celebrated Authors which you have reckon'd up had any tolerable Effect especially on the common People since according to your own Confession they were design'd for them who were capable of understanding Allegories Whereas Moses acted the Part of a Skillful and Divine Orator who makes use of Expressions that admit of different Sences neither giving the Laity among the Jews a Handle for the least Irregularity in their Morals nor wanting Matter for the sublime Speculations of those who are more judicious learned and inquisitive And I don't see I confess that the Works of your Poets with all their Wisdom are preserv'd what Service soever they might do the Publick But the Books of Moses have prevail'd with them whose Opinions and Customs are vastly different from those which obtain among the Jewish Nation to believe that according to the Account he gives the Laws which are contain'd in 'em were giv'n him by the great God himself the glorious Creator of the spacious Universe For 't was agreeable to the Dictares of his infinite Wisdom that since it was his Will to give Laws to the World they shou'd carry along with 'em that Force and Efficacy without which 't was impossible for 'em so readily and so universally to obtain This I say not examining at present what has an immediate Relation to our Blessed Saviour but contenting my self with what relates to Moses who tho' he came infinitely short of the Holy and Unspotted JESUS did vastly excel your most Celebrated Heroes whether Poets Historians or Philosophers CHAP. XVII THEN Celsus being desirous and ev'n eager to cast an oblique Reflection upon the Account which Moses gives of the Creation of the World according to whom it wants a great Deal of the Duration of Ten thousand Years discovers himself tho' he do's what he can at the same time to conceal or dissemble his Opinion to be one of them who hold the Eternity of the Material World Any judicious Person may justly and easily infer this from that Passage of his There have been says he in all Ages of the World many Conflagrations and Inundations the last of which was Deucalion 's Flood and that is of no early Date Let him therefore especially since he blames the Christians for not building their Faith on rational and solid Grounds acquaint me what Demonstrative Arguments do of Necessity induce him to believe that There have been several Conflagrations and Inundations and that Deucalion 's was the latest Flood and Phaeton's Conflagration the latest that has ever happen'd And if he refers me to Plato's Dialogues concerning those Matters I shall return him the following Answer that we have Reason to believe that the virtuous and refin'd Soul of Moses which was rais'd above all sensible Objects and all created Beings and had its entire and firm Dependance upon God was fill'd with the Holy Spirit who enabl'd him to set Divine Truths in a much clearer Light than Plato or any of the ancient Sages whether Greeks or Barbarians But perhaps he may demand of us what rational Grounds we have for such a Belief as this If so let him first give us his Reasons for the Opinion which he holds and advances ev'n without the Shadow of a Demonstration and then I 'll undertake that he shall soon be acquainted with the Grounds on which our Faith in this Affair is built tho' I can't but take Notice that sorely against his Will he confess'd the World was of a modern Date and not of the Duration of Ten thousand Years when he said That these remarkable Events were esteem'd ancient by the Greeks because the Conflagrations and Inundations have been Means to bury in Oblivion many considerable Events of much greater Antiquity But let him if he pleases support his fabulous Account of Conflagrations and Inundations by the Authority of the Egyptian Doctors who in his Opinion were the wisest Men that were ever born into the World some Footsteps of whose profound Wisdom may be seen in their paying Divine Worship to the Brute Beasts themselves and in those very Arguments which they bring to justify and recommend the Symbolical Rites that are made use of in the RELIGION of their Country The Egyptians forsooth who endeavour to give some Colour of Reason for their mystical Ceremonies by their Theological Speculations must pass for Men of most admirable Wisdom but one who in Observance of the Jewish Law refers every Thing to the Blessed GOD of whom and thro' whom and to whom are all Things is more ignorant if we may give any heed to Celsus and Men of his unhappy Principles than they who don 't only dishonour the Deity by paying divine Adoration to Creatures endu'd with Reason but ev'n by paying it to those which are inanimate under a Pretence of I know not what imaginary Transmigration of the Soul which they make to descend from Heav'n and pass into the Bruits ev'n into those of 'em which are of the most savage and cruel Disposition And it seems the Egyptians who hide their Religion under the sacred Veil of significant but obscure Figures do challenge from us the profoundest Reverence but Moses forsooth who has writ a faithful and useful History of the Jewish Nation and left 'em wholsome Laws for the Regulation of their Conduct both in a private and publick Capacity has only in the Judgment of Celsus and the Epicureans amus'd 'em with empty and ridiculous Fables that will not admit ev'n of an Allegorical Interpretation CHAP. XVIII THEN he says That Moses having borrow'd his Opinions from this wise and eloquent People meaning the Egyptians got himself a prodigious and unaccountable Name To which I answer that 't is no Wonder at all if Moses borrow'd some Notions from the Wise Men that liv'd in Egypt before him and introduc'd 'em with some little Difference or great Improvement among his Country-men the Jews And without all doubt he deserves to be blam'd severely if he has advanc'd such Notions as bear neither the Characters of Truth nor Wisdom but if he has embrac'd and taught those Opinions which according to Celsus's own Confession are both true and wise I can't conceive that he has done any Thing whereby he might justly incur his Censure I wish with all my Heart that Epicurus and Aristotle who do's not so directly and so grosly deny an over-ruling Providence as the other do's I say I wish with all my Heart that they and the Stoicks who hold that God is corporeal had been instructed in that Heav'nly Doctrine that was deliver'd by Moses that the World might not so much abound as it do's with Authors that absolutely deny a Providence or confine it within very narrow Bounds or introduce a corporeal and corruptible Principle insomuch that the Stoicks hold God himself to be nothing more than Matter and are not asham'd to acknowledge that he undergoes the various Changes to which Bodies are subject or that if he is so happy as to be incorruptible 't is
cursed Hands in the bloody Death of our Blessed Lord. Celsus therefore might every Jot as well have granted that our Saviour knew what Accidents wou'd befall him and yet have talk'd with the highest Contempt of his Divine Praescience as grant that he was capable of working such Miracles as he wrought and at the same Time affirm that he was a Notorious and Vile Impostor And he might with all his Learning have shown that the Augurs and Auspices foretold Future Events by the Flying of Birds and by the Intrails of Beasts But he was loth it seems to make this Concession whereas he do's in some sort acknowledge that our Saviour wrought many Miracles and yet asserts he did 'em by the Help of Magick Phlegon was much more ingenuous who in the 13th and 14th Book of his Chronicon acknowledges that our Saviour foretold Future Events and says they exactly answer'd his Prediction tho' I observe that he seems sometimes to confound our Blessed Lord with the Apostle Peter And as it were in Spite of Prejudice he draws this natural Conclusion That since the Founder of our Holy Religion and many of his Followers were able to foretell many future and remarkable Events at so great a Distance of Time which exactly answer'd their Predictions we must suppose that they were acted by a more than Ordinary Power Then Celsus says That our Saviour's Disciples not being able to conceal those Things which were expos'd to Publick View thought that the best Game they had to play was to give out that their Master foresaw a long Time before all the Accidents that did afterwards befall him But either he didn't know or at least seems to be ignorant that our Blessed Saviour us'd the following Words to his Disciples All ye shall be offended because of me this Night which Mat. 26. V. 31. we know happen'd accordingly and was no false Prophet when he said to Peter Before the Cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice Ibid. V. 34. Now if they hadn't been Men of undoubted Integrity but had design'd to impose on our Credulity by false Narrations they wou'd certainly have discover'd so much of Worldly Policy as to have said nothing at all of Peter's Denying his Blessed Lord whose Cause he had so resolutely promis'd to maintain and never to have mention'd the Offence which ev'n some of the Disciples took at the mean Condition in which our Saviour condescended and thought fit to appear and if these Things which seem to represent the Followers of our Blessed Lord to a great Disadvantage were not related in the Gospels how cou'd Celsus or any other Person have tak'n Occasion from thence to cast a Reproach on our most Holy Religion But they were not unwilling that latest Posterity shou'd be acquainted with their Failings since they were well assur'd that this wou'dn't in the least hinder the happy Progress of the Everlasting Gospel or give the Reader any just Occasion to be guilty of the like Irregular Practices What Celsus adds is ridiculous to the last Degree The Disciples got this publish'd says he to secure the Reputation of their Master and 't is as if to prove that a Man is just I shou'd instance in several Acts of Injustice that he has done or to prove that he 's free from Passion I shou'd shew that he has been guilty of Murder or to prove that he 's immortal shou'd expose his dead Body to View and after all put People off with this frivolous Pretence that he foresaw whatsoever shou'd befall him But here 't is apparent that he grosly misapplies the Instances which he 's pleas'd to produce For there 's no Absurdity at all in supposing that our Blessed Saviour shou'd propose himself to us as a Bright Example of Moral Virtue and yet teach us to sacrifice our Lives and all that 's dear to us for the Sake of the Religion we embrace Consider also that the Death which he suffer'd is of General and Universal Advantage as I think I have sufficiently prov'd already And tho' Celsus do's fondly imagine that it makes very much for the Cause which he espouses that we don't deny that our Saviour suffer'd in the most notorious and shameful Manner yet this is for Want of knowing the SACRED MYSTERIES that are contain'd in the Passion of our BLESSED LORD as St. Paul observes and the several Predictions which are left upon Record by the Inspired Prophets concerning this difficult and important Affair Besides he seems not to know that there was a Celebrated Heretick who deny'd that the Sufferings of our Saviour were real This made him say You don't pretend that his bitter Passion was only in Appearance but without mincing the Matter you hold that he suffer'd in a strict and proper Sence For our Parts we think 't is a Notorious Heresy to maintain that our Saviour's Sufferings were only in Appearance since we must then affirm as the necessary Consequence of the fore-mention'd false and dangerous Position that his Resurrection as glorious as we suppose it to be was a meer Deceptio Visus For he that really dyes if he rises again must be really ris'n and on the contrary he that dy'd but in Appearance can only seemingly rise But because Infidels endeavour to expose the Doctrine of the Resurrection of our Saviour to the last Degree of Prophane Contempt I shall take Occasion to mention here what Plato relates of Er the Son of Armenius Plato's Common Wealth l. 10. who at the End of twelve Days rose out of his Tomb and told several remarkable Transactions that to his certain Knowledge had pass'd in the World of Spirits And I might mention the Story which Heraclitus tells of a Woman who continu'd a considerable Time without any Sign of Life which I think do's evidently and not a little serve my present Purpose since 't is with Infidels I 'm now engag'd And many pregnant Instances might easily be produc'd from History of Persons who have appear'd the Day after their Decease Is it then any Wonder at all that one who in the whole Course of his Life did so many Actions which nothing short of a Divine Power cou'd possibly enable him to perform who wrought Miracles to attest the Truth of his Doctrine which were so surprizing and so open to the View of his most implacable Adversaries that Celsus himself has not the Face to deny that they were true in Fact tho' indeed he ascribes 'em to the Power of Infernal Daemons I say is it any Wonder at all that so Divine a Person as our Saviour was shou'd have something that was remarkable in his Death and that his Holy Soul having freely and ev'n chearfully left his Body for a Time shou'd return to it as soon as ever it had perform'd the entire Duty of a Disunited Spirit Our Saviour has the following Words No Man takes it from me speaking of his Life but I lay it down of John 10. V. 18. my self I have Power
the same kind with what is perform'd by a Power that is Truly-Supernatural and Divine And if such wonderful Things ev'n in the Judgment of Celsus are done by the Assistance of Infernal Spirits may we not rationally suppose that Things that are much more unaccountable may be easily done by the immediate Assistance of the Ever-Blessed God Shall every Thing that is evil be found among Men and every Thing that is truly-good be banish'd from the World I think there 's much more Reason to lay down this as a General and most Excellent Maxim that where-ever there is any real Evil under the Disguise of some real Good the opposite Good must at least be equal to it with Respect to its Degree And thus we may strongly argue from Miracles wrought by the Help of Magick to such as are perform'd by the special Assistance of the Great GOD himself We must either deny that any Good or Evil is to be found in the World or on the Supposition of the latter must allow the former and perhaps if we grant the former we must affirm the latter or at least on the Supposition of any real Evil must allow an equal Proportion of that real Good to which the real Evil is directly opposite He that will assert the one without granting the other seems to me to talk at the same mad Rate with one who confessing that there are such Things as Sophisms or false Shews of Reason shou'd deny that there 's any such Thing as true Logick in the World which is widely different from em So that I say if we grant that there is such a Thing as Magick which has so great an Influence upon wicked Daemons as to engage 'em to lend their ready and joint Assistance to those who profess that Art it naturally follows that Almighty God is oblig'd in some Sense to exert his Power in Performing such Miracles as carry with 'em a convincing Evidence of the Truth they were design'd to attest The next Thing I take it that we have to do under this important Head is to examine into the Life and Conversation of those who pretend they have a Power to produce super-natural Effects and to enquire whether the wonderful Operations they perform do any way tend to the Temporal and Eternal Advantage of the Souls of Men and we must carefully distinguish between Magicians who hold a Correspondence with the Devil and those happy Persons who are fill'd with the Holy Spirit of God whose Divine Impressions they experience both on their Souls and Bodies who consult the true and best Interest of Mankind and endeavour to make Men Proselites to the most Excellent Religion that was ever reveal'd by a God Now if an Enquiry of this Kind be necessary to distinguish true Miracles from those which are false to prevent us from making Miracles where there are really none and engage our Assent to the Truth of 'em when the Finger of God may very plainly be discover'd then we shall find that the Miracles which were wrought by Moses and our Blessed Saviour were owing to an Extraordinary Appearance of the Power of God since they were Solemn Seals by which the Truth of the Jewish and Christian Religion was confirm'd each of which we know was embrac'd by a considerable Body of very Wife and Virtuous Men. Besides how cou'd Moses's Law which forbids the Jews to worship Images and teaches 'em to raise their Minds above all created Beings and fix 'em on the Eternal God the Great Creator and Sovereign Disposer of the Universe I say how cou'd such a Law derive its Original from the Horrid Practice of Magicians And since 't is a Jew that Celsus personates I wou'd humbly desire him to resolve the following Question How comes it to pass that you who firmly believe that the Miracles which Moses wrought were perform'd by the Extraordinary Assistance of the Spirit of God and endeavour to defend 'em against those who say that the Wife Men of Egypt did strange Things by the Help of Magick can't be prevail'd with to acknowledge that our Blessed Saviour perform'd his Miracles by an Immediate Assistance from Above but are so strangely fond of Imitating the Egyptians whom you know to be your sworn and irreconcileable Enemies For if we may be allow'd to judge of Miracles by the Event and argue in Favour of YOUR JVSTLY-CELEBRATED MOSES from his being rais'd up by Almighty God to be the HONOURABLE FOUNDER of the Jewish Polity I am sure we may say far more in Commendation of our BLESSED SAVIOVR since the imperfect Moses isn't worthy to be nam'd with the HOLY and SPOTLESS JESUS For as for Moses 't is obvious to remark that he found ready to his Hand such Persons among the Posterity of Abraham as liy'd in a Religious Observance of Circumcision that initiating Rite and many approved Customs which were handed down by Tradition from Father to Son and he knew very well that they were in a great Measure dispos'd to receive his useful Instructions and practise his wholesome Precepts when 't was he under God who brought 'em out of Egypt and the Laws he gave 'em had the Stamp of a Divine Authority as You your self acknowledge But Our Saviour making in some Sence a much greater Attempt introduc'd a Religion that was in a Manner new and caus'd it to gain Ground continually in Spite of all the rooted Prejudices of a different Education And if 't was highly necessary that Moses shou'd convince not only the Sanhedrim but also the Common People among the Jews of the Truth of his Doctrine by confirming it with those Miracles which the Scriptures gives us an Account of there was at least equal Reason why our Blessed Saviour shou'd take the same Method to prove the Divinity of his Mission since the People did naturally eagerly and very justly expect Signs and Wonders in such extraordinary Cases Nay 't was evidently necessary he shou'd work far greater Miracles than Moses to wean the bigotted Jews from their Humane Traditions and prove by Dint of Argument and plain Appeals to Sense and common Observation he was a Person who was TRULY-DIVINE and in a far more noble Sence than any of their Ancient and JUSTLY CELEBRATED Prophets And how was it possible that he shou'd be otherwise when the Manifest Design of the Glorious Prophecies under the Old-Testament-Dispensation was obscurely to reveal him under the Character of the TRUE MESSIAH And what Celsus's Jew objects against the Christians may every Whit as well be urg'd by him to the Prejudice of the Authority of Moses Viz. That Our Blessed Saviour was guilty of the most Notorious and Vile Imposture The Jew breaks out into the following Exclamation O the Force of Truth He himself acquaints us as your own Writings inform us that many shou'd come who wou'd perform the same Miracles that he wrought himself and on that very score O horrid Impudence he has the Face to charge 'em with
was the Resurrection of the two Children before-mention'd a great and diffusive Blessing to Mankind as we know the Resnrrection of our Saviour was when the Power of God did so eminently accompany the Preaching of the Gospel and caus'd it to make so deep and lasting an Impression upon the Minds of so many of his Hearers who at first were strangely prejudic'd against him CHAP. XXXI THE pretended Jew goes on and is ready to split his Sides with Laughing at the Earth-quake and ridicules the more than ordinary Darkness that were the AWFVL CONCOMITANTS of our Saviour's Sufferings But this I have already answer'd according to my weak Ability and produc'd the Testimony of Phlegon who acknowledges that these wonderful Events did really happen at the Time of our Saviour's Passion Then the Jew has the following Words You say that he rose from the dead tho' he was far from being able to secure his Person while he remain'd on Earth and shew'd upon his Body all the Marks of his Crucifixion and the very Print of the Nails with which his Hands and Feet were pierc'd But what dos this Gentleman mean by saying He wa'n't able to secure his Person If he means that our Blessed Saviour wa'nt able to secure himself from the common Contagion of Vice and Immorality what he says is absolutely and manifestly false For he never spoke a Word or did an Action that was in the least indecent or unworthy of an INCARNATE GOD. He was led as a Sheep to the Mat. 27 V. 2 Slaughter and as a Laneb before her Shearers was dumb so he open'd not his Mouth Viz. By way of Complaint or Uneasiness as St. Mathew acquaints us But if Celsus means that he didn't exert his Power to secure himself from the outward Calamities to which he was expos'd which morally consider'd were neither Good nor Evil I have prov'd already from the Gospels that he submitted to 'em with the greatest Readiness imaginable and shew'd the Reasons which justify'd his Conduct Then the pretended Jew having spoke of our Saviour's shewing all the Marks of his Crucifixion and the very Print of his Nails says There was no Witness of the Truth of this strange Account but one Fanatical Woman designing to ridicule Mary Magdalen who saw him after he was ris'n from the dead as we are told in the Gospels and because we are inform'd that he was seen by others he thought fit to add the following Words And perhaps some Body else of the same wretched Cabal Then he plainly discovers that he is one of those who admire the Epicurean Hypothesis when he endeavours to shew how a lively Idea of a deceas'd Person may be form'd in the warm Imagination in the following Words Who was deluded by her own idle Whimsies or too easily believ'd what she wou'd have to be true as we know it frequently happens There 's a great Deal of Force if we must give any heed to his idle Whimsies in this scurrilous Language But ev'n from hence we may be furnish'd with an Argument to prove the IMMORTAL SVBSISTENCE of HVMANE SOVLS when they are separated from their Bodies and the unavoidable Consequence of what he here asserts amounts to this at least that it survives the Body For if as Plato observes in his Dialogues about the HVMANE SOVL there are certain Images of dead Persons that are seen near their Tombs then they must be owing to some Cause or other And no Cause can be so rationally assign'd as the Soul of the deceas'd Person that assumes a Body which is adapted to it But Celsus who advances the fore-mention'd Notion wou'd make People dream while they are thoroughly awake and have their Sences about 'em and says They too easily believe what they wou'd have to be true Such Dreams indeed as he talks of are common when the Bodily Sences are lock'd up by Sleep but I think we can't easily account for 'em when Persons are awake unless they be troubl'd with Melancholy or fall'n into a Fit of the Frenzy Celsus it seems wa'n't ignorant of this and that made him call Mary Magdalen a Fanatick tho' the Scripture-History says nothing like it and our Saviour's Appearing after he was ris'n from the dead and showing all the Marks that were made in his Crucify'd Body must according to Celsus be solv'd by the Doctrine of the Images of deceas'd Persons but according to the Scripture-Account which he 's so cunning as to use when he thinks that it serves his purpose the Matter of Fact stood thus Our Saviour call'd one of his Disciples to him who cou'dn't for his Life believe that he was ris'n from the dead with the same Body I say with the same Body For the Appearance of Humane Souls after Death don't seem to be the least Matter of his Doubt Therefore 't is remarkable that he dos'n't say Except I see him but Except John 20. V. 25 I shall see in his Hands the Print of the Nails and put my Finger into the Print of the Nails and thrust my Hand into his Sides I will not believe He didn't question but that the Soul of a deceas'd Person might animate a Body which wou'd be visible to the corporeal Eye and bear a Resemblance to that from which 't was separated by Death not only with respect to the Eyes and Voice and Mien but also Sometimes appear in a like Habit cloath'd Hom. Il. Book 23 V. 67. Therefore our Saviour call'd Thomas to him and said Reach hither thy Finger and behold my Hands and reach John 20 V. 27. hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side and be not faithless but believing And by the Way 't was agreable to the many Prophecies which we meet with concerning him the many evident Miracles he wrought and unusual Accidents that befell him that he shou'd rise from the Dead and that this considerable Circumstance shou'd as it were crown and compleat the rest The Prophetical Psalmist speaking in the Person of our Saviour has this Prophecy relating to him My Flesh also shall rest in Hope for thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor Psalm 16 V. 9. suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption And the Body with which our Saviour rose from the Dead did neither consist of such gross Matter as it consisted of before nor of such subtil Matter as that with which separate Souls are cloath'd when an Apparition appears Therefore St. John has the following Words His Disciples were within and Thomas with em Then came Jesus the Doors being shut and stood in the Midst and said Peace be unto you And he adds these Words Then says he to Thomas reach hither thy Finger St. Luke tells us that When Simon and Cleopas were talking of the Things Luke 24 V. 14. that had happen'd to him Jesus himself drew near and went with em But their Eyes were holden that they shou'd not know him And he said to 'em What Manner of Communications are these that ye
because I love to cherish the tender Concern which I naturally have for the Good of Mankind in general 't will be very well But if they refuse to comply with this most reasonable and highly necessary Request which I make to 'em and run into their Common Cant and say Don't examine into Matters but believe sure 't is fit at least that they shou'd be so civil as to tell me what Notions they advance and whence their Original was deriv'd To which I answer that those Words Not as if I were unacquainted with the Opinions which they hold do not a little savour of his usual Presumption For if he had read the Prophets which are full of very obscure Hints mystical Representations and Expressions that every One don 't easily or perhaps tolerably understand and if he had carefully and candidly read the Parables that are scattered up and down in the Gospels and those Parts of Scripture which contain the Jewish Law and History and if having read the Writings of the Apostles without a Tincture of Prejudice he had put himself in a Capacity of understanding their genuine Meaning and full Design he wou'dn't with such an Air of Confidence have boasted that he was perfectly acquainted with all the Opinions which the Christians hold For no Divine ev'n among our whose constant laborious and almost entire Employment it is to be conversant with those sacred Writings do's dare to talk with such an Air of Vanity Nor do any of us pretend to a perfect Acquaintance with the Opinions of Plato Aristotle Epicurus or the Stoicks when ev'n they who have undertak'n to interpret the Writings of these famous Philosophers are so unhappy as to differ among themselves and quarrel with each other But perhaps Celsus might borrow this bold Expression from some ignorant People who were not sensible that indeed they knew nothing at all and I 'm apt to think that these were the profound Doctors if the Truth was known to whom he 's indebted for that comprehensive Knowledge of which he makes his Boast And to me he seems to do just like one who travelling into Egypt where the learned Clergy talk very Philosophically concerning their sacred Rites but the common People are wonderfully pleas'd with hearing some dark Fables related to 'em the rational Account of which they don 't in the least understand do's immediately hereupon imagine that he 's perfectly acquainted with the Learning and Religion of the Egyptians tho' he never convers'd in a familiar manner with any of their Priests or with any Persons that explain'd to him what is signify'd by their mysterious Hieroglyphicks And what I have said of the Egyptians may as well be said of the Persians Syrians Indians and all other Nations that veil their Religion as it were with significant but very mysterious Ceremonies CHAP. XIII BUT since Celsus has laid this down as one of the Maxims of the Christians that the Wisdom of this World is very dangerous and mischievous but Folly is a most admirable and useful Thing I answer he don't fairly represent the Words of the Apostle Paul which run after the following Manner If any Man among you seems to be wise in this World let 1 Cor. iii. V. â—8 him become a Fool that he may be wise for the Wisdom of this World is Foolishness with God He don't simply say that Wisdom is Foolishness with God but prudently confines his Discourse to the Wisdom of this World and don't simply say If any Man among you seems to be wise let him immediately become a Fool but If any Man among you seems to be wise in this World let him become a Fool that he may be wise By the Wisdom of this World I understand that vain Philosophy in a comparative Sence which the Scripture do's so justly so frequently and so severely condemn And so Folly is a most admirable and useful Thing not strictly consider'd but in this limited Sence when a Person becomes a Fool in the Esteem of this vain and degenerate World 'T is just the same Thing as if any one shou'd say that the Platonicks who believe the Immortality of the Soul and the Doctrine of its Transmigration have embrac'd ridiculous Opinions that is they are such in the Judgment of the Stoicks who endeavour to overthrow it and of the Peripateticks who insult over Plato as if he were a Mad-man and of the Epicureans who reproach them that believe a God and an over-ruling Providence as being the unhappy Authors of all the wild Superstition that was ever brought into the World And if there were Occasion I cou'd make it appear that tho' 't is much better for them who have Opportunity and Capacity to build their Faith on rational and convincing Arguments than to take Things on Trust yet our Blessed Saviour wou'd have Persons of mean Capacities and under some peculiar Circumstances to believe without a severe Examination since otherwise we can't suppose that the Gospel wou'd be of any Advantage to em So much is intimated by St. Paul in the following Words After that in the 1 Cor. i. V. 21. Wisdom of God the World by Wisdom knew not God it pleas'd God by the Foolishness of Preaching to save them that believe Hence it is plain that in the Wisdom of God the World ought to have known him and because they so grosly fail'd herein it pleas'd God to save them who believe in the fore-mention'd Way viz. By the Preaching of a Doctrine which was Foolishness in the Judgments of many thousands ev'n of judicious and learned Persons St. Paul himself was not ignorant of this when he us'd these Words We preach Christ 1 Cor. i. V. 25. crucify'd to the Jews a Stumbling-Block and to the Greeks Foolishness but to them who believe both Jews and Greeks the Wisdom of God and the Power of God CHAP. XIV AND since Celsus has reckon'd up several Nations who agree in their Opinions and I know not for what Reason leaves out the Jews as if they held none that did bear the least Resemblance with those which the rest of the World maintain'd I wou'd ask him why he believes the Accounts which are giv'n by the Historians both among the Greeks and Barbarians and disbelieves what is frequently and credibly related in the Jewish History For if all other Historians have giv'n a faithful Account of the Antiquities of the several Nations from which they sprung why shou'd the Jewish Writers be the only Persons in the World suspected of gross Deceit And if Moses and the Prophets have said many Things in Favour of the Jews may not the very same Thing be charg'd upon all or far the greatest Part of prophane Historians Must we give Credit to the Annals of the Egyptians which represent the Jews as a strange Sort of People and believe that all that the Jews say against the Egyptians viz. That they treated 'em in a most barbarous Manner and for that Reason were justly and severely
himself to the Art of Rhetorick I say because he personates a Jew entertaining our Saviour with Discourse that 's very childish and unbecoming the Gravity as well as suppos'd Sence and Learning of an old Philosopher Let me examine according to my weak Ability what 't is that he supposes him to say and make it appear as I think I can easily do that the Jew don 't strictly or ev'n tolerably observe his Character Celsus introduces him making his Address to our blessed Saviour and pretending to convince him of several Points and the first Thing of which he endeavours to convince him is that the Account of his being born of a Virgin is an empty and ridiculous Fable Then he reproaches him with being born at an obscure Village and having a Woman to his Mother that got her Livelyhood by going out to Service who he says being convicted of Adultery was divorc'd from her Husband who was a Carpenter by Trade Then he says That after this Indignity wand'ring from Place to Place she was privately brought to Bed of our Saviour and that he being forc'd by reason of Want to work in Egypt and having learn'd there some of those Arts for which the Inhabitants of that Country are so Famous return'd into his Native Country and swelling with a vain Conceit of the Miracles he shou'd do gave out that he was God But for my Part I must confess to me who do with a silent but deep Regret pass by ev'n the weakest Arguments that are offer'd by our Adversaries and naturally affect to trace Things especially such as are of the last Consequence to the Souls of Men 'till I come by slow Degrees to their true Originals I say to me these Things are so far from giving an unhappy Shock that they are no small Confirmation of that important Truth that our Blessed Lord is the very Person whom the Prophets foretold to be the Son of God and the Saviour of the World I can't deny but that commonly a Man's Descent from rich and honourable Parents and Enjoyment of the Advantage of a liberal Education do's not a little conduce to blazon his Name and command Reverence from Persons of an inferior Rank But when one who labours in the greatest Degree imaginable under the contrary external Inconveniencies can spread his Fame to the most distant Regions of the World in Spite of his mean Extraction and the fond Opinions which are too often receiv'd by aspiring Mortals and climb the higher up the steep Ascent of Honour by reason of the violent Opposition which is made against him who if he has any Spark of humane Nature left can forbear to admire a Soul of the same Rank of Beings with himself so strangely elevated beyond the common Pitch and so nearly approaching to the Deity so capable of forming well-laid deep and truly generous Designs and of crowning all by a happy and answerable Execution If we make a serious and narrow Enquiry into the Matter shall we not be ready and ev'n constrain'd to think thus with our was it possible that one who was born of poor and ignoble Parents and was not instructed in the Liberal Arts and Sciences whereby he might have been render'd capable of insinuating himself into the People and of engaging their Affections and their Purses in his Service shou'd so work upon the Passions of Men by an invisible Power and the naked Evidence of Truth as almost universally to gain their Credit and Esteem tho' the Doctrine which he introduc'd was in a great measure new a Doctrine which without derogating in the least from any of the Jewish Prophets did abolish the Mosaick Dispensation and make void the Laws of the Greeks especially those which had an immediate Relation to Religious Worship in which they were so grosly ignorant Is it not strange and ev'n prodigious to a Miracle that one who ev'n according to the Confession of his Enemies was so meanly born and bred and by consequence was very unfit to manage an Intriegue which requires a Chain of Thought and continu'd Thread of Artifice shou'd so move the secret Springs of humane Souls and so powerfully incline 'em against their strongest Inclinations by encouraging the righteous with a pleasing Prospect of a glorious and eternal Reward in the World of pure and perfect Spirits and by representing to the wicked as in a Glass those dreadful Torments which they must expect to suffer when they shall fall into the Hands of the living God I say is it not strange and ev'n prodigious to a Miracle that such a one shou'd not only engage ignorant and illiterate Persons to embrace his Doctrine but also a great Number of the rational and learned World who under the sacred Veil of naked Truths cou'd discern unfathomable Depths of supernatural Wisdom display'd with all the Art that a God cou'd shew I remember Plato relates a Story of one that was born at Seriphos who upbraiding Themistocles a Famous General said that the Reputation he had happily establish'd was not owing to his Merit but his happ'ning to be born at a famous City of Greece whereupon Themistocles who was sensible and gratefully acknowledg'd that the Place of his Nativity had no small Tendency to render his Name immortal return'd him this judicious and diverting Answer If I had been born said he at Seriphos I shou'dn't have been so famous as I am but if you had been born at Athens you wou'd never have become Themistocles Now our Saviour who is upbraided with being born in a Village and that not of Greece or any celebrated Country and having a poor Woman to his Mother that got her Livelyhood by her Labour and leaving his Country by reason of Want was forc'd to work in Egypt I say our Saviour who if I may accomodate the foregoing Instance to our present Case was of a meaner Extraction than the fore-mention'd Person that was born at Seriphos did as it were give a happy Shock to the whole habitable World and made a greater Impression upon the savage Dispositions of Men I scorn to say than Themistocles the Athenian but a greater than ev'n Pythagoras or Plato or any of the Wise-men Princes or Emperors were ever known or reported to have made What Person then unless he loves to dwell upon the Superficies of Things will not stand astonish'd when he considers that our Blessed Saviour surmounted all the Difficulties which lay in the Way to his growing Reputation and seem'd to threaten that his Name shou'd as it were sleep in Everlasting Silence CHAP. XXVII IT seldom happens that any one Person is famous for many Things at once for One is famous for Wisdom another for Military Discipline and somâ— of the Barbarians for their Skill in Magick and several others for some few suppos'd Perfections which perhaps do scarce deserve our Notice But our Saviour was very remarkable for the best Sort of Wisdom for Authority and for working Miracles not to mention those
other innumerable Excellencies that adorn'd his Person and might sufficiently recommend him to the World He did'n't act like a Tyrant who by the Help of a prevailing Party takes Occasion to violate the known Laws of the Land in which he lives nor like a Robber who comes with Armed Men against them who innocently pass by the King's High-Way about their necessary Affairs or like a Wealthy Man who by the Help of Bribes induces Persons to come over to his Interest whether by right or wrong or like many others that might easily be mention'd whose Proceedings do manifestly deserve our Censure but like one who came to teach an ignorant and degenerate World what Thoughts they shou'd entertain of God and how they might so regulate their Morals as to maintain an humble and familiar Correspondence with his Blessed Majesty And as for Themistocles and several other Persons who gain'd a more than common Reputation and did real and extraordinary Service to their Native Country this must be said to draw a Shade over their greatest Glory that ev'ry Thing seem'd to smile on their just and honourable Attempts and as it were pave the Way for their glorious Victories and immortal Triumphs But as for our Blessed Saviour besides what I have already said which upon the first View one wou'd think was enough to have eternally conceal'd or shamefully fully'd the Name of the greatest Heroe that the World cou'd ever boast of the ignominious Death which he suffer'd on the Cross if he had had the fairest Character wou'd have giv'n his Followers just Cause to suspect him of being a vile Impostor if we may give any Credit to our Adversaries or at least have drawn a most dismal Veil over the few bright and entertaining Scenes of the most Aweful Tragedy that was ever acted CHAP. XXVIII AND 't is Matter of Wonder that our Saviour's Disciples who in the Judgment of our Enemies were not Eye-Witnesses of the Truth of his triumphant Resurrection and saw nothing but what was common and ev'n contemptible in his Person shou'dn't be afraid to imitate him in his Sufferings to encounter the most imminent and threat'ning Dangers and leave their Native Country to publish the Doctrine which their crucify'd but blessed Lord had taught em For I believe that no Person who laying aside his Prejudice examines these Matters duely will say that they wou'd ever have undergone the Fatigue of Ttinerant Preaching if they had not been fully perswaded of the vast Obligations that lay upon 'em both from Reason and Gratitude not only to conform their Manners to the holy Precepts of the Christian Religion but also to do what lay in their Power to bring many others under the same honourable and happy Bonds when as Matters went at that Critical Juncture they were sure to incur the Displeasure of the Heathen World who were zealous for their ancient Laws and Customs and cou'dn't endure the least seeming Innovation especially with respect to the pompous Ceremonies of their religious Worship But all these Difficulties were light and trivial in the Esteem of those who had Courage not only to prove to the Jewish Nation that our Blessed Saviour was frequently and expresly foretold by their own Prophetick Oracles but also to make it appear to others as Occasion offer'd that this very Person was the true Messiah who was crucify'd but t'other Day and willingly and ev'n chearfully laid down his precious Life for the whole Race of Men after the same manner tho' with unspeakable Advantage in which some others have sacrific'd all that 's near and dear to 'em for the good of their Native Country to free it from a raging Pestilence a threat'ning Famine or some violent impending Tempest that greatly endangers Ships and puts a Stop ev'n to Navigation which is so convenient and necessary for promoting an advantagious Trade into Foreign and very distant Parts For there are some secret Reasons in Nature which very few understand why the Death of one virtuous Man who readily suffers the greatest Evils that can possibly befall him for the real and perhaps lasting Welfare of the Place of his Nativity shou'd destroy or at least severely check the usurp'd Power of those infernal Daemons who are the Cause of Plagues Famines Storms and the like evident and great Disorders which frequently happen in the World And I wou'd fain know of them who don't believe that our Saviour dy'd for the general Benefit of the humane Race whether they won't give easie Credit to many Histories that are extant both of the Greeks and Barbarians which furnish us with frequent and remarkable Instances of Persons who have freely laid down their Lives for the publick Good and whose Death has been happily instrumental to purge away those threat'ning and grievous Calamities that infected Cities and perhaps whole Nations or whether on the Supposition that these are Matters of Fact it be in the least improbable that one cloath'd with humane Nature shou'd be nail'd to a Cross to destroy the Works of the Devil who before did often and too successfully exercise a Tyrannical Power over the Bodies and Souls of Men. Our Saviour's Disciples observing these Things and many Others of the like Nature with which in all Probability their prudent and indulgent Master thought fit to acquaint 'em and being fill'd with the Spirit of God for they were not inspir'd with their unusual Courage by the Virgin which the Poets speak of but by the true Wisdom of God they made haste Thro' the wide World their Fame to spread Hom. Il. Lib. 5. v. 2 CHAP. XXIX BUT 't is Time to return to the Jew whom Celsus personates who says That the Virgin Mary being big with Child was divorc'd by her Husband the Carpenter for committing Adultery with one Panthera a Soldier and being got with Child by that scandalous Wretch Let us see therefore whether the Inventors of this Story don't give a false and obscure Account of the Matter and whether by all that they have to say they are able to overthrow the Doctrine of our Saviour's miraculous Conception by the over-shadowing of the Holy Ghost For so surprizing a Passage as this is might very easily be falsify'd and 't was possible they might deny the Truth of it tho' they were inwardly convinc'd that our Saviour was not conceiv'd in the common Way of humane Generation And methinks it wou'dn't have been incongruous at all that they who didn't believe or rather wou'dn't acknowledge the Miracle shou'd invent a Fiction to serve their malicious and base Design But to invent one that was so far from having a plausible Appearance that 't was a great and notorious Untruth was to discover their Weakness to them who are able to distinguish Truth from Falsehood For do's it stand to Reason that one who was so useful to the World in general and express'd a most tender Concern both for the Greeks and Barbarians that they might reform their Manners from a Sense
Now any one who reads this Prophecy which is of greater Antiquity than their celebrated Moses tho' perhaps some Infidels may suspect it can't but wonder how Jacob cou'd foretell that the Rulers of the Jewish Nation which consisted of no less than Twelve Tribes shou'd come of the Tribe of Judah This we see has been so evidently and so remarkably verify'd that the whole Body of the Jews do take their Name from the fore-mention'd Tribe which held the Reins of Government in their Hands and manag'd 'em as they pleas'd and 't is Matter of Wonder to all who are not biass'd by Prejudice that the fore-mention'd Patriarch shou'd not only foretell that the governing Power shou'd be lodg'd in the Tribe of Judah but also that it shou'd come to a Period at a prefixed Time as the following Words import The Scepter shall not depart from Gen. xlix V. 10. Judah nor a Lawgiver from between his Feet 'till Shiloh come c. And he is come for whom the Supream Authority was reserv'd I mean the Messiah by whom the True Glory of the Tribe of Judah was advanc'd to its greatest Height he I say who was the Prince whom God had promis'd who might have laid a fairer Claim to that Title The Desire of Nations than any Person who ever went before and I may safely say than any who ever did or will succeed him For all Nations almost have believ'd in God thro' him and have plac'd their Confidence in his Name according to that Prophecy in Isaiah In his Name shall the Gentiles trust This is he who proclaim'd Liberty to them who were held fast in the Bonds of Sin and Satan as all Men naturally are and said to them who were cover'd with spiritual Darkness be ye Light in the Lord according to that Famous Prophecy I will preserve Isa xlii V. 6 7. thee and give thee for a Covenant of the People to establish the Earth to cause to inherit the desolate Heritages that thou may'st say to the Prisoners go forth to them that are in Darkness shew your And the vast Number of Persons who flock'd from all Parts to our Blessed Saviour did abundantly make good the Words which follow They shall feed in the Ways and their Pastures shall be in all high Places CHAP. XLIV BUT because Celsus who pretends he don't want to be inform'd of what the Christians hold reproaches our Saviour as if either he was not assisted by his Father or was unable to help himself when he came to suffer I must add one Thing here and that is this that the Prophets foretold his Sufferings and the Reason why he underwent 'em that they shou'd conduce to the Advantage of Mankind in general that he shou'd ev'n sacrifice his Life for 'em and be treated for their Sakes as a condemn'd and most vile Malefactor They also foretold that the Gentiles who had no true Prophets shou'd acknowledge him to be sent from God and that he himself with respect to his outward Appearance in the World shou'd be a mean and very contemptible Person The Words of the Prophecy are these Isa lii V. 13. 14 15. Behold my Servant shall deal prudently he shall be exalted extoll'd and be very high As many were astony'd at thee his Visage was so marr'd more than any Man and his Form more than the Sons of Men so shall he sprinkle many Nations the Kings shall shut their Mouths at him for that which had not been told 'em shall they see and that which they had not heard shall they consider Who Isa liii V. 1. 2 has believ'd our Report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord reveal'd For he shall grow up before him as a tender Plant and as a Root out of a dry Ground he has no Form nor Comeliness and when we shall see him there is no Beauty that we shou'd desire him He 's despis'd and rejected of Men a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief And we hid as it were our Faces from him he was despis'd and we esteem'd him not Surely he has born our Griefs and carry'd our Sorrows Yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted But he was wounded for our Transgressions he was bruis'd for our Iniquities The Chastisement of our Peace was upon him and with his Stripes we are heal'd All we like Sheep have gone astray we have turn'd every one to his own Way and the Lord has laid on him the Iniquity of us all He was oppress'd and he was afflicted yet he open'd not his Mouth He is brought as a Lamb to the Slaughter and as a Sheep before her Shearers is dumb so he opens not his Mouth He was taken from Prison and from Judgment and who shall declare his Generation For he was cut-off out of the Land of the living for the Trangression of my People was he stricken I remember I made use of this Prophecy in a Disputation which I formerly had with some Jewish Doctors and one of 'em return'd the following Answer that we must understand it as relating to the whole Body of their own Nation whose Dispersion and many other Calamities were Means to gain Proselites to their Religion And he explain'd those Words He has no Form nor Comeliness and those Words That which had not been told 'em shall they see and that which they had not heard shall they consider and those Words He was wounded for our Transgressions he was bruis'd for our Iniquities I say he explain'd 'em all in Favour of the Sence which he had giv'n em On the contrary I offer'd several substantial Arguments to prove that this Prophecy must be understood of a single Person and by Consequence is not to be refer'd to an entire Nation or great Number of People I ask'd of whom those Words were spoke He has born our Griefs and carry'd our Sorrows and those Words He was wounded for our Transgressions he was bruis'd for our Iniquities and those Words By his Stripes we are heal'd For they are plainly meant of those Persons who whether Jews or Gentiles were cur'd of their spiritual Diseases by the Sufferings of our Blessed Saviour to whom the Propher inspir'd by the Spirit of God accommodates these several and extraordinary Characters But that which most perplex'd 'em was that Expression For the Transgression of my People was he stricken For if this Prophecy has a Reference to the whole Body of the Jews 't is difficult to make Sence of the foregoing Words We must therefore understand 'em of some single Person and not of the whole Jewish Nation and who can that Person be but our Blessed Saviour by whose bloody Stripes all they who believe in him are immediately and will at length be compleatly heal'd I say who but our Blessed Saviour who has spoil'd Principalities and Powers that usurp and too long maintain a Tyranny over the Souls of Men and has made a Shew of 'em openly upon his HONOVRABLE CROSS But the