purge him from the viler and more dangerous Leprosy of Sin And after the same manner John the Baptist bears Witness in the following Words I saw the Spirit descending from John i. V. 32. Heav'n like a Dove and it abode upon him and I knew him not but he that sent me to baptize with Water the same said to me upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining the same is he who baptizes with the Holy Ghost and I saw and bare Record that this is the Son of God And the Heav'ns were open'd to our blessed Saviour when there was no Person present as far as I can gather from the Account which we have in Scripture to be an Eye and Ear. Witness of what happen'd to him except John the Baptist But our Saviour foretold his Disciples that they also shou'd see the Heav'ns open'd saying Verily Verily John i. V. 51. I say unto you that hereafter you shall see Heav'n open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man And in the foregoing Sence we must understand that Place of Scripture where 't is said that St. Paul was carry'd up to the third or highest Heaven which before was open'd to him since we are well-assur'd he was one of the sincere Followers and most eminent Apostles of our Blessed Lord. But as for those Words Whether in the Body 2 Cor. xii V. 3 or out of the Body I can't tell God knows 't is not my Business at present to insist upon em CHAP. XLI GIVE me leave to add one Thing here and that is this that Celsus without any Warrant from Scripture or Reason as far as I can see imagines that our Saviour did acquaint his Disciples with the strange Things that had happen'd to him that the Heavens had been open'd and that the Spirit of God had descended upon him at the River Jordan But this mighty Man with all his Wisdom seems not at all to have consider'd the Incongruity of such a Supposition with the General Practice of our Saviour who forbad his Disciples to make mention of the Vision which he saw upon the Mountain 'till he shou'd rise from the Dead And Nothing was more common as appears from the Gospels than for our Blessed Saviour to do what lay in his Power to avoid all Talk that was in favour of himself Therefore he says If I bear John v. V. 31. Witness of my self my Witness is not true And because he industriously avoided every Thing that savour'd of Self-Applause and had rather that his Works shou'd praise him and demonstrate to the World that he was the true Messiah the Jews said to him If thou be the Christ do thou tell us plainly And because the Jew whom Celsus personates speaking of the Appearance of the Holy Spirit to our Saviour in the Resemblance of a Dove says There 's no Body to attest the Truth of what happen'd to you besides your self and another Person of the same pityful Class I think it will be seasonable and highly necessary to shew that he talks in such a manner as is very unsuitable to the Character he bears And this is evident from the different Regard which the Jews pay to Christ and to John the Baptist both with Respect to their Persons and their Sufferings which to me is a sufficient Argument that after all the Pretensions which he makes to Knowledge he cou'dn't personate a Jew discoursing consistently with our Blessed Saviour CHAP. XLII THEN Celsus I don 't well know how but I suppose purposely overlooks one of the most cogent Arguments that can be brought in Favour of our Blessed Lord viz. His being foretold by the Jewish Prophets by Moses and those who succeded him and ev'n by some who liv'd long before him I presume 't was for this politick Reason because he knew very well that he cou'dn't return any tolerable Answer to a Proposition to which both the Jews and the greatest Hereticks did assent who all agree that many of the Prophecies of the Jewish Prophets were accomplish'd in the Person of him whom we believe to be the True Messiah And perhaps he had never read the Prophecies but had heard a general and loose Report concerning em For if he had known that there have been several Prophets who have foretold our Saviour's Appearance in the World certainly he wou'd never have put these Words into the Mouth of a Jew which I think wou'd much better have become a Samaritan or a Sadducee viz. My Prophet said formerly in Jerusalem that the Son of God wou'd come to reward the Righteous and to punish the Wicked For surely there have been more than one Prophet that have prophecy'd of our Blessed Saviour since ev'n the Sadduces and the Samaritans who own no more than the Pentateuch can't but see if they are not wilfully blind that Moses himself has prophesy'd concerning him and 't is impossible the Prophecy shou'd be publish'd at Jerusalem since the Name of no such Place was known for many Ages after Moses By the Way I wish with all my Heart that all our implacable Adversaries unless it shou'd please God to convert 'em were as ignorant as Celsus not only of the true and full Sence of the Things of which the Scripture treats but also of the very Letter of it that so their Discourses not having that Colour of Reason which sometimes they have the comon People might not so much as for a short Space of Time yield ev'n the weakest Assent to any Thing they are able to produce against us Besides no Jew but one who is brought over to the Religion which we embrace will acknowledge that the Prophets foretold that the Son of God was to come into the World What the Jews say is this that the Messiah is to come and in their Disputations with us the first Question almost which they ask is Who is this Son of God of whom you talk so much intimating to us that they don't believe that any such Person was ever intended by the Prophets For my Part I firmly believe that the Person of whom there are so many Predictions in the Writings of the Jewish Prophets is the Son of God but I can't for my Life conceive how a Jew who denies this plain Assertion can consistently with his Character make use of the following Words My Prophet said formerly in Jerusalem that the Son of God was to come into the World Then Celsus adds the following Words To reward the righteous and to punish the wicked And as if this was all that was fore-told and there were no Predictions concerning the Place of our Saviour's Nativity or the unjust and barbarous Treatment which he met with at the Hands of his own Country-men the Jews or his Resurrection from the dead or the Miracles he perform'd he says Why shou'd this Prophecy be appropriated to you when the same Thing may be said of many Persons that liv'd before and after you with more
by what I shall seasonably produce in its Defence provided I am able to confute his Errors I resolv'd to obey your most just Command and to return an Answer to the Book you were pleas'd to send me the very Title of which viz. A True Relation will hardly pass for such with them who are no great Proficients ev'n in the Philosophy of the Heathens St. Paul knowing there were many Things in the Greek Philosophy that were not in themselves contemptible but had by Accident a malignant Influence on the Minds of Common People representing Error under the plausible Appearance of solid and most important Truth has these very Words Beware Colos 2. v. 8. lest any Man spoil you through Philosophy and vain Deceit after the Tradition of Men after the Rudiments of the World and not after Christ But this is more than I think any judicious Person will allow the Book which I am just going to answer For the Apostle calls the fore-mentioned Things by the Name of Vain Deceit perhaps in Contra-Distinction to a certain Kind of Deceit which is not vain but innocent and useful which the Prophet Jeremiah considering made bold to apply the following Words to the Great God himself O Lord thou hast deceived me and Jer. 20. v. 7. I was deceiv'd thou art stronger than I and hast prevail'd But in my Opinion what Celsus publish'd do's want ev'n that plausible Appearance to render it worthy to be call'd deceitful which is to be found in the Writings of those eminently-learned Persons who were the Heads of the various Sects of Philosophers among the Pagans And as in Geometry tisn't sufficient that what is offor'd for a Demonstration be in it self false and dangerous but it must have some Colour of Truth or it can never deceive and engage ev'n the most faint Endeavours of one who wou'd improve in that entertaining and useful Science So those Discourses which deserve the Character of Vain Deceit must have some Affinity with those rational Arguments that are frequently made Vse of by the Heads of the several Sects of Philosophers When I had proceeded in my Answer to Celsus as far as the Place where he personates the Jew discoursing with our Blessed Saviour I thought 't wou'd be proper to put this Preface before my Book that so any One into whose Hands it may accidentally fall may plainly see that I didn't principally intend it for those Christians who are fully satisfy'd in their Judgment but either for them who are entire Strangers to the Excellency of the Christian Religion or for them who are weak in the Faith as the Apostle calls em Him that is weak in the Faith Rom. 14. v. 1. receive I must add one Thing here and that is this that I have a diff'rent Design in answering Celsus in the gross from what I had in Answering the Beginning of his Book For at first I design'd no more than to mention some of the Principal Heads and content my self with a meer Compendium But after mature Deliberation I thought t wou'd be much more proper to gather my Discourse as it were into a perfect System or Body Then I was satisfy'd from the reason of the Thing that I shou'd be at a needless Expence both of Time and Pains and contented my self with what I had writ against the Beginning of the Book which Celsus publish'd But in the remaining Part of my Apology which if I may modestly say it of my own Performance is much more elaborate I determin'd to bend all my Forces against him and to return a full Answer to every Thing that seem'd to be material and ev'n to some of his most trifling Objections I must therefore desire my Reader to discover a more than ord'nary Candor in passing his Judgment on what I have done especially on that Part of my Apology which immediately follows this Epistle And if the other Parts shou'd have no better Effect upon him I hope he will there also be extreamly favourable in the Sentence which he may pass upon me And if you Virtuous Ambrosius desire a more compleat Answer to Celsus than that which I shall give him at present I must refer you to them who have a far greater Share of Judgment than that to which I lay my most humble Claim and are better qualify'd for the due and honourable Management of so difficult a Province However that Person seems to me to be in a safer and much more desirable Condition who having met with Celsus's Performance and being furnish'd by his own Experience with a warm and effectual Apology for that excellent Religion which he professes and endeavours to practice to the utmost of his Power is so well-guarded by the Spirit of God who dwells in the Heart of every sincere Follower of the Blessed JESUS that he can look with a holy Contempt on the false Representations and most pâ—â—usible Arguments of the most Celebrated Hereticks that did ever appear in the World Origen against Celsus CHAP. I. THE first Charge which Celsus brings against the Christians is Their holding Cabals contrary to the Law of the Land in which they liv'd and to which as he thinks they ought to be entirely subject He distinguishes Meetings into Publick and Private the Publick Meetings which were establish'd by Law and the Private and Separate Meetings which were kept up by Schismaticks And his Design herein is to cast Reproach on the Love Feasts of the Christians which were appointed to prevent a common and threatning Danger and were far more binding than the sacred Tye of mutual Oaths can be suppos'd to be I say he reproaches 'em as if they manifestly and grosly interfer'd with that due and indispensible Loyalty which as they were Subjects they ow'd and ought as he imagines to pay the National Establishment Since therefore he makes his Boast that he has the Law on his Side and wou'd intimate that the separate Meetings of the Christians did countenance and promote Schism and Sedition I answer that as a Stranger who has his Lot providentially cast among the Scythians who are govern'd by most wicked Laws and has not a fair Opportunity to make a safe Escape wou'd be esteem'd by that ignorant and unciviliz'd People as an Enemy to their Constitution and a Favourer of the Sectaries if he didn't comply with the Canons of the Church but might still urge weighty and unanswerable Arguments to justify his Separation So the Christians might lawfully dissent from the Establish'd Religion which introduc'd Image-Worship and a whole Rifraff of the Mock-Deities of the Heathens and abounded with more horrid Impieties than were ever practic'd by the most barbarous Nations of the World For as the Inhabitants of a City may lawfully defend themselves against a Prince who has made an unjust Descent upon their Native Country So the Christians might warrantably violate the Laws of Satan that great Usurper to free themselves and Others from his worse than Scythian Tyranny CHAP.
II. THEN Celsus goes on and asserts That Judaism with which the Christian Religion has a very close Connection has all along been a barbarous Sect tho' he prudently forbears to reproach the Christian Religion as if it were of a mean and unpolish'd Original since he had commended the Barbarians as being the Inventers of several excellent and very important Maxims and he adds That those Things which were indeed invented by the Barbarians have been improv'd and more accomodated to Moral Virtue by the Greeks Now I think I may justly take this Advantage in Defence of the Christian Religion from the very Concession which Celsus makes to observe that one who leaves the Opinions and the Learning of the Greeks and embraces the Doctrine of our Blessed Saviour don't only assent to those Truths and useful Rules which it recommends to his Consideration and Choice but the more he 's vers'd in the fore-mention'd Sort of Learning the more he 's confirm'd in his Judgment and borrows from the Christians where-ever he perceives that the Greeks themselves are defective To this I might add that the Christian Religion may justly boast of a peculiar Demonstration such a One as is truly Divine and vastly exceeds all the Logick of the Greeks The Apostle calls it A Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power A Demonstration of the Spirit in as much as the Spirit of God do's in a secret but powerful Way convince the Reader of the Truth of the Scripture-Prophecies efpeally of those which have an evident and near Relation to the expected Saviour of the World And of Power in as much as Miracles have been wrought to attest the Truth of the Christian Religion some remarkable Footsteps of which do remain at this very Day among those who do what lies in their Power under the Guidance and Influence of the Spirit of God to live up to its holy Precepts CHAP. III. THEN Celsus having spoke of the Private Meetings of the Christians in which they exercis'd themselves and instructed one another in their particular Way and having confess'd that one very politick Reason might be assign'd for what they did viz. The Preventing of that severe Penalty to which their Practice render'd 'em extreamly liable compares the Danger that threatn'd them with the Difficulties and Calamities to which Socrates and Pythagoras and other Heathen Philosophers expos'd themselves by maintaining the Reputation and promoting the Interest of that comparatively-vain Philosophy of which they were the admir'd and truly-learned Professors But to this I answer That the Athenians soon repented of what they had done to Socrates nor did they long retain their Spite against Pythagoras For the Pythagoreans had Schools for a considerable Time in that Part of Italy which went by the Name of Greece the Great But the whole Roman Senate the Emperors during the several Persecutions the Soldiers the common People and ev'n they who were nearly related to the Christians wag'd open War as it were against the Religion which our Blessed Saviour introduc'd and wou'd easily and quite have stop'd its happy Progress if a Divine and Miraculous Power had not seasonably interpos'd and made it overcome the whole habitable World who exerted all their Malice and us'd their utmost Endeavours towards its sudden and entire Extirpation CHAP. IV. NOW let us see how Celsus reproaches the practick Part of our Religion as containing nothing but what we have in common with the Heathens nothing that is New or Truly-great To this I answer That they who bring down the just Judgments of God upon their Heads by their notorious Crimes wou'd never suffer by the Hand of Divine and Inflexible Justice if all Mankind had not some tolerable Notions of Moral Good and Evil. Therefore we needn't wonder that God who is the common Father of his Creatures shou'd plant in the Minds of Men those natural Principles which the Prophets and especially our Blessed Saviour do's so frequently impress upon the Minds of Men that So every one might be left without Excuse at the Day of Judgment having had the Sence and Substance of the Law engrav'd upon his Heart in very legible Characters This was obscurely represented to us by the Scripture which speaks of God's Writing the Two Tables of the Law as it were with his Finger and his giving 'em to Moses and acquaints us that they were afterwards broke by the Wickedness of them who made the Golden Calf as if it had been said that they were broke by the Sins of Men and that when the Law was writ the second Time on Tables of Stone he deliver'd 'em to Moses to signifie that the Law which was defac'd by the Original Apostacy shou'd be re impress'd on the Minds of Men by the Preaching of the Gospel CHAP. V. THEN Celsus speaking of Idolatry do's himself advance an Argument that tends to justifie and commend our Practice when he says That the Christians can't think those to be Gods which are made by the Hands of Men and very often of such as are wicked and unjust and wallow in all manner of Debauchery Therefore endeavouring to shew in the Sequel of his Discourse that our Notion of Image-Worship was not a Discovery that was owing to the Scriptures but that we have it in common with the Heathens he quotes a Passage in Heraclitus to this Effect That they who pay Divine Worship to inanimate Creatures do just as if they shou'd address and invocate the Walls To this I answer That since I have already granted that some common Notions of Moral Good and Evil are originally implanted in the Minds of Men we needn't wonder that Heraclitus and Others whether Greeks or Barbarians have publickly acknowledg'd to the World that they held the very same Notion which we maintain And Celsus quotes a Passage in Herodotus to shew that the same Notion which Heraclitus held did obtain among the Persians And I cou'd quote a Passage in Zeno Citiensis who in his Book call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says That the Building of stately Temples is altogether needless and indeed ridiculous since no Piece of humane Architecture how pompous soever it may be is truly sacred and valuaable in the Nature of the Thing it self 'T is plain therefore that this practical Notion is engrav'd in Divine and Legible Characters on the Minds of Men. CHAP. VI. THEN Celsus says That all the Power which the Christians had was owing to the Names of certain Daemons and their Invocation of 'em tho' I can't well conceive what shou'd induce or ev'n tempt him to talk at so extravagant a Rate I suppose he obscurely hints at the Account we have of some who cast out Devils But this is a most notorious Calumny for the Power which the Christians had was not in the least owing to Enchantments but to their Pronouncing the Name of JESVS and making Mention of some remarkable Occurrences of his Life For by these and no unlawful Means have Daemons been
as being deriv'd from no other than a Divine Original And since 't is a pretended Jew who calls in Question the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon our Saviour in the Resemblance of a Dove one might well demand who is it that says thus in Isaiah's Prophecy Now the Lord God Isa xlviii V. 16. has sent me and his Holy Spirit which Words are ambiguous and may either signify that the Father and the Holy Spirit sent our Blessed Saviour or that the Son and Spirit were both sent by the Father the latter of which two Interpretations seems to me I confess to be true and genuine and because our Saviour was sent first and then the Holy Spirit that the Prophecy might be fulfil'd the Accomplishment of which was reserv'd for Future Ages for that Reason among others I judge it is that Things are related as they are by the Evangelists CHAP. XL. AND since Celsus's Jew do's in some sort acknowledge that our Saviour was baptiz'd by John the Baptist I wou'd produce the Testimony of a Famous Author who liv'd quickly after I mean Josephus who in the 18th Book of his Jewish Antiquities says That John the Baptist was invested with Authority to baptize and promis'd Remission of Sin to them that came to his Baptism The same Author tho' he don't believe that our Saviour was the true Messiah and when he enquires into the Cause of the Taking of Jerusalem and the Destruction of the Temple don't ascribe this grievous and surprizing Calamity as he ought to have done to the Crucifixion of our Blessed Saviour yet is fore'd to make some slender Approach to Truth and to acknowledge that 't was a remarkable Judgment which God sent upon the Jewish Nation for killing James the just who was Brother to Jesus who is call'd by the Name of Christ and was without doubt a very virtuous and pious Man This James was the same Person St. Paul that sincere Follower and eminent Apostle of our Blessed Lord tells us that he went to visit because he was the Brother of Christ which Title was proper for him not so much by Reason of their being in a peculiar Sence of the same Flesh and Blood as on the Account of the admirable and manifest Agreement both of their Doctrine and their Morals If then the fore-mention'd Author says That the Destruction of Jerusalem was owing to the Barbarous Death of James the just how much more Reason is there to believe 't was really and principally owing to the Crucifixion of our Blessed Saviour whose Divinity is so frequently attested by so many large and united Bodies of Men that consist of such Persons as have left their vicious Practices devote themselves to the Service of their great Creator and liberal Benefactor and in all their Actions have a most serious Regard to his Honour and Interest in the World And tho' the pretended Jew shou'd make no Apology for the Prophet Ezekiel and Isaiah since we meet with Passages in their Writings and in the rest of the Prophets which are no less strange I am sure than those which are related in the Gospels concerning our Blessed Saviour viz. That the Heavens were open'd and that he heard a Voice from thence I shall endeavour to shew that all who believe an over-ruling Providence acknowledge there have been praeternatural Visions and such wherein future Events relating to the Affairs of humane Life have been more clearly or more obscurely represented to the warm Imagination I say I shall endeavour to shew that the Assertors of Providence acknowledge that such Visions have been seen by Persons in their Sleep and that 't is no difficult Matter to conceive upon this Hypothesis that the same Impressions may be made on the Imagination when a Person is awake Whether they be design'd by God for the private Benefit of some particular Persons or to promote the spiritual Advantage of Mankind in general and as in our Sleep tho' there be nothing to strike upon our Sense of Sight or Hearing yet we strongly imagine that we see such Objects and hear such articulate Sounds when 't is our rational Faculty that 's all this while at Work and undergoes these various and strange Sensations So there 's no Absurdity in supposing that the same Thing might happen to the Prophets when we read that the Heav'ns were open'd to 'em that they saw strange Sights and heard the Voice of the great God himself For my Part I don't suppose that the visible Heavens were open'd and in a literal Sence were cleav'd asunder to give the Prophet Ezekiel an Occasion for writing as he do's And I am fully satisfy'd that they who read the Gospels with any Measure of Judgment won't understand our Saviour's Vision in the gross Sense of the Words of Scripture tho' I am not a little sensible that the ignorant Sort of People who at every Turn and to support an idle Whimsy of their own will allow the Frame of Universal Nature to be shak'd from off its Hinges and imagine that so vast and compact a Body as that of the Heavens was rent in two will be offended with any Discourse in Divinity that do's in the least interfere with the literal and most obvious Sence of Scripture But one who dives to the Bottom of Things will find that according to the Account we have in Holy Writ there is a certain Divine Knowledge which none but a few happy Persons have as Solomon says Thou shalt find the Knowledge of the Lord Prov. ii V 5. and that the several Branches of it are such as follow viz. A Sight adapted to the Contemplation of Objects that are beyond the Sphere of unassisted Nature such as Cherubims and Seraphims a Hearing suited to the Perception of Sounds vastly different from those which are form'd in the Air a Tast that can relish the living Bread that came down from Heaven a Smell that can distinguish that Heavenly Perfume of which the Apostle speaks when he says We are unto God a sweet Savour of Christ and a Touch of which 2 Cor. ii V. 15. St. John speaks when he says Our Hands have handl'd of the Word of i. John i V. I. Life The Blessed Prophets therefore being Partakers of these Divine Sensations and seeing hearing tasting and smelling in a Way that is perfectly supernatural we must understand these Things in the same Sence in which we must take that Place in Ezekiel where he 's said to have eat the Book that was deliver'd him In this Sence it was that Isaac smelt the sweet Savour of the Divine Garments of his Son and pronounc'd this Blessing upon him See the Smell of my Son is as the Smell of a Field which the Lord has bless'd And after the same Manner our Saviour touch'd the Leper which I think must be understood of a Spiritual rather than a Corporeal Touch that he might not only cleanse him as some think from his bodily Distemper but chiefly that he might
upon the Jewish Nation And their Mouths wou'd be for ever stop'd shou'd we upbraid 'em but God forbid we shou'd ev'n seem to insult 'em and shou'd we demand of 'em as we very well may whether the Dispensations of Divine Providence toward 'em don't bear the Awful Marks of his Severe Displeasure and whether Almighty God didn't take a most unaccountable Method if his Design were to show the World that the Jews were still his peculiar People tho' too far from being zealous of Good Works when he suffer'd such grievous Calamities to befall 'em when their Metropolis was tak'n and they were at once depriv'd of their Magnificent Temple and all their Pompous Worship and whatever they cou'd offer to allay the Native Darkness of this MYSTERIOVS SCENE of PROVIDENCE it might be largely insisted on and improv'd to very valuable Purposes by the Christians who admire the Wise and Deep Design of GOD to make Use of the Horrid Impiety of those very Persons who were Once his PECVLIAR PEOPLE as a Blessed Occasion of calling them who were Strangers to the Covenants and had no Right to the Glorious Promises relating to the Messiah's Kingdom This was fore-told by the Prophets viz. That GOD wou'd take an Advantage by the Sins of the Jews not merely to call any single Nation but to select some Persons from all Parts of the Earth that having Chosen the Foolish Things of the World he might give an ignorant People very clear Discoveries of important Truths taking his Kingdom from the Jews to bestow it on the Despised Gentiles And I shall quote one Prophecy concerning this surprizing Turn of Providence which is in Deuteronomy where the Prophetical Historian introduces GOD speaking after the following Manner They have mov'd Deut. 32. V. 21. me to Jealousy with that which is not GOD they have prvok'd me to Anger with their Vanities And I will move them to Jealousy with these who are not a People I will provoke 'em to Anger with a foolish Nation CHAP. XXXIX THEN the Jew concludes with the following Words We see therefore says he that he was a Man like one of us as we had Reason to believe both from Reason and Experience But I can't for my Life conceive how our Saviour if he was no more than a Man cou'd ever be so weak as to imagine that his Doctrine wou'd obtain and much less meet with the desir'd Success that he shou'd honourably surmount all Difficulties and Dangers and prove in the Event superiour to the United Force of the People Senate and Emperors of Rome and all Foreign Potentates If we don't allow that he had a DIVINE as well as a HVMANE NATVRE how can we account for his making so many and so remarkable Converts on a sudden when the Disadvantages were so great which he labour'd under Had they all been Men of Reason that he had to deal with I confess the Wonder wou'd sensibly abate But the greatest Part by far were void of Reason and little better than Brutes in a Humane Shape and which is worse were Slaves to their unruly Passions and on that Account 't was far more difficult to reclaim 'em from their exorbitant Vices So that we must resolve this Matter into his being the Wisdom and the Power of GOD let the Unbelieving Jews and the Learned Greeks gnash their Teeth as much as they please or produce what they can to the contrary And I might say that Instances of his Divine Power are not wholly wanting ev'n at this Distance of Time We shall therefore not only continue by the Assistance of the Holy Spirit to believe in God the Father according to the Doctrine of his ETERNAL SON but shall also be excited by a Holy Ambition to endeavour to convert the ignorant Heathenss to the Christian Faith while they by all Means will have it that we truly are the Persons whose Ignorance deserves highly to be pity'd tho' we know very well that the Case they commiserate is in Truth their own and they give it out that we are guilty of Imposture whereas they do but condemn their own frequent and most apparent Practice I am sure if we lead Persons aside 't is a very Happy Seducement since the Eternal Welfare of their Better Part is Honestly aim'd at and Effectually consulted by us who are honour'd sometimes with being Instruments in the Hand of ALMIGHTY GOD to reclaim em By the GRACE OF GOD with which our sincere and earnest tho' weak Endeavours do concur they are prevail'd with to leave their former Intemperance or at least make some slow and imperfect Advances toward the contrary Virtue they leave their unjust Dealing or at least approach to the Confines of Justice they renounce their Superstition and Folly or at least are conducted into the High-Way if I may so say that leads to the MOST SUBLIME and MOST USEFUL WISDOM They leave their Cowardly and Sordid Temper and are inspir'd with the NOBLEST KIND OF COURAGE which appears on all just Occasions but especially when they are call'd to lay down their Lives and seal the Truth of their most Holy Religion with their warmest Blood To conclude without Doubt our SAVIOUR is already come who was expresly foretold ev'n by the Jewish Prophets My Antagonist therefore did not a little discover his Ignorance in making his Jew say That A CERTAIN PROPHET foretold the Coming of the MESSIAH But because Celsus who brings in his Jew speaking as he imagines agreably to the Principles of Judaism thinks fit that he shou'd break off here tho' indeed he adds a sew Things that are not worthy to be mention'd I shall here put a Period to my SECOND BOOK And if I may but have seasonable and suitable Assistance from above I shall endeavour in my THIRD BOOK to answer some remaining Arguments if they may be so call'd against the CHRISTIAN RELIGION which Celsus thought fit to use and endeavours with all his Might to maintain FINIS