them on the brighter side they appear great sublime and conformable to the Nature of things worthy of God and closely united to the most inviolable Principles both of our Heart and Understanding Their Greatness and Sublimity caused such an Admiration in those Persons who had the Honour to divulge them to the World as they could not possibly conceal For sometimes they are forced to declare that they are things which Eye has not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man 1 Cor. 2. 9. An Expression which is as natural as full of Energy and clearly demonstrates what great Ideas they had of them Another while they express themselves after this manner and without controversy great is the Mystery of Godliness God was manifest in the Flesh justified in the Spirit c. 1 Tim. 3. 16. And again Colos 2. 3. they call them the Treasures of Wisdom and seem to be continually at a loss to find out Expressions worthy the Majesty of them And these Objects are infinitely raised above our Senses scarce seem to have any probability are altogether repugnant to the Ideas of the Heathens and carnal Notions of the Jews are above any Conjecture of Men and consequently Objects worthy of God himself For they glorify him after an excellent manner and clearly reveal unto us his Greatness and Majesty either in the Gifts he confers upon Men or the Sublimity of those Duties he prescribes them to follow or the Excellency of the Reward he proposes to them or the use of those means whereby he leads them to it Compare the Notions of Christianity with those of other Religions and you 'll be convinc'd of this Truth But 't is not sufficient that those Mysteries seem to us far above the Capacity of Men who could never have invented them and worthy the Majesty of God who alone was able to reveal them to us We may also further add that the Principles of Reason and Natural Religion exactly fall in with them For they are not like the idle Tales and Fictions of the Poets which the Heart of Man formerly so eagerly embraced when at the same time their Reason condemned them for it The Creation of Heaven and Earth by an Almighty Being the Redemption of the World by a Mediatour the expiatory Sacrifice of Christ the Communion of Saints the Resurrection of the Dead the Remission of Sins and life Everlasting are all Objects equally reasonable sublime and full of Majesty and the Denial of them will take away the improvement of the Light of Reason by the clearest Revelation and destroy the very Nature of the Supream Being What would become then of the Wisdom of God Would it suffer Men to be wholly taken up by such ends as are contrary to the design of their Creation Would God permit Irregularities and Confusions to reign in publick Societies and never compose them whilst at the same time he establishes a firm Union and as it were a Society amongst irrational Creatures If so what would then signify those Principles of Morality and that natural Law which he has written in our Hearts Wherefore should he make so many things for the good and preservation of Man that were not the End he was designed for What would become of the Justice of God And what would be the Truth of the inward sense of Conscience What would be the Punishment reserved for the Wicked and the Reward which attends the Just What would become of our Soul since Reason has taught us that the thinking Principle within us is distinct from Matter and that the Soul depends not upon any Dissolution of the Parts of Matter Whence is it that this Soul has Notions of its Immortality What use would there be of Equity and Justice Why might not Men rather give themselves up to Vice which would then be wholly preferrable before Virtue Who then will refuse to acknowledge such Principles to be in themselves lawful and reasonable without which there is nothing but Confusion and Disorder in publick Society Darkness and Incertainty in the Mind nothing but Errour and Illusion in the Conscience and natural Law of Reason nothing but Prejudice and Misery in the practice of Virtue and if things are so then also the Goodness Wisdom and Justice of God are at an end those excellent Attributes which had so clearly proved to us the Truth of his Existence These are not the Speculations of contemplative Men or the Niceties of School-men but certain Truths that slow from the nature of things and in an excellent manner agree with the ultimate End of Man But how clear soever the one side of these Mysteries may be they are very obscure on the other not that they have or can contain any thing that is repugnant to sound and unprejudiced Reason but 't is because they cannot be fathomed by our shallow Understanding and that t is neither secure nor allowable or even possible for any man to search into the Depth of them Now tho' it be not absolutely necessary for us to enquire why God was pleased not to explicate all Difficulties in his Mysteries and tho' it be sufficient only to alledge that such was his Will and the Decrees of his Wisdom yet we must not neglect to illustrate and interpret them as far as Scripture and Reason will permit Every body knows the Difference between Sight and Faith Sight admits of no Difficulty but Faith is intermixed both with Light and Darkness both their Objects being very different from one another For we do not see what we believe and properly speaking we do not believe that which we see To see is to perceive by ones self but to believe is to perceive by another Mans Eyes Sight is twofold that of the Sense which perceives those Objects only that are suitable to its nature and that of the Vnderstanding when it judges of the nature of things by its own proper Light Faith also is twofold Humane and Divine The first is that Persuasion we have of sacred Mysteries grounded upon the Testimony of Men and the other that which is established upon the Testimony of God So that after what has been thus premised 't is an easy matter to understand the meaning of the Apostle who tells us that the Will of God is that we should walk by faith and not by sight that is we must lay aside our Reason and follow only the Light of Revelation and receive those Truths which promise us Salvation on the Testimony of God alone Nevertheless 't is easy to perceive how great a Repugnance we have to it in as much as the Pleasure of God in not giving us Mysteries without Difficulties restrains the roving Speculations of our Minds It humbles the proud Reason of Man and robs him of the Priviledge of a full Insight into matters which yet infinitely concern him When we should renounce the World which is present to our Eyes we would fain see those Objects Religion has put in
manner which is sufficient to perswade us that it was not inserted by one and the same Author in the Gospel according to St. Matthew in the Gospel according to St. Mark and in the Gospel according to St. Luke For to examin the beginning of it only it appears that St. Matthew relates it thus Chap. 24. And Jesus said unto them see ye not all these things Verily I say unto you there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives the Disciples came unto him privately saying tell us when shall these things be c. Now St. Luke expresses himself thus Chap. 21. And as some spake of the Temple how it was adorned with goodly stones he said as for these things which ye behold the days will come in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another Here he does not say as St. Matthew that the Disciples as he sat upon the Mount of Olives asked him saying Master but when shall these things be c. Lastly after this manner also St. Mark begins this Narration Chap. 13. And as he went out of the Temple one of his Disciples saith unto him Master see what stones and buildings are here And Jesus answering said unto him seest thou these great buildings there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives over against the Temple Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately tell us when shall these things be c. This last Evangelist perfectly explains and reconciles the other two together by delivering all the Circumstances of the matter of fact viz. that Jesus was two several times asked concerning the buildings of the Temple and that the last time was as he sat upon the Mount of Olives from whence one might very well see the Temple and where that prospect gave occasion to his Disciples to desire that he would explain what he said of its Demolishing when he was yet in the Temple it self In the mean while it is to be confessed that the little difference we perceive in this respect between the Evangelists utterly overthrows the suspicion we might entertain that this Prophecy was forged by some body or other who had inserted it in all the three Gospels But II. it 's worth our observation that the Disciples having confounded together two very remote Events in the question they asked their Master viz. the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the World saying tell us when shall these things be And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the End of the World Mat. 24. 3. Jesus Christ answered without undeceiving his Disciples and without distinguishing what they had thus confounded together Now what likely-hood is there that a man who had seen the destruction of Jerusalem but could not imagin it should be attended with the End of the World should make the Disciples utter such a Question without making Jesus Christ answer the least thing for the clearing of it But rather III. how should he have been able to joyn in this Prophecy the destruction of Jerusalem to the coming of the Son of Man in the Clouds with great Power and Glory How could that Man who had been an eye-witness to the destruction of Jerusalem have reasonably said that presently after the tribulation of those days the Sun should be darken'd and the Moon should not give her light that the Stars should fall from Heaven and the powers of Heaven be shaken that mens hearts should fail them for fear and for looking after those things and that the World should mourn c. How were it possible he should have intermixed all those Circumstances with the history of that matter of fact the falshood of which he must needs well know if he composed the Prophecy after the Event But do we not fall here from one difficulty into a greater For if all those signs which were to accompany the destruction of Jerusalem did not really come to pass wherein then lies the truth of this same prophecy To answer this Objection some think it sufficient to say that Jesus Christ expressed himself in this place after the usual manner of the Prophets who say that Nature trembles and Heaven and Earth is moved when God visiteth men after some extraordinary manner either in his Goodness or Justice They further add that the Judgments of Christ executed on the Jews are represented to us as a coming and as a Singular coming by reason of the terrible plagues he inflicted on them But what seems to me more reasonable and natural than this is that Jesus Christ thought it not convenient to undeceive his Disciples who being prepossess'd with a favourable Opinion of their Nation thought that Jerusalem should last as long as the World and that the ruine of the one should be the ruine of the other He therefore seemed to side with their Opinion and represented those two Events to them by the same signs And indeed I conceive there might be several Reasons which obliged Jesus Christ so to act For not to alledg here that Obscurity is the true Character of all Prophecies and that it was necessary this here should be somewhat overshadowed as well as the rest lest any one should foreknow the time of its Accomplishment God having reserved that knowledge to himself as it is delivered to us in this same Prophecy was it not also Necessary that Jesus Christ should follow the ordinary Custom of all the Prophets which is to unite several very remote events together in one single Prophecy to shew that the remotest things are nigh one another in the sight of God Besides the Destruction of Jerusalem being the greatest and most perfect Description of the End of the World what could be more wisely thought of than to represent the one to us by the other according to the Notion of the Disciples who confounded those two Events together There happened Pestilences Wars and Famines immediately before the Destruction of Jerusalem there will also happen the like immediately before the end of the World As the Tribes which dwelt in the holy Land mourn'd to see the effects of the Curse of Heaven falling upon their Nation so shall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn and be astonished when God shall destroy this inferiour World and proceed to the last Judgment As the Destruction of Jerusalem happened not till the Gospel was preached throughout the World that is in all the parts of the known World so in all appearance the end of the World will not happen till all the Nations which lay concealed and unknown have been converted to the Faith of Jesus Christ As there were seen false Christs and false Prophets before the final destruction of the Jews so there will be also false Teachers who shall endeavour to seduce men before the End of the World and
just going to shed the blood of Christians He went about afterwards preaching that he had seen Jesus Christ that a great light shone round about him that the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven were revealed unto him He affirmed that God had set him forth unto the World and that he became a Spectacle unto Men and Angels 1 Cor. 4. 9. If men will not credit his report let them try him by torments and see what effect they will have upon him Let them load him with Chains and cast him into Prison let them expose him to Wild beasts at Ephesus let the Elements Men and Devils be all at once set against him let them scourge him drag him along stone him let them bring him from Jerusalem to Cesarea from Cesarea to Rome increase and prolong his Afflictions Saul the Witness of the Synagogue 't is true recanted his opinion but Paul the Witness of Jesus will never recant his Having seen the strange alteration which happened to the Person of the Minister of the Synagogue let us reflect a little on that which happened to the Person of the Apostle of Jesus Christ Judas betrayed his Master and received for his reward thirty pieces of Silver But how comes it to pass he was so much disturbed after he had done it The Jews the Romans the People the Doctors the Magistrates and Judges all favoured his crime and let him go unpunished yet the remorse of his own Conscience tormented him to that degree that he could not rest any where and at length not being able to overcome his Despair he made away with himself and the Wisdom of God so ordered it that the Jews themselves preserv'd the memory of that astonishing event by buying with that mony a field which is since called Aceldama because it was the price of blood What a strange difference we find in these two Persons of Judas and Saul Judas killed himself in the midst of his Prosperity but Saul rejoyced in the midst of his afflictions Judas prevailed upon by the Synagogue could not be comforted by the same but died in despair Paul became the Disciple and Witness of Jesus and to him the Cross of Jesus was matter of the greatest joy God forbid says he Gal. 6. 14 that I should glory save in the Cross of my Saviour Christ by whom the World is crucified unto me and I unto the World Will any one believe that Judas was his own Executioner meerly out of remorse for having betray'd an Impostor to the Jews Or that St. Paul derived from the sense of his infidelity the courage he shewed in all his sufferings Certainly it may be very properly said that they were both the Martyrs of God but only with this difference that Judas was so against his will but Paul voluntarily If the constancy of the one testify'd in behalf of Jesus Christ the despair of the other was no small honour to him And the only difference is this that Paul was properly a Martyr but Judas in spite of himself a witness of the Truth of Religion CHAP. XVII Where we further answer the Objections of the Incredulous OF all the Objects which the Christian Religion offers to our understanding there is no one seems more to shock the Reason of a prejudiced and incredulous person than the Death of the Messias The Cross of Jesus Christ was according to the Expression of an Apostle a scandal to the Jew and a folly to the Greek But in our opinion there is nothing bears more visible characters of Greatness and Divinity than that does The Incredulous tell us that could we but rid our selves of all our prejudices we should be heartily ashamed to entertain such strange Ideas of God And we also tell them that could they once but free themselves of those passions which darken their understanding they would certainly admire with us the wonders of so Divine an object Who then is in the wrong in this thing That will best appear by the answers we shall make to their objections We find in the Person of Jesus Christ one who suffered himself to be seized upon and was afterwards nailed on a Cross not having any one to deliver him from the power of his Enemies This they object was a mark of his Weakness For say they had he been the King of the Jews why did he not come down from the Cross and all the World would have believed on him He died as one condemned by the grand Council of the Jews which God himself had established This was he as was found guilty He was seized with sorrowfulness even unto Death the day before his Passion and cried out bitterly when he gave up the Ghost This shews his wretched condition He was made to suffer a punishment proper only for Slaves It cannot therefore be doubted but that he died a most infamous Death And who can imagin that Weakness Guilt or at least Condemnation Wretchedness and Infamy should be the true Characters of the Son of God Thus the Incredulous argue We answer that Jesus Christ suffer'd by the determinate Council of God since the Scriptures foretold that he was to be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities that he was to make his Soul an offering for sin that he was to be cut off but not for himself And St. John the Baptist seeing him coming to him at a time wherein it was very unlikely he should ever suffer called him the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World John 1. 29. Jesus Christ suffered voluntarily he foretold all his own Sufferings to his Disciples inviting them to take up their Cross and follow him He told them that he had made choice of a Company of miserable and afflicted Wretches in the World who were notwithstanding to overcome the World and by their sufferings establish the Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth He freely owned to them that he was not come to settle peace in the World but the sword that God would smite the Shepherd and that the Sheep should be scattered that they were to drink of the same cup with him and be Baptised with his Baptism that is to taste the bitter cup of his Afflictions and be Baptised with him with a Baptism of Blood He intermixed his suffering with theirs that they might the better bear them in remembrance If we should in the least doubt whether Christ foretold his sufferings we need only consider the design of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the time wherein this Ceremony was instituted For unless we should call in question the real institution of that Sacrament and so affirm that the Disciples out of an unaccountable and fantastical Extravagance pretended only that Jesus Christ had instituted that Ceremony when there was no such thing it will appear that Jesus Christ foresaw his Death that he prepared himself for it and affirmed he suffer'd it voluntarily for the Salvation of Mankind The Sacrament of the Eucharist which he
this Necessity and it is to no purpose to alledge his Meanness and Wretchedness for that Circumstance rather aggravates the Crime than excuses it it being impudent beyond all pardon for a Traytour to plead Innocence because he is a Peasant and not a Lord. It will be also in vain to lay the Fault upon the evil Temperament of Body and Mind For if either submits to those Reasons which you have for committing no indecent action before a Sovereign and if that and all its Passions are calm when you fall into any Danger or expect Sentence of Death there is the same Reason that the Presence the Will and Judgments of God should have the same effect upon it Nor will Ignorance be any Excuse It would indeed justifie you if it were not only a bare pretence as it does Brutes Children and Ideots But what Man knows not his Duty 'T is also in vain to rely on the Mercy of God for that extends not to impenitent Sinners and the Almighty saves only those that desire and endeavour to be saved Lastly 'T is meer folly to assert that eternal Punishments are disproportionable to the weakness of our Nature For is not God himself eternal whom you have offended And is not your Soul also eternal that has Sinned against him Self-love however blinded thinks not life eternal a thing disagreeable and imagins nothing in it disproportionable to our Condition But 't is shock'd at the Thoughts of everlasting Pains and therefore willing to believe them improbable Dreams and Whimsies But why it does so is hard to be imagin'd unless we suppose its design to be at any rate to impose upon it self In the mean while since you can neither destroy the Eternity of God or the Soul which Reason it self forces you to acknowledge you must either suppose that the Soul is to dwell eternally with God or that it must be eternally banished from his Presence that is that it must live or die eternally For to live with God is to enjoy the greatest Perfection of Happiness and to be banished his Presence is certainly the greatest Misery that can be thought of As soon as we know the Existence of God that the Soul has no Parts and that 't is incapable of any Dissolution that its Nature altogether distinct from that of Matter cannot be buried under the Ruins of the Body it is then very hard for us to oppose the Doctrin which the Gospel teaches us concerning the State of the Soul after Death Nay we are so far from impugning of it that there is even a Necessity incumbent upon us readily to embrace the same For if the Souls of the Wicked together with those of the Good are equally to be banished the Presence of God then Reason Nature and all our other Knowledge impose upon us in giving us Hope of a future Reward And if the Souls both of the Wicked and the Good are to enjoy alike the Presence of Almighty God then too those very Principles delude us in making us dread his pretended Judgments and so Gods Justice and Veracity together with all our other Knowledge are at an end To avoid therefore falling into such an impious Assertion we must own that the Souls of the Good are to dwell for ever with God but that contrariwise those of the Wicked are to be banished his Presence and in owning this we affirmthe only thing in the World that is most agreeable to all our Knowledge and most visibly flows from the nature of things themselves The Blessings of God excellently answer his liberal Promises and the formidable Severity of his Punishments All the Creatures of this visible World conspire together to do us good And besides all the temporal Blessings daily conferr'd upon us besides the whole Earths being replenished with the Knowledge of the true God the Hearts of Men are sanctified their Souls comforted the Gospel preached throughout the whole World the Son of God died for our Offences and was raised for our Justification our crucified Saviour came out of the Grave to bring us Peace from God and seal the Truth of his Gospel by his frequent Apparitions after his Death there was a visible and frequent Effusion of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost upon Men a multitude of Martyrs sent from God to reclaim the World by their Examples and Conversation from Vice and Idolatrous Superstition all these things I say are such Blessings as are wonderfully suitable to the Promises and Threatnings of God and fully convince us that the Christian Morality has as many Objects to exalt and comfort Men's Souls as it has to excite and terrify their Minds to the performance of their Duty X. But to prove that this Morality is not a meer Idea of Perfection God in is Wisdom was pleased not only to have it set down in the Book of the New Testament but also to have it lively Painted first in the Life of Christ and afterwards in the daily practice of the Primitive Christians These Men are not such Teachers as might deservedly be accused of speaking well but doing ill as it was objected formerly to Seneca who composed very excellent Discourses concerning Poverty and the contempt of the Goods of Fortune when he himself was richer than the wealthiest Citizen of Rome These on the contrary confirm'd by their practice what they taught And by extirpating their evil Desires form'd such a Society as is conformable to that we have had above but a faint Prospect of when we laid down the Idea of Man's Duty They utterly renounced those Passions which put a Distinction betwixt them and other Men. They forgot their Quality and Condition the better to use one another like Brethren The same Interests were common to them all They sold their Possessions to ease the Wants and Necessities of those that suffered Adversity They rejoyced for having been thought worthy to suffer for the Name of God Every thing conduced to their Happiness even Afflictions themselves They prayed for those that despitefully us'd them and as Charity and not Selflove was the Rule of their Affections so all the Motions of their Heart tended to one as to the same Center to the Glory of God and the good of their Neighbours which gave the Scripture occasion to say that they were but one Heart and one Soul I confess that State could not always continue in the Church but the Wisdom of God permitted it should last for some time to give us a lively Image and Idea of Heaven here on Earth and so to confirm by the excellence of such an Example a Morality already supported by so many great and powerful Motives VIII Portraiture of the Christian Religion as it is consider'd in its Mysteries THe Mysteries God has revealed unto us in his Word are like the cloudy Pillar which led the Children of Israel through the Wilderness For like that they are clear on one side but dark and obscure on the other If we contemplate
the Earth has heard of the preaching of the Apostles who all unanimously declared that Jesus Christ was risen again from the Dead and 't is purely upon their testimony that the World believ'd it Can we imagin that the Disciples of Jesus let slip a long period of time as twenty or thirty years after the Crucifixion of their Master and so having had time to embolden themselves and to contrive an imposture they suddenly appeared in the World and preached that Jesus was risen again from the Dead If so how could the compilers or forgers of the New Testament make the world believe that the Disciples of Jesus preached his Resurrection a few Weeks after his Crucifixion How comes it to pass that the Jews never had the least thoughts of contradicting our Scripture in that respect And what is the reason that the Christians yearly commemorate two festivals successively one after another one for the commemoration of the Death and Resurrection of the Lord and the other for that of the coming down of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles which was purposely given them to preach the Gospel in all places If the Disciples had not preached the Resurrection of their Master till a long time after his Death would it not have been ask'd them what have you done since your Jesus was Crucified Rose he not sooner from the Dead Or wherefore do you now preach his Resurrection so long after it What could have obliged the Jews to assert that his Disciples had stolen away his Body by night if his Resurrection had been preached so very late in the World And how comes it to pass that there were Christian Churches established almost every where by the sole testimony of the Apostles few years after the Death of Jesus Christ Can we suppose that it was out of ambition or revenge that the Disciples of Jesus published his Resurrection as designing to make the Chief Priests and Scribes pass for Paricides or immortalise their own names to Posterity But could the Disciples think of revenging themselves on those Men that had so clearly shewn them their mistake in the Messias Or could they fancy there was any revenge purely in inventing such a ridiculous fable Would they buy their Revenge so dear as at the price of their own lives and expose their persons to inevitable Torments and certain death then as for ambitious thoughts did they entertain them immediately after the death of him who could only support and confirm them Had they any reason to aspire after Glory and Grandeur just when all their hopes were destroyed with their Messias Is it likely a few poor Fishermen should have had such thoughts Certainly had that been their design they would soon have relinquish'd it and the immediate scandal affixed to their profession the Misery and barbarous persecution it continually drew upon them would have soon banished out of their Minds so ridiculous and extravagant a design But to what purpose is it for any one to delude himself 'T is well known that when a Malefactor is put to the rack he is forc'd to confess his Crime the torments he endures extorting a confession of his most secret Actions This is a way almost infallible to discover truth and human Justice often puts it in execution for that purpose How were it possible therefore that so many impostors together that had been so often examined and urged by Fire and Sword to recant what they had asserted should yet so constantly persist in a false deposition For 't was not only one single witness but a great Number of Witnesses who were not compell'd to suffer one single punishment only but all sorts of punishments 'T was not only in one single place but almost in every place where they preached they were urged to recant their opinion by the severest torments Neither was it for one single Moment but for every Moment of their lives that they were thus exposed to persecution Not one single party was on their side But Jews and Heathens Kings and Magistrates Prelates and People openly declared themselves their Adversaries They were not only assaulted with Persecutions but reviled contemned and reproached yet for all that not one of them recanted his Opinion Being Separated or Confronted they all unanimously deposed not only that Jesus Christ was risen from the Dead but that they had seen him after the Resurrection If this be the Method commonly used to maintain an imposture I wonld gladly know how Truth it self is to be defended But perhaps the Disciples were themselves deluded and Peter or some other Apostle being so cunning as to remove the body of our Lord out of his Sepulcher perswaded the other Disciples their Master was really risen from the Dead and so they firmly believing his report went about the World preaching his Resurrection But this Opinion necessiarily falls of it self to the ground For the Apostles not only testify'd that they had all seen Jesus Christ after his Resurrection from the Dead but that the holy Ghost fell on them in the likeness of fiery Tongues They testify'd likewise the Truth of Christ's other Miracles and 't is impossible they should all have been deceived in respect of all those matters of fact at once Above all 't is necessary to observe this last kind of miracle viz. the coming down of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles in the likeness of fiery tongues For those Apostles boldly affirmed that with the help of that very miracle they were endowed with the gift of divers Languages so that Greeks Romans Parthians Persians c. heard them speak every one in their own Language This is a matter of fact which neither the Apostles could have deceived the World in nor they themselves have been deceived in It can't be imagined they could have deceived the World or that some Fishermen could have been so bold as to pretend they were endowed with the gift of divers Languages unless it had been really so for they would in every place have been immediately convicted of the most notorious Cheat in the world There were at Rome men who spoke Greek as well as in Greece some that spoke Latin And by reason of Trade it generally happens that there are men of all Languages in every Country Now if St. Paul really understood no other Language but that Greek spoken in Cilicia can we suppose he would have been so bold as to boast in Asia of his speaking Latin or any other forreign Language Would he not have certainly met with people who would have immediately convicted him of falshood Neither is it more likely that the Apostles could have been themselves deceived in this respect because 't is a business of inward sense I may easily be deluded outwardly and think that I see a man indeed when I see but the shadow or fantom of a man But I can never perswade my self that I speak several different Languages when I speak but one But when I see that men of
it will be often said lo here is Christ or lo he is there before the last day of Judgment As before the destruction of Jerusalem Jesus Christ gathered together in some Christian Churches the Elect from the four Winds of Heaven and that by the preaching of the Apostles his Mystical Angels so likewise at the end of the World he will send his Angels to raise his Elect from the Dust and Obscurity of the Grave For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and the Dead in Christ shall rise 1 Thess 4. 16. As there were seen several Comets and terrible Signs that foretold the Destruction of Jerusalem as the Smoak of the City and Flaming Temple hid the light of the day and darkned the Sun and Stars so without doubt the end of the World will be also attended with Signs and Prodigies much more terrible St. Peter saith the Earth shall be burnt up and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat c. 2. Epistle 3. 10. As the Destruction of the Jews happened after an unexpected manner so also shall the last day come as a thief in the night As Jerusalem and the Temple were utterly destroyed as soon as the Jews had compleated the measure of their sins so this World which we inhabit must perish as soon as the end or Calling of all Nations shall be fulfilled as Jesus Christ himself says in that Prophecy we now have under Consideration Besides one may reasonably imagin the Disciples to be always prepossessed with this Opinion that the End of the World would immediately follow the destruction of Jerusalem For when it was reported among the Disciples that St. John should not die because Christ had said to one of them speaking of him If I will that he tarries till I come what is that to thee They stretch'd that till I come as far as the end of the World but they might have confined it to the Destruction of Jerusalem a time which the Apostles in reality saw and in which Jesus Christ visited the Jews in his justice Further this Tradition being spread abroad that the day of the Lord drew nigh the Thessalonians were so terrifi'd at it that St. Paul to comfort them again sent them the following assurances to the Contrary Now we beseech you Brethren that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Chrst is at hand Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except first c. 2 Thess 2. 2 3. In a word there is no reason to wonder that that Prophecy of Jesus Christ so faithfully related by his Disciples should have left this Impression in their minds For Jesus Christ on the one hand had given such marks and signs of his coming that it seemed as if the last judgment was immediately to follow it saying that he should appear as the lightning that cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West and on the other hand he had declared several times that all those things should happen to that generation that many of those who were present with him should not taste of Death until they had seen all those things Since then Jesus Christ united thus two several Events in one and the same Description but two subordinate Events as like unto one another as the Copy and the Original may be it follows thence that his Prophecy must have had two accomplishments the one very nigh and the other remote This in my opinion is the true way of unravelling all those Difficulties The Disciples confounded together two very remote Events and Jesus Christ suffered them to continue in that Opinion 'T is necessary that the Event should justifie the Prophecies but not that the Prophecies should be contrary to their Event It is necessary therefore they should be obscure before their Completion but clear and easy when once accomplish'd But however probable what I 've laid down may seem to be I should be very sorry any one should think I lay the stress of my argument upon it I make a distinction between bare Conjectures and true and certain Principles and I leave all the Explanations I have just now given to the Readers judgment to use according to his Discretion I am indifferent whether he uses my Notions or those of any other Man to solve certain difficulties which may occur therein I shall only insist upon two certain Truths which in my opinion admit of no Difficulty The first is that this Prophecy is so circumstantially related that it is absurd to imagin it composed after the event or that a man took occasion from the Destruction of Jerusalem at which none but Titus and his Army were seen to make Jesus Christ say when he foretold that Devastation that he would come in the Clouds of heaven that he would send his Angels to gather his Elect from the four winds that they would see him coming with power and great glory as the lightning that cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West that all the Tribes of the Earth should mourn at his coming and that day should come as suddenly as the fire of Sodom and Gomorrah The second Truth which seems to me altogether unquestionable is that notwithstanding that little darkness with which the Wisdom of God thought fit to overshadow this prophecy it was nevertheless in all Respects so very exactly related in all its Circumstances and so clearly fulfilled that supposing it composed before the Event we cannot but acknowledge it to proceed from a Prophetical Spirit For what can we Read in the History of the Jews but what is included in this Prophecy The beginning the continuation and ending of the Misfortunes of the Jews are all to be found in it It does not foretel a particular Captivity of that people but a general dispersion of the whole Nation and they shall be led Captives into all Nations Luk. 21. 24. Jesus Christ wept over Jerusalem on another occasion at his entring into it and uttered these Compassionate Words O that thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace But now they are hid from thine eyes For the days shall come that thine Enemies shall cast a Trench about thee and compass thee round and keep the in on every side and shall â—ay thee even with the ground and thy Children within thee and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another because thou knewest not the time of thy Visitation Luke â—9 42 43 44. And can any one believe that this passage of our Saviours weeping over Jerusalem was also inserted in â—he Gospel Were all those Prophetical Parables inâ—erted too in which Jesus Christ threatned the Jews â—ith their approaching Destruction telling them â—ne while that the Lord would let his Vineyard to other
been clearly explained by their event Neither the Books of the Old or New Testament bear the least record of Mahomet whereas the Prophets had foretold the coming of Jesus Christ as of a Messias that was to unite the Jews and Gentiles and to carry the Covenant of God unto the ends of the World Mahomet established himself in the World by force and violence but Jesus Christ only by patience and sufferings The former was environ'd with Soldiers the latter was attended with Martyrs The one put men to Death but the other received Death for our sakes Mahomet's ambition who established such a flourishing Empire was presently seen in the success he had in his undertaking But Jesus Christ was far from self Interest or Ambition since he withdrew himself when they would have made him King and declared his Kingdom was not of this World Instead of encouraging the carnal prejudices of his Disciples he took care to undeceive them and to foretell all the Evils they were to expect And tho' any should presume openly to dispute all these matters of fact still they appear by the end and success of the Gospel the design of which was to sanctify the heart and calm the disorderly passions of the Soul Mahomet invented such a Religion which agreed only with corrupted Reason and the loose inordinate desires of the heart He made the scandal of the Cross to give place to the magnificence and grandeur of the World he took away the most spiritual and difficult matters of Morality to fill the minds of his Disciples with carnal and sensual Ideas But not so did our Saviour act who proposed his Cross to the minds of men as an astonishing Paradox and a continual cause of Mortification and Repentance Mahomet Established his Religion by the help of Ignorance and Darkness by suppressing such Books as might have enlightened mens Understandings and by requiring a blind submission from them Jesus Christ on the contrary would not have them believe his Doctrine but as they found it conformable to that of the Prophets Search the Scriptures says he for in them ye think ye have eternal life John 5. 39. Mahomet established himself in the World by dissembling and disguising his thoughts He promised in the beginning a toleration of all Religions carried it fair to the Christians but afterwasds did his utmost endeavours to extirpate them utterly But Jesus Christ declared at first his intention and design which was to save mankind and overthrow Superstition it self Nor he nor his Disciples used any Policy or Circumvention in this respect Mahomet died but never rose nor pretended to rise again from the dead thereby to shew he was approved of God Jesus Christ died but it was believed he rose again from the dead upon the testimony of those who had seen him after his Resurrection and testified of the Truth of this matter of fact to all the World at the expence of their lives and effusion of their blood Mahomet's Religion was invented maintained and supported by Policy but that of Jesus Christ was at first offensive to all the Princes upon earth and was established in the World notwithstanding all their endeavours to the contrary Mahomets's Religion appear'd at first view to be as it were the Triumph of Humane Industry and Covetousness but the Religion of Jesus Christ shew'd that of integrity and justice in their full perfection and Natural Religion in that proper purity and simplicity that was restored to it by Charity Mahomet laid the foundation of a particular Monarchy and established such Laws as humanly speaking are serviceable only in those places wherein he has settled his Dominion but Jesus Christ has given us new Principles of union and intelligence very usefull to the good of publick society in general and very fit to cement the union of all men together by making the spirit of Charity reign in the World The coming of Mahomet did not sanctify mankind but that of Jesus Christ was attended with an innumerable Company of persons who all renounced the World meerly by the Faith they had in him 'T was not Mahomet but Jesus Christ who exactly fulfilled the Oracles concerning the calling of the Gentiles because Mahomet derived all his knowledge of the true God from Jesus Christ as we have already shewed Lastly Temporal Prosperity was the true Character of the Religion of Mahomet and it might be very well affirmed that Mahomet was a Man of God if it were true that all those who enjoy the greatest Prosperity in the World that is all Tyrants wicked and unjust men are the favorites of God But the Character of the Religion of Jesus Christ is patience self-denial innocence and a simplicity of manners and certainly he was approved of God if God approves of vertuous patient humble and charitable men It concerns now the Incredulous to answer all these differences if they would have us allow of this Comparison for otherwise we shall ever reject it as being very ridiculous and extravagant CHAP. XV. Where we further examin the objections of the Incredulous THe Incredulous are apt to raise as many suspicions against the miracles of Jesus Christ as against his person because of all those proofs which establish his Religion there are none that can move the senses so much as that taken from true Miracles I. Then they object that Jesus the Son of Mary might have healed two or three people either by chance or by vertue of Second causes and that that good success might have got him afterwards the name of a Prophet through the ignorance of the people who are wont to ascribe to supernatural Causes every thing that is unknown to them We answer that we have here a very great number of miracles all of different kinds evident and sensible miracles in their Nature unimitable and above all Imposture Such are the Resurrection of the dead healing the Blind the Lame and the sick of the Palsy c. II. They pretend that he might perhaps have suborned Witnesses to testify some fabulous miracles But how could this be Since Jesus Christ had neither money to give nor dignities to promise and as for cunning Politick niceties Riches and Credit they were only amongst the Scribes and Pharisees and Doctors of the Law his implacable Enemies who took all opportunities to prejudice him because he publickly censured their hypocrisy upon all occasions III. They object that Jesus Christ was so prudent as to work his miracles only before three of his chosen Disciples viz. Peter James and John Now say they who knows but that those three Disciples to flatter the ambition of their Master might have attested certain Miracles as true which were not really so To remove this suspicion we need only reflect upon the many miracles Jesus Christ wrought in the presence of his other Disciples He raised from the dead the Son of the Widdow of Naim as he was a carrying to be interr'd He raised Lazarus from the grave in
Estates of the Rich in teaching them how to consecrate them to God and to comfort the poor in their necessities by enacting such admirable Laws designed only for their Subsistence Levit. 19. Deut. 15. 7 8 24. Lastly To all this you may yet further add those wonderful Laws of Equity and Justice whereby their Lawgiver had so prudently determined what Judgments shouldbe executed in the midst of that people those Laws which seemed to be only the first and most just determinations of the Law of Nature and which may and ought to serve for an example to all Civil and Political Laws established in the World Now from all this it necessarily follows First That the Disciples could not look upon Jesus Christ as the Messias who was to come and whom their Nation expected with so great impatience without expecting from him a Temporal Happiness and Prosperity This plainly appears by the request which the Mother of Zebedee's Children made to Jesus Christ when she came to him saying Lord grant that these my two Sons may sit the one on the Right Hand and the other on the Left in thy Kingdom Mat. 20. 21. The Disciples therefore must necessarily be strangely offended to hear that their Master was not come to command but to serve and give his Life as a Ransom for many that he should be the greatest in his Kingdom who was most humble and that the greatest was to be as the least and as one that serveth Besides how strangely must their hopes be cross'd to see that nothing but Misery Poverty and Afflictions continually attended the profession they had embraced of following Jesus Christ They must have certainly found something or other in their Master which recompens'd the loss of that Temporal Prosperity they so eagerly thirsted after and made them patiently endure all sorts of Afflictions and that recompence could be nothing else but the Doctrine or Miracles of Jesus Christ Yet 't was not his Doctrine because they understood it not for along time as is evident by so many vain frivolous absurd and ridiculous questions that were offensive and savoured of little respect to their Master Besides what was most holy and most proper to perswade men to embrace his Doctrine was that part of it which was most spiritual and that part was hid from them and they could not understand it because their minds were filled only with gross and carnal Ideas of the World as it appears by their Discourses to their Master which they themselves relate after so simple and ingenuous a manner They must then necessarily have found in Jesus Christ such miracles as served them instead of all their oâ—her desires And 't is by them chiefly that Jesus Christ proved the truth and Divinity of his Calling to them He told them that the Father had not left him without a witness but that the works which he did testify'd that the Father had sent him And on another occasion he solemnly declared that there was a greater witness than John the Baptist adding that the works which the Father had given him to do were those that should testify of him But perhaps it may here be objected that John the Baptist could draw a great multitude after him and be esteemed a Prophet among the Jews without having wrought any Miracles at least none that we know of or meet with in the Gospel and consequently that it 's no wonder if Jesus Christ as well as John the Baptist drew a great number of Disciples after him not so much upon the account of his Miracles as his extraordinary Piety and the promises he made them of an Eternal Life To this I answer First that tho' we read of no kind of Miracles that John the Baptist wrought himself in the whole Course of his Life or of his Ministry yet it is sufficient that his Birth was signalized by a very surprising Miracle which was sufficiently known by all his Nation to make them expect great and wonderful matters from him Secondly I say that as John the Baptist wrought no Miracles so neither was he looked upon as a Prophet that was to have done any He was not that Messias of whom it had beeen foretold that he should be the desire of all Nations that he should be called the God and Saviour of the World at whose coming God would shake Heaven and Earth the Sea and the dry Land He was no more than his forerunner He was the voice of one crying in the Wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord make his Paths straight Matt. 3. 3. Thirdly John the Baptist declared only to them the coming of the Messias which could not but very much please the Jews and which perfectly well agreed with their Hopes and Opinions His Ministry had nothing but what was very grateful and pleasant And it was not requisite he should work any Miracles to exhort the Jews to receive the most wellcome tidings they could ever hear of But it was not so with Jesus Christ who was obliged to shew the Messias in his own Person and him too so contrary to that Idea they had framed to themselves of him even from their infancy So that he could not chuse but exasperate them against him And to this if I may mention it by the way we ought to refer the different success of the Ministry of John the Baptist and that of Jesus Christ which was signified in the predictions of the prophets who foretold that John the Baptist should reconcile the Hearts of the Parents to the Children but on the contrary that Jesus Christ would be a stumbling block and an offence to Israel Since the Jews so eagerly expected the coming of the Kingdom of the Messias they framed a very agreeable Idea of him to themselves as they do still to this day They invested him with all the Splendor and Glory they could possibly wish to themselves They painted him if I may so speak in Colours suitable to their own Pride and Ambition They expected they should speedily have Kings of the Earth for their nursing Fathers and Queens for their nursing Mothers nay they imagined no less than to have them immediately for Man Servants and Maid Servants These things they had been told of from their Infancy and that Carnal and Temporal Messias they fancied was as it were the Idol of their Hearts Soon after John Baptist appeared in the World who setting forth the Kingdom of the Messias in such terms as the Prophet Daniel had made use of before him publickly affirmed that the Kingdom of Heaven was at Hand Mat. 3 2 At the report of this agreeable voice all the people ran in crouds to hear it from Jerusalem from Decapolis from Judea from Galilee and from the Cities beyond Jordain John preached Repentance to them as a necessary preparation to become partakers of all the Benefits they were to expect under the Messias and they willingly hearkened to his preaching He exhorted them to be reconciled to
Mankind or at least those Countreys where all those things came to pass I answer first those matters of fact were not in the least stifled or concealed They were so far from it that they converted an infinite number both of Jews and Gentiles and that too in a very short time Secondly there were several external Causes which very much contributed towards the weakning the Impression they would otherwise have made upon Mankind For first the Elders amongst the Jews endeavour'd as much as they could to perswade the People that all those Miracles were nothing but the product of some Magick Power or a kind of compact with the Devil Secondly Those that were in Power were so much exasperated against the Disciples of Christ that whosoever resolved to embrace his Doctrine must immediately prepare himself to be cast into a Dungeon or executed upon a scaffold Nay to undergo if possible any thing more sorrowful and fatal than this And because nothing makes a greater Impression upon Men than to see Punishments inflicted on others all Parents strictly charged their Children not to hold any Conversation with the Christians least they should see them end their days in the midst of Torments Nay they were very cautious and strict themselves in avoiding their Society which was the reason that keeping such an extraordinary distance from the Christians they shut their Eyes and stopped their Ears that they might not hear their Words nor see the Miracles which they perform'd Thirdly The Doctrine of the Apostles was so contrary to the Opinion the Jews had been prepossessed with that they could not but hate and avoid it For the Cross of Christ became a scandal to the Jews and was treated as a folly by the Greeks Lastly The Christian Religion putting an end to the bondage of the Law and the Religion of the Heathens a Jew then could not be converted to Christanity without utterly renouncing what he always esteemed inviolable nor could a Heathen believe in Jesus Christ without looking upon that as profane which he thought before most sacred Hence it is that the holy Scripture speaks to us of the effects of the Gospel attended with the power of the Holy Ghost as of the Creation of new Heavens and of a new Earth If we add to this the extraordinary care the Jewish and Heathenish Priests and the Magistrates of both Nations took to smother the light of the Gospel and the Weaknesses and Passions of Men who were unable to sustain so much as the Idea of the torments that were invented on purpose to hinder the progress of Christanity I say if we consider this we shall have no Reason to be any longer astonish'd at that which at first view so much surprised us But secondly it may be asked why the Historians among the Heathens never mention'd any thing of those mighty Wonders of the Gospel which yet deserved to have the most considerable place amongst the many other Events they have so carefully related We answer That this Consideration proves nothing against the truth of those Matters of fact we have so firmly established First because it is needless and extravagant to draw any further Consequences from a Principle which proves more than enough already 'T is true the Heathen Writers say little or nothing concerning Jesus Christ for they hardly knew his Name Suetonius speaks of him after this manner Judaei tumultuati sunt Cresto impulsore But what then Does it follow that because Suetonius hardly knew the Name of Christ that there was no such Person as Christ or that he was not really called Christus The Heathen Authors you see relate not how several Christian Churches were in a small time settled at Rome at Corinth at Ephesus at Sardis at Smirna at Philippi at Thessalonica c. But must it follow from thence that there was no such thing Certainly if any matters of fact were true this was undoubtedly true I grant indeed that the Miracles Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ were all matters of fact that might be doubted of yet we may at least affirm that the Establishment of those Christian Churches composed of such Men as believed all those things was a thing not to be doubted of This was a matter of fact very important and remarkable Yet it was not in the least mention'd by the Historians of that Age therefore the Objection goes too far it proves too much and so consequently proves nothing Secondly I say that the Historians of those Times have so ignorantly treated of the Jewish Affairs that we need not wonder they appear so little instructed in the Knowledge of what concerned the Christians whom they supposed to have been a Sect belonging to the Jews For if it appears that the History those Authors composed of them agrees not very well with the Gospel of the Apostles 't is but comparing it with that of Josephus and we may clearly see that it agrees no better with one than with the other Lastly the Heathen Authors consider'd the Christian Religion as a kind of Magick and a detestable Superstition which aimed at the total Destruction of Mankind It is certain that some Men earnestly endeavour'd to make it pass for such among those who lived both in the Time of the Apostles and long after them and it was very dangerous to give it any other Name The World was divided between the Friends and Enemies of Christanity Those who were the Friends of it professed it and deliver'd not only by word of Mouth but in Writing what they knew concerning the Wonders of it As for its Enemies they neither had the Boldness Power or Will to write ofit as the former had done They would not do it lest they should wrong their own Cause and dishonour their own Religion And they could not do it because they themselves were not so well acquainted with the Miracles of Christanity having always been afraid to converse with the Christians and esteemed the Belief of those Men a very sorrowful and dangerous Persuasion since by professing their Religion they were sure of getting nothing but Torments and Death it self Lastly they durst not presume to write things as they really were tho' they had been never so well acquainted with them because their own Writings would accuse them of having embraced Christianity a Crime which was so severely punish'd in those days that it would unavoidably have brought upon them certain Death and Ruin or at least after their Death Shame and Infamy upon their Families But thirdly it may be asked why the Apostles who had Power to heal the Sick and raise the Dead did not raise all the Dead to Life again nor heal all the sick that were in Judea because then all the World would have been forced in spite of themselves to believe in Jesus Christ We answer That this Question is much like what the Murtherers of Jesus Christ said to him upon the Cross He saved others let him save himself let him come
the Divinity of the Christian Religion St. MARK CHapt I. 14. Now after that John was put in Prison Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God c. All these Expressions the Gospel or good Tidings the Gospel of the Kingdom of God c. are very strange and extraordinary And because our Ears are somewhat used to them we do not reflect on them so much as we ought Certainly it must be a strange kind of mutual agreement that several Fishermen made together to go preaching about the World and call the Subject of their preaching by the name of Gospel Chap. IV. 19. And the Cares of this World and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things entring in choke the word c. T is not usual for other Men thus to declare open War against their Passions or if they do they fail not presently to discover themselves and lay open their own Hypocrisy to the World Vers 41. And they said one to another what manner of Man is this that even the Winds and Sea obey him c. We too may as well say what manner of Man is this that not only the Sea and Winds but Diseases Graves Death Hell Earth Men and Devils all obey him For it is observable there was nothing within the bounds of Nature but what was sensible of his Miracles Chap. VI. 2 3. From whence has this Man these things And what wisdom is this which is given unto him that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands Is not this the Carpenter the son of Mary c. Whence rather proceeds this astonishment of theirs and what is the reason of this sort of reproach had not Christ wrought several Miracles amongst them Vers 4 5 6. But Jesus said unto them a prophet is not without honour but in his own Country c. And he could not do many mighty works there save that he laid his hand upon a few sick folk and he healed them And he marvelled because of their unbelief Every thing in this passage carries with it an Air of Truth without the least semblance of Falsity For he that would invent a story and desire other Men should believe it would never make choice of such Circumstances as these Vers 56. And whithersoever he entred into villages or Cities or Countries they laid the Sick in the Streets and besought that they might touch if it were but the border of his Garment and as many as touched him were made whole It is impossible for any Man to impose upon other People in such matters of fact as these Chap. VIII 27 28. And by the way he asked his Disciples saying unto them Whom do Men say that I am And they answered some say John the Baptist but some say Elias and others one of the Prophets Here we may observe what a great Impression Christ 's Miracles had already made upon other Mens minds Chap. XIV 33. And He began to be sore amazed and to be very heavy To own that Jesus Christ was reduced to this State nay him whom they would have Men look upon as the Son of God is the effect of a strange and surprizing sincerity Vers 62. And Jesus said I am And ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Power and coming in the Clouds of Heaven Did ever any Criminal brought before a Tribunal of Justice speak thus Chap. XVI 17 18 20. And these signs shall follow them that believe in my name they shall cast out Devils they shall speak with strange Tongues they shall take up Serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the Sick and they shall recover c. And they went forth and preached every where the Lord working with them and confirming the word with Signs c. Either all these matters of fact must have been necessarily true or St. Mark must have been strangely besides himself when he related them Let us consider What is it that he relates Or whom did he design to impose upon nay what time did he choose to effect it How could he possibly perswade the Disciples that they had done such Miracles as they were never able to do And how should they perswade themselves that Christ had given them that power to do Miracles which they never received St. LUKE Chap. I. 64. And his mouth was opened immediately and his Tongue loosed and he spake and praised God And fear came on all that dwelt round about them and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the Hill Country of Judea No man is so mad as to pretend to impose upon Men's belief in matters of fact so publick as these he would rather make choice of passages scarce heard of or at least but obscurely known Chap. II. 16. And found Mary and Joseph and the Babe lying in a Manger Great was the exactness of these Writers in giving us a simple Relation of things as they really were What can seem more contrary and irreconcilable one with another than all these Circumstances A Child sleeping in a Manger but a Child whose Nativity was declared even by Angels and celebrated by all the Host of Heaven a Child that was banished the Society of Men but elevated in dignity even above the blessed Spirits a Child that was inconsiderable and of no esteem on Earth but great in Heaven and adored by Angels that was indeed a while after his Birth worshipped by some Wise-men that brought him Presents but soon â—orced to fly into Egypt for the safety of his Life Certainly there appears nothing like a Fiction in all these Circumstances Chap. V. 19. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude they went upon the House-top and let him down through the tiling with his Couch into the midst before Jesus Do such things as these enter easily of themselves into a Man's mind who writes nothing but of his own invention Chap. VII 38. And she stood at his feet behind him weeping and began to wash his feet with Tears and did wipe them with the Hairs of her Head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the Ointment 'T was easie to know the Redeemer of the World by that saving alteration he was seen to make in those that followed him Chap. IX 45. But they understood not this saying and it was hid from them that they perceived it not Great indeed was the Evangelists sincerity who stuck not to own the ignorance and stupidity of the Disciples Chap. X. 19. 20. Behold I give unto you Power to tread on Serpents and Scorpions and over all the Power of the Enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you Notwithstanding in this rejoyce not that the Spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoyce because your Names are written in Heaven A certain Character of true Religion indeed which sets a greater value upon
been several famous Emperors who were not able to conceal from the World their favourable Opinions of the Christian Religion that some of them had for Inscriptions in their publick Edifices several Maxims of the Gospel that others would have consecrated Churches for the Use of the Christians and lastly that others professed themselves Admirers of the Morality of Christ. But what shall we say of the Jews and Gentiles who not being able to deny Christ's Miracles were forced to refer them some to a Magick Power and others to a certain I know not what mysterious Pronunciation of the word Jehovah So strange a thing it is that ev'n the very Enemies of our Religion should thus testify of it and yet scarce perceive it The seventh Testimony is that of several strange Events which the Wisdom of God so ordered that they firmly establish the Truth of Christianity Of these there are several very remarkable but it shall suffice at present to mention Three only which among the rest deserve a particular Consideration the First is the Destruction of the four Monarchies which had sorely afflicted and harass'd God's People at the end of which the Kingdom of Heaven was immediately to be established the Second the entire Destruction of the Jewish Government and the signal Devastation of the holy Land an Effect of the divine Wrath pour'd out upon that Nation the Third and last the Settlement of the Christian Church or the Calling of the Gentiles attended with so many Circumstances as plainly shew that nothing but the hand of God could perfect so great a Work The Eighth is that Testimony given of Christ by the Revelation of Moses And the Ninth that which is given of him by Natural Religion But of these two Testimonies we shall not speak at present for as much as we design to end this Work with a particular Consideration of them In the mean time 't is plain the Christian Religion must be true because it was confirmed by the Testimony of so many authentick Persons which can't be suspected of Deceit And it would be extravagantly ridiculous to imagine that the Prophets should have so clear an insight into Futurity meerly to countenance and authorize a Fiction that John the Baptist having been at first taken by the Jews for the Messias should renounce the Honour which that Title would have conferred upon him only out of Love and Complaisance to an Impostor that the Apostles and the rest of the Disciples should so readily sacrifice their Estates Reputation Repose and Life it self to a Person they knew to be a false Christ that the Heavens should countenance a Flam and a Lye by working such signal and sensible Miracles that the Heart of Man should have found every thing that can supply it's Wants and Necessities in a meer Cheat that ev'n the Enemies of our Religion should countenance and approve of our false Prejudices that all Events should so exactly coincide with an erroneous Imposture and that the Revelation of Moses and Natural Religion should thus testify so palpable a Fiction To this we may add the Necessity and Importance of the Christian Religion since the Wisdom of God leads us to it by so many different ways as also the admirable Perfection and Transcendency of it since in a manner Heaven and Earth the Time past and present Events ordinary and natural as well as those supernatural and miraculous since the Prophets and Apostles who were altogether unknown to one another have agreed unanimously to reveal it and propose it to us as an Object for it's transcendent excellency worthy of our greatest Admiration II Portraiture of the Christian Religion as it is opposed to all other Religions ALL these Truths will more evidently appear if we consider the Christian Religion in it's Opposition to all other Religions The Excellency of the Christian Religion consists in that it has Advantages which other Religions have not and yet none of their Faults I say no other Religion has Advantages equal to those of the Christian Religion for no other can boast of it's having been confirmed by ancient Prophecies Ev'n Mahomet thought it better to oblige Men to call the Scripture in question than do derive any Arguments from it which might serve to confirm his Mission as appears by his not boasting that he had been preceeded by any Forerunner who made his paths streight There are indeed several Religions which perhaps may have had their Martyrs But what sort of Martyrs superstitious Men who blindly exposed themselves to Death without knowing what they did like those Barbarians who prostrated themselves by thousands before their Idol that their Colossus might crush them in pieces with it's Wheels as it passed along But no Religion besides the Christian was ever confirmed by the Blood of an infinite number of sensible understanding Martyrs who voluntarily suffered Death in Defence of what they had seen who from vitious and profligate Persons became Saints upon the Confidence they had in their Master and who at length being dispersed in all places of the World by their Death gain'd Proselytes and making their Blood the Seed of the Church chearfully suffered Martyrdom having certain Assurance of being crowned after their Death A certain Assurance which they derived from what they themselves had formerly seen We find other Religions which pretend to be confirmed and authorized by several Signs and extraordinary Events from Heaven The Romans used to attribute to their Religion all the Advantages they got over other Nations And the Mahumetans pretend that the great Successes God was pleased to give their Prophet were so many certain and undeniable Marks of the Truth of their Religion But to pretend that temporal Prosperity is a certain Character of a true Religion or Adversity that of a false one is to suppose as we have already said else where that the most profligate Wretches provided they are happy in this World are the greatest Favourites of God But certainly 't is not Prosperity or Adversity simply considered but Prosperity or Adversity as foretold by God or his Prophets that is a certain Character of true Religion And when we affirm that several extraordinary Events bear witness to the Truth of Christianity we mean only those Events which had been foretold by the Prophets as for instance the calling of the Gentiles the Destruction of Jerusalem and the establishment of the Christian Church Finally there may be several Religions that may deceive but none but the Christian Religion that can truly satisfy Mankind There are some Religions grounded upon fabulous Miracles and confirmed by Witnesses easily convinc'd of Imposture but none but the Christian Religion is firmly and solidly establish t upon true Miracles and valid Testimonies It appears then that no Religion in the World has such extraordinary qualifications as the Christian Religion of which it must also be affirmed that it is free from all such Defects as are incident to other Religions We need no deep
the Paper it is written upon yet they are enjoyned to oppress Men that bear the Image of God by their Religion which breaths out nothing but Violence Fury and Oppression The Reason why Men usually refer thus every thing to their Senses is because a Worship that is corporeal and sensual is far more easie It is much easier for a Man to take the Sun for a God than to be continually taken up in seeking after a God that is invisible to solemnize Games and Festivals in honour of a pretended Deity than to renounce himself for the sake of a true one 'T is much easier for him to fast than to renounce his Vices to sing spiritual Songs or bow to a Statue than forgive his Enemies It appears then that the Christian Religion bears a more excellent Character in that it gives us for the Object of our Worship not a God under an human Shape but a God that is a Spirit in that it teaches us to honour him not with a carnal but a Spiritual Worship And this Christ himself has very elegantly told us in these Words God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth John 4. 24. Who could fill his Mind with such elevated Notions And how comes it that he so excellently sets down in that short Precept the Genius of true Religion of which Men before were wholly ignorant V. It may be said of all other Religions without Exception that they induce us to look after the Pleasures and Profits of the World in the Worship of God whereas the Christian Religion makes us glorify God by renouncing the World Thus the Heathens designing rather to please themselves than their Deities introduced into Religion whatever could any ways flatter and divert them And the Mahumatan Religion not being Incumbred with many Ceremonies at least affixes temporal Advantages to the Practice of its Worship as if the Pleasures of the World were to be the future Reward of Religion But certainly both of them are much mistaken for the Heathens should have known that the Worship of God consisted not in diverting and pleasing themselves and the Mahumetans should not have been ignorant that since temporal and worldly Advantages were insufficient in themselves to satisfy the boundless Desires of Man's Heart they could not come in Competition with those Benefits which true Religion had peculiarly designed for him But both these follow'd the Motions of Self-love which being naturally held in suspense between the World and Religion imagins that nothing can be more pleasant than to unite them both thinking thereby to reconcile its Inclination and Duty consecrate it's Pleasures and put no difference between Conscience and Interest But the first Rule of true Religion teaches us that that mutual Agreement is impossible or to use it 's own Words that Christ and Belial are incompatible one with the other that we must either glorify God at the expence of worldly Pleasures or possess the Advantages of the World with the Loss of our Religion And this certainly shews the Christian Religion to have a Divine Character VI. Other false Religions debase the Deity and exalt Man whereas the Christian Religion humbles Man and exalts the Deity The Egyptians a Nation that boasted so much of their Antiquity made Monsters of their Deities and the Romans made Deities of their Emperors who were rather Monsters than Men The most famous Philosophers were not ashamed to rank their Deities below themselves and themselves ever before Jupiter but the Christian Religion teaches us that we owe all to God who owes nothing at all to us It humbles us by the Consideration of that infinite Distance there is between God and us it shews that we are miserable despicable Creatures in comparison of God who is a Supream Being and only worthy our Love and Adoration Who then can chuse but admire so excellent a Religion VII Other Religions made us depend upon those Beings which were given us to command and saucily pretend a Power over that supream Being upon whom we ought wholly to depend They taught Men to burn Incense to the meanest Creatures and impudently to equal themselves to the Universal Monarch of the World But 't is no wonder that Men should be so impious as to desire to become Gods since they were so base as to forget that they were Men and yet how ill their Pride became them when they disdain'd not to submit to the four-footed Beasts to the Fowls of the Air the creeping Animals and Plants of the Earth as St. Paul reproaches them and how basely superstitious were they in that they were not content to Deify themselves but would also Deify their own Vices and Imperfections But the Christian Religion alone restores that equitable Order which ought to be establish'd in the World by submitting every thing to the Power of Man that he might submit himself to the Will of his God And what can be the Duty of true Religion but to restore such just and becoming Order in the World VIII We need no deep search into other Religions to find that they chiefly tend to flatter Men's corrupt Desires and efface those Principles of Justice and Vprightness which God has imprinted on their Minds But he that shall truly consider the Christian Religion will certainly find that it tends to the rooting up those corrupt Desires out of our Hearts and restoring those bright Characters of Honesty and Justice imprinted on our Minds by the hand of God The Heathens flattered their Passions to that degree as to erect Altars in Honour of them and Mahomet was so well pleas'd with temporal Prosperity that he made it the End and Reward of his Religion The Gnosticks imagined that when they had arrived to a certain degree of Knowledge which they called a State of Perfection they might commit all sorts of Actions without any Scruple of Conscience and that Sin which polluted others would be sanctified in them But what Blindness what Impiety was this How admirable is the Christian Religion which alone among all others shews us our own Wickedness and Corruption and heals it with such Remedies as are as wholsome to the Soul as unpleasing to the Body IX 'T is observable that other Religions are contrary to Policy either in favouring or restraining too much human Weakness and Corruption upon the Account of Policy Whereas the Christian Religion preserves it's Rights and Privileges inviolable independent from either The Pagan Religion was against Policy in giving too much to human Weakness and Corruption It would have been much better for the Good and Welfare of the State if Men had framed to themselves a greater Idea of the Holiness of their Gods because they would have been less licentious and more submissive to the Civil Laws whereas they were encourag'd by the Example of their Deities to violate the most sacred and inviolable Rights Mahomet desirous to avoid this Irregularity retain'd the Notion of a true
inevitable Difficulties when joyned to Religion Their Ends are so different that they may justly be allowed to be opposite For 1. The main Design of Philosophy is to gratify the vain Curiosity of Men whereas Religion designs only to mortify it 2. The one endeavours to find out the Nature of things the other professes an utter Ignorance of them 3. That swells up the Heart of Man by encreasing his Knowledge This humbles it by requiring him to submit his Reason to his Faith Lastly Philosophy endeavours to comprehend all things whereas one of the most essential parts of Religion consists in hmbly acknowledging that we comprehend nothing at all of the hidden Mysteries of Nature much less of those of Religion And therefore hence it is that Philosophy seldom agrees with Religion nor Religion with Philosophy Thus Copernicus and Descartes doubtless were not well pleased with the Descriptions the Author of Genesis gives us of the Creation of the World of the Two great Luminaries of Heaven of the Miracle of Joshuah who stopt the Course of the Sun of the third Heaven which St. Paul speaks of of the New Heavens and the New Earth which sacred Authors make us expect of the Conflagration of the Heavens the Dissolution of the Elements and the putting out the Light of the Stars all which Signs are to preceed the great and wonderful Day of Judgment I say such Philosophers as these would perhaps cry out that these Objects had no relation to their Ideas of Astronomy But certainly there is no reason to wonder at it For those Holy Writers intended to speak in the Language of the People and not in that of the Philosophers They had a mind to sanctify Mankind and not to explain the Mysteries of Nature and therefore it was highly necessary they should accommodate their Expressions to the Vulgar Notions Nay the Holy Ghost was pleased they should use no other that so his Mysteries being represented under those Vulgar Ideas might be suitable to every ones Capacity at least in the manner of their Revelation since they could not be so in their own Nature Nor ought we to think this Conduct of his extraordinary or unusual For thus the Wisdom of God acted when it was to represent to the Ancient Israelites the Wonders of the Gospel Dispensation And it made use of Expressions borrowed from Customs and Practices generally received amongst Men. It says that all Nations shall go up to Mount Sion that there shall be an Altar in the midst of the Land of Egypt that in every place Incense shall be offered unto God and a pure Offering that the Tabernacle of God shall be with the Gentiles c. But if it be asked then why the Prophets foretold the Calling of the Gentiles in this familiar way 'T was because those were the Notions of the People and that it was necessary they should use only Expressions known and familiar to the Vulgar since Revelation it self would have become unintelligible without that condescending Goodness of God who is wont to accomodate himself to the Capacity of every Man without Exception For supposing that God had deferr'd his Revealing to us the Truth of the Creation of the World the Miracle of Joshua the Glory which the blessed enjoy in the other World the Judgment to come c. till all Men had been made to understand by the Principles of Philosophy that the Stars are bigger than the Moon that 't is the Earth and not the Sun which moves that the Heavens are nothing but liquid Spaces of an Infinite Extension that the Sun is so essentially bright that he cannot lose his Brightness without an immediate Annihilation of his Essence c. Heavens where should we be and what would become of us if all Men must necessarily first become Philosophers before they can learn to fear God But the Wisdom of God is so wonderful in that he not only accomodates Himself to the Notions of every Man that he may render Himself intelligible to all but also in that he has at the same time taken care we should not be deceived in urging too far the literal Sense of all those vulgar Expressions Thus for instance nothing can be more insipid than the ridiculous Jests of our Incredulous Adversaries touching those Descriptions which the Scripture gives us of Hell-fire And certainly they do but Expose themselves as often as they pretend to mock and despise Religion For he that will truly consider what Holy Writ tells us in that respect will certainly find that it puts several different Images together to represent to us by known and familiar Ideas an Object altogether unknown and set before us by all those different Images such Notions as one single Idea was wholly unable to represent Thus for that end it borroweth the Notions of the Fire and Brimstone of Sodom the sore Affliction of the Days of Noah the Judgments which God himself displayed over the Nations in the Valley of Josaphat the terrible Darkness spread over all the Land of Egypt whilst at the same time the People of Israel freely enjoy'd the the Light of God in the Land of Goshen the unquenchable Fire and the Worm of the Valley of the Children of Hinnon which dieth not c. the weeping and gnashing of Teeth of those Children sacrificed to Moloch who for that End were thrown alive into the Arms of that burning Statue Now 't would be full as reasonable to carry on the sense of some of these Ideas too far as to raise any Difficulties upon the Notions of Paradise the Bosom of Abraham the Celestial Canaan the Heavenly Jerusalem c. all which Notions are particularly designed to represent to us the Bliss that attends the Faithful And these Ideas would be absolutely false and contradictory if understood in a literal Sense because 't is certain that Paradise can never be taken for the Land of Canaan or Jerusalem for the Bosom of Abraham Hence therefore it plainly appears by the Variety of all those Images that they can never be taken in a strict and literal Sense and that the Nature of the Object represented to us after so many different ways was too great and sublime to be described unto Men by any one single Idea of this Kind And indeed according to this Notion 't is an easy matter to answer a certain Objection raised about a future Judgment which at first may seem somewhat considerable and to carry in it some intricate Difficulty Some hold that the Description which Holy Writ gives us of the Day of Judgment when it tells us that the Son of God is to be preceeded by his Holy Angels that he will place Men some on his right Hand and others on his left c. I say they affirm that this Description neither agrees with the Idea which we already have of the Nature of Spirits nor with that we should entertain of so great and signal an Event To answer this Objection we are only to
easily beleive Mysteries tho we are not able to dive into the manner of them 3 dly This Submission to God is so very reasonable that none but a Man utterly void of Sense can be so stupid as not to perceive it For till we are endowed with an infinite Understanding we shall never be able to know but one side of things and consequently we must necessarily be for ever ignorant of the other 4 thly It is very just and equitable if ever any thing was so and it aims at nothing but shewing us our Ignorance and representing to us that being liable to be deceived we ought carefully to follow Revelation as a true and faithful Guide We should certainly be extravagant proudly to deny our own Ignorance or impiously suspect that God could deceive us when his Design is to reveal his Majesty to us V. But what is chiefly to be observed for the Honour of our Religion what shews the Characters of its Divinity and forces us to acknowledge them is that it teaches us that to see clear into matters of Religion we ought not to rely upon the Light of our Understanding and that we must lay aside the Evidence of Reason if we would be free from Errours in point of Faith 'T is a wonderful Effect of the Christian Religion that it renders us happy by inducing us to renounce our selves and no less admirable that it enlightens our Minds by obliging us to renounce our Reason To look boldly and stedfastly upon Mysteries is the way to be blind whereas we shall easily perceive the Light of God shining about us if we do but humbly cast down our Eyes We shall be sufficiently learned if we rest satisfied with the Knowledge of what God has been pleased to reveal unto us And nothing more betrays an Universal Ignorance than an insignificant Desire to be ignorant of nothing In other Sciences a Man's Skill is measured by his Knowledge but in that of Salvation he is best instructed who is most humble he who has the least Pride has the most understanding And the proof of it is easy We have already seen that the nice Speculations of Reason about Mysteries do but more perplex and darken what was before obscure Let us now see how much the submitting our Reason to Faith makes us have a clearer Insight into those Mysteries or at least how much it hinders our being confounded by them 'T is certain that by continuing in such a state of Humility whatsoever Difficulties may arise they will not have force enough to discompose our Minds We shall not be surprised that we are not able to comprehend the Nature of God or his manner of Knowing loving and acting or his Eternity Immensity c. but we shall rather be ravished with Admiration to think that we that are no better than Worms or Atoms are yet thought worthy to know him and raised to that pitch of Glory as to have some Prospect tho but a faint one of his wondrous Works and infinite Perfections Neither shall we have any reason to be offended because God formerly abandon'd the Gentiles and casts away other Nations which still abide in profound Ignorance and Darkness tho perhaps there is nothing in Nature so difficult or incomprehensible as the Conduct of God But we shall rather reflect upon our Selves and endeavour to search into the Knowledge of our own Nature And upon such a consideration we shall find our selves buried and swallowed up if I may so speak in some Corner of this vast Universe and that too in such a Time or conjuncture as is a meer Point in comparison of that almost infinite Duration of Time which has elapsed and that Eternity which is still to pass away We shall only perceive a few Years and a few Nations which we ascribe to Providence as its Object as if that which presides over the whole Creation were to be bounded by a few Ages or Nations But weak and foolish Creatures that we are we perceive not that infinite Succession of Objects which take their Turn and move on according to the Decree of eternal Wisdom we perceive not the strict union of this World with that which is to come or the share those Nations whose Ignorance we so much deplore have in that continued Chain of Events nor the Rights which Divine Justice has over them or at least we have but a faint and imperfect Knowledge of them We consider not that a thousand Years are as one Day and one Day as a thousand Years one Nation as an hundred Nations and an hundred Nations as one Nation in his sight who is able to create an infinite number of them out of Nothing as he did us And in this we may be compared to those who lying in the bottom of a Well would fain see the whole Extent of the Heavens Were we truly sensible of our wretched Nature we should not be so curious or inconsiderate but rather dread the Fate of those Men who were smitten from above for having looked into the Ark of God We should find out the Falsity of those Opinions which are the products of a rash Curiosity and whilst we limited our Enquiries by Revelation we should easily discern those that went beyond it We should distinguish Religion which mortisies us from Superstition which flatters and agreeably deludes us and however Policy in the height of its Pride might rank us among Creatures not much superiour to Brutes we should not cease to think our selves the Children of God No Charms of Eloquence should impose upon our Belief no idle Niceties of Grammar perplex that Faith which depends upon the Objects of the Gospel which are indeed too manifest in their Nature too often repeated and closely united to the Principles of Common Sense too well confirmed and attested by their Events too worthy of God himself and conduce too much to our Sanctification to be ever called in question In a word we should then shake off our Incredulity when we removed that which excited within us a secret Propension to it It is therefore certain that God has covered the Mysteries of Religion with a sacred Darkness and has even permitted Men to make them yet more obscure by their vain Speculations But what at once gives us Wonder and Consolation is that the deepest Philosophers and most curious Enquirers see not always clearest into the matters of Religion but those only who make least use of the force of their Reason and forbear to enquire nicely into those things which it becomes them humbly to believe This seems to be the Opinion of Christ himself who said to his Father I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth because thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent and hast revealed them unto Babes Mat. 5. 11. And here indeed we cannot but tremble with Reverence and Admiration when we joyn this Character of the Divinity of our Religion to the rest Hence it is that we
account Perhaps we should not think it at all hard to conceive if the Holy Ghost had been pleased to reveal its Nature a little more clearly to us But such is the wonderful Conduct of God who is resolved to humble us and not to satisfy our vain Curiosity nor indulge the Pride of our Understanding which is too greedy of Knowledge 4 thly Because we are not wholly destitute of Images there being several capable to illustrate that Object tho never so incomprehensible in it self Thus for instance the same Soul is an Vnderstanding as it perceives a Will as it has a desire and a Memory as it recalls the things past to the Mind all which three Faculties are comprehended in one and the same Understanding In like manner also the same Light is in the Heavens a Sun in the Air Brightness and in the Cloud a false Sun 5 thly To all this we may yet further add that the greatest Difficulties of this Mystery proceed from those Speculations in which School Divinity has involved it to the great Scandal of our Faith and eternal Confusion of our Reason For who can endure the Liberty those Metaphysical Divines have taken in pretending to form and decide ridiculous rash and impious Questions concerning that greatest Mystery of our Religion Can we think any reasonable Man could read all their impertinent Questions without Indignation As whether several Divine Persons could take but one and the same Person Whether the Word could have taken upon him in an Hypostatical Union the Form of an Angel of a Beast of a Woman of an insensible Being of an Accident of an Act of Sin of a Devil so that if these Propositions were true God is a Sin a c. Whether the Word has taken the Soul in an Hypostatical Union rather than the Body or the Body rather than the Soul Whether if Man had not Sinned the Word would not have taken our Flesh upon him Whether Humane Nature was first united to the Essence or the Person Whether the Humane Nature was united to the Divine by several Unions Whether a Divine Person may take upon it self the Form of a created Person Whether Humanity was united to the Person of Christ by way of Accident or of Substance Whether the Humane and the Divine Nature are a part of Christ and whether Christ be two several things Whether Christ be of a create or uncreate Unity How it came to pass he did not take upon him the very individual Nature of Adam Whether this Proposition Christ is Man was true during those three Days he remained in the Grave Lastly Whether Christ should have died of old Age had he not been crucified in his Youth c. These are the only Difficulties that occur in the Christian Religion As for the rest 't is so essentially so visibly and so necessarily agreeable to Reason that we cannot but wonder that our Incredulous Adversaries have not yet perceived it This we have already sufficiently proved in several places of this Work and we cannot well insist further upon it without repeating again what has been already said It is sufficient therefore to observe that Christ is as it were the Reason of Nature Society and Religion He is the Light enlightening every thing without which we should fall into infinite Troubles and Perplexities Christ is the Center of all Events which seemingly relate to his coming he is the Center of Truths which are the more clearly revealed the nearer we approach him the Center of all the Mosaical Ceremonies which are meer Extravagance in themselves if they relate not to him the Center of all Virtues which have no sufficient Force or Motives able to induce us to practise them but by the consideration of Life and Immortality revealed to us in Christ the Center and Foundation of the inviolable Rule of Conscience which would be nothing else but Errour and Illusion if the Christian Faith were a Fable The Center of all those Characters of Wisdom visibly diplay'd in all the Works of God since nothing but the Christian Religion can lead Man to the true End of his Creation none but that can justify the Wisdom of God the Center of all the Hopes of Man for what is there that he could hope for if Christianity were a Lye The Center of all the Evidence and Certainty that is in our Knowledge for what is there that we could be certain of if our Soul were only a Disposition of Atoms and had no such Spirituality and Immortality as that imputed to it by the Christian Religion There need have been only a different Configuration of Parts to form first Notions quite contrary to those we now have Let any one therefore closely consider the Matter and it will appear to him that if we deny Christ who teaches to know our own selves in revealing to us Life and Immortality no Salvation can be expected either for Reason or Conscience X Portraiture of the Christian Religion Or the Proportion it bears to the Jewish Religion THere is nothing truer than that the Jewish Religion is great noble and divine and we cannot reflect on the Greatness of its Miracles the Sublimity of its Morality the Purity of its Doctrin the Holiness of its Precepts and the Completion of its Prophecies without immediately acknowledging it to be stampt with Divine Characters But yet we shall find it altogether defective if we separate it from Christianity since its Essence consists in its relation to that We cannot conceive without it how God can be the God of one Nation and yet not be that too of other Nations also that the Deity should be contained in a material Ark and being the Father of Spirits should so carefully seek after an external and corporeal Purity that unwilling to satisfy his Justice he should require Sacrifices of Men or if willing to be appeased by Offerings and Oblations he should demand such mean ones of them which were unworthy the Majesty of his God-head that God who made Heaven and Earth should dwell in a Temple made with Hands or that he who created all things visible and invisible should take pleasure in an external Pomp that he who made the Smelling which he wants not himself should delight in the smell of Incense or that his Voice properly so called should be heard to which Thunder it self scarce bears the Resemblance of an Echo I say we can never conceive any of these things without the help of Christian Religion For who can reconcile the Wisdom seen in the Religion of Moses with the Imperfections discoverable in it How could that Lawgiver prove so contrary to himself And how could so many Characters of Divinity be attended with so many seemingly superstitious Customs and trivial Ceremonies Consult but the Christian Religion and you 'll then no longer wonder at it there you will find both the Reason and Wisdom of every thing that surpris'd you in the Old Covenant All the Customs contained in the