THE SUFFICIENCY Of a Standing REVELATION in General AND Of the Scripture REVELATION in Particular BOTH As to the Matter of it and As to the Proof of it AND That NEW REVELATIONS Cannot Reasonably be Desired and Would Probably be Unsuccessful In Eight SERMONS Preach'd in the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul London At the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable ROBERT BOYLE Esq in the Year MDCC By OFSPRING BLACKALL D. D. Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. THE SUFFICIENCY OF A Standing Revelation A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul January the 1 st 1699 700. BEING The First for the Year 1700 of the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. To the most Reverend Father in GOD THOMAS Lord Arch-Bshop of Canterbury Sir HENRY ASHURST Baronet Sir JOHN ROTHERAM Serjeant at Law JOHN EVELYN Senior Esquire Trustees appointed by the Will of the Honourable ROBERT BOYLE Esquire Most Reverend and Honoured I Beg leave humbly to present you with these First-fruits of my Labours in that Station which you have been pleased to assign me for this Year Taking this Occasion both to acknowledge publickly and with all Thankfulness the Honour you have done me in appointing me to this Work and likewise to give you Assurance that the After-fruits shall also in due Time be offered to you if God shall be pleased to give them a Season to ripen And I heartily wish they may be better and more worth your Acceptance than I am sensible these are However I hope the same Goodness and kind Opinion of me which moved you to nominate me to the Employment will incline you to forgive all my Failings in the Management of it And if my Labours shall be well accepted by you And especially If by the Blessing of God who only giveth the Increase they shall any Ways contribute toward the Promoting the pious Design of the Honourable Founder of these Lectures of blessed Memory I shall be very easie under the too just Charge of Insufficiency for such an Vndertaking which I make no Doubt will be cast upon me by those who will be inwardly glad that I have performed my Task no better and will earnestly wish that the Christan Cause may never have an abler Advocate But that by your wise Choice of Persons to succeed in this Employment they may see themselves every Year disappointed in this their Wish is the hearty Desire of Most Reverend and Honoured Your most obliged and obedient Servant OFSP BLACKALL Feb. 26. 1699 700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead THESE words contain some of the Discourse that passed between Abraham in Heaven and a certain rich Man in Hell occasioned by a Request which he had made in the foregoing Verses in the behalf of his five Brethren whom he had left alive upon Earth that Abraham would be so kind as to send Lazarus to them to testifie to them lest they also should come into that Place of Torment And the general Design of them and indeed of the whole Parable of which they are a Part is to assert the Sufficiency of those Means which God hath thought fit to use to bring Men to Repentance particularly by granting them a standing Revelation of his Will and the probable Unsuccessfulness of any other Method that we could propose and perhaps might think more proper for this Purpose And when these Words were first spoken it was with a special Reference to the State of the Jews and and to that Light and those Means of Salvation which were afforded to them at the Time when our Saviour began his Preaching when all the standing Revelation of God's Will was contained in the Books of Moses and in the Writings of the Prophets But since then our Lord Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God a more credible Messenger than Lazarus from the dead has come himself in Person to assure us that there is a Heaven and a Hell and to shew us the Means of attaining that and avoiding this and God having raised him up from the dead after he had been crucified by the Jews has given sufficient Assurance to the World of his divine Mission And that Jesus did and said such things and that he died and rose again we have the Testimony of his Apostles and others who were Eye and Ear-witnesses thereof and who in Confirmation of their Testimony were empowered by God to do as great Miracles as Jesus himself had done And lastly of what was done and taught by our Saviour and his Apostles we have very credible Records still remaining viz. the Books of the New Testament the Authority of which is at least as well proved to us as ever the Authority of the Old Testament was to the Jews So that we now have plainly more and stronger Motives to Repentance than the Jews before our Saviour's Time had we consequently do stand in less need of new Miracles and new Revelations than they did And therefore the Argument in the Text as it may be applied to us who live now is much stronger than as it was here urged by Abraham with Reference to the Jews while they had only Moses and the Prophets And thus in my Discourse upon the Words I shall now consider it viz. as if the Request made by the rich Man in the Behalf of his Brethren in the two foregoing Verses were made now in the Behalf of those to whom the Revelation of the Gospel has been given but without Success and as if the Answer here returned to it by Abraham had been suited to the present State of things And from the words thus largely understood I shall take occasion to speak to these Three Points I. I shall endeavour to shew that the present standing Revelation of God's Will contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament is abundantly sufficient to perswade Men to Repentance if they are not unreasonably blind and obstinate They have Moses and the Prophets I add they have also Christ and his Apostles let them hear them II. I shall shew that having already such good Grounds of Faith such full Directions for Practice and such strong Motives to Repentance it is an unreasonable Request to desire more Nay Father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And III. Lastly I shall endeavour to shew That in case God should condescend to
was For in Matters of common Testimony we make little Difference between Speech and Writing If a Man whom we dare trust sends us a Letter and therein relates such and such things as heard or seen by himself or as well attested to him by unexceptionable Witnesses we give as full Credit to his Letter as we should do to his Words So that in Truth our Case who live now is not very different from theirs who lived in the Apostles Days and heard them saying those same Things which we now read in their Books and if we think those inexcuseable who did not receive their Testimony when given by Word of Mouth we can't in good Reason hold our selves excused if we receive not the same Testimony of the same Persons given under their Hands In one Respect indeed it must be granted that they had the Advantage of us viz. because they might be surer that they heard an Apostle speak than the Nature of the Thing will admit we should be that we read the Words of an Apostle written But we are sure enough of this We have as good moral Certainty of it as we can have of any thing that is not capable of any other than a moral Certainty And if the Words that we read in the New Testament are the Words of the Apostles of Christ we have in some Respects the Advantage of those who lived in those early Times for we have the concurrent Testimony of several of the Apostles written whereas hardly any in those times when a few Persons were to bear Witness to all the World could have more than the Testimony of one single Apostle only by Word of Mouth and many Witnesses are more credible than one And besides there being several Witnesses their Testimony if it be false may be more easily proved so by their Disagreement with one another than the Testimony of one single Witness could be And lastly a Writing which we may review and read over as often as we will and which we may take what time we please to consider of may be more throughly understood and better digested than a Sermon or Discourse only once spoken can well be But if it be granted that the Faith of the first Converts to Christianity which came by Hearing of the Apostles might be built upon more certain and infallible Grounds than ours that comes only by Reading is And some Reasons may perhaps be given hereafter why 't was fit it should be so it is enough however to render our Infidelity inexcusable if the Grounds of Faith that we now have are very rational if they are a sufficient Support for such a Faith as will enable us to please God and to overcome the World And this may be farther said for our Comfort and to make us easie and satisfied with those Grounds and Reasons of Faith which are afforded to us by the written Testimony of the Apostles in the Books of the New Testament that as there is more Certainty in that Belief if it may be called Belief which is grounded upon Demonstration or infallible Evidence so there is more Praise and Vertue in that good Disposition of Mind which makes us rest satisfied with such Grounds of Faith as tho' not absolutely and infallibly certain yet cannot with any good Reason be denied or excepted against According to that Saying of our Saviour to St. Thomas in a like Case with which I shall conclude Joh. 20.29 Thomas because thou hast seen me thou hast believed blessed are they that is they are more blessed their Faith is more excellent and praise-worthy and so will intitle them to a greater Reward who have not seen and yet have believed Which Blessedness that we may all attain God of his great Mercy and Goodness grant for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ c. FINIS ERRATA Pag. 8. l. 19. for then r. them Books Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard A Sermon Preach'd before the Honourable the House of Commons at St. Margaret's Westminster January the 30th 1698 9. The Sufficiency of a Standing Revelation A Sermon Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's Jan. 1st 1699 700. being the first for the Year 1700. of the Lecture Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq The Sufficiency of the Scripture Revelation as to the Matter of it Being the Second for the Year 1700. of the Lecture Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq These Three by Ofspring Blackall Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty A Perswasive to Prayer A Sermon Preach'd before the King at St. James's A Sermon Preach'd before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled in the Abby Church at Westminster Jan. 30th Fifteen Sermons Preached on several Occasions the Last of which was never before Printed These Three by the most Reverend Father in God John Lord Arch-Bishop of York Primate of England and Metropolitan The Faith and Practice of a Church of England Man A False Faith not Justified by Care for the Poor Prov'd in a Sermon Preach'd at St. Paul's Church Mysteries in Religion Vindicated or the Filiation Deity and Satisfaction of our Saviour asserted against Socinians and others with Occasional Reflections on several late Pamphlets These Two by Luke Milbourn a Presbyter of the Church of England Two Sermons of Mr. Young's about Nature and Grace Preach'd at Whitehall THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE Scripture-Revelation As to the Proof of it PART II. TWO SERMONS Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul April 1 st and May 6 th 1700. BEING The Fourth and Fifth for the Year 1700 of the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead THE Point I entred upon the Proof of the last time was this 3. That we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scripture and consequently of all the Doctrines that are taught by it And for the Proof of this having for Brevity sake confined my Discourse upon it to the Books of the New Testament only the rather because the Authority of that being granted the Authority of the Old Testament cannot reasonably be questioned I propounded to shew 1. That we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of the New Testament were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof 2. That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to them in their Relations of those
recorded could be worn out nay if we further suppose as I think we may do very reasonably that the Things recorded by the Evangelists are the same which they and the other Apostles and Disciples of our Lord testified by word of Mouth in their Preaching we may truly enough say that the History of the Gospel was begun to be published on that same Day on which the Apostles began to preach viz. on the Day of Pentecost ten Days after our Lords Ascension and that it was fully published in a very short time after So that most of the things recorded in the Gospels are things that had been done or haâ— happened in the compass of less than four Years before the History thereof was first published for it was noâ— so long from our Lord's Baptism to his Ascension and the earliest things of all that are therein recordeâ— which are but few and make but a small part of the History viz. the Birth of St. John Baptist and oâ— our Lord and the things that happened about thâ—â— Time were things done not above thirty five Yearâ— before at the most And the History of the Acts of the Apostles whicâ— because it ends with St. Paul's Imprisonment at Rome we may reasonably think was published about thaâ— Time comprehends a History of some very remarkable things the very first and earliest whereof had noâ— been done thirty Years before And this Consideration affords another very probable Argument of the Truth of the Evangelical History because by this it still further appears how very easie it would have been to have disproved it if it had been false for it being an History of things done so very lately it must needs be that several of those into whose Hands it first came must have certain Knowledge whether some of the things therein related had been so or not And they who had not this Knowledge might easily have had certain Information from others I mean besides the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord whether the Relations therein contained were true or falfe Especially if it be considered further in the 4th Place 4. That the Facts related in the Evangelical History are commonly related with all the Circumstances that were needful or proper to be noted in order to the rendring an Enquiry into the truth of them exceeding easie to such as had any distrust thereof For in the Account which the Evangelists give us of our Saviour's Speeches they commonly tell us not only his Words but likewise when where to whom â—nd upon what Occasion they were spoken and in the Account that they give of his Miracles they usually note the Places where they were done and very often â—he Names or Characters at least of the Persons they were wrought upon and sometimes they mention â—lso who were by and Witnesses thereof and what Discourse concerning him was thereby occasioned And in relating the things that were done or happened before our Saviour's Baptism about the Time of his Birth they carefully note the Time the Place and other Circumstances whereby their Readers were as it were challenged to make Enquiry and desired not to â—ake things only upon their Credit and were also directed readily whither to go and to whom to apply themselves to obtain the fullest satisfaction whether the things they reported were so or not The same may be observed in the Acts of the Apostles And if all the Circumstances of every particular Story which they relate are not always so punctually set down the Omission thereof sometimes is not of much Consideration because it was so very easie by enquiring into the Truth of those many other Stories which are related with all Circumstances for any Person to be satisfied whether their History in general deserv'd Credit or not And whoever had found any one Story falsly reported by them would hardly have troubled himself at least not for his own satisfaction to have examined further into the Truth of the rest 5. It may be further consider'd that most of the things recorded by the Evangelists are related by them as things that were done very publickly as things that were well known to a great many For very few in Comparison of those Discourses of our Lord that are recorded by the Evangelists were address'd in private to his Apostles only but most of them were spoken in publick his set Sermons commonly to great multitudes gathered together on a Mountain on the Sea-shore or in a Synagogue and the rest more commonly in Places of Resort in populous Towns or Cities in Jerusalem or the Temple when many were by to hear what he said And his Miracles were done for the most part in the best Inhabited Cities of Judea and Galilee or if in other Places yet in the open Day-light and commonly when there was a great croud of People about him Or if at any time the Miracle its self was done privately in an House or a Chamber the Effect of the Miracle was usually very visible and such as could not but be taken notice of by a great many And even of those few things which were spoken or done by him most privately there was no want of Witnesses there being except very rarely no fewer than twelve in constant Attendance upon him and several others besides that Companied with them all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them Acts 1.21 And this Circumstance of the Facts recorded by the Evangelists as it made them capable of better and more certain Attestation being true so it contributed no less towards the rendring it easie to disprove that Relation which they had given of them if it had been false For when a Man witnesses a thing of his own private Knowledge there may be no way to invalidate his Testimony but either by shewing that the thing which he testifies was not possible or by offering some just Exception to the Credit of the Witness But when neither of these can be done and they cannot always be done altho' the thing testified be false yet in case the Matter was done publickly it is the easiest thing in the World to convict a false Witness by the contrary Testimony of several others that were present and as capable of knowing the Truth of the thing as himself or by the Clashing of the Witnesses among themselves Nothing therefore could have been more easie than to have disproved the Evangelical History in almost every particular of it if it had not been true For most of our Saviour's Speeches and Miracles are related as spoken and done in the Presence not of his Disciples only but of a great many others that happened to be by by Chance or that followed him not for any Liking that they had to his Person or Doctrine but only out of Curiosity or for the Sake of the Loaves and very often they were done before such as came on purpose to watch what he said and did with a Design to lay hold on any
alone presently reject either of them but we enquire which of them was in the best Capacity to know the Truth and which of them is the least liable to the suspicion of falshood and which Story is the most probably related and to the Belief of that we encline If therefore there be any Man that thinks there is any truth in History and who does give Credit to other Histories and I believe there is no Man but does so and yet will not be persuaded to allow that the Gospel History is very credible which contains a Relation only of such Matters of Sense as it was morally impossible there should be any Cheat or Deceit in and in which if there had been any Deceit or Mistake it was morally impossible that it should not be discover'd and disprov'd and which yet neither is now nor ever was contradicted by any History of competent Antiquity and good Credit I think we may very well conclude that 't is not Reason or Judgment but Prejudice or Interest or the Love of some Vice or Lust that makes him an Infidel The End of the Fourth Sermon THE Fifth Sermon St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead THE Subject I was upon in my last Discourse on these Words and which I left unfinish'd was to shew That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to the Authors of the Historical Books of the New Testament in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded For the Proof of which I proposed these following things to be considered 1 The Nature Conditions and Circumstances of the Matters they have recorded and of the History its self 2 The good Capacity they were in to know the Truth of the Things they have related 3 The strong Obligations they were under to write nothing but the Truth according to the best of their Knowledge or Information 4 The good Evidences that we have of their Honesty and Faithfulness And 5 Lastly The Confirmation that was given to the Truth of their History by God himself The last Discourse was spent in the Consideration of the first of these things I proceed now to the Second viz. 2. The good Capacity that the Writers of the Evangelical History were in to know the Truth of those things which they have related Now the Matters of History which are related in the Epistles are but few and those for the most part such as had been done by or had happened to either the Persons that wrote them or the Churches or Persons to whom they were written so that of these we shall not need to say any thing For the Bulk or Body of the Evangelical History is contain'd in the Four Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles And of the Authors of these Books there is no Controversie in the Christian Church And if they were written by the reputed Authors a few Words will suffice to shew that they were in a very good Capacity to know the Truth of the Things they have recorded much better than most other ancient Historians whose Relations nevertheless are generally thought worthy of Credit For St. Matthew and St. John two of the four Evangelists were of the number of those Twelve who were in constant Attendance upon our Lord from the Time that he first began to preach and to make Disciples until he was taken up into Heaven so that they were themselves Eye or Ear-Witnesses of most of the Things which they have recorded Of St. Mark and St. Luke indeed the same cannot be said neither is it certain that they were of the Number of the Seventy Disciples tho' that be affirmed by some of the Ancients But this I think is agreed to by all that St. Mark was for some part of his Life a constant Companion of St. Peter who was not only one of the Twelve but most probably the First that was call'd to be an Apostle and who was also one of the three with whom our Lord was most intimate and familiar for we often read that Peter Matt. 17.4.26 37. Mark 5.37 and James and John were singled from the rest to be Witnesses of some of the most private Transactions of his Life And it was generally believed in the Ancient Church that St. Peter was more truly the Author of the Gospel called St. Mark 's than St. Mark himself He being only the Scribe or Amanuensis and St. Peter the Person that dictated the things written by him whence also this Gospel is by some of the Ancients stiled the Gospel of St. Peter And of this there seem to be some Tokens even in the History its self particularly in that Relation that is therein given of St. Peter's Denial of his Master and of his Repentance for it for his Denial is there told with some more Circumstances than in the other Gospels such as the Person himself chiefly concerned was best able to know and might best remember And the Account that is given of his Repentance is by this Author expressed more modestly as it best became a Person to speak who spake of himself than it is by the other Evangelists for St. Matthew and St. Luke say that he wept bitterly but St. Mark or rather St. Peter himself dictating those Words only says that when he thought thereon he wept It is likewise agreed on all Hands that St. Luke if not one of the Seventy Disciples which 't is most probable he was not was however a very early Convert to Christianity that he conversed frequently with the Apostles and immediate Disciples of our Lord and was a constant Companion of St. Paul for a good while in his Preaching and Travels so that of almost all the Things which he relates in his History of the Acts of the Apostles he might be and of much the greatest part of them 't is most probable and of some 't is certain he was an Eye or Ear-Witness So then There are three of the five Historical Books of the New Testament that were written by those who were present at most of the things which they have related viz. the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John and the Acts of the Apostles and another of them tho' it bears the Name of St. Mark the Person by whom it was penned yet if it was as has been generally believ'd dictated by St. Peter may be added to that number and be likewise reckon'd the Testimony of One who was an Eye Witness of the things he has related In this Respect therefore the Gospel History is manifestly as credible as 't is possible any History should be for no Historian can record any thing upon better Assurance of its Truth than the
but by almost all their Senses for by their Sight they might be assured that it was he himself whom for more than three Years before they had been well acquainted with whom they then saw with their Eyes and by their Hearing that it was his own Voice and not a Stranger 's that Voice which they had often heard and which they well knew that then spake to them and by their Touch that it was a real Body which they saw and heard and not an airy Apparition not a meer Voice and also that it was that very same Body which they had seen before hanging upon and which they had taken down dead from the Cross when they were permitted as they say they were to handle and feel him Luke 24.39 Joh. 20.27 to put their Fingers into the Print of the Nails and to thrust their Hands into the Gash that had been made in his Side by the Spear that pierced his Heart And of the other Matters recorded by the Evangelists but not as Matters of their own Knowledge those from whom they had their Information might have the same Certainty which they had of these things For his Mother could not but know whether she had conceived him without Knowledge of a Man and whether his Birth had been foretold her by an Angel And she and her Relations and the whole Neighbourhood might have a certain Knowledge of the Time Place and all other Circumstances of his Birth as they arâ— related in the Gospels They that testified such plain Matters of Sense as most of those are which are recorded in the Evangelical History could not but know either that the things which they testified were true or that they themselves were egregious Liars when they testified them to have been so 2. As the Matters recorded in the Evangelical History are chiefly Matters of sense of which as such the greatest Certainty and Assurance may be had and in which any single Witness thereof may be veâ—y confident that he is not mistaken so it may be â—lso observ'd that most of them are related as Matâ—ers done in the Sight Hearing or Presence of a â—reat many which Circumstance adds very much to â—hat Certainty which any single Witness of such Matâ—ers may receive by his own Senses only For tho' it be a common Saying that Seeing is Beâ—ieving and we ordinarily desire no greater Assuâ—ance of the Truth of any Matter of Sense than our â—wn Sense and Perception of it it is nevertheless â—o unusual thing for a Man when he is relating â—omewhat that happen'd that was very extraordinary â—nd surprizing to say that tho' he saw it himself â—e could hardly believe his own Eyes And this â—ight well enough have been the Case of any one â—f the Witnesses of any of our Lord's Miracles and â—specially of his Resurrection the most wonderful of â—â—l his Miracles and which gave Confirmation to all â—he rest for tho' they were plain Matters of â—ense yet they were withal so very strange and astoâ—ishing that if any Man had seen them alone he â—ight probably have had some Distrust even of his â—â—n Senses or he might afterwards have been ready â—o doubt whether he had been well awake or in a â—ream But a Man cannot so reasonably suspect â—hat his own Senses do deceive him when he perâ—eives that the thing appears to all others that are â—resent just as it does to him nor can he afterâ—ards so easily fancy that he was in a Dream when he finds that all the rest that were there have the same Notion and Remembrance of the thing that he himself has So that by this Additional Evidence I mean by the Agreement that a Man finds there is between his own senses and other Mens he becomes more certain and confident of the Truth of the things he sees than he would have been by his own Eye-sight only 2. Secondly The other thing which I said might be noted concerning the Matters Recorded in the Evangelical History is That they are such and iâ— such manner related by the Evangelists that if theiâ— History of them had been false it could never have gained Credit in the World And this may in part appear from what has beeâ— said already For as there is nothing that can be moâ—â— certainly known and attested than a plain Matter oâ— Sense at which several are present so there is nothinâ— more liable to be contradicted and easie to be disproved than such a Matter is in case it was not 〈◊〉 done as 't is reported to have been But there are several other things that are heâ— proper to be considered for 1. It may be considered that the Gospel Histoâ—â— comprehends a very great number of Relations oâ— such Matters of Fact and Sense Considering therefore how very easie it was to disprove every one oâ— them if it had been false 't is most evidently morally impossible that a History stuffed with nothinâ— else but Lyes and Forgeries of this sort as they muâ— suppose the Evangelical History to be who will noâ— allow it to be a true History should ever have obtained any Credit And most of the things recordeâ— by the Evangelists being related by them as Matters â—f their own Knowledge if the Falsity of only one â—ngle Relation had been made appear the Credit of â—he whole History would have been thereby deâ—â—royed 2. It may be also considered that all these things â—re related in the Gospel History as done in that same â—ountry in which the History thereof was first pubâ—â—shed and that a Country but of small Extent not â—bove two hundred Miles in length at the most and â—ot half so much in breadth and yet not all in the â—â—me part of it but some in one place some in anoâ—â—er and those usually the most considerable Towns 〈◊〉 Cities of Judea and Galilee And by this their â—istory of these things if it had been false was still â—ore easie and liable to be disproved there being â—ery few of those to whom these Matters were first â—lated that needed to have gone many Miles from â—ome to have enquired into the Truth of some or â—her of them And if any Man had found the Apoâ—â—â—es false in their Report of any Matter that was â—d to have been done in his own Neighbourhood 〈◊〉 would hardly have gone farther for more satisfaâ—â—ion he would readily have concluded without â—â—rther Examination that being found False Witnesâ— in one thing they were not fit to be believed in â—â—y thing 3. It may be moreover considered that the Goâ—â—el History was written and published in a few years â—er the things therein Recorded are said to be done 〈◊〉 is not certain indeed in what Year precisely the â—â—spels were written But if they are but allowed 〈◊〉 be the genuine Writings of the reputed Authors which I hope has been already sufficiently prov'd 't is certain they were all even the latest of them that of St. John written before the Memory of the Things therein