having themselves seen them or taken them out of good Records we may be consident that for the main of the History they tell us nothing that is not exactly true These Qualifications alone are sufficient to oblige us to give Credit to them An Historian that is honest and well inform'd of that which he relates is worthy of Credit And if you add thereto that he has also suffer'd Death in maintaining the Truth of his History as the Apostles did who were put to death for maintaining that they had seen and heard that which the Gospel tells us of Jesus Christ then not only that History will be worthy of Credit but they who shall refuse to believe it can pass for no other than Fools or obstinate Persons In this manner we may be fully assur'd of the Truth of the History of the New Testament that is to say That there was a Jesus who did divers Miracles who was rais'd from the Dead ascended up into Heaven and who taught the Doctrine which we find in the Gospels And this Jesus having born witness to the History of the Jews we cannot doubt its truth at least as to the principal Matters This can not be call'd in question without absolutely renouncing Christianity But People believe commonly two things which seem to me groundless unless they ground them upon Jewish Tradition a Principle as is well known extreamly uncertain They believe first that the sacred Historians were inspir'd with the Things themselves And next that they were inspir'd also with the Terms in which they have express'd them In a word that the holy History was dictated word for word by the holy Spirit and that the Authors whose Names it bears were no other than Secretaries of that Spirit who writ exactly as it dictated As to what concerns the Inspiration of Historical Matters of Fact I observe First That they suppose it without bringing any positive Proof and that consequently a Man may with good reason reject their Supposition They say only that if it were not so we could not be perfectly certain of the truth of the History But beside that a Consequence cannot undeniably prove a Fact and that it may happen that one cannot disprove a Consequence although that which is pretended to be prov'd thereby be not true I affirm that it is false that we cannot be perfectly certain of the main substance of a History unless we suppose it inspir'd We are for Example perfectly certain that Iulius Caesar was kill'd in the Senate by a Conspiracy whereof Brutus and Cassius were the Chiefs without believing that they who have inform'd us hereof were inspir'd There are such like matters in the Histories of all Nations which we cannot doubt of without being guilty of Folly and Opiniatrety and yet without supposing that these Histories were writ by Divine Inspiration In the second place this Opinion supposes without necessity a Miracle of which the Scripture it self says nothing To relate faithfully a matter of Fact which a Man has seen and well observed requires no Inspiration The Apostles had no need of Inspiration to tell what they had seen and what they had heard Christ say There needs nothing for that but Memory and Honesty Neither had those Authors who writ only the things that came to pass before their time as the Author of the Books of Chronicles any more need of Inspiration for copying of good Records And as for those who made the Records there was no more requisite than that they should be well inform'd of what they set down either by their Eyes or by their Ears or by faithful Witnesses It will be said perhaps that according to this Opinion the Faith which we build upon the Scripture will be no other than a Faith purely human because it will be grounded only upon Human Testimonies To this I answer That neither do we know any more than by a Human Faith that the Book which we call the Gospel of St. Matthew is truly his It is nothing but the uniform Consent of Christians since the beginning of Christianity to this day that makes us believe it which in truth is no more than a Testimony purely Human. We do not believe it because we are assur'd of it by an Oracle from Heaven which has told us that this Book is truly that Apostle's but on the same account that we believe that the Eneid is truly Virgil's and the Iliad Homer's But that which they here call Human Faith is of as great certainty as the Demonstrations of Geometry And even Divine Faith it self as they call it is built upon this Certainty For in truth we do not believe in Jesus Christ but because we are perswaded that the History we have of him is true And how do we know that this History is true Because Eye-witnesses have written it and have suffer'd Death to maintain the truth of their Testimonies And how are we certain that these were Eye-witnesses and that they suffer'd Death rather than deny what they said By History that is to say by the Testimony of Men who affirm it to us constantly from the time of the Establishment of the Christian Religion to the Age we live in So that Human Faith is found to be the ground of Divine Faith But we need not fear that this Foundation is not solid enough For without ceasing to be a Man and reasoning no more than a Brute it cannot be disputed as has been made appear by many Learned Men who have written of the Truth of Christian Religion In the third place The common Opinion is contrary to the Testimony even of the Sacred Writers St. Luke begins his Gospel after this manner For asmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in Order a Declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us even as they delivered them unto us who from the beginning were Eye-witnesses and Ministers of the Word It seemed good to me also having had perfect Vnderstanding of all things from the very first to write unto thee in order most excellent Theophilus that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed You may observe in these words a Confirmation of what I have been saying and a full Proof that St. Luke learn'd not that which he told us by Inspiration but by Information from those who knew it exactly Now if you allow St. Luke to have so faithfully related to us the Life and Discourses of Jesus without having been particularly inspir'd that we ought to receive what he tells us with an entire belief in his Fidelity you ought not to make any difficulty to grant the same concerning the other Historians of the Scripture If any of them ought to be inspir'd certainly they were the Evangelists And if you will have another Example of a Histoory written without Inspiration you have but to read the Books of Kings and of the Chronicles being Extracts out of publick Registers and out
Judgment not to answer at all than to answer ill and to seek only to defame an Author whom one cannot confute I should be the more troubled to see that done by how much I understand that the Author is a very pious Man and one who assuredly believes not the evil Consequences which some Men too ready to judg of their Neighbours may draw from his Notions I fear that he you speak of would content himself in gathering together a great number of those odious Consequences and would think that he had thereby sufficiently refuted the Opinion without considering that tho a Man cannot disingage a Doctrine from the absurd Consequences that by some may be link'd to it it does not therefore follow that the Doctrine is false It should first be made appear that the Arguments brought for an Opinion are not solid and after that one may come to the Consequences Otherwise while the Arguments that prove an Opinion subsist in full force all the Consequences that may be deriv'd from it cannot overthrow it Nevertheless if you believe him capable to acquit himself of this undertaking you may perswade him to it when you think fit But put him in Mind at the same time that it is the part of an honest Man and of one that would bestow his Pains to some good purpose to do it with all the Moderation and Meekness imaginable St. Ierom commends Nepotien That he used to hear willingly answer modestly allow Truth not sharply confute Error and teach rather than conquer whom he disputed with And it were to be wished that our Divines now adays would make it their business to deserve so good an Elogy whereas it seems that they strive only to attain to the Name of great Railers and value not Peoples having an ill Opinion of their Manners provided that they pass for Men of Parts I speak not this as if I suspected that Mr. resembles one of those Divines I find fault with but because I believe a Man cannot be too much caution'd against so general a Defect But these Moralities would carry me too far if I should give my self the liberty to pursue them It is better that I keep my word with you and give you the following part of that Writing And here it is Let us now examine that Passage of St. Iohn When the Spirit of Truth shall come he will lead you into all Truth Interpreters observe that we must not understand by All Truths any others than those which the Apostles were ignorant of and which it was needful for them to know that they might be able to acquit themselves as they ought to do of their Charge They receiv'd not the holy Spirit to learn for Example that there was a God nor to be instructed in the Mathematicks They knew already this first Truth and of the other they had no need The generality of Interpreters believe that these words denote a perpetual Assistance of the holy Spirit that made the Apostles absolutely infallible To know whether they are in the right or no we must examine the Accomplishment of the Promise and if it appear that it agrees not with this Explanation of our Saviour's words we must seek another sense and try to discover wherein the Infallibility of the Apostles consists We find a Story Acts xv whereby it appears manifestly that the Apostles did not pass in their own time for persons whose every word was an Oracle as they are now reputed to have done Some Jews converted to the Christian Religion not being able to shake off their ancient Opinion concerning Ceremonies would have had the Gentiles circumcis'd St. Paul and St. Barnabas were against this but their Authority was not sufficient to put to silence the Judaizing Christians Altho St. Paul was as much an Apostle as those whom our Lord had chosen while he was on Earth yet they would not believe him The Church at Ierusalem must be consulted Further also the Apostles and Elders of the Church being assembl'd to examine and determine this Affair dispute a great while before they agree upon it and it was not till after they had heard St. Peter St. Paul St. Barnahas and St. Iames that the Assembly came to a Resolution If they had been fill'd with the Spirit of Infallibility such as is conceiv'd now adays they would have been all at first of one Mind and there would have needed no more to be done but to charge one of them to give out the Oracle in the Name of the whole Assembly There happen'd likewise before that another thing related by St. Luke Acts x. which makes it also very evident that the Holy Ghost which the Apostles receiv'd the day of Pentecost had not taught them all they ought to know so far was it from rendring them at first dash infallible and that they were not then consider'd as Persons out of danger of falling into Error as they have been since accounted St. Peter needed a Vision as appears by the Story of Cornelius the Centurion to learn that he ought not to scruple preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles although Christ had order'd his Apostles before his ascending into Heaven to preach the Gospel unto all Creatures whereby he clearly enough denoted the Gentiles as well as the Iews St. Peter after having obey'd the express Order which he receiv'd from God to preach the Gospel to Cornelius was no sooner returned to Ierusalem but the faithful Ones of the Circumcision not dreaming that his Apostleship render'd him infallible dispute with him and tell him after a manner that shows that the Infallibility which we now attribute to him was to them unknown Thou wentest unto Men uncircumcis'd and didst eat with them Many Years as it seems after that Peter being at Antioch had not the Courage to maintain openly that the Jews might eat with the Gentiles without scruple For before that certain Persons came from James he did eat with the Gentiles but when they were come he withdrew and separated himself fearing them which were of the Circumcision And the other Iews dissembled likewise with him insomuch that St. Paul observing that they walked not uprightly was obliged to tell Peter before them all If thou being a Iew livest after the manner of Gentiles and not as do the Iews why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Iews It is said that St. Peter was guilty of a fault only in his Conduct and not in his Doctrine that he believ'd and maintain'd the same with St. Paul but that on this occasion he dissembled his Opinion and that he did not otherways constrain the Gentiles to live as the Iews but in abstaining to eat with them The Gentiles say they seeing that St. Peter did not eat with them because they were uncircumcis'd did by reason of this his Conduct believe themselves oblig'd to be circumcis'd and consequently to observe the other Ceremonies of the Law They believ'd that it was a Sin to
been pure Inspirations and which ought to make the Speakers attended unto as if they were the simple Interpreters of the Holy Spirit The Spirit says St. Paul 1 Cor. VII 8. gives to one the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledg It seems as if he meant thereby the Gift of prophesying that is to say of instructing others in Piety of which he says many things in the XIVth Chapter of the same Epistle This seems contrary to what I have been saying concerning the Inspiration of the Apostles and I confess I cannot see how according to my Notion this difficulty can be clearly solv'd I might say that this Gift of Prophecy was perhaps no other than a Disposition of Mind which God infus'd sometimes into those on whom he bestow'd it by which they became fit to instruct although he inspir'd them not extraordinarily with that which they were to say which is so much the more likely by how much this Gift was preserv'd and increas'd by Study and Reading as appears by those words of St. Paul to Timothy First Epist. Chap. IV. 13 c. Vntil I come give thy self to Reading to Exhortation to Instruction Neglect not the Grace which is in thee which was given thee by Prophecy through the Imposition of the Presbytery Meditate on these things be always imployed to the end they Improvement may be known of all Men. Now it is plain that the Gifts which are owing to an actual and immediate Inspiration of the holy Spirit such as curing Diseases c. could not be increas'd by Application of Mind as not depending upon Man in any sort The most assiduous Study cannot contribute any thing to prophetick or immediate Revelations This Conjecture seems probable enough And indeed I see no other way of explaining what St. Paul says to Timothy But without determining any thing concerning the Gift of Prophecy it appears plainly by what St. Paul says 1 Cor. XIV that it consisted not in an immediate Revelation of the holy Spirit that forced the Prophets to speak He there gives them this Advice Let the Prophets speak two or three and let another judg but if any thing be revealed to one of those that sits by let the first hold his Peace for ye may all prophesy one by one to the end that all may learn and all may be comforted And the Spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets The Prophets whom the holy Spirit had inspir'd immediately with what they ought to say had no need of this Advice Nay it had even been ridiculous Because the holy Spirit inspiring them with what they had to say would have inspired them likewise as to the occasion and the place and would not have put many Persons on speaking at one time in the same place nor so as to interrupt others who spake by his Inspiration Moreover St. Paul would have the Prophets judg one another and that the Spirits of the Prophets be subject to the Prophets which cannot be understood of Prophets immediately inspir'd who are subject to none but God and who are to give account to none but him The Prophets of the Old Testament spoke as long as God inspir'd them after which they held their Peace without needing any Advertisement because they easily perceiv'd when the Inspiration ceas'd It seems to me that we may now conclude that there never was any body but our Saviour who had a constant and perpetual Inspiration and all whose words we ought to receive as Oracles As he alone amongst Men was incapable of sinning so it was he alone whom God indow'd with an absolute Infallibility The same Light which perpetually inlighten'd his Mind regulated also the Motions of his Affections otherwise it would be difficult to conceive how he could chuse but be subject to Error if he had been subject to Sin There is so great a Correspondence between the Mind and the Affections that it is not almost possible there should be any Irregularity in the one without a disorder in the other But that you may not believe I am the first Author of this Opinion and that it is a desire to appear singular or an Affectation of Novelty that has ingag'd me in this Notion I must also let you see that some great Men have been of the same Mind before me St. Ierom makes this Observation upon the fifth Chapter of the Prophet Micah in speaking of this Passage And thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Judah c. which St. Matthew cites otherwise than it is either in the Hebrew or Septuagint There are says he that affirm there is the like Error in almost all the Testimonies that are taken out of the Old Testament that either the Order is chang'd or the Words and that sometimes the Sense it self differs the Apostles or Evangelists not transcribing the Testimonies out of the Book but trusting to their Memory which sometimes fail'd them It is true St. Ierom says not that he approves this Opinion but he makes it appear elsewhere that he is not very far from it In his Letter to Pammachius de optimo genere interpretandi of the best way of interpreting He gathers together many Examples of the New Testament by which he shews that the Apostles tie themselves more to the Sense than to the Words and maintains with good reason that we should not play the Criticks on them for it nor even for the places where they have mistaken Names After having compar'd the Quotation Matth. XXVII 9. with the Original he adds One may accuse the Apostle of falsity in that he agrees neither with the Hebrew nor with the Septuagint and which is more that he is mistaken in the Name putting Jeremy for Zachary He seems indeed elsewhere to disapprove that Opinion but it is usual with him to accommodate himself to the common Opinion and yet not omit to give his own without being concern'd whether he contradicted himself or no. When he speaks as others do you must not conclude presently that he is of the same Opinion with them because it may be he speaks so by way of Condescension whereas when he says the contrary it seems rather that he speaks his own Thoughts You need but read what he says of the Dissimulation which he attributes to St. Peter and St. Paul in his Commentary upon the second Chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians and in his Answer to St. Austin to see that he believ'd that St. Paul by a Prudence purely human which he calls a Dispensation made shew of believing that St. Peter was in the wrong insomuch that when St. Paul says that St. Peter was to be reprov'd because he walked not uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel It was not that he believ'd so but only to hinder the converted Gentiles from imitating that Apostle I say not that St. Ierom was herein in the right but at least it hereby appears that
Piety they say that the Controversy about them is not considerable Now if there be no danger in believing Expressions to be divine that have nothing in them but human when the Doctrines therein contain'd are not contrary to the reveal'd Truth What danger can there be in believing that any Truths which we acknowledg to be Divine are express'd in Terms not divinely inspir'd The same reason that makes us believe there is no danger in the one perswades us also there is none in the other It is because we are not sav'd by the Words but by the Things The other thing observable is that we receive amongst the Canonical Books of the New Testament Writings whose Authors are not well known which we could not do if we thought it necessary in receiving a Book as Canonical to be assur'd that every Word was inspir'd since to be assur'd thereof we sought to have evident Proofs that it was a Man inspir'd by God who was the Author of that Book For Example it is not known who writ the Epistle to the Hebrews whether it were an Apostle or some Disciple of the Apostles so that we cannot know whether the words of that Epistle were inspir'd or not But for all that it is receiv'd because it is certain it was written in the Apostles time and because it contains nothing that is not perfectly conformable to their Doctrine Thus it is generally thought of little importance whether the words be divinely inspir'd or no provided the things they express be true So that one may say that in truth Divines are generally very favourable to the Opinion I maintain although themselves are not aware of it I do not think it necessary to insist much in proving that God has not always dictated to the Apostles the very words that they used since it is evident that he did not always dictate to them the things Not that I make any doubt but he has often reveal'd to them the things and even inspir'd them with the very words as in the Prophecies where there was need to remember divers Names and when they spoke strange Languages Tho it may nevertheless be suppos'd that as to what concerns the Gift of Tongues God dispos'd at once the Brains of them that receiv'd it in such a manner that they could without trouble joyn certain Sounds to certain Ideas just as they would have done if they had been us'd to it from their Infancy and that afterwards he left them at liberty to make use of those new Languages according as they should think fit And thus those that learn'd by Inspiration the Language of the Medes for Example had their Brains dispos'd in the same manner as they would have had if they had learn'd that Language from their Infancy and could make use of it as easily as their Mother-Tongue At least it is evident that some who had receiv'd this miraculous Gift did sometimes abuse it which they would not have done if they never had spoken those Languages but by present immediate Inspiration See 1 Cor. XIV But without determining that Point I believe with Erasmus that the Apostles learn'd not the Greek they us'd by Inspiration because if it were so they would have spoke it like the Native Grecians whereas they mix'd with it a world of Hebraisms as the French that speak Latin do Gallicisms See Erasmus upon Acts X. Not that I believe neither that they had learn'd the Greek Language by the Commerce they had with the Greeks during the Functions of their Charge as Erasmus thought probable it is more likely they had learn'd it from their Infancy For St. Paul who was born in Cilicia where they spoke nothing but Greek undoubtedly had learn'd it young but he corrupted it afterwards by his long dwelling in Iudaea where besides the Greek they spake a broken Chaldee whose Dialect mixing with the Greek render'd it obscure and difficult such as is the Stile of that Apostle The others that were born in Iudaea had learn'd it also from their Infancy as it was commonly there spoken that is to say extreamly corrupted by the ancient Language of the Country which was still spoken there as appears by divers places of the New Testament This the same Erasmus has well observ'd in the places already cited When I excuse the Apostles says he in his Letter to Eckius who learn'd their Greek not out of Demosthenes his Orations but out of the Discourse of the common People I deny not their Gift of Tongues nor does it thence follow that they might not learn Greek by common Converse Assuredly they learn'd the Syriac by common Converse Why might they not in like manner learn the Greek For by means of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire Aegypt and the greater part of Syria and all the lesser Asia nay almost all the East as Jerom says spoke Greek And I cannot think that the holy Spirit made them to forget what they had formerly learn'd The Greek Language then was spoken in Iudaea together with the ancient Language which the Jews brought from Babylon that is to say the Chaldean but corrupted in process of time as the French and Flemish are spoke together now adays in Flanders And as the French they now speak in Flanders is full of the Flemish Dialect and of Terms unknown in France so the Greek of Iudaea vvas heretofore full of Chaldaisms and of barbarous ways of speaking which undoubtedly grated the Grecian's Ears The History of the Acts of the Apostles that tells us in several places that Hebrew or Chaldean was spoken in Iudaea tells us also that they us'd another Language which could be no other than Greek St. Luke observes Acts XXII that St. Paul haranguing the Jews began to speak to them in Hebrew and that when they understood him speak to them in the Hebrew Language they hearken'd to him with the greater silence which gives us to understand that he might have spoke to the People in another Language for otherwise there had been no ground to observe that they listn'd more attentively when they perceiv'd he spake Hebrew seeing that in speaking any other Language but Hebrew they could not have understood him It appears then that Greek was spoken in Iudaea and it is likely Pilat spoke Greek to our Lord and that our Lord answer'd him in the same The People only preferr'd the Language of the Country before the Greek which was not so ancient and which they had not learn'd but by force because of the Kings of Syria that tyranniz'd over them and so they spoke it not exactly It is true there were Iews that spoke Greek very purely but they were such as were born in Countries where only Greek was spoken as Philo or they had acquir'd a habit of speaking good Greek by reading or studying as Iosephus So at this day there are Walloons that speak French very well altho the generality of that People speak it extreamly ill because
we allow the Holy Scripture and what use is to be made of it according to these Principles To answer hereto I begin with the New Testament which is the principal Foundation of our Faith In the first place then Jesus Christ in whom were hidden all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledg and whom God had expresly commanded us To hear was absolutely infallible We must believe without questioning it whatever he says because he says it and because God hath testified that he speaks nothing but Truth In the second place since we have nothing writ by Christ himself we ought to believe what his Apostles have said concerning his Life and Doctrine because God has given Testimony to them by the Miracles he inabl'd them to do and because they seal'd the Truth of their Deposition with their Blood They tell us what they had seen and heard so that it was impossible they should be deceiv'd in the substance of the History and Doctrine It may be that in some Circumstance of small importance they do not relate things exactly as they happen'd and that therein they do not agree together But they all agree in the Historical Facts whereon the Faith we have in Jesus Christ is grounded his Birth of a Virgin his Miracles his Death his Resurrection and his Ascension into Heaven though there may be some difference among them in some Circumstance which is nothing to the substance of the History It is not necessary for the Foundation of our Faith as I have already observ'd that they should agree exactly in all things to the least tittle and the trouble the Learned have given themselves to reconcile these sort of Contradictions is of no use It were better to own ingenuously that there are some than to strain the sense of their Writings to make them agree one with another which instead of converting Libertins does but excite their Railery and confirms them in their Impiety As to what concerns the Doctrine of Jesus Christ there is not the least Contradiction among the Evangelists although it be express'd in different Terms and they relate it on divers occasions We must observe therefore that they relate only the Sense and keep not exactly the same order that Christ kept in preaching it so neither ought we to insist rigorously upon their Expressions as if they made use of some words rather than others to insinuate certain Niceties which are ordinarily attributed to them without any probable ground nor ought we to lay such stress upon the order they make use of in their Writings as to colour thereby certain Inferences which are not otherwise obvious in the Sense of our Saviour's words If a Man observe never so little he will find that they use every where popular Expressions that they have not aim'd at any Elegancy in their Stile and that they have been very far from speaking with such Exactness as Philosophers or Geometricians use in their Writings We ought not then to insist too much as commonly Men do upon the manner of their expressing the Doctrine of Christ. We should only indeavour to understand the Genius of the Language they use and to stick to the substance of things essential which are express'd in so many places and after so many ways that it is not difficult to frame to our selves an Idea thereof clear enough to instruct us perfectly in our Duty In the third place as for the Epistles of the New Testament they do not only afford us the same Considerations with those we have last mention'd in respect of their Stile but there are also two things further to be observ'd and distinguish'd in them We find there the same Doctrines we have in the Evangelists and those the Apostles assure us often they learn'd from Christ. But there are others things which the Apostles speak of their own heads or which they draw by divers Consequences from the Old Testament The first of these are to be believ'd on the same account as the Gospels that is to say because of the Authority of Jesus Christ who preach'd them to the Jews The second are to be receiv'd because they contain nothing but what is very conformable to the Doctrine of Christ or what is founded upon right Reason The Apostles will not have us believe them upon their own word They distinguish in that their Authority from the Authority of Christ. See 1 Cor. VII 10 12 25. But as they apply'd themselves cerefully to mind Doctrines tending to Edification which are few in number and never ingag'd in too nice inquiries they have told us nothing that is not conformable to the Spirit of the Gospel with which they were fill'd and which right Reason will not easily admit It is to be observ'd that having no extraordinary Inspiration for writing their Epistles they insert in them divers things that concern their Designs or their particular Affairs where we ought by no means to seek for or expect any thing mysterious Such are the Salutations found at the end of their Epistles the Order St. Paul gives Timothy to take Mark along with him in his return to bring the Cloak he had left at Troas with Carpus the Books and above all the Parchments the Counsel he gives him to drink a little Wine for his Stomachs sake and because of his Weaknesses and other such like things See St. Ierom's Preface to his Commentary upon the Epistle to Philemon In the fourth place there are divers Prophecies scatter'd in these Epistles and the Apocalipse is wholly Prophetic Now we ought to give Credit to these Revelations because it is God that imparted them immediately to the Apostles And it is easy to distinguish them from other things which the Apostles give out only as their own Conjectures of which you have some Examples in the words of Grotius which I cited concerning the Inspiration of the Pen-Men of the New Testament Thus then according to my Hypothesis the Authority of the Scripture continues in full force For you see I maintain that we are oblig'd to believe the substance of the History of the New Testament and generally all the Doctrines of Jesus Christ all that was inspir'd to the Apostles and also whatsoever they have said of themselves so far as it is conformable to our Saviour's Doctrine and to right Reason It is plain that nothing farther is necessarily to be believ'd in order to our Salvation And it seems also evident to me that those new Opinions brought into the Christian Religion since the Death of the Apostles which I have here refuted being altogether imaginary and ungrounded instead of bringing any advantage to the Christian Religion are really very prejudicial to it An Inspiration is attributed to the Apostles to which they never pretended and whereof there is not the least mark left in their Writings Hereupon it happens that very many Persons who have strength enough of Understanding to deny Assent to a thing for which there is no good proof brought
made me believe that I could not get out the Truth better than by putting to the Rack two Women Servants whom they call Diaconesses but I discover'd nothing but a strange and excessive Superstition They that understand the Latin Tongue will not wonder that Tacitus and Pliny make use of the word Superstition The Romans gave that Name to all sorts of Religious Worship that were not establish'd by public Authority Two such Witnesses as these cannot be excepted against Seeing it is evident they had no favour for Christians and were perhaps the most able Men of their time but especially if we consider that they treat of matters of Fact which they themselves had either seen or which were known by all Men as was the Death of Jesus Christ under Pontius Pilate The Writings that we have of Christians living between the times of Pilate and those of Tacitus or Trajan attest the same Truths They date the beginning of Christianity from the same Christ that Pilate put to Death and they preach to us precisely the same Morals We must then necessarily allow that there was in Iudaea during the Reign of Tiberius a Person that laid the Foundation of the Christian Religion and had many Disciples Let us now examine some of his first Disciples and see what sort of People they were Let us read the Epistle which Clement Bishop of Rome writ to the Christians of Corinth forty Years after the Death of Iesus Christ and in the beginning of the Raign of Vespasian There appears in this Epistle a Spirit of Peace of Charity of Humility and many lively and pathetical Exhortations to the Observation of the Gospel-Morals He reproves severely those that had not observ'd them but commends those that had In the beginning of that Epistle he says among other things That the Christians of Corinth had labour'd day and night for their Brethren to the end that the number of the Elect might be sav'd in applying themselves to Works of Mercy and of a good Conscience That they had been sincere without Malice and without remembring the Ill that any of them might formerly have done to one another That all Division and Schism was abhorr'd by them That they were afflicted for their Neighbour's Failings That they look'd upon his Necessities as their own That they never repented them of well-doing but were always ready to do all sorts of good Works That in their Conversation full of Vertue and worthy of Veneration they did all things in the fear of God whose Commandments were writ in their Hearts He adds afterwards That he had known may Christians who to redeem others out of Slavery had put themselves in Chains That many having sold themselves for Slaves had maintain'd others out of the price of their own Liberty The Masters of this Clement were the first Disciples of Iesus of Nazareth who was the first Teacher of Christianity and he gives Testimony of their great Piety Indeed if we read their Writings we find nothing in them but what speaks a profound Veneration of the Deity an extream Tenderness towards all Men and an extraordinary Strictness in all that concerns the Government of a Man's Self Let us chuse which we will of them we shall find nothing in their Works but what tends to Piety If some of their Writings have been question'd let us take those concerning which there never was any Question Or without looking further the Gospel according to St. Luke and the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians which are cited by Clement and we shall perceive every where the same Morals which they endeavour to implant in the Hearts of their Disciples I suppose all along that the Reader has some knowledg of the Precepts of the Gospel and has given some attention to what I said at the beginning And then I dare boldly say that unless he have lost all Sense he will acknowledg that there is nothing more reasonable that the Morals of the Gospel and that it were to be wish'd that all the World observ'd them The Apostles then in exhorting their Hearers to live after a manner so reasonable and so profitable to human Society requir'd nothing of them contrary to Reason or to the true Interests of all Mankind And this puts me in mind of the Saying of a Person that once had no great Opinion of the Truth of our Religion When the Morals which the Disciples of Jesus Christ preach'd throughout the World were thus livelily describ'd to him he could not but fall into these words which the Evidence of the thing drew from him I wish all the World had believ'd them This Doctrine of the Apostles ought undoubtedly to make all those who love human Society and their own Advantages to listen to it But it may here be objected that perhaps the Apostles preach'd not this Doctrine but in design to insinuate themselves into the Minds of the People and afterwards upon pretext of Piety to get from them whatsoever they had a mind to But to answer that Objection in the first place I observe and suppose it will be granted me that this Suspicion has no Foundation in the Doctrine which they preach'd For that condemns the love of Honours of Riches and of Pleasures There cannot so much as one single Passage of their Works be alledg'd that favours Ambition Covetousness or Concupiscence This being so this Suspicion can be grounded but upon one of these two things Either that the Apostles could hope to make some advantage of this their Doctrine when it should be receiv'd or that they actually made it when they preach'd it I understand here by Advantage A Good out-ballancing all the Inconveniences that the Apostles underwent in preaching the Gospel or at least such a one as they esteem'd in that degree It is not probable if they were Deceivers but that they propos'd an Advantage to themselves greater than the Pains they took Otherwise they might justly be look'd upon as Fools which they cannot without great Impertinence be suppos'd to have been by any that read their Writings Now the Apostles could not hope to make any Advantage of their Doctrine unless it were receiv'd by the generality of those amongst whom they preach'd it For without that they would have been expos'd to perpetual Persecution None but Fools could expect to live quietly amongst People vehemently prepossest with Opinions directly contrary to those they resolv'd to profess and teach People that believed themselves oblig'd for the Interest of the State and of Religion to take away both the Estates and Lives of those that oppos'd their Superstition Such were the Romans the Greeks and the Iews in the times of the Apostles They must then have hoped that their preaching would take such effect as would draw after them the greatest part of the World But that was impossible to be hop'd for by any that had never so little knowledg of the Disposition of the Heart of Man And the Apostles who
continue uncircumcis'd because St. Peter forbore to live familiarly with them on that account and on the contrary that it was a Duty to observe the Circumcision So that it was by his Conduct only that St. Peter forc'd them to live as Iews And indeed it is true that by efficaciously engaging one to do a thing after what manner soever it be we are said to force one to do it See Gen. xix 3. Luke xxiv 19. I believe really that this is the best Explanation But it proves clearly that the Metaphysical Infallibility which is attributed to the Apostles is not of Apostolick Tradition For in truth to dissemble a true Doctrine when they ought to preach it and to ingage People in an Error by their Conduct is visibly a human Weakness and which becomes not those who are look'd upon as the simple Instruments of the holy Spirit speaking by their Mouths St. Peter's Conduct gave the Gentiles to understand as well as if he had told it them that they must observe the Circumcision and to give them to understand it by forbearing to eat with them was almost the same thing as to tell it them by word of Mouth Nay more it is not unlikely that St. Peter believed that this Dissimulation was lawful as well as St. Barnabas and the other Iews who had followed his Example otherwise it is not credible that so pious Men who were the first Ministers of the Gospel would have done it And so we must confess that they were guilty of some weakness even in Doctrine although they recanted it soon nor was it of great importance There is also a great difference observable in the manner of Christ's speaking He that had received the Spirit without measure and that in which the Apostles express themselves whereas according to the common Opinion it ought to be the same If the same Spirit had render'd them infallible they had right to declare to the World the Doctrine of Salvation with the same Power and to speak as authoritatively as Jesus Christ. But we see the contrary in their Writings Christ spoke as one having Authority You have heard it was said of old c. But I say unto you c. The Apostles on the contrary declare that they say nothing of themselves and refer all to the Prophets and to Jesus Christ Acts xxvi 22. 1 Cor. xi 23. And that which is yet more considerable is that they distinguish manifestly that which they say themselves from that which Christ had said And unto the Married I command yet not I but the Lord c. But to the rest speak I not the Lord c. So St. Paul speaks 1 Cor. vii 10 12. which he would not have done had he been aware that his Auditors had believ'd his words as infallible as the words of Christ. Methinks these are convincing Proofs that the Apostles had not a perpetual Inspiration which might give their words an indisputable Authority I do not deny but they had many immediate Inspirations and divers Heavenly Visions as appears by the Acts by the Revelations and by divers other places of Scripture Nay I am so fully perswaded they had that I think him no good Christian who doubts of it But the Question here is concerning an uniform constant and ordinary Inspiration as it is commonly explained in the Divinity-Schools It may be you will say there are divers Arguments for this sort of Inspiration as strong as those I have brought to shew the contrary The Apostles began their Letter Acts xv after this manner It has seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us By which it appears say some that they were fill'd with the Spirit of Infallibility which dictated to them what they ought to say I desire first that those who say so reconcile this Supposition with the Dispute that was among the Apostles before they came to this Conclusion In the second place It is not likely that if the Holy Ghost had possess'd them in such a manner that they had been only simple Instruments by which He express'd his Will they should not have plac'd themselves in equal Rank with the Him but should have said simply It has appear'd good to the Holy Ghost who speaks by us What Prophet ever said it seem'd good to God and to me In the third place Suppose there be here as the Critics say a Figure by which is express'd one and the same thing by two words and that this manner of speaking amounts to no more but this It has seemed good to us who are full of the Holy Ghost The perpetual Inspiration about which I am now arguing cannot be hence concluded The Apostles and all the Church of Ierusalem were animated by the Spirit of the Gospel without being continually full of the Spirit of Prophecy If it were otherwise we should be forced to say that the whole Church of Ierusalem not only the Apostles but also the Elders of the Church and all those who were assembled were perpetually accompanied with a Spirit of Infallibility which no body ever yet said nor is it at all likely In the fourth place The Conclusion of the Letter they write seems extreamly weak for the Conclusion of a positive Law FROM WHICH YOU SHALL DO WELL TO KEEP YOUR SELVES A Prophet under the Old Testament would have said From which keep your selves for so saith the Lord whose Commandments you cannot slight without your own Destruction c. Some may also here object the Spirit of Miracles and Tongues which the Apostles received the day of Pentecost But the Effusion of that miraculous Spirit did not necessarily render all those that receiv'd it infallible in Doctrine Otherwise all the Christians of that time had been infallible The Church of Corinth had receiv'd the Holy Ghost as appears by the Epistles St. Paul directs to it and so should not have needed that Apostle's Instructions because it had a great number of infallible Persons within it self But it appears on the contrary that it needed his Instructions not only to correct its Vices but also to resolve its Doubts and even to rectify its Errors Thus then the Spirit of Miracles not being accompanied with Infallibility it connot be concluded because the Apostles receiv'd that Spirit the day of Pentecost that they became as Gods and that they were out of all danger of ever falling into the least Error But what signify then these words When the Spirit of Truth shall come he will lead you into all Truth This Spirit of Truth is it not the miraculous Spirit which the Apostles receiv'd I have already observ'd that these words cannot be understood rigorously as if the Apostles had known all Sciences I must add further that there is something extreamly figurative in them as appears by the following words For he shall not speak of himself but what soever he shall hear that he shall speak and he shall shew ye things to come He shall glorify me for he shall receive
Apostles where they do not say that God has taught them by extraordinary Revelation that which they publish And where the matter it self shows that there was no need of his doing it It does not therefore follow that those who acknowledge the Inspiration of the Prophets are obliged to acknowledg the like of all other sacred Writers because there are convincing Reasons which oblige us to believe that the Prophets speak Truth when they say Thus saith the Lord c. and no reason to believe that the Apostles were extraordinarily inspir'd when they say it not and when their Discourses have in them no mark of such like Inspiration If we reflect upon this difference between Prophecies and Discourses which have nothing of Prophetic in them we shall take heed of applying to this Subject a loose Maxim and which is good for nothing viz. That is happens most frequently that those who distinguish and divide Matters with design to make use of part and reject the other do give great advantage to their Adversaries On the contrary it scarce ever happens that in handling a compounded Subject there can be made such general Rules as may be equally apply'd to all the parts of it Parts of different nature must of necessity be differently handled Objection 11. It has been said that by the holy Spirit or the Spirit of God may be understood the Spirit of Holiness and of Constancy which the Gospel inspires or such a Disposition of Mind as is an Effect of our Faith But the general Reasons there made use of which are grounded only upon equivocal words can prove nothing but Generals They must be apply'd and particular Enquiry made whether the holy Spirit has any other Signification in Scripture or no. Mr. Simon Resp. Pag. 131. Answer When a Passage is to be answer'd wherein there is an equivocal word upon which an Objection is founded it is sufficient to show that such a word may be understood in another Sense than that in which it has been taken There is no need of examining all the other Significations that it may have It suffices to show that the Signification then given it is agreeable to the ordinary use of the Language and suitable to the Subject there treated of It was Mr. Simon 's part therefore to show that where it is said of St. Stephen on occasion of whom the Observation was made That they could not resist the Wisdom and Spirit by which he spoke I say it was his part to show that by the word Sprit any thing ought to be understood but the Spirit of the Gospel that is to say a Disposition of Mind conformable to the Precepts of Jesus Christ. He ought to have shown that this word in this place ought necessarily to be understood in another Sense But Mr. Simon seldom gives himself the trouble to read the places of Scripture that are cited as appears in the same Page where he says that St. Paul told the High Priest with a just Indignation God shall smite thee thou whited Wall and where he compares the words of St. Paul to those of Jesus Christ when he calls Herod Fox and to the Reproaches that the Prophets make to the Kings of Israel But he should have shown us in what place Jesus Christ and the Prophets confess'd they were to blame in doing so as St. Paul confesses he was God has Power to censure Princes But it belongs not to Subjects to do it when they think sit So St. Paul had no right to abuse the High Priest on his own Head though those who had receiv'd express Order from God to make such like Reproaches to Princes cannot be blam'd for it But Mr. Simon who probably never thought of all this is not aware of this difference and argues always on without understanding what he finds fault with Obiection 12. The Promise which Jesus Christ made his Apostles that the holy Spirit should teach them what they should say when they came before the Iudges seems to have been explain'd as a general Promise for all that they should say whereas it only relates to what they should say for the defence of the Gospel Luc. Chap. 12. ver 11. Answer The promise is express'd in general terms and must relate to that which the Apostles should be oblig'd to say as well for the defence of their own Persons as for that of the Gospel For it was of the greatest importance that these first Ministers of Jesus Christ should then say nothing unworthy of the Doctrine of which they were the Heraulds But if this Promise must not be taken in so large a Sense in relation to the Discourses which the Apostles should make before Judges neither ought it to be so taken in relation to their preaching of the Gospel My Design was only to shew that since the words could not be taken in the whole extent of their Signification it could not from thence be necessarily inferr'd that the Apostles had then a Prophetic Inspiration Objection 13. The Promise Iohn 16. that when the Spirit of Truth shall come it shall lead you into all Truth ought not to be understood so as if it were intirely accomplish'd the day of Pentecost but as a thing that should be accomplish'd according to the occasions and necessities that the Apostles should be in of knowing some further Truths But it seems as if Mr. N. suppos'd that this promise is ordinarily understood as if it ought to have been accomplish'd all at once Answer The reason of my insisting upon that was to make appear that this Promise though conceiv'd in so general terms ought necessarily to receive some Qualification and consequently that it ought not to be understood like an Axiom of Geometry in the utmost Signification of its Terms Now that being once granted it cannot be made appear that this Promise relates to a Prophetic Inspiration There is a Passage very like this in the first Epistle of St. Iohn Chap. 2. ver 27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any Man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is Truth and is no Lie and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him It is apparent that this cannot be understood strictly since St. Iohn speaks to all the Christians to whom he writ Objection 14. Whereas it has been affirmed that the Apostles did not agree Acts 15. till after they had disputed a great while it is not said in that Chapter That the Apostles disputed but only that When there had been much disputing Peter rose up c. Answer Two things were considered in this History The first is The Opinion that Men had of the Apostles viz. That they were not look'd upon as Persons infallible whensoever they began to speak of the Gospel since they were not believ'd just at their first speaking The second is The Conduct of the Apostles on
all those Scriptural Truths without which a Man cannot perfom his Duty as that there is a God absolutely perfect who has sent Jesus Christ into the World to draw Men from their Sins and guide them to eternal Salvation that this Jesus has been rais'd from the Dead and that he now reigns in Heaven c. All Christians agree in all this Let us suspend still our Jugdment concerning Doctrines and speak yet only of the practical Part of our Religion It cannot be deny'd but that if all Men liv'd according to the Precepts of the Gospel and that out of the hope of another Life they betook themselves with Care to adore the Creator of the Universe to live always in Temperance and Sobriety and to do constantly to their Neighbour as they desire their Neighbour should do to them It cannot be deny'd I say but this manner of living would be very agreeable and very advantagious to Human Society We should not then hear any words spoken that could cause us Trouble or that would kindle Divisions in Religion There would be no Sickness through Intemperance no Vexation nor any Quarrel occasion'd by Debauchery The doing Wrong to ones Neighbour and the suffering any Inconvenience through the Inhumanity or Malice of Men would be things unknown Men would help one another in all their Needs with all the Fervency and Earnestness that could be desir'd If by mistake any of them had been the occasion of Inconvenience to one another they would mutually pardon one another and repair that Damage by all sorts of Services The love of Honours or of Riches would trouble no Man's Mind nor cause any Envy or Discord In a word the Mind being in a perfect Tranquillity the Body as healthful as feeble Nature will admit and both Mind and Body enjoying the innocent Pleasures which the Gospel allows this amiable Life would not be quitted but for the enjoyment of another freed from all the inevitable Inconveniences entail'd by Nature upon the Inhabitants of this Earth All that have any Idea of the Rules of Morality taught by Jesus Christ must necessarily agree in this Truth that by generally observing them Men would be exceedingly happy But it may perhaps be ask'd Where is there in the World a Society in which Men live conformably to these Rules of Morality That is not the Question It is sufficient for our present purpose that there are at this time many Nations that make Profession of it though they live not up to the Practice Let us enquire whether these Nations invented those Rules or receiv'd them from their Predecessors They all tell us they are not the Inventers and it may well be judg'd by their way of living that they say true For it is not probable they should have invented the Precepts of the Gospel and yet live so contrary to them Inventions always savour something of the temper of the Spirit of the Inventors But we have no need of Arguments to convince us of this We may examine from Age to Age the Authors that are left us beginning at our own and going backwards to that wherein Christian Religion was first spoken of to see who they were that brought it into the World We shall readily find by reading those Authors that it is more than thirteen hundred Years since the Roman Emperors being become Christians Christianity has flourish'd in a great part of Europe Asia and Africa Since that time we may be convinced by a very great number of Christian Authors that Profession has been constantly made of believing that the Morality taught us in the Gospel came from Heaven If we go yet further backwards we shall find that even under the Pagan Emperors there was a great multitude of Christians that profess'd the same Doctrine We have many Christian Authors of those times who assure us of it But without staying to reckon up needlesly Authors sufficiently known let us examine in what Age Christianity began first to be spoken of All Christians agree that it was under the Reign of Tiberius and if we consult Heathen Authors we shall see that before that time it was altogether unknown Tacitus who was born towards the end of the Reign of Claudius or about the beginning of that of Nero says that Nero after having set Rome on fire in divers places and thereby destroy'd the City accus'd the Christians of it and made them suffer horrible Punishments Upon that occasion he speaks of the beginning of Christianity in these terms The Author of this Sect says he was Christ who in the Reign of Tiberius was put to death by Pontius Pilate Governour of Judaea This dangerous Superstition continues he in speaking of the Christian Religion though nipp'd in the Bud broke out a fresh and spread not only through Judaea where the Mischief first began but came even into Rome it self where all things shameful and abominable are brought and find Persons ready to join with and uphold them Presently as many as confess'd they were Christians were seiz'd on and soon after a great many more were discover'd but were not found guilty of the Fire though they were the Objects of the public Hatred c. You see here the Testimony of a Heathen Author who being born in the beginning of Christianity and very well vers'd in the Passages of his Time assures us of two things then publickly notorious The one that the Authors of the Christian Religion had liv'd in Iudaea in the Reign of Tiberius and had been punish'd during the Government of Pontius Pilate The other that after his Death in few Years the Embracers of his Doctrine were extreamly multiply'd Suetonius also tells us that in the time of the Emperor Claudius the Christians were banish'd out of Rome which shows that there were then a great number of them in that Capital City We find also by the Testimony of another Author contemporary to Tacitus that the Christians at that time made Profession of the same Morals they teach now a-days Pliny being Proconsul of Bithynia about threescore and ten Years after Pontius Pilate had been Governour of Iudaea by Trajan's Order sought out the Christians within his Province and inform'd himself with all the care imaginable concerning their Opinions Hereupon he writes a Letter to Trajan which Letter is still preserv'd I was inform'd says he that all their Crime or Error consisted only in that they us'd to assemble themselves upon a certain Night and to sing together a Hymn to Christ as to a God That they all oblig'd themselves by Oath not to any Crime but on the contrary that they would not commit Felony Robbery or Adultery and that they would deceive no Man nor break a Trust This done they dispers'd and return'd again after sometime to eat together which they did in common and without any harm But that they had given over doing it upon my Proclamation wherein according to your Orders I had forbidden all sorts of Conventicles This