12.5 6. Jam. 4.6 1 Pet. 5.5 and other places plainly alluded q 2 Cor. 8.21 1 Pet. 4.18 to by them I say one would be apt to conclude that all these Considerations added to the Intrinsecal Worth of the Book it self might be a sufficient Inducement to look upon it as a Book compos'd by God's Appointment for the Benefit of the Church But before I proceed any further upon this Sebject I cannot but reflect by the way upon a Passage of our Author which the observing that this Book is quoted by the Apostles puts me in mind of and that is this He tells us r Fr. p. 278. Eng. p. 105 That the Apostles never cite the works of Solomon or the Book of Job What he says touching the former I have just now shewed to be manifestly False and there is as little truth in the later part of his words for the Book of Job is as formally quoted by St. Paul Å¿ 1 Cor. 3.19 as any Book of the Old Testament The Wisdom of the world is Foolishness with God FOR IT IS WRITTEN He taketh the Wise in their own Craftiness Which Citation as 't is certainly taken out of Job t c. 5. 13. so it shews withal a great Deference given by the Apostle to the Authority of the Book from whence 't is taken I thought fit just to observe this Mistake of Mr. N.'s tho it be of no great consequence on purpose to take down the Confidence of this Gentleman a little and shew him that he is not so exactly vers'd in the Scripture as a man that undertakes to Criticize upon it with so much Capriciousness and so little Reverence and Regard to its Authority ought to be But to return to the Matter in hand The Sum of the General Charge which our Author has advanc'd against the Divine Authority of the Book of Proverbs is a Fr. p. 271. En. p. 94. That they are Moral Sentences which a Good Man may pronounce without Inspiration As if no Book could be writ by God's Direction but where the matter is such as exceeds the reach of Humane Invention and cannot be the Product of our Rational Faculties And then by the same Reason no work must be ascribed to God but what exceeds the Power of Natural Agents and so God must be accounted the Author of nothing that happens in the World but what is purely Miraculous Now this Argument if it prove any thing at all it proves not only that this Book is not written by Divine Inspiration but farther that no Book of Moral Instructions can be For Morality is nothing but the Law of Right Reason instructing us how to govern our Actions and I suppose the Law of Reason contains nothing in it above Reason and Consequently nothing which is above the Capacity of a Wise and Good Man to think or speak from all which it will follow by our Authors Principles that whatever Book contains nothing in it but what is deducible from the Principles of meer Reason must be purely Humane and can have nothing Divine or of the Hand of God in it But is not Mr. N. sensible that the Corruption of Humane Nature the Degeneracy of the World the Uncertainty of Humane Reasoning and especially the Imperfect Knowledge we have of the Nature of God and our own Souls have so far Obscur'd a great many branches of this Law of Nature or Reason that there was need of a more than Ordinary Illumination to recover some Truths which were in a manner lost to the World and to set them in a True Light so as to Convince others of their Certainty and Excellency Sure our Author will grant that the Unity of the Godhead is a Truth that is Adequate to Humane Reason nay a Truth so Evident that one would wonder that Men of Searching Heads could miss of it and yet we find there were very few among the Heathens that had their Reason so throughly purg'd from the prejudices which Education and the Establisht Religion of the World had infected it with as to assent to this Truth And I think this is a sufficient Proof that Men may stand in need of a Teacher Divinely Inlightned to Discover such Truths to them as may indeed be deduced from the Principles of Reason when 't is in its true perfection but yet are such as few Men's Reason hath arrived to because of the Degeneracy and corruption to which 't is obnoxious And many such Truths are to be found in this Book which tho they are so reasonable that Men can't but assent to them assoon as they hear them yet 't is in vain to search for them in the Writings of the Best and Acutest Philosophers For Instance we may challenge them to shew such a Wise Instruction in any of their Books as Solomon lays down for the foundation of Morality b Prov. 1.7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom or this c Prov. 3.5 6 Trust in the Lord with all thy Heart and lean not to thy own Vnderstanding In all thy ways acknowledge him And indeed thro the whole Book the Duties of Morality are inforc'd upon Men from Religious Considerations and by Arguments taken from the Duty we owe to God and the Rewards and Punishments we must expect from him according as we behave our selves Which makes this Book differ very much from the Moral Writings of the Philosophers where we shall find little or nothing said concerning our Duty to God his Authority over us our Dependance upon him and the Submission we owe to him the Methods of Providence and the Rewards or Punishments of another Life all which are often insisted upon in this Book For this is a visible Defect in the Writings of the Philosophers that as they never inforce our Duty by Arguments which are taken from the Principles of Religion so their disswasives from Vice are taken from these Topicks viz. That 't is below the Dignity of Humane Nature and a Contradiction to Reason rather than from this Consideration That 't is displeasing to God a Breach of his Law and an Act of Disobedience which he will Punish I Confess some Philosophers that lived since the Appearance of Christianity especially the Emperor Antoninus have very Excellent Sayings concerning God's Providence and the Submission we owe to him But I am apt to think that as the Light of the Gospel Diffus'd it self over the World it in some measure Inlightned the minds even of those who Refus'd to imbrace it as the Sun gives Light before it reaches our Hemisphere My meaning is that the very Account which Inquisitive Men received of the Principles of Christianity helped to Clear up their minds and gave them more distinct Apprehensions of the Principles of Natural Religon than they had before But to return Beside the Precepts I have already mention'd there are many Excellent Advices given in the Proverbs to all sorts and Degrees of Men from Princes
Fr. p. 280 285. that laying too great stress upon Words has bin the occasion of most of the Disputes among Christians I readily grant it has but then the fault has bin that Men have either Interpreted Scripture-Expressions by notions of Philosophy which the Holy Writers never heard of or else they have not inquir'd into the Sentiments of those times in which these Books were writ but have judged of their sense by the Schemes and applied them to the Disputes of Modern Ages as if they were writ only with a regard to the Controversies that should arise in After-Times without any respect to the Sentiments and Exigencies of the Age wherein they were written But if we have a regard only to the Genius of the Language which the Holy Writers used and judge of their Sentiments by the State of the Church in their time and by such Ancient Authors as were most likely to be acquainted with the Notions which were then generally received I don't think laying stress upon the Phrases of the Scriptures can lead us into such gross errors as Mr. N. imagines k Eng. p. 146. Fr p. 234. And without supposing this we can scarce deduce any Inferences from Scripture Texts and yet this is practis'd by the Apostles themselves who sometimes argue from Words and those too taken in their nicest signification A remarkable example of which is that Inference of S. Paul's l Gal. 3.16 To Abraham and to his seed were the Promises made he saith not And to seeds as of many but as of one And to thy seed which is Christ 3. Since God in his Providence took care that these Books should be Writ for the use of his Church and therefore gave Providential occasions for their being Written it follows that they are Compos'd in such a manner as not to exclude the use of the Natural Reason and Meditation of the Writers who Compos'd them Works of Providence are not suppos'd to exclude Humane means and we believe many things to be brought to pass by the determinate Counsel and Power of God tho they are not purely Miraculous and and meerly God's own Act and Deed but are brought to pass by second Causes as his Instruments And why then can't he give Men a Rule of Faith and Manners except the Writing be with the immediate Finger of God as the Two Tables were 'T is certain that the ordinary Operations of the Spirit do only excite and assist our natural Faculties not supersede or render them useless And even the extraordinary ones do very often influence Men's minds after the same manner as appears by S. Paul's advice to Timothy m 1 Tim. 4.14 Give attendance to Reading to Exhortation to Doctrine neglect not the gift which is in thee which was given thee by prophecy And to the same purpose he speaks in the second Epistle n 2 Tim. 1.6 And therefore tho we suppose the Authors of the Scriptures to have been Inspir'd and to have had the extraordinary Assistances of God's Spirit yet this will not exclude the use of their Natural Talents but that the Writers made use of them as far as they could be serviceable to their purpose and God supplied their defects From hence appears the weakness of that Argument which is urged by our Author and by some others against the Inspiration of the Poetical Books o Fr. p. 230. En. p. 27. of the Old Testament because they seem to be the effects of Study and Meditation and against that of the Historical Books of the Scripture p Grot. votum pro pace p. 672. Refutat Apologet. p. 722. because the things contain'd in them are either of the Writers own Knowledge or else taken from Ancient Memoirs or the Relation of others To the same purpose 't is urged against the Divine Authority of S. Paul's Epistles by Spinoza q Theol. Polit. c. 11 that they are full of Argumentation which he thinks must be the effect of S. Paul's own reason As if a Man that had a perfect Systeme of the Christian Religion infused into his mind by Revelation as we suppose S. Paul to have had did not apprehend it after a Rational manner and see the whole Series and Chain of its Principles by the help of which he could infer one thing from another But is it not a pleasant Argument against the Inspiration of a Book that it is writ in a Rational and Argumentative way which must either suppose that 't is below God Almighty to give a reason for his Institutions or else that 't was not proper for the Apostles to shew their Disciples that the Doctrines they taught them were such as might be Rationally deduc'd from certain Principles and to confute their Adversaries the same way who would not submit to their bare Authority nor believe a thing to be true meerly because they said so 4. It follows from what has bin said that 't is no Argument against a Book 's being design'd by God for the perpetual use of the Church that 't was at first writ upon some particular Exigency and with relation to the peculiar Circumstances of the persons to whom 't is directed For some of those Books of the Old Testament which were certainly design'd for the publick benefit of the Church as 't is granted by all that acknowledge any such thing as Inspiration and I don 't at present concern my self with any others I say some of the Undoubtedly Inspir'd Writings were occasion'd by the particular Exigences of those times in which their Authors lived I mean the Books of the Prophets who were all sent by God to testify against the sins which were committed in their own times And if God so order'd it that these Prophecies should be of perpetual use to the Church why may not the other Occasional Writings of the Scripture if I may so term them have been compos'd with the same Design I have already shewed r P. 19. that the manner of St. Paul's Writing does excellently answer this Intent From hence it appears that the Argument used by some Popish Writers why the New Testament cannot be a perfect Rule of the Christian Faith because several parts of it were writ only with Relation to particular Exigencies of some one Church holds as well against the Old Testament being a Rule to the Jews because a great part of of it viz. the Prophecies were occasion'd by the particular Circumstances of those Times in which the Prophets lived CHAP. II. A more particular Inquiry into the nature of the Apostolical Gifts and Inspiration HAving said thus much in general concerning the Divine Authority and Inspiration of the Apostolical Writings I proceed to examine more distinly the Assertions which the Author of the Letters hath laid down concerning the Inspiration of the Apostles and of their Writings and in order to that shall consider particularly both as to their Nature and Extent some of the most remarkable Gifts with which the
If the Marriage Contract be broke on the Unbelievers side the Believer is no longer tied q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 V. ver 39. Rom. 7.1 2 3. by it Which is not true of a Marriage where the Laws of Christianity take place for there the Breach of the Marriage Covenant on one side does not dissolve the Bond nor release the other party from the Obligation of it except in the Case of Adultery which St. Paul does not here suppose Which seems to me plainly to prove that St. Paul did not think the Laws of Christianity were to be extended to such Marriages as these This seems too to have been the sense of the Primitive Christians by the Story which gave occasion to Justin Martyrs first Apology as 't is usually reckon'd concerning a Woman r Apol. 1. init that being Converted to Christianity after having used many endeavours to reclaim her Husband from his vicious course of Life when they all proved ineffectual sent him a Divorce drawn up according to the form prescribed by the Roman Laws a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. This action of hers is commended by Justin Martyr which I suppose he would not have done if he had thought the Laws of the Gospel took place in such a Marriage as this which was contracted in a state of Heathenism For certainly Christianity does not allow the Wife to put away her Husband upon any account whatsoever since that was never allowed by Moses's Law nor ever practis'd among the Jews till Herod's time when Salome sent a Bill of Divorce to her Husband which was done contrary to the Jewish Laws as Josephus b Antiq. l. 15. c. 9. p. 532. B. who relates it observes And if this be the true state of the case concerning Marriage where one party is a Convert to Christianity and the true ground of S. Paul's resolving the question proposed to him concerning this matter the reason is plain why he introduces his answer with this Preface I not the Lord c 1 Cor. 7.12 for this case is of the same nature with the other Indifferent things S. Paul discourses of in the same Chapter where he gives his judgement about the state of Virginity and Widowhood The doubts concerning which matters he resolves by the Rules of Prudence and with respect to the present Distress d 1 Cor. 7.26 and the difficulties which attended the Profession of Christianity The Apostle indeed says I give my Opinion about these questions as one that hath obtain'd mercy of the Lord to be faithful e 1 Cor. 7.25 and again After my judgement and I think that I also have the Spirit of God f ver 40. But this is not spoke with the Authority of an Apostle or Teacher sent by God but in such a style as implies only an ordinary Assistance such as any Pious skilful Pastor may still expect for 't is as if he had said I do sincerely give you the best Advice I can my judgement is not byass'd by any corrupt end I have no other design but to promote God's Glory and your good and therefore I may be pretty confident that the Spirit of God whose influences I have often felt hath now so far Assisted me that I have advised you for the best 3. Another Instance wherein we may reasonably suppose the Apostles spoke without Inspiration is when they discourse of such things as our Saviour told them they must be content to be ignorant of Such as was the time when the Day of Judgment should come which was a secret God had reserved g Matt. 24.36 to himself and of Restoring the Kingdom to Israel h Act. 1.6 As to the former of these 't is plain the Apostles thought the Day of Judgement would come in their own time or within a very little while afterward i See 1 Thes 4.14 2 Thes 2.2 1 Cor. 10 11. 15.52 2 Cor. 5.3 2 Pet. 3.4 1 Pet. 4.7 Heb. 9.26 But this they only gathered by Humane Reasoning and conjectures drawn from some Expressions found in the Old Testament or used by our Saviour such as the Calling the times of the Gospel the Latter Days an Expression often used by the Prophets and our Saviour's joining together the Destruction of Jerurusalem and the End of the World in S. Matthew the 24th And as the event has proved that they were mistaken so they themselves did not pretend to Revelation for what they said in this case but spoke of it in doubtful terms as may be seen in the place above cited k 2 Cor. 5.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If so be we shall be found Cloth'd not naked for so the Words should be Translated In these cases I think 't will be no prejudice to the Divine Inspiration of the Apostles to allow them to have spoke like Men. And 't is unreasonable for any to pretend that if we grant thus much we do in effect give up the Cause and that then 't will be impossible to distinguish what the Apostles say by the Spirit and what they speak of themselves For sure Men may distinguish if they please the Mysteries of Faith and the Rules of Practice from a Cloke and Parchments or a Journey to Corinth which belong to the first excepted Case And in the second we have the Apostle himself plainly distinguishing this from his usual way of Writing and telling us that 't is he speaks not the Lord l 1 Cor. 7.12 V. 2 Cor. 11.17 and that he had no Commandment from the Lord but only gave his Judgement m 1 Cor. 7.25 The same Expression we find elsewhere in a like case n 2 Cor. 8.8 10. viz. concerning the measures of Charity which are to be settled by the Rules of Prudence and don 't fall under a Divine Command Now if an Exception confirms a Rule in Cases not Excepted we may justly infer from the Apostles setting a mark upon these Discourses to distinguish them from Divine Commands that where there is no such distinguishing mark we must suppose him to deliver what he says under the Character of an Apostle and a Messenger of God unless the nature of the Discourse do plainly imply the contrary and be such as properly belongs to the two other Heads of excepted Cases As to the third Instance of Excepted Cases the Evangelists have sufficiently forewarn'd us not to look upon any Mans Judgement as Infallible in this matter since they have Recorded o Matt. 24.36 Mark 13.32 those words of our Saviour where he tells his Disciples that the Day and Hour of the General Judgement was a secret God has reserved to himself and has not thought fit to reveal it to any Creature of what Rank or Degree soever no not to the Son himself and tho he were the great Prophet of the Church yet 't was no part of his Commission to reveal the Counsel of God in this matter and therefore to be
Opinion that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Conclusion of the Letter which he finds so much fault with is for all that a very elegant Expression He has printed the Close of this Synodical Epistle in great Letters as if it had something more than ordinary in it and were a manifest argument of his side but as Big as the words look whoever considers them will find there 's very little sense in his Application of them CHAP. III. Concerning the Inspiration of the PROPHETS I Do not see much in our Author that reflects upon the Authority or Inspiration of the Prophets But since I am engag'd in the Subject of Inspiration and those persons who have no great esteem for the Sacred Books fancy there are many things relating to the Prophets liable to Exception I think it will not be altogether impertinent or beside my main Design which is to Vindicate the Authority of the Holy Writings if I take a short View of those Considerations which tend to establish the Authority of the Prophets and to answer some of the most Popular Objections against them I shall therefore I. Consider the Personal Qualifications of the Prophets II. I shall consider the chief Design of their Prophecies III. I shall resolve some Difficulties which relate to the Prophets themselves or their manner of Writing I. As to the first 't would in a great measure take off mens Prejudices against the prophetical Writings if they would but consider what manner of men the Prophets were and what excellent Qualifications they were indowed with Men that are glad of any Argument that makes Religion look like a Cheat think they have a great Advantage against all sorts of Prophecy because there have been so many Cheats of this kind and they find that usually the persons that pretend to a prophetick Spirit are in all other respects of such shallow Intellectuals and such mean Qualifications that no wise man would take their Advice in any thing of ordinary concern and therefore 't is very unlikely God should make choice of such persons to be his Messengers and the Conveyers of his Will to men But if they would likewise consider how unlike the Prophets of the Old Testament were to these Pretenders both as to their Intellectuals and their Morals 't would go a great way to discover how vastly different they are from each other and the Truth and Excellency of the one would more evidently appear by comparing it with the evident marks of Imposture and Meanness which are found in the other As to the Intellectual Accomplishments of the true Prophets they had usually an Ingenuous and liberal Education as appears by the Institution of the Schools of the Prophets so often mention'd in the History of the Kings And we find 't was reckon'd a wonder that Saul should be among the Prophets a 1 Sam. 10 11 -19.24 because he had not been Educated suitably to that Profession So God's calling Amos to this Office from being a Herds-man was extraordinary and unusual as he himself intimates b Amos 8.14 And indeed the style of the Prophets plainly discovers them to have been Men of a good Education and therefore the Criticks have all observed what great difference there is between Amos's style and that of the other Prophets which they justly impute to their different Education Isaiah's style is Elegant c Isaiae dictio purissimaâ—ntor omnes qui post Mosen scripserunt ejus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pulcherrimae Grot. in Is 50 4. and Lofty Jeremy's shews him to have been a great Master of Rhetorick d Mirus in affectibus concitandis Jeremias Idem Ezekiel plainly discovers in his way of writing great skill in Architecture and Geography Daniel's Wisdom was so famous even when he was young that it became a Proverb among the Chaldeans to say Art thou wiser than Daniel e Ezek. 28.3 And not to descend to any more particulars we find that all their writings are full of Powerful Exhortations to Vertue of weighty and Pathetick Representations of the heinousness of those Vices which were then prevailing and the miseries which would attend them We find they set forth the absurdity of Pagan Idolatry f Is 40.18 c. 44.9 c with great strength and smartness of Argument and endeavour to give Men clear and distinct Notions of Gods Spirituality g Is 40.12 c. Unity h Jer. 10.11 12. Is 44.6 Omnipresence i Jer. 23.23 24. Is 66.1 Universal Providence of which the foretelling how Free Agents will determine themselves is a signal instance and Justice in rewarding Men according to their works k Jer. 18.7 c. Ezek. 18. They unfold the methods of Providence in disposing of Kingdoms l Jer. 25. and making use of wicked Princes and Nations to be the Instruments of God's Justice in punishing the sins of others m Is 10.6 c. Ezek. 29.18 19. Such discourses don't look like the idle dreams of a Melancholy and disturb'd fancy but do indeed answer the Character they pretend to And those Men who will not believe them to be of Divine Original ought in reason to allow them to be the Product of a settled Judgement and can't in Justice but grant that if the Prophets did not foresee what was to come by a Prophetical Spirit yet they made very probable Conjectures by a Natural Sagacity since the event has so plainly justifyed a great part of their Predictions And if they will not be perswaded that God inlightned the minds of the Prophets by an extraordinary Revelation yet they can't in Justice deny but that they discourse of the Nature of God and of his Providence and of the Obedience which he requires with as great a degree of clearness and certainty as Men's Natural Faculties can arrive to And therefore 't is not without reason that Origen does often in his Books against Celsus n P. 18 -177.-260.-359 Ed. Cant. insist upon this That Moses and the Prophets instructed Men in the nature of God and of their duty much better than the acutest Philosophers among the Heathens So malicious and groundless is that pretence of Spinoza where he tells us o Theol. Polit. c. 1. p.m. 21. that the Prophets did not agree in their Notions about the Nature of God because forsooth different Prophets saw different Signs of the Divine Presence As if they could not distinguish between a Symbol of God's Presence and the Divine Nature it self And he may as well say that Moses took the Cloudy Pillar to be God himself and by the same reason he must conclude that Moses thought the Cherubims and the Cloud upon the Mercy-seat which he himself order'd to be made to be God or at least to resemble his Essence and then I think he would have been guilty of greater Idolatry than Aaron was in making the Golden Calf 2. If we consider the Moral Indowments of the Prophets we shall find
which I have discours'd in the last Chapter f P. 139. c. but yet I think the Use of Prophecies chiefly consists in the Comparing the Event with the Prophecy which when they are found perfectly to agree 't is a great Evidence of God's Providence in General and that this particular Event which the Prophecy relates to was an Effect of his Overruling Power There are several passages in the Prophets that plainly shew this was the Intent of many of their Prophecies God himself gives this Reason why he foretold the Restauration of the Jewish Captivity f Is 48.5 I have even from the beginning declar'd it to thee before it came to pass I shewed it thee lest thou shouldest say My Idol hath done them and my Graven Image and my Molten Image hath commanded them And such Events as the Jews were ready to ascribe to their Idols if God had not prevented it many others would willingly ascribe to Fate or Chance and not acknowledge the hand of God in them And therefore God to vindicate his Providence and shew that he Interests himself in the Government of the world and more especially in such Cases where his Church is concern'd has been pleas'd to Foretell several Future Events that when they came to pass men might be convinc'd that they were the Lord 's doing The same thing is intimated in those Remarkable Passages of Daniel g Dan. 12.4 See ver 9 10. Thou O Daniel shut up the words and seal the Book even to the time of the End Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased And to the same purpose c. 8.26 Shut thou up the Vision for yet it shall be for many days The meaning of which places is Lay this Prophecy up safe till after times for it can't be understood h See Is 29.11 Rev. 52. as yet but when the things themselves are near and ready to be brought to pass then men shall begin to understand it the Gradual Completion of the Prophecies shall open their Understandings and the comparing those parts of the Prophecy which are already fulfilled with the event shall give light into and direct Men to Judge of those particulars which are yet to be fulfilled We find St. John i Rev. 22.10 receives a Command quite contrary to this which was given to Daniel grounded upon the contrary Reason Seal not the sayings of the Prophecy of this Book for the time is at hand 'T is indeed very probable that a great part of the Revelations is not yet fulfill'd and therefore one would think that this Prophecy might have been Order'd to be Seal'd up at the first Delivery of it as well as Daniel's But the difference between these two Prophecies seems to lie here that tho some parts of the Revelations belong to the Latter times of the Church yet others relate to the First Ages of it and upon that account 't was fit that it should not be Sealed up but laid open to be Read k Rev. 1.3 and Consider'd from the very time when it was deliver'd because the Accomplishment of some parts of it Commenc'd very early and therefore the things contain'd in it are said to be such as must shortly come to pass l Rev. 1.1 Whereas that Prophecy of Daniel's which relates to Antichrist and I suppose the Command of Sealing up the Book belongs only to that particular Prophecy as will appear by comparing the Context of the two foremention'd passages m Dan. 11.36 c. to c. 12 5-8 13 to 26. together I say the coming of Antichrist foretold by Daniel was a great way off of Daniels own time and no part of the Prophecy relating to it shortly to be accomplish'd I think from these places 't is evident that the Use of several Prophecies according to God's own Intention did chiefly consist in Comparing them with the Event after they were fulfill'd and that they were in a manner useless as a Book that is Sealed up till the things themselves appear'd Now if Prophecies were design'd to be Explained by the Event this supposes that the words in which they are deliver'd are not to be plain of themselves But there is another Reason why God should not give Men a Clear and Distinct Knowledge of what is to come and that is because 2. The fulfilling of Prophecies if the things are distinctly Revealed is Inconsistent with the Freedom of Humane Actions and the Manner how Providence brings the things Foretold to pass which is a Second Reason why Prophecies should be Obscure God always makes use of Men to be the Instruments of his Providence but if they certainly knew what was to come to pass and how it was to be brought to pass they could not be Instrumental in bringing it to pass in a Rational and Free way of Acting because it would not leave them wholly to themselves to have a full Power over and a free Determination of their own Actions And that whether the thing foreknown be Good or Bad if it be Good it tempts Men to Carelesness and to presume too much upon God's promise for then Men are apt to argue thus What need we trouble our selves with helping to fulfil God's promises as if he were not able to bring about his Designs without our Assistance God is obliged in Honour to see his Words made good and we need not fear but he will take care that they be perform'd On the other side if the Prophecy foretell some Sinful Action to be committed such a Prophecy would Humanely speaking very often destroy it self and the very foretelling it plainly would hinder the thing foretold from coming to pass For if such Prophecies were so plain that every body at first sight could see the whole Contrivance and look thro all the Scenes of the Action they could not be brought to pass without offering violence to Men's Voluntary Determinations and making them purely Passive in producing the foretold Events and meer Tools in the Hand of God Almighty For Instance if our Saviours Crucifixion had been foretold with all the particular Circumstances the Manner how and the precise Time when it was to be brought to pass and the Persons that were to be concern'd in it we can't imagine so many of the Chief and Principal Men among the Jews would have had a Hand in it without being perfectly carried on to it by an Overruling Power against their own Inclinations which besides its thwarting the Principles of Humane Nature must make God the Author of Sin But since the Prophecies concerning the Messias and his Sufferings were deliver'd with such a mixture of Obscurity as never to be fully understood till after the Event this gave Room for the Jews Malice to concur with God's Providence in bringing this to pass and so as St. Paul tells them a Acts 13.27 Because they knew him not nor yet the voices of the Prophets they fulfilled them in condemning him Again