IMPRIMATUR hic Liber cui Titulus A Letter to a DEIST Feb. 8. 1676. Guil. Jane R. P. D. Henr. Episc. Lond. a Sacris Domest A LETTER TO A DEIST In Answer to several OBJECTIONS AGAINST THE TRUTH and AUTHORITY OF THE Scriptures LONDON Printed by W. G. and are to be sold by M. Pitt at the Angel in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1677. THE PREFACE THis following Discourse was Written for the satisfaction of a particular Person who owned the Being and Providence of God but expressed a mean Esteem of the Scriptures and the Christian Religion Which is become so common a Theme among the Scepticks of this Age that the Author of this Discourse thought it worth his time and care to consider the force of the Objections that were made against them Especially being written in a grave and serious manner and not with that Raillery and Buffonry which the rude Persons of this Age commonly bestow upon Religion It might be justly expected from such who pretend to Breeding and Civility that they would at least shew more respect to a thing which hath prevailed so much among Men of the best Understanding and Education and who have had no Interest to carry on by it For it is against the ordinary Rules of Conversation to affront that which others think they have great Reason to esteem and love and they would not endure that scorn and contempt of their meanest Servant which they too often shew towards Religion and the things belonging to it If they are not in earnest when they scoff and mock at sacred things their own consciences will tell them it is a horrible impiety if they are in earnest let them debate these things calmly and seriously and let the stronger Reason prevail Men may speak sharply and wittily against the clearest things in the World as the Scepticks of old did against all Certainty of Sense and Reason but we should think that Man out of his senses that would now dispute the Being of the Sun or the Colour of the Snow We do not say the Matters of Religion are capable of the same evidence with that of Sense but it is a great part of judgment and understanding to know the proportion and fitness of evidence to the Nature of the thing to be proved They would not have the Eye to judge of tasts nor the Nose of Metaphysicks and yet these would be as proper as to have the senses judge of Immaterial Beings If we do not give as good Reason for the Principles of our Religion as the nature of Religion considered can be given for it let us then be blamed for our weakness in defending it but let not Religion suffer till they are sure nothing more can be said for it There is a late Author I hear is mightily in vogue among many who cry up any thing on the Atheistical side though never so weak and trifling It were no difficult task to lay open the false Reasonings and inconsistent Hypotheses of his Book which hath been sufficiently done already in that Language wherein it was written But if for the Advancement of Irreligion among us that Book be as it is talked Translated into our Tongue there will not I hope want those who will be as ready to defend Religion and Morality as others are to decry and despise them A Letter of Resolution to a Person unsatisfied about the Truth and Authority of the Scriptures SIR ALthough I do not pretend to any skill in the depths of Theology yet I am heartily concerned for the Truth and Honour of the Christian Religion which it is the design of your papers to undermine When I first looked them over I could not think them so considerable as to deserve a particular Answer especially from one in my circumstances who have so much other business lying upon me and so little leisure and health to perform it but I found at the conclusion of your Papers so earnest and vehement a desire expressed by you that I would return an Answer in order to the settlement of your mind that I could not refuse an Office of so great Charity as you represent it to be I confess when I considered the nature of your Objections and the manner of managing them I could hardly believe that they proceeded from a doubtful Mind that was desirous of any satisfaction but since you tell me so I will first shew my Charity in believing it and then in endeavouring to give you my poor assistance and impartial advice in order to your satisfaction And in truth I think impartial advice will contribute more to that end than spending Time and Paper in running through all the difficulties which it is possible for a cavilling Mind to raise against the plainest Truths in the World For there is nothing so clear and evident but a Sophistical Wit will always find something to say against it and if you be the Person I take you for you very well know that there have been some who wanted neither Wit nor Eloquence who have gone about to prove That there was Nothing in the World and that if there were any thing it could not be understood by Men that if it were understood by one Man it could not be expressed to another And besides such extravagant undertakers as these how many have there been who with plausible and subtle Arguments have endeavoured to overthrow all manner of Certainty either by Sense or Reason Must we therefore quit all pretences to Certainty because we cannot it may be Answer all the Subtilties of the Scepticks And therefore I am by no means satisfied with your manner of proceeding desiring all particular difficulties to be Answer'd before we consider the main evidences of the Christian Faith For the only reasonable way of proceeding in this matter is to consider first whether there be sufficient Motives to perswade you to imbrace the Christian Faith and then to weigh the difficulties and to compare them with the Reasons and Arguments for believing and if those do not appear great enough to overthrow the force of the other you may rest satisfied in the Christian Faith although you cannot Answer every difficulty that may be raised against the Books wherein our Religion is contained I pray Sir consider with your self do not you think it possible for any man to have Faith enough to save him unless he can solve all the difficulties in Chrâ—â—ologie that are in the Bible unless he can give an account of every particular Law and Custom among the Jews unless he can make out all the Prophetick Schemes and can tell what the Number of the Beast in the Apocalypse means If a Man may believe and be saved without these things to what purpose are they objected for the overthrow of the Christian Faith Do you think a Man hath not reason enough to believe there is extended Matter in the World unless he can solve all the difficulties that arise from the extension or divisibility
of Matter or that he hath a Soul unless he can make it clear how an immaterial and material Substance can be so united as our Soul and Body are Or that the Sun shines unless he can demonstrate whether the Sun or the Earth moves Or that we have any certainty of things unless he can assign the undoubted criterion of Truth and Falshood in all things These things I mention on purpose to let you see that the most certain things have difficulties about them which no one thinks it necessary for him to Answer in order to his assurance of the Truth of the things but as long as the evidence for them is much more considerable than the Objections against them we may safely acquiesce in our assent to them and leave the unfolding these difficulties to the Disputers of this World or the Knowledge of another Is it not far more reasonable for us to think that in Books of so great Antiquity as those of Moses are written in a Language whose Idiotisms are so different from ours there may be some difficulty in the Phrases or computation of Times or Customs of the People that we cannot well understand than that all the Miracles wrought by Moses should have been Impostures and that Law which was preserved so constantly maintained with that resolution by the wisest of the People of the Jews who chose to dye rather than disown it should be all a cheat Is it not more reasonable for us to suspect our own Understandings as to the Speeches and Actions of some of the Prophets than to think that Men who designed so much the advancing Virtue and discouraging Vice should be a pack of Hypocrites and Deceivers Can any Man of common sense suspect the Christian Religion to be a Fourb or an Imposture because he cannot understand the Number of the Beast or Interpret the Apocalyptick Visions I could hardly have believed any Man pretending to Reason could object these things unless I saw them and were called upon to Answer them Therefore Sir my serious and impartial advice to you is in the first place to consider and debate the main point i. e. the proofs of the Christian Doctrin and not to hunt up and down the Scriptures for every thing that seems a difficulty to you and then by heaping all these together to make the Scriptures seem a confused heap of indigested stuff which being taken in pieces and considered with that modesty diligence and care that doth become us will appear to contain nothing unbecoming that Sacred and Venerable Name which the Scriptures do bear among us If therefore you design not cavilling but satisfaction you will joyn issue with me upon the most material point viz. Whether the Christian Religion were from God or from Men For if this be proved to have been from God all the other things will easily fall off of themselves or be removed with a little industry In the Debate of this I shall consider first what things are agreed upon between us and then wherein the difference lies 1. You grant an absolutely perfect and independent Being whom we call God 2. That the World was at first Created and is still governed by Him 3. That He is so Holy as to be the Author of no Sin although he doth not hinder Men from sinning 4. That this God is to receive from us all Worship proper to Him of Prayers Praises c. 5. That it is the Will of this God that we should lead holy peaceable and innocent Lives 6. That God will accept mens sincere Repentance and hearty endeavours to do his Will although they do not perfectly obey it 7. That there is a State of Rewards and Punishments in another World according to the course of Mens Lives here 8. That there are many excellent Precepts in the writings of the New Testament inducing to Humility and Selfdenyal and to the Honour of God and civil duty and honesty of Life and these in a more plentiful manner than is to be found in any other Profession of Religion publickly known The Questions then remaining are 1 Whether the matters of Fact are true which are reported in the Writings of the New Testament 2 Supposing them true Whether they do sufficiently prove the Doctrin to have been from God 1. Whether the matters of Fact were true or no And as to this point I wish you had set down the Reasons of your doubting more clearly and distinctly than you have done What I can pick up amounts to these things 1. That there can be no certainty of a matter done at such a distance of time there having been many fictitious Histories in the World 2. That it is probable that these things might be written when there was no one Living to detect the falshood of them and thus you say the Grecians Romans Egyptians and other Nations were at first imposed upon by some Men who pretended to deliver to them the History of their Gods and Heroes and the Wonders wrought by them 3. That these things might more easily be done before Printing was used and that there is reason to suspect the more because of the Pious Frauds of the Primitive Christians and the Legends of the Papists 4. That there may have been many more Deceptions and Impostures in the way of propagating false Revelations and Miracles than we can now discover 5. That we ought not to take the Testimony of Scripture or the Christian Writers in this case because they may be suspected of partiality and that the Testimony of Josephus is suspected by divers learned Men to be fraudulently put in by Christians 6. That there are susficient grounds from the Story it self and the Objections of Enemies to suspect the truth of it because of the contradiction and inconsistency of the parts of it the want of accomplishment of the Promises and Prophecies of it the obscurity and unintelligibleness of other parts the defects of the Persons mentioned therein St. Paul 's oftentation the jarrs between Peter and Paul and Paul and Barnabas 7. That from these things you have just cause to doubt the Apostles sincerity and you think they might have indirect ends in divulging the Miracles recorded in Scripture and that Men might be contented to suffer to make themselves heads of a new Sect of Religion and to rule over the Consciences of Men and that they had time enough to make a considerable interest before the Persecutions began This is the force of all I can find out in the several parts of your Papers towards the invalidating the Testimony concerning the matters of fact reported in the Writings of the New Testament In Answer to all these things I shall shew 1. That matters of fact done at such a distance of time may have sufficient evidence to oblige Men to believe them 2. That there is no reason to suspect the Truth of those Matters of fact which are contained in the History of the New Testament 3. That the Apostles
gave the greatest testimonies of their Sincerity that could be expected from them and that no matters of fact were ever better attested than those which are reported by them from whence it will follow That it is not reason but unreasonable Suspicion and Scepticism if not willfulness and obstinacy which makes Men to continue to doubt after so great evidence 1. That we may have such evidence of Matters of Fact done at such a distance of time as may oblige us to believe the Truth of them This we are first to make out because several of your Objections seem to imply That we can have no certainty of such things because we cannot know what tricks may have been plaid in former times when it was far more easie to deceive and that it is confessed there have been several Frauds of this kind which have a long time prevailed in the World But have not the very same Arguments been used against all Religion by Atheists And if the Cheats that have been in Religion have no force against the Being of God why should they have any against the Christian Religion And if the common consent of Mankind signifie any thing as to the acknowledgement of a Deity why should not the Testimony of the Christian Church so circumstantiated as it is be of sufficient strength to receive the Matters of Fact delivered by it which is all I at present desire Do we question any of the Stories delivered by the common consent of Greek or Latin Historians although we have only the bare Testimony of those Historians for them And yet your Objections would lye against every one of them How do we know the great prevalency of the Roman Empire was it not delivered by those who belonged to it and were concerned to make the best of it What know we but thousands of Histories have been lost that confuted all that we now have concerning the greatness of Rome What know we but that Rome was destroyed by Carthage or that Hannibaâ— quite overthrew the Roman Empire or that Catiline was one oâ— the best Men in the World because all our present Historieâ— were written by Men of the other side How can we tell buâ— that the Persians destroyed thâ— Macedonians because all our Accounts of Alexanders Expeditioâ— are Originally from the Greeks And why might not we suspecâ— greater partiality in all these Cases when the Writers did not givâ— a thousand part of that evidencâ— for their fidelity that the Firsâ— Christians did And yet whaâ— should we think of such a persoâ— who should call in question thâ— best Histories of all Nations because they are written by thosâ— of the same Countrey By whicâ— it seems you will never allow any competent Testimony at all for if such things be written by Enemies and Strangers we have reason to suspect both their knowledge and integâ—ity if written by Friends then though they might know the Truth yet they would write partially of their own side So that upon this principle no History at all ancient or modern is to be believed for they are all reported either by Friends or Enemies and so not only Divine but all Humane Faith will be destroyed I am by no means a Friend to unreasonable credulity but I am as little to unreasonable distrust and suspicion if the one be Folly the other is Madness No prudent Man believes any thing because it is possible to be true nor rejects any thing meerly because it is possible to be false But it is the prudence of every Man to weigh and consider all circumstances and according to them to assent or dissent We all know it is possible for Men to deceive or to be deceived but we know there is no necessity of either and that there is such a thing as Truth in the World and though Men may deceive yet they do not always so and that Men may know they are not deceived For else there could be no such thing as Society among Mankind no Friendship or Trust or Confidence in the Word of another person because it is possible that the best Friend I have may deceive me and the World is full of dissimulation must I therefore believe no Body This is the just consequence of this way of Arguing That we have reason to suspect the Truth of these Matters of Fact because there have been many Frauds in the World and might have been many more than we can now discover for if this Principle be pursued it will destroy all Society among Men which is built on the supposition of mutual trust and confidence that Men have in each other And although it be possible for all Men to deceive because we cannot know one anothers hearts yet there are such Characters of Honesty and Fidelity in some Persons that others dare venture their Lives and Fortunes upon their Words And is any Man thought a Fool for doing so Nay have not the most prudent and sagacious Men reposed a mighty confidence in the Integrity of others And without this no great affairs can be carried on in the World for since the greatest Persons need the help of others to manage their business they must trust other Men continually and every Man puts his Life into the hands of others to whom he gives any freedome of access and especially his Servants Must a Man therefore live in continual suspicion and jealousie because it is possible he may be deceived But if this be thought unreasonable then we gain thus much that notwithstanding the possibility of deception Men may be trusted in some cases and their Fidelity safely relied upon This being granted we are to enquire what that assurance is which makes us trust any one and whereever we find a concurrence of the same circumstances or equal evidence of fidelity we may repose the same trust or confidence in them And we may soon find that it is not any ones bare Word that makes us trust him but either the reputation of his Integrity among discerning Men or our long experience and observation of him This latter is only confined to our own tryal but the former is more general and reaches beyond our own Age since we may have the Testimony of discerning Persons convey'd down to us in as certain a manner as we can know the mind of a Friend at a 100 Miles distance viz. by Writing And in this case we desire no more than to be satisfied that those things were written by them and that they deserved to be believed in what they writ thus if any one would be satisfied about the passages of the Peloponnesian War and hath heard that Thucydides hath accurately written it he hath no more to do than to enquire whether this Thucydides were capable of giving a good account of it and for that he hears that he was a great and inquisitive Person that lived in that Age and knew all the occurrences of it and when he is satisfied of that his next enquiry is whether
he may be trusted or no and for this he can expect no better satisfaction than that his History hath been in great reputation for its integrity among the most knowing Persons but how shall he be sure this was the History written by Thucydides since there have been many counterfeit Writings obtruded upon the World Besides the consent of learned Men in all Ages since we may compare the Testimonies cited out of it with the History we have and the Style with the Character given of Thucydides and the Narrations with other credible Histories of those Times and if all these agree what reason can there be not to rely upon the History of Thucydides All learned Men do acknowledge that there have been multitudes of fictitious writings but do they therefore question whether there are any genuine Or whether we have not the true Herodotus Strabo or Pausanias because there is a counterfeit Berosus Manetho and Philo set forth by Annius of Viterbo Do any suspect whether we have any of the genuin Works of Cicero because an Italian counterfeited a Book De Consolatione in his name Or whether Caesars Commentaries were his own because it is uncertain who Writ the Alexandrian War that is joyned with them By which we see that we may not only be certain of the Fidelity of Persons we converse with but of all things necessary to ouâ— belief of what was done at a great distance of time from thâ— Testimony of Writers notwithstanding the many supposititious Writings that have been in the World But it may be said That all this only relates to meer matters of History wherein a Man is not muâ—h concerned whether they be true or false but the things we are about are matters that Mens Salvation or Damnation are â—id to depend upon and therefore â—reater evidence should be given of these to oblige Men to believe them To this I answer 1. That â—â—y design herein was to prove â—hat notwithstanding the possibility of deception there may be sufficient ground for a prudent and firm assent to the Truth of things done at as great a distance of time and convey'd after the same manner that the Matters of Fact reported in the New Testament are and hereby those general prejudices are shewed to be unreasonable And all that I desire from this discourse is that you would give an assent of the same nature to the History of the Gospel that you do to Caesar or Livy or Tacitus or any other ancient Historian 2. As to the greater obligation to assent â— say it depends upon the evidence of Divine Revelation which iâ— given by the Matters of Facâ— which are delivered to us Anâ— here give me leave to ask you 1. Whether it be any ways repugnant to any conception you have of God for him to make use of fallible Men to make known his Will to the World 2. Whether those Men though supposed to be in themselves fallible can either deceive or be deceived when God makeâ— known his Mind to them 3. Whether on supposition that God hath made use of such Persons for this end those are not obliged to believe them who do not live in the same Age with them If not then God must either make no Revelation at all or he must make a New one every Age If they are then the obligation lies as much on us now to believe as if we had lived and conversed with those inspired Persons 2. That there is no reason to suspect the Truth of those Matters of Fact which are reported in the New Testament For since it is universally agreed among Men that Humane Testimony is a sufficient ground for assent where there is no positive ground for suspicion because deceiving and being deceived is not the common Interest of Mankind therefore we are to consider what the general grounds of suspicion are and whether any of them do reach the Apostles Testimony concerning the Matters of Fact reported by them And the just grounds of suspicion are these 1. If the Persons be otherwisâ— known to be Men of artifice anâ— cunning full of tricks and dissâ—mulation and that make nâ— Conscience of speaking Truth so a Lye tends to their greatesâ— advantage which is too mucâ— the Papists case in their Legends and Stories of Miracles 2. â— they temper and suit their Storâ— and Doctrin to the Humour anâ— Genius of the People they hopâ— to prevail upon as Mahomet did in encouraging War and Lasciviousness 3. If they lay the Scene oâ— their Story at a mighty distance from themselves at such an Age wherein it is impossible either to prove or disprove which is the case of the Brachmans as to their Brahmà and their Veda and was of the Heathens as to their Fabulous Deities 4. If there be any thing contained in the Story which is repugnant to the most authentick Histories of those times by which means the Impostures of Annius have been discovered 5. If there be evident contradiction in the Story it self or any thing repugnant to or unbecoming the Majesty Holiness Sincerity and Consistency of a Divine Revelation on which account we reject Fanatick pretences to Revelations If there were any thing of this nature in the Writings of the New Testament we might then allow there were some ground to suspect the Truth of what is contained therein But I shall undertake by the Grace of God to defend that there is not any foundation for suspicion as to any one of these 1. As to the Persons such whâ— go about to deceive others musâ— be Men that are versed in business and know how to deal with Men and that have some interest already that they have gained by other means before they can carry on such a design as to abuse Mankind by Lyes and Impostures in Religion Therefore the Atheists lay the deceiving the World by Religion to the Charge of Politicians and Law-givers to Men versed in the practice of Fraud such as Numa or Lycurgus or Xaca or Mahomet such as understood the ways of cajoling the People or to subtle Priests that know how to suit the hopes and fears of the superstitious multitude whence came the multitude of Frauds in the Heathen Temples and Oracles But would any Man in the World have pitched upon a few Fishermen and illiterate Persons to carry on such an intrigue as this Men that were rude and unexperienced in the World and uncapable of dealing in the way of Artifice with one of the common Citizens of Hierusalem When was it ever heard that such Men made such an alteration in the Religion of the World as the Primitive Christians did against the most violent persecutions And when they prevailed so much the common charge still against them was that they were a company of Rude Mean Obscure Illiterate Simple Men And yet in spight of all the Cunning and Malice and Learning and Strength of their Adversaries they gained ground upon them and prevailed over the Obstinacy of the Jews anâ—
For if the Christian Religion were only a contrivance of the first Preachers of it it must by the event be supposed that they were very subtle Men who in so little time and against so great opposition could prevail over both Jews and Gentiles but if we reflect on the nature of their Doctrin we can never imagin that these Men did proceed by the same Methods that Men of subtilty do make use of If it were there own contrivance it was in their power to have framed it as they thought fit themselves and in all probability they would have done it in a way most likely to be successful but the Christian Religion was so far from it as though they had industriously designed to advance a Religion against the genius and inclination of all Mankind For it neither gratifies the voluptuous in their Pleasures nor the Ambitious in their desires of External Pomp and Greatness nor the Covetous in their thirst after Riches but lays a severe restraint on all those common and prevailing Passions of Mankind which Mahomet well understood when he suited his Religion to them Christianity was neither accommodated to the Temper and Genius either of Jews or Gentiles The Jews were in great expectation of a Temporal Prince at that time to deliver them from the Roman Slavery and every one that would have set up for such a Messias might have had followers enough among them as we find afterwards by the attempts of Barchocebas and others But the Messias of the Christians was so directly contrary to their hopes and expectations being a poor and suffering Prince that this set them the more against his Followers because they were hereby frustrated of their greatest hopes and defeated in their most pleasing expectations But besides if they would have taken in the Mosaick Law it might in probability have succeeded better but this St. Paul would by no means hear of But if they rejected the Jews methinks they should have been willing to have had some assistance from the Gentiles No they charged them with Idolatry where ever they came and would not joyn in any parts of their Worship with them nor so much as Eat of the remainder of their Sacrifices But supposing they had a mind to set up wholly a new Sect of their own yet we should think they should have framed it after the most plausible manner and left out all things thar were most liable to Reproach and Infamy But this they were so far from that the most contemptible part of the Christian Religion viz. A Crucified Saviour they insist the most upon and Preach it on all occasions and in comparison of it strangely despise all the Wisdom and Philosophy of the Greeks What did these Men mean if Christianity had been only a contrivance of theirs If they had but left out this one circumstance in all Human probability the excellent moral Precepts in Christianity would have been highly magnified among all those who had been bred up under the Instructions of Philosophers Nay they would not make use of the most commendable Methods of Humane Wisdom nor do as the Jesuits have done in China make Men have a better opinion of the Religion they brought for their skill in Mathematicks and Astronomy but as much as it was possible to let the World see it was no contrivance of Humane Wisdom they shunned all the ways of shewing it in the manner of its propagation Nay when the People would have given the Apostles Divine Worship never were vain Men more concerned to have it than they to oppose it And do these things look like the Actions of Men that designed only to make themselves great by being the Heads of a new Sect of Religion 3. Men that made it their design to deceive the World if they had thought it necessary to bring in any matter of Story concerning the Author of their Religion would have placed it at such a distance of time that it was not capable of being disproved As it is apparent in the Heathen Mythologie for the Stories were such as no person could ever pretend to confute them otherwise than by the inconsistency of them with the common principles of Religion But if we suppose Christianity to have been a meer device would the Apostles have been so senseless to have laid the main proof of their Religion on a thing which was but newly acted and which they were very capable of enquiring into all the Circumstances that related to it viz. the Resurrection of Christ from the Dead We may see by the whole design of the New Testament the great stress of Christianity was laid upon the Truth of this to this Christ himself appealed before hand to this all the Apostles refer as the mighty confirmation of their Religion and this they deliver as a thing which themselves had seen and had conversed with him for 40 Days together with all the demonstrations imaginable of a true and real Body And that not to one or two credulous Persons but so many of them who were hard to be satisfied and one not without the most sensible evidence but besides these they tell us of 500 at once who saw him whereof many were then living when those things were written Now I pray tell me what Religion in the World ever put it self upon so fair a tryal as this Of a plain Matter of Fact as capable of being attested as any could be Why did not Amida or Brahma or Xaca or any other of the Authors of the present Religions of the East Indies Why did not Orpheus or Numa or any other introducers of Religious Customa among the Greeks or Romans Or Mahomet among the Arabians put the issue of the Truth of their Religion on such a plain and easie tryal as this If you say That Christ appeared only to his Friends who were ready to believe such things and not among his Enemies I Answer That though they were his Friends yet they were very hard to be perswaded of the truth of it at first and afterwards gave larger Testimonies of their fidelity than the Testimony of the greatest Enemies would have been for we should have had only their bare Words for it if they would have given that which is very questionable considering their dealing with the other Miracles of Christ But the Apostles manifested their sincerity by all real proofs that could be thought sufficient to satisfie Mankind appealing to the very Persons who were concerned the most in it having a hand in the Death of Christ declaring their greatest readiness to suffer any thing rather than deny the Truth of it and laying down their Lives at last for it If all this had been a meer Fiction how unlikely is it that among so many as were conscious of it no one person by hopes or fears by flatteries or threatnings could ever be prevailed upon to deny the Truth of it If there had been any such thing what triumphing had there been among the
but to my apprehension very plain and easie if we attend to the main scope and design of them which was to acquaint Abraham how long it would be before the prophecy were accomplished and what the condition of his Seed should be the mean time viz. That they should have no Land which they should call their own by Inheritance all that time but they should be exposed to great hardships yea even to Servitude but that Nation whom they should serve should at last suffer for their ill usage of them and they should come out of that Captivity with great substance and all this to be done in the fourth Generation of the Amorites when their Iniquities should be arrived at the full height All which particulars were so remarkably accomplished at such a distance of time and under such improbable circumstances that that this very prophecy were enough to convince an unprejudiced mind that it came from Divine Inspiration For where do we meet with any thing like this in the Histories of other Nations viz. A Prophecy to be accomplished 400 Years after and the very manner foretold which no humane conjecture could reach to since the manner of deliverance of the People of Israel out of their Captivity in Egypt was to all humane appearance so impossible a thing especially at such a time when the Spirits of the People were sunk and broken by so long a slavery And not only the manner foretold but the accomplishment happened to a day according to Exodus 12. 41. And it came to pass at the end of the 430 Years even the selfe-same day it came to pass that all the Hosts of the Lord went out from the Land of Egypt But against this you object That the sojourning is spoken of the Children of Israel in Egypt for 430 Years which cannot hold good any ways since to make it up the times of Abraham Isaac and Jacob must be taken in who could not be called the Children of Israel Answ. For the 430 Years I grant that according to St. Paul they did commence from the Covenant made to Abraham Gal. 3. 17. and that the 400 Years began from Isaac's being owned for the Promised Seed between which time the 30 Years were passed and all appearance of difficulty is avoided if we admit the reading of the best Copies of the LXX which is in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now the sojourning of the Children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt and Canaan they and their Fathers was 430 Years This is the reading of our Alexandrian Copy and the Complutensian and that of Aldus and of Eusebius in his Chronicon and of St. Hierome in his Translation of it and of the Church in St. Augustins time and afterwards and lest any should reject this as a late Interpolation or gloss received into the Text besides these Testimonies of the Antiquity of it we find the very same in the Samaritan Copy which the Enemies of it do allow to be as ancient as our Saviours time And that which very much confirms the Truth of this reading is that the Jews themselves follow the sense of it who are the most eager contenders for the Authority of the Hebrew Copy who all agree that the beginning of the Computation of the 430 Years is to be taken before the Children of Israels going into Egypt and Menasseh Ben Israel contends with many others that the 430 Years did begin from the Promise made to Abraham and the 400 from the time of Isaac to which their most ancient Books of Chronology do agree and to the same purpose speak both Philo Judaeus and Josephus who although in one place he seems to make the Israelites affliction in Egypt to have been 400 Years yet when he speaks more particularly of it he makes the time of their abode in Egypt to have been only 215 and the 430 to begin from Abrahams entrance into Canaan The Targum of Jonathan begins the 430 from the Vision of Abraham and the 400 from the Birth of Isaac all which I mention to let you see that the Jews themselves do in sense concur with the Samaritan and Greek Copy and therefore we have more reason to suspect something left out in the present Hebrew than any thing added in those Copies But doth not this take off from the Authority of the Scripture Not at all For the only Question is about the True Reading And having the consent of the Samaritan Alexandrian and other Copies of the LXX and of the Ancient Church and of the Jews themselves as to the sense of it we have reason to look on this as the truer Reading Which is making no addition to the scripture either as to Persons or Places but only producing the more Authentick Copy much less is this Adding or Changing as we please for if we did this without so much Authority as we have for it you might as easily reject it as we produce it 3. After all this I do not see the mighty force of your Reason to charge the Scripture with Contradiction supposing the 400 Years were to be spent in the servitude of the Children of Israel in Egypt I confess when I found the Scripture so boldly so frequently charged with no less than Contradiction I expected something like Demonstration in the Case especially in this place which you chose to put in the Front of all but I do not find any thing like such a proof of a Contradiction supposing we should allow the 400 Years to be spent in Egypt Yes say you Coath was 5 Years Old when he came down into Egypt and When he had lived there 65 Years he begat Amram and Amram being 70 Years Old begat Moses to which Moses his 80 Years being added we have only 215 Years But since the Scripture doth not assign the particular Age of any of these when they begat their Children I see no impossibility or repugnancy in the supposition that 400 Years should pass from Levi's going into Egypt to the Eightieth of Moses any more than from Salmons entrance into Canaan to the time of David for no more are reckoned in scripture than Boaz the Son of Salmon by Raab and Obed and Jesse So that by the same way this latter may be explained the former may be so too If it be said That either they begat their Children at a great Age or that the scripture in Genealogies doth not set down all the intermediate Parents but only the most eminent as Caleb is called the Son of Esron 1 Chron. 2. 9 18. although there was at least one between them the very same Answer will serve to clear this part of the Chronology of Scripture from any appearance of Contradiction These things you might have found more largely deduced and fully handled by those Learned Persons who have undertaken to clear the Chronology of Scripture Who were men of more Judgment than from any difficulty of this nature to call in question the Truth and
Authority of the sacred Scriptures and although the Opinions of Chronologers are like the City Clocks which seldom agree yet some come nearer the time of the day than others do and therefore you ought to examine and compare them before you pronounce so peremptorily about Contradictions in scripture which you have no reason to do till you find that no one hypothesis among them will serve to free the scripture from Contradiction For otherwise you do but blame the Sun because you cannot make the Clocks agree This is all I can find in your Papers under the head of Contradictions and I leave you now soberly to consider whether this place did afford you sufficient ground for so heavy a Charge but if you say you have a great many more by you but you sent me this only for a Tryal of my skill before you send any more I beseech you Sir to consider 1. How easily things do appear to be Contradictions to weak or unstudied or prejudiced minds which after due consideration appear to be no such things A deep prejudice finds a Contradiction in every thing whereas in Truth nothing but ill will and impatience of considering made any thing it may be which they Quarrel at appear to be so If I had been of such a quarrelsome humour I would have undertaken to have found out more Contradictions in your Papers than you imagin and yet you might have been confident you had been guilty of none at all When I consider the great pains and Learning and Judgement which hath been shewn by the Christian Writers in the Explication of the Scriptures and the raw indigested Objections which some love to make against them if I were to judge of things barely by the fitness of persons to judge of them the disproportion between these would appear out of all comparison A modest Man would in any thing of this nature say with himself methinks if there were such Contradictions in the Bible as now seem to me so many persons of incomparable Abilities in the First and latter Ages of the Christian Church who have made it their business to enquire into these things would have discerned them before me And yet they retained a mighty veneration for the scriptures as coming from God himself and therefore it may be only weakness of Judgement want of Learning or some secret prejudice may make me suspect these things or else I must suspect the honesty of all those persons who have pretended such a Devotion to the Scriptures and yet have believed them full of Contradictions 2. Wherein the Contradiction appears Is it in the main and weighty parts of the Religion revealed herein or is it only in some smaller Circumstances as to time and place The great thing you are to look after are the Matters those Scriptures tell you your Salvation depends upon and if there be a full consent and agreement therein you find enough for you to believe and practice And if some Contradictions should still appear to you in smaller Matters what follows from thence but only that the same care was not taken about little as about great things And you ought to set that appearance of Contradiction in small Matters together with the real consent in the things of the highest importance and from thence rather to infer that this was no combination or design to deceive others for such persons take the greatest care to prevent suspicion by their exactness in every minute Circumstance and sometimes the over-much care to prevent suspicion doth raise it the more 3. What ways have been used by Men of judgement and learning to clear those places from the charge of Contradiction For not one of the Objections you can start now but hath been considered over and over and all the difficulties that belong to it examined If you will not take the pains to do this it is plain you do not desire satisfaction but only seek for a pretence to cavil especially if you only search the weakest or most injudicious Writers on the Scriptures and endeavour to expose their opinions without taking notice of what others have said with more clear and evident Reason This shews either want of Judgment in choosing such Expositors or want of Candor and fair dealing and a desire of taking any advantage against the Scriptures 4. How hard a Matter it is for us at this distance to understand exactly the grounds of Chronology or the manner of computation of Times used so long ago and therefore in all difficulties of this nature we ought to make the fairest allowances that may be considering withall that escapes and errours are no where more easily committed by Transcribers than in numbers and that it is a very unreasonable thing that a Book otherwise deserving to be thought the best Book in the World should be scorned and rejected because there appears some difference in the computation of times We do not so exactly know the manner of the Hebrew Chronology nor the nature of their Year or Intercalations nor the customs of their Genealogies nor the allowance to be made for interregnums so as to be able to define peremptorily in these things but it is sufficient to shew that there is no improbability in the accounts that are given and no sufficient reason can be drawn from thence to reject the Authority of the Scriptures 2. I come to consider the places you object as containing things inconsistent with the Wisdom or Goodness of God according to a rational perswasion and those are either 1. From the Laws of Moses 2. From the express story of the Bible or actions of the Prophets 1. From the Laws of Moses Your first Objection is from Exod. 21. 7. Where a Man is supposed to sell his Daughter which you say it is incredible to believe that God should permit because it implies unnatural affection and covetousness in the Father But Sir 1. You do not consider that this is barely a provisional Law and is not the permission of the thing so much as the regulation of it supposing it to be done i. e. in case a Man should part with his interest in his Daughter to another Person upon an extraordinary case of necessity as the Jews understand it yet then she was not to be in the condition of a Servant but to be either Betrothed to the Person who receiv'd her or to his Son which was intended for the restraint of promiscuous Buying and Selling Daughters meerly for the satisfaction of Lust. The Jews who certainly best understood their own Judicial Laws do say that this was never to be done but where there was a presumption of such a betrothing for no Man could Sell his Daughter to those to whom it was unlawful for her to Marry by their Law so that this was looked on as a kind of Espousals of a young Girle taken into Wardship by another but so that if she were not Betrothed she was to remain her 6 Years during her Minority