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
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
may be found in the Old Testament For Example David says of himself and of his Enemies divers things without thinking of prophesying which contain nevertheless Predictions of that which ought to happen to Christ and his Enemies He says Psal. XLI 10. He that ate of my Bread hath lift up his Heel against me He meant surely some of those who were risen against him in Asolom's Conspiracy as Achitophel or some other and he speaks plainly of a thing happened to himself It is this very thing that inspires him if one may so say these words which betoken what should befal Jesus Christ by the Treachery of one of his Disciples as appears by Iohn XIII 18. The Author of the LXIX th and CIX th Psalms whether it were David or some other did not probably think of fore-telling what should one day befal a Disciple of the Messiah when he curs'd his Enemies And yet St. Peter in the Acts applies some words of these Psalms to Iudas There needs no great sharpsightedness to see that the Author pretended not to speak of Iudas and that he was not immediately inspir'd by the good and merciful Spirit of God when he said Set thou a wicked Man over him and let Satan stand at his Right-hand When he shall be judged let him be condemned and let his Prayer become Sin Let his days be few and let another take his Office Let his Children be Fatherless and his Wife a Widow Let his Children continually be Vagabonds and beg let them seek their Bread also out of their desolate places Let the Extortioner catch all that he hath and let the Stranger spoil his Labour Let there be none to extend Mercy unto him neither let there be any to favour his Fatherless Children Let his Posterity be cut off and in the Generation following let their Name be blotted out Let the Iniquity of his Fathers be remembred with the Lord and let not the Sin of his Mother be blotted out c. It is plain that these are the words of a Man full of excessive Choler and of an extream desire to be revenged Now the Law of Moses permitted not any more than the Gospel to with ill or do it to Children in revenge of the Injury received from their Parents Yet some famous Divines have put in the Title of this Psalm That David AS A TYPE OF JESUS CHRIST being driven on by a singular Zeal prays that Vengeance may be executed on his Enemies And where do they find that Jesus Christ does curse his Enemies at that rate Have they forgotten the words that proceeded from his dying Mouth in favour of the wickedest Race that ever was Those that crucified him were they not the greatest Enemies he had and the most obstinate Adversaries of the Gospel And far from making the Imprecations against them that they deserved did not he pray to his Father to forgive them Has he not ordered us to imitate him and to pray for those that persecute us I cannot understand how it can be said that David as a Type of Iesus Christ made such horrible Imprecations against his Enemies I confess I understand not Christian Religion if it permit the pronouncing such Curses and the wishing to be revenged after so cruel a manner as does the Author of this Psalm and those of divers others in which we find such like Imprecations As that of Psal. cxxxvii O Daughter of Babylon who art to be destroyed happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little Ones against the Stones God forbid that we should desire to dash out the Brains of Infidel's Children Yet nevertheless we see that all these Psalms are indifferently sung in Protestant Churches without taking notice that they are not all equally inspir'd And I remember that asking a Divine how we could sing Psalms full of such Imprecations He answered me slightly that it was lawful to use them against the Enemies of the Church and that for his part he made that Application to them when he sung these Psalms Thus you see what the Jewish Opinion of the Inspiration of words and of the Divinity of each Verse of the Scripture produces We may conceive another sort of Prophecies which consisted not in foretelling things to come but in explaining the Scripture and in composing readily Hymns to the Honour of God There are some Examples of these Hymns in the New Testament as that of the blessed Virgin Mary and some others It seems as if there went only Piety and Zeal to the composing them At least it is very conceivable that a pious zealous Man may easily now a days praise God in that manner without any Preparation A good part of the Psalms seems to have been thus compos'd as also divers other Songs which are in the Old Testament The Psalms where the Verses or the Pauses begin with the Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet seem to have been compos'd at more leisure For this Regularity shews that there was Meditation and Pains used as is in Acrosticks See Psal. cxix and the Lamentations of Ieremy So we see too that in this sort of Works the Holy Writers do not speak in the Name of God nor begin their Discourse with Thus saith the Lord. Yet we may say that the Authors of these pious Songs were full of the Holy Spirit when they compos'd them that is to say it was a Spirit of Piety that carry'd them to take pains in those Compositions and in that sense we may say that they were inspir'd by God though not so immediately as Predictions The Spirit of God is often taken for the Spirit of Holiness that is to say for a disposition of Spirit conformable to the Commandments of God as many Learned Men have observed I will now remark briefly in what manner the Sacred Histories have been written And then in treating of Doctrines I will speak of that sort of Prophecy that consists in explaining the Holy Scripture It is certain that those who took pains in the Histories of the Old and New Testament were pious Persons who had not writ those Histories but out of a Principle of Piety It was not to satisfy our Curiosity that they undertook those Works but to show us the Care that the Providence of God hath always taken of good People and the Punishments it inflicts upon the wicked to give us Examples of Piety and Vertue and lastly to inform us of certain matters of Fact upon which our Faith is founded and of the Precepts which God had given to Jews and Christians by the Ministry of his Prophets Apostles Angels themselves and even of his own Son We ought also to believe that they have given us the Truth of the History to the best of their knowledg without adding or substracting any thing out of design to deceive us And as they were very well informed of the principal matters of Fact which they relate
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
of mine and shall shew it unto you All things that the Father hath are mine therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shew it unto you What Opinion soever a Man may be of concerning the Holy Spirit it is plain that these words cannot be taken properly as if the Holy Spirit had heard from God or Jesus Christ that with which he ought to inspire the Apostles The most simple sense and most conformable to the accomplishment of this Promise which can be given to these words is to my thinking this I should explain many things to you more clearly than I have done but you are not yet in condition to receive them as you should When you shall have received the Spirit of Miracles he will teach you the rest that you ought to know either by Visions or by making you call to mind that which I have told you so that he will make you apprehend the sense and will teach you what you ought to do afterwards To speak properly he will tell you nothing new he will but recal into your memory to make you better understand it the Doctrine of my Father which is the same that I have taught you and which I may also call my Doctrine because my Father has charg'd me to preach it as the only Doctor of his Church The Holy Spirit led the Apostles into all Truths and took that which was Christ's without ever speaking of himself in making them call to mind that which they had forgotten and in making them understand on divers occasions or even by extraordinary Revelations that which Christ had said to them but which they then understood not This is plainly that which Christ teaches us in these words These things have I spoken unto you being yet present with you But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you ALL THINGS AND BRING ALL THINGS TO YOUR REMEMBRANCE WHATSOEVER I HAVE SAID UNTO YOU Iohn XIV 25 These last words apparently explain the foregoing He shall teach you all Things In effect there is nothing in the Doctrine of the Apostles which Christ had not told them and in leaving them he gave them no other order for the preaching of the Gospel but to teach all People to observe all those things which he had commanded them And the Apostles observe in several places that it was not till after they had received the Holy Spirit that they remember'd and understood divers things which Christ had told them when he was here below These things understood not the Disciples at the first says St. Ioh. XII 16. but when Iesus was enter'd into his Glory then remember'd they that these things were written of him See the same Evangelist II. 22. and Acts XI 16. This is in my Opinion the sense of Christ's words at least I find nothing among the Interpreters that answers so well to the Event which thorowly convinces me that Christ must have meant some such thing For when all 's done whatsoever may be said the Promise ought to be understood by its correspondency with the Accomplishment and there is no better Interpreter of Prophecies than their execution This being so the Infallibility of the Apostles according to my judgment consisted in this They knew clearly the general Principles of the Jewish Religion which had been taught them from their Cradle they had heard Christ often tell what the Gospel added to Judaism or if you will Christ had explain'd to them more clearly the Will of God and had shown them the Errors of the Pharisees He had instructed them concerning the Messiah and had made appear to them by many Proofs that himself was HE God had rais'd him from the Dead and they had convers'd with him after his Resurrection and in the last place they had seen him ascend into Heaven from whence he assur'd them he would come one Day to judg the Quick and the Dead They preach'd faithfully that which they had heard that which they had seen with their Eyes that which they had observ'd with attention and that which they had touch'd with their Hands They could declare without any mistake what they had seen they could preach what they had heard For the Doctrine of Jesus Christ was compris'd in a few Articles plain enough to be understood and consequently easy to be remembered Thus they related infallibly what they had seen and heard and therein it is that their Infallibility consisted Perhaps also the Spirit of Miracles which Christ sent them strengthned their Memories and open'd their Minds after a manner we comprehend not But it is certain as I have made it appear that this Spirit directed them not in so miraculous a manner as to make it necessary for us to regard all they said or writ with the same respect as the words of Jesus Christ the only Master and the only infallible Doctor that ever was amongst Men. He was the only Mystical Ark in which the Godhead dwelt bodily from whence proceeded nothing but Oracles Some may ask perhaps Whether it might not so happen that the Apostles might abandon the Truth of the Gospel and preach a false Doctrine and if it might be so how we can be assur'd that they were not Deceivers I confess that though it was very unlikely that after having receiv'd so many Illuminations and Graces they should fall into Apostacy yet it was not absolutely impossible But in that case God would not have approv'd by Miracles the Doctrine they taught and thereby it is that we may know they were no Seducers There crept in during their Time many false Prophets among the Christians but they were presently discover'd because they could not maintain by Miracles a Doctrine contrary to that of the Apostles which was confirm'd by an infinity of Wonders God made appear by those Prodigies that the Apostles declar'd nothing but what was conformable to his Will nor any thing that could be hurtful to Piety for it is impossible that God would favour a Doctrine which should turn Men from Holiness But we must not believe neither as I have already observ'd that because God wrought Miracles in favour of any Person it therefore follows that all things pronounced by that Person were immediately inspir'd and ought to be receiv'd as the infallible Decisions of him that never errs Provided that Person maintained the Substance of the Gospel and said nothing but what conduced to Piety God would not cease to bear Witness to his Doctrine although all his Reasonings were not Demonstrations God would not that this Mark of his Approbation should be interpreted as if he had thereby declared that he would have all the Words of those that had miraculous Gifts receiv'd as Oracles To be fully convinc'd hereof we need but read the first Epistle to the Corinthians I must nevertheless ingenuously confess that there is mention made in this Epistle of some miraculous Gifts which seem to have
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
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
though preach'd with never so much Gravity It happens I say that these Persons reject all the Christian Religion because they do not distinguish true Christianity from those Dreams of fanciful Divines It is easy to guess after this what we ought to think of the Authority of the Books of the Old Testament The Prophecies that are in it ought to be believ'd because Christ has authoriz'd them The substance of the History ought also to be believed for the same reason notwithstanding any uncertainty there may be in some inconsiderable Circumstances as it appears there is still some uncertainty by divers Contradictions which the Divines with all their Subtilty have not been able to reconcile after puzling about it above three thousand Years The Doctrines that are in it ought also to be receiv'd so far as they are conformable to those of the Gospel or if you will let us say that the true meaning of the Law is to be learn'd from Christ. No Conclusion is to be drawn from those Books that appear to be only pieces of Wit and Fancy or wherein nothing but Human is to be found such as the Song of Solomon Ecclesiastes c. Lastly we ought not to strain too far the Sense of particular Expressions as do the Jews Because if we except a very few places the Expressions are the same with those which the sacred Writers were wont to make use of in explaining their other Thoughts that is to say they have worded both the Jewish History and the Revelations they had from Heaven after their own ordinary manner of expressing themselves These Sir are the Thoughts of Mr. N. concerning the Inspiration of the sacred Pen-Men I am told he draws from these Principles three Consequences The first is That by admitting this Hypothesis we may terminate many great Disputes among Christians which have risen from the false Subtilty of Divines interpreting too mysteriously the Expressions of the holy Scripture as if every syllable had been dictated by God The second is that whereas by sticking too close to the Letter of the Scripture the Essence of Religion comes to be neglected as if God required no more of us at present but to believe that the holy Scripture is divinely inspir'd instead I say of this Practice it will be found necessary to apply our selves wholly to the obeying Christ's Precepts which is the only thing God indispensably requires from us The third Consequence is that hereby at one blow will be solv'd an infinite number of Difficulties which Libertines are wont to alledg against the holy Scripture and which it is not possible to solve by the ordinary Principles Their Mouths will be stopp'd says Mr. N. and it wil no longer avail them to object against Christians the Contradictions which are found in the Scriptures the lowness of the Stile of the sacred Writers the little Order observ'd to be in many of their Discourses and whatsoever else they have been us'd to say against our Divines who have in vain puzled themselves to answer them By imposing nothing upon these Men as necessary to be believ'd but the Truth of what is most essential in the Histories of the Old and New Testament and the Divinity of our Saviour's Doctrine in which there is nothing that is not conformable to right Reason they will be brought says he to acknowledg that Christian Religion is really descended from Heaven and will be easily inclin'd to embrace that which hitherto they have obstinately rejected because it was grounded on Suppositions repugnant to that Light of Reason by which they are guided I shall not undertake Sir to examine these Consequences nor the Principles from whence they are drawn I promis'd you only a bare account of the Thoughts of Mr. N. And I hope you will use means that some Divine verss'd in these matters may satisfy us both upon this Subject better than I my self am able to do I am c. THE THIRD LETTER YOU have seen Sir to how little purpose it is that Mr. Simon indeavours to defend his particular Opinions as well as those which are common to him with all other Roman-Catholic Doctors You shall see now that he is no happier in going about to play the Critic on two Letters in which he was not concern'd It appears evidently that nothing but the itch he hath of carping at other Mens Writings has made him undertake to examine those Letters For he embraces the greatest part of the Opinions which the Author there maintains And I doubt not but those who have judg'd the Opinions of Mr. N. too bold will be as much scandaliz'd at those of the pious Prior of Bolleville That incomparable Critic maintains at first dash as boldly as if he were assur'd of it by Revelation that he that is call'd Mr. N. is Noel Aubert de Versé which I have told you already is nothing but a Dream of Mr. Simon 's who thinks he may lawfully say any thing that comes in his Head and believes that by boldly affirming it he shall make his Reader be of his Mind That is a Secret of his Rhetoric which he puts in practice as soon as ever he finds himself puzl'd or when he imagines he may thereby worst his Antagonist But by ill fortune he has us'd it so long that his Art being plainly discover'd can no more deceive any body By saying whatever came in his Mind although in truth he did not believe it he has so grosly contradicted himself that he has now lost all Credit with Men of Worth I need therefore return no other answer to the beginning of our Author's XIIth Chap. than by saying that I am sorry his Choler does so much blind him as to make him affirm a Falshood as boldly as the clearest Truth I pray God as I have often done to cure him of a Passion that discomposes him in so deplorable a manner and which may in time render him incapable of serving the Public as he might do if he considered a little more on what he thinks fit to publish I will not spend my Labour singly upon his Remarks for I write not this to satisfy him In the ill Humour he is nothing is so fit to settle his Mind as Time I will therefore but touch on them as I go along when the nature of what I have to say leads me to it Neither is it my design to defend the Opinions of Mr. N. concerning the Inspiration of the sacred Writers Tho I said it was hard to answer his Proofs fully I said not that I was convinc'd On the contrary I propos'd them to the Learned that I might provoke them to examine the matter carefully and might draw from their Observations some further Light than my own Meditations could furnish me with But as Mens Intentions are not interpreted always so favourably as they ought to be I find my self oblig'd that I may satisfy the Scruples of some pious Persons and repel the Calumnies of some Divines
hundred others that may be brought off from their Inclination to Libertinism by the same Reasons which those are offended at If indeed we ought always to be afraid of saying any thing that is not generally approv'd we should quickly be oblig'd not only to keep silence but also to suppress many things which are both useful and necessary to Salvation There is no Doctrine in the Gospel how holy soever which some Sect of Christians has not perverted and misused Nay the same is yet done daily All the difficulty then lies in knowing whether the treating concerning this Question of the Inspiration of the Authors of the Bible will occasion more Good or Hurt In it self the Thing is good even by the Concession of those that argue against it and there is nothing but the weakness of some Mens Minds that can render it dangerous Thus then the Good or Evil of this Disquisition depends wholly upon the Event which therefore these Gentlemen ought to suffer us to expect before we acknowledg that we have done ill in publishing this Writing of Mr. N. We must add to this that Mr. N. is not the first that has spoken as he does of the Inspiration of the sacred Writers We see many Proofs of it in his Dissertation And besides the places which he has cited out of some Books of Grotius there are others infinitely more strong and more express in those against Rivet Now after having thus answer'd those that would have had this Writing suppress'd it is necessary to give some satisfaction to those also who complain that the Author has not express'd his Opinion with sufficient clearness I have therefore desir'd Mr. N. to explain it to me himself if it were possible in few words and more distinctly in order to remove those injurious Suspicions that may have risen from any Obscurity in his Writing concerning his Faith and his Piety And these are the Heads to which he has reduc'd his Opinion and wherein he agrees with us In the first place says he I believe that no Prophet either of the Old or New Testament has said any thing in the Name of God or as by his order which God had not effectually order'd him to say nor has undertaken to foretel any thing which God had not indeed truly reveal'd to him and that this cannot be doubted of without great Impiety I have said it expresly in many places of my Treatise In the second place I believe that there is no matter of Fact of an importance related in the History of the Old or New Testament which in effect is not true And that tho there may be some slight Circumstances wherein some of the Historians were mistaken yet we ought nevertheless to look upon that History in general as the truest and most holy History that ever was publish'd amongst Men. I am perswaded that those who writ it were very well inform'd of all they relate and that they had not the least intention to deceive us insomuch that it was impossible they should fall into any considerable Error as neither can we do in believing what they have said And that there may be no Equivocation By a matter of importance I mean all the Commandments that the sacred Historians assure us were given to the Jews by God all the Miracles that are found in the History of the Scripture all the principal Events in that History and generally all the matters of Fact on which our Faith is grounded In the third place I believe with all Christians that all the Doctrines propos'd by the Authors of the Scriptures to Jews and Christians to be believ'd are really and truly Divine Doctrines although it may be suppos'd that they did not immediately learn them from Heaven I am as much perswaded as any Man that there is no sort of reasoning made use of in the dogmatical places of the holy Scripture where the Prophets and Apostles instruct us concerning the Promises or the Will of God that can lead us into Error or into the belief of any thing that is false or contrary to Piety I believe in the fourth place That Jesus Christ was absolutely infallible as well as free from all Sin because of the Godhead that was always united to him and which perpetually inspir'd him insomuch that all that he taught is as certain as if God himself had pronounc'd it I have explain'd this clearly in my Writing In the last place I believe that God has often dictated to the Prophets and to the Apostles the very words which they should use Of this I have also given some Examples In these things I agree with all Christian Divines And I believe further as well as they that these five Heads of our Belief may be undeniably prov'd against Libertines and Atheists by the Authority of Jesus Christ and his Apostles to whom God has born Testimony by an infinite number of Miracles which are more clearly demonstrable to have been really done than any Fact whatsoever of all ancient History For Example it may be prov'd by positive Testimonies of Matters of Fact that Jesus Christ did really rise again from the Dead and that the Apostles had the Gift of Miracles more clearly than it can be prov'd that ever there was a Roman Emperor call'd Trajan If any one conceive that this kind of Evidence is not sufficient to convince us of the Truth of these Facts or that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Miracles of his Apostles do not sufficiently prove without any thing further that they were not Deceivers I confess I understand not what further Proofs can be given of these things unless God should raise in our days a Prophet that should do the same Miracles over again before our Eyes It may be there are some who believe that the holy Spirit gives them inward assurance of the Truth of the Gospel and who imagine that this inward Testimony is a more convincing Proof than all those I have spoken of But as there are not many that have this Belief and as those that have it cannot make use of that pretended inward Testimony to convince another who does not himself feel it we may without troubling our selves further with them leave them to enjoy that Chimerical Satisfaction which their meer Imagination affords them The Authority of the holy Scriptures being thus settl'd I will now shew you wherein it seems to me that the generality of Divines are deceiv'd and in what I am not of their Opinion They affirm that all that is in the sacred Books Histories Prophecies c. has been immediately inspir'd both as to the Matter and Words That all the Books in the Jews Catalogue ought to be reckon'd amongst the inspir'd Books That when the Apostles preach'd the Gospel they were so inspir'd that they could not be deceiv'd not even in a thing of no consequence at all and that they knew at the very first without any exercise either of Reason or Memory what they
away Religion will fall to the ground and be destroy'd Thus some Romish Doctors have fancy'd that Men for the most part not being capable to examine Religion themselves it was necessary that God should settle a way whereby they might find it without Examination viz. by the way of Authority And from thence they have concluded That to deny there is an Authority in the World to which People ought intirely to submit is to overthrow Religion But to these Gentlemen it is answer'd That it is absurd in them to fancy that God will not preserve the true Religion amongst Men unless it be in the way that they have imagin'd The same may be answer'd to our Protestant Divines who believe the Inspiration of every word viz. that they are deceived in believing that the Truth of Christian Religion is founded upon that Opinion We ought not to reckon every thing among the Principles of our Religion that unto us seems proper to strengthen it nor to trouble our selves in examining after what manner we would have establish'd it had the thing depended upon us or in asserting how God ought to have done it But we ought to consider things in themselves as they really are and learn what has been the Will of God by what he has done not conclude that he has done this or the other thing because we fancy he ought to have will'd it Libertines who see that to uphold the Truth of Christian Religion Men bring long Metaphysical Arguments which often prove nothing but that according to the Suppositions they have thought fit to make it ought to be so believe presently that Christian Religion has no better Foundation and so reject it as much perhaps through the fault of those Divines who argue in that manner as their own But if things were represented to them as they are in themselves without going about to force them to allow that which is not prov'd they would submit to our Reasons and we should not need to teach them any thing but what Religion injoins them after having convinc'd them of its Truth This is Sir what Mr. N. has writ to me upon the desire that was intimated of his giving some further Explication of his Thoughts I hope it will be found sufficient to convince those who may have mistaken his Sense and who on that account have charg'd him with Opinions which he never had that he is very far from being guilty of what he is so uncharitably accus'd of I will send you by the next the Answers which he makes to divers Objections that have been propos'd to him THE FOURTH LETTER I Believe Sir there is no Condition in the World more deplorable than theirs that publish any thing in Print if it be so that they are bound to satisfy all those that censure them Some Persons have taken it ill that it should be said It was hard to confute the Opinions of Mr. N. They hold it very easy and that there needs no great Ability to do it But they either undertake it not Or if they make any Objection they show that they understand nothing of the matter as the Prior of Bolleville who seems to understand neither what Mr. N. has said nor what himself objects Others confess that it is a very difficult matter and pretend that therefore a Man ought not to trouble himself with it nor raise Scruples in weak Heads which the strongest would find it a difficulty to remove To satisfy the first it would be requisite to show that the Objections propos'd are not strong enough to refute Mr. N's Opinions And that is the very thing that will infallibly offend the others who would have nothing said on that Subject If the Advice of these last be taken the first will undoubtedly say that we were much in the wrong to say that it was very hard to confute an Opinion which they have easily overthrown They will be apt even to say that it is not without design that we have made use of weak Arguments and their crazy Fancies will set no bounds to their Suspicions according to the Custom of too many Divines who glory in a shew of diving into other Mens Thoughts What is to be done in this case One of the two must unavoidably be displeas'd I will not then be afraid Sir to communicate to you the Answers of Mr. N. to some Objections Such as have not read the Explanations which I sent you a while ago with sufficient Attention may perhaps by our Friend's Answers better apprehend his true meaning Objection 1. To say that the Prophets have often express'd themselves in their Prophecies after the same manner that they were wont to do on other occasions and that they were not constantly inspir'd by God with all their Expressions is to lessen the Authority of the Prophecies Answer They that make this Objection could not say any thing that can give more advantage to the Profane For it is as clear as day that the Stile of the Prophets varies according to the diversity of their Genius as has been observ'd and as is agreed by the most able Interpreters Mr. Simon proves it himself Pag. 123. of his Answer and makes appear that what the Prophets said was not the less God's Word But I cannot forbear to observe that our Divines are even more scrupulous than the Jews For these believe the Inspiration of Words only in the Pentateuch whereas they believe it throughout all the Old Testament The Prophecy of Moses says Manasseth Ben. Israel after many other Rabbins was in every respect more honourable and more excellent than the Prophecies of all the other Prophets For to them whensoever they receiv'd the Prophecy the Sense only or the Substance of the matter to be foretold was reveal'd but they declar'd to the People this Thing or Matter in their own words And for that Reason they made use of this form of speaking And the Lord said unto me As if they would say these things which we say to you although we express them in our words contain the Sense which we have receiv'd from God c. Many Christian Divines have said the same things of all the Prophets in general as Mr. Huet in his Demonstration who plainly affirms that the things are to be attributed to the holy Spirit but the Words and the Language to the Prophets He says also elsewhere that Prophetic Extasy does ordinarily produce a hard rough and broken Stile Many others have held the same thing without being thought guilty of Heterodoxy Objection 2. It has been said that David says many things of himself and of his Enemies not thinking to prophesy which contain notwithstanding Predictions of what was to happen to Jesus Christ and his Enemies as what he says Psal. XLI 10. LXIX 26. CIX 8. places which Christ and his Apostles apply to Iudas Nevertheless St. Peter after citing some words of Psal. XVI where David speaks of himself in the
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
to puzzle an abler Man than he I am c. THE FIFTH LETTER I Am perswaded Sir that the two last Letters I writ you will have fully satisfied those among your Friends who wish'd that the Writing about Inspiration had been suppress'd or who desir'd some Explanation of the Author's Opinion or even who believ'd they were in the wrong that said it was hard to confute it We must now try to give some Satisfaction to those who have said that this Opinion leads to Deism and that our Friend was infected with the detestable Opinions of the Deists Now I having openly maintain'd the contrary he has impos'd upon me the Task of justifying him in this Particular And I think I can evidently demonstrate that they who have brought this Accusation against our Friend have therein violated that which is most sacred in Christian Religion and that while they endeavour to maintain it by a Zeal not only wanting Knowledg but also void of Charity they have not sufficiently reflected upon the true Proofs of the Divinity of our Religion and upon the Method us'd by many of those who have undertaken to desend it against Atheists and Infidels But I confess to you I dare not promise to my self ever to satisfy intirely this sort of People because they are such as fancy they know every thing They have given over all Study they examine nothing and they think they should do a thing unworthy of their Character if they should confess they had condemn'd any one wrongfully and if they abated never so little of the heat of their Zeal This Zeal or rather blind Passion which is made up of Choler and animated by Superstition Pride and Envy discomposes them so violently and with so little Intermission that it is very hard to find a moment wherein they are fit to hear quietly the Justifications of those whom they have too rashly condemned It is not amiss however to tell them our Reasons If they themselves will not hear them yet perhaps these Reasons may prevent some other Persons of more ingenuous Dispositions from forming such rash Judgments as the vehement Declamations of these implacable Zealots would otherwise move them to Two things ought here to be distinguish'd The Person and the Opinions A Man may have Opinions the Consequences whereof are very evil and very dangerous without being aware of these Consequences how necessarily soever they may seem unto others to follow from them I have made this plain in the beginning of my first Letter on this Subject It ought not then to be concluded because a Man embraces a certain Opinion that therefore he admits all the Consequences This Truth is own'd by every one but little made use of by any when they pass Judgment upon those that are opposite to their Party Nevertheless none that are equitable can refuse to allow this Justification of our Friend I mean that protesting as he does an utter abhorrence of those impious Consequences which in his Judgment are unduly wrested from his Opinions he himself at least ought to be absolv'd although his Doctrine be condemned Natural Equity obliges us to believe that a Man is perswaded of a thing when he affirms it and when we have no evident signs of his design to deceive us This also is a Rule in Morality generally agreed upon but of which as little use is made as of the foregoing one But let Men do what they will it must be acknowledg'd that those who refuse to believe our Friend when he affirms that he is perfectly convinc'd of the Truth of the Christian Religion do violate the Charity and the Equity which we ought to have naturally one for another seeing they have no evident sign to convince them that this Protestation of his is hypocritical The Truth is these Zealots who judg amiss of his Piety ground their rash Judgment but upon very light Suspicions They believe that our Friend has discover'd but part of his Opinions concerning the Inspiration of the holy Writers for fear of too much thwarting the Public and losing altogether his Reputation But he on the other side protests that he has laid open the very bottom of his Thoughts without any Reserve and without hiding any thing which he thought might contribute to discover the whole Extent of his Opinion in this matter This is all he can do to repel so unjust a Suspicion If they who frame a rash Judgment upon so ill-grounded Suspicions met with the like Usage none of them would be found innocent It might always be said when they maintain any thing from whence an ill Consequence may be drawn and from what may not that be done that they speak not all they think for fear of being cry'd down and losing their Pensions The Zeal for example of which they are so proud might pass for an Effect of an artificial Policy by which they endeavour to render themselves Masters of the Peoples Minds in order to satisfy their Ambition and oppress their Enemies In a word they should not make one step which might not be interpreted maliciously and made look odiously But it behoves us and them to remember that Precept of our Saviour founded upon the plain Light of Nature Do not to another that which ye would not should be done to you If the Heat of an indiscreet Zeal keep them from observing this Precept yet nothing shall make us trangress it I conclude then that our Friend cannot be ill thought of without wronging the universal Rules of Equity and Charity and in this case those Rules will be the more enormously broken by how much the Impiety which our Friend is accus'd of is more detestable Rash Judgments and ill-grounded Suspicions are always Crimes although the matter they relate to be of small importance but when the Concern is not only the Reputation of a Person but also his Life and which is yet more his Salvation they become still more hainous To affirm that a Man is of an Opinion such as is that of the Deists without having evident Proofs of it is to say that a Man is an Enemy of God and Men that he is in a State wherein he can expect nothing but the Anger of Heaven wherein he merits even to be no longer suffer'd upon Earth and it argues that these Calumniators after having made him lose his good Name would if they could deprive him also of his Life Let any reasonable Man judg if without certain and convincing Proofs a Man may pronounce so terrible a Sentence against his Neighbour and not be guilty of the greatest Injustice imaginable It seems to me Sir that this is so plain I need dwell no longer upon it The Person of our Friend then being justified against these rash Suspicions we will now show that the Truth of the Christian Religion may be undeniably prov'd without taking any side about the Doctrine of Inspiration and consequently without supposing the common Opinion This I intend to do after
I have first observ'd that several great Men and who have pass'd for good Christians have held this Opinion without losing the Reputation they had of Piety There is not a Man of Worth and Honour among the Protestants who will dare to say that Erasmus and Grotius were Libertines and yet both of them defended openly this same Opinion But because there are some Divines who esteem none but those that have been of the Society they live in I will repeat some reremarkable words of a Divine famous amongst the Presbyterians in England and even amongst those on this side the Water It is Mr. Richard Baxter who speaks thus in an English Book translated not long since into Dutch and intituled The Saints everlasting Rest. 22. Though all Scripture be of Divine Authority yet he who believeth but some one Book that containeth the Substance of the Doctrine of Salvation may be sav'd much more they that have doubted but of some particular Books 23. They that take the Scripture to be but the Writings of godly honest Men and so to be only a means of making known Christ having a gradual Precedency to the Writings of other godly Men and do believe in Christ upon those strong Grounds which are drawn from his Doctrine Miracles c. rather than upon the Testimony of the Writing it being purely infallible and divine may yet have a divine and saving Faith 24. Much more those that believe the whole Writing to be of Divine Inspiration where it handleth the Substance but doubt whether God infallibly guided them in every Circumstance And in the next Page 32. The Circumstantials are many of them divine yet so as they have in them something humane as the bringing of St. Paul 's Cloke and the Parchments and as it seems his Counsel about Marriage c. 33. Much more is there something human in the Method and Phrase which is not so immediately divine as the Doctrine 34. Yet is there nothing sinfully humane and therefore nothing false in all 35. But all innocent Imperfection here is in the Method and Phrase which of we deny we must renounce most of our Logick and Rhetorick Nothing can be more expresly said for the Justification of our Friend Those who have a value for Mr. Baxter must forgo their Esteem of him or else not condemn so lightly those who in his Judgment may have a saving Faith together with some Opinions different from those commonly receiv'd It may likewise be observ'd that many of those who have writ of the Truth of the Christian Religion have prov'd it without supposing the particular Inspiration of the Historians of the New Testament to be such as it is ordinarily taken to be as Grotius whose Book has been alike esteem'd by all Parties Which shows that our Belief is not founded upon this Supposition and that consequently one may be a good Christian without admitting it But it is better to represent this by an Example which will give you a more lively Impression of what I aim at I will therefore now indeavour in as few words as is possible to give you the Idea of a Method that seems to me very strong and very proper to convince a Libertine of the Truth of our Religion without once mentioning any thing of particular Inspiration I do not pretend thereby to condemn all other Methods that may be used to the like purpose but it seems to me that this is the simplest of all and subject to the fewest Difficulties You will allow me Sir this small Digression which may perhaps not be unuseful in a time when there are every where so many that doubt of the Truth of the Christian Religion The first and the greatest Objection the Libertines make us is That our Judgments are pre-possess'd which hinders us from being undeceiv'd We say the same of them and maintain that it is nothing but sensual Inclinations that raise those Difficulties in their Minds which would vanish if they examin'd them without Passion It is not just that either they or we should take for granted our Pre-possessions as Principles demonstrated or which need not be demonstrated Let us then act on both sides as if we had not yet espous'd any party and let us urge nothing that is not founded upon Principles which both sides acknowledg It is agreed that there are certain Characters by which we may be assur'd whether a thing has been done or no and by which we may distinguish the Truth or Falshood of a History If we do not agree in that we are Pyrrhoniens or to give it a better Name altogether senseless for none but a Mad-Man can doubt of the Truth of all the Histories in the World But farther we must also agree in another thing which is no less certain It is that there are certain Matters of Fact the Truth whereof is better conceiv'd than it can be prov'd and which are of such a nature that unless a Man be in a proper Disposition of Mind he can hardly be induc'd to believe them For Example If any one should tell us here that the Inquisition of Spain and Italy has approv'd the Works of Calvin and allow'd the People to read them in Spanish and Italian although it is impossible for us to believe it and that we are firmly perswaded of the contrary we should not be able to convince a Person who should be obstinate in maintaining it until we had given him evident Proofs thereof In like manner if there were false Witnesses ready to swear that one of our Friends whose Vertue had been well known to us for divers Years and who but just then was gone out of our Company went then immediately in cold Blood to assassinate a Person unknown to him for no other reason but only to make an Anatomical Dissection of his Body it is certain we should not believe them although it might not be in our Power to prove judicially the contrary It is easy to imagine a thousand Examples of such like Truths which we apprehend better than we can prove That being suppos'd if we come to the Christian Religion there occurs at the very first a difficulty in discerning what are the Doctrines of this Religion for Christians have great Controversies among themselves about their Belief There would be no end of going about to examine all these Controversies Let us therefore suspend our Judgment thereupon and see first wherein all Christians are agreed They all agree for Example that most of the Books of the New Testament are the Writings of those Authors whose Name they bear and who writ them more than sixteen hundred Years ago that the History therein is true and that we ought to obey the Commandments therein contain'd This Obedience may be reduc'd to these general Heads a rendering to God the Service due to him a trusting in his Promises and a keeping his Commandments in what concerns both our selves and our Neighbour But this supposes a Belief of
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