gave notice by the Prophets of all those Lights which should particularly appear in him In prospect of this God gave by the Ministry of Moses such Characters as would distinguish the true Prophets from those who endeavoured to usurp that Name It appears also that because God was to Communicate to the Messiah a power of working Miracles which Moses intimates by saying that he was to be a Prophet like unto him Therefore Isaiah specifies the Character of those Miracles in XXXV Chapter of his Prophesie and God explains in particular the Laws concerning the Blind and the Lame and for the same Reason he gives an account of all sorts of Leprosie that it might be distinctly known which was incurable It is easie to those who will attend to the Laws of Moses to see that they were subservient to this design of God in pursuance of those Prospects which we have already set down CHAP. XXI That it was the design of God by all these Ceremonies and particularly by that Veneration which he inspired the Jews with for the Tabernacle to preserve the Ideas of the Messiah whom he had promised in their minds by distinguishing them from all other Nations AFter all those Observations which I have made upon the several Laws that God made use of to execute his design of fixing his people to a certain place and there to keep them separate it is natural to judge that the Ceremonial Laws which he gave them for the regulating their outward Worship were also intended for the same end This I must shew in respect of the Holiness which God ascribes to the Land of Canaan and in respect of the whole Service of the Tabernacle of its Misterious Construction in all its parts And in respect also of the raising of the Material Temple afterwards to be as it were the Center of their whole Religion It was certainly for this purpose that he particularly Consecrated several things to himself as the first fruits and the first-born and that he set apart certain times as the first day of the Month and certain Solemn Feasts besides the Sabbath-day which was Celebrated long before And he also Consecrated several places as the Towns of refuge and yet more particularly the Tabernacle and the Temple But it was especially for that reason that he had Consecrated certain Rites and Ceremonies certain Sacrifices both of Animate and Inanimate things and certain Offerings of Gold and Silver Perfumes c. One see 's that he rejected any first fruits that did not grow in the Land of Canaan One see 's that tho some Sacrifices were common to the Jews and their Neighbours yet he distinguish'd them by so many Circumstances that they were much different from the others Thus he forbids them to make use of Statues before which other Nations used to Sacrifice at that time and he commanded them not to Sacrifice upon high places where the Heathens used to make their Offerings very early in the Morning at Sun-rise which gave rise to their Worship of the Rising Sun. But there is nothing more discovers the design of God than the Laws by which he fixed their Worship first to the Tabernacle and afterwards to the Temple at the places where God did particularly reside One may say that it was for that reason God commanded the representations of Angels and of his Law and of the Manna to be preserved there all which besides that they were Memorials of the Ancient Apparitions and favours of God to that people they were express figures of God's Glory of his Will and of his miraculous power he added also a Candlestick with seven Branches a Table covered with Loaves and an Altar of Incense which were figures of the Seven Planets of this visible World of the Blessings which we enjoy by Nature and of those acknowledgments which we owe unto God for all these He commanded also that none should offer Sacrifices in any other place except the Temple He would not permit that any but those who were purified according to the Law should enter into it he excluded all Uncircumcised persons for ever as Moses had formerly been commanded to pull off his Shooes in the Desert at his approaching to the burning Bush so every one that entered into the Temple was to enter barefoot as a mark of that respect which had formerly been exacted of Moses And what other reason but that could oblige him to give both at the Consecration of the Temple and afterwards so many sensible Marks of his presence that Cloud which was called his Glory rested there The Urim and Thummim which was an Oracle for that whole Nation was there there was a daily Sacrifice offered up for the whole People there were celebrated the three Solemn Feasts of the Passover of Pentecost and of Tabernacles he forbid them to Sacrifice any where else and he gave frequent and illustrious Oracles at that place One ought also to observe that after his Temple to which all the glory of the Tabernacle was transmitted was fixed at Jerusalem he ordered it to be such a sensible mark of his presence that when we read the History of Israel's March in the Desart we find that the Tabernacle was the Image of the Temple and built after its Model so that as the Tabernacle stood always in the midst of the Tents of the Levites and the Levites in the midst of the whole Camp of all the Tribes of Israel who were all listed under their proper Standards So one see 's afterwards that the Temple the Levites and the people of Jerusalem were placed according to their different degrees of Holiness as they were to approach to the most Holy place which was the Habitation of his Holiness Certainly one may say that the building up of a Tabernacle or of a Temple seems to be directly contrary to the nature of Religion according to which God who is a Spirit will be Worshipped in Spirit and in Truth So that this seems to have been quitted for a time when he commanded the building of a Tabernacle But really there was nothing more agreeable to the design which God had formed at first as to that people he intended to make it visible and it appears that nothing could be more effectual to make it so than the double necessity to which that whole People was reduced to to meet in a Body several times every year in the same place and to offer all their Sacrifices in the Tabernacle and to be there perpetually employed in the Ceremonial Service which did inseparably draw them thither and fix them there The end of all those visible Assemblies was to perpetuate the knowledge of the principal Verities of their Religion and especially to renew perpetually the hopes of that people as to the Messiah who was promised to them from God. For God having shortned the long Lifes which Men commonly enjoy'd in the beginning before they went out of Egypt so that five or six persons could no
preferr'd before others used by him without any solid Reason that therefore we must reject the deposition of so many Witnesses who unanimously attest it Since Jesus Christ had raised three persons to life again which then lived in Judea since Jerusalem had continued fourty years after the death of Christ since sixty solemn Feasts were celebrated in that time where all the Jews had an occasion to examine the truth of these Facts and the truth or falsity of the Accusation charged upon the Apostles by the Council of the Jews and that multitudes of Jews and Gentiles were converted at the preaching of the Apostles who reduced all to this Question of the Fact of the Resurrection of our Saviour is not this an invincible proof against all the Accusations and Suspicions of the Synagogue Forasmuch as the Witnesses who maintain the Resurrection of Christ are the very same that attest his Ascension into Heaven and that they assert it with the same proofs and the same zeal the Reflexions here set down may serve for that also and the rather because I am next to consider the sending of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost which is an undeniable proof both of the Resurrection of Christ and his Ascension and that these very Gifts of the Holy Spirit enabled the Jews to write preach and publish throughout all the World the truths of that Christianity which we now profess CHAP. XIV That Jesus Christ sent to his Apostles and to the Primitive Christians the miraculous Gifts of his Holy Spirit as he had promised in the Ancient Prophecies I Have shewn that the Prophecies of the Old Testament speak very plainly of this sending of the Spirit as a Preliminary to the Calling of the Gentiles which was the great design of God. The Prophet Joel speaks of it as such and makes this wonder to precede the destruction of Jerusalem as S. Peter observes in the second of the Acts. Isaiah speaks very particularly of it as such in the eleventh Chapter of his Prophecy where he sufficiently intimates that the Spirit of Prophecy should from thence forward so rest upon Jesus Christ that it would not be found any longer among the Jews whose City and Temple should be destroyed At present my business is to shew that this thing has been exactly fulfilled according to the design which God had laid down in the Prophets To be convinc'd of this we need only make some Reflexions upon the Relation which S. Luke gives us of it in the Acts. He tells us therefore that fifty days only after the death of Jesus Christ the Apostles having continued at Jerusalem and being assembled there they received the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost that is the power of speaking all sorts of Languages to make them fit to preach the Gospel to all Nations and to explain the most sublime Mysteries of our Saviour's Religion Every thing is considerable in this Relation of S. Luke 1. That he relates this Fact as happening fifty days only after the Jewish Passover when Christ was crucified the whole Nation of the Jews having been witnesses of his death 2. That he relates it as happening in the same City where Jesus Christ was condemned that the same Multitude who after fifty days were again assembled there at this Feast might be Witnesses of this miraculous Event In short it plainly appears that this new Law from Mount Sion was solemnly promulg'd in the presence of all the Jews who were assembled from all parts of the World as the old Law was when all the People assisted at the foot of Mount Sinai 3. That these Gifts were granted to all the Disciples of our Saviour Gifts which till that time had been wholly unheard of and whereof some part only had been granted to some Prophets and to some Priests and of which none had been made partakers since the time of Malachi God having so ordered it that the desires of the Jews might be the more inflamed for the Messiah's coming as also that upon his coming he might the more easily be discerned 4. That this was a Fact openly known amongst the Jews and differently interpreted by them some saying They they were full of new Wine 5. That the Apostles asserted by the mouth of S. Peter that this was an Accomplishment of the ancient Oracles as well as of the Promises of Jesus Christ 6. That they declared that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ his Ascension into Heaven and this miraculous Donative had been foretold by David and Joel 'T is certainly therefore very natural to make these following Reflexions upon the Relation of so considerable an Event The first will confirm the truth of this miraculous Fact if we consider that it is absurd to suppose that S. Luke a wise man should be so rash as to relate a matter of this nature if he had not been fully convinc'd of it and if it had not been an easie thing to have convinc'd his Readers thereof also nothing more being required for their conviction but the presence of one of those first Christians and to make a trial of this supernatural vertue bestowed on them for which there were frequent occasions 2. We must observe that this Relation of S. Luke is as it were the foundation which he lays down to make his Book of the Acts to appear just and reasonable and to justifie the Apostles conduct in preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles not only contrary to the opinion of the Jews who looked upon them as wholly excluded from the Priviledges of the Covenant but also contrary to the seeming Maxim of Jesus Christ who acted only as the Minister of Circumcision and contrary to the pretensions of many Christians who after the Mission of the Holy Ghost took it very ill that S. Peter had preached to the Gentiles 3. S. Luke supposes that this Fact came to pass in such a manner that it was followed by Consequences as illustrious as they were incredible Twelve poor Fishermen undertook to go and preach to all the World that their Master who fifty days before was crucified at Jerusalem at the prosecution of the whole Synagogue and by order of one of the Magistrates of the Roman Empire was not only living not only ascended into Heaven but that he also had given them the power of speaking all sorts of Languages of curing all Diseases and even of raising the Dead 4. They go yet further they boldly maintain that Jesus Christ had given them a priviledge of communicating the same power to all those who would believe that he was the promised Messiah and this without any other mystery but the bare laying on of their hands after they had received them by Baptism into the Profession of Christianity Nothing could have been more easie than to convince them of the contrary unless they had confirmed the truth of their Assertion by the miraculous Consequences of that first Miracle The Fact was publickly acknowledged Simon Magus is convinced thereof and
REFLEXIONS Upon the BOOKS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE To Establish the TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION In Two Volumes Volume I. LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCLXXXVIII IMPRIMATUR Liber cui Titulus est Reflections upon the Books of the Holy Scriptures c. in II. Vol. The 12th of January 1687 / 8. H. Maurice R mo in Christo P.D. Willielmo Archiep. Cant. Ã Sacris TO THE KING Great SIR THe gracious acceptance which your Majesty was pleased to allow the first Volume of my Reflexions upon the Holy Scriptures to establish the Truth of the Christian Religion encouraged and almost necessitated me to the further presumption of laying these two Volumes at this time at your Majesties Feet Your Majesty did me the honour to say That you were pleased to see Divines apply themselves to the clearing of Subjects so important And after this Judgment given by so great a Prince which is so evident a Demonstration of your Zeal for the Fundamental Truths of the Christian Religion it had been unpardonable in me not to have gone on with the Work and I had Reason then to Consecrate it wholly to your Majesty who I was assured would approve of my Intentions and for that Reason would pardon the Imperfections of the Performance As your Majesty continues still to give such illustrious Instances of your Clemency and Royal Protection to those of our Nation so I confess Sir I thought my self under an Obligation to lay hold upon this Opportunity of publishing what all those who find so sure a Protection in your Majesties Dominions feel and think as much as my self upon these new Testimonies of your Royal Bounty When your Majesty had taken us into your particular care and had granted us several Priviledges and so made us sharers in all the Advantages which those who live under your Government enjoy your Majesty did yet something more and inspired all your Subjects with the same compassion towards us with which your Royal Breast was already touched You saw our miseries and resolved to give us ease and this generous Design was executed and your Royal Clemency diffused in the hearts of all your Subjects The whole World Sir which has received upon all its Coasts some Remainders of our Shipwrack is fill'd with admiration of the unexampled effects of your Majesties Clemency There is no place so barbarous whither the renown of that mercy which has been so gloriously extended towards us has not been carried and the remembrance will be ever dear to the remotest Ages of Posterity We must Sir be wholly insensible if we had not all of us the highest sense of so great a Bounty and we should justly appear to the whole World to be unworthy of this your Majesties Paternal care if notwithstanding that low condition to which we are now reduced we should not prostrate our selves before your August Throne with the humblest demonstrations of Thankfulness When God show'rs down the greatest Blessings upon Mankind he requires this just Tribute which is also their greatest honour by opening to them an access unto the Throne of Glory And this sacred Pattern we crave leave to follow when we solemnly pay the like Tribute to your Majesty who can receive nothing from us again that can answer the greatness or the number of those Favours which have so very much exceeded all our desires I could wish Sir that this Work which I now present to your Majesty might be so haypy as to pass to Posterity with this Character of our acknowledgment and that it might stand as a faithful Record for ever to perpetuate the memory of that lively sense of your Bounty which is imprinted on all our hearts If this could be hoped for it must be wholly owing to your Majesties glorious Name which latest Ages will receive with Reverence But Sir tho' I dare not hope that these Reflexions can obtain that honour yet our Age at least may see that they bear these publick Marks of Gratitude for all your Majesties Royal Favours This Sir is my sole aim in the Dedication of this Work to your Majesty and may your Sacred Majesty be pleased to approve of these poor Testimonies of our Thankfulness in general and to look upon them as Instances of mine in particular and of that profound Respect with which I am London May the 7th 1688. Sir Your Majesties most dutiful and obedient Subject and Servant P. ALLIX THE PREFACE ONe may divide Men into two general Classes some are without any knowledge of a Diety or Sence of Religion Travellers tell us that in the West-Indies the Eastern parts of Tartary and some places of Africa such people are to be found I know this is a Fact which is disputed by others and Fabricius a Divine of the Palatinate pretends that he has solidly confuted it If this Fact should be thought doubtful yet it is known at least that some persons may be found here and there in the World who look upon the Existence of a Deity as upon a Fable and who ridicule all acts of Religious Worship whatsoever But one may also say that if he compare these with the rest of the World they make the least and worst part of Mankind tho many of them affect to live Morally well All the rest of the World make Profession that they own a God that is to say a most perfect Eternal and independent Being that he governs all things by his Providence that there is a difference between Good and Evil that Man doth well or ill in those Actions which depend on his Liberty From whence they equally conclude that Man was design'd for the Duties of Religion that Society without it would be pure Robbery And that as it is hard to conceive that Men should be wholly destroy'd by Death so it is directly contrary to the Sentiments of Conscience to deny all Rewards for Virtue or Punishments for Vice after this Life All the Diversities of Religion amongst Men are reducible to two kinds The first is of those who suppose that there is more than one God and this is the Belief of all Pagans in general The Second is of those that acknowledge one only God such are the Jews Christians and Mahometans Now as for the cure of different Diseases several Remedies are made use of so it is visible that to deliver Men of their various prejudices we must take very different Methods The ignorance of those Barbarous People in the Indies Tartary and Africa must be removed by teaching them the first Principles and making them apply the little sense they have left them of good and evil right and wrong to the fundamental Maxims of Religion Atheists must be convinced by Reflexions upon those Principles which they admit by shewing that the Truths which they reject are the natural Consequences of those Principles which they dare not dispute To convince the Heathen who suppose many Gods we must
last Objection of Atheists is answered 120 Chap. 22. The Consequences of what we have proved in our foregoing Observations upon the Book of Genesis 126 The Contents of the Chapters of the Second Part of the First Volume Chap. 1. THat it cannot reasonably be doubted but that Moses is the Author of Exodus and of the three other following Books Page 137 Chap. 2. That both the Character of Moses 's person and the nature of the things he relates has always made Men read his Books with attention 146 Chap. 3. That the truth of the Miracles related by Moses cannot reasonably be doubted of 153 Chap. 4. A Continuation of the proofs of the truth of the Miracles wrought by Moses 158 Chap. 5. That Moses 's Description of the manner of God's giving him his Laws is evidently true 164 Chap. 6. Some other proofs that confirm Moses 's Description of the manner how the Law was given and promulgated 169 Chap. 7. That there is no just Exception can be made against Moses 's History in what relates to the Oracles which he hath recorded in his Books 173 Chap. 8. That the Testimony of the Jews is a constant proof of the truth of the Oracles related by Moses 177 Chap. 9. That it appears by the nature of his Relations that Moses had the Messias in view when he wrote the Book of Genesis 180 Chap. 10. That the same perswasion appears throughout the whole Conduct of Moses until his Death 185 Chap. 11. That Balaam 's prophesie which Moses relates is a further Argument of the same perswasion in him 188 Chap. 12. That one may see also in Moses 's Law plain Footsteps of God's Design in distinguishing these from whom he would have the Messiah to be Born. 194 Chap. 13. That the manner of God's promulgating his Law amongst the Israelites did much conduce to the distinguishing them from all other Nations 200 Chap. 14. That God seems to have designed to keep up a Spirit of Jealousie in the very Bosom of the Jewish Nation 206 Chap. 15. That Circumcision was a means of distinguishing the Israelites from other Nations 212 Chap. 16. That the Law of Moses engaged the Jews to the study of their Genealogies that they might certainly know that of the Messiah 219 Chap. 17. A Solution of some Difficulties in these Genealogies 223 Chap. 18. That the manner whereby the Law of Moses fixed the people of Israel to the Land of Canaan was to keep them separated from other Nations 228 Chap. 19. That the Law tied the people of Israel to the Land of Canaan and by several other means established the distinction betwixt Tribes and Families amongst them 234 Chap. 20. That the Laws which Moses made coneerning the state of Virginity did principally relate also to the Messiah which holds also as to several other Laws 241 Chap. 21. That it was the design of God by all these Ceremonies and particularly by that Veneration which he inspired the Jews with for the Tabernacle to preserve the Idea's of the Messiah whom he had promised in their minds by distinguishing them from all other Nations 249 Chap. 22. That it appears by the Books of Moses that this whole Model which God had framed was to last but until the coming of the Messiah 256 To the Courteous Reader THE Errata's are so small that they will not disturb the sense any where and so few that we need not trouble the Reader with a Table of them And therefore hope he will take such inconsiderable pains upon himself and excuse the Author REFLEXIONS UPON THE BOOKS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE For the Establishing of the Truth OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION CHAPTER I. Concerning the Fundamentals of the Christian Religion WE are to consider three things in the Christian Religion the Matters of Fact it propounds to us for true the Promises it affords us and the Worship it commands The Matters of Fact it propounds to us as true are that God created the World that he formed the first Man from whom the rest of mankind have been propagated that a while after this Man was created he violated the Law God had given him and that whereas he deserved to have perished for this his disobedience God was pleased instead thereof to comfort him with the hopes of a Saviour which was to be born of the Seed of his Wife that God hath actually sent this Saviour into the World which comprehends the whole Oeconomy of Christ viz. His Birth Life Preaching Miracles Death Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven c. The Promises it vouchsafes are the forgiveness of our Sins the Resurrection of our Bodies and a state absolutely happy for ever in Heaven And lastly the Worship or Divine Service it prescribes consists in Obedience to the Law of God in Prayer for the pardon of our Sins and his Protection and in a grateful Acknowledgement of what we owe him for all his Benefits towards us The first of these three parts of the Christian Religion viz. The Truth of the Matters of Fact it relates may be said to be the foundation of the other two viz. The Promises and Commands It is impossible to be perswaded that God hath created this World in which we live and made Mankind of one and the same blood that after the Fall he promised to save Men and did actually redeem them in sending Jesus Christ who suffer'd Death and being rais'd the third day Ascended into Heaven c. I say it is impossible to look upon these Facts as true without being assured that God will accomplish the Promises he hath made to us And it is as evident that we cannot be convinc'd of the truth of these Matters without being sensible of a strong obligation laid upon us to perform all the Duties of the Christian Religion As soon as a Man reflects upon his being Gods Creature he finds himself naturally oblig'd to obey God universally according to his utmost ability but when he comes further to believe that God did not destroy the first Man for his disobedience but was graciously pleased to promise him a Saviour for himself and all his Posterity and when moreover he is assured that God hath really sent this Saviour in the way and manner the Gospel relates to us we cannot conceive but that he must find himself under the highest engagements imaginable of rendring to God a religious obedience and believing his Promises But there is yet another obligation whereby Man is bound to obey God to pray to him and to offer him all manner of Religious Worship God by redeeming him hath obtained a new claim to and right over him and a more indispensable obligation is laid upon Man to submit himself to God in all religious Concerns as being not only created but also redeemed by him Reason acknowledgeth that if the truth of these things be once admitted nothing can be more just and natural than those consequences which the Christians thence infer All the difficulty
therefore that occurs in this Matter consists in the proof of those Facts which the Christian Religion propounds to us that is to say in proving the Creation of the World the Fall of Man the Promise of a Redeemer his coming into the World his Miracles Death Resurrection Ascension into Heaven c. which are the Foundations of the Christian Religion And indeed these are the very matters of which Atheists and Libertines require a solid proof And it doth the more concern us to satisfie their demands forasmuch as the Jews who are scatter'd throughout the whole World do oppose our assertion that the Promise of sending the Messiah is already accomplish'd tho' they agree upon the matter with us in all other Articles Moreover the performing this Task may very much contribute to the Conversion of a great number of bad Christians whose sall and continuance in vices and licentiousness is to be ascrib'd to their being so weakly perswaded of the truth of these Fundamentals and that because they have never consider'd of them with sufficient attention CHAP. II. That the Christian Religion is founded upon Proofs of Mattter of Fact. FOrasmuch as in order to establish the truth of the Christian Religion we confine our selves at present to those proofs which make out the Matters of Fact it proposes omitting all other arguments which may evidence the truth of it tho' possibly no less convincing it is obvious that the proofs we are to produce in confirmation of them must be such as are proper to evince the truth of things long since past and done If we were treating of the Events of the time we live in it might be justly required that we should produce Eye-witnesses of them but forasmuch as the question here is concerning matters long since past it is natural for us to have recourse to History which furnisheth us with the relations of those who where Eye-witnesses of the same This being the only way left us to confirm our belief of things at so great a distance from us I am beholding to History only for the knowledg I have of a Cyrus an Alexander or a Caesar and yet having read the account they give me of them I find them matters I can no way rationally doubt of I acknowledg that the certainty we have of things long since past is much inferiour to that which we have of matters confirm'd to us by Eye-witnesses Nevertheless because it is evident that the Events of ancient Times cannot be confirm'd but by proofs of this nature it has never entred into the minds of any to account the existence of such men as Cyrus and Alexander for Fables upon the pretence that none now alive did ever see them or because there are scarce any traces left of those Empires of which they were the Founders Indeed the certainty we have of these things is such as nothing can be superadded to it for tho' it be founded on the Authority of Historians who liv'd many Ages ago yet withal we are to consider that the matters related do not only carry the Idea of probability and truth along with them but that they are the very ground and foundation of all the Histories of following Ages which cannot be questioned if we consider the connexion and dependance of the things related according to the light of Sense and the equity of Reason A Matter of Fact then is accounted certain when it is attested by those who were Eye-witnesses of it when recorded by an Historian who liv'd amongst those who had perfect knowledg of it when the Matter is not gainsaid or contradicted by any if we find it pen'd at a time when the things could not be related by any otherwise than indeed they were without exposing themselves to publick derision And last of all when the matter is found to be of that nature as none could be ignorant of it either because it was the interest of every one to be inform'd of it or because the thing was so publick that it could not be hid from any or lastly because of its natural connexion with all those other Events which necessarily depend on it To speak plain it is very unjust to demand either more proofs or such as are of another nature for the confirmation of the Truth of our Religion than are required to verisie any other matters of Fact. Why should not the Testimony of Noahs Children be sufficient to conclude there was such a man as Methusalem in case they assure us that they have seen him Or why should not the testimony of Methusalem be of credit enough to prove there was such a Man as Adam if he avers that he saw him and convers'd with him Do'nt we every day give credit to the account which old men give us of their Predecessors especially when we find that what they relate hath an exact reference and connexion with those things we are Eye-witnesses of But it is an easie thing to make it appear that the proofs which evidence the Truth of the matters which our Religion proposeth are infinitely more strong and convincing All the circumstances we can imagine proper to evince the Truth of any Relation do concur to place the matters recorded in Holy Scripture beyond the Reach of doubt or uncertainty We account the single Testimony of an Historian a sufficient proof that there was once a very famous Temple at Delphos or Ephesus notwithstanding that all the Monuments remaining at this day to confirm his relation be very doubtful and defective Whereas I shall make it appear that an entire Nation yea many Nations do attest the truth of those Matters which the Christian Religion proposes and that all the Actions Discourses and whole Series of Events thereto relating do furnish us with an infinite number of characters which invincibly signalize the Truth of the Holy Scrïptures CHAP. III. Some General Remarks in order to establish the Truth of Holy Scripture FOrasmuch as I have undertaken to prove the truth of the Matters of Fact contain'd in our Religion from the testimony of the Pen-men of the Old and New Testament it will be proper in order to the executing of my design to begin with a general proof of the Truth of the said Books which will not be difficult if one makes the following remarks The First is That it appears from the Five Books of Moses that he wrote the History of the Creation of the World and of the Promise of the Messiah of the Deluge the Rise and Pedigree of the several Nations of the World of the Division of Tongues and in particular the History of the Family of Abraham until the entring of the Children of Israel into Palestina 2552 years after the Creation of the World. The Second is That the following Books viz. of Joshua Judges Ruth the four Books of Kings of Chronicles with the Books of Ezrah and Nehemiah are a Continuation of the said History from the entring of the Jews into Palestina until their
re-establishment in the said Country about the year of the World 3600. Here we read the Conquest of Palestina under the Conduct of Joshua how it was divided amongst the Tribes after they had destroyed drove out or subdued the Inhabitants thereof how often they were brought into bondage by the bordering Nations whose rise and pretensions Moses sets down Here we have recorded the several Names and actions of the Judges which God from time to time raised to the Israelites to restore them to their first estate Here we have an account of the establishment of a Kingly Government amongst them which happened about the year 2909 as likewise of the division of this people into two Kingdomes which for three Ages together were most opposite in their interests and made great wars against each other as well as against their neighbouring States We find here the utter ruin of the most puissant of these two States viz. That of Israel by the Arms of the Kings of Assyria about the year of the World 3283 and after that the destruction of that of Judah by Nebuchadnezar King of the Chaldeans Anno Mundi 3283. And last of all we have an account of the Jews Restoration by Cyrus King of Persia and the State of the Jews under his Successors The Third thing observable is That in the remaining Books of the Old Testament we find several historical Relations relating to both Kingdomes with several prophecies relating to their decay and restoration as likewise many Discourses of Morality and Piety and that all these relations and prophecies appear to have been writ at such a time and with those circumstances which have a natural reference to what the other Books recite to us and an essential Relation to the Books and Laws of Moses which we find to be the foundation of all these prophesies relations and whatsoever else we find there concerning their Government or Religion The Fourth is That the Books of the New Testament contain an exact relation of the Life of Jesus Christ who appeared to the World under the Reign of Tiberius of the establishment of his Religion in the World together with some disputes with the Jews who refused to own him for the Messiah promised by the Prophets and lastly Prophesies declaring what in in process of time was to happen both to the Jews and Christians until the end of the World. These Books take the Truth of Moses's Writings every where for granted as also of all the other Sacred Writings of the Old Testament both Historical Prophetical and Moral These Four particulars do in a manner give us an intire Idea of the Holy Scripture and we shall scarcely stand in need of ought else to manifest the Truth of those Writings if we consider those undisputable matters of fact I am now to speak of and will but make some very natural reflexions upon them The First is That the Christians notwithstanding their being divided into several Sects and Parties presently after our Saviours time have and do still in all places every first day of the Week read the Books of the New Testament translated into their respective Languages so that it appears absolutely impossible that any spurious Writings should have been slipt in amongst them The Second is That as the Christians have had the Books of the Old Testament amongst them in Greek these 1600. years so the Heathens had them in that Language 300. years before being translated by order of one of the Ptolomy's Kings of Egypt whither a considerable party of the Jews were carried after that Alexander the Great had conquered the greatest part of Asia having overthrown the Empire of Persia to which the Jews were in subjection The Third is That tho' the Jews had not all the Books of the Old Testament from the beginning of their Commonwealth they that followed the Party of Jeroboam and formed the Kingdom of Israel having only had the Five Books of Moses amongst them yet notwithstanding their irreconcilable hatred against the House of David they have most religiously preserved the said Books from Anno Mundi 3030. in which the divisions of the two Kingdoms happen'd even until this day The Fourth and last is That as the Jews every where at this day read the Books of Moses and of the Prophets each Sabbath day which is also observed by the Samaritanes and the Christians read them every first day of the week so the Jews have always continued to read them for a long series of Ages as esteeming it a great part of the sanctification of the Sabbath Besides which they also solemnly read them every seventh year in obedience to a Law of Moses as being one of the principal parts of their Religion I say that the sole consideration of these matters of fact which are indisputable are sufficient to prove in general the truth of the Books of the Old and New Testament First then I affirm that it is as ridiculous to maintain that the Books of the Old and New Testament translated into so many Languages cited by an infinite number of Authors and which have been the subject of various disputes from the very times of the Apostles or soon after should be supposititious as to aver that the Books of Justinian or Mahomets Alcoran have been falsly obtruded on the World under their names I speak now only of the Books themselves not of the truth of the History they contain Secondly It is ridiculous to suppose that the Books of the Old Testament were forged since the time of Ptolomy Philadelphus forasmuch as they have been in the hands of the Heathens themselves ever since that time Thirdly It is as inconsistent to suppose them contrived since the time of the separation of the ten Tribes from Judah because we find the Books of Moses among the Samaritanes who have preserved them ever since their Revolt without any other change but what is incident to all Manuscripts that pass through many hands I grant indeed that the Samaritans have none of the other Books of the Old Testament but this being to be look'd upon only as an effect of their departure from the Kingdom of Judah it cannot in the least shake the certainty we have of those Books For first the three other Tribes had them and preserv'd them with the greatest care esteeming them of Divine Authority Secondly there were also reasons of State which made the Kings of Israel not to regard the divisions made by Joshuah of the Land of Canaan nor the authority of the Priesthood which Reasons of State hereafter mentioned where the cause why the ten Tribes would not allow the same authority to some of those Books which were written before their Revolt as those of Samuel and the writings of David and Solomon which they did to the Pentateuch of Moses Most of the others we know were pen'd since the Division of the two Kingdomes and so did more particularly respect the Kingdom of Judah and some them after the
upon them continually especially every Sabbath day Nay and we see moreover that God every Seventh Year would have them read publickly in a more solemn manner before the whole Congregation of that people who during that Year were obliged to rest from all their ordinary Labours and Employments and so had nothing else to do all that while but to read the Law to examine it and to meditate upon it Lastly It appears that those Laws were yet the more Solemn and Authentick because they obliged the Jews to celebrate three such Feasts as were to be publickly kept by the whole Nation and consequently apt to refresh their Memories and put them in mind thrice a year not only of the surprizing Miracles that God had done for them but also of the manner how he gave and promulgated his Laws the Miracles giving rise to the Laws and those Laws being themselves a means of preserving the Memory of those Miracles because of the frequent Commemoration of them which was therein enjoyned Now these things being so let every one judge whether the truth of Moses's Account of God's giving and promulgating by his means that Body of Laws which he hath inserted in Exodus and the following Books can possibly or at least reasonably be disputed or doubted of But I come now to con-the Oracles recorded in Moses's Writings in order to demonstrate the Truth and Divinity of them CHAP. VII That there is no just Exception can be made against Moses 's History in what relates to the Oracles which he hath recorded in his Books THere are several sorts of Oracles in Exodus and the other three following Books First There are some whereof the accomplishment did soon follow the Prediction The Deliverance of the Jews out of the Egyptian Bondage is of that number Moses does promise and foretel it nay and he executed it himself And all the people to whom it was promised and foretold were themselves Witnesses of the accomplishment of that Prophesie and it was that accomplishment which established the Divinity of his Commission So is the other Prophesie concerning the Conquest of the Land of Canaan and the several Divisions that were to be made of it amongst all the Tribes of Israel Moses foretelling exactly what Lot every one should have and giving besides a Description of the Countrey that every Tribe was to inhabit Those that were Born in the Desert were Witnesses both of the Prediction and the Execusion of it altho it was by the casting of Lots that all the Tribes got their several Partitions But Secondly There are some other Oracles in Moses's Books the accomplishment whereof was not to follow the Prediction till after a long interval of time Such are the Prophesies that foretel the future Subjection of the Israelites to the Canaanites and the several Deliverances out of that Subjection which God was to effect by the hands of Judges whom he was to raise up for that purpose Such again are the Prophesies which relate to the future change of their Common wealth into a Kingly Government Thirdly and Lastly We see that Moses foretells all the Accidents Changes and Revolutions that were to befal the Jews as long as their State should stand At least we see that his Predictions are very plain concerning their several Captivities and Removals and their return into the Holy Land as also the Sieges of Samaria and Jerusalem and the irrecoverable dispersion of the whole Nation which we see at present But whatever difference there may otherwise be betwixt all these Predictions we may say that every one of them hath as pregnant Proofs of its certainty and truth as any thing of that nature is capable of For First As to the first sort of Predictions the accomplishment whereof Moses relates himself It plainly appears that his account cannot in the least be suspected of Imposture because he wrote it amongst a whole Nation which could not possibly be imposed upon in that case seeing he supposes and takes it for granted all along in his Relation that those Predictions were before-hand publickly and generally known of all the people As for the accomplishment of the second sort of Prophesies we have the Relation of it in such other Books as were written after Moses's Death as in the Books of Joshua of Judges and several others which relate the accomplishment of them as of Prophesies written many years and even some Ages before by Moses Besides to this we may add that the account which we find in those Books concerning the accomplishment of Moses's Prophesies is interwoven with such Histories as suppose without any Affectation that his Prophesies as well as his Writings were in the hands of all the World and distinctly known by every Jew And what is further observable is That the Jews have always had Moses's Books in such an Esteem because of these several Illustrious Prophesies that are contained in them that they have always lookt upon him as the most excellent of all their Prophets They assert at this very day that the other Prophets had commonly no other knowledge of future Events than that which was communicated to them by Dreams and Visions whereas Moses had it by an immediate Revelation of God himself who used to speak to him Face to Face without any Enthusiasm when he was perfectly awake Now how could ever the Jews have been so strongly prepossest of that high Opinion both of Moses and his Predictions if we suppose that they never saw the accomplishment of any of them That would certainly be as strange an Illusion as ever was For it is besides observable that those Prophesies of his were not written by themselves and kept secret from the generality of the people but that they were inserted into the several Speeches which he made to all the people some time before his Death and which are written and kept together in the same Volume to be a standing Monument both of his Prophecies and of his Ministry among the Jews Now there is a vast Difference betwixt a Book that is all made up of Prophesies and so kept secret and seldom read as the Books of the Sybils were and a Book wherein the Prophesies it contains are interwoven with a History wherein there is so great a variety of Matters as draws to it and fixes the attention of every Reader and wherein they are mingled with a whole Body of Political and Ceremonial Laws and intermixed with the accounts which Moses gives of all the great Transactions which gave the occasion to so many several Revelations and Prophesies recorded in his Books I am perswaded that it is impossible for any Man to make those Reflexions upon the Opinion which the Jews entertained of Moses's Prerogative and upon the manner that his Prophesies so much reverenced amongst them were exactly accomplished and not be convinced of their Divine Authority CHAP. VIII That the Testimony of the Jews is a constant proof of the truth of the Oracles related
if it had been absolutely necessary to be a Jew before they have a share in the benefits of the Promise Secondly It supposes that God was to remove that People out of Canaan into remote Countreys and to disperse them as it were into the uttermost parts of the World which was done by Divine Providence only to publish the Promise of the Messiah to establish the Belief in the Prophets and so to facilitate the calling of the Gentiles to the Faith. Thirdly He declares expresly as St. Paul observes that he was to call his people that which was not his people that he might by that means provoke the people of Israel to Jealousie This Notion of Jealousie mentioned by St. Paul deserves to be taken notice of with very great care if we reflect upon the Spirit of Jealousie which reigned amongst the Israelites and their Neighbours I shall take notice in another place of the great number of Oracles of David upon the same Subject altho he otherwise insults upon the Moabites and Edomites upon all occasions and shews as much Aversion and Jealousie against those Nations as was possible for one that lived in a continual War with those people I shall also make some Reflexions upon Solomon's Marriage with the Princesses of Tyre of Sidon and of Egypt that is to say with the Posterity of Ham which was united to that of Judah to take a part with them in the Blessing from whence it came to pass that the Song that was written upon that Marriage was preserved as a piece divinely inspired and ought to be considered as a happy presage of the calling of the Gentiles to the Communion of the Messiah One may also joyn here the manner of Solomon's giving to Hiram's Subjects who had helped him in the building of the Temple the Countrey of Chabul which was inclosed within Judea altho those people were of the Canaanites Posterity upon whom Noah had particularly pronounced Gen. IX Cursed be Canaan One may also see that as God had permitted his people to be Transported into Chaldea and Babylon and had raised up there Prophets amongst them on purpose to acquaint the World with the glorious hopes of the Jews so he caused the Books of Scripture to be Translated into Greek about 300 years before our Saviour's Birth not only to prevent all suspicion of falshood in the minds of the Gentiles if they were produced of a suddain after the Birth of the Messiah but also to instruct the Heathens by little and little of the Right which all Nations had as well as the Jews to that Promise that they might take their share in it whenever they should be invited to it by God and especially to take away the Scandal which was to follow upon God's destroying the Form of that Commonwealth by the Romans according to Daniels Prediction All these things no doubt engaged the Jews who read the Books of Moses to make particular Remarks upon them But they ought to have observed three things especially The First was That altho God had at first chosen their whole Nation yet he was pleased to disperse afterwards almost ten parts of thirteen which plainly shew'd that this choice which he had made was only an Oeconomical choice and for a particular design The Second is That altho he was very severe and punctual in exacting obedience to the Ceremonial Service yet he had fixed the most part of their observances to certain places to certain times and to certain persons It was easie to judge that when God bounded them in this manner it was only for an Oeconomical Service prescribed only upon a particular prospect which was one day to have an end The Third is That experience convinced them that altho God seemed to have fixed his Service to the Temple yet he suffered the Chaldeans to destroy the first and did not restore to the second the first Marks of his presence when it was rebuilt by the order of Cyrus From whence it was natural to conclude that such a glory as retired by little and little from that place which God had chosen was only design'd to be there for a time till God should extend his Service by calling all the World to his Religion and so making the whole Universe his Temple as we see it done in our days by the calling of the Gentiles to the Religion of our Saviour FINIS REFLEXIONS Upon the BOOKS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE To Establish the TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION Volume II. LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCLXXXVIII THE PREFACE IN my Reflexions upon the Book of Genesis I have shewed the means God made use of to imprint the Idea's of the Creation of the World and the Promise of the Messiah during that long Tract of 2500 years before the Children of Israel departed out of Egypt and before the History of it was penn'd by Moses They that consider that God at first prescribed the Law of the Sabbath to fix the belief of the Creation of the World and that this Law hath been constantly observed since the beginning of the World until Moses and is still to this day observed amongst the Jews easily apprehend that this Fact of the Creation could not be more incontestably proved or more firmly grounded In like manner an attentive Reflexion upon the Oracles which I have mention'd and which alone at first were the foundation and hope of the Religion of the Patriarchs and were afterwards recorded in the Book of Genesis is sufficient to perswade any one that it was impossible but the memory of the Promise of the Messiah should be deeply engraven in the minds of the Israelites tho' we should suppose that the Spirit of Jealousie which God had raised amongst the several Pretenders to the execution of that great Promise did not much contribute to preserve the remembrance of it as I have shown very carefully that it was very useful for that purpose I have in my Reflexions afterwards proved upon the four last Books of Moses that God prosecuted the same design in the Laws which he gave to the People of Israel as well as in the peculiar Forms and Regulations of their Government and Religion the great design of which Rules was only that the Messiah at his appearance in the World might be unquestionably known Whoever shall read the Reflexions which I have made upon this matter will easily perceive that the long Life of the Patriarchs was of great efficacy to make so fresh and lively an impression of those illustrious Facts the Creation of the World and the Promise of the Messiah that there was no need of very frequent Oracles to confirm the same as indeed we find that in the space of 2553 years only five or six principal Oracles were given which have a particular Relation to the Messiah as I shall shew afterwards Now this Reflexion being once supposed as the Life of Man was afterwards
O my God yea thy Law is within my heart I have preached Righteousness in the great Congregation Lo I have not refrained my Lips O Lord thou knowest I have not hid thy Righteousness within my heart I have declared thy Faithfulness and thy Salvation I have not concealed thy loving Kindness and thy Truth from the great Congregation In the XVI Psalm he describes the inviolable stedfastness of the Messiah to the Service of God who had sent him to form a great People with the manner of his deliverance by God from all the powers of the World by raising him up from the dead and afterwards receiving him into Glory Psalm XVI 8. c. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth my flesh also shall rest in hope For thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy One to see corruption Thou wilt shew me the path of Life in thy presence is fulness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore In the XXII Psalm he describes the Agonies through which the Messiah was to pass the manner of his Death the Victory which he should obtain over his Enemies and the Conversion of those very Nations which had cast him off In the CIX Psalm he speaks of the Oppressions of the Messiah pronouncing great numbers of Imprecations against that very person who should signalize himself by persecuting his Innocence Hold not thy peace O God of my praise for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me they have spoken against me with a lying tongue Verse 1 2. Set thou a wicked man over him and let Satan stand at his right hand When he shall be judged let him be condemned and let his prayer become Sin. Let his days be few and let another take his Office Verse 6 7 8. Because that he remembred not to shew mercy but persecuted the poor and needy man that he might even slay the broken in heart As he loved cursing so let it come to him as he delighted not in blessing so let it be far from him As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his Garment so let it come into his bowels like water and like oyl into his bones Verse 16 17 18. In the CXIX Psalm he carries this Argument further in his Description of the Zeal of the Messiah for the House of God and of those insultings which he should meet with and the manner of their giving him Vinegar and Gall to drink with the hardning and rejection of those who had used him in that manner Save me O God for the waters are come in unto my soul I sink in deep mire where there is no standing I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me Verse 1 2. Let not them that wait on thee O Lord Ged of Hosts be ashamed for my sake Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake O God of Israel Because for thy sake I have born reproach shame hath covered my face I am beoome a stranger unto my Brethren and an Alien unto my Mothers Children For the zeal of thy House hath eaten me up and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me Verse 6 7 8 9. Reproach hath broken my heart and I am full of heaviness and I looked for some to take pity but there was none and for comforters but I found none They gave me also Gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me Vinegar to drink Let their Table become a snare before them and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap Let their eyes be darkned that they see not and make their loins continually to shake Pour out thy indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them Verse 20 21 22 23 24. In the XCVII and XCVIII Psalms he describes the destruction of Idolatry when the promised Saviour should appear and when God should raise him upon his Throne The Lord reigneth let the Earth rejoyce let the multitude of the Isles be glad thereof Psalm XCVII 1. Confounded be all they that serve graven Images that boast themselves of Idols worship him all ye Gods. Zion heard and was glad and the Daughters of Judah rejoyced because of thy Judgments O Lord For thou Lord art high above all the Earth thou art exalted far above all Gods Verse 7 8 9. O sing unto the Lord a new Song for he hath done marvellous things his right hand and his holy arm have gotten him the Victory The Lord has made known his Salvation his righteousness hath he openly shew'd in the sight of the Heathen He hath remembred his Mercy and his Truth towards the House of Israel all the ends of the Earth have seen the Salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the Earth make a loud noise and rejoyce and sing praise Psalm XCVIII 1. 4. In the LXVIII Psalm he explains the glory of the Messiah and his Ascension into Heaven with the effusion of those gifts which he was to spread abroad for the Conversion of the Nations that God might dwell amongst the most rebellious Princes shall come out of Egypt Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God Sing unto God ye Kingdoms of the Earth O sing praises unto the Lord. To him who rideth upon the Heavens of Heavens which were of old lo he doth send out his voice and that a mighty voice Ascribe ye strength unto God his excellency is over Israel and his strength is in the Clouds O God thou art terrible out of thy holy places the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people Verse 31 32 33 34 35. The Prophets who lived in the time of David or soon after pursued all his Idea's One see 's that Nathan II Sam. VII foretells Solomon's glory and the honour which he should have in building that Temple of which David had formed the design before in such a manner that he clearly shews three things which will by no means agree with Solomon I. That God should raise up a Son to David after his Death and place him upon his Throne whereas Solomon was born and advanced to the Throne by David himself II. It was promised that his Government should be endless this is not applicable to the Royal Posterity of David who had but Twenty Successors who bore the Title of Kings III. That God particularly promises to be the Father of this promised Son which is not more applicable to Solomon than to David to Josiah or Hezekiah One see 's that Corah's Posterity gave that Account of Solomon's glory upon his marriage with the King of Egypt's Daughter He speaks of a Throne much more august then that Princes was and he represents to us a God consecrated with
a new Society which was to be regulated not by the Laws given on Mount Sinai but by those which were to be published from Mount Zion CHAP. XXIII That the Gentiles in the time of the Messiah were to be called to the Knowledge of the true God THis Article being one of the most important and most visible Characters of the Times of the Messiah and also the great effect of his Ministry we see that God had a particular care to divulge the same by a multitude of Prophetical Representations of it For not only had he declared that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head Gen. III. 15. that is the Works of the Devil And we can't deny but that the Errors and Idolatries of the Gentiles and their Vices which arise from thence were the Fruits of Sin which this unhappy Spirit brought into the World. It was not only foretold that God would perswade Japhet to dwell in the Tents of Sem Gen. IX 27. by uniting the Posterities of both those Patriarchs in one and the same Religion Not only had he signified that the Messiah should reign over the Children of Seth that is over all the Posterity of Noah the Off-spring of Cham not excepted Not only had he foretold that all Nations Kindreds Gen. XII Ch. XVIII XXII and Families should be blessed in the Messiah But God went much further afterwards for as the Light of the Revelation encreased so the same was declared more distinctly For 1. The Patriarch Jacob tells that the Messiah should be the desire and expectation of all Nations Gen. XLIX verse 10. The Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the people be 2. Moses threatens the Jews that if they despised the Law of God Strangers that is Gentiles should be preferred before them Deut. XXVIII verse 43. The Stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high and thou shalt come down very low The same Prophet menaceth them from God that he would stir up their jealousie by calling a foolish people to his Service and Worship Deut. XXXII verse 21. They have moved me to jealousie with that which is not God they have provoked me to anger with their vanities and I will move them to jealousie with those which are not a people I will provoke them to anger with a foolish Nation Nothing can be said more express and particular than these last words of that great Law giver and Founder of the State of the Jews 3. David sets forth the Empire of the Messiah as that which was to reach over all the Earth Psalm II. verse 8. Ask of me and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession And Psalm XXII vers 27 28 29 30. All the ends of the World shall remember and turn unto the Lord and all the Kingdoms of the Nations shall worship before thee For the Kingdom is the Lords and he is the Governour amongst the Nations All they that be fat upon the Earth shall eat and worship all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him A Seed shall serve him it shall be accounted to the Lord for a Generation Psalm LXXII vers 8 9 10 11. He shall have Dominion from Sea to Sea and from the River unto the ends of the Earth They that dwell in the Wilderness shall bow before him and his Enemies shall lick the dust The Kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents the Kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer Gifts Yea all Kings shall fall down before him all Nations shall serve him Which Prophecy is the more remarkable because the Promise made to Abraham is there repeated in so many words viz. That all Nations of the Earth should be blessed in the Messiah Psalm-CII verse 15. So the Heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord and all the Kings of the Earth thy Glory And Psalm CX verse 2. The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thine Enemies One ought to transcribe almost the whole Book of Psalms to take notice of all the passages which are to this purpose The Prophet Hosea declares in general terms That it was not an impossible thing for those who had been God's people to cease to be so or for those that were not his people to become his people Chap. I. verse 10. Yet the number of the Children of Israel shall be as the Sand of the Sea which cannot be measur'd or numbred and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them ye are not my people there it shall be said unto them ye are the Sons of the living God. Isaiah mentions this so often and in such an emphatical manner that it seems to be the main thing he drives at in all his Writings Chap. II. verse 2 3. he speaks thus And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lord's House shall be established in the top of the Mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow unto it And many people shall go and say come ye and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem And Chap. XI verse 10. In that day there shall be a Root of Jesse which shall stand for an Ensign of the people to it shall the Gentiles seek And Chap. XVIII verse 7. he makes a manifest allusion to the expectation of all Nations In Chap. XLII vers 1 2 3 4. he repeats the same thing Behold my servant whom I uphold mine elect in whom my soul delighteth I will put my Spirit upon him he shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets A bruised Reed shall he not break and the smoking Flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth Judgment unto the Earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law. Chap. LV. vers 4 5. Behold I have given thee for a witness of the people a Leader and a Commander to the people Behold thou shalt call a Nation that thou knowest not and Nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God and for the holy One of Israel for he hath glorified thee But one see 's these Truths in their greatest lustre in the LX Chap. of his Prophecies vers 3 4 5. The Gentiles shall come to thy light and Kings to the brightness of thy rising Lift up thine eyes round about and see all they gather themselves together they come to thee thy sons shall
become Christians 'T is also of great importance to observe further as I have already done that the Books of the New Testament were penn'd before the overthrow of the Commonwealth of the Jews There are only some of the works of S. John which were writ after the Destruction of Jerusalem I have before observed that the Divine Providence order'd it so that all the Jews for five and thirty years together repairing thrice a year to Jerusalem at their three solemn Festivals might have greater opportunities to inform themselves of the truth of the Facts contained in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles To this Remark I shall now add two weighty Considerations The one is That the Christians for some years submitted themselves to the Ceremonial Law and repaired with the Jews to Jerusalem and by this means were engaged to examine the Facts contained in the Gospel The other is That after the Council of Jerusalem they were dispensed with as to that Custom as well as the observing of all the other parts of the Ceremonial Law which set the Christians in a greater opposition to the Jews and so encreased the necessity of examining very scrupulously on both sides whatsoever was for or against them in those matters of Religion This Observation leads us naturally to another That it is absolutely impossible that an imposture of this nature should not be discovered when there ariseth a Difference between those who may be looked upon as the Authors of the Forgery and those who after them endeavoured to gain credit to it Now if we find that one Disciple of Jesus Christ betrays him without accusing him of the least Crime or Imposture if we have seen the Christians at first united in the same Assemblies with the Jews and that there were several Contests and Disputes between the Apostles and those first Christians yet without calling those Facts which are continued in the Gospel in question by either side S. Paul takes notice of the Contests which happened betwixt him and S. Peter S. Luke relates the heats between S. Paul and Barnabas upon very slight occasions he sets down also the Dispute which arose about the distribution of Alms to the Greek and Jewish Widows One see 's that there arose a Dispute amongst the Apostles themselves about the Calling of the Gentiles to the Gospel one see 's afterwards the obstinacy of some of the Jews of the Sect of the Pharisees who maintained the absolute necessity of submitting to Circumcision and S. Paul's opposition set down in his Epistle to the Galatians We need no more to make it evident that there could be no concert nor collusion between them to deceive or impose upon those to whom they preached the Gospel Let us go a little further a Dispute happens about a Capital Point of Christian Religion about the Resurrection insomuch that S. Paul thinks himself obliged to write concerning it to the Corinthians so that there was a necessity of examining the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ again Now we find that S. Paul to confirm this Doctrine in general chiefly makes use of the instance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ which he proves by Arguments taken from the Fact it self that is by witnesses whom he produceth Whereupon I make this considerable Reflexion That in comparing this Dispute of S. Paul with the Writings of the Evangelists it clearly appears that they did not alledge all the proofs they might have done None of them relates in particular the number of those who saw Jesus Christ in Galilee upon the holy Mountain but S. Paul who had examined the faithfulness of their Relations and knew the witnesses specifies the number and observes that many of them were yet alive if perhaps any of them were already dead I shall add only two Considerations more which prove that it was even impossible for the Apostles to impose upon the World on this occasion The first is taken from their State and Condition They are no great Lords whose Power might terrifie any one from examining their Writings or whose Reputation could not have been called in question without danger On the contrary they were men of mean condition employ'd in base Professions often cast into Prisons and from time to time oblig'd to appear before Magistrates for the same Doctrine and the same Facts which they published to the World. Let us consider then whether it were an easie matter for S. Paul for instance I say for this S. Paul a maker of Tents this S. Paul without Reputation without Riches this S. Paul who was seized at Jerusalem after divers Persecutions this S. Paul who was sent a Prisoner to Rome and imprisoned there under the power of the Roman Magistrate and who at last lost his life by Nero's order to make those blindly believe all he said who were at liberty to examine whether all that Luke related as happening to him at Jerusalem at Maltha at Philippi at Athens were indeed true or only a framed Story The second thing we ought to observe is That not only the Books of the Apostles were publickly read every Lord's day by a constant Law of which we have most authentick witnesses in the Writings of the Apostles themselves and in other ancient Books which are still extant but also that they were all of them written not in Hebrew which at that time was a dead Tongue nor in Syriack a Language spoken in a very few places but in Greek which at that time was the Language commonly received throughout all the Roman Empire and besides was the Language into which the Divine Providence had caused the Old Testament to be translated about three Ages before that men might compare the ancient Oracles and their accomplishment together CHAP. XX. That the whole Model of the Religion and Commonwealth of the Jews is at this day so entirely destroyed that the Messiah could no more be known WHat I have before set down to establish the truth of those Facts which serve for a Foundation to the Christian Religion is certainly sufficient to answer the design which I formed in writing these Reflexions upon the Books of the Holy Scripture and I believe I may with justice conclude That as nothing is more uncontestable than the truth of those Books and of the Facts in them related so there is nothing more certain than the Truth and Divinity of the Christian Religion So that now I have only two things to do with which I conceive it will be necessary to conclude these Reflexions The one is to shew the absolute impossibility of conceiving any other accomplishment of the ancient Oracles than what is set down in the Gospel The other is that concerning the Divisions amongst Christians which are a scandal to the Jews and especially concerning the difficulty of the Mysteries which the Gospel proposes which are as so many stumbling Blocks to them which hinder them from discerning those Characters of Truth in the Gospel which by