and from thence proceed to explain what is more Doubtful and Obscure And if the Divine Authority of the Writings of the New Testament be once proved that of the Old must follow as a necessary Consequence because the former gives Testimony to the latter and most of the Arguments which prove the one may be easily applied to the other Mr. N. allowes the Histories of the N. Testament to be exact and true Relations of the matter of Fact but supposes that there 's no need of Inspiration to Write a true History b Fr. p. 231 c. Engl. p. 28. c. He grants likewise that the Apostolical Epistles contain nothing but what is conformable to the Doctrine of Christ but yet that the Apostles had no need of an extraordinary Inspiration for Writing their Epistles c Fr. p. 282 283. Eng. p. 112 113. But all this while he takes no notice that these Writings were design'd by God for the Perpetual Use and Instruction of the Church and to be a Rule of Christian Faith to all Ages Which one thing if it be made out will prove their Divine Original and sufficiently distinguish them from all other Writings purely Humane where Providence cannot be supposed to have had such an extraordinary Hand in the Composure since it neither can be pretended that the Authors were the Immediate Instruments of God in publishing his Will nor that their Works were design'd for so general a Use as the Instruction of the Universal Church I shall therefore in the first place give a definition of an Inspir'd Writing and then prove that the Writings of the New Testament are truly such An Inspired Writing I take to be a Book that is writ by the Incitation Direction and Assistance of God and design'd by him for the Perpetual use of the Church The Proof of the Inspiration of the New-Testament-Writings I shall comprise in these following Propositions I. God design'd to provide a means for the preserving the Doctrine of Christ to the end of the World II. This could not be done so well in any Ordinary way or Humane means as by committing this Doctrine to Writing III. 'T is more reasonable to suppose that God would make use of this way than any other because he made use of the same means before for the Instruction of the Jewish Church IV. He has actually made use of no other way for the conveying down the Christian Doctrine that can be assign'd V. The Apostles themselves design'd their Writings for the Perpetual use of the Church and lookt upon them of equal Authority in the Christian Church as the Writings of the Old Testament were in the Jewish VI. The Age immediately after the Apostles lookt upon the Writings of the New Testament as the standing Rule of Faith to the Christian Church I think the making out these Propositions some of which need very little proof will fully prove the Divine Authority of the Books contain'd in the Canon of the New Testament and when they are made out such Consequences may be drawn from them as will silence most of the Cavils and Objections which the Author of these Letters and some others have raised against the Inspiration of the Scripture I. The first Proposition to be proved is this God design'd to provide a means for the preserving the Doctrine of Christ to the end of the World This Proposition I think any Christian will take for granted and my design at present is not to dispute with Infidels but to lay down those Principles upon which the Divine Authority of the Scriptures is built the truth of Christianity being presupposed because the Author I am to deal with professes the Belief of Christianity and yet has raised Objections against a great many of those Writings which Christians have all along lookt upon to be of Divine Authority I say therefore that no Christian can doubt of the truth of this Proposition for every Christian believes the Gospel to be the last and most perfect Revelation of the Will of God which he intends to afford to the World he believes that Christ will be with his Church to the end of the World Mat. 28.20 16.18 and that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it i. e. it shall never be so far weakned as that the Profession of Christianity should cease or the Church be perfectly deprived of the Knowledge of saving Truth Nothing further being needful for the illustrating this Proposition I proceed to the II. Proposition God could not preserve the Knowledge of Christianity in an Ordinary way or by any Humane means so well as by conveying the Doctrine of it to after Ages by Writing I do not pretend to prescribe to God Almighty what method he shall use to discover his Will to the World or confine him to any one way of doing it but thus much I think I may safely say that a standing Rule of Faith committed to Writing is liable to less inconveniencies and difficulties than any other way of conveying down Divine Truth Whereas all other ways that can be assign'd of transmitting Divine Revelation are incumbred with so many difficulties that without a constant series of Miracles they can never attain their end And therefore we can't reasonably suppose that God will make choice of any such methods to Reveal his Will by For this is to be laid down for a certain truth that God never works more Miracles than needs must nor ever suspends or overbears the force of natural Agents without evident necessity but allways uses second Causes and Humane means as far as they will go And therefore that method which offers least violence to Nature is more likely to be made choice of by God Some Men indeed are apt to think that the Hand of God can't shew it self without a constant series of Miracles but they that consider things more exactly rather judge that a continued succession of Miracles would really be a reproach to God's Ordinary Providence for often to interrupt the course of Nature must needs be a reflection upon the Wisdom that first contrived it We can imagine but two ways of God's Communicating his Will to several successive Ages without the help of Writing either Oral Tradition or making a Particular Revelation to every single Person or at least to all those whose business 't is to teach and instruct others in their Duty Now both these ways are liable to such difficulties and do suppose so many immediate interpositions of God's Power to prevent those errors which must of necessity attend them considering the present state of Humane Nature as are not suitable to the methods which God uses in Governing the World I shall not pursue this matter any further nor give a particular account of the inconveniencies to which both these Methods are obnoxious and to correct which a constant Interposition of Miracles will be necessary The Absurdity of the former has bin abundantly demonstrated by the e Dr. Tillotson's
Gospels shews that they were writ for the General Vse of the Church to Record the Doctrine and Miracles of our Saviour the Author and Finisher of our Faith whom all are to hear and obey And tho it were some particular Emergency that might induce the Evangelists to set about this Work which yet is to be look'd upon as a Providential Motion yet the Gospels themselves not only answer that particular End which was the first Occasion of their being writ but are of General Use and fitted to all Ages and times We have already mention'd the Occasion of St. Matthew and St. Mark 's writing their Gospels St. Luke gives an l Luk. 1.1 Account of his Undertaking himself the substance of which is That since many had written an History of our Savior's Life and Actions who wanted some Advantages of knowing the Particulars which he had he himself being exactly inform'd by those who were Eye-witnesses and Parties concern'd set about a more accurate account of these Matters to the end that every Christian who will be at the pains to read it might know the Certainty of those things wherein he has been instructed It seems from hence that committing things to Writing was in St. Lukes judgment the most certain means of Conveying the Knowledge of them to others As for St. John 't is plain by comparing his Gospel with the other Three that he had seen the Rest and approved them a V. Eus H. E. l. 3. c. 24 and therefore supplied what he thought fit which the former Evangelists had omitted that so all of them together might be a Complete Account of all that Jesus did and taught And he 〈◊〉 himself tells us that his Design in writing his Gospel was b Joh. 20.31 That men might believe that Jesus is Christ and that believing they might have life thro' his Name To proceed to the Epistles of the Apostles it must be confess'd that many of St. Paul's were written upon the particular Exigencies of the Churches to which they are directed and were occasion'd by some Disputes that were proper to those times which may be thought an Argument that they were not design'd for the General Use of the Church But yet if we consider that the Fundamental Doctrines of Christianity are admirably illustrated by them and many of the more Mysterious parts of the Gospel-Dispensation more fully treated of in them than by Christ himself because there were many things which the Apostles were not able to bear c Joh. 16.12 while he was with them and therefore they were referred to the Teaching of the Holy Ghost for fuller Instruction in such matters I say if we lay these things together we must acknowledge it necessary to add the Apostolical Epistles to the Gospels in order to the making up a Complete Rule of Christian Faith or else we shall be much to seek for an Authentick Explication of several Important Points of Christianity But of this I shall discourse more largely in the next Chapter To return to S. Paul's Epistles I cannot but observe how the Wisdom of God has made St. Paul's Style and way of Writing to be admirably serviceable to the Edification of the Church which yet if we examine it by the Rules of Criticism is far from being Regular and Exact But his free use of Digressions and those long ones too sometimes opens him a way into a larger Subject and of more General Use and does not suffer him to confine himself to that one particular Point which 't was his main Design to treat of And when we find him take occasion from every hint to explain the Mysteries of the Gospel to set forth the Excellency of it and to perswade men to live up to the Height of its Precepts this is not only a sign that his holy Soul was full of this noble Subject but is likewise an argument that the Holy Spirit Influenc'd his Pen and made him enlarge himself upon those Points which were of Universal Concern and would be for the Perpetual Benefit of the Church in all succeeding Ages A signal Instance of this you may see in that large Digression in the second Epistle to the Corinthians which reaches from the 13. verse of the Second Chapter to the 5. verse of the Seventh Where he discourses of some of the Fundamentals of Christianity with such a true Spirit of Piety and with such a powerful Force of Natural Eloquence that if we may prefer one part of that Inspir'd Teacher's Writings before another we might call this one of the most Elevated Discourses in all St. Paul's Epistles And as both the Matter of his Epistles and the Manner how they are writ discover to us that they were design'd for the Perpetual Use of Christians so we shall find St. Peter to have been of the same mind whose words justify all that I have said For he places St. Paul's Epistles in an equal Rank with those holy Writings which were on all hands agreed upon to be the Word of God Thus much his words import II. Pet. 3.15 16. where speaking of St. Paul's Epistles that there were some things in them hard to be understood which ignorant and unstable men wrested and applied to ill purposes to establish corrupt Doctrines he adds As they do also the OTHER SCRIPTURES to their own destruction which Expression of other Scriptures plainly implies that St. Peter look'd upon St. Paul's Epistles as part of the Canon of Scripture and rank'd them among those Divine Writings which were design'd for our Edification and Instruction in Righteousness and which 't was dangerous to pervert to a contrary Purpose And if St. Paul's Epistles which were writ upon the Exigencies and with Regard to the State of Particular Churches were yet still design'd to be of general Use the same may be said with much greater reason concerning the Epistles of the rest of the Apostles with aim only at this General Design to confirm those in the Faith to whom they were directed to exhort and testifie that this is the true Grace of God wherein they stood d 1 Pet 5.12 and to keep up the Remembrance of the Apostles Doctrine after their decease e 2 Pet. 1.15 as St. Peter speaks concerning the Intent of his two Epistles And we find St. John addresses himself to all Christians without Restriction and even to all Ranks and Degrees of them whom he divides into Children Young men and Fathers f 1 Joh. 2.12 13. Thus much I think sufficient to prove that the Apostles themselves design'd their Writings for the Perpetual Use of the Church and look'd upon them as of Equal Authority with the Inspir'd Books of the Old Testament I proceed to the VI. and last Proposition viz. The Age immediately following that of the Apostles look'd upon their Writings as the Standing Rule of Faith to the Christian Church Certainly next to the Apostles themselves the Age immediately following was best able to know what the Apostles thought of their own Writings and what Authority they challeng'd as due to them Irenaeus one of the Greatest men of the Church in
that Age sufficiently shews the Sense of the Christians of his own time concerning the Authority of these Writings The Hereticks against whom he writes pretended that their Opinions came originally from the Apostles and that whatever the Apostles might say to the contrary in their Writings yet they taught those very things by word of mouth which these Hereticks since maintain'd In answer to this Irenaeus does not only confute their Pretences by shewing that there was Clear and Undoubted Tradition for the Catholick Faith which in those early Times could easily be trac'd up to the very Apostles g Iren. l. 3. c. 3. but likewise proves that 't is in vain to set up Oral Tradition in Opposition to the Writings of the Apostles h Ibid. l. 3. c. 1. because the very same Gospel which they at first preach'd they afterwards by the Will of God committed to Writing to be the Foundation and Pillar of our Faith In pursuance of which Testimony we may further observe that the very Arts which those Hereticks used either to Undermine or Evade the Authority of the Apostolical Writings plainly shew their Authority was look'd upon as Sacred and Decisive in the Christian Church The Writers of the same Age do fully bear witness to the Canon of the New Testament The Learned Mr. Dodwell has observ'd i Dissert in Irenaeum l. n. 40 41. that St. Paul's Epistles were generally known and received in the Church soonest of any of the New Testament Writings and accordingly besides the Testimony which St. Peter gives them which we have already mention'd we we may observe that Ignatius the earliest Writer of the second Age is very industrious in imitating St. Paul's Style and using his Expressions as if he had a mind his Readers should take notice that he had studied his Epistles The Authority indeed of the Epistle to the Hebrews hath been call'd in question because the Author 's not having set his Name to it has given occasion to doubt whether it were S. Paul's or not But as this Epistle must be of Apostolical Authority being older than Clemens Romanus who plainly alludes to it in two places of his Epistle to the Corinthians k N. 17 36. so the style the way of Arguing and the Genius of the work discover it to be S. Paul's but S. Peter puts an end to the dispute for the saying which he quotes in his second Epistle as S. Paul's is certainly taken out of the Epistle to the Hebrews l 2 Pet. 3.15 compar'd with Hebr. 10.37 The first Epistle of S. Peter is quoted by S. Polycarp who writ just after Ignatius's death About the same time certain Pious Men Travell'd from place to place on purpose to communicate the Writings of the Gospels as Eusebius informs us m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 H. E. l. 3. c. 37. which he to be sure understood of the Four Gospels now extant which only were reckon'd Authentick in his time And 't is plain they were esteem'd so in the Middle of the Second Age because Justin Martyr quotes them generally whenever he has occasion to mention any thing belonging to the History of our Saviour But in Irenaeus's time their Authority was settled beyond all dispute for he says positively n Iren. l. 3. c. 11. that there are Four Gospels neither more nor less And indeed the Authenticalness of Four Gospels seems to be owing to St. John himself who made them into one Complete Code as I observed before o p. 11. 12. The same Iraeneus gives a large Testimony to the Revelations and often quotes the first Epistle of S. John p ap Euseb H. E. l. 3. c. 18. l. 5. c. 8. I thought it not improper to give this brief Account of the Testimonies which are given by the earliest Christian Writers to the most considerable Books of the New Testament to shew how good a Foundation there is for the Authority of the New-Testament Canon and how little ground there is for Mr. Hobb's Insinuation to the contrary who tell us q Leviathan part 3. c. 33. that the Writings of the Apostles were not received nor acknowledged as such by the Church till the Council of Laodicca which was held in the Year 364. recommended them to Christians As if all Christians did not agree in acknowledging such particular Books for the Writings of the Apostles till they were Recommended to them as he speaks and Enumerated by a Council Which has as little truth in it as what he says just afterward that at the time of this Council all the Copies of the New Testament were in the hands of Ecclesiasticks which if it be not a downright and wilful falsity in him is such a piece of ignorance as a grosser cannot be found in all the Kingdom of Darkness which he has described I find Men generally agree in believing Mr. Hobbs to be the Author of the Leviathan and several other ill Books and I fear too many have a great deference for their Authority tho the Parliament which according to him hath a juster right to declare what Books or Doctrines are to be received than a Council hath not yet given us a Catalogue of his Writings or Recommended them to the World neither of which could be true if this Argument of his be good But to return I don't pretend to have Collected all that can be alledged to prove the Antiquity of the New-Testament-Canon nor will I go farther upon a Subject that is already undertaken by that Learned Person who will shortly Publish an Elaborate Collection of all the Various Readings of the New Testament from whom the World may expect full satisfaction as to this matter However I can't but just take notice that 't is no prejudice to the Divine Authority of the N. Testament as our Author intimates a Fr. p. 266. Eng. p. 85. that some Books are received into it whose Authors are not certainly known and therefore as he argues of whose Inspiration we can't be certain He instances in the Epistle to the Hebrews But there is sufficient proof that S. Paul was the Author of that Epistle as I have shewed already And as to the whole New-Testament Canon 't was certainly the design of those that Compiled it only to gather together the Writings of the Apostles or of such as writ by their direction as the Ancients tell us S. Mark did by S. Peter's b Clem. Alex. ap Eus H.E. l. 2. c. 15. S. Luke by S. Paul's c Iren ap eund l. 5. c. 8. Grot. in Luc. 21.34 1 Cor. 11.23 24 25. comparâ—d with Luk. 22.19 20. So that the only reason why some Books were doubted of was because it did not clearly appear whether they were Writ by Apostles or not and assoon as that point was cleared
sure his Disciples would never pretend to know more then their Master Having thus considered the Cases in which the Apostles spake or writ without Inspiration I proceed in the II. Place to shew that Excepting those Cases the Apostles writ and spake by the particular Assistance and Direction of the Spirit Our Author confines the Infallibility of their Preaching and Writing to those things which they Learn'd from Christ or related as spoken by him p Fr. p. 256 257. Eng. p. 69 70. But as to the Arguments which they fram'd upon those Principles and the Consequences they deduc'd from the Old Testament here he supposes them to have used only their own Memory and Judgment tho he grants these Discourses of theirs are to be received because there 's nothing in them but what is conformable to the Doctrine of Christ and to right Reason and nothing that can lead us into the Belief of what is false or contrary to Piety q En. p. 112 131 135. Fr. p. 282 283. 224 227. This as exactly as I can gather is all the Authority he allows the Sermons and Writings of the Apostles and this indeed is as much Authority as can be given to any Humane Discourse and tho it does not exclude all possibility yet it excludes all likelyhood of error But as we look upon the Apostles to have been somewhat more than Sound Divines or Men that very well understood the Doctrine which they were to teach others so their Discourses and Writings have been always esteem'd of an higher Rank than any Religious Treatises purely Humane which however solid and true they may be are to be judged of by these Writings and are no further true than they agree with them The Scripture makes this the Characteristick of an Apostle whereby he was distinguisht from the other Inspir'd persons who were then in the Church viz. that he did not learn the Gospel in an Humane way r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 1.11 compar with ver 12. 1. v. 1 Cor. 2.10 but purely by Revelation S. Paul might have been sufficiently instructed in the Gospel by those who were Pillars in the Church ſ v. Gal. 2.6 9. so as to have been out of all likelyhood either of mistaking any part of it himself or leading others into error but we see this way of Instruction was not sufficient to advance him to the Dignity of the Apostolate and therefore Christ himself made a particular Revelation of the whole Gospel to him t v. Ubi supr 1 Cor. 11.23 Eph. 3.3 4. that he might not be Inferior in any respect to the chiefest Apostles And since the Gospel was communicated to him and the rest of the Apostles by Divine Revelation only that they might teach it to others whether by Word or Writing with the greater assurance and certainty and without any danger of error their Discourses which were design'd for the Instruction of the Church must be the effects of this supernatural habit of Christian Knowledge which God infus'd into their minds I have shewed in the former Chapter u P. 29. that the same Assistance accompanied the Apostles in their Writing which did in their Preaching and therefore shall now speak of these two indifferently and shew what kind of Authority the Apostles claim'd in either of them S. Paul says w 1 Cor. 2.10 that God has revealed the deep things and the Mysteries of the Gospel to the Apostles by the Spirit which probably were the same things Christ told his Disciples they were not able to bear while he was with them x John 16.12 Such was particularly the Doctrine of the Cross which S. Paul's Discourse chiefly relates to in that place y 1 Cor. 1.18 c c. 2.2 These things S. Paul says z Ib. ver 13. they spoke and taught others and that too in the Words which the Holy Ghost taught them Where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comprehends their style a Ver. 1. 4. as well as their Arguments and shews there 's a greater regard to be had to the style of the Apostles than our Author b v. loc supr citat p. 35. is willing to allow and even for that very Reason which he alledges as an Argument why 't is not dictated by the Spirit viz. because 't is plain and without any Affectation of Wit or Learning and conform'd to the style of the Old Testament For this style however Negligent and Careless our Author may think it c Fr. p. 233. En. p. 145. the Apostles used by the direction of the Holy Ghost as appears from this place It follows immediately Comparing Spiritual things with Spiritual where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signify Explaining Illustrating d v. Grot. in locum i. e. proving one Divine Revelation by another the Revelations of the New Testament by those of the Old At last the Apostle concludes e Ib. ver 16. We have the mind of the Christ and therefore ye are to hearken to us and receive what we say tho in many things not agreeing with the Principles of Philosophy or Worldly Wisdom which the Apostle in the Verses before f 1 Cor. 1.20 c. c. 2.1 c. had undervalued in comparison of the Gospel In all which Discourse S. Paul plainly ascribes his and the rest of the Apostles Preaching to the Instructions the Holy Ghost gave them without making any restrictions and particularly that part of it which consisted in drawing Consequences and bringing Proofs from the Old Testament Again we find the same Apostle threatning those that despise his Advice as not despising man but God who gave the Apostles his holy Spirit g 1 Thes 4.8 that they might teach with uncontroulable Authority And I think we may fairly conclude from hence that St. Paul expected all his Precepts and Instructions should be submitted to not meerly as coming from one of the Governours of the Church but as having something more then Humane Authority and being derived from the Spirit of God For what he says in this place tho it immediately respect only those Advices which are contain'd in the foregoing part of the Chapter may by parity of Reason be applied to all other Apostolical injunctions for as the words are general and do not specify that the Apostle deliver'd these particular Rules by an extraordinary Revelation more than any others which he elsewhere gives so neither are the Advices such in their own Nature as require a greater degree of Inspiration to deliver them than the other Exhortations and Commands which are every where to be found in the Apostolical Writings From whence I conclude we ought to look upon those Writings as a Divine Rule of Faith and Practise and that he who despises or undervalues them despises not man but God who gave his holy Spirit to the Authors of them And how far our Author may be guilty of this fault
whether those words of this Paraphrase As is a great part of the Old Testament be not added meerly to serve the present Turn without the least Intimation of such a Restriction from the Text it self and whether the Coherence of these two Verses be not plainly this Continue in the Study of the Old Testament because all the Books which that consists of are Divinely Inspir'd But I supposes he grounds this Interpretation of his upon that Reading of the Text for which Grotius f In locum contr Rivetum vouches the Syriack and Vulgar Translations Omms Scriptura Divinitùs Inspirata utilis est But if we should admit of this Reading still the Sense will come all to one and the Words as they lie then tho they do not in Express terms assert that all the Old Testament Writings are Divinely Inspir'd yet they Imply it and take it for granted For if we read the Greek thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will be an Explicative Epithet to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 just as if we add the Epithet Rationalis to Homo in such a Proposition as this Homo Rationalis creatus est ad colendum Deum In which Proposition tho it be not expresly asserted that Homo is Rationalis yet so much is Implied and if it were not true 't would make the whole Proposition false as Monsieur Nicol has observed in his Ars Cogitandi g Pars 2. c. 5. And just so in the Proposition we speak of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the Scriptures of the Old Testament in which sense the word is always taken in the New Testament and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added for a fuller Explication of that term I know Grotius h Votum pro Pace prout citatur Fr. p. 270. Fn. p. 193. will needs have the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taken here in its General Sense and signify simply a Book or Writing But I can't forbear saying that this gloss is Unworthy of Grotius and 't is a sign of a Bad Cause when so Great a Man is fain to betake himself to such Pitiful Sophistry as is to be seen in the fore-cited Place For he can't produce one Instance in all the New Testament where the word is used in that Sense and if he could yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 added to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufficiently Restrains the General sense of it and makes one Complex Term which must signify the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Verse before both which Expressions signify the Old Testament because 't is a Collection of Inspir'd Writings and consequently the Phrase it self asserts so much by way of Implication or else it would be an Improper Expression I think it appears from what has been said what was the Judgement of Christ and his Apostles concerning the Canon of the Old Testament and since 't is certain that they approved the Canon of the Old Testament as it was received by the Jewish Church of their own time I can't guess what evidence of Reason can be sufficient to perswade a Christian to Oppose such an Authority And therefore I can't be of our Author's mind when he tell us i Eng. p. 188. Fr. p. 267. He knows not why we may not doubt of the Books of the Old Testament as well as of some of the New the Authority of several of the Latter having been question'd But there is a visible Difference between the Authorities that confirm the Old Testament Canon and those which give Testimony to the New To the Former Christ and his Apostles bear Witness whereas the Credit of the Latter depends upon the Consent and Testimony of much the Greater part of the Church in the Ages succeeding that of the Apostles which tho it be sufficient for any Wise and Unprejudic'd Man to ground his assent upon yet it hath not that Sacredness and Infallibility in it which the other hath For those Ages made use only of Humane Means for settling the New Testament Canon which was sufficient for that purpose considering the Nearness of those times to the Writing of the Books to which they give Testimony Nor does the name of Chetubim which the Jews give to those Writings of the Old Testament which Mr. N. calls in question at all justify his Opinion He fancies k Fr. p. 276. En. p. 102. they were call'd Chetubim i. e. Simply Writings as he Interprets it to signify that they were like other Humane Writings and had nothing at all of Inspiration in them But the Jewish Writers say not one Syllable to confirm this Opinion that I can find On the contrary by their placing Daniel among the Chetubim it appears that they look upon the Writers of that Class to have been Inspir'd for the Jews all agree that Daniel had really the Gift of Prophecy tho they fancy it to be in a lower Degree Further Maimonides saith expresly l More Nevoch p. 2. c. 45. that they are called Chetubim quia scripta sunt per Spiritum Sanctum And tho he reckons that Impulse which he calls Spiritus Sanctus inferiour to the Degree of Inspiration which Isaiah and the other Prophets properly so call'd had yet 't is plain that he looks upon it as a proper kind of Inspiration for the instances he gives of it are by his own Confession real Inspirations m See Mr. Smiths Discourse of Prophecy c. 7. So that I do not see how Maimonides take his Explication altogether gives any Advantage to this Opinion tho Grotius n Votum pro pace prout citatur Fr. p. 231. Eng. p. 141. quote him for it The Jews do indeed acknowledge a Difference between the Inspiration of the Hagiographa and the Prophetical Writings but this doth not prove them to be no part of the Scripture for I think there is no body that considers the manner of the Spirit 's Operation upon the Minds of Inspir'd Persons but will readily acknowledge that there 's no need of the same Degree of Inspiration to write a History or a Book of Morality as is requisite to make a Prophet But concerning the different Degrees of Inspiration I have discours'd already in several places of this Treatise and shall have Occasion to speak of it hereafter But if the Jewish Division of the Old Testament favour'd Mr. N's Opinion never so much I do not see any Force at all in the Argument taken from thence for that Division is not of so early a Date as to be able to vye with the much Ancienter Opinion concerning the Inspiration of the whole Jewish Canon St. Jerom is the first that I find takes notice of this Division o Prolog Galeat Praef. in Daniel the placing the Prophet Daniel among the Chetubim in this Division besides that there is no shadow of Reason for it except it be that the Jews bear him a Spight for Prophecying so plainly of our Saviour discovers that
't is of no long standing since 't is contrary to the Sense of the Ancient Jews For Josephus often calls Daniel a Prophet p Antiq. l. 10. c. 12. nay one of the greatest q Ib. p. 353. G. Ed. Genev Prophets And agreeably to the Received Opinion our Saviour gives him the same Title r Matth. 24.15 But further the same Josephus Å¿ L. 1. c. App. p. 1036. G. makes use of another Division of the Old Testament Writings viz. into the Books of Moses the Prophetical under which he comprehends the Historical because they were writ by Prophets as he with very good Reason supposes and the Poetical Books as they are commonly call'd or those which contain Hymns to God and Precepts of good Life Which Division agrees much better with that mention'd by our Saviour t Luke 24.44 viz. into the Books of Moses the Prophets and the Psalms than the other which the Jews have since that time Invented Thus far I have shew'd that Mr. N. by rejecting some of the Receiv'd Books of the Jewish Canon rejects the Authority of the whole Jewish and Christian Church nay and of Christ and his Apostles too What Reasons he has for this we shall see by and by but at present let us examine what Authority he has to oppose to such a Powerful one as all these join'd together amount to And I can find no body that stands by him in this Opinion but Grotius and him he calls in to his Assistance at every Turn But tho I have a great value for Grotius's Judgment yet I think if it be laid in the Balance to counterpoise that of Christ and his Apostles 't will be found too Light That Great man's Extraordinary Learning and Merits and particularly his having so well deserv'd of several Parts of Scripture and given such Light into their true Sense and Design makes me willing to pass over his Failures and not be severe upon his Memory for those False Glosses and some of them deserve a Harder Name which he has made upon other Books of it Only I can't but observe that this Opinion of his concerning the Old Testament Canon is very Inconsistent with the Main Design of his Votum pro Pace and those other Treatises where he has asserted it For the Great Design of those Projects for Peace is to magnify Antiquity Tradition and the Authority of the Church and to shew that Catholick Unity is never to be restor'd but by submitting all Controversies to the Decision of these three as so many Arbitrators or Umpires between the different Parties And yet at the same time when he Pleads for the Authority of the Church of Antiquity and Tradition he Rejects those Books which have all the Authority that the Universal Church Uninterrupted Tradition and the Consent of all the Ancients both Jews and Christians can give them II. I come now in the Second Place to consider the Exceptions which our Author makes against Particular Books of the Old Testament and the Books he Excepts against are either Historical or those they commonly call Poetical As to the Historical Writings I agree with him thus far that the Sacred Historians were not usually Inspir'd with the things themselves which they relate nor with the Words by which they Express the things But I think I have prov'd in the First Chapter u P. 37. of this Treatise that a Book may be written by God's Direction and yet not without the Use of Humane means And as there is no Reason to think that God Inspir'd the Evangelists with the Knowledge of those Passages of our Saviour's Life which they themselves were Eye-witnesses of or might easily learn from those that were so so 't is every whit as groundless to suppose that God Reveal'd those Particulars to the Writers of the Old Testament History which they could come to the Knowledge of by Consulting the Records and Ancient Monuments in which these Matters were related But notwithstanding this 't will appear that these Books were writ by God's Direction and Design'd by him for the Use of the Church if we consider what Mr. N. himself grants x Fr. p. 231. En. p. 28. That they were not writ meerly to satisfy our Curiosity but to be a standing proof of a Providence to after Ages to shew us the Care that God always takes of Good People and the Punishments he inflicts upon the Wicked to give us Examples of Piety and Vertue and lastly to inform us of several Matters of Fact which tend very much to confirm our Faith as containing many Types and Predictions of our Saviour To which we may add that setting aside the Squabbles between F. Simon and his Adversaries about the Scribes and Keepers of the Publick Registers of the Jews 't is highly probable that the Prophets usually writ the Histories of their Kings and those Books which are so often quoted under the name of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah and Israel and were Annals from whence the Substance of the Books of Kings and Chronicles are taken For we find a Considerable part of the History of Hezekiah Incorporated into Isaiah's Prophecy a Is c. 36 37 38 39. which is a Strong Presumption that the whole History of that King's Reign was Recorded by the same Hand And indeed so much is expresly asserted 2 Chron. 32.32 So the Acts of David were Recorded by Samuel the Seer by Nathan the Prophet and by Gad the Seer b 1 Chr. 29.29 The Acts of Solomon were written in the Book of Nathan the Prophet in the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the Visions of Iddo the Seer c 2 Chr. 9.29 The History of Rehoboam's Reign was written by Shemaiah the Prophet and by Iddo the Seer in his Genealogies d 2 Chr. 12.15 the last of these Recorded likewise the Acts of Abijah Rehoboam's Son e Chap. 13.22 Jehu the Son of Hanani who was a Prophet f 1 King 16.1 2 Chron. 19.2 writ the History of Jehoshaphat g 2 Chr. 20.34 The Acts of Vzziah were Recorded by the Prophet Isaiah h Ch. 26.22 and those of Manasses among the sayings of the Seers i Ch. 33.19 To the same purpose I think we may most probably Interpret those words of Josephus k Joseph c. Appion l. 1. p. 1036. Ed. Genev. which have been so often quoted of late upon this Subject where he tells us that the Histories of the Jewish Nation were writ only by Prophets and therefore they look upon none of them as Authentick which were writ after Artaxerxe's time because there was no Clear and Vndoubted Succession of Prophets in the following Ages Nor is Huetius's Objection l Demon. Evangel p. 161. against this Passage of Josephus of any Weight who affirms that Josephus Contradicts what he had said but just before viz. That the Chief Priests as well as the Prophets had the Care of Writing the Publick
God's Providence in their Minds p. 133 3 To foretell the times of the Messias p. 136 Why his Coming revealed so often and so particularly p. 137 By what Steps and Degrees God revel'd this Mystery p. 141 Some Prophecies more directly pointing to the Messias than others p. 145 Concerning the Literal and Mystical sense of Prophecies how reasonable to allow this Double Sense p. 146 An Instance of both these Senses in that Famous Prophecy Is 7.10 c. which is at large Exlain'd p. 149 The same proved by other Instances p. 151 There are Evident Marks whereby to discover a Mystical Sense wherever 't is involv'd under a Literal One p. 152 The reasons why Prophecies are written in such a Style as contains a Mystical Sense under a Literal One p. 155 Two Rules laid down as the Foundation of Mystical Interpretations p. 161 A Recapitulation of what has been said in this Chapter p. 163 CHAP. IV. Wherein some Difficulties are Resolv'd relating to the Prophets themselves or their Writings p. 167 Two Difficulties proposed the First concerning the Obscurity of Prophecies the Second concerning the Marks whereby to distinguish True Prophets from False Ibid The First Answer'd by proving these two things 1 That the Prophecies were not so much design'd to gratify Men's Curiosity in discovering to them what should come to pass hereafter as to Convince them when the things foretold were come to pass that 't was the Lord's doing p. 170 Dan. 12.4 and Revelat. 22.10 Explain'd p. 171 2 Assertion The fulfilling of Prophecies if deliver'd plainly inconsistent with the Freedom of Humane Actions p. 174 Three Rules laid down for the Clearing of Second Difficulty 1 Rule A Prophets endeavouring to Seduce Men to Idolatry a certain Sign of a False Prophet p. 183 2 Rule The Prophets usually when they first entred upon their Office gave such a Sign of their Mission that a little time would discover whether they were sent from God or not the fulfilling of which Sign establisht their Authority for the Future p. 185 3 Rule Three Criteria made use of to judge of a Prophet if he gave no Sign viz. Purity of Doctrine Holiness of Life and Agreement with other Prophets p. 188 CHAP. V. Concerning the Inspiration of the Canonical Books of the Old Testament in General and of the Historical and Poetical Books in Particular p. 139 Mr. N.'s Objections Proposed p. 194 Concerning the time when the Canon of the Old Testament was Compiled Several Reasons assign'd why it must have been Compiled in Ezra's time or not long after p. 195 To suppose it Compiled so Early adds great weight to it's Authority p. 199 The Canon doth not consist of all the Fragments of the Ancient Jewish Books which were Extant when that was made as Mr. N. supposes p. 201 Our Saviour approved the Canon of the Old Testament as it stood and was received by the Jews in his time p. 205 So did the Apostles 2. Tim. 3.16 Vindicated from the Gloss which Grotius and Mr. N. put upon it p. 209 The Jewish Division of the Old Testament into the Law Prophets and Chetubim does not favor Mr. N. p. 214 That Division proved not to be Ancient p. 216 Grotius's Authority in this Controversy consider'd p. 211 Concerning the Authority of the Historical Writings of the Old Testament 'T is probable they were Composed by Prophets p. 220 A passage in Josephus to that purpose clear'd from the Exceptions of Monsieur Huetius p. 223 The Book of Esther Vindicated from Mr. N.'s Objections p. 226 A Vindication of the Book of Job Why writ with so much Elegancy p. 228 An account of those passages in it which savour of Impatience p. 230 What Opinion Job maintain'd in the Dispute betwixt him and his Friends p. 233 In what sense this Book is Inspir'd p. 236 What excellent Uses may be made of this Book p. 239 The Divine Authority of the Book of Psalms proved p. 240 They made up the greatest part of the Publick Service first of the Jewish and afterward of the Christian Church in the Primitive times p. 242 An Answer to the Grand Objection taken from the Imprecations which are to be found in several of the Psalms consisting of Three Particulars viz. 1 Several of those Expressions do not really import so much as they seem to do p. 246 2 Most of them are rather Predictions than Imprecations p. 247 3 'T is lawful in several Cases to Pray against our Enemies This proved in four Instances p. 250 A Caution against Misunderstanding some Expressions in the Psalms p. 260 The Divine Authority of the Book of Proverbs asserted p. 261 M. N. guilty of a manifest Error p. 262 The Proverbs being Moral Instructions no Argument that they are not Inspir'd p. 264 In what respect this Book exeeeds the Moral Writings of the Heathen Philosophers p. 267 Mr. N's Objections against some particular Passages in this Book Answer'd p. 269 Concerning the Collection of Proverbs ascribed to Agur and an Answer to Mr. N's Objections against them p. 271 The Design of Ecclesiastes and of the Canticles explained and Vindicated from Mr. N's Objections p. 279 The CONCLUSION p. 281 ERRATA THat which most disturbs the sense is pag. 48. lin 20. where in stead of do not reach this Case by the Laws of Christ read the Laws of Christ do not reach this Case P. 26. in the Mar. for p. 11. 12. r. p. 17. p. 50. in the Mar. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 121. l. 26. for ther'e 's r. there 's p. 123. l. 26. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 145. Marg. for v. Cels r. c. Cels p. 160. l. 20. del likewise p. 212. Mar. put a comma after citatur p. 250. l. 18. for ef r of p. 259. l. 20. for of notorious r. of his notorious p. 262 l. 23. for sebject r. subject CHAPTER I. General Considerations concerning the Inspiration of the Writings of the New Testament I Do not dislike our Author's a French Edit p. 222. English p. 13 Division of the Scripture-Writings into Prophecies Histories and Doctrines and I do so far agree with him as to grant that all the Holy Books have not an equal degree of Inspiration but have more or less of it according as the matters they contain are more or less Adequate to the Writers Understanding and Capacities For I cannot but think that God made use of their Natural Talents as far as they could be subservient to his designs the Reasons of which Opinion I shall have occasion hereafter to mention But yet notwithstanding my agreement with him thus far I must desire leave not to follow his Method because I think 't will contribute much to the Clearness and Strength of the following Discourse if I treat of the Inspiration of the New-Testament-Writings in General in the first place For in this Method we begin with what is most Known and Certain
Rule of Faith Dr. Stillingfl Defence of A. B. Laud. Dr. Sherlocks Protestant Resolution of Faith Learned Defenders of the Protestant Resolution of Faith against those Popish Writers that set up Tradition in Opposition to it and the Absurdity of the latter is evident at first sight and none but meer Enthusiasts ever made any Pretence to it But on the other side for God to communicate his Will by Writing implies nothing in it but what is Natural and Easie there is nothing requisite to continue this to Posterity but God's preserving the Writings themselves by the ordinary Methods of Providence and then men may as well learn his Will from thence as they can know the Histories of former Ages the Opinions of Philosophers the Laws of their own and other Countries from the Writings which record each of these particulars unless we will say that God cannot order a Book to be writ in as Intelligible a manner as men can indite it when they are left to themselves But 't will further appear that 't is more reasonable to suppose that God should preserve the Knowledge of Christianity by appointing a written Rule of Faith than by any other means if we consider III. That he made use of the same means formerly for the Instruction of the Jewish Church With God is no variableness and what he once approves of he does not afterward lay aside but upon some great reason Moses wrote his Law in a book by God's direction e Exod. 34.27 the Prophets appeal to the Law and to the Testimony f Is 8.20 as the only safe Guide and by which men must judge whether a Doctrine come from God or not Our Saviour bids the Jews g Joh. 5.39 search the Scriptures for in them they were perswaded and so far they were in the right was contain'd the way to Eternal Life and in all his Contests with the Jews he desired no other Vouchers for the Truth of what he said but Moses and the Prophets And 't will appear very reasonable to believe that God should use the same Method to instruct the Christian Church which he did the Jewish if we consider that our Saviour and his Apostles conform'd the External parts of their Religion to the Customs received among the Jews as much as they could being resolv'd to give no offence by studiously affecting Novelties The Two Sacraments were taken from Jewish Rites the Government of the Christian Church was framed after the Pattern of the Jewish Hierarchy the Apostles as 't is natural for all men to do being willing to retain the Customs they had been bred up in wherever the Nature of Christiany did not oblige them to the contrary From whence 't is natural to suppose that the Apostles should take care before they left the world to provide some certain means of Instruction for the Christian Church in Conformity to the Jewish which might supply their place when they were dead and gone or else they would not have been so faithful in their office as Moses was who delivered the Book of the Law to the Priests before his Decease h Deut. 31 9 26. And 't is likely the Christians themselves would expect to be provided with as good and sufficient means of knowing their duty as the Jews enjoyed or else they would have had just cause to complain that they came behind them in the Advantages of Knowledge and Instruction And that this is not a meer Conjecture but the real Sense of the first Christians is plain from the Account which the Ancient Writers give us of the occasion of St. Matthew and S. Mark 's writing their Gospels Eusebius tells us i H. E. l. 3. c. 24. that St. Matthew wrote his Gospel particularly for the use of the Jews to whom he had preached because going into other parts he would supply the Want of his Presence by Writing Clemens Alexandrinus saies k Ap Eus H. E. l. 2. c. 15. That St. Mark wrote his Gospel at the Request of the Christians at Rome who were not satisfied with an unwritten Tradition of the Word and therefore desir'd him to commit it to Writing Which St. Peter coming to understand approved and confirmed this Gospel for the use of the Church And when these and the other Apostolical Writings came into the hands of Christians there was no need of a particular Command from God to make them be received as the Rule of the Christian Faith For the Character of the Persons who wrote them the Example of the Jewish Church and the Parity of Reason why these Writings should be of equal Authority among Christians as the Writings of the Old Testament were among the Jews and lastly the Necessity of having some Standing and Settled Rule of Faith these were all sufficient Inducements to Christians to look upon the Apostolical Writings as ordained by God for the Perpetual Use and Instruction of the Church And this will further appear if we consider IV. That God has actually made use of no other way for the conveying down the Doctrine of Christianity that can be assign'd but the Writings of the N. Testament 'T is a very weak Argument to infer that things must be so because we think it Convenient they should be so This is indeed to prescribe to God Almighty and tell him he ought to have ask'd our Advice in the Managing of things And therefore tho the Arguments for the Infallibility of Tradition for an Infallible Judge of Controversies or whatever other Guide men have set up in opposition to the Scriptures were never so plausible and were as real Demonstrations as the Authors of them fancy them to be yet as long as 't is plain by Experience that Tradition is not Infallible and that there is no Infallible Judge of Controversies all these Pretences to Demonstration signify nothing for a man may demonstrate his heart out before he will be able to confute Experience And that neither the Authority of the Church Representative nor the Tradition of the Church Diffusive neither Pope nor Council jointly or separately are Infallible Guides to Christians or equivalent to the Scriptures has been made out with such admirable Clearness and unanswerable Strength of Reason by the Learned Defenders of the Protestant Cause against Popery that without further insisting upon this Point I shall refer to them for further Satisfaction and proceed to the V. Proposition That the Apostles themselves design'd their Writings for the Perpetual Vse of the Church and look'd upon them of Equal Authority with the Writings of the Old Testament The Supernatural Assistance which attended the Apostles in every thing of Moment and tending to the Edification of the Church was so Extraordinary and even their Private Judgment as men was so Upright and void of all Self-interest and Corruption that 't will very much illustrate this matter to consider what Judgment and Opinion they themselves had of their own Writings The very Design of the
Fr. p. 280 285. that laying too great stress upon Words has bin the occasion of most of the Disputes among Christians I readily grant it has but then the fault has bin that Men have either Interpreted Scripture-Expressions by notions of Philosophy which the Holy Writers never heard of or else they have not inquir'd into the Sentiments of those times in which these Books were writ but have judged of their sense by the Schemes and applied them to the Disputes of Modern Ages as if they were writ only with a regard to the Controversies that should arise in After-Times without any respect to the Sentiments and Exigencies of the Age wherein they were written But if we have a regard only to the Genius of the Language which the Holy Writers used and judge of their Sentiments by the State of the Church in their time and by such Ancient Authors as were most likely to be acquainted with the Notions which were then generally received I don't think laying stress upon the Phrases of the Scriptures can lead us into such gross errors as Mr. N. imagines k Eng. p. 146. Fr p. 234. And without supposing this we can scarce deduce any Inferences from Scripture Texts and yet this is practis'd by the Apostles themselves who sometimes argue from Words and those too taken in their nicest signification A remarkable example of which is that Inference of S. Paul's l Gal. 3.16 To Abraham and to his seed were the Promises made he saith not And to seeds as of many but as of one And to thy seed which is Christ 3. Since God in his Providence took care that these Books should be Writ for the use of his Church and therefore gave Providential occasions for their being Written it follows that they are Compos'd in such a manner as not to exclude the use of the Natural Reason and Meditation of the Writers who Compos'd them Works of Providence are not suppos'd to exclude Humane means and we believe many things to be brought to pass by the determinate Counsel and Power of God tho they are not purely Miraculous and and meerly God's own Act and Deed but are brought to pass by second Causes as his Instruments And why then can't he give Men a Rule of Faith and Manners except the Writing be with the immediate Finger of God as the Two Tables were 'T is certain that the ordinary Operations of the Spirit do only excite and assist our natural Faculties not supersede or render them useless And even the extraordinary ones do very often influence Men's minds after the same manner as appears by S. Paul's advice to Timothy m 1 Tim. 4.14 Give attendance to Reading to Exhortation to Doctrine neglect not the gift which is in thee which was given thee by prophecy And to the same purpose he speaks in the second Epistle n 2 Tim. 1.6 And therefore tho we suppose the Authors of the Scriptures to have been Inspir'd and to have had the extraordinary Assistances of God's Spirit yet this will not exclude the use of their Natural Talents but that the Writers made use of them as far as they could be serviceable to their purpose and God supplied their defects From hence appears the weakness of that Argument which is urged by our Author and by some others against the Inspiration of the Poetical Books o Fr. p. 230. En. p. 27. of the Old Testament because they seem to be the effects of Study and Meditation and against that of the Historical Books of the Scripture p Grot. votum pro pace p. 672. Refutat Apologet. p. 722. because the things contain'd in them are either of the Writers own Knowledge or else taken from Ancient Memoirs or the Relation of others To the same purpose 't is urged against the Divine Authority of S. Paul's Epistles by Spinoza q Theol. Polit. c. 11 that they are full of Argumentation which he thinks must be the effect of S. Paul's own reason As if a Man that had a perfect Systeme of the Christian Religion infused into his mind by Revelation as we suppose S. Paul to have had did not apprehend it after a Rational manner and see the whole Series and Chain of its Principles by the help of which he could infer one thing from another But is it not a pleasant Argument against the Inspiration of a Book that it is writ in a Rational and Argumentative way which must either suppose that 't is below God Almighty to give a reason for his Institutions or else that 't was not proper for the Apostles to shew their Disciples that the Doctrines they taught them were such as might be Rationally deduc'd from certain Principles and to confute their Adversaries the same way who would not submit to their bare Authority nor believe a thing to be true meerly because they said so 4. It follows from what has bin said that 't is no Argument against a Book 's being design'd by God for the perpetual use of the Church that 't was at first writ upon some particular Exigency and with relation to the peculiar Circumstances of the persons to whom 't is directed For some of those Books of the Old Testament which were certainly design'd for the publick benefit of the Church as 't is granted by all that acknowledge any such thing as Inspiration and I don 't at present concern my self with any others I say some of the Undoubtedly Inspir'd Writings were occasion'd by the particular Exigences of those times in which their Authors lived I mean the Books of the Prophets who were all sent by God to testify against the sins which were committed in their own times And if God so order'd it that these Prophecies should be of perpetual use to the Church why may not the other Occasional Writings of the Scripture if I may so term them have been compos'd with the same Design I have already shewed r P. 19. that the manner of St. Paul's Writing does excellently answer this Intent From hence it appears that the Argument used by some Popish Writers why the New Testament cannot be a perfect Rule of the Christian Faith because several parts of it were writ only with Relation to particular Exigencies of some one Church holds as well against the Old Testament being a Rule to the Jews because a great part of of it viz. the Prophecies were occasion'd by the particular Circumstances of those Times in which the Prophets lived CHAP. II. A more particular Inquiry into the nature of the Apostolical Gifts and Inspiration HAving said thus much in general concerning the Divine Authority and Inspiration of the Apostolical Writings I proceed to examine more distinly the Assertions which the Author of the Letters hath laid down concerning the Inspiration of the Apostles and of their Writings and in order to that shall consider particularly both as to their Nature and Extent some of the most remarkable Gifts with which the
Histories committed to them But that Learned Man seems not to have attended to the whole Scope and Design of Josephus in that place For that Historian does not say that the Writing of the Publick Histories was committed to the Chief Priests as well as the Prophets but that the Care of the Publick Records was committed to them * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if we take an Intire view of that Section we shall find that Josephus speaks not only of the manner how the Histories of Former times were written but likewise how they were Preserved after they are writ The Care of writing them was committed to the Prophets as the other Passage assures us not Excluding those Priests who had the Gift of Prophecy the Preserving them he here tells us was particularly the Business of the Priests who likewise exactly Preserved the Genealogies of their Nation and renewed them when the Copies were Impair'd and in danger to be all lost by Wars and other Accidents and therefore were lookt upon as the Keepers of the Publick Records Whence is it that the same Author usually calls the Holy Writings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 m Antiq. p. 73. G. p. 140. A. p. 176. G. The Books laid up in the Temple under the Custody of the Priests Which was agreeable to the Customs of the Neighbouring Countries for so Philo Byblius n Ap. Euseb Praep. Evang. l. 1 says of Sanchuniathon that he Collected the Phenician Antiquities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of the Records laid up in their Temples But to return to our Subject From those many Instances I have given which shew 't was a Custom among the Jews for the Prophets to be their Historians we may conclude that the Historical Books of the Old Testament were writ by Men who had the Gift of Prophecy and Inspiration and tho we suppose them to be but Abridgements of the larger Commentaries of the Prophets yet they are really of as much Authority as those very Annals would be which were writ by the Prophets themselves if they were extant For if an Epitome be faithfully made and I suppose Mr. N. does not question the Fidelity of the Sacred Historians whatever is contained in it hath the same Authority and Credibility with the Original Writing So that if we lay all these things together the Character of the Compilers of these Historical Books the Matter and Design of them the Authority of the Jewish Canon and above all that of Christ and his Apostles these are sufficient Inducements to believe these Books to be Written by God's Direction for the Benefit of the Church And this I think is enough to give Divine Authority to an Historical Book tho neither the Matter nor Words of it be indited by Inspiration As for the History of Esther Mr. N. has taken much pains o Fr. p. 164 c. Eng. p. 249. and shewed a great deal of Skill in the Rules of Dramatick Poesy and all to prove that this Book looks like a Fiction and a piece of Tragi-Comedy He indeed tells us that he affirms nothing in this matter and does not intend to make himself a Party in the Dispute But a man would hardly take so much pains to make anothers Opinion look probable if he did not think it so himself But whatever his own Sentiments be to shew himself Impartial and that he is resolv'd not to conceal any thing that may be said on the other side he Critically remarks p Eng. p. 169. Fr. p. 252. that one Condition necessary to be observ'd in Dramatick Writings is wanting viz. Vnity of Time and Place which must needs seem a considerable Objection to so nice a Judge But besides this there 's another Objection which I confess has more Weight with me and seems quite to turn the Scales and make his Remarks appear meer Fancy and Fiction viz. that the Feast of Purim was really observed by the Jews in memory of the Deliverance recorded in this Book And 't will be a hard matter to make me believe that a whole Nation should keep an Anniversary Feast as 't is certain they did q 2 Macâ— 15.36 without some real Ground for it And if this was not the true Occasion of it as he seems to insinuate r Eng. p 170. Fr. p. 253. I desire either he would prove the Feast to be as very a Fiction as he supposes the History is or else inform us how the whole Nation of the Jews came to be so far impos'd upon as to observe it for till he does one of these two things I shall still be of opinion that the one was a Real Feast and the other a True History But tho this Play does not succeed he is resolved not to give over but try his Skill upon another Subject and turn the Book of Job into a Tragi-Comedy Å¿ Fr. p. â—â—4 Eng. p. 99. And I confess this Book is made according to the Rules of Poetry and with all the Beauties of it too as an Ordinary Reader may easily discover under all the Disadvantages of a Translation And therefore methinks our Author who understands the Rules and Decorums of Poetry so well should not be offended with those Pathetic Strains that are in the third Chapter and some other places of that Book for tho we should grant that they would not become a grave Philosophical Discourse yet I believe he might have found several Speeches in the Old Tragedies written with as much Vehemence and Warmth And yet the severest Philosophers commended those Writings and look'd upon them as containing very useful Instructions of Life And I see no Reason why God might not in this as well as other things suffer the Holy Writers to comply so far with their own Genius and the Humour which then prevail'd among the grave Sages of the World as to deliver Great and Weighty Truths in Poetical numbers and Expressions both to recommend them to the more Curious and Nice Readers and to convince the Wise men of the World who are apt to despise the Plainness of the Scriptures that there are to be found as Elevated Thoughts and as Noble Expressions in the Holy Writings as any Greece or Rome can boast of and therefore when they use a plain popular Style 't is not out of Necessity but Choice and because they rather aim at the Instruction of the ignorant than to gain Applause from the Learned t V. Orig. c. Cels p. 275 371 372. Ed. Cant. But still men perhaps will be ready to say that these Expressions may do well in a Profane Poem but are not so proper for a Sacred one and do not become the mouth of a Person eminent for Piety and Patience In answer to which I would desire the Objectors in the first place to consider that the Substance of the 3d Chapter of this Book which so much offends Mr. N. u Fr. p. 275. Eng. p. 100 when 't is taken in
A VINDICATION Of the DIVINE AUTHORITY and INSPIRATION of the Writings Of the OLD and NEW TESTAMENT In Answer to a Treatise lately Translated out of French Entituled Five Letters concerning the INSPIRATION of the Holy SCRIPTURES By William Lowth B. D. Fellow of St. John's College in Oxford OXFORD Printed at the THEATER And are to be sold by John Wilmot Bookseller An. Dom. 1692. Imprimatur JONATH EDWARDS Vice-Can OXON June 13. 1692. TO THE Right Reverend Father in God PETER Lord BISHOP of WINCHESTER AND PRELATE of the Most Noble ORDER of THE GARTER May it Please Your Lordship IT is the Misfortune of our times to have Religion at once assaulted by a Rude and Ignorant Profaneness by a Confident pretence to reason and by Sceptical Sophistry Its Foundations are attack'd by the Profess'd Enemies of God and Goodness Its Mysteries are Ridicul'd by Hereticks as if they intended to invite Atheists to their Assistance to joyn a Helping Hand to the Carrying on so Good a Work as the Exposing Religion and making it appear Absurd and Contemptible And as if it were not Task enough to Encounter Open Enemies it hath the Hard Fate of it's Blessed Author to be Wounded in the House of it's Friends whilest many of those who seem to Embrace it are much more Industrious to Raise Doubts and Scruples about it than to Establish the Fundamental Truths of it or else lay down such Loose Principles that Wicked Men may deduce their own Conclusions from them and can't but please themselves to see their Work done to their Hands and Christianity Undermin'd by the Imprudence or Treachery of it's own Votaries Thus by Degrees Men have proceeded from Arguing about Obscure and Nice Matters to question Known and Certain Truths and from Disputing about the Points and Tittles of the Law to Reject the Divine Authority of the whole from thence to Decry all Revelation because they cannot exactly Comprehend how God's Spirit Influences and Cooperates with Man's Understanding and at last to cast off Religion in General So True is that which a Great Man has Observ'd That the Disesteem of the Scriptures is the Decay of Religion and through many Turnings and Windings at last leads Men into the very Depth of Atheism My LORD The Design of the Letters which I have Undertaken to Answer is to Perplex Men's minds with Difficulties about the Nature of Inspiration and thereby render the Divine Authority of those Writings suspected which the Church has always lookt upon as the Sacred Depositum of Divine Truth which God has committed to it's Trust and Design'd for it's Guide and Oracle When first I saw this Treatise turn'd into English I was in Hopes that some of our Eminent Divines whose Writings are so Deservedly Admir'd for their Strength and Clearness would have Vindicated the Authority of the Scriptures and Clear'd their Title to Inspiration from those Difficulties with which Men that are Better at Pulling down than Building up have perplexed it The Subject has never yet been throughly Handled and is Worthy the Thoughts of those Great Masters of Learning Reason and Judgement But after I had waited some time and could not hear that any Abler Person Intended to take this Work in hand I resolved to do my Best Endeavour toward the Defence of so Good a Cause and give a Check to those Opinions which tend to Undermine all Revelation And when I had finished my Design there were many Considerations moved me to present it to your Lordship not doubting but your Known Candor and Goodness would pardon the Confidence of this Address Your Eminent Dignity in the Church makes You deservedly Esteem'd a Pillar of Religion and Truth Your Constant Residence in Your Diocess and Your Care and Vigilance to keep up the Good Orders and Discipline of the Church there preserve the Purity of it's Doctrine and give a Due Lustre to it's Constitution and your Generous and Obliging Temper Charms Men into a Complyance with your Good Counsel and their own Duty And as these Considerations Embolden'd me to Present this Treatise to your Lordship which is writ in Vindication of those Sacred Truths for the Defence and Confirmation of which your Lordship is Placed in that High Station so Your Signal Courage in Opposing the Enthusiasts of the Late Times whose Vile Hypocrisy and Lewd Pretences to Inspiration have made way for Open Profaneness and Contempt of all Revel'd Religion Encourages me to hope that your Lordship will favourably accept this Work how mean soever whose Design 't is to put some stop to those Lasting Ill-Effects which have proceeded from such Pernicious Principles And beside these Publick Considerations this Work does Implore your Lordship's Protection as being Visitor and Patron to the College of which the Author is a Member who readily Embraces this Opportunity of Declaring to the World how Happy that Society esteems it Self in having the Honour of your Lordships Patronage whose Government they formerly found to be so Great a Blessing and withal is glad of so good an Occasion of making this Publick and Grateful Acknowledgement of those Favours wherewith your Lordship has been pleased to Oblige My LORD Your Lordship 's Most Dutiful Servant WILLIAM LOWTH THE PREFACE THE Age we live in deservedly bears the Character of a Curious and Inquisitive Age which does not love to take things upon Trust or blindly follow the Determinations of others And I must profess for my own part that I reckon a free use of Reasoning and Judging as Valuable a Blessing as the Injoyment of our Civil Liberties and look upon no sort of Tyranny so grievous as that of forcing Persons of Ingenuous and Inquisitive Tempers exactly to square their Sentiments of things to other mens Opinions But as the Best things are liable to be abus'd so this Freedom of Enquiry has been made use of to Ill Purposes and has Accidentally produced very bad Effects For men have been so Fond of this Liberty as to think no Bounds or Limits ought to be set to it and at last to believe the Submitting to the Authority of God himself to be an undue Restraint upon the Vse of Humane Reason and the very pretending to such an Authority to be one of the Arts of Designing Priests who by this Device endeavour to Enslave the rest of the World and make them Think and Act just as they would have them Thus many men have Reason'd themselves first into Socinianism and then which is but one Remove from the former into Deism or at least into a Coldness and Indifferency to all Reveal'd Religion They think 't is to Impose upon them to Oblige them to Believe or Practise any thing unless they can see a Reason why it should be so and cannot be perswaded that they owe God so much service as to submit to those Laws which seem to them to have no other ground but his Arbitrary Will and Pleasure Vpon this account they reject the Use of the Sacraments the
be Mr. Le Clerc publish'd those Letters which I have undertaken to answer the Two First of them in his Sentimens de Theologiens de Hollande sur l' Histoire Critique c. the Rest in the Defence of the Sentiments Who is the Author of these Letters whether Mr. Le Clerc himself or as he pretends a Friend of his whom he calls Mr. N. signifies little to the Controversie it self and therefore I do not think it worth while to enquire And as to the Author's Design in writing these Tracts whether they were writ by way of Enquiry only or out of a Design to undermine the Authority of the Scriptures I shall not take upon me to Determine but shall leave that to the Searcher of Hearts Charity that believes all things prompts me to believe the Author's solemn Protestation which he makes b Eng. Ed. p. 38. French p. 229. that he disowns the ill Consequences which some have drawn from his Principles and his Arguments for the Christian Religion which are contain'd in the Last Letter incourage me to persist in that Christian Perswasion However when I found the Author earnestly desirous c Fr. p. 245. Eng. p. 51. that some body would fairly answer him and indeavour to give further Light to this Matter and withall was sensible that he has laid down several Assertions which tend to lessen the Authority and Credit of the Sacred Writers and that Ill men have made use of them to this purpose as 't is their constant Method to run away with any thing that seems to favour their side but to overlook what makes against them all these Considerations perswaded me to Vndertake a particular Examination of all those Passages in these Letters that reflect upon the Holy Pen-men or their Writings I know Mr. Simon has made a brief Answer to all the Material Objections of this Author the Substance of which is inserted in the Fourth Letter together with Mr. N's Reply But I must freely profess I am not at all satisfied with Mr. Simon 's Performance and his Answers seem to have been drawn up in Hast without a thorow Examination of the Force of the Objections Perhaps Mr. Simon is not so well vers'd in the Subtilties of Reasoning as he is in the Nicities of Criticism And indeed Both his Answers to Mr. Le Clerc discover as much where he spends most of his time in Railing against the Protestants which might much better have been imployed in Vindicacating his own Principles from his Adversaries Objections or Defending those Common Truths in which the Generality both of Protestants and Papists agree tho neither he nor his Adversaries seem to have any great regard for them But this is the usual Fault of such Zealots as Mr. Simon hath of late discover'd himself to be that they are more concern'd for the particular Opinions of their own Party than for the Fundamental Articles of our Common Christianity and therefore they very often advance such Arguments in Defence of their own particular Doctrines which if they are pursued further undermine the Foundation of Christianity it self or it may be of Religion in General Of which Mr. Simon himself is an Instance who has taken a great deal of Pains to weaken the Authority of the Scripture Text on purpose to set up the Certainty of Tradition in its place But I believe another Reason may be assign'd of Mr. Simon 's Fierceness against the Protestants and that is because he lives in a Country where Heresy now-adays is reckon'd a greater Crime than Infidelity and 't is less dangerous to be thought no Christian than no Catholick And consequently it more nearly concern'd Mr. Simon to clear himself from the Suspicion of Heresy than to prove himself a good Christian tho perhaps in the Judgment of the World he stands in need of an Apology in that respect as much as in the other And perhaps he could not take a better Method to atone for his Disrespect towards the Scriptures and to regain the Favour of his Superiours whose Displeasure he has felt upon that Account than by crying up in Opposition to them the Infallibility of Tradition and the Authority of the Church and Inveighing against the Protestants with a great deal of Bitterness and Virulency And since Mr. Simon 's Answer gives so little satisfaction to the Difficulties which this Author has started concerning the Inspiration of the Scriptures I thought it might be an useful thing to examine the Substance of these Letters over again and Vindicate the holy Writings from this Author's Objections I must leave it to the Reader to judge of the Performance All I shall say for my self is That I have manag'd the Dispute with all the Calmness and Freedom from Passion which becomes an Impartial Searcher after Truth and in that respect I hope I have fully satisfied the Desire of my Antagonist d Fr. p. 245. Eng. p. 51. I have kept my self close to his main Design which is not to question the Veracity of the Holy Writers or the Truth of the Doctrine or Matters of Fact which they deliver but only to propose some Doubts and Questions How far they were Inspir'd either with the Matter or Words which they writ So that in this Discourse men must not expect I should handle all the Arguments for the Truth of the Scriptures and the Christian Religion which are proper to be alledg'd a-against Atheists and Infidels This as 't is forreign to the present Design so it has been done so Often and so Fully by several Learned men and amongst others by this very Author in his Fifth Letter that nothing more need or can be said upon this Subject And if men will still shut their eyes against all Conviction we must e'en despair of doing any good upon them and can only say to them in the words of the Apostle He that is ignorant let him be ignorant and If our Gospel be hid 't is hid to them that are lost whose minds the God of this world hath blinded However to do what Service I am able to the Cause of Religion and to make this Discourse as useful as I can I have ventur'd to go a little beyond the Bounds which my Adversary hath set me and have indeavour'd briefly to explain the Nature and Design of the Prophetical Writings where I have discours'd upon some things not commonly treated of the Explaining of which I hope may tend to Illustrate that noble part of the Scripture and remove some Prejudices against the Authority of the Prophets which have been greedily entertain'd by such persons as are apt to be unreasonably Suspicious and Jealous of being Impos'd upon and because there have been False Prophets think 't is impossible there should be True ones If I have been guilty of any Mistakes I hope the Reader will the more easily pardon them when he considers the Niceness of the Subject and that it has never yet been purposely treated of by any
Writer that I know as our Author himself observes e Ubi sup so that as he truly adds A man must fetch all out of his own Stock that intends to Answer him However if this Discourse do not prove satisfactory I hope 't will be the occasion of Engaging some Abler Pen in this Cause and if that be the only Good it does it will not be altogether Vnserviceable In the last place I must desire of those who think I have not carried the Inspiration of the Scriptures so high as I ought not to be Angry with me or uncharitably Censure me as if I design'd to Betray the Cause which I pretend to maintain but if they are not satisfied with my Performance to Vndertake the Argument themselves and do Justice to so Good a Causa I assure them I shall heartily wish them Success in their Vndertaking and shall be glad if my Arguments appear weak because theirs are stronger for I can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth The Contents CHAP I. General Considerations concerning the Inspiration of the writings of the New-Testament THe Method of the whole Treatise proposed Pag. 1 The Proof of the Inspiration of the New-Testament Writings contain'd in Six Propositions p. 3 I. Proposition God design'd to provide a means for Preserving the Doctrine of Christianity to the End of the World p. 5 II. Prop. The best means of preserving Christianity in an Ordinary way was by conveying the Doctrine of it to after Ages by Writing p. 6 III. Prop. 'T is reasonable to think that God would deliver the Christian Doctrine in Writing because he used the same means formerly for the Instruction of the Jewish Church p. 10 The Reasons which enduced St. Matthew and St. Mark to write their Gospels as they are related by the Ancient Church-Writers p. 12 IV. Prop. God has actually made use of no other way for the Conveying the Doctrine of Christianity but the Writings of the New Testament p. 13 V. Prop. The Apostles themselves design'd their Writings for the Perpetual Use of the Church and lookt upon them to be of equal Authority with the Divine Writings of the Old Testament p. 15 The Reasons which moved St. Luke and St. John to write their Gospels p. 16 The Apostolical Epistles were design'd for General Use tho many of them writ upon Particular Occasions p. 17 Reflections upon the Style and way of writing used by St. Paul p. 18 Concerning the General Epistles p. 21 VI. Prop. The Age immediately following that of the Apostles lookt upon their Writings as the Standing Rule of Christian Faith p. 22 Reflections upon a Passage in Mr. Hobs's Leviathan concerning the Date of the New Testament Canon p. 26 An Answer to Mr. N.'s Objection That some Books are received into the New Testament Canon whose Authors are not known p. 28 Four Corollaries or Inferences drawn from the whole 1 Inference That the Holy Ghost Assisted the Apostles as fully when they Writ as when they Preach'd p. 29 2 Inference The Holy Ghost in several Cases Dictated to the Apostles the Words and Style they should Use and in all Cases preserved them from using such Expressions as would naturally lead men into Error p. 31 What Cautions are to be observed in Interpreting the Style of the Apostles and arguing from the Terms they use p. 35 3 Inference Since the Writing of the New Testament is owing to God's Providence and Care of his Church the Composing the several parts of it does not exclude the Use of Natural Means no more than other Acts of Providence do p. 37 4 Inference 'T is no Argument against a Book 's being design'd by God for the Perpetual Use of the Church that 't was at first Written upon a particular Exigency and with respect to the Circumstances which were peculiar to that time p. 40 CHAP. II. A More Particular Enquiry into the Nature of the Apostolical Gifts and Inspiration p. 42 The General Heads treated of in this Chapter p. 44 In what Cases the Apostles deliver'd their Judgements as Men and did not speak by Inspiration Three Instances of this Nature propos'd p. 45 1 Cor. 7.12 at large Explain'd p. 46 To grant that the Apostles spoke some things without Inspiration does not prejudice their Authority as to others p. 53 In all other Cases beside those before Excepted the Apostles Preach'd and Writ by the particular Direction and Assistance of the Spirit p. 55 The Scripture Notion of an Apostle p. 57 1 Cor. 2.10 c. and 1 Thes 4.8 considered p. 58 The Assistance which the Spirit gave the Apostles did not consist only in bringing to their remembrance what Christ had said to them p. 62 This proved 1. From those Discourses of our Saviour's concerning the Kingdom of Heaven where he represents it as a Temporal State in Complyance with the prejudices of his Disciples p. 63 2 From his Parables concerning the Future State of the Gospel p. 65 3 From the Gift which the Apostles had of Explaining the Types and Prophecies of the Old Testament p. 68 The Apostles had an Extraordinary Assistance when they were summon'd to appear before Magistrates upon the account of their Religion p. 73 S. Matt. 10.20 Vindicated from the Gloss of Mr. N. p. 74 Several Instances given of his and other Modern Writers Arts to Evade the true force of Scripture Expressions Ibid. Mr. N.'s Unsincerity in passing by the plain Instances which are in Scripture of the Boldness and Courage of the Apostles p. 78 St. Paul's Behaviour before the Council Acts 23. Clear'd from Mr. N.'s Aspersions p. 80 St. Stephen's Behaviour Acts 7. Vindicated p. 84 Mr. N.'s Objections against the Inspiration of the Apostles particularly Answer'd 1 Objection That the Apostles Disputed and Conferr'd with each other Answer'd p. 88 2 Objection That St. Peter after the Descent of the Holy Ghost had need of a Vision to instruct him Answer'd p 95 3 Objection That St. Paul and St. Barnabas were forc'd to go to Jerusalem to have that Controversy decided Whether the Gentile Converts were bound to observe the Law Answer'd p. 97 4 Objection St. Peter's Dissimulation at Antioch Answer'd p. 104 5 Objection That the Spirit of Prophecy mention'd in the New Testament was only a Disposition of Mind which made men fit to Instruct Answer'd p. 104 1 Tim. 4.13 14. Clear'd p. 106 Why St. Paul gave Directions to the Prophets and Inspir'd Persons at Corinth p. 110 A brief Answer to some Lesser Cavils p. 112 CHAP. III. Concerning the Inspiration of the Prophets p. 115 The Personal Qualifications of the Prophets consider'd both as to their Intellectual Accomplishments p. 116 and their Moral Ones p. 121 The Original design of God's sending Prophets to the Jews was to hinder them from having recourse to Heathen Oracles and Divinations p. 126 The Prophetical Office design'd for Greater Purposes p. 129 1 To admonish the People of their Duty p. 130 2 To keep up a sense of
the Heathen Tribunals wherein he seems not only to attack two or three Passages of Scripture but to endeavour to overthrow one of the principal Arguments for the Truth of Christianity for certainly never was there greater Evidence of a Divine Power present with its Professors than when they were summon'd before the Magistrates to give a reason of the Hope that was in them I proceed in the Vth place to Answer the Objections which he has advanc'd against the Inspiration of the Apostles 1. The first which I shall take notice of is The Apostles Disputing and Conferring with each other before they came to a Resolution at the Synod of Jerusalem q Fr. p. 248 249. Eng. p. 57. which he thinks was needless among persons Inspir'd As likewise that Prophets should submit what they say to the Judgment of other Prophets according to St. Paul's order r 1 Cor. 14.29 But the force of this Objection will be taken away if we consider that God distributed his Gifts to each person severally as he thought fit a 1 Cor. 12 11. so that even the greatest Apostles might think it necessary to advise with their Brethren in matters of Consequence where the Edification and Peace of the whole Church was nearly concern'd And indeed one reason why God gave his Spirit by Measure to them seems to be this that he design'd to engage all the Members of the Church into a strict Union and Alliance with each other by this means because they stood in need of one another's help and direction and the eye could not say to the hand I have no need of thee nor the head to the feet I have no need of you b Ibid. v. 21. i. e. the more Eminent Members of the Church very often stood in need of the Assistance and Direction of the Inferior and less considerable ones And accordingly we find the Apostles and Heads of the Church were inform'd by the Inferior and more ordinary Members of it of several particulars they were ignorant of before so Agabus inform'd St. Paul of his sufferings at Jerusalem c Act. 21.11 and the Holy Ghost witness'd the same in every City d Act. 20.23 no doubt by persons of a much Inferior station in the Church than St. Paul himself Thus the distribution of Spiritual Gifts in different Measures and Degrees was very effectual to prevent Schism in the Body e 1 Cor. 12.25 of the Church and to oblige the Members to have the same care one for another And we may observe to this purpose that our Saviour made an especial promise of his presence among his Disciples where two or three are gather'd together f Matth. 18 2â— to engage them thereby to preserve the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and not to forsake the Assembling themselves together And as by their exercising their gifts in the publick Assemblies each Man 's private gifts were produced in Common and made serviceable to the Church in general so this prevented False Prophets creeping in among them because they would presently be detected Whereas if private Prophecying had been in use an Impostor might have took his opportunity and by imposing upon the weaker sort have got such a reputation before the Cheat could have been discovered that it would have been difficult afterward to have convinc'd Men of the Imposture But by making every one that pretended to Inspiration undergo a publick Tryal a false Prophet could not hope to escape long without being convinc'd by all and Judg'd by all And this shews the reasonableness of that Command of St. Pauls that the Prophets should submit what they say to the judgement of their Brethren g 1 Cor. 14.29 for since from the very beginning there were False Prophets and deceitful Workers who indeavour'd to transform themselves into the true Apostles and Messengers of Christ h 2 Cor. 11.13 the Apostles thought fit to lay down Rules for the Trying of spirits i 1 Cor. 12.3 1 Joh. 4 1 c. and the discerning of spirits was a particular Gift design'd for this purpose k 1 Cor. 12 10. Now the fittest way of doing this was by the joynt advice of the Governors of the Church assembled together as we find the Bishops of Asia meeting together discovered the falseness of Montanus and his Followers pretences to Prophecy l v. Euseb II. E. l. 5. c 16.19 To all which we may add that besides the usefulness of this method to secure the Church against Impostures it has this further advantage in it that what several Inspir'd persons did agree in brought along with it greater evidence of its coming from God than if it had been deliver'd only by one For tho every thing which comes from God deserves equal Credit in It self yet there may be greater evidence to Vs of the Divine Original of one Doctrine than of another m v. Cl. Dodwell Prolegom in Dissert Iren. n. 6-9 Dissert 2. in Iren. n. 26. And as there were greater and more evident proofs of the Divine Mission of the Apostles than of the Prophets in the Christian Church and therefore the Apostles had the Precedence of the Prophets n 1 Cor 12.28 and the Prophets were to submit to their Orders and Regulate their Gifts by their Injunctions o 1 Cor. 14 3â— tho what a true Prophet spoke was as much the word of God as what an Apostle did so in like manner that which was confirm'd by the concurring Testimony of Two or Three Inspir'd Witnesses brought greater evidence of its Divine Authority than that which relyed wholly upon the Credit and Integrity of One because two or three were less lyable to mistake than one And therefore we find our Saviour himself argues from the common Sentiments of Men and appeals to the concurring Testimony of John p Joh. 5.33 as a Corroborating Evidence tho his Miracles sufficiently proved the truth of his Mission nay he reckons that the joint Testimony of his Father and himself is more credible Humanely speaking than either of them singly q Joh 8 17 18. And what has been said concerning Inspir'd persons of an Inferior Rank holds true of the Apostles themselves for tho I make no question but the Holy Ghost was always so far present with them as to guide and direct them in all matters that were of Consequence such as that was which gave occasion to the Synod at Jerusalem yet to make them capable of this Assistance we must suppose that they observed those Rules of our Saviour which were necessary Conditions in order to the procuring this Assistance one of which as I have observ'd already was their Assembling together when they had opportunity and where the Case concern'd the whole Church in general And since the Apostles themselves did but know in part and prophesie in part r 1 Cor. 13.9 and consequently might receive further Light from others what
the whole College of Apostles agreed in came with greater Authority and Evidence of it's being God's Will than what was deliver'd by one Apostle only Just as we are more assur'd of the Truth of those Doctrines which are often repeated by different Writers in the Holy Scripture than of those which are only mention'd by one because the Authority of several Writers adds weight to the matter it self and the comparing them together prevents our mistaking the sense of the Scripture concerning it whereas what is but once mention'd is more liable to Ambiguities and the Sense of it more easily mistaken From what has been said I hope it appears that there is sufficient reason why Inspir'd persons should consult each other and that this is no prejudice to their Inspiration 2. The second Objection is ſ Fr p. 249. Eng p 58. That the Holy Ghost which the Apostles received on the day of Pentecost had not taught them all they ought to know so far was it from rendring them at first dash Infallibe so that St. Peter needed a Vision to learn that he ought not to scruple Preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles I do not know any body that ever yet maintain'd that the Spirit once for all instructed the Apostles in all things that were needful for the Discharge of their Office 'T is certain several things were reveal'd to them by Degrees and in proportion to the Exigences of the Church and this Author himself owns as much when he tells us t Fr. p. 252. Eng. p. 62. That the Apostles had MANY Immediate Revelations and DIVERS Heavenly Visions And as for the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon them in a visible manner on the day of Pentecost the chief Design of that was publickly to Authorize them to preach the Gospel and to Initiate them into the Body of Christ's Church which was then founded and to do this by more solemn Tokens of the Divine Presence among the first Professors than any other Institution could ever pretend to according to what the Baptist foretold u Matth. 3.11 and our Savior promis'd x Act. 1.5 that John indeed baptized or admitted Proselytes with the bare Ceremony of Water which had been a Rite made use of by the Jews long before upon such occasions but the Apostles should be Baptized or admitted into the Church with the Holy Ghost and with fire 3. The third Objection is that a Fr. p. 248. Eng. p. 57. When the Dispute arose whether the Gentiles that were Converted were to be Circumcised or not tho St. Paul and St. Barnabas were against this yet their Authority was not sufficient to put to silence the Judaizing Christians which was a sign they did not look upon them as Infallible To the same purpose he urges b Fr. p. 249. Eng. p. 58. The Believers that were of the Circumcision contending with St. Peter for going to men uncircumcised and conversing with them c Act. 11 2 3. To begin with the latter part of the Objection to the instance of St. Peter I answer that the Converts of the Circumcision were throughly perswaded that the Laws and Institutions of Moses were of perpetual Obligation and therefore 't is no wonder if at first they were surpriz'd to see any of them laid aside and a door open'd to let in the Gentiles to the same Privileges with the Jews and to take away that Discrimination which the Law makes between the Jews and the rest of the world d Exod. 19.5 6. Deut. 7.6 And since this Action of St. Peter's touch'd them so nearly in their Privileges and Prerogative or at least was contrary to the Traditions they had received from their Teachers and held as sacred as the Law it self * Matt. 15.2 Mat. 7.3 Joh. 18.28 't is no wonder they were not easily satisfied about it till they examin'd the reasons upon which St. Peter acted in this matter And the Apostles never laid so much stress upon their Infallibility as to require their Disciples to believe them upon their own word as Mr. N. himself e Fr. p. 283. Eng. p. 112. observes or without demanding a reason why they did so But if we should grant all this Objection contends for certainly 't is but a weak Argument that the Apostles were not Infallible because some new Converts f See Mr. Dodwel of Schism ch 19. sect 18 19. did not think so who 't is plain did not well understand the Principles of their own Religion and had not as yet intirely submitted to the Authority of the Apostles And by the same reason we may argue that our Saviour was not Infallible which yet Mr. N. himself looks upon g Fr. p. 257 260 281. Eng. p. 70 75 109. as a certain Truth because his Disciples seem not to be satisfied sometimes of the Truth of what he sayes h Matth. 16.22 and demand of him a reason i Matth 15.15 of those Doctrines of his that look'd like Paradoxes to them A great deal of what has been said will hold much stronger in the case of St. Paul and Barnabas k Act 15. for the admitting the Gentiles into the Church without Circumcision must needs be thought a great Violation of the Law of Moses by those that look'd upon it to be of perpetual Obligation in the Church of God To which may be added that St. Paul and Barnabas had not so clear and indisputable an Authority as the rest of the Apostles not being of the number of the Twelve whose Commission was so solemnly seal'd and ratified on the day of Pentecost And they who were of a different Perswasion from them would in all likelyhood lay hold of this Objection against their Authority as Men are willing to take advantage of any Exception to an Authority that is against them And accordingly we find in after times when the Judaizing Christians found St. Paul zealous in asserting the Liberties of the Gentile Converts and teaching men every where to Apostatize from Moses as they term'd it l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 21.21 that they did what they could to lessen his Authority and represented him as far Inferiour to the rest of the Apostles and therefore that no great stress was to be laid upon his Doctrine which forc'd him to vindicate himself and his Apostleship at large Galat. 1. and 2. Chapters 4. The fourth Objection is m Fr. p. 250. Eng. p. 60. St. Peter's Dissimulation at Antioch for which St. Paul reproved him as he tells us n Gal. 2.11 And here I agree with our Author that St. Peter acted contrary to his Judgment and dissembled his Opinion for he that had been warned by a Vision o Act. 10.28 that he should not call any man common or unclean and but just before had a great hand in making the Decree at the Synod of Jerusalem p Act. 15 7. whereby the Gentiles were made Members of the Church upon
Eunuch who was Reading the Prophet Isaiah f Act. 8. and to whom God sent Philip to instruct him may not unfitly illustrate this matter Perhaps the utmost diligence the Ethiopian could use would never have given him a clear Understanding of that place of the Prophet but God to reward his Industry sent him an Inspir'd Interpreter to instruct him in the meaning of it And in like manner God may reward Men's Natural endeavours to find out the truth with such degrees of Knowledge as are Supernatural Nor does his instance of the Miraculous Gift of curing Diseases which he says g Ubi sup can't be increas'd by Application of Mind come up to our case For curing Diseases after the manner the Apostles did is a Power perfectly beyond the Sphere of Humane ability whereas the Gifts we speak of being of an Intellectual Nature are most of them in some measure adequate to the Faculties of the Soul and in some degree attainable by Industry so that in this case what is Miraculous in one Man may be Natural in another For example the Gift of speaking in a strange Language was Miraculous in the Apostles but would not be so in a Man that should get the perfect command of the same Language by industry For the illustration of this point I will put this case viz. of two men one of them arriv'd to a good degree of Learning by study and the other Illiterate supposing these two to have equal skill in expounding Scripture this gift would be thought to proceed from Natural causes in the Former but would be miraculous in the Latter now putting this Case 't is no Incongruity to suppose that God should reward the Industry of the Former with a degree of Infus'd Knowledge as much above the Supernatural Indowments of the Latter as his Natural Talents and acquir'd Knowledge are above the others For my part I can see no absurdity in supposing that God may incourage Men to improve their Natural Talents as much as they can by promising them a proportionable increase of Supernatural Knowledge For this as has been observ'd before h Supr p. 37 38. is God's constant method to make use of Natural means as far as they will go and than to supply as much as he thinks fit over and above 2. As to his Second Reason which is taken from the Directions the Apostle gives to Spiritual persons 1. Cor. 14. 't is plain by that very Chapter that the Spirit usually left Gifted Men to themselves to exercise their Gifts as they thought fit for the Apostle tells them i 1 Cor. 14.32 that the Spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets and from several places of the same Chapter k Vers 5. 12 13 c. it appears that Men spake in Unknown Tongues in their Assemblies when there was no body present that understood the Language they spake in Which certainly they would never have done if they had been under the immediate direction of the Spirit as to the use of their Gifts And the speaking with Tongues Mr. N. himself owns to be a proper kind of Inspiration but says l Fr. p. 267. Eng. p. 87. that when they thus abus'd their Gifts they did not speak by immediate Inspiration but had the same command of those Languages as if they had Learn'd them from their Infancy as if a Supernatural Habit were not as much a Gift as a single Act. And this likewise shews that the Inspiration of the Gifted Men in the Primitive Church consisted rather in a constant and permanent Faculty habitually residing in their mind and exerting it self either as they were moved by the Holy Ghost m Act. 4. 8 31. or as they themselves thought fit n Act. 17. 16 -18.5 than in such a kind of Inspiration as the Prophets had which was often discontinued and interrupted which was the reason the Latter never spake till they felt a New Impulse and therefore usher'd in what they were about to say with Thus saith the Lord and left off when that Impulse ceased And this difference between the Prophetical Inspiration of the Old Testament and the Apostolical of the New is a sufficient reason why the Apostles never begin their Exhortations or Instructions with Thus saith the Lord which yet is thought a good Argument by Spinoza o Theol. Polit. c. 11. against the Inspiration of the Apostolical Writings tho I think 't is a very weak one for the prefixing their Names before their Epistles gives them sufficient Authority and a just Title to Inspiration And now I have run through the most considerable Objections which this Author has rais'd against the Inspiration of the Apostles I think 't is hardly worth while to spend time in Refuting other little Cavils as p Fr. p. 251 252. Eng. p. 61 62. that the Apostles never speak with the same Authority as Christ did but declare they say nothing of themselves and refer all to Christ for sure 't is enough for Disciples to speak in the Name of their Master and 't is equivalent to the Phrase of the Prophets Thus saith the Lord. And the same Argument if it prove any thing will hold against the Inspiration of Christ himself because he says q John 7.16 My doctrine is not mine but his that sent me and r 12. 49 50. As the Father gave me Commandment so I speak Mr. N. multiplies Cavils about the Synod of Jerusalem Å¿ Fr. p. 252 253. Eng. p. 63 64. some of which I have answer'd already and have shew'd t P. 89 c. that there were several reasons why the Apostles should meet together about this weighty affair To which I shall here add one more viz. that they met thus to give a President and be an Example to Future Ages of settling Church Affairs by the Common advice of Councils and Synods I shall not pursue all the Critical Remarks he makes u Ubi sup upon the style of their Synodical Letter for if their own express words It seem'd good to the Holy Ghost and to us will not perswade him that the Apostles thought themselves Assisted with the immediate direction of the Holy Ghost in that affair I I despair of convincing him by any thing I can say Nor does it follow from hence that all the persons present were inspir'd for since the Apostles presided over the Assembly and the Determination was wholly left to them if they were Inspir'd it was sufficient to stamp a Divine Authority upon the Determination it self tho it were publish'd in the name of the whole Assembly But 't is pity the Apostles had not had some such able Critick as our Author among them to direct them how to word their Epistle and if Mr. N. had been Secretary to the Council no doubt 't would have been drawn up with much more Exactness tho as great a Critick as himself x Casaub ad Act. 10.33 is of
12.5 6. Jam. 4.6 1 Pet. 5.5 and other places plainly alluded q 2 Cor. 8.21 1 Pet. 4.18 to by them I say one would be apt to conclude that all these Considerations added to the Intrinsecal Worth of the Book it self might be a sufficient Inducement to look upon it as a Book compos'd by God's Appointment for the Benefit of the Church But before I proceed any further upon this Sebject I cannot but reflect by the way upon a Passage of our Author which the observing that this Book is quoted by the Apostles puts me in mind of and that is this He tells us r Fr. p. 278. Eng. p. 105 That the Apostles never cite the works of Solomon or the Book of Job What he says touching the former I have just now shewed to be manifestly False and there is as little truth in the later part of his words for the Book of Job is as formally quoted by St. Paul Å¿ 1 Cor. 3.19 as any Book of the Old Testament The Wisdom of the world is Foolishness with God FOR IT IS WRITTEN He taketh the Wise in their own Craftiness Which Citation as 't is certainly taken out of Job t c. 5. 13. so it shews withal a great Deference given by the Apostle to the Authority of the Book from whence 't is taken I thought fit just to observe this Mistake of Mr. N.'s tho it be of no great consequence on purpose to take down the Confidence of this Gentleman a little and shew him that he is not so exactly vers'd in the Scripture as a man that undertakes to Criticize upon it with so much Capriciousness and so little Reverence and Regard to its Authority ought to be But to return to the Matter in hand The Sum of the General Charge which our Author has advanc'd against the Divine Authority of the Book of Proverbs is a Fr. p. 271. En. p. 94. That they are Moral Sentences which a Good Man may pronounce without Inspiration As if no Book could be writ by God's Direction but where the matter is such as exceeds the reach of Humane Invention and cannot be the Product of our Rational Faculties And then by the same Reason no work must be ascribed to God but what exceeds the Power of Natural Agents and so God must be accounted the Author of nothing that happens in the World but what is purely Miraculous Now this Argument if it prove any thing at all it proves not only that this Book is not written by Divine Inspiration but farther that no Book of Moral Instructions can be For Morality is nothing but the Law of Right Reason instructing us how to govern our Actions and I suppose the Law of Reason contains nothing in it above Reason and Consequently nothing which is above the Capacity of a Wise and Good Man to think or speak from all which it will follow by our Authors Principles that whatever Book contains nothing in it but what is deducible from the Principles of meer Reason must be purely Humane and can have nothing Divine or of the Hand of God in it But is not Mr. N. sensible that the Corruption of Humane Nature the Degeneracy of the World the Uncertainty of Humane Reasoning and especially the Imperfect Knowledge we have of the Nature of God and our own Souls have so far Obscur'd a great many branches of this Law of Nature or Reason that there was need of a more than Ordinary Illumination to recover some Truths which were in a manner lost to the World and to set them in a True Light so as to Convince others of their Certainty and Excellency Sure our Author will grant that the Unity of the Godhead is a Truth that is Adequate to Humane Reason nay a Truth so Evident that one would wonder that Men of Searching Heads could miss of it and yet we find there were very few among the Heathens that had their Reason so throughly purg'd from the prejudices which Education and the Establisht Religion of the World had infected it with as to assent to this Truth And I think this is a sufficient Proof that Men may stand in need of a Teacher Divinely Inlightned to Discover such Truths to them as may indeed be deduced from the Principles of Reason when 't is in its true perfection but yet are such as few Men's Reason hath arrived to because of the Degeneracy and corruption to which 't is obnoxious And many such Truths are to be found in this Book which tho they are so reasonable that Men can't but assent to them assoon as they hear them yet 't is in vain to search for them in the Writings of the Best and Acutest Philosophers For Instance we may challenge them to shew such a Wise Instruction in any of their Books as Solomon lays down for the foundation of Morality b Prov. 1.7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom or this c Prov. 3.5 6 Trust in the Lord with all thy Heart and lean not to thy own Vnderstanding In all thy ways acknowledge him And indeed thro the whole Book the Duties of Morality are inforc'd upon Men from Religious Considerations and by Arguments taken from the Duty we owe to God and the Rewards and Punishments we must expect from him according as we behave our selves Which makes this Book differ very much from the Moral Writings of the Philosophers where we shall find little or nothing said concerning our Duty to God his Authority over us our Dependance upon him and the Submission we owe to him the Methods of Providence and the Rewards or Punishments of another Life all which are often insisted upon in this Book For this is a visible Defect in the Writings of the Philosophers that as they never inforce our Duty by Arguments which are taken from the Principles of Religion so their disswasives from Vice are taken from these Topicks viz. That 't is below the Dignity of Humane Nature and a Contradiction to Reason rather than from this Consideration That 't is displeasing to God a Breach of his Law and an Act of Disobedience which he will Punish I Confess some Philosophers that lived since the Appearance of Christianity especially the Emperor Antoninus have very Excellent Sayings concerning God's Providence and the Submission we owe to him But I am apt to think that as the Light of the Gospel Diffus'd it self over the World it in some measure Inlightned the minds even of those who Refus'd to imbrace it as the Sun gives Light before it reaches our Hemisphere My meaning is that the very Account which Inquisitive Men received of the Principles of Christianity helped to Clear up their minds and gave them more distinct Apprehensions of the Principles of Natural Religon than they had before But to return Beside the Precepts I have already mention'd there are many Excellent Advices given in the Proverbs to all sorts and Degrees of Men from Princes
their Authority was immediately Establisht And so much for the proving the Sixth Proposition And I think supposing these Six Propositions proved this Conclusion will plainly follow from what has been said that the Books of the New-Testament were Written by God's Direction and design'd by Him for the Perpetual use and Instruction of the Church and are the only Fixt Rule which he has appointed for this purpose I shall draw some Conclusions from these Premises which will tend to illustrate and explain the Divine Inspiration of the Holy Writings 1. It follows from hence that the Holy Ghost assisted the Apostles as fully when they Writ as when they Preached How far this assistance extended and wherein it consisted I shall examine particularly in the next Chapter at present I intend only to shew that we may presume there is as great a degree of Inspiration to be found in their Writings as was in their Preaching For since the reason why this Assistance accompanied them in their Preaching was the benefit of the Church that they might Guide it into all Truth without any danger of mixing error with it the same reason holds much stronger for their Writings which do not serve for the Instruction of One Age only as their Preaching did but of Many And therefore tho we should suppose that they use Arguments ad Hominem sometimes and proceed upon such Principles as were generally admitted in the Age they lived without nicely examining whether they were true or not yet this only shews that they thought fit to explain Divine Truths in such a manner as was most suitable to the Capacity of the persons they were immediately to Instruct And as we must grant that tho the New Testament was design'd for the use of future Ages yet the Phrase and Style and Argumentation used in it is wholly accommodated to the Sentiments and Usage of that Age in which 't was writ so S. Paul himself does plainly imply that he does not always use the Best Arguments but sometimes such as are best fitted to the Capacities and Notions of those he Writes to For thus we find him express himself by way of excuse for the Argument he makes use of d Rom. 6.19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh which is as much as if he had said I could bring a better argument to prove what I say but this which I make use of is more suitable to your Capacities and may perhaps more effectually convince you than a better 2. It follows secondly that since the Books of the New Testament and the same reason holds as to any other Writings of the same rank and use were design'd to be a standing rule of Faith to Christians the Holy Ghost tho he did not generally Dictate the words which the holy Writers used yet directed them to express their minds in such a manner that those who have a regard to the Dialect and way of speaking in which they write might rightly understand them or at least the Holy Spirit prevented their giving just occasion for Men's errors and mistakes in matters of Consequence by their Phrases and Expressions And such a degree of assistance is absolutely necessary to make these Books a standing Rule of Faith For tho we suppose the Holy Writers used a Popular style and consequently made use of such Hyperboles and Metaphors and other Improprieties of Speech which common practise allows of in all Languages especially where they occasionally speak of Philosophical matters and things not immediately relating to Religion yet unless we suppose them to speak properly in those Terms of Art which are of fundamental use in the explaining the Doctrines of Christianity and upon the sense of which whole Controversies turn and as they are differently taken they alter the very face of the Christian Religion I say except we suppose the Apostles to speak properly i. e. agreeably to their own Simplicity and Plainness of Speech and in such a manner as was most likely to be understood by those they writ to when they treat of matters of great Importance and such as are justly to be reckon'd Fundamental Doctrines the New Testament will not answer the ends of a Rule of Faith For a Book is of no use to explain or decide any Controversy if we can have no sixt rule whereby to judge of its style so as to be in some measure certain what is its true sense And 't is very strange if a Book writ by persons who had an extraordinary assistance from God and which was design'd for Universal use should not be worded with that care which Humane Industry uses in matters of Importance And therefore we have reason to rely upon the assistance of the Holy Spirit even with relation to the Phrase and Letter of the Scripture and to believe that he has so far directed the holy Pen-men that their Phrases and Expressions should not lead Men into error in matters of Consequence but may be rightly understood by those that acquaint themselves with the Dialect in which they writ and consult the Ages nearest the Apostles who must needs be next to their own style the best Judges of their sense If indeed the Socinian Doctrines concerning the Nature and Satisfaction of Christ were true it must be confessed there would be little reason to believe that the Holy Ghost had a hand in wording the Scriptures nay then the Scriptures will appear to be written in such a style as if the Writers design'd to lead Men into error And the Socinians themselves when they make Reason the sole Judge of Sripture and tell us they will not believe any thing contrary to Reason tho it were never so plainly asserted in Scripture do in effect confess that the expressions of Scripture taken in their natural and most obvious sense do not at all favour their Opinions e Socin de Christ Servat l. 3. c. 6. And therefore 't is no wonder to find these Gentlemen warn their Readers so often not to make Inferences from the Phrases of Scripture as if they were used strictly and properly that they so often tell us of the Improprieties and Metaphors which the Eastern Writers and those who imitate them abound with that the Apostles play with Words as Socinus with Reverence speaks f Amavit Paulus in Execrationis verbo esse argutus Socm de Chr Serâ— l. 2. c. 1 and take them sometimes in one sense and sometimes in another Our Author follows them in this as well as in some other things g v Fr. p 234. Eng p. 146. and often cautions h Eng. p 107 111. Fr. p. 280 281. En. p. 11â— Fr. p. 285. Eng. p. 145 146. Fr. p. 233 234. us not to subtilize about the expressions nor stick too close to the Letter of the Scripture since the style of Scripture is so far from being exact that 't is very careless and tells us i Eng. p. 107 116.