But thus much in this place shall suffice all particulars having been largely insisted upon in their proper places And since as sure as there is a God there must be a Revealed Religion if any Man will dispute the Truth of the Christian Religion let him instance in any other Religion that can make a better Plea and has more certainty that it came from God let him produce any other Religion that has more visible Characters of Divinity in it and we will not scruple to be of it but if it be impossible for him to shew any such as has been proved then he ought to be of this since there must be some Revealed Religion and if that Religion which has more evidence for it than any other Religion can be pretended to have and all that it could be requisite for it to have supposing it true and which it is therefore impossible to discover to be false if it were so If this Religion be not true God must be wanting to Mankind in what concerns their eternal Interest and Happiness he must be wanting to himself and to his own Attributes of Goodness Justice and Truth And therefore he that upon a due examination of all the Reasons and Motives to it will not be a Christian can be no better than an Atheist if he discern the consequence of things and will hold to his own Principles for there can be no Medium if we rightly consider the Nature of God and of the Christian Religion but as sure as there is a God and nothing can be more certain the Gospel was revealed by him CHAP. II. The Resolution of Faith HAving proved the Truth and Certainty of our Religion I shall in the last place upon these Principles give a Resolution of our Faith which is a subject that has caused such unnecessary and unhappy Disputes amongst Christians in these latter Ages for in the Primitive Times this was no matter of Controversie as indeed it could not then and ought not now to be 1. Considering the Scriptures only as an History containing the Actions and Doctrines of Moses and the Prophets and of our Saviour and his Apostles we have the greatest humane Testimony that can be of men who had all the opportunities of knowing the truth of those Miracles c. which gave Evidence and Authority to the Doctrines as Revealed from God and who could have no Interest to deceive others but exposed themselves to all manner of dangers and infamy and torments by bearing Testimony to the Truth of what is contained in the Scriptures whereas Impostures are wont to be invented not to incur such sufferings but to avoid them or to obtain the advantages and pleasures of this world And so this Testimony amounts to a moral certainty or as it is properly enough called by some to a moral infallibility because it implies a moral impossibility of our being deceived by it such a certainty it is as that nothing with any reason can be objected against it We can have as little reason to doubt that Christ and his Apostles did and suffered and taught what the Scriptures relate of them in Jerusalem Antioch c. as that there ever were such places in the world nay we have that much better attested than this for many men have died in Testimony of the Truth of it II. This Testimony being considered with respect to the nature of the thing testified as it concerns eternal Salvation which is of the greatest concernment to all mankind it appears that Gods Veracity and Goodness are engaged that we should not be deceived inevitably in a matter of this consequence So that this Moral Infallibility becomes hereby Absolute Infallibility and that which was before but Humane Faith becomes Divine being grounded not upon Humane Testimony but upon the Divine Attributes which do attest and confirm that Humane Testimony and so Divine Testimony is the ultimate ground why I believe the will of God to be delivered in the Scriptures it is no particular revealed Testimony indeed but that which is equivalent to it viz. the constant Attestation of God by his Providence For it is repugnant to the very notion of a God to let men be deceived without any possible help or remedy in a matter of such importance And so we have the ground of our Faith absolutely Infallible because it is evident from the Divine Attributes that God doth confirm this Humane Testimony by his own III. The Argument then proceeds thus If the Scriptures were false it would be impossible to discover them to be so and it is inconsistent with the Truth and Goodness of Almighty God to suffer a deceit of this nature to pass upon mankind without any possibility of a discovery therefore it follows that they are not false Here is 1. The object or thing to be believed viz. that the Revelation delivered to us in the Scripture is from God 2. The Motive or Evidence to induce our Belief viz. Humane Testimony 3. A confirmation of that Testimony or the Formal Principle and Reason of our Belief viz. the Divine Goodness and Truth The object therefore or thing believed is the same to us that it was to those who saw the miracles by which the Scriptures stand confirmed viz. the revealed Will of God and the Ground and Foundation of our Belief is the same that theirs was viz. the Divine Goodness and Truth whereby we are assured that God would not suffer Miracles to be wrought in his own Name according to Prophecies formerly delivered and with all other circumstances of credibility only to confirm a Lye The only difference then between the resolution of Faith in us and in the Christians who were Converted by the Apostles themselves is this that tho we believe the same things and upon the same grounds and reasons with them yet we have not the same immediate motives or evidence to induce our Belief or to satisfie us in these reasons and convince us that the Revealed Will of God contained in the Scriptures is to be believed upon these grounds that is to satisfie and convince us that the belief of the Scriptures being the Word of God is finally resolved into the Authority of God himself and is as well certified to us as his Divine Attributes can render it For they were assured of this from what their own senses received but we have our assurance of it from the Testimony of others The Question therefore will be whether the motives and arguments for this Belief in us or the means whereby we become assured that the Revealed Will of God is contained in the Scriptures be not as sufficient to produce a Divine Faith in us and to establish our Faith upon the Divine Authority as the motives and arguments which those had who lived with the Apostles and saw their Miracles could be to produce that Faith in them which resolved it self into the Divine Authority And this enquiry will depend upon these two things 1. Whether we may not be assured of some things as certainly from the Testimony of others as from our own Senses 2. Whether this be not the present case relating to the resolution of Faith I
shall therefore consider in the first place the certainty which we have for the matters of fact by which the Authority of the Scriptures is proved and confirmed to us compared with the evidence of sence and will then apply it to the resolution of Faith I. In many cases men seem generally agreed that there is as much cause to believe what they know from others as what they see and experience themselves For there may be such circumstances of credibility as equal the evidence even of sence it self no evidence can satisfie sence so much indeed nor perhaps so much affect the passions as that of sence but there may be other evidence which may give as clear conviction and altogether as good satisfaction to our Reason as that which is immediately derived from our sences concerning the Being of Objects or the Truth of matters of fact Thus those who never travelled to the Indies do as little doubt that there is such a place as those who have been never so often there and all men believe there was such a man as Julius Caesar with as little scruple as if they had lived in his time and had seen and spoke with him I suppose no man in his wits makes any more doubt but there are such places as Judoea and Jerusalem from the constant report of Historians and Travellers than if he had been in those places himself and had lived the greatest part of his Life there and the greatest Infidel that I know of never pretended yet to disbelieve that there was such a person as our Saviour Christ But all men think themselves as well assured of things of this nature upon the credit of others as if they had seen them themselves For how doubtful and intricate soever some things may be for want of Knowledge or credit in the Relaters yet there are other things delivered with that agreement and certainty on all hands that to doubt of them would be as unreasonable as to doubt of what we our selves see and hear And if our Saviour's Resurrection for instance be of this nature we can with as little reason doubt of it as if we had lived at that time and had conversed with him after his Resurrection from the Dead But we have as great assurance that he was alive again after his Crucifixion as that he ever lived at all and we have at least all the assurance that there was such a Person as Christ that we can have that there once lived any other man at that distance of time from us We can no more doubt that our Saviour was born in the Reign of Augustus Coesar and was Crucified under Tiberius than that there were once such Emperors in the World nay we have it much better attested that Christ was Born and was Crucified and rose again than that there ever were such Princes as these two Emperors for no man ever made it his business to go about the world to certifie this and to testifie the truth of it at his Death But the Apostles themselves and their Disciples and Converts and innumerable others ever since from the beginning of Christianity have asserted the particulars of the Life and Death and Resurrection of our Saviour under all dangers and torments and deaths and have made it their great aim and design both living and dying to bear Testimony to the Truth of the Gospel So that a man may as well doubt of any matter of fact that ever was done before his own time or at a great distance from him as doubt of these fundamentals of the Christian Religion and yet there is no man but thinks himself as certain of some things at least which were done a long time ago or a great way off as if he had been at the doing of them himself Indeed in some respects we seem to have more evidence than these could have that lived in the beginning of Christianity for they could see but some Miracles we have the benefit of all they relyed upon their own sences and upon the sences of such as they knew and conversed with we upon the sences of innumerable People who successively beheld them for the space of Divers hundred years together so that whoever will not believe the Scriptures neither would he believe though one rose from the Dead that is though the greatest Miracle were wrought for his conviction This was said of the Old Testament and therefore may with greater reason be said of that and the New both And we have besides one sort of evidence which those that lived at the first planting of Christianity could not have for we see many of those Prophecies fulfilled which our Saviour foretold concerning his Church we know how it sprung up and flourished and from what small unlikely beginnings it has spread it self into all corners of the Earth and continues to this day notwithstanding all the malice of Men and Devils to root it out and destroy it The continuance and success of the Gospel under so improbable circumstances was matter of Faith chiefâ—y to the first Christians but to us is matter of Fact and the object of sense they saw the work indeed prosper in their hands but their Faith only could tell them that it should flourish for so many Ages as we know it has already done This is a standing and invincible proof to us at this distance of time and has the force of a twofold Argument the one of a Power of Miracles the other of Prophecies we know that a miraculous power has been manifested in conquering all opposition and in a wonderful manner bringing those things to pass which to humane wisdom and power are altogether impossible And the fulfilling hereby of Prophecies is a visible confirmation to us of the truth of those Miracles which by the Testimony of others we believe to have been done by the Prophets whose Prophecies we see fulfilled And since it must be acknowledged that things may be so well attested that we may with as much reason doubt of the truth of our own sences as of the Authority by which we are assured of the truth of them and must turn Scepticks or worse if we will not believe them we may conclude as well upon the account of these Prophecies which we our selves see fulfilled as upon all other accounts that the Historical evidence in proof of the Christian Religion amounts to all the certainty that a matter of Fact is capable of not excepting even that of sense it self II. Let us now apply all this to the Resolution of Faith and give an account how a divine and infallible Faith may be produced in us Humane Testimony is the Motive by which we believe the Scriptures to contain God's revealed Will this certifies us that such Miracles were wrought
the most implacable enemies of Christianity and brought Christians into contempt among the Heathen for nothing could make the Gospel of less account in their esteem than to deduce its Authority from the Books of the â—ews who soon after the Crucifixion of Christ became vile and contemptible in the eyes of all the World It can be no great wonder to see men drawn into those vices under the pretence of Religion which no Laws nor Punishments can restrain them from but for a Religion that forbids all vice under the severest penalties to prevail in a vicious world is truly miraculous Besides it is Death by the Law of Mahomet to contradict the Alcoran men are forbid all disputation and discourse about Religion they are charged to believe none but Mahometans and to look upon all others as unworthy of all manner of conversation So that the Sword in the hands of furious and ignorant Zealots is the only way by which that Religion was designed to be propagated But nothwithstanding all these compliances with the Lusts and Passions of men if we take in all Ages since the Incarnation of Christ the Christian Religion not to mention the Jewish has had a much larger propagation than ever Mahometanism has had and has at all times been taught in more parts of the world and even amongst Mahometans themselves And the Alcoran it self asserting the Divine Authority and Mission both of Moses and Christ serves in some measure to propagate the Faith of the Old and New Testament so far I mean as to give an advantage and opportunity for men to make enquiry into them and become acquainted with them CHAP. VII The want both of Prophecies and Miracles in the Mahometan Religion MAhometanism is grounded neither upon Prophecies nor Miracles Mahomet indeed calls himself Prophet very solemnly but we have but this one instance of his Prophetick Spirit (a) Alcoran c. 66. When the Prophet went to visit one of his Wives God revealed to him what she desired to say to him he approved one part and rejected the other when he told his Wife what was in her will to speak to him she demanded of him who had revealed it to him He that knoweth all things hath revealed it to me that ye may be converted your hearts are inclined to do what is forbidden if ye act any thing against the Prophet know that God is his Protector Here is not one circumstance to make the story credible Mahomet pretended to no Miracles but when he has raised that objection as he often doth that the world would not believe in him unless they saw some Miracle he answers (b) Meor c. 13. I am not sent but to Preach the Word of God Tho afterwards he mentions that ridiculous story of the Moons being divided in these words (c) Ib. c. 54. The Day of Judgment approacheth the Moon was divided into two parts nevertheless Infidels believe not Miracles when they see them they say that this is Magick they lye and follow but their Passion but all is written Here is no proof nor any pretence to it but only a confident assertion of a thing ridiculous And yet unless we will believe this Prophecy and this Miracle there is nothing in the whole Alcoran either of Miracle or Prophecy to give it any Authority except that must be accounted one which he so often boasts of viz. It s wonderful Doctrine and Eloquence for (d) Ib. c. x xi xvi he challenges all the world to produce any thing like it protesting (e) C. vii that he could neither write nor read and therefore must needs have it by Revelation And he introduceth God swearing to the Truth of it almost in every Chapter and this is all he offers in answer to the suspicions which he so frequently suggests men then had of his being an Impostor CHAP. VIII The Alcoran is false absurd and immoral I. THE Alcoran is false as when it makes (a) Ib. c. xix the Virgin Mary Sister to Aaron when it asserts that (b) Ib. c. iv Christ was not Crucified but one like him in Contradiction to the Testimony of Jews Christians and Heathens and that Christ (c) Ib. c. lxi Prophesied of him by Name without the least proof or ground for it but against all the evidence that can be to the contrary II. The Alcoran contains things absurd and ridiculous as in that story of the sleepers (d) C. xviii the Infidels say they were five and that their Dog was the sixth they sâ—eak by opinion but the true Believers affirm them to be seven and their Dog to be the eighth And (e) Ib. c. xxvii in the story of Solomon's Army composed of Men Devils and Birds of the Queen of the Pismires and Solomon's discourse with the Bird called the Whoop who brought him tydings of the Queen of Sheba III. The Doctrines of the Alcoran are impious and immoral Mahomet makes all the Angels worship Adam in several parts of his Alcoran and his sensual Paradice is well known and his allowance of many Wives but perhaps his injustice is not so generally taken notice of (f) Ib. c. iv xxiii in permitting the professors of his Religion to take away their Slaves Wives from them The Law of Mahomet proceeds from a savage and cruel spirit obliging those that embrace it to destroy all that are not of it however the Mahometans have not always acted according to the cruelty of their Religion humane Nature not being always able to act so much contrary to it self But this is Mahomet's Doctrine (g) Ib. c. iii. God loveth not the unjust he forgiveth sins to those that believe and extirpate Infidels (h) Ib. c. iv If they forsake it the Law of God pretended to be set down in the Alcoran kill them where you find them Be not negligent to pursue the Infidels And this the (i) Tavern Voyage de Ind. lib. iii. c. 24. Faquirs at their return from Mecha are very mindful of with a furious zeal killing all they can that they meet who are not Mahometans till they are killed themselves and then they are reputed Saints and Prayers are made at their Graves Such is the Alcoran as we now have it and yet it is not now as it was at first written by Mahomet (k) Sandys Trav. lib. i. p. 54. many alterations have been made in it by inserting some things and striking out others and taking some of the absurdities away Mahomet the Second particularly is said to have made great alterations and additions (l) Ricauts Hist of the Ottom Empire lib. ii c. 10. But the Persians the followers of Haly charge Abu-Beker Omar and Ozman whom the Turks follow with falsifying the Alcoran CHAP. IX Of Mahomet AFter this account of Mahomet's Alcoran there will be no need to say much of his Person the general Doctrines of the Alcoran shew him to have been lustful proud fierce and cruel
for what Book is there without 'em or what Book of the same bigness and of any Antiquity has so few various Lections as the Bible and what Book can be Transcribed or Printed but it is liable to have mistakes made in it IV. No difference between the Hebrew Text and the Septuagint and other Versions or between the several Versions themselves is any prejudice to the Authority of the Scriptures nor can prove that the Hebrew Text was ever different in any thing material from what it is now The Translation of the Septuagint * Id. Prolegom ix s â—2 x. s 8. as it hath been observed from St. Jerom and others is in many places rather a Comment or Paraphrase than a strict Version and gives the sense rather than the words of the Hebrew Texts Many times there is supposed to be a difference where there is none for want of a sufficient knowledge of the Original as †Pocock Append. ad Porâ— Mos c. 1 2 3 4. Pears Praef. ad Septuag Edit Cantab Is Voss de lxx Interpret Walt Proleg ix 46. Dr Pocock has shewn in divers Instances and Bp Pearson in others besides what has been written by Isaac Vossius to this purpose and one very skilful in the Oriental Tongues had undertaken to shew the agreement between Hebrew and and the Septuagint throughout and had made a considerable Progress in the work as Bishop Walton informs us Other differences proceed from the mistakes of Transcribers as it must needs happen in Books of which so many Copies have been taken in all Ages and from the rashness of Criticks in making unnecessary alterations or by inserting into the Text such Notes as were at first placed only for explication in the Margin In some things of less consequence the Translators might be mistaken or they might follow a different Copy The Authority of the Text of Scripture is greatly confirmed from the citations of the Greek and Latin Fathers from whence it appears that in the several Ages of the Greek and Latin Churches the Copies which they made use of had no such variations from those we now use as to be of any ill consequence in matters of Religion As to the Imputation that was charged upon the Jews by some of the Fathers that they had corrupted the Scriptures in such places as according to the Translation of the Septuagint and the sense of their Ancestors must prove the Truth of the Christian Religion against them this is to be understood of the Versions of Aquila Symmachus and Theodosian who being all either profest Jews or Judaizing Hereticks designed their Translations to countenance their own errors especially Aquila who undertook his Version purposely to oppose that of the Septuagint For it is now generally agreed that the Jews never deserved the Censure of having corrupted the Hebrew Text tho they perverted the sense of it and where there were various Readings chose to follow that which was most favourable to their own pretences tho it were in contradiction to the Judgment of their Forefathers as well as the Christians Philo in a discourse cited * Euseb Praepar Evang. lib. viii c. 6. by Eusebius who thereby owns the Truth of it said that for the space of above two thousand years there had not been a word altered in the Law but that the Jews would chuse to dye never so many deaths rather than they would consent to any thing in prejudice of it And †Contra Apion lib. i. Josephus declares of the whole Old Testament that it had suffered no alteration from the beginning down to his own Time * Antiqu. Eccl. Orient Epist 38. Morinus himself whatever he hath elsewhere said to the contrary declares in a Letter to Dr Comber Dean of Carlisle that he supposes no man can doubt but that the Jewish Copies caeteris paribus are to be preferred before any Copies of the Samaritans which he in his Writings so highly magnifies It must be acknowledged that the numbring of the Verses and Words and Letters and the observing which was the middle Letter of every Book could signify little to the securing of the Hebrew Text entire because there may be the same number of Verses and Words and Letters in different Books and the same Number of Letters may make up different Words and the same Words diversely placed and apply'd may express a very different sense nor could there be any charm in a word that stood in the midst of a Book to keep all the rest in their proper places But this scrupulous and even superstitious diligence of the Jews in little things is an evidence of their constant study of the Scriptures and of the great value and reverence they had for it so that they would neither corrupt it themselves nor suffer it to be corrupted by others but were careful and zealous to preserve every ever letter and tittle and as I observed before from Josephus they were so well acquainted with it that he thought he could not fully enough express their skill and accuracy but by saying that they knew it better than their own names V. It is evident and confest by the Criticks that neither by these nor by any other means any such difference is to be found in the several Copies of the Bible as to prejudice the fundamental Points of Religion or weaken the Authority of the Scriptures All relating to this controversy has been eagerly debated by contending parties who yet agree in this whatever they differed in besides that the various Lections do not invalidate the authority of the Scriptures nor render them ineffectual to the end and design of a Divine Revelation inasmuch as all the various Lections taken together are no preiudice to the Analogy of Faith nor to any Points necessary to Salvation * Non minus ex ijs quae supra disputata sunt planum est id quod statim libri primi initio monuimus saepius toto opere inculcavimus plerasque omnes quae observari deprehendi in sacris libris possunt varias Lectiones levissimi esse ac pene nullius momenti ut parum admodum intersit aut vero perinde omnino sit utram sequaris sive hanc sive illam Ludovic Cappel Crit. Sacr. lib. 6. c. 2. Ludovicus Cappellus who had studied this subject as much as any man and was as well able to judge of it after the strictest examination he could make found that the things relating either to Faith or Practice are plainly contained in all Copies whatever difference there is in lesser things as in matters of Chronology which depend upon the alteration or the omission or addition of a Letter or in the Names of Men or of Cities or Countreys But the fundamental Doctrines of Religion are so dispersed throughout the Scriptures that they could receive no damage nor alteration unless the whole Scriptures should have been changed Wherefore not only the most learned Protestants but â€
is ordinary with the best Writers to express things uncertainly which they were notwithstaning throughly acquainted withal and to seem ignorant of things which they perfectly understood but past over as not worth the taking notice of or not considerable enough for them to own the knowledge of them It is a known Elegancy to say nescio quid or nescio quem when the Author so speaking was not ignorant of the thing or person there meant but either signified his contempt of the person or thing or intimated that it was not worth his while to trouble himself or his Hearers or Readers with a more particular relation The * Credo haec eadem Indutiomarum in testimonio timuisse aut cogitasse qui primum illud verbum consideratissimum nostrae consuetudinis Arbitror quo nos etiam tunc utimur cum ea dicimus jurati quae comperta habemus quae ipsi vidimus ex toto teslimonio suo sustulit atque omnia se scire dixit Cic. pro M. Fonteio Romans out of that Awe and Reverence which they had for Oaths never spoke positively in giving evidence of things which they were certain of and had seen themselves And uncertain forms of Speech are observed †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Uip. in Demost Olynth 1. by Vlpian to have been usual thy Aneient Greek Authors in their speaking of things whereof they were very well assured It could be of no use or moment in relation to the miraculous draught of Fishes to know whether the Ship were two hundred cubits or half a cubit or a quarter of a cubit over or under from the Land and it is usual with St John to express himself in this manner Jo. 2.6 6.10 19.14 Either then to keep to the same instance St John might know the precise distance and for the reasons mentioned not declare it or it not being of any use or consequence for us to be more particularly informed in a matter of that nature the Holy Ghost might suffer him to be ignorant of it if he had no other means of knowing it but by Inspiration For the Holy Ghost assisted the Apostles and Evangelists to write infallible Truth but not always to write every little circumstance concerning the things which they relate Many Miracles are wholly omitted and many circumstances not considerable or material to be mentioned are omitted of those Miracles which are recorded But if nothing be related which may lead us into error and nothing omitted which is necessary to be known this is sufficient and is all that can be expected in a Book which is to be a Rule of Faith and Manners to us It is necessary that nothing but Truth should be contained in it but not that every Truth should be in it for then the world itself could not contain the Books that should be written Suppose therefore that St John did not know precisely how many cubits the Ship was from shore what doth this prove That he did not know the Miracle which he there relates Doth it prove that he was not inspired in what he doth relate if he were not inspired in what he omits If he had determined the precise distance and had not known it this might have discredited the Authority of his Gospel but when he has not determined it can this be an argument in diminution of its Authority if he did not know what he did not profess to know Is it not 〈◊〉 good Argument in confirmation of its Authority that he would assert nothing but what he certainly knew if in what he was not persectly assured he mentions no further than he knew of it So St Paul acquaints us when he spoke himself and not the Lord which is an argument to us that in all other cases he did not speak of himself but the Lord spoke by him it is a consirmation of his Integrity that he would impose nothing upon us as of Divine Authority which is not really so because he that told us in any one case that he spoke of himself not as from the Lord would have made the same Declaration in other cases whenever he had written any thing without express Revelation 4. In things which might fall under human Prudence and Observation there the Spirit of God seems not to have dictated immediately to the Prophets and Apostles but only to have used a directive or conducting Power and Influence so as to supply such Thoughts and Apprehensions to them as might be most proper and seasonable and to keep them in the use of their own Reason within the bounds of Infallible Truth and of Expediency for the present case and occasion They might be permitted to insert such things as the state of affairs required which tho not immediately dictated by the Holy Ghost yet were agreeable to the end and design of his Inspiration and serviceable to the Ministry to which they were appointed There seems to be no necessity to assert that St Paul sent for his Cloak and Parchments by Inspiration of the Holy Ghost or that he had any immediate command or direction to salute the particular persons named at the end of his Epistles but only that his Doctrine was immediately inspired by the Holy Ghost and as he might be permitted to put that into his own words but so as never to be suffered to express it otherwise than in such a manner as was fully agreeable to the mind and intention of the Holy Spirit and therefore infallibly true So in these lesser and indifferent matters which some present occasion made requisite to be written of he had the guidance and assistance of the Holy Ghost to prevent him from writing any thing but what was expedient in those circumstances and serviceable to his calling and ministry in the propagation of the Gospel But things of an indifferent nature in themselves might become necessary as to time and place and persons and therefore might in some cases be of Divine Inspiration St Paul's journeying into Macedonia rather than into any other Country was in itself a thing indifferent but the salvation of many souls might depend upon it and therefore he was warned by Revelation not to preach the word in Asia nor to go into Bithynia but into Macedonia Acts 16.6 7 9. In like manner the Salutations of particular persons at the end of his Epistles tho they may seem to us to be of no great importance yet might be of mighty consideration and consequence to those who were concerned in them To be saluted by an Apostle in so particular and solemn a manner might revive their spirits and encourage them to perseverance under their Temptations and Asslictions for his Salutations include his Benediction which was the exercise of his Apostolick Office and Authority in one great branch of it And God himself might direct the Apostle to salute such persons for their support and comfort and encouragement in the Faith Besides the Salutation added at the end of the Epistles are
Caeterum non tanti momenti sunt ejusmodi errores ut in iis quae ad sidem bonos more 's pertinent Scripturae Sacrae integritas desideretur Plerumque enim tota discrepantia variarum Lectionum in Dictionibus quibusdam posita est quae sensum aut parum aut nihil mutant Bellarmin De Verbo Dei lib. ii c. 2. Bellarmin himself and the best Criticks amongst the Papists have acknowledged that all things relating to Articles of Faith and Rules of Life are delivered intire and uncorrupted in the Scriptures notwithstanding the various Lections And tho some of the Roman Communion have endeavoured to prove the necessity of an infallible Church by Arguments drawn from hence yet says * Considerator considered ch 12. s 4. Bishop Walton I do not remember that in any particular controversy between them and us they urge any one place of Scripture for their cause upon the uncertainty of the Reading without Points which plainly shews that there is no such uncertainty in the Text unpointed as is pretended F. †Hist Crit. V. T. lib. 3. c. 23. Simon complains that the Catalogues of various Lections are much larger than they ought to be and that for the most part they are of no moment and he charges Cappellus more than once with multiplying 'em without Reason Morinus indeed made it his endeavour to lessen the authority of the Hebrew Text in favour of the Septuagint and the Vulgar Latin but his Authority is very inconsiderable when compared with those of the same Communion who have declared themselves against his opinion In * Joh. Morin Vita the life of Morinus written by F. Simon there is this Character of Cappellus and Morinus that if they be compared as to what they have both written concerning the Bible Morinus shews more learning in his Books but it is very often not to the purpose whereas Cappellus has more sagacity and judgment and never wanders from his subject but proves what he is upon by the strongest Arguments And as severe as this Censure may seem to be yet it is justified in effect by the confession of Morinus himself For he †Epist 70. inter Antiqu. Eccl. Orient acknowledgeth to Buxtorf that he never throughly applied himself to the study of the Hebrey Tongue that he had read nothing in Hebrew for 7 years together and that therefore he did not question but he had made many mistakes especially in his Samaritan Exercitations great part of which were written in hast and he was forc'd to use such a variety of Authors that he believes it impossible but that he must have been often mistaken The Authority of Morinus then signifies nothing in prejudice to the Hebrew Text And * Hoc certo affirmare possum me nullam animadvertisse menâ—â—m nec Lectionum varietatem circa moralia documenta quae ipâ—â— obscura aut dubia reddere possunt Tractat. Theolog. Polit. c. 9. Spinoza himself has owned that he could for certain affirm that he had observed no fault nor various reading which concerned the Moral Precepts that cou'd render them obscure or doubtful Bishop Walton has with great learning and judgment summed up the Arguments on alâ— sides and as †Crit. Hist V. T. lib. 3. c. 21. F. Simon acknowledgeth haâ— examined this matter with more exactness than all that had gone before him His Polyglot Bibles give an ocular demonstration to the truth of what he maintains that there is nothing of consequence either as to Faith or Practice concerned in the difference of the several Copies of the Hebrew Text or of the several Versions And as many Sects and Divisions as there are amongst Christians and as many different Translations as they make use of they all acknowledge the Authority of the originals and their Translations in the main are the same however they disagree in rendring some particular passages which concern the different opinions of the several parties and upon that account maintain their own Translation to be more correct than others If we allow of Mr * Table-Talk Selden's Judgment who was very able to make a true one and far enough from being prejudiced in the case he says the English Translation of the Bible is the best Translation in the world and renders the sense of the Original best taking in for the English Translation the Bishop's Bible as well as King James ' s. However by different Translations and by comparing divers Copies and Versions to make out the true Reading many Texts become better understood and more fully explained than if there had been but one Reading and no difference in the Translations VI. And no less may be said in behalf of the New Testament than of the Old for the Books of it were kept from the beginning as a Sacred Treasure with great care and reverence and were constantly read in the Christian Assemblies and soon translated into all Languages The Primitive Christians chose to undergo any Torments rather than they would deliver up the Books of Scripture to their Persecutors to be destroyed and they were no less careful to preserve them uncorrupted by Hereticks Besides when Hereticks attempted to corrupt any Text of Scripture to serve their particular Heresies they were declared against not only by the Orthodox but by other Hereticks who were not concerned for those opinions in behalf whereof the corruption was intended So that it was impossible for any corruptions to be imposed upon the Church or to pass undiscovered even by some of the Hereticks themselves They must be designed for some end and to authorize some particular Doctrines and then all who were not for those Doctrines and more especially those who were against them would certainly oppose such corruptions The agreement likewise of the Greek Text of the New Testament with the several ancient Versions and with the quotations found in the Writings of the Fathers who cited and alledged them from the times of the Apostles proves that there have been no alterations of any such consequence as to make the Scriptures insufficient for the ends of a Divine Revelation If any man be of another opinion let him instance in any one Article of Faith or Rule of Life which cannot be proved from the Scriptures It is not enough for him to shew that some one or more Texts which have been brought in proof of it are disputed but he must shew that it can be proved by no Text which is clear and undisputed The various Lections of the Holy Scriptures are so far from being an Argument against their Authority that they rather help to prove it since they are comparatively so few in a Book of so great Antiquity For no care and regard inferiour to that which we must suppose men to have of a Book which they are convinced is of Divine Authority could have produced a less variety of Readings in a Book of much less Antiquity They are all of no consequence to the
Witness to the Truth of their Doctrine God himself bears Witness to it and the Jews might have said in this as they did in a very different Case What need we any further Witnesses for we our selves have heard of their own mouths in the Miraculous Gift of Tongues or seen it with our own Eyes in the many wonderful Works which were continually wrought in the most publick manner in Testimony of the Resurrection of Christ Our Blessed Saviour therefore gave as full proof of his Resurrection as if he had appear'd in the Temple or in the midst of Jerusalem to the whole People of the Jews For this had not been more effectual to the Conversion of most of them nor more sufficient to evidence the Truth of the Gospel than his Appearance to his Disciples was and if the Jews had unanimously believed it could not have contributed more to convince Men of the Truth of the Resurrection than their Unbelief has done he sent his Apostles with a Miraculous Power as convincing as his own Appearance could have been and all things considered the Jews afford us as full Evidence in behalf of the Gospel by opposing it as they could have done by their compliance with it And since we have sufficient Testimony to resolve our Faith into the Divine Veracity the certainty is the same whether the Witnesses be more or fewer because it depends upon the veracity of God which is always the same whatever the means be by which our Faith is resolved into it CHAP. XXVII Of the Forty Days in which Christ remain'd upon Earth after his Resurrection and of the manner of his Ascension OUR Blessed Saviour had certified his Disciples of his Resurrection in such a manner as to give them many infallible Proofs of it or else it is impossible for any thing to be infallibly proved and that which is chiefly to be considered in this matter is that he was seen by them not once but often not for a short time or at a hasty Interview but for forty days together and then he performed the common Actions of Humane Life he did eat and drink with them and discoursed with them of the things relating to his Kingdom To whom also he shewed himself alive after his Passion by many infallible proofs being seen of them forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God Acts i. 3. That which I here design is to make some Observations upon the Conversation that our Saviour had with his Disciples during the Forty days between his Resurrection and his Ascension and upon the manner of his leaving them when he ascended into Heaven 2. The Scriptures acquaint us that our Saviour was seen of his Disciples Forty Days or that he vouchsafed them his presence the greatest part of that time which he remained upon Earth after his Resurrection But in what manner all that time was spent with them we are no where told which is no wonder if we consider how much of his former Life is concealed from us In the Scriptures which are written for our Instruction and in the plainest and sincerest manner in the World to inform us of all things necessary to our Salvation we have nothing taken notice of for Ostentation nor for Ornament but many things omitted in the Life of Christ which are thought needful in Humane Authors to make up a compleat History We have no more mentioned of his Parentage than was necessary to make it evident that he was descended from David and born of a Virgin as the Prophets had foretold of him When he was born we read that the Shepherds and the Wise-Men came to Worship him that he was Circumcised that he was brought to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord and that he was carried into Aegypt to avoid Herod's Cruelty and hereby known Prophecies were fulfilled Afterwards he was brought to Nazareth upon the death of Herod and from that time we read no more of him 'till the twelfth Year of his Age when he Disputed with the Doctors in the Temple And then we are told that he went down to Nazareth and was subject to his Mother and to Joseph and in general Terms that he encreased in Wisdom and Stature and in favour with God and Man as it was before said of him that he grew and waxed strong in Spirit filled with Wisdom and the grace of God was upon him Luke ii 40 52. The next time we read any thing of him is when he was about Thirty years of Age and came to John to be Baptized Thus not only during his Infancy and Childhood there is little related of our Blessed Saviour but his riper years are passed over in Silence in all which time we may be sure that there was no Speech or Action of so Divine a Person but what well deserved the observation of all that knew him and was more worthy of mention in History than all the Renowned Adventures and Exploits or than the Wise or Witty Sayings which adorn the Lives of the Greatest among the Sons of Men. But Modesty Humility and a Contempt of the praise of Men were some of the great and useful Doctrines in which he came to instruct Mankind and he could not do this more effectually than by his own Example in leading a mean and obscure Life little known or taken notice of in the World 'till two or three years before he was to leave it by a Cruel and Infamous Death He did not chuse to spend his time in places of publick Resort and Converse and when he Disputed in the Temple yet nothing of the particulars is mentioned This obscure and unknown Person was to rebuke and comptroll the Pride and Vanity of the Popular Scribes and Pharisees And after he had appeared in the World very much of his Life was spent in privacy and retirement not many of his Discourses are delivered down to us and the greatest part of his Actions are omitted For if they had been all written and described in their several Circumstances many Volumes must have been taken up in the Narrative of them insomuch that St. John supposes that even the World itself could not have contained the Books that should have been written Joh. xxi 25. that is as we might express it in our Language he did a world of things more than these which are related of him and in the same sense of the Word St. James says that the Tongue is a world of Iniquity Jam. iii. 6. The meaning of St. John is that hardly any words could express how many other things were done by our Saviour besides those which he had set down Christ might have employed some accurate Historian to compose the Annals of his whole Life with the greatest exactness imaginable but he was pleased to be represented to the World very imperfestly by such as knew nothing of what belonged to the writing History any farther than to be able to tell the strict and necessary Truth The
regard as to Strangers against whom they had not that unjust and foolish Prejudice For we never read that the Apostles did any where forbear to work Miracles because of Unbelief but in all Places and among all Persons they shewed forth the wonderful Works of God But when the Works of Christ which were so wonderful and so well known in all Parts of Galilee had so ill effect upon those of his own Country St. Mark says That he could there do no mighty Work save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them and he marvelled because of their Unbelief Mark vi 5 6. He wrought such Miracles as his infinite Goodness meerly drew from him and then wondred at the Obstinacy of their Unbelief which hindred him from working any more For there are some things which God himself cannot do not for want of Power but because it would imply an Imperfection in him a Defect of Power and a Contradiction to his Divine Nature to do them God cannot lye he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself 2 Tim. ii 13. Tit. i. 2. He can act nothing unbecoming his own Wisdom and Goodness he cannot do Miracles when he sees they will be to no good purpose but will be abused to a very ill one Yet to shew his Compassion and to manifest that his Power was not restrained in it self but that their Unbelief had restrained it from them he laid his Hands upon the Sick and healed them but did no more for he can do nothing improper and unfit to be done The requiring of more Miracles when sufficient had been wrought already was a Tempting and Provoking of God it was impiously to bid Defiance to his Power and to Challenge him to do whatever they durst demand of him Our Saviour therefore rebukes the Scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees for Seeking after a Sign Matth. xii 39. xvi 2. But the first time he had wrought a Miracle just before in the Cure of the Man whose Hand was withered and of the blind and dumb Man who was possest with a Devil and when they still required farther Signs and being unmoved with what had been already done they had now charged him with casting out Devils by Belzebub our Lord had great Reason to refuse to work any more Miracles before such obstinate and ungrateful Men which he saw were so far lost upon them that that served only to render them altogether unpardonable in Blaspheming the Holy Ghost and therefore he tells them That there was no other Sign left for them who had not yet incurred that Sin which was never to be forgiven but the Resurrection of the Son of Man This was a Sign which might convince the most Incredulous and which denied to none but was reserved as the last means And several things which were done and said by Christ in private were not to be divulged till after his Resurrection because before they might fall under Suspicion but that and the Miracles wrought by vertue of it would sufficiently prove whatsoever his Disciples should say of him When they again demanded a Sign he had a little before healed great Multitudes and had fed several Thousands by Miracle in the Wilderness and therefore he again refers this wicked and adulterous Generation of Men to the Sign of the Prophet Jonas We have as little Reason to imagine that our Saviour should work Miracles to gratifie the Curiosity of Herod Luke xxiii 8. who hoped to have seen some Miracle done by him or that he should expose his Divine Power to Herod's Contempt and Mockery when he had so lately wrought a Miracle in curing the Ear of Malchus who was so far from believing in him that he was one of them who came to apprehend him It was an Act of Mercy to Cure this Man but to work Miracles only to give Men an occasion to vilifie that Power by which they were done could be neither worthy of God nor any Charity to Men but it would have been unsuitable to the Character and Authority of Christ to debase himself to a compliance with them who used him with such Scorn and Derision and only reviled and tempted him Herod was disappointed in his hope and expectation of seeing a Miracle and was not denied it for want of Faith For he believed that Christ had wrought Miracles and supposed that John the Baptist whom he had Beheaded was risen from the dead and that therefore mighty Works did shew forth themselves in him Matth. xiv 2. But perceiving him not to be John the Baptist he set him at naught 2. In the case of those who came to desire his help for the Cure of themselves and others though they had not seen any Miracle wrought by him before yet it was reasonable that Christ should work no Miracle for them if they wanted Faith in what he had already wrought and did not believe him able to perform what they would seem to expect and desire him to do When he had given so many Demonstrations of a Divine Power he might justly expect an Acknowledgment and Belief of it in all that came to him and would receive any Benefit from it He might surely bestow his Favours and Benefits upon his own Terms and no Terms could be more reasonable than that those who came to ask them should really believe that he was able to bestow them and should apply themselves to him with an expectation to receive what they asked of him Otherwise to come to him for Cure was no better than to Tempt to Mock and Deride him it was to ask what they did not believe he could bestow but they resolv'd only to try what he could do supposing that if they received no good yet however there could be no hurt in the Experiment Now can any Man think that the Miracles which Christ wrought were to be bestowed upon no better Considerations than these Or that those were in any measure worthy to be Cured who came with so indifferent an Opinion of him and with so little expectation of Relief Christ wanted no opportunities of shewing his Power he had shewn it in many and wonderful Instances and would do it again as often as he saw occasion upon fit and proper Objects But if they so little regarded what he had already done as not to believe that he had done it and could again perform the same they but ill deserved what they came for the Divine Power and Goodness was not thus to be debased and exposed as to be employed in the Cure of Men who asked what they did not believe he could perform but only thought it would cost them nothing to make the Tryal and for that Reason made Application to him Our Saviour therefore says to the Father who came to him in behalf of his Deaf and Dumb Son If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth and upon that humble and passionate Declaration Lord I believe help thou my
and such Prophecies delivered as give to the Scriptures the full evidence and authority of a Divine Revelation If therefore it be enquired why we believe the Scriptures to be the word of God the Answer is upon the account of the Miracles and Prophecies which concurring with all other circumstance requisite in a Revelation confirm the Truth of them If it be asked how we know that these Prophecies and Miracles are true and effectual and not feigned or insufficient I answer because we have them so related and attested that considered barely as matter of Fact they have all the credibility that any matter of Fact is capable of and therefore may as safely be relied upon as any thing which we do our selves see or hear If it be further urged that for all this I may be deceived since all men are fallible and no man is infallibly assured that there is such a place as Rome who never saw it though no man neither can any more doubt of it than he can doubt whether there be such a place as London who lives in it I acknowledge that there is a bare possibility of being deceived in all humane evidence but yet I deny that we can possibly be deceived in this case because though the evidence it self be humane yet the things which it concerns are of that Nature that God would never suffer the World to be thus long imposed upon in them without all possibility of finding out the Truth So that here we resolve our Faith into the Divine Authority by reason of the same Miracles by reason whereof the Eye witnesses of them did resolve theirs into it but they believed these Miracles as seen by themselves and we believed them as seen and witnessed by others but both they and we believe them as the works of God himself It might have been alledged if we had seen those Miracles that we might possibly be decived and so indeed we might if we could not have securely relyed upon Gods Truth and Goodness that they were designed by him to confirm the Doctrine for the sake of which they were wrought and we may with equal security rely upon the same Truth and Goodness for the certainty of the History of them as we could have done for the sufficiency of them to the purpose for which they were wrought tho they had been performed in our sight since it is as impossible to find out any deceit in the account given of them as it would have been for us to find any in the Miracles themselves at the time of their performance Humane Testimony is the conveyance and the means of delivering the Truths contained in the Holy Scriptures down to us and we who could neither see the Miracles nor hear the Doctrines at the first hand have at this distance of time the truth of them ascertained by a continued successive Testimony till we arrive at such as were immediate witnesses of them Now those that saw and heard all things which are delivered to us in the Scriptures could not esteem their sences infallible but they notwithstanding believed our Saviour and his Disciples to be so of whom yet their senses only could give them means of assurance that they were infallible They knew their senses might deceive them or that they might be mistaken concerning the objects of sence but nevertheless they believed that our Saviour and the Apostles could not deceive them upon this only ground that their sences or their reason by deduction from sence told them so There was not one man of them perhaps but had often observed his senses misrepresent objects to him and yet in this case upon the sole Testimony of their senses they grounded an infallible Faith because though their sences had misrepresented objects yet it was in a wrong medium at an undue distance or by reason of some indisposition of the sense it self and still their sences or rather their reason by the help of their sences discovered that their sences had led them into mistakes But in the present case when the Object was placed in open and frequent view to the greatest advantage when it was publick and exposed to multitudes when all agreed in the same opinion concerning it and when the matter was of infinite importance here they had reason to conclude that the God who framed their Sences would not suffer them to be so hurtful to them as they must needs have been if they had been deceived by them In like manner in the Testimony which descends to us from former Ages we see with other mens eyes and hear with other mens ears and though the Testimony of others may often fail us and is subject to a double inconveniency through the incapacity and unfaithfulness of witnesses yet as in the former case so here when all circumstances are weighed and considered and after the utmost tryal no reason can be found to with-hold our assent but all things stand undisproved and no just scruple appears but only a bare possibility of being deceived and this arising not from any defect but that of humane nature it self here Gods Goodness and his Truth must needs interpose to take away that only impediment which otherwise must unavoidably hinder any thing from ever being known to be infallible The only certainty which we can have that our sences are true is this That God will not suffer them to be deceived where the disposition of the medium and distance of the Object and all other circumstances are rightly qualified because that would be inconsistent with his Attributes of Justice Goodness and Truth but it would be inconsistant with these Attributes not upon the account of our Bodies for they would be provided for as well though our sences were deluded we should see and hear and taste just as we do now though we were never so much deceived in these sensations therefore the Truth and Goodness and Justice of God are engaged not to suffer us to be deceived in respect to our Souls not in regard to our Bodies and if we have no certainty that our sences do not deceive us but because God would not suffer such a cheat to be put upon us as we are intelligent and rational Beings we have the same and much greater reason to conclude that he would not suffer us to lye under such a delusion in reference to our eternal Interest If God would not suffer our minds unavoidably to lye under a temporal delusion of no great consequence have we not much more reason to conclude that he would not suffer us unavoidably to be deceived by any means whatsoever in reference to our eternal Interest For in this case to be deceived is to be destroyed and to suffer it is a thousand times worse than if he should suffer all Mankind at once not only to be deceived by their sences but to be poisoned by that deceit and therefore the special Providence and particular care of God must be concerned to prevent it