to shew that all their Objections do in effect serve for nothing else but to make a more lively impression of this Argument taken from Matter of fact which I have undertaken to set forth in a full and clear light CHAP. V. That Moses is the Author of the Book of Genesis I Shall in the Sequel of this Discourse make it appear that we cannot with reason contest the Authority of a Tradition which hath those Characters which we find in the Relations contain'd in the Book of Genesis The only thing that can be question'd in this matter is Whether Moses the great Captain of the Israelites and Founder of their Common-wealth be the Author of it This therefore is the thing which we ought solidly to evince Tho it seems that we might dispense with this trouble forasmuch as it is easie to shew that the greatest part of the most considerable Events which are recorded in the Book of Genesis were generally believed by others as well as the Jews At least it must be granted that these Matters have given occasion to most of their Fables viz. To that of the Chaos to that of the Marriage of Peleus and Thetis for the forming of Man to that of Prometheus to that of Jupiter's continued Laughter for the seven first days of his Life which they look'd upon as the Original of the Solemnity of the seventh day known amongst the Heathens to that of the Golden Age and of the Deluge to the Name of Deucalion to the Fable of Janus to that of the Division of the World amongst Saturn's Sons to the Name of Jupiter Hammon to the Fable of the Titans and of the changing of Women into Statues of Stone to the Stories of the Incest the Gods committed with their Daughters to that of the firing of the World by Phaeton and to a great number of other Fictions which cannot be otherwise explained as the learned have shewn at large Whosoever was the Author of Genesis whether Moses or another sure it is that he was exactly inform'd of the Matters he relates and that he lived soon after Joseph First then I say that it appears he was fully inform'd of those matters of which he treats he sets down the Names of the Heads or Fathers of the several Nations of the World and does it so that what he saith doth very well agree with what the most Ancient Historians have left us concerning that matter He speaks of these Nations of the Countreys they possest and their Kings as of things he was perfectly inform'd of He very carefully distinguishes the Original of these several Nations and the same being at that time commonly known no Historian could represent them otherwise than they were without exposing himself to the laughter of all by endeavouring to mix Fables with Relations of this nature In the Second place I say that this Book was writ by a Man that lived soon after Joseph He speaks very exactly of what Joseph did in his place of chief Minister to Pharaoh in particular he sets down the first Original of the fifth Penny which the Egyptians so many Ages after continued to pay to their Kings being a thing which no Egyptian could be ignorant of And Lastly It is visible that this Book serves for an Introduction to Exodus and the following Books which have no other Foundation but the truth of those things which are related to us there and do throughout allude and refer to the several passages of it and that all Matters of Religion and Worship contained in them are founded upon the truth of the Creation and the Promise of the Messiah which we find in Genesis and upon the truth of all those other succeeding Matters of Fact until the coming of the Children of Israel into Egypt when Joseph was chief Favourite and Minister of Pharaoh But we have yet a more easie way to make out that Moses whose History is contain'd in Exodus and the following Books is the Author of Genesis For first it cannot be deny'd that the Heathens themselves have acknowledged Moses for the most antient Law-giver for this we have the Testimonies of Plato Polemus Artapanus Pythagoras Theopompus and Diodorus Siculus who places Moses in the front of Six of the most antient Law givers thus Moses Sauchnis Sesonchosis Bachoris Amasis and Darius Father of Xerxes But further if when the Lacedemonians tell us of the Laws of their Law-giver Lycurgus and the Athenians of those of their Solon we think our selves oblig'd to believe them because naturally every Nation is suppos'd to be a faithful Depositary of the Laws of him who first founded their Government yea if we do not in the least doubt of these Relations though there be no People at this day who live according to the Laws of Lycurgus or Solon can any valuable reason be imagined for us to doubt whether Moses wrote the Book of Genesis when an entire Nation have constantly averr'd that he did so I say when all the Jews who continue at this day do in all places where they are scatter'd throughout the World equally and with one consent maintain that they received this Book from him together with the Laws and Worship therein contain'd Nay when it is notorious that many of them have suffer'd Martyrdom in confirmation of this Truth I omit now to mention the consent of the Christians who tho' they be not descended of Abraham and do not observe the greatest part of the Laws of Moses yet do not cease highly to defend this truth throughout the World the Gospel in their sense being nothing else but the literal accomplishment of that Promise The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Head of the Serpent I shall shew in the Sequel of these my Reflexions with how much Justice they assent to this Truth but at present I tie my self only to the Testimonies of the Jews and that which confirms the Authority thereof CHAP. VI. That the Book of Genesis could not be forged under the Name of Moses I Should never have done should I go about to set down all the Observations which might be made incomparing this Book of Genesis with other Histories commonly known to the World and whose faithfulness is unquestionable Without entring upon this comparison we may boldly assert that there is no History in the World whose Author we can be so sure of as that Moses was the Pen-man of Genesis But I go further and assert that the Jews could not be mistaken in the Testimonies they give to this Truth which I prove by these two Remarks The First is That their Observations both Civil and Religious are at this day founded upon no other Principles than those which we find in Genesis As for instance they compute the beginning of their day from the preceding Evening they keep the Sabbath they observe Circumcision they abstain from eating the Muscle which is in the hollow of the Thigh c. The Observation of which Laws is indeed
to whom he wrote had no need of having the following words quoted to them which tell us that God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it that is he Consecrated the same to his worship and service forasmuch as nothing was more publickly and universally known amongst them the Observation of the Sabbath being a thing generally received even before the giving of the Law. And indeed the Philo the Jew be of opinion that the practice of Solemnizing that day had suffer'd some interruption and that for this reason the Law of the Sabbath was given to Moses yet it is well known first of all Euseb praep Evang. l. 13. c. 12. that Aristobulus the Peripatetick in a Treatise dedicated by him to Ptolemy surnamed Philadelphus cites several Passages of Homer Hesiod and Linus Heathen Poets which mention the seventh day as a Festival and Solemn day because all things were finished in the same In the next place it is notorious that if some of the Fathers as Justin Martyr and Tertullian writing against the Jews have deny'd that the Patriarchs observed the seventh day they did so rather with regard to the rigor of that Law which forbad all manner of work on that day upon pain of Death which was superadded by God to the first Law of the Sabbath than to the Observation of the Sabbath as it was a day appointed to make a Solemn Commemoration of the Creation of the World. In a word we are to take notice that the difference which God makes between the Sabbath observ'd by the Patriarchs and that which he appointed to the Jews did consist in two things First in that God did impose an absolute necessity upon the Jews to abstain from all manner of work even to the very dressing of Meat necessary for the support of Life We find this distinction clearly express'd in the Law which God gave concerning the first and seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread for he absolutely forbids all manner of work on these two days as much as on the Sabbath even the preparing of necessary food which he permits the five other days forbidding only Servil Laborious Works Secondly In that the working on that day by the Law is made punishable with death which was not so before which Innovation and new rigour of the Law established by God was authorized by the punishing of him who had gathered Sticks on the Sabbath day whereas we find that before the Law was given upon Mount Sinai God did not command those Jews to be punished with death who went forth the seventh day to gather Manna according to their ancient Custom of dressing their Meat on that day Let me add this further that tho the Apostles had abolished the rigour of the Law concerning the Sabbath introduced by Moses yet they themselves observed it which practise of theirs in all probability gave occasion to the Christians for almost four Centuries to keep the Sabbath as well as the first day of the Week Solemnizing both those days the one as a Commemoration of the Creation of the World and the other of the Resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ But what ever Judgment may be past on this last Remark it is very evident from Genesis and Exodus First that the Law of the Sabbath was observed before Moses Secondly that this Observation was by the first Patriarchs propagated among the Heathens also as well as the Idea of the Creation or as the practice of Sacrificing with the other parts of Religious Worship the Original whereof may be seen in the Book of Genesis as we shall make appear in our following Discourse After all this we must conclude against the Atheist that either Moses must imprudently have laid a Snare for himself in forging a matter of fact of which not only the Jews but all the World were able to convince him since there were none amongst them but must needs be Conscious whether they had observed the Sabbath in Commemoration of the Creation as he relates it or no or else that the Creation of the World being a matter of fact so generally known and the Memorial of it Solemnized every seventh day by all those who preceded him must needs be an uncontested and immoveable truth which I shall farther evince by those Observations which I shall raise from the dependance and connexion which the Matters related by Moses in Genesis have with the Creation and the Promise of the Messiah This is my business at present in performing of which I shall make it appear that nothing can be imagin'd more rational and coherent than the Relations of Moses in which the Atheists imagine that they discover so great Absurdities CHAP. VIII That Adam was convinced of his Creation by Reason and Authority THo' it might be thought more natural in these our Disquisitions about the History of Genesis to begin with those matters which happened near the time of Moses and from them to pass to those at a greater distance yet I have chosen rather to follow the Thread of Moses his Discourse hoping that this Method will afford more light to these our Reflexions At least it will spare me the trouble of frequent Repetitions which in the other way I should be necessarily oblig'd to I begin then with this That Adam was convinced of his Creation both by Reason and Authority The Creation of Adam being a thing of that nature that he must first be convinced of it himself before he could perswade his Posterity to entertain the belief of it it is worth our enquiry to know what ways he had to assure himself that he was indeed Created in that manner as Moses relates And forasmuch as the certainty of this Tradition depends upon the Authority of Adam whom Moses supposes to have been the first Deliverer of it It is plain that we must be assured that Adam could not deceive himself in this matter as it is evident enough that he would not deceive his Children when he took care to instruct them concerning it As to his own Existence he could not but be as strongly perswaded of it as we are of ours all the difficulty lying in the manner how he came to exist Now there were two ways by which Adam might inform himself of this viz. by Reason and the Testimony of Authority He could easily find out this Secret by a rational Reflexion Or he might also be perswaded of it by God himself who had Created him not to mention now any information which he might have from the Angels who were Witnesses of his Creation It appears that Adam whose Tradition Moses has recorded supposes that he had learnt of God himself the manner of his own Formation God speaks to Adam and Sanctifies the seventh day that is obliges Adam to keep the Memorial of his Creation he ties him by a Law to Commemorate his Creation fifty two times a Year and to render him continual thanks for the Being he had received But forasmuch as
probable that a Prince especially of his Temper would have submitted to such a Confinement and meekly resign'd his Crown to his Son if that punishment inflicted upon him had not fully convinced him of the Divinity of that Law which he had transgressed and violated by his Temerity and Presumption The Third Reflexion is that the greatest part of those Laws being intended by God to inspire his people with an Irreconcileable Aversion against all those Nations amongst whom they were going to settle they were so framed as not only to be opposite to the Laws and Customs of Egypt from whence they came but also to those received amongst the Hivites Amorites and other Nations of whose Countries they were going to possess themselves Thus we find in the XVIII of Leviticus Laws against all Incestuous Marriages which without doubt were ordinary amongst the Canaanites and Egyptians who therein follow'd the Examples of the Ancient Patriarchs who Married within those forbidden Degrees there we find also the Sacrifices to Moloch forbidden the practice whereof those Nations in all likelihood defended by the Example of Abraham's Sacrifice Now it cannot reasonably be thought that a whole Nation would of a suddain receive such Laws as deprived them of a Liberty and Freedom they had always hitherto enjoyed and condemn of their own accord those Sacrifices that had the fairest pretence of Religion imaginable and to use many Ceremonies contrary to those received amongst them if they had not had a strong and extraordinary Motive for so doing There is another thing besides that challenges our Consideration viz. the exact Description which God gave to Moses of the Tabernacle of the several parts of the Ceremonial Worship which was to be performed in that Sacred place and of the manner how this Tabernacle with all its Appurtenances Utensils and Ornaments was finished For as this Tabernacle was then the Centre of the whole Jewish Religion as the Temple was afterwards by succeeding to it so it was a solemn proof of the Divinity of Moses's Laws and of the Worship that was performed there Is it conceivable that a whole Nation should contribute to the building of it should see it Consecrated and taken to pieces and set together again every day and should read all the particulars relating to its Construction and not discern whether there was any truth and reality in all that was told them concerning the Religion which their Governour fixed in that place wherein he pretended many Revelations were made CHAP. VI. Some other Proofs that confirm Moses 's Description of the manner how the Law was given and Promulgated BUt if it is so easie to establish the Divinity of the Law of Moses by shewing the truth of the Matter of Fact according to the manner of God's Promulgation as Moses relates it we may further collect the truth of it by joyning these following Reflexions to those already made in the foregoing Chapters Certainly if Moses had been the first Founder of a Kingdom and had been succeeded in it by his own Children and Posterity for many Generations one after another we might perhaps have had some ground to suspect that his Successors consulting their own Interest and Honour would have been very glad to perswade their Subjects that the first Founder of their Kingdom had some Communication with God and that it was from him he received the Laws and Constitutions which he gave them concerning Civil and Religious Matters But it is observable that Moses was so far from investing his own Children with the Supream Authority after himself that he Translated it into another Tribe and Constituted Joshuah of the Tribe of Ephraim for his Successor in the Government as for his Posterity he took little care of it but reduced it to a Rank inferiour to that of Aaron's Family which he preferr'd to the most honourable Functions of the Priesthood leaving to his own the meanest and most inconsiderable Employments all which shews evidently that none of those who came after Moses were moved by any private Interest of their own to defend the Truth and Authority of his Laws and Writings but only by the certain knowledge they had that they were all Divine Neither ought we to omit to consider here the manner how Moses decides beforehand such Questions and determines such Controversies as could not be raised but after the Conquest of Canaan which was made by his Successor only after his Death And how those Laws were constantly observed in all the succeeding Generations of that people and submitted unto by the very Judges and Kings themselves tho there be nothing more common than for a Conqueror such as Joshua was to admit of no other Fundamental Laws in that State he is the Founder of than those which he is the Author of nothing is more usual than for Statesmen to affect the exposing the Conduct of their Predecessors especially when the form of Government is altered and from Democratical or Aristocratical is changed into Monarchical as it happened amongst the Israelites How then could Moses's Laws still keep up their Authority in all Changes and Revolutions How comes it to pass that in all the Successions of Judges and Kings there was never any of them attempted to suspend or annul Moses's Laws much less to enact and give any others contrary to them Again how came it to pass that in all the Divisions and Factions that Nation fell into there was never any Jew endeavour'd with any success to undeceive the rest of his own people so as to make them shake off the troublesom Yoke of Moses's Laws No doubt only because the generality of that Nation never disputed the Divine Origin and Authority of them It were an easie thing to demonstrate by the whole Series of the Jewish History that all those Laws which in Moses's Writings are inlay'd one within another and represented as occasion'd by several Transactions related there have all been equally received of the Jews and have all been put together in a Body by themselves before Moses's Death as it may be proved out of the XXXI of Deuteronomy It appears that those Laws were publick and in great esteem amongst that People to whom God gave them upon whom he laid an indispensable Obligation to read them every day and to consult them upon every emergent business It appears that they were known equally of all degrees of Men Sexes and Ages which were all obliged to pay Obedience to them upon pain of Death It appears that those Laws were not only publickly kept in the Tabernacle but also privately read in every Family We see that a whole Tribe viz. the Tribe of Levi was appointed by God to explain them and in order to that they were dispersed throughout the whole Land of Canaan and exempted from the Cares and Troubles that necessarily attend Husbandry by the plentiful Provision of Tithes and Offerings that was allotted to them We see that God obliged all Jews to read and meditate
Adam was capable of making Reflexions upon those several matters which God had made known to him concerning his Creation I say it cannot be imagin'd but that he must have taken these things into consideration and have been convinc'd of the truth of them by the light of Reason The truth of a Relation consisting in its Conformity with the matter related it appears clearly that Adam could certainly know the truth of what God had declared to him by examining the things themselves We may distinguish several Propositions in the Revelation God made to him concerning the manner of his Creation The first was That his Body was taken from the Earth The next That his Soul was not framed before his Body The Third That his Soul had been joyned to his Body to constitute one individual Person The Fourth That he was Created in a full and perfect Age. The Fifth That his Wife was formed of a Rib taken out of his side during the time that he was cast into a deep Sleep These are the Truths I propose as instances the rather because there is not one of them of which Adam himself could be a Witness And yet I affirm there is none of these which he could not be assured of by the light of reason being convinc'd of them by the same means which assured him of the Existence of his Soul and Body The Consideration therefore of these two Matters was of good use to confirm the Revelation which God had vouchsafed him concerning his Creation of which he could not be a Witness himself That his Body was taken from the Earth Adam might easily infer from the food that maintain'd it for what is the matter of Man's nourishment but a digested and disguised Earth And finding himself at first in a perfect estate it was natural for him to Judge that his Body had been thus at once framed of the Earth without passing those several degrees of growth whereby Children arrive to their just Stature And he might as easily be assured that his Soul was not formed before his Body The Soul is a Being conscious of his own Operations and Thoughts wherefore he needed only make this Reflexion My Soul has had neither knowledge nor thoughts before it was united to my Body therefore my Soul did not exist before it No great study was required to make so natural a Conclusion as this is Again how could he be ignorant of the union of his Soul with the Body Was it not obvious for him to be assur'd hereof by the ready obedience which he saw his Body yield unto his Soul He had the Idea of a Tree as well as the Idea of his Foot or Arm whence it was easie for him to reflect thus How comes it to pass that I command my Feet and my Arms and that I cannot do the same to a Stone or Tree tho' I have the Idea of the one as well as of the other Must not this proceed from a nearer union it hath with the one than with the other He knew that this union continued during his Sleep and was independent of his Will. In a word he had the same proofs of this union which we have of it at present only they were in him much more lively because our Infancy makes us in some sort ignorant of the Nature of our Souls our Souls accustoming themselves by little and little to depend upon the Senses so as not to be able to raise themselves without some trouble above their Operations Neither was it less evident to Adam that he was produced at a perfect Age He saw that his Food maintain'd Life and he knew assuredly that he had not taken any but very lately How then could he attain to that Stature without that help Or how was it that he found himself now ready to faint if he deferr'd to take it which formerly he had not felt the want of These Reflexions made it unquestionable to him that he was formed in a perfect Age. And Lastly it was yet more easie for him to be perswaded of the truth of God's Revelation concerning the forming of Eve he needed but to count his own Ribs and those of his Wife for he could not find one less in himself than in his Wife without being fully satisfied in that Matter These Propositions with many others of like nature being such as Adam could be assur'd of the truth of by making Reflexion either on himself or on Plants or living Creatures greatly confirming his belief in the Divine Testimony concerning his Creation we may easily infer that Adam could not deceive himself about that Matter CHAP. IX That Adam was confirmed by his own Experience in the perswasion he had entertain'd concerning his Creation WHen I take for granted that Adam could satissie himself concerning the truth of God's Revelation by some natural and easie Reflexions I don't find how any can think strange of this Hypothesis except some perchance might think that I make Adam too Contemplative But if any will be pleas'd to make these following Observations they will justifie me that I have attributed nothing to him but what agrees exactly with his Character The First is That Adam finding himself immediately upon his Creation at his full and perfect Age he was void of those Prejudices which the ignorance and weakness of his Infancy are the cause of his Mind was not tainted with Popular Errors which oft are so great a hindrance to the knowledge of truth He had not yet received any ill impression and when afterwards he was so credulous as to give way to a Temptation his Experience prov'd a most powerful means to inform his Reason and withdraw him from his Error Besides we suppose here that the Divine Testimonie which acquainted him with the particular Circumstances of his Creation was precedent to the Reflexions Adam made and indeed was the cause of them If we suppose some Countrey-man not capable of discovering of himself all on a suddain the manner how such a thing came to pass yet this is certain that his Reason alone will be able to satisfie him whether the thing happened in that manner which the Relation of it imports he needs but consult the Rules of Probability to be determin'd in this Matter Adam had not only the advantage of being formed at a perfect Age of being acquainted by the Mouth of God himself about the Creation of the World c. and of living so many Ages which gave him leisure enough to consider the probability of what God had revealed to him to examine the grounds and certainty of it and in a word to judge whether the said Reflexions were to be rejected as Fabulous or to be relyed on as of most certain and evident truth But over and above all this Adam could rationally assure himself of the Manner how the things which he had not seen were done by the experience he had of other Matters which were comprehended in the Divine Revelation The manner
little more than forty years interval betwixt the Conquest of Canaan by Joshua and the Bondage of the Israelites under the Neighbouring Nations Had it not been a fit time then to cast off the Yoak of Moses's Laws and to publish the pretended Lies and Impostures of his History Was not the Comparison which the Israelites could easily make betwixt the Mosaick Writings and the Tradition generally received in the Countrey of their Captivity a natural and ready means to undeceive them Yet notwithstanding all this we see that they obstinately entertain the belief of the several Transactions recorded by Moses and stand firmly to all their Pretensions Nay we see them have recourse to the Remedy of Repentance which Moses prescribed them to use in those sad Misfortunes which he foretold should befal them and out of which he promis'd at the same time that God would miraculously deliver them which indeed was done accordingly even fourteen times within less than four hundred years as is manifest from the Book of Judges Can there then be a more pregnant Argument that if Moses made it Death by one of his Sanctions for any of the Israelites to contest the truth either of his Writings or of his Oracles and Miracles it was not to force the belief of them without examination but rather only to prevent the corruption of that People and their mingling and confounding themselves with the Heathens which God intended to hinder on purpose because he would have the Messiah to be born according to his Promise out of that Nation which to effect he thought fit in his infinâ—â—e Wisdom to employ the rigour of some Capital Laws to keep that people unmixt and distinguish'd from all other Nations of the World till the Messiah was born CHAP. XXII The Consequences of what we have proved in our foregoing Observations upon the Book of Genesis THese several Observations which I have made upon the Book of Genesis are all I think very natural and easie and if I am not mistaken sufficient to prove solidly the truth of Moses's Account of the Creation of the World and of the Promise of the Messiah which is the foundation of the Christian Religion The Conclusion that I draw out of the Premises is That First I assert that Moses that famous Hebrew who was design'd to be the Heir of Pharaoh's Daughter is the true and sole Author of the Book of Genesis Secondly I maintain that this being once granted he could not according to his way of Writing record those important Transactions he relates otherwise than they really came to pass Thirdly I maintain that tho he had not been an Eye Witness of the Creation of the World yet he hath made the Description of it according to such an Authentick Tradition as cannot be reasonably doubted of because it was then the Universal Tradition not only of the Moabites of the Ammonites of the Ishmaelites and of the Edomites who were all of Sem's Posterity and amongst whom he had been travelling for forty years together but also of the Egyptians of his own People and in a word of all Men then living in the World. Fourthly I maintain that he never was found fault with nor contradicted till true Reason and Sence if I may say so was lost and banish'd from amongst Mankind till the Egyptians for example they who used before to look upon the Greeks as meer Children and Ideots were fallen into so great a Stupidity and Deprivation of Sence as to believe and maintain that Men were first born in Egypt because forsooth Frogs did naturally as they thought breed out of their Muddy Fenns and Marshes Fifthly I maintain that for many Ages after Moses no body did ever publickly declare for the Eternity of the World nor yet for its Fortuitous Production These Opinions are meer Absurdities and Chimeras brought forth into the World by the Chaldeans and Greeks only about Alexander's time or perhaps an hundred years before him i. e. about eleven or twelve hundred years after Moses's Decease Sixthly I maintain that seeing there is no particular time to be found wherein the reading of the Law was interrupted and discontinued for any considerable time amongst the Jews seeing it continues still to this very hour amongst them every Sabbath day in the several places of the World wherein they are dispersed and seeing besides that it is certain that this Law which enjoyns the Observation of the Sabbath in remembrance of the Creation could never be imposed upon them without their perceiving and declaring presently the Novelty and Supposition of that Account and consequently of the Book wherein it is related Seeing all this is certain I do positively maintain that the truth of the Creation can never be better proved than it is by the Book of Genesis because in it Moses hath followed the Tradition of all the Ages that preceded him and only recorded in Writing what was then generally known of all Men in the World and that in a time when every Man was able to run his own Pedigree up to Adam Lastly I maintain that as the certainty of the Creation cannot reasonably be doubted of without rejecting at the same time all those Proofs from Facts which I have brought to strengthen my Assertion So there is all the reason in the World to entertain the belief of it as of a matter of Fact which is indisputable As being Related by the most Ancient Historian Confirmed by the most Ancient Tradition Believed by the most Ancient People of the World who did not only believe it but also had always had according to God's Command the Memory of it Celebrated amongst them and their Ancestors in all their Generations fifty two times in a Year from the very beginning of the World. REFLEXIONS Upon the Four Last BOOKS OF MOSES To Establish the TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION PREFACE WHen I began at first these Reflexions upon the Book of Genesis I design'd only to demonstrate the certainty of the Creation of the first Man and so to shew by Arguments from matters of Fact that neither the Creation of the World nor yet the Promise of the Messiah which God made to Man after his sin can reasonably be disputed or doubted of I design'd after that to establish the truth of Christ's Resurrection by such another undeniable Argument viz. by shewing that the Apostles were Eye Witnesses of it and instituted a solemn Day in every Week to celebrate and perpetuate the Memory of it amongst Men from their time down to the end of the World. And this I thought was sufficient to demonstrate the truth of the Christian Religion For as the Jews by the continual Celebration of the Sabbath every Week could easily run back to the Creation of the World which was the occasion of the Institution of the Sabbath so the Christians may by the Weekly Observation of the Lord's day prove Christ's Resurrection which occasioned the Institution of the Lord's day If we consider the
thing in it self there is no less Absurdity to dispute our Saviour's Resurrection than the Creation of the first Man. Now if this Argument holds as there can be no easier so neither can there be a stronger proof of the truth of the Christian Religion for provided we be once well assured of the certainty of Christ's Resurrection we must acknowledge him to be the true Messiah and consequently embrace his Religion But it seems in the heat of Meditation I was insensibly carried further in my Observations upon the Promise of the Messiah than I thought at first to be Therefore instead of passing now as I proposed in the beginning to the proof of Christ's Resurrection which is a solid and compendious way of demonstrating the truth of his Religion I find my self engaged according to my present Method to continue to make the like Reflexions upon the other Books of Holy Scripture that I may yet more fully demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah whom God promised to Man immediately after his sin And this I intend to shew so plainly as will make it evident that God hath really accomplished his first designs and exactly performed all his Promises relating to the Messiah according to the first Idea's he gave of his coming to the Ancient Patriarchs First Then I design to trace up the Method that God was pleased to use to make the Messiah known without mistake when ever he should come into the World. Secondly I will make some Reflexions upon the several Notions he gave of him long before in his Oracles to Characterize his Person his Offices his Actions his Sufferings his Glory c. Last of all I will shew that we have all this whole Project and Design exactly accomplished in the History of the Gospel as it was written by Christ's Disciples Now as this Method which God hath particularly chosen to make the Messiah known appears also in the other Books of Moses So I think it will not be amiss for me particularly to view and examine these Books that I may have occasion to illustrate several things in them which deserve a particular attention especially when they are considered together and as it were at one view For the Prophecies being thus consider'd together in their Connexion and Progress do more plainly evidence God's Design and may better convince or confound the Jews Therefore I intend accordingly to consider those Oracles with attention and to join them together that so they may in their Conjunction cast forth the brighter Beams of Light to the Conviction of all Infidels who may happen to peruse this Book For I am perswaded that after the perusal of my Observations in it an ordinary attention in the reading of the Gospel will be sufficient to convince any Man that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah which is all I intend to prove as the Conclusion of this Treatise Now as the examination of the Patriarchs Religion according to the account Moses hath given us of it in his Book of Genesis hath taken up the first part of it so I design to examine in this second part the Israelites Religion and to follow in my search the account which Moses gives of it in his other four Books And as to effect this it is very important to establish beforehand the Authority of those four Books so I intend to shew first of all that Moses is the true Author of them and that they have Intrinsick Characters of undeniable certainty Then Secondly It will be natural for me to shew that Moses in the writing of them had the Promise of the Messiah in view as particularly promised of God to the Patriarchs of his own Nation and as being consequently the principal if not the sole Object of their hope Thirdly I intend to shew that if we seriously examine Moses's Laws we shall find in them such a Method observed as is both very agreeable to the manifestation of God s design in Genesis and very worthy of his Wisdom especially if we consider what he was pleased to reveal unto us of his Intentions by the Prophets who followed Moses REFLEXIONS Upon the Four Last BOOKS OF MOSES To Establish the Truth OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION CHAPTER I. That it cannot reasonably be doubted but that Moses is the Author of Exodus and of the three other following Books THis is a Truth which may be grounded upon several solid Arguments I might observe That Moses hath always been acknowledged by the very Heathens themselves not only to be the most Ancient Historian but also the most Ancient Legislator in the World. I might likewise observe That there is a particular connexion betwixt the Book of Genesis and the other Books of Moses as well in regard of the general Design of their Author as of the Matters treated of in them For Example We see that the greatest part of the Laws and Transactions which we find written and recorded there derive their Original from those Transactions and Passages that we read of in Genesis Thus we may plainly discern that the pretension of the Israelites upon the Land of Canaan was grounded upon the Promise that God made to Abraham to give it to his Posterity in the fourth Generation Thus we may see That the Amalekites could have no other reason to make War against the Israelites than the old Alliance that was formerly made betwixt Amalek and the Canaanites which without doubt engaged his Posterity to be the first Opposers of the establishment of the Israelites in the Land of Canaan Thus we see that the Seditions of the Israelites against Moses under Corah Dathan and Abiram did proceed from the Order of the Birth of the Children of Israel as it is set down in Genesis because the eldest thinking themselves wrong'd of their Birthright thought they might justly Rebel against Moses in order to recover it But I haste to things more material than these And first it is here observable That those Books were not only religiously kept in every Family of Israel but that they were also once solemnly deposited in the Tabernacle as a publick Record and that by Moses himself a little before his death that they might be a Testimony against that People as we read it Deuteronomy XXXI 26. Secondly It cannot be denied that Moses did straightly charge both Joshuah and the Heads of the People to read them frequently and carefully for it is expresly said so Joshua 1.8 Nay we see about 500 years after the holy Man David who had made during his life Psal I. the supream felicity of a man to consist in the reading the Law of God day and night We see I say that holy Man give in his Death-bed the same Charge to Solomon I Kings Thirdly Moreover it is certain that there were many Laws and Sanctions contained in those Books which are the Foundation of the History of succeeding Times And this is the reason why we read nothing in the Book of
The first part takes in all that happened after Moses 'till the establishment of the Kingdom which is related in the Books of Joshua Judges Ruth and the First Book of Samuel The second contains the History of the Kings of Juda and Israel 'till the Destruction of Samaria and Jerusalem The third contains an Account of what passed during the Jewish Captivity and after their re-establishment Now there is not one of these Books which concern the History of this People in one or other of these Epocha's which has not certain Characters of the truth of its Relations by the necessary Connexion which it has either with those Events which went before it or with those which follow'd it and this by a natural and immediate dependance This ought to be confirm'd by some Observations The Book of Joshua which contains the Conquest and division of the Land of Canaan is the Execution of Moses's design who brought the People of Israel out of Egypt to go and make themselves Masters of a Countrey which the Jews pretend that God promised to Abraham The Division of this Land amongst the Tribes is the Title which each Tribe had to its Possessions in it and this Division subsisted a great while very distinct and well known by the several Tribes of this People There happened no considerable Change but only when the Kings of Assyria carried the Ten Tribes into Captivity after the taking of Samaria in the Three thousand two hundred and eighty third year of the World The Country continuing in the same state under the two remaining Tribes without any Change ensuing upon their Transportation into Babylon as I have observed in the Nineteenth Chapter of my Reflexions upon Exodus and the following Books This Book has a very natural Influence upon the following Books as is manifest from the History of the Alliance which the Gibeonites got from the Jews by surprize It serves for a foundation to all that happened for Four hundred and thirty years after in David's Reign under whom the Commonwealth being already changed into a Monarchical Government had in all appearance undergone a great Alteration The Book of Judges has an essential Relation to the Books of Moses and Joshua the most part of the Captivities of the People of Israel being a Consequence of their Quarrels with the Nations which they had subdued or with their Neighbours as the Moabites and Ammonites descended from Lot who were jealous of this People that was descended from Abraham There we may see for Instance the Israelites upon the Defensive part because God forbad them to set upon the Moabites and the Ammonites whereas these last pretended that Israel had usurped some part of their Country It must be granted that there is nothing so remarkable markable as the Actions of these Judges whom God raised up to deliver his People from those different Captivities through which they passed for Three hundred fifty six years together But we may find the Memory of some of them preserved by those publick Hymns which were famous throughout the Nation and by these illustrious Monuments of their Judicial Authority which were preserved amongst them and which kept up a Remembrance of them amongst the Israelites and the Neighbour Nations For this ought to be observed with care That since the Jews could not invent any thing upon this Head which would not be well known by all the Neighbouring Nations as the Tyrians who kept up their own Government 'till Alexander's time who subdued them intirely and the Moabites whose Empire continued for Fourteen Ages after Lot's time until the Destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar it was not easie for any fabulous Relations in this matter to obtain Authority The Book of Ruth seems not to have any thing considerable but the Conversion of Ruth a Moabitess who rely'd upon the hopes of the House of Juda out of which she had marry'd her Husband But we may take notice of three things besides 1. Of the exact Practise of that Law which obliged them to marry the Widow of a Relation who dy'd without Issue 2. Of their lively remembrance of the Deeds of their Ancestors as of Juda's Incest with Thamar which was look'd upon however as a fountain and a pattern of Blessings 3. Of the Lineage of David whom this Author represents as deriving his Pedigree from a Moabitess which not making much for the Honour of a King of Israel do's at the same time confirm the Truth of the Relations which are contained in that Book The First Book of Samuel contains the History of Eli's and Samuel's Judicatures of the change of the Government from a Commonwealth to a Monarchy under Saul of David's Anoynting Saul's Rejection and Death The Second contains the History of David his Victories his design of building a Temple a design which God left to Solomon to execute his Wars with the Ammonites his Crime with Bathshebah his Son Absalom's Insurrection against him and his great Successes against his Enemies There is nothing in these two Books which has not an exact Connexion with what went before and what follows One see 's throughout an exact Relation to the Law of Moses One see 's throughout Monuments set up in several Places to preserve the memory of particular Actions One see 's also in the Wars of the Israelites with their Neighbours a constant Series of those old Differences which were the Fruits of the Jealousie of these Nations against the Children of Israel The Books of the Kings which the Jews reckon but as one Book contain an Abridgment of Solomon's Establishment in the Place of David of the Glory of his Empire which was carried by David to the Banks of Eüphrates according to the ancient Prophecyes of his Marriage with the King of Egypt's Daughter of the Building of the Temple and his own Palace with the help of Hiram King of Tyre One see 's the manner of the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon of his Alliances with the Moabites the Ammonites the Edomites the Zidonians and the Hittites thinking by these Marriages to have put an end to the old Quarrels between his People and these Nations who were jealous of the People of Israel All this was done in the Forty years of Solomon's Reign and as there never was so famous a Reign in Judea so never was there any of which there are left so many Monuments as well there as in the Neighbouring Countreys One see 's afterwards in the same Book the Division of Solomon's Empire into two Governments that of Juda which continued from Solomon's Death during the Reign of Eighteen Successors for Three hundred eighty six years to the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchaanezzar and that of Israel form'd by Jeroboam which lasted Two hundred fifty four years under the Reign of Nineteen Successors until the taking of Samaria the Capital City of the Kingdom of Israel The History of the Chronicles which was written about Twenty six years after that of the Kings carries
Doctrines with which Christ upbraids the Pharisees and Saduces but this corruption respected rather their Morals than the Externals of their Religion as appears plainly from hence that Jesus Christ upbraids the Pharisees with their tithing Mint and Cummin that is with their observance of outward Niceties whilst they neglected the very Essentials of Piety They held that Heathens could not pass for their Neighbours from whence it would follow that God did not forbid them to bear false witness against a Heathen Hence also they concluded that it was lawful for them to kill their Enemies and this fomented their hatred and animosity against all other Nations It was on this account that the Disciples of Jesus Christ marvelled that he talked with a Samaritan Woman Their Decisions concerning Adultery were no less corrupt which they declared to be no sin so long as it did not proceed to the outward Act which Opinion of theirs was more gross than that of many Heathens who had a truer Idea of the Purity of Heart which God requires of us as well as that of the Body But yet this did not altogether destroy their Religion tho' it obscured the Excellency and Sublimity thereof As for the Saduces besides that their Errours were only speculative amongst the greatest part of them it is certain that what the Gospel saith of their denying the Existence of Souls and Spirits and the Doctrine of the Resurrection must be understood with some qualification as the Learned have solidly proved and amongst others Dr. Lightfoot on the Gospels And without repeating those things which seeur'd the preservation of their State and which also visibly tended to the preserving of their Religion I shall only observe That the Jews at this day with very little difference are found in the same practices and opinions as to their Religion which they had at the time of our Saviour Seeing then that after so long a time of Sixteen hundred years we find no greater change in their Belief though their Traditions are considerably encreased the Rules whereof they have infinitely multiplyed and thereby encreased this Corruption how can it be imagin'd that the Religion of the Jews was wholly lost or had no being at the time of our Saviour Jesus Christ Let this therefore be established as a certain Truth That the Common-wealth of the Jews subsisting entirely it was easie to know whether the distinctions which were necessary to discover and make known the Messiah were still found in the state of the Jews and their Religion This is that I am now going to make out CHAP. IV. That all the Distinctions necessary for discovering of the Messiah still continued in the State of the Jews at the time of our Lord. I Do not know whether any man can deny that Circumcision which is one of the principal Marks of the Jews was practised at that time if any one should dare to dispute this Truth we need only to represent to him that the main Dispute between the first Disciples of Jesus Christ and the Jews was about the Observation of this Ceremony Neither were the Jews only obstinate in this Belief but we find also that those who first embraced the Christian Religion maintained that the Heathens themselves ought to submit to the Yoke of Circumcision before they could enter into the Divine Covenant and enjoy the Priviledges of Gods People whom Circumcision distinguished from the rest of the World. One see 's that tho' God scattered the Ten Tribes yet some of them still remained in Palestine and were distinctly known as such This appears from the Acts of the Apostles where mention is made of a Widow of the Tribe of Asher and S. Paul boasts of his being a Benjamite They upbraided Herod notwithstanding he was their King with his being an Edomite and not originally a Jew One see 's that about Tyre and Sidon there remained still a distinct knowledge of the Canaanites It is known that Galilee was less esteemed than Judea because many of the Gentiles were settled there by which means the Jews of that Province were obliged to some Commerce with them from which those who lived more distinct thought that they had a right to undervalue those that were settled in Galilee One may also boldly assert That all places were still distinctly known to what Tribe they did belong Thus it is observed that Capernaum was in the Borders of Naphthali and Zebulun that Bethlehem was in the Tribe of Juda which is related as a thing publickly known It is known that the Priests still possess the Cities which Joshua had assigned to them Zacharias the Father of John the Baptist dwelt at Hebron Josh XXI 10 11. a City belonging to the Priests in the Tribe of Juda. One see 's that even the Samaritan Woman had a distinct knowledge of some famous places in the Holy Land as Jacob's Well and the Possession which he gave to his Son Joseph and that those of her Religion took a Prejudice against the Jews because Jacob had built an Altar at Sichem One see 's that they kept up the Practise of Redeeming their First-born which at this day is still observed by the Jews As also the practise of Polygamy which was so common amongst them that S. Paul thought himself obliged to forbid the same to the Pastors of the Christian Church that he might abolish it by little and little amongst those that embraced the Doctrine of Jesus Christ One see 's from the Nineteenth of S. Matthew that Divorces were publickly practised amongst them as they are to this day If one makes any Reflexion upon the Objection the Sadduces made to our Saviour concerning the Woman that successively had seven Brothers for her Husbands we shall perceive that the desire of Posterity being predominant amongst them was the cause of the continuance of this Custom which began in the time of the Patriarch Judah We have elsewhere taken notice of the extream carefulness of the Jews in preserving the marks of their Daughters Virginity which has constantly continued down since the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ The Gospel which informs us that the Jews were deprived of the power of the Sword doth notwithstanding sufficiently signifie to us not only the extream horrour which the Jews had conceived against Adultery thus we find Jesus Christ upbraiding the Pharisees that Adulterers that is the greatest of sinners entred into the Kingdom of Heaven before them but also that the Laws against Adulterers and Adulteresses were severely executed In short one see 's that by a Judgment of Zeal as they call it they brought a Woman to our Saviour which was taken in Adultery before they went about to stone her for one ought to know that the Law only subjected young Women who were defiled after a Contract to that sort of Punishment because after they were once contracted they were reputed the Wives of those to whom they were betrothed and such an one was she of whom we read
delivered one that was possessed in the Synagogue at Capernaum he healed S. Peter's Mother in Law he caused a vast number of Fish to be caught he cured a Leper with a word and with a touch he healed one sick of the Palsey he cured a Woman of an inveterate Issue of Blood and raised the Daughter of a Ruler of the Synagogue from the Dead he cured the impotent Man at the Pool of Bethesda he cured him that had a wither'd hand he deliver'd a possessed person that was blind and dumb he recover'd the Centurion's Servant and rais'd to life the Son of the Widow of Naim Neither are these that follow any less considerable he restores sight to two blind men he casts forth a dumb Devil he asswages a Tempest by his word he delivers two possessed persons and permits the Devil to go into the Herd of Swine of the Gadarenes he feeds above Five thousand persons with two Loaves and five Fishes he walks upon the Sea and calmeth a second Tempest he casts forth a Devil from a Daughter of a Woman of a Canaan who was possessed he cures one deaf and dumb he feeds Four thousand persons with seven Loaves he restores sight to a blind man of Bethsaida he casts out a Devil after his Disciples had in vain attempted it he restores sight to one born blind he cured a crooked woman he cures one of the Dropsie on the Sabbath day he raises Lazarus from the Grave after he had been dead four days he heals ten Lepers afterwards he restores sight to a blind man at his entring into Jericho and cures the lame and blind in the Temple it self There are several Characters which assure us of the faithfulness of the Evangelists in these their Relations 1. They wrote these things to convert the Jews before the destruction of Jerusalem 2. They markt the Circumstances very exactly and none could be ignorant of them since they all went thrice a year up to Jerusalem 3. The Facts which they relate were lasting and such as might be examined 4. They speak of Facts which they suppose that Jesus Christ was willing should be beyond all contest that they might be the better examined 5. They speak of those Facts which they maintain to be the accomplishment of the Oracles concerning the Messiah whom the Jews expected But there are not fewer Characters of Truth in the Miracles of our Saviour to buoy them up The first is That most of the Diseases which Jesus Christ cured are described as absolutely incurable this Observation is of great moment as well to discover to us the infinite power exerted by Jesus Christ as to make known the extaordinary wisdom of the Apostles who being men without learning did notwithstanding set down the symptomes of the Diseases which their Master cured far beyond what might be expected from their Natural Capacities The second Reflexion belongs to the Subjects upon whom these Miracles were wrought for we scarce find any of them except his curing S. Peter's Mother in Law to be wrought upon persons who had least relation to Jesus Christ He heals the Servant of the High Priest the Son of the Ruler of a Synagogue the Son of a Roman Centurion and several others A third Reflexion may be drawn from the places where they were done and from the witnesses that were present In short They were wrought in publick places in the midst of Cities and Synagogues some in Judea some in Galilee some at Jerusalem at Naim Sidon c. they were submitted to the examination of the most implacable Enemies of Jesus Christ the People of the Jews the Samaritans and the Gentiles who dwelt in Palestina One may add also That these Miracles were of very different kinds wrought in several places and with very considerable Circumstances at the most solemn Feasts the Passover and Pentecost One ought to consider also That Palestine was full of those whom our Saviour had cured and that all the Jews who came up three times in a year to Jerusalem could not but take notice of them One ought afterwards to observe That Jesus Christ communicated to his Disciples the power of working Miracles in the second year of his Ministry which none else had ever done before And lastly it must be observed That these Miracles were lasting The three dead men whom our Saviour raised to life again were very young and who in all probability lived longer than decrepit old men were in the sight of all Judea and other sick and infirm persons that he had healed enjoyed life and health 2. In short the Relation of Christ's Miracles which Pilate sent to Tiberius sufficiently testifies that they were Facts generally known And 3. That the certainty of them could so little be contested that the Jews rather chose to accuse him of doing them by some Magical secret than to dispute the truth of them These Reflexions sufficiently confirm the truth of the Evangelists relation and of the Miracles of Jesus Christ To agree to what has been said we need not refute the folly of those who have compared the Miracles falsly attributed to Apollonius Tyanaeus with those of Jesus Christ One hardly knows at this day whether ever there was such a man as Apollonius whereas ever since the Apostles there have been Christians who have read the History of the Miracles of Jesus Christ and who have believed them after a due examination Which of Apollonius's his Disciples was ever so bold as to say to Heathens as Tertullian did in the second Century in his Apologetick Bring to us what possessed persons you please and we will heal them in the Name of Jesus Christ But we ought also to add one thing more That these Miracles of Jesus Christ were exactly such as ought to have been made to prove him to be the Messiah 1. They were exactly such as Isaiah had foretold concerning the Messiah Chap. XXXV as may be seen by comparing them with the Text. One ought only to observe That this Character is so peculiar that it distinguishes the Messiah from all the other Prophets who went before him for none of those to whom God had given power to work Miracles had either given sight to the blind or power to the lame to walk 2. They perfectly came up to the end of his Ministry as he was the Messiah For it was his design to assure his Disciples of the immortality which he promised to them and these Cures and these Resurrections which were wrought only by his word were sufficient to convince them as well of the Soveraign power he had to execute his Promises as of his goodness which was necessary to confirm the Faith of his Followers 3. Some of his Miracles were such as evinced his likeness to Moses he changes Water into Wine at Cana he feeds many thousands in the Desert he walks on the Water and makes one of his Disciples to walk with him as Moses changed the Waters to Blood and had caused
who declared himself to be the Messiah were so indeed so it is absolutely impossible to examine it or know it since the destruction of that Model if we suppose that God at first framed it for the determining of this question as we have no reason to doubt it The second is That the Christians exactly followed this Divine Model and being convinced of the truth of the Facts which exactly corresponded with it and which answered it in all its parts they had all the Reason imaginable to believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah In short if we consider it well we shall find that the whole Christian Religion is nothing but a question of Fact between the Jews and Christians But such a question as the Jews at present are not in a condition to maintain against the Christians Both Jews and Christians agree in the Characters of the Messiah or at least about the most of them According to these Characters the Messiah ought to be come The Christians maintain that they may be found in Jesus Christ and they prove it by matter of Fact wherefore we must conclude That either these Characters attributed to the Messiah are not proper Characters to know him by and so the Wisdom of God will be eluded and both Jews and Christians equally deceived in taking that for a Character of the Messiah which is not or else that both the Messiah is certainly come and and that He is no other than that Jesus whom we worship CHAP. XXI That the greatness of the Mysteries of the Christian Religion and the Division which is amongst Christians cannot be any prejudice to the proofs of the truth of the Christian Religion I Come now to examine the double stumbling Block which the Jews pretend against the Christian Religion This Religion say they propounds Doctrines that are inconceivable and contrary to Reason For instance that of the Trinity that of the Incarnation and the Divinity of the Messiah These are the Doctrines which the Jews reject as absolutely incompatible with the Books of the Old Testament which we have received from their hands But it is an easie matter to answer this Objection 1. It is founded upon a total forgetfulness of the solidity of those proofs of Fact which I have alledged Jesus Christ is risen from the dead this is a Fact confirmed by several Witnesses It appears from Tacitus that Jesus Christ suffered death under Tiberius Pontius Pilate being Governour of Judea It is known that Claudius banished the Christians from Rome in the Year of our Lord 54. It is evident from Tacitus in his Life of Nero that he accused the Christians of burning the City of Rome which himself was the Author of the Christians therefore made a considerable Body in the Capital City of the Empire and this happened in the year of our Lord 64. Suetonius says the same thing 2. It appears that Pliny in Trajan's time takes notice of the manner of their Meetings 3. Dion Cassius sets down the Accusation brought in against Flavius and Domitilla as against Atheists which is the Title Julian the Apostate gives to Constantine because the Christians rejected the worship of the Heathen Gods. 4. It appears by the latter end of the Acts of the Apostles that this Book was writ in the Year of our Lord 63 and yet this Book supposes the Gospel of S. Luke to have been written before it and S. Luke's Gospel takes it for granted that some of the other Gospels were already published 5. It appears from the Writings of Clemens Romanus that the Epistle to the Hebrews was then written and the same may be gathered from the Books of S. Ignatius Polycarp and S. Justin. These Facts which are certain are sufficient to prove that immediately after the death of Jesus Christ his Apostles and their Disciples as Eye witnesses maintained the truth of his Resurrection After this it may indeed be disputed by what Power he was raised whether by a Divine Power or by his own but it is ridiculous to dispute the Fact by reasonings drawn from pretened Absurdities which one may think to find in the Doctrines of the Gospel Secondly These Mysteries as for instance that of the Trinity relates to the Divine Nature which is incomprehensible so that it is no strange thing if an Idea of it be proposed to us which not being distinctly known by us may raise Difficulties and Perplexities in our Minds If I would discourse with one born blind of the Sun of its Light and Heat and should attribute to the Sun the Production of Light and afterwards of Heat he would find an infinite trouble not to imagine three Suns It is known how the Philosophers who agreed about the Unity of the Soul have notwithstanding been obliged to attribute several Faculties to it which the common People look upon as very different things and which seem to oppose the Idea's of its Unity and Simplicity In the third place The Christians prove very solidly that these Mysteries have been clearly proposed by the Apostles who received their light from Heaven as to these Truths and so might necessarily be believed upon their word for the same reason that the Prophets of the Old Testament were formerly believed Moreover they assert that these Doctrines were first expressed tho' not so clearly in the Old Testament which is in the hands of the Jews the mortal Enemies of Christians I add to these Remarks that most of those Facts whose truth is so invincibly established suppose these Doctrines and that the whole frame of the Religion doth so necessarily require them that we rob it of a considerable part of its Glory in questioning or contesting any of them These Reflexions may suffice in general to resolve this difficulty of the Jews and for a more particular Satisfaction we refer the Reader to those Books which purposely treat of these Mysteries desiring him to observe carefully that commonly the most difficult Objections of Hereticks against these matters do rather oppose the terms which are made use of or the notions which men follow in speaking of these truths than the Propositions contained in the Writings of the New Testament At least one may be assured that the Jews are constrained to resolve several parallel Objections to which one can scarcely give a satisfactory Answer without borrowing some Distinctions and Notions from the Christians Neither can the second Objection of the Jews give us any more disturbance It is true that there have been Divisions amongst Christians and are still to this day What can we conclude thence Can we reasonably conclude that therefore the first Founders of Christianity were doubtful concerning the truth of those Facts which are the support and foundation of it On the contrary upon an attentive Observation one may find 1. That Heresies have only served to render the truth of these Facts more incontestable by obliging those that had consider'd of them to examine their certainty with more care and application This is the Judgment one ought to make upon all those Heresies in the second Age about the truth of the Flesh of Jesus Christ or about the truth of his Death From thence men took occasion to take notice of and collect with great care all the Circumstances that prove the truth of both these Facts 2. We find that the greatest part of these Contests do not concern the truth of the Facts but the several Consequences drawn from them the truth of those Matters continuing still beyond dispute This we find in the Dispute raised about the Millennium the truth of the Promises of Jesus Christ being equally believed by both the disputing Parties but differently understood according to the temper of those that consider'd of them some forming gross and sensual Conceptions concerning them others having a more spiritual relish which they had acquired by studying the Prophecies and their true sense 3. We find that this Division which hath sprung up amongst Christians is one of the most solid proofs of the truth of the Books of the New Testament If some Fools have endeavoured to decry some of them or to falsifie some particular places we see that both Parties unite to repel that violence by producing their Copies and beating back the Impostors with their united strength One see 's that Tertullian tho' a Montanist writ Prescriptions against Hereticks and Epiphanius takes notice without any respect to some that were Orthodox of their Crime in blotting out of their Copies that Christ had wept It is known that the Division of the Jews into Karaites and Thalmudists the Jealousie between the Jews and Samaritans and the Division between the Jews and Christians is a means of preserving the Scripture and hindering its Corruption each Party being very vigilant to hinder their Adversaries from attempting any thing to its prejudice in corrupting a Book which they consider as common to them all I might observe many other advantages which accrew to the Truth from these Human Failings but I will only instance in one which has always seem'd to me very considerable and that is That these Hereticks distinctly prove the truth of the Predictions of our Saviour An impious person would have reason to accuse our Oracles as false if there had never been any Heresies But Truth triumphs in seeing so great a multitude of them who the more they encrease the more she see 's her self confirm'd and established This is the Reason induced God to permit so great an increase in the first Ages when the Truth meeting with the greatest Opposition by Persecutions stood in the greatest need of sensible Characters by which it might be known I conclude this Work with desiring my Reader to consider these Reflexions upon the Holy Scripture here propounded with a serious attention and to examine the Coherence and Indissoluble Connexion of them and with prayer to God that it may please him to make them serviceable to advance the Glory of his Name which is the only end I have proposed to my self in the writing of them FINIS