 15. and 505. Missionaries by their Observations have discovered that the Empire of China is Five Hundred Leagues nearer Europe than Geographers have placed it CHAP. XI p. 226. l. 27. * after Opinion add The same Words which Joshua used is Translated to wait upon and wait for Ps LXII 1. LXV 1. So that all which can be Concluded from the Word is that the Sun attended he lengthned the Day and waited for the Victory or waited upon the Army of Israel CHAP. XIII p. 256. l. 24. after Christ's sake add A State of Damnation is a State of Death and the Soul which lies under the Divine Wrath is in that State tho' it be not irreversible during this Life So that the Death Threatned being Twofold viz. of the Soul and of the Body it was accordingly inflicted on both But it was not Threatned that this Death should be to the final Destruction either of Soul or Body but thro' the Redemption of Christ the Body might be recovered from the Death to which it became Subject to a Blessed and Glorious Resurrection and the Soul be restored from the Death into which it had faln to a State of Reconciliation and Favour with God CHAP. XV p. 325. l. 15. after in the New add Of the Assistance of Divine Grace we are Taught Deutr. XXX 6. Psalm XXV 4. XXVII 11. LI. 10 11 12. LXXXVI 11. CXIX 12 26 33 64 66 68. 108. 124. 135. CXLIII 10. Prov. 1.23 Isa XLIV 3. LIX 21 Jer. XXXI 8. XXXII 40. Ezek. XI 19. XXXVI 26 27. CHAP. XVI p. 338. l. 10. after Religion add The Soveraignty was in due time to be placed in the Tribe of Judah which was fulfilled in David's being advanced to the Kingdom and from that time the Scepter and the Lawgiver c. CHAP. XXII p. 391. l. 5. after expected add The Duration of the World is considered in the Scriptures with relation to Christ's coming and all the Time after his coming is stiled the last Days as in the Description of the Different States of Job's Life the space of an Hundred and Forty Years of it after his Sufferings is Stiled the latter end of his Life and all the precedent part is Termed the Beginning of it Job XLII 12 16. CHAP. XXVIII p. 486. l. after Prophet Jonas add Dr. Lightfoot in his Remains lately published has observed as the Reason why the Jews were so importunate for a Sign notwithstanding the many Miracles which our Saviour Wrought before them That their Traditions Taught them to expect these two Signs of the Messias when he came viz. that he should raise the Old Prophets and other Holy and famous Men from the Dead and that he should bring down Manna for them from Heaven In their Old Writings and Records he says they speak much of these Two things of their Expectation I am inclined to believe that these Traditions if they had been rightly understood were not so blind and foolish as that Learned Author Stiles them but had respect to the very Time and Occasion to which our Saviour refers the Jews when they required these Signs of him For at his Resurrection many Bodies of Saints which Slept arose Matt. xxvii 52. And speaking to them of the Manna or Bread which came down from Heaven he puts them in Mind of his Ascension What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before Joh. vi 62. Whereby he intimates that then would be the time of sending this Manna when upon his Ascension he would bestow the Gifts of the Holy Ghost The time was not yet come for these Miracles to be wrought they were not to be wrought at their Demand it was sufficient that they had Intimations given to expect them and in the mean time they ought to have been contented with others CHAP. XXX p. 519. l. 12. after he pleased add But it seems most of all strange that the excellent Emperour M. Antoninus who had so much of the Christian Morality both in the Speculation and in the Practice of it should not also be of the Christian Faich especially if he owned that a signal Miracle was by the Prayers of the Christians obtained for the deliverance of himself and his whole Army Apol. c. 5. ad Scap. c. 4. as Tertullian who could not be Ignorant of the Truth of it Declares But it should be considered that M. Anteninus was very superstitious in all the Heathen Worship and was so much addicted to the Philostr Vit. Sophist in Herod Hermag Aristid Adrian Sophists of his
a Fire from Hâ—aâ—en devoured others there was not a Man of all the Congregation but must be an Eye-witness to this Judgment and there could be no Deceit nor Mistake in a thing of this nature For Men may as well doubt whether those whom they see live are alive as whether those whom they see taken away by so terrible and so visible a death are dead and unless they can know this there can be no Knowledge nor Proof of any thing They saw the Earth first divide it self and then close it self again upon these wicked Men they saw them go down alive into the pit they heard the Cry of them and fled away â—oâ— fear and they saw besides a Fire from the Lord consume no fewer than Two hundred and fifty Men and these the Men that offer'd Incense in opposition to Aaron Princes of the assembly famous in the congregation men of renown whose death was very remarkable upon the account of their Persons as well as for the Manner of it So many Men of that Rank and Character being taken away at once was a thing that would have been much observed and strictly enquir'd into if they had fain by any other death but their dying in this manner was so wonderful and so plain a declaration of the Divine Justice that it could neither be unknown nor forgotten by any Man in the whole Congregation Yet their Discontents against Moses still continued for He and Aaron were charged with killing the people of the Lord ver 41. and the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron and behold the cloud covered the tabernacle of the congregation and the glory of the Lord appeared And God's Wrath was so hot against the People for their Stâ—bbornness and Disobedience that notwithstanding the Intercession of Moses and Aaron in their behalf a Plague from the Lord raged so much amongst them that they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred beside them that died about the matter of Korah ver 49. And there were probably many Families in every Tribe which bore the marks of God's Displeasure and of the Truth of Moses his Mission and then Aaron's Rod alone blossom'd of all the Rods of the Twelve Tribes but by this time the people were weary of their contumacy and cried out â—â—hold we die we perish we all perish Shall we be consumed with dying Num. xvii 12 13. And thus was an end put to a Sedition which was the greatest and the most dangerous as Josephus well observes that was ever known among any People and such as that so dreadful a succession of Miracles was necessary to deliver Moses out of it And I would know of the greatest Infidel whether if he had lived at that time and had been in the Wilderness with Moses and had been of Korah's Conspiracy as it is most likely he would have been I would know of him I say whether he could have done any thing more to put Moses upon the utmost tryal of his power and Authority received from God than these rebellious Israelites did And if he could not as he must needs confess he could not then he ought to be satisfied in the Authority of Moses as they themselves afterwards were unless he has an ambition to shew that some Christians can be more refractary than Jews Yet again when they wanted Water the Peopled quarell'd with Moses and said Would God that we had died when our brethren â—ied before the Lord. And Moses brought Water out of the Rock before the whole Congregation in so great plenty that the whole People and their Cattle just ready to perish with thirst was satisfied with it Num. xx 3 10. At another time after a signal Victory over the Canaanites they made the same Complaints again and for their Murmurings were stung by fiery Serpents and many died till a Brazen Serpent being erected as many as looked on it were miraculously cured Num. xxi 6. And if the delivering the Law in so conspicuous and wonderful a manner if so remarkable Judgments upon those that questioned and opposed Moses his Authority and that transgressed his Law by committing Idolatry if a continual course of Miracles for Forty Years done before the eyes and obvious to every sense of so many thousands of People be not a plain demonstration that the Matter of Fact in all the circumstances of it necessary to prove Moses to have acted by God's immediate Authority and Commission was at first sufficiently attested it is impossible that any thing can be certainly testified We see how impossible it was for Moses to impose upon the People of Israel in things of this nature it he could have been so far forsaken of all Reason and common Sense as to hope to do it But if he had designed to put any deceit upon them he would certainly have taken another course he would have done his Miracles privately and but seldom not in the midst of all the People for Forty Years together he would never have made two Nations at the first Witnesses to them and then have proceeded in such a manner as that every Man among the Israelites must have known them to be false if thy had been so he would have chosen such Instances to shew his Miracles in as should have provoked no body not such as must have enraged the whole People against him by the death of so many thousands so often put to death if they had been slain by any other means than by the Almighty Hand of God And indeed what could destroy so many so irresistibly so suddenly and visibly but the Divine Power And what could be the Design and Intent of such Miracles but to fulfil the Will of God and make his Power to be known and his authority acknowledged in the Laws which were delivered in his Name and which were so often affronted and transgressed by these Sinners against their own Souls At their going out of Aegypt by a miraculous Providence there was not one feeble person among their tribâ—s but upon their transgressions they were punished by Diseases as miraculous We have other Evidence as I have before observed that Moses had no design to delude the People of Israel from the Meekness of his Disposition from his discovering his own Faults and Infirmities in his Writings and from his not advancing his Family but leaving his Posterity in a private condition and putting the Government into the hands of Joshua one of the Tribe of Ephraim But when all the People of Israel were Witnesses to so many Miracles wrought by him and particularly to so strange a Judgment as the cleaving asunder of the Earth and the Fire and Plague by which so many thousands perished we need not insist upon any other Proof to shew that the Miraculons Power and Divine Authority by which Moses acted and wrote was as well attested and as fully known to the whole People of Israel as it is possible for any Matter of
to the computation of the Jews in the eight days which they reckoned for the circumcision of their Children and in their other accounts for they computed inclusively any part of the day in which the Child was born for the whole thus the a Annum ita diviserunt ut nonis modo diâ—bus urbanâ—s re usu parent reliquis vii ut rura colerent Vaâ—de Rust lib. ii Prait 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dionys Halicarn Antiqa Rom. lib. vii Romans computed their Nundinae and their Calends c. And the Olypmiads among the Greeks contained 5 years inclusively and thus we call that Tertian Ague which has but one days intermission But the Resurrection of Christ which was the Accomplishment of these Types and Prophecies being matter of fact must be proved as all other matters of fact are by Witnesses and the Apostles in a body offered themselves as Witnesses to testify this great Article of our Faith This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are Witnesses Act. ii 32. The thing therefore to be considered is whether they were effectually qualified to be Witnesses in this matter and to prove that they had all the qualifications which can be required in any Witness I shall shew 1. That they had certain knowledge of the thing which they were Witnesses of and could not be deceived themselves in it 2. That they would not deceive others having no temptation to it but acting against all the Interests and advantages of this world 3. That they alledge such circumstances as made it impossible for them to deceive those to whom they testified the Truth of Christ's Resurrection though they had had never so much mind to do it And when Men testify things which they have such means and opportunities of knowing as make it impossible for them to be mistaken in them when they can have no advantage but by telling the Truth and can expect nothing but sufferings from it in this Life when they produce such circumstances as put it out of their own power to deceive and such as those before whom they speak may know to be false if they be so this certainly is all that can be desired in any Witness I. The Apostles who were Witnesses of our Saviour's Resurrection could not be deceived themselves in it They were ever far from being credulous and easy of belief as they shewed upon all occasions and particularly they never could be brought to believe the Doctrine concerning the Resurrection of Christ till their own senses had convinced them but before they had wrong notions and apprehensions of it and either misunderstood and misapplied all that had been said to them about it or whatever they knew or believed concerning it before they had no expectations of it when he was once dead Our Saviour had in express terms foretold his Resurrection upon the third day several times Matt. xvi 21. xvii 23. xx 19. But his Disciples did not rightly apprehend or throughly consider what he said to them though he exprest himself in the plainest words For they were wholly taken up with great thoughts and expectations of an earthly Kingdom and of temporal Power and Honour at one time Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying Be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee Matt. xvi 22. and at another time just before his passion our Saviour had no sooner done speaking to them of his Crucifixion and his rising again the third day but the two Sons of Zebedee Petitioned that one might sit on the right hand and the other on the left in his Kingdom and the rest of the Disciples were moved with indignation against them for preferring such a Request and it appears from our Saviour's discourse to them upon it that their minds were all bent upon the thoughts of temporal Glory and Dominion Matt. xx 20. And after our Saviour had told them that he must be put to death and rise again the third day St. Luke adds that they understood none of these things and this saying was hid from them neither knew they the things which were spoken Luke xviii 34. and we find the same expression before Luke ix 45. Even after our Saviour had eaten the Passover with them and instituted the Sacrament of his Body which was just then to be given up and to be Crucified and of his Blood which was to be shed for them they were still intent upon Temporal things and had expectations of being advanced to places of Authority and Preheminence And there was a â—iâ—fe amongst them which of them should be accounted the greatest Luke xxii 24. At his passion as one of them denied him thrice so all the rest forseek him and fled The Apostles and Evangelists write without any design or any end to serve but that of telling the truth and therefore they conceal nothing of their own failings and faults though they might prove never so disgraceful to them they acquaint us that they were ambitious and had a vain prospect of Temporal Grandeur that they were timorous and of little Faith till the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them which appears in nothing more than in this point of the Refurrection They were Men of no great natural Capacity or quick apprehension and they had sometimes found themselves mistaken in understanding that literally which was spoken to them in Parables and it is natural for Men to run from one extream to another and usual for ignorant and unlearned Men to imagine difficulties where there are none and this meeting with their wishes and longings after temporal Greatness made them take all that was said to them concerning the Passion and Resurrection of Christ in some such sense as might answer their hopes and desires of temporal Felicity but when his Crucifixion had undeceived them in this conceit they were in such confusion and consternation of mind as not to be able â—o recollect themselves or to promise themselves any thing by his Resurrection which they had no hopes or expectation of The Spirits of Men are commonly as low as their Education and their condition and station in the world is and are easily sunk and depressed much lower by any great and sudden calamity and Men who were born in so mean a condition and had entertained a conceit of great and vain hopes and then as unexpectedly fell from them must be so dejected at it that it is no wonder that they thought of nothing but their sorrows and had little heart to imagine any possibility of relief from the reviving of him whom they had seen in that infamous and cruel manner put to Death They were so possest with an opinion of a temporal Kingdom that when they had been convinced of the truth of his Resurrection and had afterwards conversed a long time with him they could not put it out of their minds Acts i. 6. and thetefore it is no strange thing that when they saw him Dead and in the Grave
Christ was risen by the Omnipotent Power of God Besides St. Matthew writes that the Graves were opened and many bodies of Saints which slept arose and appeared unto many Mat. xxvii 52 53. Many saw them who are appealed to as Witnesses of their Resurrection And the miraculous events at the Death of our Saviour which were so many certain presages and fore-runners of his Resurrection as the Earthquake and the darkness of the Sun for three hours together in the midst of the day contrary to the course of Nature the Moon being in the full the rending the veil of the Temple and the like these were things which must be notorious and which could not have been pretended to have happened but the whole People of the Jews must be appealed to as Witnesses of them And it being a custom for the Deputies of Provinces to certifie the Emperor of whatever happened considerable under their Government the Resurrection of our Saviour with the Miracles which accompanied it were so remarkable that Pontius Pilate gave an account both of his Miracles and his Resurrection to the Emperor Tiberius who thereupon proposed it to the Senate to have him taken into the number of their Gods and made it punishable to accuse any Man for being a Christian during his Reign And this information of Pontius Pilate was entred upon Record at Rome to which Justin Martyr appeals in his Apology to the Emperor Antoninus Pius and the Senate and Tertullian in his Apology which was likewise presented to the Senate of Rome or at least to the Governours of the Provinces They both lived in the next Age and were both educated in a different Religion and upon these and such like Proofs became Christians and they were Men of excellent Learning and Judgment but no Man who could write an Apology can be supposed to have so much confidence and so little understanding as to appeal to that account which Pilate sent to Tiberius concerning the Resurrection of Christ in Apologies dedicated and presented to the Roman Emperor himself and to the Senate or the chief Magistrates of the Empire if no such account had ever been sent or none had been then extant to be produced But by the special Providence of God both the Birth and the Resurrection of our Saviour were inserted into the publick Records at Rome and were to be seen there for a long time after and the Heathens in whose custody they were are desired by the Primitive Christians to consult them for they were content to put the matter upon this issue (d) Justin Apol. ii Tertul. Apol c. iii. xxi that if they were resolved not to believe what the Christians said yet they would at least credit their own Records Upon these Proofs and Reasons by the clear evidence and power of Truth the word of God mightily grew and prevailed against all that Prejudice and Malice and every Vice could do to oppose it in Rome and in Jerusalem it self for in this very City where our Saviour had been Crucified and where it had been impossible to have made Proselytes if his Resurrection had not been evidently proved beyond all possibility of a confutation great numbers were daily added to the Church A Church was forthwith sounded at Jerusalem and a Bishop appointed by the Apostles and both the body of the People and their (e) Euseb Hist lib. 4. c. 5. Bishops being xv in number to the final Destruction of Jerusalem by Adrian were Jews by Nation We see then that as the Testimony of the Apostles is in it self beyond all exception so it is of such a nature as to make it impossible for them to deceive if they had intended it but indeed no Men could have proceeded in that manner or would have endeavoured it who had had any intentions to deceive and the event shewed that it was the direct and plain evidence and force of Truth which supported it self notwithstanding all the prejudices and advantages which its worst Adversaries had against it CHAP. XV. Of the Apostles and Evangelists THE Principal Articles of the Christian Faith being matters of Fact as the Passion Resurrection and Ascension of Christ upon which the rest depend the great thing to be enquired into is whether the Apostles had all the qualifications requisite to become Witnesses of matters of Fact This has been already shewn as to the Resurrection and if in general we examine whether we may safely rely upon that credibility wherewith they Preached the Gospel to the world the enquiry will fall under these heads I. Whether they were Men of sufficient Abilities to discern and understand what they testified II. Whether they had sufficient means and opportunities to know it III. Whether they were Men of Integrity that without Artifice or Design truly declared what they knew I. That the Apostles were Men of sufficient understanding to become Witnesses of a matter of Fact was never doubted by any one nor can it be questioned by such as peruse their Writings and indeed who is there of any common sense that is not a competent Witness of what he sees and hears and has the experience of for so long time together For II. By their conversation with our Saviour both before his Passion and after his Resurrection the Apostles had such opportunities of knowing what they attested that it was impossible for them to be deceived in any part of it It was a necessary qualification of all the twelve Apostles that they should have conversed with our Saviour before his Death and have seen him after his Resurrection For when one was to be ordained in the room of Judas to be a Witness with the rest of Christ's Resurrection he was to be one that had companied with them all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them beginning from the Baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from them Act. i. 21 22. They saw his Miracles and heard his Doctrine and knew his manner of Life and had all the opportunities and used all the means to inform themselves that it was possible for Men to do they were eye-witnesses of His Majesty 2 Pet. i. 16. they had heard and seen with their eyes and had looked upon or beheld and discerned for a long time together and their hands had handled that which was the subject of their Testimony 1 Joh. i. 1 2 3. They had made all the search into it and had used all the exactness that could be and were as distrustful and as hard of belief as any Men could have been who are most suspicious and jealous of being imposed upon And of these Apostles two wrote the Life of our Saviour and all bore witness to the Truth of what these wrote and Preached the same things where ever they came Of the two other Evangelists St. Mark had his information from St. Peter whose Disciple and Companion he was and St. Luke wrote his Gospel from the account
upon the preaching of the Gospel to the World the Philosophers thought it concern'd them to review all that had been formerly written to unite their Forces and select those Notions out of every Sect which were most plausible omitting such as they saw would then give Offence and it appears that they were greatly beholden to the Religion which they opposed and pretended to despise it is evident that they had read the Scriptures and do sometimes make use of Terms which they had taken from thence unknown to former Philosophers But Philosophy after all their Endeavours still retaining many Errors and wanting that Evidence and Authority which is the foundation of all true Religion could never maintain its ground against that Religion which was preach'd by those whom they contemned as ignorant Men but which in a short time wrought such a Reformation in the World as the Philosophy of all Ages had been never able to effect It is not to be denied that there were many great and eminent Examples among the Heathen but then there were always as great Enormities allow'd in the most civiliz'd Nations Philosophy was (x) Tertul Apol. c. 47 prohibited by three of the Principal States of Greece by the Thebans the Spartans and the Argives And the Romans who have set so many Famous Examples to the World were little oblig'd to Philosophy for all their Worth and Greatness was raised upon the Stock only of common Notions the Traditions that they had receiv'd with the rest of Mankind and the Laws brought from Athens which were enacted by Solon who had been in Aegypt at a time when the Jews were there in sufficient Numbers But it was a long while before Philosophers were suffered at Rome they had been (k) A. Gell. lib. xv c. 11. expell'd by the Senate Tully was the first that brought Philosophy into any Credit there and by the Apologies which he often makes for his giving himself to the Study of it we may perceive under what Prejudices it then lay among the Romans and that there was need of all his Wit and Eloquence to gain it Admission A strict Discipline both in Peace and War great Application and Industry by which they improved their common Notions and arriv'd to wonderful Experience and Dexterity in the Management of Affairs a zealous Love of their Country and an unparallell'd Constancy manifest in all their Actions and especially in the Observation of their Laws raised the Romans to that mighty Height and Extent of Empire But that which they retain'd of Truth in relation to Matters of Religion had been so abused and disguised with Fabulous Corruptions that at length it had generally lost all Belief amongst them (l) Pro Cluemio Tully made no Scruple at a publick Tryal in a Court of Judicature to deny the Punishments of the Wicked in a future State as a ridiculous Fiction which shews a strange Corruption of Principles in that Age when he could propose to himself to gain his Cause by speaking in that manner In another Oration he says (m) Pro M. Caeiiâ— Non semper superet vâ—ra illa directa Ratio vincat aliquando cupiditas voluptasque rationem That this should be spoken in a publick Pleading by one of the Gravest and most Learned of all the Romans shews how little either the Philosophy which he had studied or the Roman Laws themselves could do towards the Establishment of Vertue and that the Modesty of Youth and the Vertue and Honour of Families must be secur'd upon some better Principles Afterwards he adds Verùm siquis est qui etiam meretriciis Amoribus interdictum juventuti putet est ille quidem valde severus Negare non possum sed abhorret non modo ab hujus seculi licentia verùm etiam a Majorum consuetudine atque concessis I believe there is scarce any man so far lost to all Shame among Christians that he would be willing to hear himself so defended in a Publick Court or any Judge that would admit of such a Defence which is a manifest Argument of the Excellency of the Christian Religion that it lays such a powerful Restraint upon Men. But this loosness of Manners was the fatal Fore-runner of that horrid and monstrous Lewdness which afterwards like a Leprosy overspread the Roman Empire The Conspiracies of that Time which so much endanger'd the State were contriv'd by Libertines and no greater Cruelties have ever been committed than by this Sort of Men when once they have got into Power as may be seen in Tiberius Caligula Nero c. And Tully himself perhaps might feel the Effects of these Encouragements to Vice being kill'd by a Villain whose Life he had formerly saved by that Eloquence which was sometimes employ'd as if he had been retain'd against Vertue It must be owned that Tully has in many places of his Works laid down admirable Rules of Vertue but then it is with little or no Regard to such Principles as are the only sure Foundations of a Vertuous Life viz. the Fear of God and the Expectation of Rewards or Punishments after Death aed such was the defect of his Philosophy that he could be positive and certain in nothing Seneca as he professeth has taken many of his best Precepts from Epicurus which without a due Consideration had of a God and a Providence are no better than Prudent Cautions against Temporal Evils either of Body or Mind Seneca many times diverts rather than Instructs what he says is always fine but not always Solid he dances upon the surface according to Quintilian's Censure of him but seldom descends to the depth of things and it were well if that Character which he has given of Seneca's style might not be applyed to his Sense abundat dulcibus Vitiis a luscious Poison sometimes diffuseth it self in his Writings Seneca (x) Sen. Epist 82. de Benefic lib. 1. c. 3 4. derides the subtilty and trifling both of Zeno and Chrysippus but he did it seems think himself more concern'd to exposâ—â— them for being Teachers of ill Doctrins tho upon this account they were so very scandalous that Sextus (xx) Sext. Empir Pyrrh Hypot lib. 3. c. 24 25. Empericus endeavours to prove from their Words that there is no real and certain Difference betwixt Vertue and Vice The bare knowledge of the Christian Doctrin even without a sincere belief of its Authority has taught Men to abhorr those Crimes which were approved of by the Philosophers and Prâ—ctised in the Wisest Heathen Nations and when things notoriously Evil were received and taughâ— by those who did and said so many things well it is Evident that what was good was not owing so much to the strength of their own Reason as to some higher Principle I will here give but one Instance and it shall be concerning the Lawfulness of killing Infants or exposing them to be starved or destroyed This was the express Doctrine of (n) Plâ—â—t de Repub. lib.
last Days of the Jewish Dispensation p. 388. The Times of the Gospel meant by the last Days p. 389. St. Paul did not suppose that the Day of Judgment was approaching in his time p. 391. There is no reason to suppose that the last Judgment must be confined to one Day p. 393. CHAP. XXIII Of Sacraments THE Nature and design of Sacraments p. 396. 1. They are outward and Visible Signs of our Entrance into Covenant with God or of our Renewing our Covenant with him ib. 2. They are Tokens and Pledges to us of God's Love and Favour p. 402. 3. They are means and Instruments of Grace and Salvation p. 404. 4. They are Federal Rites of our Admission into the Church as a Visible Society and of our Union with it as such p. 406. The Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper fully Answer the end and Design of the Institution of Sacraments p. 407. CHAP. XXIV Of the Blessed Trinity THere is no Contradiction in this Mistery of our Religion p. 412 The Distinction of the Three Persons in the Deity p. 413. The Unity of the Divine Nature p. 414. The Difference between the Divine Persons and Humane Persons 417. Other things are and must be believed by us which are as little understood as this Doctrine p. 421. The necessity of the Belief of this Doctrine explained and Defended p. 423. This Doctrine exceedingly tends to the Advancement of Vertue and Holiness and has a great Influence upon the Lives and Conversations of Men p. 427. CHAP. XXV Of the Resurrection of the Dead GOD is certainly able to raise the Dead p. 431. Bodies after their Corruption and the Dissolution of the Parts which Compose them may be restored to Life by the Reunion of these Parts again p. 436. We may rise again with the same Bodies which we have here notwithstanding any change or Flux of the Parts of our Bodies while we Live or any Accidents after Death p. 437. It is not only credible and Reasonable to believe that God can but likewise that he will raise the Dead p. 443. CHAP. XXVI Of the Reasons why Christ did not shew himself to all the People of the Jews after his Resurrection THere are Reasons peculiar to this Dispensation of his Resurrection why Christ should not shew himself to all the People after he was risen from the Dead p. 449. It had not been suitable to the other Dispensations of God towards mankind for him to have done it p. 451 Great Numbers of the Jews being given over to hardness of Heart would not have believed tho' they had seen Christ after his Resurrection p. 452. If the Jews had believed in Christ their Conversion had not been a greater Proof of the Truth of his Resurrection than their Unbelief has been p. 453. The Power of Christ's Resurrection manifested in the Miraculous Gifts bestowed upon the Apostles was as great a Proof of his Resurrection as the Personal Appearance of our Saviour himself could have been p. 454. CHAP. XXVII Of the Forty Days in which Christ remained upon the Earth after his â—â—â—surrection and of the manner of his Ascension MAny things in the Life of Christ before his Passion omitted by the Evangelists p. 459. And likewise after his Resurrection p. 461. What may be concluded from that which we Read of his conversing with his Disciples after it p. 463. The manner of his Ascension p. 465. CHAP. XXVIII Why some Works of Nature are more especially ascribed to God why means was sometimes used in the Working of Miracles and why Faith was sometimes required of those upon whom or before whom Miracles were wrought ALL Creatures act with a constant dependance upon the Divine Power and Influence but things may be said more especially to be done by God himself whereby upon some extraordinary Occasion his Power and his Will are more particularly manifested or his Promise fulfilled p. 469. Miracles are more peculiarly the Works of God because they are wrought without the concurrence or subserviency of Natural Means ib Means used as Circumstances to render Miracles more observable not as concurring to the Production of the effect 470. Christ had given undeniable Proof of his Miraculous Power before he required Faith as a condition in such as came to see his Miracles and to receive the benefit of them p. 471. Whether he required Faith of any before his working of a Miracle who had not already seen him work Miracles p. 481. Great Reason that no Miracle should be purposely wrought for the captious and Malicious p. 482. The case of his own Country-men was particular ib. The case of those who came to desire his Help p. 487. Our Saviour hereby signified that he requires the same Faith of those who have not seen his Miracles as he did of those who had seen them p. 489. CHAP. XXIX Of the ceasing of Prophâ—â—â—es and Miracles THe Antiquity of Prophecies adds to their force and Evidence p. 491. The Cessation of Miracles We read of no Miraculous Power bestowed upon any Man before Moses p. 492. Neither Prophecies nor Miracles in the Jewish Church for more than four hundred years before Christ p. 495. Miracles if common would lose the design and nature of Miracles p. 498. Men would pretend to frame Hypotheses to solve them p. 499. A constant Power of Miracles would occasion Impostures ib. They would occasion Pride in those that wrought them p. 501. No more Reason for Miracles to prove the Christian Religion among Christians than there is need of them to prove a God ib. A Divine Power is notwithstanding evident among Christians living in Heathen Countries p. 502. CHAP. XXX Of the Causes why the Jews and Gentiles rejected Christ notwithstanding all the Miracles wrought by him and his Apostles ASupernatural Grace necessary to True Faith p. 504. Jews and Proselytes were converted in great Numbers p. 508. Many durst not own Christ Others had their hearts hardned p. 511. They had violent prejudidices against the Gospel p. 512. The Signs and Wonders of false Prophets a cause of the Infidelity of the Jews p. 514. The unbelief of the Jews being foretold by the Prophets is a confirmation of the Gospel p. 515. Great Numbers of the Heathens converted p. 516. The cause of unbelief in the Philosophers ib. Of Epictetus and Seneca p. 518. The prejudices of the Gentiles p. 521. They would not be at the Pains rightly to understand the Christian Religion p. 522. Oracles had foretold that it should not last above 365 Years p. ib. Heresies and Schisms gave great Scandal p. 523. Many Heathens however had more favourable and just Thoughts of the Christian Religion p. 524. Of the Writings of the Heathens against it p. 528. The Writings of the ancient Jews confirm it p. 530. CHAP. XXXI That the Confidence of Men of false Religions and their Willingness to suffer for them is no prejudice to the Authority of the True Religion THe Martyrs for the Christian Religion more
in so few Generations of Men supposing it had ever been known to Adam's Posterity If it were never known but the Relation of it were always conveyed down in Metaphor and Allegory then this Allegory must pass for Historical Truth in those Ages and the Reason why it was delivered to them in Allegory must be because that manner of delivering it was most suitable to that Age and most credible and every way most proper and if it were most fitting that it should be thought to have happened so this is a good Argument that it did really happen so since there is nothing hinders but it might so have happened and it was most probable at least to the first Ages of the World that it did so come to pass or else it would not have been requisite to relate it in this manner 3. The Fall of our First Parents brought a Curse upon their Posterity And here it must be acknowledg'd that God may bestow his infinite Grace and Mercies upon what Terms he pleaseth and therefore he might ordain that the Happiness or Unhappiness of their Posterity should depend upon the Obedience or Disobedience of our First Parents 1. God might ordain that the Condition of their Posterity in this World should depend upon it so that they should have been immortal upon their Obedience and should become mortal upon their Disobedience that they should be made subject to Cares and Labours to Diseases and Dangers by reason of the Fall of our First Parents from which otherwise they should have been exempt This is esteem'd just in all Governments amongst Men that Children should be reduced to Poverty and Disgrace by the Fault of their Parents from whom Riches and Honour were to have descended upon them And this way of Proceeding is just both in Humane Laws and in the Dispensations of Providence because God and our Country have an antecedent Right and Interest in us superior to any Man 's private Title or Welfare and this they may justly make use of to restrain Men from those Crimes out of Love and Concern for their Posterity from which no consideration of themselves could have with held them The Experience of the World has found this to be the most effectual Remedy with many Men and therefore the wisest and justest Governments have made use of it and the most wise and just God might think fit to deal in this manner with our First Parents by representing to them that the Happiness or Misery of their Posterity depended upon their Good or ill Behaviour in this one Instance of their Duty We daily see that Children commonly inherit the Diseases of their Parents and an extravagant and vicious Father leaves his Son Heir to nothing but the Name and Shadow perhaps of a Great Family with an infirm and sickly Constitution and little or nothing to support and relieve it Now if these Miseries and Calamities had been entail'd upon all the Race of Mankind from Adam the thing would have been the same in the Nature and Justice of it for Numbers cannot alter the Nature of Things as it is now when they descend upon some only from their immediate Parents And therefore it must be much rather just that the Fall of our First Parents should make their whole Race only liable to such Calamities but not involve All necessarily in them 2. The Communications of God's Grace and the Favours and Blessings of his more immediate Presence might depend upon the Behaviour of the First Parents of Mankind He might send them out of Paradise and might withdraw his free and usual Communications of himself from them and their Posterity upon this Forfeiture by their Disobedience 3. The Proneness which we cannot but observe in our selves to Sin might proceed from hence We daily see and feel the corruption of our Nature by whatsoever means we became subject to it So that it is in vain to object that it would be unjust that all Mankind should be involv'd in Adam's Sin For the Condition which we are in is matter of Fact of which no man doth or can doubt The Question is only how we come into this Condition and since we are born in it and it is our Natural and Hereditary evil the Justice and Goodness of God is cleared and vindicated by assigning a Cause for it from the Imputations of such as must acknowledge the same corruption of Nature but will allow no Cause or Reason for it except the arbitrary Will and Pleasure of the Creator The Children of vicious Parents are generally most enclin'd to Vice and if Men may partake of the evil Dispositions and Inclinations of their more immediate Parents why might not the Corruption of the Humane Nature in our First Parents descend upon all their Posterity 4. The Happiness of Men in the next Life might depend upon the Obedience of our First Parents For when God proposed to bestow upon Men Rewards of Glory and Happiness which far surpass any Pretences of Desert or Claim of Right that they in a State of Righteousness and Innocency could have been able to make since the Promises were so great and the Happiness so far exceeding any thing to which Men could pretend a Right we must be very unreasonable unless we will confess that God might bestow his own Gifts upon his own Terms He might therefore debar Men from Heaven upon the Transgression oâ— our First Parents because the Promise of Heaven was â—n act of his free Bounty For no Man can pretend that an Innocent Creature which preserves its Integrity must for that Reason be advanced to the unspeakable Joys of Heaven No Creature can be profitable to his Maker and an unprofitable Servant can merit no such Reward And what God was not obliged to bestow tho' Men continued in the State of Innocency he might with all the Justice and Reason in the World refuse when Men became divested of their Innocency and thereby forfeited all pretences to that Happiness which was promised upon condition that our First Parents had continued in their Primitive and Original State of Righteousness 5. God might ordain that all Men should become liable to Eternal Misery by the Fall of our First Parents and that those who would not accept of Means appointed of Salvation by Faith in Christ to rescue them from it should perish eternally We no sooner read of the Fall of Man but Christ is forthwith promised even before the Curse was denounced upon Adam and Eve for their Offence the Seed of the Woman is immediately promised to bruise the Sepents Head and afterwards the Judgment is denounced first upon Eve and then upon Adam for their Transgression and the Seed of the Womans bruising the Serpent's Head is to be understood of Victory over our Spiritual Enemies and that Conquest which should be obtained over Death and Hell by Christ For the Temporal Punishment which was to befall Adam and Eve and their Posterity is afterwards added and therefore this Promise
Doctrine of the Resurrection would be very credible and certain too whatever other Objections might be urged against it which yet are not in themselves so formidable as they may be imagined to be All the Objections against the Resurrection of the Dead are either against the Resurrection of Bodies after their Corruption and Dissolution or against the Resurrection of the same Bodies of Men which they had before their Death because the parts of our Bodies are in a perpetual Change and Flux here and after Death by several Accidents as by the devouring of Humane Bodies by Men or by Fish or other Creatures which are afterwards eaten by Men it may come to pass that the same parts which Compounded one Man's Body shall afterwards belong to anothers and yet in the Resurrection they can belong but to one of these Bodies But 1. Bodies after their Corruption and the Dissolution of the Parts which compose them may be restored to Life by the Re-union of these Parts again We have several Instances of this in Natural Philosophy that Bodies divided into never so minute Parts tho' these Parts be mix'd and confounded with the Parts of other Bodies may by Chymical Operations be reduced to their former State and Condition and which is of nearer affinity to the Subject in hand after the Ashes of a Plant have been sown in a Garden fairer and larger Plants have sprung up than had been known of that kind in the place where the Experiment was made And (l) Mr. Boyle 's Consideration about the Possibility of the Resurrection Mr. Boyle thinks it scarce to be imagined what Expedients to reproduce Bodies a further Discovery of the Mysteries of Art and Nature may lead us Mortals to And much less says he can our dim and narrow Knowledge determine what means even Physical ones the most wise Author of Nature and absolute Governour of the World is able to employ to bring the Resurrection to pass And where the powers of Nature fail we know that God is Infinite and can want no means to effect whatever he pleases 2. We may rise with the same Bodies which we have here notwithstanding any Change or Flux of the parts of our Bodies while we live or any Accidents after Death It is agreeable to Reason and to the Observations of Philosophers and Physicians to believe that the Bones and Muscles and Nerves and all the Essential constituent Parts of Humane Bodies are of so firm and solid a substance as to suffer little Alteration during our Lives when once they are come to their full growth and proportion but to continue the same till we die and the Alterations which they undergo before Men come to their full Stature is by Addition of parts not by the diminution of those wherewith we are born It appears from a late Discourse of a (m) Dr. Haver's Osteolog 2d Discourse of Accretion and Nutrition Learned Physician that Nutrition is a supply of the Fluid Parts and that the proper Substance of the Solid Parts suffers no Diminution but in some extraordinary Cases and therefore can stand in no need of Reparation but in such a Case For the whole Body is Vascular or made up of Vessels and Pipes replenished with their several Substances so that in an Atrophy the Fibres become dry and the Nerves and Vessels are contracted and shrunk for want of the Spirits and Juices and Liquors which before filled and distended them But the Solid Parts are of so durable a Substance that they can suffer no Diminution but by such Corrosives to dissolve them as must produce Ulcers and such as would affect the Fibres with so intolerable Pains that the Torments of the Stone and Gout would be moderate and easie to them which in a Consumption would be Universal in all parts of the Body whereas there is no such Symptom in any Part and in the greatest Consumptions the Bones are found to retain their entire Bigness tho' a piece of Bone is sooner Dissolved by a Corrosive Liquor such as Aqua-Fortis than Muscular Fibres of equal quantity or weight It is wont to be observ'd upon this Subject that when the Change of Parts is gradual and in the course of some Years the Body may still be the same as it could not be if the Change were made all at once A Ship or House remains the same tho' it be never so often repaired and tho' the Materials in Succession of Time be all or most of them renewed whereas if it should be taken to pieces all at once and all the Materials should be changed and new Materials of the same Figure and Dimensions should be exactly in the same manner framed and built up together in their stead these would make another House or Ship and not the same that was before But when the Parts which constitute the Humane Body and give it the Denomination of the Body of this or that individual Man continue the same the same Person has the same Body in his Old Age that he had in his Youth as truly as he has the same Body in Sickness which he had in Health and the same under the Languishings of a Consumption which he had in his greatest Vigour and Strength For the Change is only in the variable and accidental Parts which are not necessary to constitute the Body of such a Man and the necessary constituent Parts tho' they were changed or altered as in some very rare cases they may be being so few in Comparison of the rest which make up the Bulk of a Man's Body can hardly be supposed by the devouring of Canibals or by any other Accident to become the constituent Parts of any other Man's Body (n) Sanctor De staticâ Medicinà Sect. 1. Aph. vi lix lx Sect. iii. Aph. x. Sanctorius from his Statick Experiments has Observed that a very inconsiderable part of what we eat is turned to Nourishment and from the small proportion which the Necessary constituent Parts bear to the rest and the unfitness of them as of Bones c. to nourish it may be concluded that little or nothing of that which turns to Nourishment can be supposed to be of those constituent Parts and considering further the great Changes which happen in our Bodies in the continual Flux of Parts and the small Proportion again which the constituent or necessary essential Parts have to the rest we may conclude supposing those parts as well as others to suffer Alteration that it is the greatest odds that the constituent Parts which turn to Nourishment do not by that Nourishment happen to belong to the constituent Parts of the Mans Body who is nourished by them when he comes to die So that if a Man should live wholly upon Humane Flesh which it is not to be believed that ever any Man did yet it would perhaps be above an Hundred to one whether any constituent Part of his Body were made up when he died of the constituent Parts of any
the Nation of the Jews for (m) Id lib. IV. c. 5. Sulp. Sever lib. II. c. 45. Fifteen Successions even to the final destruction of it by Hadrian Many of the Rulers being converted the Scribes and Pharisees made their Complaints that the whole City of Jerusalem would turn Christians as (n) Euseb ib. lib. II. c. 23. Hegesippus informs us and the Pharisees said of our Saviour when he was upon Earth Behold the World is gone after him John xii 19. The Epistles of St. Peter and St. James and that of St. Paul to the Hebrews purposely directed to the Jews and Israelites shew that their Conversions were very numerous both in Judea and in other Countries (o) Euseb Hist lib. HI c. 35. Eusebius takes particular notice of the Multitudes of Believing Jews in the Bishoprick of Jerusalem when Justus the Third Bishop succeeded to that See And (p) See Mr. Thornd of the Primit Government of Churches c. 5. and Dr. Hammond on St. John Epist 2. and Rev. xi 3. at Antioch and Rome and Ephesus there was one Bishop of the converted Jews and another of the Gentiles and as Dr. Hammond supposes at Jerusalem likewise but there is little Proof of it And some of the most Learned Jews have been converted not only in these Times but in latter Ages Epiphanius was brought up in the Jewish Religion as the Greek Menology testifies and he acquaints us that (q) Epiphan Haer. 30. n. 4. Ellel the Jewish Patriarch sent for a Bishop to Baptize him upon his Death-Bed Samuel Morochianus Petrus Alphonsus Paulus Burgensis Nicolas de Lyra Petrus Galatinus Tremellius and other Learned Men educated in the Jewish Worship upon their Conversion have been eminent Defenders of the Christian Religion Hieronymus a S. Fide after his Conversion is said to have brought over many Thousands to Christianity And the Samaritans as well as the Jews believed and were baptized both men and women even Simon Magus himself Acts viii 12 13. 2. Many even among the Chief Rulers were convinced that Jesus is the Christ who durst not own him Joh. xii 42.43 But the Love of Riches and the Praise of Men made them dissemble their Convictions and Act against their Consciences as we see too many amongst us Act against their own Knowledge and avowed Principles every day 3. Many had Blasphemed the Holy Ghost and thereby rendred themselves uncapable of the Mercies of the Gospel and others by their other great Impieties had brought them to such an Impenitent state that their Eyes were blinded and their hearts hardned that they should not see with their Eyes nor understand with their Heart and be converted Joh. xii 40. Act. xxviii 25. Rom. xi 8. And this seems to have been one Reason why Christ commanded his Disciples to conceal his Person and to say nothing of his Transfiguration till his Resurrection Matt. xvi 20. xvii 9. that he might discover himself by degrees and that the Jews might gradually be prepared to Acknowledge him and not Sin beyond all possibility of Conversion before his Resurrection and the manifestation of the Power of the Holy Ghost in the Apostles which was the last means of Salvation and those who rejected this were Self-condemned and judged themselves unworthy of everlasting Life Act. xiii 46. or in effect they denounced the Sentence of Damnation against them 4. The Jews had violent Prejudices agaâ—â—â— the Gospel out of Zeal to their Law and 〈◊〉 their Traditions which were in so much Esteem and Veneration amongst them they feared that their Believing in Christ might prove an occasion to the Romans to come and destroy them If we let him thus alone all Men will believe on him and the Romans shall come and take away both our Place and Nation Jo. xi 48. And to prevent this the Chief Priests and the Pharisees in Council agreed to the Expedient proposed by Caiaphas of putting Christ to death imagining that would effectually put a stop to the spreading of his Doctrin among the People who above all things could not endure to hear of Christ Crucified for they had general and earnest Expectations of a temporal Messias whom not only their own carnal Hearts inclined them to hope for but their Religion as they imagined commanded them to expect And the Family of the famous Hillel being in so much Power and Authority at that time might be a great inducement to them to confirm them in their hopes and to harden them against the Belief of a Crucified Messias For (f) Lightf Hebr. Talmud Exercit. in Matt. 11.1 Hillel himself held the Government or Presidentship of the Sanhedrim Forty Years and his Son and Grandsons after him in a continual Succession for an Hundred Years before the Destruction of Jerusalem So that the Splendor and Pomp of this Family of Hillel says Dr. Lightfoot had so obscured the rest of the Families of David's Stock that perhaps they believed or expected the less that the Messias should spring from any of them and one of their Rabbins in the Babylonian Gemara was almost persuaded that Rabbi Judah of the Family of Hillel was indeed the Messias They were all very unwilling to find him in so low and afflicted a Condition when the Lustre of this Family had for so long a time attracted their Sight and Expectation insomuch that Rabban Simeon the Son of Hillel is but slightly mentioned and not with that Encomium with which the rest of that Family are wont to be Celebrated by the Jewish Writers for this Reason (g) De Abbrev Hebr. if Buxtorf be not mistaken because he was the same Simeon who declared our Saviour to be the Christ Tho' the Jews must have been convinced if they would have attended to them by all manner of other Means and Evidence that Jesus was the Messias yet they esteemed Temporal Pomp and Grandeur so essential to the Person and Character of the Messias that they thought the meanness of our Saviour's Condition and the Ignominy of his Death was sufficient to overthrow all the Arguments which they could possible have of his being the Christ indeed their Minds were so fixt upon this mistaken Indication that they little regarded any other This bred in them that Ignorance which was truly very culpable but which yet was taken notice of in their Favour as some mitigation of so heinous a Crime as the Crucifying of the Son of God Luke 23.34 Act 3.17 13.27 1. Cor. 11.8 But withall it made them exceeding obstinate and Deaf to all the Arguments that could be offered to convince them When St. Stephen had answered their Accusations and fully argued the case with them they gnashed on him with their Teeth and cried out with a loud Voice and stopt their Ears and ran upon him and stoned him Act. 7.54 57. And when St. Paul had declared in all Particulars how he was converted and appealed to the High Priest and to the Estate of the Elders for the Truth