the rest Seventhly And these by overdoing would perswade us that every word in the Bible is as much Divine as the Decalogue or Lords Prayer and hath nothing in it of humane imperfection in stile or order but is all such as God himself would have written if he had made no use of Man Eighthly And some are so afraid of Popery and the name of Tradition and the Testimony of the Church that they disable their own Faith by rejecting the necessary use of Tradition and the Churches Testimony not being able justly to distinguish Ninthly And too many distinguish not Historical Evidence from the Churches pretended Authoritative determination Tenthly And some cannot tell what Historical Evidence is also Physical and what maketh it so as differing from Moral uncertain Testimony And if Teachers of the Foundation have all these gross defects and more is it any wonder if unstudied Lay-men are here puzled in the dark § 7. I am not now to write a Treatise to tell Men the true method of Preaching Faith I have done that elsewhere especially in The Reasons of Christian Religion The unreasonableness of Infidelity The Life of Faith and a small Book called The certainty of Christianity without Popery But I shall here give the unfurnished Reader a few necessary Distinctions and Conclusions § 8. Conclusion I. Divine Faith is a sort of knowledg with Trust to the credit of God revealing and therefore must have evidence 1. That it is the word of God that is proposed 2. And that God doth not lie or deceive us Conclus II. It is the matter signified which is the prime necessary object of our Faith and the words only as the vehicle or signs of the matter Conclus III. No one particular word in the Bible or the World is of absolute necessity to be known but another may serve that hath the same signification If any word were absolutely necessary to be known if it be English none could be saved but English-men if Greek or Hebrew none could be saved but Grecians or Hebricians c. Conclus IV. The Gospel is not those same words that Christ spake but a Translation of them It s supposed that he spake in the Language then used by the Jews which was a mixture of Chaldee and Syriack but the Gospel is written in Greek so that our Original thereof is but a Divine Translation of Christs words Conclus V. Christ promised and gave his Spirit to his Apostles and Evangelists to bring all things that he had taught them to their remembrance and to lead them into all truth and teach them what to say so far as to perform their Commission To Disciple the Nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things that he had Commanded them And thus far they were infallible Conclus VI. The words therefore of the several writers are so far Divine as to be the true and certain signifiers or expressions of so much of Christs Life and Doctrine as he saw needful for the use of Man to the end of the World to be made known Conclus VII But all the Gospel writers recite not the same matter just in the same words nor in the same Order nor in the same Stile And as all humane Language savoureth of humane imperfection and the faculties of Men are not all of one degree of strength and custome varyeth wise Mens Stile so the Apostles were but Men and the very Words Stile and Order of their writing had the effects of sinless humane imperfection and were not such as that God himself could not have done it better But it s all of God as suited to its proper use Conclus VIII The Gospel was God's word Preached by them before they wrote it Eight Years before St. Matthew wrote and about Sixty Seven or Sixty Eight Years before St. John wrote the Gospel And it is not to be imagined that in their Preaching they spake just all the same words which they wrote and no more Conclus IX All the Miracles that were then wrought were first to confirm the Gospel as Preached before the Books were written Conclus X. But God knowing that the Apostles must die and the Gospel must be infallibly delivered to the end of the World inspired them to write not only the Essentials but all that was necessary for the World to know in all Generations and leave it as the Sacred Record of his redeeming Work his Doctrine and his universal Law written infallibly by the Spirit of Jesus which he sent as his Agent for that work so that the same Miracles which confirmed their words are now equally a Seal of the Divine Authority of their writings Conclus XI All the words in the Gospel are not Essential to Christianity nor of equal necessity to be explicitely known the Doctrine of Baptism and the Lords Supper with the Decalogue and Lords Prayer contain all the Essentials of Christianity truly understood which Doctrine of Baptism the Church ever expounded in a few plain Articles called the Creed And they always took those Sacraments and that Creed with the Lords Prayer and the Decalogue expounded by Christ as the summaries of our Belief Desires and Practice to be the Gospel and Christian Religion The Ministry and Church Order instituted by the Spirit of Christ being an Integral part and these they diferenced from the Subsidiary and Ornamental parts of Scripture in point of Necessity and Evidence And they that believed these were saved whether it was before the rest was written or if they never heard or understood the rest Conclus XII And before Christ the Law of Moses must be greatly distinguished from the other Historical Books and Prophesies As the Law of this Land by which all men hold their Lands and Lives and must be governed greatly differ from daily verbal Mandates or written Commissions which the King may give to particular Persons so the Covenant of Grace and the Law of Moses much differ from the particular Messages of Prophets and the words of Priests about that Law or the deeds of men Universal and Common Laws are of Universal and Common Obligation and therefore all must be certain of their Authority But the Obedience and Salvation of the Land or World was not laid on e. g. the Prophets Message to Saul to Jeroboam to Hezekiah c. Therefore in these Cases the People are left sometimes to see whether Predictions come to pass and its harder for them to know who is a true Prophet the necessity being lesser Conclus XIII It is therefore greatly to be noted that 1. The Law of Nature needed no Miracles to Confirm it being legible in the Nature of Man and of all about him 2. The Law of Moses which that Nation was to be ruled by had so full evidence of Divine Authority that it was scarce possible for the Jews of that Age to doubt of it The ten Plagues of Egypt the opening of the
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
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
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
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
time we will speak of each of them by it self and First For Hebron We find it frequently in the Pentateuch as in Gen. 13. 18. 23. 2 19. 35. 27. 37. 14. Num. 13. 22. It was a City in the Land of Canaan it is probable it might be first called Mamre Gen. 13. 18. and afterwards Arba or Kirjatharba and Hebron When this City began first to be called Hebron is uncertain but it seems to have been called by that name long before Moses for it is said Gen. 37. 14. that Jacob sent his Son Joseph out of the Vale of Hebron and Numb 13. 22. we read that the Spies which Moses sent to search out the Land of Canaan ascended by the South and came unto Hebron where the Children of Anak dwelt and that Hebron was built Seven Years before Zoan in Aegypt Here Hebron is spoken of as a City very ancient and that was ordinarily called by that name Afterwards Joshua gave it unto Caleb the Son of Jephunneh for an Inheritance and he drove the Anakims out of it and took possession of it as we read in Josh 14. 13 14. 15. 13 14. But it is no where said that Caleb changed the name of it and first called it Hebron I confess it is written that the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba Josh 14. 15. Jud. 1. 10. but the meaning of those words is that it was called Kirjath-arba before Caleb drove out the Anakims and took possession of it but this doth not prove that it was not also called Hebron before and in the time of Moses It is was certainly called Kirjath-arba by the Canaanites before Caleb took it from them but at the same time it might be called Hebron by the Israelites I thus clearly show that it might be so it was a City scituate on the side of a Hill as appears from Josh 14. 12 13 14. Caleb said unto Joshua give me this Mountain Joshua granted him his Request and gave him Hebron To me it seems probable that the Hill was first called Hebron and so it was Kirjatharba upon Hebron for certain the Countrey under the Hill was called the Valley of Hebron and as is already observed it was so called in Jacob's time Gen. 37. 14. It may be the Hill was first called Hebron from Ephron the Hittite of whom Abraham bought the Cave of Machphelah for a Burying-place Gen. 23. 16 17 18 19. this Cave seems to have been in the Hill and the Field to have been at the foot of the Hill before the Mouth of the Cave now by an easie change of letters of a like sound it is come to be called Hebron by the Posterity of Abraham because their Father Abraham bought it of Ephron or which comes to the same thing Abraham's Posterity called it Hebron from Habar because Abraham and his Posterity did as it were enter into civil Society with the Hittites when he bought of Ephron that part of the Hill with the Field and Trees at the Foot of it for himself and his Posterity It was almost natural for Abraham's Posterity to call it Hebron on these accounts that so the very name of it might be a lasting memorial of their right to it but the Anakims who afterwards took possession of it without right when the Israelites were in Aegypt did not like that it should be called at all by that name of Hebron and therefore called it Kirjath-arba only from Arba the Father of Anak Josh 15. 13. If any should now say that this only shews how the Hill with the Cave and Field which Abraham bought for a Burying-place came to be called Hebron but this is nothing to the City which was distinct from the Hill Cave and Field I Answer First The City it self was Built on the side of the Hill Secondly It is probable that in process of time the City was so far enlarged as to take in Abraham's Field with the Cave and that part of the Hill in which the Cave was and this might give occasion unto the Israelites to call the City it self by the name of Hebron From all which it appears probable that it was called Hebron by the Israelites at the same time that it was called Kirjath-arba by the Canaanites and that it was called by that name among the People of God in the time of Moses but after the Canaanites were driven out and Caleb was possessed of it it lost the name Kirjath-arba and retained only the name Hebron But against this it is Objected out of Jerome that this City had its name from Hebron the Son of Caleb of whom we read in 1 Chron. 2. 42. 43. I Answer First Masius in his Commentary on Joshua Pag. 247. on the 15th Verse of the 14th Chapter declares that he did not see any strength in this Argument to prove that Kirjath-arba was not called Hebron in the time of Moses or that it was first so called from Hebron the Son of Caleb but the truth is Masius himself seems to have been very much mistaken in Judging of the sense of these words the Father of Hebron in 1 Chron. 2. 42. for he seems plainly to take Hebron there for the City and that Father of Hebron signifies Governor or Lord of Hebron whereas it is evident that Hebron there is a Man's name for in the next Verse this Hebron is said to have had Four Sons we must acknowledg then that one of the Posterity of Caleb was called Hebron But then Secondly I Answer that it is not clear that this Caleb the Father of Hebron was the same Man with the Caleb that first took Kirjath-arba from the Anakims for Caleb that first took Kirjath-arba from the Anakims was the Son of Jephunneh Josh 14. 6. 1 Chron. 4. 15. But it is expresly written of Caleb said to be the Father of Hebron that he was the Son of Hezron 1 Chron. 2. 9 18 19 42. but Hezron went into Aegypt with Jacob Gen. 46. 12. therefore his Son Caleb must have lived long before Moses and could not be the same with Caleb the Son of Jephunneh who was but Forty Years Old when Moses sent him to espy out the Land of Canaan Josh 14. 7. Yet Thirdly Granting that Caleb the Son of Jephunneh and Caleb the Son of Hezron were one and the same Man and that he is called the Son of Hezron only in a large sense because he was of the Posterity of Hezron as Masius Pag. 243. thinks that Hezron was but his Grandfather or Great Grandfather c. I say this being granted it will not follow that Kirjath-arba was first called Hebron from Hebron the Son of Caleb on the contrary Hebron the Son of Caleb might take his name from the City Hebron the Inheritance of his Father the like seems to have happened unto Gilead the Son of Machir 1 Chron. 2. 21. he seems to have received his name from Mount Gilead the place of his Fathers Inheritance Deut. 3. 15. for
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
for many This is my Body which is given or broken for you because his Blood was not shed nor his Body broken till the Day after and yet it is most certain that he did speak those words when he instituted the Holy Sacrament the Night before his Death But then you will ask why did our Lord speak so why did he say This is my Blood which is shed this is my Body which is broken when neither was the one shed nor the other broken I Answer He did so because it was an ordinary way of speaking amongst the Jews to express themselves in the Preterit or Present Tense when they were talking or writing of a thing that was shortly and certainly to come to pass and therefore the Vulgar Interpeter attending more to the sense than to the bare words of our Lord renders them Hic est sanguis meus qui pro multis effundetur hoc est corpus meum quod pro vobis tradetur this is my Blood which shall be shed and my Body which shall be given after the same manner may we understand the words of Moses as Israel did i. e. as Israel shall shortly and certainly do to the Land of his Possession besides there was this good reason why Moses should use the Preterit Tense because the thing he was writing of was partly past already Israel had already destroyed the Inhabitants of Two Kingdoms and taken actual possession of the Land and it was partly to be within a short time Israel was shortly to do so by all the other Inhabitants of the Land of his possession which God had given him Moses then having reason to write as he did Spinosa had no reason to cavil at the manner of his expression Fifteenthly He Objects Deut. 3. 14. and from these words Jair called them after his own name Bashan-havoth-jair unto this Day infers that this must have been written long after Moses Answer Some think that these words VNTO THIS DAY have been after Moses put in the Margin and in process of time have crept into the Text or else that Ezdras hath inserted them into the Text. But there is no necessity of Answering thus for First Moses wrote the Book of Deuteronomy some Months after Jair had taken the Countrey of Argob and called it after his own name Bashan-havoth-jair therefore Moses himself might very well say that the Countrey of Argob was called after the name of Jair unto this Day that is from the time of Jair his taking of it and calling it Bashan-havoth-jair unto the Day of Moses writing that part of the Book of Deuteronomy for there was nothing but truth in his so saying Secondly Moses wrote the Book of Deuteronomy not only for the present Generation but also for the Generations to come according to that of the Psalmist Psal 102. 18. This shall be written for the Generations to come and consequently knew that these words unto this Day would be further verified in after Ages Therefore he might purposely use these words unto this Day as intending thereby to signifie unto the Israelites in their several Generations that the Countrey of Argob was called after the name of Jair Bashan-havoth-jair from Jairs first taking of it unto their time there being then no falsity nor absurdity in the words unto this Day as here used Moses himself might very well be the Author of them nay they are so significant with respect to future Generations as I have shewed that Moses his Wisdom appears in choosing to express himself in such words as were actually true when he first spoke and wrote them and yet were to be further verified in all succeeding Generations so long as the Hebrew-Commonwealth stood so much for Answer unto Spinosa his Two Objections I have now gone through all that P. Simon hath written to prove that Moses could not be the Author of the Pentateuch I have examined all his Arguments and Answered every one of them there is not one good Argument amongst them all not one that can prove his position That Moses cannot be the Author of the Books attributed to him and verily many of them are I think such pitiful trifling things that a reasonable Man and Christian should be ashamed of them The reason why I meddle with no more of his Critical History than what concerns the Pentateuch is First Because this was defigned to accompany the precedent Discourse concerning the proofs of the Books of Moses and therefore I thought fit to deal with P. Simon only upon that point wherein he seemed to contradict what the Author of the excellent Discourse affirms and proves that so his Objections being all Answered that Discourse may remain firm and unshaken and in its full strength and that Infidels may not pretend that P. Simon has confuted it which is so far from being true that the vain succesless attempt of so great a Man as P. Simon is accounted to prove that Moses could not be the Author of the Pentateuch is an Argument that the thing is not practicable it cannot be done for if it could P. Simon is counted as able and to me seems to have been as willing to have done it as any other Man Secondly Because if the Divine Truth and Authority of Moses and his Law and of Christ and his Gospel be well secured our Christian Religion is secured in its main strength and fundamental grounds against Atheists and Infidels As for the rest of P. Simon 's Book I doubt not but some Men of greater Abilities for such a work than I will in due time thoroughly examine it and separate the Chaff from the Wheat allowing him his due praise where he hath done well and chastising him where he hath done evil you may guess by this that it will not be so difficult to do it as some may apprehend In the mean time if his vain Cavils at several expressions here and there in the Holy Scriptures should be a tentation unto any to think meanly of the Scriptures themselves I desire such if they can to read some part of Origens Philocalia Chap. 1. Pag. 4 5. in Spencers Edition at Cambridge 1658. and to consider that as Origen says Every one of the Works of God do not equally but some more and some less declare and shew forth the Glory of God in his Beeing and Providence after the same manner all the parts of God's written Word do not equally but some more clearly and some more obscurely evidence themselves to be of God And as there are some dark occurrences in Providence that tempt weak and sinful Men to doubt of God's Beeing and Providence just so there are some dark and difficult passages in Holy Scripture that tempt Men to doubt of the Divine Verity and Authority of of the Scriptures and yet as none but Fools Psal 14. 1. will disbelieve the Beeing and Providence of God because there are some things in his Nature and Providence which they cannot comprehend so no Wise Man will disbelieve the Holy Scriptures because there are here and there some passages in them which he cannot understand Lo they have rejected the word of the Lord and what Wisdom is in them says the Prophet Jeremiah Jer. 8. 9. Indeed there can be no true Wisdom in them who reject the Word of the Lord for his Word believed and practised is our Wisdom and our Understanding and makes us a wise and understanding People Deut. 4. 5 6 The Testimony of the Lord is sure making Wise the Simple Psal 19. 7. If ever then we would be truly Wise let us against all Tentations to the contrary esteem highly of and adhere stedfastly unto the Holy Scriptures of Truth for it is they that are able to make us wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 3. 15. If what I have here written do contribute any thing towards the helping of Christian Readers to keep up in their Souls a due esteem of and reverend regard unto the Holy Scriptures and towards the strengthning of them against Tentations to unbelief I have obtained my end and desire them to let me have the help and benefit of their Prayers but let him have all the Praise who is the Father of Lights and the God of all Grace unto whom be Glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all Ages World without End Amen FINIS a Exod. 5. 1 2 3. 7. 1 2 3 4 5. 3. 14 15 16 17 18. 4. from 1 to 9. 6. from 1 to 8. Deut. 4. 9 to 24. b Exod. 20. 3 4 5 6 7 c. ibid. v. 20 22 23. 23. 13. Deut. 4. 5 6 7 8 9 10. 7. 1 2 3 4 5 6. 12. 29 30 31 32. 18. 9 10 11 12 13 14. Deut. 4. 32 to 41. Exod. 20. 24 latter part of the Verse Deut. 4. 7. c Exod. 20. 17. Lev. 19. 17 18. d Exod. 21. 13. Deut. 19. e Levit. 25. 23 c. f Exod. 21. 1 2 c. Deut. 15. 12 to 19. 24. 14 15. g Deut. 15. 6 to 12. Exod. 22 25 26 27. h Exod. 22. 21. Levit. 19. 33. 34. i Exod. 22. 22 23 24. k Exod. 20. 12. 22. 28. Deut. 17. 11. l Deut. 1. 16 17. 17. 16 17 18 19 20. 25. 1.