several Prophecies we have recorded in the Books of Moses and ascribed to others and the last comaining so many remarkable things is from the mouth of an Enemy Moses himself foretold That the Children of Israel should after Forty Years come into the Land of Promise That they should prove Victorious over the Canaanites and That their Country should by the Divine Care and Protection be preserved in safety whilst they went up to worship at Jerusalem thrice every Year Thrice in the year shall all your men-children appear before the Lord God the God of Israel For I will cast out the nations before thee and enlarge thy borders netther shall any man desire thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year Exod. xxxiv 23 24. Here is the Promise of a constant Miracle to be fulfilled to the Israelites thrice every Year as long as their Government stood all their Males were to go up to Jerusalem at three set and known times every year and yet their Enemies round about them whom they had so many ways provoked were by the Almighty Power of God restrained from taking any advantage of this opportunity which was frequently and notoriously given them of Invading their Countrey The very Nature and Constitution of the Jewish worship made it impossible for their Government to subsist in the observation of their Religion without a Miracle wrought three times in a Year for their preservation And the fulfilling of this Promise which God had made to them by Moses and the preserving of them in the performance of that Worship which he had appointed them was a continual Confirmation of his Law and a repeated Assurance that it was from God By the Law of Moses likewise every Seventh Year they were Permitted neither to sow their Land nor to prune their Vineyards nor to gather any Corn or Fruits that grew of their own accord which was a Law that must have brought them under great extremities and the observation of it had been impracticable if the extraordinary and miraculous Blessing of God had not supplied this constant want of the seventh year's Product with as constant an Overplus in the preceeding years For as God by Moses foretold That on the Sixth Day there should fall Manna enough to supply them on the Sabbath-day so they had a Promise of Three Years Fruits precisely every Sixth Year to supply that want which the Sabbatical Year must otherwise have reduced them to And if ye shall say What shall we eat the seventh year behold we shall not sow nor gather in our encrease Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year and it shall bring forth fruit for three years And ye shall sow the eighth year and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store Lev. xxv 20 21 22. Which is another clear Instance that the People of Israel could never have subsisted in the observation of their Law but by the constant and miraculous accomplishment of the Prophecies which contained the Promises made to them for their Preservation In blessing the Twelve Tribes of Israel he foretold the peculiar state and condition of every distinct Tribe Deut. xxxiii He foretold to them all in general That they should have miraculous success against the Canaanites That they should possess themselves of their Land That they should set Kings over them That they should have a peculiar Place of Worship whither they should all resort and that they should have the Divine Oracles and a succession of Prophets for their direction in all Matters of great importance and difficulty And Joshua appeals to the Experience of the children of Israel whether all had not been fulfilled which was promised as far as his time And be hold this day I am going the way of all the earth and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you all are come to pass unto you and not one thing hath failed thereof Josh xxiii 14. The extent of the Dominions of the children of Israel after they came to be setled in the Land of Canaan is foretold Exod. xxiii 31. and fulfilled 2 Sam. viii 3. Ezra iv 20. And Solomon at the Dedication of the Temple declared in the audience of all the People That there had not failed one word of all God's good promise which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant 1 King viii 56. Moses also foretold that besides a constant succession of Prophets for many Ages there should arise a Prophet of extraordinary Power and Authority and whosoever would not hear that Prophet should be destroyed Deut. xviii 18. This Prophet was the great expectation of the Jews at the time of out Saviour's coming Joh. 1.21 vi 14. vii 40. and the Apostles prove our Saviour to be him Act. iii. 22. vii 37. Lastly Moses foretold the Disobedience and the Revolt of the children of Israel the Judgments that should befall them for their Iniquities and their Deliverance upon their Repentance he foretold so many Years before they had any King That they and their King whom they would set over them should be carried into Captivity and that at the same time when they were taken Captive by the Assyrians who are described in the very same words that the other Prophets use concerning them the remainder should be carried into Aegypt Deut. xxviii 36 49 50 68. and we see it came accordingly to pass Jer. xliii And the Siege of Samaria by the Assyrians and of Jerusalem both by them and the Romans is particularly described to the very circumstance of their eating the flesh of their sons and of their daughters Deut. xxviii 53. which is a thing that has scarce ever happen'd in any other Siege but those of Samaria and of Jerusalem Lam. ii 20. iv 10.2 King vi 29. This monstrous and dreadful thing was twice known in Jerusalem first when it was besieged by Nehuchadnezzar and again when it was destroyed by the Romans under Titus And such a circumstance could not be foretold so long before but by a Divine Prescience and that so strange and unnatural a thing should befall the Children of Israel three several times according to the express words of a Prophecy could have nothing of Chance in it Thus we see that besides the Prophecies concerning the other Nations of the Earth every State and Condition of the People of Israel from their first Original to the Destruction of Jerusalem was the Perpetual Fulfilling of express Prophecies contained in the Books of Moses CHAP. VI. Of the Miracles wrought by Moses IF it be once proved That Moses did what is related of him in the Pentateuch it will unavoidably follow That he did it by a Divine Power and that he was God's Servant and Minister and that
therefore whatsoever he did or wrote as by his Direction and Command was really so For if there ever were or can be any such thing as a Miracle it must be confessed that the Works performed by Moses were such and therefore the only Enquiry will be Whether they were really performed by Him since it is absurd to think that God may not upon great Reasons alter the course of Nature And I shall undertake to prove supposing only that there was such a Man as Moses and that the Jewish Law was given by him That it is of Divine Authority and stands confirmed by all the Miracles which are related in the Pentateuch to have been wrought by Moses And that there was such a man and that he delivered the Law to the Israelites is affirmed by the best Heathen Authors as Diodorus Siculus Strabo and others and was never yet that I have heard of question'd by any Man For those who will not acknowledge that Moses wrote the Books which contain it yet confess that the Law it self was of his prescribing But if it should be question'd whether there ever was such a Man who gave them their Law how absurd is it to imagine that a new and burthensome Law which at first was so very uneasie to them and which nothing but a full persunsion of its Divine Authority could ever have made them so zealous for should be received by any Nation merely upon a feigned and groundless Report that Moses had at some time or other delivered it in such a manner and in such circumstances if there never had been such a Man or such a Law-giver in the World Could any one or more Men persuade a whole Nation to this or could a whole Nation conspire to deceive their Posterity with a belief of it What mighty Charm could there be in a Name never heard of before and in a Story newly invented that a whole Nation should presently grow fond of it They must consider Humane Nature very little who can fansie any thing so unnatural I shall therefore take it for granted that there was such a Man as Moses and that the Jewish Law was given by him And if it be once proved that the Matters of Fact or Miracles related of him were indeed performed as they are related to have been no rational Man can doubt but that they were brought to pass by an Almighty Power I shall now therefore consider the History of the Jews barely as National Records not as written by an Inspired Author For it will appear from them considered only as an Account of Matter of fact that Moses was a Person inspired and assisted by God and both wrote and did all by God's express Will and Appointment And if we question the Authority of the Books of Moses in this matter when they are considered but as National Records it must be upon one of these accounts Either 1. Because the Matters of fact contained in them as they are there related to have been done were not at first sufficiently attested Or 2. Because the Records themselves are seigned and therefore the Relations there set down are not to be depended upon For if the Miracles be sufficiently attested supposing the Truth of the History then if the History be true the Miracles must be so too 1. The Miracles and Matters of fact contained in the Books of Moses as they are there related to have been done were at first sufficiently attested The permission of Polygamy amongst the Israelites for the encrease of that People the peculiar Fruitfulness of the Climate of Aegypt where the Women are observed to bring forth often two or three sometimes more Children at a birth the long Lives of Mankind in those Ages and above all the Promise of God made to Abraham That he would bless and multiply his Posterity in Isaac's Line Gen. xxii 17. caused the Children of Israel to be exceeding numerous in a few Generations after they came into Aeygpt A Syrian ready to perish was their father and he went down into Aeygpt and sojourned there with a few and became there a nation great mighty and populous Deut. xxvi 5. The fighting-Men from twenty years old and upward that were numbred in the Wilderness of Sinai in the second year after they came out of the Land of Aegypt were Six hundred thousand and Three thousand and five hundred and fifty besides the Tribe of Levi Num. i. 1 46 47. And the Males of the Levites that were numbred from Thirty Years old to Fifty were Egtht thousand and five hundred and fourscore Num. iv 47 48. And the number of Males from Twenty Years old and upward which was taken in the Plains of Moab was Six hundred thousands and a thousand seven hundred and thirty besides the Levites and those that were numbred of them were Twenty and three thousand all males from a month old and upward and not a man of these was numbred before in the wilderness of Sinai chap. xxvi 51 62 64. And those of the other Sex must be supposed to have been about the same number when both these Accompts were taken In all reckoning Men Women and Children and Servants the Number is computed at three Millions And all this People the Parents and the Children who as they died grew up in their stead were conducted for Forty Years together by a constant course of Miracles wrought continually in their sight God took him a nation from the midst of another nation by temptations by signs and by wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm and by great terrours Deut. iv 34. They could not be ignorant whether there were Miracles wrought to procure their Deliverance out of Aegypt these were publick and notorious both to the Israelites and the Aegyptians the Magicians were not able to do the like with their Inchantments but were forced to confess This is the finger of God Exod. viii 19. and they were of that nature and of such mighty consequence that they could not fail of being particularly taken notice of when two Nations were so much concerned in the Effects and Events of them The Children of Israel had been Witnesses of Ten Plagues inflicted successively upon the Aegyptians in the most remarkable manner that can be conceived to procure their Deliverance and when Pharaoh pursued them as they were going away it was impossible for them to escape from him but by Miracle the People were in the greatest consternation they wished themselves again in Aegypt and made such Expostulations with Moses as it was natural for Men in that condition to make and such as shewed that upon the first opportunity they would have been ready â—o deliver up Moses to secure themselves and malâ—â— their peace with Pharaoh And they said unto Moses Because there were no graves in Aegypt hast thou taken us away to die in â—he wilderness Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of Aegypt Is not â—his
to make known his Name and Truth among the Gentiles In the time of Moses this People it self was uncapable of that pure and Spiritual Worship which the Messiah was to appoint and stood in need of a Ceremonial Law and Service to restrain them from Idolatry and to preserve the sense and remembrance of the Promises and Laws deliver'd to Adam and Noah And this Ritual Service was unworthy that the Messiah should come purposely to appoint it who was indeed himself the principal thing signified and typified by it and the Types and Figures of himself could not be Instituted by himself in Person for then they would have been insignificant and there could have been no use or occasion for them But the most Excellent and Divine Institution was reserv'd for his Appointment to which all the rest was but preparatory The Law was added because of Transgressions till the Seed should come to whom the Promise was made Gal. iii. 19. After the Revelation of God's Will and Commandments had thro' the great neglect and wickedness of Mankind become ineffectual God sent all his Servants the Prophets daily rising up early and sending them an expression setting forth his great care and watchfulness over his People for their good yet they hearkned not unto him nor enclin'd their ear but hardned their neck Jer. vii 25 26. To Cure this strange stubbornness and their proneness to Idolatry God sent this People into Captivity for Seventy years which wrought so thorough a Reformation in them that they were never afterwards given to Idolatry but endur'd all extremities of Torments rather than they would be brought to any compliance with the Heathen Worship and therefore there could be no longer such necessity that the Ceremonial Law should be continu'd to them to keep them from the Worship of Idols But in other respects their Provocations were still very great And as the Lord in the Parable first sent his Servants and last of all his Son saying they will reverence my Son and thereby left those wicked Men without excuse and manifested the Justice of his Vengeance upon the Murtherers of his own Son So God first sent his Prophets and when the Jews who had been train'd in the knowledge and worship of him and were to conveigh it to other Nations would not be reclaim'd by them but revil'd and destroy'd them and then set up their own Traditions in opposition to their Doctrines he sends his Beloved Son before he would utterly take away their City and Nation and effected that by the death of his Son whom they Crucified which the experience of so many Ages had shewn could be effected no other way God reveal'd himself at sundry times and in divers manners and in his Infinite Wisdom proportioned the ways and measure of his Revelations to the capacities and the necessities of the several Ages in which they were made till at last he hath spoken unto us by his Son Heb. i. 1 2. When we were Children we were in bondage under the Elements of the World but when the fulness of the time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law Gal. iv 3 4. 2. The Reception of Christ and his Gospel in the World would have been much more difficult if so many Prophets in so many several Ages had not foretold his coming Our Saviour himself and his Apostles after him appeal to Moses and the Prophets for the truth of their Doctrine this was the great Argument which they us'd to the Jews in Confirmation even of their Miracles themselves they prov'd that the Prophets had foretold that Christ should come at that very time when he came and that he should work those Miracles which he wrought and should empower his Disciples to do the like his Death and Resurrection and Ascension and the descent of the Holy Ghost were all Prophesied of and Prophecies thus foretelling the Miracles and Miracles fullfilling the Prophecies and both mutually confirming and supporting each other afforded all the Evidence that could be given for Prophecies and Miracles are all the ways by which God can be supposed to reveal himself to Mankind And therefore thousands of the Jews were convinc'd out of the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ and were Converted to the Christian Faith And the Prophecies concerning the Messiah are still an unanswerable Argument in vindication of our Religion which Argument we must have wanted if our blessed Saviour had come so much sooner as not to have been Prophesied of so many Ages beforehand And those who reject the Gospel now would have thought they had had much more Reason on their side than they can now pretend to have for there had then been so much less means for their Conviction So that the coming of our Saviour was deferr'd to give the greater Evidence and the fuller conviction of his being the Christ It would have been hard to believe that the Son of God should come into the World with little or no notice given of it beforehand and few or no Prophets sent to foretell his coming and prepare his way But when he had been so long before Prophesy'd of even from the beginning of the World thro' the several Ages of it when there had been a general expectation of the Messiah to be born and the Time and Place and Tribe and Family and Person of whom he was to be born by degrees and at several times had been foretold when Mens hopes and desires to see him were thus from Age to Age awakened and alarmed this was a Solemnity worthy to introduce and attend the Son of God into the World and a Method which would prove a standing Evidence of his being come into it 3. The time of Christ's coming may depend upon things which we are uncapable of knowing For it may depend upon the duration of the World and it is impossible for any Man to know how long that shall be The Scripture speaks of the times of the Gospel under the Phrase of the last Days but this is to be understood in relation not to the continuance of the World but to the Christian Dispensation which is the last means of Salvation that God will vouchsase to Mankind and with regard to the Jewish Church and Government which was just then at an end as I shall shew in the next Chapter Now if the World may continue as long under the dispensation of the Gospel as it had done before it and no Man can tell but it may we shall find little cause to wonder that Christ was not sooner born into the World For we find that the Faith and Zeal of Christians decays as we are at a farther distance of time from the Incarnation of our Saviour and the first propagation of his Gospel and the length of the time it self proves a temptation to some to disbelieve it for men are apt to give less credit to what happened long ago and to think themselves less concern'd in it
hearing Gather the people together Men and woman and children and thy stranger that is within thy gates that they may hear and that they may learn and fear the Lord your God and observe to do all the words of this law And that their children which have not known any thing may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it Deut. xxxi 10 11 12 13. How is it possible that any more effectual care could have been taken to secure a Law from being depraved and altered by Impostures Every seventh Day at least was set apart for the reading and learning it in their seveval Tribes throughout all the Land and then once in seven years it was read at a publick and solemn Feast when they were all obliged to go up to Jerusalem And for this purpose Moses wrot a Book of the Law which was put in the side of the Ark that it might be there for a Testimony against them if they should trangress it much more if they should make any Alterations in it And out of this Book the King was to write him a Copy of the Law Deut. xvii 1â— and this Book of the Law was found by Hilâ—iah the High-Priest in the House of the Lord 2 Cron. xxxiv 14.2 King xxii 8. For after all that the wicked and idolatrous Kings could do to suppress the Law of Moses and draw aside the People to Idolatry the Authentick Book of the Law writen by Moses himself was still preserved in Josiah's time besides the several Copies which must be dispersed throughout the Land for the use of their Synagogues and those which must be remaining in the hands of the Prophets and other pious Men. And there is little reason to doubt but that this very Book written by Moses was preserved during the Captivity and was that Book which Ezra read to the People It is by no means credible that the Prophets would suffer that Book to be lost much less that they would suffer all the Copies generally to be lost or corrupted which indeed considering the number was hardly possible Is it probable that Jeremiah would use that favour which he had with Nebuchadnezzar to any other purpose rather than for the preservation of the Book of the Law The Jews say the Ark was secured in the burning of the Temple at the time of their Captivity but it is much more probable that the Book of their Law was secured it being both more easily conveyed away and not so tempting a Prey to the Enemy We find the Law cited in the time of the Captivity by Daniel Den. ix 11. by Nehemiah Nehem. i. 8 9. and in Tobit who belong'd â—o the Ten Tribes Tob. vi 12. vii 13. And it is not to be doubted but that these and other pious Men had Copies of it by them and were very careful to preserve them Maimonides (r) Huet 〈◊〉 Prop. 41. says that Mises himself wrote out Twelve Books of the Law one for each Tripe besides that which was laid up in the side of the Ark and the Rabbins teach that every one is obliged to have a Copy of the Pentateuch by him And Ezra and Nehemiah (s) Dros dâ—â—â—â—th Sect. l. 3. c. 11. are said to have brought Three hundred Books of the Law into the Congregation assembled at their return from Captivity It is certain there were Scribes of the Law before the Captivity and in the time of it Jer. viii 8. Ezra is stiled a ready Scribe in the law of Moses and the Scribe even a Scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord and of his statutes to Israel And by Artaxerxes in his Letter he is called a Scribe of the law of the God of heaven Ezra vii 6 11 12. By which it appears that there were Scribes of the Law during the Captivity who were known by this solemn Stile and Character and whose care and employment it was to study and write over the Law of whom Ezra was the principal at the time of their Return It is most probable then that the Book of the Law was preserved in Moses's own Hand till the coming of the Jews from Babylon besides the Copies that were preserved in the hands of Daniel Nehemiah Ezra Zechariah and the other Prophets who were not only of unquestionable Integrity but wrote themselves by Divine Inspiration 3. Nothing is more expressly forbidden in the Books of Moses than all Fraud and Deceit and it cannot reasonably be suspected that any Man would be guilty of a Fraud of the highest nature imaginable to introduce or establish a Law that forbids it Moses had forewarned them against all such practices both in his Laws in general and by an express Prohibition Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you neither shall ye diminish ought from it Deut. iv 2. And all who had any regard to the Observation of his Laws would observe this as well as other parts of it for this preserved the Authority of all the rest inviolable And if they had had no regard to the Law but had altered it as they pleased they would certainly have made such Alterations as would have gratified the People and would have taken great care to leave nothing which might give offence but the Laws of Moses are such as that without a Divine Authority to enforce them they would never have been complied with but would have been grievous to a less suspicious and impatient People than the Jews were If it be said That the Prohibition against Alterations might be added amongst other things there is no ground of probability for it but so much odds against it that a Man might as well suspect that the whole Five Books had been forged as to pitch upon that particular Verse and say that it is not genuine Besides why should Impostors insert such a Clause as would hinder them from changing any thing in the Law ever after why should they not rather reserve to themselves a liberty of changing and adding as often as they thought fit 2. As the Laws themselves could not be invented nor altered after Moses's time so neither could the Account of the Miracles wrought by him be inserted after his death by any particular Man nor by any Confederacy or Combination of Men whatsoever For if the Miracles by which the Law is supposed to be confirmed were afterwards inserted they must be intended as a Sanction to give Authority to it and keep the People in awe when they were become uneasie and disobedient under the Government of those Laws But it must needs be much more difficult to introduce Laws at first than to govern a People by them after they have been once introduced and are setled and received amongst them Indeed it is incredible how Laws so little favourable to the ease or advantage of a People which were so expensive and burthensome in there
the Ark of God was taken than at the death of both his Sons that gave him his mortal Wound and he could not out-live the Hearing it 1 Sam. iv 18. Samuel's Sons were wicked as well as Eli's and he doth not conceal their faults but plainly says That they turned aside after lucre and took bribes and perverted judgment chap. viii 3. but he appeals to the whole People for his own Integrity who solemnly declare him free from any Oppression or Injustice He resigned the Government though he had the Power in his hands to appoint two Kings successively and by Gods Commandment raised both Saul and David out of their obscurity to a Throne Samuel says plainly That when the Elders of Israel came to him to ask a King the thing displeased him 1 Sam. viii 6. and he who could make Two Kings of Two different Tribes and of no Interest in their respective Tribes might as well have made himself King if he had acted upon Humane Considerations and by Humane Power and Means The Divine Power therefore was visible in the Government of the Children of Israel from the time of Moses and Joshua to Saul for they were constantly governed by Persons of God's appointment their Government was a Theocracy being administred by God's immediate Direction the Lord their God was their King 1 Sam. xii 12. CHAP. VIII Of the People of Israel under their Kings AFter a standing Regal Government was settled among the People of Israel they were either happy or miserable at home and either a Defeat or Victory attended their Armies abroad as they proved obedient or disobedient to the Law of Moses and to the Word of the Lord delivered by his Prophets Upon the Revolt of the Ten Tribes when Two Tribes only remained in the obedience of Rehoboam and in the true way of Worship this had been the time as already has been said if there had been any Imposture hitherto carried on to discover it for they had all the Temptation and all the Opportunity to do it that could possibly be given But after the Division of the Ten Tribes Jeroboam durst not so much as attempt to draw them off from an acknowledgment of the Divine Authority of that Law by which they were obliged to go up to Jerusalem to sacrifice though he persuaded them to change the Place of their Worship and to go no longer up thither And God had his Prophets in Israel who were as zealous for the Law as the Prophets of Judah for in both Kingdoms they had still Prophets to admonish them and to direct them in all Matters of great importance Tho' the Vrim and Thummim and the Shechinah were confined to the Aaronical Priesthood and the Ark of the Testament yet the other kinds of Prophecy were vouchsafed to Israel as well as Judah and the Captivity both of Judah and Israel by the Assyrians and the Deliverance of the Jews out of it befell them according to express Prophecies and both during the Captivity and at their Return they had Daniel Zachariah Malachi and other Prophets amongst them and for so many Ages from their first coming out of Aegypt the whole People were made continually Witnesses of the manifest Power and Presence of God amongst them This will be evident by making some Observations concerning the Prophets and their Writings and concerning their Prophecies and Miracles CHAP. IX Of the Prophets and their Writings THe kinds of Prophecy among the Jews were 1. The Shechinah 2. The Vrim and Thummim 3. Revelation by Visions and Dreams or by Inspiration for I shall not here distinguish these ways of Revelation to consider them apart And when these kinds of Prophecy ceased under the Second Temple the Bath Kol or Voice from Heaven was the only way of Revelation but of this there is little or nothing certain to be relyed upon 1. The Sechina was the sitting or dwelling of God between the Cherubims on the Mercy-Seat or Cover of the Ark Psal lxxxi 1. and xcix 1. from whence he gave out his Answers by an Articulate Voice Exod. xxv 22. and xxix 42. Num. vii 89. 2. The Vrim and Thummim upon the Breast-plate of the High-Priest Exod. xxviii 30. was another standing Oracle to be consulted upon all great occasions Num. xxvii 21.1 Sam. xxviii 6. xxiii 9. xxx 7. Ezra ii 63. and the Answers were returned by a visible signification of the Divine Will and this Oracle was not only venerable amongst the Jews but was famous amongst the Heathen as Josephus assures us for its infallible Answers Mr. Mede (x) Mede's Discourse 35. thinks Vrim and Thummim to have been in use among the Patriarchs before the Law was given because the making of it is not spoken of amongst the other things of the Ephod The common opinion is that this Oracle was delivered by the shining of such Leters of the Tribes Names engraven on the Priests Breast-place as express'd the Answer but the same learned Author thinks that the Vrim and the Thummim were distinct Oracles the Thummim shewing when their Sacrifices were accepted and the Vrim answering such Questions as were proposed upon any important occasion 3. Revelations by Visions and Dreams or by Inspiration were the Revelations which properly denominated those the whom they were made Prophets For the Prophets were Persons sent by God with an extraordinary Commission to declare his Will and they were not confined to the Tribe of Levi or to any one particular Tribe but sometimes taken out of one Tribe and sometimes out of another for tho' the Jews had Colleges and Schools to prepare and qualifie Men by a vertuous and religious Education for Divine Illuminations yet divers others who had not been educated in this manner were endued with the Spirit of Prophecy and some of them were but of very mean Employments and others again of Royal Blood They reproved both their Kings and their Priests with a fearless and undaunted Freedom and Authority and this Plain-dealing such as became Men who spake and acted by a Divine Impulse without Design and without any Disguise sometimes commanded great Reverence towards them from Princes not easie to be well advised or directed Rehoboam a willful and rash Prince at the head of an Army of an Hundred and fourscore thousand chosen Men upon the Word of the Lord deliver'd to him by Shemaiah return'd home without attempting any thing to regain the Tribes that had revolted from him to Jeroboam 1 King xii 21. Ahab though an exceeding wicked King after a signal Victory bore the reproof of a Prophet who denounced a Judgment upon Him and his People for letting Ben-hadad go and was much concerned at it 1 King xx 42 43. and the same Ahab rent his Cloaths and put on Sackcloth and fasted at the reproof of Elijah 1 King xxi 27. Amaziah by the admonition of a Prophet dismiss'd an Hundred thousand mighty men of valour whom he had hired of the Israelites for an Hundred Talents being content
Composition of Cato it had been hard for him to avoid the being a Stoick and he might probably have founded that Sect if it had not been known in the World before The Philosophers had no Authority to promise rewards or to threaten punishments upon the observation or neglect of their Precepts and therefore every man was at his liberty to chuse or to reject what they taught and divers of them were sensible of this unavoidable defect in all humane Doctrines and therefore pretended to Revelation There is no inconvenience therefore in supposing that many of the Precepts contained in the Proverbs and other Books of Scripture might be known without a Revelation for there is notwithstanding very good Reason why they should be inserted into the Scripture Because the Scriptures have the Authority of a Divine Law and are to be looked upon not as a System of Ethicks or a Collection of Moral Precepts but as a Body of Laws given out upon Divers occasions and as Rules of Instruction which at the same time both shew us our Duty and command our Obedience It is not expected that Kings in their Laws shouid argue more profoundly than other men do but they should command more effectually than others can teach they do not dispute but pronounce and dictate what their subjects must take notice of at their peril And it is no diminution to a Princes Authority to command the most known and obvious things though it may be a fault in the subject to need such commands And God in his word did not design to furnish us with a Treatise of Philosophy to gratify our curiosity with strange and new notions and make us profound Scholars but to speak to the necessities of men and put them in mind of known Duties to appeal to their own Consciences and to enforce those notions of Good and Evil which natural reason perhaps might suggest to them by the authority of a revealed Religion and a Divine Law established upon Rewards and Punishments 3. Though the Philosophers were able to discern something more than other men yet they durst not openly declare what they knew but were over-born with the errors and vices the Times and Countries in which they lived even to the Commission of Idolatry and the worst of vices and therefore their Doctrines whatever they were could do but little good towards the reformation of the World I shall not enquire into the Reports concerning Socrates and Plato Seneca and Cato himself but only observe that Socrates who was the only Martyr among the Philosophers for the truth yet when he comes to die speaks with no assurance of a Future State and ordered a Cock to be sacrificed to Aesoulapius which can hardly be reconciled to that Doctrine for for which he is supposed to die And after his Death how did his Friends and Disciples behave themselves Did they openly and courageously vindicate his innocence and teach the Doctrine for which he suffered Did they not use all means to conceal and dissemble it But Mankind stood in need of a perfect example of Virtue and of such instructors as should both teach and practise the Doctrines of it at their utmost peril and of a succession of such Men as should bear Testimony to their Doctrine both by the Miracles wrought during their Lives and by the constancy of their Deaths 4. As the Heathen Philosophy wanted the Authority of a Law and the example of those who taught it so it wanted principal Motives to recommend the practice of it to the Lives of Men. The Philosophers teach nothing of the exceeding Love of God towards us of his desire of our happiness and his readiness to assist and conduct us in the ways of Virtue They owned no such thing as Divine Grace and Assistance towards the attainment of Vertue and the perseverance in it (o) Tull. de Nat. Dâ—or lib. iii. Virtutem autem nemo unquam acceptam Deo retulit nimirum recte propter virtutem enim jure laudamur in virtute recte gloriamur quod non contingeret si id donum a Deo non a nobis haberemus nam quis quod bonus vir esset gratias Diis egit unquam Jovemque optimum maximum ob eas res appellant non quod justos temperatos sapientes efficiat sed quod salvos incolumes opulentos copiosos This occasioned those (p) Sen Epist 53. insolent Boasts of the Stoicks equaling themselves to the Gods and sometimes even preferring themselves before them because they had difficulties to encounter which made their conquests of vice and their improvements in virtue more glorious than they supposed the like excellencies to be in their Gods who were good by the necessity of their own Nature Wherefore tho the Rules of Philosophy had been never so perfect yet they must needs be ineffectual being so difficult to find out and so unactive and dead when they were discovered without that Authority and Life and Energy that may be had from Divine Revelation which there was a necessity for not only to supply the imperfections and correct the errors of Philosophy but to enforce the Doctrines of it tho they had been never so true and perfect CHAP. VI. The Novelty and Defect in the Promulgation of the Mahometan Religion THE Novelty of the Mahometan Religion in respect both of the Old and New Testament is past all dispute And this Religion notwithstanding all its sensual allurement owes its Propagation solely to the â—ower of the Sword For though the Alcoran has been translated into most of the Languages in use amongst Christians yet it has never been known to make any Proselytes but by force of Arms. At first this Religion had many circumstances for its advantage which might in humane probability gain it success in the world It was begun in Rebellion and in a final Revolt from the Emperor Heraclius and besides this popular and seducing Temptation of Licence and Violence Mahomet added the enticements of Lust and Sensuality he forbad Men indeed some things but such as he could easily see they would part with for the free and unbounded enjoyment of others then he pretended to sound his Doctrine on the Authority of Moses and of Christ saying that Christ had promised to send him all which made his Religion find the more easy entertainment amongst both Jews and Christians 'T was but like the Heresy of the Gnosticks at the first and not altogether so gross and this must needs encline all of Seditious and lewd principles to come in to him being glad of such a colour for their wickedness and it had the advantage of Power and Force to make it more lasting than other such Blasphemies have been Christ on the contrary forbad Resistance of the supreme Power upon any terms whatsoever he asserted the Authority of Moses but so as to abolish the ceremonial part of the Law which was what the Jews were most fond of so that this very thing made the Jews
immediate Influence of the Divine Power but in Miracles this Power manifests its self in an extraordinary manner above and contrary to the Established Laws or Rules which God has in all other cases prescribed for the producing Effects II. Men would fancy to themselves some kind of Scheme or other and would frame some Notions and Conceits to give an Account of Miracles or they would imagin them to return of Course at certain Periods or upon some Accidents if they saw them frequently done or perhaps they would suppose them to proceed from some Defect in the Nature of Things which could not always keep its course but made many Deviations from it But when Miracles were wrought only in some Ages for peculiar Reasons this shews that they were done by an immediate Divine Power with a particular Design which could be no other than the Confirmation of Religion since they ceased both under the Law and the Gospel when both were fully declared and confirmed III. A perpetual Power of Miracles in all Ages would give occasion to continual Impostures which would confound and distract Mens minds and would make the true Mircles themselves suspected We see now that the Dreams of every Enthusiast and the Pretences of every Impostor are apt to startle weak minds tho' we have so much Reason not to expect Miracles or Revelations But if we were in constant expectation of True Miracles the False would be much more likely to mislead many and to make others reject the Belief of any Miracles at all If Prophecies and Miracles had been frequent in the Jewish Church to the coming of our Saviour his Prophecies and wonderful Works had not so well distinguished and manifested him to be the Christ But when after so long an Intermission they were again revived in him this shewed him to be the great Prophet and Messias who was expected And it is very observable that as Miracles had been discontinued for a long time among the Jews so St. John Baptist who was more than a Prophet and one of the greatest of all the Men that had been before him yet wrought no Miracles that he might be the better distinguished from the Messias and that there might arise no doubt in the Minds of any which of them was the Christ And when our Saviour had been acknowledged to be the Christ in all Parts of the World it was fit that Miracles should cease to preserve the Authority due to the Miracles wrought by himself and his Disciples it being more for the Honour of Christ that the Miracles wrought in his Name should cease when his Religion had been fully Established than that Men should be tempted to doubt who was the true Christ and which was the true Religion upon the account of false Miracles wrought in opposition to the True IV. Another Reason why the Gift of Miracles has been with-held in latter Ages may be this because since there has been a general depravation of Manners among Christians it would have proved a great occasion of Pride and Vain-Glory to those who had possest it as we find it was to some even in the times of the Apostles 1 Cor. xii xiv And our Saviour saw it requisite to give Caution to his Disciples Notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the Spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoice because your Names are written in Heaven Luke x. 20. It must be an eminent and truly Primitive Piety that could bear the having of such Gifts with an humble and Christian Temper of Mind V. It is an Observation of (f) Advan of Lâ—arn l. iii. c. 2. my Lord Bacon's That there was never Miracle wrought by God to Convert an Atheist because the Light of Nature might have led him to confess a God But Miracles are designed to Convert Idolaters and the Superstitious who have acknowledged a Deity but erred in his Adoration 〈…〉 Light of Nature extends to declare the 〈◊〉 and true Worship of God For the same Reason when once the true Religion is confirmed in such a manner as to have the same Evidence for it which there is for the Existence of God himself Miracles are no more to be expected to convert an Infidel than to convert an Atheist Among Men of Learning and Reason there ought to be no more doubt of the Truth of the Gospel than of the Being of a God and they without the help of Miracles may instruct others (g) De Procur Indor Salute Lib. ii c. 9. Acosta enquiring into the Cause why Miracles are not wrought by the present Missionaries for the Conversion of Heathen Nations as they were by the Christians of the Primitive Ages gives this as one Reason because the Christians at first were ignorant Men and the Gentiles learned but now on the contrary all the Learning in the World is employ'd for the Defence of the Gospel and there is nothing but Ignorance to oppose it and there can be no need of farther Miracles in behalf of so good a Cause when it is in the Hands of such able Advocates against so weak Adversaries However though there be no such change as was wont formerly to be wrought in the visible Course of Nature in Confirmation of our Religion yet there is still a Divine Power evident among Christians living in Heathen Countries For the Devil who tyrannizeth over the Heathens has no Power over Christians dwelling among them of which the Indians have taken great Notice and have (h) Lerii Histor Navig in Brasil c. 16. declared the Christians happy in being freed from the Tortures of Wicked Spirits by which they find themselves often seized on the sudden in a terrible manner and stand in perpetual fear of them (i) Capt. Knoxe 's Hist of Ceylon Part iii. c. 4. Christians they do acknowledge have a Prerogative above themselves and not to be under the Power of these Infernal Spirits It is so generally related by Travellers of all Professions both Protestants and Papists that the Devil exercises a manifest Tyranny over the Heathens but is able to do nothing to the Christians abiding amongst them that this cannot be denied to be a plain Argument of a Divine Power discovering it self in Confirmation of the Christian Religion though not by such Miracles as were formerly wrought because there is no longer any need of them CHAP. XXX Of the Causes why the Jews and Gentiles rejected Christ notwithstanding all the Miracles wrought by Him and his Apostles THough the Christian Religion be most certain in it self yet there is a Supernatural Grace required to make us throughly and effectually convinced of the certainty of it No Man can come to me says our Saviour except the Father which hath sent me draw him and this is declared to be the Reason of the Infidelity of such as were offended at his Doctrin and departed from him But there are some of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not