in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved This is the Doctrine the Gospel teacheth us and this is the way to have an Interest in his Sufferings which doth not only free us from this eternal torment but rewards us with eternal Glory I might here tell you if it were possible for the tongue of man or Angel to speak it what great advantages by this Saviour we enjoy I might press the reasonableness of this Command from the Infinite reward that follows it I might prove to you that nothing but an Immortal happiness can satisfie an Immortal Soul and that spiritual enjoyments can only fill our Spirits when they are freed from the cloggs of sin and corruption which in this world attend our bodies I might shew you that as the spirituality of the Precepts declares the excellency of Christianity above other Religions in the obedience it requireth so the spirituality of the promises doth evidence the excellency of it in the Rewards that follow it But for brevities sake I will not particularize on these heads which every pious Christian by his own meditation and diligent consideration may for his particular benefit advance to a higher pitch then I am able That which now only remains to be proved is That this Jesus is this Law-giver that this Christ that did suffer is this Infinite God And this I shall do from the several Arguments that convinced the world to be Christian I shall not here in this Argument keep so strictly to the proving Christ to be that Law-giver but I shall handle here more largely all the Confirmations that assert either that proposition or confirmed and encreased the Christian Faith And these I shall reduce to three Heads These are 1. The witness of God 2. The miraculous power of doing Miracles in our Saviour and by him given to Christians together with the success following this The destruction of Idolatry and sudden Conquest of the World 3. The holy lives and wonderful Sufferings of Christians Of each of these in order 1. The witness of God Under this Head I might again repeat those several Prophesies in the Old Testament which then designed the Messias and were fulfilled in our Jesus I might tell you the Angels Salutation to the blessed Virgin Luke 1. with his Message sent from God to her were both Testimonies from God for the confirmation of Jesus Christ to be that Law-giver that Messias but for brevities sake I shall omit them and treat only of those two wonderful witnesses the Star that directed the Wise men to him and the Voice from Heaven that before a multitude audibly declared him 1. For the Star that directed the wise men to him we have the whole story Mat. 2. and in it we may see 't was not an ordinary but an extraordinary Star 'T was a Star the wise men saw afar off and as soon as they saw it knew it designed the birth of the King of Judab How these wise men should come to know what this new and Wonderful Star designed whether they attained it by a then particular Divine Revelation or else had received a Tradition from their Ancestors concerning such an appearance which perhaps is probable since we find Baalam a Prophet of their own Nation foretelling that there should come a Star out of Jacob Num. 24.17 and a Scepter shall arise out of Israel which should smite the corners of Moab I shall not dispute since either of them is sufficient for my purpose This is most certain this new appearance was so wonderful that it perswaded wise men to go a long journey to examine the truth of it and though till their coming to Hierusalem that City seems to have taken no notice of it yet the truth of it was so evident that upon the very Question Where is he that was born King of the Jews for we have seen his star in the East and are come to worship him Herod and all the City was troubled The Priests and Scribes were sent for to inquire where Christ should be born nay this is not all When these Wisemen according to Gods direction deceived Herods expectation by their return another way his anger ends in cruelty and his passion could by no other medicine be expiated but by the slaughter of all the Children from two years old and under about the Coasts of Bethlehem the place they told him that Christ should be born I need not here tell you that this new Star designed our Saviour since Herod and all the Jews understood it so since as it brought the wise men to Hierusalem so it directed them to the place where the babe lay But I will shew you some footsteps of this Star amongst Heathens Cardinal Baronius that Learned Annalist in the first year of Christ cites Calcidius his Comment on Plato's Timaeus for this purpose There is saith Calcidius another more venerable and holy History Et quoque alia venerabilior sanctior Historia quae perhibet de ortu Stellae cujusdam insolitae non morbos mortesque denuntiantes sed descensum Dei venerabilis ad humanae conversationis rerumque mortalium gratiam quam Stellam cum nocturno itinere suspexissent Chaldaeorum profecto sapientes viri consideratione rerum Coelestium satis exercitati quaesisse diountur recentem Dei ortum repertaque illa Majestate puerili venerati esse vota Deo tanto convenientia nuncupasse Tom. 1. p. 52. which tells us of the rise of a certain unwonted Star not denouncing diseases or death but the descent of the Venerable God to converse with men and mortal businesses which Star when these wise Chaldeans clearly saw in their night journey and being enough exercised in the confideration of heavenly things 't is reported they sought this New Birth of God and the Majesty of this child being found they worshipped him and offered gifts agreeable to so great a God This testimony is very clear and in my opinion hath nothing of difficulty in it but what is meant by this holy History which without dispute must have reference to those Books of Prophesies which the Chaldeans kept by them Some are so confident to affirm that Baalam of whom I spake before left them Books of Prophesies which directed those Magi in difficult cases 't is not impossible but he might do so however this is probable that they received from their Ancestors some rules of their knowledge together with former Observations and extraordinary Predictions which they either preserved in Writings or Hieroglyphicks and unto which as I suppose Calcidius being a Heathen by this holy History hath reference To this of Calcidius I might add that which Macrobius tells us of the slaughter of these Children which though it directly proves not the appearance of the Star yet it will serve to confirm us in the truth of that because this murder was occasioned by it Speaking of Augustus his words are these When he heard that amongst those Children
say of that Eclipse of the Sun which happened at the time of our Saviours Crucifixion We were then both together at Heliopolis and we both together did note the Globe of the Moon after a wonderful manner to fall upon the Sun for it was not then the time of that conjunction and the Moon again restored beyond the strength of Nature to the Suns Diameter from the ninth hour till evening Remember him also of another thing which he is not ignorant of to wit that we noted that the cadence of the Moon began from the East and went to the end of the Solar body and then at last leapt back again Neither was this cadence or covering and restoring again of the Suns light done at the same part as was accustomed but on the oppofite part of the Diameter These are the things that then happened exceeding truly the power of Nature and possible to Christ alone who is the Authour of all things and doth great and wonderful things which are not to be numbred Speak this if it be lawful to Apollophanes From these Authorities we may easily gather the truth of this miraculous Eclipse which happening at full Moon when in Nature it was impossible will sufficiently assure us that the person then suffering was God it being impossible for any but God to have done it For those Celestial Bodies as they are above all earthly pollutions so they are infinitely beyond any Humane Command or Government Thus much for the Miracles at his Passion those that followed at his Resurrection is that which I am to handle 3. In the third place Tertullian begins his Book de Resurrectione with this ezcellent Aphorisme Fiducia Christianorum Resurrectio Mortuorum The Faith of Christians is the Resurrection of the dead Now as the Resurrection is the comfort and great support Christians have against those injuries and sufferings which in this world they are exposed to So the Resurrection of our Saviour Who was the First-fruits of them that sleep 1 Cor. 15.20 was the great assurance that those that dye in his fear shall be raised by his power and live with him in glory This then is the Foundation of our Faith the Resurrection the assurance that we shall be raised is That Christ is risen And this I shall prove I must not here omit those several witnesses to this grand Truth which S. Paul 15. Cor. 1. cites If when we prove matter of Fact the number of Testimonies be weight our Saviour was not only seen when risen by Cephas and the 12 Apostles but by 500 at once which certainly were too great a number either to be deceived or deceive Acts 1.10 He appeared not once only to his Disciples but at several times and in their presence and view ascended into Heaven This together with the constant belief succeeding Ages gave to it might perswade any not wilfully obstinate to admit it without dispute But because Atheisme now prevails with most and that in this Age Principles scarce pass without questioning I shall produce what other Authorities my reading affordeth to this purpose Josephus shall be my first Authour who in his fourth Chapter and eighteenth Book hath these words Eodem tempore fuit Jesus vir sapiens si tamen virum eum fas est dicere Erat enim mirabilium operum patrator doctor eorum qui libenter vera suscipiunt plurimosque tam de Judaeis quà m de Gentibus sectatores habuit Christus hic erat quem accusatum à nostris gentis Principibus Pilatus cum addixisset Cruci nihilominus non destiterunt cum diligere qui ab initio caeperant Apparuit enim cis tertio die vivus ita ut divinitus de co vates hoc alia muita miranda praedixerit usque ad hodiernum diem Christianorum genus ab hoc denominatum non deficit There appeared at that time one Jesus a wise man if it be lawful to call him Man For he was a doer of wonderful works and teacher of those who with pleasure received the truth and had many followers both Jews and Gentiles This is that Christ who though he was accused by the chief of our Nation and by Pilate condemned to the Cross yet was not the least beloved of those who at the beginning did so He appeared to them the third day alive the holy Prophets foretelling these and many wonderful things of him and until this day the Christian Sect is not failed who from him had their denomination This Testimony of Josephus a Jew is very clear as to the particular to be proved there remains only here to be examined whether these words be Josephus his and that they are so appears from these reasons First because this very Testimony for Christs Miracles is urged by Eusebius in his first Book of his Ecclesiastical History cap. 11. in these words and for this purpose Eusehius we know lived at the beginning of the fourth Century in the days of Constantine the Emperour and at that time this trick of forging books was scarce invented neither was it necessary to forge an Authority to prove the truth of Christs Miracles then when the power of doing Miracles still remained in the Church and was a sufficient Testimony that he that could give that miraculous power to others wanted it not himself Secondly because the suspition of this place proceedeth from a false supposition viz. that it is not found in the Ancient Copy in the Vatican Library which indeed is true 't is not found in that Ancient Copy but there is a blank where formerly it was written being just of capacity to contain these words which evidently assures us that by the Impudence or wickedness of some Jew or Heretick these words were erased and this being true I suppose there is none but will credit this Authority the more for this rasement since nothing but the consciousness of this Impostor of the truth of these words could ever have made him guilty of so great a Treachery Now in confirmation of this we have the Authority of Baronius a learned Cardinal who himself was Library-keeper to the Apostolique See and an eye witness of this Truth His words are these speaking of the Testimony of Josephus Whose Testimony when it was here at Rome required Cujus testimonium in pervetusto Judaeorum Codice in quo ejus Historiae è Graeco in Hebraicum translatae antiquitue scriptae sunt cùm hic Romae requireretur O perfidorum impudentiam abrasum inventum est adeo at nulla ad excusandum scelus posset afferri defensio cùm membrana ipsae id exclamare videretur Ad annum Christi 34. p. 214. was found rased out in a very ancient book of the Jews into which Josephus his Histories being translated out of Greek into Hebrew were anciently written O the impudence of Infidels and so done that no defence could be brought to excuse the wickedness when the Parchment it self seems to cry out
contra edimus Protectorem si literae Marci Aurelii gravissimi Imperatoris requiâ—antur quibus illam Germanicam sitim Christianorum fortè militum precationibus impetrato imbri discussam attestatur Ap. Cap. 5. in which he witnesseth that that German thirst was dispelled by a shower which was by chance intreated for in the prayers of the Christians And the very Letter Justin Martyr with some others hath annexed to the end of his second Apology to Antoninus Pius the Emperour which being of great length and containing in it nothing but what Xephilin hath before afforded us I judge it fitter to refer the Reader to him than to transcribe it out of him Thus for the Heathens For the Jews I shall only cite their own Talmud who in the Treatise of Idolatry Abodazara cap. 1. as Hoornbeck tells me doth celebrate James the Apostle and Disciple of Jesus Christ Jacobum Apostolum Jesu Christi Discipulum celebrat dono miraculorum pollentem à quo tamen R. Samuelis Nepos à Serpente ictus curare noluerit ideo quòd Jesu Discipulus sanare esset solitus in nomine Praeceptoris sui Jesu Haec in Talmude isto occurrunt Capite Hoornbeck do Con. Conver. Judaeis Cap. 1. lib. 3. pag. 233. as eminent for the gift of Miracles by whom the Nephew of Rabbi Samuel being bit of a Serpent would not be cured because every Disciple of Jesus was wont to heal in the Name of their Master Jesus These things are in the Talmud and in the forecited Chapter Thus I have though in much length finished my third branch of my second Argument which asserts Jesus Christ to be the great Lawgiver I hope the necessity of the subject will excuse my tediousness in it I proceed to the 4. Fourth branch of this Argument which is The destruction of Idolatry and the Conquest of the World to the Name of a Crucified Saviour by such weak and ignorant persons as the Apostles were And this naturally divides it self into two parts The first is the destruction by Idolatry And for the proving of that what doth fitter begin our Discourse then Porphyrius own Testimony who though the bitterest enemy Christianity ever had yet confesseth as Eusebius tells me in his first Chapter of his fifth Book De praeparatione Evangelica That since Jesus came to be worshipped no man hath received publick benefits from the gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And 't is no wonder he should say so because we find before the coming of our Saviour into the world the most famous Oracle of Apollo of Delphos was shut up The Orator in his second Book De Divinatione seems to sleight that Oracle altogether For it is long saith he since she uttered these Verses and when she did do it they were barbarous ones But what is most saith he to be observed Sed quod caput est our iste modo jam Oracula Delphis non eduntur non modo nostra aetate sed jam diu adeo ut nihil posset esse contemptius Cicero De Divinitat li 2. To. 4. p. 296. Edit Par 1565. Why are not the Oracles after the same manner uttered at Delphos not only in our Age but even now a pretty while since even so that nothing now seems to be more contemptible And then see how he proceeds When they are therefore urged from this place Hoc loco cùm urgentur evanuisse aiunt vetustate vim loci unde anhelitus ille terrae fieret quo Pythia mente incitata Oracula ederet De vino aut salsamento putes loqui quae evanescunt vetustate Ibid. they reply that the power of the place is vanished by reason of the oldness of it in which Pythia did utter her Oracles with a disturbed mind You suppose certainly you speak of wine or salt which grows worse by age Thus he But if you would have the true reason of its ceasing Nicephorus for me shall tell it you Caesar Augustus saith he being renowned by his many great Actions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and being proclaimed the first Monarch and now being grown old went to the Pythian Oracle And having sacrificed to the Daemon an Hecatomb did ask who should govern the Roman Empire after him But when from thence no answer came he both offered a second Sacrifice and asked the reason why that Oracle who formerly spake so much was now silent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Oracle being a little silent gave that answer to him The Hebrew Boy that doth the gods excell Bids me leave this my house and go to Hell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore depart at last from this my Cell Caesar having had this answer went to Rome and building in the Capitol a great Altar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he wrote these words about it in the Roman Language Nicep Hist Eccl. lib. 1. cap. 77. This is the Altar of the first-born of God This Story Suidas tells us also in the word Augustus and Cedrenus in his Compendium of Histories I confess I am not absolutely satisfied of the truth of this that is that these very words were spoken to Augustus but in this particular am inclined to Baronius his opinion whose words because they will conduce to our understanding this Story merit our inserting Which Story saith he I would they so should understand Quod tamen ita velim intelligant qui ei rei majorem fidem adhibendam putant quà m his quae ex Graecis Autoribus recensuimus Non quòd Sybilla aliqua Augusti temporibus quae illum haec docuerit superstes fuerit siquidem Cumaea quae novissima omnium fuisse traditur quinquagesima Olympiade auctore Solino vixit temporibusque Tarquinii Regis Romae fuerit Sed sic accipiendum ut ea ipsa Augustus à Sybilla hoc est Sybillinis carminibus quae Sybilla nomine citari à majoribus consueverunt acceperit Non autem à Sybilla quasi adhuc vivente vate quae diximus ei oftenta fuerint Augustum nam que multum fuisse in cognoscendis scrutandis expurgandisque carminibus Sybillinis quae proximè diximus satis superque ostendunt In apparatu Sect. 26. who think greater faith should be given to these words than those that out of Greek Authors we repeat Not that any Sybill was alive in Augustus his time who should teach him these things Because the Sybill of Cumaea who is reported to be the last of them all as Solinus in the eighth Chapter of his History witnesseth lived in the fiftieth Olympiade and was at Rome in the time of King Tarquin But that it was to be understood that those very things Augustus had received from the Sybill that is from the Sybilline Verses which in the Sybills name were wont to be repeated by their Ancestors But not from the Sybills as if the things we have spoken were shewn him whilst the Prophet lived Now that Augustus spent much of his time in knowing searching and
books and shews us nothing for he shews not what we have inserted certainly he would have shewn them us if he could have produced more ancient and more incorrupted Copies and such as had not those things which he supposeth are inserted in them All that I can gather from this place is that Celsus being pressed with the Sibylls authorities and finding no way to answer them thought it the surest answer to say that the Christians had foisted those verses in them which methinks is no reason for us to believe a satisfactory answer when Origen here in this place wondering at so confident an assertion without the least of proof Had there been the least ground for it it would have stood Celsus in good stead to have shewed any ancient Copie without those Interpolations Certainly he was too great an Artist in reasoning to let slip so great an advantage had it indeed been any and this I leave to any sober mans judgment The next that follow shall be Tertullian who in his second Book ad Nationes proving our Faith for Antiquity to be above the Heathens Ante enim Sibylla quam omnis literatura extitit illa scilicet veri vera Vates cujus vocabula Daemoniorum vatibus induistis Ad Nationes l 2. c. 12. sayes That the Sibyll was before this kinde of learning was in the world And then he tells us what he means by the Sibyll to wit that true Prophetess of Truth whose words you have put in the mouthes of the Divels Prophets 4. Our fourth Authority shall be Lactantius who tells us That the Heathens being convinced with these Testimonies His testimoniis quidem revicti solent eo confugere ut dicant non illa esse Carmina Sibyllina sed à nostris facta atque composita quod profectò non putabit qui Ciceronem Varronémque legerit aliósque Veteres qui Erythraeam Sibyllam caeterásque commemorant ex quorum libris ista exempla proferimus qui auotores obier unt antequam Christus nasceretur Lact lib. 4. cap. 15. say that these are not the Sibylls Verses but they were made and composed by us Christians which truly he could not think who hath read Cicero and Varro and other Ancients who mention the Sibyll Erythraea and the rest out of whose books we produce these Examples whose Authors have been dead long before Christ was born To these already named I will referr the Reader to St. Austin de Civitate Dei lib. 18. cap. 33. And so Constantine the Emperours Speech Chap. 18 19. ad Sanctorum Coetum where he will finde both the Emperour and the Bishop asserting the Sibylls Authorities the repetition whereof will be too large for so short a Discourse 2. My second Argument for the Sybills works which I told you before could amount but to a probability is this That the books of Hystaspis and the Sybills were by Heathen Laws forbidden to be read which had they been esteemed as spurious it had been much a better way to have made the fraud publick then to have prohibited the reading of their Books Now that such a Law was made Justin Martyr assures us in his second Apology to Antoninius Pius These are his words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ap. 2. p. 64. Through the energie of these foolish Devils death is threatned to all the Readers of the Books of Hystaspes the Sybils and the Prophets that by fear they might turn away men that are apt to believe the knowledge of good things and that they may keep them slaves to themselves This we may gather also from the Letter the Emperour Valerianus wrote to the Senate as Flavius Vopianus teacheth us wherein he saith I wonder holy Fathers you doubt so long of opening the Sibylline books Miror vos patres sancti tamdiu de aperiendis libris Sybillinis dubitasse perinde quasi in Christianorum Ecclesia non in Templo omnium Deorum tractaretis This place is cited by Baronius Anna. 1. T. 1. p. 8. as if you were handling this in a Congregation of Christians and not in the Temple of all the Gods The Orator Tully also in his book de Divinatione seems to mention this Law Injussu Senatus proditum est à Majoribus nè legantur quidem libri de Divinat lib. 2. when he tells us it was delivered by the Antients that these books were not to be read without the Senates leave And something to this purpose hath Dionysius Halicarnassaeus whose words are these After the expulsion of Kings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 4. p. 260. this City taking into their charge the Sibylline Oracles appointed most eminent men to be their Keepers who all their life time have this care being exempted from all Offices Military and Civil and to these they add others without whom it is not lawful for these men to look into these Oracles From this place I suppose I may gather the great care the Romans had for their preservation which makes it a far more difficult thing to foist any thing in them and an easie thing for an Heathen Emperour to see whether the Quotations the Christians used out of them were spurious or no. And this place seems to intimate something of what Justin Martyr before told us when it tells us they were by Law so strictly kept that it was dangerous for their very keepers without others by Publick Authority delegated with them to read them Certainly an Apologist durst write nothing but Truth when on the truth of their Apology their life and every thing dear unto them depended And I confess I know not why the Roman Emperours should not forbid the reading of the Sybills Oracles Ep. 42. as well as Julian the Apostate did all the Gentile books by a Law when the true reason why he did this was to keep the Christians in ignorance of their horrid Rites although he pretends that they might not blaspheme their gods and by that means to hinder their confuting them I am sure the advantage the Christians gain by the Sybills would be the greater because their books would confirm them in their own Religion when the Gentiles could make them only abhorre their If you ask me how these Prophesies came so publick when they were so strictly kept The answer is easie for it appears that Attilius privately writ them out and for that cause was put into a leather bag and cast into the Sea as Dionysius Halicarnassaeus and Valerius Maximus will inform us Dionys lib. 4. Valer. li. c. 13. if no body else besides him did it I would not in this place be mistaken as if I thought what I have said concerning the Sybills were sufficient to prove that those Prophesies we have that go under their name were all theirs For though I verily believe much of them were really the Sybills Prophesies yet I doubt not but many things have been added and foisted in them many years after Christ And 't is
under two years old Cum audissent inter eos quos in Syria Herodes Rex Judaeorum inter binatum jussit interfici filium quoque ejus occisum ait Melius est Herodis porcum esse quam filium Saturnal lib. 4.2 whom Herod the King of the Jews had commanded to be killed in Syria his own son was slain also said It is better to be Herod 's hog than his son In which speech the Emperour had reference to the Jews abstaining from swines flesh which to Herod would have been a great crime though this murder seem none at all if by that means his usurped Dominion may be better secured So much for the first 2. For the voice before a multitude which audibly declared him we find three times to have been done The first was at his Baptism where before John Baptist and those that came to be baptised of him the heavens were opened the Spirit of God descended like a Dove and light on him and a voyce from Heaven said This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased The second was at his Transfiguration where before three sober men a sufficient number to assert any truth Peter James and John a voice out of the cloud gave testimony that Jesus was the Son of God in whom he was well pleased and that it was so we have St. Peter in his second Epistle assuring us The third was a little before his death our Saviour praying that God would glorifie his Name in the presence of a multitude a voyce came down from Heaven saying I have both glorified it and will glorifie it Jo. 12.28 Now though we cannot produce any authority from Heathens to confirm the truth of this voice yet the circumstances in the Story evince it to be true for this was not done in a corner John Baptist and his three Disciples did not only hear it at two several times but a multitude at another and that in a publick place when our Saviour rode in Triumph into Hierusalem and this multitude consisted partly of his Enemies the Jews for we find for all this they believed him not and partly of other Nations ver 34. for there were then Greeks that desired to see him v. 20 21. So that had this been false it had been obvious to the confutation of every person and the Pharisees would never have suffered so great a Miracle in the confirmation of our Saviours Mission to have passed uncontradicted if so many witnesses that asserted it had not put it beyond any denial This voice now which we find attesting our Saviour doth also give witness to his Apostles when on a sudden there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and filled all the house where they were sitting And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sate upon each of them Act. 2.13 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with their tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance And this Miracle was so evident that never any attempted to deny it For besides that it happened at so publick a time as Pentecost when the City was filled with people of every Nation to witness it the nature of the Miracle it self the enabling of rude and ignorant men to speak the Language of every Nation carried along with it its own confutation had not the truth of it been evident to as many Nations as at that time resorted to Hierusalem To this of all the Apostles let me adde the miraculous Call of S. Paul who by an audible voice from Heaven was turned from a Persecuter to a Preacher of the Gospel Acts 8.4 5 6. Acts 16.12 13 14 15 16. The whole story we have recorded by Saint Luke and asserted by Saint Paul in his Apology for himself before King Agrippa If we examine the Circumstances of it we shall find 't was not done privately but must necessarily be publickly known The party converted was the greatest Enemy the Gospel had 't was he that consented to St. Stephen's death The place of his conversion was when he came near Damascus with Authority from the High Priests to bring all Christians bound to Hierusalem The manner of his Conversion was he fell to the earth being so amazed with the light that shined about him and more terrified with the voice that asked him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Adde to this this was not done alone for the men that were with him heard the voice and not they only must be witnesses of it but he must be led blind to Damascus that Ananias who by his prayers recovered him and the whole City of Damascus that saw him might know the truth of it I might to these adde those several fallings of the Holy Ghost upon Believers which 't is probable fell by some way of visible appearance as that upon Cornelius by S. Peters preaching Acts 10.44 Acts 19.6 upon the Christians at Corinth by S. Paul but I hope I need not urge them having sufficiently proved this Assertion from the Witness of God 2. The second Argument that asserts Christ to be this Law-giver and confirms the Christian Faith is The miraculous power in our Saviour of doing Miracles and by him given to Christians together with the success following the destruction of Idolatry and sudden Conquest of the World For the better clearing this 't is necessary to take this Argument apieces and to handle each branch apart The whole is the Doctrine of Miracles which I look upon as one of the most convincing Arguments against Atheisme or Heathenisme or any other Religion whatsoever and this I shall do by proving 1. The truth of several remarkable Predictions our Saviour foretold 2. The wonderful Miracles which he did whilest he lived happened at his death and were effected at his Resurrection 3. The miraculous power that he gave the Apostles of doing Miracles which continued in the Church till the world became Christian and some time after 4. The destruction of Idolatry and Conquest of the world to the name of a crucified Saviour by such weak and ignorant persons as the Apostles were All which are reduced under the head of Miracles some of each of which I shall prove from the confession of the Enemies of Christianity Jews or Heathens which is the greatest testimony matter of fact is capable of I shall begin with the 1. First The truth of several remarkable praedictions our Saviour foretold I will begin with that concerning his own sufferings You shall find Mat. 16. after S. Peters confession of our Saviours being the Messias and our Saviours gracious promise to the Church that the Gates of Hell should not prevail over it that he falls directly to tell them what must befall him v. 21. From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his Disciples how that he must go into Hierusalem and suffer many things of the Elders and chief Priests and Scribes and
the Miracles he did whilst he lived These Miracles consisted principally in curing all manner of Diseases expelling Divels out of persons possessed and raising the dead I shall not here cite you proofs out of the Evangelists though so constant and uncontradicted a report by any four sober Writers ought to be credited and is as much as we have for the belief of many notable actions which are received without the least doubt but shall endeavour to prove them from the Testimony of Jews and Heathens and though the place where our Saviour lived afforded but very few Writers now extant and the distance of Judaea from Rome the Imperial City caused his Miracles not to be much taken notice of by their Historians and the great loss of Eminent Writers and particular Registers of Roman Procurators unto which the primitive Christians in their Apologies appealed to have left us destitute of such Authorities which former Ages made use of Yet I question not in this particular to give some satisfaction to any indifferent Reader Let me in the first place set down Celsus's confession cited in his own words by Origen whose Works being lost nothing from him can be otherwise had but from his Answerer His words are these Do you think him to be the Son of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. con Cel. l. 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cy. lib. 6. because he healed the lame and the blind Just such another speech we may find Julian the Apostate saying as St. Ryril tells me Unless somebody supposeth to cure the lame and the blind and to cast out Divels by exorcising in the Villages of Bethsaida and Bethany be some of those great works Here we have confessions of Christs miracles from two of the greatest Enemies Christianity ever had Celsus and Julian The first endeavoured by his pen the last both by pen and power to destroy it and yet the wonders our Saviour did were so evident above denial that they were forced though in a scoff to acknowledge them To these let us add the Epistle of Lentulus to the Emperour Tiberius which Eutropius hath in his Annals of the Roman Senators and is now commonly extant in the Bibliotheca Patrum He thus begins There appeared in our days Apparuit temporibus nostris adbuc est homo magnae virtutis nominatus Jesus Christus qui dicitur à Gentibus Propheta veritatis quem ejus Discipuli vocant filium Dei suscitans mortuos sanans omnes languores and is yet a man of great power named Christ Jesus who is called of the Gentiles the Prophet of Truth whom his Disciples call the Son of God a raiser of the dead and a healer of all manner of diseases This Authority was very clear was there not some dispute whether this Epistle be suppositious or no That there was one Lentulus Consul with Calvisius Sabinus in the twelfth year of Tiberius Caesar Baronius assures us though that very year Pontius Pilatus succeeded Valerius Gratus in the command of Judaea And for that following phrase Discrimen habens in medio capitis juxta morem Nazarenorum That he had a parting in the middle of his head after the manner of the Nazarens for which Cocus and some other suspects this Epistle as if the Author had supposed our Saviour to have been a Nazarite Censura quorundam Scriptorum veterum pa. 1. savours in my judgment of nothing less for then the Author would not have said he had hair parting like a Nazarite but being a Nazarite he wore his hair after that manner I shall not wrangle with any that will severely debate the truth of it because if that fails there are enough that follow to supply that defect which I shall end this second branch withal because they do comprehend and abbreviate all Christs miracles In the mean time I shall handle that which is the second thing The Miracles that happened at his Passion To find out in Heathen Stories every particular accident that then happened as we have recorded in the Evangelists is impossible but that most remarkable and wonderful defection of the Sun at that time was recorded by the Romans and kept in their Archives till Tertullian's time as is evident from his Apology His Words are these In that moment the day withdrew her self at noon tide Eodem momento dies medium orbem signante sole subducta est deliquium utique putaverunt qui id quoque super Christo praedicatum non scierunt ratione non deprehensa negaverunt tamen eum mundi casum relatum in Arcanis vestris habetis Apol. ca. 21. They every where supposed a total defection who did not know that that was prophefied of Christ the reason of it not being understood some denied it and yet that chance of the world you have Registred in your Archives Lucian in the acts of his Martyrdome perswading the Gentiles to Christianity bids them look into their own Annals and there they shall find in the days of Pilate the Sun chased away Perquirite in Annalibus vestris invenictis temporibus Pilati fugato Sole interruptum tenebris diem and the day interrupted with darkness Origen in his second book against Celsus cites for the truth of this the Authority of Phlegon the Cheirographus of the Emperour Adrian His words are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. lib. 2. contra Celsum pag. 80. Edit Canta Concerning the Eclipse which happened in the time of Tiberius Caesar in whose Reign Jesus was crucified and concerning the then great shaking of the earth Phlegon in the thirteenth book of his Chronicles hath written And that this Phlegon hath this in his Commentaries Eusebius also witnesseth in his Chronicles in the year 33 of Christ To these let me add that Letter of Dionysius to Polycarp cited by Baronius in which inveighing against Apollophanes the Philosopher he useth these words Quid de illo qui tempore crucis Dominicae factus est Solis defectu dicturus es Eramus tunc ambo apud Heliopolim amboque fimul incidentem mirabiliter Soli Lunae Globum notabamus non enim ejusce conjunctionis tunc aderat tempus ipsamque rursus ab hora nona ad vesperum ad Solis diametrum supra Naturae vires restitutum In memoriam autem illi us revoca etiam aliud quoddam Nempe enim ut ipse non ignorat eam Lunae incidentiam ab Oriente caepisse usque ad Solaris corporis finem pervenisse ac tum demum refitiisse notavimus Neque vero cadem ex parte ut assolet et incidentia illa et repurgatio facta est sed ex adverso Diametri Haec sunt quae tunc temporis centigere naturam profecto superantia ac Soli Christo possibilia qui Author est omnium facitque magna et stupenda quorum non est numerus Ista illi si licuerit dicito Ad Annum Chr. 34. p. 179 180. What wilt thou
of it Thus much for Josephus The next Authority shall be Pilates Letter which Hegesippus affords me in his Anacephalaeosis The words are these There of late happened what I my self have tried Nuper accidit quod ipse probavi Judaeos per invidiam se suosque nosteros crudeli condemnatione punisse Denique cùn promissum haberent patres corum quòd illis Deus mitteret de coelo sanctum qui eorum Rex meritò diceretur hunc se promiserit per Virginem missurum in terram Istum itaque me praesile in Judaea Deus Hebraeorum cùm mifisset vidissent eum caecos illuminasse leprosos mundasse paralyticos curasse Daemones ab hominibus fugasse mortuos etiam suscitasse imperasse ventis ambulasse siccis pedibus per undas maris multa alia fecisse Cùm omnis populus Judaeorum eum Dei filium esse diceret invidiam contra eum passi sunt Principes Judaeorum tenuerunt eum mihique traliderunt alia pro aliis mibi de eo mentientes dixerunt asserentes eum Magum esse contra leges eorum agere Ego autem credidi ita esse flagellitum tradidi illum arbitrio eorum Illi autem crucifixerunt eum Sepulchra Custodes adhibuerunt Ille autem militibus meis custodientibus die tertio resurrexit In tantum enim exarsit nequitia Judaeorum ut darent pecuniam Custodibus dixerint Dicite quia Discipuli ejus Corpus ipsius rapuerunt Sed cùm accepissent pecuniam quod factum fuerat tacere non potuerunt Nam illum surrexisse testati sunt se vidisse se à Judaeis pecuniam accepisses Haec ideo ingessi nè quis aliter mentiatur existimet credendum esse mendaciis Judaeorum that the Jews did with a cruel condemnation punish themselves and their posterity For when at last their Fathers had a promise that God would send his Holy One from Heaven who deservedly should be called their King and him he promised to send into the earth by a Virgin When therefore the God of the Hebrews when I was Praesident of Judaea sent him and when they saw that he did enlighten the blind cleanse the Lepers cure the Palsie cast out Devils from men raise the dead command the winds walk over the waters of the Sea with dry feet and many other things When all the people of the Jews said he was the Son of God the chief of the Jews were envious against him and laid hold of him and delivered him to me and when lying they had told me one for another divers things concerning him affirming that he was a Magician and did act against their Laws I indeed believed it was so and delivered him to be whipt at their pleasure but they crucified him and set guards to his Sepulchre But he the third day rose again whilest my Souldiers were guarding him But the malice of the Jews did burn to so great a height that they gave money to his Keepers and bid them say that his Disciples had taken him away But they when they had taken their money could not hold their peace of what was done For they both witnessed that they saw him rise and that they had received monies of the Jews These things I have put in lest some body should lye other ways and should suppose that the lies of the Jews should be credited Thus Hegesippus Now because of this there may be justly some question both because Hegesippus is not an Authour of that Antiquity but as Baronius says wrote after Constantines time Ad Ann. 34. p. 215. and that the Epistle it self in the front of it carries a great fault having Claudius set down for Tyberius though I know Tyberius his name before he was Emperour was Claudius I shall therefore shew you from good Authorities that something to this purpose Pilate writ and if this Letter should prove forged yet the true one did say nigh as much because of the effect it produced in Tyberius First for the Letter mark what Tertullian saith in his Apology All these things concerning Christ did Pilate Ea omnia super Christo Pilatus ipse jam pro sua Conscientia Christianus Caesari tunc Tiberio nuntiavit Sed Caesares credidissent super even he being now in his Conscience a Christian relate to Tyberius Caesar And the Caesars themselves had believed in Christ Christo si aut Caesares non essent saeculo necessarii aut si Christiani potuissent esse Caesares Cap. 21 if either for this Age the Caesars had not been necessary or if the Caesars might have been Christians And concerning the effect this News had upon the Emperour see what the same Apologist says in his fifth Chapter Tyberius Tyberius cujus tempore nemen Christianorum in saeculum intravit annuntiata sibi ex Syria Palaestina quae illic veritatem illius Divinitatis revelârunt detulit ad Senatum cum Praerogativa suffragii sui Senatus quia non ipse probaverat respuit Caesar in sententia mansit comminatus periculum accusatoribus Christianorum Ibid. Cap. 5. in whose time the name Christian entred into the world did carry to the Senate with the Prerogative of his voice those things which were related to him out of Syria Palaestina which did reveal the truth of that Divinity there The Senate because they had not before approved of it rejected it the Emperour still remained of that opinion threatning punishment to the accusers of Christians So that from these words may easily be gathered that Tyberius would have had the Senate owned Christ as a God which could be upon no other account but from the Miracles our Saviour did in Palaestine and 't is scarce probable that the Emperour should receive this News from other hands then from Pontius Pilate his Procurator There is nothing so clear in History as that the several Lievtenants of Provinces did send Registers of their Acts to the Emperour and particularly that Pilate had a Register of his Acts which he sent to the Emperour and which was extant in Justin Martyrs time is evident from his second Apology to the Emperour Antoninus where declaring how all the Miracles onr Saviour did were foretold by the Prophets and withal perswading the Emperour to believe that our Saviour did such he referres himself to the Acts of Pilate then registred at Rome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 66. Apol. 2. Edit Syl. That saith he our Saviour did these things you may learn from the Registers of the Acts done under Pontius Pilate And that we may say no more we find the Haeretiques called the Quartadecimani as Epiphanius tells me boasting that they had found out of the Acts of Pilate this truth Et sane ex Actis Pilati se veritatem comperisse Salvatorem die ante Octavium Calendarum Aprilium possum esse Lib. 2. Hae. 50. That our Saviour did suffer the day before the Octaves of the Calends
Prophetical Readings And others by the Imposition of hands cure those that are sick of any infirmity and restore them perfectly whole And even now as we have said both the dead have risen and many years have remained with us But what I cannot repeat the number of those graces which the Church throughout the whole world receiving from God doth every day perform by the name of Jesus Christ who was crucified under Pontius Pilate for the benefit of all Nations neither deceiving any of them nor taking away their money for doing of it Thus Iraeneus Origen follows next who was Iraeneus his Contemporary and was born but 20 years after him I shall produce his Testimony only out of his Books against Celsus and that which offers it self in the first place to be considered by us is his reply to Celsus Objection who demanded what great and eminent work did our Saviour ever do Unto which this Father gives this answer If thou wilt not believe those wonderful things which the Evangelists testifie Jesus did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 2. pag. 80. Edit Cant. 1658. and which happened at his suffering yet believe what thou seest now For it is the magnificent work of Jesus to heal even to this day in the name of Jesus whom God pleaseth In his third Book shewing the difference between the Religion of the Heathens and that of Christians the great disproportion between their gods and our Jesus He tells us That the Magicians did not register his name amongst the gods being compelled to do so by the Decree of some King or Emperour but that the Maker of the whole World by the wonderful efficacy of his Doctrine did appoint him to be worshipped in the hearts of his Believers and to be dreaded by Devils and all other invisible Powers Who saith he even now appear dreading the name of Jesus as of some Greater 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 3. pag. 133. or receiving this as a piece of Worship even from the Laws of their Ruler For if this efficacy was not given from God the Devils at the naming only of his Name would not willingly depart from those bodies they have so long possessed In his seventh Book he answers Celsus his Objection against the Prophets why they being as ambiguous as any of the most mysterious Oracles should only be believed Divine when the Oracles Pythia Dodonaea c. that were dispersed throughout all the world should be esteemed of no worth To this he thus answers Though saith he I might from the Authority of Aristotle and other Peripateticks produce many things abrogating from the belief of the Pythian Oracle yet he lays that aside and only desires Celsus to consider how unfit it became an Holy Spirit to utter Oracles through that place which is not becoming a wise man to see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 7. pag. 333. and how unlike Pythia her self in her delivering Oracles is to one possessed with an Holy Spirit who knows not what she either doth or saith when she delivers them When saith he the Prophets were enlightned by the Holy Spirit and their minds by its operation made more perspicuous and the effects of it appeared in their lives Then he proceeds to tell us how contrary the Pythian Oracles were to the Prophets who by their ambiguity and obscurity instead of enlightning the minds of their hearers blinded them more His words are these If Pythia be carried beyond her self when she prophesieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. what is that Spirit to be esteemed who poures upon the mind and reason nothing but darkness and how great is that kind of Devils whom not a few Christians chase away from those that suffer by them without any Circles or other act of Magicians or Witches but only by prayer and simple adjurations and those things the most ignorant man can bring to pass for oftentimes very Ideots do them c. I might adde another place out of this Father to the same purpose but having more Authors to cite these shall suffice Tertullian the third Writer amongst the Latines and of the same Age with Origen being born but a little above twenty years after him is next in order to be produced And his first testimony is not a bare assertion but a challenge which he sends the Roman Senators in that most excellent Apology of his to try the truth of this miraculous power in the Church His words are these Let any one be brought before your Tribunals who is apparently possessed with a Devil Edatur hic aliquis sub Tribunalibus vestris quem Daemone agi constet jussus a quolibet quolibet Christiano loqui Spiritus ille tam se Daemonem confitebitur de vero quam alibi Deum de falso Ae què producatur aliquis ex iis qui de Deo pati existimantur qui aris inhalantes numen de nidore concipiunt qui ructando conantur qui anhelando profantur Ista ipsa Virgo Caelestis pluviarum pollicitatrix iste ipfe Ae sculapius Medicinarum demonstrator alia die morituris Socordiae Thanatio Asclepiodoro vitae sumministrator nisite Daemones confessi fuerint Christiano mentiri non audentes ibidem illius Christiani procacissimi sanguinem fundite Apol. cap. 23. that Spirit being commanded by any Christian shall confess of truth himself to be a Devil as otherwhere falsly he hath a God Let also any of them be produced who are supposed to suffer by God who breathing on the Altars fancy a Deity from the smell who strive by belching who speak by panting Let that holy Virgin the promiser of rain be produced that Aesculapius the teacher of Medicines the restorer of life to Socordius and Thanatius and Asclepiodorus who were about to dye the other day unless they confess themselves to be Devils not daring to lye to any Christian shed the blood of that shameless Christian there In his book to Scapula the Procurator of Affrick speaking against those bloody Oblations the Heathens Gods delighted in he tells them that God doth hate that food of Divels And the Divels saith he we do not only reject but overcome Daemones autem non tantum respuimus verum revincimus cotidie traducimus de hominibus expellimus ficut pluribus notum est Ad Scapulam c. 2. and traduce daily and expel from men as it is known to many And in the fourth chapter of the same book he repeats several miraculous cures done by Christians Quanti honesti viri de vulgaribus enim non dicimus aut à Daemoniis aut naletudinibus remediati sunt Ipse enim Severus pater Antonini Christianorum memor fuit Nam Proculum Christianum qui Torpacion cognominebatur Euhodiae Procuratorem qui eum per Oleum aliquando curaverat requisivit et in Palatio suo habuit usque ad mortem ejus quem et Antoninus optime noverat lacte Christiano educatus Ibid. c. 4. How many Honourable
Lords Certainly either so thou mayest be confounded in these thy errours when thou shalt see and hear thy gods whom thou worshippest presently betray themselves what they are when we ask the Question and not to be able to conceal their deceits and fallacies although ye be present And to this let me adde that of the same Father to Donatus where we have him laying down this truth more affirmatively without any Rhetorical flourishes There is saith he power given to compell unclean and wandring Spirits Facultas datur immundos erraticos spiritus qui expugnandis se hominibus immerserint ad confessionem minis increpantibus cogere conflictantes â—julantes gementes incremento poenoe propagantis extendere flagris coedere igne torrerc Res illic geritur nec videtur occulta plaga poena manifesta Cypr. ad Donatum who have entred into men that they might destroy them by repeated threatnings to confess themselves to make them howl cry and groan by reason of the increase of the punishment that follows them to beat them with whips to roast them with fire The thing is there done but is not seen the punishment is hid but the pain is manifest Thus I have from the Authority of six of the most eminent Church-Writers of the first 300 years proved that all their time Miracles were in the Church I shall in a few words shew you they were not ceased in S. Austines and S. Chrysostomes times before whose days the world became Christian St Austin was Bishop of Hippo almost at the end of the fourth Century and in the 22 d. Book De Civitate Dei cap. 8. he hath set apart to treat of Miracles In which having told us That Miracles were necessary before the world believed Possem quidem dicere necessaria fuisse priusquam crederet mundus Quisquis adhuc Prodigia ut credaâ— inquirit magnum est ipse Prodigium qui credente mundo non credit that the world might believe that whosoever doth inquire after Prodigies now that he might believe is a great Prodigie himself who doth not believe when the world believeth And referring us to the Miracles reported by the Evangelists at last he adds some that happened in his days and were upon his own knowledge true That Miracle saith he which was done at Milan when we were there Miraculum quod Mediolani factum cum illic essemus quando illuminatus est coecus ad multorum notitiam potuit pervenire quia grandis est Civitas ibi erat tunc Imperator immenso populo teste res gesta est concurrente ad corpora Martyrum Profusii Gervasii quoe cùm laterent penitus nescirent Episcopo Ambrosio per somnum revelata reperta sunt ubi caecus ille depulsis veteribus tenebris diem vidit when the blind man had his sight restored him may come to be known of many because the City is great and the Emperour then was there and the thing was done a great multitude being witness of it running to the bodies of the Martyrs Profasius and Gervasius whose bodies when they lay hid were not known being revealed to Bishop Ambrose by a dream were found out where this blind man shaking of his ancient darkness saw the day He tells us that Innocentius at Carthage he and his Brother Alypius being present was by prayers miraculously recovered of a Fistula which being once cut was not cured and could not be done the second time without danger of life as well as infinite torture Innocentia also of the same City a most Religious Woman was cured of a Cancer in her breast which the Physitians judged incurable by praying at the Font and being signed with the sign of the Cross on the part diseased by the first woman that Easter was baptized according to the admonition she received from God in a dream He tells us of a Physitian in the same City that when he was baptized was cured of the Gout of one Curabilanus both of a Palsie and Rupture by the same Sacraments of a Presbyter who cured a Virgin of Hippo by prayers and annointing with Oyl from being possessed of a Devil He joyns to these a whole Catalogue of Miracles that were done before the Shrines of St. Stephen that glorious Martyr In Colonia Coelumensi in the Colony of Calunica at last he concludes with a most remarkable Miracle done in his presence which though long yet conducing much to my purpose I think necessary to repeat There was one Miracle done with us not greater indeed then these I have spoken of Unum est quod apud nos factum non magis quà m illa quoe dixi sed tam clarum atque illustre miraculum ut nullum arbitror esse Hipponensium qui hoe non vel viderit vel didicerit nullum qui oblivisci ulla ratione potuerit Decem quidem fratres fuerunt quorum septem fuerunt mares tres foeminae de Casaraea Cappadociae suorum Civium non ignobiles maledicto matris recenti patris corum obitu destituae quae injuriam sibi ab eis factam acerbissimè tulit tali poenâ sunt divinitùs coerciti ut horribilitèr quaterent omnes tremore membrorum in qua foedissima specie oculos suorum Civium non ferentes quaquaver sum cuique ire visum est toto penè vagabantur orbe Romano Ex his etiam ad nos venerunt duo frater sorer Paulus Palladia multis aliis locis miseria defamante cogniti Venerunt autem ante Pascha fermè dies quindecim Ecclesiam quotidie in ea memoriam gloriosissimi Stephani frequentabant orantes ut jam sibi placaret Deus salutem pristinam redderet Et illà quacunque ibant convertebant in se Civitatis aspectum Nonnulli quòd cos alibi viderant causamque tremoris eorum noverant alii ut cuique poterant indicabant Venit Pascha atque ipso die Dominico manè cùm jam frequens populus praesens esset loci sancti cancellos ubi Martyrium erat idem juvenis orans teneret repentè Prostratus est dormienti simillimus jacuit non tamen tremens sicut per somnum solebat Stupentibus qui aderant atque aliis paventibus aliis dolentibus cùm cum quidem vellent exigere nonnulli prohibuerunt sed potiùs exitum expectandum esse dixerunt Et ecce surrexit non tremebat quoniam sanatus erat stabat incolumis intuens intuentes Quis ergo intuentium se tenuit à laudibus Dei Clamantium gratulantiumque vocibus Ecclesia usquequaque completa est Inde ad me currunt ubi sedebam jam processurus irruit alter quisque post alterum omnis posterior quasi novum quod alius prius dixcrat nuntiantes Meque gaudente atuâ— me gratias Deo agente ingreditur etiam ipse cum pluribus inclinatur ad genua mea erigitur ad osculum meum Procedimus ad populum plena erat Ecclesia