our graces and duty comes from the weakness of our faith And it is not the best Logick which is ever accompanied with the strongest Trust Though Reason be an excellent and necessary ingredient some trust in Christ with victorious confidence who cannot dispute best for their Faith Conclus XXIII Though Peace and holy Joy be a most desirable effect of Faith and by which the strength of it may be much tryed yet it is not this but Practical consent to the Covenant of Grace or Christs terms of Salvation in which its saving sincerity consisteth Conclus XXIV By all this it appeareth how ambiguously the Question de Resolutione fidei is too oft disputed And how fallaciously a mans faith is said to be unsound if his reasons be some unsound and none cogent to prove an undoubted absolute certainty that the Scripture is Gods word and that Faith is not so resolved into the antecedent reasonings as necessarily to be unsound if some of them are so That God cannot lie is known by Nature That the Gospel is his word is known by its proper notifying evidence forenamed where many things concur That therefore the Gospel is true is known as a rational Conclusion But these are by believers apprehanded oft with imperfection faultyness and disorder But Practical Trust in God in Christ in the Gospel Promise is Constituted by its formal object which is Gods Fidelity or Veracity grounded in his Perfection and in the apprehended Truth of his promises And this effectual faith is saving I have Prefaced this much that the Reader may the easilyer understand and profit by the two following Treatises one written and the other translated by Mr. William Lorimer my greatly valued Friend well known by me to be a man of Learning and Judgment and exemplary faithfulness to God and Conscience and of a prudent and peaceable Conversation with men If the Reader bring not a disposition of enmity against the Truth or gross neglect of it but a mind that hath necessary manly preparation and a receptive willingness and resolution for an impartial diligent search I doubt not but in these two Discourses he will find enough though not to remove every difficulty in the Bible yet to save his Faith from all such assaults as would overthrow it and make it uneffectual to his Salvation And verily a man that hath well digested the matter of such Controversies will find that Pomponatius Vaninus Hobbes Spinosa c were Ignorant men that knew not their own Ignorance nor what they wrote against and that Simon saith little but what Commentators have often Answered and though he and others truly prove the doubtfulness of some Readings and somâ— Translations which may be of man he saith nothing to shake a well-grounded belief of Moses Law the Gospel of Christ and any thing necessary to Holiness or Salvation Richard Baxter April 7. 1682. ERRATA Preface pag. 6. lin 2. read have In the Epistle to the Reader page 4. lin 11. read will page 7. lin 11. read adiaphorous page 16. lin 7. read where l. 18. r. be l. 20. r. servant l. 22. r. and First part p. 17. l. 1. 1. uncertain in so much ibid. l. 16. r. parity p. 28. l. 8. r. suppositions p. 35. l. 7. r. retro-active p. 43. l. 7. r. command ibid. l. 13. r. punishment p. 47. l. 2. for Table r. Fable p. 56. l. 14. r. proofs of Religion Second part p. 67. l. 5 6. r. Authoribus p. 80. l. 13. r. preserved p. 84. l. 24. r. floating p. 87. l. 7. r. afford p. 91. l. 7. r. sixth p. 96. l. 23. r. your p. 97. l. 10. r. named p. 104. l. 19. r. for p. 109. l. 16. r. unto p. 110. l. 4. r. may p. 132. l. 16. r. hundred p. 135. l. 8. r. sense p. 144. l. 7. 19. r. Be eber haijarden p. 150. l. 2. r. land p. 151. l. 15. r. mount p. 164. l. 7. r. say The Epistle to the READER Christian Reader IF thou weighest things in the Ballance of right Reason thou can'st not but see That Moses being the first Man by whose Ministry Almighty God thought fit to give a Body of Laws unto a whole Nation and to as many of the World besides as should join in communion with that Nation it was necessary God should enable him to make it evidently appear unto all rational Men that he was sent and authorized by God to give Laws unto that Nation and if thou read'st the Books of Moses and what thou wilt find in the following Discourse concerning him and them thou can'st not but likewise see that the infinitely Wise and Powerful God did in effect enable him evidently and certainly to prove his Mission and Commission to be from Heaven For through God's extraordinary assistance he gave the highest demonstrations of his being Authorized from above that can in reason be desired of any that speaks or writes unto Men in the name of God his works and writings hear the manifest signatures of God's Wisdom Power and Goodness his works were such as could never have been done without the assistance of an invisible Power far above any thing that falls under the perceptions of Sense and it is most evident to Reason That that invisible Power could be no other than the infinitely powerful wise and good God who made preserves and governs the World and all things therein For it could not possibly be any Evil Spirit First Because Moses in his contest with the Magicians of Aegypt did at the very first Encounter far out-do them and the Evil Spirit by whose assistance they wrought their wonders as evidently appears by Aaron's Rods swallowing up their Rods Exod. 7. 12. and by their not being able to remove the Frogs again from off the Land of Aegypt and therefore Pharaoh was forced to call for Moses and Aaron and desire them to intreat the Lord to take away the Frogs from him and his people Exod. 8. â—â—8 and at last he forced them to confess â—â—â—t they were overcome for when they â—â—â—ld not turn the Dust of Aegypt into Lice 〈◊〉 Moses and Aaron had done they then â—â—â—ved out and said unto Pharaoh This is the finger of God Exod. 8. 18 19. they â—onfessed that it was the power of God which â—nabled Moses and Aaron to turn the Dust into Lice and which hindered them from doing the like Secondly It could not possibly be any Evil Spirit because Moses's Miracles were wrought for the highest best and excellentest ends to wit for the glory of God and for the good of his People they were wrought to convince both Pharaoh and Israel That the Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob who made and governs the World is the only true God who is above all to be Feared and Reverenced Adored and Worshipped Loved and Obeyed Pleased and Glorified and that Moses was his Authorized Messenger to be believed and obeyed for his sake in all that he said and commanded in his
name They were wrought also both to cause Pharaoh to let go the Israelites and likewise to make the Israelites willing to leave Aegypt and to go with Moses and take possession of the Land of Canaan which the Lord God had long before promised unto their Fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Thirdly It could not possibly be any Evil Spirit because Moses's Miracles were wrought to the prejudice of the Devil's interest in the World and for the destroying of the Devil's Kingdom by rooting out Idolatry from among God's People and driving Idolaters out of Canaan and for the setting up of the Kingdom of God visibly upon Earth Fourthly It could not possibly be any Evil Spirit because the Evil Spirit is the great Enemy of Mankind and of all humane Society rightly constituted whereas Moses's Miracles were wrought for the confirmation of a Doctrine which is manifestly for the good of Mankind of individual Men and of all Societies of Men Deut. 4. 6 8. This wile clearly appear unto any rational Man that shall duly consider these following Laws of Moses Concerning Mens Loving their Neighbours as themselves and not Coveting any thing belonging to them Concerning the City's of Refuge appointed for such Persons as should happen to kill a Man unwittingly Concerning the Redemption of Lands Concerning Goodness Lenity and Equity to Servants Mercifulness to the Poor Kindness to Straugers Justice and Equity to the Widows and Fatherless Reverence and Obedience to Superiors And concerning the Duties of Superiors towards their Inferiors and Subjects But not to insist upon these and many other excellent Laws of Moses which are manifestly for the good of Mankind and both evidence themselves to have been given unto Moses and Israel by an infinitely good God and also Moses's Miracles wrought in confirmation of them to have been from the same cause there is one thing which I cannot but touch upon to wit That whereas other Law-givers have set up some a Monarchy some an Aristocracy and others a Democracy Moses was the first that Established a visible Theocracy over the Israelites under which form of Government all things were to be managed by the counsel and direction of the infinitely wise God the People of Israel as a Kindom of Priests and a Holy Nation were to refer all their matters unto God and to ask advice and direction of him by VRIM and THVMMIM in reference to Peace and War and all things of any considerable importance or difficulty Exod. 19. 5 6. 20. 24 the latter part Exod. 28. 30. Deut. 10. 14 15 16 17. 12. 11 12 Levit. 26. 11 12. c. These things put together if no more could be said seem abundantly sufficient to prove that Moses was Authorized by God to give Laws unto the Israelites for no Man could have wrought such Miracles so circumstantiated except God had been with him and such is the weakness of Man's Vnderstanding that he could never of his own head have invented such a Law and such a way of Government And if Moses's Miracles and Law could not possibly be of any Evil Spirit nor of Man they must needs have been of a Good Spirit and that Good Spirit could be no other but God for though God used the Ministry of Good and Holy Angels in giving forth the Law yet they could not possibly be the Authors of it and if any of them had ever pretended unto that Honour he would by so doing have degenerated into a proud arrogant and lying Devil God himself then was the alone Author of Moses his Law and the Holy Angels with Moses were but Instruments and Ministers by whom God gave it unto Israel and indeed there is nothing in it but what well becomes God to be the Author of there is nothing in it that doth any way contradict the perfections of his Nature or destroy the natural notions of Truth and Falshood Good and Evil which he hath implanted in the mind of Man nay many of Moses's Laws are evidently agreeable unto and Representative of the transcendent excellencies of the Divine and perfective of the humane Nature and even those of them which are of a most adiapheros indifferent nature in themselves and derive all their morality from the will and pleasure of God did certainly by Gods appointment and blessing very much promote the happiness of his People Deut. 10. 12 13. 11. 12 to 16. Levit. 26. 3 to 13. Deut. 32. 16 17. As to what some Atheists Object from Exod. 12. 35 36. That Moses taught the Israelites to cheat the Aegyptians of their Jewels under pretence of borrowing them and that God himself is brought in as countenancing the Cheat which seems to be plainly contrary both to the perfections of God and right Reason of Man I Answer It is false that is Objected for there was really no borrowing and lending in the case but asking and receiving and carrying away what God had inclined the hearts of the Aegyptians freely to give and so there could be no cheat under pretence of borrowing This Answer is grounded upon the true import of the Hebrew Word Shaal which signifies to ask and accordingly the place Objected is rendred by Munster and the Tigurin in English thus The Children of Israel asked of the Aegyptians Jewels and the Lord gave the People favor in the sight of the Aegyptians so that they gave them such thiugs as they asked and they carryed them away from the Aegyptians the Aegyptians apprehended themselves to be all dead Men if the Israelites stayed in Aegypt any longer and therefore were willing to give them any thing they bad on condition that they would be presently gone Vers 33. And thus things were ordered by the wise Providence of God that the Children of Israel might be rewarded for the great Service they had done unto the Aegyptians Moreover It is very observable that some of Moses's Laws were such that it is impossible to conceive that any Men in their Wits would either have given such Laws unto others or have themselves received and submitted to them unless they had been sure that God was the Author of them and that he would take care to prevent the great inconveniences that might arise from the observance of them I Instance in Two First The Law for the Seventh Year Sabbath Exod. 23. 10 11 Levit. 25. 4 5. The Command not to Plow nor Sow every Seventh Year was of such consequence and might have produced so ill effects that Moses would never have attempted to bring the Israelites under such a Law nor would they have been such fools as to have received it and submitted to it unless he and they had been both sure that God had Authorized him to give them that Law and that God had undertaken to secure them from the great inconvenience that might arise from their Observance of it for if they had not been sure that God had by promise engaged
be called by that name among the Hebrews for we see that God called it by that name and the signification of the name agreeing so admirably well with what followed thereupon it is not likely that ever it was wholly forgotten amongst the Posterity of Abraham If any should say that it may seem the name Moriah was given to that Land rather after than before the Lord had manifested himself to Abraham on the Mount I Answer First That can never be proved why might not the Lord God give it that name before-hand which should signifie what he was there to do on the behalf of Abraham The Text says That God bid Abraham get him into the Land of Moriah and their offer c. I Answer Secondly Granting that it was given to that Land after the Lord had manifested himself to Abraham on the Mount yet it does not follow that therefore it must be after Moses also and in Solomon's time when the Temple was Built upon Mount Moriah 2 Chron. 3. 1. Certainly it might have that name long before Moses and yet not have it till after Abraham had done offering the Ram instead of his Son for as Abraham immediately after called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh the Lord will provide with respect to the Answer which he had given his Son Vers 8. My Son God will provide himself a Lamb for a Burnt-Offering So he might at the same time call that part of the Countrey the Land of Moriah or the Land of Vision as the Vulgar Interpreter and Symmachus render it because there he had seen God in a most signal manner there God had given him a sensible and most convincing demonstration of his special Providence and of his peculiar discriminating Grace and Love to him and his Seed Thirteenthly and Lastly P. Simon Objects Deut. 3. 11. and thereupon says If we diligently read what is writ concerning the Bed of Og King of Bashan we shall find that those who have collected these Books have added some words to illustrate the words of the Text by conforming them to the practice and custome of their own times Answer I have diligently read what is there written concerning the Bed-stead of Og King of Bashan both in the Original and in several Translations and yet I do not find by what I read there either that any Body besides Moses collected those Books or that he who collected them hath added some words to illustrate the words of the Text by conforming them to the practice and custome of his own time I suppose P. Simon would have us believe that the last words Beammath Ish after the Cubit of a Man have been added to the Text after the time of Moses but he must first prove that there was no such distinction of Cubits known in the World in the time of Moses and so that Moses could not write these words which express one Member of the distinction methinks it is very easily conceivable that Moses himself might be moved to add this explication of his own words if we consider that there might be diverse sorts of Cubits than in use of which some might be longer than others now if it had been only said that Nine Cubits was the length and Four Cubits the breadth of the Giants Bed-stead the Reader would not have known what Cubits he meant and consequently would have still remained ignorant of the exact measure of the Bed-stead therefore Moses to take away all ambiguity adds for explication of his own words that it was the Cubit of a Man i. e. the common ordinary Cubit which was then so well known amongst the Israelites that there remained no more ground of doubting of what measure the Giants Bed-stead was and if any were so incredulous as not to believe Moses relation of the length and breadth of the Giant Bed-stead they might go themselves to Rabbath and there see it and measure it by the Cubit of a Man But some may say How came King Og's Bed-stead to be at that time in Rabbath amongst the Ammonites I Answer it might come to be there any of these Three ways 1. In time of War the Ammonites might have plundered the Countrey of Og King of Bashan and might have carried his Iron Bed-stead with other spoil into their own Countrey or 2. King Og being to fight with Moses and the Israelites at Edrei and fearing the event of the Battel as he had good reason might send his own Iron Bead-stead with many other necessary things to Rabbath to be secured for him amongst the Ammonites whither he might intend to flee in case he should be vanquished in the Battel at Edrei and be able to make his escape or 3. the Israelites having Conquered the whole Kingdom of Bashan and utterly destroyed all the Inhabitants King Og and all his Subjects taken all his Cities to the number of Sixty and possessed themselves of all that belonged to him or his People if this Bed-stead was in the whole Kingdom at that time it must of necessity fall into the hands of the Israelites and Israel being at Peace with the Ammonites they might come and Trade with the Israelites and especially at such a time they might come to buy part of the Spoil and amongst other things their curiosity might prompt them to buy the Iron Bed-stead of the Giant Og and to carry it into their own Countrey which in former times had been a Land of Giants as appears from Deut. 2. 19 20 21. and no doubt they might have ancient Monuments of those Giants whom they called Zamzummims remaining amongst them and those that wanted might be desirous to have by them some such Monuments of Giants to show as well as their Neighbours and this might be done before Moses either spoke or wrote the words of that Verse Objected by P. Simon Thus you see that any of these Three ways the Iron Bed-stead of Og might come to be in Rabbath of the Children of Ammon when Moses wrote the Book of Deuteronomy There are yet Two Objections against Moses his being the Author of the Pentateuch which I remember I have read in Spinosa his Tractatus Theologico Politicus and because I would omit nothing of any Moment that the Adversaries have written against the Truth which the Church of God believes and I defend I shall here set them down and Answer them as I have done with P. Simon 's Fourteenthly Then Spinosa Objects Deut. 2. 12. where it is said That the Children of Esau destroyed the Horims and dwelt in their stead as Israel did unto the Land of his Possession which the Lord gave unto them now he pretends that this could not be written by Moses because Israel did not destroy the Canaanites and take possession of Canaan till after his Death I Answer At this rate of arguing a Man might prove that our Lord Christ when he instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist did not speak these words This is my Blood which is shed
his Providence to Bless them with extraordinary great abundance of Cornes on the Sixth Year they could not but foresee that there would have been a Scarcity and Famine on the Seventh Year especially when the Year of Jubile which was every Fiftieth Year succeeded the Seventh Year Sabbath for in that case the Law forbade them either to Plow or Sow for Two whole Years together Levit. 25. 8 to 12. upon which they could not but foresee that a Famine would certainly follow unless God had undertaken by an extraordinary Providence to prevent it Therefore Moses must have been sure of this otherwise he would never have attempted the giving them such a Law and he must have made the People sure of it also otherwise he could not but foresee that they would never have been so simple as to receive and submit unto such a Law as would expose them to the danger of a Famine every Seventh Year and in the revolution of Fifty Years would unavoidably bring a Famine upon them We read in the 25th of Leviticus where this Law is Recorded That God foreseeing the People would certainly move this Objection against it he prevented them and both moved and answered the Objection himself Vers 20 21. If ye shall say What shall we eat the Seventh Year behold we shall not Sow nor gather in our Increase Then I will command my Blessing upon you in the Sixth Year and it shall bring forth Fruit for Three Years c. Here they had God's word of Promise Sealed with the Broad-Seal of Heaven Moses's Miracnlous Works for the ground of their assurance that God's extraordinary Providence would secure them from Famine And it was upon this so well grounded assurance that they received and submitted to that Law And God never failed them in this but always fnlfilled with his hand what he had spoken with his mouth so that they were never forced to travel into other Countries to buy Corn for the supply of their necessities in those Sabbatical Years The other Law I instance in is that which obliged all the Males of Israel Thrice a Year to appear before the Lord at the place where the Ark of God should be Exod. 23. 17. 34. 23. Deut. 16. 16. this Law was given and written by Moses for the Generations to come and he could not but foresee that the People would be ready to Object against it That if after they were possessed of the Land of Canaan all their Males should Thrice every Year leave their several Houses and Countries and meet at one place as at Jerusalem or at any other place where the Ark of God should happen to be their Land would be in danger of being frequently invaded spoiled and wasted by the malitious and covetous Heathens that lived round about them and that therefore it was most unreasonable to desire them to be Governed by such a Law This Objection I say Moses could not but foresee and therefore if he had not been certain that it was God's will and pleasure that he should give them such a Law he would never have done it of his own head and likewise if they had not been certain that Moses was really Authorized and Commissioned by God to give them such a Law they would never have received it and submitted unto the observance of it to the visible hazarding the loss of all that they had in the World This God considered to be rational and therefore for their security he gave them his promise by Moses and by Moses's Miracles confirmed his Promise That no Man should DESIRE their Land when they went up to appear before the Lord their God Thrice in the Year Exod. 34. 24 as if God had said Be not afraid least the Heathen break in upon you and Burn your Cities and lay waste your Countrie whilst all your Males are from home attending npon me at the place of my Publick Worship for when you are about my Work I will not only be with you abroad but with your Wives and Children likewise at home and I will take such care of you and yours and so secure all your Concerns that your envious and Covetous Neighbours and Enemies shall not so much as desire your Land much less shall they be able to lay it waste and desolate with Fire and Sword as you may be apt to fear It was by this promise and the Miracles wrought by Moses that both Moses and the People were assured that this Law was of God and that God's special Providence would protect his People and secure all their concerns when they were doing the will of God according to this Law and without this assurance if Moses had gone about to impose upon them in a matter of such dangerous consequence they would certainly have refused to obey him By these Two Instances it manifestly appears that Moses both knew in himself and evidently proved unto Israel that he was Commissioned by God to give Laws unto them for if it had been otherwise he would neither have attempted to give them such Laws nor would they have ever received them and submitted to them To draw to an end Let it be considered that Moses Miracles tended all to the Glory of God the Author of Nature and to the advanccment of his Kingdom in the World as he is the Author of Grace and his Writings give us most high glorious and excellent and also most lovely and desirable Idea's and Notions of God and his Perfections Witness God's name I AM THAT I AM and I AM Exod. 3. 14. which signifies that he is the first and most perfect Beeing that gives Beeing to all other things and consequently implies his eternal and necessary Existence from everlasting and to everlasting And his name THE LORD THE LORD GOD MERCIFUL and GRACIOUS c. Exod. 34. 6 7. witness also that description of him Exod. 15. 11. WHO is like unto thee O LORD GLORIOUS IN HOLINESS FEARFUL IN PRAISES DOING WONDERS and that other description of him Deut. 32. 3 4. I will publish the name of the Lord ascribe ye greatness unto our God c. And what is written of him in Deut. 4. 35 to 40. 10. 14 to 19. These most sublime and excellent Notions of God and his Perfections with which Moses's Writings do furnish us are proper and fit to raise in us a most high esteem and reverence of God to make us admire and adore him to take us off from the inordinate love of our selves and of all other Creatures as mean and vile as shadows and nothing and to draw out our hearts and affections wholly unto him to make us love him and from a principle of Love careful to please him and fearful to offend him Deut. 6. 4 5 13 14 15. 10. 12 to 21. in fine to make us hope in him expect all needful good things from him and above all things desire to be united unto him as the most glorious excellent and blessed Beeing which was
and is and is to come of whom through whom and to whom are all things that we may be most happy in union with him and in the enjoyment of his Love and Favor for evermore I might here speak of that account which Moses gives of the Creation of the World and especially of Mankind of the Disobedience and Apostacy of Mankind and of the Miseries that came upon the World by reason thereof And of the restoring of Man to the favor of God again by the Mediation of the Messias who was promised and Prophesied of first under the name and notion of the Seed of the Woman that was to bruise the Serpents Head Gen. 3. 15. then of the Seed of Abraham by Isaac in which Seed all the Nations of the Earth were to be Blesied Gen. 22. 18. 26. 4. and afterwards of the Seed of Jacob by Judah and stiled SHILOH unto whom the gathering of the People was to be Gen. 28. 14. compared with Gen. 49. 10. Numb 24. 16 17 19. and lastly under the name and notion of a Prophet like nnto Moses and who by consequence was to be a Lawgiver and Mediator Deut. 18. 18 19. I might shew the Reader that Moses's Writings set forth God as placable and reconcileahle Gen. 3. 15. 4. 7. as pleased and reconciled Gen. 4. 4. 8. 20 21. and as pleased and reconciled by Faith Gen. 15. 6. I might demonstrate that the account which Moses gives of these things is highly agreeable to right reason and experience and that it is most comfortable and satisfactory to the mind of Man But all this cannot he done in the compass of a short Epistle The Reader may expect that I should at least say something in behalf of the Two following Discourses but if he do he will be disappointed for having said enough in commendation of the First Disconrse in the beginning of the Second I will say no more of either but leave both to speak for themselves Only I must advertise the Reader That the Translation varies from the Original in some Two or Three things and this is the reason of the variation I found that there were several palpable mistakes in the French Discourse and I am resolved through God's Grace to follow no Man in known mistakes therefore I mended them As where the Author says That the broad Plates for covering the Altar made of the Censers of Corah and his Company were Plates of Gold I say as the truth is that they were Plates of Brass Numb 16. 39. And again where the Author says That Moses Condemned Thirty or Forty Thousand Men and commanded them all to be presently Executed I say that he did so by several Thousands which is true for the number of the Slain was about Three Thousand Exod. 32. 28. but our Learned Author was certainly mistaken for his reckoning neither agrees exactly with the Vulgar Translation nor yet with the Hebrew Verity Christian Reader I will detain thee no longer from the perusal of the Discourses themselves and that the use of them may he blessed to thee for thy Souls good is and shall be the earnest desire of Thy Seavant in all things wherein he may Serve our Lord Christ and his Church W. L. A DISCOURSE On the Proofs of the BOOKS of MOSES 1. THE Christian Religion doth freely acknowledge that the wit of Man cannot reach the the height of the Mysteries which it teacheth and that the humane understanding is too narrow and limited to discover the grounds of them in the Eternal springs of Truth where they would appear to us as clear as first and self evident Principles if our sight could reach so far Nevertheless it pretends not that we should believe them absolutely without proof and by a blind Instinct and God hath not given Man Reason and Understanding to render so great a present not onely useless but also hurtful to him by propounding unto him such objects of Faith only against which his Reasoning faculty should be in a continual mutiny and contradictory opposition That is the case of those Sects which are founded only upon Wild Fancies Groundless Conceits and Phanatical Visions and which are Established upon and Upheld by no other Principle than such an extravagant abuse of Reason as that was by which they were first hatcht Whereas the Christian Religion is such that how impenetrable soever be the depth of its mysteries yet none can doubt of their truth but by such another kind of extravagancy 2. For the business is not to examine the possibility of those mysteries nor to cure the wit of Man as touching all the difficulties which it finds to submit unto them men would be unreasonable to desire to comprehend them since they cannot comprehend themselves and yet doubt not of their own Existence It is sufficient that it may be demonstrated to them that all those so unconceivable Truths are linked not only with other Truths which they know but also with such Truths as of all others are most proportionat to their understanding and whereof they may be assured by the most evident and certain means 3. If men have a certain knowledg of any thing it is of matters of Fact of all things which they know there is not any wherein it is more difficult to impose upon them and concerning which there is less occasion of dispute and so when it shall be clearly shewed them that the Christian Religion is inseperably linked with matters of Fact whereof the Truth cannot be questioned by men of common honesty and integrity they must either submit unto the belief of all its Doctrines or else they must renounce sincerity and reason 4. For instance if there was such a Man as Moses and if he was the Author of the Books commonly attributed unto him then the Jewish Religion is true if the Jewish Religion be true then Jesus Christ is the Messias and if Jesus Christ be the Messias then all that he said and taught is to be believed and consequently the Trinity the Incarnation and all the other mysterious Doctrines of the Christian Religion are to be believed 5. It is by this Divine concatenation of Truths that God leads Men unto the true Faith and that they are enabled to show that there is nothing more rational than their submission unto the most incomprehensible mysteries so far are they from deserving to be charged with weakness and imprudence on that account and since the great Body of Christian Religion is composed of a very great number of different Parts which all tend to the same end and hath had a Being about six thousand years it cannot be but that it must consist of very many particular Truths all linked together as in one chain and that every Age must have given new proofs thereof and consequently that wheresoever a Man begins to what point soever he applies himself he will always meet with such an abundance of light that it will be impossible for
few in which the Israelites could not be deceived that is sufficient to convince us and oblige us to believe all the rest and to look upon Moses as the Minister of God who would reveal himself to Men since the Laws of Nature once Violated suffice to teach us and make us see that there is something above Nature and never Man before Jesus Christ appeared so visibly to have been entrusted with the power of that Lord of Nature as this Man that we speak of 26. It may be some will rather chuse to say That in truth it is impossible that Moses should have deceived the Jews but That it may very well be that they themselves have helped on the Cheat and that they may have looked upon that heap of Miracles as fabulous as they were as a thing that might make them to be admired by other Nations But in truth there is nothing but the desire of devising to ones felf some ground of doubting what ever it be that could produce such a Phantastical supposition for of all the suppositions that Infidelity could suggest this certainly is the most undefensible We shall show by and by that this people could not have contributed their help to this Imposture by supposing that presently or some time after Moses his Death and the Law being already established amongst them some new Upstart devised such a strange way to make them considerable and famous in the World and by proving that their Love to their Nation would have been so far from inducing them to consent to it as that it will appear that that alone would have been an invincible obstacle thereunto which is no less true with respect to Moses than it is with respect to any other But there is yet infinitely less probability that the first Jews would consent to any such thing for who could imagine that they would have plotted with Moses to bring themselves in Subjection to a Law which they believed to be the meer product of his invention and that for the same Law of which they had such an opinion they would have suffered themselves to be used so rigorously as that a meer omission in Ceremonies should be punished with Death and that without murmuring or repining at it what more can be done or suffered on the account of things that are most seriously managed and believed and that are found to be established time out of mind besides that it would be a rare sight indeed to see Five or Six Hundred Thousand Men all agreed to report a known Falshood and that none of them all nor of their Posterity should ever contradict it and give the rest the Lie 27. For there was not one of those Miracles whereof every particular person of that numerous people all encamped together could not but have known the Falsity if they had been false and which yet he was to Authorize as having seen it with his own Eyes or as having been done in his own or his Fathers time what a work then had this been for Moses to make sure of so many persons and especially amongst a people so difficult to be Governed and how comes it to pass that among so many there should not be either some conceited Fellow or some sober understanding man that set himself to oppose such a design whosoever should have undertaken to do so he must be very ignorant of the Nature of Man who cannot see that such an one would quickly have had as many followers as Moses or at least that he would have been desirous to acquaint Posterity with this Imposture and that he would have easily accomplished his desire or purpose to do so 28. Besides what could be a more proper and likely means to render the Jews ridiculous among all Nations so far was it from being a fit means to make them be admired and how blind must they have been not to have seen this for instance what would the Aegyptians have said concerning all those Plagues which Moses says he brought upon them concerning that Death of all their First-born and that Drowning of Pharaohs Army in the Sea and how came all those other Nations whom they braged to have conquered in so extraordinary a manner to be so enchanted as to let so many fabulous Stories pass in the World without contradiction unless they were also in the Plot against themselves and were as real Enemies to and haters of their own Fame and Glory in the World as it is imagined and supposed that the Israelites were ridiculously in Love with theirs 29. Men may invent Fables I confess yet they do not carry them to that excess when they would have them to be believed and above all they are very careful to place the first rise of them in far distant times and to vail them with the obscurity and darkness of many remote Ages But as men never design to Pass for knaves or fools so they never invent such fabulous stories as may be gainsaid and proved false by living Witnesses yea by whole and much concerned Nations as for instance it had been a pretty project in the Moors when they were returned into Africa after they had been driven out of Spain if they had undertaken to make the World believe that they came out of it voluntarily by Miracles like to Moses his Miracles and that after the Mediterranian Sea had opened it self to make way for their passage they saw it close again to drown an Army of I know not how many Thousands of Men that pursued them and yet the design we speak of had been no less extravagant in the Jews for we must not represent unto our selves those so remote times although gross or rude as so dark as they may seem to be in those times Men heard from one another they had the same Interests and the same Passions that we have they saw what they saw and felt what was to be felt as well as we do 30. These two hypotheses then must be absolutely abandoned neither was Moses an Impostor that deceived the Jews neither were the Jews in confederacy with him to carry on the Plot. There remains nothing to be objected but that Moses was not the Author of the Book that bears his Name or at least that it is but since his death that all those Miracles which it contains have been added to it This is unbeliefs last Refuge but Reason will not suffer a Man that hath the least measure of common sense to take up with it 31. Although we had nothing else to certifie us that these are really the Books of Moses and that we have them such as they were penned by him but this that they bear his Name as they themselves witness that they have been always attributed unto him and that it came into no mans mind until now to affirm the contrary this should be enough and because of this we could not reasonably doubt of their being his since we have no other assurance that any
such a fearful multitude of Lies rendering themselves thereby unworthy of Divine Protection and liable to be convicted of Imposture by the Neighbouring Nations would not this have been a venturing to lose all for to gain nothing 45. This might suffice to convince all understanding and sober Men but if some would yet insist upon the Jews love for their Nation and pretend that the desire of being admired might have induced them to permit and promote this Imposture let us see whether it be not quite contrary and whether there be the least probability that they believed they could advance their own Reputation by the things contained in that Book which seem so shameful to the Nation in general and though all had been for the publick good let us see whether it be credible that particular Persons and whole Families would have willingly Sacrificed themselves and their Interests unto it especially considering that nothing did constrain them and that having nothing to do but to invent it was in their choice to take what way they pleased and to secure the Interests of all without provoking so many people to discover their Frauds 46. Had they only mentioned such things as might have contributed to their Honour as those great Miracles which are an Evidence of Gods most special Protection it had been abundantly sufficient for their design without inventing some things which it was so many Peoples Interest to oppose and other things which do expose that Nation to so great contempt 47. For instance what is there more miserably base than the Fears and Murmurings of this People occasioned by the bitter Waters of Marah by the want of Food and by the Thirst they suffered in Rephidim they are hardly sooner come out of Aegypt but they forget all those great things which they would make the World believe that their God had there done for them they think they are forsaken and betrayed and complain that they are treacherously brought out of a Countrey where they lived at ease though they were Captives and Slaves in it to destroy them in the Wilderness they Question the Power and Protection of that God who had so eminently appeared for them and are ready to Rebel against that very Man who they believed was chosen by God to deliver them now is not this the shamefullest and greatest weakness imaginable is not this the highest Ingratitude both to their God and to Moses their Guide and Captain what could their cruellest Enemies have invented more dishonourable to them and who could imagine that to make themselves renowned all the World over and to cause Men to believe they were the beloved People of God it should ever have entered into their thoughts to paint out and represent themselves so light and unconstant so unfaithful and so absured that during the space of Forty Years wherein they Fed as themselves say upon meat sent down from Heaven there passed hardly a Day on which they were not heard to cry like little Children and to wish with Tears they were yet Slaves in Aegypt that they might fill their Bellies with Onions and Leeks 48. The whole Five Books of Moses must be almost copied out to recount all the Unfaithfulnesses and all the Faults of this People for therein is hardly any other thing to be seen one would think they had been resolved to make their Wickedness keep even pace with the Grace and Favors of their God almost upon all occasions they Rebelled against their Leader and were scarce delivered from one Judgment when they brought upon themselves another nothing could hinder this ungovernable People from falling continually into the same Crimes not the example of the Three Thousand Men whom the Sons of Levy slew by the commond of Moses to punish them for their Idolatry nor the Fire and Plague from the Lord which in Two Days time destroyed near Fifteen Thousand Men for their Sedition nor the dreadful Judgment of the Fiery-Serpents nor the Tremendous Punishment inflicted upon them for their mixing with the Daughters of the Midianites on which account Moses caused to hang up all the Heads of them against the Sun and Twenty Four Thousand of the People died by the Plague 49. But to say all in one word what can be imagined more strange and more disgraceful to their Memory than that general Apostacy which happened when Moses was upon Mount Sinai and when those Mad People forced Aaron to make them a Golden-Calf and to offer Sacrifice unto it as if it had been unto their God Let all the circumstances of this Action be well weighed and it will undoubtedly appear that a People which have declared themselves capable of falling into such a Crime have by so doing Convicted themselves of all Vices at once and chiefly of Sottishness and Extravagancy They tell us that they were brought out of an Enemies Countrey by the greatest and most unconceivable wonders that can be imagined insomuch that there is hardly a moment of time mentioned in all their History in which the Almighty Arm of their God doth not visibly appear this their God Pardons them all their Murmurings and all their Unfaithfulnesses and instead of Punishing their Distrust he Provides for them Meat and Drink in places where there had never been any before and satisfies even the lowest and grossest of their desires 50. Nevertheless in the time when they knew that their Deliverer and Guide is on the Mount with that same God to receive his Orders about the Government of them a panick and a ridiculous Fear seases upon them they cannot patiently bear Moses his so long absence and without knowing well wherefore they demand of Aaron a visible God to go before them they force him to make a Golden-Calf which they set up upon an Altar they call it the God which brought them out of Aegypt and give to this pretty Deity made of Ear-rings the same Honors and the same Thanksgivings which they owed and had before so often given unto the true God Creator of Heaven and Earth who had chosen them out of all Mankind for his special Favorites 51. Truly they must have lost the use of their Reason who can think that this People have suffered this Narrative of the Golden-Calf to be added to their History and that they have done it to make themselves to be admired and esteemed by other Nations could they imagine that their Glory and Renown was imperfect without this to make up the defects of it and is it not on the contrary a disgrace which can never be rubbed off and for which their Posterity will blame them for ever And is it not rather one of the greatest Miracles in the World that this Action of theirs could ever come to our knowledg and that the whole Jewish Nation have not done their utmost utterly to abolish the Memory of it so far must we suppose the Jews to have been from inventing it against themselves or from suffering to be added unto so
Author and an Universal Historical Tradition assures us that such a Man was indeed the Author of it we are bound to believe it and cannot rationally disbelieve it without a demonstration to the contrary Thus we know the Books of Plato Aristotle and Cicero to have been written by those Authors and this is so clear and certain a truth Vt de istorum librorum Authoritatibus dubitare dementis sit utque ridendus sit non refellendus qui de iis questionem movet That none but a Madman will doubt of the Authors of those Books and he is to be laughed at and not confuted who moves a Question concerning them as holy August writes contra Fanstum Manich. lib. 32. cap. 21. And as he says That he knew the writeings of the New Testament to be the writings of the Apostles by the same means that the Manichees knew the writeings of Manes to be the writings of Manes so I say That by what means we here in England know the late Critical History of the Old Testament to be the writing of Pere Simon a Priest of the Oratory by the like means we know the Pentateuch to be the writing of Moses and we ought not to disbelieve it having the Universal Testimony of Jews Christians Mahumetans and many Heathens to ground our Faith upon unless it be first clearly demonstrated to us that it implies a contradiction that Moses should have written it which I know that neither Pere Simon nor any Man else can do And the reasonableness of what I have now said will yet further appear if it be considered that our Lord Christ himself gives Testimony unto the writings of Moses in general John 5. 46 47. Moses wrote of me But if ye beleive not his writeings how shall ye beleive my words and both he and his Apostles frequently appeal unto them and quote passages out of them This is the truth to be believed and this is actually believed by the Christian Church Yet it is no matter of Faith that there are no various Lections in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament nay it is a matter evident to Sense that there are various Lections it is no matter of Faith that through the length and injury of time and Negligence of Transcribers and Printers there are no mistakes at all in the Originals of Holy Scripture on the contrary we acknowledg that there may possibly be some mistakes even in the Pentateuch through the length and injury of time and the negligence of Transcribers and Printers but those mistakes we believe do not at all hinder the Holy Scriptures from being a perfect Rule of Faith and Life in all things necessary to the Glorifying of God and Saving of our Souls Nor lastly is it matter of Faith That Moses wrote every Word and Sentence Chapter and Verse of the Pentateuch with his own hand It is sufficient that we believe he wrote it himself or by other persons whose help he used in the writing of it and when it was written he revised it and approved it and in this he was assisted by the Holy Spirit inspiring guiding and directing him And if there be any thing in the Pentateuch besides the mistakes of Transcribers and Printers that was written after Moses's time it was added upon good Reasons by Joshua or Ezra and the great Assembly who were Men of a Prophetical Spirit and inspired by God in what they did of that nature Now in the Second place let us see what is the opinion of Pere Simon and wherein he agrees with or differs from the common Faith of the Church in this matter And First He agrees with us in these following particulars 1. That the whole Scripture of the Old Testament and consequently the Pentateuch was of Divine Inspiration and that God was the primary Author thereof this is demonstratively proved from his own express words in his Preface pag. 4. But besides that this Principle of a Divine of Paris That the whole Scripture is not equally Divine and Canonical is dangerous it is directly opposite to the Doctrine of the New Testament which acknowledges every thing throughout the whole Scripture for Prophetical and to have been inspired wherefore I thought I ought to lay down some Principles whereby we might ascribe every thing in the whole Scriptures to Prophets or Persons inspired by God even to the alterations themselves those only excepted which had happened through length of time or negligence of Transcribers And Book 1. Chap. 1. Pag. 3. I have divided this work into Three Books the First of which Treats at large of the Authors of the Bible which I have called Prophets with Josephus contra App. and most of the Fathers because they were in effect directed by the Spirit of God and that St. Peter calls the whole Scripture Prophecies During the Hebrew Common-wealth there were from time to time among them these sorts of Persons inspired by God were it to write Divine and Prophetick Books as the same Josephus has remarked or as Eusebius says to distinguish betwixt those that were truly Prophetick and others that were not And Pag. 4. They the publick Writers had the liberty in collecting the Acts which were in their Registeries to add diminish and change according as they thought fit and the Books as Eusebius says which were declared Sacred were reviewed by Persons inspired by God who Judged whether they were truly Prophetick or Divine And Pag. 21. I know it is expresly forbidden in Deuteronomy either to add or diminish any thing from the Word of God But we may Answer with the Author of the Book Intituled Cozri that this prohibition relates only to private Persons and not to those whom God had expresly commanded to interpret his Will God promised to the Prophets and to the Judges of the Sanhedrim who succeeded Moses the same Grace and the same Spirit of Prophecy as those had who lived in his time and therefore they have held the same Power not only of Interpreting the Law but also of making new Ordinances which were afterwards writ and placed in the Registeries of the Republick And Pag. 22. The Church has not the Right of making Books Canonical and Divine as the Prophets had in the Old Testament but only to declare them Canonical In fine Book 1. Chap. 1. Pag. 1. None can doubt but that the truths contained in the Holy Scripture are infallible and of Divine Authority since they proceed immediately from God who in this has only made use of the Ministery of Men to be his Interpreters So there is no Person either Jew or Christian who does not acknowledg that the Scripture being the pure Word of God is at the same time the first principle and foundation of Religion Here is clear and full proof from his own express words of his agreement with us in the first particular before mentioned Secondly He agrees with us in this That though Men having been the Depositories of these Sacred
or great I am sure not into such disorderly mistakes as he pretends to find in the History of the Creation of Man Secondly He differs from the whole Christian Church in affirming that for so much of the Historical part of the Pentateuch as Moses wrote or might write he copied it out of other ancient Books or else committed to writing what he had learned from Oral Tradition This difference is the same upon the matter with the former and I prove it also from his own express words Book 1. Chap. 3. Pag. 27. A Book of the Wars of the Lord of which mention is made in the Numbers Numb 21. 14. is an evident proof that the Stories which are related in the Five Books of Moses have likewise been taken out of several collections which have been lost And Pag. 54. most clearly We may likewise apply says he to the Book of Genesis what we have already said touching the manner of the inregistering the publick Acts in the time of Moses this Book contains the Creation of the World and many things which happened many Ages before him and in all Genesis there is no observation of Gods dictating to Moses what is there related it is not likewise said that he writ it by the Spirit of Prophecy but all these Histories and Genealogies are simply related as if Moses had taken them from some Authentick Books or else had had a constant Tradition And in the same place Moses without doubt has had other Records than the fabulous Books of Adam Seth Sem Abraham c. were they writ or were they preserve viva voce down to him in the Families which God had chosen to be faithful to him in the Worship of true Religion Doth not this look too like unto what I mentioned before that Moses might write the Book of Genesis by an humane fallible Spirit which is contrary unto Gal. 3. 8. 4. 21 22 30. Rom. 4. 17. 23 24. 1 Cor. 15. 45. James 2. 23. for these Scriptures do plainly assert the Divine Original and Authority of the Book of Genesis Thirdly He differs from the generality of Jews and Christians in that he not only says there may be some few things in the Books of Moses as we now have them which were not written by Moses but he positively and peremptorily affirms that there are de facto a great many things now in the Books of Moses which could not be written by Moses This is proved from his own words Pag. 4 5. The publick Writers which were in his time and writ out the ancient Acts have spoke of Moses in the Third Person and have used several other such like expressions which could not be Moses's but they for all that have never the less Authority because they can be ascribed only to persons which Moses had commanded to put into writing the most important Actions of his time And Chap. 2. Pag. 19. We shall distinguish in the Five Books of the Law what has been writ by Moses from what has been writ by these Prophets or publick Writers We may attribute to Moses the Commandments and Ordinances which he gave to the People and allow these same publick Writers to be the Authors of the greatest part of the History Moses in quality of Legislator writ all which relates to the Statutes and left to the Scribes or Prophets the care of collecting the Acts of the most material Transactions which past that they might be preserved to Posterity And Pag. 20. But if we consider with never so little attention the whole Body of the Pentateuch we may observe this diversity of Writers which I speak of which will more appear in the sequel of this Discourse where I evidently make the falsity of the reasons appear which the Jews use to prove that Moses is the Author of the whole Law And as was observed in the beginning in Pag. 36. Contents of Chap. 5. Moses cannot be the Author of the Books which are attributed to him Thus I have given a faithful account of the Judgment of P. Simon and shewed wherein he both agrees with and differs from the common Faith of Gods Church And since he hath the generality of Jews and Christians yea Christ himself and his Apostles against him he had need of very clear and strong irrefragable Arguments to support his singular opinion to wit that in his sense Moses could not be the Author of the Books which are attributed to him And now we come in the Third place to consider the grounds of his Opinion and to answer the Arguments by which he endeavors to prove it His Arguments may be reduced to Three Heads First He argues from the Repetitions that are in the Pentateuch Secondly From the Transpositions that are in it Thirdly From several passages in it where there are such expressions as seem to intimate that Moses could not be the Author of them I begin with the First His Argument from Repetitions There are says he Pag. 37. many Repetitions of the same thing in the Pentateuch which are apparently not Moses's but rather theirs who have made a collection of the Holy Scriptures and have joined together several Readings or Explanations of the same words not thinking it convenient to leave out of their Copies what might illustrate the Text. And then he gives Instances of these Repetitions But before I come to examine his Instances in particular I answer to all in general Since P. Simon acknowledges that those who made the collection of the Holy Scriptures were Men of a Prophetical Spirit and Divinely Inspired as Moses was what greater absurdity is there in Moses his being the Author of these Repetitions than in any other Prophets their being the Authors of them Was not God as free to repeat the same thing over and over again for illustrating the Text by the Ministry of one Prophet as by the Ministry of another P. Simon seems to be better acquainted with the Rules of Grammar than with the Rules of Reasoning now I come to his particular Instances First He begins with Gen. 7. v. 17 18 19 20 24. v. 21 22 23. and first finds fault with its being said Five times over in Five Verses That the Waters prevailed But I Answer If his Self-conceit had not blinded him he might have seen that there was good reason for and great Grace in this Repetition for as the Waters of the Flood prevailed gradually and still rose higher and higher so it was fit that the words should be adapted to the thing First The Waters increased so far on the Earth that they bore up the Ark and set it a floating and this is expressed as we have it in Verse 17. Secondly The Waters increased to that degree that they set the Ark a going or moving progressively from one place to another and this is expressed as in Verse 18. Thirdly The Waters increased so exceedingly that the highest Mountains in the World were covered with them and this
esteem of the Sacred Writings in the minds of Christians Sixthly He Objects Exod. 18. and says The History of Jethro related in the beginning of that Chapter seems not to be placed in the time wherein it was forasmuch as Jethro seems not to have come till the Second Year after the finishing of the Tabernacle as may be proved out of Duteronomy I Answer First That in stead of solid Reasoning which a thing of this nature requires here is nothing but guessing and conjecturing and one conjecture may be very well Answered with another opposite conjecture he says it may be proved out of Deuteronomy that Jethro came not nnto Moses till the Second Year after the finishing of the Tabernacle and I say again that his possible proof may possibly be Answered and when he has actually proved it which he hath not yet attempted to do he shall be actually Answered that is his proof of it shall be refuted if it be false or yielded unto and acknowledged if it appear to be true and I am sure this is very fair and in reason no more can be required I confess it is written Numb 11. 16 17. that the Lord said unto Moses Gather unto me Seventy men of the Elders of Israel whom thou knowest to be the Elders of the People and Officers over them and bring them unto the Tabernacle of the Congregation that they moy stand there with thee And I will come down c. Now this must have been after the Building of the Tabernacle But it is not yet proved that God gave this Commandment unto Moses at the same time that Jethro his Father in Law gave him the Councel Recorded in Exod. 18. 19 20 21 22 23. Nay the Judges that Moses appointed over Israel according to the advice of Jethro Exod. 18. 24 25 26. seem to have been many more than Seventy and it is not improbable that the Seventy Elders and Officers mentioned Numb 11. 16. were afterwards chosen out of those many Judges formerly by Jethro's advice set over Israel and presented unto the Lord at the Tabernacle of the Congregation there to receive from the Lord the Spirit of Government to fit them for the due Execution of the Office they were called unto But foreseeing what may be said for a transposition here I Answer Secondly That suppose it were granted unto P. Simon That Jethro did not come unto Moes till the Second Year after the finishing of the Tabernacle what then will it follow that therefore Moses could not be the Author of the Pentateuch I deny that consequence take that relation of Jethro's coming unto Moses which way you will and suppose it to be before the giving of the Law or after the making of the Tabernacle as you please yet it is still true there is not the least shadow of falshood in it for Moses neither says that it was before nor that it was after the Building of the Tabernacle all that he writes of the time wherein it was is that when Jethro heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel c. then he came unto Moses c. Exod. 18. 1 2 3 4 5. But as for the Year in which Jethro heard of all that God had done for his People Moses is silent and makes no mention of it That whole narration then being true without any mixture of falshood why might not Moses be the Author of it where it is as well as any other Prophet could be But is it not in that place of the Book of Exodus where P. Simon would have had it to have been I Answer Moses might have good reason not to place it there but just where it is He had other things to write of in the following Chapters of Exodus all which things were to be linked together and not to be separated by the interposition of the narrative of that visit which his Father in Law gave him in the Wilderness As Scaliger says and P. Simon himself out of him Quo ordine quid referatur modo constet veritas aut nihili aut parum interest it signifies nothing or very little in what Order things be related provided that we find them to be truly related Seventhly He Objects Gen. 46. and says he Where the Children of Israel are numbered who went into Aegypt with him these are counted among them Joseph Manasseh and Ephraim who could not go with him into Aegypt because they were there before him and as that place mentions the Children of Israel and his Childrens Children who came with him into Aegypt it is probable for brevity's sake these Two things have been joined together as if they had all been Jacob's Children I Answer This Objection comes from P. Simons heedlesness and inadvertency in reading the Holy Scripture but hath no ground in the Text of Moses For as Joseph Manasseh and Ephraim could not go with Jacob into Aegypt because they were there before him so for certain they are not there said to have gone with him into Aegypt on the contrary it is clearly enough said that they did not go with him into Aegypt for First It is said Vers 20. And unto Joseph in the Land of Aegypt were Born Manasseh and Ephraim And again Vers 27. And the Sons of Joseph which were Born him in Aegypt were Two Souls where it is manifestly implyed that Joseph and his Two Sons were not then to go into Aegypt but that they were there already Secondly To make the thing yet clearer it is expresly said Vers 26. That all the Souls that came with Jacob into Aegypt which came out of his Loins were Threescore and Six here Jacob himself is not reckoned as one of those Sixty Six because he could not go with himself into Aegypt nor could he come out of his own Loins Joseph also and his Two Sons are not reckoned as any of the Sixty Six because though they came out of Jacob's Loins yet they could not go with him into Aegypt since they were already in Aegypt before him But it may be Objected That Vers 27. it is expresly said All the Souls of the House of Jacob which came into Aegypt were Threescore and Ten. In which number Joseph and his Two Sons must be included I Answer True they are included in the number Seventy though they were not included in the Number Sixty Six yea and Jacob himself is included in the number Seventy and these Four Jacob Joseph Manasseh Ephraim being added to Sixty Six make up the number of Seventy Souls all which came into Aegypt the 66 came into Aegypt with Jacob and Jacob came with them for if all the Souls of the House of Jacob came then Jacob himself came being head of his own House Joseph also he came into Aegypt before when he was sold to the Ishmaelites and his Two Sons they came into Aegypt in the Loins of their Father Joseph even as Levi paid Tithes unto Melchizedeck in the Loins of his Father Abraham
Heb. 7. 9. Thus all the 70 Souls came into Aegypt but the Text of Moses doth not at all say that all the 70 came into Aegypt at the same time and in the same way and manner Eighthly He Objects Gen. 35. 26. where Benjamin is counted amongst the Children that Jacob had in Mesopotamia and nevertheless Benjamin was not Born there but in the Land of Canaan I Answer I do not understand by what Rules of Reasoning P. Simon puts this passage amongst the disorderly Transpositions which he pretends to be in the Pentateuch for surely this seems rather to be a contradiction it being said in the same Chapter Vers 16 17 18. that Benjamin was Born at Ephrath And yet here is no real but only a seeming contradiction for to make a real contradiction it must have been said Benjamin was Born at Ephrath All these are the Sons of Jacob which were Born to him in Padan-Aram but now it is not said all these are the Sons of Jacob which were Born to him in Padam-aram but only These are the Sons of Jacob which were Born to him in Padan-Aram and this is most true without including Benjamin in the number of Jacob's Sons Born to him in Padan-Aram for the other Eleven were Born in Padan-Aram and there was no need here to except Benjamin by name because it was so clearly said but a little before in the same Chapter That Benjamin was Born at Ephrath in the Land of Canaan that no Reader could mistake so grosly as to think he was Born with the rest of Jacob's Children in Padan-Aram or Mesopotamia I pray mark the expression it is not said in v. 26. All these are c. but These are c. P. Simon pretends that there are Transpositions not only in the History but likewise in the Laws of Moses and therefore Ninthly and Lastly He Objects Exod. 22. 1 3 4. where says he to make a reasonable construction what is said of the Thief in the Third Verse must be joined with the First because there is a Transposition and then one ought to join the Fourth Verse with the First and moreover the words of the Fourth Verse if the Theft be certainly found in his hand alive ought only to relate to the Ox and Sheep which this Verse makes mention of and not to the Ass although that is spoke of in the same place with the Two other Animals I Answer All this is gratis dictum without one word of proof The words of the Law may be reasonably enough construed and well enough understood without the help of Pere Simons imaginary Transposition In the First Verse the Lord God determins in what proportion a Thief should make restitution for an Ox or a Sheep in case he have killed or sold them In Vers 2. The Lord God declares that if the Thief be found in the Act of breaking up and be killed the killing of him shall not be accounted Murther nor shall the killers Blood be shed for him provided it were in the Night and before Sun-Rising But in the Third Verse the Lord declares That the killing of a Thief in the Day time after Sun-Rising should be accounted Murther and that the Blood of the slayer should be shed for the Blood of the slain Thief and that for this reason given in the same Third Verse because he should not have been killed for the Theft but compelled to make full Restitution if he was able but if he was not able he should be sold for his Theft And in Vers 4. the Lord shews in what proportion he should be obliged to make Restitution in case the Theft were found alive in his hand not in a Five-fold nor Four-fold but in a double proportion for Ox or Ass or Sheep and thus all is clear enough in the Order wherein the Wisdom of God has placed things and there is no need to have recourse unto a Transposition as to what he Objects concerning the Ass in the Fourth Verse that though it be joined with the Ox and Sheep yet what is said of the Theft its being found alive in the hand of the Thief and of his making double Restitution in that Case ought not to relate unto the Ass but only to the Ox and Sheep I Answer This is a bold Assertion without any proof at all and there is reason to conclude the contrary that because the Ass is joined with the Ox and Sheep therefore what here relates to the Ox and Sheep ought also to be referred unto the Ass the Ass was a very useful Creature in those Eastern Countries and that may be the reason why it is joined with the Ox both here and elsewhere as in the Tenth Commandment I know not what use P. Simon may have for this Ass but it seems by what he writes that he would play the Thief and steal it out of this Fourth Verse of Exod. 22. which if he should do he would be guilty not only of Theft but of Sacrilege for this Ass stands upon Holy Ground Thus I have Answered all his Arguments that fall under the Second Head of Disorderly Transpositions I pass to the Third and last head of Arguments taken from several passages of the Pentateuch where he pretends there are such expressions as seem to intimate that Moses could not be the Author of them First He Objects Numb 21. 14. A Book says he of the Wars of the Lord of which mention is made Numb 21. 14. is an evident proof that the Histories which are related in the Five Books of Moses have been taken out of several Collections which have been lost I Answer It is denyed that the citing of the Book of the Wars of the Lord in Numb 21. 14. is an evident proof or indeed any proof at all of any such thing For First It is not so evident that it was a Book at all some think it was but a Song the Hebrew word Sepher does not always signifie a Book but Secondly Granting that it was a Book and not meerly a Triumphal Song it is not evident that it was a Book then already written it might be a Book to be afterwards written which Moses foreseeing by the Spirit of Prophecy refers unto this agrees with the Original words in the Text which are Al-ken Jeamar wherefore it shall be said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord c. yet Thirdly Granting it to have been a Book already written Moses his once citing a Testimony out of it doth no more prove that he collected his History out of such Books then Paul's citing a Testimony out of Heathen Poets Acts 17. 28. Tit. 1. 12. doth prove that he Transcribed his Sermons and Epistles out of the writings of Heathen Poets Secondly He Objects That the names of Hebron and Dan which are in the Pentateuch were not in beeing in the time of Moses Answer It is said but not proved that the names of Hebron and Dan were not in beeing in Moses his
He Objects out of R. Moses Cotsi Exod. 12. 40. where Moses says That the Sojourning of the Children of Israel in Aegypt was Four Hundred Years and yet it is certain that Kohath Son of Levi who was one of them that went into Aegypt lived but One Hudred Thirty Three Years that Amram lived only One Hundred Thirty Seven Years and that Moses was but Eighty Years Old when God spake to him which make in all but Three Hundred and Fifty Answer This Objection contains a great Falshood in affirming that Moses says the Sojourning of the Children of Israel in Aegypt was Four Hundred Years there is no such saying in the Text of Moses the Text says not that the Children of Israel Sojourned Four Hundred Years in Aegypt but that the Children of Israel who Sojourned or dwelt in Aegypt their Sojourning was Four Hundred and Thirty Years here it is not said how many of the Four Hundred and Thirty Years were past in Aegypt Indeed there being some ambiguity in the Hebrew words of the Text if it were not well known that they Sojourned in other places both in their own Persons and in their Progenitors Abraham Isaac and Jacob as Levi in Abraham paid Tithes to Melchizedec Heb. 7. 9. it might be thought perhaps that they Sojourned the whole Four Hundred and Thirty Years in Aegypt but it is a thing notorious to all that they Sojourned in the Land of Canaan and elsewhere before they went into Aegypt and therefore it is very unreasonable to think that the whole Four Hundred and Thirty Years Sojourning were past in Aegypt what Pere Simon intended by this Objection I do not well understand for if this were a good Argument to prove that Moses could not be the Author of the Pentateuch it would equally prove that no Prophet could be the Author of it which yet is contrary to his own Judgment if he believe what he writes for as Moses could not so no other Prophet could be the Author of any Falshood I shall say no more to this Objection because the Reverend and Learned Dean of Pauls has Answered it at large in his excellent Letter to a Deist unto which I refer the Reader Fifthly He Objects Gen. 46. 27. where it is said That all the Souls of the House of Jacob who went into Aegypt were Seventy and nevertheless in counting the number there related they are found to be but Sixty Nine Answer This difficulty if it deserve that name has been cleared already where it was shewed that Jacob himself did make the Seventieth Let any Man count them and setting aside Jacobs Sons Wives and Er and Onan who died in the Land of Canaan he will find that the Sum Total taking in Jacob as head of his own House is just Seventy Sixthly He Objects Numb 3. 39. Where are reckoned Twenty Two Thousand but if we join all the numbers together there remain Three Hundred above the account I Answer By distinguishing upon the words of the 39th Verse thus All the Males of the Levites that were numbered and were to be Devoted unto the Lord in exchange for the First-born of the other Tribes were Twenty Two Thousand and no more I grant it as being the genuine sense of the words of Moses All the Males of the Levites that were numbered and were partly already Holy and Devoted and partly to be Devoted unto the Lord were Twenty Two Thousand and no more I deny it as not being the genuine sense of the words of Moses I ground my distinction upon this That all the Males of the Levites of what sort soever were numbered from a Month Old and upwards now amongst them all of necessity there must be a certain number that were First-born Males and all such First-born Levites as had been Born from the time of Israels coming out of Aegypt unto the time of that reckoning were already Sanctified unto the Lord in a peculiar manner and were his own Devoted unto him as appears from Exod. 13. 2 13. and from the 13th Verse of this same Third Chapter of Numbers These First-born Levites then could not be substituted in the stead of the First-born of the other Tribes and so become Holy and Devoted unto the Lord in a peculiar manner for as First-born they were already the Lords they were Holy and Devoted unto God they therefore must have been excepted and left out of the number of Levites that were to be exchanged for the First-born of the other Tribes and so to be appropriated unto God and his Service in a peculiar manner But we plainly see that Three Hundred Levites are left out therefore it was on this account that they were the Lords already as they were First-born The rest that were not thus the Lords already were fit matter to be Sanctified and Devoted to God and his Service instead of the First-born of the other Tribes and the number of them all were Twenty Two Thousand and no more There are Two things very observable in this Chapter 1. That it is expressly said of these Twenty Two Thousand Levites that they shall be the Lords instead of the First-born amongst the Children of Israel Vers 45. therefore surely the First-born of the Levites cannot be included in that number of Twenty Two Thousand since they were the Lords already as well as the First-born of the other Tribes and so could not be given unto the Lord in exchange for them 2. It is observable that this number of Twenty Two Thousand Levites is compared with the number of the First-born of the other Tribes and the number of the First-born of the other Tribes being found to contain Two Hundred Seventy Three more than the number of the Levites that were to be exchanged for them it is expressly ordered by God that this Two Hundred Seventy Three of the First-born of the other Tribes should be redeemed with Money at Five Shekles apiece by the Poll Vers 46 47. Which is a demonstration that the Three Hundred Levites left out of the number of Levites which were to be exchanged for the First-born of the other Tribes were purposely left out in the casting up of the Sum Total as not being fit matter to be given unto the Lord in exchange because they were the Lords already as they were First-born if it had not been really thus they would not have been purposely left out but would have been certainly included in the Sum Total as they were in the particular Sums that so there might have been enow and more than enow of Levites to be given in exchange for the First-born of the other Tribes and that there might be no need of giving Five Shekels a piece for the redeeming of any of them But now if any ask why then were these Three Hundred First-born Levites numbered at all why were they put into the particular Sums of the Males of the several Families as appears from Vers 22 28 34. and yet left out of the