possible but still they add to the seeming Irregularities that we allow to have happen'd by their Fancyful Schemes or they suppose that to be done which in some Respects might have a Natural Tendency to the Advantage of the Universe but go on so many and such weak Hypotheses as wou'd destroy the very Nature of Things and on both Accounts are perhaps equally guilty of apparent and gross Absurdities But to return a more direct Answer to Celsus I might acquaint him that our Saviour by Virtue of his Divine Nature cou'd have disappear'd if he pleas'd as soon as ever he was nail'd to the Accursed Tree This is self-evident to those who believe and know that he was GOD. And 't is plain to them who consult the Gospels if they don't only rely on their Authority so far as they imagine that they serve their turn and think that all is meer Fiction and Jargon that makes in the least against em St. Luke tells us that After his Resurrection he took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave to Simon and Cleopas And when they Luke 24 V. 31. had tak'n it their Eyes were open'd and they knew him and he vanish'd out of their Sight But I cou'd easily shew that 't was inconsistent with the Design which he had in Coming into the World to vanish as soon as ever he was crucify'd And when we read the History of our Saviour we must not rest in the bare Literal Sence as if that were all that the Holy Ghost design'd For every considerable Circumstance that occurâ— in it contains or naturally leads us to some Mystery or other which a judicious Reader with some Difficulty may perceive For Instance the Crucifixion of our Saviour was a Representation of what is meant by the following Expression of the Apostle I am crucify'd with Gal. 2. V. 20. Christ And by those other Words God forbid that I shou'd glory save in Gal. 6. V. 14. the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the World is crucify'd unto me and I unto the World His Death was necessary that we might say with the Apostle In that he dy'd he dy'd unto Sin once and that the righteous Rom. 6. V. 10. being made conformable to his Death might say with the Apostle If we 2 Tim. 2 V. 4. be dead with him we shall also live with him So his Burial was design'd to represent our Conformity to his Death and our Crucifixion with him as St. Paul observes We are bury'd with him says he by Baptism into Death But I shall give a fuller Acount of his Burial of his Tomb and of the Person that buried him in a distinct Treatise on these important Subjects At present I shall only mention the Linnen Cloaths in which Divine Providence did wisely order that the Body of the Spotless Jesus shou'd be wrap'd and the New Sepulcher that was hewn in Stone or cut out of a Rock by Joseph of Arimathea wherein as St. Luke and St. John observe no Man was ever laid before It may not be amiss to consider whether the Account of the Sepulcher of our Blessed Lord which has the Unanimous Consent of Three Evangelists don't carry with it some convincing Evidence of Truth and whether they who apply themselves to the Allegorical Sence of Scripture ought not to seek for some Mystical Reason why our Saviour shou'd be laid in a New Sepulchre as St. Mathew and St. John acquaints us and why it shou'd be such a one as St. Luke and St. John mention wherein no Man had ever been Mat. 27. V. 60. laid before him For 't was highly requisite that one whose seemingly John 19. V. 41. Tragical End was grac'd with so uncommon Circumstances and such Marks of Honour that our Saviour who after he was dead gave Signs of Life I mean the Water and Blood that flow'd from his pierced Side shou'd have something that was very remarkable in his Burial that as he was free from the least Stain of Moral Impurity being born out of the ordinary Way of Humane Generation So his Burial might bear the Marks of an untainted Purity which is Mystically represented to us by the New Sepulchre in which he was laid which was not compos'd of many Stones joyn'd together according to the Rules of Art but was one entire Piece cut out of the Rock made hollow and every Way adapted for the Purpose I might have made several other Remarks and from these outward Signs have rais'd my Thoughts much higher in Contemplation of those sublime Things which they faintly represent But they wou'd afford such vast Plenty of most excellent Matter as wou'd very well deserve a distinct Discourse and a considerable Volume by it self At present I shall only say 't was fit that he who had design'd to hang upon a Cross and to dye like a Man shou'd be bury'd in such a Manner as was suitable to his Mysterious Death and so answer his Character to the last But suppose the Evangelists had acquainted us that our Saviour vanish'd as soon as ever he was nail'd to the Cross then Celsus and the Infidels so hard is it to please em wou'd have come upon us and have said Good Sirs What Crotchet came into his Head that he shou'd stay 'till he was nail'd to his Cross before he thought fit to vanish or how came he to forget to take this Matter into his serious Thoughts before he came to the Place where he was shamefully executed If therefore they find Fault with the Evangelists for not telling us that our Saviour vanish'd when he was going to be crucify'd but giving us an impartial Account of Matters we have more Reason to blame them severely for not believing that our Saviour rose from the dead and after his Resurrection appear'd to his Disciples tho' The Doors were shut John 20 V. 19. and gave Bread to two of 'em and vanish'd as soon as he had done discoursing with em CHAP. XXXIV BUT I can't conceive why Celsus shou'd say that our Blessed Saviour did ABSCOND What Ambassador says he did ever affect to conceal himself when One wou'd think 't is plain enough that his Business was to deliver his Embassy But this is a meer Slander as is sufficiently evident from the Words of our Saviour to those who endeavour'd to apprehend him I sat daily says he with you in the Temple and Mat. 26. V. 55 ye laid no hold on me As for what Celsus needlesly repeats I shall content my self with the Answer which I have already giv'n He goes on and says Did your pretended Saviour in his Life-Time teach his Doctrine in a most Publick Manner and after his Resurrection only appear to one Fanatical Woman or some others who belong'd to the same wretched Cabal because when he was living the World had more Sence than to give Credit to him but every one forsooth must believe the Doctrine of the Resurrection of Course But that he appear'd only to one
The Account which he gives us of Rampsinitus and Ceres wou'd have come with a much better Grace from the Mouth of an Egyptian who to lessen the Authority of Moses might say that 't was much more probable that the fore-mention'd Persons shou'd play at Dice together in the Region of the Dead and that he as a Proof of his Descent thither shou'd produce the embroider'd Handkerchief which he took from the Goddess than that Moses went into the Darkness which God himself did inhabit and that he alone had the Honour to come near him as he himself gives us an Account And we who are the Followers of the Holy Jesus may make the following Address to the pretended Jew when he talks at so extravagant a Rate Pray how do you answer the Greeks and Egyptians who raise many of the same Objections against Moses that you offer against our Blessed Saviour When you have heap'd up all the Arguments you can think of in Defence of Moses tho' we think at the same time that we can solidly and clearly prove him to be a True and very Eminent Prophet you 'll be forc'd unawares to acknowledge ev'n according to those Arguments which you your Selves make use of that our Blessed Saviour did vastly and indeed infinitely exceed him But because Celsus's Jew makes meer Game of the Histories which give us an Account of the Descent of some Heroes into the Region of the Dead and their Return from thence and thinks that their pretended DIVINE SORT OF ABSCONDING for a Time and then coming back again and making an Appearance upon the Stage of the World was all Artifice and Delusion as he plainly intimates when he speaks of the Opinion that the Odrysians had of Orpheus the Thessalians of Protesilaus and the Inhabitants of Toenarus entertain'd of Hercules and Theseus I shall make it appear that there is no Manner of Comparison between these Fables of the Greeks and the Account that the Evangelists give us of the Resurrection of Our Saviour 'T is obvious to remark that these Fabulous Heroes cou'd descend into the Region of the Dead whenever the Fancy took 'em and return as soon as they saw Cause to do so But since our Saviour was crucify'd in the open View of the Jews and Romans and after his Death was tak'n down from the Cross in the Sight of so many Witnesses what Reason have we to imagine that he feign'd his Descent into the World of disembody'd Spirits and his Return to our World again as the Greeks have feign'd their Heroes to have often done Nay I 'm inclin'd to think that from the Story of these Ancient Heroes we may be furnish'd with an Argument that will take away in a great Measure the SVPPOS'D INFAMY of the CROSS of CHRIST Had our Saviour dy'd in a common Way and giv'n the Jews and Romans no convincing Proof of the Reality of his Death he had certainly been liable to Suspicion as well as many of the Heroes of the Greeks tho' he had really been loos'd from the strong Bonds of the Grave in which he was some Time held I humbly conceive therefore that one principal Reason why he dy'd in so publick a Manner was this that no Person might have the least Umbrage of Jealousy that he crafâ—ily retir'd from the World and feign'd himself to be gone down to the Region of the Dead and took his own Time to appear again making the World believe that he was ris'n from the Dead when in Truth he was all this While as much alive as ever But to remove any such foolish Suspicion we need only consider that his Disciples most willingly expos'd themselves to imminent Dangers in publishing his Doctrine to the World tho' they were not ignorant of the rooted Prejudices of Men against it This certainly they wou'd never have been tempted to do if their Lord's Resurrection had been no more than an emty Fiction especially if we consider they not only perswaded others to lay down their Lives for the Cause of Christ but with the greatest Readiness wou'd if it were possible have dy'd Ten Thousand Deaths to promote it Then Celsus's Jew as if 't was impossible that any one shou'd rise from the Dead with the same Numerical Body makes Use of this rash Expression We must says he consider whether any Person that was really dead did ever rise with the same Numerical and Proper Body This One wou'd think shou'dn't come from the Mouth of one who bears the Character of a Jew who is suppos'd to believe what we find recorded in the two Books of Kings 1 Kin. 17. V. 22. concerning two Children one of which was restor'd to Life by Elijah 2 Kin. 4. V. 34. and the other by Elisha And I believe 't was Matter of our Saviour's Choice to be educated among the Jews because they were accustom'd to Miracles that so by comparing what he did with what had been done in the former Ages of the World they might be forc'd to acknowledge that his Miracles deserv'd the Preference by whom and in whose Name far greater Things were perform'd than had been done in the Memory of Man Then the pretended Jew having produc'd the Histories of the Greeks to shew us the strange Artifices which the Ancient Heroes us'd that People might imagine that they were ris'n from the dead directs his Discourse to those of his Native Country that were converted to the Christian Faith in the following Words Do you look upon the Accounts that are giv'n by others as trifling Stories and imagine that the Catastrophe of your Senseless Drama is ever the more just or probable because you endeavour to adorn it with some Fine Inventions because your Crucify'd Jesus gave a most dreadful Out-Cry when he lay at the very Point of Death To this I answer we believe that the Account which you have giv'n of the Ancient Heroes of the Greeks is grosly Fabulous but we are fully perswaded and I think on very rational Grounds that the Account which is giv'n us of our Blessed Saviour in those Holy Scriptures which are common to us both and of which we make our Boast as much as you your is far from deserving that contemptible Character which this Gentleman is pleas'd to give it Therefore we can never grant that the Glorious Miracles which were wrought in raising some Persons from the dead as we are credibly inform'd were no better than empty Fictions and vain Amusements We believe that our Saviour did really rise from the dead as the Prophets and he himself had foretold he shou'd and one Thing among others that makes his Resurrection the more remarkable and in which it excell'd that of any other Person is the following Consideration that he wa'n't rais'd from the dead by a Prophet such as Elijah or Elisha was but by the IMMEDIATE INFLVENCE of rhe GOD-HEAD Hence it came to pass that the happy Effects of his Resurrection were so Exrraordinary and so General Pray
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