to him and Expounding the Scriptures of the Old Testament in such a manner that all that heard him were astonished at his Vnderstanding his Doctrine and Answers His usual way of Teaching the People that believed on him and reproving the Scribes and Pharisees and others that were unbelievers and sought occasion to find fault with what he said was by Parables which were such familiar Resemblances of or Allusions to the common and most observ'd accidents of Life as were more easily apprehended by ordinary Capacities better attended to and remembred and not so liable to Censure and Misinterpretation as plain and proper expressions of the same Truths that were delivered this way would have been But sometimes he both taught and reproved openly without any disguise or reserve and some of his Parables were such as were not understood even by his Disciples till he was pleased in private to shew them the meaning of them and acquaint them with the reason of this part of his Conduct His Answers to those that accused him of any crime as of eating with Sinners breaking of the Sabbath Blasphemy and the like or that sought to entrap him in his Discourse and to find matter of Accusation against him were very surprizing and unexpected and such as always silenced and disappointed his Enemies His Exposition of some parts of the Scriptures of the Old Testament and the Inferences he draws from them seem'd wholly new to all the Jewish Teachers and Expositors that heard him and yet we do not read that they confuted or so much as opposed either his Comments or his Arguments And in fine his whole Behavior and Conversation were so carefully and wisely ordered that though he was constantly watch'd and observ'd by cunning and malicious Men of different Opinions Designs and Interests yet no Man was ever able to convince him either of Sin or Ignorance as is manifest from the Answers he gave to those who Censured or Despised him or thought to puzzle him by difficult Questions and from the whole Process against him when he was condemn'd to die Thus lived Jesus Christ a perfect Pattern and Example of the Religion he established in all Holiness and unblameableness of Conversation shewing in all the Actions of his Life recorded of him an entire Submission and Resignation to the Will of God and exceeding great Charity and Compassion towards Men. And the same reason for which he came into the World and was obedient to the Law of Moses for which he published his Gospel and upon that account endured the Contradiction and Persecution of Sinners was that also which made him lay down his Life and submit to all the Indignities and Torments that accompanied it the only Cause Motive and End of all these Actions and Sufferings of Christ was the love of Mankind As he came into the World to save Sinners so he gave his Life a ransom for many To free Men from Eternal Misery render them capable of Eternal Happiness and to direct and assist them in the way of Salvation was his sole Work and Design These are the largest and most remarkable lines in the Character of Jesus Christ the first Author of that Religion we profess and defend In the next place I shall endeavour to give a short draught or representation of his Doctrine or Gospel or as we now call it The Christian Religion so far as it is plainly delivered in the Writings of the New Testament But all Religion as every one know consisting of Faith and Practice things to be believed and things to be done in consequence of such Belief I shall first consider the Christian Faith and afterwards what concerns the Practice of a Christian The sum of the Christian Faith is to believe in One God such as he is in the New Testament set forth to us and in Jesus Christ his only begotten Son our Lord according to the History and Character before given or whatever else the Scriptures say of him and by Faith in him accompany'd with a Sincere Vniversal and Persevering endeavour of Obedience to the Rules and Laws prescribed by him and a hearty Repentance for the Sins and Frailties we do at any time fall into to expect eternal inexpressible Happiness or in case of Infidelity or Disobedience attended with Impenitency to be assured of suffering Eternal inexpressible Misery in another Life The particular Doctrines which give us an account of these things more at large may be considered under these three Heads God Christ and Man The God proposed in the New Testament to be believed in is represented as a Spirit Invisible Incorruptible Eternal that is that was and is to come Almighty that knoweth all things and yet whose Judgments are unsearchable and his ways past finding out Creator of the World and all things therein who upholdeth all things by his Power in whom we live and move and have our being of whom and through whom and to whom are all things Most Holy Just Righteous and Perfect who is to be worshiped in Spirit and in Truth and with purity of Heart no respecter of Persons of great goodness and forbearance and yet who will render to every Man according to his deeds to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Immortality Eternal Life but to them that do not obey the Truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath of whom it is further said That he is the Father the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father a Title he is frequently and peculiarly distinguished by all over the New Testament That he sent his Son into the World to die for us and by him reconciled us to himself That the Sins of Ignorance he winked at but that now at the appointed time when Christ came into the World he calleth all Men every where to repent That at sundry times and in divers manners he spake in times past by the Prophets but in these last days hath spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed Heir of all things by whom also he hath made the World that he foreknew predestinated and Elected some in Christ and adopted them for Sons to be Heirs of Salvation and to obtain a Heavenly Inheritance all which are said to be Sanctified by the Spirit of God who is often called the Holy Ghost or Spirit and the Spirit of Christ and of the Son in several places of Scripture is joined together with the Father and the Son and frequently talk'd of as a Person acting after such and such a manner as God is in other places represented to do and many of the same Titles Characters and Attributes are ascribed to him as are ascribed to the One Only Supreme God The principal things that are taught us in the writings of the New Testament concerning Christ besides what we have already mentioned in his History and Character are That he came into the World took upon him the nature of Man was obedient to the Law
them Among the Chief Rulers many believed on him but did not confess him lest they should have been put out of the Synagogue His Country-men acknowledg'd that mighty Works were wrought by his hands but were offended because so mean a Person did them whose Birth Relations and Education they knew The Gergesenes were astonished at the wonderful Things he did though they besought him to depart out of their Coasts And the Devils confessed his Power before they were cast out though he came to torment them before the time A great many were convinced of the Truth of his Miracles but did not hearken to what he taught because none of the Rulers or Pharisees believed on him and because they took him for a Galilean and thought that no Prophet arose out of Galilee Several would not believe on him because they knew whence he was and when Christ came no Man they supposed knew from whence he was though they were thus answered by others who believed when Christ cometh will he do more Miracles than these which this Man has done Some were entirely satisfied of his Miraculous Power by being healed by him as Nine of the Ten Lepers and nevertheless regarded him not Abundance of People accompanied him where-ever he went and were continual Witnesses of the Signs and Miracles done by him and yet followed him not for the sake of them but because they were fed by him And many there were that believed in his Name when they saw the Miracles that he did but Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all Men. So that all these bore Testimony to the Truth of the greatest part of Christ's Miracles as well as those who became his Disciples and imbraced his Doctrine But other Miracles there are Recorded of Christ which were done in the presence of his Apostles and Disciples only who already believed on him some of which continually attended him and others of them were very frequently with him Several of these Miracles were done in his Life-time sometimes before the whole Twelve who are peculiarly Styled Apostles sometimes before a Select Number of the Twelve sometimes before a promiscuous Company of his Apostles and Disciples together After his Death he appeared at several times to different Persons and different Companies but his Resurrection and whatever he did or said during Forty Days Conversing upon Earth after he was risen his Ascension into Heaven and Mission of the Holy Ghost with many extraordinary Signs and Wonders none were Witnesses of but his own Disciples and Followers and therefore the Truth of all these Miracles must principally depend upon the Credit of the Disciples of Christ that relate them Besides all these wonderful things immediately attributed to Christ himself we meet with several others in the New Testament which are represented as done by some other Power but are such as have a manifest relation to Christ and are designed to confirm the truth of his Pretences Such were the Appearance of Angels to Mary the Mother of Christ Zachariah the Father of John and to the Shepherds the appearance of a Star in the East to the Wise-Men the Dumbness of Zachariah and other Signs that attended the Birth of John and Christ the Dove and Voice from Heaven at the Baptism of Christ the Darkness Earthquake Renting of the Vail of the Temple and Resurrection of dead Bodies at his Crucifixion Several of these things could not be known immediately to the Evangelists that relate them or to any other Disciples of Christ but to those only whom they are told of and upon their credit we must in a great measure rely for the truth of them but several of them were very publick and consequently the truth of these rests upon the Testimony of a great number of Witnesses besides those that relate them In this manner are the Miracles of Christ and all the Wonders and Signs that accompanied him from his Conception to his Mission of the Holy Spirit upon his Apostles Related and Attested in the New Testament But of the same Jesus Christ who has so many wonderful things there reported of him it is farther testified that he conferred a power of working Miracles upon a great many of his Followers who believed in him and that a great many Miracles were accordingly performed by their Hands In his Life-time 't is said that he gave this Power to Twelve Apostles and Seventy Disciples whom he sent out into all the Towns and Villages of Judea with a Commission to Preach his Gospel to cast out Devils and to cure Diseases and they went about Preaching the Gospel and Healing every where and the Devils were subject to them through his Name This we have their own Testimony for and whoever were Cured or Dispossessed by them and all that saw what they did are so many more Witnesses of the Miracles they wrought but none of the Particular Facts or Circumstances of them are mentioned After the Ascension of Christ we read that the Twelve Apostles being all with one accord in one place received a larger power of working all kind of Miracles by the Mission of the Holy Ghost who according to the promise of Christ was to be constantly with them to guide and assist them in the whole course of their Ministry This Power immediately shewed it self by their speaking in several different Languages before unknown to them the Witnesses of which Fact are not only these Apostles themselves but a great many others that heard them Parthians and Elamites and the Dwellers in Mesopotamia and in Judea and Cappadocia in Pontus and Asia Phrygia and Pamphylia in Egypt and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene and Strangers of Rome Jews and Proselytes Cretes and Arabians who were amazed to hear Galileans speak in their Tougues the wonderful things of God Those also confirm the truth of the Fact who foolishly imputed it to New Wine After this we read of a great many other Miracles of different kinds performed by several Apostles and Disciples who received their Power immediately from Jesus Christ and by the account that is given us of them we find that the particular Facts were more numerous more frequent and more publick then those of their Master Christ himself The time of Christ's Ministry was but Three Years or thereabouts the Exercise and Manifestation of his Power was confined to the Country of Palestine and whatever mighty things he did he did them in his own single Person Whereas the Apostles and Disciples of Christ were a great many all which were constantly imployed in Preaching the Gospel and confirming it every where with Signs and Wonders during the whole course of their several Lives and they performed this Work with Diligence not only in Judea and Samaria but in divers other Cities and Countries throughout the whole Roman Empire By which Account it plainly appears that most of the same Persons who were Witnesses of those Miracles of Jesus Christ were also Witnesses of those
that were done by the Hands of his Apostles and Disciples the truth of which was likewise owned and acknowledged by avast Multitude more both of such as believed the Gospel and of such as rejected and opposed it and violently Persecuted the Teachers of it To omit the Testimony of true Believers thus it is Recorded concerning those upon whom the Gospel of Christ had no Power nor Influence The Rulers Elders Scribes and High Priests among the Jews when they summoned Peter and John before them for curing a Lame Man could not deny but that a notable Miracle had been done by them which was manifest to all them that dwelt at Jerusalem They were afterwards filled with Indignation and took Counsel to slay them because they could not restrain them from doing more Miracles in the Name of Christ but they never questioned the Truth of the Facts Stephen full of Faith and Power did great Wonders and Miracles among the people but he was accused and condemned by the Council of the Jews not for deceiving the People with false Miracles but for speaking things against the Holy Place and the Law for saying that Jesus should destroy that Place and change the Customs which Moses delivered them when at the same time it is said that all that sat in the Council looking stedfastly on him saw his Face as it had been the Face of an Angel Neither had they any Thing to object against his Life or his Works Simon the Sorcerer to whom all the people in Samaria gave heed from the least to the greatest looking upon him to be the great Power of God was himself as well as those that were bewitched by him Baptized by Philip and believed when he beheld the Miracles and Signs that were done But afterwards we find by the wickedness of his heart which he discovered to Peter that he was an Enemy to the true Doctrine of the Gospel Elymas the Sorcerer who was struck Blind by Paul and yet not converted to the Faith is another unwilling Witness of the Power of the Apostles The People of Lystra confirm the same Truth who took Paul and Barnabas for Gods in the likeness of Men by reason of the Miracles they saw performed by them and afterwards by the Instigation of the Jews stoned Paul The Damsel possess'd with a Spirit of Divination and her Masters who saw the hope of their gains gone by Paul's commanding the Spirit to come out of her several Vagabond Jews Exorcists who took upon them to cast out Evil Spirits in the Name of Jesus but suffered very much for the Impudence of their Pretences and a great many other such like were Witnesses of the Miracles of the Apostles who by reason of some wicked or dishonourable Motives rejected the Doctrine they taught or profess'd to imbrace it upon ill Designs or after they had received it made Shipwrack of the Faith Great Complaints of all which sort of Men we find in the Epistles Thus are the Miracles of the first Apostles and Disciples of Christ declared and attested But moreover it is Recorded of them that they had not only a Power of working Miracles themselves but that they were Authorized and Enabled by Christ and his Spirit to convey the like Power to others And accordingly we find a great many Instances in the New Testament where Miracles were wrought by private Christians by Virtue of a Power they had received from the Apostles which was conferred upon them by Prayer and Imposition of Hands After which Actions of the Apostles they are immediately said to be filled with the Holy Ghost and to have received the Gifts of the Spirit which according to the different exigencies of the Church and the different qualifications of the Persons indued with them were divers And among these are reckoned the Gifts of Tongues and of Interpretation the Gifts of Healing and of Miracles which Gifts are said to be very common among the first Converts to Christianity in all places where the Gospel was Preach'd and the same is plainly implied by the frequent Rules and Cautions that are given by the Apostles concerning the due Exercise of them and the fear and apprehension they often express lest the Christians thus impowered should by coveting one anothers Gifts or being puft up with those they were severally possessed of neglect to apply themselves as they ought to do to the Edification of the Church of Christ This is the Scripture-Account of Miracles and these were those wonderful Facts believed by the first Christians their full assurance of the Truth of which was the chief Ground and Motive of their imbracing the Gospel or Doctrine of Christ There were likewise other strange Matters of Fact called Prophecies which were most surely believed among them and which contributed very much to their receiving the Gospel and continuing in the Profession of Christianity without wavering and these I shall consider in the same Way and Method I did Miracles For there are several Prophecies Recorded in the New Testament as uttered by our Saviour himself together with several other spoken with relation to him and fulfilled by him others there are mentioned as spoken by the Apostles and Disciples of Christ who had received the Power of Prophecy immediately from him 'T is plain also from several Instances and Passages in the Sacred Writings that the Spirit of Prophecy was conveyed by the first Apostles and Disciples to private Christians and was very common among them The Prophecies spoken by our Saviour were most of them delivered in private to his Disciples some of which were not written till after the things happened and the truth of these the Disciples are wholly answerable for and some of them were Published in Writing before the things happened and these might then and may still be examined by the Circumstances of them others of them were spoken publickly and frequently before great Multitudes of People as those about his Suffering and Resurrection c. and several besides their being spoken openly in the presence of many were also spread abroad in Writing long before the Events actually happened as particularly that remarkable one concerning the Destruction of Jerusalem Prophecies spoken of Christ in former times with relation to his Person Actions Sufferings and Doctrine with the several Circumstances belonging to the whole Dispensation of his Gospel are to be found written in the Books of the Old Testament which were manifestly wrote long before his coming into the World and are now Extant and might then and may still be compared with those Events related in the New which are pretended to be completions of them And some Prophecies there are concerning our Saviour spoken by Holy Persons a little before and after his Birth and at his Presentation in the Temple as also others concerning John his Forerunner and all the Preaching of John was Prophetical of Christ The truth of all which Matters of Fact does not depend wholly upon the Credit of the Prophets themselves
and from the Testimony of others concerning them yet are the Accounts they give us of such a Nature and Writ at such Times that 't is impossible they should ever have been believed if they had not been true from whence it follows That the History of the Scriptures must be true and the Doctrines they contain given by Divine Inspiration though the Persons that Recorded the wonderful Works and Revelations of God were not Divinely assisted in the same manner in the Writing as they themselves or others they write of were in the first Preaching and Publishing the Will of God As to the remaining Objections to Scripture viz. Ridiculous and Improbable Stories absurd Laws and Injunctions Impertinent Reasons and Arguments low and unartful Expressions All those will admit of one common Answer and are easily and justly accountable for from our Ignorance of the Language in which the Scriptures and especially those of the Old Testament were writ Ancient Customs and Vsages in speaking and acting and the Temper and Circumstances of the People where the Things were said and done The Wisdom of all Laws and Institutions is to be judg'd of by the Temper and Circumstances of the Persons for whom they were made particularly at the Time when they were made The Eloquence and Propriety at all Discourses and the Force and Weight of Arguments depend likewise upon the Character of the Persons the Discourses were directed to or intended for and their peculiar Disposition and Circumstances at such and such Times Ridiculous and absurd are arbitrary and relative Terms and vary according to the different Notions of the Persons that use them there being several Things which to some appear absurd and ludicrous which considered by others in different Circumstances appear proper and grave From these Considerations might all the particular Things objected under the forementioned Heads be answered as a great many of them have been already were we throughly instructed in those Matters which are absolutely necessary in order to make any Judgment upon the Things in question which at this distance from the first delivery of them is in several Cases impossible But in defect of such Information as is necessary to give a clear and particular Account of all the Passages of Scripture excepted against by Prophane and Cavilling Men 't is sufficient to say in general what has been before unanswerably proved that all the principal Matters of Fact Recorded in the Holy Writings upon which the Certainty of the Revelation and the Obligations of the Religion therein contained are founded are beyond all exception true for the Authority of these will bear down and over-rule all other seeming difficulties that occur in Scripture which are not manifestly inconsistent with the first Principles of our Knowledge upon which all our Faith as well as Reason is grounded There are several Relations of Things in the most approved Books which I should not believe so readily if they were not supported by the Authority of the rest But when I have unquestionable proof of the Veracity and Wisdom of the Writer in some things I can easily believe other things which he says must be true and wise though they seem to me foolish and untrue And therefore when I am certainly convinced 't is God that speaks by Infallible Signs and a great part of the Discourse appears to me worthy of God I cannot doubt but all the rest must proceed from God and be worthy of him though it would not appear so without this support Had the Bible came down to us with all the exceptionable Stories and Expressions put together without the other parts of it I could not have perceived it belonged to God without many wonderful Signs to confirm it and I should have been very distrustful of the Signs but when I am throughly convinced of the Authority of a Testimony nothing but a downright Contradiction would shock my Belief Did Twelve Men of known Integrity to me affirm they heard an Ass or Serpent Speak or any such thing as is Recorded in Scriture I should believe them without any manner of Scruple or Hesitation and according to the Nature and Importance of what was said I should judge it proceeded either from the secret force of Nature or from Evil Spirits or from God If therefore we are satisfied by undeniable Arguments that the Substance and Principal parts of the Scripture-History are true and consequently that the Bible is the Word of God it necessarily follows that all the questionable Places of it are capable of such a Solution as is very consistent with the Wisdom and Designs of God and with all the Principles of our Reason though we should not be able to give it And indeed such Answers have been already made to several things which seemed most liable to Exception that 't is very easie to conceive how those that are yet unanswered might be Solved were we furnished with all the Knowledge requisite for such a Performance But it has not pleased God to give us such Light and it does not seem Repugnant to any thing in the Divine Nature to deny it us and therefore the Difficulties of Scripture as well as those of Natural Providence may be a proper Exercise of our Faith but are a very unjust and unwarrantable ground of Infidelity since in both he has vouchsased us such plain and certain Manifestations of himself as cannot be darkned by all that infinite abyss of Knowledge which is veiled and concealed from us I shall not therefore concern my self any further to give a particular Answer to the many minute Objections that are made to Scripture because if the Authority of the Holy Writings depended upon the Force or Invalidity of these Objections in order to prove the Truth of those Writings every one of them must be distinctly and satisfactorily Answered and that is plainly impossible by reason that they cannot all receive their proper Solutions without a through insight into the whole compass of Humane Knowledge which no Man or Generation of Men is capable of and without such a Penetration into the Ways and Designs of God as is not attainable but by Revelation But if it be urged that there are some particular Objections which do of themselves without the assistance of any other Arguments overthrow the Credit and Authority of the Scriptures these having been never yet alledged 't is time enough to give an Answer to them when the whole Cause is put upon that Issue But besides all this a particular Answer to all or any Objections is a needless trouble because the proof that has been given of the Christian Revelation is sufficient to Establish the Authority of it notwithstanding any Objection that can be made to the Books of Scripture which I shall endeavour more fully to make out under the next General Head of Discourse IV. Forurthly then I shall shew the Sufficiency of such a Proof as has before been given by Matters of Fact to induce us to