return him a proper and sufficient Answer I have resolv'd to examine every Material Article tho' I cannot observe so strict a Method as I wou'd but am forc'd so far to comply ev'n with the Folly of my Adversary as to trace him thro' the Labyrinth of his confus'd Discourse Let us see then what he has to offer against the Descent of the Holy Spirit on our Blessed Saviour in the Resemblance of a Dove CHAP. XXXVII THE Jew whom Celsus personates directs his Discourse to our Saviour in the following Words You pretend says he that a Bird appear'd to you at your Baptism but can you produce any credible Person that was present to see it Or heard the Voice from Heav'n by which you say you were declar'd to be the Son of God besides your self and if we may take your Word another Person of the same pityful Class But before I return him a direct and full Answer I must beg Leave to make one Remark that 't is very difficult and in some Cases impossible to give evident and undeniable Proofs of the Certainty of undoubted Matters of Fact Suppose any One shou'd say there never was such a Scene of Action as the Trojan War grounding his bold Affirmation on the seeming Impossibility of some of the material Circumstances which attended it and not conceiving how there shou'd be In rerum natura such a Person as Achilles is represented to us the Son of Peleus and Thetis the Goddess of the Sea or Sarpedon the Son of Jupiter or Ascalaphus and Jalmenus the Sons of Mars or Aeneas the Son of Venus how cou'd we convince him of his gross Mistake when so many Fables being interwoven with the Body of the History are so readily and so universally believ'd Or suppose any Person shou'd call into Question the Story of Oedipus and Jocasta and Eteocles and Polynices their Sons by reason of what is confidently related concerning the Sphinx a certain Monster that was half a Virgin how cou'd we demonstrate that the whole Account is true I might say the same concerning the second Theban War which was continu'd by the Posterity of them who had lost their Lives in the first tho' that be more free from the Appearance of Fiction than the former Story and concerning the Return of the Heraclidae to Peloponnesus and I might instance in many other Things of the like Nature which are recorded in the Histories of the Greeks But he who reads 'em without a Tincture of Prejudice and with a sincere Desire that he may not be deceiv'd will judge how far he is requir'd to yield his ready and firm Assent what Passages he must take in an Allegorical Sence and what he must reject as being writ in Favour of some particular Persons and will endeavour to find out the true and full Meaning of those who were the Original Authors of these Stories which the Greeks who are a learned Nation do so generally believe I wou'd lay down this Praeliminary with respect to the entire and amazing History of our Saviour's Life as 't is impartially related in the Gospels and I don't mention this as if I wou'd have the more intelligent and learned Sort of People to take Things on trust but to shew that the Reader has great Need of Candor joyn'd with a severe Application and must penetrate if I may so say into the very Spirit of the Authors if he wou'd take their Writings in their true Sence and utmost Latitude I answer then in the first Place that if the Person who rejects the Account that 's giv'n of the Spirit 's appearing to our Saviour in the Resemblance of a Dove was a Follower of Epicurus Democritus or Aristotle there wou'd be some plausible Ground for his Incredulity because then I confess he wou'd observe his Character CHAP. XXXVIII BUT Celsus with all his Wisdom seems to me to have quite forgot that all this while he was speaking in the Person of a Jew whom we must suppose to yield a firm Assent to many Passages in the Prophets that wou'd sooner be liable to shock our Reason than any Thing related in the History of which I am now discoursing For one might ask this pretended Jew who wo'n't believe that the Holy Spirit appear'd to our Blessed Saviour in the Resemblance of a Dove Pray Sir how will you be ever capable of giving evident and undeniable Proof that God spoke to Adam Eve Cain Noah Abraham Isaac or Jacob as your Scriptures do plainly assert he did And to set History against History I wou'd address this Jew after the following Manner Dear Sir you can't be ignorant that Ezekiel who is one of your own celebrated Prophets has these very Words The Heavens were open'd and I saw Visions of Ezek. i. V. 1. God and he adds This was the Appearance Ezek. i. V. 28 of the Likeness of the Glory of the Lord and he said to me Now if those Things that are related of our Saviour must be acknowledg'd to be false because as you think they have not sufficient extrinsick Evidence to recommend 'em to the World since you affirm They were seen and heard by no Person but himself and another of the same pityful Class Have we not more Reason to suspect that Ezekiel impos'd upon us when he said that the Heav'ns were open'd to his View And tho' the Prophet Isaiah says I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up above it stood Isa vi V. 1. the Seraphims each one had six Wings Pray Sir what rational Assurance have you that he really saw this entertaining and amazing Sight You believe that these Things are true and come from the Spirit of God who neither can be deceiv'd nor will deceive us and are perswaded not only that the Prophet saw 'em but also that he was Divinely-inspir'd when he committed these Things to Writing But I ask which of these three is it most fit we shou'd believe Ezekiel Isaiah or our Blessed Saviour The two former did nothing that deserves to be compar'd or ev'n mention'd with what the latter has done whose Power was not only most gloriously display'd when he appear'd and dwelt on Earth but shines with a happy and remarkable Lustre at this Distance of Time in the Conversion and exemplary Reformation of those who believe in God thro' him And that all those wonderful Effects which we frequently see are owing to his infinite Power I infer from hence that as he said and as constant Experience may convince us the sincere Labourers are few in a Mat. ix V. 37. comparative Sence and yet the Harvest of Souls is great that is vast Numbers ibid. V 38 are every where almost continually brought into God's Threshing-Floor if I may so say I mean the visible Church This I say to a Jew not as if I had the least Design to derogate from the Honour which I am sensible is due to Ezekiel and Isaiah for that wou'd be very inconsistent with
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
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
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
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
cursed Hands in the bloody Death of our Blessed Lord. Celsus therefore might every Jot as well have granted that our Saviour knew what Accidents wou'd befall him and yet have talk'd with the highest Contempt of his Divine Praescience as grant that he was capable of working such Miracles as he wrought and at the same Time affirm that he was a Notorious and Vile Impostor And he might with all his Learning have shown that the Augurs and Auspices foretold Future Events by the Flying of Birds and by the Intrails of Beasts But he was loth it seems to make this Concession whereas he do's in some sort acknowledge that our Saviour wrought many Miracles and yet asserts he did 'em by the Help of Magick Phlegon was much more ingenuous who in the 13th and 14th Book of his Chronicon acknowledges that our Saviour foretold Future Events and says they exactly answer'd his Prediction tho' I observe that he seems sometimes to confound our Blessed Lord with the Apostle Peter And as it were in Spite of Prejudice he draws this natural Conclusion That since the Founder of our Holy Religion and many of his Followers were able to foretell many future and remarkable Events at so great a Distance of Time which exactly answer'd their Predictions we must suppose that they were acted by a more than Ordinary Power Then Celsus says That our Saviour's Disciples not being able to conceal those Things which were expos'd to Publick View thought that the best Game they had to play was to give out that their Master foresaw a long Time before all the Accidents that did afterwards befall him But either he didn't know or at least seems to be ignorant that our Blessed Saviour us'd the following Words to his Disciples All ye shall be offended because of me this Night which Mat. 26. V. 31. we know happen'd accordingly and was no false Prophet when he said to Peter Before the Cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice Ibid. V. 34. Now if they hadn't been Men of undoubted Integrity but had design'd to impose on our Credulity by false Narrations they wou'd certainly have discover'd so much of Worldly Policy as to have said nothing at all of Peter's Denying his Blessed Lord whose Cause he had so resolutely promis'd to maintain and never to have mention'd the Offence which ev'n some of the Disciples took at the mean Condition in which our Saviour condescended and thought fit to appear and if these Things which seem to represent the Followers of our Blessed Lord to a great Disadvantage were not related in the Gospels how cou'd Celsus or any other Person have tak'n Occasion from thence to cast a Reproach on our most Holy Religion But they were not unwilling that latest Posterity shou'd be acquainted with their Failings since they were well assur'd that this wou'dn't in the least hinder the happy Progress of the Everlasting Gospel or give the Reader any just Occasion to be guilty of the like Irregular Practices What Celsus adds is ridiculous to the last Degree The Disciples got this publish'd says he to secure the Reputation of their Master and 't is as if to prove that a Man is just I shou'd instance in several Acts of Injustice that he has done or to prove that he 's free from Passion I shou'd shew that he has been guilty of Murder or to prove that he 's immortal shou'd expose his dead Body to View and after all put People off with this frivolous Pretence that he foresaw whatsoever shou'd befall him But here 't is apparent that he grosly misapplies the Instances which he 's pleas'd to produce For there 's no Absurdity at all in supposing that our Blessed Saviour shou'd propose himself to us as a Bright Example of Moral Virtue and yet teach us to sacrifice our Lives and all that 's dear to us for the Sake of the Religion we embrace Consider also that the Death which he suffer'd is of General and Universal Advantage as I think I have sufficiently prov'd already And tho' Celsus do's fondly imagine that it makes very much for the Cause which he espouses that we don't deny that our Saviour suffer'd in the most notorious and shameful Manner yet this is for Want of knowing the SACRED MYSTERIES that are contain'd in the Passion of our BLESSED LORD as St. Paul observes and the several Predictions which are left upon Record by the Inspired Prophets concerning this difficult and important Affair Besides he seems not to know that there was a Celebrated Heretick who deny'd that the Sufferings of our Saviour were real This made him say You don't pretend that his bitter Passion was only in Appearance but without mincing the Matter you hold that he suffer'd in a strict and proper Sence For our Parts we think 't is a Notorious Heresy to maintain that our Saviour's Sufferings were only in Appearance since we must then affirm as the necessary Consequence of the fore-mention'd false and dangerous Position that his Resurrection as glorious as we suppose it to be was a meer Deceptio Visus For he that really dyes if he rises again must be really ris'n and on the contrary he that dy'd but in Appearance can only seemingly rise But because Infidels endeavour to expose the Doctrine of the Resurrection of our Saviour to the last Degree of Prophane Contempt I shall take Occasion to mention here what Plato relates of Er the Son of Armenius Plato's Common Wealth l. 10. who at the End of twelve Days rose out of his Tomb and told several remarkable Transactions that to his certain Knowledge had pass'd in the World of Spirits And I might mention the Story which Heraclitus tells of a Woman who continu'd a considerable Time without any Sign of Life which I think do's evidently and not a little serve my present Purpose since 't is with Infidels I 'm now engag'd And many pregnant Instances might easily be produc'd from History of Persons who have appear'd the Day after their Decease Is it then any Wonder at all that one who in the whole Course of his Life did so many Actions which nothing short of a Divine Power cou'd possibly enable him to perform who wrought Miracles to attest the Truth of his Doctrine which were so surprizing and so open to the View of his most implacable Adversaries that Celsus himself has not the Face to deny that they were true in Fact tho' indeed he ascribes 'em to the Power of Infernal Daemons I say is it any Wonder at all that so Divine a Person as our Saviour was shou'd have something that was remarkable in his Death and that his Holy Soul having freely and ev'n chearfully left his Body for a Time shou'd return to it as soon as ever it had perform'd the entire Duty of a Disunited Spirit Our Saviour has the following Words No Man takes it from me speaking of his Life but I lay it down of John 10. V. 18. my self I have Power
the same kind with what is perform'd by a Power that is Truly-Supernatural and Divine And if such wonderful Things ev'n in the Judgment of Celsus are done by the Assistance of Infernal Spirits may we not rationally suppose that Things that are much more unaccountable may be easily done by the immediate Assistance of the Ever-Blessed God Shall every Thing that is evil be found among Men and every Thing that is truly-good be banish'd from the World I think there 's much more Reason to lay down this as a General and most Excellent Maxim that where-ever there is any real Evil under the Disguise of some real Good the opposite Good must at least be equal to it with Respect to its Degree And thus we may strongly argue from Miracles wrought by the Help of Magick to such as are perform'd by the special Assistance of the Great GOD himself We must either deny that any Good or Evil is to be found in the World or on the Supposition of the latter must allow the former and perhaps if we grant the former we must affirm the latter or at least on the Supposition of any real Evil must allow an equal Proportion of that real Good to which the real Evil is directly opposite He that will assert the one without granting the other seems to me to talk at the same mad Rate with one who confessing that there are such Things as Sophisms or false Shews of Reason shou'd deny that there 's any such Thing as true Logick in the World which is widely different from em So that I say if we grant that there is such a Thing as Magick which has so great an Influence upon wicked Daemons as to engage 'em to lend their ready and joint Assistance to those who profess that Art it naturally follows that Almighty God is oblig'd in some Sense to exert his Power in Performing such Miracles as carry with 'em a convincing Evidence of the Truth they were design'd to attest The next Thing I take it that we have to do under this important Head is to examine into the Life and Conversation of those who pretend they have a Power to produce super-natural Effects and to enquire whether the wonderful Operations they perform do any way tend to the Temporal and Eternal Advantage of the Souls of Men and we must carefully distinguish between Magicians who hold a Correspondence with the Devil and those happy Persons who are fill'd with the Holy Spirit of God whose Divine Impressions they experience both on their Souls and Bodies who consult the true and best Interest of Mankind and endeavour to make Men Proselites to the most Excellent Religion that was ever reveal'd by a God Now if an Enquiry of this Kind be necessary to distinguish true Miracles from those which are false to prevent us from making Miracles where there are really none and engage our Assent to the Truth of 'em when the Finger of God may very plainly be discover'd then we shall find that the Miracles which were wrought by Moses and our Blessed Saviour were owing to an Extraordinary Appearance of the Power of God since they were Solemn Seals by which the Truth of the Jewish and Christian Religion was confirm'd each of which we know was embrac'd by a considerable Body of very Wife and Virtuous Men. Besides how cou'd Moses's Law which forbids the Jews to worship Images and teaches 'em to raise their Minds above all created Beings and fix 'em on the Eternal God the Great Creator and Sovereign Disposer of the Universe I say how cou'd such a Law derive its Original from the Horrid Practice of Magicians And since 't is a Jew that Celsus personates I wou'd humbly desire him to resolve the following Question How comes it to pass that you who firmly believe that the Miracles which Moses wrought were perform'd by the Extraordinary Assistance of the Spirit of God and endeavour to defend 'em against those who say that the Wife Men of Egypt did strange Things by the Help of Magick can't be prevail'd with to acknowledge that our Blessed Saviour perform'd his Miracles by an Immediate Assistance from Above but are so strangely fond of Imitating the Egyptians whom you know to be your sworn and irreconcileable Enemies For if we may be allow'd to judge of Miracles by the Event and argue in Favour of YOUR JVSTLY-CELEBRATED MOSES from his being rais'd up by Almighty God to be the HONOURABLE FOUNDER of the Jewish Polity I am sure we may say far more in Commendation of our BLESSED SAVIOVR since the imperfect Moses isn't worthy to be nam'd with the HOLY and SPOTLESS JESUS For as for Moses 't is obvious to remark that he found ready to his Hand such Persons among the Posterity of Abraham as liy'd in a Religious Observance of Circumcision that initiating Rite and many approved Customs which were handed down by Tradition from Father to Son and he knew very well that they were in a great Measure dispos'd to receive his useful Instructions and practise his wholesome Precepts when 't was he under God who brought 'em out of Egypt and the Laws he gave 'em had the Stamp of a Divine Authority as You your self acknowledge But Our Saviour making in some Sence a much greater Attempt introduc'd a Religion that was in a Manner new and caus'd it to gain Ground continually in Spite of all the rooted Prejudices of a different Education And if 't was highly necessary that Moses shou'd convince not only the Sanhedrim but also the Common People among the Jews of the Truth of his Doctrine by confirming it with those Miracles which the Scriptures gives us an Account of there was at least equal Reason why our Blessed Saviour shou'd take the same Method to prove the Divinity of his Mission since the People did naturally eagerly and very justly expect Signs and Wonders in such extraordinary Cases Nay 't was evidently necessary he shou'd work far greater Miracles than Moses to wean the bigotted Jews from their Humane Traditions and prove by Dint of Argument and plain Appeals to Sense and common Observation he was a Person who was TRULY-DIVINE and in a far more noble Sence than any of their Ancient and JUSTLY CELEBRATED Prophets And how was it possible that he shou'd be otherwise when the Manifest Design of the Glorious Prophecies under the Old-Testament-Dispensation was obscurely to reveal him under the Character of the TRUE MESSIAH And what Celsus's Jew objects against the Christians may every Whit as well be urg'd by him to the Prejudice of the Authority of Moses Viz. That Our Blessed Saviour was guilty of the most Notorious and Vile Imposture The Jew breaks out into the following Exclamation O the Force of Truth He himself acquaints us as your own Writings inform us that many shou'd come who wou'd perform the same Miracles that he wrought himself and on that very score O horrid Impudence he has the Face to charge 'em with
deserves far less Esteem than one who happily accomplishes some accurate Composition or more compleat Translation I say this if it be a solid Argument against bad Translations wo'nt hold against such as are good and so apparently and so highly useful that shou'd any one exclaim against 'em he would but betray his Folly and provoke the Laughter or silent Scorn of those who are not as remarkable Triflers as himself For if no Translator must appear in the World who is not so industrious and so correct that he almost seems to be free from those Faults to which the Frailty of humane Nature renders Mankind unavoidably subject if the Taste of Readers is so nice as to disrellish the the most exact Translations that are extant by Reason of many great Defects which insensibly creep into the best humane Compositions then the same Argument which is us'd against Translations will equally overthrow the most learned and useful Originals that ever were and ev'n the sacred Oracles of the supream and all-wise Being For tho' I think 't is ridiculously objected against us by the Atheists and Deists that some Faults have been found in the best Versions of the Holy Scriptures and that the sacred Original Text it self thro' the long Tract of Time in which the Books of the Old and New Testament were committed to Writing thro' the Ignorance and Carelesness and perhaps Design of some Transcribers is liable to some few Exceptions yet if we must reject and despise all Translations because some are bad and the best imperfect I fear we must immediately throw up our Bibles themselves and grope after Truth by no better Help than that of the dim Light of Nature For all the Versions of the Holy Scriptures are allow'd to be the Works of Men who were not immediately inspir'd by the Spirit of GOD tho' we have Reason to believe he was pleas'd to afford 'em more than ord'nary Direction and Influence in an Affair which had so great a Tendency to the Welfare of the Christian Church and ev'n to the happy and timely Conviction and Conversion of the most hardn'd Infidels into whose Hands the Scriptures may fall from Time to Time and in which they made their serious earnest frequent and more solemn Addresses to Almighty God for all that gracious Assistance which he saw was necessary or convenient for em All the Versions and the Septuagint it Self for correcting which and comparing it with the Alexandrian Manuscript the World is beholden to the Incomparably Learned Indefatigable and Judicious Dr. Grabe all the Versions I say were the Works of uninspir'd Persons who were liable to many gross Defects Nay the Greek and Hebrew Text of Scripture those sacred and refreshing Fountains of living Water have been shamefully polluted by humane Additions and cursed Innovations tho' God in his wise and holy Providence has preserv'd 'em in all the Ages of the Church so far uncorrupted in Spite of all the Wit Malice and unweary'd Industry of Men and Devils that they carry the lively and honourable Stamp of a divine Authority and are still what they always were a perfect Rule both of Faith and Manners If then we pay a more than ord'nary Deference to the sacred Originals of the Holy Scriptures and if the small Errors in a comparative Sence which are found in all the Versions that were ever extant ought by no means to shock our religious and firm Belief of the Divine Inspiration of those sacred and most valuable Records then I think 't is sufficiently evident that Translations in general are of excellent and continual Use and the Badness of some and the Imperfections which unavoidably attend 'em all is no solid Argument against those which are good or even such as are bad if the Original was an Author who deserv'd to be translated and so far as the Translator discovers his Affection and does real Service to the Cause of Piety Sence or Learning Another Objection that may be brought against Translations is this that the injudicious and illiterate shou'd not dare to intrude into those venerable Misteries of the Empire of Reason and Learning which some are apt to imagine 't is their Prerogative to consult and to understand and the entire Reputation and Advantage of which they think is a Debt that ought only to be pay'd to Persons of their Character and Distinction But many who assume to themselves the Title of Persons who are profoundly learned especially such whose Talent lies chiefly in torturing such Words as very seldom occur in Authors whose Heads are living Dictionaries or rather Libraries the faithful but trifling Repositories of senseless Criticisms which how great Satisfaction soever they may perhaps afford to these eager and eternal Hunters of meer Words and Phrases are of little use I say many such Persons have a much smaller Share of solid Reason than they whom these Tyrants in the Empire of Learning would have to lie prostrate at their Feet Besides I can't for my Life conceive why any Persons how learned so ever they may esteem themselves to be how knowing soever they may be accounted by others who have gon in the same tedious if not unprofitable Track of Study and what Skill soever they may really have in reading uncommon and almost obliterated Characters or comparing almost an infinite Number of Worm-eaten and voluminous Manuscripts I say I can't conceive why such Persons shou'd desire and endeavour to engross all the Learning in the World to themselves make it serve like the Egyptian Hieroglyphicks to amaze but not instruct or reform Mankind and prevent the Generality of Men from making Enquiries into Truth which these fond Admirers of themselves represent as a Thing that 's vastly beyond their Reach and the Honour of Knowing which ought by no means to be prostituted to em For my Part I confess I cou'd never justifie nor easily extenuate the common Practice of the Popish Priests who forbid the Laity to read ev'n the Holy Scriptures which if they are not render'd a meer Nose of Wax by their Humane Traditions and wrong Interpretations are able under the Influence of the Holy Spirit to make the injudicious and illiterate so wise as to secure the Salvation of their Souls tho' not fit to dispute or manage an Intriegue with subtil and designing Jesuits and can warm their Hearts with a much deeper Impression of the near Relation in which they stand both to GOD and and to their Neighbour and of those prudent Methods which they ought to take to perform their Duty in the most pleasant and profitable Manner than some of the most learned Doctors of the Sorbon can modestly pretend to have And whether such Persons of Intriegue don't discover as much Ignorance as Antichristian Pride in taking these irregular Measures to gain the Esteem and command the Purses of the People to support the Interest and raise the Reputation of the Church of Rome which stands in Need of many pious Cheats to
celebrated Authors which you have reckon'd up had any tolerable Effect especially on the common People since according to your own Confession they were design'd for them who were capable of understanding Allegories Whereas Moses acted the Part of a Skillful and Divine Orator who makes use of Expressions that admit of different Sences neither giving the Laity among the Jews a Handle for the least Irregularity in their Morals nor wanting Matter for the sublime Speculations of those who are more judicious learned and inquisitive And I don't see I confess that the Works of your Poets with all their Wisdom are preserv'd what Service soever they might do the Publick But the Books of Moses have prevail'd with them whose Opinions and Customs are vastly different from those which obtain among the Jewish Nation to believe that according to the Account he gives the Laws which are contain'd in 'em were giv'n him by the great God himself the glorious Creator of the spacious Universe For 't was agreeable to the Dictares of his infinite Wisdom that since it was his Will to give Laws to the World they shou'd carry along with 'em that Force and Efficacy without which 't was impossible for 'em so readily and so universally to obtain This I say not examining at present what has an immediate Relation to our Blessed Saviour but contenting my self with what relates to Moses who tho' he came infinitely short of the Holy and Unspotted JESUS did vastly excel your most Celebrated Heroes whether Poets Historians or Philosophers CHAP. XVII THEN Celsus being desirous and ev'n eager to cast an oblique Reflection upon the Account which Moses gives of the Creation of the World according to whom it wants a great Deal of the Duration of Ten thousand Years discovers himself tho' he do's what he can at the same time to conceal or dissemble his Opinion to be one of them who hold the Eternity of the Material World Any judicious Person may justly and easily infer this from that Passage of his There have been says he in all Ages of the World many Conflagrations and Inundations the last of which was Deucalion 's Flood and that is of no early Date Let him therefore especially since he blames the Christians for not building their Faith on rational and solid Grounds acquaint me what Demonstrative Arguments do of Necessity induce him to believe that There have been several Conflagrations and Inundations and that Deucalion 's was the latest Flood and Phaeton's Conflagration the latest that has ever happen'd And if he refers me to Plato's Dialogues concerning those Matters I shall return him the following Answer that we have Reason to believe that the virtuous and refin'd Soul of Moses which was rais'd above all sensible Objects and all created Beings and had its entire and firm Dependance upon God was fill'd with the Holy Spirit who enabl'd him to set Divine Truths in a much clearer Light than Plato or any of the ancient Sages whether Greeks or Barbarians But perhaps he may demand of us what rational Grounds we have for such a Belief as this If so let him first give us his Reasons for the Opinion which he holds and advances ev'n without the Shadow of a Demonstration and then I 'll undertake that he shall soon be acquainted with the Grounds on which our Faith in this Affair is built tho' I can't but take Notice that sorely against his Will he confess'd the World was of a modern Date and not of the Duration of Ten thousand Years when he said That these remarkable Events were esteem'd ancient by the Greeks because the Conflagrations and Inundations have been Means to bury in Oblivion many considerable Events of much greater Antiquity But let him if he pleases support his fabulous Account of Conflagrations and Inundations by the Authority of the Egyptian Doctors who in his Opinion were the wisest Men that were ever born into the World some Footsteps of whose profound Wisdom may be seen in their paying Divine Worship to the Brute Beasts themselves and in those very Arguments which they bring to justify and recommend the Symbolical Rites that are made use of in the RELIGION of their Country The Egyptians forsooth who endeavour to give some Colour of Reason for their mystical Ceremonies by their Theological Speculations must pass for Men of most admirable Wisdom but one who in Observance of the Jewish Law refers every Thing to the Blessed GOD of whom and thro' whom and to whom are all Things is more ignorant if we may give any heed to Celsus and Men of his unhappy Principles than they who don 't only dishonour the Deity by paying divine Adoration to Creatures endu'd with Reason but ev'n by paying it to those which are inanimate under a Pretence of I know not what imaginary Transmigration of the Soul which they make to descend from Heav'n and pass into the Bruits ev'n into those of 'em which are of the most savage and cruel Disposition And it seems the Egyptians who hide their Religion under the sacred Veil of significant but obscure Figures do challenge from us the profoundest Reverence but Moses forsooth who has writ a faithful and useful History of the Jewish Nation and left 'em wholsome Laws for the Regulation of their Conduct both in a private and publick Capacity has only in the Judgment of Celsus and the Epicureans amus'd 'em with empty and ridiculous Fables that will not admit ev'n of an Allegorical Interpretation CHAP. XVIII THEN he says That Moses having borrow'd his Opinions from this wise and eloquent People meaning the Egyptians got himself a prodigious and unaccountable Name To which I answer that 't is no Wonder at all if Moses borrow'd some Notions from the Wise Men that liv'd in Egypt before him and introduc'd 'em with some little Difference or great Improvement among his Country-men the Jews And without all doubt he deserves to be blam'd severely if he has advanc'd such Notions as bear neither the Characters of Truth nor Wisdom but if he has embrac'd and taught those Opinions which according to Celsus's own Confession are both true and wise I can't conceive that he has done any Thing whereby he might justly incur his Censure I wish with all my Heart that Epicurus and Aristotle who do's not so directly and so grosly deny an over-ruling Providence as the other do's I say I wish with all my Heart that they and the Stoicks who hold that God is corporeal had been instructed in that Heav'nly Doctrine that was deliver'd by Moses that the World might not so much abound as it do's with Authors that absolutely deny a Providence or confine it within very narrow Bounds or introduce a corporeal and corruptible Principle insomuch that the Stoicks hold God himself to be nothing more than Matter and are not asham'd to acknowledge that he undergoes the various Changes to which Bodies are subject or that if he is so happy as to be incorruptible 't is
a Divine Original since they thought 't was fit that the Bodies of those Persons who are not on a Level with the rest of Men shou'd have some honourable Mark by which they may be distinguish'd from Vulgar Mortals And because Celsus's Jew continues his Discourse with our Blessed Saviour and ridicules the Fiction as he is pleas'd to call it of his being born of a Virgin and ranks it among the Fables of the Greeks concerning Danae Menalippe Auge and Antiope I answer that such pityful Drollery as this wou'd look with an agreeable Air in a Merry Andrew who gathers a Mob about him and plays his Monkey-Tricks on a Stage but don't at all become one who wou'd treat of Matters of great Importance with that Gravity and Seriousness which the Nature of the Things may justly challenge from us CHAP. XXXIII THEN Celsus making mention of some Things relating to our Saviour's Going into Egypt refuses to give Credit to those Parts of the History which contain any Thing that is supernatural as the Angel's warning Joseph the reputed Father of our Lord and don 't examine whether his Leaving Judaea and Going into Egypt will not admit of an Allegorical Sence but invents an Occasion for his literal Going thither and believing and acknowledging in some measure the Truth of our Saviour's Miracles which caus'd Abundance of People to flock to him esteeming him to be the true Messiah but endeavouring to shew that they were wrought by the Help of Magick and were far from being Proofs of a Divine Commission he says That having been privately educated he was forc'd to work in Egypt and having learn'd those Arts for which that Nation is so famous he return'd into his own Country and gave out that he was God But for my Part I can't conceive that a Magician wou'd so industriously promote a Religion which teaches us to have a strict Eye to the Day of Judgment especially when we take any serious Affair in Hand nor can we think that he wou'd take such Care to inculcate that aweful Solemnity upon the Minds of his Apostles whom he design'd to imploy in the Promulgation of the Gospel were he a Person of so infamous a Character For either they wrought Miracles or they did not 'T is absurd to suppose they did no Miracles at all but barely relying on the Authority of a Doctrine which did not like the Logick of the Schools recommend it self to carnal Reason had the Courage to promote a new discountenanc'd Religion And if they wrought Miracles do's it stand to Reason that a Company of Magicians shou'd agree to expose themselves to imminent Danger and the greatest Inconveniencies imaginable to promote a Doctrine that condemns the Use of the very Art they practic'd But 't wou'd be Loss of Time to confute this Discourse of Celsus which has nothing but perhaps a little witty Drollery to recommend it to the Palate of the unwary and less judicious Reader CHAP. XXXIV HE goes on in the same Comical and Bantering Strain If the Mother of Jesus says he was a Celebrated Beauty and for that Reason the Great God was pleas'd to admit her to his passionate Embraces one wou'd think that so excellent a Being is of too pure a Nature to be captivated by the Charms of a frail and humane Body however he cou'dn't have made Choice of a more improper Person viz. One who had neither a Great Fortune nor Noble Birth to recommend her but led so obscure a Life that she was scarce known by those who were her nearest Neighbours CHAP. XXXV HE continues his Raillery and says That when her Husband the Carpenter came to hate her and sue for a Divorce all that she had to plead in her own Behalf was ineffectual to redress her Grievances nor did the Great God see fit as much as you wou'd make us believe he lov'd her to engage his Power to protect her from threat'ning Danger ev'n in her Native Country Therefore none of these Things says he have the least Reference to the Kingdom of the Blessed God But this Language is just like that of a Company of Persons scolding in the open Streets who vent their Passion without the least Regard to the Rules of Justice or Civility CHAP. XXXVI THEN taking some Things out of St. Mathew's Gospel or perhaps out of some of the other Evangelists concerning the Dove that descended upon our Saviour at his Baptism he wou'd fain have the whole Account to pass for a false and trifling Story And having said enough as he imagines to prove that our Saviour wasn't born of a Virgin he continues his Discourse but don't treat of Things in the Order of Time in which they came to pass for inveterate Malice can never endure to be confin'd to a regular Method and talks like those shatter-brain'd Fellows whose Heat and undue Passion do's so transport 'em beyond the Bounds of Reason that they don't stick to say whatever comes into their Minds and so are hinder'd from managing in a becoming Way the several Heads of severe but unjust Accusation which they bring against their Adversary with an Air of Vanity and Insolence For had'n't he been greatly wanting in the pretended Method he observes he wou'd have trac'd the History from its very Original since his Intention was to expose it to Contempt But on the contrary the Mighty Celsus who boasts so much of his comprehensive Knowledge after he had finish'd his Discourse concerning our Saviour's Birth immediately passes on to the Descent of the Holy Spirit at his Baptism in the Resemblance of a Dove Then he finds Fault with the Prophecies concerning his Incarnation After that he returns to what immediately follow'd his Nativity viz. To give an Account of the Star that appear'd and the Wise Men that came from the East to worship him But any diligent Reader may save me the Labour of showing how confus'd Celsus is throughout the whole of his Book and this one Thing is sufficient to convince any Person who loves Exactness of Method that 't was a Piece of Arrogance in him to give his Book the Title of A True Relation and was a Strain of Vanity perhaps beyond most Philosophers that ever went before him Plato says That it don't become the Character of a Man famous for Wisdom to be positive in Matters which are involv'd in very great Obscurity And Chrysippus after he has giv'n the Reasons that induc'd him to be of this or that Opinion do's modestly refer us to those Persons who are able to give a more clear and exact Account But this mighty Man being much wiser I suppose than Plato Chrysippus and all the Greek Philosophers gives his Book the engaging Title of A True Relation which suits well enough I confess with his Boasting that he didn't want to be inform'd of the Opinions which the Christians held But that it mayn't be thought that I pass by what he says for Want of being in a Capacity to
the Profession which I make of the Christian Religion which is built on the Jewish Prophets as well as on our Saviour's Apostles Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone but I wou'd Eph. ii V. 20. convince him if it be possible upon the Principles in which we both agree that we have far more Reason to give Credit to the Report of our Blessed Saviour who is reported to have seen and heard such Things and for ought we know did acquaint his Disciples with the Vision which he saw and the Voice which he heard from Heav'n Perhaps it may be objected against us That ev'n they who have giv'n us an Account of the Holy Spirit 's Appearing in the Resemblance of a Dove and of the Voice that came from Heav'n hadn't these Things so much as from our Saviour's Mouth since ev'n according to our own Notions the same Spirit which inspir'd Moses to write a History of what pass'd for many Ages before ever he was born ev'n from the Creation of the World to the Time of Abraham who in some Sence was the Father of the Jewish Race might also immediately reveal the strange Passages which happen'd at our Saviour's Baptism to the four Evangelists But to this I answer that one who is favour'd with what the Scriptures call the Gift of Wisdom can easily account for the Opening of Heav'n and assign a Reason why the Holy Spirit appear'd to our Blessed Saviour in the Resemblance of a Dove rather than in the Shape of any other Animal However these are Niceties that are foreign to our present Purpose All therefore that I shall do at present shall be to shew that Celsus did not only want the Innocence of the Dove but ev'n the Subtilty of the Serpent when he put such Discourse as this into the Mouth of one whom he calls a Jew who if he be not false to his Pretensions must believe several Things that are much more improbable than any Thing related in the History of which I am now discoursing CHAP. XXXIX I Remember in a Disputation I had with some Celebrated Jewish Doctors and before a great Deal of Learned Company who were at once Witnesses and Judges of what I said I us'd this Argument against 'em Pray Gentlemen let me know said I since two Persons have appear'd upon the Stage of the World who are confidently reported to have done such Things as were vastly beyond the Sphere of Nature viz. Moses the Lawgiver of the Jews who has writ the History of what he did and JESUS our Master who has not left behind him in Writing an Account of any of the Actions which he did but has the concurring Testimony of the four Evangelists I say let me know on what Grounds you can justify the vast Difference which you make between 'em that we must believe forsooth that Moses deliver'd nothing but what was true tho' the Egyptians reproach him as one that dealt with the Devil but must look upon our Saviour as a vile Impostour on the Account of the severe Accusations which you bring against him We see that both these Persons have their Authority supported by the Testimony of a great Body of People Moses has his supported by the ready and joint Testimony of the Jewish Nation and our Saviour his by the General Suffrage of the Christians who don't deny Moses to be a Prophet sent from God but confirm the History of our Saviour ev'n by the Sacred and Undisputed Authority of your celebrated Moses If therefore you desire us to justify our Conduct in paying so awful a Regard to our Blessed Saviour do you first assign some Reasons why you believe in Moses who came into the World many Ages before the incarnate Jesus and then it may be time to acquaint you with the rational Grounds on which our Faith is built But if you refuse to give us any Reasons why you believe in Moses neither shall we think fit to acquaint you with those we have for believing in our Saviour or if you are not able to offer any Demonstrative Arguments in favour of your justly celebrated Moses be pleas'd to hear what Arguments we can bring ev'n from the Law and the Prophets to prove that our Jesus is the true Messiah And which is something strange those very Arguments which we bring from the Old Testament Writings to prove that our Saviour had a Divine Commission do at the same Time prove that Moses and the Prophets were Persons who were immediately inspir'd But to return The Law and the Prophets abound with as strange Stories as that of the Dove that appear'd to our Saviour at his Baptism and the Voice that came to him out of Heav'n and that it was the Spirit of God that appear'd to him in the Resemblance of a Dove do's I think at least seem highly probable from the Consideration of the Miracles which our Saviour wrought which Celsus says he did by the Help of Magick which he had learn'd in Egypt Here I think it may not be improper to mention not only the Miracles of our Saviour but also those which were wrought by the Apostles who were every Way qualify'd for that great Work in which their Master did engage em For if their Ministry hadn't been accompany'd with Miracles they wou'd never have been able so happily to prevail with their Hearers to renounce the Religion in which they had been born and bred and to embrace a new discountenanc'd Doctrine the Profession of which wou'd expose 'em to the greatest Dangers ev'n to an ignominious and painful Death and some remarkable Footsteps of that Holy Spirit who appear'd to our Saviour in the Resemblance of a Dove do remain among Christians to this very Day They disposses Daemons perform many wonderful Cures and sometimes when God sees fit they foresee and foretel future distant and very contingent Events And therefore let Celsus and his Jew ridicule us as much as ever they please yet 't is plain and I think undeniable that many Persons have embrac'd the Christian Religion in Spite of all the Force of Prejudice the Spirit of God making so sudden and so powerful an Impression on their Minds whether in a Dream or Vision or some other Way that instead of being implacable Enemies to Christianity as once they were they have chearfully and ev'n triumphantly laid down their Lives for the Sake of their Profession and seal'd the Truth with their warmest Blood If I shou'd only relate those Things that have fall'n within the Compass of my own personal Knowledge and frequent Observation I shou'd furnish Infidels with abundant Matter of Laughter who wou'd be ready to suspect us Christians as we do them of inventing Fictions to support a bad and sinking Cause tho' the Searcher of Hearts can bear me Witness that my Design and Endeavour is not to maintain our Religion by fabulous and ridiculous Narrations but by a Variety of proper Evidence to recommend it to the World
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