Indirectly and Negatively by shewing that none of those Suppositions which exclude the Being of God can be true p. 57. Matter alone considered at rest could not be Eternal and in time produce the Present Frame of the World p. 59. 'T is impossible to account for the Production of the World by the Atheist's Hypothesis of moving Atoms p. 61. 'T is absurd to suppose that the World has Existed Eternally under the same Form we now behold it without a God p. 64. The Eternal Coexistence of Matter and Mind improbable p. 71. Supposing it probable neither Matter alone nor Matter and Motion nor the present Constitution of things could have been Eternal Independently of God p. 77. The Original of all things from God further evinced from General Reflections p. 81. A positive and direct Proof of Religion drawn from the Nature of God and Man and the Relations there are betwixt them p. 91. Of the Nature and Ground of Obligation together with the Right and Power of Obliging Ib. That Man is obliged to order his Life according to the Will of God is proved p. 102. From the Natural Judgments we make concerning our Actions p. 105. From the End and Design of God in making us which appears by several Tokens and Indications p. 117. in the Frame and Disposition of our Mind p. 118. and in the Oeconomy and Constitution of Humane Society p. 125. From the Nature of Religion it self a regular practice of which conduces to the greatest Happiness we are capable of in this Life p. 129. And from the certainty of a Future State which is proved p. 137. From the defect of a General and Regular Practice of Religion here p. 138. And from the General Wants Necessities and Imperfections of our present Nature p. 141. From all which Considerations it appears that 't is more for our Happiness to live Religiously then otherwise and therefore we are obliged to live so p. 146. The Certainty and Necessity of Religion further shewn from the pernicious effects of all kind of Irreligion with respect to the Happiness of Mankind p. 149. The absurdity and folly of all the Grounds and Pretences of Irreligion and whatever is alledged in defence of it p. 181. Irreligion not capable of any direct proof p. 183. The usual Ways and Methods of defending it Improper and Insufficient p. 187. Ridiculing Religion proves nothing against it Ib. Requiring a more certain and Mathematical proof of it unreasonable p. 188. Schemes and Hypotheses to account for the present state of things without God and Religion absurd and inconsistent p. 192. The chief and most common Objections against Religion answered viz. p. 200. Mysteries seeming Inconsistencies and Absurdities in Scripture p. 201. Extravagant Notions and Pernicious Doctrines maintained under the name of Religion p. 202. Variety of Opinions among the Professors of the same Religion p. 204. Foolish and Ridiculous Arguments urged in defence of it p. 205. Scandalous Lives of great pretenders to Piety and Virtue p. 206. Religion the effect of Fear and Education p. 209. Religion a politick Contrivance p. 211. The absurdity and folly of Irreligious Principles and Practices demonstrated from General Reflections upon the different Grounds and Foundations Religion and Irreligion stand upon and the different Conduct of those that act under the Influence of the one and the other p. 213. Irreligion further exposed from the causes and Reasons that induce Men to take up Atheistical and Prophane Opinions p. 227. The chief Causes of Atheism shewn to be these two The Fear of an after reckoning for a wicked Life and the Vanity of appearing greater and wiser than other Men. p. 230. The Doctrines of Irreligion the sole result of Prejudice and not deliberate reasoning more plainly made out p. 239. From the Character and Capacities of the Atheists Ib. From the manner and process of their Infidelity p. 242. And from the Confession of several Atheists themselves p. 246. An account of the Notions of Atheism and Deism and how they are to be distinguished p. 249. THE CERTAINTY Of the Christian Revelation And the Necessity of Believing it c. The Contents THe Connexion of this Discourse with the former Page 1. The Method laid down for the Establishing the Certainty of the Christian Revelation p. 3. An Abstract or Summary of the Christian Scheme as it is delivered in the Books of the New Testament p. 8. The General Subject of the several Books or Volumes of the New Testament p. 9. The Character of Jesus Christ p. 19. A short Account of his Doctrine or Gospel p. 31. The Character of those that believed in him and that assisted him in the Publishing and Propagating his Gospel p. 42. The Character of those that Persecuted Him and his Disciples and opposed the Establishment of his Religion p. 50. The way and manner in which the Books of the New Testament are writ with all the important Circumstances which refer to the form and composition of those Writings p. 51. All the Principal Matters of Fact related in the New Testament shewn to be true by a plain direct proof according to this distinction of them premised viz Common Matters of Fact Miracles and Prophecies Divine Assistance and Revelation p. 59. The Common Historical Facts mentioned in the New Testament proved to be true in the following manner p. 60. The Original of Christianity rightly assigned in the New Testament p. 61. A Survey of the Christian Religion in the time of Constantine p. 70. The Christian Faith the same in the time of Constantine as it was at and immediately after the first Publication of the Gospel p. 74. This Proposition made out from the constant Tradition of such a Belief together with many sensible Infallible Effects of it p. 75. And from many other extrinsick Signs and Monuments remaining at the Meeting of the Council of Nice under Constantine p. 105. Such as were several Customs and Vsages p. 107. Relicks Buildings and other the like Monnments p. 108. Books and Written Records of several kinds viz. p. 109. Copies of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament p. 110. Publick Acts and Records belonging to Societies p. 113. Genuine Writings of Orthodox Christians p. 119. Books Written by Hereticks p. 132. Jewish and Pagan Books p. 133. Forged and Suppositious Writings of uncertain Authors p. 137. The Miracles and Prophecies Recorded in the New Testament shewn to be true Facts according to the Relation there given of them p. 140. An Account by way of Introduction of what is meant by Miracles and Prophecies in this place p. 141. And what kind of Evidence these Facts are capable of p. 143. The Miracles considered by themselves according to the different Periods in which they were done and the different Persons they were done by p. 144. The Prophecies considered apart according to the same distinction of Times and Persons p. 158. The Truth of these Extraordinary Facts call'd Miracles and Prophecies and the Reasonableness of those
THE CERTAINTY OF THE Christian Revelation AND THE NECESSITY OF Believing it Established In Opposition to all the Cavils and Insinuations of such as pretend to allow Natural Religion and reject the Gospel By FRANCIS GASTRELL B. D. and Student of Christ-Church Oxon. Ye believe in God believe also in me John 14. v. 1. LONDON Printed for Thomas Bennet at the Half-Moon in St. Pauls-Church-Yard 1699. To the Right Honourable Sir John Holt Lord Chief Justice of England and one of His Majesties Most Honourable Privy-Council My Lord THE Design of the following Discourse being to prove the Christian Religion in the most unexceptionable manner I could I was resolved to give the Enemies of our Faith as little Advantage against me in my Dedication as in my Proof And 't is for that Reason I have presumed to offer these Papers to your Lordship as being well assured that your Lordship's Name and Character will not only Justifie this Address but Recommend the Cause I am defending For to whom could an Advocate for Christianity better direct his Defence than to a serious Believer and a great Example placed in a high Station whose Profound Knowledge of Law and Government has fully convinced him of the absolute Necessity of Religion in general and the Reasonableness and Wisdom of the Christian Institution and who in a long diligent and impartial Administration of Justice must be very well acquainted with all the Ways and Methods of proving Matters of Fact and nicely understand the Force and Proportion of every Proof I shall not take upon me in this place to set forth all the Extraordinary Qualifications your Lordship is Master of because most of them being imployed in the Service of your Country they have already procured you the just returns of Gratitude and Esteem from the Publick which has received the benefit of them But this I think my self more particularly obliged to mention for the Honour of the Christian Religion that it is to the Influence of that Holy Doctrine your Lordship owes the most advantageous Distinctions in your Character What other Account can be given of that Firmness and Steadiness of Mind which your Lordship has preserved in all the difficult and trying Circumstances that different Turns of State and different Measures of Policy have ingaged you in When new Interests and new Dangers arose and every thing chang'd about you it must be wholly owing to Christian Principles that your Lordship always kept your Ground and your Posture To the same Cause it must be ascribed that your Lordship has never stained your Publick Character with private Immoralities Notions of Honour and Reputation may preserve a Man's Dignity upon the Bench but 't is only a Just and Awful Sence of Religion that can make him Reverence himself at home And in a Corrupt Age where Impiety is grown Fashionable and has Quality and Title to Countenance it t is no small Sign of your Lordships regard for Religion that you judge it for your Honour to have it known that you make the Scriptures the Rule of your own Life and think it the highest Concern of all Humane Laws and Constitutions to support their Authority and Obligation For all these Reasons my Lord it must be very proper for any Person that appears in the Christian Cause to Address his Endeavours to your Lordship especially if it be considered that besides your great Capacity to make a right Judgment of the Proofs alledged for it you have no other Considerations to ingage you in the Interests of Christianity but those of Truth and the Happiness of Mankind It cannot be said of your Lordship that the Credit or Advantages of your Profession are concerned in the Defence of the Gospel you derive none of the Honour and Greatness you possess from the Church and therefore your Lordship's Example is a very good Argument to Unbelievers that those who are peculiarly set apart for the Service of God are not carrying on a separate Interest from the rest of the World but are promoting all they can the Universal Good of Mankind I might among other Inducements to the present Dedication reckon personal Favours But I must own that though I have all the Gratitude imaginable for the Honour of your Lordship's good Opinion and kind Intentions and though I have no greater Obligations to any Man Living than to your Lordship yet nothing of that Nature would have produced such an Address as this if I had not been determined by more publick Considerations to interest your Lordship in the Cause I have undertaken I am My Lord Your Lordship 's most Obliged and most Humble Servant FRANCIS GASTRELL THE PREFACE WHen Christianity first appeared in the World the Light and Influence of it were so strong that it bore down all the Powers of Vice and Falshood and made one of the worst Generations of Men that perhaps ever lived since the Flood a most astonishing Example of the greatest Vertue and Piety that Humane Nature has yet reached but now the Spirit of Wickedness seems to have recovered it self and to threaten Revenge to that Religion which has so often triumphed over it And Deism is employed by the great Enemy of Mankind to do what Atheism Superstition and Idolatry never could effect And indeed it has pleased God to suffer Irreligion to spread so far under this new Title that one would be apt to imagine it had like the Lying Spirit we read of in the Time of Ahab a solemn Permission from the Lord to go forth perswade and prevail For what other Account can be given of the Original and Growth of such a Delusion which has no manner of Foundation either in Reason or Fact to support it 'T is true Deism is look'd upon as a more defensible Post than Atheism and when we observe with what seeming Calmness and Serenity some deny the Christian Religion with what Contempt they treat the Holy Scriptures and with what Boldness they ridicule the History and Doctrine of the Gospel we are tempted to suppose that these Men must certainly have a great deal to say for themselves or otherwise they durst not thus despise what they could not prove to be false nor bear up against if it should be true But whoever has that regard for Truth and Happiness as to consider the Pretences of Christianity and to examine carefully the Proofs it stands upon will be throughly and effectually convinced that those who deny Revelation have as little ground for their Infidelity as those that disclaim all Religion and that the Confidence of the one as well as the other is only the Effect of a desperate not a well-defended Cause For if Matters of Fact are capable of any Proof if we can have any Evidence of Things not seen or heard by us the Christian Religion has as sure an Establishment as any other part of our Knowledge which does not confist in pure abstract Ideas or immediate Sensations This upon the strictest Enquiry I
Doctrine and Miracles all which being told as happening in the life-time of Christ most of the things concerning him must be supposed by those who pretend to have written presently after his Death as 't is plain all the Evangelists do to be generally known and freshly remembred at the time of their Writing which Supposition further appears from the short and disorderly Relation of several Matters of Fact in each Gospel which in such cases where we are not assisted with a fuller Account from the other Gospels or following Books of the New Testament seem very obscure to us now who are not acquainted with the rest of the Circumstances omitted This is what I thought fit to remark concerning the Subject and Form of that Book which we call the New Testament And now that this Book does really contain such things as are before mention'd and is writ in such a way and manner as I have here represented I think may be taken for granted since whatever has been observed under this head must necessarily appear too true to any one that will read over the New Testament and is capable of making any Judgment of a Book II. Supposing then that I have given a just Account and Character of the New Testament and the several Books or Volumes it consists of I shall from hence advance to the main Design proposed which was to prove That all the principal Matters of Fact related in the New Testament are really true that is did really happen out at the Times and Places and in the Manner they are there recorded to have happen'd This I shall endeavour in the second place to make good by a direct Proof according to the distinction of the several Facts to be enquired into before laid down viz. common Historical Facts Prophesies and Miracles Divine Assistance and Revelation I. The first Step then I am to make in the proof of what I have before asserted is to shew that the common Historical Facts mention'd in the New Testament are true The principal of which are these following viz. That there was such a Person as Jesus Christ of such a Character who taught such Doctrines pretended to such mighty Works and was executed in such a manner as is represented in the New Testament That there were likewise certain Persons who were Followers and Adherents of Christ who after his Death profess'd to believe the Miracles we find now recorded of him and to do as great themselves who taught the same Doctrines he did in his life-time and many other things which they pretended to have received from him while he was alive and from the Spirit of God afterwards and who made is their business to propagate the Belief and Practice of what they taught throughout the World whose Characters and Sufferings were such as are before described That the Doctrine or Religion of Christ was accordingly propagated through all Judea and most Parts of the Roman Empire so that great Numbers of People every where own'd and profess'd it And that all this happen'd within that compass of Time included between the Death of Julius Caesar and the Destruction of Jerusalem Now these are such remarkable notorious Facts have been so well proved by multiplicity of Evidence and so little contested by the several Enemies of Christianity That I shall content my self by giving a summary Proof of them without entring upon that great Variety of particular Arguments every general Branch of Evidence contains in it Which Proof I shall cast into this Method First I shall take an Account of the Original of Christianity and shew That this Religion must have came first into the World at the time assign'd for this Event in the New Testament Afterwards I shall consider the state of Christianity at another Period of Time when it will certainly be allowed that all the principal Matters of Fact that stand now recorded in the New Testament were generally believed And then I shall prove That the same Matters of Fact were likewise believed at and immediately after the Times in which they are said to happen and so continually down to that particular Period fixed upon Which last Proposition I shall endeavour to make out From the constant Tradition of such a Belief together with many sensible infallible Effects of it And from many other extrinsick Signs and Monuments remaining at that Time From which constant and universal Belief among Christians of all the principal Facts in the New Testament both common and extraordinary continued down to such a Period from the very first Times in which they severally happen'd I conconclude That at least the common Matters of Fact such as I have just before instanced in must be true First then as to the Original of Christianity it is to be observ'd That there is no Age of the World no Portion of Time since the beginning of Things at any great Distance from us that we have a clearer fuller and more particular Account of than we have of that which past under the Twelve first Cesars or Emperors of Rome both Learning and Empire being then at the highest Pitch and furnishing abundance of Matter for the Pens of that and the succeeding Ages And as the History of that time is the truest and best known of any so no Matter of Fact could happen within that Time which was more remarkable or could more easily and certainly be conveyed down to Posterity than the first Rise and Propagation of the Christian Religion There 's nothing so easy to be known of any Countrey where we have the least Remains of History left us as what Religion was profess'd there and what considerable Alterations were made in it All the Laws Customs and Policy of a Nation are intermixt with their Religion most of the Actions Opinions and Characters of particular Men bear the Marks of it and if we examin Things more narrowly and trace them up to their Original we shall find that Religion puts a greater Distinction betwixt one Nation and another than any difference of Climate can do But not to pursue that Speculation any further 't is very plain from all History what the Religion of the Jews was and what Religion they had at Rome and in other Parts of the Roman Empire under the Reign of Augustus There were no such Persons then to he heard of as bore the Name of Christians no such Religion any where professed as that which is now call'd Christian the Plan and Model of which we find in the Books of the New Testament But in the Time of Nero we find a great many Persons at Rome Tacitus call'd Christians put to Death and several other ways persecuted and tormented for being so by that Emperor which Denomination and whatever they thought themselves obliged to believe or do upon that Account was then generally acknowledged by themselves and others to be derived to them from one Christ who was sometime before crucified at Jerusalem Now the Time when this
as does evidently appear from the Reflections before laid down But if it be further Objected notwithstanding the Evidence before given which plainly proves the contrary that all these things we call Miracles would have happen'd according to the Establish'd Course of Nature at the time and in the manner they did happen whether Christ and his Apostles had used such previous Signs as made them appear to be the Authors of them or not and so all the Facts are to be ascribed to other natural Causes tho' they could not be Effected by Man if this I say should be urged and the supposition allowed then must all the Miracles with respect to the pretended Authors of them be resolved into Prophecies and that will amount to the same thing For the foretelling all those wonderful Events Recorded in the New Testament as done by Christ and his Disciples will plainly appear by what has been already said upon the Subject of Prophecies to be as much above the Power and Skill of Man as the doing of them would be The vast number of Miracles done the multitude of Persons concern'd in them the publick Manner of doing them and the Times and Places in which they were done take off all imaginable suspicion of Confederacy if the Natures of the Facts would have admitted it as 't is certain they would not and therefore I shall not suppose that Objection and nothing more can possibly be urged And as the Miracles and Prophecies which concern the Christian Dispensation did certainly proceed from some Higher Power and Knowledge than that of Men so likewise did the Gospel it self by which I mean that whole Scheme of Doctrine delivered by Christ and his Apostles as we find it contained in the Books of the New Testament 'T is allowed on all Hands that there never was so Just and Noble a Draught of Morality as the Christian so full and consistent a Scheme of Humane Duty laid down in so plain and simple a Manner without any Art or Ostentation and press'd upon Mankind with so much Earnestness and Authority without any visible Interest or Advantage of the Preachers and Writers and without any Worldly Dignity or Title that made them Superiour to the lowest of those they Preach'd and Writ to It must be likewise confessed that the Grounds and Reasons upon which the Practise of this Morality is inforced by the Preachers of it are very New and Surprizing that the things they require Men to believe in order to render their Practice of the Duties injoyned them effectual are very shocking and repugnant to the common Opinions and Prejudices of Mankind but especially those of that time in which they were first Published and that the very Language and Forms of Expression in which the great Articles of the Christian Faith are delivered in the Scriptures are very different from whatever we find used upon any other Occasion Now these Things being granted I cannot possibly conceive how any Man should at once invent such a System of Morality as the Christian so very different from all others known before and so contrary to all the Passions and reputed Interests of Men nor how he should take upon him to injoyn several Duties as necessary whichnone of the Learned in these Matters had judg'd so before as bearing and forgiving Injuries doing Good for Evil and the like should possitively affirm some Things as certain which were doubted of till then as the Resurrection of the Body and a future state of Happiness and Misery c. should command every thing he said to be believed or done under the severest Penalties imaginable and all this barely upon his own Word and Authority without consulting any other Principles or Rules of Action which had before obtained or giving any Reasons to prove his own were better and therefore ought to be submitted to But if any Man can be supposed to have invented all the Christian Morality himself what force of Imagination what turn or agitation of Thoughts could have helpt him to conceive that Set of Notions which make up the whole Christian Faith in the way and manner they are joyned together in the New Testament If they had entered into his Mind what Reason or Motives could he have to believe them And had he believed them himself how could he expect to make others assent to the truth of them How could he imagine that these Opinions would recommend his Morality to the World Why should he think himself obliged to propagate them to insist upon them as necessary to make the danger of disbelieving them as great as neglecting the Duties of his Morality and yet give no other Reason to the World for what he said but his bare Saying it Besides were all these Christian Doctrines relating both to Faith and Practice found out by meer Humane Sagacity 't is extreamly difficult to imagine that neither the Contrivers nor Publishers of them should any where in their Preaching or Writing arrogate any Thing to themselves upon this account but should constantly renounce the Honour of the Discovery and never betray any design of procuring to themselves Esteem or any other Advantage of Life whatsoever for obliging Mankind with so beneficial a Scheme of Things as the Gospel proposes And to carry this Point yet farther If it be so very hard to imagine how any Person whatsoever should frame such Notions and Opinions to themselves and afterwards act upon such Motives and observe such a Conduct in the Publication of them 't is much more inconceivable how ignorant and unlearned Men of very low Education and constantly imployed in mean Affairs should do all this And 't is particularly unaccountable how Jews should give such a Character and Representation of their Messiah and his Office and Business in the World so directly contrary to all the Opinions and Expectations of that whole People and upon that account so very unlikely to be entertained or credited 'T is moreover impossible to conceive how so many Men as were concern'd in the Preaching and Propagating Christianity in several parts of the World at the same time should before any thing was committed to Writing all agree upon the same Set of Doctrines use the same open sincere unartful Method of delivering them and the same bold authoritative way of inforcing them and should all shew the same Courage and Resolution in maintaining the Truth of what they Preach'd and in bearing all manner of Losses and Afflictions for the sake of that Testimony This I say is not to be conceived or accounted for if they were not assisted by continual Revelations and constant supplies of Spiritual Strength and Force which proceeded from some more powerful and knowing Being than Man That they were all firmly persuaded they were thus assisted is the least that can possibly be supposed and how the invention of the whole Christian Scheme and the conduct of those that Publish'd and Preach'd it to the World and Suffered for it can be ascribed
to Resvery and Enthusiasm which must be the Case if that Persuasion was ill grounded is much more unintelligible since as has been proved before these Effects are such as exceed the most improved Force and most accomplish'd Wisdom of Man 'T is certain then from all that has been said that the Miracles Prophecies and Doctrines contained in the New Testament could not be the Work and Contrivance of meer Man In the next place therefore I am to prove that God was the Author of them all That God might if he pleased Reveal such Things to Men by secret Impression upon their Minds as they did not know before and could not have found out of themselves has been proved already and therefore all the Prophecies mentioned in the New Testament all the Doctrines which peculiarly concern Christianity the consciousness that Christ and his Apostles had that they could do such Miracles as are Recorded of them or a firm Persuasion that they would be done upon their use of such external Signs and several of the Miracles themselves such as telling the private Thoughts and Actions of Men speaking strange Languages and the like may all be accounted for this way And whoever believes a God must likewise grant that 't was possible for him to effect all the other Miracles either by an original Designation of such a chain and connexion of Events or by an immediate interposition of his Power That it was not only possible but very likely and probable that God should reveal himself to Mankind in this manner appears from the common Opinion of Men in all Ages that he had revealed something to the World and their common Expectation that he would manifest his Will to them in further Discoveries In all the Accounts of past Things we have left us we find that every where what was Great or Good was always ascribed to some Divine Power Not to mention the Jews whose Opinions in this respect are sufficiently known and allowed if any thing useful or beneficial to Mankind was invented among the Heathens the Gods had the Praise and Honour of the Discovery if by Dreams or waking Suggestions Men were put in mind of procuring themselves some Advantage or avoiding some Evil the Gods were thank'd for it many also were the absurd and the superstitious Opinions of the People concerning the way and manner of the Gods discovering Things to them by the means of external Signs but this they were all most constantly and unanimously satisfied of That their Religion came immediately from Heaven and what we call Prophecies and Miracles were always esteemed proper Marks and Characters of Divine Power especially if they any ways contributed to the happiness and welfare of Mankind This has been the constant Faith of the World at all Times and so far as it concerns Divine Revelation in general and the ways of conveying and confirming it by inward impressions upon the Mind and by Prophecies and Miracles I think is very well grounded For first That there has been such a Thing as Revelation in the World and that there have been true Prophecies uttered and true Miracles wrought to confirm it seems to me very plain For not to insist upon that common but very true Observation that all Pretences of this nature must be founded upon Realities and that therefore it cannot be conceived how Revelations Prophecies or Miracles should ever have been pretended to or believed if there never had been any true ones of each kind omitting I say this Reflection it appears very unaccountable to me upon a supposition that there never was any Revelation how there could be any such Thing as Religion Civil Government or Learning in the World Learning certainly depends upon Government When Men are not united together in Society and live securely under good Laws and Defences no Improvements of Knowledge are to be expected and I do not see how such a Union should be made without a good share of Religious Notions nor how a loose divided Herd of Men such as we must now suppose living in a State of Want and Ignorance who are wholly imployed in providing themselves Necessaries and securing what they have from others and consequently who have but few Ideas and no leisure or curiosity to get more how I say such Men as these should be furnished with any Notions of Religion or how they should be able to form a Regular Government and Constitution without I cannot possibly imagine The present State of the Americans is an instance which confirms me in the Opinion I have laid down for I cannot help believing that if this People should always continue divided from the rest of the World and have no Commerce with other Men nor any Revelation from God they would constantly as long as the World should indure remain in the same stupid ignorant Condition we now find them in or if possible worse without any further improvement in Religion Policy or Learning This seems to me much more probable than that any Polite Learned and well-govern'd Nation which once lived under the Advantages of Wise Laws and a Rational Religion should in some few Ages become as Rude Barbarous and Ignorant as the present Americans and yet this has been almost the Fate of many a Countrey and would have been quite if they had been deprived of the Assistance of better and more inlightened Neighbours as the poor Americans were And in general from many Observations 't is evident That Men are naturally so apt to degenerate and fall into a State of Ignorance Confusion and Wildness even till they become like the Beasts that perish that all remains of natural Religion seem purely owing to Tradition and not to Study and Search and if so that Tradition must have had its Original from Revelation the former set of Men being as unlikely to find out and cultivate Religion of themselves as the present So much is visibly owing to Revelation That had it not been for the Jewish and Christian Pretences there had hardly been now any such Thing as Religion in the World if we may judge what would have been in other Places by what we find actually is in those Countries where the Jewish and Christian Revelation were ever heard of or are now forgot Nay those obscure Notices of Religion we find among the Ancient and Modern Pagans are most of them plainly derived from something contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament And as from these Observations concerning the general Opinion of Mankind about Revelation and the different State and Condition of Humane Affairs where Revelation is supposed and where none is pretended to it appears very probable that there has been such a thing in the World so likewise does it seem very agreeable to the best and purest Notions our most improved Reason is now able to form concerning God and our selves and the Obligations we owe to him that God should reveal himself to us We cannot but think however we
I mean such as is as well attested to have been done as those Recorded in the Scriptures and can no more be accounted for without the Power of God than they can many of which I will allow to have been done upon other occasions without any Application of them to the advantage of the Religion of those that performed them 'T is true indeed many Signs and Wonders may have been wrought for the Confirmation of false Doctrines and may have deceived many whom Simplicity and Bigotry to the Cause they made for disposed to entertain them but we have no Records of any such ill-intended Miracles left which by the Nature Circumstances Effects or Attestation of them can dispose a rational Man to ascribe them to God And whatever Pretences of this kind there may have been 't is a very good Argument that the World can distinguish betwixt the wonderful Works of God and the little Feats of Men and Evil Spirits That there are now no Opinions or Doctrines whatsoever remaining besides what are contained in the Jewish and Christian Revelations nor any particular Explications of or Deductions from them which were at first Believed and Propagated upon the Strength and Authority of strange and wonderful Facts publickly and really done for that end The next Intimation made use of to overthrow the Truth of the Scripture-Revelation concerns the Prophecies which make a great part of it And this as well as the first Objection against Miracles is wholly new the Invention of these latter Days wherein the Improvements of rational Knowledge have forced the Patrons of Irreligion upon new Absurdities Now the Argument as far as 't is capable of being expressed in such a form is this That the Prophecies of the Old Testament upon which the Christian Religion is principally built proceeded from Impressions made upon the Imaginations of the Prophets which Impressions were always agreeable to their several Tempers Complexions and Opinions from whence it must be inferr'd that such Visionary Scenes and Figurative Expressions as these Prophecies are delivered in could be attributed to God only in a popular way as all other extraordinary and unusual Events were and therefore cannot be made use of to prove a Divine Revelation because they proceeded wholly from Natural Causes though unknown to us But whatever of this nature is advanced by Spinoza or whatever Inferences are drawn from it by others who apply it further than he durst openly assert nothing can be concluded from his Account of Prophecy to the Prejudice of the Scripture-Revelation were all his Observations upon this Subject true as 't is manifest to any one that reads the Bible they are not For supposing all he says upon this Head were true viz. That the Prophets were Persons of livelier Imaginations than others as 't is plain of some of them that they were not That the Angry Chearful or Melancholy Prophet always Prophesied things suitable to his particular Temper as there are several Instances to be given to the contrary and that the Jews had a pious way of Attributing every thing strange or unusual to God c. What if all these things were so as Spinoza observes The Knowledge which these Angry Chearful c. Prophets of lively Imaginations had of Future Things must be allowed to come from God in a different manner from that whereby they received all their other Knowledge as Spinoza himself plainly owns and if it be so 't is a very good Argument that the Doctrines Preached by those Prophets were delivered to them by God also in the same way that their Prophecies were which is sufficient to inforce the Obligation of them upon us whatever Natural Causes God was pleased to make use of in the Revelation and that is all we contend for or are concern'd to maintain This is all that either the Ancient or Modern Enemies of the Christian Religion had or can have to object to the Miracles and Prophecies Recorded in the Bible excepting what has been already Answered in the direct proof that was given of the Truth of them The other parts of Scripture are charged with almost all the Faults which any Humane Writing is capable of viz. Contradictions to Reason and Philosophy Contradictions of one part to another Mistakes as to the Authors of the Books Connexion of the Parts Chronology Geography c. Ridiculous and Improbable Stories Absurd and Irrational Laws and Injunctions Trifling and Impertinent Reasons and Arguments Low and Unartful Language The Injustice of which Objections I shall shew very briefly as sying very open and obvious As to Contradictions to Reason and Philosophy pretended to be in the Scriptures no body has been acute enough yet or sufficiently instructed in the true System of things to make good this Charge We have lived to see several New Schemes Hypotheses and Theories of the World Confuted and Exploded but the Plainest Simplest and most Demonstrative Account of Nature that is now extant is found to be the most agreeable to Scripture and answers all the Ancient Blasphemies against Providence which were grounded upon false Hypotheses then in Reputation But after all the Scriptures were not written to teach us Philosophy If this had been the Design of them no doubt but we had had a truer Scheme of Knowledge than any Philosopher has been yet able to give us but then 't is certain we should have had much less Religion if that and our Philosophy had been revealed to us together Had the Language of Scripture been every where adapted to the true Nature of Things 't is hard to conceive how it should ever have come to be believed For supposing these Notions to be true That the Earth moves That the Sun is a Hundred thousand times bigger than the Earth That the Moon and the other Planets are inhabited That Beasts are senseless Machines and meer Clock-work and the like And supposing all the popular Expressions of Scripture concerning such Matters were changed and suited to these Notions would not all the Learned part of Mankind who lived before these new Discoveries in Nature were made have been apt to reject the whole Revelation as absurd and unphilosophical But if some of the Learned had been so sensible of their Ignorance of Nature and the Power of God as to make all the Prejudices of their Reason Submit to their Faith 't is hardly possible to imagine how the People should ever have been induced to believe such Opinions as shock those Common Natural Notions they have of Things which come to them without teaching and Opinions that will always seem to contradict their Senses The greatest Evidence of Miracles would not be sufficient to convince the People of the Truth of such Notions as those before-mention'd for though strange and wonderful Things which they actually and certainly perceive come to pass may satisfie them that as strange Things as these may happen hereafter yet even such Signs and Wonders as these which they see can hardly be supposed
as these should be able by the meer strength of their Natural Parts to Compose such Poems as Virgil's and such Orations as Tully's and should likewise at the same time exceed all others in the Skill of Explaining hard Authors and in the Knowledge of Physick But 't is much harder to conceive that Christ and his Disciples being Persons of such Education and Character as they are represented to us to be could by their own unasisted Capacities Compose the Christian Religion Interpret Ancient Prophecies Foretel Future Events Cure all manner of Sick and Maimed and perform all those other Mighty Works that are Recorded of them We have heard of several Persons who have pretended to Revelations to Prophecies to Miracles and to all of them falsly without any ground for their pretences but there never were any who pretended to such Revelations such Prophecies and such Miracles as we find in the Scriptures of the New Testament so many and so publick so far exceeding all the conceivable Power of Art and Confederacy so liable to discovery and contradiction if they were false so hazardous to the Undertakers and so beneficial to the World in such a continued Series all of them concurrent to the same End and accompanied with such other Circumstances as these are related to be Whoever will be at the pains to consider all this wonderful Scheme of Things together will find it impossible to contrive such another though he has the Advantage of a Model before him which the Author of this had not and supposing he had succeeded in such a Contrivance he would find it impossible to prevail upon himself to pretend to act it over there being no Motives conceivable which bear any manner of Proportion to the plain and certain discouragements he must foresee supposing he knew all his Pretences to be false as in the present Case must be supposed And the same will hold with respect to the first Professors of Christianity 'T would be equally impossible for them to pretend to believe all these Things if they were not really and fully persuaded of the Truth of them Lying and Deceiving are a pleasure to some Men and the more notorious and gross the Deceit is the greater is the Satisfaction But then 't is certain likewise that there are very few of such a temper as to be pleased with Lying and Forgery without any other design or prospect but that there should be a large Succession and continual increase of such Men in divers Countries and Nations is much more difficult to conceive than that there should be an Age of Crookedness and Deformity when in a considerable part of the World the generality of People of all sorts had of a sudden by some strange unknown Influence some parts of their Bodies distorted and the Calamity was continually propagated all the time by an unusual sort of Infection But if this were allowed if all the first Christians were granted to be pure Deceivers 't would be exceedingly more difficult to imagine that the pleasure of Deceiving was so strong as to be able to support such vast Multitudes of Persons under all the other Losses and Sufferings Humane Nature is capable of 'T is possible indeed for Men to suffer all manner of Affliction and even to die Martyrs for the falsest and most absurd Religion that can be devised and frequent Instances may be given of such as have done so but then 't is certain also that they truly and firmly believed what they Suffered for There never was nor ever can be such an extravagant Army of Martyrs and Confessors as did or will renounce all the Comforts and Satisfactions of Life indure Grief and Pain chearfully and be ready upon all occasions to lay down their Lives for the Profession of such Matters of Fact as they are all infallibly convinced are false and which they are sure all their Persecutors have the same Reason to know are false that they have To affirm or imagine that any Men can act upon such disproportionate Motives as such Men must be supposed to act upon is full as absurd and ridiculous as to suppose that the Sea may be restrained with Bars and that the Hills and Mountains are lighter than the Dust of the Balance But if it be granted as we have shewn it must that all those who pretended to say and do such strange Things as are related of them in the New Testament and those who pretended to be persuaded of the Truth of what was said and done did all really and truly believe what they pretended to then is it impossible to conceive that the Things thus believed to be true should notwithstanding be false There are it is confessed no Opinions so extravagant and absurd but a great many Persons may be throughly persuaded of the Truth of them but there never was an Instance of such Stupidity or Enthusiasm yet where such Facts as those related in the New Testament were by great Multitudes believed to have happen'd within their own immediate Cognizance when no such Things did really and truly happen at all And 't is impossible to conceive there ever should be such an Instance as this in the World without a through change of Humane Nature and all the Powers and Faculties of it And we have no more reason to think it was so in the Case before us than we have to believe that there was a Time when the Earth and all the Bodies belonging to it did exist in the same State of outward appearance we now perceive them without Motion Figure or Extension And if all the Principal Matters of Fact both Common and Extraordinary were really true or did really and certainly happen so far as Humane Perceptions are to be relied on it cannot be doubted but God was the Author of the whole Christian Scheme because we have no Example of any such Scheme as this that was ever made by any other Power but the Divine We cannot by the utmost Knowledge we have of all the Powers that be conceive that any Power less than the Divine could produce such an Effect or that any other besides such as were Commission'd by him would have produced it if they could By what we know of the Nature of God the Work appears very worthy of him and very agreeable to all his Attributes and we cannot possibly imagine what more proper and effectual ways God could have taken to manifest himself to us if he was pleased to vouchsafe us that Favour These are the Reasons upon which we conclude that the Christian Religion came from God supposing all the Facts before-mentioned to be true as I think they have been proved to be which Proof being allowed we have as much Reason to believe that the Christian Religion proceeded from God as that the World was Created by him Thus does it plainly appear from the Nature of Things that the Proofs before given of the Christian Religion severally examined were all very well founded
Belief or Disbelief of which our utmost Happiness or Misery seemed to depend and we should prefer a meer Suspicion to all the appearing Marks and Characters of Truth God might as justly punish us for disbelieving a real Error upon such grounds as for rejecting the Truth It is not whether our Opinions are true or false but whether we have judg'd well or ill that we are accountable for neither in Matters of meer Speculation is it of much concern whether we judge well or ill because it is of no great moment whether we judge at all but it is not indifferent to us whether we will be happy or no Happiness is and must be the end of all our Thoughts and the governing Principle of our Lives upon this Account it is as we have seen in a former Discourse that we are necessarily concerned to know whether there be a God or no whether he requires any thing of us if there is and whether he has appointed any Future State of Life for us And these things our Reason has assured us are true and fit to be believed notwithstanding any Suspicions we may have to the contrary because we venture all our Happiness by disbelieving them And upon the same Score it is that the Christian Religion challenges our Assent to it because if all the fore-mentioned Principles be true we venture our Happiness as much in denying it For if this does not contain the Will of God it is impossible to know what is required of us because we can never give so strong and certain a Proof of what our Particular Duty to God is without Divine Revelation as we can that the Christian Revelation is true We are therefore in as high a manner obliged to believe Christianity as Natural Religion because the Proofs of that are very near if not quite as strong as those that are brought for the other and our Happiness is more certainly ventured here than there for this reason that if the First General Principles of Religion should be false he that denies them will suffer nothing for his denial but if those be true and the Christian Religion should be false he that rejects that runs as great a hazard as if it had been true because God will certainly Judge him according to the Evidence and not according to the Reality of things And therefore he that believes in God is obliged to believe in Christ also since 't is certain that the Christian Religion has a great many Extraordinary Marks and Characters of Truth to recommend it and is pressed upon our Belief under the Considerations of Eternal Happiness and Misery and we have nothing to oppose to all the appearing Evidence it is built upon but barely a Suspicion that notwithstanding what appears to us it may possibly be false The two first of these Assertions are manifest and the Truth of the latter will be very visible to any one that will give himself the trouble of considering all the Objections that have ever been made to the Christian Revelation which taken altogether will not so much as make out the meer possibility of the Christian Schemes being false but amount to no more than this that something else like something contained in the History of Christianity has been proved to be false therefore the Christian Religion is an Imposture For all that has ever been urged against the Truth of the Christian Religion is in short but this that Histories have been false Prophecies and Miracles have been counterfeit there have been false Pretences to Revelation Books have been forged strange Things have been said and done by Men and stranger by Evil Spirits But it can no more be inferr'd from hence that the Christian History and Revelation and all the Christian Prophecies and Miracles are false and the Scriptures of the New Testament are forged than it can be concluded that all Men are mad or asleep because there have been several in these Conditions that have thought themselves awake and in their Senses or that all the Arguments and Proofs made use of in Mathematical Knowledge are false because some pretended Demonstrations have been Undemonstrated and Confuted And yet this is the utmost defence that Infidelity can make for it self as has before been more particularly shewn Wherefore they are utterly inexcusable whoever they are who believe there is a God and that he is a Rewarder of all those that diligently seek him and yet reject so plain and evident a Revelation of himself as the Christian Religion is But there are very few I believe of this Character to be found in the Christian World 'T is more reasonable to think that those among us who will not have the Son of God to Reign over them have as little regard for the Father that sent him and that if they will not hear Moses and the Prophets nor be perswaded by one that rose from the Dead neither will they understand the Eternal Power and Godhead by the things that are made And if this be the Case of our Modern Deists and Vnbelievers if their Minds are Blinded and their foolish Hearts Darkned to such a degree that they cannot perceive God in any of the other ways he has took of Revealing himself to them we must leave them to be convinced by the last Revelation that will be made of the Righteous Judgment of God when they shall be forced to Believe and Tremble FINIS BOOKS Printed for Tho. Bennet Folio THuidides Greek and Latin Collated with five entire Mannscript Copies and all the Editions Extant Also Illustrated with Maps large Annotations and Indexes by J. Hudson M. A. and Fellow of Vniversity Coll. Oxon. To which is added an exact Chronology by the Learned Hen. Dodwell never before Published Printed at the Theater Oxon. Octavo and Twelves Sermons and Discourses upon several Occasions by Dr. Stradling Dean of Chichester Together with an Account of the Author by James Harrington Esq Sermons and Discourses upon several Occasions by Dr. Meggot Dean of Chichester The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antonius the Roman Emperor Translated out of Greek into English by Dr. Causabon with Notes To this Edition is added the Life of the Emperor with an Account of Stoick Philosophy as also Remarks on the Meditations All newly written by Monsieur and Madam Dacier The Inspiration of the New Testament Asserted and Explained in Answer to the Six Letters of Inspiration from Holland c. by Mr. L. Moth. THE CERTAINTY and NECESSITY OF Religion in General c. The Contents INtroduction shewing the design of the Discourse and the Method in which it is Prosecuted Page 1. An account of the Nature of Man so far as concerns Religion p. 9. Of the Nature of God p. 16. Of the Relation there is betwixt God and Man p. 18. A direct proof of the Being of God p. 19. Considered as Possible p. 20. Considered as Probable p. 26. Considered as Certain p. 40. The certainty of God's Existence proved