preached unto them Matt. 11.4 5. He did such works as none could doe without the divine assistance and those very works also which the Messias was to doe according to the predictions of him when he came into the world But this argument requires a more particular consideration CHAP. V. The CONTENTS The works of Jesus Matt. 11.4 5. considered Of the miracles which Jesus did The vanity of the Jews in attempting to disparage them The opinion of Maimonides that the Messias would not work miracles considered and the Authâ—ur of Tractatus Theolog Polit. What a Miracle imports That the Messias was to work miracles proved against Maimonides That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine That Jesus did work true miracles This proved at large THE words which I named before Matt. 11.4 5. deserve a farther consideration as they do very much confirm the truth which I am now insisting upon And to that purpose it will be well worth our while to consider the occasion of those words as well as the design of our Saviour in speaking them at that time We find that John Baptist the forerunner of our blessed Saviour who was himself confined to a prison sent two of his Disciples when he heard of the works of Christ to know whether or not he were the Messias who was to come or whether they were to expect some other Art thou he that should come or do we look for another v. 3. It is not to be supposed Hieron Epist Algasiae Quaest 1. that John Baptist was ignorant whether Jesus were the Christ or not for he knew him before this time and knew him to be the Messias also He had seen the spirit descend from heaven like a Dove and abiding on him He saw and bare record that he was the Son of God Joh. 1.32 34. He baptized Jesus in Jordan Matt. 3.15 And it is expresly said Joh. 3.24 that John was not cast yet into prison And we find him presently after those words testifying of Christ v. 28. John Baptist knew him well even before he baptized him Joh. 3.14 It could be no new thing to hear of the fame of Jesus he himself having foretold that his fame would spread Joh. 3.30 He had been questioned who he was and had confessed that he was not the Christ but his forerunner Joh. 1.20 23. And when he saw Jesus walking he called him the Lamb of God Joh. 1.36 From all which it is abundantly evident that John Baptist did not send to inform himself but upon the score and for the sake of his Disciples His Disciples wanted confirmation in that truth which their Master was well assured of There was among the Jews a fond expectation that their Messias would appear like a Temporal Prince Act. 1.6 and deliver the Jews from servitude and slavery they expected to be great men and no longer in bondage to any foreign power That their Messias should sight their battels and vanquish their enemies round about them Maimon H. Melach c. 11. This was the expectation of the Jews then and the later Jews have been of the same belief Now was John Baptist the forerunner of Christ in Prison and would shortly be beheaded there His Disciples might hereupon be tempted to doubt whether Jesus were the Christ or not for they that expected a temporal Prince would hardly believe that he would suffer his chief Minister and forerunner to be not onely detained in Prison but cut off by the hands of violence Hence John Baptist sends his Disciples when he himself was in Prison v. 2. He sends them when they most needed to be confirmed in the faith for the imprisonment and following death of their Master would be apt to make them question whether Jesus were the Messias or they not still to look for another It is likewise to be considered that John Baptist lays hold of the fittest opportunity of sending his Disciples for their greatest satisfaction His being in Prison implies that they needed a confirmation in the faith but then the tidings of the works which Christ did seems to be the occasion of sending the Disciples at a time when they were like to receive the utmost satisfaction which could be desired And no less seems to be implied in the second verse of this Chapter Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples And for the message he sent them on it was of the greatest moment Art thou he which should come or do we look for another v. 3. i. e. Art thou the Messias that was promised to come among us or must we expect him to come still It is very usual to express the Messias by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that was to come For he was promised long before under this expression of one that should in due time come among them The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah untill Shiloh come Gen. 49.10 Again Be strong fear not behold your God will come Isa 35.4 Again Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Matt. 21.9 Joh. 12.13 Heb. 10.37 And agreeably hereunto the time of the Messias is called the kingdom and the world to come Mark 11.10 Hebr. 2.5 and chap. 6.5 Christ was the great hope and expectation of Israel They promised themselves very justly glorious things from his manifestation The woman of Samaria could say I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things Joh. 4.25 Let us now consider the answer which Jesus returned unto this question of John Baptist's Disciples He refers them to his works for satisfaction It was upon the occasion of the works which Jesus did that John Baptist sent his Disciples v. 2. and when they come we find that Jesus refers them to the works which he did Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see The blind receive their sight and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached unto them v. 4 5. John Baptist had born witness of Christ before he does not send them back to their Master but refers them to his works Ye sent unto John says our Saviour to the Jews and he bare witness unto the truth Joh. 5.33 but then our Saviour adds v. 36. But I have greater witness than that of John for the works which the father hath given me to finish the same works that I doe bear witness of me that the father hath sent me His works then were a good proof that he was what he professed himself to be the Christ the Son of God Nicodemus could not but confess that no man could doe the miracles which he did except God were with him Joh. 3.2 And many of the Jews could not but say When Christ cometh will he doe moe miracles than these which this man hath done Joh. 7.31
been perverted by some men and scoffed at by others In all that I have done I have sincerely pursued after truth if I have any where mistaken I shall most readily and thankfully hearken to him who shall shew me my Error I do intend a second part in which I design to examine the objections which we find in the Jewish writers against the truth which I have defended in this first and against the Religion which Jesus taught I shall in that particularly consider their pretenses for their unbelief And they are such as these viz. That their law is of perpetual obligation that the promise of the Messias was conditional and the time of his coming not fixed that there are some Prophecies relating to the Messias and his times not fulfilled in Jesus c. I do very well know that there are in the Church of England a great number of men who are better sitted for such an undertaking than I am I should be so far from esteeming it a disappointment if any of them would prevent me in what I design farther that it would be matter of rejoycing to me And if what I have done already may be but an occasion to excite some other person to doe better I shall think my time well spent and be very well content that what I have here offered should be laid aside or overlooked The Contents of the several Chapters contained in this Book CHAP. I. Of the name Jesus That this name by which our Saviour was called and distinguished from other men is no objection against the Prediction Isa 7.14 The importance of the name Jesus In what sense our Lord is said to be a Saviour His Salvation compared with the deliverances mentioned in the Old Testament Of the word Christ Of anointing things and persons and the design of it Of the anointing of Jesus Some account of the Jewish constitutions about anointing with their holy Oil. pag. 5 6. CHAP. II. It is agreed between Jews and Christians I. That there was a Messias promised and II. That there was such a person as our Jesus and III. That there was at that time when Jesus lived a general expectation of the Messias That hence it was that there appeared so many Impostours about that time An account of some of them from Josephus Of the promises of the Messias and the gradual revealing of them A Passage in Maimon concerning the Afternoon-Prayer misrepresented by a late learned writer Several particulars relating to the Messias predicted pag. 42. CHAP. III. Of the birth of Jesus Of his lineage and kindred Of the place of his birth The seeming difference in the account of Bethlehem by the Prophet Micah and St. Matthew reconciled Of his being born of a Virgin A particular explication of 1. Tim. 2.15 She shall be saved in Child-bearing The time of his birth agreed with the predictions and general expectation of some great Person Several testimonies to this purpose The miserable shifts and evasions of the Jews pag. 58. CHAP. IV. That the Messias was to be a Prophet Deut. 18. v. 18. considered That our Jesus was a Prophet like unto Moses shewed in sundry particulars That the Messias was to converse much in Galilee according to the prediction Isa 9.1 2 3. That place more particularly considered That our Jesus did so Several other Characters of the Messias belonged to Jesus That the Messias as was predicted was to doe stupendious works pag. 87. CHAP. V. The works of Jesus Mat. 11.4 5. considered Of the miracles which Jesus did The vanity of the Jews in attempting to disparage them The opinion of Maimonides that the Messias would not work miracles considered and the Authour of Tractatus Theolog Polit. What a Miracle imports That the Messias was to work miracles proved against Maimonides That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine That Jesus did work true miracles This proved at large pag. 105 106. CHAP. VI. The Miracles which Jesus did compared with those which were really wrought by the hands of Moses with the pretended ones of the Church of Rome and with those storied of Apollonius Tyanaeus and some other Heathens Of the sufficient assurance which we have that Jesus did those works which are reoprted of him pag. 161. CHAP. VII That the Messias according to the predictions of him was to suffer This proved against the Jews Of the vanity of their twofold Messias the Son of Joseph and the Son of David The reason why the Jews make use of this pretence That Jesus did suffer That he suffered those things which the Messias was to suffer Luk. 24.26 46. and Act. 3.18 considered Zech. 9.9 to be understood of the Messias this proved against the Jews at large Of the kind of Christ's death Crucifixion was none of the Jewish capital punishments Of the Brazen Serpent Numb 21. St. John ch 3.14 considered The Jewish Writers acknowledge that the brazen Serpent was symbolical and spiritually to be understood Of the time when Jesus suffered that it did exactly agree with the type of the sufferings of the Messias A large digression concerning this matter Exod 12.6 considered Castalio justly censured for his ill rendring that place Of the two Evenings among the Jews The ground we have for it in the Scriptures The testimony of R. Solomon Of the practice of the Jewish Nation as to the time of offering their evening Sacrifice and the Passeover This shewed from their best Authours An objection from Deut. 16. v. 6. answered Jesus died at that time when the Paschal Lamb was to be slain Of the place and many other particulars relating to the sufferings of Jesus Of the great causes and reasons of the sufferings of Jesus Of the Burial of Jesus pag. 191 192. CHAP. VIII Of the Resurrection of Jesus That we have sufficient evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead That we have the most unexceptionable humane Testimony Why the same number of men are called the eleven and the twelve elsewhere when they were but Ten John 21.14 Explained This confirmed by the Testimony of an Angel and by Divine Testimony That Jesus removed all cause of doubting of the truth of his Resurrection That there were a select number of Men chosen to be witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus That these witnesses as also the Evangelists are worthy of belief That it was foretold that the Messias should rise from the dead The words Ps 11.5 This day have I begotten thee are justly applied to this matter This proved against the Jews at large That Jesus rose from the dead is an undeniable proof that he is the Messias and of the greatest importance to us Of the time when Jesus rose from the dead Why on the third day And how he could be said to rise on the third day who was but one whole day in the Sepulchre and how this agrees with Matt. 12.40 where Jesus said he should be three days and three nights in the heart of the
related was but fraud and collusion And who ever will be at the pains to consider what account Aelius Spartianus gives of that matter will see great cause to suspect that upon the whole matter there was an artifice and trick used The greatest Pretender which I know of is Apollonius Tyanaeus who is famed for a great worker of miracles and hath been set up against our Saviour as one that might at least vye with him But without sufficient ground or reason as will appear from the following particulars 1. Because the History that gives account of this man's actions is not of that credit by many degrees as that which gives account of the works of Jesus For this account of Jesus we have from men who lived in his time and were eye-witnesses of the things which they affirm But the account we have of Apollonius is this Philostrat de vit Apollonii l. 1. Damis was his familiar he wrote his Travails and his words and predictions A familiar of Damis acquaints Julia with it Julia commands Philostratus to transcribe the commentaries of Damis who had not written them dexterously Philostratus out of these commentaries and a book of one Maximus which he light upon writes his books of the life of Apollonius as he himself informs us 2. That all that is said to this purpose does not amount to a miracle It is said that he cured a youth of a Dropsie But is he therefore to be compared with our Saviour who cured all diseases and raised the dead Or must that be thought a miracle which a wise Physician may doe He is said to have done it by precepts of temperance But as that is a moral instrument so 't is a natural one too And the practice of that would go farther towards the preventing and curing more diseases than ever Apollonius could pretend unto 3. That in some of the pranks which he played he was guilty of manifest impiety He is said to have cured a man bitten by a mad Dog by making the Dog lick the man but then he is said to have cured the Dog also by praying to the river Cydnus an act of Idolatry and flinging the Dog into the stream He is said to have freed the City of Ephesus from a plague but to have done it by perswading the Ephesians to stone a beggar and then the Ephesians are said to have erected an Image to Hercules Apotropaeus in the place where the beggar was stoned so that the Ephesians were not brought off from the worship of false Gods by the works of Apollonius 4. Besides it is evident from other passages that Apollonius was an evil man a great dictatour and intermedler with political affairs a proud and haughty man One that vaunted of his great knowledge and for all that was ignorant He pretended to understand all Languages and to know the thoughts of men Euseb contra Hierocl l. 7. id l. 2. and yet could not discourse with King Phraotes without an Interpreter Having thus far discoursed of the Miracles which Jesus did and shewed you how good a proof they are that he was the Christ I shall proceed to consider What may be objected against what hath been hitherto said And though there are several things that might fall under consideration under this head yet I know but one thing of any great moment viz. Obs Some man may enquire what sufficient assurance we can have that Jesus did those works which are reported of him For though the works reported all things considered be an unexceptionable Proof of the truth of the Christian doctrine yet it may still be objected that we cannot be fully assured that Jesus lived and did those things which we read of in the Evangelists In answer to this I desire the following particulars may be considered 1. That it is sufficient that this be proved by such ways and means as the thing is capable of No man can reasonably require a strict demonstration where the matter of the question will not bear it If we have such a complication of moral arguments as will satisfie a wise and inquisitive man it is enough And there are many things which we believe without any manner of doubt or wavering to the belief of which we are gained this way We believe those things to be unquestionably true which yet we have not such weighty grounds to believe And it is an argument we are very perverse if we except against those arguments here which we admit every where else 2. That the matters of fact are confessed by strangers to and enemies of the Religion That there was such a person as Jesus and that he did mighty works that he was followed by such names as we find in the Gospels the Jews themselves confess They deny not that he did wonderfull works they impute them indeed to the Devil but by doing so they do tacitly confess that he undoubtedly did them When Hierocles compares Apollonius with Jesus he doth not question whether there were such a man or not The matter of fact was not denyed by Jew or Gentile The first Christians were not charged with having forged the History of the Gospel Of all men in the world the Jews have no reason to question the truth of the matter of fact reported in the Gospels And therefore Origen doth deservedly reprove Celsus when he feigns a Jew objecting against the credibility of the Gospel history And he tells us what he himself in a disputation which he had with some of the wise men of the Jews said to them upon this occasion his words are these Tell me Origen contra Cels l. 1. since there were two persons who lived in the world of whom were storied incredible things and such as are above humane nature viz. Moses your Law-giver who wrote of himself and Jesus our teacher who wrote nothing of himself but is testified of by his Disciples in the Gospels what reason is there that Moses should be esteemed worthy of belief whom the Egyptians reproached for a Magician and that Jesus should not be believed because ye accuse him 3. That we have no reason at all to suspect those books which give us the history of these things If we be allowed to suspect an ancient history yet we ought not to do it without just cause Either because the Authour is not known or is of no credit or because it appears that the writing hath been corrupted or we have some collateral evidence which moves us to withhold our assent Nothing of this can be said in the present case These books are not Anonymous and all men are agreed that they were written by those men whose names they bear These men are not to be suspected for they wrote of things which they saw and of those times in which they lived It could not be their interest to put a cheat upon the world but against all their interest in this and the other world too There is a perfect
The works which he did spake who he was for such they were as did plainly proclaim a divine power But besides the works which our Saviour did and to which he refers the Disciples of John were those very works which the Messias was to doe according to the prediction of the Prophet And these works here mentioned are those very works When our Saviour tells them that the blind receive their sight the lame walk it is no more but what the Prophet had foretold should come to pass in the days of the Messias Isa 35.5 6. It may indeed be asked why our Saviour should use these words and the poor have the gospel preached unto them For why should this be reckoned as a miracle or where was this foretold of the Messias But the answer is very easie to this And First this was foretold of the Messias that he should preach the gospel to the poor For preaching good tidings to the meek Isa 61.1 is the same thing with preâ—ching the gospel to the poor And the same words are used by the Septuagint in the Prophet which are used by the Evangelist here Secondly that though preaching the gospel to the poor be not a miracle nor is it reckoned so here yet it is a particular that is very remarkable and very pertinent to our Saviour's purpose We must know that poverty was very much contemned by the Jews Poor men were esteemed evil also And they have a saying among them that the spirit of God does not rest upon a poor man Hence the poor and common people were slighted and reckoned as children of the Earth Their Prophets of old were generally sent to Kings their Scribes and Doctours taught the rich They expected a Princely Messias that would Lord it over poor men But our Saviour puts them in mind here that it was foretold that the Messias should preach to the meek or poor And that when he did so as we know he did to poor Fishermen and Publicans they ought to consider that he did that which was predicted of the Christ For that those words Isa 61.1 belong to the Messias our Saviour elsewhere gives the Jews to understand Luk. 4.18 21. Nor do we find that they had any contest with him about that matter No they were so far from it that we are told they all bare him witness and wondred at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth V. 22. Nor could any thing have been said more seasonably to the Disciples of John Baptist than this after our Lord had referred them to the works which he did that he preached the Gospel to the poor because this would set them right as to the Messias whom they were to receive For they may not now look for a temporal Prince to conquer and captivate their powerfull enemies but a meek and lowly and mercifull person that would converse with and instruct the poor and the needy So that those words and the poor have the Gospel preached c. tend to instruct them aright concerning the Messiah whom they were to expect and the nature of his Kingdom For had he been such a temporal Prince as the Jews were ready to expect he would rather have employed his arms against the powerfull enemies of his people than to take upon himself the care of preaching the Gospel and that not to the wealthy and honourable but to the poor also But not to insist any longer upon this matter I shall onely consider that our Saviour refers the Disciples of John Baptist to the works which he did as a proof that he was the Christ that was to come into the world So then the works which Jesus did are a good proof that he was the Christ and do very much confirm the Doctrine which he taught This was the great end for which they were done and for which they are recorded also These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name Joh. 20.31 By the works of Jesus must be meant the miracles which he wrought and to which he appeals upon all occasions as well as in these words of St. Matthew These miracles are a good argument of the truth of what Jesus professed and of what he taught And I shall make this appear to those who are unprejudiced and the sincere enquirers after truth This is a truth of great moment and that which tends very much to beget faith in us and to dispose us to the receiving the truth These miracles that were wrought do not onely speak the truth of our Saviour's doctrine but the great moment of it also And so they do tend toward not onely the begetting in us a belief but a great veneration also of these divine truths And he that goes about to deny or to disparage our Saviour's miracles does at the same time endeavour to overthrow a main ground of Christian Religion and one great motive of its credibility I shall the rather enlarge upon this argument both because of its great weight and usefulness and also because there have not been wanting in all ages those who have denied or disparaged the miracles which Jesus did and by so doing have hindred what in them lay the propagation of the Christian Faith In our Saviour's time we find those that endeavoured to overthrow the credit of our Saviour's miracles When Jesus had restored one that was possessed with a Devil and who was blind and dumb insomuch that all the people were amazed and said Is not this the Son of David There wanted not then among the Pharisees who durst affirm that he cast out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of Devils Mat. 12.22 Our Saviour does indeed sufficiently refute this suggestion and shews the inconsistency thereof and does lay before us the greatness of the sin of these men who imputed a work of the Holy Ghost to the Prince of Devils And assures us that whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost v. 32. it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world neither in the world to come These evil men were not able to deny the matter of fact it was confessed that the blind saw and the dumb spake But then they were guilty of speaking against the Holy Ghost when they imputed this work of his to the power of the Devil The Jews in after-times could not deny that Jesus had done great works among their Forefathers but then these wretched men run into fables and make lies their refuge and give such an account of the whole matter as carries its confutation along with it the account which they give is this That in the time of Helena the Queen Pug. Fidei par 2. cap. 8. sect 6. Jesus of Nazareth came to Jerusalem and that in the Temple he found a stone on which the Ark of God was wont to rest whereon was written the Tetragrammaton or more peculiar name of God That whosoever
should get that name into his possession and be skilled in it would be able to doe what he pleased That their Wise-men fearing lest any of the israelitese should get that name and destroy the world made two Dogs of brass and placed them at the door of the Sanctuary That whenever any had gone in and learnt that name these Dogs were wont at their coming out to bark so terribly that they forgat the name and the letters which they had newly learnt But say they Jesus of Nazareth went in and did not onely learn the letters of this name but wrote them in a Parchment which he hid as be came out in an incision which he had made in his flesh And though through the barking of the Dogs he had forgot the name yet he learnt it afterwards from his Parchment By virtue of this name say they Jesus restored the lame healed the leprous raised the dead walked himself upon the Sea By this account it appears that the Jews did not deny the matter of fact for that Jesus did the works is confessed on all hands and so much we may gain from this fabulous narration There is nothing else in it worthy the notice of a wise man But still there is another opinion to be found among the Jews of after-times and it was this That the Messias when he came was not to work miracles and that therefore the working miracles was not to be any mark and character of the true Messiah Nor is it strange that when the Jews were not able to deny the matter of fact that they should betake themselves to these fond opinions Maimon H. Melac Milch c. 11. Maimonides tells us that we must not think that the Messiah shall work signs and miracles that he shall innovate in the things of this world or raise the dead But that the law of Moses should endure for ever and that the Messiah shall meditate in that law and compell the Israelites to observe it and that he shall manage the Lord's battels and overcome the people that are round about him The truth of this doctrine of his shall be considered in its due place I onely produce this to shew how unwilling the Jews are to allow of this argument which we draw from the works which Jesus did and how unable they are in the mean time to deny the matter of fact Besides these fond and evil opinions there is still another advanced by a late Authour and directly levelled against the force of our Saviour's argument and 't is this Tractat. Theolog. Politic. c. 6. That nothing happens in nature that is repugnant to its universal laws nor any thing which doth not agree with them or follow from them He hath also the confidence to affirm That the name of a miracle can onely be understood with respect to mens opinions and that it signifies nothing more than a work the natural cause of which we are not able to explain exemplo alterius rei solitae or at least he is not able to explain it that writes or reports the miracle And that therefore a miracle is a mere absurdity And that those things which the Scriptures truly report to have happened fell out according to the laws of nature and if any thing else evidently repugnant to the laws of nature be reported or which cannot follow from them that it is to be believed that these things were added to the Scripture by sacrilegious men This wicked principle is sufficiently refuted by our Saviour's words who makes the works which he did an argument of the truth of what he said And sure if he did no work but what other men did or might doe and what agreed with the laws of nature his works would have been a very mean proof of his coming from God He that believes God to be cannot think him confined by the laws of nature However these laws conclude the creature they do not bind the hands of the great Creatour of the Universe No man can affirm what the above-named Authour does unless he be an Atheist or an Apostate He must be a man forsaken by his reason that discourses at this rate or given over for his wickedness to believe a lie What do such abhorred principles aim at but at the subversion of Christianity And if they were guilty of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost who affirmed our Saviour's miracles to have been wrought by the power of the Devil what shall we think of them who dare affirm that he wrought none at all Having premised these things I shall now proceed to shew that our Saviour's miracles were a good proof of his doctrine and that he was the Messias who was to come into the world And for my better proceeding First I shall shew what I mean by Miracles Secondly I shall prove that the Messias was to doe Miracles Thirdly That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine Fourthly That our Saviour's were true and unexceptionable Miracles Fifthly I shall consider what may be objected against what I shall offer upon this weighty argument I shall shew what I mean by Miracles For there are cheats and impostures and every thing is not a miracle that passeth for such We may be imposed upon by our ignorance and credulity and by the craft of others There are many things which are admired and are very strange and infrequent which are not miracles Our admiration many times speaks onely our own ignorance And many things there are which are but the effects of natural causes which we have been apt to think the effect of a supernatural one It does by no means hence follow that a miracle is a mere absurdity and that there can be no such thing We are obliged to take care that we be not imposed upon and well to consider what is required to a miracle and to convince us of it For unless we know it so to be it cannot be expected that it should ever convince us And in this case not to appear is the same thing as not to be at all To this purpose it is necessary to a miracle 1. That it be a work above the power of nature and above the reach of any creature whatsoever It must be supernatural or else it cannot be strictly a miracle This power must come from God he being able onely to alter the course of nature who is the great authour of it But then whether this effect be brought to pass by the immediate power of God without the intervening of any natural cause or by making use of some instrument 't is one and the same thing It is an omnipotent arm that brings the effect to pass Matt. 11.20 21. Luk. 4.36.5.17.9.1 Mat. 7.22 Luk. 10.13 Rom. 1.4 And a miracles is a work that none but God can doe This is of the essence of a miracle and it cannot be truly called one unless it be such a work as is above the force of
nature and the combined power of all second causes And upon this account we may presume these works are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the New Testament and our Saviour said to be declared the Son of God with power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. That the effect be viâ—â—ble and discernible Without this they can be of no effect to us at all And where miracles are brought as a proof of something else there is great need they should be very evident and apparent Our Saviour's words to John's disciples imply no less They came to know whether he were the Christ or not Matt. 11.4 5. Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John again these things which ye do hear and see The blind c. Our Saviour dealt sincerely with them and appeals to their senses in the case Shew John those things which ye do hear and see A miracle which is brought to prove a doctrine or doubtfull question had need be more clear than the question is which it is brought to prove And therefore when it is considered as a proof of something else it is necessary that it should be it self very evident and plain For that cannot be judged a good Medium to prove the question by which is not more evident than the question it self Our Saviour's works are brought by him as a proof of the truth of his doctrine Miracles would in this case signifie nothing if they were not very evident The Jews have a proverb to this purpose Buxtorf Lexicon Rabbin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they say of a man that brings an insufficient proof that his surety wants a surety He that is surety for another had need to be of good credit himself Hence it is that these miraculous works in the New Testament are so frequently called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. signs And those things which are signs of something had need be more plain and discernible than the things which they signifie and represent and which they are brought to prove Thus are these works frequently called in the New Testament Joh. 2.11 23.3.2.20.30 And in the Old Testament they are expressed by words of the same import and though those words of themselves do not imply a miracle Such among the Hebrews are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of which see Abravenel on the Pentat f. 138. co 4. yet they are to be considered according to the subject matter and when they are applied to this purpose they do imply that the miracle must be very evident and clear For the effect can carry no conviction with it if it be not discernible They would have had no reason to believe our Saviour upon the account of his works had they not been visible in their effects He may be presumed to be raised from the dead who by the actions of a living man is able to convince the standers by 'T is a vain thing to pretend a miracle is wrought when no man is able to discern the change of things Jesus turned water into wine Joh. 2.11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him But had the water retained the taste and colour of water and not of wine he had neither manifested his glory nor would his disciples have been moved upon this account to have believed on him But the change was so discernible that the Governour of the feast perceived it by its taste ver 9. Indeed the Church of Rome pretends in the Doctrine of Transubstantiation that the bread and wine in the Sacrament are substantially changed after consecration and yet no man living can discern any such change at all Durandus tells us that there are in that change no less than eleven miracles Durand Rational Divin Offic. l. 4. c. 21. of which no express reason can be given I do not think it worth my while to reckon them up after him Sure I am we have no reason to believe any such thing And 't is a vain and foolish thing to vaunt of so many miracles when there is no appearance of any one and 't is a very unreasonable thing that the Church of Rome should oblige us to believe a miracle which we are not able to discern A miracle which convinceth us of the truth of a Doctrine must be the object of sense it must be seen or felt or discernible some such way And 't is a vain thing to call upon us to believe that which is the motive and ground upon which we believe something else I shall as soon believe a dead man raised to life who yet lies in his grave without either breath or motion as much as the earth in which he lies or that a blind man is perfectly cured who yet hath recovered no sight at all as to believe that to be flesh and bloud which all my senses tell me are bread and wine The miracles which Christ did were wrought that men might believe not the miracles for them they saw but that he was the Christ the Son of God He requires men to believe him and his doctrine for the sake of his works But the Church of Rome would have us believe not onely a doctrine which is not revealed but a miracle also not to say more than one which is not discernible by any of our senses We must believe a miracle though we do not see it and be condemned for Hereticks if we do it not Such a Faith so Catholick and large an one does the Church of Rome require A faith which I am sure we shall never attain unto till that time come which God of his mercy prevent that we are given up to believe a Lie In the mean while we have just reason to believe the doctrine false when we find the miracle a mere pretence And 't will be time enough to believe this doctrine of Transubstantiation when we are able to discern a substantial change I shall prove that the Messiah was to work miracles when he came into the world And this I am obliged to doe because our Saviour appeals to his works as a good proof that he was the Christ the Son of God Indeed Maimonides as I intimated before denies that the Messias was to work miracles But this is not the sense of the Jewish Nation but an opinion that the Jews fly to for refuge For when they are not able to deny the matter of fact they are forced to say that the Messias was not to doe any miracles at all That Jesus lived and that he did wonderfull works they are not able to deny but then the obstinate Jew that cannot deny the works of Jesus yet will affirm that the doing of such works was not a sign or character of the Messias in whose time we are not to look for miracles I shall consider the truth of this pretence And 1. 'T is very certain
that this is not the sense of the Jewish Nation Abravenel Cap. Fidei c. 13. Abravenel mentions a saying out of the Vaikra Rabba viz. That all feasts should cease besides the feast of Purim and the day of Expiation The meaning of which he tells us is this that whereas the other feasts were ordained in memory of the deliverance out of Egypt that the Israelites should not in the time of the Messias apply themselves to the remembrance of the prodigies and miracles which God wrought for them when he delivered them from thence because they should then see eximious miracles in the days of the Messias in comparison whereof the others were not worth the remembring I find the same Authour in another place speaking to the same purpose Abravenel in Joel 2.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Psalmist says he complains that the Israelites in the time of their captivity lost three glorious gifts which they had before viz. Prophecy Miracles and the knowledge of God For so it is written We see not our Signs there is no more any Prophet Psal 74.9 neither is there any that knoweth how long Therefore says he the Prophet makes a promise of restoring these three benefits to the people in those words I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh c. So that the return of miracles was justly expected according to him upon the appearance of the Messiah For that he understood the prophecy of the times of the Messias is evident from his following words and that it belongs to that time and was in great measure fulfilled will be granted by him who considers the words which we find Act. 2.17 But the same Authour in another place is very express to my present purpose Abravenel in Isa c. 11. There he lays down the several characters and conditions of the Messias no less than ten in number I am not concerned now to reckon them up The power of working miracles is one and that was to be attended with the spirit of Prophecy again revived to which purpose he quotes the words of the Prophet Joel I will pour out of my spirit c. which words are applied to the times of the Messias Act. 2.17 2. We find it particularly prophesied of the Messias that he should work miracles and those very miracles which Jesus did Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped then shall the lame man leap as an hart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing Isa 35.5 6. Again The spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek Isa 61.1 Matt. 11.5 which is the same thing with preaching the Gospel to the poor as I observed before And therefore our Saviour did return a most apposite answer to the Disciples of John Baptist when he bid them shew their Master the things which they saw and heard 3. Agreeable hereunto we find among the people in our Saviour's time a general expectation that the Messias when he came would work miracles and they were forward to demand a sign of our blessed Saviour Their law was this way confirmed and Moses their great Lawgiver wrought many miracles and they therefore demanded signs of our Lord as credentials The Jews require a sign says the Apostle 1 Cor. 1.22 Matt. 12.38 Joh. 4.48 Mat. 16.1 Luk. 11.16 and we find certain of the Scribes and Pharisees saying Master we would see a sign from thee And Jesus tells the Jews except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe And though they did not believe when they had seen signs yet they were forward to demand them And that there was an expectation among the Jews of that time that the Messias when he came would work wonders is evident from those words of the people Joh. 7.31 When Christ cometh say they will he doe moe miracles than these which this man hath done John Baptist was the forerunner of Christ he was born a little before our Saviour and he appearing at that time when the Messias was expected and being very much famed for his vertue and followed by the people they were prone to take him for the Messias and Herod himself feared him as one that might easily draw away the people as Josephus tells us Antiqu. lib. 18. c. 7. The people upon his appearance among them were in great expectation and suspence Luk. 3.15 and all men mused in their hearts of John whether he were the Christ or not He was not onely born about the time in which the Messias was expected but the passages relating to his birth were very strange and surprizing and much discoursed of among the Jews who knew his Father and Mother and had heard of what the Angel had foretold Luk. 1.13 and what happened to his Father Zechariah Besides he was a person of great sanctity and great same among the people nor had there been a greater person born among Women at that time no wonder then that the Jews should send Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to John Baptist to know who he was Joh. 1.15 20. and whether he were the Christ or not But then it is confessed of John Baptist Joh. 10.41 that he did no Miracle It was so ordered by the divine providence that John Baptist should want this Character of the true Messias viz. the working of Miracles But I shall proceed to shew That Miracles are a good Argument of the truth of a Doctrine And that therefore our Saviour did with great reason refer John Baptist's Disciples to the works which they saw This I think my self obliged the rather to insist upon the thing it self being of great moment and it being opposed by the enemies of Christianity Maimon affirms that the Israelites did not believe Moses because of his Miracles which he did Fundam Leg. c. 8. And he hath added that he that believes upon the score of Miracles will be liable to suspect inchantment or some other fraud And moreover he adds that all the Miracles which Moses did in the wilderness he did them upon the account of some necessity which moved him and not to gain belief to his Prophecy Thus says he it was necessary in order to the drowning of the Egyptians that the Sea should be divided and let loose upon them We wanted food says he and he sent Manna They were thirsty and he opened a rock The congregation of Corah denyed him and therefore the Earth swallowed them up At this rate does that subtile enemy of Christianity discourse And 't is very easie to observe what he drives at in all this I shall not trouble my self to shew that other Jews have taught a Doctrine contrary to what Maimon teaches It were no hard matter to shew this but 't is of little moment to doe that toward my present purpose I shall doe that which is material to my
yet it is possible to discern true miracles from lying wonders Else our Saviour's miracles had been in vain and could not have been brought as a proof that he was the Christ the Son of God We may in this weighty matter be preserved from mistake if we consider it with that due application which becomes us I shall therefore now prove That our Saviour's were true and unexceptionable miracles My meaning is that they were a good proof of his doctrine and that he was what he professed himself to be the Christ the Son of God And for the farther proof of this I shall offer the following particulars to be considered not onely separately but in conjunction with one another 1. The Authour of these miracles was Jesus a person of a most innocent and usefull life Had he been a profligate person or had he been ever detected of an untruth the miracles which he did would not have been enough to gain him credit He was far removed from ostentation and vain glory a great example of meekness and humility of purity and peaceableness of an ardent love to God and contempt of the World Nothing but impudent malice could accuse our Lord. He did good to all and did not hurt the poorest and vilest man in the world He did not come to destroy but to save the lives of men He gained no wealth by his works who had not where to lay his head He desired no applause for he charges those that saw his works that they should tell no man He affects no Dominion and did not make his power of doing these works a step to worldly greatness Indeed he bids John Baptist's Disciples shew John the things which they saw and heard but this was an effect of his Charity to them or to their Master and not because he affected popular fame He was so innocent a person that the very Judge who delivered him to death did pronounce him innocent and he that betrayed him was overtaken with that horror that he went and hanged himself He was judged a righteous person by strangers and his enemies were forced to make use of false and incoherent witnesses of loud clamours and the specious pretence of Caesar's friendship to procure his death He spent his time in doing good and was the greatest example that ever appeared in the world of the most spotless purity the profoundest humility and the most inflamed and universal charity The miracles of such a Person are of mighty force For if an holy and good life do very much commend a Doctrine surely such a life as our Saviour's was accompanied with the mighty works which he did is of great moment to assure us of the truth of what he taught 2. I consider next the doctrine which the works that Jesus did do confirm This doctrine was like Jesus himself holy just and good It is the wisest and the best Religion in the world and that which tends to make men good and happy It does not consist in a number of ceremonies and rituals a few small and trifling opinions it is not a doctrine which promotes a secular and worldly interest that indulges men in their lusts and onely robs them of their wealth It is a doctrine that is holy and innocent that teaches us to love God with our whole heart and our neighbour as our Selves It permits us not to doe any evil and requires us to doe all the good we can It is so far from allowing us to doe an injury that it will not suffer us to revenge it It teaches us to be humble and modest chast and temperate very frequent and very fervent in our prayers to God sincere in all our promises and professions and very bountifull in our mercy which we shew to the poor and miserable A Religion that requires the Service of the heart that lays before us the best precepts and propounds the most incomparable rewards It abstracts us from the world and puts us upon pursuance of life and immortality It does not onely forbid Adultery Murther and Theft but every impure thought every angry word every covetous desire It comports with our wisest faculties quiets our minds perfects our natures kills our lusts and joys our hearts It bids us doe as we would be done by obey our Superiours be gentle to our Servants kind to the poor just to all men It allows us not to think any evil and does strictly require that we speak evil of no man It forbids not onely all swearing but all dissimulation and every idle word It commends to us patience contentedness resignation to the will of God and a thirst after heaven and heavenly things A Religion that is able to make us very wise and very happy rendring us at once at peace with God and with one another and filling our souls with a peace that passeth understanding It is the best security and the greatest blessing to Kingdoms and Commonwealths and all societies of men It disowns every thing that is unjust and untrue that is sneaking and unbecoming that is low and mean It designs to conform us to the likeness of God And whoever looks into its laws may soon discern that it is a blessed institution and not a systeme of craft and worldly policy to keep the world in awe withall It is full of weighty principles of divine and heavenly precepts of the most endearing and pathetick motives to obedience It hath nothing trifling in it but is fraught with a wisedom that is divine and is placed above the contempt and scorn of men It commends it self to the consciences of all that are ingenuous and inquisitive And no man will speak evil of it but a fool that understands it not or the debauched sinner who is condemned by its precepts and denounced against by its severest menaces When I speak thus of Christian Religion I speak of it as it is in its self and to them who give up themselves to the obedience of it Christianity I know is depraved and greatly corrupted by the Church of Rome and there are but few of those who understand their Religion better that have any more than a form of godliness when they continue enemies to the power of it 3. I consider in the next place the great design of the miracles which Jesus did We shall find that they tended to the destruction of the Devil's Kingdom It was most maliciously and foolishly said by the Pharisees that our Lord cast out Devils by the Prince of Devils Matt. 12.24 This is sufficiently refuted by our Saviour Every Kingdom says he divided against it self is brought to desolation ver 25. and every City or House divided against it self shall not stand And if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself How shall then his Kingdom stand And if I by Beelzebub cast out Devils by whom do your Children cast them out therefore they shall be your Judges The miracles which Christ did destroyed the Devil's Kingdom
by Our Lord used no Arts to deceive the people He does his works in an open and clear light And when it so happened that he did them more privately he forbids the divulging what he had done that there might be no shadow of any artifice or secret contrivance For our Lord did all things with a great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and though he desired not the praise of his works yet he did them at least so openly that there could be no suspicion of fraud and imposture This was an argument of our Lord's sincerity He wrought miracles that men might believe and therefore he did that which did most of all tend to beget this belief in them For Miracles are for the sake of unbelievers and therefore had need be wrought and that openly also among them Thus Moses wrought his miracles among the unbelieving Egyptians The Prophet goes to Bethel and shews his sign in the sight of Jeroboam Elijah works a miracle in the sight of the Priests of Baal and our Lord does his before the multitude The Church of Rome talks much of miracles wrought within the verge of her own Communion She maintains doctrines that need confirmation And if she work miracles she should send some of her Children hither to work them among us that we might be convinced or left without a plea. They of her own Communion who believe her doctrines do not need her miracles If there be any need of them at all it is among us who cannot believe her Tenents till we see them better confirmed than yet they are It is to be suspected that they want that power which they are not able to make appear For it is but reasonable they should be done where there is need of them 5. Our Lord's works were perfect and complete It appeared by the effects that the work was completely done Matt. 8. chap. 9. When the Paralytick was restored it did appear to be a perfect cure by his taking his bed and walking It is said that the dumb spake who was restored by our Lord. Mar. 5.42 When he restored the Damosel to life Luk. 7.15 she arose and walked And of the Widow's Son of Naim it is said Joh. 11.44 chap. 9.7 Joh. 2. Luk. 8.35 Joh. 5. Mat. 14.20 that he that was dead sate up and began to speak And of Lazarus it is said that he came forth with his grave cloaths about him When he cured the man that was born blind he came seeing from the pool of Siloam And when he turned the water into wine the effect was discerned by the company Of the Demoniack that was dispossest it is said that he was found sitting at the feet of Jesus cloathed and in his right mind And the poor man that lay helpless at the pool of Bethesda takes up his bed and walks When Jesus fed the multitude he did not delude them with shadows and phantastick food and with the bare accidents of bread and fish but they did all eat and were filled The effect was very discernible they were not imposed upon by Spectrums and Collusions and pious frauds CHAP. VI. The CONTENTS The Miracles which Jesus did compared with those which were really wrought by the hands of Moses with the pretended ones of the Church of Rome and with those storied of Apollonius Tyanaeus and some other Heathens Of the sufficient assurance which we have that Jesus did those works which are reported of him BEfore I proceed to consider what may be objected against what hath been said before I shall for the farther confirmation thereof shew that the works which Jesus did were greater works than ever were done by any other person whatsoever And to that purpose I shall compare our Saviour's Miracles with those true and divine Miracles which Moses wrought with the pretended Miracles of the Church of Rome and those which are storied in the writings of the Heathens and more especially such as are told of Apollonius Tyanaeus I shall consider the Miracles which were wrought by the hands of Moses There arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face Deut. 34.10 11 12. In all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to doe in the Land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his Servants and to all his land and in all that mighty hand and in all that great terrour which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel Upon the account of the Miracles which Moses did he was mightily famed among the Heathens as among his own Countrey men the Jews The Jews magnifie Moses above the rest of their Prophets Menasseh B. Israel Conciliat And one of their late Writers summs up the Miracles of Moses and those of the other Prophets from the beginning to the destruction of their first Temple and does affirm that the Miracles wrought by Moses or upon his account exceed the number of those which were wrought by all the Prophets together For whereas as all the Prophets for the space of above three thousand years wrought but 74 Miracles the Miracles of Moses alone were 76. I shall not examine his account let it be as it will but I shall shew that his works are not to be compared with those which our Jesus did I shall especially consider the Miracles which were wrought in Egypt these miracles which were then done in order to the bringing out the Israelites from the bondage in which they were And I must needs confess they were mighty works and such as did plainly speak a supernatural and Divine power And I ought not by any means to disparage those mighty works I shall before I proceed any farther shew you that those miracles were such as did indeed give sufficient credit to the mission of Moses and abundantly confirm the truth of his words And that will appear if we consider seriously these three things First the plagues themselves which were miraculously inflicted These were such works as were above the power of any Creature The works themselves declare a divine power It is true they were not all alike and the Magicians did the same works which Moses did for a while Exod. 7.12 22. ch 8. v. 7. They turned their rods into Serpents and water into bloud and brought frogs upon the land of Egypt as well as Moses These Magicians went as far as they could And it amounts to no more than this that they were able to inflict some evils upon their Countrey but not able to remove them For though it be said that the Magicians brought the Frogs upon the land of Egypt yet it is also said that when Pharaoh would have them taken away he applied himself to Moses and Aaron Exod. 8.7 8. which he would never have done if the Magicians could have done it for him nay more than this these Magicians were out-done by Moses after this They attempted to follow him but could not doe it they were
quaked greatly These things were very terrible and so were other works which we read of afterward which spoke indeed the presence and power of God but then they spoke his anger too The Sons of Aaron were destroyed by fire Miriam is struck with leprousie the earth swallows up Korah and his company and the fiery serpents plague the people On the other hand our Lord saves but does not destroy Instead of killing or inflicting plagues and diseases upon men he feeds the hungry cures the sick cleanseth the Lepers restores the blind and lame dispossesseth the Demoniacks and raises the dead 4. Our Saviour confirmed his doctrine by raising himself from the dead Moses dyed as well as the other Prophets And though the Jews tell us upon a trifling ground that he did die by the kiss of God's mouth and not after the ordinary manner of men yet they cannot deny that he dyed and 't is not affirmed by any that he rose from the dead He dyed on this side the Land of Promise and was buried over against Beth Peor Deut. 34.8 but the Jews are so far from affirming that he rose again that they knew not where his Sepulchre or place of burial was So that there was no room left for their fraud None could take away his Body and pretend he was risen from the dead Our blessed Saviour did rise from the dead notwithstanding all the art used to prevent it aswell as the spreading of it He had many witnesses of his Resurrection some whereof sealed the truth with their Bloud I shall now consider the pretended miracles of the Church of Rome not that I think them worthy to be compared with those of our blessed Saviour But that Church hath boasted of Miracles and we have large accounts of the wonders which have been wrought within the verge of her own Communion And not to inlarge too far I shall confine my self to those three marks or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which a learned Writer discoursing of this argument hath pitched upon 1. Whereas the miracles which Jesus wrought were grave and serious works substantial and such as proclamed the power and goodness and the wisedom of the Authour of them there is nothing more ridiculous and trifling than many of those which are reported to be done in the Church of Rome Such are the many stories which are told of our Saviour and the Virgin Mary They tell us that she frequently comes from Heaven offers her self in Marriage and brings knacks along with her and bestows them upon her friends and familiars They tell us also of our Saviour that he appears in his Mother's armes as a little Child that sometimes he goes from her and that he was once almost lost in the Snow They tell that the Virgin Mary's house in Nazareth upon discontent removed from thence and travail'd from place to place for the space of about two thousand miles Durand Rational Divin Offic. till it sate down at Loretto They tell that when one of their Preachers who was blind preached though there were no auditours to do it yet the stones that were about him cryed out Amen at his concluding I am ashamed to report the ridiculous stories which they tell of men who carried their heads in their hands after they had been Beheaded for several miles together of others who spake after they were dead of Sheep and Asses running to hear St. Francis preach and of Swine falling dead under his curse Of St. Dominick who hung in the air like a bird and at his Devotions forcing the Devil to hold a light and burn his fingers at that service of Christina who contracted her self at prayer into a round form like that of an Hedgehog and who could climb the highest trees like a Squirrel and swim in rivers like a Fish Of Catharine of Sienna who desired a new heart and thereupon Christ came to her opened her Breast took out her heart goes away with it and brings another and tells her that was his own I will not entertain you with the Stories of the sweating and speaking and motion of their Images of the great feats which have been done by the relicks of Saints and holy water and such like things Such Pranks as these are reported which look more like the feats of Demons of Hob-goblins and Fairies than the finger of God The works of Jesus spake the great wisedom power and goodness of God they were works of great mercy and relief But these stories are Romances and false representations or which is worse they look like the works of an evil Spirit who is abroad ready to deceive them who obey not the truth These things can serve no good and wise purpose and that is not all for they serve a very evil one These false stories are a temtation to men to question the true Men will be too ready to suspect the miracles of Christ when they find themselves imposed upon by those who profess themselves his followers 2. The miracles which Christ did were to confirm the truth of the Christian doctrine But these pretended miracles are brought to confirm a doctrine which Christ and his Apostles never taught Christ and his Apostles taught all Christian doctrine and all the necessary matters of faith And now though an Angel from Heaven should Preach any other Gospel we ought not to receive him Gal. 1.8 9. Were the works of the Church of Rome like our Saviour's works and their doctrine the same with his these works would be of great use to convince unbelievers but not at all requisite where the doctrine was believed before For the doctrine of the Church of Rome it is the same with that of the holy Scriptures or it is not If it be the same there is no need of miracles especially among them who believe the holy Scriptures to confirm that which hath been sufficiently confirmed already But if it be not the same we are not to regard miracles in that Case Nay if an Apostle or Angel from Heaven should Preach another Gospel let him be accursed We shall find that the pretended miracles in the Church of Rome are alledged for the confirmation of the Novel doctrines of that Church not of the Christian doctrine taught by Christ and his Apostles We are told that Christ spake intelligibly several times out of the Wafer to a Spanish Franciscan Again that upon the Altar he turned himself from the form of a Consecrated Wafer into that of a little Child and then from that of a Child to that of a Wafer Again that a Woman's Bees not thriving she stole a Consecrated Wafer and put it into one of her Hives The devout Bees in honour to that fall to work and with their honey-combs make a little Church with windows with roof and door with belfry and Altar upon which they laid the Host and did fly about it continually praising the Lord All this is for the confirmation of the doctrine of Transubstantiation