Apostles where they do not say that God has taught them by extraordinary Revelation that which they publish And where the matter it self shows that there was no need of his doing it It does not therefore follow that those who acknowledge the Inspiration of the Prophets are obliged to acknowledg the like of all other sacred Writers because there are convincing Reasons which oblige us to believe that the Prophets speak Truth when they say Thus saith the Lord c. and no reason to believe that the Apostles were extraordinarily inspir'd when they say it not and when their Discourses have in them no mark of such like Inspiration If we reflect upon this difference between Prophecies and Discourses which have nothing of Prophetic in them we shall take heed of applying to this Subject a loose Maxim and which is good for nothing viz. That is happens most frequently that those who distinguish and divide Matters with design to make use of part and reject the other do give great advantage to their Adversaries On the contrary it scarce ever happens that in handling a compounded Subject there can be made such general Rules as may be equally apply'd to all the parts of it Parts of different nature must of necessity be differently handled Objection 11. It has been said that by the holy Spirit or the Spirit of God may be understood the Spirit of Holiness and of Constancy which the Gospel inspires or such a Disposition of Mind as is an Effect of our Faith But the general Reasons there made use of which are grounded only upon equivocal words can prove nothing but Generals They must be apply'd and particular Enquiry made whether the holy Spirit has any other Signification in Scripture or no. Mr. Simon Resp. Pag. 131. Answer When a Passage is to be answer'd wherein there is an equivocal word upon which an Objection is founded it is sufficient to show that such a word may be understood in another Sense than that in which it has been taken There is no need of examining all the other Significations that it may have It suffices to show that the Signification then given it is agreeable to the ordinary use of the Language and suitable to the Subject there treated of It was Mr. Simon 's part therefore to show that where it is said of St. Stephen on occasion of whom the Observation was made That they could not resist the Wisdom and Spirit by which he spoke I say it was his part to show that by the word Sprit any thing ought to be understood but the Spirit of the Gospel that is to say a Disposition of Mind conformable to the Precepts of Jesus Christ. He ought to have shown that this word in this place ought necessarily to be understood in another Sense But Mr. Simon seldom gives himself the trouble to read the places of Scripture that are cited as appears in the same Page where he says that St. Paul told the High Priest with a just Indignation God shall smite thee thou whited Wall and where he compares the words of St. Paul to those of Jesus Christ when he calls Herod Fox and to the Reproaches that the Prophets make to the Kings of Israel But he should have shown us in what place Jesus Christ and the Prophets confess'd they were to blame in doing so as St. Paul confesses he was God has Power to censure Princes But it belongs not to Subjects to do it when they think sit So St. Paul had no right to abuse the High Priest on his own Head though those who had receiv'd express Order from God to make such like Reproaches to Princes cannot be blam'd for it But Mr. Simon who probably never thought of all this is not aware of this difference and argues always on without understanding what he finds fault with Obiection 12. The Promise which Jesus Christ made his Apostles that the holy Spirit should teach them what they should say when they came before the Iudges seems to have been explain'd as a general Promise for all that they should say whereas it only relates to what they should say for the defence of the Gospel Luc. Chap. 12. ver 11. Answer The promise is express'd in general terms and must relate to that which the Apostles should be oblig'd to say as well for the defence of their own Persons as for that of the Gospel For it was of the greatest importance that these first Ministers of Jesus Christ should then say nothing unworthy of the Doctrine of which they were the Heraulds But if this Promise must not be taken in so large a Sense in relation to the Discourses which the Apostles should make before Judges neither ought it to be so taken in relation to their preaching of the Gospel My Design was only to shew that since the words could not be taken in the whole extent of their Signification it could not from thence be necessarily inferr'd that the Apostles had then a Prophetic Inspiration Objection 13. The Promise Iohn 16. that when the Spirit of Truth shall come it shall lead you into all Truth ought not to be understood so as if it were intirely accomplish'd the day of Pentecost but as a thing that should be accomplish'd according to the occasions and necessities that the Apostles should be in of knowing some further Truths But it seems as if Mr. N. suppos'd that this promise is ordinarily understood as if it ought to have been accomplish'd all at once Answer The reason of my insisting upon that was to make appear that this Promise though conceiv'd in so general terms ought necessarily to receive some Qualification and consequently that it ought not to be understood like an Axiom of Geometry in the utmost Signification of its Terms Now that being once granted it cannot be made appear that this Promise relates to a Prophetic Inspiration There is a Passage very like this in the first Epistle of St. Iohn Chap. 2. ver 27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any Man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is Truth and is no Lie and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him It is apparent that this cannot be understood strictly since St. Iohn speaks to all the Christians to whom he writ Objection 14. Whereas it has been affirmed that the Apostles did not agree Acts 15. till after they had disputed a great while it is not said in that Chapter That the Apostles disputed but only that When there had been much disputing Peter rose up c. Answer Two things were considered in this History The first is The Opinion that Men had of the Apostles viz. That they were not look'd upon as Persons infallible whensoever they began to speak of the Gospel since they were not believ'd just at their first speaking The second is The Conduct of the Apostles on
Shepherd knows nothing more terrible than a Lion he compares the Anger of God to Lions St. Ierom should have said according to the common Opinion that God made use in speaking to Amos of popular terms and suitable to his Profession whereas he attributes plainly to the Prophet the choice of the Terms in which the Prophecy is expressed That words were dictated by God to the Prophets says a late Learned Critick as it cannot be denied to have been done sometimes so it does not seem to have been done always And hence it is that according to the variety of the Times and the Speakers the Phrase of the Prophets is also different But it is commonly alledged that the Prophets recite the same words they heard Because they introduce God himself speaking Thus saith the Lord c. That is no Proof For it is the custom both of the Hebrews and Greeks to bring in always those whose Sense they relate as speaking in their own Persons though in doing so they tye not themselves to their words I will give you a plain Example thereof It is the different manner in which the Decalogue is set down in Exodus and in Deuteronomy although God is said to speak personally in both places God says in Exodus Remember the Sabbath day c. In Deuteronomy Keep the Sabbath-day c. It is in Exodus To keep it holy Six days shalt thou labour c. In Deuteronomy To keep it holy as the Lord thy God commanded thee Six days shalt thou labour c. It is in Exodus Nor thy Cattel c. In Deuteronomy Nor thine Ox nor thine Ass nor any of thy Cattel c. And this Commandment ends thus That thy Man-Servant and thy Maid-Servant may rest as well as thou And remember that thou wast a Servant in the Land of Egypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence thrô a mighty Hand and a stretched-out-Arm therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath Day In Exodus the reason of keeping the Sabbath is taken from the Creation of the World in Six Days without any mention of Slaves or of the slavery of Egypt There are some other Differences in that which follows but not considerable However it appears by this that either Moses in Deuteronomy or the Author of the Book of Exodus did not tie themselves scrupulously to exact words as the Jews now a-days do altho both these Authors bring in God speaking personally Grotius has hereupon made this judicious Remark It is to be observed says he that the Words set down in this place in Exodus were pronounced by an Angel in the Name of God but those which are in Deuteronomy are the words of Moses repeating the same things and that with so great liberty that sometimes he transposes words changes some for others of the same signification omits some as sufficiently known by those gone before and adds others by way of Interpretation The like liberty of changing words is obvious to a careful Reader in other places of Sacred Writ as Gen. XVII 4. compared with 7. Gen. XXIV 17. compar'd with 43 Exod. XI 4. compar'd with XII 28. Exod. XXXII 11 c. compar'd with Deut. IX 27 c. Now this shews That we should not catch at words in Holy Writ as some of the Iews do who fancy that those words in Exodus and those in Deuteronomy were pronounc'd in one and the same moment of time They fancy also that where there is transposition and changing the order of what was said first what last that the last importing the same sense were also said first There are in the Holy Histories so many Miracles that we ought not to invent new ones without necessity and such as are of no use If you require yet another convincing Proof that this manner of speaking personally does not denote that they are the proper Words of him that is introduc'd speaking after this manner you have no more to do but to look into the Gospels where the Evangelists always make our Saviour to speak personally and yet recite not the same words that he made use of For beside that Christ spoke Syriac or Chaldee there is oft great difference between their Recitals The Holy Spirit never tied it self up to words as many of our Divines do now a-days He only prompted the Holy Pen-men to give us the true sense of the Words that God made use of to make the Prophets understand his Will and it is only in respect to the sense and to the things that the Apostles assure us that they were inspired from God The third sort of Prophecy or manner by which God made known his Will was by inward Inspiration without Vision and without Voice Hereof two different sorts may be conceiv'd For either God might inspire Prophecies or Predictions word for word as the Prophets should pronounce them As when there was occasion to tell some Name unknown before to the Prophet Or he might inspire only the sense which they might express afterwards in their own way As most commonly it happen'd the first Occasion being very rare It seems to me that when any one does apprehend a sense distinctly it is not difficult for him to express it faithfully And we ought to suppose that the Prophets full of the thoughts wherewith God inspir'd them had a very clear and distinct Idea thereof Which will be easily understood if we consider that the things wherewith God inspir'd them were easy to be conceiv'd and proportion'd to the understanding of all the World at least as to the literal sense It happened also sometimes that without inspiring either Words or Sense God drew from the Mouth of some Persons Prophecies which those who spoke them understood otherwise and did not think them to be Prophecies He cast them into certain Circumstances and involv'd them in certain Events which made them say things that were true Predictions without their knowing them to be so Such was Caiaphas's Prediction when he says That it was better that one Man should die for the People than that the whole Nation should perish Now he said not that of himself says St. Iohn but being High Priest that Year he prophesied To speak properly God inspir'd him not those words but the Nature of the Business they were about in the Sanhedrim drew them from him They were afraid that Jesus would draw all the People to him and enterprise something against the Roman Authority which would not then fail to send a puissant Army into Palestine and totally waste it Caiaphas thereupon urges a very common Politic Maxim That is were better to destroy one Man though he were innocent than to expose the whole State to utter Desolation In Caiaphas's sense there is nothing of Prophetic or Inspir'd But in the Gospel-sense that which Caiaphas said signifi'd more than he intended and contained a true Prophecy It 's very likely that more Predictions of this nature
of particular Writings of divers Prophets to whom the Authors at every turn refer the Reader Lastly It is very plain that the Historians of the Scripture were not inspir'd by the Contradictions that are found in several Circumstances of their Histories The Evangelists agree perfectly among themselves in what concerns the main of the History of Jesus Christ but there are some Circumstances wherein they disagree a clear proof that every Particular was not inspir'd For although the Circumstances wherein they differ are things of small Consequence yet if the holy Spirit had dictated all to them as is pretended they would perfectly agree in every thing these Circumstances being as well known to God as the main of the History For Example St. Matthew says That Judas repenting that he had delivered our Lord to the Iews threw the Mony into the Temple that going away he hang'd himself and that the Priests having gathered up the Mony bought therewith a Field St. Luke in the Acts brings in Peter saying That Judas after having purchased a Field with the Reward of Iniquity falling headlong burst asunder in the midst insomuch that his Bowels gushed out Here is a manifest Contradiction which the Learned in vain endeavour to reconcile And there are many other such like But this you will say lessens very much the Authority of the Evangelists For if they could be deceiv'd in any thing who will secure us that they were not deceiv'd in every thing I answer to that in the words of Grotius Even this it self ought to free these Writers from all Suspicion of Deceit For those who testify Falshoods use so to agree their Stories that there may not so much as seem to be any difference But if because of any small Disagreement although it could not be reconcil'd whole Books should lose their Credit then no Book especially of History would deserve to be believed whereas the Authority of Polibius and Halicarnassensis and Livy and Plutarch in whom such things are found as to the main stands firm among us St. Chrysostom also in his first Homily on St. Matthew very plainly assures us that God permitted the Apostles to fall into these little Contrarieties that we might see that they were not agreed to feign a History at Pleasure and that we might more readily believe them in the main of the History When a Man has seen most of the Things which he relates in those he can hardly be deceiv'd But he may be easily deceiv'd in some Circumstances of Things which he has not seen We might yet add a fifth Proof which Grotius affords us in his Notes on that part of his Treatise of the Verity of the Christian Religion which I lately cited It is that the Evangelists in setting down a certain time do not determine it exactly because they did not know it so precisely that they could set down the number of Days or Months See Luke I. 56. III. 23. Iohn II. 6. VI. 10 19. XIX 14. You find in those places About a certain Time or About a certain Number Which shews evidently that the History was not dictated immediately by the Holy Spirit who knew exactly the Number and the Time that was in question It is clear then in my Judgment that the Things were not Inspir'd nor by consequence the Words which are less considerable than the Things It is not certain Terms that are the Rule of our Faith but a certain Sense And it is little matter what words we make use of provided we go not astray from the Doctrine which God has reveal'd Those who read the Originals are in no better way of being sav'd than those that can read only the Translations For there is no Translation so false but that taken in gross it expresses clearly enough that which is necessary to Salvation Otherwise it would be necessary that all Christians had learn'd Hebrew and Greek which is altogether impossible and we should exclude from Salvation almost all those who have made profession of the Christian Religion in our Western Parts from the Time of the Apostles to the Age we live in That providence also which has preserved us these Holy Books to lead us in the way to Salvation so many Ages after the death of those that writ them has preserv'd inviolably nothing but the Sense It has suffer'd Men to put in Synonimous Words one for another and not hinder'd the slipping in of a great many Varieties little considerable as to the Sense but remarkable as to the Words and Order There is in St. Matthew for Example more than a thousand divers Readings in less than eleven hundred Verses but whereof there is not perhaps fifty that can make any change in the Sense and that change too is but in things of little importance to piety If God had thought it necessary for the Good of his Church to inspire into the Sacred Historians the terms which they ought to use he would undoubtedly have taken more care to preserve them It is plain therefore that he design'd principally to preserve the Sense Thus then neither the Words nor the things have been inspir'd into those who have given us the Sacred History altho in the main that History is very true in the principal Facts It may be that in certain Circumstances little considerable there may be some Fault as appears sufficiently by the contradictory Passages It is ture that some have strain'd themselves to reconcile those Passages as I have already observ'd but it is after so violent and constrain'd a fashion and there are such divers Opinions about these Reconciliations that if we examine the thing never so little without prejudice we shall find that the Learned trouble themselves to no purpose and that they would do much better to confess ingenuously that there are some Contradictions in things of small importance Nay further I know some that believe we ought not to receive all the Jewish Histories without distinction for true Histories They Pertend we ought to except the Book of Esther And it is true that if Assuerus of whom the Book of Esther speaks be Ochus that raign'd after Artaxerxes Mnemon this Book would have been written at such a time as there was no Prophet in Israel But altho Mr. Cappel pretend that Achasueros is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his conjecture is not unquestionable They pretend also that this History has all the Characters of a History made at pleasure I shall not examine that at present But however it be it is no Heresy to reject a Book of the Iewish Canon as neither is it to reject one of our own At least the Protestants have not call'd a Lutheran an Heretick for having said that the Epistle of St. Iames is an Epistle of Straw no more than they have many of the Learned for not receiving the Second Epistle of St. Peter which a famous Critic stiles A Fiction of some ancient Christian misimploying his
leasure-Time The Iewish Sanhedrim may easily have received into their Canon Books that had no Divine Authority To come now to the Doctrines which are in the Holy Scriptures and not there attributed to a partcular Revelation I will begin with examining those which are in the Writings of the Apostles after which I will pass to those of the Old Testament It is commonly believed that the Apostles as well as the Prophets were inspir'd both as to Words and Things Yet with this difference that the Prophets were not always inspir'd but only when God gave them order to speak to the People in his Name Whereas the Apostles were always inspir'd without being ravisht into Extasies as the Prophets were before their prophesying This Opinion is founded upon the Promise that Christ made his Apostles to send them the holy Spirit which he performed on the Day of Pentecost The words of Christ are Iohn XVI 13. When he the Spirit of Truth shall come he will guide you into all Truth He says also elsewhere to his Apostles When they bring you into the Synagogues and unto Magistrates and Powers take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer or what ye shall say for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say Luk. XII 11. These are two the most formal Passages that can be quoted in this Matter It is requisite that we examine them with some attention to see if they prove that which they are produc'd for viz. That the Apostles were honour'd with a continual presence of the Holy Ghost who dictated to them all that they said in matter of Religion insomuch that all their words ought to be considered as Oracles To begin with the latter I observe first That he does not promise a perpetual Inspiration but only upon certain Occasions viz. when the Apostles should be brought before the Tribunals of Judges So that if there were nothing else in it this Passage would not at all favour the common Opinion But there is more in it for it wholly destroys it If Jesus Christ had resolv'd to give his Apostles the Holy Spirit to inspire them perpetually he would not have told them singly that they should not troble themselves for what they had to say before the Judges because then the Spirit should speak in them But he would have said that they need not fear that at any time they should want words because the holy Spirit should accompany them without ceasing as well before the Powers of the World as when they should speak to the People If a Man had a Design to supply another with Mony for all his Expences Would he say to him Do not trouble your self to get Mony for the Journies you are to take for you shall then be supplied He would rather say to him doubtless that he should not fear to want Mony because he should be suppli'd constantly for all his Occasions A Man promises not for a particular Occasion that which he intends to give alike at all Times And when a Man makes a particular Promise it is a plain sign that he intends to perform it but upon certain Occasions In the second place As I acknowledg that the Apostles may have had Prophetick Inspirations on certain Occasions and that in effect they have had them so I confess that I find my self tempted to believe that by these words The Holy Ghost shall teach you in that hour what ye ought to say Or as St. Matthew has expressed it It is not ye that speak it is the Spirit of your Heavenly Father that speaks in you I am I say tempted to believe that by these words Christ meant only to say this viz. The Spirit of Courage and Holiness which the Gospel produces in your Hearts will teach ye what ye ought to say That is to say That the Apostles had no more to do but to believe in the Gospel to be assur'd that the Disposition of Spirit which that Heavenly Doctrine would give them would never let them want words not even when they were to defend themselves before the Tribunals of the greatest Powers That which inclines me to this Explication of Christ's words is that in comparing this Promise with the Event it seems not to have been performed in any other sense than that which I have now observ'd and that neither ought it to be interpreted so strictly as if on these Occasions a Word might not slip from the Apostles that were not conformable to the Spirit of the Gospel St. Luke tell us Acts XXIII that St. Paul having been brought before the Sanhedrim began to speak after this manner Men and Brethren I have liv'd in all good Conscience before God until this day Here is nothing yet that one might not say without Inspiration as neither is there any thing but what is conformable to the Gospel But what follows is a sign of Passion wherewith neither the Spirit of Prophecy nor the Patient Spirit of the Gospel inspired St. Paul At that words says St. Luke Ananias the High Priest commanded them that stood by to smite him on the Mouth The Apostle provok'd by this Unjustice answers him angrily God shall smite thee thou whited Wall For sittest thou to judg me according to the Law and commandest thou me to be smitten contrary to the Law And they that stood by says St. Luke said to Paul Revilest thou God's High Priest Then said Paul I wist not Brethren that he was the High Priest For it is written Thou shalt not speak Evil of the Ruler of thy People It is plain me-thinks that if the Spirit of Prophecy had inspir'd St. Paul with the beginning of this Discourse it did not so neither with the Answer he made the High Priest nor with the Excuse he made use of afterward when they told him he was the High Priest that he spoke to He gave Sentence against himself by his Answer supposing that he had known him who order'd him to be smitten And as for the Excuse it is plain it is not very good because the Gospel allows not to revile any Man whether he be a Magistrate or a private Man Iesus Christ says St. Peter has suffered for us leaving us an Example that we should follow his steps who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously Neither do I believe that the Spirit of Prophecy inspir'd St. Paul with what he said afterward At least there is no Body but could have said as much without Inspiration Now St. Paul knowing says the Historian that the one part were Sadduces and the other Pharisees cried out in the Council Men and Brethren I am a Pharisee the Son of a Pharisee of the Hope and Resurrection of the Dead I am called in question This expression also of St. Luke Paul knowing makes it evident that his Speech was an Effect of his Prudence rather than
Judgment not to answer at all than to answer ill and to seek only to defame an Author whom one cannot confute I should be the more troubled to see that done by how much I understand that the Author is a very pious Man and one who assuredly believes not the evil Consequences which some Men too ready to judg of their Neighbours may draw from his Notions I fear that he you speak of would content himself in gathering together a great number of those odious Consequences and would think that he had thereby sufficiently refuted the Opinion without considering that tho a Man cannot disingage a Doctrine from the absurd Consequences that by some may be link'd to it it does not therefore follow that the Doctrine is false It should first be made appear that the Arguments brought for an Opinion are not solid and after that one may come to the Consequences Otherwise while the Arguments that prove an Opinion subsist in full force all the Consequences that may be deriv'd from it cannot overthrow it Nevertheless if you believe him capable to acquit himself of this undertaking you may perswade him to it when you think fit But put him in Mind at the same time that it is the part of an honest Man and of one that would bestow his Pains to some good purpose to do it with all the Moderation and Meekness imaginable St. Ierom commends Nepotien That he used to hear willingly answer modestly allow Truth not sharply confute Error and teach rather than conquer whom he disputed with And it were to be wished that our Divines now adays would make it their business to deserve so good an Elogy whereas it seems that they strive only to attain to the Name of great Railers and value not Peoples having an ill Opinion of their Manners provided that they pass for Men of Parts I speak not this as if I suspected that Mr. resembles one of those Divines I find fault with but because I believe a Man cannot be too much caution'd against so general a Defect But these Moralities would carry me too far if I should give my self the liberty to pursue them It is better that I keep my word with you and give you the following part of that Writing And here it is Let us now examine that Passage of St. Iohn When the Spirit of Truth shall come he will lead you into all Truth Interpreters observe that we must not understand by All Truths any others than those which the Apostles were ignorant of and which it was needful for them to know that they might be able to acquit themselves as they ought to do of their Charge They receiv'd not the holy Spirit to learn for Example that there was a God nor to be instructed in the Mathematicks They knew already this first Truth and of the other they had no need The generality of Interpreters believe that these words denote a perpetual Assistance of the holy Spirit that made the Apostles absolutely infallible To know whether they are in the right or no we must examine the Accomplishment of the Promise and if it appear that it agrees not with this Explanation of our Saviour's words we must seek another sense and try to discover wherein the Infallibility of the Apostles consists We find a Story Acts xv whereby it appears manifestly that the Apostles did not pass in their own time for persons whose every word was an Oracle as they are now reputed to have done Some Jews converted to the Christian Religion not being able to shake off their ancient Opinion concerning Ceremonies would have had the Gentiles circumcis'd St. Paul and St. Barnabas were against this but their Authority was not sufficient to put to silence the Judaizing Christians Altho St. Paul was as much an Apostle as those whom our Lord had chosen while he was on Earth yet they would not believe him The Church at Ierusalem must be consulted Further also the Apostles and Elders of the Church being assembl'd to examine and determine this Affair dispute a great while before they agree upon it and it was not till after they had heard St. Peter St. Paul St. Barnahas and St. Iames that the Assembly came to a Resolution If they had been fill'd with the Spirit of Infallibility such as is conceiv'd now adays they would have been all at first of one Mind and there would have needed no more to be done but to charge one of them to give out the Oracle in the Name of the whole Assembly There happen'd likewise before that another thing related by St. Luke Acts x. which makes it also very evident that the Holy Ghost which the Apostles receiv'd the day of Pentecost had not taught them all they ought to know so far was it from rendring them at first dash infallible and that they were not then consider'd as Persons out of danger of falling into Error as they have been since accounted St. Peter needed a Vision as appears by the Story of Cornelius the Centurion to learn that he ought not to scruple preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles although Christ had order'd his Apostles before his ascending into Heaven to preach the Gospel unto all Creatures whereby he clearly enough denoted the Gentiles as well as the Iews St. Peter after having obey'd the express Order which he receiv'd from God to preach the Gospel to Cornelius was no sooner returned to Ierusalem but the faithful Ones of the Circumcision not dreaming that his Apostleship render'd him infallible dispute with him and tell him after a manner that shows that the Infallibility which we now attribute to him was to them unknown Thou wentest unto Men uncircumcis'd and didst eat with them Many Years as it seems after that Peter being at Antioch had not the Courage to maintain openly that the Jews might eat with the Gentiles without scruple For before that certain Persons came from James he did eat with the Gentiles but when they were come he withdrew and separated himself fearing them which were of the Circumcision And the other Iews dissembled likewise with him insomuch that St. Paul observing that they walked not uprightly was obliged to tell Peter before them all If thou being a Iew livest after the manner of Gentiles and not as do the Iews why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Iews It is said that St. Peter was guilty of a fault only in his Conduct and not in his Doctrine that he believ'd and maintain'd the same with St. Paul but that on this occasion he dissembled his Opinion and that he did not otherways constrain the Gentiles to live as the Iews but in abstaining to eat with them The Gentiles say they seeing that St. Peter did not eat with them because they were uncircumcis'd did by reason of this his Conduct believe themselves oblig'd to be circumcis'd and consequently to observe the other Ceremonies of the Law They believ'd that it was a Sin to
of mine and shall shew it unto you All things that the Father hath are mine therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shew it unto you What Opinion soever a Man may be of concerning the Holy Spirit it is plain that these words cannot be taken properly as if the Holy Spirit had heard from God or Jesus Christ that with which he ought to inspire the Apostles The most simple sense and most conformable to the accomplishment of this Promise which can be given to these words is to my thinking this I should explain many things to you more clearly than I have done but you are not yet in condition to receive them as you should When you shall have received the Spirit of Miracles he will teach you the rest that you ought to know either by Visions or by making you call to mind that which I have told you so that he will make you apprehend the sense and will teach you what you ought to do afterwards To speak properly he will tell you nothing new he will but recal into your memory to make you better understand it the Doctrine of my Father which is the same that I have taught you and which I may also call my Doctrine because my Father has charg'd me to preach it as the only Doctor of his Church The Holy Spirit led the Apostles into all Truths and took that which was Christ's without ever speaking of himself in making them call to mind that which they had forgotten and in making them understand on divers occasions or even by extraordinary Revelations that which Christ had said to them but which they then understood not This is plainly that which Christ teaches us in these words These things have I spoken unto you being yet present with you But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you ALL THINGS AND BRING ALL THINGS TO YOUR REMEMBRANCE WHATSOEVER I HAVE SAID UNTO YOU Iohn XIV 25 These last words apparently explain the foregoing He shall teach you all Things In effect there is nothing in the Doctrine of the Apostles which Christ had not told them and in leaving them he gave them no other order for the preaching of the Gospel but to teach all People to observe all those things which he had commanded them And the Apostles observe in several places that it was not till after they had received the Holy Spirit that they remember'd and understood divers things which Christ had told them when he was here below These things understood not the Disciples at the first says St. Ioh. XII 16. but when Iesus was enter'd into his Glory then remember'd they that these things were written of him See the same Evangelist II. 22. and Acts XI 16. This is in my Opinion the sense of Christ's words at least I find nothing among the Interpreters that answers so well to the Event which thorowly convinces me that Christ must have meant some such thing For when all 's done whatsoever may be said the Promise ought to be understood by its correspondency with the Accomplishment and there is no better Interpreter of Prophecies than their execution This being so the Infallibility of the Apostles according to my judgment consisted in this They knew clearly the general Principles of the Jewish Religion which had been taught them from their Cradle they had heard Christ often tell what the Gospel added to Judaism or if you will Christ had explain'd to them more clearly the Will of God and had shown them the Errors of the Pharisees He had instructed them concerning the Messiah and had made appear to them by many Proofs that himself was HE God had rais'd him from the Dead and they had convers'd with him after his Resurrection and in the last place they had seen him ascend into Heaven from whence he assur'd them he would come one Day to judg the Quick and the Dead They preach'd faithfully that which they had heard that which they had seen with their Eyes that which they had observ'd with attention and that which they had touch'd with their Hands They could declare without any mistake what they had seen they could preach what they had heard For the Doctrine of Jesus Christ was compris'd in a few Articles plain enough to be understood and consequently easy to be remembered Thus they related infallibly what they had seen and heard and therein it is that their Infallibility consisted Perhaps also the Spirit of Miracles which Christ sent them strengthned their Memories and open'd their Minds after a manner we comprehend not But it is certain as I have made it appear that this Spirit directed them not in so miraculous a manner as to make it necessary for us to regard all they said or writ with the same respect as the words of Jesus Christ the only Master and the only infallible Doctor that ever was amongst Men. He was the only Mystical Ark in which the Godhead dwelt bodily from whence proceeded nothing but Oracles Some may ask perhaps Whether it might not so happen that the Apostles might abandon the Truth of the Gospel and preach a false Doctrine and if it might be so how we can be assur'd that they were not Deceivers I confess that though it was very unlikely that after having receiv'd so many Illuminations and Graces they should fall into Apostacy yet it was not absolutely impossible But in that case God would not have approv'd by Miracles the Doctrine they taught and thereby it is that we may know they were no Seducers There crept in during their Time many false Prophets among the Christians but they were presently discover'd because they could not maintain by Miracles a Doctrine contrary to that of the Apostles which was confirm'd by an infinity of Wonders God made appear by those Prodigies that the Apostles declar'd nothing but what was conformable to his Will nor any thing that could be hurtful to Piety for it is impossible that God would favour a Doctrine which should turn Men from Holiness But we must not believe neither as I have already observ'd that because God wrought Miracles in favour of any Person it therefore follows that all things pronounced by that Person were immediately inspir'd and ought to be receiv'd as the infallible Decisions of him that never errs Provided that Person maintained the Substance of the Gospel and said nothing but what conduced to Piety God would not cease to bear Witness to his Doctrine although all his Reasonings were not Demonstrations God would not that this Mark of his Approbation should be interpreted as if he had thereby declared that he would have all the Words of those that had miraculous Gifts receiv'd as Oracles To be fully convinc'd hereof we need but read the first Epistle to the Corinthians I must nevertheless ingenuously confess that there is mention made in this Epistle of some miraculous Gifts which seem to have
been pure Inspirations and which ought to make the Speakers attended unto as if they were the simple Interpreters of the Holy Spirit The Spirit says St. Paul 1 Cor. VII 8. gives to one the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledg It seems as if he meant thereby the Gift of prophesying that is to say of instructing others in Piety of which he says many things in the XIVth Chapter of the same Epistle This seems contrary to what I have been saying concerning the Inspiration of the Apostles and I confess I cannot see how according to my Notion this difficulty can be clearly solv'd I might say that this Gift of Prophecy was perhaps no other than a Disposition of Mind which God infus'd sometimes into those on whom he bestow'd it by which they became fit to instruct although he inspir'd them not extraordinarily with that which they were to say which is so much the more likely by how much this Gift was preserv'd and increas'd by Study and Reading as appears by those words of St. Paul to Timothy First Epist. Chap. IV. 13 c. Vntil I come give thy self to Reading to Exhortation to Instruction Neglect not the Grace which is in thee which was given thee by Prophecy through the Imposition of the Presbytery Meditate on these things be always imployed to the end they Improvement may be known of all Men. Now it is plain that the Gifts which are owing to an actual and immediate Inspiration of the holy Spirit such as curing Diseases c. could not be increas'd by Application of Mind as not depending upon Man in any sort The most assiduous Study cannot contribute any thing to prophetick or immediate Revelations This Conjecture seems probable enough And indeed I see no other way of explaining what St. Paul says to Timothy But without determining any thing concerning the Gift of Prophecy it appears plainly by what St. Paul says 1 Cor. XIV that it consisted not in an immediate Revelation of the holy Spirit that forced the Prophets to speak He there gives them this Advice Let the Prophets speak two or three and let another judg but if any thing be revealed to one of those that sits by let the first hold his Peace for ye may all prophesy one by one to the end that all may learn and all may be comforted And the Spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets The Prophets whom the holy Spirit had inspir'd immediately with what they ought to say had no need of this Advice Nay it had even been ridiculous Because the holy Spirit inspiring them with what they had to say would have inspired them likewise as to the occasion and the place and would not have put many Persons on speaking at one time in the same place nor so as to interrupt others who spake by his Inspiration Moreover St. Paul would have the Prophets judg one another and that the Spirits of the Prophets be subject to the Prophets which cannot be understood of Prophets immediately inspir'd who are subject to none but God and who are to give account to none but him The Prophets of the Old Testament spoke as long as God inspir'd them after which they held their Peace without needing any Advertisement because they easily perceiv'd when the Inspiration ceas'd It seems to me that we may now conclude that there never was any body but our Saviour who had a constant and perpetual Inspiration and all whose words we ought to receive as Oracles As he alone amongst Men was incapable of sinning so it was he alone whom God indow'd with an absolute Infallibility The same Light which perpetually inlighten'd his Mind regulated also the Motions of his Affections otherwise it would be difficult to conceive how he could chuse but be subject to Error if he had been subject to Sin There is so great a Correspondence between the Mind and the Affections that it is not almost possible there should be any Irregularity in the one without a disorder in the other But that you may not believe I am the first Author of this Opinion and that it is a desire to appear singular or an Affectation of Novelty that has ingag'd me in this Notion I must also let you see that some great Men have been of the same Mind before me St. Ierom makes this Observation upon the fifth Chapter of the Prophet Micah in speaking of this Passage And thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Judah c. which St. Matthew cites otherwise than it is either in the Hebrew or Septuagint There are says he that affirm there is the like Error in almost all the Testimonies that are taken out of the Old Testament that either the Order is chang'd or the Words and that sometimes the Sense it self differs the Apostles or Evangelists not transcribing the Testimonies out of the Book but trusting to their Memory which sometimes fail'd them It is true St. Ierom says not that he approves this Opinion but he makes it appear elsewhere that he is not very far from it In his Letter to Pammachius de optimo genere interpretandi of the best way of interpreting He gathers together many Examples of the New Testament by which he shews that the Apostles tie themselves more to the Sense than to the Words and maintains with good reason that we should not play the Criticks on them for it nor even for the places where they have mistaken Names After having compar'd the Quotation Matth. XXVII 9. with the Original he adds One may accuse the Apostle of falsity in that he agrees neither with the Hebrew nor with the Septuagint and which is more that he is mistaken in the Name putting Jeremy for Zachary He seems indeed elsewhere to disapprove that Opinion but it is usual with him to accommodate himself to the common Opinion and yet not omit to give his own without being concern'd whether he contradicted himself or no. When he speaks as others do you must not conclude presently that he is of the same Opinion with them because it may be he speaks so by way of Condescension whereas when he says the contrary it seems rather that he speaks his own Thoughts You need but read what he says of the Dissimulation which he attributes to St. Peter and St. Paul in his Commentary upon the second Chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians and in his Answer to St. Austin to see that he believ'd that St. Paul by a Prudence purely human which he calls a Dispensation made shew of believing that St. Peter was in the wrong insomuch that when St. Paul says that St. Peter was to be reprov'd because he walked not uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel It was not that he believ'd so but only to hinder the converted Gentiles from imitating that Apostle I say not that St. Ierom was herein in the right but at least it hereby appears that
we allow the Holy Scripture and what use is to be made of it according to these Principles To answer hereto I begin with the New Testament which is the principal Foundation of our Faith In the first place then Jesus Christ in whom were hidden all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledg and whom God had expresly commanded us To hear was absolutely infallible We must believe without questioning it whatever he says because he says it and because God hath testified that he speaks nothing but Truth In the second place since we have nothing writ by Christ himself we ought to believe what his Apostles have said concerning his Life and Doctrine because God has given Testimony to them by the Miracles he inabl'd them to do and because they seal'd the Truth of their Deposition with their Blood They tell us what they had seen and heard so that it was impossible they should be deceiv'd in the substance of the History and Doctrine It may be that in some Circumstance of small importance they do not relate things exactly as they happen'd and that therein they do not agree together But they all agree in the Historical Facts whereon the Faith we have in Jesus Christ is grounded his Birth of a Virgin his Miracles his Death his Resurrection and his Ascension into Heaven though there may be some difference among them in some Circumstance which is nothing to the substance of the History It is not necessary for the Foundation of our Faith as I have already observ'd that they should agree exactly in all things to the least tittle and the trouble the Learned have given themselves to reconcile these sort of Contradictions is of no use It were better to own ingenuously that there are some than to strain the sense of their Writings to make them agree one with another which instead of converting Libertins does but excite their Railery and confirms them in their Impiety As to what concerns the Doctrine of Jesus Christ there is not the least Contradiction among the Evangelists although it be express'd in different Terms and they relate it on divers occasions We must observe therefore that they relate only the Sense and keep not exactly the same order that Christ kept in preaching it so neither ought we to insist rigorously upon their Expressions as if they made use of some words rather than others to insinuate certain Niceties which are ordinarily attributed to them without any probable ground nor ought we to lay such stress upon the order they make use of in their Writings as to colour thereby certain Inferences which are not otherwise obvious in the Sense of our Saviour's words If a Man observe never so little he will find that they use every where popular Expressions that they have not aim'd at any Elegancy in their Stile and that they have been very far from speaking with such Exactness as Philosophers or Geometricians use in their Writings We ought not then to insist too much as commonly Men do upon the manner of their expressing the Doctrine of Christ. We should only indeavour to understand the Genius of the Language they use and to stick to the substance of things essential which are express'd in so many places and after so many ways that it is not difficult to frame to our selves an Idea thereof clear enough to instruct us perfectly in our Duty In the third place as for the Epistles of the New Testament they do not only afford us the same Considerations with those we have last mention'd in respect of their Stile but there are also two things further to be observ'd and distinguish'd in them We find there the same Doctrines we have in the Evangelists and those the Apostles assure us often they learn'd from Christ. But there are others things which the Apostles speak of their own heads or which they draw by divers Consequences from the Old Testament The first of these are to be believ'd on the same account as the Gospels that is to say because of the Authority of Jesus Christ who preach'd them to the Jews The second are to be receiv'd because they contain nothing but what is very conformable to the Doctrine of Christ or what is founded upon right Reason The Apostles will not have us believe them upon their own word They distinguish in that their Authority from the Authority of Christ. See 1 Cor. VII 10 12 25. But as they apply'd themselves cerefully to mind Doctrines tending to Edification which are few in number and never ingag'd in too nice inquiries they have told us nothing that is not conformable to the Spirit of the Gospel with which they were fill'd and which right Reason will not easily admit It is to be observ'd that having no extraordinary Inspiration for writing their Epistles they insert in them divers things that concern their Designs or their particular Affairs where we ought by no means to seek for or expect any thing mysterious Such are the Salutations found at the end of their Epistles the Order St. Paul gives Timothy to take Mark along with him in his return to bring the Cloak he had left at Troas with Carpus the Books and above all the Parchments the Counsel he gives him to drink a little Wine for his Stomachs sake and because of his Weaknesses and other such like things See St. Ierom's Preface to his Commentary upon the Epistle to Philemon In the fourth place there are divers Prophecies scatter'd in these Epistles and the Apocalipse is wholly Prophetic Now we ought to give Credit to these Revelations because it is God that imparted them immediately to the Apostles And it is easy to distinguish them from other things which the Apostles give out only as their own Conjectures of which you have some Examples in the words of Grotius which I cited concerning the Inspiration of the Pen-Men of the New Testament Thus then according to my Hypothesis the Authority of the Scripture continues in full force For you see I maintain that we are oblig'd to believe the substance of the History of the New Testament and generally all the Doctrines of Jesus Christ all that was inspir'd to the Apostles and also whatsoever they have said of themselves so far as it is conformable to our Saviour's Doctrine and to right Reason It is plain that nothing farther is necessarily to be believ'd in order to our Salvation And it seems also evident to me that those new Opinions brought into the Christian Religion since the Death of the Apostles which I have here refuted being altogether imaginary and ungrounded instead of bringing any advantage to the Christian Religion are really very prejudicial to it An Inspiration is attributed to the Apostles to which they never pretended and whereof there is not the least mark left in their Writings Hereupon it happens that very many Persons who have strength enough of Understanding to deny Assent to a thing for which there is no good proof brought
away Religion will fall to the ground and be destroy'd Thus some Romish Doctors have fancy'd that Men for the most part not being capable to examine Religion themselves it was necessary that God should settle a way whereby they might find it without Examination viz. by the way of Authority And from thence they have concluded That to deny there is an Authority in the World to which People ought intirely to submit is to overthrow Religion But to these Gentlemen it is answer'd That it is absurd in them to fancy that God will not preserve the true Religion amongst Men unless it be in the way that they have imagin'd The same may be answer'd to our Protestant Divines who believe the Inspiration of every word viz. that they are deceived in believing that the Truth of Christian Religion is founded upon that Opinion We ought not to reckon every thing among the Principles of our Religion that unto us seems proper to strengthen it nor to trouble our selves in examining after what manner we would have establish'd it had the thing depended upon us or in asserting how God ought to have done it But we ought to consider things in themselves as they really are and learn what has been the Will of God by what he has done not conclude that he has done this or the other thing because we fancy he ought to have will'd it Libertines who see that to uphold the Truth of Christian Religion Men bring long Metaphysical Arguments which often prove nothing but that according to the Suppositions they have thought fit to make it ought to be so believe presently that Christian Religion has no better Foundation and so reject it as much perhaps through the fault of those Divines who argue in that manner as their own But if things were represented to them as they are in themselves without going about to force them to allow that which is not prov'd they would submit to our Reasons and we should not need to teach them any thing but what Religion injoins them after having convinc'd them of its Truth This is Sir what Mr. N. has writ to me upon the desire that was intimated of his giving some further Explication of his Thoughts I hope it will be found sufficient to convince those who may have mistaken his Sense and who on that account have charg'd him with Opinions which he never had that he is very far from being guilty of what he is so uncharitably accus'd of I will send you by the next the Answers which he makes to divers Objections that have been propos'd to him THE FOURTH LETTER I Believe Sir there is no Condition in the World more deplorable than theirs that publish any thing in Print if it be so that they are bound to satisfy all those that censure them Some Persons have taken it ill that it should be said It was hard to confute the Opinions of Mr. N. They hold it very easy and that there needs no great Ability to do it But they either undertake it not Or if they make any Objection they show that they understand nothing of the matter as the Prior of Bolleville who seems to understand neither what Mr. N. has said nor what himself objects Others confess that it is a very difficult matter and pretend that therefore a Man ought not to trouble himself with it nor raise Scruples in weak Heads which the strongest would find it a difficulty to remove To satisfy the first it would be requisite to show that the Objections propos'd are not strong enough to refute Mr. N's Opinions And that is the very thing that will infallibly offend the others who would have nothing said on that Subject If the Advice of these last be taken the first will undoubtedly say that we were much in the wrong to say that it was very hard to confute an Opinion which they have easily overthrown They will be apt even to say that it is not without design that we have made use of weak Arguments and their crazy Fancies will set no bounds to their Suspicions according to the Custom of too many Divines who glory in a shew of diving into other Mens Thoughts What is to be done in this case One of the two must unavoidably be displeas'd I will not then be afraid Sir to communicate to you the Answers of Mr. N. to some Objections Such as have not read the Explanations which I sent you a while ago with sufficient Attention may perhaps by our Friend's Answers better apprehend his true meaning Objection 1. To say that the Prophets have often express'd themselves in their Prophecies after the same manner that they were wont to do on other occasions and that they were not constantly inspir'd by God with all their Expressions is to lessen the Authority of the Prophecies Answer They that make this Objection could not say any thing that can give more advantage to the Profane For it is as clear as day that the Stile of the Prophets varies according to the diversity of their Genius as has been observ'd and as is agreed by the most able Interpreters Mr. Simon proves it himself Pag. 123. of his Answer and makes appear that what the Prophets said was not the less God's Word But I cannot forbear to observe that our Divines are even more scrupulous than the Jews For these believe the Inspiration of Words only in the Pentateuch whereas they believe it throughout all the Old Testament The Prophecy of Moses says Manasseth Ben. Israel after many other Rabbins was in every respect more honourable and more excellent than the Prophecies of all the other Prophets For to them whensoever they receiv'd the Prophecy the Sense only or the Substance of the matter to be foretold was reveal'd but they declar'd to the People this Thing or Matter in their own words And for that Reason they made use of this form of speaking And the Lord said unto me As if they would say these things which we say to you although we express them in our words contain the Sense which we have receiv'd from God c. Many Christian Divines have said the same things of all the Prophets in general as Mr. Huet in his Demonstration who plainly affirms that the things are to be attributed to the holy Spirit but the Words and the Language to the Prophets He says also elsewhere that Prophetic Extasy does ordinarily produce a hard rough and broken Stile Many others have held the same thing without being thought guilty of Heterodoxy Objection 2. It has been said that David says many things of himself and of his Enemies not thinking to prophesy which contain notwithstanding Predictions of what was to happen to Jesus Christ and his Enemies as what he says Psal. XLI 10. LXIX 26. CIX 8. places which Christ and his Apostles apply to Iudas Nevertheless St. Peter after citing some words of Psal. XVI where David speaks of himself in the
first Person Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption c. adds that this cannot be understood of David since he was dead and rotten many Years ago but that as he was a Prophet and knew that God had sworn with an Oath to him that of the Fruit of his Loins he would raise up Christ to sit upon his Throne he seeing this before-hand spake of the Resurrection of Christ when he said that his Soul c. by which it appears that David speaking in the first Person knew nevertheless that he spoke not concerning himself Answer I did not say that David never prophesy'd in speaking of himself as of a Type of the Messiah or that he understood not that in the properest and highest sense of his Words he spake concerning the Messiah though what he said had also some relation to himself I make no question but there are in the Psalms divers Prophecies of this nature It is plain David could not say of himself unless in a very Metaphorical Sense that God would not leave his Soul in Hell nor suffer his Holy One to see Corruption although the rest of the Psalm may be suitable enough to him Objection 3. The Curses in the CIXth Psalm are imputed to a human Passion yet St. Peter teaches us Acts I. 20. that it is a Prophecy It seems the better way therefore to take all those Curses for simple Predictions and not for Imprecations and so to translate in the Future Tense Thou shalt set a wicked Man over him and his Adversary shall c. Answer This might be a Prophecy of that sort which we said were sometimes pronounc'd without their being aware who pronounc'd it of which we brought some Examples which sort of Prophecy is not inconsistent with a violent Passion as appears by the Example of Caiaphas But indeed these Expressions cannot be translated in the future Tense without extream violence to the Text and accordingly the ancient Interpreters as well as modern have made use of the Imperative or Optative Mood Nor ought it to seem strange that we think there was in this an Excess of Passion since it is impossible to explain any other way those words of Psalm CXXXVII Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the Stones c. Let any one compare the words of Psal. CIX with those which a Heathen Poet puts into the Mouth of a desperate Woman Vivat per urbes erret ignotas egens Exul pavens invisus incerti laris quoque non aliud queam Pejus precari liberos similes Patri Similesque Matri In fine if it were necessary to render all these words in the future Tense to avoid making the Psalmist pronounce such Curses there are a great many other places where the Version would need to be reform'd and where we should be oblig'd to strain the Text as may easily be perceiv'd in turning over the Book of Psalms Objection 4. It has been said that Inspiration seems not absolutely necessary to the composing of pious Hymns and concluded from thence that it ought not to be said that all such Hymns were immediately inspir'd The same sort of Argument has been applied also afterwards to divers other places of Scripture But it no ways follows because Inspiration was not absolutely necessary that therefore there was none Answer My Argument proves not directly that there was no Inspiration on these occasions but only that there was nothing in the thing it self to induce us to believe that there was any and consequently that such Inspiration is suppos'd without any necessity When a thing may be done by the ordinary course of Nature we ought not to have recourse to Miracles Hence I conclude that there ought to be no recourse to Inspiration when there is nothing in a Book to make us believe it was inspir'd and when all that is in it might have been said without Inspiration unless we have some positive Proof that he who compos'd it was inspir'd Now I maintain that there is no Proof of this nature sufficient to perswade us that all the Books of the Scripture were inspir'd in the same manner that they are commonly said to have been Objection 5. It has been inferr'd from the evident marks of Meditation and Pains taking which appear in several places of the Scripture as those where the Verses begin with all the Letters of the Alphabet in order that those places have not been inspir'd But it does not appear that Inspiration excludes all sort of Meditation and Pains-taking as Mr. Simon has observ'd c. Resp. p. 125 c. Answer I acknowledg that it cannot from thence be concluded that the matter was not inspir'd nor was this Argument made use of but only against those who hold the Inspiration of the very words that is to say principally against the generality of Protestant Divines There is certainly little likelihood that the Spirit of God would inspire such things as those But the Consequence I have drawn from thence is only this that the Stile not being inspir'd we cannot be sure that the things are unless the Characters of Inspiration appear in those things themselves or that we have otherwise some positive Proof of it Objection 6. What has been said concerning the Inspiration of the sacred Historians is not enough There ought to have been added also as Mr. Simon has it That God directed the Pen of the sacred Historians in such a manner that they could not fall into Error They were Men that wrote and the Spirit that directed them depriv'd them not of their Reason nor their Memory to inspire them with matters of Fact which they themselves knew perfectly but it determin'd them in general to write of some matters rather than others though they knew both alike well Resp. p. 128. Answer This may be granted provided that by directing the Pen of the sacred Historians be only understood the determining them in general to write of some matters rather than others though they knew both alike well Mr. Simon fights here with his own Shadow for no body deny'd that On the contrary it was said that the sacred Historians have writ of no matter whereof they were not well instructed And this in opposition to those who pretend that the Historians of the Bible were inspir'd with the matters in the same manner as if they could not have known them any other way But these People would condemn Mr. Simon as well as me Objection 7. It is suppos'd without any Reason that there are sometimes real Contradictions amongst the sacred Historians whereas they are but seeming ones The Learned have reconcil'd them all not excepting that about the Death of Iudas which is cited as an Example of a manifest Contradiction Answer To answer this Objection fully it would be requisite not only to quote the places where 't is believ'd there is some little Contradiction but also
had a great share of this Knowledg as appears by their Writings could less than others imagine such a thing The Iews were so passionately wedded to their Ceremonies that there was not the least likelihood of succeeding with them The Romans and Greeks were so over Head and Ears in Pleasures so covetous so ambitious that the small number amongst them who had not lost all thought of Vertue speak of the Manners of that Age with Horror and Detestation The Histories of both those People if we judg of them by the Ideas of the Gospel present us in the Events of those Times with a Picture of the most horrible Corruption that ever was And can it then be imagin'd that the Apostles should hope to draw to their Opinions the generality of those that liv'd in such times How could they promise themselves that People so blinded by their Passions and so harden'd in their Crimes would ever relent No they tell us plainly after their Master that they hoped not to make the Gospel be receiv'd by any great number of Persons in comparison of those that would remain in Unbelief But if yet it be suppos'd that the Simplicity of the Apostles might have incourag'd them to hope for the Conversion of the greatest part of the Roman Empire Experience however would at length have undeceiv'd them since after having preach'd many Years they were forc'd to acknowledg they had gain'd very few History shows us clearly that for some Ages after the beginning of Christianity there were much fewer Christians in the Roman Empire than Heathens Thus then we see that the Apostles were necessarily exposed to cruel Persecutions all their Lives scorn'd and hated alike by Jews and Gentiles they could have no Recompence any way proportionable to their Labours And so they tell us plainly that they expected nothing but Afflictions in this Life and that it was all they hoped for from Men of this World in Recompence of what they undertook in preaching unto them a Doctrine so reasonable as are the Gospel-Morals Nor were they deceiv'd for after having suffer'd great Torments they in the end lost their Lives in an ignominious manner by the hands of Executioners asserting to the last the Truth of the Doctrine they had preach'd It was by great Injustice and Malice says Clement whom we cited before that Peter underwent not one or two but many Pains and after having thereby born Testimony to the Truth went to the place of Glory that was due to him It was through the like Malice of Men that Paul receiv'd the Reward of his Patience having been seven times put in Chains whipp'd and ston'd Having been the Herauld of the Gospel in the East and in the West and having render'd his Faith illustrious Having preach'd Iustice to all the Earth and being arriv'd at the utmost part of the West after having born Testimony to the Truth before the principal Rulers there he departed out of this World This Event of the preaching of the Apostles absolutely overthrows the second Ground whereon Men might build suspicions of their Sincerity viz. that they had made an Advantage by their preaching equivalent to the Troubles and Dangers they were subject to If they were esteem'd by a small number of Persons of mean Condition that hinder'd them not from being despis'd by all the rest of Mankind Jews and Gentiles from being ill treated and persecuted from suffering extream Poverty and at last from dying upon Scaffolds and Grosses as we have seen by what Clement says and as all their Disciples unanimously affirm One of the Apostles themselves also tells us the same thing in one of his Epistles Even to this present hour says he we hunger and thirst and are naked and buffeted and have no certain dwelling-dwelling-place and labour working with our own Hands And again If in this Life only we have hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable There is no body surely that has common Sense who to obtain the Esteem of a small number of People without Power and without Reputation would suffer so great Troubles become the Horror of Mankind be us'd as the worst of Men and as those that were condem'd to the Amphitheatres be made a Spectacle to the People A Man may be tickl'd with the itch of Glory when he fancies to himself that most of those among whom he lives will applaud that which he is doing But it never came into the Mind of any Man to expose himself to long Sufferings and at last to a cruel and ignominious Death to the end only to be esteem'd by a very few contemptible People and in the mean while to be look'd upon as a wicked and as a mad Man by the greatest part of those with whom he liv'd The Truth of these Matters of Fact cannot be deny'd That they preach'd the Doctrine which we read in their Writings and whereof the Christians still make Profession in the Reigns of Tiberius and some of the following Emperors That they liv'd in great Trouble and under many Afflictions And that at last they dy'd miserably in maintaining the Doctrine they had for divers Years publish'd We have seen these Truths attested by Heathens as well as by their own Disciples If we would suppose that the Apostles liv'd after a voluptuous manner and contrary to the Morals they preach'd we must be oblig'd to deny their having undergone those Sufferings which are attested by their Disciples the first whereof in imitation of their Masters as they themselves say offer'd themselves couragiously to very many Afflictions without making any advantage thereof in this Life To these Men says Clement speaking of St. Peter and St. Paul who liv'd after a divine manner there joyn'd themselves a great number of the Elect who having suffer'd many Punishments and Torments have left us a fair Example Nay supposing their living so voluptuously we must also suppose an Absurdity that is inconsistent even with common Sense viz. That they preaching that Men ought to undergo much Suffering for Religion exhorting the People to all sorts of Vertue and yet living themselves at their Ease without taking care to practise the Precepts they gave to others except only so far as might serve to deceive the World did nevertheless make a great number of Disciples not only sincere Imitators of their Master's pretended Vertues but who also dy'd for a Doctrine for which those that had taught them it refus'd to suffer any thing It is conceiveable enough that seduc'd Persons may be as thoroughly perswaded of a Falshood as others are of the most evident Truths and may consequently in maintenance of a Falshood do all that the most resolute Men would do in Justification of Truths of the greatest importance But it cannot be conceiv'd that Persons prepossess'd from their Infancy with Opinions contrary to those of the Apostles would let themselves be so miserably seduc'd that after having embrac'd their Doctrine they would suffer for it the