and his Birth proclaim'd by Angels That his Coming into the World was signified by a Star which brought Wise Men from the East to worship him That mighty Things were immediately before and after his Birth said of him by Angels and Just Persons moved by the Spirit of God From the Birth of Christ 'till he was thirty years of Age very little is mentioned of him besides some Discourse he held with the Doctors in the Temple at Twelve but when he began to be about thirty he was baptized by John who is stil'd his Forerunner that prepared the way for him and at his Baptism the Heavens were opened and the Spirit of God descended upon him like a Dove and a Voice was heard from Heaven saying This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleas'd The principal Things that are afterwards recorded of him are his calling of Disciples and Apostles his Sermons and Instructions to the People his Miracles and Prophecies and his Sufferings Death and Burial with some other remarkable Passages that happened after his Death His Disciples and Apostles but more especially Twelve of them were favoured with a nearer and more intimate Conversation than any of the rest he directed his Instructions to These were the constant Companions of his Labours and Witnesses of his most private Behaviour These he instructed in a more plain and open manner than he did others and communicated several things to Them which he kept secret from his common Auditors and Followers To these he gave a Commission to teach and instruct the Jews and to do mighty things among them while he lived and to preach to all Nations after his Death and propagate his Doctrine with Signs and Wonders He himself is represented as preaching and teaching throughout all Judea and several of his Publick Sermons and Discourses as also many things which he said in private to his Disciples are every where throughout the several Gospels repeated sometimes in short and only the Substance of them sometimes more at large in the same Form and Manner in which they were delivered The Miracles or wonderful Things mentioned to be done by Christ exceeding all the Observation and Power of Mankind are these Fasting Forty Days and Forty Nights together turning Water into Wine Stilling Tempests walking upon the Sea telling the secret Thoughts of Men's hearts curing the Blind Lame and Maimed healing all manner of Diseases with a word or touch of his Garment casting out Devils and unclean Spirits and restoring Men possessed with 'em to their former state of health and sense feeding vast multitudes of People with a few small Loaves and Fishes by his bare Word causing a Fig-Tree immediately to wither great numbers of Fish to be taken in a Net and a single Fish to come to the Hook with Money in its mouth to pay his Tribute with transfiguring himself before some of his Disciples so that they saw the fashion of his Face alter'd and his Raiment chang'd raising the Dead and rising himself after his Burial appearing to his Disciples after he was risen and conversing with them Forty Days sometimes being known by them and sometimes not according as he pleased and at last in their Presence ascending up into Heaven The Matters we find in the Gospels foretold by Jesus Christ were his own Passion Death Resurrection Ascension and Mission of the Holy Spirit or Comforter with several particular Circumstances of them the Persecutions and Sufferings of his Disciples the Death of some of them and the manner in which they were to dye as also their future Glory and Office at the end of the World the Rejection of the Jews Vocation of the Gentiles Success and Continuance of the Gospel or Christian Religion the Appearance of False Prophets and Teachers and False Christs the springing up of Heresies and falling away of Professors the Destruction of the Jewish Temple and Constitution and Dispersion of that whole People with many strange and terrible Signs foregoing and lastly the second Appearance of himself in Glory to judge the World which is set forth in a very large and pompous Description of the whole Scene As to his Sufferings Death and Burial and what followed afterwards which are the next things that challenge our Consideration we read that he was betrayed by one of his Disciples denied by another and deserted by all the rest that he was taken and carried first before the High Priest of the Jews and afterwards before Pilate and Herod that he was scourged mocked spit upon reviled and at last upon false and frivolous Accusations condemn'd by Pilate contrary to his Conscience only to please the Jews and then crucified between Two common Malefactors one of which reproached him the other believed in him while he was upon the Cross the Sun was dark'ned the Veil of the Temple was rent in twain and the Earth quaked and the Rocks rent and the Graves were open'd and many Bodies that slept arose and came out of their Graves after his Resurrection and appear'd unto many his Body being taken down from the Cross unbroken was laid in a Sepulchre hewn out of a Rock with a Stone roll'd to the door of it and the Sepulchre was made sure by sealing the Stone and setting a Watch notwithstanding which he rose again the Third day after he was buried and appear'd to his Disciples and many others But the Soldiers that were appointed to watch the Sepulchre being affrighted by the appearance of an Angel who descended from Heaven and roll'd back the Stone from the door came into the City and shew'd the Chief Priests all the things that were done and had Money given them to say his Disciples came by Night and stole him away after this the Disciple that betray'd him repented of the Fact brought back the Money he had received for betraying him and hang'd himself This is the summ of what is contained in the Four Gospels In the next Book call'd The Acts of the Apostles we find the Eleven who are peculiarly stiled Apostles after their return from beholding the Ascension of their Master assembled together at Jerusalem with the rest of those who were more particularly distinguished by the Name of Disciples where they make choice of another Apostle to supply the room of Judas that had hang'd himself After which choice the twelve being all with one accord in one place they were filled with the Holy Ghost and spake with other Tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance which wonderful Gift of divers Languages was conferred upon them with very strange amazing Signs and Appearances viz. a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty Wind cloven Tongues like as of Fire c. Having received this extraordinary Assistance we find them wholly employ'd in preaching the things concerning Jesus interpreting the Scriptures of the Old Testament with relation to him baptizing in his Name converting People to the Belief of those Facts recorded in the Gospels and the Doctrines built upon them
Christ the first Author of this Sect of Men call'd Christians began to publish his Doctrine to the World is very particularly and circumstantially set down by St. Luke in the Third Chapter of his Gospel to be the Fifteenth Year of the Reign of Tiberius Cesar Pontius Pilate being Governor of Judea and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee and his Brother Philip Tetrarch of Iturea and of the Region of Trachonitis and Lysanias the Tetrarch of Abilene Annas and Caiaphas being the High Priests of the Jews And in the Book call'd the Acts of the Apostles said to be writ by the same St. Luke it is affirm'd That the Disciples by which Word is there meant all those that believed in Christ and embraced the Doctrines taught by him were called Christians first at Antioch Which Matter of Fact is by the Consent of all Christian Historians recorded to have happen'd at the latter end of the Reign of Caligula who was the next that succeeded Tiberius in the Empire of Rome And that this is the lowest Point of Time it can be fix'd at appears from the same Place of St. Luke where immediately after the Words before cited it follows And in these Days came Prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch and there stood up one of them named Agabus and signified by the Spirit that there should be great Dearth throughout all the World which came to pass in the Days of Claudius Cesar From whence I infer That this Relation of Agabus concurring in Time with that other Account of the Disciples being first call'd Christians and it being plain from what is said concerning the Completion of Agabus's Prophecy in the Days of Claudius Cesar That he first utter'd his Prophecy some time before the Days of Claudius Cesar the Time when the Disciples were first called Christians must likewise be sooner or later before the Reign of Claudius which Claudius being the immediate Successor of Caligula in the Empire the Matter of Fact in question must happen in the latter end of the Reign of Caligula or at some time before Now from the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius when Christ first published his Doctrine at Jerusalem to the last of Caligula when his Disciples were first call'd Christians at Antioch is about Twelve Years from whence to the Tenth Year of Nero when the Christians were first persecuted at Rome is a little above Twenty Years within Five Years after which Jerusalem was destroyed and an End was put to the Jewish Government and Policy So that from the Fifteenth of Tiberius when it is pretended that Christ first published his Gospel at Jerusalem to the first of Vespatian when Jerusalem was destroy'd is about Forty Years and no more If therefore these Matters of Fact concerning the Neronian Persecution and the Destruction of Jerusalem are true as is constantly attested by Heathen and Jewish as well as Christian Writers 't is more than probable that those mention'd by St. Luke are so too For before the Fifteenth of Tiberius no Signs or Footsteps of Christianity are to be found in the World neither is it pretended by any of the Adversaries of this Religion that it was earlier and the Destruction of Jerusalem falling in the First Year of Vespatian the Propagation of the Christian Religion from thence to other Parts of the World must needs have had as early a Date of that And therefore if we find great Numbers of Christians at Rome in Nero's Time both the Propagation as well as Original of the Christian Religion must have happen'd not only before the Destruction of Jerusalem but some time between the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius and the Tenth of Nero and consequently the Account before given by St. Luke of these great Events cannot well be imagin'd to be false but 't is certain the Mistake in Time if there should be any supposed cannot be considerable From all which I think I have reason to conclude That the Christian Religion was profess'd at Rome in the Time of Nero and was derived from one Christ who was the first Author of it and suffered Death at Jerusalem upon that Account toward the latter end of Tiberius's Reign as I find it recorded by St. Luke and the other Writers of the New Testament The next view I shall take of the Christian Religion shall be under Constantine another Emperor of Rome who upon some occasion or other was disposed to embrace this Religion about 300 Years after the first Publication of it by Christ at which time it is very notorious that Christianity was the prevailing Religion in all the parts of the Roman Empire the extent of which was then very great This manifestly appears from all the accounts we have of the History of this famous Emperor and the State of the World under his Reign in the Twentieth Year of which was held a General Council which was a Meeting or Assembly of a great number of Bishops who came from all the different Provinces and Cities both of the Eastern and Western Empire and were Persons that in their several Districts govern'd and directed in Religions Affairs the chief design of that Meeting was by Constantine who called them together declared to be for the decision of a Controversie that had happen'd between certain Christian Professors concerning a particular Article or Doctrine of their Religion which some affirm'd ought to be believed in one Sense and some in another These Bishops did meet accordingly to the number of about 300 decided the Matter they were called about by appointing a Form of Words for all Christians to express their Belief of that and several other particulars in which was unanimously approved and subscribed by all but two Besides which Form of Faith they made several Canons or Rules with Relation to Discipline which concern'd the Qualifications of such Persons as were to perform Religious Offices or to partake of the Effects of them their manner of Acting upon such occasions and their Behaviour to one another upon the account of any Religious distinction But in order to take a more particular survey of the State of the Christian Religion under Constantine from the account that is given us of this Council by Eusebius and Athanasius who were present at it and other credible Writers who lived at or near the same time I shall draw these following Observations and Reflections I. Constantine was the first Roman Emperor that profest the Christian Religion There was no King Consul Dictator Emperor or any other the chief Governour of the Roman State before him that ever departed from the ancient Institution made upon the first Settlement of that Commonwealth or publickly embraced a new Religion of a different Character from that established by the Laws of Numa 2. There never was before this Council any such General Meeting of Eminent and Learned Persons who were Assembled together from so many different quarters of the World purely to settle some Controversies in Religion Which two surprising Circumstances must make this
Tradition Another Set of Testimonies which Eusebius furnishes us with in behalf of the Christian Tradition are Relicks Buildings and other such like Monuments several of which were remaining in his Time and seen by him himself such were Christian Burying-Places and Sepulchres with the Names of Christians upon them particularly those of Peter and Paul Statues and Pictures particularly the Statue of the Woman cured by Christ of the Bloody Flux Pictures of Christ Peter and Paul in colours These were all seen by Eusebius himself as was likewise the Episcopal Chair of James at Jerusalem several Christian Libraries and several Christian Temples before they were pull'd down and destroyed by the Order of Dieclesian These and many other such like Monuments remaining in Eusebius's Time whether all the Particular Traditional Reports concerning them were true or false might easily be perceived upon view or divers other ways be known to be Ancient and whatever Age they were of they must be good proofs of the Belief of the Men of those Times and consequently of the truth of Christianity so far as we are now concern'd to prove it But the Tradition of Christianity from its first Original down to the Council of Nice with all the principal Matters of Fact upon which it is built is further and more especially secured to us and the truth of all the foregoing Testimonies confirm'd by Books and written Records vast Numbers of which of different Kinds and different Ages written by several Men of different Countries Characters Designs and Religious Persuasions were extant in Eusebius's Time a great many of which were generally known multitudes of Copies of them being dispersed throughout the World and several of these Writings were carefully preserved in particular places and either never communicated further by any Transcripts or Copies to remaining there to be seen in their Primitive State after Transcription Now all these Writings of what kind soever they are whose Authority is made use of for the establishing the Christian Faith I shall rank under certain distinct Heads in order to shew what sense and weight they have in the proof of what they are brought to maintain The several Books and Writings then to be considered are Copies of the Holy Scriptures viz. of the Books of the Old and New Testament Publick Acts and Records belonging properly to Societies and not to particular Authors Genuine Writings of profess'd Christians who by reason of their common Agreement in some certain Doctrines of Christianity are Styl'd Orthodox Books writ by Hereticks who were Men of particular Opinions different from those commonly received by other Christians Jewish and Pagan Books containing such Things as have Relation to Christianity Forged and Supposititious Writings of uncertain Authors which do some way or other concern the Christian Religion As to Copies of the Scriptures found in the hands of Christians in Eusebius's Time I have these Things to observe that they were then multiplyed to so great a Variety that hardly a Christian Family was without some of the Books That they were Translated into several different Languages That in those Countries where the Translations were of common use a great many Copies in the Original Language were preserv'd That in most of the great Cities and Episcopal Churches there was a Copy in the Original Language more ancient than the rest from whence the other Copies were taken and Translations made That such Copies as these might not only by Tradition but by several intrinsick Marks be known to be ancient and their Age pretty nearly determined That upon comparison there was a very great Agreement betwixt these ancient Copies preserved in several very distant and remote Churches That such care had been taken in Transcribing and Translating from them that the differences found between any Copies either of the Originals or Translations were very inconsiderable That all Christians thought themselves concern'd to preserve the Jewish Canon of Scripture as well as the New Testament and therefore Copies of the Old Testament in the Original Tongue and Translations of it into several Vulgar Languages were multiplied carefully Transcribed and kept together with those of the New That upon a diligent search into the Matter it was found that besides those Copies of the greatest part of the Books of the New Testament which were alike to be met with in all Christian Churches there were others received in some Churches and by a constant Tradition then vouch'd to be as early and of as great Authority as the rest From all which I think I may safely inferr That the Writings of the New Testament were as early as they are pretended to be and that the Christian Religion had its Original in Judea at the time assigned it which being less than 300 Years before Eusebius and the Books of the New Testament which give an account of the Christian Religion and plainly suppose an antecedent Propagation and Establishment of it in a great part of the World being writ some time after the first Publication Eusebius or any other Person of his Age who throughly examined the Matter concerning the Copies of the Scriptures then received must needs be satisfied from this Consideration only that the Books of the New Testament had as early a Publication in the World as is now ascribed to them and consequently that the Christian Faith was somewhat earlier and the same then as it is in these Books represented to have been This will further be made out from the next sort of Writings to be considered viz. Publick Acts and Records belonging properly to Societies and not to particular Authors such were Catalogues of Bishops Decrees of Synods Letters from Churches and Societies of Men general Records of remarkable Matters particular Acts and Monuments of Martyrs Psalms Hymns Creeds and Forms of Prayer The most famous Churches especially those constituted by Apostles kept the Succession of their Bishops with great care laid up in their Archives recording their Names and days of their Death in a pair of writing Tables This Eusebius tells us was the Custom of the Primitive Christians and these Tables he assures us he diligently examined and he was very exact in the Account he took of them as particularly appears from what he says concerning the Church of Jerusalem viz. That he found from Old Records fifteen Bishops with their Names who had succeeded in that Church from the Apostles to the Siege of the Jews in Adrian 's Time but could not find preserved in Writing the space of Time each Bishop spent in his Presidency over that See The like diligence and exactness are observable in the Account he gives of the Succession of Bishops in several other Churches most of their Names being set down and the times of their several Succession Presidency and Death punctually determined and Reasons given why he could not speak with the same certainty of the rest omitted There were likewise extant in his Time a great many Canons and Decrees made by several Councils and