Followers of Aristotle and Epicurus think it is but has certain stated Rules as they that are skill'd in it do know and can easily demonstrate I say if I can make this appear I think I may then safely affirm that the Name Sabaoth Adonai and other Names for which the Jews have so profound a Veneration were not design'd to denominate any created Beings much less those of an inferiour Order but do contain some sacred Mystery which has an immediate Reference to the great and adorable Creator of the Universe These Names therefore have an Efficacy when they are duly pronounc'd by any Person whatsoever There are other Names which being pronounc'd in the Egyptian Language are prevalent with certain Daemons whose Power is limited to such or such a Sphere and others which being pronounc'd in the Persian Language are prevalent with other Daemons And I might instance in several Nations of the World that use other Names applying 'em in very different Sences and so we shall find that the terrestrial Daemons which have particular Places assign'd 'em have Names giv'n 'em according to the Language which the People speak Any Man of Sence therefore one wou'd think that bestows but the least Thought on this important Subject will scruple to make use of Names foreign to the Things which they represent least he shou'd unawares be guilty of the same Fault with them who use such improper and harsh Expressions concerning God himself that they don 't at all stick to give him the false and vile Appellation of inanimate Matter or run into the Error of those unhappy Persons who greatly derogate from the infinite Honour which is due to the supream and original Cause and disparage true Virtue and Piety by mis-applying the Sacred Name of Summum Bonum to a little glittering but perishing Dust or a happy Constitution of Body or that which is falsely but too commonly call'd an Honourable Descent Noble Princely or Royal Blood And surely the Danger of mis-applying the Name of the Aweful Majesty of Heav'n or the Chief Good is at least equal to that of changing the stated Names which are us'd in Magick and have a Mystical Sence and giving the Names of Superiour Powers to infernal Spirits and on the contrary those of infernal Spirits to Superiour Powers I need not say that at the very mention of Jupiter is understood the Son of Saturn and Rhea the Husband of Juno the Brother of Neptune the Father of Minerva and Diana and the Person that committed Incest with his Daughter nor need I say that at the mention of Apollo is understood the Son of Jupiter and Latona the Brother of Diana and Brother to Mercury by the Fathers side or need I speak of many other Things that were related by the Ancient Heroes whom Celsus has with so much Honour enumerated or contain'd in the old and admir'd Theology of the learned Greeks Pray how comes it to pass that Jupiter is call'd as he is and that the Son of Saturn and Rhea is not the Name that 's given him The same Question may properly enough be ask'd concerning the rest of the Riff-raff of the Heathen Gods This Consideration I think has a manifest Tendency to favour and justify the Practice of those Persons who have some mystical but solid Reason for using the Name Sabaoth or Adonai and some other Names when they speak of GOD since they who understand any Thing of the true Nature of Names will easily find that some sacred Mystery is veil'd under the Names which are giv'n to the Angels one of whom is call'd Michael another Gabriel and another Raphael each having a Name affix'd to him by the Father of Spirits agreeable to the Nature and Extent of that honourable Work in which his great Creator has thought fit to employ him And the Virtue which accompanied the Pronunciation of our Saviour's Name and by which cruel and obstinate Daemons were frequently and publickly dispossess'd both of the Minds and Bodies of Men must I think be resolv'd at least in some Measure into the natural Efficacy of Names I might add one Thing here and that is this that they who are skill'd in Enchantments tell us that if they make use of such and such Words in the Original Language the End propos'd will certainly be obtain'd but if the very same Words be chang'd and others be made use of which convey the very same Idea they will immediately and strangely lose their extraordinary Virtue So that the Power which they have is not owing to the Things of which they are the external Signs but to certain unknown Properties that belong to the Names themselves CHAP. XXI THIS may serve as an Apology for the Christians who willingly and ev'n triumphantly embrace Death it self in the most horrid Shapes rather than call God by the Name of Jupiter whatever Intention or Mental Reservation they might have or give him those Names which are us'd in the Languages and adapted to the Religions of other Countries For either they call him by the general Name of God or they bestow such Epithets as these upon him The Creator of the World the Former of Heav'n and Earth or might express themselves by the following Periphrasis He who has sent some wise and virtuous Men into the World whose Names being honourably blended with his own have a strange and ev'n miraculous Power Here I might enter into a long Discourse in Opposition to them who eagerly contend for the promiscuous Use of the most sacred Names For if Plato be so much and not undeservedly commended who brings in a Person upon Philebus's calling Pleasure a Goddess making use of the following Expression For my part Protarchus I have a profound Veneration ev'n for the Names of the Gods which like themselves I esteem sacred and inviolable how much more ought Christians to be commended who make Conscience of applying those Names to God which are unhappily but too commonly borrow'd from the empty and ridiculous Fables of the Poets But so much of this Matter for the present CHAP. XXII LET us now see how Celsus loads the Jews with Reproaches which don't well suit with his horrid Presumption in professing that he was perfectly acquainted with the Opinions of the Christians They give themselves says he to the Worship of Angels and to Magick following therein the Precepts of their celebrated Moses Let him therefore since he 's so well acquainted with the Jewish and Christian Doctrine shew where there 's any Precept in all the Pentateuch that can be brought in Favour of Angel-Worship and acquaint us how 't is possible that Magick shou'd be in Vogue with a Nation that observes the Law of Moses who has left the following Words upon Record Regard not them Lev. xix V. 31 that have familiar Spirits neither seek after Wizards to be defil'd by em CHAP. XXIII THEN Celsus undertakes to shew That the Jews by reason of their monstrous Ignorance tamely suffer'd themselves
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
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
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
critâ—cal and full Examination of this Prophecy I shall reserve to a more proper Place tho' I thought 't was necessary for me to dwell a little upon it on the Account of what Celsus's Jew thought fit to object against us CHAP. XLV ONE remarkable Thing that has led Celsus and other Infidels into gross Mistakes in this important Affair is their not knowing or at least their not considering that the Prophets speak of a twofold Coming of the Messiah his first Coming at which he was to appear cloath'd with all the innocent Infirmities of humane Nature and strâ—â—ling with the pressing Inconveniencies of a mean and despis'd Condition that so living among Men he might the more feelingly instruct 'em in those Moral and Divine Truths which were important and highly necessary and inculcate upon 'em that aweful Account which they must shortly give when they shall be summon'd to appear before the Bar of God and his second Coming at which he will appear free from the least Allay ev'n of natural Imperfection and shine with the united and unfully'd Rays of his Original and in some Sence naked Divinity Twou'd be tedious to relate all the Prophecies that have an immediate and manifest Reference to our Blessed Saviour I shall therefore at present confine my self to that which we meet with in the Forty fifth Psalm which is entitul'd A Song of Loves and where our Saviour is expresly call'd by the Name of GOD. The Words are these Grace is pour'd into thy Lips therefore Psal xlv V. 2 3. God has blest thee for ever Gird thy Sword upon thy Thigh O most Mighty with thy Glory and thy Majesty and in thy Majesty ride prosperously because of Truth and Meekness and Righteousness and thy right Hand shall teach thee verrible Things Thine Arrows are sharp in the Heart of the King's Enemies whereby the People fall under thee Thy throne O God is for ever and ever The Scepter of thy Kingdom is a right Scepter Thou lovest Righteousness and hatest Wickedness therefore God thy God has anointed thee with the Oil of Gladness above thy Fellows Where take Notice that the Prophetical Psalmist making his Address to God Whose Throne is for ever and ever and the Scepter of whose Kingdom is a right Scepter says that this Person was anointed by God who was his God and that he was anointed above his Fellows with the Oil of Gladness because he lov'd Righteousness and hated Wickedness I remember that once I horribly baffl'd a Jewish Doctor with this very Prophecy who being at a grievous Loss to know what Answer he shou'd give me had seasonable Recourse to a pityful Evasion which was suitable enough to the false Principles he endeavour'd to maintain viz. That those Words Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever the Scepter of thy Kingdom is a right Scepter were spoke of the Great God himself and those Words Thou lovest Righteousness and hatest Wickedness therefore God ev'n thy God has anointed thee with the Oil of Gladness above thy Fellows must be understood of the Messiah CHAP. XLVI CELSVS's Jew continues his Discourse with our Blessed Saviour and says If as you your self acknowledge every Person who comes into the World by the general Concourse of Providence is a Son of God What special Prerogative is there which you can justly claim To which I answer that they who are no longer acted by a Spirit of Bondage as St. Paul expresses it but choose Virtue for its intrinsick Worth may in a less noble Sence be call'd the Sons of God But there 's a vast Disproportion between those who are the Sons of God as they are imperfectly endu'd with Moral and Christian Virtues and our Blessed Saviour who is the inexhaustible Fountain from which their borrow'd Good do's entirely and will for ever flow The Words of St. Paul which I just now refer'd to are these Ye have not receiv'd the Spirit of Bondage again Rom. viii V. 15. to fear but ye have receiv'd the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Jew continues his Discourse in the following Words Abundance of Persons will find Fault with your pretended Saviour for applying those Prophecies to himself which they think may at least as justly be apply'd to them To this I answer that I am apt to think that Celsus didn't know of any Persons who rival'd our Saviour in his Miracles and justly claim'd the Title of Sons of God or The Power of the Supream Majesty But because the sincere and strong Affection which I have for Truth won't suffer me to pass by any Thing that ev'n seems to oppose the Christian Cause I readily acknowledge that before our Saviour's Incarnation there was a certain Person whose Name was Theudas who appear'd among the Jews pretending to be a mighty Man after whose Decease his deluded Followers were soon dispers'd Some Time after in the Days of the Taxing during which as far as I can gather from Scripture our Blessed Saviour was born one Judas of Galilee drew after him a considerable Number of weak and credulous Jews who affecting Novelties cry'd him up as a Man endu'd with more than ordinary Wisdom and was no sooner brought to condign Punishment but his Doctrine came immediately into Disrepute or at best was only secretly maintain'd by some few Persons of mean Rank and Figure And after our Saviour appear'd upon the Stage of the World one Dositheus a Samaritan endeavour'd to perswade his Country-men that he was the very Person to whom the Prophets had so plain a Reference when they foretold the Coming of the Messiah and some few Persons I confess there were who seem'd heartily to embrace his Doctrine Here I think it will not be improper to mention that wise Expression of Gamaliel which we meet with in the Acts of the Apostles to shew beyond all Contradiction that the fore-mention'd Persons were not intended in the Promise which God gave of sending the Messiah and that neither of 'em deserv'd the honourable Title of The Son or Power of God but that of all the Men who ever appear'd and made a Figure in the World our Blessed Saviour was the only Person who cou'd justly claim it If this Counsel said he or this Work be Acts. v. V. 38. of Men 't will come to nought but if it be of God ye can't overthrow it lest haply ye be found ev'n to fight against God There was also one Simon a Magician of Samaria who endeavour'd by his Magick to draw People after him and for some Time he wasn't without his Followers but I believe there are now scarce thirty Simonians in the whole habitable World Nay perhaps I have exceeded the Number since there are only a few near Palaestine and that Doctrine which they embrac'd did never obtain in any other Parts tho' its Authour did fondly imagine that it wou'd soon and easily reach and happily engage the most distant and barbarous Nations in it's Favour For they
might suspect that out of wicked Policy I passed by his Objections being conscious to my self that I was utterly incapable of returning a satisfactory or ev'n tolerable Answer Then says he Pray isn't it the most absurd Thing in the World to suppose that he who when he was alive and us'd all the little Arts he had cou'd gain no Followers in comparison or at least none of any Sense or Rank shou'd after his Death by the Ministry of his Apostles so strangely influence a considerable Part of Mankind as they are represented by some to do But according to the Rules of strict Reasoning which he pretends to be so great a Master of he shou'd have argu'd thus if after his Death he furnish'd his Ambassadors with all necessary Abilities to work upon the Minds of Men and did actually and so wonderfully move all the secret Springs of the Humane Soul then there 's no Question to be made but that when he was on Earth in Person he made deep Impressions on the Minds ev'n of the greatest Barbarians partly by his powerful Preaching and partly by his uncontested Miracles CHAP. XXVIII BY and By he asks Pray what Reason have you to believe he was the Son of God And personating one of us returns this Answer in his usual way of Banter Because we know says he that he laid down his Life to destroy the Works of the Devil But the Faith of Christians in an Affair of this Nature and Importance is built I can assure him on no single Argument how perswasive soever it may be but the concurring and clear Evidence of several Motives a few of which I have already mention'd And I shall have Occasion perhaps to make Mention of some other Arguments on this Head not only in my Answer to Celsus's Book entituled A TRUE RELATION but also in some other Treatises if GOD shall be pleas'd to afford me that Measure of the Assistance of his Spirit that will be necessary to accomplish my Design Then as if we were so weak as to believe that our Saviour's bare Suffering on the Cross was sufficient to prove He was the Son of God He says What if he did really suffer can't we instance in many others that suffer'd as well and as much as he But Celsus in this Matter acts the Part of one of the most unfair Enemies which the Christian Religion has who when they read the History of the Crucifixion of our Saviour immediately imagine that we FONDLY CANONIZE all Persons who were ever so unfortunate as to hang upon a Cross This any one may see is the common Practice of the Adversary I have to do with who being utterly unable to resist the clear Evidence which the Miracles of our Blessed Saviour do carry in 'em of the Truth of our Holy Religion has the Face to misrepresent 'em to the World as done by meer Legerdemain or rather by the Assistance of the Devil But this Pityful and Vile Cavil has been so frequently answer'd according to my slender Ability that really it quite tires my Patience to repeat Things so often as I see I must Then Celsus makes us say That our Saviour was the SON OF GOD because he cur'd the lame and blind and rais'd a few from the dead as we Poor Creatures that we are are ready to imagine But that in Spite of all that he can say this Consideration of it self is a solid Argument to prove he was the SON OF GOD is plain from that Famous Prophecy in Isaiah Then the Eyes of the Blind shall be open'd and the Ears of the deaf shall Isa 35 V. â— be unstopp'd Then shall the lame Man leap as an Hart. And 't is highly improbable to say no more that the Evangelists shou'd forge the Account they give us of some rais'd from the dead because had they been giv'n to inventing Fictions meerly to serve a Turn they wou'd have giv'n us more frequent Instances of that Nature than we meet with and of the Resurrection of those who had been longer dead than those of whom we read in the Gospels But their giving so few Instances of Persons restor'd to Life seems to me to be as plain a Proof as can be that the Evangelists whatever Celsus may say were Men of HONEST PRINCIPLES and the farthest of all Men in the World except our Blessed Saviour from being Persons of INTRIEGVE They instance only in the Daughter of the Ruler of the Synagogue whose Case seems foreign to the Purpose for our Saviour says of her She is not dead but sleeps in the only Son of a Widow whom our Saviour recover'd out of tender Compassion to his disconsolate Mother ordering the Coffin to be stop'd And Lastly in Lazarus who had continu'd some Days in the Grave as the Evangelist acquaints us and I wou'd offer the following Consideration to the most judicious of our Adversaries and at this Time more immediately to the Jew whom Celsus personates viz. That as in Elisha's Time there were many Lepers but none of 'em were cur'd that we read of except Naaman the Syrian and many Widows in the Days of the Prophet Elijah but he was only sent to the Widow of Sarepta in the Country of Sidon for she alone was thought worthy of the Miracle he wrought so many Persons dy'd when our Saviour was on Earth but he only rais'd those from the dead who in some Sence had QVALIFY'D THEMSELVES for so SPECIAL A FAVOVR And this I am apt to think he did to typifie something future and give Mankind convincing Proofs of the Truth and Excellency of that Doctrine which he introduc'd into the World And I may safely say that according to the Promise he had made his Disciples did far stranger Things than those which he himself exhibited to the outward Senses of them who were the happy Spectators of his Miracles For the Eyes of the spiritually blind were frequently open'd by 'em the Ears of those who once were deaf to all the awakening Precepts of Virtue and Religion were unstopp'd that so they might receive the Word of God and the Promise of Eternal Life and many who were spiritually lame were cur'd by the Gospel insomuch that they don't only leap but ev'n leap as a Stag which Animal as Naturalists observe is an Enemy to Serpents and happily expels their Poison They deriv'd such a healing Virtue from their Heav'nly Physician that they cou'd immediately tread on those Serpents and Scorpions by which they were once most sadly crippl'd without incurring the least seeming Danger Nay they were effectually steel'd if I may so say against the strong and too often fatal Impressions which Vice and Immorality are apt to make upon the Minds of Men and in a great Measure fortify'd against the malicious and vigorous Attempts of United Daemons CHAP. XXIX WHEN our Saviour admonish'd his Disciples to avoid those designing Wretches who confidently affirm'd they were the TRVE MESSIAH and endeavour'd by their cursed Enchantments to draw
Woman is most notoriously false For St. Mathew has the following Words In the End of the Sabbath as it began to dawn towards the first Mat. 28. V. 1. Day of the Week came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary to see the Sepulchre And behold there was a great Earth-quake for the Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and roll'd back the Stone from the Door and sat upon it A little after he has these Words Behold Jesus met them i. e. the two Marys saying All hail And ibid. 9. they came and held him by the Feet and worshipped him And I have already answer'd what Celsus objects in the following Words When he was crucify'd says he there were Witnesses enough but when he rose from the dead at most he appear'd only to a small Company of Scoundrels I have sufficiently shown that our Saviour cou'dn't be seen by all and I shall only add at present that all Persons were capable at Times of seeing him with respect to his Humane Nature but to discern the Bright Rays or ev'n the least Glimmerings of his DEITY was what exceeded the Capacity of the Generality of Men. I speak now of his Humane and Divine Nature in Contra-Distinction to each other and not as having a mutual Reference and close Connexion But pray observe how weakly Celsus talks having said That our Saviour appear'd only to one Fanatical Woman or perhaps a few Others of the same wretched Cabal he adds the following Words When he was crucify'd says he there were Witnesses enough but when he rose from the dead he appear'd but to a few whereas had he had any Brains he must have tak'n the quite contrary Course But I wou'd fain know what he means by the latter Words According to his weak Judgment our Saviour must have tak'n such Methods as were plainly impracticable and grosly absurd viz. He must be crucify'd forsooth in the Sight but of a single Person and have appear'd to all Men PROMISCUOUSLY when he was ris'n from the dead for those Words He shou'd have tak'n the quite contrary Course will bear no other tolerable Sence if I am capable of making a Judgment upon any Thing Our Saviour has acquainted us with the Person that sent him in the following Words No Man knows the Father save the Son and in these Words No Man has seen God at any Time but the only Begotten Son who is in the Bosom of the Father he has declar'd him He it is who reveals the Things of God to his true Disciples and we endeavour to form our Scheme of Divinity upon his most excellent Model who sometimes tells us that GOD is Light and in him is no Darkness 1 Joâ—n 1. V. 5 at all and at other Times That God is a Spirit and they that worship John 4. V. 24. him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth And any one that will may learn for what End God sent his Son into the World if he will but consult the Prophecies relating to our Saviour and the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles and especially the Epistles of St. Paul He came to instruct us in the true and most direct Way to Peace here and Compleat and Eternal Happiness hereafter and to take a most BLESSED ADVANTAGE if I may so say of the HORRID IMPIETY and continual PROVOCATIONS of Impenitent and daring Sinners Celsus being ignorant of this has the following Words He came it seems to instruct good Men and to make free and Monstrously-large Offers of his Grace ev'n to the vilest Rebels Then says he If he had so Singular a Fancy to ABSCOND what Need was there I wonder of a Voice from Heav'n saying that he was the SON of GOD. And if he hadn't a Mind to ABSCOND then why did he suffer and dye He imagines I perceive that the Accounts which we meet with in the Gospels are inconsistent with themselves not being able with all his pretended Sagacity to comprehend or frame any just Idea of the Design of our Blessed Saviour which was neither to lye hid altogether and so be entirely useless and a meer Cypher in his Own Creation nor to have his Bright Side if I may so say I mean his DIVINE NATURE KNOWN to many of those very Persons who had the Honour to see him with their Bodily Eyes The Voice that came to him from Heav'n saying This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleas'd isn't said to be heard by the Multitude as Celsus's Jew imagines and the other Voice which is said to come from the Cloud was only heard by those who went up with our Saviour to the Mountain For such is the Nature of a Voice from Heav'n that it can only be heard by those for whom God is pleas'd for wise Reasons to design it I don't speak here of the meer Vibration of the Particles of the Air or any Philosophical Account that may be giv'n of a Voice but of a Spiritual Senfation whereby one who has Spiritual Senses exercis'd do's hear God speak when one who is deaf to all the awakening Precepts of Virtue and Piety is entirely ignorant of what is said I mean as to any valuable and lasting Purpose that it serves This I think is a sufficient Answer to those Words of Celsus What Need was there of a Voice from Heaven saying that he was the SON OF GOD And what I have already offer'd concerning the Sufferings of our Saviour is a satisfactory Answer I judge to the following Words If he hadn't a Mind to conceal his Power and obscure his Glory then sure he was born under a very unhappy Planet or else he had never suffer'd and dy'd Then Celsus's Jew is pleas'd to draw a Consequence which is very unnatural and unjust For it do's by no Means follow that because our Saviour by his Sufferings has taught us to bid Defiance to Death it self therefore when he rose from the Dead he shou'd have order'd the whole World to make a General Rendezvouz and have publickly acquainted 'em with the Reason why he left the Realms of Light and Glory and thought it worth his While to come down into this miserable and siâ—ful World For this he had already done when he said Come unto me all ye that labour Mat. 11. V. 28. and are heavy-laden and I will give you Rest This he had also done in the long Sermon which he preach'd upon the Mount concerning the Beatitudes and his Discourses on several other Subjects which are annex'd to it and in his useful Parables and frequent Disputes with the Scribes and Pharisees And St. John acquaints us in his Gospel with what a Majesty our Saviour spoke which is not so much to be understood of the Artificial Colours of Humane Rhetorick or a graceful Elocution and happy Gesture as of those Divine Important and Plain but Commanding Truths that were the Subject-Matter of his frequent Discourses And we learn from the other Gospels that our Saviour spoke with