numbred among the Books of Canonical Scripture And thus we have argued from the Tradition and the Testimony of the Church And if this be done as it ought to be done it is valid for the Truth of the Copies the Canonicalness of the Books and the like are not decidable by Scripture it self but in the Way that all other Controversies of that nature are As you would prove any other Book to be Authentick so you must prove the Bible to be viz. by sufficient and able Testimony There is the same reason to believe the Sacred History that there is to believe any other Historical Writings that are extant Nay the Testimonies on behalf of the Holy Scriptureâ— are more pregnant than any that are brought for other Writings Besides all that can be said for the Sacred Volume of the Bible which is wont to be said for other Writings I have shewed you that there are some things peculiar to this above aâ—â— others The main thing we have insisted upon is this that the Books of the Old and New Testament have been faithfully conveyed to us and that they are vouched by the constant and universal Tradition both of the Jewish and Christian Church and that these Books and no others are of the Canon of Scripture for to be of the Canon of Scripture is no other than to be owned by the Universal Church for Divinely Inspired Writings The Church witnesseth and confirmeth the Authority of the Canonical Scriptures for she received them as Divine and she delivers them to us as such Yet I do not say that the Church's Testifying these Books to be the Holy Scriptures gives an Absolute and Entire Authority to them A Clerk in the Parliament or any other Court writes down and testiâ—ies that such an Act or Decree or Order was pass'd by the King Magistrate or People and he witnesses that he hath faithfully kept these by him and that they are the very same that at such a time were made by the foresaid Authority but the Authority of this Act Decree or Order rests not in the Clerk but wholly in the King Magistrate or People So the Church recordeth and keepeth the Sacred Writings of the Bible and bears witness that they have been faithfully preserved and that they are the Genuine Writings of those Persons whose Names are presixed to them bâ—t the Divine Authority of the Scriptures depends not on the Church but on the Books and Authors themselves namely their being Inspired And indeed this Authority of the Scriptures cannot depend on the Church because the Church itself depends on the Scriptures These must be proved before the Church can pretend to be any such thing as a Church We cannot know the Church but by the Scriptures therefore the Scriptures must be known before the Church It follows then that the Papists are very unreasonable and absurd in making the Ultimate Resolution of Faith to be into the Testimony and Authority of the Church This we disown as a great Falsity but yet it is rational to hold that the Church's Testimony is one good Argument and Proof of the Truth of the Sacred Scripture according to that known Saying of St. Augustine I should not believe the Gospel if the Authority of the Church did not move me Not that he founds the Gospel i. e. the Doctrine of Christianity and the Truth of it on the Testimony of the Church as the Papists are wont to infer from these Words and frequently quote them to this purpose No the Father's meaning is this that by the Testimony and Consent of the Church he believed the Book of the Gospel to be verily that Book which was written by the Evangelists This is the Sense of the Place as is plain from the Scope of it for he speaks there of the Copies or Writings not the Doctrine contained in them The good Father relies on this that so great a number of knowing and honest Persons as the Church was made up of did assert the Evangelical Writings to be the Writings of such as were really inspired by the Holy Ghost and that they were true and genuine and not corrupted And the whole Body of Sacred Scripture is attested by the same universal Suffrage of the Church i. e. the unanimous Consent of the Apostles and of the First Christians and of those that immediately succeeded them several of which laid down their Lives to vindicate the Truth of these Writings This is the External Testimony given to the Holy Scriptures It is the general Perswasion and Attestation of the Antient Church that these are the Scriptures of Truth that they were penn'd by holy Prophets and Apostles immediately directed by the Spirit who therefore could not err It was usual heretofore among the Pagan Lawgivers to attribute their Laws to some Deity tho they were of their own Invention intending thereby to conciliate Reverence to them and to commend them to the People But here is no such Cheat put upon us God himself is really the Author of the Holy Scriptures these Sacred Laws come immediately from Him they are of Divine Inspiration There is no doubt to be made of the Divinity of the Scriptures and consequently there is assurance of the Infallibility of them CHAP. III. The Authority of the Bible manifested from the Testimonies of Enemies and Strangers especially of Pagans These confirm what the Old Testament saith concerning the Creation the Production of Adam and Eve their Fall with the several Circumstances of it Enoch's Translation the Longevity of the Patriarchs the Giants in those Times the Universal Flood the building of the Tower of Babel I Have propounded some of the chief Arguments which may induce us to believe the Truth and Certainty of the holy Writings of the Old and New Testament I will now choose out another for the sake chiefly of the Learned and Curious which I purpose to inlarge upon yea to make the Subject of my whole ensuing Discourse I consider then that we have in this Matter not only the Testimony of Friends but of Enemies and Strangers and it is a Maxim in the Civil Law and vouched by all Men of Reason that the Testimony of an Enemy is most considerable The Iewish and Christian Church as I have shewed already give their Testimony to the Scriptures but besides these Witnesses there are Others there is the Attestation of Foreigners and Adversaries These fully testify the Truth of what is delivered in the Holy Bible we have the Approbation of Heathen Writers to conâ—irm many of the things related in the Old Testament and both Professed Heathens and Iews for we must now look upon these latter as profess'd Enemies when we are to speak of the Christian Concern attest sundry things of the New Testament and vouch the Truth and Authority of them Here then I will distinctly proceed and first begin with the Old Testament and let you see in several Particulars that even the Pagan World gives Testimony to this Sacred Volume
Renowned Acts of several of the Patriarchs and first Worthies c. It is a great establishing of our Faith that those Pagans derived so many things from Scripture The Gentile Writers vouch a great part of our Religion Wherefore we must needs imbrace it when it is attested by such Disinteressed Persons 3. We ought to take notice of the Wonderful Providence of God in this matter Behold the Scripture is attested by those who never owned its Authority yea the very Enemies of these Holy Writings ratiâ—ie the Truth and Certainty of them The Heathen Poets whilst they Corrupt Divine Truth assert it Their very Lies and Fictions bear witness to the Sacred Verities their Fables confirm the Infallibility of the Bible This is the Lord 's doing here the Great and Over-ruling Wisdom of God is seen Here his Almighty Power in baâ—â—ing Satan's Contrivances and Designs may be discern'd He as was said before intended the Corruption of the Scriptures the silencing of the Truth the Exalting of himself and the Advancing of his Kingdom But the All-Wise and Powerful Moderator of the World disappointed his Designs and made this thing we are speaking of serviceable and beneficial to Religion he made it become an Argument of its Antiquity Reasonableness and Certainty against the Cavils of Atheists and Infidels 4. Henceforth we are reconciled to the Writings of Prophane Authors We have this considerable advantage by reading the Works of the Ancient Heathens and by perusing their Stories and Fables that we shall find some Greater Thing couched in them than the bare Narrative For these Writers borrow'd many things from the Holy Book their broken Stories are often-times an imperfect account of Scripture Relations Sundry things in their Writings are gather'd out of the Divine Volume but are strangely wrested pervertrd and obscured by having new Names and â—eigned Circumstances affix'd to them Almost all the Gentile Fables and Theology flowed from a depraved sense of the Sacred Writings The Poets disguise true Stories with many Fictions and some Reliques of Divine Truth are buried under their ingenuous Fancies and Fabulous Narrations Ovid Transcribed the Greek Theology from Orpheus Homer Hesiod and other Ancient Poets and these had it from the Bible The very Poetick Fictions refer unto real Story and are drawn from the Divine Source of Truth So that we are reading the Holy Scripture in a manner whilst we are turning over Pagan Writers In these we meet with Truths Transplanted from the Sacred Book we find many passages stollen from the Hebrew Fountains It is not to be denied then that Scholars and Students yea the very Candidates of Sacred Theology may with great profit prie into these Writings of the Pagans for here are the footsteps of Divine Verities Prophane and Sacred Learning are to be joyn'd The Gentile Monuments illustrate the inspired ones We may notwithstanding the disguise which Poets have put upon the Stories see the foundation of them and perceive that those vain Figmentsâ— are grounded on some Solid Truth and that a Sacred Treasure lies hid under those confused Fables For this is not to be denied that Palestine afforded Greece matter of fancy and invention the Pagan Poets were befriended by the Iews Athens was indebted to Ierusalem Parnassus was beholding to Sinai and Helicon to Iordan You see then the advantage we may reap by being acquainted with Prophane Writers whilst we look further than the outward shape which they have given to many things and search into that Truth which lies hid under it even the Sacred and undoubted History of the Old Testament Thus we may make them serviceable to far higher and better ends than they are intended This is the best improvement that can be made of them to see the true Source of what is written by them to understand whence they borrowed their matter and to confirm our selves in the belief of the Truth of the Sacred Writings by perusing these which are Prophane 5thly and lastly then See the Authority Truth and Certainty of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament which is the main thing I have been aiming at I had proved this before by several Arguments and those perhaps on some accounts more Forcing and Convictive than this but I thought good to add this to them as no contemptible way of proving the Antiquity and Authority of the Sacred Book The Truth of the Historical part of the Old Testament is evidenced from Heathen Writers not only Historians but Philosophers and Poets A Man may by comparing these with the Sacred Volume find out the Original of the Pagan Traditions and Fictions and observe the Lineaments of true and unquestionable History among them Hence we shall have no reason to doubt that there were such Persons and Things in being as are spoken of in the Old Testament and that the Passages and Transactions there mention'd were real and true This admirably serves to evince the Authority of those Writings this proves the Truth of the Records of Holy Writ and that they ought to be received as the Oracles of God i. e. as Infallible CHAP. X. The Authority of the Books of the New-Testament confirmed by Pagan and Iewish Writers who speak of a King or Lord that should come out of the East and particularly out of Judaea An Enumeration of the Opinions of the Learned concerning the Sibylls with the particular Sentiment of the Author viz. That the Contents of their Verses were horrow'd from the Old-Testament and that those Women were not Prophetesses but only related what they found in the Inspired Writings or heard of thence A full Answer to the Objections of those who hold the Sibylline Writings to be Spurious NExt I am to shew how the Scriptures of the New-Testament are vouched and confirmed by an External Testimony i. e. how professed Pagans â—nd Iews Enemies to Christianity have related â—nd asserted the very same things that are set down â—n those Evangelical Writings First I will begin with that which is of a middle nature between what I have been discoursing of before and what â— am now to ingage in which therefore may aptâ—y serve as a Transition from one to the other I â—ean the belief and report recorded in Pagan Writers that a King or Lord should come from the â—ast and do great and mighty things This was deâ—ived from the Scriptures of the Old Testament and 〈◊〉 belongs to the former Discourse but becaâ—se it is mentioned by Historians that were after Christ's time and the Application is with all reason to be made to Him I rightly bring it in here It was I say a constant Report that prevail'd about the time of our Saviour's Birth and afterwards that some eminent Person or Persons should rise out of those Eastern Nations and be Lords of the World We find Tacitus asserting this and that great Politician and Statesman would needs have it fulfilled in Vespasian and Titus because they were called out of Iudea unto the Empire of Rome Suetonius
was not the Design of the Evangelists to quote the very Words but they thought fit to use a Latitude and to express the Text of the Old Testament not in exact Terms but as to the Meaning and Import of it So in the quoting that Text Mic. 5. 2. Thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel the Evangelist doth it not verbatim but sets it down thus Mat. 2. 6. Thon Bethlehem in the Land of Judah art not the least among the Princes of Judah for out of thee shall come a Governour that shall rule my People Israel Here are six or seven Words that are not in the Hebrew neither are they in the Seventy's Version Yea there is a Negative put in the Place of an Aâ—â—irmative for whereas the Prophet saith though thou be little the Evangelist saith thou art not little or not least which shews that he minds the Sense and Scope of the Place not the very Words for though Bethlehem was little consider'd in it self as being a small Town yet it was not little on another Account mention'd by the Prophet viz. it s having the Honour of being the Birth-place of our Lord. Or if this inserting of a Negative may be solved another way as some have thought and as I have shew'd in another Place yet still it is evident that the Evangelist doth not recite the very Words of Micah but changeth Ephratah for the Land of Judah and thousands for Princes and iâ— other Words and Particles varies both from the LXX and the Original And in many other Texts I might shew you that the Writers of the New Testament do not tie themselves up to the very Words of the Old Testament but choose rather to paraphrase or give the Meaning in other Expressions Thus we see the Translation of the LXX though it be often yet is not always followed in the New Testament Likewise although the Apostles in these Writings were immediately directed by the Holy Ghost yet they confined not themselves to the express Words of the Spirit in the Original Hebrew and we see that though not â—lways yet often they followed the Septuagint because it was generally received and they thought it not fit to vary from the Translation which was used in the Church and we see likewise that when they vary from this Translation it is no certain Argument that they did not allow and approve of it for they intended not an Exact Translation themselves but a Paraphrase and a rendring the Sense rather than the Words The Result then of all is this that we ought to have that Respect and Esteem for the LXX's Version which it deserveth to which purpose the Judicious Examiner of it before mention'd is to be consulted who shews how necessary it is for all Divines to be acquainted with it we ought not to extol it as some extravagantly have done above the Hebrew nor to depress and vilify it as others have done as if it were of no Worth or Authority We ought thus to behave our selves we must not wholly reject it because most of its Faults and Mistakes proceed from the mere mistaking of Vowâ—ls or Consonants from the Ambiguity of Words from the Liberty which they take of Paraphrasing and from the Neglect of Transcribers But on the other hand we ought not wholly to embrace this Translation because it hath fallen into ill Hands and hath met with some designing Men it is probable who have endeavour'd to deprave and corrupt it yea and have actually done it in some Places We are concerned therefore to read it with Candour and Caution with the former yea the Oldest Greek Translation of the Bible that is because it hath been used by the Sacred Penmen of the New Testameâ—t because it may be made use of by us for the better understanding and clearing the Sense of the Hebrew and to other very good Purposes and because the disagreement between it and the Hebrew may as to the Main admit of a Reconciliation as I have partly shew'd and you may further see in the Learned Critical Historian With the latter also i. e. with Caution we must consult this Version because we know it hath justly merited the Censure of the Learned not only of St. Ierom the best Hebrician of all the Fathers but of a great Number of other Observing and Inquisitive Writers who find that this Translation doth frequently and sometimes very grosly dissent from the Hebrew and for that Cause reprehend it with great Seriousness For this they all agree upon that where the Greek Version of the 70 is not conformable to the Hebrew either in Words or Sense as in diverse Places it is not it is perverted and corrupted and where it is so we must impeach This and not the Hebrew of Error and Imperfection That Assertion of the Younger Vossius viz. that the 70 Interpreters had the Authentick Copy of the Hebrew Bible and translated exactly by that but that the Hebrew Bible which we now have is corrupted is justly to be exploded as not only Bold but Pernicious wherein he extreamly gratiâ—ies the Romanists who contend that the Hebrew Text is depraved that they may defend the Authority of the Vulgar Latin But those that are not led by Prejudice discern that this is meer Design and that the Business of those Men is to defend the Authority of their Church by what Artifices they can Wherefore they give no heed to them and particularly in this present Matter they despise their fond applauding of the Septuagint and their groundless Cavils against the Hebrew Text and notwithstanding their impertinent Suggestions find reason to adhere to this unshaken Truth that the Hebrew Text only is void of all Faults Errors Mistakes Blemishes Defects Depravations and that it is this we must ultimately rely upon Wherefore where there is a Difference between the Version of the 70 Seniours and the Hebrew That is to give place to This and not This to That And lastly which is the rational Conclusion from all that hath been said there is no Proof of the Scripture's Imperfection from this Disagreement between the Hebrew and the Greek Next I will speak of the Latin Versions of the Bible which even in St. Augustin's Time were so many that they could not be numbred as he saith himself All the Latin Translations of the Old Testament before Ierom were made out of the LXX's Version and not out of the Hebrew Original for generally the Fathers before Ierom used and adhered to the Greek Version But he attaining to great Skill in the Hebrew contented not himself with these Second-hand Versions but undertook and finish'd a Translation of his own wherein he followed the Hebrew Original The Chiefest Latin Versions were these three 1. that which was call'd Itala by St. Augustin by St. Ierom Vulgata and by Gregory Vetus This
Demosthenes more especially who no less than three times in one Oration uses the Word in this manner and in another place once or twice but I think I have sufficiently establish'd my Notion already by what I have produced You see plainly that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath not absolutely a reference to a Benefit or Advantage but that 't is of a large import and signifies in general on the account or for the sake and more especially that it denotes an Impulsive Cause properly so call'd and is used to express those things or Persons that put Men upon Action which was the thing I undertook to make good and I challenge any Man to disprove it I have defended the Signification of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of Classical Authors that I might thereby obviate the Scruples of some Inquisitive Persons and give some Satisfaction to the Curious and make my Exposition of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more clear and demonstrative when 't is seen that it is founded on the Acception of that Preposition not only in the New-Testament but in Prophane Authors and in a Word that I may render my whole Undertaking on that Text the more acceptable to the Learned part of Mankind To this rank of Persons I devote all my Endeavours of this kind but that which I now offer to the World is more especially designed for the Use of younger Students in Sacred Learning such as are Beginners and Candidates in Theology though I am well satisfied that these Critical Researches will â—ot be useless to those of a higher Character A CATALOGUE of the Difficult Chapters and Verses in Holy Scripture which are Explain'd in this Book being set down in the same Order that they are there mentioned II. CHap. of Daniel Concerning the Image whose Head was of Gold c. Page 9 VII Chap. of Daniel Concerning the Four Beasts p. 10 VIII Chap. of Daniel Concerning the Ram and He-Goat p. 13 XI Gen. 4. Let us make us a Name lest we scattered abroad c. p. 127 XXXVI Gen. 24. This was that Anah that found the Mules in the Wilderness c. p. 147 XV. Judg. 15 16 17 c. Concerning the Iaw-bone of the Ass wherewith Sampson slew a thousand Men. p. 149 XXXVIII Isai. 8. The Sun returned Ten degrees by which degrees it was gone down p. 200 XXXIII Deut. 17. Where Joseph is compared to an Ox or Bullock and why p. 214 II. Luke 1 2. There went out a Decree from Caesar Augustus that all the World should be Taxed p. 352 II. Matth. 2. We have seen his Star in the East Vers. 7. Herod enquired of them diligently what time the Star appeared Vers. 9. The Star which they saw in the East went before them c. Vers. 16. Herod slew all the Children that were in Bethlehem from two Years old and under according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the Wise Men. p. 360 XXIV Matth. The former part which speaks of the Destruction of Ierusalem and the parallel Chapter of St. Luke viz. the XXI p. 394 The Author's Vindication of his Interpretation of 1 Cor. 15. 29. Praef. ERRATA PAge 18. l. 28. for Ahaz read Hezekiah p. 37. l. 15. for end r. erre p. 99. l. 8. dele not p. 151. l. 15. dele not p. 212. l. 30. r. with Ham. and l. 26 27. correct the Hebrew words And do the same in other places p. 227. l. 21. r. unutterable p. 238. l. 11. r. on p. 241. l. 9. r. deus is p. 248. l. 18. r. ex Aetheris l. ult for that r. at other times p. 250. l. 17. r. Martinius p. 255. l. 26. r. tornare p. 334. Marg. Quotations misplaced p. 349. Marg. 3 last lines put Apolog. 2. ad Sen. after the Quotation Sed cum c. And put b before Adv. Gent. p. 363. l. 33. r. other Pagans p. 364. l. 26. r. Silver locks p. 376. l. 11. dele citeth the same testimony and. p. 411. l. 7 10. r. Cedrenus What other Faults have escaped the Reader is desired to Correct Advertisement AN Enquiry into several Remarkable Texts of the Old and New-Testament which contain some difficulty in them With a probable Resolution of them By Iohn Edwards B. D. In Two Volumes in Octavo Sold by I. Robinson I. Everingham and I. Wyat in St. Paul's Church-Yard and Ludgate-street OF THE Truth and Authority OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES CHAP. I. The Internal Testimonies or Arguments to evince the Authority of the Holy Scriptures viz. 1. The Matter of them that is the Sublime Verities the Holy Rules the Accomplish'd Prophecies contain'd in them Vnder which last Topick several particular Predictions chiefly in the Book of Daniel are explain'd and shew'd to be fulfilled Further 't is demonstrated that the foretelling of future Contingences of that nature especially so long before they come to pass could be from God only 2. The Manner of these Writings which is peculiar as to their Simplicity Majesty and their being immediately dictated by the Holy Ghost 3. Their Harmony 4. The particular Illumination of the Spirit I HAVE chosen a very Noble and Important Subject to exercise my Pen and to entertain both my own and the Reader 's Thoughts and Contemplations with for no Book under Heaven can possibly be the Rival of the Holy Bible none in the World can pretend to the transcendent Worth and Excellency of these Sacred Writings Here not only all Natural or Morâ—â— Religion but that also which is Supernatural is fulâ—ly and amply contain'd Here is the Decalogâ—â— written by God himself and transcrib'd out of the Law of Nature besides that there are frequentlâ— interspersed in these Writings other choice Rulâ—â— and Precepts of Morality But Supernatural Relâ—gion being the chief this is the main Subject of thâ—â— Sacred Volume and this you will find partly deâ—livered by the Inspired Prophets of the Old Testament and partly by Christ Iesus himself in perâ—son and by the Evangelists and Apostles in the New Testament Of these Holy Scriptures I am tâ— treat which are the Standard of Truth the infallible Rule of Faith and Holiness and the Ground work of all Divinity for this being the Doctrinâ— which is according to the Word of God deliver'â— in Sacred Writ we must necessarily be acquainted with This and know in the â—irst place that it iâ— True and make it evident that it is so If aâ—â— Estate be given a Person by Will he must firâ—â— prove that Instrument to be True and Authenticâ—â— before he can challenge any Right to what is demised him in it So it is here God bequeaths us aâ— Inheritance i. e. Life and Salvation and Eternaâ— Happiness and the Scriptures are as it were the Will and Testament wherein this is plainly exprest and whereby it is conveyed to us Especially thâ— Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles deservâ— that Name and thence are stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Greek word which in its Original
Import signifies a disposing of something is most commoâ—â—ly applied to such a Disposal as is either by Covenâ—â— or Testament Hence it is sometimes rendred 〈◊〉 Covenant and sometimes a Testament especially among the Lawyers the latter Sense prevails and accordingly you will find that a Last Will and Testament is express'd by this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Imperial Institutions and other Law-Books translated into Greek We may here join both Senses together for what God hath agreed to by Covenant with Man that Christ bequeaths and gives by Testament Now we must prove both these i. e. we must make it evident that the Covenant and Testament are True before we can receive any Advantage and Benefit from them There is a Necessity of evidencing the Truth of the Scriptures which are this Covenant and this Testament otherwise we can build nothing upon them Here then I. I will evince the Truth and Authority of the Scriptures which is the great Basis of all Theology II. After I have largely insisted on this I will proceed to give you an account of the Nature of the Stile and Phrase of these Holy Books III. I will advance yet farther and demonstrate the Excellency and Perfection of them The Subject of our present Undertaking is the first of these in handling of which I shall but briefly and concisely make use of those Arguments which are commonly insisted upon by Learned Writers till I come to fix upon a Topick which is not commonly yea which is very rarely and by the by used in this Cause and this I will pursue very largely and fully I hope with some Satisfaction to the Reader There are many Arguments to demonstrate the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scriptures and shew that they are worthy to be believed and imbraced by us as the very Word of God Some of these Arguments which are to prove the Truth of these Writings are in common with those that prove the Truth of the Christian Religion on which I shall have occasion to insist at another time but my Design at present is to propound those which are more peculiarly and properly fitted to evince the Truth of the Scriptures And these are either Internal or External The Internal ones I call those which are either in the Scriptures themselves or in Vs. The Characters of Divinity which the Scriptures have in Themselves are either their Matter or the Manner of the writing them I begin with the first the Matter of them and here I will mention only these three Particulars 1. The Sublime Doctrines and Verities which are in Holy Writ In reading this Book we meet with such things as cannot reasonably be thought to come from any but God himself In other Writings which are most applauded the choicest things which entertain our Minds are the excellent Moral Notions and Precepts which they offer to us which are all the Result of Improved Reason and Natural Religion But here are besides these Notices of a peculiar Nature and such as are above our natural Capacity and Invention as the Creation of the World in that Manner as is represented to us in these Writings the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity the Eternal Decrees the Incarnation of Christ the Son of God the Redemption of the World by his Blood the whole Method of Man's Salvation the stupendous Providence of God over his Church in all Ages the Coming of Christ to Judgment and in order to that the raising of all Men out of their Ashes These and several other Doctrines deliver'd in the Sacred Writings cannot be imagined to come from any but God they carry with them the Character of Divinity as being no common and obvious Matters but such as are towring and lofty hidden and abstruse and not likely to be the Product of Humane Wisdom A God is plainly discovered in them for the most Improved Creatures could never have reach'd to this pitch Any serious and thinking Man cannot but discern the peculiar Turn and singular Contrivance of these Mysterious Doctrines which argue them to be Divine We may therefore believe the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles to be the Word of God because of the wonderful Height and Sublimity of those Truths which are contained in them 2. The Exact Purity and Holiness both of Body and Soul of Heart and Life which are enjoin'd in these Writings are another Testimony of their being Divinely Inspired For though some other Books dictate Religion and Piety yet this is certain that all the true and just Measures of them were taken originally from this one Exact Standard which was prior to them all as I shall shew afterwards Besides the Love and Charity the Humility Meekness and all other Vertues which the Scriptures describe to us far exceed the most advantageous Representations the most exalted Ideas which the Heathen Moralists give of them These therefore are emphatically and eminently called by St. Paul the Holy Scriptures 2 Tim. 3. 15. because they breath the most consummate Goodness and Piety and that antecedently to all Writings whatsoever because every thing in them advanceth Holiness and that in Thought Word and Actions The End and Scope of them are to promote Sanctity of Life to make us every way better and even to render us * like God himself The Holy Scripture was intended to set forth the Divine Perfections to display the Heavenly Purity and thereby to commend the Excellency of a holy Life And it is certain that if with sincere and humble Minds we peruse this Book of God we shall find this blessed Result of it it will marvellously instruct us in the Knowledg of the Divine Attributes especially of God's Unspotted Holiness it will tincture our Minds with Religion it will pervade all our Faculties with a Spirit of Godliness and it will thorowly cleanse and sanctify both our Hearts and Lives which proves it to be from God But because I shall have occasion to say more of this when I treat of the Perfection of the Scriptures I will now dismiss it 3. To the Matter of Scripture we must refer the Prophecios and Predictions which are contained in it These I reckon another Internal Argument because they are drawn from what is comprehended in the very Scripture it self What a vast number is there of Prophecies of the Old and New Testament which we find fulfilled and accordingly are Testimonies of the Truth of these Scriptures Here I will a little enlarge and first I will begâ—n with that ancient Prophecy of Noah God shall enlarge Japheth and he shall dwell in the Tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his Servant Where are foretold things that happened above two thousand Years afterward for the Posterity of Iapheth viz. the Europeans especially the Greeks and Romans among other Conquests gain'd the possession of Iudea and other Eastern Countries which were the Portion of Shem. Again it was fulfilled thus by Christ's coming and preaching the Gospel and by his
Proposition it is impossible it should gain the Assent of any intelligent and sober Person When we consider the Nature of these Prophecies and what they aim at we must needs own them to be from Him to whom all Future Things are Present and who is the Cause as well as the Foreseer of them And therefore when we observe that the things which the Writers of Holy Scripture have delivered are actually come to pass we may with reason conclude that their Writings are not Forgeries but on the contrary that the Penmen of them were Inspired Persons that they had the Gift of Prophecy which is an infallible Testimony of their Authority These things being thus foretold so long before and being exactly verified since it undeniably follows that the Books which contain these Predictions and are founded on them are True and Certain These Predictions coming from God are an aâ— red Proof that these Writings were endited him they being so great a part of them Thiâ— that which an antient Father long since deliverâ— The foretelling of future things saith he 〈◊〉 Characteristick Note of the Divine Authority 〈◊〉 the Scriptures for this is a thing that is aboâ—â— humane Nature and the Powers of it and 〈◊〉 only â—e effected by the Virtue of the Divine â—â—â—rit We may rely upon it as an impregnaâ— Maxim that the Spirit of Prophecy and the Fâ— filling of Prophecies are a Divine Proof of 〈◊〉 Truth of the Scriptures and are a sufficient Grouâ— to us of believing them to be the Word of Goâ— Thus from the Matter of the Holy Scriptures 〈◊〉 have undeniable Evidence of the Authority aâ— Truth of them Again the Manner of these Writings is anotheâ— Proof of the Divine Authority of them Theâ— are not writ as others are wont to be the Penmeâ— of these Sacred Books do not speak after the raâ—â—â— of other Writers How admirable is the Simplâ— city and Ingenuity of these Men all along Theâ— do not hide their own or others Failings yea eveâ— when they are very gross and scandalous thuâ— Moses recorded not only Noah's Drunkenness and Lot's Incest but his own rash Anger and Unbelieâ— and David registers in the 51st Psalm his own Murder and Adultery Ieremiah relates his own unbecoming Fears Discontents and Murmurings chap. 20. 7 8 14. The Writers of the New Testament conceal not the Infirmities and Defects 〈◊〉 the gross Miscarriages of themselves and of â—heir Brethren as their cowardly leaving of Christ 〈◊〉 his Passion Iohn's falling at the Feet of an Anâ—el to worship him Thomas his Infidelity Iohn â—nd Iames the Sons of Zebedee their unseasonaâ—le Ambition Peter's denying of Christ even with â—erjury This free and plain dealing of the Wriâ—ers of the Old and New Testament shews that â—hey are not the Writings of Men. A Man may â—ee that there is no worldly and sinister Design â—â—rried on in them but that the Glory of God is â—holly intended by their impartial discovery of â—he Truth Which was long since taken notice of â—y Arnobius in answer to that Cavil of the Pagans hat the History of the Gospel was writ by poor 〈◊〉 People and in a simple Manner Therefore â—aith he it is the more to be credited because they write so indifferently and impartially and out of Simplicity This Impartiality and Sincerity of theirs are an irrefragable Argument of the Truth of their Writings And here also you will find an excellent and admirable Composition of Simplicity and Majesty together Though the Strain be High and Lofty yet you may observe that at the same time it is Humble and Condescending To which purpose a Learned Father saith well The Language of Divine Wisdom in the Scripture is Low but the Sense is Sublime and Heavenly whereas on the contrary the Phrase of Heathen Writers is Splendid but the things couched in them are Poor and Mean The Scripture-Writers make it not their work to set off and commend thâ— Writings by being Elaborate and Exact Hâ— are no set Discourses no pointed Arguments 〈◊〉 affected Strains of Logick The Writers 〈◊〉 the Bible saith another antient Father did 〈◊〉 make their Writings in a way of Demonstration these unquestionable Witnesses of the Truth being above all Demonstration Nor shall yâ—â— find here that the Writers strain for Eleganciâ— and florid Expressions as other Authors are wonâ— here is no quaint and curious Method no formâ— Transitions no courting of the Readers no unnecessary Pageantry of Rhetorick to gain Admiration and Attention Especially the Stile of the Evangelists and Apostles is not tumid and affected but plain and simple and scorns the Ornamenâ— and Embellishments of Fancy for as an oâ— Christian said rightly Truth needs no Fucus anâ— Artifice and therefore the Sense not Words are minded in Scripture All good Men ought to be pleased with this Simplicity and Plainness of the Holy Stile of which there is a memorable Instance in an Ecclesiastical Historian who tells us that Spiridion a notable Confessor for the Christian Faith reproved one Tryphilius an Eloquent Man and converted by him to Christianity some time before because speaking one time in the famous Council of Nice he did instead of those Wordâ— of Christ Tolle grabatum tuum say Tolle lectum tuum humilem he reproved him I say and that very sharply for disdaining to use the word which the Scripture it self useth It is true the Words of Scripture seem sometimes to be common and rude and altogether ungraceful sometimes I say for I shall shew afterwards that Scripture is not destitute of its Graces of Speech but that seeming Commonness and Rudeness are great Tokens of the peculiar Excellency of the Stile of Scripture Gregory the Great excusing the Plainness and Rudeness of his Stile in his Comments on Iob professeth that he thought it unworthy of and unbecoming the Heavenly Oracles to restrain them to the nice Rules of Grammar Surely the Writers of the Bible might say so with more reason it became them not to stand upon those Niceties and Formalities of Speech which are so frequent in other Authors for it is fitting there should be a difference between Humane Writings and Divine I agree with a late Ingenious Author who declares that it fits not the Majesty of God whose Book this is to observe the humane Laws of Method and Niceness of Art Inspired Writings must not be like those of Men. The singular Grace of these is that they are not Artificial and Studied but Simple Plain and Careless and that their whole Frame and Contexture are not such as ours An artificial Method is below the Majesty of that Spirit which dictated them This would debase the Scriptures and equal them with the Writings of Men. Wherefore the oftner I look into that Sacred Volume and the more I observe it the more I am convinced that the Pens of the Writers were wholly directed by a Divine Hand For take any of the Books either Doctrinal
to King Ptolomee by the foresaid Demetrius a very serious Man and it was assigned as a Reason why the Contents of these Sacred Writings which were so Divine and Admirable were but rarely mention'd by the Historians and Poets These Examples had struck a terrour into some of them having heard how some Prophaners of these Holy Things were Animadverted upon by a Divine Hand they were afraid to Record any passages in the Old Testament Therefore some of them chose rather to disguise the Sacred Stories and to stuff them with Fabulous Narrations that they might scarcely be known to have been borrowed from that Holy Book Lastly the Devil hath a design in all this Tertâ—lian's Words are remarkable when he had said that the Things which are contrary to Truth i. e. the Heathen Fables Rites and Usages are made out of the Truth i. e. the Holy Scriptures he further adds that this Imitating of the Truth is wrought by the Spirits of Error that is the Devils who affect sometimes to Ape God and what he doth This is most apparent that they are a Mimical fort of Creatures and shew themselves sometimes diligent Emulators of the most Holy Pâ—rsons and Things Their great Subtilty and Craft are to be discern'd here for when they brought the Hebreâ— Rites and Ceremonies of Gods own appointment into the 〈◊〉 Worship and Service they did this to Prophane them and â—o make them contemptible and ridiculous They did it that those Divine and Sacred Things might be despised and that they might be turn'd into Superstition and Idolatry So likewise they cunningly mixed something of sacred Truth with Fables that thereby they might make the things that are True to be suspected Satban is desirous to pervert and even erase the whole Sacred Scripture and Antient Truth but because he sees he cannot effect this he therefore contrives how he may disguise the Scripture-Stories he sets the Poets to work to make them into Fables and thinks by that means to take off our Esteem of those Inspired Writings and to diminish that Credit which we ought to give to those Sacred Truths He pushed on those Grecian Wits to obscure and deface the Old Names in Scripture that the Original of them might not be known He out of direct malice moved those fanciful Men to invent Fables to defame the Primitive Stories to blemish the Sacred History to obscure and pervert the Truth The Poets turning the Scriptures into Fabulous Narrations was the way to invalidate the Testimony of them and to make them seem a meer Poetick Fiction a Dream a Fansie that hath no real bottom It is no wonder then that the Devil imped their Fancies and assisted their Inventions and help'd them to change the Truth into a Lie that thereby he might rob God and the Scripture of their Honour This I say might be a device of that Evil Spirit as he hath Devices and Wiles of all sorts to elude the Authority of Sacred History and to take away the Credit of Divine Truth Again as that Crasty Spirit designs by this means to disparage yea to null the Truth so he thinks hereby to gain assent to Falshood and to promote the greatest Impiety imaginable for when Truth is mixed with Falshood he hopes that this latter will be entertain'd for the sake of the former And when Lewd and Vitious Practices are founded in those that are Innocent and Religious he expects that these should justifie those Perhaps when he added the Sacred Ceremonies of the Iews to the prophane Worship of the Gentiles he thought thereby to take away the difference between them and to render them alike so that Men should not be able to distinguish between a True and False way of Worship Thirdly the Devil's Design in introducing several Sacred rites and Customs into the practice of the Heathens was to conciliate to himself a greater Authority and Esteem a greater Glory and Repute among them He commends those things to the Pagans which were Religiously used and even by God's own People and prescrib'd by God himself this he doth to inveigle the Pagan World and to bring them to Admire and Worship him Wherefore an Answer may easily be return'd to that Objection of a late Learned Writer What advantage can the Devil have by his imitating the Divine Worship He ever Acts for some end that may be prositable to himself but how can this prove so seeing it would be more advantageous to him to institute a Worship and Ceremonies that are Diametnically contrary to those in the Divine Law that by those as by so many proper and peculiar Characters his Herd might be distinguished from the Flock of the Shepherd of Israel The Answer I say to this is very easie and obvious for there can be nothing more Advantageous to that Evil Spirit than his emulating of Divine Worship and appointing Ceremonies suitable to it for by this means his Kingdom is most sensibly advanced and that with the greatest Artifice and Craft imaginable because this Vile Fiend is Adored even whilst the Divine Worship of the True God seems to be earried on It was the Subtilty of this Great Mimick to approach as near to God and True Religion as he could to make use of those things which by God's own express Command were used in his Worship This is a cunning way of gaining Proselytes and increasing the number of his Worshippers Thus he Acts for some End and that a very Profitable one too certainly much more Profitable to him than if he had Instituted Proper and Peculiar Ceremonies of Worship for these would too palpably have distinguish'd his Herd from the True Flock whereas those bring them into a kind of Rivalty with it Besides this fond Emulation in the Devil is a gratifying of his first Proud Inclination and aspiring to be like God He is still Ambitious of Divine Honour otherwise certainly he would not have desired to be Worship'd by the Son of God himself And he would be Worshipp'd in the same way that God is with the same Signs and Badges of Adoration Hence most of those Sacred Rites enjoyned by God himself and made use of in his Worship by the Iewish Church were transferred by Sathan to his Idolatrous and Impious Worship This is the effect of his Haughty Spirit which thirsteth after Divine Honour even such as is given to the only True God Thus I have amply shew'd you how it came to pass that the Rites and Practices and the greatest Truths contained in the Holy Scripture were corrupted disguised misapplied and abused by the Pagans I have given you the Reasons and Arguments which may convince you of this and render you an account of the manner of it CHAP. IX The Author's Assertions Confirmed by the ample Suffrage of the Ancients and Moderns Consectaries drawn from the whole viz. That we cannot with any shew of Reason admit of the Opinion of those who hold that the Jews borrow'd all or most of
mention'd by Three of the Evangelists the Iewish Historian expresly testifieth and he is as good a Witness as we can desire in this Affair CHAP. XII After particular Testimonies now more general ones are produced as that of Pontius Pilate in his Letters to Tiberius The respect which this Emperor and others bore to Christ. Josephus's famous Testimony concerning him as also concerning others mention'd in the New-Testament Attestations of Pagans concerning St. Paul St. Peter and the Truth of some Passages in the Acts. All Christ's Predictions about the Destruction of Jerusalem confirmed by Heathens and Jews What Pliny and Trajan relate of the Christians Mahomet bears Witness to Christ. THus you have particular Testimonies as to those Three great Things our Saviour's Birth Life and Death Now in the next place I have general Testimonies to produce There are some Pagan and Iewish Witnesses that confirm all these yea and more than what hath been hitherto testified namely Christ's Resurrection As other Governors and Deputies of Provinces used to send an Account to the Emperors and Senate of the most remarkable Things that happened in their Provinces so Pontius Pilate Procurator of Iudea did the like and his Relation is the more valuable because it is the Testimony of a Person who Condemn'd our Saviour to death His Letter or Letters rather there being two of them to the Emperor Tiberius soon after Christ's Death give an Account of his Life Miracles Crucifixion and rising to life again And as Publick Acts were wont to be transmitted and reserved in the Imperial Archives so these were kept there whence the Christian Fathers had them Hegesippus an ancient Champion of the Christian Cause made use of them against the Pagans as we are informed from Eusebius Iustin Martyr tells the Roman Emperors that as for the Death and Sufferings of Christ they were to be seen in the Acts of or under Pontius Pilate and refers them to those as satisfactory and undeniable Tertullian with great boldness alledgeth the same Records as a sufficient Confirmation of the History of Christ in his Apology c. 5. 21. Whereupon one of the Learned'st Men of our Age concludes that this ancient Father found this among the Acts of the Roman Senate where all things of this nature were set down It is not to be questioned saith he that Pontius Pilate sent this Account to Tiberius if we consider that this was the constant practise of all the Governors and Deputies of Provinces to transmit the Relation of every remarkable Occurrence to the Emperors by whom they were placed in those Stations for this purpose viz. to inform them concerning the Affairs of those particular Places Now the Crucifying of our Saviour and his Rising again were certainly very considerable and remarkable Passages and therefore 't is not to be doubted that Pilate as Procurator of Iudea sent the Emperor a Relation of them On which account this Judicious Writer asserts the Authority of these Letters and there are other Arguments which he useth to enforce the Truth of them which are worth the consulting Thus it plainly appears from the fore-mention'd Fathers that there were such Letters from Pilate to Tiberius and that there was such an Account of our Saviour extant at that time otherwise they would not have made their Appeals to them in their Apologies otherwise they would not have call'd upon the Emperors to consult their own Records which testified of Christ and his Actions Wherefore I look upon Du Pin's Judgment as flat here who saith That though this Relation cannot be absolutely charged with falshood yet it is to be reckoned as doubtful Tertullian adds and from him Eusebius that Tiberius would have put Christ into the number of the Gods upon Pilate's Writing such strange things to him concerning Him he refer'd the Matter to the Senate desiring them to rank Him among those that were Worship'd and Deified but the Senate refused it because they themselves did not first order and approve of it for it was an old Roman Law that no God should be set up by the Emperor unless first approved of by the Senate for this reason only they rejected Christ from being admitted among the Gods However the Emperor still retain'd the same Reverence and Esteem of Christ as a most Divine Person and in Honour to him favoured the Christians and by Edict ordered that none should accuse and disturb them meerly for their Religion and the name of Christians annexing a severe Penalty on such as dared to transgress this Edict Nay Tertullian and other Fathers assure us that he had so great a Reverence for Christ that he intended to erect a Temple to him This was from that Information which Pilate sent him concerning our Saviour I might mention the Kindnesses which other Emperors had for Christ as no contemptible Testimony to that purpose which I design this Discourse for Lampridius reports that Alexander Severus Worshipped our Lord and had his Picture in great Veneration and that he had thoughts of erecting a Temple to him and taking him into the number of the Gods Which Adrian likewise he saith intended to have done but was hindred from it by being told that all would turn Christians and the Temples Consecrated to the other Gods would be forsaken These are ample Attestations of Pagans concerning Christ and which is greater they are their Approbations of him Next I produce the Testimony of a Famous Iew whom I have so often made mention of who forty or fifty Years after some of the Evangelical Writings gave an account of the Iews Affairs and of Christ and of many things relating to Him Among other Passages he hath this memorable one At this time saith he there was one Jesus a Wise Man if I may call him a Man for he did most wonderful Works and was a Teacher of thâ—se who received the Truth with delight He brought many to his Perswasion both of the Jews and Gentiles This was Christ who though he was by the Instigation of some of the Chief of our Nation and by Pilate ' s Doom hung on the Cross yet those who loved him at first did not cease to do so for he came to Life again the third day and appeared to them the Divine Prophets having fore-told these and infinite other Wonders of him and to this day remains that sort of Men who have from Him the name of Christians Both Eusebius and St. Ierom alledge this Famous Testimony of Iosephus concerning Christ as an undeniable Confirmation of the Christian Religion And the latter of these Writers places this Iew among the Ecclesiastical Writers of the Church because he speaks of our Saviour with this great respect A late Writer hath a great many idle foolish Cavils against this so notable a Memorial of Iosephus concerning our blessed Lord. He thinks it strange that Iustin Martyr Tertullian and Clemens Alexandrinus writing against the Iews make no
Authority of them equal with that of the Bible For as the Canonical Scriptures were dictated by Divine Inspiration so these Laws they hold were from God Himself and are of the same Authority with those Scriptures They make no difference between the Inspired Writings of the Old Testament and the Books of Mishnaioth or the Talmuds which are in truth an Amassment only of the Traditions of the Jews and of the Diverse Decisions of the Schools of Hillel and Shammai of the Different Determinations of R. Akiba and R. Eliezer of R. Simeon and R. Ioshua c. bandying against one another or rather if we speak plainer they are a Rhapsody of Idle Dreams Groundless Fables Cursed Errors Superstitious Rites and Practices yea if we should instance in the Babylonick Talmud of Horrid Blasphemies against Christ of Obloquies against the Mosaick Law it self and of Contradictions even to the Law of Nature These are part of the Books so highly prized by the Jewish Masters these go along with their Oral Law which was first given by God himself and consequently is of the same Original with the Canon of Scripture But they go yet higher for they do not only equalize these Traditions with Scripture but they prefer them before it They do not only say in a Proverbial Manner that they cannot stand upon the Foundation of the Written Law without the Help of the Vnwritten one i. e. the Oral Law which they talk of and that the Words of the Law as they are found in the Text are poor and wanting but as they are expounded by the Doctors have great Riches and abundance in them And again that very Great and Weighty Matters depend upon these Little Traditions which they contend for but they are so bold and presumptuous as to proceed further and give a far Greater Deference to these Traditions and Doctrines of their Wise Men as they call them than to the Holy Scriptures themselves For they tell us that their Doctors have done more good viz. as to strengthning and confirming of Religion by their own Sayings than by the Words of this Holy Book it self And accordingly their Advice is My Son attend more to what the Scribes say than to what is said by the Law though I know this may admit of another Sense viz. that we ought to look more to the Sense of the Law than the bare Letter of it But that in the Talmud is plain and can have no other Meaning To read the Holy Scripture and to be studious in searching out the Sense of it is good and not good i. e. it is not of any considerable Advantage but to turn over the Mishnah Night and Day is a Vertue which will have a great Reward hereafter and to learn the Gemara is an incomparable Vertue Yea the Jews blasphemously say that God himself studies in the Talmud every Day Here you see they prefer their Delivered Law before the Written one they make the Infallible Scriptures truckle to the Fabulous Traditions of the Mishnah To this purpose it is a Noted Saying of the Hebrew Rabbies that the Text of the Bible is like Water the Mishnah like Wine and the Six Books of the Talmud are like the Sweetest Honey'd Wine Thus to magnify the Traditions of their Fathers they vilify the Scriptures They are not content with the Rites and Injunctions written in the Law which in way of Contempt they call the Precepts of the Law but they admire those most which are taken from their Wise Men which they call the Precepts of the Rabbins and which are summarily contain'd in the Talmud these they hold to be of greater Value than the other The Persons that are skill'd in these are sliled by them Tannaim Profound Masters and Doctors but they that study the Scriptures only are but Karaim Poor Readers and Men of the Letter All this shews how these Men depretiate the Written Word of God and exalt above it their Oral Law which is a mere Fiction and Forgery as to the pretence of its being given to Moses by God and therefore is not owned by the Karaint among them who stick close to the Text nor by some of their Perushim their sobrest sort of Expositors who think those Traditions are derogatory to the Holy Scriptures Secondly Papists as well as Ieâ—s disparage the Holy Scriptures and deny its Perfection Nor by the way is this the only thing wherein they agree with the Jews a great Part of their Religion being no other than Jewish Rites and Ceremonies These Modern Talmudists will not own the Sufficiency of the Sacred Writings they have their Cabala the Doctrine Received from their Ancestors they are for their Oral Law delivered from one to another they supply the defect of Scripture so they are wont to speak with their Traditions They are of the same Mind with the Jews that there must be a Fence made about the Law that it must be hedged in with Traditions The Scripture is not a Perfect Rule of Faith and Manners say they but the things which are necessary to Salvation are partly contained in the Scripture and partly in unwritten Traditions A very absurd and wild Doctrine because they have no way to prove any thing to be necessary to Salvation but by proving it to be found in the Scripture Whatever was or is necessary for the Universal Church is revealed in these Writings and no New Doctrine necessary to Salvation is delivered since to the Church or any particular Person But notwithstanding the Absurdity of this Tenent they hold it fast and make it a Great Article of their Belief For they are taught by an Oecumenical Council as they repute it that Unwritten Traditions are of equal Authority with the Scriptures that they are to be received with the same pious Affection and Reverence those are the words wherewith the Infallible Writings of the Prophets and Apostles are to be entertained and consequently they are to be made a Rule of Faith equal with the Scriptures But they rest not here they not only equal Humane and Ecclesiastical Traditions with the Written Word of God but following the Steps of the Old Talmudists they proceed yet further preferring Traditions before Scripture Thus a Renowned Divine in their Church tells us plainly that Traditions are exceeding necessary for the welfare of the Church yea that they are more requisite than the Scripture it self and this he endeavours to make good With him concur several others of their Writers whom we find extolling Traditions but at the same time speaking very meanly and slightly of the Holy Writ Hence they blasphemously call it a Nose of Wax and a Leaden Rule and many such vilifying Terms are used by Pighius and Melchior Canus and other Great Doctors of that Church We deny not the Usefulness nay even the Necessity nay the Perpetuity of Tradition viz. That Tradition whereby the Doctrines which were entrusted in the
a long time after in the first and most uncorrupted Ages this was the Entertainment of the Greatest Persons In those more innocent Times of the World the Wealthiest Men imbraced this kind of Life as mean as it is accounted now Some of the Old Patriarchs were plain honest Grasiers and the richest of them as Abraham Isaac and Iacob were busied in looking to their Grounds and their Flocks Moses the Great Law-giver was a Shepherd Nabal and Absdlom were Sheep-masters Elisah when he was busy at the Psough with twelve Yoke of Oxen was call'd thence to the Prophetick Dignity and office and Amos of a Herdsman became a Divine Messenger and Preacher Shamgar was taken from the Herd to be a Judg in Israet and with the same Goad that he drove his Oxen slew six hundred Men. Gideon's Seat of State and Justice was a Threshing-floor and he had no other Mace than a Flail Iudg. 6. 14. The renowned Iair and Iephthah kept Sheep and were fetch'd from that Employment to be Judges David the Son of Iesse a Worthy Parent in Israel was took from the Sheep-folds from following the Ewes great with young to feed Jacob to rule Israel Psal. 78. 71. Thus the Pastoral Art hath been a Preâ—â—dâ—â— to Empire and Government the taking care of these tame Creatures hath made way for the presiding over the stubborn Flock of Mankind We read that Crowned Heads have not disdained this Art King Vzziah or as he is call'd elsewhere Azariah for I have shewed in another Place that it was common with the Jews to have two Names was a Lover of Husbandry 2 Chron. 26. 10. And one of the Greatest Kings that ever swayed a Scepter acknowledgeth that as the Profit of the Earth i. e. of Agriculture 〈◊〉 for all is of universal Advantage so more especially the King himself is a Servant to the Field Eccles. 5. 9. for so it is according to the Hebrew It is worthy of his Royal Care and Study to support Tillage and Husbandry which were heretofore the Employment of those of the highest Rank And thus it was also among the Profane Nations of old Knowledg and Skill in Rustick Affairs ushered in Rule and Command The Gordian Knot was but Plough-tackling hamper'd in a Knot and he that untied it was to be Monarch of the World Araunah King of Iebus condescended to be a Thresher 2 Sam. 24. 18. 1 Chron. 21. 20. and which is aâ— unparallell'd Exaltation of this Primitive Husbandry his Threshing-floor was the Spot of Ground which King David made choice of to build an Altar to God upon 2 Sam. 24. 25. and this was the very Place where Solomon's Temple was afterwards erected 2 Chron. 3. 1. Mesha King of Moab was a Sheep-master 2 Kings 3. 4. Noked is the Hebrew Word and it is simply and barely used for a Shepherd Amos 1. 1. Spartacus the dreaded Enemy of the Romans was of the same Calling Dioclesian the Emperor left his Throne and turned Gardiner After he had laid down the Empire he took up Husbandry Attalus abdicated his Kingly Government and applied himself wholly to the same Employment The Great Scipio left his Commands to exercise and enjoy the Pleasures of Agriculture In the Old Roman History we read that the Chief Men among them studied and practised this by the same Token that several of them were fetch'd from their Tillage to Arms from their Country Carts to Triumph from Harvest-work to the Senate from the Field to the Camp from the Plough to bear the high Offices of Consuls and Dictators They that were sent from the Roman Senate to desire Attilius to take upon him the Government found him sowing in his Grounds They tell us that Romulus the Founder of the Roman Empire was bred up first to the Sheep-hook and we know that the Riches of the Antient Romans was Plenty of Cattel From the Country-Exercise of feeding of Beasts came the Sirnames of the Families of the Vituli Porcii Tauri Caprae and others And here by the by let me insert that it may be Eglon the Name of a Man and so Rachel and Dorcas the Names of Women in Scripture which sighnify a Calf a Sheep a Deer were given at first on the like Account Women as well as Men being imployed of old in looking after Cattel From their sowing of Beans Pease c. arose the Names of the Fabii Pisones â—â—cerones Lentuli c. And it is not to be denied that the Exercises of Husbandry have been treated of and applauded by the Wisest Men as Cato Varro Cicero Pliny Columella Virgil. And when among the Pagans their very Deities are represented as Lovers of a Country-Life when Pan was said to be the God of Shepherds and Mercury and Apolâ—â— fed Sheep and the last of these was cried up for the Chief Patron of this Calling they intended to signify to us that this and the like Country-Employments are Princely and Divine Which very thing we are assured of from the Word of Truth the Infallible Records of the Bible which tell us that these were the Early Business and Practice of the Greatest and the Best Men. The Greatest Princes heretofore were esteemed according to the Numbers of their Cattel Among the First and Necessary Employments and Advantages of humane Life may be justly reckon'd the Preparing of Food and the Scriptures alone can furnish us with the certain Knowledg of this It is undeniable from those plain and express Words in Gen. 1. 29. that there was no Food allow'd at first to Mankind but Plants and Herbs Corn and all other Fruits of the Earth I have wondred sometimes that any who believe the Sacred Text can question this for the Words are positive and downright utterly excluding all other kind of Sustenance but this Yea unless you can prove that Milk is no part of any Living Creature but is a Fruit of the Earth you have reason to think that they were debarr'd of this also But after the Flood which had much impaired the Virtue of the Earth and exhausted somewhat of its Seminal Power there was a Licence to eat Flesh Every moving thing that liveth shall be Meat for you Gen. 9. 3. in which is included the Product of Flesh Milk which was denied to the Antediluvians But now all are at liberty to feed on it and that was not all they were so skilful as to make it afford them Cheese and Butter neither of which we read of before the Deluge And questionless they that fed not on Milk knew not the Use of these but among the Post-diluvians Charitze hachalab 1 Sam. 17. 18. Cheeses of Milk were a common Food which are without doubt meant by Shephoth bakar 2 Sam. 17. 29. Coagulationes bovis as Pagnine renders it Cheeses of the Milk of Cows according to the Targum and they are called by the Hebrews in their peculiar way of speaking the Sons of Milk And in Iob 10. 10. gebinah is the Word for
part of it extant before there were any Writers in the World and so it was utterly impossible to borrow from Others This is the Peculiar Excellency of this Book this is the Particular Commendation of these Writings that they were the First of all and could not be taken from any else These Holy Scriptures borrow from none unless you will say they do so from Themselves as the 18th Psalm is taken out of 2 Sam. 22. or this out of that The Evangelists borrow from one another The Virgin Mary's Magnificat refers in several Places of it to Hannab's Song 1 Sam. 2 and St. Paul takes some things out of his Epistle to the Epbesians and puts them into that which he wrote to the Colossians and so st Iude may be said to borrow from St. Peter but this is not the Plagiarism which Other Writers are guilty of and which is an Argument of their Wants and Defects whereas the Holy Spirit supplied the Penmen of the Bible both with Matter and Words In the Old Testament especially and more particularly in the Books of Moses there is nothing at second hand all is fresh and new thâ— things there spoken of were never delivered by any Writer before But most of the Profane Historians began when the Holy History was just ending And Herodotus himself the Father of History writ not till Ezra and Nehemiah's time The Greeâ— Historians go no further back than the Persjan Eâ—piâ—e and most of the Roman History takes not its Rise so high Indeed the Egyptians boasted that they had been ruled by Kings above ten thousand Years as Herodotus relates and thence perhaps it was that one of their Pharaoh's which was the common Name of all their Kings bragg'd that he was the Son of antient Kings Isa. 19. 11. The Chinoises pretend to give an Account of Passages almost three thousand Years before Christ and we are told by Martinius in his Atlas that they preserve a continued History compiled from their Annual Exploits of four thousand and five hundred Years yea they have if we may credit the younger Vossius Writers antienter than Moses But these high Flights are exploded by all Considerate Men and upon a View of whatever Pretences are made by Others they conclude that Moses was the Antientest Writer and that the earliest Discovery of Transactions and Occurrences in the World is to be learnt from him alone Some of the Wisest Pagans had a hint of this and travell'd into the Eastern Countries to acquaint themselves with these Records And it was observ'd long since by Plato as I took notice before that the Oldest and most Barbarous Tongues meaning the Hebrew and Chaldee were very requisite for the finding out the first Beginnings of things for the first Names of them which are now grown obsolete by length of time are preserved in those Languages they being the antientest of all In the Hebrew especially are to be found the Primitive Origines of things and most of the Pagan Historiâ—â—s have borrowed from these And so have their Poâ—ts Orators and Philosophers as a great Number of the Christian Fathers whom I have particularly quoted in another Place to evince the Authority of the Scriptures have largely proved In a word all other Antient Writings refer to these or suppose them this Inspired Volume alone being the Fountain from whence either they or we can derive any Truth and Certainty And as there is the Antientest Learning so there is All Learning I speak now of that which is Humane and is reckon'd the Accomplishment of Rational Persons and all the kinds of it in this Book of Books Here is not only Prose but Verse here are not only Poems but Histories Annals Chronicles Here are things Profound and Mystical and here are others that at the first sight are Intelligible and Clear here are Prophecies Visions Revelations for even in the Narratives which are given of These there are some things serviceable to promote the Study of Humanity here are Proverbs Adagies Emblems Parables Apologues Paradoxes Riddles and here are also Plain Questions and Answers Propositions Discourses Sermons Orations Letters Epistles Colloquies Debates Disputations Here are Maxims of Law and Reason Rules of Iustice and Equity Examples of Keen Wit and Deep Politicks Matters of Church and State Publick and Private Affairs and all manner of Subjects either treated of or referr'd unto Thus the Bible is excellently sitted to entertain any Persons as they are Students and Scholars for here is a Treasury of all Good Letters here are laid up all things that conduce to Humane Knowledg Porphyrius is said to have writ a Book of Homer's Philosophy wherein he attempts to prove that he was as much a Philosopher as a Poet and no less a Person than Maximus Tyrius affirms him to be the Prince of Philosophers and another Grave Author undertakes to shew that the Seeds of all Arts are to be found in Homer's Works This is said by his Admirers to inhanse his Credit and Repute but far greater things and more justly may be pronounced concerning these Famous Records of Learning and Antiquity With more Reason may we maintain that the chiefest Arts and Inventions are originally in the Sacred Volume and that the Foundations of all Humane Learning and Science are laid here for though these are not the chief things designed in this Book it being writ to higher Purposes yet they are occasionally interspersed every where and a Studious Enquirer cannot miss of them It is rationally and undeniably to be inferr'd from the Particulars above-mention'd though many more might have been added that the Bible is the most Compleat Book and hath All Learning in it This truly deserves the Name which Diodore the Sicilian gives his History that is it is indeed a Library an Universal one and contains All Books in it As the Writers of it were Persons of Several Conditions Kings Noblemen Priests Prophets c. so the Matters of it are Various and Different and by reading and studying these Writings we may Commence in all Arts and Sciences we may be accomplish'd Grammarians Criticks Chronologers Historians Poets Orators Disputants Lawyers Statesmen Preachers Prophets Many valuable Monuments of Learning have been lost The famous Library of Alexandria which contain'd six or seven hundred thousand Volumes and that of Constantinople which consisted of an hundred and twenty thousand perished by Fire And the Works of Varro the Learnedsâ— Man of all the Romans are extinct And many others might be reckon'd up besides those that Historians say nothing of But having the Scriâ—ture Hacatub as the Jews rightly call'd it by way of Eminence the most Excellent Writings in the World fraught with all manner of useful Literature we may afford to be without the other for this is a certain Verity that if we have the Bible we want no Book And more particularly I have made it appear that the Choicest Antiquities are to be found here A prying Antiquary may
Church-Discipline Ministers Maintenance Spiritual Gifts especially the Gift of Prophesying Some particular Cases concerning which are resolved with great Plainness and Dexterity and may be serviceable to determine our Judgments in all Cases of the like Nature He also admirably descants on the Nature and Necessity of Charity and he by multiplied Arguments asserts the Doctrine of the Resurrection When the Corinthians had received this First Epistle and as soon as the Apostle was informed by Titus what Reformation it had wrought in them he writ a Second to them in Defence of his Ministry and Apostleship against some that labour'd to bring him into Contempt among them He threatens Offenders he encourages the Obedient he animates the Faint-hearted he confounds his Antagonists and that by a new way of Argument viz. by boasting of his Sufferings and giving a full Inventory of them He displays his Calamities he blazons his Crosses and Victories and Triumphs do not more elevate others than these do him He excellently discovers the hypocritical Pretences of False Prophets he vindicates his own Person and Authority he answers the Calumnies and Aspersions of Erroneous Teachers he clears himself from the Imputation of Levity Pride Vain-Glory Severity and other things laid to his Charge He asserts the Truth of his Doctrine and the Laudableness of his Actions and exhorts to all Holiness and Righteousness of Life But the greatest Part of this Epistle is Apologetical whence we learn that it is not unseemly or unchristian to enlarge on one's own Actions and Sufferings when there is a necessary Occasion The Epistle to the Galatians i. e. the Christian Brethren in Galatia a Region in the Lesser Asia call'd also Gallo-Graecia because it was of old inhabited by Gauls and Greeks is directed against the False Apostles among them who mingled the Law with the Gospel Legal Works with Faith and made the former necessary to Justification Whereupon he again asserts the Doctrine of Justification by Faith so that this Part of the Epistle is a brief Summary of the Epistle to the Romans He proves that these Gentile Converts need not become Proselytes of the Iews nor observe the Law of Circumcision or any other Mosaick Rite But he tells them the right Use of Circumcision and of the Law and bids them stand fast in the Evangelical Liberty and be careful that they do not abuse it but walk in Love and Meekness Humility Modesty and Charity which are the Great and Noble Vertues that are to shine in the Lives of Christians It is easily observable that the Apostle is more Warm and Vehement in this Epistle than in any of his others the Reason of which is because he saw his Galatians so greatly endanger'd by their listning to the perverse Reasonings of the Gnosticks as some think or other Iudaizing Teachers that were crept in among them and were perswading them to imbrace another Gospel to diâ—own and reject the Principles which he had taught them and to come off from Christianity to Iudaism This kindles a holy Indignation in his Breast and makes him with an unwonted Keenness and Severity cry out against them and complain of their gross Folly yea their wilful suffering themselves to be bewitched and infatuated by those Impostors His Epistle to the Ephesians i. e. the faithful Christians of Ephesus the Head-City of Asia the Less which was written from Rome when he was a Prisoner there divinely sets forth the Great and Astonishing Mystery of our Redemption and Reconciliation the Freeness and Riches of Grace in Christ Jesus the Admirable Benefits and Privileges of the Gospel the Marvelous Dispensation of God to the Gentiles in revealing Christ to them the Excellency and Dignity of his Apostolick Charge He adds most Pathetick Exhortations to Constancy in the Faith notwithstanding the Calumnies of False Teachers and the Peril of the Cross. He propounds the most Cogent Motives to Love and Unity he urgeth the conscientious Performance of all the Duties of Religion and gives Particular Rules and Precepts for the discharging of every Christian Office so admirable so Entire so Comprehensive is this Part of the Apostle's Writings The Epistle to the Philippians i. e. the Christians of Philippi a City of Macedonia and a Roman Colony was writ also when the Apostle was imprisoned at Rome and in it he thanks them for their Liberality towards him in his Bonds and for their sending Epaphroditus their Minister with a Supply of Money to him This Epistle is chiefly writ to them in return to this seasonable Kindness of theirs and as that to the Galatians was the Sharpest so this is the Smoothest and Sweetest the most Endearing and Pathetick of all St. Paul's Epistles and is fullest of Paternal Affection He here likewise takes notice of and extols their Proficiency in the Gospel and then labours to confirm them in it he exhorts them to Increase and Persevere in the Christian Faith to bear their Persecutions with Patience and Constancy of Mind to be Humble and Peaceable and to be Loving to one another He cautions them against Seducers and False Teachers who bad them rely on the Righteâ—â—sness of the Law and on the contrary assures them that their only Trust and Dependance ought to be on the Righteousness which is of God by Faith in Christ Iesus He earnestly beseecheth them to be Exemplary in their Conversations and to live in the Practice of all Christian Duties He lovingly and passionately Salutes them and Prays for them he is every where Obliging and Affectionate in sum the whole Epistle is written with a Pen dipp'd in Oil. In the Epistle to the Colossians i. e. the People of Colosse a City in Phrygia not far from Laodieea and Hierapolis in the Proconsular Asia who were converted by the Preaching of Epaphras whom St. Paul had sent to them but now is his Fellow-Prisoner at Rome the chief Design of the Apostle is to Reduce those that were led away by False Teachers whether Iews or Philosophers The former introduced the Mosaick Ceremonies and Observations the latter brought in Unsound Notions and Speculations and both of them perverted the Simplicity and Purity of the Gospel Wherefore the Apostle endeavours to establish them in the true Evangelical Doctrine in opposition to Iudaism and the Vain Deceits of Philosophy He is earnest with them to adhere only to Christianity and to persevere in the Practice of all those Excellent Precepts that belong to it And accordingly first he mentions some General and then some Particular Graces and Duties This Epistle is of the same Tenour Subject and even the same Expression generally with that to the Ephesians for the Apostle about the same time that he wrote to the Ephesians did so likewise to the Colossians whilest the very same things were still fresh in his Memory whence it is that he uses the same Words often to both The first Epistle to the Thessalonians or rather the Thessalonicians for they were Inhabitants of Thessalonica the chief
that the Gentiles relate the very same things that this doth that the Great Truths and Notable Histories Notions and Practices in the Books of the Old Testament are to be met with in Profane Writings but taken from these Sacred ones The Heathens borrowed many of their Rites and Vsages from Traditions which were founded in the Holy Scriptures They derived many things in their Religion and Manners from these Sacred Fountains though it is as true that they have laboured to pollute them But I will make it clear and manifest that they fetch'd them thence and I will abundantly prove that most of the chief things in the Old Testament have been attested both by the Fables and the Serious History of the Pagans There have been some High-fliers I know who have carried on this Notion to a ridiculous Extravagancy Thus Zimmeranus speaks of an odd Capuchin who hath vented very wild things in prosecuting this Argument viz. that the Gentile Mysteries were taken from the True God and from the Scriptures inspired by him And one Iacobâ— Hugo in his Historia Romana is quoted by the same Person as very extravagant in this kind for he holds that the Roman Story was a Narrative of the History of the Gospel Pious Aeneas was St. Peter and his sailing from Troy to Latium was the Story of St. Peter's leaving the Chair at Antioch and going to Rome Homer and Virgil's Heroick Poems are an account of St. Peter and the Church and of the Shipwrack and Misfortunes which this latter meets with in the World Ilium or Aelia is Ierusalem that was the Name which Aelius Adrianus gave it The Acts of the Apostles the Jewish War and the Destruction of Ierusalem are contain'd in Homer's Iliads and so are the Life and Death of Christ and the whole Gospel He tells us that Romulus and Remus signify the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul the Founders of the Roman Church And more extravagantly yet he goes on telling us that Diana signiâ—ies the Holy Trinity Curtius on Horse-back swallowed up in the Lake is the Virgin Mary whose Temple is seen there in the Market-place at Rome with this Inscription D. Virginis Templum à poenis inferni liberantis And a great deal more of such Stuff this Hugo hath which no Man of Consideration and Sense is able to bear Indeed such wild and far-fetch'd Conceits may be justly entertain'd with Laughter and Contempt Nor do I look upon some things which some others of more composed Thoughts mention as any real Testimonies given to the Scriptures They strangely fancy an Affinity between Scripture and Paganism between what they read in the one and what they meet with in the other though there be no Cognation at all Thus the Greek Fable of Minerva's being the Offspring of Iove's Brain took its Rise from the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Eternal and Ineffable Generation of the Son of God saith a Learned Man and Isis the Egyptian Goddess is saith he Ishah Mulier or Virgo i. e. the Virgin Mary from a Tradition among them that a Virgin shoulâ— bring forth a Son who was to be the Redeemer 〈◊〉 the World And I could mention others whoâ—â— Names are better known who have been too eâ—travagant in this kind carrying the Notion on toâ— far and strongly fancying every thing almoâ—â— which they meet with in Pagan Story to havâ— some reference to and be taken from the holâ— Scriptures But I shall very industriously avoâ—â— this Vanity and Folly and only represent to the curious and critical Reader those Passages in Pagâ—â— Writers which with great Probability and Reasoâ— we may conclude to have been taken from the Books of the Old Testament I shall endeavoâ—â— to let you see the Sacred History of the Bible eveâ— through the Fables and feigned Stories of the Heathens and thereby confirm you in the belief of the Truth and Reality of that Sacred History whence they were taken 1. To begin first where all things began the Creation this as it is particularly described iâ— the first Chapter of Genesis is plainly to be found in Pagan Authors who without doubt had it froâ— this first Entrance of the Scripture For thougâ— a Man by the Light of Nature may know that the World had a Beginning yet this particular way of its beginning as 't is there set down could not be attained to but by Divine Revelation wherefore it is rationally to be asserted that the Pagaâ—â— took this Notion from God's Revealed Will in Scripture and at the same time they do hereby attest the Truth of that holy Book The genâ—râ—â— Opinion of the antient Gentiles was that the World was made out of a preceding Chaos which they represent to be a rude disordered and indigested Mass of Matter reduced to no Shape and Form Sanconiathon the Phoenician Historian so much prais'd by Porphyrius the Philosopher in Eusebius makes mention of this Chaos as the Source of all things in his Fragments of Phoenician Theology The antient Poet Orpheus held that this Chaos was the first Principle of all things And Hesiod agrees with him affirming that the Chaos was that out of which all Bodies were made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is described by Ovid after this manner Ante mare terras quod tegit omnia Coelum Vnus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe Quem dixere Chaos c. Where in forty or â—ifty pair of good smooth Verses he most excellently describes the Origine of all things and makes the very Chaos beautiful This is the same with Hyle the first original Matter of all things the Poets Demogorgon which was borrowed from the shapeless Lump of the Chaos And in the Phoenician Language we may find it in the very sound of the words Thoth and Bau which are but a small Variation from Tohu and Bohu in the Hebrew Text the same with Chaos among the Greeks and Latins This is founded on those Words of Moses Gen. 1. 2. The Earth was without form and void and Darkness was on the face of the Deep This dark and formless Heap of Water and Earth mingled together contain'd in it the fiâ— Elements of all things that were made afterwardâ— hence sprang the World as it is now shaped 〈◊〉 modelled From this Account which Moses givâ— here of the Creation the old Pagan Theologer i. e. the Pocts made the Ocean to be the Origiâ— of all Generation which is no other than thâ— if you give the plain meaning of it that thâ— moist and fluid Matter gave beginning to all Bodâ— that are Orpheus own'd this Hypothesis calliâ—â— the Ocean the Parent of all things in one of 〈◊〉 Hymns and out of some other Pieces of 〈◊〉 Works the same might be proved Homer 〈◊〉 the like asserting the Ocean to be the Antiente of the Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iliad On which Words the Scholiast gives this Reason