Synods convened at several times in different Countries and upon different occasions as also several Letters writ from Churches and Societies of Men such as were the Epistles of the Churches of Vienna and Lyons to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia concerning their Martyrs Epistle of the Church of Smyrna concerning the Martyrdom of Polycarp Epistle of the Martyrs of Lyons to Eleutherus Bishop of Rome Epistles of the Bishops and other Members of Synods inforcing the Observation of the Canons they made c. All which were according to the Nature and Designs of them either dispersed far abroad and to be found in several Countries or else carefully preserved in some particular places whither they were directed and so remain'd there to be seen by such as were pleased to consult them Besides such occasional Writings as these which according to some particular Exigencies of the Church were sent abroad and communicated from one Society of Christians to others there were in several Places Publick Histories of all remarkable Affairs that happened in each Place continued down for a considerable space of Time several of which Publick Histories or Records Eusebius consulted as he himself assures us particularly when he gives us that wonderful Relation of Agbarus King of Edessa he says he took it out of the Publick Records kept at Edessa wherein the Antiquities of the City and the Acts of Agbarus are contained And a great many other Memorable Facts he came by the same way In this manner were more especially preserved the Acts and Monuments of such as had suffered Martyrdom upon the account of the Christian Religion The Names of abundance of Martyrs the Times when they Suffered the various sorts and kinds of Sufferings they endured with all the other Circumstances relating to their Persecution were largely set forth in Writing and the Records of them carefully kept in many Countries where the Cruelty and Violence of the several long Persecutions which had raged at several distant Periods of Time were most remarkable Other Publick Writings extant in Eusebius's Time were Hymns and Psalms Creeds and Forms of Prayer Several of which that were constantly used in the Publick Assemblies of Christians were known to be of great Antiquity And some of these ancient Forms of Worship were the same in many Churches and several of them more or less different from one another Now 't is plain to any one that examines any of these Publick Writings belonging to Societies of Christians that whensoever they were writ and whether in all respects true or false they are certain proofs of an antecedent Establishment and Belief of the Christian Religion such as it was in Eusebius's Time and such as it was and is now found in the New Testament and all the Accounts we have of the Age and other Circumstances of them do concurr to strengthen the Evidence already given of the Christian Tradition But the Truth of all those Matters of Fact related in the New Testament which I have at present engaged my self to prove will be more abundantly made out by a continued Succession of a vast number of Writings belonging to particular Persons distinguish'd by the Titles of Orthodox Christians Hereticks Jews and Heathens A great many of these Writings are mention'd by Eusebius and had been with incredible industry read and examined by him Several he gives the Titles of only others he gives some Character and Account of and Transcribes large Passages out of them a great many Orthodox Books he omits the mention of for want of their Authors Names being prefix'd to them others for want of being able to distinguish when their Authors lived and a great many he rejects the Authority of though they made for the Cause of the Christian Religion which he maintained because they had not sufficient Marks upon them to prove they belong'd to the Persons and Times they pretended to Some of the Writings he quotes were lost in his Time and only Fragments of them to be found in others that were entirely extant several that were then extant and mention'd by him were seen by a great many later Authors and all his Quotations out of them are confirm'd to us by their Writings but the Originals of them are now lost and a great many remain entire still and are plainly the same he represented them to be and so are the Fragments of more ancient Authors contained in them All which are certain Arguments of the Diligence and Sincerity of this Historian and the Antiquity of those Books whose Authority we are now to make use of In the next place then let us take a more particular view of these Writings and consider the Age Character and other Circumstances of the Authors the Subjects they treat about and the Form and Manner in which they are writ As to the Age of those Christian Authors we call Orthodox some small Treatises and Fragments we have of such as lived together with the Apostles and were immediate Witnesses of the Doctrines delivered and the mighty Works done by them and several of these ancient Pieces are allowed to be Genuine by those whose Skill and Enquiry into the Matter have rendred them capable Judges The Authors of the next Age who declare they lived with those who convers'd with the Apostles are more their Writings much larger and of more unquestionable Authority than the other being confirmed by more numerous Testimonies of following Writers who in very near Periods of Time continually succeeded them The Character of all these Writers was in some respects very like and in others very different Some of them were Jews and Heathens converted to Christianity others were born of Christian Parents many of them were Greeks and writ in that Language and many were of Roman Colonies and writ in Latin but though all the Authors we have writ in one of these Languages they were most of them of very different and very remote Countries from one another Several of the first Writers were Plain Simple Men without the advantage of a Learned Honourable or Publick Education others of them were Philosophers and Men very well vers'd in all the Heathen Learning some were of Honourable Families and Publick Employments many of them were Bishops of the Christian Church and lived in the most considerable Cities of the Roman Empire and by that means had great opportunities of being acquainted with the true State of Things in the World In this they all agree that they were hearty Believers and zealous Assertors of the Christian Religion that they bottom'd their Faith upon the Books of the New Testament that they made it the chief Business of their Lives and Writings to promote the Christian Faith and that they were ready to bear Testimony to the Truth of what they profess'd by resigning their Lives the sincerity of which disposition of theirs is confirm'd to us by the actual Martyrdom of several of them who lived in such Times and Places as gave them opportunities of manifesting
was with much enquiry and examination Established This every one made it his business to be well assur'd of and a free disquisition concerning the truth of some or other of the Books of Scripture is every where to be found among the Antient Writers Then as to the Persecutions they were so many they continued so long together were so widely spread were attended with so vast a number of very new and remarkalbe Facts and so many of the Writers lived in the heat of them and had so large a share and concern in them themselves that 't is impossible that the accounts they give of them should not be most of them at least very true The Fourth Observation I have to make upon the Historical part of the first Christian Writers is that there are so many Notes of time to be found in them such a particular Designation of Places and Persons and such a mixture of Jewish and Heathen Affairs with the Christian History as rendred any Errours or Mistakes so liable to a discovery at those times when the several Books that treat of these Matters were first Published to the World that by not being confuted they are as to the main substance of what they declare irrefragably confirm'd The other Writings of OrthodoxChristians of the first Ages which do not concern the History of Christianity are either Vindications and Defences of the Christian Religion against all the Objections and Calumnies raised by any of the Enemies of it or Explications of the Christian Doctrine Government and Discipline or Exhortations and Directions to Practise or Animadversions and Reproofs for Errours and Offences All which are written under the form of Orations or Apologies Letters Disputations Comments c. Now it 's plain from all these Writings that the several Authors of them were throughly convinced of the Truth of the Christian Religion This appears from the Zeal and Warmth with which many of them writ upon several occasions to one another and to Hereticks the readiness they testifie to quit all they have and to lay down their Lives rather than do any thing contrary to their Profession the concern they express for the continuance of their Fellow-Christians in the same Faith and the Conversion of others to Christianity the Boldness and Courage they shew to Persons of Power and Authority when the truth of their Religion or their own Innocence is call'd in question and from many other unquestionable marks of Honesty Sincerity and a through Perswasion visible almost in every Page 'T is manifest likewise that all these Authors believed the Scriptures of the New Testament and Founded their Religion upon them Several of them have writ Comments upon them all quote them and confirm the Doctrines they deliver and the Rules and Directions they give from them and all their Writings plainly declare they were very well vers'd in them and influenced by the same Spirit that governs there and distinguishes those Writings from any other and when ever any Controversy happen'd in matters of Christian Faith or Practiced the Appeal is constantly made to these Scriptures Several other Remarks and Observations might be drawn from the Writings of those Christians call'd Orthodox but these are sufficient for what I design to prove by them and so I pass on to consider what we have written by Heretieks Jews and Heathens with relation to Christianity A great many things were written by Persons of these several Denominations in the Three first Ages of the Christian Aera but very little of them that expressly concerns Christianity remains now and a great many of these Writings were lost in Eusebius's Time so that almost all we know of them is contained in the Orthodox Writers In many of which there are several considerable Fragments yet to be found and accounts of what is lost From all which we may collect that none of the Enemies of the Christian Religion neither Hereticks Jews nor Heathens did at any time offer to disprove or contradict those Christian Facts I have been now Establishing but did in several respects strengthen and confirm the truth of them We find by the Orthodox Writers that there were in the most Primitive Times and continually in all the after-Periods of Christianity a great many Hereticks of very different Characters and Opinions who troubled the Peace of the Church and endeavoured to corrupt the Christian Doctrine and Tradition Their Writings are full of the strange Opinions of Hereticks they are oftentimes very large in giving a History of the Men their vicious Lives and wicked Designs and in confuting their Absurd and for the most part Blasphemous Doctrines From hence we find that several of these Hereticks in order to justifie their Errors made use of all the Arts and Shifts they could and some denied one Book of Scripture and some another some took upon them to reform the Scriptures and added what they thought serv'd their turn or took away what they did not like Others made new Scriptures and put them out in the Names of the Apostles but none of them denied the principal matters of Fact contained in the New Testament neither Miraculous nor Common though their Character oftentimes allow'd and their Cause requir'd such a denial if the Evidence of those Facts had not appear'd to them so strong as to render all contradiction Vain and Ineffectual The Jews who writ against the Christian Religion allow'd most of the principal matters of Fact Recorded of Christ in the New Testament even his Miracles as well as the Common History of his Life and when they deny the Reality they grant the Pretence are wholly concern'd to shew that Christ was not the Messias promised them notwithstanding his extraordinary Character because as they thought several of the Prophecies in the Old Testament which were agreed on all hands to relate to the Messias could not be apply'd to Christ In this consisted wholly the Controversie betwixt them and the Christians and therefore are the Jews of these times censur'd by the Christian Writers as corrupting the Old Testament in such Passages of it as seem'd to them to make most for the Christian Religion Particularly Justin in his Dialogue with a Jew endeavors to evince That several Testimonies of the Prophets which he quoted was cut out of the Bible by the Jews which charge whether true or false proves thus much that the Jews had no other way of resisting the Evidence of the Christian Religion but by denying or in some manner evading the Arguments drawn from the Prophecies of the Old Testament Here they placed the chief strength of their Cause and not in the Confutation of the Christian History the greatest part of which is plainly granted in the Arguments they make use of to overthrow the Faith built upon it and the Inferences drawn from it Particularly Josephus does comfirm the truth of several of the Facts related in the New Testament and such as necessarily determine the Oririginal of Christianity The like
account in a great measure may be given of the Heathens whose Writings do any ways concern Christianity For neither those of them that were Instrumental in the Persecution of Christians nor those who endeavour to overthrow the truth of their Religion by Arguments do deny any of those matters of Fact related in the New Testament which we have distinguished by the Title of Common Historical Facts and a great many of them are confirm'd by other Heathen Writers who treat of their own affairs only or mention Christian Matters occasionally as they happen'd to be intermixt with those Things they designedly writ about Nay some of those that writ expresly against the Christian Religion do not only allow that Christ pretended to Miracles and that he did those Things Recorded of him in appearance as was the Opinion of several of them but that he did really work those very Miracles he pretended to But then they endeavour to lessen the Credit of them and destroy the Doctrines built upon them either by ascribing them as many of the Jews likewise did to Magick and Evil Spirits or shewing that several of their own Religion had done as extraordinary Things as any that were attributed to Christ and his Apostles A great many of these Heathen Writings are quoted some of them particularly Answer'd and Confuted and several large Pieces of them inserted in the Books of Christian Authors There we find besides a great many Passages out of Private Authors and Common Traditions several Rescripts Edicts and Letters of Roman Emperors either mentioned or transcribed and several Publick Acts and Records compiled by the Authority of Heathens and in their keeping appeal'd to with the greatest Confidence and Assurance imaginable as extant in the Writers Time that Cites them and generally known Particularly we meet with divers of these Heathen Monuments in the Christian Apologies which were at several times by different Writers Dedicated to Roman Emperors the Senate of Rome and Governors of Provinces Many such Proofs and Evidences as these of the Christian Faith and History are still to be found in the Christian Books which were writ before Eusebius and are now extant But there were also extant in his Time several of the same Heathen Books out of which those Testimonies were taken and others which gave the same Account of Christian Affairs which was look'd upon by Eusebius to be so notorious a Truth that when he talks of the State of Christianity under Domitian he confirms what he says by the Authority of Heathen Writers without thinking it necessary to name any particular Author Eus E. H. l. 3. c. 18. So mightily says he did the Doctrine of our Faith flourish in those forementioned Times that even those Writers who are wholly estranged from our Religion by which he plainly means Heathens have not thought it troublesome to set forth in their Histories both this Persecution and also the Martyrdoms suffered therein and they have also accurately shewn the very Time relating that in the Fifteenth Year of Domitian Flavia Domitilla Daughter of the Sister of Fabius Clemens at that time one of the Consuls of Rome was together with many others banished into the Island of Pontia for the Testimony of Christ There are likewise several Heathen Authors still separately extant out of which may be Collected a great many Passages which give a concurrent Evidence of the Truth of the Christian History as Tacitus and Pliny before quoted and divers others and there is nothing to be found in any of them that does in the least contradict any of the principal Matters Fact now to be proved But besides these Writings which are acknowledged to be Genuine and the true and proper Works of those Persons whose Names they bear whether Orthodox Christians Hereticks Jews or Heathens there were a great many other in the Primitive Times of Christianity written by uncertain Authors and either purposely Published under false Names and Titles with a design to promote the Belief of the Christian Religion in general or to advance and defend some particular Notions and Practices which the Authors of them approved and had a mind to recommend to the World or else by some mistake ascribed to those Persons to whom they did not really belong Such were a great many false Gospels Acts Epistles and Revelations and several other Historical and Doctrinal Discourses Published under the Names of Christ the Virgin Mary the Apostles and Eminent Christians of the succeeding Ages such were also several Letters said to be Writ by Pilate Seneca and Lentulus the Oracles of the Sybils and several other Writings attributed to some considerable Heathens a Passage in Josephus relating to Christ c. All which supposing them all Forged or only some of them so some accidentally mistaken and others doubtful whoever were the Authors of them so long as it plainly appears they were of such and such Antiquity they are certain proofs of the general Faith of Christians at the respective Times when any of them were Published and consequently of the Truth of those Facts in question forasmuch as they all evidently suppose an antecedent Belief of the Christian Religion founded upon those Facts as is visible by all the Remains we have left of them and therefore are as good Arguments of the Truth of what I am proving as the most Genuine unquestionable Writings of any other Author whatsoever viz. That the common Historical Facts related in the New Testament are true Which Point I think is proved by such a multitude and variety of Evidence that I may take it for granted That Jesus Christ who lived and was Crucified at Jerusalem in the Reign of Tiberius Cesar was the first Author of the Christian Religion That the Characters Sufferings and Pretences of Christ and his Apostles and the Doctrines taught by them were the same we find represented in the Books of the New Testament and that the Christian Religion there delivered was propagated through the World and those Books writ according to the Time Manner and Circumstances there mentioned between the middle of Tiberius and the beginning of Trajan's Reign and consequently that the Christian Faith as to the principal Facts and Doctrines contain'd in the New Testament was always the same from the Time of Tiberius to the Council of Nice and from thence to the present Age the greatest part of the Scriptures having been always acknowledged to be the Genuine Works of those whose Names they bore and to contain the unalterable grounds of the Christian Religion and the Sum of what Christians were obliged to believe 2. In the next place then I am to prove that those extraordinary Facts Recorded in the New Testament which we call Miracles and Prophecies were really true according the Relation there given of them That they were constantly believed to be true by all Christians ever since the Time in which they are first said to happen has already been proved but whether their Faith was well
Souls are able to frame of God and therefore since it could not proceed from Man as has already been shewn we must ascribe it to God But moreover besides the nature of the Things revealed the Ways and Methods made use of to Communicate them to the World and to Establish and Propagate the Belief of them among Men are Infallible Marks that the Revelation came from God His Power and Wisdom are as Legible in this whole Dispensation as in the Frame and Structure of the Universe as will easily appear from a short view of the Progress and Conduct of this great Work of the Salvation of Man For except the Hand of the Lord was in it how came the Jews to have better and juster Notions of God the Original of the World and the Nature of Man than any other Nation under Heaven when they had no manner of Learning among them no gradual Improvements in Knowledge as we find other Countries had How came the whole People to have these Notions as well as the chief and most knowing among them In all the Periods of Learning among the Egyptians Chaldeans Greeks and Romans the People were generally Idolaters and the Priests and Philosophers durst not propagate better Notions of God when they had found them out tho' even their best had a ridiculous mixture of Fable and Superstition in them How then came the People of the Jews to remain intirely free from Idolatry for so many Years ever since they became a Nation Or if we believe their own Story and they were as inclinable to Worship Idols and imbrace absurd Opinions of God and Religion as any other Nation How came they to recover themselves again and preserve the true Worship of God among them And how at last when they were so wedded to the external form and manner of Worshipping the true God as to place all their Religion in it to the neglect of Moral Duties at a time when there was no other sort of Learning among them how I say came a perfecter Scheme of Morality and Religion to proceed from thence than from any other Quarter of the World and such a Scheme as no body that professed it durst think of altering adding to or diminishing when no such respect was paid to any Philosophers Scheme by his own Sect or Party To whom can we ascribe such a wonderful Preservation of true Religion but to God who was able to bring Strength out of Weakness and even of Stones to raise up Children unto Abraham If afterwards we consider by what particular Hands this perfecter Scheme of Religion was delivered to Mankind and in what manner it was first Published and Preached to the World here the Finger of God will plainly appear also For all the Instruments and Ministers of this great Work were Persons of a low Rank and mean Occupations Ignorant and Unlearned and of no Reputation in the World and their Preaching was plain and simple without the enticing Words of Man's Eloquence and yet where-ever they came the Gospel prevailed many were daily added to the Church and in a little time they drew the whole World after them this they did notwithstanding all the Opposition that was made to them by the Reasonings and Disputings of the Learned and by the Force and Authority of Magistrates and Men in Power notwithstanding the Doctrine they Preached was everywhere spoken against and the Preachers and Believers of it were everywhere Persecuted and Afflicted with all the variety of Sufferings their Enemies could invent And when we perceive it so ordered that the Foolish things of the World should Confound the Wise that the Weak and Base things of the World and things which are despised should Confound the things which are Mighty and in great Esteem we cannot but acknowledge that God hath chosen them and what is thus wonderful in our Eyes is the Lord 's doing Thus it became God Almighty to humble Men and shew his Power in a way directly contrary to all the measures they would have imagined proper Was it not likewise every way worthy of God and agreeable both to the Wisdom and Goodness of his Designs in giving Mankind a more perfect Model of Religion than they were hitherto acquainted with that he should convince them of the Beauty and Reasonableness and incourage them to the Practice of it by exemplifying the whole Scheme in the Lives of the first Publishers and Preachers of this Religion And where were such perfect Characters of Men ever heard of before as those of Christ and his Apostles and most of the first Christian Believers What could more demonstrate the Force and Influence of the Christian Religion and recommend it more Effectually to the World than this As therefore the Knowledge of a true and reasonable Service of God must be referred to him so must likewise the power to will and to do according to all those Rules and Measures he has been pleased to prescribe us But further when such Doctrines as those of the Gospel which were Preached Believed and Propagated in such a manner and recommended by Persons of such Characters as is before specified are confirm'd by so many Prophecies and Miracles and those of such kinds as we find mentioned in the New Testament it must be likewise allowed that God was the Author of all these Signs and Wonders For if it be possible and sometimes expedient for God to reveal something to Mankind as has been already shewn more infallible Tokens and Indications of himself he cannot give us than such Prophecies and such Miracles as those Recorded in the New Testament no greater Instances of Knowledge and Power besides what appear in the Making and Governing the World are conceivable by us and what better deserved such an extraordinary and immediate Manifestation of these Attributes of God then the Gospel To what nobler Ends could God imploy his Power than for the confirming and promoting the belief of such a just reasonable and beneficial Scheme of things as the Christian Religion But besides these Prophecies and Miracles were not only certain Indications of Divine Revelation and Assistance in themselves and more undoubtedly so to us for being made use of to confirm a Doctrine which deserved such Attestation but they were also the properest and most suitable means that could be chosen for Establishing the belief of the Gospel to which they were designed and consequently must be imployed by God to that End For what was more becoming the Divine Wisdom and what could be more effectual to convince Men of the truth of such future things as are Promised and Threatened in the Christian Religion than by the Completion of Prophecies spoken of at several distant Periods of time before the Events happen'd to give them a sensible proof that all things were manifest and open to the Eyes of God and that a Thousand Years was to him but as One Day And that the strangeness of the Christian Events relating to a Future State
received from a constant Repetition of the same appearances But 't is not to prove a God or Providence or the first General Principles of Natural Religion that Miracles are urged these things are all so plain and easie without such a confirmation that they are altogether without excuse who do not believe them or act contrary to their belief but when Men are lost and gone out of the way and are become altogether Corrupt when through Blindness and Ignorance they know not how to serve God aright and when those who use their endeavours to do it can have no assurance of being accepted if in compassion to this sad and distressed Estate of Mankind God is pleased to reveal himself to them and acquaint them with a true and certain way to Happiness which they were not able to find out of themselves what Perfections of God is it contrary to to make such a discovery to his Creatures And how could he take a more effectual way to convince them of the truth of the Revelation than by Miracles which are real Effects of Divine Power and which Men are readily disposed to acknowledge as Infallible Signs and Indications of it If these were the Works of God and might certainly be known to be so as has already been proved in the former part of this Discourse then were they very fit and proper Proofs that the Doctrine they were intended to comfirm came from God though they were not brought about by an immediate Interposition but were part of the General Scheme of Nature And therefore though it should be allowed to be a Derogation to God to make him the Author of those Works we call Miracles by a present and immediate exercise of his Power yet it can be no diminution to any of his Perfections to affirm that originally at the beginning of the World he ordered such Effects to proceed from the General Laws of Nature at such a time that they might be for Signs and Tokens to Mankind that the Revelation which should then be given them came from him Another Objection made to the Argument of Miracles is that Miracles have been wrought by other Men as well as Moses and Christ and as great as those that were Recorded of them from whence it is inferred that the Doctrines they taught are never the truer for their Working Miracles To which I Answer that the Matter of Fact is none of it sufficiently attested a great deal or it manifestly false and were it all true the Inference drawn from it does not hold To make good this Charge I shall instance in the Miracles attributed to Vespasian and Apollonius Tyanaeus which have been particularly made use of by the Enemies of our Religion to lessen the Credit and Authority of it Of Vespasian it is Recorded That he once cured two Blind Men but the strange and wonderful Works of Apollonius fill a Book writ on purpose to give an account of them Now as to Vespasian's Cure of the Blind 't is but one single Miracle and therefore is very unjustly compared with that Multitude of mighty Works that were wrought by the Hands of Christ neither is it so well attested but Reasons may be given why it should be false notwithstanding the reality of all the appearing Circumstances of it Several Inducements might be alledged that very probably disposed this Emperor to pretend to such a Miracle 't is very easie to conceive how his Design might be brought about in the Presence of a great many People without their discovering the Cheat and should any have found it out 't is very obvious to imagine why they did not Publish it But nothing of all this would hold when applied to Christ had he pretended to no more than the Cure of two Blind Men A Man of his Character and Condition in the World could not promise himself any Honour Respect or Advantage from such a Pretence and should he have made this use of it he would very probably have raised the Envy of all the People of the same Rank and the Jealousie of his Superiors upon these and other Motives as well as Natural Curiosity a great many would have been very Industrious and Inquisitive in searching into the Truth of the Fact and whom can we imagine so far concern'd for such a Pretender as to be privy or assisting to his Cheat at the first or to conceal his shame after they had found it out But supposing an Account could be given in one or two Instances how 't was possible for Christ to pretend to such Works as were never done there are abundance still remaining upon Record that are manifestly incapable of such a Solution which puts an unanswerable difference betwixt the Miracles of Christ and the Pretences of other Men. As to the Story of Apollonius the whole Credit of it depends upon the Testimony of one single Author who lived too long after him to be a competent Witness of the Truth of what he Relates and was too Credulous and Partial to be believed if he had lived at the same time with him The strange unusual Things Related to have been done by this Apollonius bear no Proportion to the Miracles of Christ either as to the Number of the Facts and Persons concern'd in them the Wonderful and Extraordinary Nature of them the beneficial Design of them or the publick and hazardous Manner in which they were done and a great many of these have been proved to be false upon examination from the manifest inconsistencies and contradictions in the Relation of them But supposing the Miracles attributed to Vespasian and Apollonius were true in Fact what Reasons can we alledge either from the Characters of the pretended Authors the Ends and Designs they acted upon the Consequences and Effects of the Pretences or from any other Circumstances of their Story that the strange Things Recorded of them were not done by the Ministry of Evil Spirits Let us suppose farther That the Facts were not only real but true and proper Miracles performed by the express and immediate Assistance of God What can be inferred from thence Not that the Heathen Religion was true because these Miracles were not design'd or intended for a Confirmation of it Not that the Christian Religion was purely Humane because the whole End of Christ's working Miracles was to prove that his Doctrine came from God There may be several Reasons given why it may please God sometimes to work Miracles indifferently by the Hands of good or ill Men Men of a true or false Religion but it cannot possibly be supposed of God that he should imploy Good Men or concur with the Wicked in working Miracles in order to their deceiving Mankind and establishing a Lye by such Evidence as cannot be disproved and no Instance can be given where any one true Miracle was wrought by a Person that made use of it to prove any other Doctrine by than what we have delivered in the Scriptures By a true Miracle
I mean such as is as well attested to have been done as those Recorded in the Scriptures and can no more be accounted for without the Power of God than they can many of which I will allow to have been done upon other occasions without any Application of them to the advantage of the Religion of those that performed them 'T is true indeed many Signs and Wonders may have been wrought for the Confirmation of false Doctrines and may have deceived many whom Simplicity and Bigotry to the Cause they made for disposed to entertain them but we have no Records of any such ill-intended Miracles left which by the Nature Circumstances Effects or Attestation of them can dispose a rational Man to ascribe them to God And whatever Pretences of this kind there may have been 't is a very good Argument that the World can distinguish betwixt the wonderful Works of God and the little Feats of Men and Evil Spirits That there are now no Opinions or Doctrines whatsoever remaining besides what are contained in the Jewish and Christian Revelations nor any particular Explications of or Deductions from them which were at first Believed and Propagated upon the Strength and Authority of strange and wonderful Facts publickly and really done for that end The next Intimation made use of to overthrow the Truth of the Scripture-Revelation concerns the Prophecies which make a great part of it And this as well as the first Objection against Miracles is wholly new the Invention of these latter Days wherein the Improvements of rational Knowledge have forced the Patrons of Irreligion upon new Absurdities Now the Argument as far as 't is capable of being expressed in such a form is this That the Prophecies of the Old Testament upon which the Christian Religion is principally built proceeded from Impressions made upon the Imaginations of the Prophets which Impressions were always agreeable to their several Tempers Complexions and Opinions from whence it must be inferr'd that such Visionary Scenes and Figurative Expressions as these Prophecies are delivered in could be attributed to God only in a popular way as all other extraordinary and unusual Events were and therefore cannot be made use of to prove a Divine Revelation because they proceeded wholly from Natural Causes though unknown to us But whatever of this nature is advanced by Spinoza or whatever Inferences are drawn from it by others who apply it further than he durst openly assert nothing can be concluded from his Account of Prophecy to the Prejudice of the Scripture-Revelation were all his Observations upon this Subject true as 't is manifest to any one that reads the Bible they are not For supposing all he says upon this Head were true viz. That the Prophets were Persons of livelier Imaginations than others as 't is plain of some of them that they were not That the Angry Chearful or Melancholy Prophet always Prophesied things suitable to his particular Temper as there are several Instances to be given to the contrary and that the Jews had a pious way of Attributing every thing strange or unusual to God c. What if all these things were so as Spinoza observes The Knowledge which these Angry Chearful c. Prophets of lively Imaginations had of Future Things must be allowed to come from God in a different manner from that whereby they received all their other Knowledge as Spinoza himself plainly owns and if it be so 't is a very good Argument that the Doctrines Preached by those Prophets were delivered to them by God also in the same way that their Prophecies were which is sufficient to inforce the Obligation of them upon us whatever Natural Causes God was pleased to make use of in the Revelation and that is all we contend for or are concern'd to maintain This is all that either the Ancient or Modern Enemies of the Christian Religion had or can have to object to the Miracles and Prophecies Recorded in the Bible excepting what has been already Answered in the direct proof that was given of the Truth of them The other parts of Scripture are charged with almost all the Faults which any Humane Writing is capable of viz. Contradictions to Reason and Philosophy Contradictions of one part to another Mistakes as to the Authors of the Books Connexion of the Parts Chronology Geography c. Ridiculous and Improbable Stories Absurd and Irrational Laws and Injunctions Trifling and Impertinent Reasons and Arguments Low and Unartful Language The Injustice of which Objections I shall shew very briefly as sying very open and obvious As to Contradictions to Reason and Philosophy pretended to be in the Scriptures no body has been acute enough yet or sufficiently instructed in the true System of things to make good this Charge We have lived to see several New Schemes Hypotheses and Theories of the World Confuted and Exploded but the Plainest Simplest and most Demonstrative Account of Nature that is now extant is found to be the most agreeable to Scripture and answers all the Ancient Blasphemies against Providence which were grounded upon false Hypotheses then in Reputation But after all the Scriptures were not written to teach us Philosophy If this had been the Design of them no doubt but we had had a truer Scheme of Knowledge than any Philosopher has been yet able to give us but then 't is certain we should have had much less Religion if that and our Philosophy had been revealed to us together Had the Language of Scripture been every where adapted to the true Nature of Things 't is hard to conceive how it should ever have come to be believed For supposing these Notions to be true That the Earth moves That the Sun is a Hundred thousand times bigger than the Earth That the Moon and the other Planets are inhabited That Beasts are senseless Machines and meer Clock-work and the like And supposing all the popular Expressions of Scripture concerning such Matters were changed and suited to these Notions would not all the Learned part of Mankind who lived before these new Discoveries in Nature were made have been apt to reject the whole Revelation as absurd and unphilosophical But if some of the Learned had been so sensible of their Ignorance of Nature and the Power of God as to make all the Prejudices of their Reason Submit to their Faith 't is hardly possible to imagine how the People should ever have been induced to believe such Opinions as shock those Common Natural Notions they have of Things which come to them without teaching and Opinions that will always seem to contradict their Senses The greatest Evidence of Miracles would not be sufficient to convince the People of the Truth of such Notions as those before-mention'd for though strange and wonderful Things which they actually and certainly perceive come to pass may satisfie them that as strange Things as these may happen hereafter yet even such Signs and Wonders as these which they see can hardly be supposed
made upon the course of things in the World it cannot be conceived or imagined that such Events as these should ever happen That there never was an Instance of any thing like the Christian Scheme which was proved or allowed by any body in the World to be an Imposture I shall take for granted since none of the Enemies of Christianity have ever produced one As for Mahometism which some have had the impudence to compare with Christianity so far as both they and we allow it to be an Imposture it can have no manner of place here as a Parallel Instance For it is on all hands granted that there was such a Man as Mahomet who lived at the Time and Place 't is pretended by his Followers he did 't is granted likewise that he wrote the Alcoran and pretended to the things there Recorded of him and that his Religion prevailed and was Propagated in the way and manner there related and described by him But in the present supposition of the whole Christian Scheme's being an Imposture it must be affirmed that call the Scriptures of the New Testament and the whole History therein contained are meer Forgery and Invention without any Foundation of Truth in the Common Matters of Fact there Recorded which makes the case of Christianity in all the important variety of Circumstances and Events possible unlike that of Mahometism And as no Instance of such an Imposture as is here pretended can be given out of the History of former times so likewise is it utterly impossible to imagine that such an Instance as this could ever happen at all To give our selves a fuller and more sensible Conviction of this let us take as exact and extensive a view as we can of the State of the World just before we affirm that Christianity was discovered or at the latest Period of Time mentioned in the New Testament Let us consider the General Temper Inclinations Opinions and Interests of the Jews at that time together with the highest Improvements in Learning and Religion then amongst them Let us make the same Reflections upon the Roman State and Government and the Principal Nations and Countries within that Empire Then let us carefully weigh and examine the Christian History and Religion contained in the Scriptures of the New Testament let us represent to our selves in one continued Prospect all the Principal Facts there Recorded drawn forth in all their variety of Circumstances the whole System of Doctrines and Rules in their just Dependance and Connexion the Characters of the Persons concerned in the Publishing and Establishing them together with the way and manner in which all these things are Written and when we have done this let us truly and impartially ask our selves whether we can possibly conceive how any Person could at that time Invent and Publish that whole Scheme of Things at Jerusalem Rome or any other part of the Roman Empire without any ground of truth to build upon and supposing it Published how it could be Believed so firmly and Propagated so far and wide that it should be fixt and continue in all this part of the World to this day without any Footsteps or Motives remaining whereby we might be able to detect the Imposture This I say appears to me as hard to conceive as that Rome should build it self and I am verily perswaded would appear so to any one else that had as fully and impartially considered the Matter as I have endeavoured to do If we date the Imposture later the same difficulty will attend the Invention and Propagation of it and we shall be further puzled to account for all the Signs and Monuments of Christianity which will appear to have been before the Period assigned for its Original wheresoever we place it But if we deal as fairly by Christianity as we do by Mahometism and allow the Common Matters of Fact Recorded of it to be true if we grant that there was such a Man as Christ who lived at the Time and Place 't is affirmed by Christians he did that he and his Disciples pretended to what is Recorded in the Scriptures of the New Testament of them that those Books were written by the Persons whose Names they bear and that the Christian Religion spread and prevail'd over the World in the way and manner and by the means of those Pretences we have there an account of Granting I say all these things as by the general acknowledgement of all sorts of Persons and the impossibility of their being false just before proved they must be granted From hence it necessarily follows that all the other Extraordinary Facts are true and consequently that the Christian Religion came from God and lays a necessary Obligation upon Mankind to believe it and conform themselves to it This is certain in the same way of Reasoning we used before because there never was an Instance and it cannot be conceived there ever should be one where such Marks and Indications of Truth as accompany these things should all belong to an Imposture Upon this account therefore it is that we affirm all these things to be impossible viz. That Persons of such Characters as Christ and his Disciples were represented to be should invent and contrive the Christian Doctrine and Institution or perform those things that are Recorded of them meerly by their own Skill and Power That Christ and his Disciples should pretend to have done such Extraordinary Facts as are attributed to them in the New Testament if they were not the true and immediate Instruments by whom they were done That such Multitudes of Persons as we there Read of should believe these Facts and imbrace Christianity upon the Credit of them if they were not true or should pretend to believe them if they were not really perswaded of their truth And if all the Principal Facts both Common and Extraordinary were certainly true as far as the Persons concerned in bearing Testimony to them were capable of perceiving their Truth It is likewise impossible but the whole Christian Religion and all the Conduct and Management in the Discovery and Propagation of it must come from God All these Propositions we are firmly assured of upon this ground viz. because if we suppose the contrary of any thing here alledged no Parallel Instance can be given to prove the truth of what we suppose and if we represent any of these Cases to our selves fairly in all its Circumstances we cannot possibly conceive it should ever happen 'T is true indeed there have been Persons of low Fortunes and mean Imployments in the World who have by the meer force of their Natural Genius spoke Wisely and acted Gallantly upon some Occasions but 't was never known and 't is impossible to conceive that Persons of no Learning or Education who knew nothing beyond the mean Affairs of their own Village and never Converst with any of higher Improvements than themselves it is impossible I say to imagine that such Persons
And now if we take a just view of them and consider them all together we shall be obliged to make the following Conclusions 1. That there never was any Thing discovered or so much as suspected to be an Imposture that had so many Marks and Characters of Truth upon it as the Christian Religion has 2. That there never were any true Matters of Fact so well attested or that were capable of such a Proof as the Christian Facts are There being no Ancient Facts which have so many sensible Monuments and Effects of them left and in the Proof of which Mankind was so nearly and necessarily concern'd 3. That it is impossible to conceive or frame any Notion how or in what manner the Christian Religion might possibly have been an Imposture notwithstanding all the present appearances of its being true And if all these Conclusions are right as I am throughly and irresistibly convinced they are and I think have proved them so to be there can be no room left to disbelieve the Christian Religion without distrusting all our Knowledge and renouncing all pretences to Reasoning But supposing these Conclusions were not any of them fully proved and it could be shewn That something else which had once all the appearance of Truth that the Christian Religion now has had afterwards been detected to be false that some other Ancient Matters of Fact are as well attested and proved to be true as the Christian seem to be and that 't is possible to imagine which way the Christian Religion might come to obtain its present Credit in the World notwithstanding it was at first an Imposture none of which I am sure can be proved Yet even in this Case the Proof that has now been given of the Christian Religion is sufficient to build our Faith upon because the most that can be inferr'd from all these Arguments is only this That there is a bare possibility in the Nature of Things that the Christian Religion may be false But he that from hence should conclude that it was really so without any other Reasons to support his Opinion and in opposition to all that multiplicity of Proof that has been offered for the Truth of it must not pretend Reason but only Resolution for his Infidelity Such therefore is the Sufficiency of the Proof before given whatever be the Nature or Kind of it or however it may be thought to differ from or fall short of the Demonstration used in other Matters that we are utterly inexcusable if we do not believe the Christian Religion upon it and God may justly Condemn us for our disbelief and that upon these two accounts 1. Because we believe other Matters of Fact upon less Evidence and 2. Because we are obliged to believe such Facts as have these appearances of Truth which the Christian Religion has though they should really be false 1. That we believe Matters of Fact upon less Evidence than the Christian Religion is received upon is manifest by what has been before proved that no Matters of Fact have or are capable of so great and therefore to confirm this Point I shall only bring that one Instance of Mahometism Now 't is certain that those who look upon the Christian Religion as an Imposture do at the same time profess to believe all the principal Parts of the History of Mahomet Such as his Pretences to Revelation his Writing the Alcoran and his Propagating the Belief of the things contained in it in the way and manner therein mentioned These I say they do not in the least question notwithstanding that the Mahometan Religion pretends to a Divine Original as well as the Christian and is in like manner addrest to Mankind under the Promises and Threatnings of Future Happiness and Misery though it is withal a very absurd Composition in it self and of very pernicious Consequence to the World to be Believed and Established It is therefore very unreasonable for Men that believe these things to deny the Common History of Christianity such as the Pretences of Christ and his Disciples to Revelations Prophecies and Miracles the Writing of the Scriptures of the New Testament by those whose Names they bear or at least by some of Christ's immediate Disciples and the Propagation of the Christian Religion according to the Times Places Ways and Methods Recorded in those Books 'T is very unreasonable I say for Men who believe the History of Mahometism to question the truth of these things because they are attested by a much greater variety of Books and other Monuments and a greater multiplicity of the Copies of the Scriptures all which Testimonies we are sure by a numerous succession of others were extant nearer the date of the several Facts attested and in an Age of Learning among People of much higher Improvements than the first Mahometans were and moreover because it is certain that the Pretences of Christ were more difficult to be Feigned by himself or Forged by others afterwards that the Promises and Threatnings of the Gospel are of more Concern and Importance to be enquired into and the Establishment of Christianity whether true or false in its Original would so certainly contribute to the Happiness of Mankind that 't is one very good Argument of its being true that it is impossible to make and contrive any other Scheme every way so suitable and agreeable to the truest Interests of Humane Nature From whence I conclude that we cannot question the Truth of the History of Christianity so far as concerns the Common Matters of Fact without distrusting all the Knowledge we have of every Thing that happen'd at any distance from us And if the Common Matters of Fact are true all the other are plainly demonstrable from them as far as we have any certain Knowledge of the Natures of Things as has already been proved We are therefore obliged either to believe the Christian Religion or to renounce our belief of all other Facts whatsoever because whatever of this kind we believe besides we believe upon less Evidence 2. But Secondly Whatever degree of Evidence other Matters of Fact may be supposed to have we are absolutely obliged to believe the Christian Religion upon that Evidence that is brought for it because we are obliged to believe such Facts as have those appearances of Truth the Christian Religion has though they should be really false We are to judge of Things by the Faculties God has given us according to those grounds and measures of Truth he has suited and proportion'd to them and therefore when we have the greatest assurance of a Thing that we are capable of according to the present frame our Nature and the State of Things in the World it would be highly unreasonable in us to deny it whatever it was barely upon a Suspicion it might be false though it should afterwards really prove to be so but if what we had this apparent Proof of was a Matter of concern and importance to us upon the
Belief or Disbelief of which our utmost Happiness or Misery seemed to depend and we should prefer a meer Suspicion to all the appearing Marks and Characters of Truth God might as justly punish us for disbelieving a real Error upon such grounds as for rejecting the Truth It is not whether our Opinions are true or false but whether we have judg'd well or ill that we are accountable for neither in Matters of meer Speculation is it of much concern whether we judge well or ill because it is of no great moment whether we judge at all but it is not indifferent to us whether we will be happy or no Happiness is and must be the end of all our Thoughts and the governing Principle of our Lives upon this Account it is as we have seen in a former Discourse that we are necessarily concerned to know whether there be a God or no whether he requires any thing of us if there is and whether he has appointed any Future State of Life for us And these things our Reason has assured us are true and fit to be believed notwithstanding any Suspicions we may have to the contrary because we venture all our Happiness by disbelieving them And upon the same Score it is that the Christian Religion challenges our Assent to it because if all the fore-mentioned Principles be true we venture our Happiness as much in denying it For if this does not contain the Will of God it is impossible to know what is required of us because we can never give so strong and certain a Proof of what our Particular Duty to God is without Divine Revelation as we can that the Christian Revelation is true We are therefore in as high a manner obliged to believe Christianity as Natural Religion because the Proofs of that are very near if not quite as strong as those that are brought for the other and our Happiness is more certainly ventured here than there for this reason that if the First General Principles of Religion should be false he that denies them will suffer nothing for his denial but if those be true and the Christian Religion should be false he that rejects that runs as great a hazard as if it had been true because God will certainly Judge him according to the Evidence and not according to the Reality of things And therefore he that believes in God is obliged to believe in Christ also since 't is certain that the Christian Religion has a great many Extraordinary Marks and Characters of Truth to recommend it and is pressed upon our Belief under the Considerations of Eternal Happiness and Misery and we have nothing to oppose to all the appearing Evidence it is built upon but barely a Suspicion that notwithstanding what appears to us it may possibly be false The two first of these Assertions are manifest and the Truth of the latter will be very visible to any one that will give himself the trouble of considering all the Objections that have ever been made to the Christian Revelation which taken altogether will not so much as make out the meer possibility of the Christian Schemes being false but amount to no more than this that something else like something contained in the History of Christianity has been proved to be false therefore the Christian Religion is an Imposture For all that has ever been urged against the Truth of the Christian Religion is in short but this that Histories have been false Prophecies and Miracles have been counterfeit there have been false Pretences to Revelation Books have been forged strange Things have been said and done by Men and stranger by Evil Spirits But it can no more be inferr'd from hence that the Christian History and Revelation and all the Christian Prophecies and Miracles are false and the Scriptures of the New Testament are forged than it can be concluded that all Men are mad or asleep because there have been several in these Conditions that have thought themselves awake and in their Senses or that all the Arguments and Proofs made use of in Mathematical Knowledge are false because some pretended Demonstrations have been Undemonstrated and Confuted And yet this is the utmost defence that Infidelity can make for it self as has before been more particularly shewn Wherefore they are utterly inexcusable whoever they are who believe there is a God and that he is a Rewarder of all those that diligently seek him and yet reject so plain and evident a Revelation of himself as the Christian Religion is But there are very few I believe of this Character to be found in the Christian World 'T is more reasonable to think that those among us who will not have the Son of God to Reign over them have as little regard for the Father that sent him and that if they will not hear Moses and the Prophets nor be perswaded by one that rose from the Dead neither will they understand the Eternal Power and Godhead by the things that are made And if this be the Case of our Modern Deists and Vnbelievers if their Minds are Blinded and their foolish Hearts Darkned to such a degree that they cannot perceive God in any of the other ways he has took of Revealing himself to them we must leave them to be convinced by the last Revelation that will be made of the Righteous Judgment of God when they shall be forced to Believe and Tremble FINIS BOOKS Printed for Tho. Bennet Folio THuidides Greek and Latin Collated with five entire Mannscript Copies and all the Editions Extant Also Illustrated with Maps large Annotations and Indexes by J. Hudson M. A. and Fellow of Vniversity Coll. Oxon. To which is added an exact Chronology by the Learned Hen. Dodwell never before Published Printed at the Theater Oxon. Octavo and Twelves Sermons and Discourses upon several Occasions by Dr. Stradling Dean of Chichester Together with an Account of the Author by James Harrington Esq Sermons and Discourses upon several Occasions by Dr. Meggot Dean of Chichester The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antonius the Roman Emperor Translated out of Greek into English by Dr. Causabon with Notes To this Edition is added the Life of the Emperor with an Account of Stoick Philosophy as also Remarks on the Meditations All newly written by Monsieur and Madam Dacier The Inspiration of the New Testament Asserted and Explained in Answer to the Six Letters of Inspiration from Holland c. by Mr. L. Moth. THE CERTAINTY and NECESSITY OF Religion in General c. The Contents INtroduction shewing the design of the Discourse and the Method in which it is Prosecuted Page 1. An account of the Nature of Man so far as concerns Religion p. 9. Of the Nature of God p. 16. Of the Relation there is betwixt God and Man p. 18. A direct proof of the Being of God p. 19. Considered as Possible p. 20. Considered as Probable p. 26. Considered as Certain p. 40. The certainty of God's Existence proved
have been able to make is become so fixt an Opinion with me that I dare venture to affirm not only that there never was any Imposture in the World which had so many plain Marks and Characters of Truth upon it as the Christian Religion is attended with but that there never was any true History of Things whatsoever so well attested That 't is impossible for the united Wisdom of Men to contrive any Scheme of Events that shall be delivered down to Posterity with so many certain Signs and Monuments of its Truth and that there cannot be any Supposition invented that will be fuller fraught with Absurdities than that of the Christian Religion's being an Imposture These are Assertions I have endeavoured to make good in the following Discourse and I hope I have in some measure performed what I undertook but if I have not said enough to communicate the same Conviction to others which I feel my self the Fault must lie wholly in the Management not the Proof For in the Pursuit of this Argument I found my self on every side surrounded with so much Light that I am sure there 's Proof enough to be made of what I have here advanced though the Evidence I have brought for this Purpose should appear to have been chosen ill or applied wrong But after all there 's no need of proving so much as this to Vnbelievers 'T is a sufficient Answer to them if it can be shewn that the Christian Religion has as just a Pretence to be believed as any other Matters of Fact not questioned by them and that nothing they have to urge in behalf of Infidelity can lessen the Credit of this Revelation which is so easie a Task that whoever engages in the defence of the Gospel will find it much more difficult to meet with Objections than to answer them For my part I must profess that in all the search I have had occasion to make into Natural and Revealed Religion I never could meet with any one Objection to either of them that would bear the Form of an Argument Several new Plans and Models of Philosophy have been framed and a great many new Hypotheses raised in all Parts of Learning and every one of them has been ransacked to furnish Matter for Infidelity but all to no purpose There are no such grounds of Knowledge laid by any Man but Religion may be proved from them And I don't know of any Propositions whatsoever advanced by any Philosopher Ancient or Modern which if they are not such as plainly imply a Denial of Religion can prove any thing against it Some have openly declared for Irreligion and have made a Philosophy on purpose to maintain their Cause others have covertly under false Pretences thrown out several Opinions and Doctrines with a Design to weaken some or other of the main Principles of our Faith but in vain are all these Fiery Darts of the Wicked and the Arrows of those that shoot in secret no Philosophy or Humane Wisdom can prevail against the Almighty In the open Attempts of impious Authors the Force they make use of is unsupported and often recoils upon themselves And as to those dishonourable Writers who endeavour to wound Religion by Hints and Insinuations nothing expressed in their Books is sufficient to make good what they mean Epicurus and Lucretius may affirm that there is no Providence and no Future State but no other Propositions in their Philosophy will prove there are none Hobbs and Spinoza may intend to undermine the Common Faith of Christians but there 's nothing directly advanced by either of them that if it were allowed to be true could infer any thing to the prejudice of the first general Principles and Proofs either of Natural or Revealed Religion For a through Confirmation of which Truth I have in treating of both these Subjects endeavoured to form my Proof upon such common unquestionable Principles as every body of what Sect 〈…〉 Philosophy must needs grant 'T is true indeed most of the Notions imployed in the Cause of Infidelity are false as well as unconcluding and upon both these Accounts deserve a particular Answer in order to prevent the Mischief they might probably do among the Vnwary and Vnstable But I looked upon that as the surest and most effectual Way of defending Religion which would cut off all Objections at once and put the Cause upon a general Issue this is the way I have taken in both Discourses and I am sure the Method cannot fail if the Performance be but Answerable If we are such Beings as I have described and every body by consulting himself may find and if there are such Appearances in the World as every Man that will look abroad may perceive then are all the Principles of Natural and Christian Religion certainly true And if we are not such Creatures that have such Powers and Capacities and act for such Ends and Motives as we feel in our selves and if we are not sure that the Frame of the World and the Publick State of Humane Affairs do appear to us in such a manner as we imagine they do then do we know nothing at all and if the Inferences truly drawn from these Appearances don't hold none do And if we have no Knowledge we are like the Beasts that Perish and have no Pretensions to Happiness neither Religion Knowledge and Happiness are all upon the same Foot and are so closely united together that there 's no separating one from the other without destroying them all But if Religion be built so strong what support can Irreligion have What Principles can the Atheist Deist and Libertine Reason or Act upon What new ways of Knowledge have they found out Can he that denies a God or Providence shew us how the World was Made or has been Governed without Or can he that disowns a Future State inform Mankind what and why they were or resolve them that Question Whether it were not better they had never been How can he that denies the Christian Religion prove that we were not of Yesterday and know nothing but what we have seen our selves or our immediate Forefathers have told us And how can he that thinks both Natural and Revealed Religion to be Imposture perswade himself to believe any thing else The most reasonable thing that such Men as reject all Notions of Religion can do is to believe nothing But Scepticism and Suspence are so very difficult and disagreeable to the Mind of Man that every body must have something continually to believe and we do all of us give up our assent in abundance of Instances without staying for the utmost conviction we are capable of But none have been more remarkably distinguished from the rest of the World for their Credulity than the Irreligious it being commonly and truly observed of them that they believe as unreasonably and absurdly as they deny and that is what no body else does What can be more extravagantly ridiculous than
Christ the first Author of this Sect of Men call'd Christians began to publish his Doctrine to the World is very particularly and circumstantially set down by St. Luke in the Third Chapter of his Gospel to be the Fifteenth Year of the Reign of Tiberius Cesar Pontius Pilate being Governor of Judea and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee and his Brother Philip Tetrarch of Iturea and of the Region of Trachonitis and Lysanias the Tetrarch of Abilene Annas and Caiaphas being the High Priests of the Jews And in the Book call'd the Acts of the Apostles said to be writ by the same St. Luke it is affirm'd That the Disciples by which Word is there meant all those that believed in Christ and embraced the Doctrines taught by him were called Christians first at Antioch Which Matter of Fact is by the Consent of all Christian Historians recorded to have happen'd at the latter end of the Reign of Caligula who was the next that succeeded Tiberius in the Empire of Rome And that this is the lowest Point of Time it can be fix'd at appears from the same Place of St. Luke where immediately after the Words before cited it follows And in these Days came Prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch and there stood up one of them named Agabus and signified by the Spirit that there should be great Dearth throughout all the World which came to pass in the Days of Claudius Cesar From whence I infer That this Relation of Agabus concurring in Time with that other Account of the Disciples being first call'd Christians and it being plain from what is said concerning the Completion of Agabus's Prophecy in the Days of Claudius Cesar That he first utter'd his Prophecy some time before the Days of Claudius Cesar the Time when the Disciples were first called Christians must likewise be sooner or later before the Reign of Claudius which Claudius being the immediate Successor of Caligula in the Empire the Matter of Fact in question must happen in the latter end of the Reign of Caligula or at some time before Now from the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius when Christ first published his Doctrine at Jerusalem to the last of Caligula when his Disciples were first call'd Christians at Antioch is about Twelve Years from whence to the Tenth Year of Nero when the Christians were first persecuted at Rome is a little above Twenty Years within Five Years after which Jerusalem was destroyed and an End was put to the Jewish Government and Policy So that from the Fifteenth of Tiberius when it is pretended that Christ first published his Gospel at Jerusalem to the first of Vespatian when Jerusalem was destroy'd is about Forty Years and no more If therefore these Matters of Fact concerning the Neronian Persecution and the Destruction of Jerusalem are true as is constantly attested by Heathen and Jewish as well as Christian Writers 't is more than probable that those mention'd by St. Luke are so too For before the Fifteenth of Tiberius no Signs or Footsteps of Christianity are to be found in the World neither is it pretended by any of the Adversaries of this Religion that it was earlier and the Destruction of Jerusalem falling in the First Year of Vespatian the Propagation of the Christian Religion from thence to other Parts of the World must needs have had as early a Date of that And therefore if we find great Numbers of Christians at Rome in Nero's Time both the Propagation as well as Original of the Christian Religion must have happen'd not only before the Destruction of Jerusalem but some time between the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius and the Tenth of Nero and consequently the Account before given by St. Luke of these great Events cannot well be imagin'd to be false but 't is certain the Mistake in Time if there should be any supposed cannot be considerable From all which I think I have reason to conclude That the Christian Religion was profess'd at Rome in the Time of Nero and was derived from one Christ who was the first Author of it and suffered Death at Jerusalem upon that Account toward the latter end of Tiberius's Reign as I find it recorded by St. Luke and the other Writers of the New Testament The next view I shall take of the Christian Religion shall be under Constantine another Emperor of Rome who upon some occasion or other was disposed to embrace this Religion about 300 Years after the first Publication of it by Christ at which time it is very notorious that Christianity was the prevailing Religion in all the parts of the Roman Empire the extent of which was then very great This manifestly appears from all the accounts we have of the History of this famous Emperor and the State of the World under his Reign in the Twentieth Year of which was held a General Council which was a Meeting or Assembly of a great number of Bishops who came from all the different Provinces and Cities both of the Eastern and Western Empire and were Persons that in their several Districts govern'd and directed in Religions Affairs the chief design of that Meeting was by Constantine who called them together declared to be for the decision of a Controversie that had happen'd between certain Christian Professors concerning a particular Article or Doctrine of their Religion which some affirm'd ought to be believed in one Sense and some in another These Bishops did meet accordingly to the number of about 300 decided the Matter they were called about by appointing a Form of Words for all Christians to express their Belief of that and several other particulars in which was unanimously approved and subscribed by all but two Besides which Form of Faith they made several Canons or Rules with Relation to Discipline which concern'd the Qualifications of such Persons as were to perform Religious Offices or to partake of the Effects of them their manner of Acting upon such occasions and their Behaviour to one another upon the account of any Religious distinction But in order to take a more particular survey of the State of the Christian Religion under Constantine from the account that is given us of this Council by Eusebius and Athanasius who were present at it and other credible Writers who lived at or near the same time I shall draw these following Observations and Reflections I. Constantine was the first Roman Emperor that profest the Christian Religion There was no King Consul Dictator Emperor or any other the chief Governour of the Roman State before him that ever departed from the ancient Institution made upon the first Settlement of that Commonwealth or publickly embraced a new Religion of a different Character from that established by the Laws of Numa 2. There never was before this Council any such General Meeting of Eminent and Learned Persons who were Assembled together from so many different quarters of the World purely to settle some Controversies in Religion Which two surprising Circumstances must make this
of the World they continued still in their Sins and never lived up to those holy Rules he prescribed These who never felt the power of the Christian Religion could never be so concerned for the Interests of it as constantly to vouch and maintain an unprofitable Lye in its defence when 't is very probable they might have had easier Consciences and better Fortunes for disproving the Pretences it was built upon Others of them made Shipwrack of their Faith and turn'd again unto those beggarly Elements or Idols they were freed from neither can these be suspected of justifying what they knew to be false in behalf of a Religion they had forsaken 'T is more reasonable to suppose had they been privy to any deceit that they would have been very zealous in the discovery of it Then as to those who rejected the Authority and Doctrine of Christ and continued in the Religion they were at first Educated in notwithstanding all the Miracles they saw who as we find by the History of the Gospel were frequently reproached by Christ and his Apostles for their Infidelity and obstinate adherence to the Religion and Traditions of their Fathers the greatest part of whom and those Persons of the greatest Dignity Authority and Learning among them made it their business to Persecute Christ and his Apostles and all that professed the Christian Religion 'T is plainly as impossible to imagine that Persons of this Character should agree to own the truth of Christ's Miracles which they knew to be false as that honest sincere Christians who abhorred a Lye and were throughly perswaded Eternal Misery was the certain Punishment of Lying should conspire to deceive the World by contriving spreading and continually supporting what they were sure was the grossest Cheat imaginable But without considering the Characters of the Witnesses the Manner and Circumstances in which they first gave Testimony to the truth of Christ's Miracles makes a confederacy to deceive utterly impossible For in many Instances of Publick Miracles in the New Testament we find that upon the sight of something done by Jesus Christ the whole Multitude of Spectators immediately declared their Belief and Admiration by openly glorifying God or expressing their Wonder to one another So that it plainly appeats from hence that they were all severally convinced of the truth and wonderfulness of what they saw before they could know one anothers Minds concerning it and therefore the agreement of their Testimony could not be the effect of any antecedent concert among themselves Thus have I evidently proved the truth of the Publick Miracles of Jesus Christ and whatever has been said upon this Subject will hold with the same or rather greater degrees of certainty concerning the Publick Miracles of the first Apostles and Disciples of Christ who received that Power immediately from their Master and of all other Christian Believers to whom the same Gifts were conveyed by their Hands For the Signs and Wonders Recorded to have been done by any of them were as easily known and distinguished by vulgar Senses and Capacities as those of Christ the Characters and Circumstances of the Witnesses so far as concerns the credibility of their Testimony was very near the same But the number of those who by an intimate consciousness of their own Power knew they performed such Works of those who felt the Effects of this Miraculous Power in themselves and of those who saw the External Signs and Appearances of it in the Facts that were done was very far greater than in the former Case and the impossibility of a general agreement to deceive more manifest here than there and consequently the truth of all these Facts is as evident as that of the other before proved As to the more Private Miracles done by Jesus Christ himself in the presence of his Disciples only and the Signs and Wonders imployed by some other Power for the manifestation of Christ to a few chosen Persons we have these reasons to believe them true The Facts were of the same nature and as easy to be known and discerned as the other before mentioned the several Witnesses of these things which happen'd at several times taken altogether were a great many which makes an agreement of them all to deceive and a constant invincible Perseverance in a Cheat very difficult to imagine the Characters of them as far as appears from the History of the New Testament were such as leave no room to suspect the Fidelity of their Relation for they are all of them the Apostles and first Disciples especially who are principally concern'd in the present Cause represented as honest sincere undesigning Persons that feared God and loved Mankind that were free from Pride and Vanity and were so far from seeking their own Interest or Advancement in this World that they were despised and set at nought and evilly intreated whereever they came and were as to this Life of all Men most miserable for constantly asserting the truth of the Resurrection and Ascention of Christ and such other Facts now in question all which they were as firmly perswaded of as of any of the Publick Miracles of Jesus Crrist and several of them they Preach'd up as more necessary and impottant to be believed Besides all this many of these Miraculous Facts which were fully discovered only to a few were accompanied with several Circumstances more publickly known with which they have so near and almost necessary a connexion that 't is very difficult to imagine these Circumstances should be true and not the principal Facts also as will easily appear from the Instance of the Resurrection of Christ In the account of which wonderful Fact we find that it was known to the Chief Priests and Pharisees among the Jews that Christ had said while he was yet alive after three Days I will rise again for which reason they make Application to Pilate to secure his Sepulchre that his Disciples might not come and steal him away by Night and take occasion from thence to give out he was risen from the Dead The Sepulchre was accordingly made sure by rolling a great Stone to the Door of it by Sealing the Stone and setting a Watch But 't is further said that at the time appointed and foretold for the rising of Christ there was a great Earthquake and that then the Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and rolled back the Stone from the Door of the Sepulchre and sat upon it that his Countenance was like Lightning and his Raiment White as Snow that the Keepers saw all these things and for fear of the Angel did shake and became as dead Men Afterwards we read that some of the Watch came into the City and shewed unto the Chief Priests all the things that were done that the Chief Priests when they were Assembled with the Elders and had taken Counsel gave large Money to the Souldiers to say his Disciples came by Night and stole him away while they Slept which the Souldiers
upon the prospect of which the whole Religion is founded might not shock the Faith of Mankind what wiser and more convincing Method could be taken than by various Instances of things actually done in their Presence of as strange and surprizing a Nature as those foretold and some of them of the very same kind as the Resurrection of the Dead Ascension into Heaven c. How I say could Men be better satisfied than by such present Experience of the Divine Power that nothing was impossible to God and that there might be such things in a Future State which Eye had not yet seen nor Ear heard nor had entered into the Heart of Man to conceive Thus have I proved in short that the Prophecies Miracles and Doctrines contained in the New Testament and consequently the whole Christian Religion which were before shewn to exceed all Humane Reach and Capacity did certainly proceed from God After which proof the third thing proposed will be very easily made out viz. that 't is very improper and absurd to ascribe these things to Evil Spirits All that we know of Good or Evil Spirits without Revelation is that there have been some Men unaccountably assisted by some invisible Power to say and do certain things which they knew they could not have said or done without such Assistance that if what was said or done this way was serious and concerning and seem'd to contribute any thing to the Good of Men it was reckoned to proceed from a Good Spirit appointed by the Supreme God for that End if the things said or done were Trifling or Hurtful they were thought to come from Evil Spirits permitted by the Supreme God to Amuse or Punish Men and that Sacrifices and other Religious Rites were performed by the Persons particularly concern'd to express their Thanks to the One or to appease the Other these Good and Evil Spirits being esteemed as Gods of a Lower Order who had different Offices assign'd them by the Supreme In the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament we have a more particular account of Good and Evil Spirits the first occasion of their Distinction and their different Offices and Imployments as such and there we find that what was said or done by Angels or Good Spirits was by the express Order and Command of God and is Attributed to him in the same manner as if it had proceeded immediately from himself and what was said or done by Devils or Evil Spirits was by the Permission of God for the Trial or Punishment of Men. The Power God suffered Evil Spirits to Exercise and the Signs and Wonders he permitted them to do in order to tempt Men from the Belief or Practice of those things he had injoined and commanded them were so easily distinguishable from the positive express Manifestations of Divine Power that any Man was justly to be Condemn'd for being deceived by them For besides that Miracles done by the help of Evil Spirits were Pascal as a Judicious Author well observes always foretold or outdone or both and consequently could never be of force enough to invalidate a Divine Revelation Besides this I say the Works of the Devil and the Doctrines of Devils are so contrary to the Reason and truest Interests of Mankind and so easily known to be so especially when compared with the Doctrine of God and the Fruits of it that no Miracles or Signs whatsoever can be sufficient to establish their Credit And therefore 't is very absurd and contrary to all that the Scriptures inform us of concerning Devils or Evil Spirits to suppose that they should imploy all their Power and Cunning to promote a pure and holy Service of One God and to destroy all the Pretences of Superstition and Idolatry 'T is contrary to all the Policy of the Kingdom of Darkness as our Saviour argues that it should be divided against it self and that some Evil Spirits should disturb and oppose the rest when they are all carrying on the same Work But neither Jews Christians or Heathens ever entertained any such Notions of Devils or Evil Spirits as to make them the Authors of any thing that recommended and establish'd what they call'd Vertue in the World or contributed to the Peace Welfare or Happiness of Mankind 'T is manifest then that such a Scheme as we have seen the Christian Religion is could not be Contrived and Propagated through the World in such a manner by Evil Spirits neither was it possible that the first Preachers and Professors of this Religion should derive their extraordinary Characters from the Possession and Influence of Devils These are such Notorious Truths that there is no need of further Inlargments upon this Head Thus have I finished what I undertook under my Second General and by a full and direct Proof made it very Evident that all the principal Matters of Fact related in the New Testament are true III. I shall strengthen and confirm the same Truth by shewing the improbability and absurdity of a contrary Supposition and the weakness of all the Difficulties and Objections rais'd against the Scriptures and the Matters contained in them which is the third thing I proposed to make good in order to my main Design which is to establish a firm Belief of the Christian Religion and all the Obligations of it It has been sufficiently proved already that if all the common Matters of Fact related in the New Testament or only the principal of them such as have been before mentioned are true in the Manner and Circumstances there set down it necessarily follows from hence that the Miracles and Prophecies there Recorded must be true also and if the Miracles and Prophecies are true they must certainly be the Effects of Divine Assistance and Revelation and consequently the Doctrines delivered by Persons so assisted must come from God This I say has been fully made out beyond all possibility of a a reasonable Contradiction and every thing that could be supposed all the different Accounts that could be given of these Matters in order to invalidate the strength of the Inferences drawn from them have been shewn to be false and groundless The next Pretence which the Enemies of Revealed Religion make use of in the behalf of Infidelity is that the whole Body of the Scriptures of the New Testament are Forged and Suppositious that all the principal Matters of Fact there Recorded with all the Strange and New Doctrines built upon them were purely the Inventions of Men and that the Books were given out by the Contrivers of them as containing the Revelations of God in order to Establish their Credit and Authority in the World This is the worst that the utmost Malice of Scoffers and Unbelievers can suggest but the Folly and unpresidented Absurdity of this Plea will easily appear upon a slight Examination of it For first 'T is very manifest from what has been said already that it has been a constant and universal Tradition in this part
where every body was as capable and certain a Judge of the Cheat as they Was not there such a Man as Christ Did he not in all appearance maintain such a Character Did he not pretend to such Discoveries and Wonderful Works and did he not really Suffer such things upon account of his Pretences as we find Recorded in those Books call'd the Gospels All this must be granted in the present Supposition which fixes the real Publication of that Religion we now profess at the same date we find mentioned in the New Testament And if it be allowed that these Facts were true then does it certainly follow that all the Pretences of Christ were real for otherwise they could never have been believed as has been sufficiently proved already and will more fully appear under another Head where I shall shew the necessary Connexion betwixt the truth of the Common and the Extraordinary Facts mentioned in the New Testament But if these Common Matters of Fact just now instanced in were false as well as the other then must the whole Story be much more Ridiculous and Incredible If the Forgery be dated about Forty Years lower at some time near the Destruction of Jerusalem then must we take in the Acts of the Apostles and the other Books of the New Testament into our Account which will render the difficulty of believing the Christian Religion much greater For here we have abundance of New Matters of Fact to believe as strange as those in the Gospels and as easie to be known and disproved but vastly more Numerous and more Publick to the truth of which a great many more Cities and Nations are brought in as Witnesses all which are supposed false and consequently could never obtain Credit in the World at that time If the Christian Religion was not heard of any where till some time after the Destruction of Jerusalem how could it possibly be then believed when its chief Pretence was that it had been Published Believed and Establisted in many places long before which was palpably and notoriously false Now that this must be the Pretence upon which the Christian Religion was first Founded whatever Period we suppose this Event happen'd in after the Destruction of Jerusalem is very plain from the Nature of the Religion its self and the Manner of its Publication which are intirely built upon Matters of Fact so that if the History of Christianity or the Principal Matters of Fact contained in the New Testament are false the whole Religion must fall And the Nature of those Facts 't is built upon is such that 't is imposible for any body to believe them at any distance from the time in which they are affirmed to happen if they were then first invented when he is required to believe them For let us fix the Period when we will how can we imagine that the History contained in the Books of the New Testamen should be believed by those who are supposed to live after the Times of all the Transactions therein mention'd and yet who had never before heard or read of any of them Can it possibly be thought that any People would change their Laws and Religion upon such a Story as this without enquiring into the truth of it And how could they be satisfied upon enquiry when the supposition of an Imposture makes all other Information but that of the Publishers utterly impossible And what reason could there be to believe him who gives only a positive bare Relation of Matter of Fact done before his time which he delivers without any pretence to Revelation himself and without any Authority but his own to confirm the truth of what he endeavours to impose upon the World Would not these have been every Man's Questions Why was not the Religion now offered to us imbraced when it was first prescribed to Mankind with all those wonderful Evidences of its Divine Original we are told of Why were not those strange Facts believed by those that were the immediate Witnesses of them If they were and if the Christian Religion spread and increased upon the Credit of them as is affirmed and if the Miracles were true must needs be allow'd How came it to pass that neither We nor our Forefathers ever heard of these things and that we have no History or Monuments of them remaining How should such a New Religion as this Establish'd upon the evidence of Sense and Propagated by vast Multitudes of Professors be quite lost and worn out of the memory of Men already How came you that Publish it to be the only Person that could recover the Knowledge of it What reason have you now to believe what has been laid aside by those who by being nearer the Original were better Judges of the truth of it And what Authority have you to receive it and enjoyn Mankind the belief of it These were Questions which an Impostor could never give any Answer to and without satisfaction in these Matters so great and wise a part of Mankind as are now and were formerly throughly perswaded of the truth of the Christian Religion could not voluntarily lay aside all their ancient Prejudices and Ingagements and imbrace a New Religion with all the dangerous Consequences that they knew must attend such a change It is therefore manifestly absurd to suppose there ever were any Men Foolish and Impudent enough to Publish a false History of Matters of Fact pretended to be done just before the Publication and in the very Place where the Scene is laid within the immediate Cognizance of all the People to whom the Relation is directed and if there were any such Pretenders 't is impossible to think there should be any People so Stupid as to believe they themselves saw and heard such Things as were never said or done among them and this purely upon the Information of others without which they had remained intirely ignorant of them from whence it necessarily follows that the Christian Scheme could not be Published at the Time 't is dated at if it were meer Forgery and Invention It is likewise very ridiculous and irrational to imagine that a long series of Publick Notorious Facts said to be done in the presence of great Multitudes of all sorts of Persons in different Countries and Nations the Consequences of which are pretended to be very great and concerning to all Mankind and which by the Credit they had obtained and the Opposition that had been made to them had occasioned mighty Changes and Alterations in the World 'T is very absurd I say to maintain that such Facts as these which never happen'd at all should at any distance from the Time in which they are pretended to have happen'd ever come to be genenerally believed in or near those Places they are appropriated to barely upon the Authority of their Publication when those that were supposed to believe them can have no other Reason for their Faith but this That some body had the confidence to
as these should be able by the meer strength of their Natural Parts to Compose such Poems as Virgil's and such Orations as Tully's and should likewise at the same time exceed all others in the Skill of Explaining hard Authors and in the Knowledge of Physick But 't is much harder to conceive that Christ and his Disciples being Persons of such Education and Character as they are represented to us to be could by their own unasisted Capacities Compose the Christian Religion Interpret Ancient Prophecies Foretel Future Events Cure all manner of Sick and Maimed and perform all those other Mighty Works that are Recorded of them We have heard of several Persons who have pretended to Revelations to Prophecies to Miracles and to all of them falsly without any ground for their pretences but there never were any who pretended to such Revelations such Prophecies and such Miracles as we find in the Scriptures of the New Testament so many and so publick so far exceeding all the conceivable Power of Art and Confederacy so liable to discovery and contradiction if they were false so hazardous to the Undertakers and so beneficial to the World in such a continued Series all of them concurrent to the same End and accompanied with such other Circumstances as these are related to be Whoever will be at the pains to consider all this wonderful Scheme of Things together will find it impossible to contrive such another though he has the Advantage of a Model before him which the Author of this had not and supposing he had succeeded in such a Contrivance he would find it impossible to prevail upon himself to pretend to act it over there being no Motives conceivable which bear any manner of Proportion to the plain and certain discouragements he must foresee supposing he knew all his Pretences to be false as in the present Case must be supposed And the same will hold with respect to the first Professors of Christianity 'T would be equally impossible for them to pretend to believe all these Things if they were not really and fully persuaded of the Truth of them Lying and Deceiving are a pleasure to some Men and the more notorious and gross the Deceit is the greater is the Satisfaction But then 't is certain likewise that there are very few of such a temper as to be pleased with Lying and Forgery without any other design or prospect but that there should be a large Succession and continual increase of such Men in divers Countries and Nations is much more difficult to conceive than that there should be an Age of Crookedness and Deformity when in a considerable part of the World the generality of People of all sorts had of a sudden by some strange unknown Influence some parts of their Bodies distorted and the Calamity was continually propagated all the time by an unusual sort of Infection But if this were allowed if all the first Christians were granted to be pure Deceivers 't would be exceedingly more difficult to imagine that the pleasure of Deceiving was so strong as to be able to support such vast Multitudes of Persons under all the other Losses and Sufferings Humane Nature is capable of 'T is possible indeed for Men to suffer all manner of Affliction and even to die Martyrs for the falsest and most absurd Religion that can be devised and frequent Instances may be given of such as have done so but then 't is certain also that they truly and firmly believed what they Suffered for There never was nor ever can be such an extravagant Army of Martyrs and Confessors as did or will renounce all the Comforts and Satisfactions of Life indure Grief and Pain chearfully and be ready upon all occasions to lay down their Lives for the Profession of such Matters of Fact as they are all infallibly convinced are false and which they are sure all their Persecutors have the same Reason to know are false that they have To affirm or imagine that any Men can act upon such disproportionate Motives as such Men must be supposed to act upon is full as absurd and ridiculous as to suppose that the Sea may be restrained with Bars and that the Hills and Mountains are lighter than the Dust of the Balance But if it be granted as we have shewn it must that all those who pretended to say and do such strange Things as are related of them in the New Testament and those who pretended to be persuaded of the Truth of what was said and done did all really and truly believe what they pretended to then is it impossible to conceive that the Things thus believed to be true should notwithstanding be false There are it is confessed no Opinions so extravagant and absurd but a great many Persons may be throughly persuaded of the Truth of them but there never was an Instance of such Stupidity or Enthusiasm yet where such Facts as those related in the New Testament were by great Multitudes believed to have happen'd within their own immediate Cognizance when no such Things did really and truly happen at all And 't is impossible to conceive there ever should be such an Instance as this in the World without a through change of Humane Nature and all the Powers and Faculties of it And we have no more reason to think it was so in the Case before us than we have to believe that there was a Time when the Earth and all the Bodies belonging to it did exist in the same State of outward appearance we now perceive them without Motion Figure or Extension And if all the Principal Matters of Fact both Common and Extraordinary were really true or did really and certainly happen so far as Humane Perceptions are to be relied on it cannot be doubted but God was the Author of the whole Christian Scheme because we have no Example of any such Scheme as this that was ever made by any other Power but the Divine We cannot by the utmost Knowledge we have of all the Powers that be conceive that any Power less than the Divine could produce such an Effect or that any other besides such as were Commission'd by him would have produced it if they could By what we know of the Nature of God the Work appears very worthy of him and very agreeable to all his Attributes and we cannot possibly imagine what more proper and effectual ways God could have taken to manifest himself to us if he was pleased to vouchsafe us that Favour These are the Reasons upon which we conclude that the Christian Religion came from God supposing all the Facts before-mentioned to be true as I think they have been proved to be which Proof being allowed we have as much Reason to believe that the Christian Religion proceeded from God as that the World was Created by him Thus does it plainly appear from the Nature of Things that the Proofs before given of the Christian Religion severally examined were all very well founded